Becoming an academic: the role of doctoral capital in the field of education

This paper draws on Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital and habitus to examine the learning and enculturation of alumni of a Canadian PhD programme in the discipline of Education. We introduce the concept of doctoral capital to help explain how and why some PhD graduates go on to secure faculty positions and others do not. Our research suggests that certain existing and acquired academic practices, attributes, dispositions and behaviours collectively form a type of doctoral capital that alumni can then use in the academic marketplace.     

Theory development and convergence of human resource fields: Implications for human performance technology

This study examines major theory developments in human resource (HR) fields and discusses implications for human performance technology (HPT). Differentiated HR fields are converging to improve organizational performance through knowledge‐based innovations. Ruona and Gibson (2004) made a similar observation and analyzed the historical evolution and convergence of three HR‐related fields: human resource management (HRM), human resource development (HRD), and organization development (OD). A field left out in their analysis is HPT. Many learning professionals recognize HPT as a more comprehensive approach to improving organizational performance issues (Molenda & Pershing, 2008; Pershing, 2006). However, little research has been done to advance the theory development of HPT and discuss its relationships within HR fields. This study adds a new perspective to that of Ruona and Gibson's historical analysis of HR fields by examining convergence issues from a theory development perspective.     

Effects of forefoot bending stiffness of badminton shoes on agility,comfort perception and lower leg kinematics during typical badminton movements

This study investigated whether an increase in the forefoot bending stiffness of a badminton shoe would positively affect agility, comfort and biomechanical variables during badminton-specific movements. Three shoe conditions with identical shoe upper and sole designs with different bending stiffness (Flexible, Regular and Stiff) were used. Elite male badminton players completed an agility test on a standard badminton court involving consecutive lunges in six directions, a comfort test performed by a pair of participants conducting a game-like practice trial and a biomechanics test involving a random assignment of consecutive right forward lunges. No significant differences were found in agility time and biomechanical variables among the three shoes. The players wearing the shoe with a flexible forefoot outsole demonstrated a decreased perception of comfort in the forefoot cushion compared to regular and stiffer conditions during the comfort test (p < 0.05). The results suggested that the modification of forefoot bending stiffness would influence individual perception of comfort but would not influence performance and lower extremity kinematics during the tested badminton-specific tasks. It was concluded that an optimisation of forefoot structure and materials in badminton shoes should consider the individual’s perception to maximise footwear comfort in performance.     

Development of a Questionnaire to Measure the Level of Reflective Thinking

Many courses aim to promote reflective thinking or reflection upon practice, but there is a scarcity of readily usable instruments to determine whether students engage in reflective thinking and, if so, to what extent. This paper reports the development and testing of such an instrument. To ensure validity, the constructs measured were derived from the extensive literature on reflective thinking, particularly the writing of Mezirow. A combination of the literature review and initial testing led to the development of a four-scale instrument measuring four constructs; habitual action, understanding, reflection and critical reflection. The final version of the instrument was tested with a sample of 303 students from eight classes of a health science faculty. The reliability of the scales was established by acceptable Cronbach alpha values. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit to the proposed four-factor structure. Comparison of mean scores between the eight classes showed predicted significant differences on each of the four scales between undergraduate and postgraduate students.     

Age Differences in Online Social Networking: Extending Socioemotional Selectivity Theory to Social Network Sites

This article extends socioemotional selectivity theory to online social networking by examining age differences in the size and composition of Facebook networks across a wide age range of Facebook users (18 to 93 years old) in a nationally representative sample. Findings suggest increasing selectivity of Facebook social partners with age. Compared to younger adults, friend networks of older adults are smaller but contain a greater proportion of individuals who are considered to be actual friends. Moreover, a higher proportion of actual to total Facebook friends is associated with lower levels of social isolation and loneliness across the life span.     

Effects of neuromuscular fatigue on perceptual-cognitive skills between genders in the contribution to the knee joint loading during side-stepping tasks

This study investigated whether neuromuscular fatigue affects the neuromuscular control of an athlete within a sports context setting and whether these effects were more pronounced in the females. Lower limb joint kinetics of 6 male and 6 female inter-varsity soccer players performing side-stepping tasks in non-fatigue versus fatigue and anticipated versus unanticipated conditions were quantified using 10 Motion Analysis Corporation cameras and a Kistler^? force platform. The Yo-Yo intermittent recovery Level 1 fatigue protocol was employed. Stance foot initial contact and peak forces, and peak joint knee moments of the lower limb were submitted to a 3-way mixed-model repeated measure ANOVA. The results suggested that males tend to elicit significantly higher knee joint loadings when fatigued. In addition, males elicited significantly higher peak proximal tibia anterior/posterior shear force, vertical ground reaction force at initial contact and peak internal rotational moments than females. These findings suggested that males were at greater overall injury risk than females, especially in the sagittal plane. Neuromuscular control-based training programmes/interventions that are designed to reduce the risk of the non-contact ACL injury need to be customised for the different genders.     

Traceable clonal culture and chemodrug assay of heterogeneous prostate carcinoma PC3 cells in microfluidic single cell array chips

Cancer heterogeneity has received considerable attention for its role in tumor initiation and progression, and its implication for diagnostics and therapeutics in the clinic. To facilitate a cellular heterogeneity study in a low cost and highly efficient manner, we present a microfluidic platform that allows traceable clonal culture and characterization. The platform captures single cells into a microwell array and cultures them for clonal expansion, subsequently allowing on-chip characterization of clonal phenotype and response against drug treatments. Using a heterogeneous prostate cancer model, the PC3 cell line, we verified our prototype, identifying three different sub-phenotypes and correlating their clonal drug responsiveness to cell phenotype.     

Interactions in EFL argumentative writing: effects of topic,L1 background,and L2 proficiency on interactional metadiscourse

Reading and Writing - This study examined how students of English as a foreign language (EFL) with different first language (L1) backgrounds use interactional metadiscourse markers in argumentative...