The Invisible Link: Using State Space Representations to Investigate the Connection Between Variables and Their Referents

The ability to represent numerical quantities in symbolic form is a necessary foundation for mathematical competence. Variables are particularly important symbolic representations for learning algebra and succeeding in higher mathematics, but the mechanisms of how students link a variable to what it represents are not well understood. Research using cognitive neuroscience methods may be able to shed light on this process by building on related work involving number symbols. Utilizing state space representations, this article presents a first effort to consider what might constitute educationally relevant stimuli for future research on student understanding of the concept of variable. Might algebra problems elicit a symbolization process that can be captured using cognitive neuroscience methods? Results suggest it depends on the role of the variable in a given problem and the structure of that problem. Suggestions for potential research avenues are also discussed.     

What is this Substance? What Makes it Different? Mapping Progression in Students’ Assumptions about Chemical Identity

Given the diversity of materials in our surroundings, one should expect scientifically literate citizens to have a basic understanding of the core ideas and practices used to analyze chemical substances. In this article, we use the term ‘chemical identity' to encapsulate the assumptions, knowledge, and practices upon which chemical analysis relies. We conceive chemical identity as a core crosscutting disciplinary concept which can bring coherence and relevance to chemistry curricula at all educational levels, primary through tertiary. Although chemical identity is not a concept explicitly addressed by traditional chemistry curricula, its understanding can be expected to evolve as students are asked to recognize different types of substances and explore their properties. The goal of this contribution is to characterize students' assumptions about factors that determine chemical identity and to map how core assumptions change with training in the discipline. Our work is based on the review and critical analysis of existing research findings on students' alternative conceptions in chemistry education, and historical and philosophical analyses of chemistry. From this perspective, our analysis contributes to the growing body of research in the area of learning progressions. In particular, it reveals areas in which our understanding of students' ideas about chemical identity is quite robust, but also highlights the existence of major knowledge gaps that should be filled in to better foster student understanding. We provide suggestions in this area and discuss implications for the teaching of chemistry.     

Counselors’ challenging experience in integrated behavioral healthcare: A qualitative exploration

Using a consensual qualitative research method, we interviewed 16 counselors on the challenges that they experienced when working in integrated behavioral healthcare settings. We identified five domains and 13 core ideas among all domains. We also discussed the implications for future counselor training and research.     

Establishing Cross-Cultural Measurement Equivalence of Scales Associated with Face-Negotiation Theory: A Critical Issue in Cross-Cultural Comparisons

To extend face-negotiation theory (FNT) to romantic relationship contexts, we examined the patterns of responses to six survey instruments among five countries. We intend this initial paper to serve as a tutorial of testing measurement invariance—specifically by elaborating on: (a) how to establish measurement equivalence and (b) how to test measurement invariance using multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The results highlight the importance of establishing equivalency and routinely testing invariance in cross- and intercultural research. This is especially important given the often-extreme equivalency challenges faced when collecting data in non-Western cultures using scales developed in Western countries.     

American and Chinese Children's Evaluations of Personal Domain Events and Resistance to Parental Authority

A total of 267 five‐, seven‐, and ten‐year‐olds (M = 7.62), 147 in Hong Kong and 120 in the United States, evaluated hypothetical personal (and moral) events described as either essential or peripheral to actors' identity. Except for young Chinese in the peripheral condition, straightforward personal events were overwhelmingly evaluated as acceptable based on personal justifications. Children primarily endorsed compliance, but attributed negative emotions to actors when mothers forbade personal choices, especially when described as essential to identity. Conventional justifications declined among Chinese children and pragmatic justifications for these judgments increased with age for all children, as did judgments that personal events were up to the child. Rules were seen as more legitimate and events were seen as more up to mothers to decide for moral than personal events.     

Pretending to Be Japanese: Artistic Play in a Japanese-American Church and Family

This article highlights the potential of symbols, specifically those David Tracy calls “religious classics,” to anchor both dialogue among people of differing beliefs and the formation of young people by their religious communities. Symbols present a particularly propitious focal point for such dialogue because of (1) the congruence of symbolic expression with the dynamics of human cognition and (2) the suitability of this mode of expression to the present cultural context. A dramatic example illustrates the process of shared reflection on classic religious symbols through which and for which religious communities should form their youth for responsible participation in public spaces.     

Collective Success: A Phenomenological Case Study of Ohio Public Libraries

This study examines the collective success and Best in the Nation status of Ohio public libraries as indicated by the Hennen American Public Library ratings (HAPLR), the “Star” libraries statistical rankings, and expert suppositions in the trade literature. This study is a phenomenological case study design that utilizes in-depth, semistructured interviews with a purposeful sample of former and current Ohio public librarians. The analysis indicates that equitable state-based funding and organized library autonomy are the overarching drivers in setting the Best in the Nation phenomenon for Ohio public libraries. This phenomenon is abetted by supportive public and professional communities within a hospitable geographic region. Altogether these qualities are the basis of a dynamic ecosystem of success for Ohio public libraries. The sharp funding reduction of 2009, however, has called the sustainability of the Best in the Nation library ecosystem into question. Additionally, the research revealed the specific nature of the phenomenon, which was not initially perceptible.     

Antecedents of children's comprehension of television advertising

This study compared the importance of role taking and logical operations stage in predicting children's understanding of the purpose of television advertising. Role taking was found to be the more critical variable.     

Libraries and reference

AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE [website] (http://www.afionline.org), reviewed 9 June 1999.

GOING DIGITAL: STRATEGIES FOR ACCESS, PRESERVATION, AND CONVERSION OF COLLECTIONS TO A DIGITAL FORMAT edited by Donald L. DeWitt (New York: Haworth Press, 1998—$45.00, ISBN 0–7890–0521–2, 232 pp., index)

ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION [website] (http://www.eff.org), reviewed 17 April 1999. Founded in 1990 by John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor (of Lotus 1–2‐3 fame)

FACT: FIRST AMENDMENT CYBER‐TRIBUNE [website] (http://w3.trib.com/FACT), reviewed 17 April 1999. FACT is hosted by Wyoming's Casper Star‐Tribune and edited by Charles Levendosky (a columnist and editor for that newspaper)

THE HISTORY CHANNEL [website] (http://www.historychannel.com), reviewed 11 June 1999.

THE NATURE OF THE BOOK: PRINT AND KNOWLEDGE IN THE MAKING by Adrian Johns (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998—$40.00/no paper price, ISBM 0–226–40121–9 hard, 0–226–40122–7 paper, 753 pp., bibliography, index)

K.I.S.S. OF THE PANOPTICON [website] (http://carmen.artsci.washington.edu /panop/home.htm), reviewed 12 May 1999.

THE MEDIA AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES SITE (MCS): CONSTRUCTIVISM AT WORK [website] (http://www.aber.ac.uk/‐dgc/media.html), reviewed 23 April 1999.

MEDIA AWARENESS NETWORK [webstite] (http://www.media‐awareness.ca/), reviewed 11 March 1999.

CIVIC SPACE/CYBERSPACE: THE AMERICAN PUBLIC LIBRARY IN THE INFORMATION AGE by Redmond Kathleen Molz and Phyllis Dain (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999—$30.00, ISBN 0–262–13346–6, 259 pp., appendix, notes, bibliographical references, index)

RADIO VATICAN CITY [website] (http://www.wrn.org/vatican‐radio/), reviewed 12 May 1999.

SARAH ZUPKO'S CULTURAL STUDIES CENTER [website] (http://www.popcultures.com/), reviewed 12 May 1999.