Online Faculty Development in the Canary Islands: A Study of E‐mentoring

This article reports on a six‐week online capacity learning and telementoring program at the Universities of the Canary Islands. Firstly, the authors give their view of online training and mentorship perspectives. They structure the argument introducing concepts about the mentor method. Simultaneously, the empirical project is illustrated with a case study: the University Teaching Professional Development (UTPD), a University training program for the development of curriculum and teaching capacities with reference to change within university teaching programs. Finally, the authors discuss the results, which lead to improvement, focusing on the difficulties of learning and practice of capacities within an online training course.     

Clones identification of Sequoia sempervirens (D.Don) Endl.in Chile by using PCR-RAPDs technique

A protocol of polymerase chain reaction-random amplified polymorphic DNAs (PCR-RAPDs) was established to analyse the gene diversity and genotype identification for clones of Sequoia sempervirens (D.Don) Endl.in Chile.Ten (out of 34) clones from introduction trial located in Voipir-Viilarrica,Chile,were studied.The PCR-RAPDs technique and a modified hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) protocol were used for genomic DNA extraction.The PCR tests were carried out employing 10-mer random primers.The amplification products were detected by electrophoresis in agarose gels.Forty nine polymorphic bands were obtained with the selected primers (BG04,BF07,BF 12,BF13,and BF 14) and were ordered according to their molecular size.The genetic similarity between samples was calculated by the Jaccard index and a dendrogram was constructed using a cluster analysis of unweighted pair group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA).Of the primers tested,5 (out of 60) RAPD primers were selected for their reproducibility and high polymorphism.A total of 49 polymorphic RAPD bands were detected out of 252 bands.The genetic similarity analysis demonstrates an extensive genetic variability between the tested clones and the dendrogram depicts the genetic relationships among the clones,suggesting a geographic relationship.The results indicate that the RAPD markers permitted the identification of the assayed clones,although they are derived from the same geographic origin.     

SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF GIFTED STUDENTS

This study aimed at investigating the relationship between intellectual, social, personal and personality variables of academically gifted secondary school students. A total of 297 tenth grade boys and girls were identified on the basis of three main criteria: 1. Academic achievement with special emphasis on Arabic language, science and math scores; 2. Behavioural traits; 3. General mental ability and general adjustment. Data related to socioeconomic status and personal characteristics were also collected. Results of the analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences between gifted and nongifted groups in general mental ability, achievement, general adjustment, behavioural traits, personal and social variables, in favour of the former.     

The twin prime problem and generalizations (après Yitang Zhang)

We give a short introduction to the recent breakthrough theorem of Yitang Zhang that there are infinitely many pairs of distinct primes (p, q) with |p ? q| < 70 million.     

Analog of parental empathy: Association with physical child abuse risk and punishment intentions

Objectives

Current research has been inconsistent in corroborating that parents’ compromised empathy is associated with elevated physical child abuse risk, perhaps in part because of an emphasis on dispositional empathy rather than empathy directed at their own children. Research has also relied on self-reports of empathy that are susceptible to participant misrepresentation. The present study utilized an analog task of parental empathy to investigate the association of parental empathy toward one's own child with physical child abuse potential and with their tendency to punish perceived child misbehavior.

Methods

A sample of 135 mothers and their 4–9 year old children were recruited, with mothers estimating their children's emotional reactions using a behavioral simulation of parental empathy. Mothers also provided self-reports on two measures of child abuse potential, a measure of negative attributions and expected punishment of children using vignettes, as well as a traditional measure of dispositional empathic concern and perspective-taking.

Results

Findings suggest that parental demonstration of poorer empathic ability on the analog task was significantly related to increased physical abuse potential, likelihood to punish, and negative child attributions. However, self-reported dispositional empathy exhibited the pattern of inconsistent associations previously observed in the literature.

Conclusions

Parental empathy appears to be a relevant target for prevention and intervention programs. Future research should also consider similar analog approaches to investigate such constructs to better uncover the factors that elevate abuse risk.     

Evaluating fifth- and sixth-grade students’ expository writing: task development, scoring, and psychometric issues

Drawing from multiple theoretical frameworks representing cognitive and educational psychology, we present a writing task and scoring system for measurement of students’ informative writing. Participants in this study were 72 fifth- and sixth-grade students who wrote compositions describing real-world problems and how mathematics, science, and social studies information could be used to solve those problems. Of the 72 students, 69 were able to craft a cohesive response that not only demonstrated planning in writing structure but also elaboration of relevant knowledge in one or more domains. Many-facet Rasch Modeling (MFRM) techniques were used to examine the reliability and validity of scores for the writing rating scale. Additionally, comparison of fifth- and sixth-grade responses supported the validity of scores, as did the results of a correlational analysis with scores from an overall interest measure. Recommendations for improving writing scoring systems based on the findings of this investigation are provided.