The Relationship Between Students’ Perceptions of “Good Practices for Undergraduate Education” and the Paradigmatic Development of Disciplines in Course-Taking Behavior

Our study uses data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education to interrogate the affinity disciplines hypothesis through students’ perceptions of faculty use of six of Chickering and Gamson’s (AAHE Bull 39(7):3–7, 1987) principles of good practice for undergraduate education. We created a proportional scale based on Biglan’s (J Appl Psychol 57(3):195–203, 1973) classification of paradigmatic development (with higher scores on the scale corresponding to students taking a higher proportion of courses in ‘hard’ fields compared to ‘soft’ fields), our study tests differences by the paradigmatic development of the disciplines or fields in which students take their courses within the first year of college. Our findings suggest that as paradigmatic development increases (toward a higher proportion of courses taken in hard disciplines), student perceptions of both faculty use of prompt feedback and faculty use of high expectations/academic challenge decrease, while student perceptions of cooperative learning increase. Further, no statistically significant differences were found between the paradigmatic development of fields in which students’ take their courses and students’ perceptions of faculty use of student-faculty contact, active and collaborative learning, or teaching clarity and organization. This study replicates the findings from Braxton et al. (Res High Educ 39(3):299–318, 1998) using student-level rather than faculty-level reports of faculty use of good teaching practices.     

Using the Text Structures of Information Books to Teach Writing in the Primary Grades

Teaching children in the primary grades the text structures and features used by authors of information text has been shown to improve comprehension of information texts and provide the scaffolding and support these children need in order to write their own information texts. As teachers implement the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS), they will need support and training on how to meet these increased curricular demands. In this article, we describe how children’s information books can be used as exemplars of well-structured text models to teach young students how to write selected discourse patterns required in the CCSS. As children in the primary grades learn to recognize and use well-structured example information texts as models for their own writing, they will be better prepared to deal with less well-structured, more complex text examples in their reading and writing in the years to come.     

Laboratory materials: Affordances or constraints?

Laboratory instruction is critical to the understanding of biology and is a central piece of biological sciences instruction. Although much investigation has focused on the content of biology laboratory exercises, we contend that understanding the extent to which the laboratory materials can aid or limit experimental investigation is of equal importance. In this study, therefore, we investigate the role of timing and availability of laboratory equipment in the context of two different laboratory exercises. We use both case study and an experimental approach to investigate how laboratory materials guide the planning, context, creativity, and timing of ideas shared among students. Our data support the notion that providing students with laboratory equipment before students plan and consider different experimental approaches can constrain students' ideas and encourage tool‐focused solutions to experimental design tasks. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 1010–1025, 2011     

The Spaces of Children's Programming

In the competitive world of children's programming, networks are under intense pressure to build brand loyalty and increase market share. This essay examines how Fox Kids and the Disney Channel transform electronic space into “place” as a means for carving out brand identity. This transformation of electronic space into place requires strategies that encourage viewers to see electronic spaces as habitable and desirable. While the two networks employ different approaches to the creation of place, they both reproduce familiar ideologies (e.g., individuality as identity) and social arrangements (e.g., families and neighborhoods) to represent a habitable place that can inspire loyalty and even affection from viewers.     

Factors promoting and hindering data-based decision making in schools

Although data-based decision making can lead to improved student achievement, data are often not used effectively in schools. This paper therefore focuses on conditions for effective data use. We studied the extent to which school organizational characteristics, data characteristics, user characteristics, and collaboration influenced data use for (1) accountability, (2) school development, and (3) instruction. The results of our hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis from this large-scale quantitative study (N = 1073) show that, on average, teachers appear to score relatively high on data use for accountability and school development. Regarding instruction, however, several data sources are used only on a yearly basis. Among the factors investigated, school organizational characteristics and collaboration have the greatest influence on teachers’ data use in schools.     

Fostering Authentic Problem Seeking: A Step Toward Social Justice Engagement

Because of these learners’ potential as future leaders, it is imperative that educators develop gifted students’ ability to identify and solve complex social justice problems. Nourishing students’ affective traits, including empathy for others, understanding of themselves, and the ability to connect to others in local and global society, will help students to recognize and seek out authentic problems. This article examines the nuances around the creative problem-solving process and how educators can infuse the curriculum with opportunities to develop and strengthen the skills students need to become engaged, real-world problem seekers, as we call it, and problem solvers. Through the combination of social justice issues and creative problem seeking, students can be motivated to engage with the community and promote positive change in the world.     

Do pediatric chief residents recognize details of prepubertal female genital anatomy: a national survey

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate how well a group of recently trained pediatric chief residents could label anatomic structures on two different photographs of female prepubertal genitalia. Additionally, the study sought to explore aspects of pediatric training in sexual abuse and clinical practice issues surrounding the routine genital examination. METHOD: A 38-item questionnaire was mailed to pediatric chief residents at all of the officially listed pediatric residency-training programs in the continental US. Comparisons were made between this study and the responses to two previous surveys, which asked a more heterogeneous group of physicians to label one of the photographs used in the study. The second photograph was added because of its improved clarity of each anatomic structure when compared to the first photograph used in the previous studies. The study also asked about clinical practice issues surrounding the prepubertal genital examination. RESULTS: An overall response rate of 73% was achieved and analysis was done on 139 respondents. One-half of chief residents thought that their training during residency on sexual abuse was inadequate for practice. Sixty-four percent of chief residents correctly labeled the hymen on the photograph used in the previous studies, which was not significantly different from the 62% and 59% of physicians who correctly labeled the hymen in the previous surveys. In the second photograph, which more clearly displayed the various anatomic structures, 71% correctly labeled the hymen. CONCLUSION: Pediatric chief residents reported variable amounts of training on issues pertaining to child sexual abuse during residency, think that this time was inadequate, and, while doing slightly better than a more diverse group of previously studied physicians, did not achieve 100% accuracy in identifying basic genital structures correctly on two different photographs.     

明日简讯

垃圾之屋将垃圾改造成建筑材料——这一计划可以立刻解决两个问题:一、增加住房数量;二、减少垃圾数量。一家位于英国的试验工厂就在利用日常生活垃圾、挖掘上来的污泥、处理过的污水,以及垃圾焚化后留下来的炉灰制造一种有涂层的小圆球。这种小圆球可以被应用在许多建筑行业中。“这种加工处理的好处在于它发掘出了那些原来只能被用于填充低地的垃圾所蕴涵的潜在价值,把它们变成有用的建筑材料,而不用再费