Children's understanding of the distinction between real and apparent emotion

2 experiments examined children's understanding of the distinction between real and apparent emotion. In Experiment 1, 6- and 10-year-old children listened to stories in which it would be appropriate for the story protagonist to feel either a positive or negative emotion but to hide that emotion. Subjects were asked to say both how the protagonist would look and how the protagonist would really feel, and to justify their claims. The results indicated that 6- and 10-year-olds alike could distinguish quite accurately between real and apparent emotion, although 10-year-olds were somewhat better at justifying this distinction. In Experiment 2, a slightly modified procedure was used to test 4- and 6-year-olds. Again, 6-year-olds demonstrated their grasp of the difference between real and apparent emotion, and even 4-year-olds showed a limited grasp of the distinction. The findings are discussed in relation to recent research concerning children's concept of mind, their grasp of the appearance-reality distinction, their ability to produce complex, embedded justifications, and their ideas about emotion.     

The effects of impact and non-impact exercise on circulating markers of collagen remodelling in humans

Exercise has been shown to influence collagen synthesis and degradation. The aim of this study was to determine whether the stimulus for these changes is metabolic or mechanical. Eight healthy adults aged 22 +/- 4 years (mean +/- s) completed two exercise bouts-a 10 km road run and a deep water running session. Blood samples were collected before exercise and on days 1, 2, 3, 6 and 10 after exercise for measurement of creatine kinase activity, type IV collagen antigenicity, and concentrations of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)- 9, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMP)- 1 and -2, and the MMP-2/TIMP-2 complex. Serum creatine kinase was elevated 24 h after the road run, but unchanged after the deep water running session. Serum collagen IV antigenicity decreased after both the road run and the deep water running session, suggesting suppressed type IV collagen synthesis in response to exercise, although serum MMPs and TIMPs remained unchanged after exercise. These results suggest that collagen IV synthesis is temporarily suppressed after exercise, irrespective of exercise type.     

Planning and Developing an Interactive Computerised Tutorial for Learning in Higher Education

Abstract

This paper describes how a researcher‐lecturer in higher education attempted to identify, in her course, the constraints within which the teaching was required to operate. To better understand this particular problem area in her professional practice, it was necessary to take the student voice seriously and to suggest a possible solution to the problem.

It appeared that the ‘Information Technology’ module on a specific postgraduate course was particularly unattractive to the postgraduate students required to take it. The solution proposed was to develop and introduce into the module a form of innovation in course development, namely a Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) tool entitled ‘Interactive Computerised Information Technology Tutor’ (ICITT). The research process leading to the planning, development and introduction of the ICITT is the initial focus of this paper. The ICITT itself is then described in some detail in the latter part of the work.     

BLENDED LEARNING IN ACTION: THE INFOSKILLS PROGRAMME AT MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY'S LIBRARY SERVICE

This paper describes the development of online information skills tutorials, using WebCT, within Manchester Metropolitan University's Infoskills Programme.     

Retrieval, automaticity, vocabulary elaboration, orthography (RAVE-O): a comprehensive, fluency-based reading intervention program

The most important implication of the double-deficit hypothesis (Wolf & Bowers, in this issue) concerns a new emphasis on fluency and automaticity in intervention for children with developmental reading disabilities. The RAVE-O (Retrieval, Automaticity, Vocabulary Elaboration, Orthography) program is an experimental, fluency-based approach to reading intervention that is designed to accompany a phonological analysis program. In an effort to address multiple possible sources of dysfluency in readers with disabilities, the program involves comprehensive emphases both on fluency in word attack, word identification, and comprehension and on automaticity in underlying componential processes (e.g., phonological, orthographic, semantic, and lexical retrieval skills). The goals, theoretical principles, and applied activities of the RAVE-O curriculum are described with particular stress on facilitating the development of rapid orthographic pattern recognition and on changing children's attitudes toward language.     

Contact,culture and context: evidence from mixed faith schools in Northern Ireland and Israel

This paper compares the concept of mixed faith/cultural education in Northern Ireland and Israel. It is primarily concerned with the processes that these ‘integrated’ schools adopt in their quest to improve relations between divided ethnic groups. Drawing on qualitative data collected in two mixed religion primary schools in each jurisdiction the paper shows that the schools' existing cultural norms act as important mediating influences on the way that inter‐group relationships are constructed. The paper concludes that attention needs to be paid to both the policy context and the culture if contact initiatives are to be successful.     

Geographies of elite higher education participation: An urban ‘escalator’ effect

Based on analysis of an administrative dataset, which includes granular detail on 800,000 English students over a 10-year period, this article identifies an urban ‘escalator’ effect in entry to elite universities, with disadvantaged youth in the urban centres of England having higher rates of entry than similarly disadvantaged youth located rurally. Using multilevel modelling, as well as Geographic Information System (GIS) methods, the analyses show that while place in itself is not a major contributory factor in entry to elite universities overall, there is a distinct urban–rural patterning to progression. When raw progression rates by area alone are observed, rural areas typically have higher progression rates to elite universities. However, when the full range of individual differences are accounted for, including attainment, socio-economic status, ethnicity and accessibility to elite universities, the converse is true—localities within and surrounding major urban centres are those with the highest progression rates. A ‘vortex of influences’ is likely to favour urban disadvantaged youth, including the geography of social class and ethnic identities, a legacy of concerted policy interventions within urban areas, as well as the proliferation of widening participation activity in urban centres.     

Reforming science in the school curriculum: a critical analysis

This article is concerned with the founding purposes and justification of natural science in the statutory school curriculum. It offers a critique of the strand of argument and the proposals for reform which have developed after the report Beyond 2000 focused on a particular usage of the term ‘scientific literacy’. Two lines of argument are criticised. These are, first, the view that a founding purpose of the science curriculum can be to prepare students for dealing as adults with socio‐political issues with a scientific aspect, and, second, that there is a well‐defined distinction to be drawn between the purposes of the statutory curriculum for pupils who will become professional scientists and others. The article suggests that these issues have not been the subject of sustained and open‐minded examination in recent years, and calls for such an examination.     

Examination of objective and subjective financial factors in predicting financial and retirement satisfaction in retirees

The present study examined predictors of retirement and financial satisfaction and contributed to existing literature by examining the incremental prediction offered by subjective estimates of financial resources and the impact of the Recession over more traditional objective measures. We hypothesized that objective financial resources, subjective financial resources, and the economic recession would predict retirement satisfaction and financial satisfaction, but that subjective estimates of financial well-being would be superior predictors of the dependent variables as compared to objective indices of financial resources.

A total of 245 retirees participated in the study, and results suggested that subjective and objective measures of finances were relatively independent. Further, consistent with hypotheses, most of the subjective financial measures provided significant incremental prediction of retirement and financial post-retirement satisfaction over that offered by objective financial indices. Subjective estimates of the impact of the Recession significantly predicted financial satisfaction post-retirement. Practical implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.