Ferroic materials: A primer

The subject of ferroic materials encompasses a large number of topics in materials science in general, and physics in particular. An overall perspective is presented in a simple, reasonably nontechnical language. The vast application potential of ferroic materials is highlighted.     

Media Research: a graduate student's primer

The purpose of this paper is to trace the historical emphasis and development of media-related research. The positive and negative aspects of this research are reviewed. Early research with its inherent methodological problems is followed by more recent studies involving aptitude treatment interaction. Recommendations by practitioners and researchers alike, as well as trends for future research, are presented. This paper should provide the novice media researcher with an introduction, review and current thinking on media-related research activities.     

Depression,suicide, and the gifted student: A primer for the school psychologist

Growing up gifted often means growing up “different.” As schools struggle to provide appropriately designed interventions for student mental health issues, the role of the school psychologist is becoming increasingly important. In the present article, the role of the school psychologist is discussed, particularly as related to helping gifted students who may be manifesting symptoms of depression, suicidal ideation, and potentially suicidal behavior. Further, a holistic intervention approach is advocated and that accounts for four growth factors—intrapersonal, interpersonal, environmental/contextual, and developmental. Importantly, the specific strategies discussed are designed to help the school psychologist in their many capacities of helping gifted students thrive. Increasingly, however, it must also be recognized that the role of the school psychologist has expanded in recent years, and thus many of the intervention strategies offered may require a team of professionals to effectively implement. Regardless, the strategies discussed are designed to help gifted students thrive in the school setting.     

A primer of research on cognitive strategy instruction: The important issues and how to address them

Five types of strategy research are reviewed. (1) We argue it makes sense first to determine whether there is a need for strategy instruction. If there is, (2) development of a treatment with preliminary evaluations can follow, as can (3) formal evaluation of the resultant intervention in true experiments. As instructional need research, strategy development, and experimental evaluation proceed, two other types of research should be conducted. (4) It is important to study the acceptability of strategy interventions to educators and students. (5) Research on material modifications can provide information about how strategy benefits can be made available to students when strategy instruction is not effective or unlikely to occur. Very little strategy instruction has been evaluated in all five types of research covered here, making obvious the need for more systematic research on strategies. Observational, ethnographic, and experimental methods are required in order to address the many issues comprising comprehensive empirical analysis of any type of strategy instruction, with many recommendations made here about how to conduct informative studies.     

Problem-solving analysis: A piagetian study

Fifty-nine second-year medical students were asked to solve 12 Piagetian formal operational tasks. The purpose was to describe the formal logical characteristics of this medical student sample (59 of a total 65 possible) in terms of their abilities to solve problems in four formal logical schemata-combinatorial logic, probabilistic reasoning, propositional logic, and proportional reasoning. These tasks were presented as videotape demonstrations or in written form, depending on whether or not equipment manipulation was required, and were scored using conventional, prespecified scoring criteria. The results of this study show approximately 96% of the sample function at the transitional (Piaget's 3A level) stage of formal operations on all tasks and approximately 4% function at the full formal (Piaget's 3B level) stage of formal operations on all tasks. This sample demonstrates formal level thinking to a much greater degree than other samples reported in the literature to date and suggests these students are adequately prepared and developed to meet the challenge of their training (i.e., medical problem solving).