Handwriting Performance of Typical Second-Grade Students as Measured by the Evaluation Tool of Children\u27s Handwriting - Manuscript and Teacher Perceptions of Legibility

Background: The purpose of the study was to describe scores achieved by typical second-grade students on the Evaluation Tool of Children’s Handwriting – Manuscript and to compare scores with teacher perceptions. Method: As part of a larger study, the ETCH-M was administered to 74 second-grade students. Teachers scored classroom samples of handwriting assignments using a researcher-developed scale and scores were compared to ETCH-M scores to determine cutoff values for good versus poor handwriting. Results: Mean scores for total word legibility, total letter legibility, and total numeral legibility were 88.82%, 84.30%, and 89.26%, respectively. Cutoff scores below 82% for word legibility and 77% for letter legibility for second-grade students based on teacher perceptions of below average handwriting are cautiously suggested. Research with a larger dataset is needed. Boys scored significantly lower on the ETCH-M and this finding warrants further research. Conclusion: The findings add to the limited body of information about the psychometric properties of the ETCH-M and the normative performance of typical second-grade students

Computing value correspondences for repeated games with state variables

La naturaleza de la interaccion repetida ha sido estudiada extensamente en la literatura de juegos repetidos. Abreu (1988), Abreu, Pearce y Stacchetti (1986, 1990) y Cronshaw y Luenberger (1994) desarrollan un enfoque recursivo para caracterizar juegos repetidos centrandose en los valores presentes de estrategias perfectas de subjuegos para cada jugador. Judd y Conklin (1995), Cronshaw y Rutheford (1994) y Cronshaw (1996) han implementado computacionalmente estas tecnicas. Sin embargo, algunos de los ejemplos mas interesantes de interaccion estrategica ocurren en entornos con variables de estado, en los cuales las tecnicas recursivas citadas anteriormente no pueden ser utilizadas. En dichos entornos, el conjunto de valores de equilibrio perfecto de subjuegos se vuelve funcion de la variable de estado. Este trabajo presenta un metodo general para evaluar correspondencias de equilibrio bajo vigilancia perfecta y descuento. (jc) (mac

The theory of sovereign debt and Spain under Philip II

En este trabajo se examinan los prestamos efectuados por un cartel genoves a Felipe II de España (1556-1598) bajo la perspectiva de la teoria de la deuda soberana. Se concluye que un tipo de modelos, en los que se supone que los prestamistas tienen un instrumento de penalizacion adicional al denegar credito en el futuro, explica los rasgos principales de este episodio. En particular, una version de Bulow y Rogoff (1989b), con informacion asimetrica, explica la imposicion del embargo de los pagos a la Armada de Felipe II en Flandes por parte de los genoveses. Ademas, las predicciones de este modelo respecto a los limites de la deuda se corresponden con la evidencia sobre el limite de deuda de la Corona y con estimaciones sobre la cota minima del valor de la sancion de los genoveses y de la capacidad de pago de la Corona. La evidencia contradice los modelos de deuda que afirman que es esencial un seguro implicito para que se respete por si sola la deuda soberana. (jc) (mac

Chaos For the Halibut?

A generalized method for analyzing stability potential in discrete time renewable resource models subject to market-driven harvest is discussed. Two means by which harvest activity can influence dynamical properties of renewable resource models are identified: the "growth factor" and the "market response effect". The growth factor is a systematic influence on stability tied to changes in the position of the bioeconomic equilibrium point along a given open access supply locus. The market response effect involves variation in harvest in response to stock level changes. The analysis is applied to a model of the Pacific Halibut Fishery: a modified discrete-time version of the traditional Schaefer model. In order to investigate potential instability, we vary certain parameters of the model and study the resulting effects on stability. We find that enhancing harvest response by changing the slope of the demand schedule can thrust the model into instability, chaos, and extinction, without changing the bioeconomic equilibrium point for the Pacific Halibut Fishery Model. We also show that enhancing harvest response via slope preserving increases in market demand can push the model into instability, chaos, and even extinction. Finally, we show that similar adjustments in market demand may be capable of eliminating instability and chaos rooted in powerful intrinsic growth of the stockStability Analysis, Chaos, Open-Access Fisheries, Renewable Resource Models., Environmental Economics and Policy, Production Economics,

Thinking through the box: the art teacher\u27s role in setting ideationally generative assignment parameters, and expanding students\u27 problem-finding strategies

This thesis explores the nature of generative parameters, and their present – as well as their much greater potential – function in visual art assignments. An effort of thoughtful self-study, it examines important questions that were revealed during the teaching of a fifth grade art unit. Collaboration and chance were used in that unit as productive constraints. Bringing together insights gathered from a number of sources and my own classroom action research, a theory of teaching for creative behavior is offered with suggestions for good practices in the art room. Promoting creative thinking in the art classroom does not require that students have complete freedom. Actually, the parameters or constraints that the art teacher imposes on students’ artmaking helps to focus their efforts and can lead to creative breakthroughs. The goal is that students progressively develop their own aesthetic preferences and self-impose constraints on their art. Artists must create their own problems to solve; the learning of problem-finding behavior is a major educational necessity beneficial to artmaking and nearly every other mode of human inquiry. The components of problem theory are discussed (problem identification, problem finding, and problem solving). Various conceptions of creativity are examined; most importantly, creativity as synthesis. Special attention is given to the implications of cognitive theory, stream of consciousness, synectics, randomization, exercises in empathy, analogies, and other methods of ideation for the generation of novel ideas. Elements of arousal theory, the structure of memory, and phenomenology are also referenced. Connections are made to the philosophies and techniques of prominent art figures, both historical and contemporary

The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the Washington Constitution—A Proposal to the Supreme Court

This Article traces the independent development in the case law interpreting the Washington Constitution and in the drafting of the document itself. It is the position of the authors that the strict approach and consequent rigorous, independent analysis by the Washington court is not a necessary or appropriate method of deciding church-state issues, at least in many contexts. When examining establishment clause issues under the state constitution, the Washington State Supreme Court should therefore modify its previous position and adopt a more common-sense approach in lieu of the doctrinaire rigidity that has characterized prior opinions

The Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the Washington Constitution—A Proposal to the Supreme Court

This Article traces the independent development in the case law interpreting the Washington Constitution and in the drafting of the document itself. It is the position of the authors that the strict approach and consequent rigorous, independent analysis by the Washington court is not a necessary or appropriate method of deciding church-state issues, at least in many contexts. When examining establishment clause issues under the state constitution, the Washington State Supreme Court should therefore modify its previous position and adopt a more common-sense approach in lieu of the doctrinaire rigidity that has characterized prior opinions

Meaning-making dynamics within and across workgroups : an inquiry into the creation and movement of usable knowledge in a long-term care facility in Ontario

This dissertation reports the results of a qualitative investigation of the meaning-making patterns that occur in a group of caregivers in a long-term care home. The research design included an ethnographic component to reveal the overall meaning-making dynamic in the site, and a case study focusing on a specific improvement initiative. Data was gathered over a three month period through observation, interviews, and documents. Data analysis included the creation of analytic memos, categorizing and theming, and the development of a meaning-making map to depict systematic interactions. The findings suggest that research participants have developed systemic patterns of meaning making that allow them to create experiences of coherence, purpose, identity, and competence. Eight meaning-making themes emerge from the analysis to reveal a workplace where emphasis is placed on immediate concerns and priorities, and where long-term planning and change are problematic. Caregivers begin each day by creating a coherent picture of their workplace, and they engage in brief, pragmatic interactions throughout the day to maintain their shared understanding of the unfolding context around them. Reflection upon the themes allows for the construction of a meaning-making map, which shows how knowledge of the floor (the residents who live on the floor, the staff who work there, the procedures for carrying out the work, and the physical layout and location of key resources) allows staff to accomplish tasks, and how it simultaneously limits their ability to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the work and the quality of life of residents. This study confirms previous research and policy reports that describe Canada's long-term care workplaces as highly stressed. The study also supports the contention that strategies to implement a one-way transfer of external knowledge into frontline practices will confront stubborn barriers, and that knowledge moves through processes of exchange--through relationships and interactions--rather than transfer. This inquiry extends the work of organizational researchers and theorists who have attempted to reveal the dynamics of collective learning and sensemaking in workgroups. The practical implications of this study include the importance of using existing interaction patterns as a vehicle for introducing new ideas and practices into long-term care homes, and the advisability of considering whether current long-term care staffing levels are adequate

Harnessing Complexity Science for Interprofessional Education Development: A Case Study

Background: Developing learning activities for interprofessional education (IPE) with a group of stakeholders often involves negotiation, collectivity, creativity, innovation, and unpredictable results. Theoretical approaches that can explain and support such emergent processes are needed. This case study explored the applicability of complexity science to explain the experiences of committee members as they developed learning experiences for an IPE placement in a non-acute care hospital.Methods and Findings: Data from a focus group with project steering committee members were re-analyzed through the lens of complexity science—specifically, three key principles of complex systems and five conditions for nurturing collective learning. Quotes were compared against each of these principles and conditions and, if there was a sufficient match, categorized accordingly into themes. These general themes were then sorted into clusters of sub-themes.Conclusions: Complexity science provides a useful framework for understanding the open-ended, unpredictable, and innovative IPE development process analyzed in this article. It also offers helpful practical guidelines for future learning activity and curriculum development