Effects of student-generated drawing and imagination on science text reading in a computer-based learning environment

Educational technology research and development - The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of student-generated drawing and imagination on learning recall, learning transfer, and...     

Challenging the Science Curriculum Paradigm: Teaching Primary Children Atomic-Molecular Theory

Research in Science Education - Solutions to global issues demand the involvement of scientists, yet concern exists about retention rates in science as students pass through school into University....     

A pilot study of early childhood mental health consultation for children with behavioral problems in preschool

This study reports the findings of a pilot demonstration project called Together for Kids, which used a mental health consultation model to address the needs of young children with challenging behaviors who are identified in preschool classrooms. The study was conducted in four preschool programs and one Head Start program serving children ages 3–5, including both private-pay families and those using public subsidies. Rates of significant behavior problems as assessed by preschool teachers using a standardized scale were high, with 34% of all children enrolled in preschool classrooms in these sites over a 3-year period identified at-risk of externalizing or internalizing problems. Classroom teachers, as well as individual children and families identified as at-risk, were provided services, including, classroom observation and teacher training, individual child assessment and therapy, family assessment and support, and referrals for other family needs. Analysis of outcomes for 47 children and families with externalizing behavior problems who received individualized consultation, compared to 89 control children, and analysis of outcomes of a matched group of 19 intervention and 19 control children, revealed that the intervention was associated with significant improvements in classroom aggressive and maladaptive behavior, and growth in adaptive behavior. Improvements in child behavior were associated with total hours of individual child services provided, and with improvements in child developmental skills. Significant reductions in the rate of children suspended or terminated from child care programs were also found. Implications for further development of models of early childhood mental health consultation are discussed.     

The effect of unilateral arm swing motion on lower extremity running mechanics associated with injury risk

Many field sports involve equipment that restricts one or both arms from moving while running. Arm swing during running has been examined from a biomechanical and physiologic perspective but not from an injury perspective. Moreover, only bilateral arm swing suppression has been studied with respect to running. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of running with one arm restrained on lower extremity mechanics associated with running or sport-related injury. Fifteen healthy participants ran at a self-selected speed with typical arm swing, with one arm restrained and with both arms restrained. Lower extremity kinematics and spatiotemporal measures were analysed for all arm swing conditions. Running with one arm restrained resulted in increased frontal plane knee and hip angles, decreased foot strike angle, and decreased centre of mass vertical displacement compared to typical arm swing or bilateral arm swing restriction. Stride length was decreased and step frequency increased when running with one or both arms restrained. Unilateral arm swing restriction induces changes in lower extremity kinematics that are not similar to running with bilateral arm swing restriction or typical arm swing motion. Running with one arm restrained increases frontal plane mechanics associated with risk of knee injury.     

An Evaluative Review of Approaches to Behaviour Problems in the Secondary School

The traditional approach to behaviour problems in secondary schools has been reactive and largely negative. The introduction in recent years of a systems perspective was due to general dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of the traditional problem‐focused model and to a recognition of the benefits that preventive practices might bring. The reports of whole‐school innovations, which are available, are encouraging. However, to date only certain types of systems interventions have been thoroughly evaluated and there is a need for more empirical data. This review also considers the practical implications for educational psychologists in introducing new approaches to secondary schools.     

Predictors of Handwriting in Adolescents and Adults with Down Syndrome

Handwriting is a skill that is constantly used in schools and in the workplace – two environments that are targeted in French legislation passed in 2005 on the integration of people with disabilities. The aim of the present study was to determine the predictive factors for handwriting speed and quality in adolescents and adults with Down syndrome (DS), looking at chronological and developmental age, pen grasp and perceptual-motor processing, which are known to contribute to both the speed and quality of handwriting. Results yielded by simple linear and curvilinear analyses revealed that handwriting speed and quality are related to chronological age, developmental age and perceptual-motor processing. Moreover, multiple linear regressions showed that handwriting quality can be predicted by fine motor coordination. We discuss the influence of different factors on handwriting acquisition in individuals with DS, and the implications in terms of intervention programmes.     

What can ‘social practice’ theory and ‘socio-cultural’ theory contribute to our understanding of the processes of module design?

This article discusses the data obtained from an online survey of academic staff who are involved in module design and who are employed within one university. The survey was used as a baselining tool to explore the nature of current module design practice within the survey sample. Do academics consistently employ the pragmatic approaches recommended by educational developers and theorists or is module and curriculum development a more informally constructed process? By comparing the initial findings of this project with survey and interview data produced by evidence-based projects, this article suggests that module design practice is not set in stone and that we need a deeper analysis of the process of module and curriculum design in terms of social practice and socio-cultural theory in order to gain a deeper understanding of it.     

The Development of Message Evaluation Skills in Young Children

The goal of this research was to learn if young children overestimate message quality because they evaluate their knowledge or assumptions about the intended meaning of the message, rather than its literal meaning. 2 experiments were conducted with preschoolers (4 years) and kindergartners (5-6 years). Second graders (8 years) also participated in the first experiment. Children evaluated the communicative quality of informative, ambiguous, and ineffective picture messages in a simple communication game. In the first experiment, children knew the intended referent when they evaluated the message. The results showed that younger children overestimated the informativeness of the ambiguous and ineffective messages, while older children evaluated message quality accurately, even though they knew the intended meaning. In the second experiment, younger children detected more of the message ambiguities when they did not know the target referent than when they were informed of the intended interpretation. The results suggest that young children overestimate message quality because they evaluate their interpretation of the message rather than its literal meaning.     

Children with disabilities: a longitudinal study of child development and parent well-being.

This Monograph presents the results of the Early Intervention Collaborative Study, a longitudinal investigation of the cognitive and adaptive behavior development of children with developmental disabilities and the adaptation of their parents, extending from infancy through middle childhood. The study was designed to generate and test conceptual models of child and family development and contribute to the knowledge base that informs social policy and practice. The sample for the investigation reported here consists of 183 children with Down syndrome, motor impairment, developmental delay and their families who were recruited at the time of their enrollment in an early intervention program in Massachusetts or New Hampshire. Data were collected at five time points between entry to early intervention and the child's 10th birthday. Home visits were conducted at each time point and included child assessments, maternal interview, and questionnaires completed independently by both parents. Trajectories in children's development and parental well-being were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Predictor variables were measured at age 3 years when children were exiting early intervention programs. Children's type of disability predicted trajectories of development in cognition, social skills, and daily living skills. Children's type of disability also predicted changes in maternal (but not paternal) child-related and parent-related stress. Beyond type of disability, child self-regulatory processes (notably behavior problems and mastery motivation) and one aspect of the family climate (notably mother-child interaction) were key predictors of change in both child outcomes and parent well-being. A different aspect of the family climate--family relations--also predicted change in child social skills. Parent assets, measured as social support and problem-focused coping, predicted change in maternal and paternal parent-related stress respectively. The implications of these findings for both the science of child development and the policies and practices of developmental intervention are discussed.