Qualitative Research on Youths’ Social Media Use: A review of the literature

In this article we explore how educational researchers report empirical qualitative research about young people’s social media use. We frame the overall study with an understanding that social media sites contribute to the production of neoliberal subjects, and we draw on Foucauldian discourse theories and the understanding that how researchers explain topics and concepts produces particular ways of thinking about the world while excluding others. Findings include that 1) there is an absence of attention to the structure and function of social media platforms; 2) adolescents are positioned in problematic, developmental ways, and 3) the over-representation of girls and young women in these studies contributes to the feminization of problems on social media. We conclude by calling for future research that can serve as a robust resource for exploring adolescents’ social media use in more productive, nuanced ways

Antecedents and Outcomes of Employee Benefit Satisfaction: An Updated Model

Previous research on the antecedents and outcomes of employee benefit satisfaction is reviewed. Previous research has suggested a number of antecedents of employee benefit satisfaction, as well as several moderating variables. However, they have not been combined into a single comprehensive model. A comprehensive model incorporating previous research findings is developed with specific hypotheses. There have been four methods of measuring benefit satisfaction in previous research: global measures using single item or short scale measures, measures of several dimensions of benefit satisfaction, measures of degree of satisfaction with specific benefits offered, and measures of dimensions of benefit satisfaction such as satisfaction with benefit quality. Each of these approaches has both strengths and weaknesses. Suggestions for measuring employee benefit satisfaction are offered

Synchrony and social connection in immersive Virtual Reality

Synchronising movements in time with others can have significant positive effects on affiliative attitudes and behaviors. To explore the generalizability of synchrony effects, and to eliminate confounds of suggestion, competence and shared intention typical of standard laboratory and field experiments, we used an Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) environment. Participants, represented as virtual humans, took part in a joint movement activity with two other programmed virtual humans. The timings of the co-participant characters' movements were covertly manipulated to achieve synchrony or non-synchrony with the focal participant. Participants in the synchrony condition reported significantly greater social closeness to their virtual co-participants than those in the non-synchrony condition. Results indicate that synchrony in joint action causes positive social effects and that these effects are robust in a VR setting. The research can potentially inform the development of VR interventions for social and psychological wellbeing

Women On Boards Of Directors: Effects On Firm Social Performance In The Basic Materials And Financial Services Sectors

This study examined relationships between the number of female board members, board tenure, and board size on the number of 10K investigations that were instigated against  firms in the basic materials and financial services sectors of the economy.  After controlling for the effects of firm size, we found evidence of an interaction effect between the number of female directors and average board tenure for firms in the financial services sector, such that a higher number of women on boards coupled with longer average board tenure results in higher firm social performance (i.e., the fewer the number of 10K investigations brought against the firm).  No link was found between female directors and average board tenure for the basic materials firms.  Further, no interactive patterns were observed between female directors and board size in either sector.  Our findings suggest that future board research may benefit from a “contingency approach,” as this study has provided some evidence that the relationships between board characteristics and firm performance may not be generalizable from one sector to another.  Future research should carefully consider how the sector or industry may affect the impact of board characteristics on firm performance

The Effect of Union Protest Behavior on Attitudes Toward Unions: An Experimental Analysis

Student attitudes toward unions were measured at the beginning of a semester. Approximately 90 days later, students were shown a video of union protestors shouting down teachers who had called a press conference to announce they had filed a lawsuit against the union. Following the video, student attitudes toward unions were measured again. The results suggest that union behavior perceived as negative does have a deleterious effect on observer attitudes toward unions. This effect occurs even for observers whose parents were union members

Modeling applied to problem solving

We describe a modeling approach to help students learn expert problem solving. Models are used to present and hierarchically organize the syllabus content and apply it to problem solving, but students do not develop and validate their own Models through guided discovery. Instead, students classify problems under the appropriate instructor‐generated Model by selecting a system to consider and describing the interactions that are relevant to that system. We believe that this explicit System, Interactions and Model (S.I.M.) problem modeling strategy represents a key simplification and clarification of the widely disseminated modeling approach originated by Hestenes and collaborators. Our narrower focus allows modeling physics to be integrated into (as opposed to replacing) a typical introductory college mechanics course, while preserving the emphasis on understanding systems and interactions that is the essence of modeling. We have employed the approach in a three‐week review course for MIT freshmen who received a D in the fall mechanics course with very encouraging results.National Science Foundation (U.S.

What do Seniors Remember From Freshman Physics?

We have given a group of 56 MIT seniors who took mechanics as freshmen a written test similar to the final exam they took in their freshman course, plus the Mechanics Baseline Test (MBT) and Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (C‐LASS) standard instruments. Students in majors unrelated to physics scored 60% lower on the written analytic part of the final than they did as freshmen. The mean score of all students on conceptual multiple choice questions included on the final also declined by about 60% relative to the scores of freshmen. The mean score of all participants on the MBT was insignificantly changed from the posttest taken as freshmen. More specifically, however, the students’ performance on 9 of the 26 MBT items (with 6 of the 9 involving graphical kinematics) represents a gain over their freshman pretest score (a normalized gain of about 70%, double the gain achieved in the freshman course alone), while their performance on the remaining 17 questions is best characterized as a loss of approximately 50% of the material learned in the freshman course. Attitudinal survey results indicate that almost half the seniors feel the specific mechanics course content is unlikely to be useful to them, a significant majority (75–85%) feel that physics does teach valuable skills, and an overwhelming majority believe that mechanics should remain a required course at MIT.National Science Foundation (U.S.

What Else (Besides the Syllabus) Should Students Learn in Introductory Physics?

We have surveyed what various groups of instructors and students think students should learn in introductory physics. We started with a Delphi Study based on interviews with experts, then developed orthogonal responses to “what should we teach non‐physics majors besides the current syllabus topics?” AAPT attendees, atomic researchers, and PERC08 attendees were asked for their selections. All instructors rated “sense‐making of the answer” very highly and expert problem solving highly. PERers favored epistemology over problem solving, and atomic researchers “physics comes from a few principles.” Students at three colleges had preferences anti‐aligned with their teachers, preferring more modern topics, and the relationship of physics to everyday life and also to society (the only choice with instructor agreement), but not problem solving or sense‐making. Conclusion #1: we must show students how old physics is relevant to their world. Conclusion #2: significant course reform must start by reaching consensus on what to teach and how to hold students’ interest (then discuss techniques to teach it).National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF grant PHY-0757931