A sequential analysis of responses in online debates to postings of students exhibiting high versus low grammar and spelling errors

Given that grammatical and spelling errors have been found to influence perceived competence and credibility in written communication, this study examined how a student’s grammar and spelling errors affect how other students respond to the student’s postings in four online debates hosted in asynchronous threaded discussions. Message-response exchanges were sequentially analyzed to identify patterns in students’ replies to arguments and challenges with counter-challenges, explanations, and evidentiary support posted by students that exhibited low versus high number of grammatical and spelling errors. Although no causal inferences can be drawn from this study, the findings nevertheless suggests that: (a) arguments posted by high-error students are more likely to be challenged than arguments posted by low-error students; (b) exchanges between high-error students can amplify the effects of grammar/spelling errors; and (c) higher levels of argumentation can be achieved by placing students into groups that are heterogeneous in writing skills in general. The findings and methods used in this study lay the groundwork for further research on strategies for managing individual differences in students’ grammar and spelling (and other student behaviors in general) and increasing the level of critical discourse in online discussions.     

Reflection‐Impulsivity in Retarded Adolescents and Non‐retarded Children

This study examined the responses to Kagan's Reflectivity‐Impulsivity test (and its relevance to temptation to steal dilemmas) of mentally retarded and non‐retarded subjects matched for both MA and CA and for sex. Retarded subjects were less reflective than non‐retarded children when matched on the basis of CA but showed no difference when matched on the basis of MA, confirming findings by Borys and Spitz (1978).     

Exploring the use of multiple analogical models when teaching and learning chemical equilibrium

This study describes the multiple analogical models used to introduce and teach Grade 12 chemical equilibrium. We examine the teacher's reasons for using models, explain each model's development during the lessons, and analyze the understandings students derived from the models. A case study approach was used and the data were drawn from the observation of three consecutive Grade 12 lessons on chemical equilibrium, pre‐ and post‐lesson interviews, and delayed student interviews. The key analogical models used in teaching were: the “school dance”; the “sugar in a teacup”; the “pot of curry”; and the “busy highway.” The lesson and interview data were subject to multiple, independent analyses and yielded the following outcomes: The teacher planned to use the students' prior knowledge wherever possible and he responded to student questions with stories and extended and enriched analogies. He planned to discuss where each analogy broke down but did not. The students enjoyed the teaching but built variable mental models of equilibrium and some of their analogical mappings were unreliable. A female student disliked masculine analogies, other students tended to see elements of the multiple models in isolation, and some did not recognize all the analogical mappings embedded in the teaching plan. Most students learned that equilibrium reactions are dynamic, occur in closed systems, and the forward and reverse reactions are balanced. We recommend the use of multiple analogies like these and insist that teachers always show where the analogy breaks down and carefully negotiate the conceptual outcomes. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 1135–1159, 2005     

Crossing cultures: Analysing the experiences of NZ returnees from the EU (UK vs. non-UK)

While there is growing scholarly interest in returned and cyclical migration, and on young adult cultural or adventure seeking migration, there is still a lack of systematic empirical insights into how the experiences of being abroad, and after return, are mediated by exposure to different cultural environments. Addressing this conceptual and empirical gap, the paper analyses the experiences of New Zealand return migrants, or sojourners, who lived and worked in European countries (other than the UK) for more than one year and compares them with the experiences of NZ returnees from the UK. Drawing on 20 ‘non-UK’ and 22 ‘UK’ in-depth interviews, the paper revisits [Rhinesmith, 1975] and [Rhinesmith, 1986] typology of cross-cultural, or intercultural, adjustment (largely ignored in studies of return migration) to assess sojourners’ experiences throughout the migration cycle and serve as a useful tool for identifying and reporting psychological and socio-cultural elements in the returnees stories. The findings of sojourners’ possible identity shifts during intercultural transition are discussed with reference to the four-member paradigm of Cultural Identity Model (CIM) (Sussman, 2010) while addressing Sussman's (2002) argument that overseas adaptation and repatriation experiences are not directly associated. This paper demonstrates the need to understand first that the costs and benefits of circular migration or sojourning are country-specific, and that they do not ‘just happen’ at a particular moment or in one phase but are forged through a veritable rollercoaster of experiences of intercultural adjustment.     

Effects of Ventilation on Segmental Bioimpedance Spectroscopy Measures Using Generalizability Theory

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of three ventilation conditions (i.e., normal, regimented, and no-ventilation) on the reproducibility of bioimpedance scores in humans for the forearm and trunk segments. One hundred able-bodied North American men and women, from 18 to 71 years of age, volunteered as participants. The experimenters used a Xitron Bio-Impedance Analyzer System model 4200 instrument with Hydra software (Xitron Technologies, San Diego, California, USA) to collect bioimpedance data on extracellular fluid and intracellular fluid scores. The experimenters analyzed the data using the generalizability theory,with persons as the facet of differentiation and time as the facet of generalization. The major findings were (a) ventilation conditions did not have a significant impact on the reproducibility of the test scores, (b) the forearm segment produced consistently higher intracellular fluid generalizability coefficients across three ventilation conditions for both gender groups when compared to the trunk segment, (c) the trunk segment produced intracellular fluid generalizability coefficients that were higher for the male group, and (d) the measurement error affected extracellular fluid scores less than segmental intracellular fluid scores.