Sex differences in science learning: Closing the gap through animations

Males traditionally outperform females on measures of both visuospatial ability and science achievement. This experiment directly tests a manipulation designed to compensate for such differences through the presentation of relevant illustrations or animations to support the construction of understanding of a specific scientific phenomenon. Males and females read a scientific text about plate tectonics that contained static illustrations, animated versions of the static illustrations, or no illustrations. Participants were assessed on their visuospatial ability and also working memory capacity. Results indicated that while males outperformed females on both the visuospatial measure and overall science learning, the presence of animations effectively eliminated performance differences for this science topic. These results suggest that sex differences in learning outcomes can be overcome by supporting the visualization of scientific phenomena.     

Doing Harm in the Name of Protection: Menstruation as a topic for sex education

Pubertal changes in girls and boys are treated differently in school materials in New Zealand. Girls are taught about menstruation in a scientific manner oriented towards reproduction, hygiene and personal stress. Boys receive more positive information about 'exciting' and 'powerful' bodily changes which they can enjoy. The picture of growing up which girls receive is relatively bleak, and is out of touch with the realities of their own lives and those of adult women around them. By attempting to protect girls and society at large from the problems associated with menstruation, schools risk damaging girls' self-image, their conceptions of their roles in society, and their development of positive attitudes towards their bodies and their sexuality.     

Questioning reform in the standards movement: professional development and implementation of common core across the rural South

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted in an effort to create a consistent set of standards across schools, districts, and states in order to ensure equality of educational opportunities for all students in the country. Educational reform through standardization implies that across thousands of miles and millions of students, individual classroom teachers are able to create equitable instruction based on policy and curriculum mandates. For such reform efforts to be successful, standards must be implemented with fidelity, thoroughness, and strong support from stakeholders. The present study examines the role of teacher preparation for CCSS implementation, notably in rural and economically depressed districts in the American South. Teachers were surveyed about their CCSS professional development experiences and needs, CCSS instructional and assessment practices, and perceptions of student learning related to new standards. The analysis reveals that teachers do not feel fully prepared to teach according to CCSS, and highlights areas of professional development where districts failed to support effective teacher implementation. Findings from this study illustrate inequitable professional development for teachers and provide implications for professional development types, content, and quality that teachers perceive as essential for CCSS success.     

Emotion Regulation,Harsh Parenting,and Teacher Sensitivity Among Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Toddlers in Child Care

Research Findings: This study examined the transactional nature of harsh parenting and emotion regulation across toddlerhood, including the moderating role of teacher sensitivity in child care. Secondary data analyses were conducted with a subsample of families from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project who participated in center-based child care. Autoregressive cross-lagged path models were used to examine stability and transactional associations between observations of mothers’ harsh parenting behaviors and observers’ ratings of toddler emotion regulation at 14, 24, and 36 months. Teacher sensitivity was observed in children’s child care classrooms and was hypothesized to attenuate the negative impact of harsh parenting on subsequent emotion regulation. Results suggested that poorer emotion regulation and increased harsh parenting at 14 months were particularly salient in setting the stage for worse parent and toddler outcomes at 36 months. Teacher sensitivity was not a significant protective factor. Practice or Policy: Results are discussed in terms of the importance of early parent–toddler interactions that match the developing regulatory needs of young toddlers as well as considering how teacher sensitivity is conceptualized and measured so programs such as Early Head Start can best meet the needs of socioeconomically disadvantaged parents and toddlers.     

Organisational cultures in public and private Portuguese Universities: a case study

Perceptions of organisational culture made by three categories of staff playing managerial roles in each of two Portuguese Universities (one public and the other private) were compared using a questionnaire adapted from the Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument and translated into Portuguese. The four scales of the questionnaire, designed to measure the Cultures of Clan, Adhocracy, Hierarchy and Market orientation were found to have adequate internal reliabilities, though a factor analysis raised doubts about the construct (factor) validity of two of the scales (Clan and Adhocracy). Application of a MANOVA to scores on the four scales of organisational culture showed, as hypothesised, that the private university was perceived to have significantly stronger cultures of Market orientation and Hierarchy than the public university. No overall difference was found between the universities for the cultures of Clan and Adhocracy. However, general managerial staff in both Universities perceived the cultures of Clan and Adhocracy to be stronger than was the case for technical managerial staff.     

Reciprocal elucidation: a student-led pedagogy in multidisciplinary undergraduate research conferences

There is no previous study of the benefits of attending a national multidisciplinary conference dedicated to undergraduate researchers, despite the growing number of such conferences internationally. This paper addresses the gap in knowledge of the learning gains from these conferences, and reveals a student driven learning process, a multidisciplinary signature pedagogy. It presents the results of 90 in-depth interviews with student conference participants conducted over three consecutive years of a multidisciplinary National Conference of Undergraduate Research (2012–2014). This paper uniquely captures the student voice on their perceived learning gains from this experience. The results reveal that some students co-create a pedagogy of Foucauldian reciprocal elucidation, through a sense of ‘unfinishedness’, allowing them to reflect on their own learning in the light of divergent perspectives, questions and frames of reference. Bidirectional exchange of ideas and insights enabled students to ask and answer questions that transformed each other’s thinking, allowing them to arrive at understandings they could not have achieved by themselves. The opportunity to present research in an authentic setting beyond disciplinary and institutional contexts developed students’ skills and confidence, giving additional value over and above the recognised benefits of engaging in research. The undergraduate research conference is framed as a threshold experience for the development of self-authorship. Significant implications for practice include supporting constructive dialogues between students and the creation of authentic and professional multidisciplinary contexts for sharing research.     

Unpacking the career aspirations of Australian school students: towards an evidence base for university equity initiatives in schools

Demand for higher education in Australia has doubled since 1989, increasing the number of students from diverse social, economic and academic backgrounds. Equity targets have seen a proliferation of programs and interventions aimed at encouraging school students, particularly those from low socio-economic status backgrounds, to participate in higher education. However, little is known about the specific occupational interests of school students upon which targeted strategies might effectively be designed and implemented. This paper examines school students’ aspirations for specific careers that require a university education, in relation to student background and school-related variables. The analysis draws from a study of 6492 students from Years 3 to 12 in 64 New South Wales public schools. We found a complex array of factors relating to interest in different careers. Year level at school, gender and prior achievement were stronger predictors across many careers than factors such as SES, Indigenous status and school location. We argue that rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach to encouraging participation in higher education, outreach activities should be targeted to take account of student diversity and inequalities that foster differing aspirations.     

Concurrent and predictive validity of the Phelps Kindergarten Readiness Scale‐II

The purpose of this research was to establish the concurrent and predictive validity of the Phelps Kindergarten Readiness Scale, Second Edition (PKRS‐II; L. Phelps, 2003). Seventy‐four kindergarten students of diverse ethnic backgrounds enrolled in a northeastern suburban school participated in the study. The concurrent administration of the PKRS‐II and the Woodcock‐Johnson III Brief Intellectual Ability Scale (R.W. Woodcock, K.S. McGrew, & N. Mather, 2001a) occurred in the fall of the kindergarten year. To assess predictive validity, the Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement (R.W. Woodcock, K.S. McGrew, & N. Mather, 2001b) was administered in the spring of that year. All concurrent and predictive correlations were significant. Based on the results of this study, the PKRS‐II may be used with confidence to screen for children who may be at risk for academic difficulties. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 355–359, 2005.     

Preschool emotional competence: pathway to social competence?

Preschoolers' (N = 143) patterns of emotional expressiveness, emotion regulation, and emotion knowledge were assessed. Their contributions to social competence, as evidenced by sociometric likability and teacher ratings, were evaluated via latent variable modeling, both concurrently and across time. Moderation of key results by age and sex was also explored. Emotional competence assessed at 3 to 4 years of age contributed to both concurrent and kindergarten social competence. Even early in the preschool period, contributions of emotional competence to social competence have long-term implications.