The reliability and validity of the pupil behaviour questionnaire: a child classroom behaviour assessment tool

ABSTRACT

This paper assesses the reliability and validity of the teacher-completed Pupil Behaviour Questionnaire (PBQ), by comparing it to the already extensively validated teacher-completed Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Participants included 2074 primary school children participating in a universal school-based trial and 41 vulnerable children who were taking part in a study exploring the impact of exclusion from school. Exploratory factor analysis results (first factor accounts for 80.8% of the variation in the items) and the high Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.85 indicate that the PBQ consists of one substantive factor/dimension. Strong correlations between the total PBQ score and the conduct sub-scale (Spearman’s correlation coefficient (r_s) = 0.67) and total difficulties score (r_s = 0.59) of the SDQ indicate convergent validity. This study suggests that the PBQ is a reliable measure, and provides some evidence of validity. Further work is needed to test the PBQ in an older, more diverse populations and to measure sensitivity to change.     

Les accidents domestiques chez l'enfant handicape et sa famille

Abstract

A review of the literature on integration was commissioned by the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This drew on literature from around the globe and was conducted by leading experts in five different countries. The review was organized in terms of categories of disability. This paper introduces the review and sets it in the context of emerging developments in integration. The pros and cons of using a categorical approach are discussed. Attention is drawn to key issues arising in the literature ‐ efficacy, characteristics of effective integration programmes and attitudes to integration. Finally, some pointers for the future development of integration are considered.     

Efficacy and authority of the message sender during emergency evacuations: a mixed methods study

To understand why coastal residents do not always evacuate before storms, a pair of studies analyzed evacuation decision-making among residents of Long Beach, NY and surrounding municipalities on Long Island, NY via a mixed methodology approach. First, residents who lived in Long Beach, NY during ‘Superstorm’ (hurricane turned post-tropical cyclone) Sandy in October 2012 were interviewed about their evacuation decision. Second, 34 pre-storm messages were developed and administered to residents of the same area: faced with a hypothetical oncoming hurricane, respondents indicated after each message whether they would evacuate. In the interviews, residents spoke more about friends and family than traditional authority figures; survey results, however, imply that residents are more likely to evacuate given messages from traditional authority figures. This can be resolved with the Elaboration Likelihood Model of persuasion, which suggests that motivation and emotional state influence information processing. Implications for actual emergency message formation are discussed.     

Predicting a Threshold of Perceived Facebook Post Success via Likes and Reactions: A Test of Explanatory Mechanisms

Individuals frequently engage in self-presentation via social media and can subsequently receive various simple communicative cues (paralinguistic digital affordances; PDAs) from which they may determine the success of their self-presentation, including Likes and Upvotes. Previous research has found these communicatively abstract one-click cues are interpreted idiosyncratically when received, but the quantity received matters to users in determining whether a post is “successful.” The present work probes explanatory mechanisms behind the use of PDA responses as a metric of self-presentational success, deriving hypotheses from social comparison theory, social penetration theory, and expectancy violations theory. Results from a survey (N = 255) reveal that social comparison and communicative reciprocity provide explanatory power regarding the threshold of Likes and Reactions to a Facebook post needed to consider a post successful.     

Classroom Discussions with Student‐Led Feedback: a Useful Activity to Enhance Development of Critical Thinking Skills

ABSTRACT: Critical thinking skills (CTS) are the core learning outcome measures for higher education. Generally, CTS are not extensively developed or practiced during primary and secondary education. As such, early cultivation of CTS is essential for mastery prior to collegiate matriculation. Weekly engagement in 50 min of classroom discussion with student feedback (CDSF) was utilized to develop the CTS of students in an introductory food science course at Purdue Univ. Students' critical thinking ability was assessed longitudinally over a 16‐wk semester using the ACT‐CAAP? (Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency) critical thinking test. The ACT‐CAAP measures the students' ability to analyze, evaluate, and extend an argument described in a short passage. We hypothesized that the implementation of CDSF for 16 wk would expedite development of CTS for students enrolled in the course. The CDSF intervention significantly increased critical thinking ability for non‐native English speaking students as compared to native English speaking students. Students who were classified as sophomore status or above when compared to freshmen and students enrolled as food science majors when compared to other majors also demonstrated increased critical thinking ability. Recitation size also significantly influenced critical thinking ability where students enrolled in a relatively small recitation section had elevated critical thinking when compared to the abilities of those students enrolled in a large recitation. These observations suggest that engaging students in classroom discussions with student‐led feedback is a useful instructional technique for developing CTS. Further, the data suggest the development of critical thinking skill among food science majors can be augmented when classroom discussions with student‐led feedback are conducted in smaller sized recitations.     

Charting Theoretical Directions for Examining African Journalism in the “Digital Era”

This essay provides a metatheoretical framework for understanding the complexities surrounding African journalism in the era of interactive digital technologies. It argues for the continued relevance of traditional theoretical paradigms, and submits that radical calls to develop new theories as well as to de-Westernise contemporary journalism studies through exclusively deploying “home-grown” concepts such as ubuntuism are not necessarily always viable. Rather, there is more to gain from appropriating traditional theories and identifying possible synergies between the “old”, predominantly Western approaches, and the “new digital phenomena”, and weaving out of that dialogue, approaches that are not radically different but are in tune with the uniqueness of African experiences. This approach, as the study argues, is particularly important given that journalism (including its appropriation of new technologies) always takes on the form and colouring of the social structure in which it operates. The study thus draws on social constructivist approaches to technology and the sociology of journalism, as well as an array of theoretical concerns from African journalism scholarship to offer a possible direction for a conceptual framework that can help us to capture the complex imbrications between new digital technologies and journalism practice in Africa.     

10 Jahre Arbeitsausschuss Gutes Spielzeug

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Who likes to engage in writing? – The role of children’s beliefs and intrinsic value regarding leisure writing

Abstract

While leisure writing may help children to acquire writing skills, it can also be considered as an inherently valuable cultural activity. This study explores how children’s beliefs may explain to what extent children are inclined to leisure writing and if there are any gender differences. Building on preliminary scale development work, we analysed data from 963 third-graders. Variables included (a) the intrinsic value attached to leisure writing (b) preceding behavioural, normative, and control beliefs related to these activities, and (c) the level of leisure writing. In a structural equation model, the preceding beliefs were applied as explanatory variables for the intrinsic value. Intrinsic value, in turn, explained a large proportion of variance in children’s leisure-writing activities. Gender differences in leisure writing were mediated by intrinsic value. Significance of intrinsic value and preceding beliefs regarding leisure-writing activities are discussed.