Who likes math where? Gender differences in eighth-graders’ attitudes around the world

Some of the most male-dominated science, technology, engineering and mathematics occupations and degree programmes are found in the world’s most affluent societies. This article assesses whether gender gaps in attitudes follow similarly surprising patterns. Multivariate analysis of eighth-graders’ affinity for mathematics and aspirations for mathematically related jobs in 53 countries shows that the attitudinal gender gap is indeed larger in affluent ‘postmaterialist’ societies. Moreover, both girls and boys view mathematics more negatively in these societies. The authors suggest that cultural ideals of individual self-expression, highly prevalent under conditions of broad-based existential security, operate to reduce girls’ and boys’ interest in pursuits thought to be economically practical but personally non-expressive. Girls may be particularly susceptible to this negative effect, because taken-for-granted cultural beliefs about core female personality traits (and girls’ gendered understandings of their own authentic inner selves) are often at odds with dominant representations of mathematical and technical work.     

Theory and Passion in Action Research

The starting point for this article is Polanyi's insight that learning involves the personal participation of the knower in taking possession of knowledge, and that this process ‘takes place within a flow of passion’. Somekh pays tribute to Elliott's role in her own intellectual development, as her tutor while she was still a teacher, and later as her colleague. The article focuses on the contribution of the articles published in Educational Action Research, during its first 10 years, under the title of ‘Theoretical Resources’. The contested nature of this title is discussed and illuminated through an exploration of Elliott's writing about teachers' knowledge and the role of both theory and practice in theory generation. Somekh argues for the importance of intellectual engagement with ideas and theories through passionate participation within a ‘personalised and contextualised reality’ – she sees this process as akin to Elliott's notion of action research as a process which ‘problematises the ideas of theorists’.     

Investigating the effectiveness of gamification on supply chain operations knowledge and practice

The use of gamification to enhance learning in education has been well documented. However, little is known about whether gamification can impact supply chain management knowledge and behaviors among healthcare professionals. In this study, we tested the effectiveness of a simulation app (ShipShape) designed and developed to gamify the fundamental concepts of supply chain management. We field tested the effectiveness of the app to impact knowledge gain and supply chain practice by asking healthcare professionals to use the app in their day-to-day operations. We collected longitudinal data spanning the period before and after the introduction of the app. The analysis and results of different types of data collected provide support for the positive impact of the app on both supply chain knowledge and practice among healthcare professionals.     

Cognitive Style Index: Further investigation of the factor structure with an American student sample

The present study investigates the factor structure of the Cognitive Style Index (CSI), comparing the unitary, bipolar continuum of intuition–analysis, the theory upon which the CSI is predicated, with the two‐factor theory of cognitive style. We conducted both confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses on data from a sample of 222 American university business students. There was a lack of fit for the unifactorial model. Our results suggest the instrument is tapping multiple dimensions of cognitive style, the implications of which are discussed.     

The Relations of Children's Dispositional Prosocial Behavior to Emotionality, Regulation, and Social Functioning

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of a measure of children's dispositional prosocial behavior (i.e., peer nominations) to individual differences in children's negative emotionality, regulation, and social functioning. Children with prosocial reputations tended to be high in constructive social skills (i.e., socially appropriate behavior and constructive coping) and attentional regulation, and low in negative emotionality. The relations of children's negative emotionality to prosocial reputation were moderated by level of dispositional attentional regulation. In addition, the relations of prosocial reputation to constructive social skills and parent-reported negative emotionality (for girls) increased with age. Vagal tone, a marker of physiological regulation, was negatively related to girls' prosocial reputation.     

Causal Learning Across Culture and Socioeconomic Status

Extensive research has explored the ability of young children to learn about the causal structure of the world from patterns of evidence. These studies, however, have been conducted with middle-class samples from North America and Europe. In the present study, low-income Peruvian 4- and 5-year-olds and adults, low-income U.S. 4- and 5-year-olds in Head Start programs, and middle-class children from the United States participated in a causal learning task (N = 435). Consistent with previous studies, children learned both specific causal relations and more abstract causal principles across culture and socioeconomic status (SES). The Peruvian children and adults generally performed like middle-class U.S. children and adults, but the low-SES U.S. children showed some differences.     

Integrated Reference à la Carte: Evaluating,Selecting, and Implementing the Best Features for your Library

Integrated reference systems, such as SpringShare's LibAnswers, operate on a single, easy-to-use platform for providing virtual reference services and recording transactions. This article discusses the evidence-based decision-making carried out by librarians at Auburn University's main library and a branch library when deciding which aspects of the LibAnswers platform to incorporate at the two separate locations. Evaluating, selecting, and implementing appropriate components of LibAnswers resulted in complementary but separate systems that met the needs of both patrons and staff. This article adds to the body of literature on integrated reference systems by expanding the focus to include a branch library and its unique considerations and reasons for implementing LibAnswers.     

Extending the Utility of the Views of Nature of Science Assessment through Epistemic Network Analysis

Science & Education - An understanding of how science is enacted and how scientific knowledge is generated, or the nature of science (NOS), is a major goal of science education. NOS views have...     

The relations of parental warmth and positive expressiveness to children's empathy-related responding and social functioning: a longitudinal study

This study examined the concurrent and cross-time relations of parental observed warmth and positive expressivity to children's situational facial and self-reported empathic responding, social competence, and externalizing problems in a sample of 180 elementary school children. Data was collected when the children were in second to fifth grades (age: M = 112.8 months), and again 2 years later. Cross-sectional and longitudinal structural equation models supported the hypothesis that parents' (mostly mothers') positive expressivity mediated the relation between parental warmth and children's empathy, and children's empathy mediated the relation between parental positive expressivity and children's social functioning. These relations persisted after controlling for prior levels of parenting and child characteristics. Moreover, concurrent and cross-time consistencies were found on measures of parenting, children's situational empathic responding, and social functioning.