The influence of unsupervised time on elementary school children at high risk for inattention and problem behaviors

In the last few decades, changing socioeconomic and family structures have increasingly left children alone without adult supervision. Carefully prepared and limited periods of unsupervised time are not harmful for children. However, long unsupervised periods have harmful effects, particularly for those children at high risk for inattention and problem behaviors. In this study, we examined the influence of unsupervised time on behavior problems by studying a sample of elementary school children at high risk for inattention and problem behaviors. The study analyzed data from the Children's Mental Health Promotion Project, which was conducted in collaboration with education, government, and mental health professionals. The child behavior checklist (CBCL) was administered to assess problem behaviors among first- and fourth-grade children. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the influence of unsupervised time on children's behavior. A total of 3,270 elementary school children (1,340 first-graders and 1,930 fourth-graders) were available for this study; 1,876 of the 3,270 children (57.4%) reportedly spent a significant amount of time unsupervised during the day. Unsupervised time that exceeded more than 2 h per day increased the risk of delinquency, aggressive behaviors, and somatic complaints, as well as externalizing and internalizing problems. Carefully planned afterschool programming and care should be provided to children at high risk for inattention and problem behaviors. Also, a more comprehensive approach is needed to identify the possible mechanisms by which unsupervised time aggravates behavior problems in children predisposed for these behaviors.     

Effects of training experienced teachers in the use of the one‐minute preceptor technique in the gross anatomy laboratory

The one‐minute preceptor (OMP) is a time‐efficient, learner‐centered teaching method used in a busy ambulatory care setting. This project evaluated the effects of training experienced anatomy teachers in the use of the OMP in the gross anatomy laboratory on students' perceived learning. Second‐year medical students from a five‐year, undergraduate‐entry, system‐ and problem‐based medical program were divided randomly into two groups of 76 students each. The groups took part in the same gross anatomy laboratory session on different dates, supervised by the same two teachers (both with over 25 years of teaching experience). The teachers attended a workshop on the use of the OMP between the two sessions. Students were given a questionnaire at the end of the two sessions to indicate their agreements to statements regarding their learning experiences. Semistructured interviews were conducted with the two teachers after the second session. Results showed that training experienced anatomy teachers in the use of the OMP did not result in improvement of student learning perception in the gross anatomy laboratory. The experienced teachers have developed their own approaches with elements similar to those in the OMP: being learner centered and adaptable to individual student's needs, providing feedback, and enhancing teacher immediacy. They do not have an explicit structure such as the OMP, and are thus flexible and adaptive. Confining the teachers' teaching behaviors to the OMP structure could limit their performance. Although there are theoretical advantages for novice teachers in adopting the OMP technique, these advantages still need to be supported by further studies. Anat Sci Educ 7: 124–129. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

How does intellectual property law affect the value creation process and strategies of database companies?

Abstract

This study demonstrates how changes in intellectual property law have effects on the value‐creation process of information commodity and related strategies. To explain these effects, three unique economic characteristics of databases as information are focused on: public good, information good, and aggregate good. And, different strategies such as versioning, technical strategies, and limiting the number of consumers and data mingling have been suggested for each characteristic. To examine the value‐création process of databases, a three‐step process has shown: data gathering, selection/arrangement, and presentation.

In the legal process, two main rationales, ‘sweat of the brow doctrine’ and ‘originality doctrine’ have suggested protecting database compilations. The ‘sweat of the brow doctrine’ stresses the effort and investment of the compiler. On the contrary, the ‘originality doctrine’ emphasizes the judgment and creativity in the selection and arrangement of the materials comprising the compilation.     

The impacts of science and technology policy interventions on university research: Evidence from the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative

We examine how the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), a recent U.S. government science and technology (S&T) program launched in 2000, affects the nature of university research in nanotechnology. We characterize the NNI as a policy intervention that targets the commercialization of technology and a focused research direction to promote national economic growth. As such, we expect that the NNI has brought about unintended consequences in the direction of university–industry knowledge flows and the characteristics of university research output in nanotechnology. Using a difference-in-differences analysis of U.S. nanotechnology patents filed between 1996 and 2007, we find that, after the NNI, U.S. universities have significantly increased knowledge inflows from the industry, reduced the branching-out to novel technologies, narrowed down the research scope, and become less likely to generate technological breakthroughs, as compared to other U.S. and non-U.S. research institutions. Our findings suggest that, at least in the case of the NNI, targeted government S&T programs may increase the efficiency of university research, but potentially do so at a price.     

Microstructured multi-well plate for three-dimensional packed cell seeding and hepatocyte cell culture

In this article, we present a microstructured multi-well plate for enabling three-dimensional (3D) high density seeding and culture of cells through the use of a standard laboratory centrifuge to promote and maintain 3D tissue-like cellular morphology and cell-specific functionality in vitro without the addition of animal derived or synthetic matrices or coagulants. Each well has microfeatures on the bottom that are comprised of a series of ditches/open microchannels. The dimensions of the microchannels promote and maintain 3D tissue-like cellular morphology and cell-specific functionality in vitro. After cell seeding with a standard pipette, the microstructured multi-well plates were centrifuged to tightly pack cells inside the ditches in order to enhance cell-cell interactions and induce formation of 3D cellular structures during cell culture. Cell-cell interactions were optimized based on cell packing by considering dimensions of the ditches/open microchannels, orientation of the microstructured multi-well plate during centrifugation, cell seeding density, and the centrifugal force and time. With the optimized cell packing conditions, we demonstrated that after 7 days of cell culture, primary human hepatocytes adhered tightly together to form cord-like structures that resembled 3D tissue-like cellular architecture. Importantly, cell membrane polarity was restored without the addition of animal derived or synthetic matrices or coagulants.     

Critical inquiry into emergent‐oriented curriculum practice

Abstract

This theoretical paper characterizes and explores emergent‐oriented curriculum practice through the experiences of an early childhood education (ECE) prospective teacher, in the context of the U.S., as she co‐constructs the meaning of emergent‐oriented curriculum with culturally diverse pre‐K (4–5‐year‐old) children during her field experience. The paper examines how the prospective teacher understood emergent learning, how she and the children created and shaped their curriculum, and what critical aspects pertain to emergent‐oriented curriculum work from the perspective of developmentally meaningful and culturally responsive practice.     

Does Dual Enrollment Influence High School Graduation,College Enrollment,Choice, and Persistence?

Research in Higher Education - This study examines relationships between dual enrollment and high school graduation, college enrollment, college choice (2-year or 4-year), and persistence in...     

How Can We Support Students’ Learning Experiences in Higher Education? Campus Wide Course Transformation Program Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Innovative Higher Education - The aims of this paper are to examine the breadth of scholarship that emerged from a large-scale university-wide course transformation program between 2011 and 2021,...     

Using computer vision techniques on Instagram to link users’ personalities and genders to the features of their photos: An exploratory study

Instagram and other photo-based social networking sites have emerged as a popular medium. Previous studies mainly focused on social media texts, but the current study deals with the relationships between the characteristics of Instagram users and the features of their photos. The Big Five personality traits and gender were employed as the variables for user characteristics. Content category, the number of faces, the emotions on the faces, and the pixel derived features were employed as the variables for photo characteristics. An online survey of 179 university students was conducted to measure user characteristics, and 25,394 photos in total were downloaded and analyzed from the respondents’ Instagram accounts. Results suggested that content category is associated with extraversion and gender of users. The number of faces is associated with extraversion, agreeableness, and openness of users. Extraversion, agreeableness, and openness of users were partly associated with emotions expressed on the faces in their photos. Correlations were observed among some pixel features and extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and gender of users. It was also observed that the Big Five personality traits, except for gender, can be predicted by above variables. Implications and limitations are discussed and suggestions for future research are suggested.