The impact of political identity,grouping, and discussion on young people's views of political documentaries

ABSTRACT

This study focuses on how young people read and discuss two political documentary films, Labor Day and Hillary: The Movie. We were specifically interested in the impact of the film viewing and discussion on participants’ beliefs about the issues in the films, how they view evidence and expertise in the films, and how the session impacted their views of documentaries as a source. Groups were designed according to composite political scores and individuals (n?=?30) were selected to form liberal, conservative, and two mixed groups (strong and moderate) for the viewing and discussion. Our analysis illustrates the power of political ideology in shaping how expertise is viewed and how evidence is warranted in film – and the role of social context and peer discussion in this process. Implications for media and democratic education in times of political polarization are discussed.     

Augmented Reality in Design Education: Landscape Architecture Studies as AR Experience

The rapid and ongoing development of digital technologies continues to create new opportunities for education. Over the last decade this has enabled the establishment of blended learning approaches and online education. More recently, Augmented Reality (AR) has emerged as a unique technology that can transform learning experiences across diverse disciplines. This article outlines the development of an AR prototype, Master of Time, which was created to educate first year students and non‐designers on the foundational principles of landscape architecture. This study examines the learning potential and benefits of AR technology with a focus on creating new practices in digital storytelling across situated experiences. In outlining project outcomes, the authors propose a series of critical design principles, strategies and methodologies for educators to apply when developing AR learning experiences across disciplines. Included within this is a framework for transdisciplinary and co‐design collaboration, which is essential for educators working in the forefront of learning technologies.     

Children's temperament and behavior problems predict their employed mothers' work functioning

Numerous studies have been conducted on the impact of dual-earner parents' employment on their children, yet the reverse process-the impact of children and their behavior on the work functioning of their parents-has been ignored. This study investigated spillover from the mother role to the work role in a sample of more than 300 families. At 4 months, 12 months, 3.5 years, and 4.5 years of age, child's difficult temperament was significantly associated with mother's work outcomes, including work role quality and rewards from combining work and family. The evidence was consistent with a structural model in which maternal sense of parenting competence and maternal depressed affect mediated these effects.     

Do parents make a difference to children’s academic achievement? Differences between parents of higher and lower achieving students

Differences in family factors in determining academic achievement were investigated by testing 432 parents in nine independent, coeducational Melbourne schools. Schools were ranked and categorized into three groups (high, medium and low), based on student achievement (ENTER) scores in their final year of secondary school and school improvement indexes. Parents completed a questionnaire investigating their attitudes towards the school environment, their aspirations, expectations, encouragement and interest in their child’s education (adapted from scales constructed by Marjoribanks). They also responded to six open‐ended questions on their attitudes to achievement and to their (child’s) school. Multiple regression analyses revealed that parental expectations of their children’s educational level made the strongest unique prediction of high achievement followed by the length of time they had maintained their expectations. Limitations discussed include the disparity in meaning associated with the definition of school success and whether these results can be generalized to all students considering the biased sample (socio‐economic status).