Goal-Directed Behavior in Children with Down Syndrome: The Role of Joint Play Situations

Children's goal-directed behaviors were examined in independent play sessions before and after a joint-play interaction with their mothers for a group of children with Down syndrome (n = 22) and a control group of mental and language age matched typically developing children (n = 24). While both groups showed comparable amounts of time spent in independent goal-directed play during the pre session and similar play responses with their mothers during the joint play session, only the control children significantly increased their goal-directed behavior from the pre to the post session. Maternal behaviors that provided information about how to use the toy predicted increases from the pre to post sessions in independent goal-directed play but only for the control children. These findings suggest that children with Down syndrome may have more difficulty transferring the goal-directed play behaviors they can use with support from their mothers to an independent play situation. Findings are discussed in relation to early education program design for children with Down syndrome.     

Using Industry Experiences to Promote Change in the Types of Instructional Strategies Used by Secondary Science Teachers

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Visual environment and delay affect cache retrieval accuracy in a food-storing rodent

Many scatter-hoarding species use spatial memory to relocate their food caches. Two factors can affect spatial memory: the availability of landmarks in the environment, and the latency between learning and recall. Using a 2 × 2 factorial design, we determined the effect of these factors on cache retrieval accuracy in Merriam’s kangaroo rats (Dipodomys merriami). Kangaroo rats cached seeds in an arena under conditions that varied by retrieval interval (1 or 10 days) and by number of landmarks (0 or 16 landmarks). After 1 day, they recovered equal proportions of caches in both landmark conditions. After 10 days, they recovered more caches in the 16-landmark condition than in the bare condition. This is the first study to show that landmarks are necessary for accurate cache recovery after long delays. This result is consistent with maze studies that have shown that landmarks reduce proactive interference and that delay increases proactive interference.     

Stimulus control and function of arm and wall travel by rats on a radial arm floor maze

Hoffman, Timberlake, Leffel, and Gont (1999) concluded that the tactic of effective trail following (in the form of arm and wall travel), rather than distance minimizing, central-place search, or random search, best characterized the locomotion of rats on a radial arm maze placed flat on the floor of an arena (a floor RAM). The present experiments analyzed further the stimulus control and function of arm and wall travel. Experiment 1 showed that arm travel was controlled more by the edge of a maze arm than by its surface. Experiment 2 showed that rats with whiskers clipped on one side traveled along arms less and along walls more than did intact rats. Experiment 3 showed that maze arms increased search effectiveness and decreased suppression of locomotion by bright light and a novel environment. The results support the hypothesis that arm and wall travel are based on mechanisms of trail following, which, in natural settings, contribute to food finding and regulation of social relations and fear.     

My soul is a witness: Affirming pedagogies of the spirit

Utilizing a cultural ideology and an explicit discourse of spirituality, this paper seeks to answer three questions. First, what does spirituality mean for the ways in which African-American women educate and research? Second, how does the enactment and embodiment of a spiritually centered paradigm impact the learning of both teacher and student in the context of the classroom? Finally, what might such work imply in terms of theory and praxis, particularly in teacher education? Arising from a case study of an exemplar African-American female professor at a large Midwestern university, three narrative tales are shared which explicate the power and influence of a spiritual pedagogy in the lives of three African-American scholar/teachers and that challenge taken-for-granted assumptions of singularity in epistemology and representation in teaching and research.     

Early Childhood Teachers’ Psychological Well-Being: Exploring Potential Predictors of Depression,Stress, and Emotional Exhaustion

Research Findings: Early childhood teachers’ psychological well-being influences the nurturing and learning classroom climate in early care and education as well as children’s development. However, less is known about predictors of teachers’ psychological well-being in preschool. The purpose of this study was to explore associations between potential predictors of teachers’ psychological well-being—such as professional background, teaching efficacy, and work environment—and teachers’ self-perceived depression, stress, and emotional exhaustion after controlling for individual demographics. A total of 1,129 teachers serving preschool-age children (3- and 4-year-olds) in the United States participated in the study. Teachers responded to a questionnaire asking about their background, work environment, and social-emotional attributes. Multiple regression analysis revealed that levels of teachers’ self-efficacy and work environments are generally associated with their psychological well-being above and beyond their personal and professional backgrounds. Practice or Policy: The results of this study suggest that it is important to help teachers build teaching competence and efficacy and to prepare them to handle stressors from work environments in order to reduce their psychological burden. In addition, we suggest that positive work climates need to be created for teachers and children at the program level.