Differences in Career Aspirations,Influences, and Motives as a Function of Class Standing: An Empirical Evaluation of Undergraduate Criminal Justice Majors

The purpose of this study was to determine whether career aspirations, influences, and motives differ by class standing (freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior). A cross-sectional analysis of surveys completed by 204 criminal justice majors revealed a negative correlation between class standing and student interest in a law enforcement career (i.e. freshman and sophomores showed greater interest in a law enforcement career than juniors and seniors). Further analysis indicated that television and movies had a greater impact on the career aspirations of underclassmen, whereas teachers and professors had a greater impact on the career aspirations of upperclassmen. Motivational factors did not differ by class standing, however: students, regardless of class standing, reported that helping others and the interesting nature of the subject matter were their two strongest motives for seeking a criminal justice career and wearing a uniform and power were the two weakest motives for seeking a criminal justice career.     

Changes in Korean Science Teachers' Perceptions of Creativity and Science Teaching After Participating in an Overseas Professional Development Program

This study investigated changes in Korean science teachers' perceptions of creativity and science teaching after participating in an overseas professional development program. Participants were 35 secondary science teachers. Data were collected from open-ended questionnaires and interviews. Results indicated that participants showed a growing awareness that creativity can be expressed by every student; creativity can be enhanced; science has a much wider range of activities that foster creativity; and creativity-centered science teaching can be implemented in Korea. The major elements of the professional program that promoted these perceptual changes included hands-on creativity activities, observation of creativity-centered classrooms, and discussion with other teachers. Follow-up study revealed that their perceptual changes have been reflected in their teaching practices.     

Nonsense passage reading as a diagnostic aid in the study of adult familial dyslexia

We examined Nonsense-Passage oral reading in adults, using data derived from new and previously published studies (Finucci et al 1976, Gross-Glenn et al 1985). Time-scores and error-frequency data are presented for five samples of non-dyslexic readers with a minimum of a high-school education and no childhood history of dyslexia (N=127). Considerable uniformity is demonstrated across these samples, and reading performance of non-dyslexic individuals contrasts sharply with that observed in four samples of adult familial dyslexics. Both affected and compensated-affected dyslexic subjects read the passages significantly more slowly and with more errors than did nondyslexic readers. Results are discussed in relation to the cognitive and neural processes that may underlie this specific reading difficulty in dyslexics. We have found Nonsense-Passage reading to be especially useful in family studies of inherited dyslexia as a means of quantifying oral reading deficits in adults who have learned to compensate for their children reading difficulties.     

Development of a distance education assessment instrument

The study described in this article takes the view that distance education programs are dynamic systems with multiple constituencies. Literature on distance education programs as complex systems and on the critical constituency approach to program evaluation was used to guide the development of a questionnaire designed to assess the components of a distance education program. Instrument development was conducted in four phases using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The data from this study suggest that there are four major components of effectiveness in distance education programs: instruction, management, telecommuting, and support. Within each of these components there are from two to five subcomponents, 14 components in all, which can be used to assess distance education programs. The assessment scale which was developed measures these four components and their subcomponents.     

The Decline and Elimination of PETE: Implications for Doctoral Education

ABSTRACT

In this article, we will explore the current landscape of teacher education programs in general, and specifically, physical education teacher education (PETE) from the national level down to the local level. Furthermore, we will explore the impact that the elimination of undergraduate PETE programs can have on PETE doctoral programs, including the teaching, research, and engagement of their faculty. We present ideas for preparing doctoral students for their future higher education roles that may or may not include the preparation of future physical educators.     

Applying the ARCS model to the design and development of computer-based modules for manufacturing engineering courses

This paper describes how a multimedia design team at Wayne State University, working on an engineering education project funded by the National Science Foundation, incorporated Keller's ARCS (attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction) model into the design and development of a computer-based instructional (CBI) module for a college engineering course in economics. A discussion of how and why the components were incorporated into the traditional instructional design phases of definition, design, development, implementation, and evaluation is presented. where she earned her doctorate this year, and coleader of a multimedia team in the design and development of CBI modules for a manufacturing engineering education project funded by NSF.     

Effect of Twinning on Chinese and English Vocabulary Knowledge

Vocabulary knowledge was tested in a native (Cantonese-Chinese) and foreign (English) language in 150 twins and 150 singletons aged 6–11 years, matched on age, gender, grade level, nonverbal intelligence, parents’ education, family income, and number of siblings and household members. The singletons clearly outperformed the twins on the native vocabulary, but this “twinning effect” was much less noticeable for the foreign vocabulary. The effect on English vocabulary was further reduced after exposure to English at home was controlled. Given that these participants learned most of their English in school rather than home, the present findings support the notion that the twinning effect is associated with increased competition for family interaction in twins compared with singletons.     

Opportunities and constraints when studying social learning: Developmental approaches and social factors

Identifying social learning in wild populations is complicated by the relative lack of ability to conduct controlled experiments in natural habitats. Even in more controlled captive settings, tracking the innovation and spread of behavior among known individuals can be challenging, and these studies often suffer from a lack of ecological validity. In recent years, a host of new approaches have been undertaken to attempt to provide more quantitative control and empirical demonstration of social learning, both in the wild and in captive settings that more closely mimic natural contexts. Developmental approaches are being undertaken more regularly that allow us to study the ontogenetic trajectory of complex skills in a variety of taxa. Likewise, a spirited focus on the social context of social learning has emerged, and researchers have begun to meticulously analyze the influences of social systems and the characteristics of demonstrators and observers. Here, we provide a review of these studies and summarize the opportunities and constraints that exist when one attempts to study learning in social species. We suggest that although the study of social learning in nonhuman animals is becoming much more complex, addressing this complexity provides a fruitful model for understanding the evolution of human cultural behavior.     

Universal and language-specific constraints on phonemic awareness: evidence from Russian–Hebrew bilingual children

The study tested phonemic awareness in the two languages of Russian (L1)–Hebrew (L2) sequential bilingual children (N = 20) using phoneme deletion tasks where the phoneme to be deleted occurred word initial, word final, as a singleton, or part of a cluster, in long and short words and stressed and unstressed syllables. The experiments were designed to test the effect of four linguistic factors on children’s phoneme deletion: phoneme position (initial, final), linguistic context (singleton, cluster), word length and stress. The results indicated that word length and stress confirmed previous findings in other languages demonstrating the universal validity of these factors. However, phoneme position and linguistic context gave rise to novel findings in the languages studied and provided evidence for language-specific effects on phonemic awareness reflecting onset-rime versus body-coda syllable structure differences. The results are discussed within the framework of universal versus language-specific constraints on phonemic awareness performance in different languages.