Industry,academe, and the values of undergraduate engineers

This paper contributes to research about organizational effects on the socialization of undergraduates and the formation of engineers' values by examining the effects of exposure to academic and industrial work, in the form of cooperative employment and undergraduate research, on the educational experiences, job values, and life objectives of engineering students. Using data from a questionnaire survey conducted in the spring of 1990, we found that both programs strongly influenced participants' skills, job values, and life objectives, even when social background, academic performance, reasons for attending college, parental socialization, and other collegiate and noncollegiate variables were controlled. Cooperative employment more strongly influenced students' skills and had a greater effect on their career decisions, but research experience had a surprisingly powerful influence on values and life objectives, particularly the value placed on receiving peer recognition and influencing the political structure.     

Sexual interest in children,child sexual abuse,and psychological sequelae for children

This article reviews the literature on sexual victimization of minors and the role of school psychologists in assessing and intervening with sexually abused minors. Although estimates of child sexual abuse prevalence differ widely owing to disclosure biases and the definitions that researchers have used in studying it, it is clear that child sexual abuse is a serious public problem. Also troubling is the extent to which “normal” adults, especially males, exhibit sexual interest in children, suggesting that a substantial number may be at risk for victimizing minors; fortunately, a variety of inhibitory mechanisms prevent most adults from committing this crime. Although victims typically suffer from sexual abuse, surprisingly, some evidence suggests that victims of sexual abuse can exhibit neutral or even positive outcomes, a controversial finding that has numerous possible explanations. Tragically, childhood sexual abuse may lead the victim to become an abuser later in life, sometimes while still a minor. We suggest directions for future research. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

EXAMINING POTENTIAL BIAS IN SCREENING MEASURES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS BY SPECIAL EDUCATION AND LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS SUBGROUPS

To provide timely and effective supports for students reading below grade level, schools require methods for quickly and accurately identifying those students in need. One method for identifying those students is through universal screening. Assessments such as oral reading fluency (ORF) and Maze reading comprehension are commonly used as screening assessments in middle grades. The current study examined ORF and Maze for evidence of bias across two subgroups known to be at increased risk for failure in reading: (a) students with learning disabilities and (b) students from low‐income households. Data from 4,215 students in the sixth (n = 1,126), seventh (n = 1,361), and eighth grades (n = 1,728) were analyzed. Results indicate no significant differences in predictive validity for students from low‐income households compared to students from middle and upper income households. For students with learning disabilities only 8th grade scores showed any evidence of bias compared to students without diagnosed disabilities. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Time Use and Mathematics Achievement among American, Chinese, and Japanese High School Students

Cultural differences in the structure of adolescents' daily lives were examined by interviewing representative samples of 578 grade 11 students, aged 16–17 years, in Minneapolis, Taipei (Taiwan), and Sendai (Japan) about the amounts of time they spent in a wide variety of activities. Studying, interacting with peers, and watching television were the most frequent activities in all 3 locations, but the relative importance of each activity differed among the locations. Chinese students spent significantly more time than American students engaged in academic endeavors, such as attending school and after-school classes and studying. Japanese students did not spend significantly more time studying or attending after-school classes than American students, but they did spend more time attending school. American students, in turn, spent more time working and socializing with friends. Differences in adolescents' use of time were related to both cross-cultural and individual differences in mathematics achievement.     

Mathematics Achievement of Children in China and the United States

First and fifth graders in Beijing and Chicago were given a battery of mathematics test. Whether tested with problems requiring solely computation or with ones requiring application of knowledge about mathematics, American children's performance was consistently inferior to that of Chinese children. Interviews with American children suggested that they like mathematics, believe they are doing well in mathematics, and do not perceive mathematics as a difficult subject. American children's poor performance appears to be attributable, in part, to low motivation for devoting more attention to mathematics. Low standards held by American parents for academic achievement and lower interest in teaching mathematics by American teachers appear to contribute to American children's poor performance.     

Preschool emotional competence: pathway to social competence?

Preschoolers' (N = 143) patterns of emotional expressiveness, emotion regulation, and emotion knowledge were assessed. Their contributions to social competence, as evidenced by sociometric likability and teacher ratings, were evaluated via latent variable modeling, both concurrently and across time. Moderation of key results by age and sex was also explored. Emotional competence assessed at 3 to 4 years of age contributed to both concurrent and kindergarten social competence. Even early in the preschool period, contributions of emotional competence to social competence have long-term implications.     

Academic development through the contextualization of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: reflections drawn from the recent history of Trinidad and Tobago

Whilst the case for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) has been made, there has been little discussion on how such scholarship might lead academic development at the local level. Through analyzing the recent history of Trinidad and Tobago this paper proposes that the conceptualization of SoTL should embrace the nuances of its particular context. It is argued that, since gaining independence, the education system of Trinidad and Tobago has failed to shake off the remnants of its former colonizer and that the Ministry of Education has looked to import educational ‘best practice’ from other countries. This paper suggests that ‘borrowing’ the drivers of development is culturally naïve and, instead, proposes that educational change should be led through a context-specific examination of the relationship between scholars of teaching and learning and the society in which they find themselves.     

Student Academic Support: A Validity Test

Given the significant support system changes that students often experience at the university level, college students often view fellow students as their primary source of academic support. This study offers validity evidence for the Student Academic Support Scale (SASS), a 15-item, multidimensional measure that assesses informational, esteem, motivational, and venting support. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the SASS revealed close model fit, replicated prior CFA tests (Thompson & Mazer, 2009 Thompson , B. , & Mazer , J. P. ( 2009 ). College student ratings of student academic support: Frequency, importance, and modes of communication . Communication Education , 58 , 433 – 458 .[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and ultimately provided additional evidence for content validity. More important, correlations between student academic support, student motivation, affective learning, and engagement suggest that the SASS construct is related to other theoretically similar constructs, providing initial evidence for construct validity. Pedagogical implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Detecting Bouts of Physical Activity in a Field Setting

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to assess the TRITRAC® and CSA® for: (a) interaccelerometer agreement; (b) agreement in detecting patterns of moderate-intensity physical activity; and (c) agreement in detecting walking patterns recorded in a diary. Thirty-one women wore both the TRITRAC® and CSA® accelerometers for three consecutive days. Interaccelerometer agreement (measured with generalizability coefficients) ranged from .88 to .99. In total, 71.3% of the accelerometers' patterns agreed in length, with CSA® patterns being on average significantly longer. Interaccelerometer agreement in detecting patterns of brisk walking, as recorded in a diary, was comparable (69.4%). Interaccelerometer discrepancies may be related in part to the threshold employed by each instrument for classifying moderate intensity patterns.