PHONE HOME? AN ANALYSIS OF HOUSEHOLD TELEPHONE OWNERSHIP

A multivariate, theoretical model is developed and tested topredict household telephone ownership. Factors theorized topredict telephone ownership are 1) socio-economic status/resources,2) household composition, 3) cultural background, 4) attachments,including—a) community/mobility ties, b) civic/politicalties, c) group ties, d) personal ties, e) social and institutionalalienation, and of misanthropy, 5) counter-normative behavior,6) psychological well-being, and 7) physical well-being. Theanalysis, indicates that the socio-economic factor in generaland income in particular has the largest impact. All other factorsalso have significant, independent effects with the exceptionthat some, but not all, of the attachment factors and psychologicaland physical well-being are not related to telephone ownership.Overall, non-telephone households can be characterized as marginaloutsiders.     

Age-related differences in response programming

Age-related differential effects on reaction time (RT) performance for movement complexity and response-response (R-R) compatibility were examined in children, adolescents, and young adults. A two-choice RT paradigm involved three different finger responses, and each finger movement response was paired with every other movement response. Movement complexity was manipulated by varying the digits activated and was measured as the mean RT for a particular movement across all choice pairs. R-R compatibility was manipulated by altering the pairing of choice alternatives and was determined by the mean RT comparison for each of the movements according to the paired choice alternative. Simple RTs were also obtained for all finger movement responses for comparison with the RTs achieved in choice situations. Age-related differences were found for both movement complexity and R-R compatibility. Mean RT and response consistency improved with age. Although higher overall speeds were found with age, adolescents were not significantly slower than young adults. Adolescents did, however, make significantly fewer response errors on movements differing in complexity. Bilateral versus unilateral control and number of fingers involved in the task were found to affect both movement complexity and the compatibility between response pairs. The relationship between the alternative and choice response was found to be a robust factor affecting R-R compatibility. Choice responses were significantly slower than simple responses, and the rank ordering of movement responses was identical within the two paradigms.     

Face-to-face contact in blended learning for intercultural education: the role of teachers

In societies experiencing or emerging from conflict, teachers often deliver educational programmes designed to build community cohesion. We report on research which examined teachers’ views of the implementation of a programme involving both face-to-face and online contact between pupils. Findings suggest that this blended approach is highly motivational, enhancing online work and relationship building. The research underlines the importance of the political, educational and historical context for work of this sort and the impact this has on the particular blend of online and face-to-face interaction. Implications for policymakers and teachers include value for money and sustainability of blended intercultural education in similar contexts.     

A synthesis of research concerning creative teachers in a Canadian context

Effective teachers are often creative ones, yet an examination of creative teaching is largely invisible in the North American creativity literature. Even within education there is little about teachers’ own creative practice. Nonetheless, there are benefits to studying creative teachers: in education it can explicate ways of enhancing teachers’ creativity and enriching praxis; and in psychology it can extend our understanding of social and interpersonal creativity, as well as everyday creativity. This paper reviews 12 Canadian case studies of creative teaching conducted by a creative teaching research group. An in-depth elaboration of two themes, creative person and community, is presented.     

Three-dimensional kinematic analysis of the golf swing using instantaneous screw axis theory,Part 2: golf swing kinematic sequence

A number of recent studies have measured the extent and timing of segment rotation during the golf swing. A promising technique, instantaneous screw axis (ISA) theory, could provide a better expression of segment rotation. In Part 1 of this two-part study, the objectives are to identify the ISA of the pelvis, shoulders and left arm during the downswing, compute segment angular velocity relative to that segment’s ISA and verify that ISA theory is a valid tool to analyse segment rotation during the golf swing. Results indicate that for all subjects, at least 71% of marker velocity is a result of rotation about their respective ISA, when averaging results over the duration of the downswing, confirming that motion is primarily rotational. Furthermore, ISA position and orientation of each segment approaches, on average, the expected gross axis of rotation, confirming that motion about the ISA is representative of joint motion.     

(In)civility and adolescents’ moral decision making online: drawing on moral theory to advance digital citizenship education

Education and Information Technologies - This article draws on moral theory to advance digital citizenship education and explore how adolescents aged 13–16 make decisions when confronted with...     

Designing Reading Comprehension Assessments for Reading Interventions: How a Theoretically Motivated Assessment Can Serve as an Outcome Measure

When designing a reading intervention, researchers and educators face a number of challenges related to the focus, intensity, and duration of the intervention. In this paper, we argue there is another fundamental challenge—the nature of the reading outcome measures used to evaluate the intervention. Many interventions fail to demonstrate significant improvements on standardized measures of reading comprehension. Although there are a number of reasons to explain this phenomenon, an important one to consider is misalignment between the nature of the outcome assessment and the targets of the intervention. In this study, we present data on three theoretically driven summative reading assessments that were developed in consultation with a research and evaluation team conducting an intervention study. The reading intervention, Reading Apprenticeship, involved instructing teachers to use disciplinary strategies in three domains: literature, history, and science. Factor analyses and other psychometric analyses on data from over 12,000 high school students revealed the assessments had adequate reliability, moderate correlations with state reading test scores and measures of background knowledge, a large general reading factor, and some preliminary evidence for separate, smaller factors specific to each form. In this paper, we describe the empirical work that motivated the assessments, the aims of the intervention, and the process used to develop the new assessments. Implications for intervention and assessment are discussed.