Judicious imitation: children differentially imitate deterministically and probabilistically effective actions

Three studies look at whether the assumption of causal determinism (the assumption that all else being equal, causes generate effects deterministically) affects children's imitation of modeled actions. These studies show even when the frequency of an effect is matched, both preschoolers (N = 60; M = 56 months) and toddlers (N = 48; M = 18 months) imitate actions more faithfully when modeled actions are deterministically rather than probabilistically effective. A third study suggests that preschoolers' (N = 32; M = 58 months) imitation is affected not just by whether the agent's goal is satisfied but also by whether the action is a reliable means to the goal. Children's tendency to generate variable responses to probabilistically effective modeled actions could support causal learning.     

Matthew effects in writing productivity during second grade

The primary aims of this study were twofold: (a) to describe average change in the written narrative performance of second grade students from the fall and spring of the school year and (b) examine patterns of individual growth to test for Matthew effects. Participants included 299 children in second grade. Microstructural measures were derived from students’ written narratives including: number of different words (NDW), total number of words (TNW), and accuracy of spelling and grammar. Significant increases in NDW, TNW, and spelling accuracy were evidenced from fall to spring. Students averaged 55 total words in the fall and averaged 69 words in the spring, with a statistically significant increase of 14 words t(299)?=?8.4, p?<?.0001). The variance in TNW from fall to spring increased from Var?=?791 to Var?=?1005, which was a significant increase and the correlation of initial Fall TNW and growth in TNW was also significant (r?=?0.39). Additionally, results from a two-level hierarchical linear model with students nested within teachers indicated that initial level of TNW predicted the change in TNW from fall to spring, with higher levels of initial TNW being related to larger gains in TNW. Significant predictors of Matthew effects included teacher or classroom and free/reduced lunch eligibility. Written personal narrative measures are sensitive to developmental change across a school year. Evidence of Matthew effects in lexical productivity suggests additional support may be warranted to ameliorate gaps in writing achievement.

     

Promoting Vocational Development: Methods of Intervention and Techniques Used in the Italian Context

This article describes a Master Educator Series designed to help educators in Italy design and implement comprehensive vocational guidance curriculum. In this “Master Educator” training, a variety of vocational development models and theories are presented. The goal is to provide a broad range of skills in assessment and intervention strategies to prepare educators for developing the curriculum that best fits their unique context. Five curriculum examples are described. Each of these interventions is built around a vocational development topic, including: providing individualized feedback, improving social relationships and connections, using written exercises, and providing mastery and vicarious experiences.     

Seven keys for implementing the self-evaluation,periodic evaluation and accreditation (AVA) method,to improve quality and student satisfaction in the Italian higher education system

This paper develops a theoretical framework that could facilitate the application of the Autovalutazione, Valutazione periodica, Accreditamento (AVA) method in Italian universities, trying to simplify the use of this approach, and to cover the existing gap between Italy and others European academic institutions. The new competitive environment in the academic system has created a reality where customers compare the ‘knowledge value’ that they are likely to receive in each academic institution. Quality in education is nowadays fundamental and student satisfaction is one of its main dimensions. There is an emphasis on service that meets the students’ needs and expectations, problem-solving processes based on facts, feedback systems and statistical methods and improvement of processes and systems by collaboration and involvement. Starting from 2013, all Italian universities are obliged by law to adopt the AVA method [Self-Evaluation, Periodic Evaluation and Accreditation], a system of activities carried out by the National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes (ANVUR).     

Fear of death and physical illness: a personal construct approach

The Threat Index, Templer's Death Anxiety Scale, and the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale were administered to 100 respondents in an attempt to assess their personal orientation toward death. Each respondent was a member of one of the following groups: people with no known illness; people attending their family physician for a checkup; rheumatoid arthritics; diabetics; or people recently treated for cancer. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that older respondents were significantly less death anxious, less fearful of their own death, and more integrated (that is, showed less self-death discrepancy) than younger respondents. Further analyses revealed no differences between any of the groups on fear of death or death anxiety, indicating that the current state of an individual's health was not related to his or her death orientation. Instead, correlational and regression analyses suggested that anxiety and fear were much more likely to be influenced by a respondent's level of actualization and, to a lesser extent, level of integration. The expected additive effects of actualization and integration did not emerge, a finding that was at variance with previous research.     

Relations among three aspects of first‐year college students' epistemologies of science

At the start of their first semester, 35 college freshmen were given an interview probing (a) their differentiation of scientists' ideas from evidence, and hypotheses from theories; (b) their understanding of the inherent uncertainty of scientific knowledge; and (c) their reasoning about scientific controversies. The most common responses were in terms of an epistemology in which scientists' ideas and evidence are differentiated, and theories are understood as tested hypotheses (Level 2 in our system based on Carey, Evans, Honda, Jay, & Unger, 1989), although students varied in how consistently they differentiated theories and evidence across all questions. Responses in which theories are understood as broader explanatory frameworks guiding hypothesis testing (Level 3) were virtually nonexistent, but some students gave responses that showed awareness of processes of interpreting and reinterpreting patterns of results (Level 2.5). Responses across the three parts of the interview were significantly related. Consistently differentiating scientists' ideas from evidence was strongly related to appreciating the inherent uncertainty of scientific knowledge and with having a deeper understanding of the reasons for scientific controversies and how to resolve them. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 747–785, 2006     

Dialogue in the support of learning to teach: a case study of a mentor/mentee pair in a teacher education programme

In this paper, we examine the role of reflection in teacher preparation, specifically within a mentoring relationship between cooperating and preservice teacher. We report findings from a case analysis of this pair who engaged in problem-posing dialogue within pre- and post-conferences around practice over one year of their work together in an elementary-level classroom. The context is an innovative programme in which cooperating teachers pursue their Master’s degree while undergraduates (preservice teachers) complete their elementary education degrees. Our analysis of talk about teaching during six coaching cycles as well as supporting documents illustrates how Jane’s mentoring supported reflective practices and disrupted a notion of a field experience as simply a place to ‘practice’ pedagogical knowledge with corrective feedback. Additionally, we explore the tensions in this approach to mentoring. This case study has implications for teacher educators who seek to bolster teacher preparation through the support of mentoring relationships.