Impact of a Temporary Food Shortage on Children and Their Mothers

Kenya experienced a severe drought and temporary food shortage during a study on mild malnutrition. Effects of the temporary food shortage on energy intake, weight, and behaviors were evaluated in schoolchildren and in toddlers and their mothers. Schoolchildren were seriously affected, showing significant declines in their energy intake, age-corrected weight, activity on the playground, and classroom attention. Toddlers appear to have been somewhat protected since their energy intake, weight, and play and language behaviors were stable. Maternal caregiving of toddlers declined for the group as a whole, but individually those mothers who maintained family food levels delegated responsibility for toddlers to other caregivers. While the food shortage affected poorer families more than those of higher SES, declines in the behaviors of schoolchildren occurred regardless of SES and previous level of nutrition, suggesting that food shortages can have behavioral consequences for schoolchildren in all communities.     

Online or Face-to-Face: Do Mission-Related Student Learning Outcomes Differ?

This study investigated how an authentic assessment program was used to examine student learning outcomes within the context of a Christian university’s institutional mission, core values, and distinctive qualities. For the purposes of this study, an authentic assessment program is defined as assessing student-produced work within the context of the institutional mission. A sample of 1,814 undergraduate students taking one or more general education courses at the university during the 2007–2009 academic years was examined for any significant differences in student learning outcomes. A univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated the Student Assessment System (SAS) scores for the online students were not significantly different from the SAS scores for the face-to-face (F2F) students after controlling for course grade. These results suggest that online students achieved the same critical mission-related educational outcomes that the university required of its F2F students. An implication of this finding is that the university just as effectively articulated its faith-based mission and vision to the online students as it did to its students taking classes F2F.     

Using Genograms as a Tool for Insight in College Counseling

The use of a genogram in counseling can provide a visual cool that stimulates insight and awareness in clients. College counseling clients struggle with many developmental, relationship, and systemic issues. Genograms, which have been proven beneficial in other settings, may also facilitate college counseling.     

Psychopharmacological intervention. II: Teacher perceptions of psychotropic medication for students with learning disabilities

The perceptions, knowledge, and opinions of 104 teachers of students with learning disabilities regarding medication used with their students were investigated. The students' doctors were perceived as the professionals primarily responsible for making the decision to have the student either placed on or taken off medication. The teachers indicated that global impressions and direct behavioral observations were used to assess the effects of medication but that they would prefer to use behavioral observations and rating scales. Hyperactivity and delusions/hallucinations were perceived as the problems most likely to lead to medication. Less than 15% of the teachers indicated that their professional preservice training had provided them with sufficient information on the use of medication for children with behavior problems, and less than 20% had a similar opinion regarding their inservice training on the same topic.     

Associative structure of second-order conditioning in humans

Second-order conditioning (SOC; i.e., conditioned responding to S2 as a result of S1–US pairings followed by S2–S1 pairings) is generally explained by either a direct S2→US association or by an associative chain (i.e., S2→S1→US). Previous research found that differences in responses to S2 after S1 was extinguished often depended on the nature of the S2–S1 pairings (i.e., sequential or simultaneous). In two experiments with human participants, we examined the possibility that such differences result from S1 evoking S2 during extinction of S1 following simultaneous but not sequential S2–S1 pairings. This evocation of S2 by S1 following simultaneous pairings may have paired the evoked representation of S2 with absence of the outcome, thereby facilitating mediated extinction of S2. Using sequential S2-S1 pairings, both Experiments 1 and 2 failed to support this account of how extinction of S1 reduced responding to S2. Experiment 1 found that extinguishing S1 reduced responding to S2, while extinguishing S2 had little effect on responses to S1, although forward evocation of S1 during extinction of S2 paired the evoked representation of S1 with absence of the outcome. In Experiment 2, evocation of S2 during S1 nonreinforced trials was prevented because S2–S1 pairings followed (rather than proceeded) S1-alone exposures. Nevertheless, responding to S2 at test mimicked S1 responding. Responding to S2 was high in the context in which S1 had been reinforced and low in the context in which S1 had been nonreinforced. Collectively, these experiments provide additional support for the associative-chain account of SOC.     

Literature Circles: Reducing Reading Stress

The concept of literature circles is now familiar in American and Australian literature about reading, but it does not as yet have great currency in this country. This article by Charlotte Keefe may do much to change this as it very lucidly explains the benefits of and teaching strategies underlying the use of literature circles. As Charlotte points out, they may do much to alleviate those of children's problems with reading which stem from not seeing the point and deriving little pleasure from the experience.     

Intervention program to keep girls in the science pipeline: Outcome differences by ethnic status

This study evaluated a 2‐week residential program aimed at enhancing the science interest and persistence of high‐achieving 8th‐grade girls. Questionnaires were administered to 38 program participants (14 of whom were of minority ethnicity) and 173 applicants who did not attend the program, at 3 time points: preprogram, 1 year postprogram, and 4 years postprogram. Outcomes, measured postprogram, included science self‐concept and interest, persistence and aspirations in science, science activities, science course‐taking in high school, and plans for a science college major. There was no main effect of program participation on any of the outcome measures, but a significant Participation × Ethnicity interaction effect occurred for all but one of the outcome variables. At Time 2, and especially Time 3, nonminority participants tended to have the most positive outcomes, whereas minority participants tended to have the most negative outcomes, compared with applicants. Post hoc analyses showed that although nonminority girls overall were more advantaged, this difference did not explain results. Several interpretations for these findings are discussed, the most likely that some global feature of the program, not any intervention component, interacted over time with the girls' postprogram experience. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 393–414, 2003     

Development and Evaluation of an Inquiry-Based Elementary Science Teacher Education Program Reflecting Current Reform Movements

The National Science Education Standards (National Research Council 1996, National science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press) and various other national and state documents call for teachers who possess science content knowledge, employ an inquiry approach in teaching, and engage in reflective practices. This paper describes a rationale for choosing particular recommendations to implement and how we incorporated those as we revised our elementary science education program. An analysis of the impact of the reformed inquiry-based content courses revealed that students who take more than one reformed content course improve their science content knowledge and efficacy towards teaching science significantly more than students who take fewer courses.     

Income Level, Gender, Ethnicity, and Household Composition as Predictors of Children''s School-based Competence

In the United States, being black, male, or growing up in a low-income and/or single-parent household have all been identified as risk factors for maladjustment during childhood. Interpretation of these findings is, however, often difficult because of the well-known associations among these variables. In the present study, we compared predictions of 3 different forms of children's competence from each of these 4 variables. In a sample of 868 black and white elementary school children from 2-parent and mother-headed 1-parent homes, we studied 3 aspects of school-based competence: conduct, peer relations, and academic achievement. Results showed that although the independent variables accounted for different amounts of variance in each domain of competence, income level and gender were better overall predictors of children's competence in conduct and peer relations than were ethnicity or household composition. Income level and ethnicity were better overall predictors of academic achievement than were gender or household composition, although each of the 4 variables made a significant contribution. Overall, income level and gender were thus the strongest predictors of children's competence. Black children were, however, more likely than white children to live in low-income homes. Our results thus highlighted some correlates of the unequal distribution of economic resources among black and white children growing up in the United States today.