Making sense of science in the reception class

In the context of growing awareness of young children's capabilities, and debates about the nature of their reasoning in science, this study set out to explore the ways in which reception children make sense of classroom experiences in science. A particular challenge of the study was to develop appropriate and productive approaches to investigating young children's developing thinking. The first phase of research, reported in this paper, concentrated on the topic of electricity. A series of case studies was undertaken to examine children's learning in a classroom context. Classroom sessions were video recorded and transcribed to examine the development of children's practical competence in circuit making, and interviews were carried out to elicit children's views about electric circuits. Analysis of the classroom sessions revealed children's growing competence in circuit making through their self‐directed efforts. The interviews prompted predictions and explanations that were not offered spontaneously. Responses indicated a range of models of the circuit and forms of explanation for what was happening in the circuit. The relationship between children's practical competence, predictions and explanations was not straightforward. Analysis revealed marked differences in models of the circuit and forms of explanation in children with the same levels of practical competence. This has important implications for the ways in which children's views are assessed.     

Making sense of the development of inclusive practices

Schools in England are currently being asked to pay greater attention to the issue of educational inclusion. This paper reports some of the findings of a collaborative action research Network that was set up to address the implications of this trend. The Network involves teams of university researchers in working with practitioners in order to encourage the development of inclusive practices. As a result of this work, it is argued that the development of such practices is not about adopting ‘recipes’ of the sort described in much of the existing literature. Rather, it involves social learning processes that occur within a given workplace. The paper attempts to provide deeper understandings of what these processes involve. To assist in this analysis use is made of the idea of ‘communities of practice’, as developed by Etienne Wenger, focusing specifically on the way he sees learning as a characteristic of practice. It is argued that the development of inclusive practices involves collaborative working arrangements; that they can be encouraged by engagement with various forms of evidence that interrupt ways of thinking; and that the space that is created through such interruptions can enable those involved to recognize overlooked or, indeed, new possibilities for moving practice forward.     

Self-regulated strategy development instruction for writing an opinion essay: Effects for six students with emotional/behavior disorders

A multiple-probe across-subjects design was used to examine persuasive writing performance of six 2^nd- through 5th- grade students with emotional/behavior disorders (EBD). Students’ writing was evaluated before and after self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) instruction for the POW (Pick my idea, Organize my notes, Write and say more) + TREE (Topic sentence, Reasons – three or more, Ending, Examine) strategy. Students’ essays written during and immediately after instruction indicated that the students had learned to write independently a persuasive essay with five parts. Generalization and maintenance performance, however, varied across students and appeared to be associated with behavior as opposed to the inability to transfer or remember the strategy.     

Making sense of stewardship: metaphorical thinking and the environment

This paper sketches the fundamental characteristics of metaphorical language which enable it to subserve not only the shaping of particular discourses, but also crucial aspects of our powers of enquiry and understanding. It argues that without metaphorical creativity we cannot make adequate sense of the more complex and open‐ended aspects of our experience. This is illustrated from the way in which we deploy the closely related key environmental metaphors of ‘stewardship’ and ‘natural capital’, including the more specific ‘real option’ sub‐version of the latter idea reported on by other contributions to this Special Issue. But a condition of making such thinking operational and socially productive is the development of a genuine learning society.     

Characteristics of frequently cited articles related to children's emotional/behavioral disorders

The purpose of this article was to identify and characterize frequently cited journal publications in the field of emotional/behavioral disorders in children from 1976 to 1985. Based on the frequency of citations in the Social Science Citation Index, 25 frequently cited articles were identified. These articles were compared with randomly selected articles on a number of characteristics (e.g., funding source, research design, statistical method). Implications related to the characteristics and quality of articles that influence the field of emotional/behavioral disorders were discussed.     

Characteristics of the population of deaf and hard of hearing students with emotional disturbance in Illinois

The study summarizes a database for the years 1994-1999 on deaf and hard of hearing students in Illinois with a diagnosis of emotional disturbance (N = 115). Data are reported on the group's demographic, domestic, etiologic, communication-related, and intervention-related characteristics. These dually diagnosed students differed from Illinois's general population of deaf and hard of hearing students in many ways, including higher incidences of prematurity, prenatal trauma, and perinatal trauma. They were more likely to have had a later onset of hearing loss, to live in single-parent homes, to belong to an ethnic minority, to live in an urban or suburban area, and to qualify for low-income health care. Many had histories of abuse, 50% were regularly medicated, and 15% were assigned to surrogate parents.     

Changes in reports and incidence of child abuse following natural disasters

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research was to investigate if there is a higher incidence of child abuse following major natural disasters. METHODOLOGY: Child abuse reports and substantiations were analyzed, by county, for 1 year before and after Hurricane Hugo, the Loma Prieta Earthquake. and Hurricane Andrew. Counties were included if damage was widespread, the county was part of a presidential disaster declaration, and if there was a stable data collection system in place. RESULTS: Based on analyses of numbers, rates, and proportions, child abuse reports were disproportionately higher in the quarter and half year following two of the three disaster events (Hurricane Hugo and Loma Prieta Earthquake). CONCLUSIONS: Most, but not all, of the evidence presented indicates that child abuse escalates after major disasters. Conceptual and methodological issues need to be resolved to more conclusively answer the question about whether or not child abuse increases in the wake of natural disasters. Replications of this research are needed based on more recent disaster events.     

Sex differences in the emotional behavior of three strains of laboratory rat

Sex differences in the emotional behavior of three strains of rats were investigated, using a variety of measures taken during the initial 2 min of open-field exposure and after a loud bell had sounded. Animals were tested either in a clean open field or in one containing the odor of a same-sex conspecific. No general overall sex differences for a variety of measures associated with emotional reactivity were found, so the results did not support the theory that male rats are more “emotional” than females. Sex differences for particular measures associated with emotional responsiveness were found, but these varied with the strain, measure, and odor condition: The latter was found to be particularly important.     

The retention effects of an adult's emotional displays on infant behavior

The goal of this investigation was to study the regulatory retention effects of an adult's emotional displays on infant behavior. In Study 1, 11- and 14-month-old infants were tested in a social-referencing-like paradigm in which a 1-hr delay was imposed between the exposure trials and the test trial. In Study 2, 11-month-olds were tested in the same paradigm, but the delay between the exposure trials and the test trial was only 3 min. Study 1 revealed that 14-month-olds, but not 11-month-olds, demonstrated behavior regulatory effects toward the target object linked to the adult's emotional displays. Study 2 indicated that 11-month-olds were affected by the emotional displays if the delay between exposure and test trials was brief enough.     

Children's reports of emotional,physical and sexual maltreatment by educational staff in Israel

OBJECTIVES: This paper reports on the first nationally representative study on the prevalence of emotional, physical, and sexual victimization of children by school staff in Israel. The study identifies groups of children that are at higher risk for such maltreatment. We examine the differences in staff-induced victimization by the children's gender, age group (junior high vs. high school), cultural groups (Jewish non-religious, Jewish-religious and Arab schools) and by socioeconomic status of the children's families. METHOD: The study is based on a nationally representative sample of 10,410 Israeli students in Grades 7-11 in 161 schools across Israel. Students completed questionnaires during class. In addition, we obtained data on the socioeconomic status of the families of the students in each school. RESULTS: Overall, children reported high rates of victimization by staff members. Almost a quarter of all children participating in this study reported being emotionally maltreated by a staff member, almost a fifth (18.7%) reported being a victim of at least one type of physical forms of maltreatment, and 8.2% reported on at least one sexually inappropriate behavior by a staff member. The most vulnerable groups for all types of maltreatment were males, children in junior high schools, children in Arab schools, and children in schools with a high concentration of students coming from low-income and low-education families. CONCLUSIONS: The overall prevalence rates of staff maltreatment should be considered high and unacceptable. Although rates of physical and sexual maltreatment were lower than emotional maltreatment, they were still high and are worthy of greater attention. Both cultural beliefs and low family socioeconomic status increase vulnerability to staff maltreatment. We suggest conducting an educational campaign to reduce rates of staff maltreatment. We also recommend allocating more resources to support staff in low SES neighborhoods, to alleviate their stress and to provide them with the support that would reduce maltreatment of children in the educational system.     

The effects of teaching self-determination skills on the externalizing behaviors of students with emotional behavioral disorders

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of teaching self- determination skills on the externalizing behaviors of students with emotional and behavioral disorders. The Research method was quasi experimental with pre and post- test and control group. To achieve our goals, thirty students who received high scores in the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were selected and randomly assigned to either the experimental group (N = 15) or the control group (N = 15). Students in the experimental group participated in 16 sessions (1 session per week) receiving Self determination curriculum (Field and Hoffman’s model) intervention, and the control group did not receive any training. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) by participants was completed before and after intervention. MANOVA was used for data analysis. The findings showed that the effects of teaching self- determination skills on decreasing the externalizing behaviors of students with emotional and behavioral disorders was significant. The emerged finding can have clinical applications in prevention and treatment of student’s behavioral disorders. Implications and future directions for research and practice are discussed.     

Effects of response options on the mathematics performance of secondary students with emotional or behavioral disorders

ABSTRACT

This study examined the effects of three response options (traditional responding, response cards, and response systems) on the mathematics performance, participation, and time on-task of secondary students with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD). A three-way crossover design was utilized to evaluate the efficacy of response options in secondary mathematics classrooms. Thirty-three students with EBD attending an urban high school and their teachers served as participants. Results indicated that the use of response cards (white boards) or response systems (ActivResponders) significantly increased students’ mathematics performance, participation, and time on-task when compared to traditional responding. Further, the use of response cards resulted in significant increases in performance and response accuracy over the increases found when using response systems. Social validity data indicated that students and teachers felt they benefited from the use of response cards and systems. Limitations, discussions, and implications for practice and future research are presented.     

Students with emotional/behavioral disorders and transition planning: What the follow‐up studies tell us

This paper will examine the current literature and implications of follow‐up studies of students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) focusing on the postschool outcomes of this population. The examination of the follow‐up studies gave a perspective of transition and postschool outcomes for youths with EBD. In our research, we found 22 follow‐up studies that examined the EBD population as a subset of a larger pool of youths with disabilities, yet found only eight studies that examined the EBD population exclusively. When compared to the multitude of studies done with other disability categories (e.g., learning disabled, mild or moderately retarded) the adult outcomes of youth with EBD have not been studied as extensively. This synthesis of the literature on follow‐up studies should act as a reference in the revision or updating of curriculum and programming for communities, school boards, educators, counselors, parents, and students. A general conclusion drawn by the literature reviewed was that students with EBD also have lower grades, more course failures, a higher grade retention, and a higher dropout rate than other disability groups and the general population. A re‐evaluation of school programs (e.g., general/special education curriculum) and policies (e.g., transition planning) must occur if these postschool outcomes for youths with EBD are to improve. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A comparative study of off-campus and on-campus master of arts degree programs in learning disabilities and emotional disturbance

The Division of Educational Studies at the University of Northern Colorado undertook an investigation to compare and evaluate graduate students' satisfaction with and their perceptions of the effectiveness of the off-campus Master of Arts Degree Program in Special Education. This program, which prepared students to teach children and youth identified as learning disabled and emotionally disturbed, was compared with the on-campus program. Statistically significant differences were found in the areas of program service delivery and importance of program competencies. There were no differences exhibited when comparing knowledge of program competencies and perceptions of overall program. Due to these findings, future development and research of well-planned extended degree programs are encouraged.This study was conducted in part under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Education: Office of Special Education Grant Number G008001002.The authors wish to thank William L. Wansart for developing the questionnaire used in this study.     

Cross-cultural learning in virtual reality environment: facilitating cross-cultural understanding,trait emotional intelligence,and sense of presence

Educational technology research and development - Cross-cultural learning projects were carried out in learning environments created using Web 1.0 or Web 2.0 technologies in previous related...     

Making sense of genetics: Students' knowledge use during problem solving in a high school genetics class

Interest in including ideas about the nature of science in instruction and research has led to the realization that, in addition to developing courses which offer students experience with science practice, it is important to understand the ways in which students learn and use science knowledge within such courses. The study reported here is based on a particular view of the nature of scientific practice: Science is collaborative; scientists use knowledge in the construction of new knowledge; and scientists' understanding of problems and problem-solving strategies change during knowledge construction. Given this perspective, the study examines the ways in which students in an innovative high school genetics class collaborate to construct knowledge as they develop genetics models. In this classroom, students use three kinds of knowledge: knowledge of genetics, permitting them to recognize anomalous aspects of new data and providing a template from which to develop new models; knowledge of the process of model revision, helping them make decisions about how to develop new models; and knowledge of their own problem-solving strategies, allowing them to “keep track” of what they have done, as well as make connections between the development of new models and their knowledge of genetics. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

论张翎小说中的生命意识

在当今海外华文女作家中,张翎以其开放的文化眼光和独特的精神气质而独树一帜。她的作品蕴含了丰富的生命意识,有对人类择水而居的生命隐喻,有对人类共性的积极探讨,有对美好生活的孜孜以求,有对苦难命运的坚忍超越,也有对人生无常的清醒认识,更有对人性光辉、人情温暖的揭示和悲天悯人的宗教情怀。所有这些无不体现了张翎对人类命运的哲学思考和对生命的终极关怀。     

浅谈手风琴乐感的培养训练

手风琴的音乐魅力在于"情"与"琴"的结合.这种音乐感觉对于学习和演奏手风琴是至关重要的.在学习和演奏中,我们必须着意培养和提高这种音乐感觉,方法是把演奏技巧和基本乐理的学习同步化;自我欣赏倾听自己的琴声;恰到好处地控制音箱来取得手风琴音乐的活力.