Salary comparisons: New methods for correcting old fallacies

Institutions of higher education place high priority on ensuring that their faculties are adequately paid. Since gauging the adequacy of compensation is a problem of relative measure, this assessment is usually performed by comparing university-level average salaries for a group of peer institutions. Often the potential distortions caused by differences in the rank mix of the faculty are forestalled by comparing average salaries for each of the four ranks. However, few if any institutions take similar steps to prevent the skewing of averages owing to differences in cost of living, differences in distribution of faculty in academic year and twelve-month appointments, and differences in the configuration of the faculty over disciplines. This paper shows that salary comparisons that do not compensate for these variation in staff mix are seriously flawed. A recommended methodology is demonstrated.     

Flexible use of lexical and sublexical information in word recognition

Within the dual‐route framework it is hypothesised that readers exhibit flexibility in their use of lexical and non‐lexical information in word naming. In the present study, participants named high‐ and low‐frequency regular one‐syllable English words embedded within lists of regular or irregular one‐ or two‐syllable English words. A large number of irregular words should bias the reader toward the lexical route, whereas a list consisting exclusively of regular words should allow more efficient use of sublexical information present in the word. Word frequency effects were obtained when the list was dominated by either regular or irregular two‐syllable filler words. Furthermore, there was an interaction between frequency and regularity for the one‐syllable words, indicating that the frequency effect was significantly larger when the fillers were one‐syllable irregular words relative to one‐syllable regular words. These results extend those reported for a shallow orthography, and indicate strategic control over the use of phonological and lexical information in English word recognition.     

U.S. and Israeli young women’s future perceptions

The current study investigated the content of future perceptions among 47 U.S. women and 48 Israeli women. Thematic analysis was used to explore participants’ qualitative responses. Women’s responses covered a wide range of topics, and were categorized into ten key themes: (a) work, (b) family/relationships, (c) property, (d) residence, (e) education, (f) general quality of life, (g) leisure, (h) pro-social activities, (i) multiple role management, and (j) religion. Results demonstrated the role of nationality in the process of exploration and future perceptions. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Over reported and misunderstood? A study of teachers’ reported enactment and knowledge of inquiry-based science teaching

Science education reforms worldwide call on teachers to engage students in investigative approaches to instruction, like inquiry. Studies of teacher self-reported enactment indicate that inquiry is used frequently in the classroom, suggesting a high level of proficiency with inquiry that would be amenable to inquiry reform. However, it is unclear whether the high frequency of self-report is based on sound knowledge inquiry. In the absence of sound knowledge, high rates of self-reported enactment would be suspect. We conducted a study to measure teachers’ knowledge of inquiry as it related to the known, high frequency of reported enactment. We developed a multidimensional survey instrument using US reform documents and administered it to 149 K–12 teachers at a national science teachers’ conference. The majority of the teachers surveyed did not report inquiry enactment based on well-structured knowledge of inquiry. Interviews with participants showed how teachers could readily map non-inquiry activities onto inquiry statements taken directly from reform documents. From these results we argue that teachers often believed they were enacting inquiry, when likely they were not. We further reason that teachers may struggle to interpret and enact inquiry-related requirements of science education reform and will need support distinguishing inquiry from non-inquiry practices.     

Reframing Resources in Engineering Teaching and Learning

Abstract

The notion of “resources” is often framed in an economic sense: money, time, equipment and the like. The authors reconceptualise this notion, situating resources as embedded in curricular frameworks, teacher practice and student experience. This leads them to define resources as “the potential to participate in socio-cultural action” which is illustrated in this article through a series of reflections on the part of the authors, all within the context of engineering education. First, they demonstrate that curriculum can be productively thought of as a route marker for the development of resources that students need in order to enact their role as professional engineers. Thereafter, they show that lecturers bring tacit resources of trust, care, creativity and credibility to the teaching and learning space, and that these are necessary to overcome the inertia that often resists the transformation of teaching and learning practice. Finally, they reflect on how students’ prior learning experiences can be harnessed as a resource for teaching and learning. In so doing, they present resources as tied to sociocultural practices and personal and institutional histories, and encourage others to take up these ideas so as to consider how resources, viewed in the authors’ sense, are valued within (engineering) education.     

Characteristics of Early Care and Education Collaboration Associated with Success

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: In this non-experimental study, the research team analyzed data from a randomly selected sample of child care programs in Maryland and Vermont to understand what characteristics contribute to collaboration success. The team also examined the relationship between collaboration success and measures of child care program quality. We found positive correlations between collaboration success – defined as programs’ use of collaborative strategies, structural indicators of quality, and QRIS ratings – and programs’ collaboration administration and collaboration relationships. In addition, programs that used more collaboration strategies had higher ratings on the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). Policy or Practice: Policies designed to encourage early childhood collaborations should support strong administrative processes among collaborators and provide specific guidance on building strong relationships among child care and early education administrators. Future research is needed to determine the causes of the associations. Research should focus on how policies can broaden the reach of federal and state programs that promote collaboration to include programs that have lower QRIS ratings or programs that opt out of these state systems.     

Conditional inference and advanced mathematical study

Many mathematicians and curriculum bodies have argued in favour of the theory of formal discipline: that studying advanced mathematics develops one’s ability to reason logically. In this paper we explore this view by directly comparing the inferences drawn from abstract conditional statements by advanced mathematics students and well-educated arts students. The mathematics students in the study were found to endorse fewer invalid conditional inferences than the arts students, but they did not endorse significantly more valid inferences. We establish that both groups tended to endorse more inferences which led to negated conclusions than inferences which led to affirmative conclusions (a phenomenon known as the negative conclusion effect). In contrast, however, we demonstrate that, unlike the arts students, the mathematics students did not exhibit the affirmative premise effect: the tendency to endorse more inferences with affirmative premises than with negated premises. We speculate that this latter result may be due to an increased ability for successful mathematics students to be able to ‘see through’ opaque representations. Overall, our data are consistent with a version of the formal discipline view. However, there are important caveats; in particular, we demonstrate that there is no simplistic relationship between the study of advanced mathematics and conditional inference behaviour.

Profiles of disruptive behavior across early childhood: contributions of frustration reactivity, physiological regulation, and maternal behavior

Disruptive behavior, including aggression, defiance, and temper tantrums, typically peaks in early toddlerhood and decreases by school entry; however, some children do not show this normative decline. The current study examined disruptive behavior in 318 boys and girls at 2, 4, and 5 years of age and frustration reactivity, physiological regulation, and maternal behavior in the laboratory at 2 years of age. A latent profile analysis resulted in 4 longitudinal profiles of disruptive behavior, which were differentiated by interactions between reactivity, regulation, and maternal behavior. A high profile was associated with high reactivity combined with high maternal control or low regulation combined with low maternal control. Results are discussed from a developmental psychopathology perspective.     

Cortisol in Neonatal Mother's Milk Predicts Later Infant Social and Cognitive Functioning in Rhesus Monkeys

Milk provides not only the building blocks for somatic development but also the hormonal signals that contribute to the biopsychological organization of the infant. Among mammals, glucocorticoids (GCs) in mother's milk have been associated with infant temperament. This study extended prior work to investigate rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) mother–infant dyads (N = 34) from birth through 8 months postpartum. Regression analysis revealed that cortisol concentrations in milk during the neonatal period predicted impulsivity on a cognitive task, but not global social behaviors, months later. During this time period, sex‐differentiated social behavior emerged. For female infants, milk cortisol concentrations predicted total frequency of play. Collectively, these findings support and extend the “lactational programming” hypothesis on the impact of maternal‐origin hormones ingested via milk.     

Early Childhood Intervention in China from the Families’ Perspective

Research highlights the importance of early childhood intervention (ECI) for children with disabilities, and there is an increasing interest in China with respect to research on ECI. However, little research exists exploring the experience of families of young children with disabilities receiving ECI services and supports in China. The purpose of this study was to understand the ECI experiences of families of such children. A qualitative research design was used, and data were collected through interviews with six families in southwest China. This study indicated that, although China has made some progress in ECI for young children with disabilities, progress in this area is still at an early stage of development. Many issues still need to be addressed, including knowledge about typical and atypical development, early identification, professional development, increased government investment, and better implementation of existing laws.