The role of teachers' instrumental and emotional support in students' academic buoyancy,engagement, and academic skills: A study of high school and elementary school students in different national contexts

In this investigation of high school students (N = 2510) in Singapore (Study 1) and elementary school students (N = 119) in Australia (Study 2), we examined the role of instrumental and emotional forms of teacher support in students' academic buoyancy and academic outcomes (engagement and academic skills). In both studies, perceived instrumental support (but not perceived emotional support) was positively associated with academic buoyancy (moderate effect size in Study 1, large effect in Study 2). In Study 1, academic buoyancy was positively associated with students' academic engagement (specifically, effort and persistence [large effect], perceived importance of school [moderate effect], and feelings of school belonging [moderate effect]). In Study 2 academic buoyancy was positively associated with gains in students' academic skills and engagement (specifically, class participation [large effect] and future aspirations [large effect]). In both studies, there was tentative support for a mediating role of academic buoyancy linking students' perceived teacher support to academic outcomes.     

Sexual, physical, verbal/emotional abuse and unexplained chest pain

Objectives

Approximately one third of patients with non cardiac chest pain (NCCP) report a history of abuse, however no data exists on the prevalence of abuse among people with unexplained chest pain in the general population. We aimed to determine if there is a relationship between childhood sexual, physical, emotional abuse and unexplained chest pain, and to identify whether any potential relationship is being driven by an association with psychological distress.

Methods

Subjects were identified from 2 previous random population surveys that included people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and/or functional dyspepsia (FD) and healthy controls. People in the unexplained chest pain group (n = 27) had chest pain in the past 12 months that was not heartburn or heart disease. People in the comparison group (n = 60) did not have chest pain for more than 12 months. Self-reported abuse and psychological variables were assessed using validated measures.

Results

Emotional/verbal abuse (20.8% versus 4.4%, P = 0.032) and physical abuse (16.7% versus 2.2%, P = 0.028) were significantly more common in people with unexplained chest pain versus the comparison group. Only a history of emotional/verbal abuse was a significant independent predictor of meeting criteria for unexplained chest pain (OR = 5.66; 95%CI 1.01–31.80, P = 0.049) even after controlling for IBS and/or FD (OR = 5.45; 95%CI 0.96–30.83, P = .05), but not when depression was controlled for (OR = 4.70; 95%CI 0.90–27.61), P = 0.08.

Conclusions

A history of childhood emotional/verbal abuse is a risk factor for having unexplained chest pain but the association may be moderated by psychological distress, specifically depression.     

Multilevel Mediation: Cumulative Contextual Risk,Maternal Differential Treatment,and Children's Behavior Within Families

This study tests the hypothesis that links between contextual risk and children's outcomes are partially explained by differential parenting. Using multi‐informant measurement and including up to four children per family (M_age = 3.51, SD = 2.38) in a sample of 397 families, indirect effects (through maternal differential parenting: self‐reported and observed) of cumulative contextual risk on four child outcomes were investigated. Cumulative risk was associated with higher levels of differential parenting and, in turn, with higher levels of behavioral problems. Indirect effects were strongest for attentional and social problems but also evident for aggression. The link between differential parenting and outcome was moderated by favoritism, but this was only evident for maternal report and strongest for aggression.     

Links between early oral narrative and decoding skills and later reading in a New Zealand sample*

Abstract

We examined earlier oral narrative and decoding and later reading in two samples spanning the first four years of reading instruction. The Year 1 sample (n = 44) was initially assessed after one year of instruction (M = 6; 1 years) and followed through their third year (M = 8; 1 years); the Year 2 sample (n = 34) assessed after two years of instruction (M = 7; 0 years) and followed to their fourth year (M = 9; 0 years). Oral narrative and decoding were assessed initially, oral reading, retell, and maze fluency, plus reading age, obtained at outcome. For the Year 2 sample, oral narrative and decoding contributed to oral reading and comprehension two years later. For the Year 1 sample, decoding contributed to most reading outcomes, with narrative quality uniquely predicting Year 3 retell fluency. Post-hoc exploratory analyses suggest story memory indirectly contributed to Year 3 reading via Year 2 retell.     

Associations between child sexual abuse and negative sexual experiences and revictimization among women: does measuring severity matter?

Women with histories of child sexual abuse (CSA) are more likely than those without such experiences to report a variety of negative sexual outcomes. This study examines the explanatory power of a CSA summed composite versus dichotomous (presence/absence) measurement in predicting a comprehensive negative sexual behavior outcome. Study participants were obtained from a community based sample examining women's sexual decision-making. The continuous CSA measurement reflects cumulative histories of CSA through a composite score capturing abuse specific characteristics. Using a cross-validation approach, the sample (n = 835) was randomly split and the explanatory power of each measure was examined through a series of multiple linear regressions comparing model fit indexes and performing a formal likelihood ratio test of one model against another. All CSA measures explained a similar percentage of variance but overall the CSA summed composite explained the data significantly better in terms predicting negative sexual experiences and revictimization than a binary measure as demonstrated with the likelihood ratio test. The results were replicated by cross-validating the predictive power of the CSA composite score between the split samples. Consistency of CSA regression estimates for the summed composite between training and validation samples were also confirmed. Given the superiority of the CSA summed composites over the binary variable, we recommend using this measure when examining associations between CSA histories and negative sexual experiences and revictimization.     

Development of Items for a Pedagogical Content Knowledge Test Based on Empirical Analysis of Pupils' Errors

In view of the lack of instruments for measuring biology teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), this article reports on a study about the development of PCK items for measuring teachers' knowledge of pupils' errors and ways for dealing with them. This study investigated 9th and 10th grade German pupils' (n?=?461) drawings in an achievement test about the knee-jerk in biology, which were analysed by using the inductive qualitative analysis of their content. The empirical data were used for the development of the items in the PCK test. The validation of the items was determined with think-aloud interviews of German secondary school teachers (n?=?5). If the item was determined, the reliability was tested by the results of German secondary school biology teachers (n?=?65) who took the PCK test. The results indicated that these items are satisfactorily reliable (Cronbach's alpha values ranged from 0.60 to 0.65). We suggest a larger sample size and American biology teachers be used in our further studies. The findings of this study about teachers' professional knowledge from the PCK test could provide new information about the influence of teachers' knowledge on their pupils' understanding of biology and their possible errors in learning biology.     

Individual differences in negative group work experiences in collaborative student learning

This paper reports the development of the Negative Group Work Experiences questionnaire (NGWE), an assessment tool for measuring negative experiences of group work. Study 1 involved two samples of undergraduate psychology students (second‐year sample n = 425; first‐year sample n = 443), who completed research modules incorporating substantial elements of assessed group work. Participants completed a 39‐item inventory designed to measure their negative experiences of group work as part of their general module evaluation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the second‐year sample indicated four interpretable and reliable factors: lack of group commitment, group fractionation, task disorganisation, and storming. Confirmatory factor analysis of the first‐year data set confirmed and cross‐validated the factor structure of the second‐year sample. Study 2 (n > 254) confirmed the criterion validity of the NGWE. The NGWE is proposed as a useful tool for evaluating group processes, especially in large group teaching which involves collaborative group work.     

Evidence of reflective thinking across the curriculum: college experience versus individual courses

This study investigated how individual and course-level variables across the curriculum at a four-year college (college here refers to a higher education institution that offers undergraduate education but not graduate degrees) in the southeastern US impacted student reflective thinking as measured by Kember and colleagues' [2000. Development of a questionnaire to measure the level of reflective thinking. Assessment &; Evaluation in Higher Education, 25(4): 381–395] scale. The measure includes four constructs: (1) non-thinking (i.e., habitual action), (2) understanding, (3) reflection, and the deepest level (4) critical reflection. The construct of understanding – students' assessment of their thoughtful use of knowledge – was the only measure that increased with credit hours completed. Students (n?=?802) reported more thinking to comprehend in science courses compared to business and humanities courses. An interaction of subject areas and gender showed that males reported more reflection in business courses than the humanities or science courses, and females reported the opposite (i.e., more reflection in humanities and science courses and less in business courses). All students, and especially older ones, were more likely to report thinking habits as the result of an overall college experience than from an individual course. A small set (6.23%), however, who did not report reflecting critically as the result of college did indicate that the current course prompted them to do so. Deeper habits of thinking were reported in students who were awarded course credit for participation and for those enrolled in courses taught by more experienced faculty.     

Adolescents' declining motivation to learn science: A follow‐up study

This is a mix methods follow‐up study in which we reconfirm the findings from an earlier study [Vedder‐Weiss & Fortus [ 2011 ] Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48(2), 199–216]. The findings indicate that adolescents' declining motivation to learn science, which was found in many previous studies [Galton [ 2009 ] Moving to secondary school: Initial encounters and their effects. Perspectives on Education, 2(Primary‐secondary Transfer in Science), 5–21. Retrieved from www.wellcome.ac.uk/perspectives ; Osborne, Simon, & Collins, [2003] International Journal of Science Education 25(9), 1049–1079], is not an inevitable phenomenon since it appears not to occur in Israeli democratic schools. In addition to reinforcing previous results in a different sample, new results show that the differences between the two school types are also apparent in terms of students' self‐efficacy in science learning, students' perceptions of their teachers' goals emphases, and students' perception of their peers' goals orientation. Quantitative results are accompanied by rich verbal examples of ways in which students view and articulate their own and their teachers' goal emphases. Content analysis of students' interviews showed that students in traditional schools are directed more towards goals that are external and related to the outcome of learning in comparison to democratic school students who are motivated more by goals that are internal and related to the process of learning. Structure analysis of these interviews suggests that democratic school students experience a greater sense of autonomy in their science learning than traditional school students do. Implications for research on students' motivation are discussed, such as considering not only the teacher and the classroom but also the school culture. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1057–1095, 2012     

Future Demand for Higher Education in Great Britain

The recent White Paper on The Government's Expenditure Plans 1983/84 to 1985/86 (Cmnd 8789)¹ says that "provision for higher education beyond 1985/86 when the age groups will be falling is to be reviewed." This report, which is issued with the agreement of the Scottish Education Department and the Welsh Office, presents the latest projections produced by the Department of Education and Science [DES] of the demand for higher education to the year 2000 in the light of the expected output from schools and colleges of those qualified for entry. The report gives historical series of student numbers, entrants and participation rates and explains the construction of the demand projections. On the basis of recent patterns of demand for higher education and current trends in the proportion of the age group staying on in full-time education after the age of 16, the report suggests that demand for higher education from qualified applicants is likely to be more buoyant than might be assumed from a simple view of the decline in the size of the 18-20 year-old age group. However, if the number of higher education places currently available were to be maintained, the supply of places would, sooner or later, exceed demand.     

Phonemic Representation and Early Spelling Errors in Bilingual Children

The relationship between linguistic experience and phonemic representations in spelling was investigated in two groups of Mandarin–English bilingual children (aged 5–6 years) who spoke mostly Mandarin-L1 (n = 23) or mostly English-L1 (n = 27) at home. A 60-item cloze task including high- and low-frequency words with word-initial and word-final target phonemes that are either common to Mandarin and English (/f/ and /p/), or found only in English (/v/ and /b/), was developed and administered to both groups. With performance for a neutral control phoneme /m/ matched, spelling accuracy for the common phonemes was equivalent but the Mandarin-L1 children's performance for /v/ and /b/ was significantly poorer than that of their English-L1 classmates in low-frequency words. For both groups, performance on word-final targets was poorer for English-only phonemes than common phonemes. If early literacy development depends on stored phonological representations of the first language, these findings have implications for language minority communities.     

A meta-analysis of randomized trials on clinical outcomes of paclitaxel-eluting stents versus bare-metal stents in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients

A meta-analysis was performed to address the efficacy and safety of paclitaxel-eluting stent (PES) in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify all randomized clinical trials in mortality, recurrent myocardial infarction (rMI), repeat revascularization (RR), and stent thrombosis (ST). A total of 4190 STEMI patients were enrolled in six randomized trials comparing PES with bare-metal stent (BMS). The pooled repeat revascularization rate was 5.7% in PES group, significantly lower than 10.0% in BMS group with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.56, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.44, 0.72] (P<0.00001). No significant difference was found between PES and BMS groups in mortality at one year after the indexing procedure (3.9% vs. 5.1%, OR 0.88, 95% CI [0.63, 1.21], P=0.42). Similarly, rMI rate did not differ significantly between the two groups (3.4% vs. 4.1%, OR 0.80, 95% CI [0.56, 1.13], P=0.21). PES was also associated with the comparable pooled rate of definite stent thrombosis with BMS (2.3% vs. 2.4%, OR 0.81, 95% CI [0.52, 1.26], P=0.35). The results show that PES improved clinical outcomes in STEMI patients with a decreased need for repeat revascularization and no concerns for safety.     

Effects of Parental Depressive Symptoms on Child Adjustment Moderated by Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal Activity: Within‐ and Between‐Family Risk

Child hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) activity was investigated as a moderator of parental depressive symptom effects on child behavior in an adoption sample (n = 210 families). Adoptive parents' depressive symptoms and child internalizing and externalizing were assessed at 18, 27, and 54 months, and child morning and evening HPA activity measured through salivary cortisol at 54 months. Children's daily cortisol levels and day‐to‐day variability were tested as moderators of longitudinal associations between parent and child symptoms at within‐ and between‐family levels. Mothers' symptoms related directly to child internalizing, but child evening cortisol moderated effects of fathers' symptoms on internalizing, and of both parents' symptoms on externalizing. Different paths of within‐family risk dynamics versus between‐family risk synergy were found for internalizing versus externalizing outcomes.     

Results on energies for trees with a given diameter having perfect matching

Let Γd2nbe the set of trees with a given diameter d having a perfect matching,where 2n is the number of vertex.For a tree T in Γd2n,let Pd+1be a diameter of T and q = d m,where m is the number of the edges of perfect matching inPd+1.It can be found that the trees with minimal energy in Γd2nfor four cases q = d 2,d 3,d 4,[d2],and two remarks aregiven about the trees with minimal energy in Γd2nfor2d 33q d 5 and [d2] + 1 q2d 33 1.     

Prevention: Necessary But Insufficient? A 2-Year Follow-Up of an Effective First-Grade Mathematics Intervention

We present first-grade, second-grade, and third-grade impacts for a first-grade intervention targeting the conceptual and procedural bases that support arithmetic. At-risk students (average age at pretest = 6.5) were randomly assigned to three conditions: a control group (n = 224) and two variants of the intervention (same conceptual instruction but different forms of practice: speeded [n = 211] vs. nonspeeded [n = 204]). Impacts on all first-grade content outcomes were significant and positive, but no follow-up impacts were significant. Many intervention children achieved average mathematics achievement at the end of third grade, and prior math and reading assessment performance predicted which students will require sustained intervention. Finally, projecting impacts 2 years later based on nonexperimental estimates of effects of first-grade math skills overestimates long-term intervention effects.     

Early Childhood Educators' Perceptions of Nature,Science, and Environmental Education

This study examined early childhood educators' perceptions about nature, science, and environmental education. Preservice early childhood teachers (n = 195) and early childhood professionals currently practicing in the field (n = 162) rated the importance of providing specific nature/science experiences for young children, the importance of specific nature/science learning outcomes, and their confidence implementing specific activities. Research Findings: Consistent with our hypotheses, both professionals and students rated the curricular domain of nature/science as the least important for young children in terms of experiences and learning outcomes in comparison to other curricular domains. Similarly, both professionals and students reported that they were least confident implementing nature/science activities compared to activities in other curricular domains. Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions yielded themes related to definitions of nature, specific activities in and about nature that can promote children's learning and development, and what educators need to know and be able to do in order to be effective “nature educators.” Practice or Policy: Preservice and in-service teacher professional development would benefit from (a) the inclusion of content on nature, science, and environmental education, including the interrelatedness of human and natural systems; (b) a focus on place-based education and/or emergent curriculum; and (c) the provision of experiences in nature that help teachers to develop confidence implementing activities in nature. [Supplementary material is available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Early Education & Development for the following free supplemental resource: Appendix A: Teacher Survey Questions.]     

Extreme value distributions of mixing two sequences with the same MDA

Suppose {Xi,i≥1} and {Yi, i≥1} are two independent sequences with distribution functions and , respectively. Zi,n is the combination of Xi and Yi with a probability for each I with 1≤ i≤n. The extreme value distribution GZ(x) of this particular triangular array of the i.i.d. Random variables Z1,n,… Z2,n, Zn,n is discussed. We found a new form of the extreme value distributions i)ΦAα1(x)Φα2 and ii) ψAα(x)ψα2(x)α1<α2), which are not max-stable. It occurs if FX and FY belong to the same MDA(Φ) or MDA(Ψ).     

Differences in Established Joint Attention in Hearing-Hearing and Hearing-Deaf Mother-Child Dyads: Associations With Social Competence,Settings, and Tasks

The authors examined relations among observed joint attention, maternal report of child’s social competence, setting (home vs. laboratory), task (unstructured vs. semi-structured), and dyad type [hearing mother–hearing child (n = 55, M_age = 25.8 months) vs. hearing mother–deaf child (n = 27, M_age = 26.9 months)]. Hearing child dyads scored higher on joint attention during unstructured tasks, especially in their home environment. Hearing child dyads displayed similar joint attention to deaf toddler dyads when they engaged in a semi-structured task, but higher on these measures during unstructured free play. Unlike hearing children, joint attention was differentially related to social competence in deaf children, with relatively higher versus lower social competence depending on relatively high versus low observed joint attention, respectively.