New Directions in Social Skills Assessment and Intervention for Elementary and Middle School Students

Social skills are important to the successful social and academic functioning of all students and play a significant role in avoiding or preventing negative responses from others. Social skills also are important aspects of effective schools. In this article, we emphasize the assessment and intervention of the academic side of social skills. That is, we examine the role that social skills play in facilitating individuals' learning and creation of a school environment where others can feel supported and motivated to learn. As a basis for this examination, we first review several key studies documenting interrelations among social skills and academic competence. Next, we briefly review current assessment practices focusing on rating scale methods for documenting students' social skills and perceptions of social support. Finally, we introduce an instructional approach called the Responsive Classroom (Charney, 1992) that has been shown to advance the development of elementary and middle school students' social skills and academic achievement, and result in supportive school environments for learners and teachers. We conclude with recommendations for researchers and practitioners to continue to consider the strong interrelations among social skills, academic functioning, and social support when working with all students in elementary and middle schools.     

试论小学教师设计数学活动的技能

教师通过设计数学活动,能够激发学生兴趣,让学生获得数学活动经验,培养学生的数学理解能力和应用能力。从概念界定、功能、构成要素、类型、应用要点等几个方面阐述小学教师设计数学活动的技能。     

Career Decision-Making Skills of High School Students in The Bahamas

The purpose of the study was to examine the confidence level in career decision-making of Bahamian adolescents in the high schools in Nassau, Bahamas, investigating factors that influence one's level of confidence in career decision-making. The Career Decision Scale along with a demographic survey were administered to 385 11th and 12th graders to examine six factors which measured the effects and/or interaction effects of influences on confidence in career decision-making. Two MANOVAs and the appropriate follow-up statistics (Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference post hoc tests) were used to determine differences and interaction effects among the variables measuring the level of career decision-making skills. Based on the findings of the study the researcher concluded that for Bahamian adolescents, the type of school, the grade level, and a visit to the school guidance office were significant factors that influenced one's level of confidence in career decision-making.     

营养好不好?睡眠足不足?锻炼够不够?——我国中小学生身体发展条件调查研究

中小学生身体发展问题是教育政策研究领域中重要但又缺乏应有关注的课题。本研究基于全国10省20市(县)20153名中小学生的分层抽样面板数据,以学生的营养供给、睡眠时间、体育锻炼时间为衡量中小学生身体发展条件的指标,对当前我国中小学生的身体发展条件状况进行全面考察。研究发现:(1)从低年级到高年级,学生的营养供给水平逐渐增高,但睡眠时间和体育锻炼时间逐渐减少;(2)从村屯到城市,学生的营养供给水平逐渐增高,日均体育锻炼时间逐渐增多,但在睡眠时间方面城乡无显著差异;(3)从学困生到学优生,学生的营养供给水平逐渐增高,睡眠时间和体育锻炼时间逐渐增多。根据以上发现,对如何有效促进中小学生的身体发展提出了建议。     

Environmental Knowledge of Elementary School Students in Greece

Abstract

The education system in Greece has responded promptly to the need for environmental education (EE). However, the existing lack of relevant research may limit the functionality of EE programs in Greece. In this study the goal was to develop a baseline database that would allow effective planning of EE. Specifically, the study was conducted to provide information on the environmental knowledge of 5th and 6th graders in a Greek city. A total of 686 students were surveyed. The results indicated that children's knowledge about the environment is influenced by their immediate experience as well as by the content of their textbooks.     

Test Anxiety in Elementary and Secondary School Students

In this article., we review the literature on the development of test anxiety in elementary and secondary school children. Recent theoretical conceptualizations of anxiety are presented. Anxiety is posited to be a multidimensional construct that has roots in how parents react to children's early achievement strivings. Its ontogeny is tied to children's developing capacity to interpret their school performance relative to their previous performance, to the performance of other children, as well as to the increasingly strict evaluative practices children encounter as they move through school. Intervention strategies for alleviating anxious children's poor performance in evaluative situations are discussed. Important issues for future anxiety research are presented, including the need for new measures of children's anxiety and for a more thorough assessment of both individual differences in how students experience anxiety and the developmental course 0f the components of anxiety.     

系统化师范技能培养模式的建构

培养适应社会需求的合格的师范专业人才,就必须不断地提高学生的师范技能。文章从加强师范生基本技能训练;借用微格训练,探究多形式教学技能培养方案;加强实践教学环节,建立实习实训基地三方面提出了师范技能培养的新模式。     

Elementary School Students’ Mental Computation Proficiencies

Mental computation helps children understand how numbers work, how to make decisions about procedures, and how to create different strategies to solve math problems. Although researchers agree on the importance of mental computation skills, they debate how to help students develop these skills. The present study explored the existing literature in order to identify key points that are related to students’ use of different mental calculation strategies in a variety of settings and their conceptual understanding of those strategies.     

小学高年级阅读教学中如何渗透写作技巧

作为小学高年级语文教学的重要环节,阅读教学具有着不可替代的作用,然而在以往的教学中教师往往忽视了对写作技巧的渗透,导致学生写作能力不强,写作素材匮乏,语言表述模糊,之于学生语文素养的培养极为不利。本文将对小学高年级语文教学中读写结合的必要性加以探讨和分析,并论述阅读和写作教学的有效结合方法,全面提高语文阅读教学的实效性,从而促进学生读写能力的协调发展。     

论基于网络的小学生研究性学习

研究性学习以其开放性、探究性和实践性等特点掀起了一场学生学习方式的革命。在小学阶段开展研究性学习,尤其是在信息技术背景下基于网络的研究性学习,对于优化学生的学习方式、促进教师教学方式的改变、培养小学生的创新精神和实践能力都具有非常重要的作用。本文根据研究性学习的特点,就小学阶段开展信息技术背景下基于网络的研究性学习的原因、小学生研究性学习的网络环境建设及基于网络的小学生研究性学习的基本流程进行了探讨。     

Predicting Foreign Language Reading Achievement in Elementary School Students

This study examined whether factors affecting first language reading acquisition also affect English Foreign Language (EFL) reading acquisition. Hebrew (L1) and EFL reading related measures were administrated to 145 fourth graders from the north of Israel who were beginning their first year of English instruction. Results from a Linear Structural Equational Analysis (LISREL) showed that the Hebrew independent variable consisting of morphological and phonological awareness, orthographic ability, and word reading (accuracy and speed) predicted EFL knowledge of letter sounds and names, word attack and reading comprehension. In addition to the Hebrew independent variable, English word recognition (accuracy and speed) predicted English reading comprehension. These results support the Linguistic Coding Differences Hypothesis (LCDH), which argues for core linguistic abilities that influence first and subsequent language reading acquisition.     

小学生核心素养培养的学科策略

核心素养及其培养已经成为当下中国教育界的热门话题。本文首先分析小学阶段学生核心素养培养的重要性。接着对小学阶段学生核心素养培养的重点学科进行了具体分析,指出各学科在学生核心素养培养中既有共同任务又各有侧重和特色。因此既要善于整合各学科共同的核心素养培育任务,又要善于保持各学科在培养核心素养中的特点,这样才能做到"共育""个育"相得益彰,"共性"和"个性"并进发展。文章第三部分提出了小学生核心素养培养的五大学科策略:明确共同使命,显现学科特色,优化课堂教学,提升学科教师素养,激发学生学科学习潜能。     

The Quality and Impact of Relationships between Elementary School Students and Teachers

The purpose of the present study was to begin to examine, from the expectancy-value framework, several cognitive and motivational variables believed to affect the development of the student/teacher relationship and, in turn, classroom success. Guided by the expectancy-value framework, three student variables are viewed as essential in guiding the success of the student/teacher relationship: (1) their social self-concept beliefs, (2) the value they place on developing a positive relationship with their primary teacher, and (3) their nonverbal communication skills. Eighty-two fourth- and fifth-grade students participated in the study. Variation in the students' perceptions of the quality of their relationship with their primary teacher and their classroom achievement were examined. In general, results suggest students develop schemas, their social self-concept beliefs, about their relationships with teachers that are consistent with their nonverbal communication skills. Furthermore, results suggest that for both positive perceptions of the relationship and academic achievement, valuing the relationship with the primary teacher may compensate for nonverbal difficulties.     

Moral Reasoning and Conduct of Selected Elementary School Students

Abstract

In order to explore the relationship between moral reasoning and conduct, 38 Grade Six students, deemed by their teachers to display ‘delinquent’ or ‘non‐delinquent’ characteristics, were administered Kohlberg's Moral Judgment Instrument (Kohlberg et al., 1973) and an IQ test. Subjects were then randomly assigned to three treatment groups: a) experimental‐‐discussion of moral dilemmas; b) placebo‐‐social studies games; c) control. A month later Kohlberg's instrument was readministered.

Findings indicated that ‘delinquents’ and ‘non‐delinquents’ differed significantly (p = .001) on moral reasoning scores at both testing times. There was no statistically significant treatment effect (p = .06). Intelligence quotient was significantly and positively related to moral reasoning for ‘non‐delinquents’, but not for ‘delinquents’.     

师范生教学技能考核实践探索

为了加强综合性大学的"师范性",提高师范生的教学技能水平,一些综合性大学进行了一些探索和改革——尝试建立了由一般技能、学科特色技能和综合技能构成的师范生教学技能结构体系,研制出了中学、小学和学前各类师范生的教学技能考核标准,并建立了规范化的教学技能考核制度。通过研究证明,教学技能考核已初步显示出良好的效果,具有一定的实践价值和推广意义。     

小学生参与数学课堂学习的问卷调查研究

为实现“教学为教、以学定教、顺学而导”的课堂教学理念,文章采样了三个省计七千余位教师与学生,获得了学生在课堂上的行为投入、情感投入、认知投入三个方面的具体情况,并以此为依据,分析了师生对三种投入方式观察的差异,表明在当下的小学数学课堂里,是教师不当的教学泯灭了学生对数学天然的兴趣;而当学生在课堂上体验到了多巴胺系统对他们正确预测的奖励,他们也能够激发内在动机,进而努力达到更深层次的学习;但是如果没有绕弯路、犯错误和重新找到学习道路的过程,数学技能与思维推理,都不能在兴趣的引领下,进入知识的本质.     

Development and Testing of a Curriculum to Improve Decision-Making Skills in Middle and High School Students

Adolescence is a key developmental period for developing and strengthening brain circuits that underlie effective decision-making skills, which profoundly impact lifelong health and academic, professional, and economic achievement. But decision-making skills are learned rather than inherent. School presents an ideal environment for the direct instruction and frequent practice of decision-making skills, however, finding time in the school day is a challenge for contemporary educators. We have developed a learning curriculum that involves active student participation to strengthen decision-making skills that is sufficiently flexible and adaptable to be utilized in a wide variety of content-specific classwork. Using this curriculum, students show evidence of improved decision-making skills, including increased consideration of the number of factors that are relevant to their decision, the resources needed to make a particular decision, and both the short-term and long-term consequences of decisions.     

Supporting Scientific Experimentation and Reasoning in Young Elementary School Students

Researchers from multiple perspectives have shown that young students can engage in the scientific reasoning involved in science experimentation. However, there is little research on how well these young students learn in inquiry-based learning environments that focus on using scientific experimentation strategies to learn new scientific information. This work investigates young children’s science concept learning via inquiry-based instruction on the thermodynamics system in a developmentally appropriate, technology-supported learning environment. First- and third-grade students participate in three sets of guided experimentation activities that involve using handheld computers to measure change in temperature given different types of insulation materials. Findings from pre- and post-comparisons show that students at both grade levels are able to learn about the thermodynamics system through engaging in the guided experiment activities. The instruction groups outperformed the control groups on multiple measures of thermodynamics knowledge, and the older children outperform the younger children. Knowledge gains are discussed in the context of mental models of the thermodynamics system that include the individual concepts mentioned above and the relationships between them. This work suggests that young students can benefit from science instruction centered on experimentation activities. It shows the benefits of presenting complex scientific information authentic contexts and the importance of providing the necessary scaffolding for meaningful scientific inquiry and experimentation.     

Multimodal Training Improves Spatial Reasoning Skills in Female College Students

Journal of Science Education and Technology - Spatial reasoning is a valuable cognitive tool which enables navigation of the body in relation to other objects in space, permits deconstruction of...