Preconvention workshops

The current situation with regard to aspects of research on learning and individual differences is briefly outlined, and the almost total absence of studies of hereditary factors in learning is underscored. It is proposed that the latter such studies will be most likely to facilitate communication between learning researchers and differential psychologists. To this end, previously unpublished data are described that bear on hereditary factors in learning task performance. Five learning tasks were administered to 84 pairs of like sexed fraternal and 128 pairs of identical twins of high school age. The significance of the increased within pair variance of the fraternal over the identical within pair variance, indicative of an hereditary component, was tested. This test suggested that for four out of the five learning tasks, there was a significant hereditary component. There also were sex differences in the importance of the hereditary component. Some directions that research into the heritable aspects of learning and acquisition should take are described.     

Student workshops and neighborhood revitalization

This paper describes an effort to integrate neighborhood technical assistance and student field training through a student workshop. In the spring of 1978, ten students in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign provided technical assistance to the South Austin Realty Association (SARA), a leading neighborhood organization in Chicago. Working in close collaboration with neighborhood leaders, the students produced a report which concluded that South Austin was an excellent location for neighborhood revitalization and that housing rehabilitation was the recommended approach for a demonstration block. The students received academic credit, a positive educational experience, and $72.87 for production costs of the finished report. Neighborhood leaders used the report to help develop plans for a project on the block, then used these plans in a proposal which resulted in a $120,062 contract from the Office of Neighborhood Development of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This paper examines the way in which students provided a neighborhood organization with a written plan, assistance in raising funds, and working relations with a university. It also examines the way in which students received substantive knowledge and skills, credentials for future education and careers, and valuable new experiences. It concludes with analysis of the major lessons learned and of the practical problems and questions for educators.This paper is based in part on work done under contract with the South Austin Realty Association to the Bureau of Urban and Regional Planning Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The views reported are solely those of the authors, not the South Austin Realty Asociation or the University of Illinois.     

Research training workshops 1985

The Australian Educational Researcher -     

Giving and taking offence

An interchange on this article will appear in a forthcoming issue.     

Creativity workshops in the regular classroom

Facebook is a frequently accessed social networking site with more than one billion active users worldwide. Although there are numerous studies on its impact on teenagers, none have investigated its impact on gifted and talented girls. This study’s aim was to understand the social media experiences of talented female student leaders. A qualitative approach, underpinned by the principles of phenomenology, was used. Individual semistructured, in-depth interviews were conducted with five participants. A modified method for phenomenological analysis was then used to distill the key essence of their experiences. This New Zealand study describes the complex challenges the participants face as users of Facebook and also argues for the value of the phenomenological method as a powerful research tool in such a study.