What the Children Are Reading: A Content Analysis of Minority Male Characters in Preschool Children\u27s Libraries

Many early childhood classroom environments have a library area, which has picture books for the children to explore and enjoy, and some early childhood classrooms put tubs or baskets of a few picture books in every center in the classroom. In addition to inspiring a love of reading and providing hours of enjoyment, children\u27s literature serves emotional, social, intellectual, linguistic and literary purposes (Temple, Martinez, Yokota & Naylor, 2002). A primary goal in early childhood programs is to welcome and embrace the diversity of children and families in today\u27s multicultural society (Brinson, 2012) and children\u27s books provide a wonderful way for children to learn about diversity and fairness (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2012). Children\u27s literature presents gender roles and culture norms to readers that are overt and underlying within the story (Rodman & Hildreth, 2002). Exposure to picture and story books that challenge historically limiting gender roles and cultural norms counteract stereotypes that could have harmful effects on cognitive, social, and gender development of young students. (Hamilton, Anderson, Broaddus & Young, 2010). The purpose of this study was to explore representation and depiction of male characters of color in children\u27s picture books within early childhood classrooms libraries. Ten early childhood classroom libraries were inventoried and picture books with males of color were analyzed using a framework for the critical analysis of multicultural children\u27s literature (Mendoza & Reese, 2001). This study had three levels of analysis of classroom libraries: classroom demographics and teacher perceptions, inventory of classroom libraries, and critical content analysis of the role and representation of male characters of color. Findings revealed that director and teacher perceptions impact the composition of classroom libraries, and that they are more aware of the need for books featuring non-White characters than they are aware of the need for picture books with male characters. The representation of males of color aligns with dominant cultural values and traditional roles for boys, and some ethnicities are portrayed through a native cultural lens. Picture books typically consist of one racial or ethnic group and the non-White characters are often seen as representations of ethnic cultural information. This study suggests a need for school leaders to pay attention to the composition of classroom libraries related to racial/ethnic and gender diversity represented in classroom libraries. Teachers would also benefit from professional development regarding how to build a classroom library that exposes young children, especially boys, to racial, ethnic, and gender diversity

Aha\u27 Experiences in Object-Oriented Education: Searching for a Theoretical Foundation

The transition to object-oriented software development can be difficult because it represents a paradigm shift. This paper is based on the assumption that students may need to undergo one or more \u27Aha\u27 experiences in order to successfully make this transition. Literature which is relevant to research in this area is reviewed and a theoretical foundation is presente

Identifying and Preventing IS Project Escalation:A Survey of IS Auditors

Tradesurveys have estimated that from 30% to 65% of IS development projects become \u27runaways\u27 --projects that 1) fail to produce an acceptable system, 2) grossly exceed initial budget/time estimates and, 3) seem to take on a life of their own. iven that the United States spends over $250 billion annually on IS development [Johnson, 1995], it is important to ask why runaway projects occur. In this research study, we focus on why such poorly performing projects are allowed to continue for so long. Based on datafrom several specific cases of runaway projects, we believe runaways are a form of organizational decision making failure. Consider this scenario: a development project encounters some problems which may be serious enough to cause the project to fail. Thedecision maker(s) responsible for the project have two choices: continue the project or abandon it (either terminate it or radically redirect it). If the decision maker consciously chooses to continue committing resources to the project or never consciously considers abandonment, the behavior represents an escalation of commitment or escalation, for short. Runaway projects result from many such decision points. Eventually these continuation (escalation) decisions take the project beyond its initial time/cost targets. Each subsequent escalation decision leaves these targets further and further behind until there is a feeling that \u27the project is out of control\u27. Runaway projects, therefore, come from project escalation --the continued allocation of resources to projects despite negative feedback relating to project performance and the likelihood of succes

Why Software Projects Escalate: An Empirical Analysis and Test of Four Theoretical Models

Software projects can often spiral out of control to become runaway systems that far exceed original budget and schedule projections. The behavior that underlies many runaway systems can best be characterized as escalation of commitment to a failing course of action. The objectives of this study were to: (1) understand the extent to which IS projects are prone to escalate, (2) compare the outcomes of projects that escalate with those that do not, and (3) test whether constructs associated with different theories of escalation can be used to discriminate between projects that escalate and those that do not. A survey was administered to IS audit and control professionals and, to establish a baseline for comparison, the survey was designed to gather data on projects that did not escalate as well as those that did escalate. The results of our research suggest that between 30% and 40% of all IS projects exhibit some degree of escalation. Projects that escalated had project outcomes that were significantly worse in terms of perceived implementation performance and perceived budget/schedule performance, as compared to projects that did not escalate. Using constructs from theories that have been used to explain the escalation phenomenon, we were able to test various logistic regression models for their ability to discriminate between projects that escalate and those that do not. To construct our models, we explored constructs derived from self justification theory, prospect theory, agency theory, and approach avoidance theory. While constructs derived from all four theories were significant in logistic regression models, the completion effect construct derived from approach avoidance theory provided the best classification of projects, correctly classifying over 70% of both escalated and non-escalated projects

An alternative study of Chinese history: Two Daoist temples

The Daoist temple is a largely overlooked feature in the study of the history of China. The temple has been an important component of Chinese history since the Zhou dynasty, beginning in the Spring and Autumn period and continuing into the Warring States period.1 It is Daoism that made immortals of mortal Chinese war heroes, emperors, leaders, and ancestors. It is these celestials and immortals, found only in a Chinese Daoist temple that can so successfully relate the history of the common man in China. The Chinese have venerated these Daoist celestials and immortals to the status of gods, and it is these gods that are honored today in every Daoist temple in China and America. Many Daoist rituals developed as early as the eleventh century are still being practiced daily, with subtle variations, in a Daoist temple in Shanghai, China and a Daoist temple in Marysville, California; This thesis is an examination of the historical, social and religious reasons and motivations behind the longevity of the Chinese Daoist temple, including its rituals and its deities, and the role each temple plays in the history of the community it serves. The temples chosen for this study were selected because of their contemporary status. They are the Baiyunguan (White Cloud) Temple in Shanghai, China and the Bok Kai Temple in Marysville, California. The historical significance of these two temples and their deities is investigated by using an interdisciplinary approach that includes but is not limited to, anthropology, architectural studies, history, philosophy, science, and sociology. Also important to this interdisciplinary approach is the work of scholars of Chinese religion, specifically Daoism; Results of this investigation of two active Chinese Daoist temples located on opposite sides of the world shows how it is possible to trace the history of the Chinese people by examining their beliefs in hero gods and deities, and the roles these deities played in the downfall of imperial China. Research on the Chinese Daoist temple in America will address Chinese immigration, and allude to reasons behind the difficulty of the Chinese in America to assimilate and acculturate; This study also looks at the problems, and successes, of the Baiyunguan Temple and the Bok Kai Temple as they enter the current century. Since the founding of the People\u27s Republic of China, Daoism has been under the protection of Chinese law with the goal of perpetuating and developing Daoist traditions. This includes opening Daoist temples to tourism, which although bringing the temple additional exposure, creates issues that attach themselves to tourism such as maintaining the integrity of the temple while supporting its maintenance and environmental concerns. Another problem is the declining Daoist population. Daoist in China are once again returning to the temple, but in America in a small California town the decline of a Chinese population is a real concern. However, recent preservation and restoration efforts are giving both temples the historic recognition they deserve; This research looks at how the Baiyunguan Temple and the Bok Kai Temple have been able to survive for over one hundred years, and will suggest what the future outlook is for these two testaments to China\u27s civilization and culture and to its 5000 year-old history; 1The Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in Chinese history (770-221 B.C.) were a time of upheaval and turbulence. The Eastern Zhou dynasty is divided into two historical periods; the Spring and Autumn period, 740-476 B.C. and the Warring States period, 475-221 B.C. For more information on this era in Chinese history see Michael Loewe and Edward L. Shaughnessy, The Cambridge History of Ancient China: From the Origins of Civilization to 221 B.C. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999)

Factors influencing responsiveness to feedback: on the interplay between fear, confidence, and reasoning processes

Self-appraisal has repeatedly been shown to be inadequate as a mechanism for performance improvement. This has placed greater emphasis on understanding the processes through which self-perception and external feedback interact to influence professional development. As feedback is inevitably interpreted through the lens of one’s self-perceptions it is important to understand how learners interpret, accept, and use feedback (or not) and the factors that influence those interpretations. 134 participants from 8 health professional training/continuing competence programs were recruited to participate in focus groups. Analyses were designed to (a) elicit understandings of the processes used by learners and physicians to interpret, accept and use (or not) data to inform their perceptions of their clinical performance, and (b) further understand the factors (internal and external) believed to influence interpretation of feedback. Multiple influences appear to impact upon the interpretation and uptake of feedback. These include confidence, experience, and fear of not appearing knowledgeable. Importantly, however, each could have a paradoxical effect of both increasing and decreasing receptivity. Less prevalent but nonetheless important themes suggested mechanisms through which cognitive reasoning processes might impede growth from formative feedback. Many studies have examined the effectiveness of feedback through variable interventions focused on feedback delivery. This study suggests that it is equally important to consider feedback from the perspective of how it is received. The interplay observed between fear, confidence, and reasoning processes reinforces the notion that there is no simple recipe for the delivery of effective feedback. These factors should be taken into account when trying to understand (a) why self-appraisal can be flawed, (b) why appropriate external feedback is vital (yet can be ineffective), and (c) why we may need to disentangle the goals of performance improvement from the goals of improving self-assessment

Dust observations with antenna measurements and its prospects for observations with Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter

The electric and magnetic field instrument suite FIELDS on board the NASA Parker Solar Probe and the radio and plasma waves instrument RPW on the ESA Solar Orbiter mission that explore the inner heliosphere are sensitive to signals generated by dust impacts. Dust impacts have been observed using electric field antennas on spacecraft since the 1980s and the method was recently used with a number of space missions to derive dust fluxes. Here, we consider the details of dust impacts, subsequent development of the impact generated plasma and how it produces the measured signals. We describe empirical approaches to characterise the signals and compare these in a qualitative discussion of laboratory simulations to predict signal shapes for spacecraft measurements in the inner solar system. While the amount of charge production from a dust impact will be higher near the Sun than observed in the interplanetary medium before, the amplitude of pulses is determined by the recovery behaviour that is different near the Sun since it varies with the plasma environment

A Geographically-Restricted but Prevalent Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strain Identified in the West Midlands Region of the UK between 1995 and 2008

Background: We describe the identification of, and risk factors for, the single most prevalent Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain in the West Midlands region of the UK.Methodology/Principal Findings: Prospective 15-locus MIRU-VNTR genotyping of all M. tuberculosis isolates in the West Midlands between 2004 and 2008 was undertaken. Two retrospective epidemiological investigations were also undertaken using univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis. The first study of all TB patients in the West Midlands between 2004 and 2008 identified a single prevalent strain in each of the study years (total 155/3,056 (5%) isolates). This prevalent MIRU-VNTR profile (32333 2432515314 434443183) remained clustered after typing with an additional 9-loci MIRU-VNTR and spoligotyping. The majority of these patients (122/155, 79%) resided in three major cities located within a 40 km radius. From the apparent geographical restriction, we have named this the "Mercian" strain. A multivariate analysis of all TB patients in the West Midlands identified that infection with a Mercian strain was significantly associated with being UK-born (OR = 9.03, 95% CI = 4.56-17.87, p 65 years old (OR = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.09-0.67, p < 0.01). A second more detailed investigation analyzed a cohort of 82 patients resident in Wolverhampton between 2003 and 2006. A significant association with being born in the UK remained after a multivariate analysis (OR = 9.68, 95% CI = 2.00-46.78, p < 0.01) and excess alcohol intake and cannabis use (OR = 6.26, 95% CI = 1.45-27.02, p = .01) were observed as social risk factors for infection.Conclusions/Significance: The continued consistent presence of the Mercian strain suggests ongoing community transmission. Whilst significant associations have been found, there may be other common risk factors yet to be identified. Future investigations should focus on targeting the relevant risk groups and elucidating the biological factors that mediate continued transmission of this strain