The Challenge Kindergarten Model: Integrating Body-Movement and Scaffolding to Keep the Child in the Center and Make Systematic Progress in Learning

This article presents a “child-centered” model of the teaching–learning process—the challenge kindergarten model. The model is an attempt to deal with the limitations of the “child-centered” approach without giving up its benefits. In this model, the teachers enable the children to direct their activities and improve their independent learning thanks to careful planning and consistent implementation. The model focuses on two learning-related skills that are most likely to bring about independent learning and two teaching strategies designed to promote these skills. The learning-related skills are self-regulated learning and cooperative behaviors. The integrated strategies are allowing children to direct body-movement and using it as an opportunity for setting up personal and group scaffolding.     

Parental history of positive development and child behavior in next generation offspring: A two-cohort prospective intergenerational study

This study examined whether positive development (PD) in adolescence and young adulthood predicts offspring behavior in two Australasian intergenerational cohorts. The Australian Temperament Project Generation 3 Study assessed PD at age 19–28 (years 2002–2010) and behavior in 1165 infants (12–18 months; 608 girls) of 694 Australian-born parents (age 29–35; 2012–2019; 399 mothers). The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Parenting Study assessed PD at age 15–18 (years 1987–1991) and behavior in 695 preschoolers (3–5 years; 349 girls) and their New Zealand born parents (age 21–46; 1994–2018; 363 mothers; 89% European ethnicity). In both cohorts, PD before parenthood predicted more positive offspring behavior (β_range = .11–.16) and fewer behavior problems (β_range = −.09 to −.11). Promoting strengths may secure a healthy start to life.     

Value-differentiation and self-esteem among majority and immigrant youth

As they inhabit complex social worlds, adolescents often learn competing values, resulting in value-differentiation, within-individual variability in value importance across contexts. But what are the implications of value-differentiation across age groups and cultures? A study of 4007 adolescents aged 11 to 18 (M = 14.41, SD = 2.16), of three Israeli groups (majority, former Soviet Union immigrants, Arabs) discovered negative relations between value-differentiation and self-esteem, suggesting that confusion may result from value incoherence. The relations were stronger among younger adolescents than older ones and were especially strong among younger first-generation immigrant adolescents, pointing to the need to address the value-differentiation of immigrant adolescents.     

Relationship between achievement and students' acceptance of evolution or creation in an upper‐level evolution course

Students often hold strong attitudes regarding topics they encounter during their studies, and many instructors feel that these attitudes can have strong effects on students' performance. We characterized students' attitudes toward evolution and investigated the influence of students' attitudes (pre‐course and post‐course) regarding evolution on their performance in an evolution course, measured as their final grade. We found our students to hold positive attitudes toward evolution; these attitudes became more positive following the course. The most significant change in attitude occurred in the group of students initially undecided toward evolution. We also found that attitudes prior to the course had little influence on later achievement; however, at the end of the course, students' attitudes were positively related to final grades, although the effect was small. We argue that pedagogical techniques directly addressing students' attitudes help reduce the influence of attitudes (especially prior attitudes) on achievement. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 7–24, 2006     

Telling the Tale and Living Well: Adolescent Narrative Identity,Personality Traits,and Well‐Being Across Cultures

This study explored links between narrative identity, personality traits, and well‐being for 263 adolescents (age 12–21) from three New Zealand cultures: Māori, Chinese, and European. Turning‐point narratives were assessed for autobiographical reasoning (causal coherence), local thematic coherence, emotional expressivity, and topic. Across cultures, older adolescents with higher causal coherence reported better well‐being. Younger adolescents with higher causal coherence instead reported poorer well‐being. Personal development topics were positively linked to well‐being for New Zealand European adolescents only, and thematic coherence was positively linked to well‐being for Māori adolescents only. Negative expressivity, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and openness were also linked to well‐being. Implications of these cultural similarities and differences are considered for theories of narrative identity, personality, and adolescent well‐being.     

Older people as users and non-users of a video conferencing service for promoting social connectedness and well-being – a case study from Finnish Lapland

ABSTRACT

There is a need to better understand older people’s use, non-use, and learning of eHealth services in their everyday lives. This paper reports a case study of a phone and video conferencing service aimed at promoting the social connectedness and well-being of older people in the sparsely populated area of Finnish Lapland. The data were derived from qualitative semi-structured interviews of a service coordinator (n = 1), volunteers (n = 2), and service users (n = 2). The volunteers were 69 and 71 years old, and the service users were 88 and 89 years old. Service coordinator and volunteers described the service as a new and needed service for sparsely populated areas. It supports social interaction and well-being of older people. However, some users experienced inconvenience of the service and concern, such as negative feelings due to technical problems. Reported barriers relating to the learning and use of the service included negative perception of oneself as a technology user and cognitive and physical difficulties. Reported enablers included technical support and older people’s willingness and ability to practice and learn. eHealth services can be experienced as useful, especially by older people living in sparsely populated areas. However, inconvenience, concerns, and barriers were recognized as influencing older people’s willingness to use the service. Older people’s digital competence and distributed digital competencies within their network play important roles in learning to use and using an eHealth service. Digital competence also influences domestication of the technology.     

How engineers perceive the importance of ethics in Finland

Success in complex and holistic engineering practices requires more than problem-solving abilities and technical competencies. Engineering education must offer proficient technical competences and also train engineers to think and act ethically. A technical ‘engineering-like’ focus and demand have made educators and students overlook the importance of ethical awareness and transversal competences. Using two Finnish surveys, conducted in 2014 and 2016, we examine how engineers perceive working life needs regarding ethics. The data consider different age groups. We research whether an engineer’s age affects their perception of the importance of ethics in their work and if there are differences between young experts and young managers in their use of ethics within work. The results indicate that practising engineers do not consider ethical issues important in their work. This especially applies to younger engineers; the older an engineer, the more important they consider ethics. No statistically significant difference was found between young engineering experts and managers.