Possible selves of older adults entering a life plan community

This study examined the possible selves, goals, and perceptions of “time left” of older adults soon after they entered a life plan community as independent living residents. There has been little research regarding the effect of this life transition on older adults’ self-concept, hopes, and fears. Eighteen residents participated in one-hour personal interviews about their reasons for moving, their possible selves, goals, and perception of time left. Time left was measured in two ways: residents were asked to estimate the number of years they had left and were also asked to mark, on a novel visual analogue measure, how “limited” or “expanded” their time left felt to them. Residents were found to have an average of 6.18 possible selves in total, with more hoped-for possible selves (m = 4.39) than feared possible selves (m = 1.78). The majority of the goals were maintenance goals, followed by self-improvement goals and then avoidance goals. Residents estimated that they would live for 11.64 more years, and the majority reported that this felt like “a lot of time.” Based on their responses to the novel visual analogue measure of time left, two-thirds of the participants reported that their time left felt “expanded” rather than “limited.” Consistent with predictions based on socioemotional selectivity theory, participants with longer subjective life expectancies reported more self-improvement goals and more hoped-for selves. Participants identified more possible selves than documented in previous studies, including almost twice as many hoped-for possible selves.     

Neighborhood income and physical and social disorder in Canada: associations with young children's competencies

This study examined the association of census level, observational, and parent-reported neighborhood characteristics on the verbal and behavioral competencies of a national sample of Canadian preschoolers (N = 3,350). Children's verbal ability scores were positively associated with residing in neighborhoods with affluent residents and negatively associated with residing in neighborhoods with poor residents and in neighborhoods with low cohesion, even after controlling for family socioeconomic factors. Behavior problem scores were higher when children lived in neighborhoods that had fewer affluent residents, high unemployment rates, and neighborhoods with low cohesion, after controlling for family socioeconomic factors. These findings are discussed in light of neighborhood studies of children in the United States in the mid-1990s.     

Writing evaluation: rater and task effects on the reliability of writing scores for children in Grades 3 and 4

We examined how raters and tasks influence measurement error in writing evaluation and how many raters and tasks are needed to reach a desirable level of .90 and .80 reliabilities for children in Grades 3 and 4. A total of 211 children (102 boys) were administered three tasks in narrative and expository genres, respectively, and their written compositions were evaluated in widely used evaluation methods for developing writers: holistic scoring, productivity, and curriculum-based writing scores. Results showed that 54 and 52% of variance in narrative and expository compositions were attributable to true individual differences in writing. Students’ scores varied largely by tasks (30.44 and 28.61% of variance), but not by raters. To reach the reliability of .90, multiple tasks and raters were needed, and for the reliability of .80, a single rater and multiple tasks were needed. These findings offer important implications about reliably evaluating children’s writing skills, given that writing is typically evaluated by a single task and a single rater in classrooms and even in some state accountability systems.     

Self or (M)other? Infants’ Sensitivity to Bodily Overlap With Their Mother Reflects Their Dyadic Coordination

Adults experience greater self-other bodily overlap in romantic than platonic relationships. One of the closest relationships is between mother and infant, yet little is known about their mutual bodily representations. This study measured infants’ sensitivity to bodily overlap with their mother. Twenty-one 6- to 8-month-olds watched their mother’s face or a stranger’s face being stroked synchronously versus asynchronously with their own face. Infants preferred synchrony only when viewing their mother, not when viewing the stranger. Infants who strongly preferred synchrony with their mother also experienced less coordination with her in naturalistic interactions. Infants thus appear sensitive to bodily overlap with their mother, and this overlap reflects dyadic coordination, supporting theoretical accounts of intersubjectivity in the development of the bodily self.     

Improving nature of science instruction in elementary classes with modified science trade books and educative curriculum materials

This study investigated the effect of including explicit nature of science (NOS) content in read-alouds of elementary science trade books on the teaching and learning of NOS. We focused on three aspects of NOS: the creative, the empirical, and the inferential NOS. The trade books were read aloud by teachers in three hierarchical levels: Level I served as a control and consisted of a trade book that remained unmodified, Level II consisted of a trade book that had been modified to include explicit references to NOS, and Level III consisted of a modified trade book accompanied by educative curriculum materials that were aimed at improving the teachers' views of NOS as well as supporting teaching about NOS. We used the Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire-form CE (VNOS-CE) preintervention and postintervention to determine changes in teachers' views of NOS and interviews preintervention and postintervention to determine changes in students' views. Audio recordings of read-alouds were used to determine changes in teaching practice, including the frequency and the quality (i.e., naïve or informed) of the NOS references in the discussions. Interviews were used to determine teachers' perceptions of the modified trade books and educative curriculum materials. We found that both teachers and students developed more informed views of the targeted NOS aspects after the intervention and that teachers addressed NOS more often, and in a more informed manner, when they had trade books that explicitly supported NOS instruction and educative curriculum materials that supported their learning about NOS. Furthermore, they perceived the intervention materials favorably. Teachers' views and practices were able to change in tandem because of the intervention materials that supported explicit NOS instruction. We highlight the need for more widespread development of similar educative curriculum materials.     

Evolving technologies support mobile and collaborative curriculum: a case study

This case study describes the efforts of librarians to integrate mobile devices, collaboration tools, and resources into a School of Medicine third-year pediatric clerkship. Additional class emphasis is on evidence-based searching and journal article evaluation and presentation. The class objectives ensure that students are comfortable with mobile devices and collaboration tools. Over the eight-year history of the course, student acceptance of the mobile devices used diminished as the devices aged, necessitating the evaluation and selection of new technologies. Collaboration tools and mobile applications employed in the course evolved to accommodate curriculum changes.