Young girls’ arithmetic and spatial skills: The distal and proximal roles of family socioeconomics and home learning experiences

The present study addressed girls’ (N = 127) early numerical and spatial reasoning skills, within the context of a critical environment in which these cognitive skills develop, namely their homes. Specifically, proximal links between distal family socioeconomic conditions and first-grade girls’ arithmetic and spatial skills were examined (mean age = 6.72 years; SD = .34). The proximal roles of two factors were considered: the general learning characteristics of girls’ homes, and the kinds of math and spatial learning activities in which girls participated. General quality of the home learning environment and specific math activities mediated the relation between family socioeconomics and girls’ arithmetic skills. In contrast, socioeconomics and home learning experiences were related to girls’ spatial skills indirectly only through their verbal skills; spatial activities were not proximal predictors of spatial skills. For both arithmetic and spatial skills, mothers’ spatial skills were a strong predictor. Future research and intervention implications of these findings are discussed.     

Language skills,mathematical thinking,and achievement motivation in children with ADHD,disruptive behavior disorders,and normal controls

Recent models of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suggest that the association between achievement motivation and school performance may be stronger in children with ADHD than in typically developing children. Therefore, the present study investigated associations between achievement motivation and performance on language skills and mathematical thinking in children with ADHD (n = 23; M = 9.4 years, SD = 1.1 years; 78% boys) and two matched control groups, i.e., a clinical control group (children with related disruptive behavior disorders; DBD), and a non-clinical control group (NC). Results confirmed stronger associations between achievement motivation and performance on receptive language and mathematical thinking in children with ADHD than in NC. Specifically, performance of children with ADHD was equal to NC for highly motivated ADHD children. These results underscore the importance of achievement motivation as a more essential key factor in the performance of children with ADHD as compared to typically developing children.     

Human cumulative culture in the laboratory: Effects of (micro) population size

Traditionally, experiments on social learning (in both humans and nonhumans) involve dyads, with an experimenter or experimenter-trained conspecific serving as the demonstrator and the participant as the observer. But social learning in nature often involves multiple potential models, and the models themselves were once learners. We discuss our studies of social learning by adult humans in interactive group settings in the absence of formal demonstrations by experimenters, which tracked transmission over multiple learner generations. In these experiments, we found evidence for cumulative learning over generations. This has allowed us to manipulate learning conditions in order to test hypotheses regarding the necessary conditions for cumulative culture. We also report results from a further experiment using similar methods, which compared conditions of varying cohort size. Participants were given the task to build a paper airplane to fly as far as possible. Contrary to expectations, there was no advantage for larger cohort sizes, in terms of the cumulative effects observed.     

“Brains before ‘beauty’?” High achieving girls,school and gender identities

In recent years educational policy on gender and achievement has concentrated on boys' underachievement, frequently comparing it with the academic success of girls. This has encouraged a perception of girls as the “winners” of the educational stakes and assumes that they no longer experience the kinds of gender inequalities identified in earlier studies. However, trying to balance academic achievement with being seen as a “proper girl” presents girls with difficult challenges, particularly in terms of being accepted and approved of by classmates and securing the attention of teachers. This paper explores the views of a group of high achieving 12‐ to 13‐year‐old girls who indicate that being regarded as “clever” continues to be negotiated within acceptable frameworks of femininity.     

Parameterising expertise in coaching: past, present and future

Research into expertise is increasing across a number of domains pertinent to sport. Whilst this increase is particularly apparent in coaching, a key question is how to identify an expert coach? Accordingly, this paper draws upon existing studies into expert coaches to address this issue; in particular, the criteria used to select expert coaches for research purposes and the methods used in expert coach research. Based on these data, we contend that the elements of expertise are not fully reflected within currently accepted criteria which, in turn, results in expert coaching research not necessarily identifying the appropriate individuals to study. The paper concludes with recommendations for more rigorous criteria for selecting expert coaches and highlights the associated implications for the future training and development of expert coaches.     

ENTRE REPRODUCTION ET MOBILISATION: LES RAPPORTS DE GENRE EN FORMATION CONTINUE EN FRANCE ET AU CANADA

La situation des femmes en éducation initiale a beaucoup évolué depuis 40 ans. Mais qu’en est-il de leur situation en éducation et formation des adultes? Cet article, comparant le Canada et la France, montre que si les femmes ont un taux de participation plus élevé que les hommes, ce qui est un fait connu, leur présence plus forte en formation à vocation professionnelle constitue, toutefois, un phénomène nouveau. L’analyse met en relief certaines particularités, telles qu’un recours plus important à la formation continue au Canada, ou encore une probabilité plus élevée, en France, de la participation des employés à temps complet. Dans les deux pays, la participation des femmes demeure modulée par divers facteurs sociaux.     

Sources of satisfaction and stress among Indigenous academic teachers: findings from a national Australian study

Academics of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent are few in number but play a vital role in Australian university teaching. In addition to teaching both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, they interact with academic colleagues in a context where pressures to “Indigenize” Australian curricula and increase Indigenous enrolments are growing. In this article, we will draw on our nation-wide research with Indigenous academics to further explore this under-researched area of Australian university teaching, and the highs and lows of how Indigenous teachers experience their roles. Our findings reveal that for our Indigenous colleagues, sources of personal and professional satisfaction – as well as stress – appear qualitatively different from those commonly associated with academic work. Of particular concern are the findings in relation to issues of cultural difference on our campuses, played out in the ways Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff and students interact daily. Counterbalancing this potential negativity is the strong, indeed inspiring, commitment on the part of our Indigenous academic participants to the educational futures of their students, and thus, to the futures of Indigenous communities across Australia. The findings raise some thought-provoking questions for individuals and institutions in the higher education systems of our region, and perhaps beyond.     

The impact of information skills training on independent literature searching activity and requests for mediated literature searches

Background: Most NHS library services routinely offer both mediated searches and information skills training sessions to their users. We analyse the impact of these two services on the amount of literature searching demonstrated by users of hospital‐ based library services in the north‐west of England. Methods: Data for (1) mediated literature searches, (2) number of library users attending information skills training sessions, (3) amount of library staff time devoted to information skills training, and (4) number of Athens‐authenticated log‐ins to databases were obtained from statistical returns for 2007, and analysed for significant correlations. Results: There was evidence of quite strong correlations between the two measures of training activity and the number of mediated literature searches performed by library staff. There was weaker evidence of correlation between training activity and total literature searching activity. Discussion: Attending training sessions may make some library users aware of the difficulty of complex literature searches and actually reduce their confidence to perform their own complex searches independently. The relationships between information skills training, mediated literature searches, and independent literature searching activity remain complex.     

PISA 2015: how big is the ‘mode effect’ and what has been done about it?

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an important cross-national study of 15-year-olds’ academic knowledge and skills. Educationalists and public policymakers eagerly await the tri-annual results, with particular interest in whether their country has moved up or slid down the international rankings, as compared to earlier rounds. In 2015 a major change was implemented in PISA, with the introduction of computer-based assessment. This has the potential to reduce comparability of PISA test scores across countries and over time. We investigate this issue using PISA 2015 field trial data for three countries: Germany, Sweden, and Ireland. We show how, if left unaccounted for, the change to computer-based testing could limit the comparability of PISA test scores. We then describe the methodology the study organisers have used to account for such mode effects. Our key conclusion is that although the adjustment made is unlikely to overcome all the potential challenges of switching to computer-based tests, it represents an improvement over the alternative of making no adjustment at all.