The purpose of the study was to identify and refine a conceptual foundation for secondary school engineering education. Specifically, this study sought to address the following research questions: (1) What engineering concepts are present in literature related to the nature and philosophy of engineering?; (2) What engineering concepts are embedded…

Purpose: Applications of online Second Life (SL) prevail over the world. The purpose of this paper is to make a review and synthesis of recent research studies on SL. Design/methodology/approach: Documental analysis is employed. Totally, 135 research publications, published in 2006-2008, are reviewed and synthesized. Findings: Findings are as…

Meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MA-SEM) is increasingly being used to assess model-fit for variables' interrelations synthesized across studies. MA-SEM researchers have analyzed synthesized correlation matrices using structural equation modeling (SEM) estimation that is designed for covariance matrices. This can produce incorrect…

This paper considers the bottom-up vision of the learning society. Unlike the top-down approach, the bottom-up approach does not start by specifying the purposes of learning which should direct the development of the learning society, but from observing interactions among learning individuals as agents. While in the relevant literature and…

The problem of combining information to estimate standardized partial regression coefficients in a linear model is considered. A combined estimate obtained from the pooled correlation matrix is proposed, and its large sample distribution is obtained. This estimate can be generalized to address situations in which not every study measures every…

A discussion of the importance of discussing a game's strategy after the game activity, in order that the purpose is not masked by involvement in details. (HB)

Summarizing recent research, this article defines the functions performed by the left and right sides of the human brain. Attention is given to the right side, or the nondominant side, of the brain and its potential in terms of perception of the environment, music, art, geometry, and the aesthetics. (JC)

Tested first-grade children four times throughout the year on tasks of synthesis (phoneme blending) and analysis (deletion and tapping). Task analysis emphasizes the differing cognitive demands of the tasks. The deletion task in particular taps a phonemic knowledge that is truly reciprocal in its relation to reading. (Author/NH)

Calls for a synthesis of beneficial elitism and beneficial populism to ensure excellence for all. Suggests that Robert Penn Warren's views on how to collapse dualisms between these two philosophies provides the key to their synthesis. Concludes by comparing differences between elitism and populism and examining questions raised by Ralph Smith's…

Using 52 previous reviews of the early intervention efficacy literature, the article demonstrates the value of systematically considering previous reviews before initiating a new review. The authors suggest that tabulations of conclusions of reviews serve as hypotheses to be confirmed or rejected by objective synthesis methods. (Author/DB)

The need for research synthesis is explored as well as the benefits of meta-analysis, particularly those related to understanding and explanation. The problems with traditional review methods are discussed, with special relevance to their failure to resolve problems. Finally, the findings from several meta-analyses are summarized and contrasted…

Information age communication skills that are being neglected include message compression, decoding and interpreting, kinesics, information synthesis, visual literacy, and rapid analysis and evaluation of message validity. Among ways to improve these skills are concentrating on transitional skills, adopting a holistic approach, increasing lateral…

A method for providing a synthesis of the perspective that a text producer gives to a text in the moment of its production is presented in the form of a dialogue between reader and author. Perspective Text Analysis, the system presented, is a basic methodological part of a larger system of analyses. Linguistic data in the form of free text…

Reviews the development of techniques for synthesizing perbromate compounds, summarizes their properties, and discusses reasons why they were so difficult to prepare. (AL)