Thought and language: Effects of group-mindedness on young children's interpretation of exclusive we

The current study investigated whether age-related changes in the conceptualization of social groups influences interpretation of the pronoun we. Sixty-four 2- and 4-year-olds (N = 29 female, 50 White-identifying) viewed scenarios in which it was ambiguous how many puppets performed an activity together. When asked who performed the activity, a speaker puppet responded, “We did!” In one condition, the speaker was near one and distant from another puppet, implying a dyadic interpretation of we. In another condition, the speaker was distant from both, thus pulling for a group interpretation. In the former condition, 2- and 4-year-olds favored the dyadic interpretation. In the latter condition, only 4-year-olds favored the group interpretation. Age-related conceptual development “expands” the set of conceivable plural person referents.     

Patterns of Risk and Protective Factors Among Alaska Children: Association With Maternal and Child Well-Being

This study used population-representative data to examine associations of risk and protective factor patterns among Alaska Native/American Indian (AN/AI; N = 592) and non-Native (N = 1,018) children with maternal and child outcomes at age 3 years. Among AN/AI children, a high risk/moderate protection class was associated with child developmental risk and mothers being less likely to feel comfortable asking for help or knowing where to go for parenting information compared to a low socioeconomic status/high protection class. Among non-Native children, a moderate risk/high protection class was associated with child developmental risk and mothers being less likely to feel comfortable asking for help compared to a low risk/high protection class. Results provide insight on the intersection of risk and protective factors among Alaska families.     

Motivators and Inhibitors for University Faculty in Distance and e-learning

This article reports on four United States studies of how rewards systems, extrinsic and intrinsic, could play an important role in providing incentives for university faculty to teach (or remain teaching) electronic and distance education courses. The first three studies conducted prior to 2003 reported faculty were inherently motivated to teach e-learning and distance education. The fourth study in 2003 reported key findings that differed from the earlier studies. Using a principal components analysis, the researchers found nine indicators of motivation to participate or not participate in electronic or distance education. The implications from the fourth study indicated that, while faculty members were inherently committed to helping students, faculty members wanted their basic physiological needs met by university administration through extrinsic motivators, such as salary increases and course releases.     

Electronic Portfolios in Teacher Education: A Case Study of Early Childhood Teacher Candidates

The use of electronic portfolios is increasingly becoming popular in teacher education programs. The electronic portfolio allows learners to express their work and take ownership over their own ability to plan and assess and reflect upon their learning during a specific period of time. While many teacher education programs have adopted electronic portfolios in order to meet accreditation requirements, others use electronic portfolios to develop and improve on students’ technology skills—train students on how to better use technology in instruction and student assessment. Irrespective of the reasons for adoption, there is the need to assess students’ perceptions of electronic portfolios, and especially to explore the benefits and challenges students face in using electronic portfolios in their course work. Using a qualitative research design, the current study explored teacher candidates’ attitudes toward electronic portfolios and the differences that electronic portfolios bring to their profession. Such a study is necessary to help administrators identify students’ needs to ensure that they are gaining the maximum benefits from the use of electronic portfolios in their programs of study.     

The Communication Privacy Management of Adopted Individuals in Their Social Networks: Disclosure Decisions in Light of the Discourse of Biological Normativity

Although adoptees are often stigmatized for their nonnormative identity, adopted individuals must communicate with nonfamily members to integrate their adoptive identity into their definition of self. In the current study, adult adoptees (n = 25) were interviewed about their processes for disclosing their adoptive status in their social networks. Drawing upon communication privacy management (CPM) theory, inductive analyses demonstrated that adoptees created motivational and contextual criteria to enact privacy rules surrounding adoption. Adoptees maintained privacy to avoid messages of “difference,” insensitive comments, imperviousness, and negative opinions about adoption. Adoptees disclosed about their adoption to build relational closeness and to educate/advocate for adoption. These privacy decisions were undergirded by the societal assumption that families are biologically linked or the discourse of biological normativity (Suter et al., 2014).     

A review of empirical research on blended learning in teacher education programs

Although blended learning has been considered as an important alternative approach that can overcome various limitations related to both face-to-face and online learning, there is relatively limited empirical studies on blended learning approach in teacher education programs. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to review empirical research studies on teacher education programs using activity theory. A review of empirical research on blended learning could help to stimulate reflections on effective strategies for design and implementation of blended learning teacher education programs.     

Modeling and Diagnosing Domain Knowledge Using Latent Semantic Indexing

A Latent Semantic Index (LSI) was constructed from arguments made by navy officers concerning events in an anti-air warfare scenario. A model based on LSI factor values predicted level of domain expertise with 89% accuracy. The LSI factor space was reduced using MDS to five dimensions: aircraft route, aircraft response, kinematics, localization, and an unclassifiable element. Arguments in the localization category were reliably more common among officers with the greatest expertise. Automated classification of arguments into these elements achieved 84% accuracy. LSI may be a useful tool for automating aspects of modeling expertise and diagnosing knowledge deficiencies.     

Book Reviews

The following books are reviewed.     

Do-It-Yourself for Course Reserves: A Student-Driven Service in an Academic Library

Texas A&M University Libraries has been hard at work putting the power of course reserves in the hands of its users. Reserves services have traditionally been restrictive, granting only faculty the authority to place items on reserve or allowing students access to items only after they have been checked out. From faculty adding streaming content to their e-reserves to students having hands-on access to their course reserves, this article tells the story of how an academic library system is allowing its patrons to “do-it-themselves.”     

Wider Reading

In attempting to determine and standardise the secondary school reading curriculum, central initiatives have had the effect of narrowing the choice of texts and the breadth of reading in all three key stages. This narrowing effect can be seen in the National Literacy Strategy Framework, in KS3 tests, and in developments at GCSE and Advanced level.