The impact of inservice teacher education on mathematics teachers' subject-matter confidence, and competency

Two inservice courses designed to strengthen teachers' subject-matter competencies while introducing them to mathematics curricula for Grades 7 and 8 were investigated. In a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design, participants were given a confidence measure and knowledge test. After the inservice training, teachers manifested greater self-confidence in knowledge of curricular material, a corresponding increase in mathematics skills, and high levels of confidence in ability to teach the curriculum. Results suggest that when knowledge tests are not feasible, measurement of confidence in solving problems may be sufficient to evaluate the cognitive impact of an inservice program.     

Survivors in a male preserve: A study of British women academics' experiences and perceptions of discrimination in a UK university

Women academics in British universities make up a very small minority and are concentrated in the lower grades. All the statistical evidence points to the fact that a reason for this situation is that discrimination exists in the academic profession. Howerver, very little empirical information exists on the nature of this discrimination and how it operates. The study reported here seeks to contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon by exploring the processes involved, through the perceptions and experience of women academics themselves. A total of 43 women from a British university were interviewed at length, and problem areas were highlighted by their evidence.There is the problem of being in very small minorities functioning in a male environment. They suffer from isolation and exclusion from their male colleagues, and challenges to their authority from male students. They have fewer support systems, with few role models or mentors, and little access to communication networks. They report problems with work relationships, and experience hostility from male colleagues and students. The majority had experienced discrimination within the university. Finally, the effects of these factors on their perception of themselves as academics are explored. The majority become convinced that the concept of a women academic is problematic. This leads them to put pressure on themselves to perform better than male colleagues, and to avoid being identified with other women. They become honorary men and as such are in no position to support other women.Being different is a very hard row to hoe. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. (Two traditional Japanese sayings.New Internationalist, May 1992, p. 231).     

Forming, Losing, Renewing, and Replacing Friendships: Applying Temporal Parameters to the Assessment of Children's Friendship Experiences

Friendship formation and dissolution were tracked over time in a summer camp to examine whether such events are valid indicators of individual differences in children's friendship adjustment. Subjects were 216 children ages 8–15 years. Sociometric nominations were used to determine the identities of reciprocal friends. Loneliness at camp was also tracked over time. In addition, data on group acceptance, behavioral reputations, social competence, and behavioral problems were gathered from peers and counselors. Analyses suggested that friendship formation and duration were coherent, independent dimensions of individual differences and distinct from the overall extensivity of involvement in friendships. Regression analyses indicated that the temporal parameters of participation in friendship enhanced the prediction of changes in loneliness at camp. Age and sex differences in temporal parameters were explored, and 4 discrete trajectories for friendship involvement were identified. Children with different trajectories differed in their behavioral profiles from one another and from children who were chronically friendless.     

Disciplining Students: the construction of student subjectivities

While we usually think of higher education as a process through which every able individual's potential may be realised more fully, it can also be seen as one of arbitrarily disciplining the student to particular ends. One of these ends is the production of the ‘good’, or docile and useful, student subject. A Foucauldian analysis of the university as a disciplinary block, an institution saturated with relations of power, points to the ways in which students are disciplined by both the technologies of domination, which originate in the institution, and those of the self. The latter are the many practices that students adopt, producing themselves as the good student, at times to the detriment of their other interests. However, because power relations are only present between those who are ‘acting subjects’, possibilities for resistance and struggle against the normalising tendencies of the university to find other, more satisfying, forms of student subjectivity are ever present     

Networking around The Waterhole and other tales: the importance of relationships among texts for reading and related instruction

This article explores ways in which children's picture books form networks of relationships, and their implications for readers and classroom teachers. In this exploration, reading is seen to involve making connections within and beyond the text at hand. These connections, evoked differently across readers, shape readers' interpretations of text. Many possible meanings may arise from just one text, reinforcing the idea that no single correct meaning resides in a text. This article demonstrates tools for exploring textual connections with readers, and the value of such explorations for opening‐up reader interpretations of a text.     

Aquatic-Aerobic Exercise as a Means of Stress Reduction during Pregnancy

The goals of this research were to explore the current literature regarding associations between psychological stress and adverse fetal outcome, associations between aerobic exercise and psychological stress reduction, and associations between aerobic exercise and fetal outcome. The published studies that were located provide evidence of the following: 1) Stress reactivity increases physiologically during pregnancy, 2) pregnant women may experience additional stressors that are usually not experienced in a nonpregnant state, 3) psychological stress in pregnancy is associated with adverse fetal outcome, 4) exercise can be a method of stress reduction, 5) exercise in pregnancy is not associated with adverse fetal outcome, and 6) exercise in pregnancy may provide benefit to the fetus. Data were analyzed from an original study and associations were reported between psychological stress-management activities and participation in aquatic aerobic exercise classes. No reports were available investigating an exercise-induced reduction in psychological stress with fetal outcome.     

A Methylome‐Wide Association Study of Trajectories of Oppositional Defiant Behaviors and Biological Overlap With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

In 671 mother–child (49% male) pairs from an epidemiological birth cohort, we investigated (a) prospective associations between DNA methylation (at birth) and trajectories (ages 7–13) of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and the ODD subdimensions of irritable and headstrong; (b) common biological pathways, indexed by DNA methylation, between ODD trajectories and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); (c) genetic influence on DNA methylation; and (d) prenatal risk exposure associations. Methylome‐wide significant associations were identified for the ODD and headstrong, but not for irritable. Overlap analysis indicated biological correlates between ODD, headstrong, and ADHD. DNA methylation in ODD and headstrong was (to a degree) genetically influenced. DNA methylation associated with prenatal risk exposures of maternal anxiety (headstrong) and cigarette smoking (ODD and headstrong).     

An Examination of Change in Teacher Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Science Education Based on the Duration of Inservice Activities

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Community outreach library services in the UK: a case study of Wirral Hospital NHS Trust (WHNT)

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The study evaluates the Community Outreach Library Service at Wirral Hospital National Health Service Trust (WHNT). It considers the information seeking behaviour and information needs of primary care staff, and service effectiveness in meeting those needs. METHODS: A literature review established the current context and areas of best practice. The investigative case study used postal questionnaires to 250 primary care staff and an interview with the Community Outreach Librarian. FINDINGS: Themes emerged from the literature regarding information seeking behaviour, information needs, and meeting user needs through effective service delivery. Outreach services have value in terms of improving information skills and providing services at point of need. Time is a major constraint for both users and service providers. CONCLUSIONS: Investment is needed from appropriate funding sources to support the provision and marketing of outreach library services. Librarians benefit from sharing best practice. The continued evaluation of outreach library services is recommended.     

Care practice #3: continuous labor support

This updated edition of Care Practice Paper #3 presents the evidence for the benefits of continuous support in labor. The role of the doula is explained. Women are encouraged to plan for continuous support during labor and to consider including a woman experienced with childbirth among their labor support team.