To Spin or Not to Spin?

The alarm has just gone off. Do I really have to get up? I wonder. Originally, signing up for an early-morning spinning class seemed like a good idea; it jump-starts the day with some well-needed exercise.     

Does Parental Mind‐Mindedness Account for Cross‐Cultural Differences in Preschoolers’ Theory of Mind?

This study of 241 parent–child dyads from the United Kingdom (N = 120, M_age = 3.92, SD = 0.53) and Hong Kong (N = 121, M_age = 3.99, SD = 0.50) breaks new ground by adopting a cross‐cultural approach to investigate children's theory of mind and parental mind‐mindedness. Relative to the Hong Kong sample, U.K. children showed superior theory‐of‐mind performance and U.K. parents showed greater levels of mind‐mindedness. Within both cultures parental mind‐mindedness was correlated with theory of mind. Mind‐mindedness also accounted for cultural differences in preschoolers’ theory of mind. We argue that children's family environments might shed light on how culture shapes children's theory of mind.     

To rubric or not to rubric? The effects of self-assessment on self-regulation,performance and self-efficacy

The objective of this study was to compare the effects of situations in which self-assessment was conducted using rubrics and situations in which no specific self-assessment tool was used. Two hundred and eighteen third-year pre-service teachers were assigned to either non-rubric or rubric self-assessment for designing a conceptual map. They then assessed their own maps. The dependent variables were self-regulation measured through a questionnaire and an open question on learning strategies use, performance based on an expert-assigned score, accuracy comparing self-scores with the expert’s scores and task stress using one self-reported item. The results showed that the rubric group reported higher learning strategies use, performance and accuracy. However, the rubric group also reported more problems coping with stress and higher performance/avoidance self-regulation that was detrimental to learning.     

The Impact of Postmodernism on Counseling: Boon or Bane?

This article explores the impact of postmodernism on counseling theory and practice. First, it provides an overview of theoretical frameworks of postmodernism. Next, it examines the effects of postmodernism on counseling theories and modalities. Then, it identifies the strengths and limitations of postmodern counseling and points out that one way to address these limitations is to find a synthesis of modernism and postmodernism. Finally, it recommends that the Chinese traditional theory of Yin and Yang might be helpful to such a synthesis. A caveat is: though postmodernism has much to contribute to counseling theory and practice, critical and reflective thinking on its impact is warranted.     

To lie or not to lie? The influence of parenting and theory-of-mind understanding on three-year-old children’s honesty

Prior studies have demonstrated that social-cognitive factors such as children’s false-belief understanding and parenting style are related to children’s lie-telling behaviors. The present study aimed to investigate how earlier forms of theory-of-mind understanding contribute to children’s lie-telling as well as how parenting practices are related to children’s antisocial lie-telling behaviors (rather than prosocial lie-telling as examined in previous studies). Seventy-three three-year-olds from Hangzhou, P. R. China were asked not to peek at a toy in the experimenter’s absence. The majority of children who peeked, lied about it. Children’s lies were positively related to performance on the knowledge-ignorance theory-of-mind task. Additionally, Control parenting, characterized by high levels of monitoring and demanding, unquestioning obedience, was negatively related to three-year-olds’ lying. The relation between Control parenting and lie-telling was partially mediated by children’s theory-of-mind understanding. These findings suggest that children’s early lie-telling behaviors are influenced by social and social-cognitive factors.     

The Dynamics of Metaphors: Class‐Inclusion or Comparison?

In current literature, metaphor is treated as either an instance of implicit comparison or as a nonliteral class‐inclusion statement. I will argue that, contrary to these positions, the notions of comparison and class‐inclusion are not mutually exclusive in character but rather complementary cognitive concepts which entail one another. While initially using the semantic distinction between literal and figurative language, I will argue in the course of this article that metaphor is a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language and that it reflects linguistic pragmatics rather than semantics. The most prominent reasons for resorting to the extraordinary use of language may be found in education, where metaphor serves a heuristic function in the interaction between teacher and student, and in scientific activities, when researchers have at their disposal only a restricted dictionary to describe new phenomena. Executive function, flashbulb memory, and the firing of neurons are examples from cognitive psychology and neuroscience that denominate phenomena that might otherwise not have been adequately expressed. I will conclude that metaphors are both comparisons as well as class‐inclusion statements and that these tropes fulfill not only a heuristic but also an epistemic function in as much as they render comprehensible the acquisition of radically new knowledge.     

The Way to Wealth and the Way to Leisure: The Impact of College Education on Graduates’ Earnings and Hours of Work

This study extends the analysis of the economic return of college education up to 10 years after college education and further examines the impact of college education on graduates’ hours of work. The results suggest that variation in hours of work explains a portion of earnings differentials among college graduates. Graduates from high-quality private institutions tend to work longer hours than their peers from other types of institutions. Female graduates spend fewer hours working than their male counterparts. As far as family background is concerned, graduates from high-income families tend to work longer hours and first-generation college graduates tend to work fewer hours. Finally, business majors seem to work longer hours while health and public affair majors less hours.

To Study or to Sleep? The Academic Costs of Extra Studying at the Expense of Sleep

This longitudinal study examined how nightly variations in adolescents’ study and sleep time are associated with academic problems on the following day. Participants (N = 535, 9th grade M_age = 14.88) completed daily diaries every day for 14 days in 9th, 10th, and 12th grades. Results suggest that regardless of how much a student generally studies each day, if that student sacrifices sleep time to study more than usual, he or she will have more trouble understanding material taught in class and be more likely to struggle on an assignment or test the following day. Because students are increasingly likely to sacrifice sleep time for studying in the latter years of high school, this negative dynamic becomes increasingly prevalent over time.     

Feeling obliged to “Do Well” or “Not to Fail”? The distinction between approach and avoidance dimensions of oughts

The present studies examined the proposition that there are approach and avoidance dimensions in feelings of obligations, that are associated with a specific network of behaviors, affect, and cognitions in achievement situations. Across 4 studies, results indicated that being motivated by ought-approach was associated with significantly higher positive affect and persistence compared with being motivated by ought-avoidance. Also, arousal and affect could be explained by one's disposition for approach- or avoidance-based oughts. Being motivated by ought-approach was significantly more adaptive compared with avoidance and multiple-ought terms. It was concluded that obligations based on approach or avoidance tendencies represent diverse motivational systems with different cognitions and affective responses.     

Problems of Interdisciplinarity: Evidence‐Based and/or Artist‐Led Research?

Art education as a distinct academic discipline is relatively recent and closely related to the growth of specialist teacher qualification programmes in university education departments. Opportunities for art teachers to engage in research were first provided in advanced diploma courses and specialist masters programmes set up in university education departments. Later these were followed by specialist doctoral degrees. Since the majority of such programmes are located in education departments, research training has tended to be social science based. Recently there has been a flurry of publications by art and art education specialists devoted to explaining and extolling the idea of art practice as an alternative paradigm. This article analyses and discusses this development and the status of research in the specialist field, drawing on the author's recent experience of carrying out two systematic reviews of studies in art education. It examines strengths and weaknesses in the two research paradigms and suggests ways forward for improving training in art education research.     

The Caregiving Environment and Developmental Outcomes of Preterm Infants: Diathesis Stress or Differential Susceptibility Effects?

The interactions between premature birth and the caregiving environment on infants' cognitive and social functioning were examined. Participants were 150 infants (83 preterm, 67 full‐term) and their parents. When infants were 6 months old, parents reported on their levels of emotional distress, and triadic family interactions were filmed and coded. At 12 months of age, the infants' cognitive and social functioning was assessed. Prematurity moderated the effects of maternal (but not paternal) emotional distress and triadic interactions on infants' cognitive and social outcomes. Whereas for cognitive functioning the interactions were consistent with a diathesis–stress approach, for social functioning the interactions were consistent with a differential susceptibility approach. The differential effects of the caregiving environment between groups and outcomes are discussed.     

To work or to continue to higher education? The choice of senior secondary students in Shenzhen, China

In the planning and development of highereducation, it is necessary to understand the majorfactors affecting senior secondary students' decisionson whether to continue to higher education or to enterinto labor force. This is particularly important incountries shifting from a centrally-planned economy toa market-oriented economy where individuals areallowed free choice. This study in 1997 surveyed theeducational intentions of 1,513 senior secondarystudents in Shenzhen, the first and largest SpecialEconomic Zone (SEZ) in China which has adopted amarket-oriented economy and an open door policy for thelast two decades. Ninety percent of students in thestudy opted to continue into higher education oncompletion of senior secondary education. Theyexpected a much higher rate of return to highereducation than the remaining ten percent of studentswho opted to work after completing senior secondaryeducation. The analysis of logistic regression usedin this study reveals that students' expected rate ofreturn to higher education has a positive andsignificant effect on their intention to pursue highereducation, after controlling for the effects of thestudents' gender, family background and ability. Itis evident that students in this study acted inaccordance with predictions in the human capitaltheory in making their choice of higher education orwork in the market-oriented economy sector of China. This pattern of educational choice has importantbearing on the development of higher education indeveloping countries.     

Do Parents Foster Self‐Esteem? Testing the Prospective Impact of Parent Closeness on Adolescent Self‐Esteem

Close parent–child relationships are viewed as important for the development of global self‐esteem. Cross‐sectional research supports this hypothesis, but longitudinal studies provide inconsistent prospective effects. The current study uses data from Germany (N = 982) and the United States (N = 451) to test longitudinal relations between parent–child closeness and adolescent self‐esteem. The authors used self‐, parent‐, and observer‐reported parent–child closeness and self‐reported self‐esteem from ages 12 to 16. Results replicated concurrent correlations found in the literature, but six longitudinal models failed to show prospective relations. Thus, the longitudinal effect of parent–child closeness and self‐esteem is difficult to detect with adolescent samples. These findings suggest the need for additional theorizing about influences on adolescent self‐esteem development and longitudinal research with younger samples.     

To be or not to be? Discursive resources for (Dis‐)identifying with science‐related careers

One of the main objectives of many science educators is to enroll students into science majors and careers. Researchers have investigated students' views of science in terms of factors and influences that guide students to choose science as a career. However, few investigations exist that have studied the forms of language culture makes available for articulating possible careers generally or the ways of grounding (justifying) these possibilities particularly. The purpose of this study is to investigate ways of using language for supporting justifications of career choices in an interview situation. Thirteen high school biology students were interviewed about their career choices. Drawing on discursive psychology as theory and method, we identify four interpretative repertoires that are deployed during the interviews: the (a) formative, (b) performative, (c) consequent, and (d) potential repertoires. These interpretative repertoires do not merely characterize the discourse about different science‐related professions but in fact co‐articulate different science‐related identities. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 1114–1136, 2009     

To Split or to Unify?-A Comparative Study on Functional Equivalence Translation Theory and Relevance Translation Theory

Functional equivalence,a focus in the translation studies,has been bombarded with numerous criticisms.Meanwhile,relevance translation theory,proposed by Ernst-August Gutt,offers a united theoretical framework for translation studies.The development of the translation theories does not rely on the appearance of a brand-new theory,but on the successful connection among various theories.To split or to unify,it is a question and it will direct the further development of translation studies.Analyzing the similarities and differences between these two theories,the author are striving for a unity of them and striking a better way to approach translation studies.     

The Cultural Practice of“Instant Messaging”and Its Effect on Language

By tracing the history of instant messaging(IM),comparing the language used in English IM to historical English,and reviewing the current state of syntax and vocabulary used in IM,some predictions for the future of language can be made.     

Why Is Performance on Multiple‐Choice Tests and Constructed‐Response Tests Not More Closely Related? Theory and an Empirical Test*

Both professional certification and academic tests rely heavily on multiple‐choice questions, despite the widespread belief that alternate, constructed‐response questions are superior measures of a test taker's understanding of the underlying material. Empirically, the search for a link between these two assessment metrics has met with limited success, leading some researchers to conclude that the relationship is close and others to conclude that no relationship exists at all. The authors suggest that “knowledge level” may play a key role in explaining this disparity in findings. This article outlines the theory for such a concept, and investigates the possibility using 172 carefully constructed tests in several entry‐level programming classes. The article also discusses several caveats that suggest the usefulness of yet further research in the area.     

Voices of disaffection: disengaged and disruptive youths or agents of change and self‐empowerment?

This article presents findings from research conducted into school disaffection in the north of England. Bourdieu's concept of capital is utilised to explore the perspectives of 14‐ to 16‐year‐old girls undertaking vocational learning as a strategy for re‐engagement. Data emanate from semi‐structured interviews in which social and linguistic capital in school is identified as a privileged feature of a select few. Thus, within the field of education, capital facilitates student empowerment, whereupon the lack of such can lead to marginalisation, disaffection and, subsequently, disengagement. However, voice is presented as a powerful mechanism for challenging the existing inequities of compulsory schooling in England by validating unacknowledged capital, recognising agency, and thus facilitating the self‐empowerment of disaffected young people. Schools are encouraged to rethink their political stance to consider the potentially detrimental impact of a discourse that validates the dominant sociocultural capital and empowers only those students whose individual dispositions align with institutional practices.     

Breadth and Balance? The Impact of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies on Art in the Primary School

This paper presents the findings of a small-scale qualitative research enquiry into some of the effects on the primary school art curriculum of the introduction of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies in 1988 and 1999. Five art curriculum co-ordinators and an additional part time specialist art teacher, drawn from five inner city primary schools in two London boroughs, were the subject of a semi-structured interview designed to elicit data on the broad changes in primary art education. Key external factors were the introduction of the Art National Curriculum in 1992, its subsequent development and its current condition during a period of ‘relaxation’ of the Orders, following the government's introduction of the Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. Little official attention has been given to other, perhaps unintended, outcomes of the latter strategy across the curriculum. This study gives an insight into the experience and perceptions of some of those carrying the responsibility for leadership of art in school in the primary phase.