Interactive learning in an urban environmental education online course

Online courses play an increasing role in professional development of environmental educators, yet little information is available on the interactive processes involved in online learning. We examined the relationship of three types of interactions in an urban environmental education online course – participant–participant, participant–instructor, and participant–content – to four course outcomes: participants’ motivation to learn, intent to adapt ideas and information learned through the course in their practice, actual adaptation of ideas in their practice, and development of professional networks. Content analysis was used to characterize participants’ and instructors’ weekly online posts and comments, and generalized estimation equation modeling was used to explore the relationships between interactions and outcomes. The results showed that participant–content interaction had significant positive relationships with participants’ motivation to learn, intent to adapt ideas, and adaptation of ideas. Participant–participant interaction had significant positive relationships with participants’ motivation to learn, and development of professional networks with each other. Finally, participant–instructor interaction had a significant positive relationship with participants’ development of professional networks. The results of this study can be used to improve professional development online courses for environmental educators.     

The Educator's Dual Role: Expressing Ideals While Educating in Nonideal Conditions

In this essay, Jennifer Morton discusses educators as central examples of agents who engage in ideal and nonideal ways of thinking. The educator, as a representative of the political community, is tasked with two aims. The first is nurturing students with the skills and knowledge they need for the world as they will find it. In pursuing this goal, the educator is assuming certain social facts, some of them unjust, that constitute the present nonideal world. The second aim is civic — educating future citizens. Insofar as the educator is involved in pursuing this goal, his or her role is to work at making certain future social facts true, in the hope of making the future slightly more ideal. Morton argues that if we think of these two aims instrumentally, they can come into conflict. She does not suggest a resolution to this conflict, but rather develops an alternative expressive account of the civic role of the educator. Ideal thinking by educators, Morton maintains, should be thought of as constituting an expression of respect toward their fellow citizens here and now. Ultimately, she argues that this expressive component of the educator's job is crucial to the educator's role in the political community.     

CURRENT AND FUTURE SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS’ PREPAREDNESS TO WORK WITH LGBT STUDENTS: ROLE OF EDUCATION AND GAY‐STRAIGHT ALLIANCES

This study sought to assess current and future school psychologists’ attitudes toward and preparedness to address the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students in schools. Two‐hundred seventy‐nine school psychologists (n = 162, 58%) and school psychology graduate students (n = 117, 42%) were included in the study. Participants completed measures of attitudes toward LGBT students, preparedness to address the needs of LGBT youth, and social desirability. For both school psychologists and graduate students, increased education was associated with improved attitudes and increased preparedness to treat LGBT youth. For school psychologists, presence of a gay‐straight alliance was associated with increased knowledge about LGBT youth, as well as higher ratings of preparedness to treat LGBT youth; the same associations did not hold true for the graduate students. These findings have implications for the training and practice of school psychologists in addressing the needs of LGBT youth in schools.     

Using pig die and simulation to explore probability and expected values

We present a variant of the Game of Pig to introduce the concepts of probability, simulation and expected value.     

Associations Between Child Disabilities and Caregiver Discipline and Violence in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries

Using nationally representative samples of 45,964 two‐ to nine‐year‐old children and their primary caregivers in 17 developing countries, this study examined the relations between children's cognitive, language, sensory, and motor disabilities and caregivers' use of discipline and violence. Primary caregivers reported on their child's disabilities and whether they or anyone in their household had used nonviolent discipline, psychological aggression, and physical violence toward the target child and believed that using corporal punishment is necessary. Logistic regression analyses supported the hypothesis that children with disabilities are treated more harshly than children without disabilities. The findings suggest that policies and interventions are needed to work toward the United Nations' goals of ensuring that children with disabilities are protected from abuse and violence.     

Relational Aggression, Overt Aggression, and Friendship

This study ( n = 315 9–12-year-olds) was conducted to assess whether the social problems that relationally and overtly aggressive children typically experience in the peer group context are also exhibited in the dyadic, friendship context. The qualities of children's friendships (e.g., levels of intimacy) and of the importance of those qualities (e.g., the importance of intimacy) were assessed with self-report instruments adapted from past research. Results indicated that the friendships of relationally aggressive children were characterized by relatively high levels of intimacy, exclusivity/jealousy, and relational aggression within the friendship context. In contrast, the friendships of overtly aggressive children were characterized by engaging together in aggressive acts toward those outside the friendship. In addition, overtly aggressive children placed relatively high importance on these coalitional acts and on companionship with their friends. Implications for our understanding of aggressive children and for our knowledge of children's friendships are discussed.     

Teacher e-mail message strategies and students' willingness to communicate online

In light of the prevalent use of e-mail between teachers and students, researchers have highlighted the need to assess its uses and effects. Relying on the research and thinking of teacher immediacy and extra-class communication, we developed a scale that measures those e-mail message strategies that influence students' willingness to communicate online with their teachers. Next, we isolated those reasons that students use e-mail to interact with their teachers: (1) to clarify course material and procedures, (2) as a means of efficient communication, and (3) for personal/social reasons. Finally, we examined student characteristics such as gender and ethnicity, and history of e-mail use that may (or may not) influence their attitudes toward e-mail exchanges with teachers.