Mathematically and practically-based explanations: individual preferences and sociomathematical norms

This paper is an initial investigation of teachers’ and students’ preferences for mathematically-based (MB) and practically-based (PB) explanations and the relationship between those preferences and sociomathematical norms. The study focuses on one fifth grade teacher and two of her students and discusses three issues. The first issue concerns students’ abilities to understand and accept MB explanations. The second issue concerns the choices teachers make regarding the types of explanations they introduce to their classes and the basis for these choices. The third issue concerns the place of the individuals’ preferences within the sociomathematical norms of the class. The findings indicate that elementary school students are capable of understanding MB explanations and some might even prefer them. We also found that although a teacher might personally prefer MB explanations, this preference may be set aside for didactical considerations. Finally, we discuss the complex relationship between individual preferences for MB and PB explanations and sociomathematical norms.     

How do children who understand mixed emotion represent them in freehand drawings of themselves and others?

This research is the first to assess children’s representation of mixed emotion using a freehand drawing task. Two hundred and forty-one 5–11-year olds completed a drawing and a colour preference task. Children heard a condition appropriate vignette about themselves or a protagonist designed to evoke mixed emotion, and were asked to draw the self or the protagonist experiencing neutral, happy and sad affect. Children who reported mixed emotions after the story also drew themselves or the protagonist experiencing mixed emotion. For mixed emotion, children used red, green and blue more in drawings of the protagonist, and yellow more in drawings of the self. Interestingly, strategies for mixed emotion drawings were similar to those used for happy drawings; more specifically, in drawings of the self, children were particularly more likely to use smiles (for happy and sad drawings) and fewer frowns. Findings are discussed in relation to self-presentational behaviour.     

English phonological specificity predicts early French reading difficulty in emerging bilingual children

The purpose of the present study was to examine the predictive value of a dynamic test of English and French lexical specificity on at-risk reading classification in 13 at-risk and 44 not at-risk emerging English (L1)–French (L2) bilingual Grade 1 children (M = 75.87 months, SD = 3.18) enrolled in an early French immersion program in Canada. Lexical specificity was assessed with a computerized word learning game in which children were taught new English (e.g., “foal” and “sole”) and French (e.g., bac “bin” and bague “ring”) word pairs contrasted by minimal phonological differences. The results indicated that the dynamic test of lexical specificity in English contributed significantly to the prediction of children’s French at-risk reading status at the end of Grade 1 after controlling for French phonological awareness and nonverbal reasoning skills. However, French lexical specificity did not predict children’s reading risk classification in French after controlling for French phonological awareness. Thus, it may be feasible to identify at-risk status in emerging bilinguals using dynamic measures in their stronger language.     

Drawings of Emotionally Characterised Figures by Children from Different Educational Backgrounds

Previous research has shown that children systematically alter the size and colour of their drawings in response to the emotional character of the figures which they draw. However, these findings have been demonstrated only with children receiving mainstream Western education. This experiment was designed to investigate whether children receiving a different kind of education also use scaling and colour differentially for depicting figures of contrasting emotional significance. 76 children, 44 children from mainstream schools (21 boys, 23 girls) and 32 children from Steiner schools (15 boys, 17 girls) were divided into two age groups, with 38 children in the younger age group (mean age 4 years 7 months) and 38 in the older age group (mean age 6 years 8 months). All children completed three drawings of differentially characterized human figures: a neutral, a happy, and a sad figure. Children from the mainstream schools drew larger figures overall, but educational background did not interact with the specific emotional character of the figures in producing these scaling changes. However, there were differences between the two educational groups in relation to the colours used for the negatively characterised figures. The findings are discussed in terms of the need to further understand the role of the educational system in mediating children's depictions of emotional character in their drawings.     

On the concept “chemical equilibrium”: The associative framework

Word associations were used to map the conception of high school students concerning the concepts “chemical equilibrium” and “equilibrium.” It was found that the preconception of the two concepts was differentiated on noncritical dimensions; “equilibrium” being associated with everyday life experiences and “chemical equilibrium” with general chemical concepts. After studying the subject of chemical equilibrium at school the two concepts merged towards one, i.e., becoming synonymous. This can provide an explanation for misconceptions associated with chemical equilibrium via the transfer of static attributes from “equilibrium” to the dynamic “chemical equilibrium”.     

Family Effects on Student Achievement in Hong Kong

We examine the effects of family structures and processes on student achievement in Hong Kong. Specifically, we show that the negative effects of single parenthood in past studies are not universal. In Hong Kong, 4,405 15-year-old students completed a questionnaire, and tests in reading, mathematics and science. We analysed the data using multilevel models of Rasch test scores and Warm estimated indices of questionnaire items. In all subjects, the scores of children living with single parents did not differ significantly from those of children living with two parents. Moreover, students living with no parents had lower reading and science scores than other students, and this effect was mediated by lower family investment and involvement.     

Senior Orientation

Abstract

Community of Learning: The American College and the Liberal Arts Tradition By Francis Oakley New York: Oxford University Press, 1992, 230 pages, $24. Reviewed by John C. Chalberg.     

To Avoid or Not to Avoid: When Emotions Overflow

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on how postepisodic conflict avoidance is related to the emotional and behavioral reactions to a partner's destructive conflict behavior. The first hypothesis predicted that a partner's destructive behavior is positively related to postepisodic conflict avoidance when an individual becomes emotionally flooded and withdraws during an argument. Conversely, a partner's destructive behavior was expected to be negatively related to postepisodic conflict avoidance when an individual becomes emotionally flooded and reciprocates the destructive behavior during an argument. A path analysis of the accounts of 182 undergraduate participants about a recent conflict episode supported the second hypothesis but not the first. However, results indicate other positive paths between a partner's destructive behavior and postepisodic conflict avoidance. Limitations and future research directions are discussed. This study extends the anger avoidance model and also advances understanding of destructive communication processes.     

Assessing the Role of Information-Processing Strategies in Learning From Local News Media About Sources of Social Capital

This study examines the mediating effects of information-processing strategies on the relationship between use of local news media, informational use of the Internet, and sources of social capital: interpersonal trust, reciprocity, and associational membership. Analyses of a telephone survey data (n = 546) of American adults show that even though local news media were influential, information-processing strategies were more powerful than attention in explaining learning from local news media about social norms at the individual level. These findings support the usefulness of the cognitive mediation model of information-processing behaviors in examining learning from local news media about social norms. Of the two strategies, elaborative processing played a more important role than active reflection in the mediating process. Informational use of the Internet had a significant and independent effect on associational membership, after demographic, structural anchoring, local media use, and information-processing measures were statistically controlled.