Student perceptions of technology and implications for an empowering curriculum

Growing interest in technology education in 1988 led the Curriculum Development Division of the then New Zealand Department of Education to seek a survey of students' perceptions of technology using the internationally trialled Pupils' Attitudes Towards Technology (PATT) questionnaire. Early in 1989 a national sample of 1,469 form 3 students completed the questionnaire and responded to an open question about the nature of technology. Results indicated that students have generally positive attitudes towards technology, but poor concepts of technology. The nature of these attitudes and concepts and related factors have implications for the development of the National Curriculum Statement in Technology. Specializations: science and technology education, gender     

Comparison of behavioral ratings of Anglo-American and Mexican-American gifted children

Behavioral ratings on four subscales of the Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students (SRBCSS) were completed on groups of Anglo-(N=491) and Mexican-American gifted students (N=34). Significant ethnicity differences were found on the Learning and Motivation scales, with Anglos being rated higher. There were no significant differences between groups on the Creativity and Leadership scales. Results are discussed in terms of implications for use of SRBCSS as an identification instrument and as a measure for future research.     

Computer-assisted career guidance: Improving the design and use of systems

This paper presents and analyzes recommendations developed by system developers, policy makers, researchers/evaluators, and practitioners for improving the design and use of computer-assisted career guidance (CACG) systems.     

OCLC in Europe,the Middle East and Africa, 1998–2008

ABSTRACT

This article is a continuation of the article of the same name by Christine Deschamps who described the evolution of OCLC in Europe 1981–1997. This article continues the story for the period 1998–2008 and covers the expansion of OCLC services to the Middle East and Africa. It also includes the organizational, governance and product portfolio developments for this period under the global leadership of Jay Jordan.     

Early childhood and elementary preservice teachers’ beliefs

Abstract

In this study we examined 382 preservice teachers’ perceived efficacy, their beliefs regarding teaching and learning, and the relationship between these two variables by analyzing quantitative and qualitative data using a modified version of the Gibson and Dembo Teacher Efficacy Scale and six open‐ended questions. A general linear model analysis revealed that several factors differ across certain preparation programs. Preservice teachers’ efficacy beliefs increased at the end of these two different teacher education programs. Qualitative analyzes revealed variance in preservice teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning between the two majors and in the two locations which they were studying. Most ending‐level preservice teachers had adopted the views of the way teachers are supposed to teach promoted by the particular teacher education program. The internal program coherence, program structural contexts, program's goals, and learning experiences in the program may act as important factors on preservice teachers’ beliefs. © 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.     

Differing Map Construction and Text Organization and Their Effects on Retention

On the basis of Kulhavy's (R. W. Kulhavy, J. B. Lee, & L. C. Caterino, 1985) conjoint retention model of text learning with organized spatial displays, the authors conducted 2 experiments to analyze the effects of different types of maps and a considerate text (i.e., a text that follows the scanning pattern of the map) or an inconsiderate text. In the 1st study, 158 participants viewed an intact or a segmented map and a considerate or a randomized text. Those participants who viewed the intact map and read the considerate text recalled significantly more information than those who viewed the intact map and read the randomized text. In the 2nd study, 179 participants viewed a flat map, a 1-point perspective map, or a 2-point perspective map, and a considerate text formulated on the basis of the predicted scanning pattern of the map. Those participants who viewed the flat map recalled significantly more information than those who viewed the perspective maps.     

Children's use of syntactic and pragmatic knowledge in the interpretation of novel adjectives

In Study 1, English-speaking 3- and 4-year-olds heard a novel adjective used to label one of two objects and were asked for the referent of a different novel adjective. Children were more likely to select the unlabeled object if the two adjectives appeared prenominally (e.g., a very DAXY dog) than as predicates (e.g., a dog that is very DAXY). Study 2 revealed that this response occurred only when both adjectives were prenominal. Study 3 replicated Study 1 with Hebrew-speaking 3- and 4-year-olds, even though in Hebrew both types of adjectives appear postnominally. Preschoolers understand that prenominal adjectives imply a restriction of the reference of nouns, and this knowledge motivates a contrastive pragmatic inference regarding the referents of different prenominal adjectives.     

Individual and Developmental Differences in Disengagement of Fixation in Early Infancy

The current study investigated whether individual and developmental differences in look duration are correlated with the latency for infants to disengage fixation from a visual stimulus. Ninety-four infants (52 3-month-olds, 42 4-month-olds) were tested in a procedure that measured ocular reaction time to shift fixation from a central target to a peripheral target under conditions in which the central-target either remained present ("competition" condition) or was removed from the display ("noncompetition" condition). Look duration was correlated with disengagement latency; longer-looking infants were slower than shorter-looking infants to shift fixation to the peripheral target on competition trials, but not noncompetition trials. Results were similar for 3- and 4-month-olds, although 3-month-olds showed slower latencies on all trials. Furthermore, long-looking infants were not consistently slower, but rather showed greater variability in their response latencies under conditions that required disengagement of fixation. The results support the position that developmental and individual differences in look duration are linked to the development of the neural attentional systems that control the ability to disengage, or inhibit, visual fixation.