A factor analytic study of the state trait anxiety inventory utilized with preservice elementary teachers

The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) has been widely used as a measure of anxiety in the psychological literature. A new form (STAI-Y) has recently been developed and some psychometric data were available from one previous study of Air Force recruits. In order to validate the instrument's use with preservice elementary teachers, a factor analytic study was undertaken. Preservice elementary teachers (N = 103) were administered the self-report instrument during a required science course. A restricted principal components analysis with iterations was employed as the factoring technique. A four-factor solution accounting for 58.8% of the variance resulted, with a factor-loading pattern very similar to the earlier study. This result, along with high-interval consistency levels, supports the use of the instrument with preservice elementary teachers.     

Recruitment of men and women as academics by Australian universities

Entry of men and women to an academic career was studied through a survey of 230 men and women who in 1991 held a full-time appointment at lecturer level or above in Arts and Science disciplines in an Australian university. The women more often than the men had learned about the position they obtained from a source inside the department in which the job was being filled, had been encouraged by senior members of the department to apply, and had gained a position that was filled without advertisement. However, these differences arose because more of the women than the men had been a tutor in the department where they gained a lectureship. There were no differences in terms of how men and women had been recruited when allowance was made for this factor and whether a person had been residing within Australia immediately prior to appointment. The results are discussed with reference to why men have in the past and now do substantially outnumber women among academics in Australian universities. Although the survey suggests men and women who gained positions were recruited on similar bases, successful applicants need to be compared with unsuccessful applicants to obtain comprehensive understanding whether selection practices have disadvantaged women.The survey reported in this article was undertaken while Ray Over held an appointment as Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Education at Griffith University.     

Spatial assimilation effects and error detection in rapid overlapping and sequential bimanual movements.

This study verified earlier anecdotal evidence indicating that spatial assimilations could be reduced by offsetting movements in time. In Experiment 1, 40 right-handed participants (ages 18-23 years) made single and dual quick lever reversals of 20 degrees and 60 degrees with the left and right limbs, respectively. Participants were assigned to either the Overlapping (O) group, in which one limb began when the other limb reached the reversal point, or to the Sequential (S) group in which one limb followed the other with a delay of 114 ms, on average. The shorter-distance limb of the O group overshot relative to the S group. Short-distance spatial assimilations were also shown in the S group in Experiment 2, when the delay was increased to 250, 500, or 1,500 ms (N = 30), suggesting that assimilation effects can be caused by command interactions at both the planning and the execution levels.     

Exploring the Future: a missing dimension in environmental education

There is considerable current interest in the need for a more ecologically sustainable future. If environmental educators wish to make a significant contribution to this debate, two prior and interrelated areas of concern need addressing. The first is recognition that teaching about global issues can sometimes be counterproductive and lead to feelings of despair. The second, explored in more detail here, is the need to know how young people conceptualise the future in the first place. A recent study of pupils’ views of the future is described which provides important information about their attitudes to the local and global environment.     

Parents' experiences of support: co-constructing their stories

The aim of this paper is to present a way of supporting parents that can lead to positive outcomes for families. The findings and processes from a study in England of six parents' experiences of support services for their young children with special needs are discussed in making the case that co-constructing the stories of parent and researcher experiences can become a valuable conduit for improving support. An ethnographic case study approach with narrative analysis was used, and this paper shows how the parents' narratives, interwoven with the reflections of the researcher/early years professional, suggest engaged listening as a way forward for professionals and parents (as well as researchers) to understand each other. Stories that each party is fearful of telling or hearing illustrate the balance of fragility and resilience in their assumptions and relationships.