Low achieving mathematics students' attitudinal and achievement changes as a result of using an integrated learning system

This paper reports on a study to measure the effectiveness of an integrated learning system (ILS) in improving mathematics achievement for low achieving Year 5 to 9 students. The study found that statistically significant gains on the integrated learning system were not supported by scores on standardised mathematics achievement tests. It also found that although student attitudes to computers decreased (significantly for some items), the students still liked the integrated learning system and felt that it had helped them to learn.

The mechanism of breath aerosol formation

Background: Aerosol production during normal breathing is often attributed to turbulence in the respiratory tract. That mechanism is not consistent with a high degree of asymmetry between aerosol production during inhalation and exhalation. The objective was to investigate production symmetry during breathing. Methods: The aerosol size distribution in exhaled breath was examined for different breathing patterns including normal breathing, varied breath holding periods and contrasting inhalation and exhalation rates. The aerosol droplet size distribution measured in the exhaled breath was examined in real time using an aerodynamic particle sizer. Results and Conclusions: The dependence of the particle concentration decay rate on diameter during breath holding was consistent with gravitational settling in the alveolar spaces. Also, deep exhalation resulted in a 4 to 6 fold increase in concentration and rapid inhalation produced a further 2 to 3 fold increase in concentration. In contrast rapid exhalation had little effect on the measured concentration. A positive correlation of the breath aerosol concentration with subject age was observed. The results were consistent with the breath aerosol being produced through fluid film rupture in the respiratory bronchioles in the early stages of inhalation and the resulting aerosol being drawn into the alveoli and held before exhalation. The observed asymmetry of production in the breathing cycle with very little aerosol being produced during exhalation, is inconsistent with the widely assumed turbulence induced aerosolization mechanism.

Identifying effective leadership practices for implementing a new mathematics curriculum in Taipei

This study explores successful junior high school principals’ leadership practices for implementing the reformed mathematics curriculum in Taipei. Avolio and Bass’s (2002) full range leadership theory was used to record data through interviews and observations of five Taipei “Grade A” junior high school principals. Findings revealed that specific leadership practices linked to management by exception-active and contingent reward (transaction leadership), and individualised consideration and idealised influence (transformational) were considered effective for implementing reform measures. Ensuring principals are aware of effective measures may further assist reform agendas.

Losing their marbles : syntax-free programming for assessing problem-solving skills

Novice programmers have difficulty developing an algorithmic solution while simultaneously obeying the syntactic constraints of the target programming language. To see how students fare in algorithmic problem solving when not burdened by syntax, we conducted an experiment in which a large class of beginning programmers were required to write a solution to a computational problem in structured English, as if instructing a child, without reference to program code at all. The students produced an unexpectedly wide range of correct, and attempted, solutions, some of which had not occurred to their teachers. We also found that many common programming errors were evident in the natural language algorithms, including failure to ensure loop termination, hardwiring of solutions, failure to properly initialise the computation, and use of unnecessary temporary variables, suggesting that these mistakes are caused by inexperience at thinking algorithmically, rather than difficulties in expressing solutions as program code.

Sport marketing on Fortune Global 500 websites

This research investigates how the world’s leading companies, the Fortune Global 500, use sportsrelated terms and phrases on their Web site. An automated process mirrored leading transnational corporations’ Web presence and then searched their sites. Analysis of about four gigabytes of Webbased text revealed regional and industry differences in how the world’s largest corporations use sports terms on their sites.

Membership retention within the sporting industry : factors affecting relationship dissolution

Relationship dissolution has been somewhat ignored in the study of relationship marketing paradigm. While there has been an abundance of literature giving broad conceptualizations on how to master the intricacies of relationships, very little has discussed the concept of relationship dissolution. This is especially true of the sporting industry, which does not yet understand the factors that contribute to members relinquishing their membership and severing relationship ties with the club. Team performance was found to be the most powerful predictor of relationship dissolution; however, both satisfaction with the sportscape and emotional bonds had a significant influence on the decision for a member not to renew their membership. Although team performance is mostly out of the hands of sport marketers, greater focus should be given to implementing strategies that enhance the emotional aspects of the club-member relationship while also improving aspects of the service facility.

Measuring internal market orientation

Internal marketing has been discussed in the management and academic literature for over three decades, yet it remains ill defined and poorly operationalized. This paper responds to calls for research to develop a single clear understanding of the construct, for the development of a suitable instrument to measure it, and for empirical evidence of its impact. Existing, divergent conceptualization of internal marketing are explored, and a new, multidimensional construct, describing the managerial behaviors associated with internal marketing is developed, and termed internal market orientation (IMO). IMO represents the adaptation of market orientation to the context of employer-employee exchanges in the internal market. The paper describes the development of a valid and reliable measure of IMO in a retail services context. Five dimensions of IMO are identified and confirmed. These are 1) formal written information generation, 2) formal face-to-face information generation, 3) informal information generation, 4) communication and dissemination of information, and 5) responding to this internal market information. The impact of IMO on important organizational factors is also explored. Results indicate positive consequences for customer satisfaction, relative competitive position, staff attitudes, staff retention and staff compliance.

Concepts of normal bereavement

This study used a 25-item questionnaire to examine the perceptions of 128 people with a close interest in bereavement and its literature. The study is part of a project to identify key aspects and the bereavement process. Subjects were asked to rate their perceptions of key bereavement phenomena with regards their frequency in the acute and later stages of bereavement. Descriptive results are presented and discussed, and a profile of phenomena perceived to be common to both stages is outlined.

The Children's Depression Scale : assessment of factor structure with data from a normal population

A study investigated the reliability and construct validity of the Children's Depression Scale. The revised subscales were shown to have strong construct and face validity and high reliability.

At work or play : a comparison of private property vehicle crashes with those occurring on public roads in north Queensland.

Objective: To define characteristics of vehicle crashes occurring on rural private property in north Queensland with an exploration of associated risk factors. Design: Descriptive analysis of private property crash data collected by the Rural and Remote Road Safety Study. Setting: Rural and remote north Queensland. Participants: A total of 305 vehicle controllers aged 16 years or over hospitalised at Atherton, Cairns, Mount Isa or Townsville for at least 24 hours as a result of a vehicle crash. Main outcome measure: A structured questionnaire completed by participants covering crash details, lifestyle and demographic characteristics, driving history, medical history, alcohol and drug use and attitudes to road use. Results: Overall, 27.9% of interviewees crashed on private property, with the highest proportion of private road crashes occurring in the North West Statistical Division (45%). Risk factors shown to be associated with private property crashes included male sex, riding off-road motorcycle or all-terrain vehicle, first-time driving at that site, lack of licence for vehicle type, recreational use and not wearing a helmet or seatbelt. Conclusions: Considerable trauma results from vehicle crashes on rural private property. These crashes are not included in most crash data sets, which are limited to public road crashes. Legislation and regulations applicable to private property vehicle use are largely focused on workplace health and safety, yet work-related crashes represent a minority of private property crashes in north Queensland.

The Google online marketing challenge and research opportunities

The Google Online Marketing Challenge is an ongoing collaboration between Google and academics, to give students experiential learning. The Challenge gives student teams US$200 in AdWords, Google’s flagship advertising product, to develop online marketing campaigns for actual businesses. The end result is an engaging in-class exercise that provides students and professors with an exciting and pedagogically rigorous competition. Results from surveys at the end of the Challenge reveal positive appraisals from the three—students, businesses, and professors—main constituents; general agreement between students and instructors regarding learning outcomes; and a few points of difference between students and instructors. In addition to describing the Challenge and its outcomes, this article reviews the postparticipation questionnaires and subsequent datasets. The questionnaires and results are publicly available, and this article invites educators to mine the datasets, share their results, and offer suggestions for future iterations of the Challenge.