A learning progression for water in socio‐ecological systems

Providing model‐based accounts (explanations and predictions) of water and substances in water moving through environmental systems is an important practice for environmental science literacy and necessary for citizens confronting global and local water quantity and quality issues. In this article we present a learning progression for water in environmental systems for students in elementary through high school grades. We investigated student accounts of water and substances in water moving through atmospheric, surface, and soil/groundwater systems, including human‐engineered components of these systems. Using an iterative process of model design, assessment, and interpretation, we identified four levels of achievement in student reasoning. Levels 1 and 2 force‐dynamic accounts explain movement of water as interactions between natural tendencies of water and countervailing powers. Level 3 incomplete school science accounts put events in order and trace water and substance along multiple pathways that include hidden and invisible components. Only Level 4 qualitative model‐based accounts include driving forces and constraining factors to explain or predict where water and substances in water move in given situations. The majority of high school students on average provide accounts between levels 2 and 3. We discuss the significance of these results for citizen participation in addressing common water issues. We end with suggestions for how the water learning progression can be used to inform changes to curricula, assessment, and instruction to support students in achieving level 4 performance. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 843–868, 2012     

DRM as Sociotechnical Systems

This article is an assessment of virtual organization, a new paradigm of organization and management. Like most new ideas, virtual organization is not entirely new—some of its components are recognizable from earlier concepts of organization. However, the integration of all the components does signal something new and revolutionary. Its revolutionary character stems from the principle of switching (i.e., shifting between different means for satisfying a need), which calls upon management to maintain a logical separation between abstract requirements and the concrete means for their satisfaction. Advanced information technology makes it possible to realize virtual organization in practice, and the paradigm is clearly manifest in the operations of some innovative firms. The economic and social significance of virtual organization in the future is likely to be comparable to that of the factory in an earlier period. Properly implemented, virtual organization may deliver increases in efficiency and effectiveness on an unprecedented scale. At the same time, it may stimulate social changes at least as far‐reaching as those associated with the industrial revolution. This article provides a precise definition of virtual organization and undertakes to justify these claims about the new paradigm.     

Client Pretreatment Characteristics as Predictors of Outcome in Brief Therapy for Bulimia

An overview for college counselors of the literature on bulimia treatment outcomes is presented for purposes of screening, treatment, and referral. Pretreatment characteristics that seem amenable to success in brief therapy are outlined, as are those that do not lead to a positive outcome.     

Exploring the nature of associations between educators’ knowledge and their emergent literacy classroom practices

Reading and Writing - Educators’ content knowledge is considered a key determinant of classroom practices and thus children’s learning. In this study, we examine the nature of...     

When you shouldn't do what you want to do: young children's understanding of desires, rules, and emotions

This research investigated 4- through 7-year-olds' and adults' (n = 64) concepts about the emotional consequences of desire fulfillment versus desire inhibition in situations where people's desires conflict with prohibitive rules. Results revealed developmental increases in attributing positive or mixed emotions to story characters that make willpower decisions and negative or mixed emotions to characters that transgress. These developmental changes in emotion predictions were accompanied by age-related differences in emotion explanations. Whereas 4- and 5-year-olds largely explained emotions in relation to the characters' goals, 7-year-olds and adults further explained how rules and future consequences influence emotions. Results are discussed in relation to connections among children's psychological, deontic, and future-oriented reasoning about emotions as well as the development of self-control.     

Comparison of sadness, anger, and fear facial expressions when toddlers look at their mothers

Research suggests that sadness expressions may be more beneficial to children than other emotions when eliciting support from caregivers. It is unclear, however, when children develop the ability to regulate their displays of distress. The current study addressed this question. Distress facial expressions (e.g., fear, anger, and sadness) were examined in 24-month-old toddlers throughout 4 episodes as well as specifically during looks to their mothers. Consistent with hypotheses and the literature, toddlers expressed sadness more frequently and with more intensity than target emotions only during looks to their mothers. These findings indicate that toddlers as young as 24 months of age are using particular emotional displays to elicit support from the social environment.     

Science identity development: how multimodal composition mediates student role-taking as scientist in a media-rich learning environment

Educational technology research and development - Science identity has been widely discussed in recent years; however, research on its development in multimodal composing environments, especially...