Erratum to: Effect of Current Electricity Simulation Supported Learning on the Conceptual Understanding of Elementary and Secondary Teachers

This study examined the impact of computer simulation and supported science learning on a teacher’s understanding and conceptual knowledge of current electricity. Pre/Post tests were used to measure the teachers’ concept attainment. Overall, there was a significant and large knowledge difference effect from Pre to Post test. Two interesting interactions were observed during the data analysis. The first was the difference between Elementary and Secondary teachers. Both groups had significant gains, with large effect sizes, but the Elementary teachers (Pre-Mean = 3.70, Post-Mean = 7.51) started lower and ended higher exhibiting a significantly larger gain than the Secondary teachers (Pre-Mean = 4.96, Post-Mean = 6.71). The second interaction was the impact of gender. Both groups showed significant gains, with large effect sizes, but females (Pre-Mean = 3.90, Post-Mean = 7.21) gained significantly more than males (Pre-Mean = 5.13, Post-Mean = 7.01). These results confirm that computer simulation supported science learning can have a positive effect on concept attainment in teachers.     

A tale of three campuses: Unearthing theories of residential life that shape the student learning experience

Frank Shushok Jr., T. Laine Scales, Rishi Sriram, and Vera Kidd share some initial thoughts about responses to their Campus Residential Experience Survey. Do you recognize your institution?     

Family walk-in centre—Eaton socon: Evaluation of a project on preventive intervention based in the community

The Family Walk-In Centre opened November 1978 as a pilot project at Eaton Socon in Cambridgeshire with the aims: to encourage parents to visit the centre on “their terms,” including parents who have abused or who fear they will abuse or neglect their child who may be difficult or handicapped, or because of chronic or acute family problems; further to mobilize “Self Help” groups and offer professional support. “Help” offered to the families included informal and formal group work, family casework and education in social and physical skills. Volunteer and professional support was given at the Centre and at home. Close liaison with specialist agencies was maintained to enable families to receive appropriate help. Periodic reviews and visits were made to maintain contact. An analysis of 50 families who attended the Centre between October 1979 and May 1980 was made to assess: the attendance and reattendance rate which indicated their acceptance of help offered and their motivation to use the Centre; the types of problems presented to the Centre, the types of action taken, the progress made when reviewed after three months and the degree of involvement by the volunteers. A final analysis will comprise 100 families. A preliminary summary found: significant reduction in the registration of new cases of child abuse; self-referrals exceeded significantly other modes of referral; loneliness and parenting difficulties formed the major proportion of families seeking help; 48% of families continued to attend for 3 months or more; work done centered upon discussion of parenting problems in 30% of the cases and involvement in activities with other families in 28%; 18% were assessed as showing improved child care after 3 months. The children are being monitored and will be assessed when they enter the infant school.     

Modern education and the revolt of 1857 in India

Abstract

In May 1857, a number of battalions in the Bengal army of the East India Company rebelled against their immediate British officers and the British administration in the North Western Provinces (NWP), Oudh and Bihar. The protracted conflict that stretched over a year was extremely violent, killed thousands of British officers and civilians and provoked an equally ruthless suppression. It ended the Company’s rule and the British Crown assumed administration in 1858. Even before the end of the conflict, the British elites such as former governor of the NWP George Russell Clerk and former Governor-General of India Ellenborough argued that English education was responsible for the revolt. They also listed the missionary schools and girls’ education as the leading causes. This paper attempts to examine the educational policies prior to the revolt and the condition of schools during the revolt, as well as the historical validity of the arguments put forth by Clerk and Ellenborough.     

The inadequacy of individual educational program (IEP) goals for high school students with word-level reading difficulties

This investigation analyzed goals from the Individual Educational Programs (IEPs) of 54 high school students with diagnosed reading disabilities in basic skills (decoding and/or word identification). Results showed that for 73% of the students, the IEPs written when they were in high school failed to specify any objectives regarding their acute difficulties with basic skills. IEPs from earlier points in the students’ educations were also reviewed, as available. For 23 of the students, IEPs were present in the students’ files for three time points: elementary school (ES), middle school (MS), and high school (HS). Another 20 students from the sample of 54 had IEPs available for two time points (HS and either MS or ES). Comparisons with the IEPs from younger years showed a pattern of decline from ES to MS to HS in the percentage of IEPs that commented on or set goals pertaining to weaknesses in decoding. These findings suggest that basic skills deficits that persist into the upper grade levels are not being sufficiently targeted for remediation, and help explain why older students frequently fail to resolve their reading problems.     

Photoresists for microlithography

Photoresist technology, which is used for micro-patterning exploits changes in properties of polymeric materials, such as their solubility or volatility, upon photo-irradiation. This process has greatly benefitted from the knowledge base of organic chemistry and photo-induced organic transformations. The role of chemistry in the development of photoresists is described in this article.     

Following the Template: Transferring Modeling Skills to Nonstandard Problems

This study seeks to analyze how students apply a mathematical modeling skill that was previously learned by solving standard word problems to the solution of word problems with nonstandard contexts. During the course of an experiment involving 106 freshmen, we assessed how well they were able to transfer the mathematical modeling skill that is used to solve standard problems to the solution of nonstandard ones that had an analogous structure. The results of our research show that students had varying degrees of success applying the different stages of modeling depending on whether they were solving a familiar problem (involving near transfer) or one that had an unfamiliar context (involving far transfer): in cases of near transfer, students applied the template formally even though it did not align with the text of the new word problem, which complicated further interpretation. In cases of far transfer, students chose to solve the problem by using an ordinary method of selecting a solution by trial and error in preference to the use of modeling. Thus, the application of the modeling skill as a multistage process is complicated when solving nonstandard problems involving either near or far transfer.