Intermodal Perception of Happy and Angry Expressive Behaviors by Seven-Month-Old Infants

2 studies were conducted to examine the roles of facial motion and temporal correspondences in the intermodal perception of happy and angry expressive events. 7-month-old infants saw 2 video facial expressions and heard a single vocal expression characteristic of one of the facial expressions. Infants saw either a normally lighted face (fully illuminated condition) or a moving dot display of a face (point light condition). In Study 1, one woman expressed the affects vocally, another woman expressed the affects facially, and what they said also differed. Infants in the point light condition showed a reliable preference for the affectively concordant displays, while infants in the fully illuminated condition showed no preference for the affectively concordant display. In a second study, the visual and vocal displays were produced by a single individual on one occasion and were presented to infants 5 sec out of synchrony. Infants in both conditions looked longer at the affectively concordant displays. The results of the 2 studies indicate that infants can discriminate happy and angry affective expressions on the basis of motion information, and that the temporal correspondences unifying these affective events may be affect-specific rhythms.     

Parents' views on changing communication after cochlear implantation

We sent questionnaires to families of all 288 children who had received cochlear implants at one center in the United Kingdom at least 5 years previously. Thus, it was a large, unselected group. We received 142 replies and 119 indicated that the child and family had changed their communication approach following cochlear implantation. In 113 cases the change was toward spoken language and in 6 cases the change was toward signed communication. Parents were asked to respond to statements about communication with their deaf child, and their responses indicated that parents wanted the most effective means of communication and one that their child would find most useful in the future. Findings that emerged from parents' comments indicated that the change toward greater use of spoken language was child-led and driven by increased audition. Parents also valued the contribution of signed communication.     

Metacognitive skills in Belgian third grade children (age 8 to 9) with and without mathematical learning disabilities

This paper presents a study on mathematical problem solving in third-grade pupils. The relationship between mathematics, metacognition and intelligence was investigated in children with (n = 191) and without mathematical learning disabilities (n = 268). A significant relationship was found between prediction, evaluation, intelligence, procedural and mathematical fact retrieval skills in children without mathematical learning disabilities. In the children with mathematical learning disabilities a relationship was found between metacognitive and procedural skills. No such relationship was found between intelligence and metacognition or between metacognition and mathematical fact retrieval skills. In addition it was investigated if children with mathematical learning disabilities had less adequate metacognitive skills than peers without learning problems. At group level significant differences were found between both groups. However on analyzing these results further, it was found that four out of five children with combined mathematical learning disabilities, half of the children with procedural disabilities and only 5% of the children with a retrieval deficiency had low metacognitive skills. Furthermore, metacognitive problems were found in one out of five children without learning disabilities. Moreover, a majority of the children with mathematical learning disabilities and inadequate metacognitive skills had problems with prediction and evaluation skills. Most third graders with low metacognitive skills only appeared to have problems predicting the level of difficulty of tasks. Inaccurate evaluations were found on a more regular basis in children with mathematical learning disabilities and inadequate metacognitive skills as opposed to the sample of children with inadequate metacognitive skills but without learning difficulties, where their occurrence was rather a one off. The implications of this study for diagnosis and treatment will be discussed later in this paper.     

Perceptions of the relevance of mathematics and science: Further analysis of an Australian longitudinal study

The media portray girls' achievement in mathematics and science as equal to or better than male performance. This paper reports on a longitudinal study based on Years 7–12. One of the disturbing features of these data is the extremely poor perceptions that students, both male and female, have of performance in mathematics and science in the earlier years of high school. These data suggest the need to examine students' changing perceptions in the transition years from primary school to high school. Despite there having been substantial improvement in girls' perceptions of how they have performed in mathematics and science, proportionately fewer females elect to undertake studies at the higher levels of mathematics, physics and chemistry. The data suggest that year 9 is crucial. The perspective that girls have unequivocally arrived has been challenged.     

Facilitating student well-being: relationships do matter

Background: Alongside academic and vocational goals, schools are increasingly being called upon to address student well-being. Existing evidence suggests that strong relationships and a sense of connectedness in school communities are important for fostering subjective well-being. However, identifying the specific nature of such relational dynamics, and accommodating the ‘personal’ within school cultures increasingly dominated by ‘performance’ narratives, remains a problematic task.

Purpose: This paper draws on Honneth’s recognition theory to offer fresh insight into how relationships act to facilitate and limit the experience of well-being at school. We suggest that such an approach holds considerable potential for developing teachers’ understanding of the tacit and explicit ways they and their students experience being cared for, respected and valued and the ways in which such actions impact on well-being.

Design and methods: The paper reports the qualitative findings from a large mixed-method study, involving students and staff across primary and secondary schools in three regions of Australia. The qualitative phase involved focus groups with 606 primary and secondary students and individual interviews with 89 teachers and principals.

Results: Across the focus groups and interviews, students and teachers placed substantial emphasis on the importance of relationships, while reporting differences in their views about which relationships support well-being. Alongside this, there were differences in the importance teachers and students placed on each of the three strands of Honneth’s recognition theory (translated for this study as being cared for, respected and valued) for influencing student well-being.

Conclusions: The findings affirm the critical role that relationships play in promoting well-being in the context of schools. Using recognition theory to analyse students’ and teachers’ views and experiences of well-being provides much greater insight into how these relationships are enacted – this being through the mutual experience of being cared for, respected and valued – within the context of schools.     

Quantitative Methods — An Integrated Approach

This article is a brief discussion of some approaches to the occasionally problematic subject of Quantitative Methods courses for students following Hospitality/Catering/Tourisrn courses, and derives from Anne Pitcher's own experience in teaching Quantitative Methods to first year students on a degree course in Hospitality Managemen.     

The combined effects of dosage level and interstimulus interval on the formation of one-trial poison-based aversions in rats

Adult male rats were allowed to drink a novel solution of sodium saccharin which was followed .5, 1.5, 4.5, 7.0, 13.5, or 24.0 h later by intubation of a .9, 2.7, 8.1, or 12.15% (w/v) solution of sodium chloride (NaCl). Three days after the single training trial, consumption of saccharin was again measured. Significant differences between groups were found. When consumption by the experimental groups at each CS-UCS delay was compared with that of the isotonic NaCl (.9%) control group, it was found that all groups showed aversions at delays of .5, 1.5, and 4.5 h. Animals intubated with 8.1% or 12.15% NaCl solution also showed aversions at a delay of 7.0 h, and those intubated with the 12.15% solution showed an aversion at a delay of 13.5 h. No NaCl concentration used produced aversions at a CS-UCS interval of 24.0. These results reflect differences in the effectiveness of a range of NaCl concentrations in producing one-trial aversions at long CS-UCS intervals.     

By design: Professional learning ecologies to develop primary school teachers’ makerspaces pedagogical capabilities

Makerspaces embody a growing movement of educators promoting constructionist learning with physical materials and digital technologies such as 3D design and 3D printing. As it gains traction in K-12 settings, the maker movement represents an interesting context in which to explore how professional ecologies can equip teachers with the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed to implement twenty-first century learning in their school context. This study investigated the roles of different participants from industry, school leadership and colleagues in influencing teachers’ confidence, enthusiasm, capabilities and beliefs when teaching in makerspaces. Utilising triangulated observations of activities through online questionnaires at beginning, middle and end points, as well as postproject interviews, the study explored the participation of 27 primary school teachers in a blended professional learning programme, followed by classroom delivery of modules focusing on tablet-based 3D design applications and the use of newly instaled 3D printers. Reporting no prior knowledge or experience with makerspaces, quantitative analyses revealed significant increases in teachers’ confidence and enthusiasm. Qualitative analyses of questionnaire and interview data underscored the influence of hands-on and theoretically grounded professional learning providing practical exposure to constructionist ideas, design thinking methodologies and 3D design technologies. Findings reveal the importance of targeted professional learning coupled with a substantial collegially supported implementation phase, as well as support from school leaders and industry partners to promote meaningful pedagogical change in technology-mediated maker-based learning.