Using an Informal Cardiovascular System Activity to Study the Effectiveness of Science Education in Unexpected Places

Venues for informal science education are usually those sought out by people who are specifically looking for an educational experience. Whether planning a trip to a museum or choosing a television program, these individuals are actively seeking an informal educational experience; they are a self-selected group. This paper investigates whether members of the public will respond to an informal science activity that is placed in a location where learning about science would be unexpected. This project developed and used an activity about the cardiovascular system in which participants were able to walk the path of blood flow through the heart, body, and lungs. This activity was tested in two types of settings: where science was either expected or unexpected. A non-traditional assessment method was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the activity in the unexpected versus the expected settings. Ultimately, the activity was found to be equally effective in both settings, providing evidence for success in bringing informal science education to the general population in non-traditional venues.     

Home–School Agreements: A tool for parental control or for partnership?

Home-school agreements are part of the present government's School Standards and Framework Act (1998), which stipulated their completion by September 1999. In the present study, the arguments for and against home-school agreements are weighed up in the light of the results of a piece of research involving four inner-city primary schools. Following a consultation process in each school, written home-school agreements were produced on the basis of parents', children's and teachers' views on each other's areas of responsibilities (targets). During the evaluation phase, parents and children overwhelmingly expressed that they thought home-school agreements were useful and helped to enhance trust and understanding between parents and their school. A model for setting up or reviewing home-school agreements is proposed on the basis of the research findings. Implications for working with parents and further developing the role and power of parents in schools are illustrated. Systemic strategies that educational psychologists can use to enhance the relationship between school and parents are also outlined.     

The Relationship Between Maternal Beliefs and Behavior During Shared Reading

The goal of the present study was to increase understanding of the connection between maternal beliefs and behavior during shared reading and to examine the relation of these maternal beliefs to children's reading engagement. The study included survey and observational data from an ethnically diverse sample of 50 mothers and their 5- to 6-year-old children. As predicted, mothers who believed that shared reading should involve learning showed more learning-focused behaviors. Similarly, the belief that reading should be fun predicted more positive interactions. Some relationships between beliefs and behavior were moderated by gender. For girls, higher maternal expectations for children's future reading grades were associated with better scaffolding, but this pattern was not found for boys. There was a positive relationship between mothers' belief that reading should be fun and their sons' engagement. No gender differences were found in maternal expectations and beliefs or in observed maternal learning-focused behaviors or positive support. However, girls were observed to be significantly more engaged during the reading interaction. These results point to the connections between maternal beliefs and behaviors during shared reading, as well as the need to consider child gender in understanding these connections.     

Ideas into action development and the acceptance of innovations

The generation, acceptance and diffusion of innovations underlies the processes of improving social and economic conditions. They occur or are quashed not in technocratic isolation, however, but in political negotiations between people with possibly divergent interests and probably unequal power.After reviewing the Diffusionist school of thought, the paper explores the possibility of explaining innovations through an evolutionary model, comprising elements of random variation, selection and amplification. The model has the attraction of assuming that man has some influence over his future and is not merely an object of history and other impersonal ‘forces’.The paper considers the innovatory situation and reviews the relevance of decision theory, probability, uncertainty, risk and the politics of acceptance. It concludes that, although man is constrained by many limitations of information, understanding and reasoning, and may be both reactionary and radical, he continues to experiment with the unknown and so continues to learn.     

So That's What They're For: Breastfeeding Basics by Janet Tamaro

So That's What They're For: Breastfeeding Basics by Janet Tamaro. Published 1998 by Adams Media Corporation in Holbrook, MA. As childbirth educators continue the effort to find ways to educate women on the benefits of breastfeeding, it is increasingly difficult to find literature that appeals to teenagers and nonmedical personnel. Many texts are written at such a high level of language and complexity that they are inappropriate to recommend for the teenage girl or the educated woman who has no desire to become bogged down by the pathophysiology of the breast and the plethora of research that has been conducted. In her book So That's What They're For: Breastfeeding Basics (1998), Janet Tamaro achieves a balance between information, practical suggestions, anecdotes, and a good helping of humor to guide the pregnant or new mother through the decision and practice of breastfeeding.     

Influence of Family Perceptions of Acting White on Acculturative Stress in African American College Students

This study examined family-oriented stressors on acculturative stress in 83 African American college students attending a predominately White university. Results showed that family pressure for participants not to acculturate, pressure to maintain ethnic group language, perception of Acting White, and acculturation level were related to higher acculturative stress for participants. After controlling for acculturation and general stress, family pressure to maintain the ethnic group’s language and perception of Acting White accounted for a statistically significant proportion of the variance in acculturation stress. The findings emphasize the need to recognize culture-specific stressors of college students. Implications for mental health providers are discussed.