Stigmatic beliefs toward a person with Alzheimer’s disease among high-school students: Does majority–minority status make a difference?

Research in the area of public stigma and Alzheimer disease (AD) is attracting increased attention in the last years. However, studies are limited to assessing the topic among adult persons. The aims of this study were to assess stigmatic beliefs toward a person with AD in high-school students and to examine whether majority–minority status is associated with stigmatic beliefs beyond other correlates of stigma.

A total of 460 high-school students aged 14–15 participated in the study. Approximately half (55.1%) were female and the rest male. The majority of participants were Jewish (64.6%) and the rest were Israeli Arabs. Students completed a self-administered structured questionnaire assessing public stigma, ageism, knowledge about AD, and familiarity with AD.

Results showed that high-school students reported relatively low levels of stigmatic beliefs toward a person with AD. Additionally, the majority–minority status had a unique contribution to the explanation of stigma, with Arab high-school students reporting higher levels of stigma toward a person with AD in comparison to Jewish students.

Our results stress the importance of developing intervention programs to reduce stigma toward persons with AD at an early age. These programs should be tailored to the cultural values and needs of specific groups.     

The effect of frequency of testing upon the measurement of achievement in an intensive time-series design

Progress in the development of an intensive time-series design for use in classroom situations has raised several questions regarding the validity of the data obtained. One such question is related to the effect of frequency of testing upon the data. This study was designed to determine the presence of such an effect. Use of the design with eighth grade students studying a unit on crustal evolution indicated that the frequency of data collection did not adversely affect student attitudes toward the science class nor did it have any measurable effect upon class achievement data. The results of a previous study were also replicated, giving increased confidence in the validity of the data yielded by the intensive time-series design as used in these studies.     

Public Engagement with Science in Everyday Life: Perceptions of Wi-Fi Radiation Risks in Schools

Wi-Fi radiation is a type of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation (RF-EMR) that refers to the transfer of energy by radio waves. Nowadays, exposure to RF radiation is widespread including wireless internet connection (Wi-Fi) routers and cell phones. The proliferation of devices emitting RF radiation has entailed some public and media-generated controversy, although scientific evidence has not pointed to the existence of risk. Using the theoretical perspectives of science literacy, public engagement with science, and science media literacy, this work examines public engagement with science-related media reports in a context involving risk. A qualitative design was followed to address multiple viewpoints including an analysis of an authentic primetime TV program concerning the risks of Wi-Fi, its messages, and frames, solicited a public response to the coverage via interviews and decision-making simulation (n = 20), and unsolicited public response based on social media discussions (n = 315 comments). Our findings suggest that a lack of relevant scientific knowledge does not seem to be related to participants’ general scientific literacy among people with higher education. Moreover, interviewees did not place much emphasis on having adequate knowledge in making their decision. These findings emphasize that we need to expand our understanding of the different ways that make scientific knowledge relevant when making decisions on scientific issues that relate directly to everyday life.

     

Accuracy in judgments of study time predicts academic success in an engineering course

Metacognition and Learning - The present work examines the accuracy of self-reports of study time for college students. In a 10-week Mechanical Engineering course, 99 college students accessed...     

A Pilot Study Examining Religious Organization Affiliation,Sexual Health Information Sources,and Sexual Behaviors Among College Students

We conducted an online survey to examine religiosity, sexual health knowledge, and behavior and sexual health information sources among undergraduate students affiliated with student religious organizations (n?=?45) and unaffiliated students (n?=?82). Analyses included Fisher’s exact tests, t-tests, and exact regression models. Students reporting religious affiliation considered religious sources to be believable (p?=?.004 for sexual health; p?p?=?.0042). Although religiously affiliated students reported fewer sexual partners in the past year (p?=?.020), their reported condom use was not significantly different from that of unaffiliated students. Future research should explore the focus and content of romantic relationship information provided by student religious organizations. Health practitioners and educators should consider strategies for collaborating with religious organizations to meet the information needs of these students.     

Frequency norms and structural analysis of algebra story problems into families,categories, and templates

The goal of this study was to develop a framework for classifying algebra story problems and to determine observed frequencies for each problem type. A total of 1097 algebra story problems were selected from ten standard algebra textbooks. These are divided into eight families based on the nature of the source formula involved; for example, nearly 300 problems were classified in the time rate family because they were based on the source formula, distance = rate x time or output = rate x time. Each family was divided into problem categories based on the general form of the story line; for example, the time rate family consisted of motion, current, and work categories. Each category was divided into templates based on the specific propositional structure of the problem; for example, there were a dozen templates for motion problems such as overtake, closure, round trip, etc. This article describes the procedure for generating families, categories, and templates and provides frequency counts for each observed template. Implications for fostering productive research and instruction are discussed.This research was supported by grant NIE-G-78-0162 from the National Institute of Education. Requests for reprints should be sent to: Richard E. Mayer, Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106.     

面向意义学习的认知过程

学习不仅包括获取知识,还包括在各种各样的新情况下运用知识的能力,即学习包括“保持”和“迁移”这两个过程,本文以此观点为基础分析了意义学习与机械学习的区别,依据新修订的布卢姆认知目标分类学,对意义学习中的六类19种认知过程具体要素作出了说明,以此凸现认知过程中的“迁移”,帮助教育者更全面地完成教学和评估目标。     

What really matters in the early literacy development of deaf children

With much earlier identification of hearing loss come expectations that increasing numbers of deaf children will develop literacy abilities comparable to their hearing age peers. To date, despite claims in the literature for parallel development between hearing and deaf learners with respect to early literacy learning, it remains the case that many deaf children do not go on to develop age-appropriate reading and writing abilities. Using written language examples from both deaf and hearing children and drawing on the developmental models of E. Ferreiro (1990) and D. Olson (1994), the discussion focuses on the ways in which deaf children draw apart from hearing children in the third stage of early literacy development, in the critical move from emergent to conventional literacy. Reasons for, and the significance of, this deviation are explored, with an eye to proposing implications for pedagogy and research, as we reconsider what really matters in the early literacy development of deaf children.     

Influences on the Construction of Health News: The Reporting Practices of Local Television News Health Journalists

Local television news remains a primary news source for Americans and is a key source of consumer health information. This study explores why local television health journalists cover particular topics and assesses why health journalism newsgathering practices often differ from the normative newsgathering practices of general assignment reporters. Fifteen in-depth telephone interviews were conducted with health journalists from varying geographical regions and media markets. Influence from local hospitals and personal interest in a health topic often determined the health content the journalists produced. Journalists said it was difficult to cover health issues in addition to other newsroom responsibilities.