The Relations of Early Television Viewing to School Readiness and Vocabulary of Children from Low-Income Families: The Early Window Project

For two cohorts of children from low- to moderate-income families, time-use diaries of television viewing were collected over 3 years (from ages 2-5 and 4-7 years, respectively), and tests of reading, math, receptive vocabulary, and school readiness were administered annually. Relations between viewing and performance were tested in path analyses with controls for home environment quality and primary language (English or Spanish). Viewing child-audience informative programs between ages 2 and 3 predicted high subsequent performance on all four measures of academic skills. For both cohorts, frequent viewers of general-audience programs performed more poorly on subsequent tests than did infrequent viewers of such programs. Children's skills also predicted later viewing, supporting a bidirectional model. Children with good skills at age 5 selected more child-audience informative programs and fewer cartoons in their early elementary years. Children with lower skills at age 3 shifted to viewing more general-audience programs by ages 4 and 5. The results affirm the conclusion that the relations of television viewed to early academic skills depend primarily on the content of the programs viewed.     

GENI的设计原则(一)分布式需求定义GENI的重心

2006年8月,GEN(I网络创新的全球化环境)公布其项目的设计原则。来自普林斯顿大学、麻省理工大学、华盛顿大学等学校的十二位专家编写了这份报告。该报告阐述了GENI的研究范围、用户的需求、需求的内在压力以及工程设计的原则。报告指出了GENI的价值主张,广泛的部署、多样化可扩展的网络技术集合、对真实用户流量的支持仍是GENI关注的原则和方向。本刊将分两期连载这一报告,从“分布式需求定义GENI的重心”、“解决分布式需求的内在冲突”等两部分,将这一报告与大家共享。     

Average Effect Sizes in Developer-Commissioned and Independent Evaluations

Abstract

Rigorous evidence of program effectiveness has become increasingly important with the 2015 passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). One question that has not yet been fully explored is whether program evaluations carried out or commissioned by developers produce larger effect sizes than evaluations conducted by independent third parties. Using study data from the What Works Clearinghouse, we find evidence of a “developer effect,” where program evaluations carried out or commissioned by developers produced average effect sizes that were substantially larger than those identified in evaluations conducted by independent parties. We explore potential reasons for the existence of a “developer effect” and provide evidence that interventions evaluated by developers were not simply more effective than those evaluated by independent parties. We conclude by discussing plausible explanations for this phenomenon as well as providing suggestions for researchers to mitigate potential bias in evaluations moving forward.     

Posthumanist ethical practice: agential cuts in the pedagogic assemblage

With researchers funnelled into lucrative research practices that value fast scholarship, we explore ethical practice as an ethico-onto-epistemological project. Through collective biography, diffractive choreography, and poetry, we map systems of entrapment that manifest power relations in the academy. We argue the posthumanist ethical practice is an intra-active project in higher education – involving rich material, social, political and intellectual entanglements. Posthumanist ethical practice rejects dualisms of body/mind, nature/culture and human/non-human. It evokes creativity to generate new vocabularies for challenging anthropocentric ‘exceptionalism’. Mapping relations in posthuman assemblages can involve agential cuts that evoke ethical practice as affective encounters. Agential cuts give permission for pedagogic storying where there is ontological connectedness. As academics, we are immersed in assemblages where posthumanist education research and practice is a rich, embodied, and connected process. Particular consideration is given in this article to affectivity and the value of pedagogic performance in education research.     

Middle school teachers’ differing perceptions and use of curriculum materials and the common core

Eight middle school mathematics teachers’ perceptions and uses of curriculum materials and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) were investigated. Adapting a noticing framework and models of dialogic instruction and direct instruction, teachers’ noticing practices with curriculum materials and the CCSSM when planning, enacting, and reflecting on lessons were examined. Teachers who were committed to implementing the CCSSM and who were using one of two substantively different curriculum programs were purposefully selected. Data sources included multiple forms of interviews and classroom observations. The teaching evidenced three distinct noticing patterns. These patterns indicated that teachers’ curriculum materials were associated with how teachers perceived and enacted the CCSSM. Teaching with a curriculum program that was designed as a thinking device prioritized the Standards for Mathematical Practice of CCSSM evidenced noticing that was consistent with dialogic instruction. Teaching with a curriculum program that was designed as a delivery mechanism prioritized the Content Standards of CCSSM and evidenced noticing consistent with direct instruction. Findings indicated that the designated curriculum and contributed to differing interpretations of CCSSM and served as a lens for noticing. However, a dialogic curriculum program was not sufficient to support dialogic approaches in practice. One pattern showed teachers planning dialogic lessons, but the lesson enactments were not consistent with teachers’ plans, with evidence that the teachers were not aware that their practices differed from dialogic approaches. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Introducing micro-computers to micro-learners through play

Computers, once available exclusively to wealthy industries, are now rapidly becoming as familiar in preschool and kindergarten classrooms as block and crayons. Articles making claims such as Learning by Computers at Age 4 and Computers Preparing Preschoolers for Kindergarten now permeate the news media. Increasing numbers of child care centers, attempting to maximize public interest in computers, now readily advertise Computer Tutor in their literature. Computer Tutor is often even listed above other important qualifications such as certified teachers and professional affiliations of centers.Theresa Rubens has had extensive experience working with children in both family day homes and child care centers. Jennifer Poole is the Nursery Director at the First United Methodist Church in Carrollton, TX. James L. Hoot is Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at North Texas State University in Denton, Texas.     

Multicultural Student-to-Student Dialogue and the Generation of Creative Ideas

Both participation in dialog and exposure to others from different cultures have been theorized to increase the ability of an individual to be creative. This study focused on the multicultural student-to-student dialog that took place in one graduate level course. The purpose of this study was to explore how participation in this dialog might influence student creativity, specifically how the students generated creative ideas for their final course papers. No connection was found between participation in the multicultural student-to-student dialog and the generation of creative ideas for their final papers. However, insight was gained into the creative process used by students in generating their final paper ideas.     

University students vary their use of textese in digital messages to suit the recipient

Background

The casual, abbreviated writing style sometimes known as ‘textese’ (e.g., sorry im late ?) has become widespread with the rise of digital communication. We explored Australian university students' views on, and use of, textese across three modalities (text message, Facebook post, email) and three recipient types (friends, peers, lecturers).

Methods

In Study 1, 51 undergraduates composed messages across the three modalities to the three recipient types. They also rated the appropriateness of messages written with high, medium and no textese, across modality and recipient types. In Study 2, 37 additional students provided examples of their own sent messages across modalities and recipients.

Results

Overall, participants rated textese use as more appropriate, and used significantly more textese, in messages to friends, than to peers, than to lecturers.

Conclusions

Undergraduates are sensitive to when and where it is appropriate to use textese and vary their use (and opinions) of written language as a function of the recipient.

     

Sensor-Augmented Virtual Labs: Using Physical Interactions with Science Simulations to Promote Understanding of Gas Behavior

Deep learning of science involves integration of existing knowledge and normative science concepts. Past research demonstrates that combining physical and virtual labs sequentially or side by side can take advantage of the unique affordances each provides for helping students learn science concepts. However, providing simultaneously connected physical and virtual experiences has the potential to promote connections among ideas. This paper explores the effect of augmenting a virtual lab with physical controls on high school chemistry students’ understanding of gas laws. We compared students using the augmented virtual lab to students using a similar sensor-based physical lab with teacher-led discussions. Results demonstrate that students in the augmented virtual lab condition made significant gains from pretest and posttest and outperformed traditional students on some but not all concepts. Results provide insight into incorporating mixed-reality technologies into authentic classroom settings.