Assessing attitude towards religion: the Astley–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Theistic Faith

This study builds on the research tradition modelled by the Francis Scale of Attitude towards Christianity, the Katz–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Judaism, the Sahin–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Islam and the Santosh–Francis Scale of Attitude towards Hinduism to propose a generic instrument concerned with attitudes towards theistic faith. The scale properties of this new instrument, established among a sample of 284 (200 female and 84 male) 16–18-year-old students, commend it for use in future research.     

A Placement Test for Computer Science: Design,Implementation, and Analysis

An introductory CS1 course presents problems for educators and students due to students' diverse background in programming knowledge and exposure. Students who enroll in CS1 also have different expectations and motivations. Prompted by the curricular guidelines for undergraduate programmes in computer science released in 2001 by the ACM/IEEE, and driven by a departmental project to reinvent the undergraduate computer science and computer engineering curricula at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, we are currently implementing a series of changes which will improve our introductory courses. One key component of our project is an online placement examination tied to the cognitive domain that assesses student knowledge and intellectual skills. Our placement test is also integrated into a comprehensive educational research design containing a pre- and posttest framework for assessing student learning and providing valuable feedback for needed instructional revisions. In this paper, we focus on the design and implementation of our placement exam and present an analysis of the data collected to date.     

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AND OPENNESS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION AMONG UNDERGRADUATES

A sample of 334 undergraduates completed the Francis Scale of Attitude Toward Christianity and the Astley-Francis Open Worldview Scale, together with the short form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The data provide no support for the view that a positive attitude toward Christianity inhibits openness to other worldviews, although both attitude toward Christianity and the adoption of an open worldview are significantly related to individual differences in personality.     

春天的承诺

冬天过去了,但我们还清楚地记得,当刺骨的寒风吹来,我们不由地缩起脖子,裹紧大衣。冬,似乎是寒意,是肃杀,是销声匿迹……然而,即使在最寒冷的日子里,也别忘了倾听生命的迹象,它来自自然,来自生活,来自内心希望的涌动。下面我们就一起来欣赏一篇在冬日里写下的《春天的承诺》。     

Assessment of model-based image-matching for future reconstruction of unhelmeted sport head impact kinematics

Player-to-player contact inherent in many unhelmeted sports means that head impacts are a frequent occurrence. Model-Based Image-Matching (MBIM) provides a technique for the assessment of three-dimensional linear and rotational motion patterns from multiple camera views of a head impact event, but the accuracy is unknown for this application. The goal of this study is to assess the accuracy of the MBIM method relative to reflective marker-based motion analysis data for estimating six degree of freedom head displacements and velocities in a staged pedestrian impact scenario at 40 km/h. Results showed RMS error was under 20 mm for all linear head displacements and 0.01–0.04 rad for head rotations. For velocities, the MBIM method yielded RMS errors between 0.42 and 1.29 m/s for head linear velocities and 3.53–5.38 rad/s for angular velocities. This method is thus beneficial as a tool to directly measure six degree of freedom head positional data from video of sporting head impacts, but velocity data is less reliable. MBIM data, combined in future with velocity/acceleration data from wearable sensors could be used to provide input conditions and evaluate the outputs of multibody and finite element head models for brain injury assessment of sporting head impacts.     

Building Bridges: Reflections on the problem of transfer of learning in mathematics

The takeup of opportunities for applying formal learning outside the school is often disappointing – to teachers, parents, employers, and many pupils. Not surprisingly, there is much controversy among researchers in mathematics education and related fields, as to the reasons. Here I argue that neither traditional nor constructivist views, with their simplistic faith in the basic continuity of knowledge across contexts, nor currently popular ‘insulationist’ views such as the strong form of situated cognition, which claims that transfer is basically not possible, are adequate. Instead, I analyse why transfer is problematical in principle, and undependable in practice. I recommend an alternative approach for building bridges between practices, based on analysing the discourses involved as systems of signs, and looking for appropriate points of inter-relation between them. In this reconceptualisation of the ‘problem’ of transfer, the role of affective factors, previously under-examined in the literature, is highlighted. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.