The organic puppet theatre

For most youngsters, the insides of their bodies are squishy, bloody, mysterious, and hard to understand. Definitely not looked upon as something to love, or even sneak a peek at! Sad commentary on awareness of our own health and well-being.Illustrated by Duane G. Barnhart This article is excerpted from The Organic Puppet Theatreavailable from Night Owl Press, 1537 West Iowa Ave., St. Paul, MN 55108 © 1983.     

The gender gap in early career transitions in the life sciences

We examined the extent to which and why early career transitions have led to women being underrepresented among faculty in the life sciences. We followed the careers of 6,336 scientists from the post-doctoral fellowship stage to becoming a principal investigator (PI) – a critical transition in the academic life sciences. Using a unique dataset that connects individuals’ National Institutes of Health funding histories to their publication records, we found that a large portion of the overall gender gap in the life sciences emerges at this transition. Women become PIs at a 20% lower rate than men. Differences in “productivity” (publication records) can explain about 60% of this differential. The remaining portion appears to stem from gender differences in the returns to similar publication records, with women receiving less credit for their citations.     

Beyond the Google search bar: Evaluating source credibility in contemporary research

Courses: Research Methods, Public Speaking, Communication Theory, any other course that requires college students to engage in a formal research process. Can be conducted in traditional, online, or hybrid courses.

Objectives: In this original single-class activity, students will be able to evaluate source credibility for resources that extend beyond peer-reviewed, published journal articles and books. Through the use of Internet searches and social media outlets, students will engage in an evaluation process that will promote more effective research habits.     

The Economics of Filmed Entertainment in the Digital Era

Journal of Cultural Economics -     

Preadolescent perceptions of challenging and difficult course activities and their motivational distinctions

The present research sought to determine if primary school students differentiate between classes that are challenging and those that are difficult, and how these distinctions relate to their motivation and achievement. Results indicated that there are three types of challenges/difficulties. Challenging classes are those that are demanding of the students but within their ability, are important and are tied to interests; students in these classes are more likely to adopt mastery goal orientations. Purely difficult classes are not valued, require a lot of effort, but are threatening to students’ efficacy. Classes that are difficult compared to others are those that are more demanding for the student than other students or other classes. These classes are not valued and are also seen as a threat to efficacy. Both purely difficult and difficult compared to others classes were negatively related to achievement, and students in these classes are more likely to adopt performance avoidance goal orientations.     

Venture capital as a catalyst to commercialization

We find that the public funding of academic research and venture capital have a complementary relationship in fostering innovation and the creation of new firms. Using panel data on metropolitan areas in the United States, from 1993 to 2002, our analyses reveal that the positive relationships between government research grants to universities and research institutes and the rates of patenting and firm formation in a region become more pronounced as the supply of venture capital in that region increases. Our results remain robust to estimation with an instrumental variable to address potential endogeneity in the provision of venture capital. Consistent with perspectives that emphasize the importance of an innovation ecosystem, our findings point to a strong interaction between private financial intermediation and public research funding in promoting entrepreneurship and innovation.     

The Department as Double Agent: The Call for Department Change and Renewal

The well-known and respected Pew Foundation recently suggested four prerequisites for departmental change and renewal—a dedication to teamwork, collective dialogue and inquiry about effective teaching, a commitment to quality control and rewarding collective goals, and the leadership of a purposeful chair (Pew Foundation, 1996, pp. 7-9). Many realities that surround academic programs work against these critical conditions for renewal: conflicting faculty interests, turbulent environments, unclear institutional goals, to name a few. This paper examines teamwork, teaching, quality, and leadership as means to mitigate the contradictions and enhance department renewal.     

How they got it and how they wanted it: marginalised young people's perspective on their experiences of sexual health education

Young people in Australia are at greatest risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections, and priority actions are necessary for this population group. This study of marginalised and at-risk young people in out-of-school environments was conducted in Western Australia with the aim of obtaining young people's perceptions about their experience of sexual health education and preferred means of gaining sexual health knowledge and skills. A participatory research methodology was implemented through a series of workshops with 88 young people recruited through community youth agencies. The results of the study support what is already known about sexual health promotion for young people and the importance of a holistic approach to promoting positive relationships and sexual health. However, the findings emphasise that this should include the need for demonstrated trust, confidence and safe environments, and the complementary role of community youth agencies and peer-based programmes which may play an important role in reaching young people who may disengage with, or not be reached by school-based sexual health education.