Toward a palatable research paper experience

The recently expanding educational movement, writing across the curriculum, has encouraged instructors in all disciplines to require more undergraduate writing assignments, including research papers. A five-stage process for managing the research paper assignment is described. Students are instructed in gathering sources, organizing findings, and using a standard format. Progress is closely monitored at each stage with specific feedback. Student reaction to this technique was measured in upper-division courses using a 14-item questionnaire with Likert-type scaling and free-response narrative. Responses were overwhelmingly favorable, indicating that students would have less hesitancy and anxiety in completing future writing assignments.Kathryn K. Rileigh is Professor of Psychology at Pembroke State University. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Vanderbilt University. Her research interests include psycholinguistics and psychological interpretations of literature.An earlier version of this paper was presented at meetings of the Eastern Conference on the Teaching of Psychology, Harrisonburg, VA, October 1990.Copies of the annotated bibliography of handbooks on writing research papers may be obtained by writing Kathryn K. Rileigh, Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, Pembroke State University, Pembroke, NC 28372.     

Development and Prediction of Context-Dependent Vowel Pronunciation in Elementary Readers

ABSTRACT

As children learn to read, they become sensitive to context-dependent vowel pronunciations in words, considered a form of statistical learning. The work of Treiman and colleagues demonstrated that readers’ vowel pronunciations depend on the consonantal context in which the vowel occurs and reading experience. Using explanatory item-response models we examined child- and nonword-factors associated with children’s assignment of more versus less frequent grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPC) to vowel pronunciations as a function of rime coda in monosyllabic nonwords. Students (N = 96) in grades 2-5 read nonwords in which more versus less frequent vowel GPCs were wholly supported or partially favored by the rime unit. Use of less frequent vowel GPCs was predicted by set for variability, word reading, and rime support for the context-dependent vowel pronunciation. We interpret the results within a developmental word reading model in which initially incomplete and oversimplified GPC representations become more context dependent with reading experience.     

The innovation of Ontario full-day kindergarten educator teams: have they reproduced the split systems of care and education?

This study investigated the implementation of a full-day kindergarten programme in Ontario, Canada. Key to the implementation of this programme has been a new kind of educator team consisting of a certified teacher and a registered early childhood educator and a complementary partnership in which each team member contributes equally. Our research examined team members’ perceptions and practices related to their roles and responsibilities. Findings suggest that the care work for which early childhood educators are disproportionally responsible is accorded less value and status than the work of educating children. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the care/education split, the social reproduction of care work and social inequities.     

Profile of Australian preschool children with speech sound disorders at risk for literacy difficulties

Abstract

Speech sound disorders are a common communication difficulty in preschool children. Teachers indicate difficulty identifying and supporting these children. The aim of this research was to describe speech and language characteristics of children identified by their parents and/or teachers as having possible communication concerns. 275 Australian 4- to 5-year-old children from 45 preschools whose parents and teachers were concerned about their talking participated in speech-language pathology assessments to examine speech, language, literacy, non-verbal intelligence, oromotor skills and hearing. The majority (71.3%) of children demonstrated lower consonant accuracy than expected for their age, 63.9% did not pass the language-screening task, 65.5% had not been assessed and 72.4% had not received intervention from a speech-language pathologist. The 132 children who were identified with speech sound disorder (phonological impairment) were more likely to be male (62.9%) who were unintelligible to unfamiliar listeners, and had poor emergent literacy and phonological processing skills, despite having typical hearing, oral structures, and intelligence. Children identified by parents and teachers with concerns may have a range of speech, language and communication needs requiring professional support.     

Evolving through tensions: preservice teachers’ conceptions of social justice teaching

ABSTRACT

This study utilized cultural historical activity theory to explore the evolution of nine preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) conceptions of social justice teaching while enrolled in a social justice-oriented teacher education program. From three interviews conducted over one year, findings show that tensions PSTs encountered while student teaching in high-poverty schools predominantly shaped their thinking. PSTs’ conceptions of social justice teaching evolved to include navigating inequitable systems, loving students critically, and viewing social justice teaching as uniquely personal. Implications include the importance of teacher educators leveraging inevitable student-teaching tensions as learning opportunities to further PSTs’ commitment to social justice teaching.     

Subversion or Socialization? Humor and Carnival in Morris Gleitzman’s Texts

Like their counterparts elsewhere, Australian children favour humorous novels; comedic writers consistently dominate the preteen and early teen fiction market in Australia. Regardless of its popularity, however, in comparison to more serious writing, humorous literature has received little critical attention. Of the studies aimed at this area, most have tended to concentrate on the various stages of development in childrens preferences for humor, its strategies, forms and appeal, with very few examining the ideological assumptions informing particular texts. Yet, this article argues, humorous books are no less concerned with culture, value and meaning than any other kind of fiction for children. As Morris Gleitzmans texts illustrate, by highlighting the cultural processes involved in the construction of language and meaning, inviting readers to play with ideas about language, social roles and behaviors, and creating characters who act in ways which are oppositional to usual socializing expectations, humorous literature, especially in carnivalized forms, has the potential to problematize unquestioning acceptance of various ideological para-digms, values, social practices and rules.     

Becoming Better Primary Science Teachers: A Description of Our Journey

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Effects of a Game‐Based e‐Learning Module on Undergraduate Food Science Students’ Planned Behaviors Concerning Good Manufacturing Practices

Understanding the role of food science education in developing undergraduate students’ intentions to implement Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) may be a key strategy in developing the workforce's implementation of GMPs and other food safety programs. Previous research has demonstrated the effects of educational interventions on planned food safety behaviors in various settings; however, none have studied GMPs interventions and college students. This study applied the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to evaluate the effects of a game‐based e‐learning module on undergraduate students’ planned behaviors concerning GMPs. Forty‐four participants were recruited from 42 food science clubs across the United States to complete a game‐based e‐learning module and pre‐ and posttest survey instruments. We compared changes in pre‐ and posttest scores using paired Wilcoxon signed rank tests and explored the role of GMP‐related knowledge and TPB constructs (attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral controls) in predicting students’ intentions to implement GMPs using multiple linear regression. We modeled pretest scores, posttest scores, and changes in scores while controlling for student demographic factors (for example, year in college, gender, and so on). Only participants’ knowledge and perceived behavioral controls significantly increased (P < 0.05) after completing the game‐based e‐learning module. Posttest regression models explained twice as much variance than pretest models (up to 54% total). Changes in intentions to implement GMPs were predicted by changes in subjective norms, perceived behavioral controls, and knowledge, as well as previous enrollment in food safety courses and interest in working in the food industry. The only predictive variables for both pre‐ and posttest scores were subjective norms, previous enrollment in food safety courses and interest in working in the food industry (P < 0.05). A discussion of how these results provide insights for food safety educators to optimize their teaching impacts was presented.     

The Effect of English Language Proficiency Level and Educational Background on Academic Achievement

The English Proficiency Level (EPL) of 205 first year business students from 16 Asian countries was assessed on arrival in Australia using the Australian Second Language Proficiency Ratings (ASLPR). Academic grades were recorded for their first, second and third semesters. Statistical analysis of the students' records shows that educational background is the major determinant of success in business courses, with no statistically significant effect coming from EPL. In practice, English proficiency is used as a major selection criterion in its application to the entry of full fee paying international students; on the basis of the evidence presented here, there is no need for a stringent EPL criterion to be applied, which is an important finding for those involved in the selection of international students who wish to study in Australian institutions. An important policy impinging on academic achievement is that students who fail their first semester are allowed to continue their studies; the policy leads to an estimated 39% of students allowed such grace going on to obtain a pass for the course; EPL bears no relationship to academic achievement for students in this category, the major determinant being their educational background. Thus, it is important that stringent conditions are applied to potential international students' educational background, but that they are not disadvantaged by their English language ability.     

Schooling The Citizens Of Tomorrow: The Challenges For Teaching And Learning Across The Global North/south Divide

Drawing on examples from a range of contexts, this article explores some of the challenges for schooling in the 2lst century from the vantage points of both resource rich and developing countries, suggesting that schools on each side of the global North/South divide have much to learn from each other. It offers an inclusive framework for schooling for the 21st century, identifying the foundations which need to be put in place to establish that framework, as well as the options along the way. The core challenges are seen as how to prepare our young people – the citizens of tomorrow – for an increasingly uncertain and technologically orientated world; how to equip them to assess the relevance of a vast array of facts and information and discriminate between competing ideologies; and how to encourage them to relate to each other in a fragmented, although globalised, world.