Contemporary Perspectives on the Meaning,Roles, and Implications of Chance in Evolution

Science & Education -     

“You don’t have to travel the world”: accumulating experiences on the path toward globally competent teaching

As classrooms become increasingly diverse and students need more complex skills for collaboratively addressing transnational issues, we need a better understanding of the factors that contribute to globally competent teaching. Education research has highlighted the benefits of study abroad and overseas teaching, as well as local cross-cultural immersion, but these options are not always feasible. We sought to identify the various means by which teachers develop global competence. Through this qualitative case study of 10 global educators, we found that international travel, though present in some instances, was not always necessary. In fact, it was an accumulation of experiences that prompted teachers to incorporate global perspectives, lessons, and skill development throughout their careers. Thus, globally competent teaching may be better conceptualized as a path, rather than as an end goal.     

Constructing Rotating Item Pools for Constrained Adaptive Testing

Preventing items in adaptive testing from being over- or underexposed is one of the main problems in computerized adaptive testing. Though the problem of overexposed items can be solved using a probabilistic item-exposure control method, such methods are unable to deal with the problem of underexposed items. Using a system of rotating item pools, on the other hand, is a method that potentially solves both problems. In this method, a master pool is divided into (possibly overlapping) smaller item pools, which are required to have similar distributions of content and statistical attributes. These pools are rotated among the testing sites to realize desirable exposure rates for the items. A test assembly model, motivated by Gulliksen's matched random subtests method, was explored to help solve the problem of dividing a master pool into a set of smaller pools. Different methods to solve the model are proposed. An item pool from the Law School Admission Test was used to evaluate the performances of computerized adaptive tests from systems of rotating item pools constructed using these methods.     

Parenting and adolescents' accuracy in perceiving parental values

What determines adolescents' accuracy in perceiving parental values? The current study examined potential predictors including parental value communication, family value agreement, and parenting styles. In the study, 547 Israeli adolescents (aged 16 to 18) of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds participated with their parents. Adolescents reported the values they perceive their parents want them to hold. Parents reported their socialization values. Accuracy in perceiving parents' overall value system correlated positively with parents' actual and perceived value agreement and perceived parental warmth and responsiveness, but negatively with perceived value conflict, indifferent parenting, and autocratic parenting in all gender compositions of parent-child dyads. Other associations varied by dyad type. Findings were similar for predicting accuracy in perceiving two specific values: tradition and hedonism. The article discusses implications for the processes that underlie accurate perception, gender differences, and other potential influences on accuracy in value perception.     

Teacher stress interventions: A systematic review

Due to the increased pressure from test‐based accountability practices, teachers have reported high levels of stress and burnout. High teacher stress has an impact on school outcomes, including links to absenteeism, burnout, school climate, and teacher behavior management. Teacher stress interventions may be an important first step toward reducing these negative outcomes. Although there have been several recent intervention studies in the domain of teacher stress, there has been no systematic review to compare the type and effectiveness of teacher stress interventions. Included within this review are interventions from a variety of modalities such as knowledge‐based, behavioral, cognitive‐behavioral, and mindfulness approaches. Results indicated that the most effective interventions were in the mindfulness, behavioral, and cognitive‐behavioral domains. Interventions which delivered solely informational content were among the least effective.     

Teenage childbearing,marital status,and depressive symptoms in later life

This study examined the role of prechildbearing characteristics in later-life depressive symptomatology among 990 married and unmarried teenage childbearers. Data from teenagers in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) were used to test the relative contribution of age and marital status at first birth to depressive symptomatology measured during young adulthood (ages 27-29). Unmarried teenage childbearers displayed higher levels of depressive symptoms in young adulthood than did women who first give birth as married adults. However, the psychological health of married teenage mothers in later life was as good as that of married adult mothers, whereas unmarried adult mothers and unmarried teenage mothers had similarly poor outcomes. The findings of this study suggest that marital status, rather than age at first birth, may be more relevant for later-life psychological health.     

Values and work environment: Mapping 32 occupations

The study addresses the relationship between values and occupations. Israeli workers (N=652; mean age=47; 43% male) in 32 occupations reported their values using the Portrait Value Questionnaire (Schwartz, Melech, Lehmann, Burgess, Harris, &; Owens, 2001), and value scores were aggregated within occupations. Occupations were classified according to the Holland (1985) typology. Enterprising work environments correlated negatively with universalism values. Social environments correlated positively with benevolence and universalism values and negatively with power and achievement. The artistic environment correlated negatively with conformity values. Investigative environments correlated positively with self-direction values and negatively with tradition. A COPLOT analysis of occupational value priorities yielded meaningful clusters of occupations, each characterized by a distinct value profile, and fitting the Holland typology. The findings point to the importance of values in vocational behavior.     

The Cuban Model for Higher Education of Older Adults: Generativity,Social Commitment,and Collaborative Work

The present work is an approach to study the Cuban model for educating the elderly, and its aim is to describe the main features of the experience developed by this country. The University of the Third Age is more than three decades old in Latin America, but none of the countries in the region can show a state educational policy regulating and orienting its development. Cuba is the only country that has designed an educational program for older adults at a national level. The model is the most outstanding one among the rest of the countries in the American continent. This research is based on documentary analysis and interviews held with leaders and managers of the Chair for Older Adults, who were located in different towns of Cuba. Results led to a reconstruction of a set of dimensions of the Cuban model, such as the process of institutionalization, syllabus organization, the process of expansion and universalization, and educators' training strategies for elders. Finally, bearing in mind the features of Cuban political organization and gerontological positions, it was possible to draw the future evolution and challenges faced by the Cuban model for educating older adults.