ADHD and academic attainment: Is there an advantage in impulsivity?

Pupils diagnosed with ADHD and pupils with ADHD symptoms tend to do less well at school than their symptom-free peers. This has been found to be particularly true for predominantly inattentive pupils. This paper aimed to establish the relative importance of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity to the academic progress of young children. A large dataset which held children's reading and maths attainment at the end of their first year at school, as well as teachers' ratings of ADHD-related behaviours based on the DSM-IV criteria was analysed. Inattention was strongly linked to under-attainment whilst impulsivity was positively related to attainment for similar levels of inattention. The item “Blurts out answers” on the teachers' rating scale was particularly important. When impulsivity acted as an overt sign of cognitive engagement it seemed to have a positive function. This raises questions about the inclusion of the “blurting out” item in the ADHD DSM criteria.     

Development of Episodic Prospection: Factors Underlying Improvements in Middle and Late Childhood

Episodic prospection is the mental simulation of a personal future event in rich contextual detail. This study examined age-related differences in episodic prospection in 5- to 11-year-olds and adults (N = 157), as well as factors that may contribute to developmental improvements. Participants’ narratives of past, future, and make-believe events were coded for episodic content, and self-concept coherence (i.e., how coherently an individual sees himself or herself) and narrative ability were tested as predictors of episodic prospection. Although all ages provided less episodic content for future event narratives, age-related improvements were observed across childhood, suggesting future event generation is particularly difficult for children. Self-concept coherence and narrative ability each independently predicted the episodic content of 5- and 7-year-olds’ future event narratives.     

Through the Dąbrowski Lens: Empathy and the Syntonic Continuum

Kazimierz D?browski’s five-level theory of personality development, the Theory of Positive Disintegration, is one in which the experience of all emotions is essential for the process of individual growth toward the personality ideal. In this article, we synthesize D?browski’s conception of syntony and the development of empathy. We discuss the genesis of empathy within the lower levels of human personality development and visually demonstrate the multilevelness of the development of empathy through a diagrammatic representation of syntonic and empathic responses with examples of these traits mapped to the varying levels of development within D?browski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration.     

What is technology? Development and evaluation of a simple instrument for measuring children's conceptions of technology

Technology is important to all aspects of our lives, so helping students develop an accurate understanding of technology should be an educational goal at the K-12 level. Assessments are important tools in reaching this goal. We developed an instrument to measure the technology conceptions of children ages 8–11, the ‘What is Technology’ (WT) instrument. We gathered evidence for the validity of using the WT instrument to measure children's conceptions of technology, including changes due to an intervention, and we describe those changes. We used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to establish scales, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with new samples of subjects to confirm our hypothesised model of children's conceptions. For further evidence, we analyzed and coded the written responses children gave to open-ended questions asking them to explain their understanding of technology, then calculated correlations between these codes and the CFA-confirmed scale measures. We found that children tend to think of technology as artifacts that are powered by electrical energy; however, after instruction most children's conceptions become more consistent with definitions given in educational standards. The instrument is shown to be valid and reliable for its intended use, to assess preadolescent children's conceptions of technology, and evaluate the impact of an intervention.     

Nursing Care Preferences among Filipino Elderly: A Conjoint Analysis

While nursing care has been investigated in the context of patient satisfaction, health care delivery, nursing skill, and patient centered care, elderly patients’ nursing care preferences have not been fully explored nor identified from the lens of utility analysis. This study is a purposive sample of 300 Filipino geriatric patients from the regions of Calabarzon and National Capital Region (NCR) participated and were asked to rank cards from 1 to 12 relative to the following five attributes: waiting response time, nursing uniform, empathetic capacity through time spent and eye contact, and nursing skill based on their preferences. Results of conjoint analysis via Sawtooth Software 18 indicated that nurse attire was the most important attribute (57.26%) while empathetic capacity through eye contact was least important to Filipino elderly (2.27%). Significant differences were found in the respondents’ profile. Among the given attributes, nursing uniform had the most impact in determining an elderly choice of services. Conversely, eye contact had minimal importance. In the health care setting, utilization of this study would allow nursing care to refocus nursing care delivery to maximize satisfaction and hospital loyalty. Future research may explore the cultural and regional differences in terms of preferences among the elderly.     

Introduction to the Special Issue: Using Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics for Liberal Arts Courses

Abstract

Mathematics for liberal arts courses are a staple of most mathematics departments and are often populated with students who have disengaged from mathematics. Inquiry-based learning is a student-centered pedagogical tool for re-engaging students in mathematics. In this paper, we introduce a Special Issue of PRIMUS on “Using Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics for Liberal Arts Courses.”     

Teaching patterns and learning quality in Swiss and German mathematics lessons

Based on a coding of 39 videotaped three-lesson units on the introduction to the Pythagorean Theorem, three teaching patterns were identified: lecturing, developing based on a problem, and discovery based on a problem. The analysis showed no effect of the teaching patterns on student achievement, whereas effects were discovered on students' perceived learning quality. The discovery teaching pattern had negative effects on the emotional quality of learning. However, this pattern exhibited high degree of externally rated cognitive activation. The lecturing approach to the introduction to the Pythagorean Theorem supported students' self-perceived understanding.