Jinyan Huang

The Editor-in-Chief is proud to announce the inaugural issue of Leadership and PolicyQuarterly, published by Untested Ideas Research Center, Niagara Falls, New York, USA.

Sachiko Nakagawa

Rosario Laratta

As in many other countries, Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) are attracting great interest and expectation among the public in Japan. However, Japanese WISEs have long operated in a less than supportive environment due to there being no special government policy for them, unlike their European counterparts. The central questions for this study, therefore, are how the development of Japanese WISEs is affected by having to operate in a political vacuum and what kind of public policy would be necessary for them to produce social innovation. In an effort to find the answers, we conducted a questionnaire survey of 300 WISEs in the field of vocational training and work for the disabled and carried out semi-structured interviews with ten WISEs selected from those which took part in the survey. In addition, we implemented informal interviews with a number of public officials. In conclusion, we contend that the introduction of government funding alone would be an inadequate solution, needing a concomitant policy to promote a “collaborative labor project” between WISEs and for-profit companies to change the current social and economic system and facilitate social innovation.

Laura Elizabeth Pinto

Financial literacy education as both policy and praxis has gained international political momentum in the years following the 2008 financial crisis. This paper analyzes how it operated with the circuit of cultural production in Canada between 2008 and 2011 by examining three moments: regulatory, representation and production. This paper contributes to a growing body of literature on financial literacy education as a cultural phenomenon, and sheds light on how financial literacy education is produced, represented and mobilized through various policy actors (governments, NGOs, the financial sector, the media, teachers, and the public) using powerful representational imagery. The circuit of culture draws attention to how financial literacy is constructed through gospels of consumption, production and representation controlled largely by neo-liberal forces, and in doing so, provides a means to disrupt policies that pathologize the individual rather than attribute economic woes to systemic factors.

Ahlam Lee

This study investigated the extent to which computer-based learning activities and selected school contextual factors affect student math achievement in high school, using the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002. In spite of a growing interest in the effect of computer-based learning activities on math performance, few large-scale studies have examined this topic. Given the evidence that computer-based learning activities can be promoted through school principals to a large extent, this study selected principal leadership as a school contextual factor. Additionally, school policy on math course requirements was selected as the other school contextual factor. Multilevel modeling analyses revealed that (a) computer-based learning activities had significant and positive effects on student math achievement and (b) principal leadership played an influential role in improving student math achievement. The results suggest that school principals should support incorporating computer-based learning activities into the math curriculum.

UI Research Center

1ST Untested Ideas International Research Conference
June 28 – 30, 2013
Niagara Falls, USA

UI Research Center

Untested Ideas (UI) Research Center is announcing a CALL FOR BOOK EDITORS to its 1st international research conference on June 28-30, 2013. The conference is being held in downtown Niagara Falls, USA.
“Advancing research methods” is the theme of the 1st UI International Research Conference. All completed manuscripts submitted to the conference will be reviewed for publications in four UI journals, eight UI books proposed specifically for this first international research conference, and conference proceedings.

UI Research Center

UI RESEARCH GRANTS PROGRAMS
UI Research Center is announcing its 2013 Research Grants Programs (UI Research Grants for New Scholars and UI Research Grants for Doctoral Students). Grants will be awarded directly to the selected recipients at the opening ceremony of the 1st UI International Research Conference on June 28, 2013.

UI Research Center

UI JOURNALS
With the goal of advancing research in the social sciences, Untested Ideas (UI) Research Center provides the researchers and scholars worldwide with resources, grants, and academic exchange platforms and channels through research interest sections, funded research projects, annual conferences, training workshops, and publications. The mission of UI Research Center is to serve the social sciences researchers and scholars in the world and aim to promote advanced and cutting-edge research methodology, publish investigations on new and untested ideas, and disseminate research findings that make original and significant contributions to the social sciences.