Lessons learned from more than two decades of HIV/AIDS prevention efforts: implications for people who are deaf or hard of hearing

In contrast with the nearly 30 years of HIV/AIDS research with the hearing community, data on HIV infection among persons who are deaf and hard of hearing is primarily anecdotal. Although the few available estimates suggest that deaf and hard of hearing persons are disproportionately affected by HIV infection, no surveillance systems are in place to identify either frequency or mode of HIV infection within this population. Moreover, to date, all empirically validated HIV prevention interventions have relied on communication strategies developed for persons who hear. Therefore, understanding and developing effective prevention methods is crucial for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing. The authors explore (a) factors among this population that may contribute to HIV-related behaviors, (b) four key concepts consistently included in successful interventions, and (c) practical ways in which to use this information to tailor effective intervention strategies for this population.     

Learner identity and transition: an ethnographic exploration of undergraduate trajectories

This article considers ethnographic data collected during undergraduate students’ transition to higher education. Drawing on communities of practice theory, the research focuses on the psychological process of identity as a trajectory, considering how reconciliation and negotiation of identities across and between communities influence transition. We aimed to explore the ways in which incoming identity influences participation and higher education learner identity, consider the academic practices which construct the transition experience and analyse those practices in terms of learner identity and participation. The data sources included observations, informal social interactions, one-to-one interviews and document analysis. Data collection took place over the first term of an undergraduate course. A theoretical thematic analysis was undertaken investigating the ways in which identity shaped participation, the practices that influenced participation and how participation subsequently influenced learner identity. We argue that the reconciliation of past, present and future identities is psychologically challenging for students during educational transition and this influences individual trajectories. Some practices assumed an already autonomous learner rather than enabling development of autonomy. Inability to participate in valued (and often implicit) academic practice was seen to negatively influence learner identities, delaying full participation. The focus for transition research could therefore consider enabling systems and practices which acknowledge differences and fully support successful changes in learner identity.     

Barriers in school-to-community transition.

Effective planning to resolve the school-to-community transition problems of hearing-impaired youth begins with an understanding of what the specific problems are. To identify obstacles to successful transition, survey forms were developed for three groups--the deaf, hard-of-hearing, and deaf multihandicapped--and distributed in the Pacific Northwest to educators, rehabilitation specialists, parents, and hearing-impaired youth. The respondents to the survey of deaf youth varied in their perceptions of the most significant barriers to successful transition. The majority of the top-ranked barriers were related to educational preparation and experiences. The ratings among the four groups responding to the survey of hard-of-hearing youth were more homogeneous. The major barriers identified centered on communication issues and a lack of adequate role models. The respondents to the multihandicapped survey agreed strongly that many problems create obstacles for this group and that problems appear to occur with a higher frequency for deaf multihandicapped persons than for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons.     

Strength,Sharing and Service: Restorying and the legitimation of research texts

This article uses data from a longitudinal qualitative research project exploring the experiences of elementary teachers as they both learnt and taught science in the transition from a pre‐service to an in‐service situation. Interviews, journal entries and observations were the original data sources from which case studies were derived by narrative analysis. The material used in this article concerns a single participant. The purpose is to examine a narrative device, restorying, and explore its usefulness as a way of enhancing legitimation in narrative inquiry. Three sets of criteria for legitimation of qualitative studies are suggested; a set that requires research to be conducted in ways that provide evidence of thoroughness and fairness; a set that allows the reader to experience vicariously the world of the participants; and a set concerned with the ways in which education is enhanced for researcher, participants and reader. The authors suggest that a single text cannot fully satisfy all of these criteria sets but that by using multiple tellings or restorying, the legitimation of findings in qualitative research can be enhanced.     

GIS支持下的河南省人口素质空间动态特征研究

运用G IS技术,通过分析人口结构研究1990~2005年这15年内河南省人口素质的时空特征。结果表明,河南省人均受教育年限逐年增长,人口文化素质显著提高,全省高性别比明显下降,生育观念得到改善。尽管河南省目前还处于低抚养比的黄金时期,但人口年龄结构目前已呈现老龄化趋势,应提前做好应对准备。     

Applying Research Methods to a Gerontological Population: Matching Data Collection to Characteristics of Older Persons

As Baby Boomers reach 65 years of age and methods of studying older populations are becoming increasingly varied (e.g., including mixed methods designs, on-line surveys, and video-based environments), there is renewed interest in evaluating methodologies used to collect data with older persons. The goal of this article is to examine data-collection methodologies commonly used with older persons (closed-ended, structured surveys with standardized scales, performance-based measures, secondary data sets, open-ended interviewing, grounded theory, and ethnographic work) to illustrate issues arising from the use of each research design with older adults in real-life settings. Experiences from five studies are included to show the potential role of normative age-related sensory and functional changes as well as the role of age and cohort upon method. Specific guidelines are provided about how to improve existing data-collection methods for older persons and ways to improve selection of methodologies for use in future research on aging.     

Early life adversities and polyvictimization in young persons with sexual behavior problems: A longitudinal study of child protective service referrals

There is scarce research on children and youth with sexual behavior problems (SBP) and their developmental antecedents and the research that does exist is mostly retrospective and correlational. While prior research focused on the central role of sexual victimization, recent research suggests that young persons with SBP are exposed to a series of adversities not limited to child sexual victimization and require multifaceted assessment and intervention using a developmental life course perspective. The current study includes an examination of the complete longitudinal sequence of child protective service (CPS) investigations involving young persons with SBP. The study is based on a sample of 957 youth referred to the CPS in Quebec, Canada. The data include their longitudinal sequence of referrals from birth to age 18. Semi-parametric analyses identified four trajectories of referrals with significant differences in terms of onset, frequency, types of life adversity, and polyvictimization. The trajectories suggest that a range of developmental profiles characterize young persons with SBP, with SBP often occurring after CPS contacts for compromising issues other than sexual victimization, especially parental neglect and serious behavior problems. Of importance, polyvictimization was relatively common for this group throughout childhood and adolescence, which highlights the multiintervention needs of this population.     

VOIP协议分析

VOIP是一种在Internet网络上进行语音通信的新业务。H.323、MGCP、Skype、H.248、SIP是VOIP的重要协议。本文在分析这些协议结构的基础上,研究和对比了各种VOIP协议的使用特点,为架构不同VOIP网络提出了协议选择建议。     

Issues in the school-to-work transition of hard of hearing adolescents

Career theorists emphasize the importance of the development of career maturity in adolescents if they are to successfully negotiate the school-to-work transition. Transitions of deaf and hard of hearing adolescents may be especially problematic. The authors examine the implications of current labor market trends for young people, in particular those with hearing loss, and review data on employment outcomes for deaf and hard of hearing people. They discuss the environmental and attitudinal barriers that can influence the career outcomes of this population, consider the impact of hearing loss on adolescents' career maturity, and review the studies on this topic in the literature. The article focuses on the experiences of students with significant hearing loss who are educated in regular classes with the support of itinerant teachers, who communicate orally, and who may be defined as hard of hearing. Recommendations for research and practice are provided.     

Diversified professionalism of physical education teachers in the Asian context of Hong Kong

This study investigates the socialization and professional experiences of primary school physical education teachers (PSPETs) in the Asian context of Hong Kong. A qualitative research design is adopted. The researcher used semi-structured interviews, supplemented by documentary sources (diaries) for conducting data collection. Eleven PSPETs participated in this study. Data were analysed through open axial and selective coding. The concepts of organizational sensitivity, sources of satisfaction, dealing with influential persons or critical incidents, status of the profession, educational reform as a trend, and versatile roles are revealed in the theory of ‘Diversified Professionalism’. The substantive theory thus contributes to an increased appreciation of the PSPETs’ work and to the literature on physical education teachers’ professionalization and professionalism.     

Cultural support workers and long day care services

In Australia, eligible long day care services may apply for support at the state level to assist with the transition of children from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds into childcare settings. For staff in childcare services, this support comes in the form of a cultural support worker (CSW). The primary role of a CSW is to build capacity in childcare staff to support children and families as they enter the childcare program. This paper draws on interview data and documentation from multiple sources to report the perspectives of key stakeholders affiliated with a cultural support program in an Australian childcare setting. It concludes that a more flexible approach to policy that directs the work of CSWs is needed, as well as further research into ways to build capacity for cultural competence for both CSWs and childcare staff who work collaboratively to support young children as they transition to childcare.     

现代远程教育方式下班级管理的新探索

现代远程教育的发展对班级管理提出了新的要求,班级组织形式更加松散和多元。通过对现代远程教育方式下班主任角色转换的研究,明确了班主任组织者、协调者、服务者的角色定位。通过对培养学生自主独立学习习惯的研究,明确了班级管理的目标。     

What kind of creature is a design experiment?

This article considers the emerging method of design experimentation, and its developing use in educational research. It considers the extent to which design experiments are different from other, more established, methods and the extent to which elements of established methods can be adapted for use in conjunction with them. One major issue to be addressed before the metaphors and methods of design experiments can be fully accepted is that they assume the combination of different forms of data from different sources. How this combination takes place is, as yet, unresolved. The article, therefore, looks at similar problems also faced in ‘new’ political arithmetic, research syntheses and field trials to see how lessons learned in these approaches could help in the development of the design field.     

Youth With Disabilities in Foster Care: Developing Self-Determination Within a Context of Struggle and Disempowerment

Abstract

This article focuses on the transition experiences of foster youth with disabilities, a group of students with disabilities who have often been neglected by researchers and policy makers. We begin by discussing transition outcomes for youth with disabilities, highlighting the progress that has been achieved in recent years, and noting that much of this progress is related to the effective transition planning practice of promoting self-determination. We then examine the challenging context children in foster care typically face as they move into adulthood, drawing attention to the neglect of policy and practices designed to promote self-determination for foster youth with disabilities. To do this, we describe 4 recent studies by our research group that involve this vulnerable population and stress key elements of self-determination that seem to be lacking in the context in which these youth function. We end by emphasizing the need to continue focusing on this at-risk group of young people, as well as on transition supports that promote their self-determination.     

Literacy,schooling and modernity in twentieth‐century Portugal: what population censuses can tell us

While working on the development of literacy in Portugal and comparing it with other European societies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, I not only saw how late Portugal had been in achieving this process, but also how inaccurate the available numbers about it were. I decided that as part of securing a better understanding of the Portuguese literacy and schooling acquisition processes and the way they related to modernisation in the nineteenth and twenty centuries, I had to review, organise and criticise the main sources that provide us with access to them.

Although often looked down on, one of the main sources in this field are modern population censuses, which in the Portuguese case have been carried out since 1864. These population censuses, which, to the extent that they offer an account and measure of a country's life, are in some respects true birth certificates of modern nation‐states, supply an enormous amount of information, most of which is in a raw condition and are capable of being organised so as to pursue defined objectives.

I therefore put together a research team which analysed the thirteen population censuses that were conducted between 1864 and 1991 and which organised the information gathered from a content analysis of the total of 120 volumes in such a way as to make it easier to read and understand. As part of this work we constructed literacy charts for each census, broken down by age group and gender, so as to better understand the different paths taken by Portuguese society on its way from a predominantly orally based society to a modern literate one.

This article is a brief summary of some of what I believe to be the more interesting conclusions that can be drawn from this broader research project.     

Unravelling the interplay of sources of self-efficacy in negotiating in role-play simulations of political decision-making: A longitudinal in-depth case study

This study contributes to current self-efficacy research in two ways. First, it responds to the need for more context- and competency-specific self-efficacy research by expanding the research field to the context of role-play simulations and focusing on the outcome of self-efficacy in negotiating. Second, aiming to investigate sources of self-efficacy and their interplay, the study addresses the need for more in-depth qualitative research by conducting a single holistic case study with a longitudinal design. Moreover, the study focuses on outcomes of an increase or decrease in self-efficacy over time. Data were collected during a four-day European Union simulation. Three data sources – diaries, interviews, and semi-structured observations and field notes – contributed to data convergence, ensuring that more than a single source of evidence supported findings. Four students were selected using maximum variation sampling. The final sample of 27 meaningful events – about the development of self-efficacy in negotiating – were selected by within-case sampling based on a set of inclusion criteria. Data were analyzed by means of content analysis. Three groups of sources of self-efficacy could be defined: personal sources, social sources, and contextual sources, which encompassed and enriched the four previously hypothesized sources of self-efficacy. With regard to the interplay of sources, five main pathways could be defined. Personal sources were present in all pathways. The contribution of social sources to an increase in self-efficacy was more obvious than its role in a decrease in self-efficacy. The contribution of the contextual source to the development of self-efficacy in negotiating was generally less prominent.     

Desiring to Fit: Fostering the Success of Community College Transfer Students in STEM

The United States is experiencing a dire need for individuals who possess training and expertise in areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). With over half of the nation’s students entering university environments via community colleges coupled with a large portion of this population majoring in STEM areas, the successful transition and adjustment of community college transfer students is essential to the STEM workforce. This article uses an ex post facto survey research design to examine the socialization factors that impact the transition and adjustment experiences of community college transfer students in STEM disciplines. Two hierarchical regression models are employed to examine the factors that impact the academic and social adjustment of community college transfer students in STEM majors. This research was situated using an adaptation of Weidman’s (1987) Socialization Theoretical Framework. Implications, and recommendations for policy and practice will be provided based on the overall results of this study.     

‘On the move’: primary age children in transition

The focus of this article is the experience of the growing numbers of children who, as one of the consequences of increasing globalisation, move between cultures internationally as a result of their parents' occupations. Beginning with a review of research relating to transition, the article goes on to describe a study at an international school in Thailand which, it is argued, is similar in terms of the globally‐mobile nature of its student population to many other such schools worldwide. Using a computer‐based questionnaire, the views of primary‐age children were explored in relation to various dimensions of the transition process. Findings highlighted the importance of recognising the impact of such moves on young children, and of schools being aware of the different stages of transition that children might be experiencing so that appropriate support may be provided.     

创新能力与教育的关系及其研究

培养创新能力与教育之间具有明显的关系,而我们的学校完全可以培养出更有创造力的人才。本文试图回答这些问题,许多创造性思考的模式以及培养创新能力的技巧都一一呈现给大家。培养创新能力在教育环境中的思路是无止境的,在这一领域的研究范围正在迅速扩展。