Gardnerella vaginalis infection and sexual contact in female children

Gardnerella vaginalis (GV) infection has been reported as being acquired via sexual contact in adults and as an indicator of sexual contact in female children (DeJong, 1985). The purpose of this study was to determine if GV infection was more commonly found in 191 female children who gave a history of sexual contact and/or were infected with Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) or Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) (Group 1), compared with 144 female children evaluated for possible sexual abuse and found to have no such history or infection with GC or CT (Group 2), or 31 female children (friends of the authors) without such a history or GC or CT infection (Group 3). Vaginal GV was found in 5.3% of Group 1, 4.9% of Group 2 and 6.4% of Group 3 (p > .05). Also, vaginal GV infection was not related to the type of sexual contact or race, but did increase with age in white female children. Because vaginal GV infection is not more commonly found in children with a history of sexual contact than those without such a history, the finding of GV in a vaginal culture in an individual case would not be a reliable marker of sexual contact. Routine culturing for GV is not recommended as part of a sexual abuse workup.     

Ureaplasma urealyticum and large colony mycoplasma colonization in female children and its relationship to sexual contact, age, and race.

In order to determine if Ureaplasma urealyticum (Uu) or large colony mycoplasma (LCM) colonization was related to a history of sexual abuse, the type of sexual contact, an enlarged vaginal introitus transverse diameter (greater than 4 mm), age or race, 452 female children, ages 1-12 years, were evaluated by the Child Sexual Abuse Team at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, NC. Thirty-six girls were deleted because of inadequate cultures. When controlled for race and age, Uu throat (T), vaginal (V), and rectal (R) colonization and LCM vaginal and rectal colonization were not related to any of the other variables listed above. The enlarged vaginal introital diameter was related to a history of sexual abuse (p less than .001). Uu and LCM vaginal colonization rates were increased in black girls as compared to white girls (p less than .05). Uu V, Uu R, LCM V, and LCM R colonization increased with age. In our study population, Uu and LCM colonization was not a useful marker of sexual contact.     

The role of stroke knowledge in reading and spelling in Chinese

The present study examined the types of orthographic knowledge that are important in learning to read and spell Chinese words in a 2‐year longitudinal study following 289 Hong Kong Chinese children from Grade 1 to Grade 2. Multiple regression results showed that radical knowledge significantly predicted children's word reading and spelling performance across the years. Stroke knowledge contributed both concurrently (Grade 1) and longitudinally (Grade 2) to children's spelling performance after controlling for rapid naming, phonological awareness, morphological awareness and radical knowledge. These findings support the significance of radical knowledge in Chinese reading and spelling and the specific role of stroke order knowledge in Chinese spelling. The findings have implications for the design of an effective curriculum for teaching children to spell Chinese characters.     

Testing Literacy Educational Software to Develop Design Guidelines for Children with Autism

Multimedia computer programmes have been found to facilitate learning in children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). However, the effectiveness of these resources is limited due to poor design or a lack of consideration of the ASD cognitive profile, particularly at the lower functioning end of the spectrum. This article attempts to tackle the problem of the lack of design guidelines, with the aim of facilitating the development of effective educational programmes for children with severe ASD. The case study reported here evaluated two literacy educational computer programmes, by observing five low-functioning children with ASD, compared to five neurotypical children (control cases). The two types of reading-support software contrasted in the study presented different characteristics. The children’s data analysed here concern observations of child–software interactive sessions based on video recordings and coded for attention deployment to each programme, including motivation and engagement indicators.     

An introduction to education research methods: exploring the learning journey of pre-service teachers in a transnational programme

Internationally there is interest in developing the research skills of pre-service teachers as a means of ongoing professional renewal with a distinct need for systematic and longitudinal investigation of student learning. The current study takes a unique perspective by exploring the research learning journey of pre-service teachers participating in a transnational degree programme. Using a case-study design that includes both a self-reported and direct measure of research knowledge, the results indicate a progression in learning, as well as evidence that this research knowledge is continued or maintained when the pre-service teachers return to their home university. The findings of this study have implications for both pre-service teacher research training and transnational programmes.     

Teacher educators for new times? Redefining an important occupational group

Teacher educators are an occupational group currently experiencing increased scrutiny by international policy makers and researchers alike. This occupational group however is increasingly difficult to define and identify in a complex, internationally changing teacher education policy reform environment. The question posed is an enduring one: who is a teacher educator? The answer is more complicated. To better understand this occupational group, a literature review and local policy analysis study using the Australian context was conducted to reveal more about their identity; career trajectories and; professional learning needs. Analysis revealed that three sub-groups belonging to the broader teacher educator occupational group have emerged as a result of shifting teacher education policies. Namely, university-based; school-based and community-based teacher educators, each with an important role to play and each positioned differently within the research and policy landscape. Findings suggest that all three groups are important to educating teachers across their career and to best meet the needs of all students for new times. Recommendations are made for future research and practice into how these groups can work collectively together, within and across the multiple sites of learning to teach.     

Developments in style and purpose of research on the learning of science

Recent years have seen a substantial growth in research that probes children's ideas about natural phenomena. This article places the research in a context that enables comprehension of how it informs and influences the practice of science education. To this end, past, present, and developing styles of research are discussed. The predominant style of past research was based on elaborate experimental designs and complex statistical analyses of data. Studies employing that style helped focus concern on questions about individual learning which the studies did not actually seek to answer, e.g., why does the learning resulting from a particular treatment vary between individuals? What is understanding and how can it be assessed? Such questions lie at the heart of current probing of children's ideas. Some issues of importance in the probing of children's ideas are considered, as are ways in which these issues have influenced the development of a current style of research. From this present context, developing styles in the research field are described. These focus particularly on research on the strategies used by learners, and on the continued growth of interaction between research and practice.     

Performance of Montessori and traditionally schooled nursery children on tasks of seriation, classification, and conservation

It was hypothesized that the Montessori curriculum accelerates the acquisition of a number of concrete operational skills. To test this, eighty 4-year-old children were given three Piagetian problems—seriation, classification, and conservation. Half of the subjects were from Montessori schools, and the other half were from more traditional nursery settings. Within each type of school, half of the children were first year and the other half were second year enrollees. Results showed that significantly more Montessori than traditional children seriated and classified objects like concrete thinkers but that there were no differences on the conservation problem. Year of enrollment did not influence performance on any of the tasks. It was concluded that the hypothesis was confirmed and that the failure to find acceleration of conservation performance was due to its advanced nature relative to the other problems and/or the tangential manner in which Montessori exercises deal with the critical concepts that underly it.     

Information use and needs in manufacturing organizations: Organizational factors in information behaviour

In this paper assumptions about the nature of complex organizations are examined in relation to the design of information systems. Models of organizational structure which have been used in relation to information need are discussed in the light of recent findings of a research project which has investigated the information use and needs of managers in manufacturing companies. Qualitative and quantitative data are presented and discussed. The findings do not support some of the current assumptions about information in complex organizations and the implications of this are discussed.