Software vulnerability due to practical drift

The proliferation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) into all aspects of life poses unique ethical challenges as our modern societies become increasingly dependent on the flawless operation of these technologies. As we increasingly entrust our privacy, our well-being and our lives to an ever greater number of computers we need to look more closely at the risks and ethical implications of these developments. By emphasising the vulnerability of software and the practice of professional software developers, we want to make clear the ethical aspects of producing potentially flawed software. This paper outlines some of the vulnerabilities associated with software systems and identifies a number of social and organisational factors affecting software developers and contributing to these vulnerabilities. Scott A. Snook’s theory of practical drift is used as the basis for our analysis. We show that this theory, originally developed to explain the failure of a military organisation, can be used to understand how professional software developers “drift away” from procedures and processes designed to ensure quality and prevent software vulnerability. Based on interviews with software developers in two Norwegian companies we identify two areas where social factors compel software developers to drift away from a global set of rules constituting software development processes and methods. Issues of pleasure and control and difference in mental models contribute to an uncoupling from established practices designed to guarantee the reliability of software and thus diminish its vulnerability.     

Examining Predictors of Counselor‐in‐Training Intentional Nondisclosure

This study explored factors that best predict intentional nondisclosure by counselors‐in‐training (CITs) during onsite supervision, including social judgment about one’s supervisor, the supervisory working alliance (SWA), and supervisee attachment styles. Stepwise regression in a sample of 146 CITs revealed that the SWA and supervisee attachment avoidance predicted 60% of the variance in intentional nondisclosure.     

Predicting university preference and attendance: Applied marketing in higher education administration

A multi-attribute attitude model, based on the efforts of Rosenberg and Fishbein, was used to determine whether a multicriteria scale can be used to predict student preferences for and attendance at universities. Data were gathered from 241 freshmen attending five state universities in Ohio. Responsents were asked to weight the importance of 18 selection criteria and evaluate seven universities using those criteria. These data were processed through the model, and the results were compared to the respondents' preference ordering of the universities. The results indicate a high level of predictability, particularly for highly ranked universities. Implications for the marketing of higher educational institutions are discussed.     

The improtance of selected textbook features to science teachers

This paper reports the results of a study of teacher opinions about the features considered important in an ideal textbook. A survey of Queensland high school teachers revealed that they favoured texts that focus on student cognition and which provide useful features such as exercises and practical activities. Differences were found between the preferences of Queensland teachers and the preferences of teachers reported in two American studies. The significance of these differences for writers and publishers is discussed. Specializations: communication and cognition in science. Specializations: science education.     

Interstimulus interval and viewing time effects in monkey list memory

Two rhesus monkeys were tested in 6- and 10-item list memory tasks for performance changes as a function of the exposure duration of the list stimuli and the interstimulus interval (ISI) between successive list stimuli. Accuracy increased with longer item exposure duration and tended to decrease with longer ISI duration. Humans, by contrast, typically show increases in accuracy with ISI, a result taken as evidence of rehearsal. The decrease in accuracy for monkeys suggests that they were not using rehearsal processes in these list memory experiments. Further tests in which choice accuracy with predictable ISIs was compared with choice accuracy with unpredictable ISIs also yielded no evidence of rehearsal by the monkeys. This apparent absence of rehearsal mechanisms in monkeys, in situations also shown to support human rehearsal, is discussed as a potential difference in the visual working memory processes of the two species.     

The attuned representation model for the primary prevention of eating disorders: An overview for school psychologists

The Attuned Representation Model of eating‐disorder etiology and symptom maintenance is a comprehensive model that can effectively guide prevention and treatment efforts by addressing individual, cultural, and interactive issues. The model integrates the risk factors related to the onset of eating‐disordered behaviors (i.e., biological, psychological, and social) as well as addresses ongoing systemic discordance that plays a significant role in the risk, etiology, and maintenance of eating disorders. To clarify the structure of the model, it is explicated in terms of its fit with the current state of empirical etiological research. After the model is detailed, it is described within the context of the role of the school psychologist in the prevention of eating disorders. Finally, implications for future research are briefly described. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 223–230, 2006.     

Creating cultures of disability to control young people in Australian schools

State and territory education departments across Australia have been attempting to respond to reported increases in the levels of disruption in schools. The problem is considered particularly severe in urban secondary schools. This paper examines the way in which integration or “mainstreaming” policies have been subverted in order to control disruptive young people by labeling them as defective.     

Immersion,Reflection, Failure: Teaching Graduate Students to Teach Writing Online

ABSTRACT

A common challenge facing those who prepare graduate students to teach writing online is the need to help those students connect online writing instruction (OWI) theory with their classroom practice. The authors present how graduate students are prepared to teach writing online at three universities and then synthesize those approaches to highlight three principles that can guide effective OWI preparation for graduate students in any program: immersion, reflection, and failure.     

University class size: Is smaller better?

This study investigates the relationship between class size and achievement at the college level. Recent meta-analyses have found a strong relationship between class size and student achievement, but few of the studies examined class size larger than 40 or university-age populations. This analysis examines a university's testing-center data-archives representing 305 sections from 24 different courses. Section sizes ranged from 13 to 1,006. A total of 16,230 test scores were analyzed. The results of this investigation reveal that at the college level, class size may be less important an influence on student achievement than some educators have thought.