Undergraduates' Evaluations of Developmental Claims and Their Identification of Information Sources

Students in a large human development course rated the accuracy of 50 developmental claims. Half of the claims were specifically embedded in the course content, but the remaining claims were not addressed in the course. Students also identified the major information source for each developmental claim rated. From the beginning to the end of the course, students (especially high performers) improved in evaluating the accuracy of course-related developmental claims and increasingly attributed their ratings of these claims to professional information sources. Our study underscores the importance of sensitizing students to the role of research evidence in judging the credibility of claims in general education courses.Sherry K. Bain is an Associate Professor in Educational Psychology and Counseling at the University of Tennessee and a member of the school psychology graduate faculty, Her research has included investigations of common beliefs in areas such as giftedness and educational psychology and their relationship to data-based evidence. Robert L. Williams is a Professor in Educational Psychology and Counseling at the University of Tennessee. His current research focuses on the role of critical thinking in a large human development course. Rachael Isaacs and Ashley Williams are doctoral students in the School Psychology Program at the University of Tennessee. Susan Stockdale is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology and Middle Grades Education at Kennesaw State University. Her recent research has related to critical thinking and cooperative learning in higher education     

A review of research into stakeholder perspectives on inclusion of students with autism in mainstream schools

Increasing numbers of students with autism are being educated in mainstream schools. However, outcomes for students with autism are poor when compared to typical students and students with other developmental disabilities. In order to better understand facilitators and barriers to success at school for students with autism, research into the attitudes of key stakeholders, educators, parents, people with autism, to inclusion in mainstream schools for students with autism, was reviewed. Key themes emerging included attitudes to inclusion, the characteristics of autism and social communication in particular and interaction with the school environment, and consequent student problem behaviour. Level of knowledge and understanding of school staff emerged as the primary issue with all stakeholders identifying the need for more training. Other support needs identified included the need for structural support, resources and funding. Parents, in particular, identified the need for a collaborative approach to the education process. The findings highlight the need to translate theory into practice to increase capacity in schools to provide effective educational programmes for students with autism.     

Heading for the Ha-Ha

Some educationalists predict that it will not be long before modern technology—especially the microchip—revolutionizes education, automating traditional teachers, tutors and industrial instructors into oblivion. In this paper I argue that such fears—or what some call hopes—are groundless. Few of the more important ways in which human teachers interact with students can be electronically simulated. For as far ahead as it is possible to see, educators will be people rather than computers, and the dominant educational medium will continue to be the printed and spoken word rather than the image on a screen. There will be no great boom in computer-assisted instruction (CAI); computers, video (including videodisc) and the other products of modern technology will advance their status as useful educational tools, but they will not revolutionize education.     

Validating self-paced sentence-by-sentence reading: story comprehension,recall, and narrative transportation

Previous studies on discourse have employed a self-paced sentence-by-sentence paradigm to present text and record reading times. However, presenting discourse this way does not mirror real-world reading conditions; for example, this paradigm prevents regressions to earlier portions of the text. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the ecological validity of self-paced sentence-by-sentence presentations by comparing it to normal page reading with respect to comprehension, recall, and narrative transportation, across two time points (immediate and delayed). Bayesian analyses found greater evidence in favor of the null hypothesis for transportation, indicating that little difference likely exists between sentence-by-sentence presentations and normal reading for this outcome. Weak evidence supporting the alternative hypothesis was found for immediate comprehension and recall, with participants who read the story as isolated sentences scoring marginally higher. Altogether, these results validate the self-paced sentence-by-sentence paradigm for measuring reading times, uncovering few differences in outcomes relative to natural reading.     

The Elusive Search for Teacher Collaboration

Collaboration is a well-used term in the field of education, identified as promising practice for student learning and teaching learning alike. However, collaboration comes in different shapes and sizes, leading to radically different ends. The authors examine teachers’ own understandings and practices of collaboration with teacher colleagues within their school contexts and within a professional development model designed to allow for collaborative conversation between teachers. Implications for teacher education are then considered.     

会拍动的机翼

未来的飞机可以像鸟类一样拍动翅膀飞翔，随着飞行条件的变化，机翼的几何形状也相应变化。     

Sin in cyber-eden: understanding the metaphysics and morals of virtual worlds

This article uses a notorious incident within the computer program EVE Online to exemplify and facilitate discussion of the metaphysics of virtual worlds and the morality of user behavior. The first section examines various frameworks used to understand virtual worlds, and emphasizes those which recognize virtual worlds as legal contracts, as representational worlds, and as media for communication. The second section draws on these frameworks to analyze issues of virtual theft and virtual betrayal arising in the EVE incident. The article concludes by arguing that, in the absence of countervailing contractual obligations, users of virtual worlds have the same de facto duties to each other as they do in mediated and real environments. This paper grew out of my senior thesis in philosophy at Pomona College, entitled Game Theory: The Metaphysics and Morals of Massively Multiplayer Environments. I am indebted to Peter Kung and Paul Hurley for their critical insights and constant encouragement, as well as the Fulbright program, which afforded me the time and resources to develop this project.     

Barriers to implementing classroom management and behavior support plans: An exploratory investigation

Teachers are responsible for delivering classroom‐management plans and behavior support plans; however, many struggle to implement them consistently. Low levels of treatment integrity may be the result of various implementation barriers. No study has been conducted to examine teachers’ experience of these barriers within the context of specific interventions. This exploratory study involves the analysis of barriers reported during implementation planning by 33 teachers responsible for delivering classroom‐management plans or behavior support plans. Teachers most frequently indicate struggling to respond to problem behaviors and manage competing responsibilities. Strategies suggested to ameliorate barriers most frequently include re‐teaching the intervention and scheduling implementation.     

Child protective services' response to prenatal drug exposure: results from a nationwide survey.

OBJECTIVE: This survey was conducted to: (1) document child protective services (CPS) agencies' actual practices regarding prenatal drug exposure; (2) examine urban and rural differences in CPS responses; (3) explore whether CPS practices varied as a function of county median income, birth rate, population size, or percent minority births; and (4) assess respondent satisfaction with their county's current responses. METHOD: Data were collected via a nationwide telephone survey of child welfare supervisors from two urban and two rural counties in every state (N = 200). RESULTS: Ninety percent of counties (100% of urban and 80% of rural) reported receiving referrals of infants with prenatal drug exposure. Among those receiving referrals, extreme variations in practice were found; all possible response options (from very inactive to very aggressive) were equally represented on key questions (e.g., filing court petitions, taking custody). Rural counties tended to have stronger responses than urban counties (t[175] = -2.26, p = .024). County response did not vary with county-level median family income, percent minority births, or birth rate. Despite wide variations in practice, the majority of respondents (69%) felt their county's response was appropriate. Of respondents who did indicate that their county's response was inappropriate, most (85%) felt that the county needed to do more to protect children. CONCLUSIONS: There is currently tremendous variation across US counties in CPS responses to, and beliefs regarding, the issue of prenatal drug exposure. Some of this variation is due to differences between urban and rural counties, with little variation explained by differences in median income or percent minority births at the county level. There is a need for research-based guidance and consensus building in CPS practice in this area.