Metacognitive monitoring and help-seeking decisions on mathematical equivalence problems

Metacognition and Learning - Metacognition is central to children’s cognitive development. However, there is conflicting evidence about children’s ability to accurately monitor their...     

Sleep and the body mass index and overweight status of children and adolescents

Associations between sleep and the body mass index (BMI) and overweight status of children and adolescents were estimated using longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of 2,281 children aged 3–12 years at baseline. Controlling for baseline BMI, children who slept less, went to bed later, or got up earlier at the time of the first assessment had higher BMIs 5 years later and were more likely to be overweight. Child age moderated the relationship between bedtime and BMI. In addition, the study reports nationally representative data on the sleep habits of American children aged 3–18 years. This study underscores the likely importance of sleep on children's physical health and suggests that sleep is important for understanding childhood weight problems.     

Mass spectrometry of biochemical materials

Recent developments in mass spectrometry have made it a valuable technique for the identification of exceedingly small quantities of relatively small molecules (m. wt. up to 1000 or 2000). These new possibilities have been applied with particular success in the biochemical and biomedical and environmental fields and this article reviews the kind of techniques used, and the results achieved.     

Validating the Hornik & Woolf approach to choosing media campaign themes: Do promising beliefs predict behavior change in a longitudinal study?

Hornik and Woolf (1999) proposed using cross-sectional survey data to prioritize beliefs to address with communication campaign messages. The empirical component of the approach combines evidence of (1) association of beliefs with intentions and (2) current level of beliefs to calculate a “percentage to gain” as the potential promise of a belief. However, the method relies on cross-sectional data; its conclusions are open to challenge. Here, a panel study assesses whether the calculated promise of a belief actually predicts future behavior change. A nationally representative sample of 3,204 U.S. youth and young adults were interviewed twice, six months apart. Sixteen beliefs about the benefits and costs of smoking cigarettes are compared with regard to their percentage to gain (calculated from cross-sectional data) and their ability to account for subsequent cigarette use. A belief’s cross-sectional percentage to gain is substantially associated with its ability to predict subsequent behavior change (r = .53, p < .05).     

‘Look Janet’, ‘No you look John’: constructions of gender in early school reader illustrations across 50 years

Children’s reading materials are a widely available cultural resource that children may draw on to make sense of gender. Much of the research on gender and reading materials has used content analysis and has focused on children’s literature. The research we present in this article detours from these approaches, using a feminist post‐structuralist analysis to examine constructions of gender in a randomly selected sample of 100 early school readers used in New Zealand schools over the last 50 years. Methodologically, our work contributes to the relatively small number of studies that analyze illustrations as texts of meanings. Analysis of the illustrations incorporates exploring the connotations of illustrations, identifying gender discourses, defining positions available within the discourses and illuminating similar discourses in other texts. Our analysis suggests relatively little change across 50 years in the availability of diverse representations of men, women and children in early school readers.     

Addressing Disparities in Parent Education: Examining the Effects of Learn the Signs/Act Early Parent Education Materials on Parent Outcomes

Early intervention is critical for improved prognosis and quality of life for young children with developmental delays and disabilities. Yet, disparities persist among underserved families with young children. These disparities include knowledge of child development, use of medical providers as referral sources, and later diagnosis. The current study employed a mixed method, randomized controlled trial to examine participant outcomes among low-income, underserved families who received child development information. The information included the 42-page Milestone Moments booklet that was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Learn the Signs/Act Early initiative. Participants (n = 108) included parents or legal guardians of children ages birth through 5 years. The participants were predominantly Black/African American (86 %) and female (90 %), and all had incomes below the federal poverty level. Study variables related to the location (home vs. child care center) and context (single session vs. extended visits) for delivering the information did not yield significant differences. Yet, there were clear findings that parents who received the booklet reported increased knowledge about child development, a decrease in concern about their own children’s developmental progress, and a positive perception of the booklet. On interview, parents reported learning new information about child development or being reminded of developmental information they had forgotten and the importance of following up with professionals when concerns arose. While not statistically significant, there was a consistent trend toward greater participant outcomes for parents who received materials in the child care setting relative to the home.     

Predicting the Grades of Low-Income–Ethnic-Minority Students From Teacher-Student Discrepancies in Reported Motivation

The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of discrepancies between teachers' perceptions of students' motivation and students' reports of their motivation on math and English grades and to identify possible gender and ethnic differences. Participants included 215 low-income, ethnic-minority students and their teachers in academically struggling schools. Discrepancy in motivation ratings accounted for a significant amount of variation in final grades. This teacher-student discrepancy effect was larger than both the effect of students' recent standardized test scores and the effect of self-efficacy in both subjects. Girls were found to attract positive teacher bias, but their grades were not differentially affected. Differences in teacher-student discrepancy effects between African American and Latino students were not found.     

Words correct per minute: The variance in standardized reading scores accounted for by reading speed

The measure words correct per minute (WC/M) incorporates a measure of accurate aloud word reading and a measure of reading speed. The current article describes two studies designed to parse the variance in global reading scores accounted for by reading speed. In Study I, reading speed accounted for more than 40% of the reading composite score variance in 4th‐, 5th‐, and 10th‐grade students. In Study II, reading speed accounted for more than 30% of the reading/language arts composite score variance of fourth‐ and fifth‐grade students. Across both studies, when reading speed was combined with words read correctly and converted to WC/M the additional variance accounted for was less than 10% with one exception, fourth‐grade students' reading/language arts scores. These findings are consistent with various theories regarding reading speed, provide direction for future researchers, and may assuage those concerned that WC/M is primarily a measure of aloud, accurate word reading (i.e., word calling). © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Using learning analytics to assess student engagement and academic outcomes in open access enabling programmes

Curriculum design, teaching methods, assessments and range of academic support need to be inclusive in Open Access Enabling courses. The findings of this study confirm a correlation between student access to online learning materials and a positive impact on grades in science courses. More specifically, students who frequently use the online learning system to access materials have better assessment and exam results.     

Beyond breadth: the contributions of vocabulary depth to reading comprehension among skilled readers

This study investigated the relationships among vocabulary breadth, vocabulary depth, reading comprehension, and reading rate among college‐aged students. While the relationships of some of these variables have been explored in previous research, the current study's focus on the role of vocabulary depth on the literacy measures within a sample of skilled readers is new and produced several interesting findings. First, consistent with the hypotheses, both vocabulary breadth and depth were significantly correlated with reading comprehension and reading rate. Second, while both types of vocabulary knowledge explained unique variance in reading comprehension, only vocabulary breadth explained unique variance in reading rate. Finally, although vocabulary breadth was significantly correlated with both of the vocabulary depth measures, the two depth measures were not significantly correlated with each other. This work implies that a strong depth of vocabulary affects reading comprehension, in addition to the well‐established relationship between vocabulary breadth and comprehension.