The vicissitudes of measurement: a confirmatory factor analysis of the Emotional Autonomy Scale

This study examined the factor structure of the Emotional Autonomy Scale (EAS) as proposed by Steinberg and Silverberg. Participants were from three independent samples of adolescents in grades 6 (n = 1,842), 8 (n = 1,769), and 10 (n = 1,232), with each sample consisting of three ethnic groups: African American, European American, and Mexican American. None of the confirmatory factor analyses for these samples supported the factor structure proposed by Steinberg and Silverberg. From the three models tested, the EAS is best described by the four originally proposed factors, combined with two method factors, one consisting of the positively worded scale items and one consisting of the negatively worded scale items. Results show that the EAS exhibits poor construct validity and behaves quite differently for the different grade and ethnic groups. The strong impact of method variance on the factor structure is discussed. Although various alternative solutions to the psychometric problems in the EAS are proposed, the most credible solution may be to reexamine the conceptual foundations of emotional autonomy and develop better measures of those concepts for adolescents.     

Robust fluidic connections to freestanding microfluidic hydrogels

Biomimetic scaffolds approaching physiological scale, whose size and large cellular load far exceed the limits of diffusion, require incorporation of a fluidic means to achieve adequate nutrient/metabolite exchange. This need has driven the extension of microfluidic technologies into the area of biomaterials. While construction of perfusable scaffolds is essentially a problem of microfluidic device fabrication, functional implementation of free-standing, thick-tissue constructs depends upon successful integration of external pumping mechanisms through optimized connective assemblies. However, a critical analysis to identify optimal materials/assembly components for hydrogel substrates has received little focus to date. This investigation addresses this issue directly by evaluating the efficacy of a range of adhesive and mechanical fluidic connection methods to gelatin hydrogel constructs based upon both mechanical property analysis and cell compatibility. Results identify a novel bioadhesive, comprised of two enzymatically modified gelatin compounds, for connecting tubing to hydrogel constructs that is both structurally robust and non-cytotoxic. Furthermore, outcomes from this study provide clear evidence that fluidic interconnect success varies with substrate composition (specifically hydrogel versus polydimethylsiloxane), highlighting not only the importance of selecting the appropriately tailored components for fluidic hydrogel systems but also that of encouraging ongoing, targeted exploration of this issue. The optimization of such interconnect systems will ultimately promote exciting scientific and therapeutic developments provided by microfluidic, cell-laden scaffolds.     

Mini managers: Children strategically divide cognitive labor among collaborators,but with a self-serving bias

Strategic collaboration according to the law of comparative advantage involves dividing tasks based on the relative capabilities of group members. Three experiments (N = 405, primarily White and Asian, 45% female, collected 2016–2019 in Canada) examined how this strategy develops in children when dividing cognitive labor. Children divided questions about numbers between two partners. By 7 years, children allocated difficult questions to the skilled partner (Experiment 1, d = 1.42; Experiment 2, d = 0.87). However, younger children demonstrated a self-serving bias, choosing the easiest questions for themselves. Only when engaging in a third-party collaborative task did 5-year-olds assign harder questions to the more skilled individual (Experiment 3, d = 0.55). These findings demonstrate early understanding of strategic collaboration subject to a self-serving bias.     

The dilemma of dealing with persistent teaching traditions: findings of a video study

Nowadays, there is a consensus that good teaching and learning needs instructional variation and personalised forms of learning. In teacher education, these concepts have been implemented for years, and prospective teachers are taught accordingly; it is thus assumed that the teaching of novice teachers is in accordance with these new teaching concepts. In the research project ‘ALPHA’, the teaching of novice teachers at the beginning and at the end of their first year in the profession and the teaching of experienced teachers with five or more years of teaching experience was videotaped, so that longitudinal and cross-sectional comparisons were possible. The lessons were analysed by applying a coding system on the instruction and by employing a rater inventory in order to understand the structure and quality of the lessons. Overall, the results indicate high levels of whole class teaching with a rather high level of traditional classroom instruction both for the novice and the experienced teachers. However, the proportions vary depending on the location of teacher education. The results provide evidence that the new teaching concepts learned on the teacher education programme are not necessarily implemented in the classroom and provide possible reasons why this might be the case.     

Embedded Mathematics Remediation Using The Math You Need,When You Need It: A 21st‐Century Solution to an Age‐Old Problem

Using the need for math skills in geoscience courses as an example, Helen E. Burn and Eric M. D. Baer from Highline Community College and Jennifer M. Wenner from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh make the case for just‐in‐time embedded remediation to improve student learning while using class time efficiently.     

Book of the Month

Walter S. Baer's Cable Television: A Handbook for Decisionmaking (Santa Monica, Cal.: Rand Corporation, 1973 — $5.00, paper)     

Telecommunications and Technology

Charles J. Sippl and Charles P. Sippl's Computer Dictionary and Handbook (Indianapolis: Howard W. Sams, 1976---$16.95)

Walter S. Baer, Leland L. Johnson, and Edward W. Merros's Analysis of Federally Funded Demonstration Projects (Santa Monica, Calif.: Rand Corp., R-1925, 1926, 1927-DOC, April 1976---price not given, but likely about $20.00 or so for the set, paper)

Lester G. Lindley's The Constitution Faces Technology: The Relationship of the National Government to the Telegraph, 1866-1884 (New York: Arno Press, 1975--- $22.00)

Nick Lyons's The Sony Vision (New York: Crown, 1976---$7.95)

SMPTE Journal (SMPTE Publications Office, 862 Scarsdale Ave., Scarsdale, N.Y. 10583---$3.00 for single issues)

The Classic Radio Newsletter ($5.00 per year for six issues)

Cable Television Information Center's Social Services and Cable TV (Washington: National Science Foundation, 1976---$3.10, paper, from Government Printing Office)

Charles F. Phillips, Jr. (ed.) Competition and Regulation: Some Economic Concepts (Department of Economics, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va. 24450, 1976-43.00, paper)

Calvin A. Kent, Richard Oppedahl, and Lynn Stephens' Municipal Franchising and Regulation: An Evaluation of Policy-Related Research (Business Research Bureau, School of Business, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, S.D. 57069---price not given, paper)

Edward Hyde's The Phone Book: What the Telephone Company Would Rather You Not Know (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1976---$7.95)

Public Policy as a Determinant of Market Structure: The case of the Specialized Communications Market by Peter D. Shapiro (September 1974, Working Paper 74-10, 177 pp.)

Glossary of Costing and Ratemaking Terms in the U.S. Postal Service and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company by Arlene Karlin (January 1976, Working Paper 76-2, 28 pp.)

The U.S. Mail Network: Who Pays, Who Plays by Gordon Emrie (April 1976, Working Paper 76-3, 148 pp.)