Visual presentations to parents

Visual presentations to parents are useful in building positive pathways to home and school communication. Parental concerns and demands are prevalent and persistent. Parents are expressing loud and clear their desire to be involved.Rose Merenda has taught four and five year olds for twenty years and recently received a grant to study parental communication. Joan Bloom, first grade encourages parental participation in her classroom. Ann J. DiOrio directs the Growing Child School in Narragansett, R.I. All are Assistant Professors at the Henry Barnard Laboratory School, Rhode Island College.     

Measuring Issue-specific and Generic Frames in the Media’s Coverage of the Steroids Issue in Baseball

This study explored frames in the coverage of the steroids issue in baseball through a content analysis of traditional and new media. Using issue-specific and generic frames, it proposed a hybrid measurement tool that combines both approaches. Findings of the principal component analysis indicate the media framed the steroids issue primarily in terms of conflict and policy. Significant differences emerged between traditional and new media, on the one hand, and between the news and sports media, on the other. Besides these frames, the media also presented the steroids story as a public opinion and morality issue, using organizational officials, the public, and the media to convey these frames.     

Utility and Reliability of an App for the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (iSOPARC®)

The app for the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (iSOPARC®) was developed to enhance System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities data collection and management. The study aim was to examine the usability and inter-rater reliability of iSOPARC®. Trained observers collected data in 16 park areas in two Latin America cities (Curitiba, Brazil; Bogotá, Colombia) using both the original System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (mechanical counter) and new iSOPARC® (electronic counter) methods. A total of 8,707 park users (3,958 females and 4,749 males) were observed. Reliabilities among observers were determined using the intraclass correlation coefficient and relative overall agreement (%) in three ways: (a) mechanical versus mechanical, (b) mechanical versus electronic, and (c) electronic versus electronic. When both used mechanical counters comparisons overall agreement was over 78% (intraclass correlation coefficient = .982; p < .001) for variables in all analysis. When one used a mechanical counter and the other used electronic (iSOPARC®) comparisons overall agreement was higher for age (84%; p < .001) than for physical activity (83%; p < .001) variables and average intraclass correlation coefficient was .965. Using both used iSOPARC® comparisons overall agreement was 81% to physical activity and 83% to age group. Results suggest iSOPARC® can be used reliably for examining variables previously validated in System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities.     

Hydrolates and Gellan: An Eco-innovative Synergy for Safe Cleaning of Paper Artworks

The gellan hydrogel is used as a cleaning agent for paper artworks. The purposes of this work were to give the gellan hydrogel both a microbial resistance and a cytocidal action against the biodeteriogens using hydrolates. Broth microdilution assays were performed to identify the fungicidal action of 16 hydrolates vs 3 fungal strains. The study concerned the Minimal Fungicidal Concentration and pH, colour, and ultra-structural variations on all paper samples, by placing them in contact with GELYD (GELlan?+?hYDrolat). The in vitro tests showed that eight out of 16 hydrolates strongly inhibited fungal growth, but only two of them (Monarda fistulosa, Citrus aurantium subsp amara) showed in situ fungicidal action. Data indicate a new and interesting eco-innovative use of hydrolates, since GELYD is able not only to clean paper artworks, but also to kill the fungal cells present on paper that are potentially harmful for paper and operators.     

Building a future without gender violence: rural teachers and youth in rural KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa,leading community dialogue

This article advances the idea that rural youth and teachers are the key in leading community dialogue towards addressing gender-based violence (GBV) in their community through their film making. The youth voices on the realities of GBV in their school and community, in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, captured through the process of participatory video, are used to engage a group of their teachers in thinking about addressing GBV in the school and community. The teachers' engagement with the five participatory videos on GBV – through participatory analysis and participatory archiving – provided an opportunity to deepen their understanding of GBV by also interrogating their own stance and led them to direct the production of a composite video suitable for use in leading community dialogue on a future without violence.     

Correction to: Development of Children’s monitoring and control when learning from texts: effects of age and test format

Metacognition and Learning - The article Development of Children’s monitoring and control when learning from texts: effects of age and test format, written by Martina Steiner, Mariëtte...     

The use of computer games as an educational tool: identification of appropriate game types and game elements

Playing games is an important part of our social and mental development. This research was initiated to identify the game type most suitable to our teaching environment and to identify game elements that students found interesting or useful within the different game types. A group of twenty students played four commercial games (SimIsle, Red Alert, Zork Nemesis and Duke Nukem 3D). Results suggest that students prefer 3D-adventure (Zork Nemesis) and strategy (Red Alert) games to the other types ("shoot-em-up", simulation) with Zork Nemesis ranked as the best. Students rated game elements such as logic, memory, visualisation and problem solving as the most important game elements. Such elements are integral to adventure games and are also required during the learning process. We present a model that links pedagogical issues with game elements. The game space contains a number of components, each encapsulates specific abstract or concrete interfaces. Understanding the relationship between educational needs and game elements will allow us to develop educational games that include visualisation and problem solving skills. Such tools could provide sufficient stimulation to engage learners in knowledge discovery, while at the same time developing new skills.