Fathers' and mothers' involvements in sibling communication

The purpose of this study was to measure fathers' and mothers' linguistic involvements with the development of communication between young siblings. In a laboratory setting, 39 two-child mother-father families were videotaped in semistructured activities. The older sibling was from 18 to 26-months-old (M=22.4 months, SD=2.5 months) and the younger sibling was from 4 to 8-weeks-old (M=5 weeks, SD =1.5 weeks). Regardless of type of vocalization, when only one parent was present, utterances encouraging sibling interactions were more often aimed at girls than at boys. As a result, such utterances occurred more when both siblings were girls than for any other gender combination. Fathers were more active in issuing such utterances, especially to girls. When both parents were present, gender differences between parents disappeared, although the effects of children's gender did not. Overall, the results suggest that fathers very actively direct sibling interactions, especially those involving girls.     

Factors of success: building and sustaining teaching professional development opportunities for doctoral students and postdocs

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the key issues and elements to consider in developing and sustaining teaching development programs for doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars in connection to a large multi-institutional, higher education reform network. Based on interviews with 47 participants at eight member institutions and the central administration of the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL), we found five major components: campus culture, the program’s organizational placement, program leadership, program logistics, and the benefits acquired from adopting and adapting network ideas, knowledge, and resources.     

Academic underachievement among children with epilepsy: proportion exceeding psychometric criteria for learning disability and associated risk factors

This study assessed rates of learning disabilities (LD) by several psychometric definitions in children with epilepsy and identified risk factors. Participants (N = 173, ages 8-15 years) completed IQ screening, academic achievement testing, and structured interviews. Children with significant head injury, chronic physical conditions, or mental retardation were excluded. Using an IQ-achievement discrepancy definition, 48% exceeded the cutoff for LD in at least one academic area; using low-achievement definitions, 41% to 62% exceeded cutoffs in at least one academic area. Younger children with generalized nonabsence seizures were at increased risk for math LD using the IQ-achievement discrepancy definition; age of seizure onset and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were risk factors for reading and math LD using low-achievement definitions. Writing was the most common domain affected, but neither ADHD nor seizure variables reliably identified children at risk for writing LD. Although children with earlier seizure onset, generalized nonabsence seizures, and comorbid ADHD appear to be at increased risk for some types of LD by some definitions, these findings largely suggest that all children with epilepsy should be considered vulnerable to LD. A diagnosis of epilepsy (even with controlled seizures and less severe seizure types) should provide sufficient cause to screen school-age children for LD and comorbid ADHD.     

Mentorship and mitigation of culture shock: foreign‐trained pharmacists in Canada

Immigrants with professional qualifications face unique challenges in adapting personally and professionally to new environments. This ‘double culture shock’ experience may result in disengagement from the professional community due to perceived barriers to integration, with subsequent negative impact on employment prospects and professional role identification. The role of mentors in facilitating professional engagement by foreign‐trained pharmacists within the pharmacy profession has not previously been described in detail. This qualitative study examined the different mentoring strategies used by mentors and foreign‐trained pharmacists negotiating the licensure process in Canada. Using a categorization scheme described previously by major researchers, activity logs of mentors and mentees were examined and coded based on use of mentoring strategies. Focus groups and interviews were also undertaken with separate groups of mentors and mentees to discuss the use of these mentoring strategies for foreign‐trained pharmacists. Results suggest pharmacist‐mentors relied most heavily upon situative‐apprenticeship and humanistic perspectives in their mentoring relationships, and infrequently used critical‐constructivist mentoring activities or techniques. While mentees reported a high level of satisfaction with their mentors and the mentoring experience, they also expressed a desire for more activities of a critical‐constructivist nature as a way of assisting them in mitigating the double culture shock they experience during the licensure process.     

Introducing consultancy supervision in a primary school for children with social,emotional and behavioural difficulties

This article describes a pilot study where consultancy supervision was introduced into a primary school for pupils with SEBD in England. School staff engaged with supervision and evaluated their experience through a quantitative and qualitative methodology. The paper explores the nature of supervision, the qualities of the supervisory relationship and the areas of school staff lives to which supervision can be relevant. The project is set in context through reviewing current literature and professional guidelines on supervision. The positive results of the project are described and recommendations and conclusions drawn from the findings.     

Language and mathematical education

Educational Studies in Mathematics -     

Place-based education for environmental behavior: a ‘funds of knowledge’ and social capital approach

In this paper we suggest that a new theoretical framework is needed within environmental education in the discussion of rural, underserved communities in Latin America. We argue that a community-resources approach, comprised of funds of knowledge and social capital, should be incorporated into contemporary research on place- and community-based education and environmental behavior. The model we present builds upon previous research in the areas of education, anthropology, social capital, and environmental education. These perspectives are discussed in accordance with their relevance to high school students in one of the most bio-diverse regions of Central America: the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica. In this context, we suggest that promoting environmental behavior is both contextualized by and dependent upon social and community interactions, or ‘mediations,’ after Lev S. Vygotsky. We believe that the framework presented here may contribute to increased socio-economic, academic, and environmental benefits for underserved, Latin American communities.     

Developing and designing online engineering ethics instruction for international graduate students

The present project embarked on an educational intervention, consisting of a series of online ethics learning modules, to aid international graduate students in overcoming the acculturation barriers to understanding and inculcating normative ethical obligations associated with engineering practice and research in the United States. A fundamental initial step in the process of helping international, as well as domestic, engineering graduate students embrace ethical obligations is to provide clear instruction on fundamental engineering ethical principles and values relevant in the United States. Most institutes of higher education do not have a cohesive approach to basic graduate engineering ethics instruction, much less materials that have been calibrated for international students (National Science Foundation, , 2009). Herein the authors describe our instructional intervention, as well as to document the development, design, and assessment of the learning modules intended to provide students with a framework for learning ethical precepts and applying them in the engineering field. Think-Aloud Protocol and Cognitive Task Analysis results were used to improve the content modules and learning experience. Initial pilot findings indicate that the content modules increased student knowledge acquisition compared to pre-test performance, indicating a step-forward in the formulation of a useful learning tool for graduate engineering ethics instruction.