Does Cartoon Violence Beget Aggressive Behavior in Real Life? An Opposing View

A commonly accepted belief is that the violence depicted in television programs, particularly cartoons, has a negative impact on young children’s behavior. However, young children may be less inclined to emulate violent actions seen on television than currently thought. Research indicates that young children have limited comprehension of television content but relatively sophisticated moral reasoning. Children’s understanding of the immorality of violence on television and the distinction between reality and make-believe may mediate these effects, as may the comic aspect of cartoons they view. We review current research concerning the effects of cartoon violence on children’s moral understanding and behavior to with the goal of helping early childhood educators and parents make informed decisions about children’s television viewing.     

Implications of instructional psychology for the design of educational television

This article examines the implications of a cognitive model of learning for the design of educational broadcast television. Specifically examined are research studies with instructional implications for such functions as pacing, cueing, modeling, and transformation of the television presentation. Robert B. Kozma is Associate Professor at School of Education, Associate Research Scientist at the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, and Project Director, National Center for Research to Improve Post Secondary Teaching and Learning, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, 1984. Appreciation is expressed to Barbara Beath, Edward Saunders, anonymous reviewers, and students in the author’s seminar on educational television for their helpful comments.     

Components of Social Competence and Strategies of Support: Considering What to Teach and How

Decisions about how to support the development of young children’s social competence must be made on the basis of knowledge of important competencies to be developed, as well as effective strategies to support those competencies. This paper combines a broad-definition model of components of social competence (Kostelnik, Stein, Whiren, Soderman, & Gregory, 2002) with a continuum model of support strategies ranging from most to least naturalistic (Kemple, 2004). Illustrations of specific strategies to support particular competencies are provided.     

The Role of the Learning Community in the Development of Discipline Knowledge and Generic Graduate Outcomes

In this paper we describe a study of learning outcomes at a research-intensive Australian university. Three graduate outcome variables (discipline knowledge and skills, communication and problem solving, and ethical and social sensitivity) are analysed separately using OLS regression and comparisons are made of the patterns of unique contributions from four independent variables (the CEQ Good Teaching and Learning Communities Scales, and two new, independent, scales for measuring Teaching and Program Quality). Further comparisons of these patterns are made across the Schools of the university. Results support the view that teaching and program quality are not the only important determinants of students’ learning outcomes. It is concluded that, whilst it continues to be appropriate for universities to be concerned with the quality of their teaching and programs, the interactive, social and collaborative aspects of students’ learning experiences, captured in the notion of the Learning Community, are also very important determinants of graduate outcomes, and so should be included in the focus of attempts at enhancing the quality of student learning.     

Figured World of History Learning in a Social Studies Methods Classroom

This paper considers how one teacher educator, Dr. Gomez, took up revisionist history and inquiry in her social studies methods classroom. The concepts of figured worlds (Holland et al., 1998) [Holland, D., Lachicotte, W. Jr., Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (1998). Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press], and artifacts and mediation (Holland & Cole, 1995; Vygotsky 1978, 1986) [Holland, D., & Cole, M. (1995). Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 26(4), 465–490; Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; Vygotsky, L. S. (1986). Thought and language. Boston: The MIT Press] are used to present a case study. The study focuses on the artifacts that made up the figured world of history learning in Dr. Gomez’s social studies methods class and the learner identities afforded by this context. The purpose of this study is two-fold: (a) explore how teacher education classes can recruit primarily white, middle class students into a figured world of history learning that is culturally congruent with urban settings, and (b) demonstrate the application of the figured worlds framework to the study of learning in a teacher preparation program. Cecil Robinson is an assistant professor of educational psychology at The University of Alabama. His research focuses on social studies teaching and learning, technology, democracy, and hope. Address correspondence to Cecil Robinson, Campus Box 870231, Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research and Counseling, College of Education, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0231, USA; e-mail: crobinso@bamaed.ua.edu     

Innovation and development of foreign language teaching in China

Foreign language teaching has been playing a dominant role in China’s curriculum reform, especially in the present globalization of Chinese society and economy. However, the insufficient research into foreign language teaching and blindly adopting western theory demand China learn from its own experience and also develop western foreign language teaching theories that innovate and promote its education system and research. __________ Translated from Foreign Language Teaching & Research in Basic Education, 2004 (10)     

English-medium teaching in Korean higher education: policy debates and reality

This study critically examined the effectiveness of English medium instruction (EMI) policy within the context of Korean higher education, putting a special focus on its implementation strategy. The data for this study were mainly drawn from student opinion surveys and focus group interviews conducted by the CTL (Center for Teaching and Learning) at KU. The research teams also carried out supplementary interviews with both professors and students. The results indicate that, although the EMI policy seems to have produced, in general, positive outcomes (i.e., with the overall satisfaction level with EMI or its overall effectiveness in improving students’ English proficiency), the compulsory enforcement of EMI without regard to students’/instructors’ language proficiency, the lack of a much-needed support system and appropriate instructors to conduct EMI classes, and the unilateral implementation of EMI across academic disciplines have brought about a number of side effects. Based on these findings, the study recommends for future EMI policy implementation (1) a more flexible approach, considering students’ language proficiency and career plans and the characteristics of various academic disciplines and (2) more thorough preparation to implement the EMI policy (i.e., examination of the human and financial resources available for the institution concerned).     

Education and poverty in Western Europe

Conclusions Educationists in Europe have an established tradition of exploring educational disadvantage from a socio-cultural perspective, as indicated by the focus on social justice in education. Their concerns have been with relatively small-scale phenomena: the context in which particular disadvantaged groups are educated, leading to specific recommendations for local areas. Policy-makers, in contrast, are concerned with combating social exclusion at the national or Europe-wide level, primarily as a means of reducing unemployment and social unrest. The initiatives they set in motion necessarily take a wider perspective and pay little heed to diverse needs, aspirations and goals among the socially excluded. There is a need for European educationalists to increase their own awareness of the European context—not simply the national context—in which they work. They need also to develop perspectives on major European initiatives to combat social exclusion, the effects of which will remain otherwise unexplored by a community of educationalists with a history of interest in and commitment to challenging educational disadvantage. Original language: English Joanna McPake (United Kingdom) At present, Deputy Director of the Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research, University of Stirling. Formerly, Senior Researcher and Programme Manager, Scottish Council for Research in Education. Her principal research focus is on aspects of teaching and learning in school. Since 1996 she has been (with Ghazala Bhatti) co-ordinator of the Social Justice and Intercultural Education Network of the European Educational Research Association. Recent publications include: ‘A mirror to ourselves? The educational experiences of Japanese children at school in the UK’ (with J. Powney, 1998); andEducation of minority ethnic groups in Scotland (with J. Powney, S. Hall and L. Lyall, 1998). Ghazala Bhatti (United Kingdom) Ph.D. Director, Modular Master's Degree on ‘Equity and change in the public services’, University of Reading. Formerly, a primary and secondary school teacher. Her current professional interests in the field of education concern ethnicity, gender and social justice. She is the joint convenor (with Joanna McPake) of the Social Justice and Intercultural Education Network of EERA. Recent publications include:Asian children at home and at school: an ethnographic study (1999) andA journey into the unknown: an ethnographic study of Asian children (1995). This article consists of reflections on recent research presented at the European Conference on Educational Research by the joint co-ordinators of the Social Justice and Intercultural Education network of the European Educational Research Association.     

Serial Monogamy: Extended Fictions and the Television Revolution

Changes in television technology have fostered changes in how we view fiction on television. This article explores some of these changes in the context of the teenage series, Felicity (WBTV, 1998–2002). It draws comparisons with the experience of reading series fiction in print, referring to the children’s print series, The Beverly Gray College Mystery Series (Burt, Grosset & Dunlap, 1934–1955). The article also looks at the impact of the Internet on series reading and viewing.     

Television and education: A review of research

Summary The existing research on television of interest to educators was analyzed and found to be grouped into four general categories: (a) studies of the general social effects of television, (b) content analyses, (c) studies of the educational effects of television, and (d) technical studies. Studies in each of these four categories were reviewed and generalizations drawn from them. No attempt was made to review related research that is, no doubt, applicable to the problems of television. For example, the vast amount of research information developed in the audio-visual field during the past 30 years was not touched. Future investigators will find that the existing television research and the existing audio-visual research provide only a sketch map of the field of audio-visual communication. To use these important instruments wisely, and this is particularly true of television, it is necessary that we know and understand much more. This is the challenge for future research. To the knowledge of the editor, this is the first comprebensive review of educational television research to be published. The organizing of the research into four categories—general social effects, content analyses, educational effects, and technical problems—the rather detailed reviewing of the results, and the drawing of general conclusions should greatly aid the educator in understanding the unique contributions of educational television. An attempt will be made in future issues of Audio-Visual Communication Review to supplement this review of research by regularly publishing, in “Research Abstracts,” reviews of the most recent television studies. Dr. James D. Finn is Associate Professor of Education and Chairman of the Audio-Visual Education Department, University of Southern California. This paper was originally prepared at the request of the California State Department of Education for inclusion in theBrochure of Background Materials: Educational Television for the Governor’s Conference on Educational Television, held in Sacramento, California, December 15–16, 1952. It was necessary to develop the material in a very short time, and the writer wishes to express his indebtedness to F. Dean McClusky and May V. Seagoe of the University of California, Los Angeles, and to Lester F. Beck and Nicholas Rose, his colleagues at the University of Southern California, as well as to several of his graduate students for helping in locating copies of the studies reviewed.     

The Force Concept Inventory as a Measure of Students Conceptual Coherence

The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) is a multiple choice test designed to monitor students’ understanding of the conceptual domain of force and related kinematics (Hestenes et al. Physics Teacher 30:141–158 1992; Halloun et al., 1995, Online at http://modeling.asu.edu/R&E/Research.html). It has gained wide popularity among both researchers and physics instructors in the United States and elsewhere. The FCI has also been criticized, and its validity as a measure of the coherence of a student’s understanding of the force concept has been questioned. In this paper we provide a characterization of students’ conceptual coherence and a way to evaluate it using the FCI. We divide students’ conceptual coherence into three aspects: representational coherence (the ability to use multiple representations and move between them), contextual coherence (the ability to apply a concept across a variety of contexts), and conceptual framework coherence (the ability to fit related concepts together, i.e. to integrate and differentiate between them). Postinstruction FCI results and interview data from two Finnish high school groups (n=49 total) are discussed; the data provide evidence that the FCI can be used to evaluate students’ conceptual coherence—especially contextual coherence—of the force concept.     

A Preschool Pilot Study of Connecting with Others: Lessons for Teaching Social and Emotional Competence

Social-emotional learning in early childhood sets the stage for students’ future behaviors in schools. The current study examined the effects of a social-emotional skills curriculum on the behavior of students in an early childhood program. The children received instruction in social and emotional skills using the Connecting with Others: Lessons for Teaching Social and Emotional Competence program. Pre-test and post-test scores for the BASC-2 Rating Scale and the Connecting with Others Rating Scale were used to determine if the children demonstrated progress in their behaviors by the end of the intervention. The results indicated that the social skills curriculum Connecting with Others: Lessons for Teaching Social and Emotional Competence was associated with positive changes in the children’s behaviors.     

Modifying Field Instructors' Supervisory Approach Using Stage Models of Student Development

Abstract

There is a growing awareness of field instructors' need for training in their important role as educators (Abramson & Fortune, 1990; Raschick, Maypole, & Day, 1998; Raskin, 1994). Research suggests that due to workload demands field instructors tend to be expedient and practical in supervision (Rogers & McDonald, 1995), suggesting the importance of field instructor training that is relevant, accessible, and easy to implement. This article provides information about how and when MSW students typically learn certain skills coupled with a supervisory framework to help field instructors vary the structure, support, and supervisory focus of their supervision depending on the developmental level of their students. The framework is based on a synthesis of developmental stage models of students in social work (Holman & Freed, 1987; Saari, 1989) counseling, and psychology (Friedman & Kaslow, 1986; Ralph, 1980; Stoltenberg, McNeill, & Delworth, 1998). Implications for field instructor training are discussed.     

Changing concepts of equity in transforming UK higher education: implications for future pedagogies and practices in global higher education

This paper is about changing concepts of equity in UK higher education. In particular, it charts the moves from concepts about gender equality as about women’s education as a key issue in twentieth century higher education to questions of men’s education in the twenty-first century. These changing concepts of equity are linked to wider social and economic transformations, the expansion of higher education and the growth in the knowledge economy, or what has been called ‘academic capitalism’. Feminist theorists and activists, often called second wave feminists, developed concepts of gender equality in education, including higher education in the twentieth century, and these have been incorporated into higher education and policies with the expansions of higher education, especially around notions of widening participation. Notions of widening participation in policy and practice arenas focus on equity as about social class, socio-economic disadvantage, ethnicity and race, rather than specifically on gender questions. Equity is now twinned with diversity and where gender is now invoked it is largely about young and working class men’s disadvantage in relation to higher education. In this paper, I will also provide research evidence from the UK’s Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) which has been the UK’s biggest ever initiative in education research about equity and diversity as currently conceived in UK higher education. I will show how gender has been incorporated with diversity questions and has lost its critical and feminist edge. I conclude with addressing questions about the future of higher education policies and practices to address questions of equity and diversity, attempting to counter the systemic inequalities in current forms of UK higher education. There are opportunities for developing new, critical and feminist pedagogies. More inclusive or ‘connectionist’ approaches, rather than ‘teaching to the test’, would engage socially diverse men and women students in a range of higher education subjects and settings.     

Value-added measures of school effectiveness in the United Kingdom

Conclusion This paper has mostly focused on the performance of schools in terms of examination and test results. On their own, such results are insufficient for proper judgements about schools’ performance. Other pupil outcomes such as pupil attendance, capacity for independent learning, attitudes towards school and learning, behaviour and selfconcept are also important. School effectiveness research aims to investigate a broad range of educational outcomes. Examples of this approach are provided by the Junior School Project (Mortimore et al., 1988), the Lancashire project (Thomas & Mortimore, 1996) and the ISEP in Scotland (MacBeath & Mortimore, 1994) which involves collecting pupil, teacher and parent attitude data in addition to academic outcomes. Nevertheless, the main performance indicator for schools continues to be how successful they are at ensuring that as many pupils as possible achieve their full academic potential. Original language: English Sally Thomas (United Kingdom) Sally Thomas (United Kingdom) This research paper was completed via a grant awarded by the United Kingdom Economic and Social Science Research Council. I am very grateful for the helpful comments of my colleagues Louise Stoll, Pam Sammons, Harvey Goldstein and Hillary Street on a previous version of this paper.     

Effects of cooperative versus individualistic learning on cognitive, affective, metacognitive and social processes in students

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of individual versus cooperative learning on different components of students’ functioning. As a theoretical framework to analyse these processes we used CAMS model (Dansereau, 1986; O’Donnell & Dansereau, 1992), which includes four levels of students’ functioning: cognitive (C), affective (A), metacognitive (M) and social (S). 373 fifth grade students (170 in experimental group and 203 in control group) from nine different primary schools participated in the research. In the experimental group cooperative learning was introduced for one in four lessons in two subjects: mathematics and Slovene language. The control group received the traditional way of teaching. Statistical analysis showed strong positive effects of cooperative learning on achievement in both subjects. No other variable showed differential change.     

Instructional effectiveness of higher-order questions: The devil is in the detail of students’ use of questions

Research has repeatedly established that the theoretical benefits of various scaffolds do not match their actual impact on learning. It has been argued that the instructional effectiveness of scaffolds largely depends on very detailed aspects of the learning activities associated with the scaffolds within specific environments. From this perspective and, in order to predict and control learning outcomes in the context of specific instances of scaffolds, there is a need for a detailed cognitive analysis of learning activities (e.g. analyses of students’ scaffold use). Accordingly, the current study investigated how students actually use adjunct questions while studying a text and how the quantity and quality of usage determine students’ learning outcomes (performance). Forty-two university students in two conditions were required to study a short science text for 15 min. Results revealed that the quality of students’ use of instructional devices accounted for their final performance.     

Action learning for professionals: a new approach to practice

Following on from the article ‘Building Capacity in Social Care: An Evaluation of a National Programme of Action Learning Facilitator Development’ (Abbott, C., L. Burtney, and C. Wall. 2013. Action Learning: Research & Practice 10 (2): 168–177), this article describes how action learning is being introduced in Cornwall Council, UK and explores the relationship between social work and action learning in practice. In essence social work needs to perform well and achieve positive outcomes for users of its services. Cornwall Council's Children's Social Work and Psychology Services is introducing action learning for professionals as a new approach to practice.     

Using diagrams as tools for the solution of non-routine mathematical problems

The Mathematics education community has long recognized the importance of diagrams in the solution of mathematical problems. Particularly, it is stated that diagrams facilitate the solution of mathematical problems because they represent problems’ structure and information (Novick & Hurley, 2001; Diezmann, 2005). Novick and Hurley were the first to introduce three well-defined types of diagrams, that is, network, hierarchy, and matrix, which represent different problematic situations. In the present study, we investigated the effects of these types of diagrams in non-routine mathematical problem solving by contrasting students’ abilities to solve problems with and without the presence of diagrams. Structural equation modeling affirmed the existence of two first-order factors indicating the differential effects of the problems’ representation, i.e., text with diagrams and without diagrams, and a second-order factor representing general non-routine problem solving ability in mathematics. Implicative analysis showed the influence of the presence of diagrams in the problems’ hierarchical ordering. Furthermore, results provided support for other studies (e.g. Diezman & English, 2001) which documented some students’ difficulties to use diagrams efficiently for the solution of problems. We discuss the findings and provide suggestions for the efficient use of diagrams in the problem solving situation.     

Identities, social representations and critical thinking

This comment on L. Simonneaux and J. Simonneaux paper focuses on the role of identities in dealing with socio-scientific issues. We argue that there are two types of identities (social representations) influencing the students’ positions: On the one hand their social representations of the bears’ and wolves’ identities as belonging to particular countries (Slovenia versus France for bears, France and Italy for wolves), in other words, as having national identities; on the other hand representations of their own identities as belonging to the field of agricultural practitioners, and so sharing this socio-professional identity with shepherds and breeders, as opposed to ecologists. We discuss how these representations of identities influenced students’ reasoning and argumentation, blocking in some cases the evaluation of evidence. Implications for developing critical thinking and for dealing with SSI in the classrooms are outlined.