The effect of performance support and training on performer attitudes

While training has been a proven and heavily relied on intervention to impart job‐enabling information to performers, its ability to have a positive effect on job performance has been demonstrated to diminish over time. One intervention that has been adopted by performance technologists to provide ongoing support is an electronic performance support system (EPSS). The study presented here examined the effect of EPSS and training on user attitudes. Results revealed that participants receiving only EPSS and those receiving training and EPSS had significantly higher attitudes than participants who received only training. Recommendations on how to best combine and implement these performance interventions based on these data are discussed.     

Effects of turf and cleat footwear on plantar load distributions in adolescent American football players during resisted pushing

Metatarsal and midfoot injuries are common in American football. Footwear design may influence injury rates by altering plantar foot loading patterns in these regions. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of cleat design on in-shoe plantar foot loading during a football-specific, resisted pushing task. Twenty competitive football players (age 14.7 ± 1.8 years, height 1.72 ± 0.10 m, and mass 71.8 ± 26.9 kg) completed three trials of pushing a weighted sled at maximal effort in a standard shoe (CLEAT) and artificial turf-specific shoe (TURF), with flexible in-shoe force measuring insoles. Repeated measures ANOVAs identified mean differences in maximum force and relative load under all regions of the foot. Results showed higher forces in the CLEAT under the medial (p < 0.001) and lateral (p = 0.004) midfoot, central (p = 0.007) and lateral (p < 0.001) forefoot, and lesser toes (p = 0.01), but lower forces in the hallux (p = 0.02) compared to the TURF shoe. Additionally, relative loading was higher in the CLEAT under the medial (p < 0.001) and lateral (p = 0.002) midfoot and lateral (p < 0.001) forefoot, but lower in the medial forefoot (p = 0.006) and hallux (p < 0.001) compared to the TURF shoe. The two shoes elicited distinct plantar loading profiles and may influence shoe selection decisions during injury prevention or rehabilitation practices.     

Vietnam: Challenges and Opportunities for Publishers

Little is known about the publishing industry and the cultural complexities of Vietnam and, therefore, this article provides a summary of the essential information and related data on the demographics of the country. The development of the publishing industry is traced from 1945 before the unification of North and South Vietnam in 1975 to the present status. The role of the book publishing industry is examined in relation to television and radio media. A review of the reading culture is presented to understand the current status and potential for printed books as well as E-books in Vietnam.     

Limited legitimacy among academics of centrally driven approaches to internal quality assurance in Vietnam

For more than 15 years, Vietnam has worked to develop a quality assurance (QA) system as part of its effort to reform higher education. The government’s effort seeks to respond to widespread criticism over the quality of training in higher education. The appropriation of western QA mechanisms and the effectiveness of the QA system as it has been implemented, however, is still viewed with scepticism. This paper reports on a study of academics and QA practitioners’ perceptions of quality assurance. Documentation and in-depth interviews were used in the study. The findings show that QA remains a new concept in the country, which appears to have promoted a compliance-driven approach to mandated policies rather than a system that promotes academics’ engagement in continuous improvement. Moreover, the appropriated mechanism may be seen as contradictory to the values respected by academics and rooted in a Confucian society.     

The Proliferation of Piracy in the Publishing Supply Chains of Emerging Countries: A Study in Vietnam

Book piracy is a significant problem throughout the world and particularly in emerging countries. Such a phenomenon is costly to all participants in the publishing supply chain. This paper aims to investigate factors that influence Vietnamese students’ purchases of photocopied textbooks. The findings reveal that students’ purchases are motivated by their perceived value, subjective norms representing social influence and the lack of regulation enforcement. Using these findings, this paper suggests interventions for policymakers, publishers, distributors and universities to limit the purchase of pirated textbooks as well as to improve the value of original textbooks.     

Language and learning advisors as a valuable but under-recognised workforce in higher education: a Bourdieuian analysis of their professional development in international education

Language and learning advisors (LLAs) play a vital role in supporting the academic development of a fast-growing population of international students. This paper tackles the professional development practices for LLAs and barriers to their professional development. Using Bourdieu’s concepts of field and habitus, the paper addresses the mutual interactions between the work environment and LLAs’ thinking and actions regarding providing language and learning advice to international students. The analysis of 44 semi-structured interviews with LLAs from 18 institutions shows that there was a scarcity of targeted professional development opportunities for LLAs to improve their expertise directly related to international students and internationalisation of education. Financial shortage, time constraints, casualisation conditions, managerial issues, academic to professional employment re-classification for LLAs and the ongoing marginalisation of LLAs have created unfavourable contexts for LLAs’ professional development. The paper points out the critical need to create better work conditions for LLAs, to ensure more investment in creating targeted opportunities for LLAs’ professional development and to provide more resources and attention to support their enactment of agency and development of professional capacities.     

From school militarization to school securitization: national security finds its place in schools

This ethnography explores daily life at Milton High School, a US public school with its own specialized Homeland Security program. From ‘military grunts’ serving in distant theaters of war to Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents defending the US borderlands to National Security Administration (NSA) technicians monitoring worldwide cyber communications, Milton’s Homeland Security program trained students for the multiple permutations of the global war on terror. Based on my ethnographic fieldwork conducted at Milton, this article offers an analysis of what I call ‘school securitization’. While growing critical education scholarship importantly investigates the intensification of militarized education evident in the rise of military charter schools and harsh disciplinary regimes, this ethnography documents how other actors like major defense contractors, security companies, and federal agencies contributed to the school’s remaking. Broadening the analytical framework of school militarization to school securitization accounts for the range of actors, institutions, epistemologies, and security-oriented beliefs beyond the military that shape public education for the production of violence.     

Whose knowledge counts in international student assessments: examining the AHELO epistemic community of economics experts

International student assessments have become the ‘lifeblood’ of the accountability movement in educational policy contexts. Drawing upon Stuart Hall’s concept of representation, I critically examined who comprises epistemic communities responsible for developing the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes economics strand. Through my analysis, I identify homogeneity among test-makers, missing voices, and western concepts as represented ideas that become fixed and circulated through policy channels. In an era of accountability and comparison, comparative international student assessments are becoming increasingly normative in educational settings. As scholars, policymakers, and educators use these test results, we must critically examine who is responsible for producing these tests.