A theoretical note on concepts and the need for Cyclic Concept Maps

This article examines concepts and propositions from a theoretical perspective, and establishes the need for and develops an extension to Concept Maps (CMaps), called Cyclic Concept Maps (Cyclic CMaps). Cyclic CMaps are considered to be an appropriate tool for representing knowledge of functional or dynamical relationships between concepts. CMaps, on the other hand, are viewed as an appropriate tool for representing hierarchic or static knowledge. The two maps complement each other and collectively capture a larger domain of knowledge, thus forming a more effective knowledge representation tool. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 741–766, 2005     

Issues in Adopting a Laserdisk-Based Science Curriculum

We examined the implementation of a laser-disk based science curriculum in an elementary school. The goal was to develop a richer understanding of the principles for designing a curriculum that will adequately support teachers in adopting a learner-centered framework. Issues included: who has ownership of the classroom discussion; what types of activities are engaged in terms of the constraints imposed; and what is the teacher's response to the specific tools provided (the teacher's guide, the Circle of Learning, and concept maps). In addition to looking at the implementation pattern, we also examined the impact of the implementation on student attitudes and anxiety toward science. Results indicated little adoption of the curriculum, and teachers continued to maintain a high degree of control in the classroom. However, results also indicated significant effects of the curriculum on science attitude and anxiety. Suggestions for future research are included.     

Characteristics of child sexual abuse treatment programs

Within the professional community, a vast number of sexual abuse treatment programs have emerged to meet the needs of victims and their families. Significant variations among these programs can be observed due to differences in philosophy, system context, client focus, problem definition, and the treatment strategy adopted. Unfortunately, little comparative information is available regarding the operation of different programs and, more importantly, their relative treatment effectiveness. This article presents the findings from a nationwide survey of 553 sexual abuse treatment programs. The survey focused on program context, client, and service characteristics. Overall it was found that most programs are affiliated with a larger public or private agency, focus on treating victims, and rely on a combination of individual, family, dyad, and group therapy approaches.     

Child developmental impact of Pittsburgh’s Early Childhood Initiative (ECI) in high-risk communities: first-phase authentic evaluation research

The national debate surrounding the issue of school failure has renewed interest in the quality, efficacy, and outcomes of early childhood intervention programs that can promote early school success for children at developmental risk. Moreover, researchers and policymakers report the need to document developmentally-appropriate models for assessing and evaluating early childhood outcomes. We report on the first-phase results of Pittsburgh’s early childhood initiative (ECI). ECI is a privately-funded effort by a consortium composed of the business, corporate, foundation, and community sectors to implement high-quality early care and education options for children in high-risk neighborhoods. The overarching objective of ECI is to ensure early school success for high-risk children. Our Scaling Progress in Early Childhood Settings (SPECS) Evaluation Team implemented an authentic assessment and program evaluation strategy and an enhanced “constructed comparison group” statistical model to conduct longitudinal research on the child developmental impact of the ECI model. First-phase results on 155 high-risk children indicate that those who participated in high-quality ECI programs for the longest periods of time demonstrated patterns of progress that exceeded maturational expectations. Weekly collaborative consultation to teachers and caregivers by consultants about program quality using the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) standards as “best practice” benchmarks seemed to be associated with initial enhanced child outcomes and the particular impact of the ECI model.     

Adjunctive drinking during variable and random-interval food reinforcement schedules

Rats were trained to leverpress for food and subsequently exposed to either arithmetic series or random variable-interval reinforcement schedules. Adjunctive drinking developed in all subjects exposed to arithmetic variable-interval reinforcement, but did not develop in six of the eight animals trained on the random schedule. The results suggest that adjunctive drinking is the result of an interaction between the tendency of rats to drink after eating and the ability of locally low probabilities of reinforcement within schedules to induce conditioned behavioral states.     

Limitations to teaching children 2 + 2 = 4: typical arithmetic problems can hinder learning of mathematical equivalence

Do typical arithmetic problems hinder learning of mathematical equivalence? Second and third graders (7–9 years old; N= 80) received lessons on mathematical equivalence either with or without typical arithmetic problems (e.g., 15 + 13 = 28 vs. 28 = 28, respectively). Children then solved math equivalence problems (e.g., 3 + 9 + 5 = 6 + __), switched lesson conditions, and solved math equivalence problems again. Correct solutions were less common following instruction with typical arithmetic problems. In a supplemental experiment, fifth graders (10–11 years old; N= 19) gave fewer correct solutions after a brief intervention on mathematical equivalence that included typical arithmetic problems. Results suggest that learning is hindered when lessons activate inappropriate existing knowledge.     

Serial rapid naming skills in children with reading disabilities

This study compared the performance of children with reading disability (RD) and normal reading achievement (NRA) on tasks of serial rapid naming, verbal fluency, letter-based word retrieval, and articulatory speed. The groups, composed of children at two discrete age levels, one younger and one older, were matched for age, gender, and neighborhood school. Analyses of the on-line measurement of the children’s serial rapid naming indicated that the children with RD had significantly larger reaction times and production durations than their NRA peers despite similar levels of accuracy. They also performed significantly worse on the categorical verbal fluency task, the letter-based word retrieval task, and the test of articulatory speed. The findings suggest that both access and post-access processes, such as oral-motor inefficiency that extends the duration of word production, may be implicated in the slower serial rapid naming that has typified many samples of children with RD. This work was supported in part by Basil O’Connor Research Grant 5-340 from the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, a Scholarly and Creative Activity Award and sabbatical leave from California State University, Long Beach and grant #DCO 1904-01 from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the NIH to the first author.