The context of their lives

Abstract

This paper explores the Ecology of Human Development Model (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) as applied to the lives of students enrolled in the Early Childhood Education program at James Madison University (Virginia). This model provided insights into who our students are, their experiences, beliefs and values and how they define themselves; secondly, the process of reflection provided an opportunity for students to examine their lives as part of a larger social context; and thirdly, by valuing the process, it is hoped that students would recognize the importance of coming to know the children they teach. It is imperative that students are well prepared for teaching an increasingly diverse population (NCATE Standard I.E.2). Our belief is that in order for prospective teachers to appreciate diversity in classrooms, they need first to examine the context of their own lives. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.     

The Impact of Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention on University Resident Assistants

Resident assistants (RAs) can serve as important suicide prevention gatekeepers. The purpose of the study was to determine if training improved RAs’ crisis communications skills and suicide‐related knowledge and to determine if the knowledge elements predicted crisis communications skills. New RAs showed significant improvement in all areas from pretest to posttest, whereas returning RAs showed no significant increase in any of the areas. None of the knowledge areas predicted communications skills for either group.     

基于平板电脑的电子课本在香港英语课堂教学实施的个案研究

随着科技的快速发展,基于平板电脑的电子课本以其独特的优势,被视为电子学习新的形式和体现,被越来越多地应用于课堂教学中。它的教与学效果如何?是否真正促进了课堂教学?是否真正提高了学生的学习兴趣、学习效果?这些问题有待研究。本案例来自香港教育局支持的实验计划,课程根据香港课程发展议会颁发的英文课程指南进行设计。实证研究主要采用课堂观察、问卷课查法对学生的学习方法和观感进行分析。研究发现:电子课本在电子教材设计、学生学习兴趣和动机、学生知识与技能获得、学生深层学习方法及课堂参与度等方面都起到了明显的促进作用,其在课堂教学中的应用有着良好的发展前景,有望在内容和功能上整合现有课堂中的一些电子教具,最大化地发挥优势,为新的课堂学习环境提供新的学习支持。     

Yoga for seniors: understanding their beliefs and barriers to participation

ABSTRACT

Yoga has been found to provide numerous health benefits to older adults including preventing or slowing physical frailty and subsequent functional limitations. The purpose of this study was to examine pre-frail or frail older adults’ beliefs about yoga as well as to identify barriers to participation. We recruited 37 older adults from a Faint, Fall, and Frailty Clinic at a medical center and asked them to complete questionnaires regarding their physical health and beliefs about yoga using the Beliefs About Yoga Scale. Frailty and fall risk were obtained through electronic health records. Participants’ had mean age of 72.81 years. Participants were considered to be prefrail (66.7%) or frail (33.3%), and most (78.4%) had fallen at least once in the past year. Over 72% of participants engaged in light physical activity. The BAYS mean score was 59.17 (SD = 12.5; Range 11–77). Higher scores indicted more optimistic beliefs about yoga. Over 90% of participants had not practiced yoga, 97.1% had no intentions to practice, 61.8% did not know locations placed where yoga classes were offered, 82.4% were unsure about the costs associated with yoga, and only 56.3% reported having transportation. The three primary barriers to practicing yoga were perceived difficulty of yoga practice, lack of motivation, and fear of injury. Participants held positive beliefs about yoga, yet had limited experience and little intention to participate indicating a need to provide targeted educational interventions to this population of older adults.     

The Digital Humanities Summer Scholarship: A model for library-led undergraduate digital scholarship

ABSTRACT

The article offers a model for library-centered undergraduate engagement with digital scholarship based on two years of successful implementation at Lafayette College. Librarians designed a competitive six-week summer internship where undergraduate students built their own digital research projects. Through their original projects, students practiced traditional research methods and simultaneously explored subfields of digital scholarship. The article's topics include the relationship between digital scholarship and information literacy, the library's role in facilitating digital scholarship, and the internship's design and execution. The article also includes reflections and recommendations for sustainable implementation.     

The Relationship of Spelling Recognition, RAN, and Phonological Awareness to Reading Skills in Older Poor Readers and Younger Reading-Matched Controls

The role of spelling recognition was examined in word reading skills and reading comprehension for dyslexic and nondyslexic children. Dyslexic and nondyslexic children were matched on their raw word reading proficiency. Relationships between spelling recognition and the following were examined for both groups of children: verbal ability, working memory, phonological measures, rapid naming, word reading, and reading comprehension. Children’s performance in spelling recognition was significantly associated with their skills in word reading and reading comprehension regardless of their reading disability status. Furthermore, spelling recognition contributed significant variance to reading comprehension for both dyslexic and nondyslexic children after the effects of phonological awareness, rapid naming, and word reading proficiency had been accounted for. The results support the role of spelling recognition in reading development for both groups of children and they are discussed using a componential reading fluency framework.     

The influence of reading unit size on the development of Stroop interference in early word decoding

The purpose of the experiments was to determine the automatic use of large or small word reading units in young readers in the absence of word decoding strategies. Picture-word Stroop interference was examined from four types of conflicting labels: (a) words containing both highly predictable grapheme–phoneme correspondence (GPC) units and highly consistent rime units (henceforth, Hi-GPC + Hi-Rime); (b) words with highly predictable GPC units and less consistent rime units (Hi-GPC + Lo-Rime); (c) words with low predictability GPC units and highly consistent rime units (Low GPC + High Rime); (d) nonwords that contained both highly predictable GPC and highly consistent rime units. Naming time for pictures containing these labels was compared against that for pictures with random letter strings or no labels. In Experiment 1, Stroop interference was examined in first, second, and third grade children to determine whether there was developmental change in the presence of rime or GPC interference. In Experiment 2, Stroop interference was examined as a function of relative reading skill in first grade children. In Experiment 3, Stroop interference in adults was compared to the use of rime or GPC pronunciation strategies for nonword reading. In all experiments, Stroop interference in picture naming was longer for pictures with highly predictable GPC unit labels than less predictable GPC unit labels. However, in Experiment 3, even though adults showed interference from predictable GPC units in the Stroop task, they always preferred rime pronunciation for ambiguous nonwords in the nonword reading task. It is argued that the current experiments provide evidence for a flexible units model. The results of this study were presented at the Cognitive Development Society meeting, November 2001, Virginia Beach, VA, and the American Educational Research Association meeting, April 2004, San Diego, California.     

Children’s Developing Ability to Resolve Disagreements by Integrating Perspectives

Children live in a world where disagreement is commonplace. Although disagreement can sometimes be explained by differences in people’s reliability, disagreement may also indicate that the referent elicits multiple perspectives. The present studies (total N = 129, 5- to 12-year-old ethnically diverse U.S. children, 42% girls) examined children’s ability to resolve disagreement among two individuals by identifying referents that integrated the perspectives, and considered the extent to which any age-related change could be explained by epistemological understanding (i.e., acknowledging that two perspectives can be right). Children’s age was positively correlated with their ability to integrate perspectives, and children performed at above-chance levels by approximately 10 years of age. Age differences in integrating perspectives were partially accounted for by epistemological understanding.     

From scraps to reams to mobile screens? An update on printing services in academic libraries

As a follow-up to their 2001/2002 study on printing services in academic libraries, the authors explore how the provision of printing services has changed over the last twelve years. This article explores how libraries are choosing to fund printing services as well as how technology, such as scanning and mobile devices, has changed the way printing services are provided. The results of the 2013 survey find a greater percentage of libraries are using a fee-based system for printing, and, while some technology is providing greater data and control for printing services, other technological advances are having unintended consequences for libraries’ printing infrastructure.