Mothers' and Child-Care Providers' Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Responses to Children's Misbehavior

This study compared mothers' and caregivers' attributions for children's misconduct and their corresponding affective and behavioral responses. Forty mothers of 4-year-olds and 40 caregivers employed in childcare settings responded to a series of hypothetical incidents in which a 4-year-old child engaged in a norm violation such as aggression or failed to be altruistic. ANCOVA analyses indicated that mothers and caregivers differed in their causal attributions for children's misbehavior. Mothers and caregivers also differed in their affective and behavioral responses to children's failures to be altruistic, but not in their responses to children's norm violations. Regression analyses performed on the combined scores of mothers and caregivers found that attributions to the stability of the behavior predicted use of induction and a greater emphasis on responding to the misbehavior. A power assertive response was particularly likely if a respondent believed that a behavior was caused by stable personality factors. The documentation of linkage between causal attributions and socialization behavior has implications for parent training and early childhood education. Increasing parents' awareness of developmental processes and external factors that affect a child's behavior may result in a less punitive approach to discipline. Early childhood curricula that encourages examination of adult biases in analyzing children's behavior may assist caregivers to become more reflective and self-aware in interactions with young children.     

Independent markers of master’s theses show low levels of agreement

We examined the reliability of grading master’s theses at a New Zealand university, where a variant of the academic journal review system is employed. The overall correlation between the grades recommended by internal and external markers of master’s theses in psychology and applied psychology at this university was 0.39, which is similar to that produced between reviewers of submissions to academic journals. We conclude that thesis grading is about as reliable as the determination of the merit of journal submissions, which is usually regarded as rather poor. Applying a more objective rubric to thesis marking might raise the reliability, but such a change might also lower the creative and unique nature of theses, and hence reduce the contribution that an individual thesis can make to its particular discipline.     

Engaging Students in Science Across the Primary Secondary Interface: Listening to the Students’ Voice

Most studies indicate primary students’ attitudes towards and interest in science decline as they progress into the secondary years. Longitudinal qualitative research exploring this phenomenon is rare as is research which focuses on the students’ voice as they cross the interface. In this study multiple qualitative data sources, supported by a ‘science interest’ composite scale, followed 20 students over 2 years. In contrast to baseline data on their peers these students, in general, maintained their interest in science. Apart from identifying the teacher’s pedagogical approach and classroom environment as two key issues in understanding these students’ journeys, the importance of listening to and heeding the students’ voice may be an even more critical concern in addressing the decline in students’ attitudes and interest in science.     

Scenario planning: a tool for academic health sciences libraries

Objective: Review the International Campaign to Revitalise Academic Medicine (ICRAM) Future Scenarios as a potential starting point for developing scenarios to envisage plausible futures for health sciences libraries. Method: At an educational workshop, 15 groups, each composed of four to seven Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) directors and AAHSL/NLM Fellows, created plausible stories using the five ICRAM scenarios. Results: Participants created 15 plausible stories regarding roles played by health sciences librarians, how libraries are used and their physical properties in response to technology, scholarly communication, learning environments and health care economic changes. Conclusions: Libraries are affected by many forces, including economic pressures, curriculum and changes in technology, health care delivery and scholarly communications business models. The future is likely to contain ICRAM scenario elements, although not all, and each, if they come to pass, will impact health sciences libraries. The AAHSL groups identified common features in their scenarios to learn lessons for now. The hope is that other groups find the scenarios useful in thinking about academic health science library futures.     

Role of expectations and explanations in learning by teaching

The present study examined the role of preparing to teach (i.e., teaching expectancy) and actually teaching (i.e., explaining to others) on immediate and long-term learning. In Experiment 1, participants studied a base version or an enhanced version of a paper-based lesson on how the Doppler Effect works with the expectation of taking a test on the material or with the expectation of teaching the material by providing a video-recorded lecture. Results indicated that those who prepared to teach (without actually teaching) outperformed those who prepared for a test on an immediate comprehension test (i.e., a teaching expectancy effect; d = .55), regardless of the format of the lesson. In Experiment 2, participants studied while expecting to be tested or expecting to teach the material; some then actually did teach the material by providing a video-recorded lecture, whereas others received additional study time. Results indicated that those who actually taught the material outperformed those who did not teach on a delayed comprehension test (i.e., a teaching effect; d = .56), though this effect was strongest for those who also prepared to teach. Overall, these findings are consistent with the idea that preparing to teach results in short-term learning gains, whereas the act of teaching (i.e., by explaining the material to others) coupled with preparing to teach is important for long-term learning.     

Testing to enhance retention in human anatomy

Recent work in cognitive psychology has shown that repeatedly testing one's knowledge is a powerful learning aid and provides substantial benefits for retention of the material. To apply this in a human anatomy course for medical students, 39 fill-in-the-blank quizzes of about 50 questions each, one for each region of the body, and four about the nervous system, were developed. The quizzes were optional, and no credit was awarded. They were posted online using Blackboard, which provided feedback, and they were very popular. To determine whether the quizzes had any effect on retention, they were given in a controlled setting to 21 future medical and dental students. The weekly quizzes included questions on regional anatomy and an expanded set of questions on the nervous system. Each question about the nervous system was given three times, in a slightly different form each time. The second quiz was given approximately half an hour after the first one, and the third was given one week after the second to assess retention. The quizzes were unpopular, but students showed robust improvement on the questions about the nervous system. The scores increased by almost 9% on the second quiz, with no intervention except viewing the correct answers. The scores were 29% higher on the third quiz than on the first, and there was also a positive correlation between the grades on the quizzes and the final examination. Thus, repeated testing is an effective strategy for learning and retaining information about human anatomy.     

Gender differences in reading ability and attitudes: examining where these differences lie

The aim of this study was to investigate gender differences in the relationship between reading ability, frequency of reading and attitudes and beliefs relating to reading and school. Two hundred and thirty‐two 10‐year‐old children (117 male) completed a reading comprehension test and a questionnaire exploring the following areas: frequency of reading, attitude to reading, attitude to school, competency beliefs and perceived academic support (from peers and teacher). Overall, girls had better reading comprehension, read more frequently and had a more positive attitude to reading and school. However, smaller gender differences were found in reading ability than in attitudes and frequency of reading. Indeed, effect sizes for gender differences in reading were found to be small in this and other studies. Reading ability correlated with both boys' and girls' reading frequency and competency beliefs; however, only boys' reading ability was associated with their attitude to reading and school. Notably, gender differences were found predominantly in the relationship between factors, rather than solely in the factors themselves. Previous research has neglected to study these relationships, and has focused instead on the gender differences found in individual factors. Conclusions are made regarding the applicability of these findings to the school situation.