Situating pre‐service reading teachers as tutors: implications of teacher self‐efficacy on tutoring elementary students

This research examined the impact of high teacher efficacy on tutoring elementary students in reading. The Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) was adapted to create a reading‐specific teacher efficacy scale, which is referred to as the RTSES. This scale was used to investigate whether tutors with high efficacy used more reading strategies while teaching elementary students to read. The study also examined whether high efficacy was correlated with reading strategy use. Analyses of pre‐test and post‐test data showed that reading efficacy and strategy use were not correlated, and that tutors with high efficacy scores did not use a significantly higher number of reading strategies while tutoring than those with low efficacy scores. The findings suggest that pre‐service teachers' efficacy did not affect their reading strategy use while tutoring elementary students. There is a need for more research to further investigate the impact that high efficacy has on tutoring.     

Roots and Wings Community Mentoring: An Evaluation of the Manchester Pilot

This article is a continuation of the exploration started by Sylvia Ashley in Mentoring and Tutoring, Autumn 1994, of the ‘Roots and Wings' mentoring initiative. The Roots and Wings programme is a Business in the Community initiative using the principles of community group mentoring. Sylvia Astley reported on the London and Bristol pilots. We follow this through with a digest of the evaluation of the Manchester pilot. In this pilot the British Telecom Personal Communications division offered mentoring support to the pupils from a Manchester high school. The evaluation attempted to capture the experiences of the mentors and mentees and the perspectives of the teaching staff involved. Recommendations were made with a view to expanding the scheme into other schools and businesses.     

Changing Perspectives: Exploring a pedagogy to examine other perspectives about stem cell research

This study explores how teachers developed and critically evaluated a range of teaching strategies that could support the discussion of a socio-scientific issue (SSI) that had the potential to be controversial. The issue was stem cell research and six New Zealand teachers of senior biology students (grades 12/13) took part in an action research project that was situational, collaborative and self-evaluative. The focus of the research was to identify communication barriers that interfered with classroom discussion and how teachers could help students cross cultural borders when they discussed SSIs that were outside their life worlds. The barriers to communication were access to relevant science knowledge, religion, language, an inability to question issues and cultural expectations of girls. Teachers trialled and adapted two discussion strategies, ‘Drawing the Line’ and ‘Diamond Ranking’ that provided a vehicle for their students to explore and discuss this issue from a range of perspectives. These discussion strategies enabled their students to take part in a dialogue where reciprocal conversation could occur because they had opportunities not only to explore their own perspectives but also other people's viewpoints.     

Two different types of voice

Chief European Dramatists. Selected and edited by BRANDER MATTHEWS. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916. Cloth, pp. 786. $2.75.

A Handbook of American Speech. By CALVIN L. LEWIS, Chicago: Scott, Foresman, and Co., 1916. Cloth, pp. 246. $0.80.

The Brief: With Selections for Briefing. By CARROLL LEWIS MAXCY. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1916. Cloth, pp. 332. $1.25

The Essentials of Effective Gesture. By JOSEPH A. MOSHER, A.M., Ph.D. New York; Macmillan Co., 1916. Cloth, pp. VII+188. $1.00.

Complete Guide to Public Speaking. Compiled and edited by GRENVILLE KLEISER. New York: Funk and Wagnalls Co., 1915. Cloth, pp. XV+639.

AMERICA FIRST. By J. L. MCBRIEN. New York: American Book Company, 1916. Cloth, pp. 288. $0.65.

“The Tonsil and Its Uses”; By RICHARD B. FAULKNER, M.D., Philadelphia: The Blanchard Company, 1916. Paper, pp. 29. $1.00.     

OLDER ADULTS,COMPUTER TRAINING,AND THE SYSTEMS APPROACH: A FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

Adults over the age of 65 are the fastest growing segment of computer users. Due to this increased demand, effective training programs are essential. Although previous research findings illustrate the importance of older adults’ goals, abilities, and experience levels in learning to use computers, these factors are often neglected in the development of computer training courses. We apply a systems approach to help bridge this gap between research and practice to address the disparity between what older adults would like to learn and the content of computer training courses. We review the literature on training older adults to use computers and report data from a set of structured interviews to illustrate the criticality of each step in the systems approach. Lastly, we provide the means to evaluate existing computer training programs and suggest modifications for improvement. Our purpose is not to evaluate specific programs, but to educate developers about an approach that has proven successful. Specifically, we provide suggestions for effective computer training for older adults.     

Using Standardized Clients in the Classroom: An Evaluation of a Training Module to Teach Active Listening Skills to Social Work Students

This article describes the implementation of a module that utilizes drama students to teach social work students how to use active listening skills in an interview environment. The module was implemented during a semester‐long micro skills practice course taught to 13 undergraduate social work seniors in a western liberal arts university. Four drama students attending the same university served as clients. Clients evaluated the social work students' active listening skills at the end of the interview, and social work students completed self evaluations and evaluations on the module. Results indicated that the module was effective in helping students to learn interviewing skills and identify strengths and weakness regarding use of skills. Implications for social work education are discussed.     

The development and assessment of an online microscopic anatomy laboratory course

Increasing enrollment in post‐secondary institutions across North America, along with an increase in popularity of and demand for distance education is pressuring institutions to offer a greater number and variety of courses online. A fully online laboratory course in microscopic anatomy (histology) which can be taught simultaneously with a face‐to‐face (F2F) version of the same course has been developed. This full year course was offered in the Fall/Winter (FW) terms in both F2F and online formats. To ensure that the online course was of the same quality as the F2F format, a number of performance indicators were evaluated. The same course, offered exclusively online during the summer with a compressed time frame, was also evaluated. Senior undergraduate students self‐selected which version of the course they would enroll in. Course assessment outcomes were compared while incoming grades were used as a predictor for course performance. There were no significant differences between the incoming grades for the F2F FW and Online FW courses; similarly, there were no significant differences between outcomes for these formats. There were significant differences between the incoming grades of the F2F FW and Summer Online students. However, there were no significant differences among any of the outcomes for any of the formats offered. Incoming grades were strong, significant predictors of course performance for both formats. These results indicate that an online laboratory course in microscopic anatomy is an effective format for delivering histology course content, therefore giving students greater options for course selections. Anat Sci Educ 6: 246–256. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Evaluation of a lower-body compression garment

The aims of this study were to determine how custom-fit compression shorts affect athletic performance and to examine the mechanical properties of the shorts. Ten male and 10 female track athletes on a university's nationally competitive track team, specializing in sprint or jump events, participated in the study. Testing utilized the compression shorts with loose-fitting gym shorts as the control garment. Several significant effects were revealed for the custom-fit compressive garment. Although 60 m sprint time was not affected, hip flexion angle was reduced. Skin temperature increased more and at a faster rate during a warm-up protocol. Muscle oscillation was decreased during vertical jump landing. Countermovement vertical jump height increased when the participants were wearing the custom-fit compression garment. In materials testing, the elasticity of the compressive garment provides increased flexion and extension torque at the end range of extension and flexion, respectively, and may assist the hamstrings in controlling the leg at the end of the swing phase in sprinting. The compressive garment significantly reduced impact force by 27% compared with American football pants alone. Through various mechanisms, these findings may translate into an effect on athletic performance and a reduction in injuries.     

The U.S. information sector and GNP: An input-output study

The paper presents the results of an Input-Output study of the U.S. information sector, constructed from 1972 tables compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The study updates the 1967 transaction table published in The Information Economy (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1977). The results show that between 1967 and 1972, the information sector grew at a slightly slower rate than did the entire economy. While the sector accounted for 25.1% GNP in 1967, its share of GNP had actually declined to 24.8% by 1972. Many of the elements of the sector lagged behind the national economy, including printing and publishing and radio and TV equipment; however, other elements of the sector out-paced the economy, including electronic instruments and telecommunications.