The role of intentionality and iconicity in children's developing comprehension and production of cartographic symbols

The contribution of intentionality understanding to symbolic development was examined. Actors added colored dots to a map, displaying either symbolic or aesthetic intentions. In Study 1, most children (5–6 years) understood actors' intentions, but when asked which graphic would help find hidden objects, most selected the incorrect (aesthetic) one whose dot color matched referent color. On a similar task in Study 2, 5- and 6-year-olds systematically picked incorrectly, 9- and 10-year-olds picked correctly, and 7- and 8-year-olds showed mixed performance. When referent color matched neither symbolic nor aesthetic dot colors, children performed better overall, but only the oldest children universally selected the correct graphic and justified choices with intentionality. Results bear on theory of mind, symbolic understanding, and map understanding.     

Using real data for statistics education in an open‐source learning environment

The tutor‐web is an open‐source learning environment designed to be used for teaching mathematics and statistics. The system offers thousands of exercises at high school and university level, and has been used for a decade to teach introductory statistics courses with good results. A new component has recently been added to the tutor‐web so that students can enter their own data or get real data from several data sources for practicing and learning new concepts.     

Effects of MyTeachingPartner–Math/Science on Teacher–Child Interactions in Prekindergarten Classrooms

Research Findings: This study examined the impact of MyTeachingPartner–Math/Science, a system of math and science curricula and professional development, on the quality of teachers’ interactions with children in their classrooms. Schools were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 intervention conditions (Basic: curricula providing within-activity, embedded teacher supports; Plus: curricula plus implementation support via online resources and in-person workshops) or to a Business-as-Usual (BaU) control condition. Results showed that teachers in the Basic and Plus conditions showed higher levels of Instructional Support and Facilitation of Mathematical and Scientific Thinking. Teachers in the Basic condition also showed higher levels of Emotional Support compared with teachers in the BaU condition. We did not find any significant differences between teachers’ interactions in the Basic and Plus conditions. Practice or Policy: Children are entering kindergarten unprepared in the areas of mathematics and science, largely as a result of inadequate exposure to early experiences and high-quality interactions in these domains. The results of this study suggest that providing teachers with math and science curricula that include embedded teacher supports can have an impact on the quality of their math and science instruction.     

Exploring the dimensions of organizational assimilation: Creating and validating a measure

The purpose of this study was to create and validate a measure of organizational assimilation index. Organizational assimilation describes the interactive mutual acceptance of newcomers into organizational settings. Members from the advertising, banking, hospitality, university, nonprofit, and publishing industries participated in two phases of research. In the first phase, 13 interviewees suggested six dimensions of organizational assimilation: familiarity with others, organizational acculturation, recognition, involvement, job competency, and adaptation/role negotiation. The second phase involved analysis of a survey of 342 participants that appeared to validate the six dimensions. The OAI's construct validity was tested and supported through the use of three other scales. Job satisfaction and organizational identification related positively to assimilation, while propensity to leave related negatively.     

Black Families and Schooling in Rural South Carolina: Families' and Educators' Disjunctive Interpretations of Parental Involvement

The positive impact on children's educational trajectories when effective home-school partnerships are established has been extensively documented. This article shares findings from a 13-month research study in a rural, southern community in South Carolina that sought to investigate the nature of the “partnerships” formed between educators and families, while challenging stereotypes and misperceptions that prevent such partnerships from unfolding. In doing so, the researcher makes visible the experiences of Black families, students, and schools in communities rarely studied—poor, rural Black communities in the southern United States. The researcher uses the actual words of the teachers and parents to make visible the disjunctive interpretations about one of the major themes from the study, parental involvement as relationships. Finally, the researcher offers implications for educators and parents as they do the work necessary to form relationships that really benefit students.     

Web-Based Social Work Courses: Guidelines for Developing and Implementing an Online Environment

Nationwide, the percentage of faculty who are tenured (or in tenure-earning positions) is declining, with proportionate increases in the amount of instruction provided by adjunct and other part-time instructors, including doctoral students. These trends are mirrored within academic social work and have given rise to some concerns about the potentially adverse effects this could have on the quality of instruction provided to MSW and BSW students. A review of the social work literature, however, failed to locate any systematic investigations published on the topic of evaluating the quality of teaching provided by adjuncts or doctoral students. The authors undertook a comprehensive analysis of the course evaluations obtained from a large urban school of social work in the Southeast over a 3-year period, covering 294 courses (61% BSW, 39% MSW). Of these, 181 classes were taught by regular faculty, 63 classes were taught by community-based adjuncts, and 50 classes by social work PhD students. Inferential tests found no statistically significant differences in the global course evaluations earned by regular faculty or adjuncts. However, there were statistically significant differences in the course evaluations earned by regular faculty and doctoral students, favoring the former, but the effect size was small and of little practical import. In general, the authors found no strong evidence that adjuncts or doctoral students provided less positively evaluated teaching than did regular faculty. The authors' results are limited to one university setting but their research design can be readily adopted by other programs, given the widespread use of quantified student-completed course evaluations generally maintained on university databases. More serious attention needs to be given to determining whether the course evaluations commonly used by universities are truly valid.     

Integrating Education on Addressing Health Disparities into the Graduate Social Work Curriculum

The purpose of this article is to propose an elective social work course as a means of better preparing social workers entering practice in healthcare to meet the challenges of promoting health and reducing health disparities in minority and underserved communities. Course offerings specifically targeting health or medical social work training vary widely. The additional training provided at places of employment and through continuing education after the master's degree is often inadequate for competently addressing the issues clinicians face in practice.     

Environmental‐Scale Map Use in Middle Childhood: Links to Spatial Skills,Strategies, and Gender

Researchers have shown that young children solve mapping tasks in small spaces, but have rarely tested children's performance in large, unfamiliar environments. In the current research, children (9–10 years; N = 40) explored an unfamiliar campus and marked flags' locations on a map. As hypothesized, better performance was predicted by higher spatial‐test scores, greater spontaneous use of map–space coordinating strategies, and participant sex (favoring boys). Data supported some but not all hypotheses about the roles of specific spatial skills for mapping performance. Data patterns were similar on a computer mapping task that displayed environmental‐scale videos of walks through a park. Patterns of children's mapping errors suggested both idiosyncratic and common mapping strategies that should be addressed in future research and educational interventions.