Individual Differences in Infant Visual Attention: Recognition of Degraded Visual Forms by Four-Month-Olds

In 5 experiments, 4-month-old infants were tested for their ability to recognize degraded visual targets as a function of individual differences in fixation duration. Targets were degraded by removing 10% of the total contour either from vertices (vertex-absent) or from midsegments (vertex-present). Both qualitative and quantitative differences were found in long and short lookers' ability to recognize the degraded forms. Short-looking infants were able to recognize degraded forms in both vertex-absent and vertex-present conditions, but the vertex-absent discrimination was more difficult. Long-looking infants required longer familiarization times before showing evidence of recognition in the vertex-present condition, and were unable to recognize targets in which contour was removed at vertices. The findings are discussed within the framework of the persistence of early visual processing strategies, and reliance of long-looking infants on particular local elements in visual analysis.     

‘Family comes in all forms,blood or not’: disrupting dominant narratives around the patriarchal nuclear family

ABSTRACT

After nearly 25 years of democracy, lives of young South Africans are still profoundly shaped by the legacies of apartheid. This paper considers how these differences are produced, maintained and disrupted through an exploration of changing narratives developed by a small group of South African pre-service teachers, with a particular focus on the narratives developed around discourses of fatherhood generally and absent fathers in particular. We draw on interviews conducted with three students in which we discussed their digital stories and literature reviews. In this paper, we draw attention to the limitations of digital storytelling and the risks such autobiographical storytelling presents of perpetuating dominant narratives that maintain and reproduce historical inequalities. At the same time, in highlighting ways in which this risk might be confronted, the paper also aims to show the possibilities in which these dominant narratives may be challenged.     

Staff Self‐Appraisal at the Departmental Level: A Case Study

The introduction of academic staff appraisal in higher education institutions in Australia will require a considerable expansion in staff development facilities. An important issue will be the relative emphasis to be placed upon central staff development units as against structures at the faculty or departmental level. This case study, conducted at Macquarie University and aimed at improving teaching in higher education, explores the Self‐Appraisal Workshop as one such structure and suggests that it provides a very useful format at the faculty or departmental level because it brings together people teaching similar course units. As a result it is easier to integrate aspects such as curriculum design, assessment policies, academic content and teaching methods, than it is at the central level where staff development workshops usually have a cross‐faculty mix. An evaluation, based upon student ratings of teaching, interviews and staff reflection on the process, suggests that the Self‐Appraisal Workshop is a valuable technique for staff appraisal and development.     

Faculty behavior in low-paradigm versus high-paradigm disciplines: A case study

The notion of academic disciplines being characterized as high- or low-paradigm technologies was developed by Lodahl and Gordon from Kuhn's concept of a paradigm. Using this concept, the voting pattern of high-paradigm faculty (chemistry, physics, mathematics, and engineering) was compared to low-paradigm faculty (sociology, political science, history, and education) concerning a controversial campus issue to liberalize curriculum choices for students. It was found that high-paradigm faculty were not willing to grant students more latitude to select courses for degree requirements, while low-paradigm faculty members were in favor of giving students more latitude to select academic courses for degree requirements. The unique aspect of this study is that faculty behavior, as described in an actual case study, corresponds to theoretical positions supported by questionnaire data.     

Engaging Undergraduate Kinesiology Students in Clinically-based Research

Many undergraduate students in kinesiology are interested in clinical careers and seek research opportunities for advanced study and unique learning experiences. This article describes a process of engaging undergraduate students in a multi-disciplinary, National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded program project investigating factors that may affect pelvic floor support and symptoms in primiparous women during the first year postpartum. Students complete general and protocol-specific training prior to engagement, have specific tasks that reinforce skill development and require independence, and are invited to participate in additional opportunities with the investigative team. The topic of pelvic floor health is novel to most students and participation in this research expands their knowledge beyond a mainstream kinesiology curriculum. Institutionalizing this type of program could formalize undergraduate student research experiences and facilitate ongoing clinical research efforts with a kinesiology focus.     

Discriminating between Competent and Not Yet Competent Beginning Teachers: an analysis of principals’ reports

Principals’ written assessments of 50 high school teachers whom they judged competent for full registration and 32 whom they judged not yet competent and in need of an extended period of provisional registration were analysed in terms of the characteristics used to describe and determine beginning teacher competence. It was found that principals consistently refer to a narrow range of characteristics when describing competent beginning teachers and focus on an even narrower range in deciding whether or not full registration should be granted. Characteristics that describe approaches to teaching are used most often in this regard. While the majority of beginning teachers possess an adequate knowledge base in their subject area, success in the first year of school experience hinges on the ability to communicate such knowledge and concepts to students. The need for further refinement of the appraisal process, including professional development programmes for principals, is highlighted.     

Post-secondary Science Students’ Explanations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Randomness</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Variation</Emphasis> and Implications for Science Learning

The concepts of randomness and variation are pervasive in science. The purpose of this study was to document how post-secondary life science students explain randomness and variation, infer relationships between their explanations, and ability to describe and identify appropriate and inappropriate variation, and determine if students can identify sources of variation. An instrument designed to test statistical concepts was administered to 282 college students from three universities, ranging from introductory non-science majors to science graduate students. Students readily distinguished between causes of variation. A naïve no-pattern concept of randomness persisted from first-year non-science majors to senior-level science majors, contributing to incorrect responses on the variation instrument. Students’ expressions of randomness were better predictors of performance on the variation instrument than their expressions of variation. It is argued that inclusion of everyday language uses of randomness in instruction can bridge the gap between vernacular and scientific uses of this term.     

Longitudinal Genetic Analysis of Early Reading: The Western Reserve Reading Project

We examined the genetic and environmental contribution to the stability and instability of reading outcomes in early elementary school using a sample of 283 twin pairs drawn from the Western Reserve Reading Project. Twins were assessed across two measurement occasions. In Wave 1, children were either in kindergarten or first grade. Wave 2 assessments were conducted one year later. Results suggested substantial genetic stability across measurement occasions. Additionally, shared environmental influences also accounted for stability, particularly for variables more closely tied to direct instruction such as phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and word knowledge. There was also evidence for independent genetic and shared environmental effects, suggesting that new sources of variance may emerge as the demands of school change and children begin to acquire early reading skills.     

Map Perspective and the Learning of Text

In two studies, undergraduates learned a map of the city of Rome in either a flat survey map or a one-point perspective format. The perspective map lead to greater feature recall in the first study and to better memory for a related text when features were correctly located in the second study. Both studies suggest that map scanning patterns may differ depending on the learner′s point of view.