The affective lives of doubled-up Latinx youth: Influences of school experiences,familism, and ethnic identity exploration

Doubled-up Latinx youth experience many daily challenges associated with ethnic minority status and residential instability. Doubled-up youth share housing with noncustodial caregivers such as friends and/or extended family members primarily because of economic hardship and a breakdown in available parental support. Using data from baseline and 10 days of twice-a-day surveys, this study examined how in-school positive experiences, familism (i.e., a perspective that gives precedence to the family), and ethnic identity (i.e., affirmation, exploration, and resolution) influence after school positive (e.g., feeling joyful/happy) and negative (e.g., feeling stressed/anxious) affect among doubled-up Latinx youth (70% female; M_age = 16.5). Results indicate that in-school positive experiences were associated with more after school positive affect and less after school negative affect. In addition, youth with higher levels of familism reported experiencing less after school negative affect. However, gender moderated the relation of ethnic identity exploration and experiences of after school positive affect. Specifically, females with higher levels of ethnic identity exploration reported relatively lower levels of after school positive affect compared with males. Overall, study findings highlight the importance of both person-level and varying contextual influences on the affective lives of doubled-up Latinx youth.     

The School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt: An Innovative Research-Based Program for High School Students

The School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt (SSMV) is an innovative partnership program between a Research I private university and a large urban public school system. The SSMV was started in 2007 and currently has 101 students enrolled in the program, with a total of 60 students who have completed the 4-yr sequential program. Students attend the SSMV for one full day per week during the school year and 3–6 wk in the summers following their ninth- to 11th-grade years, with each grade of 26 students coming to the Vanderbilt campus on a separate day. The research-based curriculum focuses on guiding students through the process of learning to develop questions and hypotheses, designing projects and performing analyses, and communicating results of these projects. The SSMV program has elevated the learning outcomes of students as evidenced by increased achievement scores relative to a comparison group of students; has provided a rigorous research-based science, technology, engineering, and mathematics elective curriculum that culminates in a Summer research internship; has produced 27 Intel and Siemens semifinalists and regional finalists over the past 4 yr; and has supported the development of writing and communication skills resulting in regional and national oral presentations and publications in scientific journals.     

Radical enquiry

A radical reconceptualisation of the human self and the relevant context is proposed as a subject for educational enquiry in the 1990s.     

Instructional procedures for teaching reversible passive voice and clause constructions to three mildly handicapped children

Previous behavioural research in the language domain has been largely concerned with the effects of consequent events on the comprehension and production of relatively simple language forms. The present study investigated the application of systematic instructional procedures in simplifying complex sentence forms (reversible passives and clause constructions). A multiple baseline was employed to assess treatment effects across three subjects. The conditions were screening, baseline, prepassage and passage training, and passage training only. In addition, two maintenance measures were taken. The findings indicate that applied behavioural analysis focusing on antecedent events of comprehension training can teach subjects to comprehend reversible passive and clause constructions.     

Understanding the impact of guiding inquiry: the relationship between directive support,student attributes,and transfer of knowledge,attitudes, and behaviours in inquiry learning

Guiding inquiry learning has been shown to increase knowledge gains. Yet, little is known about the effect of guidance on attitudes and behaviours, its interaction with student attributes, and transfer of impact once guidance is removed. We address these gaps in the context of an interactive Physics simulation on electric circuits (https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/circuit-construction-kit-dc). 49 students in the Non-Directive condition received a set of goals to focus their inquiry, in addition to implicit support built into the simulation. 48 students in the Directive condition received, in addition to these, also detailed directions and prompts. Log-file analysis found that directive support led to more formal testing and less exploration. Clustering identified two groups of learners: one with higher incoming knowledge (Higher Knowledge), the other with higher incoming perceptions of competence and control (Higher PoCC). Working with the simulation improved knowledge and attitudes across cluster groups, so that prior differences all but disappeared. With regard to guidance, adding directive support improved knowledge gains for the Higher Knowledge group, yet suppressed their attitudinal growth. The same support had no effect on knowledge gains for the Higher PoCC group, yet it boosted their attitudinal growth. A transfer activity, where directive support was no longer available, found that impact on attitudes carried forward, yet impacts on behaviours and knowledge were short-lived. Overall, the study highlights the complex interaction between guidance and student attributes. For some, supporting short-term knowledge gains may inadvertenly lead to longer term negative impact on attitudes towards inquiry.     

Understanding what is possible across a career: professional identity development beyond transition to teaching

Professional identity surfaces repeatedly as an important underlying factor in teacher development. A sequential explanatory mixed methods design was used to investigate identity development in terms of teachers’ expected and feared possible selves. Teachers (n = 120) representing three career groups (prospect, new, and experienced) participated. The findings reveal differences in possible selves which are detectable based on career group. New teachers exhibited a greater focus on task self-concepts; prospective teachers expressed both task and quality possible selves; and experienced teachers expressed identities more concerned about the quality-focused ones. Our findings also reveal a potential transition path in professional identity development.