An Examination of Mathematics Professional Development Opportunities in Early Childhood Settings

This study investigates how and to what extent preservice and inservice early childhood educators are being prepared to develop mathematics skills and processes in young children, age birth to five, in one southeastern state in the United States. Utilizing a multi-phase mixed methods study and a follow-up survey central to the research question, findings from this study indicate that professional development in mathematics is inadequate. Few of the professional development opportunities focus on specific mathematical content areas or address the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. In addition, the majority of the professional development opportunities are short, hourly sessions with little to no follow-up. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Self-compassion: a potential resource for young women athletes

Self-compassion has demonstrated many psychological benefits (Neff, 2009). In an effort to explore self-compassion as a potential resource for young women athletes, we explored relations among self-compassion, proneness to self-conscious emotions (i.e., shame, guilt-free shame, guilt, shame-free guilt, authentic pride, and hubristic pride), and potentially unhealthy self-evaluative thoughts and behaviors (i.e., social physique anxiety, obligatory exercise, objectified body consciousness, fear of failure, and fear of negative evaluation). Young women athletes (N = 151; Mage = 15.1 years) participated in this study. Self-compassion was negatively related to shame proneness, guilt-free shame proneness, social physique anxiety, objectified body consciousness, fear of failure, and fear of negative evaluation. In support of theoretical propositions, self-compassion explained variance beyond self-esteem on shame proneness, guilt-free shame proneness, shame-free guilt proneness, objectified body consciousness, fear of failure, and fear of negative evaluation. Results suggest that, in addition to self-esteem promotion, self-compassion development may be beneficial in cultivating positive sport experiences for young women.     

这个大学润物无声

正计算机学院的24小时辅导因为在国内读信息管理专业,到俄勒冈大学交换的第二个学期,我需要在计算机学院选课。为扎实基础,弥补没有学好基础编程的遗憾,我选了原本为大一学生开设的JAVA课程。教授叫Michal,是个扎马尾的中年男人,造型和长相都有点像布拉德皮特(偷笑)。上课之前我就找他说明了自己的情况:比     

Connect,build, develop: Forming effective liaison strategies through peer mentoring and partnership

Many studies show that e-book awareness and usage is growing. Using vendor-supplied usage statistics for business and economics e-books, the authors sought to determine if a few titles accounted for a large percentage of usage. If proven, the authors hoped to be able to develop collections strategies to maximize e-book usage. Focusing on three providers, SpringerLink, NetLibrary, and eBrary, results showed that annually, a small number of titles accounted for a large percentage of usage. However, over the collection's lifetime, a higher percentage of titles were used. A small collection of Patron Driven Acquisition eAudio books were also examined.     

Aligning goals, assessments, and activities: an approach to teaching PCR and gel electrophoresis

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and gel electrophoresis have become common techniques used in undergraduate molecular and cell biology labs. Although students enjoy learning these techniques, they often cannot fully comprehend and analyze the outcomes of their experiments because of a disconnect between concepts taught in lecture and experiments done in lab. Here we report the development and implementation of novel exercises that integrate the biological concepts of DNA structure and replication with the techniques of PCR and gel electrophoresis. Learning goals were defined based on concepts taught throughout the cell biology lab course and learning objectives specific to the PCR and gel electrophoresis lab. Exercises developed to promote critical thinking and target the underlying concepts of PCR, primer design, gel analysis, and troubleshooting were incorporated into an existing lab unit based on the detection of genetically modified organisms. Evaluative assessments for each exercise were aligned with the learning goals and used to measure student learning achievements. Our analysis found that the exercises were effective in enhancing student understanding of these concepts as shown by student performance across all learning goals. The new materials were particularly helpful in acquiring relevant knowledge, fostering critical-thinking skills, and uncovering prevalent misconceptions.     

Peer deviancy training and peer coercion: dual processes associated with early-onset conduct problems

The prospective relationships of conduct problems and peer coercion and deviancy training during kindergarten (mean age = 5.3 years) to overt and covert conduct problems in third-fourth grade were examined in a sample of 267 boys and girls. Coercion and deviancy training were distinct peer processes. Both were associated with earlier child conduct problems but were differentially associated with child impulsivity, verbal ability, anxiety, peer rejection, and deviant peer affiliation. Coercion by peers predicted overt conduct problems and peer deviancy training and the interaction of deviancy training and coercion predicted covert conduct problems in third-fourth grade. Peer deviancy training occurs in early childhood and may serve as an independent risk mechanism in addition to peer coercion for early-onset, persisting conduct problems.     

Mapping the literature of health education: 2006–2008

Objectives:

The study updates Schloman''s 1997 study, “Mapping the Literature of Health Education.” The authors identify an updated list of core health education journals and determine the coverage of these journals by electronic indexes.

Methods:

Citations from four source journals for the years 2006 to 2008 were analyzed using the established methodology of the “Mapping the Literature of Allied Health Project.” The cited journals were divided into three zones of productivity by using Bradford''s Law of Scattering.

Results:

There were 19,907 citations in 602 source articles. Journal articles were the most commonly cited format type. Of the 1,896 journal titles cited, 20 (1.1%) made up the core journals. Together, the fields of medicine, health education, and psychology accounted for 85.0% of the journals in the core. Self-citation was found to be a common practice in the source journals. Scopus had the broadest journal coverage of the indexes examined.

Conclusions:

The results of this study provide a new picture of the health education literature: The volume has grown significantly, cites older materials, and relies less on sexual health journals and more on psychology journals.

Highlights

• Three of the four health education journals in this study showed a statistically significant increase in the number of journal articles published since 1993.
• The majority of core journals in the field are from medicine (35.0%), health education (30.0%), and psychology (20.0%), with the largest change in core journal make-up being an increase in psychology journals.
• Scopus provided the most thorough coverage of the cited journals, followed by MEDLINE, Social Sciences Citation Index, and CINAHL Plus with Full Text.

Implications

• Reference librarians should instruct users on more sophisticated ways to manage the growing volume of the health education literature.
• Collection development librarians may need to purchase and retain older materials to support health education research.
• Librarians should purchase and direct patrons to a variety of databases to completely cover the literature of medicine, health education, and psychology.

     

Every Voice Matters: The Importance of Advocacy

Over the years parents, professionals, and politicians have come together to advocate on behalf of children’s rights. Advocacy can occur individually, collectively, or a combination of both. Although some advocacy efforts are more successful than others, it is the process of the advocacy and voices behind it that matter most. In this guest editorial, the history of two major advocacy organizations and ideas for becoming an advocate are discussed.     

Ensuring Communication Research Makes a Difference

Rephrasing the forum question to “How can we ensure communication research has a positive effect on communication practice?” focuses on the present, points to a specific purpose for communication research, emphasizes the scope and type of difference to be made, and places accountability and responsibility on researchers. In general, the public has not found the expertise of communication scholars. The essay addresses ways to overcome this research to practice dilemma: establishing a common framework, complementing the top-down research approach with a practice-driven, bottom-up approach, and adjusting research and practice assumptions.