Independence and obedience in the United States and Japan

Are some Americans and Japanese beginning to think more similarly about independence and obedience? Middle-class adult respondents from the suburbs of Chicago and Tokyo (U.S.: 43 males and 54 females: Japan: 71 males and 80 females) were surveyed about their sex-role values. This report focuses on two values which have been recognised as constituting fundamental differences between Japanese and Americans: personal independence and obedience. The survey used a metric multidimensional scaling technique called Galileo^®. Analyses of the data and results of other comparative studies suggest that any convergence taking place between the two societies is occurring primarily within American society. There is growing evidence, including the findings of this study, that Americans are moving away from their traditional stress on the importance of the individual in society. The Japanese respondents did show a more liberal conceptualization of the ideal woman with respect to obedience, however, there was no indication that this less traditional image of women extended to their other traditional roles in society.     

Development of the Nine-Ball Skills Test to discriminate elite and high-level amateur golfers

Currently, there is a lack of appropriate skill assessments available for use in golf. The aim of this study was to examine the discriminative validity and the test-retest reliability of the newly developed "Nine-Ball Skills Test". Participants of two ability levels (elite, n = 14; high-level amateur, n = 16) each hit nine golf shots of differing combinations of trajectory (straight, fade, draw) and height (normal, high, low) at an individually determined target area. Each shot was scored on its percent error index from the target and whether it achieved the maximum height as required. Participants completed the test twice using a 5-iron club. The elite group scored significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the amateur group for both the first and second rounds of the test as well as the combined scores. The between-round test-retest reliability was deemed to be not acceptable, thus we propose that the test's protocol should include use of the two rounds as standard. Due to the importance of ball striking and flight control to performance in golf, the Nine-Ball Skills Test is appropriate for providing a measure of this skill component in elite and high-level amateur golfers.     

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences electronic health record and medical informatics training for undergraduate health professionals

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is planning interprofessional training in electronic health records (EHRs) and medical informatics. Training will be integrated throughout the curricula and will include seminars on broad concepts supplemented with online modules, didactic lectures, and hands-on experiences. Training will prepare future health professionals to use EHRs, evidence-based medicine, medical decision support, and point-of-care tools to reduce errors, improve standards of care, address Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act requirements and accreditation standards, and promote appropriate documentation to enable data retrieval for clinical research. UAMS will ensure that graduates are ready for the rapidly evolving practice environment created by the HITECH Act.     

Forces affecting change in small rural schools

Selected curriculum changes were studied in two rural shcool‐community contexts. Both qualitative and quantitative data indicated that implementation was at a low level of use and that factors related to isolation were particularly powerful influences in the change process. A major implication of the study is demonstrated need for detailed curriculum implementation plans that account for local school community factors.     

Gathering data: does it make sense?

Abstract

Much laboratory work in school science involves observation and measurement; an important development, in recent years, has been the application of computers to this activity. Data-logging techniques have been available to science teachers for some time (outside the United Kingdom [UK], this technology is sometimes known as microcomputer-based laboratories or MBL). It is only relatively recently, however, that data-logging technology has become sufficiently user-friendly and affordable for it to be more widely adopted. The use of sensors, interfaces and data-loggers to capture and record data, and its subsequent display and analysis using computer software, now constitute a realistic alternative to traditional approaches. With the National Curriculum for initial teacher training including information and communications technology now in place in the UK, the time seems opportune to take stock of current use of data-logging methods and to consider how they might be further developed. This article describes how data-logging currently appears to be used in science lessons. It considers how the demands of the National Curriculum have shaped current practice, and argues for a shift of emphasis in the pupils' role in data-logging activities. Some suggestions are then offered for encouraging pupils to engage in more interpretative activity, which recent software readily supports.     

Assisting,Instructing, Assessing: 21st Century Student Centered Librarianship

ABSTRACT

For librarians at the University of North Florida, there was a need to move beyond information literacy instruction to one-on-one and small group research consultations to aid in student success. By staffing the research desk with staff and students, librarians were able to open their calendars to allow more time for in-person, phone, and online consultations to aid in meeting the research goals of students at the institution. After assessing the research consultation program for two years, there has been a positive correlation between research consultation usage, satisfaction in completing assignments, and student success measures throughout the university.     

Morphological priming effects on children’s spelling

Previous research has suggested that children in the early grades of primary school do not have much awareness of morphemes. In this study, a priming paradigm was used to try to detect early signs of morphological representation of stems through a spelling task presented to Portuguese children (N = 805; age range 6–9 years). Primes shared the stem with the targets and contained well-articulated, stressed vowels; the stems of the target words and pseudo-words contained non-stressed schwa vowels, which typically result in spelling difficulties. If priming proved effective, the well-articulated vowels in the prime should result in an improvement in the spelling of the schwa vowels. Primes were presented in two conditions: in only-oral or in oral-plus-written form. Effectiveness of priming was assessed by comparison with a no-priming condition. For both words and pseudowords, there was a significant interaction between priming effects and grade. No priming effects were detected in 6- and 7-year-old children; oral-plus-written priming produced higher rates of correct vowel spelling for 8- and 9-year-olds; only-oral priming was effective in improving the vowel spelling of 9-year-olds. Thus older children can use morphological information under priming conditions when the prime and the target are not phonologically transparent but there is no evidence to suggest that younger children do so.     

The Development of Chemical Language Usage by “Non-traditional” Students: the Interlanguage Analogy

Research in Science Education - Students commonly find specialist scientific language problematic. This study investigated developments in chemical language usage by six non-traditional students...     

The occurrence of analogies in elementary school science books

An analogy is a model drawn from one contextand used to support understanding in anothercontext. This study investigates the extent towhich analogies in instructional science booksare provided by authors. The books surveyed areavailable from commercial suppliers andintended for use in the elementary schoolclassroom with 7 to 11 year old children.Eighty texts were analysed for the presence orabsence of analogies. Forty-five of the booksoffered no analogies at all. In the remainingthirty-five books, 92 analogies were found.These were classified in line with earlier workon analogies for older students by Curtis andReigeluth (1984) and the findings arediscussed. The extent to which teachers candraw upon the analogies in such texts tosupport children's understanding isconsidered.     

Students’ Emotive Reasoning Through Place-Based Environmental Socioscientific Issues

Research in Science Education - Engaging environmental socioscientific issues (SSI) requires navigating diverse positions regarding people and nature. This qualitative investigation determined how...