Learning From the Pros: Influence of Web‐Based Expert Commentary on Vicarious Learning About Financial Markets*

Web‐based financial commentary, in which experts routinely express market‐related thought processes, is proposed as a means for college students to learn vicariously about financial markets. Undergraduate business school students from a regional university were exposed to expert market commentary from a single financial Web site for a 6‐week period. When compared to a control group, students in the experimental group were found to possess higher levels of financial market awareness. Degree of engagement, as approximated by measures of project exposure time and effort, was significantly related to market awareness. Finance majors were found to be more engaged in the process than nonfinance majors. Although this study should be considered exploratory in nature, findings support the notion of using Web‐based vicarious learning processes in financial education. Future research can extend the generalizability of these findings, as well as shape vicarious learning mechanisms for use across business disciplines.     

Experimenting with Sound and Silence: sonorous bodies,sonic selves,acoustic topographies,and auditory histories of schooling

Abstract

This article deconstructs some of the underlying assumptions that inform projects in Paynter and Aston’s 1970 book, Sound and Silence. Foucauldian and Deleuzian technologies of power and technologies of desire are used to frame an argument that Paynter and Aston’s projects play into the fabrication of sonorous bodies and sonic selves but also provide potentialities for the creativity of the subject. Sound and silence as material-in-flux is analysed through notions of temporality and affect to argue for a context of hope in acoustic topographies and auditory histories of schooling.     

Discipline and rules in four Hong Kong kindergarten classrooms: a qualitative case study

Classroom discipline is a topic of international interest and teachers are bombarded with advice regarding how to and why they should manage children’s behaviour in their classrooms. This paper draws on data related to classroom discipline gathered from a detailed classroom observation schedule, teacher interviews, and field notes with four purposively selected kindergarten teachers working in Hong Kong with children aged 5–6 years. The findings of this qualitative case study show that the teachers were concerned about disciplining children to ensure good behaviour. They expected all children to follow the rules and used characteristic discipline strategies such as stating expectations and ‘praising the opposite’ to maintain good behaviour. The paper discusses these findings in light of the Westernisation of kindergarten teaching practices in Hong Kong.     

Statement Verification for Science: Theory and Examining Technical Adequacy of Alternate Forms

While curriculum-based measurement (CBM) tools for screening decisions in reading, mathematics, and written language have been well examined, tools for use in content areas (e.g., science and social studies) remain in the beginning stages of research. In this study, two alternate forms of a new CBM tool (Statement Verification for Science; SV-S), for screening decisions regarding students’ science content knowledge, is examined for technical adequacy. A total of 1,545 students across Grades 7 (N = 799) and 8 (N = 746) completed two alternate forms of SV-S concurrently with a statewide high-stakes test of accountability. Promising results were found for reliability, in particular internal consistency, while results related to evidence of criterion- and construct-related validity were less than desired. Such results, along with additional exploratory analyses, provide support for future research of SV-S as a CBM tool to assist teachers and other educators with making screening decisions.     

#5: Non-Supine (e.g., Upright or Side-Lying) Positions for Birth

In this position paper—one of six care practice papers published by Lamaze International and reprinted here with permission—the benefit of non-supine positions for birth is discussed and presented as an evidence-based practice that helps promote, protect, and support normal birth. The paper is written for childbearing women and their families. Upright and gravity-neutral positions facilitate rotation and descent of the baby and result in reduced duration of second stage, a reduction in episiotomies, and fewer abnormal fetal heart rate patterns. The accompanying commentary—written by a leading proponent of maternity care—supports these benefits. Lamaze International recommends that laboring women not push until they feel an urge to do so, and that they choose positions for birth that are most comfortable for them.     

Examining the Relationship Between Neighborhood Environment and School Readiness for Kindergarten Children

In the current research project, the relationship between neighborhood environment and school readiness was investigated. To measure neighbourhood environment, data from the 2001 Canadian Census were used, while school readiness was measured using the Early Development Instrument (EDI). EDI data were collected for kindergarten children across British Columbia, Canada, in the school years 2000/2001 through 2004/2005 by the Human Early Learning Partnership. A hierarchical linear modeling approach to data analysis was taken given the complex structure of the data (children nested within neighborhoods). Results from this study suggest that neighborhood environment is related to children's school readiness outcomes as measured by the EDI. Specifically, all 5 EDI domains were significantly predicted by between 2 and 8 of 13 neighborhood variables that were conceptually grouped into 8 categories accounting for family structure, income, education, Aboriginal status, language, labor force occupations, employment rates, and domestic work. Overall, 3 themes emerged from this study that suggest neighborhood-level sources of social wealth: the importance of neighborhood culture, stability, and heterogeneity in promoting better school readiness outcomes for children. Formulations regarding areas for future research are presented.     

Explosions of Stupidity: Notes for an Urbanist Pedagogy

In this article, Derek R. Ford develops an urbanist pedagogy, a particular mode of educational praxis that arises out of — and, more importantly, is oriented toward — the creation of the urban, a praxis that is internal to and constitutive of urban revolt. Ford does so with the help of two thinkers who are seldom theorized together: Henri Lefebvre and Jean‐François Lyotard. Taken together, Lefebvre and Lyotard allow him to advance a conception of the urban not as an object, thing, or distinct space (like the city), but as an incommunicable process that entails two distinct and interrelated creative educational elements: explosive confrontation and stupor. At the end of the article, Ford reads this urbanist pedagogy through a set of protest movements in West Germany.     

A Longitudinal Investigation of Conflict and Delay Inhibitory Control in Toddlers and Preschoolers

Research Findings: A total of 81 children participated in a longitudinal investigation of inhibitory control (IC) from 2 to 4 years of age. Child IC was measured via maternal report and laboratory measures under conditions of conflict and delay. Performance on delay IC tasks at 3 years was related to performance on these same tasks at 2 and 4 years, but performance on conflict IC tasks was not related over time. Delay IC task performance was concurrently related to conflict IC task performance in 3- and 4-year-olds but was not related in 2-year-olds. Measures of IC varied in their associations with measures of verbal ability and maternal-report IC. Such findings highlight important similarities and distinctions between conflict and delay IC abilities in their relation to one another and to temperament and language over time. Practice or Policy: Studies of IC and related concepts reveal that children who are regulated enjoy school more and have higher school competence, particularly in mathematics and reading achievement. Because conflict IC and delay IC show unique patterns of development over time, educators can expect classroom behaviors drawing on the state-like conflict IC to show more fluctuation over time than those drawing on the trait-like delay IC.     

User satisfaction with computer-based career information delivery systems

Conclusions In this study, support for the CIDS in use in New York State emerged from each of the user groups—principals, counselors, students, and parents. There are, however, two areas of future work that emerged from the results of this study which may be applicable on a broader basis. The first deals with the information content of the CIDS. The second relates to its increased utilization.Counselors did not give overwhelmingly high marks to the content of systems. Although counselors can do their part by letting the developers know what is good and what is not good, the responsibility lies primarily with developers and state providers to incorporate current, locally relevant information at the level of detail most appropriate for the user.Spreading the use of CIDS in a school beyond its provision for individual college and career counseling will not only help in making school more relevant to the students' life-careers, but will also provide increased access to the information and the computer for those students who might not otherwise seek it. School personnel can reexamine practices to see that full use of the CIDS resource is being made. System developers can work on the identification of model programs and the dissemination of information about them to their sites. It is hoped that with the increasing availability of microcomputers in schools, not only in guidance offices, but in laboratories and classrooms, such uses will continue and spread.Deborah Perlmutter Bloch, Ph. D., is an Assistant Professor of Educational Administration, Department of Education, Baruch College, City University of New York.Joyce Ford Kinnison is a consultant in Cary, North Carolina.This study was conducted as part of the project, Evaluating Computerized Career Information Systems for Use with Occupational Education Curricula, sponsored by the New York State Education Department and the New York State Occupational Information Coordinating Committee. Funding was provided by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act.     

Truth induction in young maltreated children: the effects of oath-taking and reassurance on true and false disclosures

OBJECTIVE: Two studies examined the effects of the oath or reassurance ("truth induction") on 5- to 7-year-old maltreated children's true and false reports of a minor transgression. METHODS: In both studies an interviewer elicited a promise to tell the truth, reassured children that they would not get in trouble for disclosing the transgression, or gave no instructions before questioning the child. In Study 1, children were encouraged to play with an attractive toy by a confederate, who then informed them that they might get in trouble for playing. In Study 2, a confederate engaged children in play, but did not play with the attractive toy. RESULTS: In Study 1, the oath and reassurance increased disclosure among children who would qualify as competent to take the oath. In Study 2 neither the oath nor reassurance increased false reports among children who would qualify as competent, whether yes/no questions or tag questions were asked. Among non-competent children, reassurance (but not the oath) increased false reports. Children were more likely to accuse the confederate of the transgression than to implicate themselves. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that a promise to tell the truth may increase true disclosures without increasing false allegations. Reassurance that specifically mentions the target activity also increases true disclosures, but may increase acquiescence among some children. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: A child-friendly version of the oath may be a useful addition to child interviews.