Sexual health discussions between African-American mothers and mothers of Latino descent and their children

We examined approaches used by African-American mothers and mothers of Latino descent for informal sex-related discussions with their children to inform sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV intervention development efforts. We recruited mothers (of children aged 12–15) from youth service agencies and a university in southern California. Fourteen focus groups were conducted: eight with African-American mothers (n = 31) and six with mothers of Latino descent (n = 24). Data were transcribed, coded for most common themes by four of the authors and reviewed for differences by gender of child. Four key themes emerged when focusing on parent–child discussions about sex: (1) sexual activity discussions took place for both sons and daughters; (2) protection from STI/HIV and pregnancy was a key topic; (3) the use of a direct, honest approach was preferred by mothers; and (4) seizing the moment was important for discussion opportunities. These data help broaden our understanding about the strategies used by African-American mothers and mothers of Latino descent for sexual health discussions with their sons and daughters. Evaluations of these for their potential impact on youth sexual health outcomes are warranted. The data can also contribute to the development of new culturally tailored parent–child communication strategies and HIV prevention interventions for young people of colour.     

A design framework for educational hypermedia systems: theory, research, and learning emerging scientific conceptual perspectives

This paper focuses on theory and research issues associated with the use of hypermedia technologies in education. It is proposed that viewing hypermedia technologies as an enabling infrastructure for tools to support learning—in particular learning in problem-based pedagogical environments involving cases—has particular promise. After considering research issues with problem-based learning related to knowledge transfer and conceptual change, a design framework is discussed for a hypermedia system with scaffolding features intended to support and enhance problem-based learning with cases. Preliminary results are reported of research involving a new version of this hypermedia design approach with special ontological scaffolding to explore conceptual change and far knowledge transfer issues related to learning advanced scientific knowledge involving complex systems as well as the use of the system in a graduate seminar class. Overall, it is hoped that this program of research will stimulate further work on learning and cognitive sciences theoretical and research issues, on the characteristics of design features for robust and educationally powerful hypermedia systems, on ways that hypermedia systems might be used to support innovative pedagogical approaches being used in the schools, and on how particular designs for learning technologies might foster learning of conceptually difficult knowledge and skills that are increasingly necessary in the 21st century.

Implementing community-based comprehensive sexuality education with high-risk youth in a conservative environment: lessons learned

Although comprehensive sexuality education programmes have the potential to improve the sexual health and well-being of young people, many socially conservative rural states in the USA have laws and policies restricting school-based comprehensive sexuality education and supporting abstinence-only education. This paper describes the process of building a community-university partnership to implement a community-based comprehensive sexuality education peer education programme for high-risk young people and presents preliminary findings from a longitudinal evaluation. Through purposive recruitment, the sample included 386 young people (mean age) who were more diverse than the local community. Important university-community partnership components included (1) establishing local connections and legitimacy, (2) adapting and tailoring programmes to meet community context, (3) sustainability planning, and (4) flexibility, persistence, and patience. Building community trust and capitalising on the mutual benefits of community-university partnerships are effective methods of building community sexuality education programming in a conservative environment. Tailoring evidence-based approaches to comprehensive sexuality education in a politically restrictive environment shows promise in improving the sexual and reproductive health of young people.     

The ontologies of complexity and learning about complex systems

This paper discusses a study of students learning core conceptual perspectives from recent scientific research on complexity using a hypermedia learning environment in which different types of scaffolding were provided. Three comparison groups used a hypermedia system with agent-based models and scaffolds for problem-based learning activities that varied in terms of the types of text based scaffolds that were provided related to a set of complex systems concepts. Although significant declarative knowledge gains were found for the main experimental treatment in which the students received the most scaffolding, there were no significant differences amongst the three groups in terms of the more cognitively demanding performance on problem solving tasks. However, it was found across all groups that the students who enriched their ontologies about how complex systems function performed at a significantly higher level on transfer problem solving tasks in the posttest. It is proposed that the combination of interactive representational scaffolds associated with NetLogo agent-based models in complex systems cases and problem solving scaffolding allowed participants to abstract ontological dimensions about how systems of this type function that, in turn, was associated with the higher performance on the problem solving transfer tasks. Theoretical and design implications for learning about complex systems are discussed.     

Does shame influence nonsuicidal self-injury among college students? An investigation into the role of shame,negative urgency,and brooding

College students experience high levels of life stress that put them at increased risk for nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). It is important to understand which vulnerabilities put students most at risk, in order to inform treatment in college counseling centers. This study investigated the joint contributions of specific vulnerabilities to lifetime history and frequency of NSSI among a sample of undergraduates (50% reported a history of NSSI). Results showed shame-proneness was uniquely associated with NSSI frequency beyond other negative emotions. Negative urgency and brooding exacerbated this effect. This study provides insights into the contributions of specific vulnerabilities to NSSI and implications for practice.     

On the alignment of teachers’ mathematical content knowledge assessments with the common core state standards

Instruments designed to measure teachers’ knowledge for teaching mathematics have been widely used to evaluate the impact of professional development and to investigate the role of teachers’ knowledge in teaching and student learning. These instruments assess a mixture of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. However, little attention has been given to the content alignment between such instruments and curricular standards, particularly in regard to how content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge items are distributed across mathematical topics. This article provides content maps for two widely used teacher assessment instruments in the USA relative to the widely adopted Common Core State Standards. This common reference enables comparisons of content alignment both between the instruments and between parallel forms within each instrument. The findings indicate that only a small number of items on both instruments are designed to capture teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and that the majority of these items are focused on curricular topics in the later grades rather than in the early grades. Furthermore, some forms designed for use as pre- and post-assessment of professional development or teacher education are not parallel in terms of curricular topics, so estimates of teachers’ knowledge growth based on these forms may not mean what users assume. The implications of these findings for teacher educators and researchers who use teacher knowledge instruments are discussed.

     

Association of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and Perinatal Maternal Depression with Early Childhood Behavioral Problems: An Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Study

This study examined the association of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), prenatal, and postnatal maternal depressive symptoms with externalizing, internalizing, and autism spectrum problems on the Preschool Child Behavior Checklist in 2379 children aged 4.12 ± 0.60 (48% female; 47% White, 32% Black, 15% Mixed Race, 4% Asian, <2% American Indian/Alaskan Native, <2% Native Hawaiian; 23% Hispanic). Data were collected from the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program from 2009-2021. GDM, prenatal, and postnatal maternal depressive symptoms were each associated with increased child externalizing and internalizing problems. GDM was associated with increased autism behaviors only among children exposed to perinatal maternal depressive symptoms above the median level. Stratified analyses revealed a relation between GDM and child outcomes in males only.     

The Effect of Digital Indexing Systems on the Accessibilityof Photographic Collections

This Digital Image Archive (DIA) project involves the production of adigital archive of a collection of Nineteenth Century photographicimages and equipment. The DIA was designed to operate as a public accesscatalogue, to aid curators with information retrieval and to reduce theneed to handle some original material. Much of the William Henry FoxTalbot collection at the Royal Photographic Society can no longer beexhibited due to damage caused by handling and light. Access to thecollection is restricted because of preservation concerns over a growingpercentage of the collection and insufficient resources forreproductions and supervision. These problems led to investigations intothe possible advantages that digital technology might offer.Cross-referencing, administrative cataloguing and recording ofpreservation techniques are ideally suited to digital technology. Theshort life span of digital storage media and concerns over systemcompatibility requires the development of a complex long-term digitalstrategy that must be standardized if the archival material is tosurvive. Construction of the DIA involved investigations into softwareand hardware configurations concentrating on the ability to customizefactors such as indexing from recognized standards and practices. Thispaper concentrates on the results of a survey into standards withindigital indexing systems, which indicates that although there is growingawareness of standardization within digital cataloguing and multimedia,many organizations continue to devise independent systems.