Improvement of Self-regulated Learning in Mathematics through a Hypermedia Application: Differences based on Academic Performance and Previous Knowledge.

Self-regulation on behalf of the student is crucial in learning Mathematics through hypermedia applications and is an even greater challenge in these IT environments. Two aims are formulated. First, to analyze the effectiveness of a hypermedia tool in improving perceived knowledge of self-regulatory strategies and the perceived usage of the planning, executing and assessment strategy on behalf of students with low, medium and high levels of academic performance. Second, to analyze the effectiveness of the hypermedia tool in improving perceived usage of the strategy for planning, monitoring and evaluating on behalf of students with a perceived knowledge (low, medium and high). Participants were 624 students (aged 10-13), classified into a treatment group (TG; 391) and a comparative group (CG; 233). They completed a questionnaire on perceived knowledge (Perceived Knowledge of Self-Regulatory Strategies) and another one on perceived usage of the strategy for planning, performing and evaluating (Inventory of Self-regulatory Learning Processes). Univariate covariance analyses (ANCOVAs) and Student-t tests were used. ANCOVA results were not statistically significant. However, the linear contrast indicated a significant improvement in perceived knowledge of strategies among the TG with low, medium and high academic performance (p ≤ .001). Results are discussed in the light of past and future research.

Disappearing act: decay of uniform resource locators in health care management journals.

OBJECTIVES: This study examines the problem of decay of uniform resource locators (URLs) in health care management journals and seeks to determine whether continued availability at a given URL relates to the date of publication, the type of resource, or the top-level URL domain. METHODS: The authors determined the availability of web-based resources cited in articles published in five source journals from 2002 to 2004. The data were analyzed using correlation, chi-square, and descriptive statistics. Attempts were made to locate the unavailable resources. RESULTS: After checking twice, 49.3% of the original 2,011 cited resources could not be located at the cited URL. The older the article, the more likely that URLs in the reference list of that article were inactive (r = -0.62, P<0.001, n = 1,968). There was no difference in availability across resource types (chi(2) = 5.28, df = 2, P = 0.07, n = 1,786). Whether an URL was active varied by top-level domain (chi(2) = 14.92, df = 4, P = 0.00, n = 1,786). CONCLUSIONS: URL decay is a serious problem in health care management journals. In addition to using website archiving tools like WebCite, publishers should require authors to both keep copies of Internet-based information they used and deposit copies of data with the publishers.

Modelling data across labs, genomes, space and time.

Logical models and physical specifications provide the foundation for storage, management and analysis of complex sets of data, and describe the relationships between measured data elements and metadata - the contextual descriptors that define the primary data. Here, we use imaging applications to illustrate the purpose of the various implementations of data specifications and the requirement for open, standardized, data formats to facilitate the sharing of critical digital data and metadata.

Metamorfosis de la comunicación científica: las revistas médicas en los tiempos de Internet / Metamorphosis of the scientific communication: the medical journals in the Internet era

Las revistas con revisión por partes constituye una de las bases de la comunicación del conocimiento científico. Las publicaciones científicas con selección por pares tardan meses o años en ver la luz, el número de revistas se ha incrementado y el coste de las subscripciones es gravoso para las entidades públicas y privadas. El proceso de difusión científica está en curso de profundos cambios por el vehículo de la comunicación y por la accesibilidad de la información. Internet es un potente medio de comunicación inmediata del conocimiento sin fronteras que puede transformas el desarrollo científico, sustituir las formas tradicionales de intercambio de conocimiento (revistas, congresos, etc). Sin embargo, todavía es difícil distinguir las fuentes de conocimiento fiables de otra de dudosa calidad

The peer-review journals represent a major element concerning the scientific knowledge communication. Publication of results in peer-reviewed journals typically takes or mores, the number of journal grew during the last years, and the subscription cost is critical for many private and public institutions. The Internet, the largest network of connected computers, provides immediate, dynamic, and downloadable information. The audience is broader than that for peer-reviewed journals, and will include scientists as well as the educated public. The publication on Internet is a new option for scientific communication. However, it becomes important to distinguish credible from less reliable ones