The current research extends three research areas in relational demography: considering deep-level dissimilarity in theory building, assessing dissimilarity perceptions directly in theory testing, and examining the antecedents of dissimilarity perceptions. The results, based on two field studies using diverse samples, demonstrate the effects of…

This research explores, within the framework of Relevance Theory, how children's ability to answer questions and explain their answers develops between the ages of 3 and 9 years. Two hundred and ten normally developing Finnish-speaking children participated in this study. The children were asked questions requiring processing of inferential…

Grammars of signed languages tend to be based on grammars established for written languages, particularly the written language in use in the surrounding hearing community of a sign language. Such grammars presuppose categories of discrete elements which are combined into various sorts of structures. Recent analyses of signed languages go beyond…

Closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) are used by many elderly people who have age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The functional vision of 68 participants, which was measured immediately after they adopted CCTVs, suggested successful outcomes, but the psychosocial impact of the use of CCTVs did not peak until a month later. The findings help…

Methodological rigor consists of a series of elements that, in combination, determine the confidence with which conclusions can be drawn from the evaluation results. These elements include evaluation design, conceptualization of constructs, measurement strategies, time frames, program integrity, and others. The authors examine the factors that…

As with other sectors of education, further education seems to be locked in endless change with policy unable to resolve what have become to be regarded as intractable problems. In turn, much is expected of teachers who are left to resolve the competing pressures they are placed under. Evidence suggests that they expend much emotional labour and…

This research investigated the value added to middle school public education by pedagogically trained college students. An experimental design was employed in which 680 middle school pupils were randomly assigned to instructional groups. University arts and sciences students were put into two groups on the basis of those with formal teacher…

The purpose of this article is to analyze the meaning and presumptions of competence in the concrete context of knowledge capitalism. First, the nature of competence as a "commodification of human ability" that obtains a standardized monetary value to sell in the labor market, is elucidated by applying Karl Marx's critical theory. Second, it is…

This study explored staff perception of organizational climate, including the impact of gender on staff interactions with faculty and students and staff perceptions of workplace satisfaction within the community college. The overarching research question guiding this study was, What are noninstructional staff perceptions of the community college…

"Institutional context" has come to play an important role in the explanation of differences in "effectiveness" between schools. But what is meant by such a concept differs from system to system. In this study we typify education systems based on indicators of institutional contexts such as: the financial base of public-private…

Previous studies haves shown that under masked priming conditions, CORNER primes CORN as strongly as TEACHER primes TEACH and more strongly than BROTHEL primes BROTH. This result has been taken as evidence of a purely structural level of representation at which words are decomposed into morphological constituents in a manner that is independent of…

T. S. Braver and colleagues (e.g., T. S. Braver, J. D. Cohen, & D. M. Barch, 2002) have provided a theory of cognitive control that focuses on the role of context processing. According to their theory, an underlying context-processing mechanism is responsible for the cognitive control functions of attention, inhibition, and working memory. In the…

While researchers have studied the use and value of educational software for many years, study of school Web sites and/or their effectiveness is limited. In this investigation, we identified goals and functions of school Web sites and used the foundations of effective Web site design to develop an evaluation checklist. We then applied these…

In moving information onto a computer, people generally assume that the format and presentation have little effect on the information itself. Every online educator should consider the effect on students of the electronic presentation of information, however, as that assumption is questionable. Although many writers have investigated the computer…

"Context". The word pervades the literature on adult and continuing education. For adult education practitioners and researchers alike, understanding the beliefs and actions of their educational place continues to be of significant concern, and rightfully so. That adults wish to have their histories, experiences, and abilities appreciated and…