Behavior problems in elementary school among low-income boys: The role of teacher–child relationships

The authors identified trajectories of teacher–child relationship conflict and closeness from Grades 1 to 6, and associations between these trajectories and externalizing and internalizing behaviors at 11 years old among low-income, urban boys (N = 262). There were three main findings. Nagin cluster analyses indicated five trajectories for conflict with all children evidencing increases in conflict, and four trajectories for closeness with all children demonstrating decreases in closeness. Trajectories with higher levels of conflict and lower levels of closeness were associated with higher levels of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems at 11 years old. Moreover, conflictual teacher–child relationships exacerbated the effects of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems in early childhood; children with conflictual teacher–child relationships had higher levels of behavior problems in middle childhood relative to children with low conflictual teacher–child relationships. Implications of targeting teacher–child relationships as interventions to help prevent behavior problems are discussed.     

Investigating the relationships between informal learning and player involvement in digital games

In the last few years, digital games have become increasingly popular with both ‘hardcore’ and ‘casual’ audiences. At the same time, it has been argued that games can be powerful learning environments, since they are seen to encourage active and critical learning through participation in affinity groups and semiotic domains but there is a need for further empirical evidence to explore how this participation occurs and how prevalent it actually is. In addition the effectiveness of games within education indicates mixed results, though it has been suggested that this may indicate that learning through immersive worlds involves a more complex understanding of learning, one that is not so easy to tie to specified learning outcomes. It would seem the area would benefit from research that seeks to develop our understanding of how player involvement and learning come together in this context. This paper presents the preliminary results of a survey carried out in order to explore these issues. The initial findings suggest that how a player identifies as a gamer relates to what they think they gain from their gaming experiences with respect to learning.     

Cases on Global IT Applications and Management: Successes and Pitfalls,edited by F. B. Tan. Hershey,PA: Idea Group Publishing, 2002. x + 306 pp., ISBN 1-930708-16-5

Electronic markets are increasingly gaining scientific and economic attention. In order to realize their often postulated rationalization potential, a closer look into their organization is necessary. New institutional economics provides a body of theory well suited for this task. Transaction cost theory helps to understand why transactions are more often conducted via markets and why those markets require organization. Principal-agent theory explains future (dis-)intermediation structures in electronic markets. Finally, property rights theory helps to understand why a certain level of market intransparency will remain in electronic markets.     

Using Comparisons of Multiage Learning Environments to Understand Two Teachers' Democratic Educational Aims

Learning Environments Research - Several decades of research detail the nature and the relevance of learning environments in the education of children. This inquiry builds upon this earlier work...     

What's right with you: Helping students find and use their personal strengths

Fixing what's wrong—with students, institutions, and cultures—is the most prevalent approach to change. Frank Shushok and Eileen Hulme offer the discovery and exploitation of what's right as a powerful alternative.