Gender-preferential intergenerational patterns in primary educational attainment: An econometric approach to a case in rural Mindanao,the Philippines

This study investigates the factors determining children's educational attainment, focusing on gender-differential intergenerational patterns, by employing a case study from rural Mindanao. The result mainly shows, unlike general trends in developing countries, educational attainment is more favorable for girls; maternal education level is equally associated with daughters’ and sons’ education levels, and paternal education level is preferentially favorable to their sons. To reduce the disparity, suggestions include providing boy-specific interventions to enhance the magnitude of the father–son educational virtuous circle and comparing the magnitude of gender-equal maternal and boy-preferential paternal education influences to specify which effect is larger.     

Effects of fluency training on reading competence in primary school children: The role of prosody

Reading fluency defined as speed, accuracy, and prosody, is a critical component of reading development. The purpose of this research was to compare the efficacy of automaticity versus prosody programmes on reading comprehension. The study included 122 Spanish primary-school children (74 second and 48 fourth graders), randomly assigned to one of three groups: (a) automaticity training, which consisted of repeated reading with a focus on speed and accuracy plus phonological and orthographic awareness activities; (b) prosody training, which consisted of repeated reading with a focus on expressiveness plus prosody sensitivity activities; and a (c) ‘no treatment’ control group. Multiple measures were used to determine pre-post training performance in reading fluency—automaticity and prosody—and comprehension. Prosody training proved superior to automaticity training in promoting automaticity and prosody. Prosody and automaticity training in fourth graders resulted in superior sentence comprehension compared to controls. The importance of prosody for reading development in primary school is discussed.     

Supporting students’ assignment writing: what lecturers do in a Master of Education programme

Teachers’ instructional practices surrounding written assignments have been little researched, despite writing remaining the primary means of assessment in higher education, including postgraduate professional development programmes. In this paper, we report a study that explored what a sample of lecturers in a Master of Education programme at an English-medium university in Hong Kong did to support students’ assignment writing. We integrate perspectives provided by the relevant higher education literature, the academic literacies approach and North American rhetorical genre studies to shed light on the findings derived from our analyses of interview and documentary data. We showed that our lecturer participants both engaged in direct instruction on assignment writing and provided indirect support. Our study contributed to the existing literature and raised questions for future research.     

The effectiveness of farm programmes on Bangladesh Betar in educating farmers

Farm programmes (FPs) of varied categories have been developed and aired over several decades by Bangladesh Betar, the national radio of Bangladesh for the diffusion of farm technologies. The study aimed to produce an in-depth academic evaluation of their effectiveness in educating farmers in Bangladesh. A sample of 465 respondents from the Khulna and Rajshahi divisions in Bangladesh was randomly selected for a questionnaire survey. To analyse the data, relevant documents were collected from the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock of Bangladesh. Frequency distribution, z-test, and binary logistic regression analysis were used as statistical tools. The farm knowledge levels of the farmers were considered the predictors for evaluating the effectiveness of FPs. The results revealed that 93.33% of the sample did not listen to the FPs, while only very few of the listeners listened regularly. Despite this, at the ‘weak’ and ‘average’ levels of knowledge significant differences were noted between listener and non-listener farmers of FPs. The binary logistic regression analysis (Model 1) identified that the farmers who listened to the FPs were likely to acquire farm knowledge 6.62 times more than the farmers who did not listen to the FPs. The farmers who listened to the FPs were likely to have farm knowledge 2.64 times more than the farmers who did not listen to the FPs but consulted with other sources of farming information (Model 2). Similarly, a listener of FPs with farm training was likely to acquire farm knowledge 5.76 times more than a non-listener with farm training (Model 3). The FPs were found to be very effective and could be used to better complement other mechanisms for educating farmers. Regular access to the FPs ought to be ensured through appropriate stimulants for the diffusion of farm technologies.     

Application of a lexical-semantic intervention programme for students with Specific Language Impairment / Aplicación de un programa de intervención léxico-semántica en alumnado con Trastorno Específico del Lenguaje

The aim of this research has been to test the efficacy of an intervention programme on lexical-semantic problems in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI). The sample consisted of 34 children diagnosed with SLI and 34 children with typical language development, all enrolled in different schools on the island of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). For the selection of the sample, CELF-3, Peabody, ITPA Auditory Association and Visual Association subtests and the K-BIT IQ tests were used. The intervention programme consisted of 72 sessions of 30 minutes each, using noun and action naming activities along with conversation and categorization tasks in order to increase vocabulary and improve lexical semantic competence. Significant results were achieved in aspects related to the acquisition of vocabulary as well as in lexical semantics or related terms. The educational implications are clear insofar as lexical-semantic aspects are key in terms of activating other linguistic components and in improving the academic progress of SLI students.     

Impact of the length of relationships upon the use of research institutes by SMEs

Recent studies of US industrial modernisation programmes argue that difficulties of establishing long-term relationships with users prevent them from facilitating development of innovation capabilities. The paper supports this argument through a survey of Japanese research institutes the US programmes were modelled on. In view of information asymmetries in their use, it tests the hypothesis that small and medium-sized firms start using the research institutes with ‘low information gap’ services and gradually move on to ‘high information gap’ services that often require more absorptive capacity. This is demonstrated both under one-to-one relationships and between groups of firms and a research institute.     

Student satisfaction with Canadian music programmes: the application of the American Customer Satisfaction Model in higher education

The purpose of this project is to empirically investigate several antecedents and consequences of student satisfaction (SS) with Canadian university music programmes as well as to measure students’ level of programme satisfaction. For this, the American Customer Satisfaction Model was tested through a survey of 276 current Canadian music students. The results indicate that customer satisfaction is strongly affected by programme quality, is slightly impacted by its perceived value but is not influenced by prior student expectations. Satisfaction strongly increases programme loyalty and positive word‐of‐mouth, marginally raises tuition change loyalty, and slightly decreases complaining behaviour. Contrary to expectations, tuition‐related constructs play only a minor role in the model. Therefore, money is a marginal factor in the educational environment; this empirically demonstrates the flaws underlying the premises of the students‐as‐customers metaphor. The resulting satisfaction index may facilitate the comparison among institutions. It was also found that the level of SS with Canadian music programmes was somewhat lower than those with services in other industries.     

论从民族认同到国家认同

采用问卷法对2 594名大学生进行调查研究,考察了父母国家认同与大学生国家认同的关系,以及心理需求满足和心理资本在其中的中介和调节作用。结果发现：父母国家认同与大学生国家认同显著正相关;心理需求满足可显著中介父母国家认同与大学生国家认同的关系,即父母国家认同可增进大学生心理需求满足,进而提升大学生的国家认同;这一中介路径受大学生心理资本的调节,即父母国家认同通过增加心理需求的满足进而提升大学生国家认同的间接效应,在高心理资本大学生中显著强于低心理资本大学生。这些结果表明,心理需求满足是父母国家认同影响大学生国家认同的重要中介过程,而高心理资本有利于促进国家认同的代际传递。     

代际公平视阈下的生态型政府构建

从代际公平的本义切入,寻求公共行政与代际公平的契合,就是要构建生态型政府。构建生态型政府是政府处理资源环境问题及维持社会代际公平的必然选择。构建生态型政府需要从斧正行政目标、强化政府环保责任、平衡政府权能、完善绩效评估指标体系、约束政府生态管理行为等方面加以实现。     

The Intergenerational Transmission of Inspiration: Reflections on the Origin of a Peer-Mentoring Project

The author gives a personal account of his relationship with his graduate mentor, Allan Schnaiberg. He also describes a mentoring project that he created with a colleague. The mentoring project emerges as both a vehicle for and a window onto the intergenerational transmission of the mentoring disposition of Schnaiberg. It stands as but one of many branches of the expanding influence of Schnaiberg’s life as a scholar, professor, graduate mentor and man. The importance of holistic mentoring is explored, with particular attention to the critical value of its central, affective dimension. Mentoring is particularly important today for non-traditional students, who have a heightened need to feel that they belong in the academic setting. It is suggested that mentoring serves as the guidance function associated with the process by which any being goes through the challenging transition from one cycle, or level of experience, to the next.