Verbal inactivity in tutorial groups,under conditions of varying preparation and leadership

The effects of variations in preparation and leadership on verbal inactivity in tutorial groups were investigated in a field-experimental setting. A factorial, randomized, longitudinal design was employed, with controls imposed over many of the identifiable extraneous effects. Four groups (n = 15) discussed problematic case study material under conditions of varying preparation (prepared vs. unprepared) and leadership (emergent vs. assigned leadership), for eight consecutive weekly sessions of one hour's duration. The principal hypotheses were tested by Chisquare analysis, and a cautious approach was adopted to the interpretation of statistically significant results, in that preparation or leadership effects were only taken as being of any theoretical or practical significance if they reached significance in at least three of the eight discussion sessions. Both preparation and leadership influenced verbal inactivity in groups. The obtained leadership effects were explained in terms of interaction-expectation theory, and behaviour modelling.     

A Juggling Act: A feminist post-structuralist analysis of girls' and boys' talk in the secondary classroom

Relatively few models of good practice in feminist post-structuralist discourse analysis exist in current educational research. Drawing on a study of girls' and boys' speech in a secondary, mixed-sex classroom, the article aims to show that the use of feminist post-structuralist analysis can often be a tricky juggling act. On one hand, it aims to show the complexity of how girls are multiply positioned by competing classroom discourses as at times powerful and at other times powerless; on the other, it aims to reveal how and why girls can be silenced in particular classroom contexts. Such multiplicity in the analysis does not, however, undermine the use of feminist post-structuralism as a politically confident theoretical framework. On the contrary, it is argued that it can produce powerful insights about gendered discourse that may potentially transform educational practice.     

The effect of context and age on social referencing

The present study investigated social referencing in 2 settings, familiar child-care centers and an unfamiliar university laboratory. 48 children from 6 to 40 months, divided into 3 age groups (6-12, 13-23, and 24-40 months), participated with 1 parent. Looking at parents varied with age and setting. Younger children looked more often when parents expressed positive reactions, whereas middle children looked more at fearful expressions, and the oldest children looked equally at positive and fearful expressions. Children looked at their parents sooner and were more involved with parents in the child-care setting. Behavioral regulation--less play with the fearful-message than the positive-message toy--was observed in both settings. Affect was not influenced by setting and showed regulation only for the oldest children. These results indicate that some effects of social referencing, such as behavior regulation, may be generalizable across some settings, but that parent proximity and looking at parents are sensitive to the context in which referencing occurs.     

Validity of acute phase proteins and trace metals as adjuncts in viral hepatitis A and B

The level of seven acute phase proteins was estimated together with copper and zinc in two groups of 15 children each suffering from hepatitis A (HAV) or Hepatitis B (HBV). The mean concentration of α-1 antitrypsin, α-2 macroglobulin, ceruloplasmin, C3 and copper was increased uniformly in both the types of viral hepatitis. α-1 acid glycoprotein, haptoglobin and zinc levels were decreased in both the infections. A significant decrease in albumin level was observed in HAV while the decrease was not significant in HBV. All the paramenters were repeated after one month on the day of discharge following the disappearance of clinical signs and symptoms wherein the haptoglobin level returned to normal in HAV. No change was observed in the level of other acute phase proteins. The level of the trace elements returned to normal. The observed increase in the levels of acute phase proteins at the onset does not seem to have any significant relation to the subsequent course of the disease. However, the level of acute phase proteins and other biochemical parameters may indicate a delayed biochemical recovery phase in conjunction with the underlying hepatic pathological changes in the course of viral hepatitis in spite of clinical recovery.     

Development and validation of scales to measure environmental responsibility,character development,and attitudes toward school

This investigation examines the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures to develop and validate scales to measure environmental responsibility, character development and leadership, and attitudes toward school for environmental education programs servicing middle school children. The scales represent outcomes commonly of interest to environmental education programs and also to after‐school and positive youth development activities. First, we developed the scales using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and then we used multi‐group longitudinal CFA to cross‐validate the model with data collected before participation in the environmental education program, immediately after the program, and three months later. The results support a three‐factor model, producing three scales that appear to be valid and reliable.     

Maximizing Learning From Engaging Across Difference: The Role of Anxiety and Meaning Making

This study explores college students’ reactions to engaging in experiences with diverse others that students found uncomfortable, interactions that disrupted students’ current beliefs or values. Our examination of these experiences was grounded in theory and research on intergroup contact and anxiety and developmental models of self-authorship leading to intercultural maturity. We found three types of reactions to these experiences: Some students were “stuck,” unsure of how to respond; some were prone to continue exploring; and some reframed their perspectives to reflect capacities associated with advanced intercultural maturity. We offer recommendations for managing intergroup anxiety and scaffolding learning to support reframing one's perspectives to maximize learning from engaging in difference.     

A Comparison of Dome and Computer Planetaria in the Teaching of Astronomy

The learning of pupils from Years 5 and 6 (9-and 10-year-olds) when taught with the aid of dome and computer planetaria was investigated. The two kinds of planetarium were found to be equally effective, although the learning was confined to female pupils. It is suggested that the use of planetaria might enable females to catch up with males in areas of astronomy which make heavy demands on spatial ability. Substantial learning also took place in the pre-service education students who led the planetaria sessions.     

Industrial relations techniques

A study (involving 466 high school and college students) comparing women's and men's ratings of their own and ideal speech showed that a greater number of speech characteristics of males differed from the speech characteristics of the ideal speaker. The results of the study combined with material from the writings of women who have made a conscious effort to change their language indicate that before women continue to try to alter their speech by such means as assertiveness training they should consider the desirable characteristics associated with female speech.     

Contradictions of interaction for wives of elderly husbands with adult dementia

The researchers used a dialectical framework to examine interviews with wives whose elderly husbands experienced adult dementia from Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD), centering on how wives coped communicatively with their husbands' illness. These "married widows" experienced a primary contradiction between their husbands' physical presence and cognitive/emotional absence. Interwoven with the presence-absence contradiction were three additional contradictions: certainty-uncertainty, openness-closedness, and past-present. Results describe the ways these wives communicatively negotiated the web of contradictions as they interacted in the present with husbands they once knew. Applications for practitioners and caregivers working with ADRD patients and their wives, including formal and informal support, understanding, and managing contradictions, and ways to more effectively interpret ADRD patients' communication, are discussed.