Longitudinal correlates of reading comprehension difficulties in Chinese children

The present study explored the early predictors of reading comprehension difficulties in Chinese children. We originally recruited 290 Beijing and 154 Hong Kong children and further selected from each sample those (30 from Beijing and 22 from Hong Kong sample) in the lowest 25 % on reading comprehension tests across the last two consecutive testing years (Beijing: ages 9 and 10; Hong Kong: ages 8 and 9) as poor comprehenders. These groups were matched to a group of children from the same sample whose reading comprehension was above 30 % across the two final years and matched on mothers’ education levels, age, nonverbal reasoning at age 4, and Chinese word reading across the same final two consecutive years. We then examined early linguistic/cognitive skills at ages 5–9 that could distinguish the poor and typically developing groups in each city separately. Compared to the control group, poor comprehenders from both samples performed significantly and consistently worse on word reading at early ages, and generally worse on morphological compounding awareness, phonological awareness, and vocabulary knowledge from ages 6 and onwards. In addition, lexical tone sensitivity across ages and grammatical sensitivity (administered at age 5 only) failed to distinguish the two groups for the Beijing sample but did for Hong Kong children.     

Broadcasting and Telecommunications

Arthur Hezlet's Electronics and Sea Power (New York: Stein & Day, 1975—$15.00)

W.M. Dalton's The Story of Radio (London: Adam Hilger Ltd., 1975—about $9.00 for each of three volumes)

Anita Klever's Women in Television (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975—$5.95)

Donald L. Guimary's Citizen's GrouRs and Broadcasting (New York: Praeger Special Studies, 1975—$14.00)

John Blair & Co.'s Statistical-Trends in Broadcasting 1975: 11th Edition (New York: John Blair & Co., 1975—$2.50, paper)

Natan Katzman's Public Television Program Content: 1974 (Washington: Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1975—price not given, paper)

James W. Brown (ed.) Educational Media Yearbook: 1975-76 (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1975—$21.95)

Alan Bermingham et al. The Small TV Studio: Equipment and Facilities (New York: Hastings House, 1975—$7.95, paper)

John H. Barwick and Stewart Kranz's Profiles in Video: Who's Using Television and How (White Plains, N.Y.: Knowledge Industries Publications, 1975— $27.50)     

Taking light for a walk

Recent research on manipulating the speed of light has established the possibility of bringing down the speed of light to a value that can be challenged by a humble bullock cart. The processes that influence the speed of light in natural and artificial materials have been investigated in depth, leading to the design of specific techniques to slow down and even store light in appropriate medium at room temperature. We introduce here the basic science of slow-light propagation in materials and artificial structures such as photonic crystals and highlight the important milestones in research on this fascinating frontier.     

“Stop and Go”: In search of new ecology and dynamics in group counselling for employees in transition

“Stop and Go” (SG) is a group counselling concept developed for employees in transition. The SG approach has its main roots in relational psychology. This article explores the ecology and the dynamics of the SG process including the simultaneous presence of societal and social (‘meso’) factors, as well as the individual assessment of the group counselling process as a restructuring of the social level. The SG dynamics create a mediating dialogical space, based on peer dialogue, of connecting, affording participants the opportunity to relate differently to the world of work.     

Promoting assessment efficacy through an integrated system for online clinical assessment of practical skills

This paper presents evaluation outcomes from an externally funded research project involving the online clinical assessment of practical skills (eCAPS) using web-based video technologies within a university medical programme. eCAPS was implemented to trial this web-based approach for promoting the efficacy of practical skills assessment in knee joint examinations for a pre-clinical cohort of second year medical students. eCAPS involves a progressive organisation of online video experiences and task expectations for formative and summative assessments of selected competencies. Data are presented from semi-structured interviews with the medical students (N?=?40). eCAPS successfully supported students’ skill development in knee joint examinations on fellow students and allowed remote assessment of candidates’ performances by clinicians experienced in musculoskeletal examinations. An ‘indicative standard’ paradigm, involving formative assessment of one randomly selected performance from the submission of all students’ responses within a small group, offered an efficient and efficacious avenue for providing consolidated feedback to students and promoted desirable learning behaviours. Overall, there was evidence of reciprocal learning benefits to the ‘blending’ of an online learning and assessment approach with an existing face-to-face environment. The medical students were able to successfully engage online with high quality and consistent practical skill-based materials in a flexible, independent and individual manner.     

Reenacted Case Scenarios for Undergraduate Healthcare Students to Illustrate Person-Centered Care in Dementia

Healthcare practitioners have suggested that interpreting person-centered care for people who have dementia to undergraduate students requires guidance in practical application. This article describes the production of a written and digital interdisciplinary educational resource for tertiary students. It uses real-life case scenarios provided by healthcare practitioners to illustrate person-centered care in practice with people who have dementia. The resource provides students with the theoretical underpinning of person-centered care and dementia as well as reflective questions that relate to the reenacted case scenarios to guide their application of this theory in practice.     

A conceptual framework for developing an activity-based approach to career counselling

The present paper develops a conceptual framework for an activity-based approach to career counselling. The main objective of this approach is to combine clients' practical activity, such as visits to educational institutions, work practices etc., with their psychological processes leading to occupational choice. Some basic ideas that are relevant to developing an activity-based approach to counselling in postmodern work life and some recent changes in work life itself and in the individuals' relation to work are discussed. These include plasticity, which emphasizes the individuals' capability and activeness in shaping both their working environment and themselves; the nonnormative nature of the developmental tasks that postmodern work life sets for the individual; the openness and nonlinear nature of the counselling process and the implications of this on the role of the counsellor; and the usefulness of conceptualizing the counselling process as a metaphorical reality. Also, some preliminary findings from a research project aimed at developing a counselling process model which is congruent with activity-based approach are presented. The implications of these findings on the framework are also discussed.