Fitting in and feeling good: the relationships among peer alignment,instructor connectedness,and self-efficacy in undergraduate satisfaction with engineering

This study examined the relationships among peer alignment (the feeling that one is similar in important ways to one's engineering peers), instructor connectedness (the sense that one knows and looks up to academic staff/faculty members in the department), self-efficacy for engineering class work (confidence in one's ability to successfully complete engineering class work), and engineering students' satisfaction with the major. A total of 135 sophomore (second-year university students) and junior (third-year students) engineering students were surveyed to measure these three variables. A multiple regression analysis showed that self-efficacy, peer alignment, and instructor connectedness predicted student satisfaction with the major, and that self-efficacy acted as a mediator between both peer alignment and instructor connectedness on the one hand, and satisfaction on the other. The authors offer suggestions for practice based on the results.     

Wild Soul

There’s a wild soul inside me waiting to show its self to the world There‘s a wild soul inside me with fire in it’s eyes, and danger in it’s claws. There’s a wild soul in side me with a voice that no one can’t hear and a presence no one can’t feel There’S a wild soul inside me waiting for me to let it run to let it turn into, wind,fire,and rain There’s a wild soul inside me that is coming ou to ignight a fire in us a11 it will spread like a brush fire. My wild soul, Your wild soul, a flame that can not die....     

Realizing Relevance: The Influence of Domain‐Specific Information on Generation of New Knowledge Through Integration in 4‐ to 8‐Year‐Old Children

In accumulating knowledge, direct modes of learning are complemented by productive processes, including self‐generation based on integration of separate episodes. Effects of the number of potentially relevant episodes on integration were examined in 4‐ to 8‐year‐olds (N = 121; racially/ethnically heterogeneous sample, English speakers, from large metropolitan area). Information was presented along with unrelated or related episodes; the latter challenged children to identify the relevant subset of episodes for integration. In Experiment 1, 4‐ and 6‐year‐olds integrated in the unrelated context. Six‐year‐olds also succeeded in the related context in forced‐choice testing. In Experiment 2, 8‐year‐olds succeeded in open‐ended and forced‐choice testing. Results illustrate a developmental progression in productive extension of knowledge due in part to age‐related increases in identification of relevant information.     

Attempts to condition homing pigeons to magnetic cues in an outdoor flight cage

An attempt was made to train 9 homing pigeons to respond to the presence or absence of bar magnets by turning either left or right after flying the length of a 20-ft outdoor flight cage. During initial training, color cues were placed in front of feeding stations on the left and right sides of the cage. The color cues were paired with magnetic cues by attaching either bar magnets or brass bars to the backs of the birds. The color cues were then deleted, leaving only the magnetic cues. Each pigeon received about 300 trials of color training followed by about 200 trials of magnet testing. When only magnetic cues remained, none of the pigeons were able to choose the correct feeder at greater than chance levels of probability.     

Sensation seeking and risk-taking propensity as mediators in the relationship between childhood abuse and HIV-related risk behavior

OBJECTIVES: Although a wealth of literature suggests that childhood physical, emotional, and sexual abuse are related to later-life HIV-related risk behaviors, few studies have explored disinhibition (e.g., impulsivity, risk-taking propensity, and sensation-seeking) as a risk factor in this relationship. METHOD: This cross-sectional study examined impulsivity, risk-taking propensity, and sensation seeking as mediators in the relationship between abuse history and engagement in HIV-related risk behaviors among a sample of 96 inner-city African American adolescents. RESULTS: Findings indicated that abuse history was positively related to self-reported engagement in HIV-related risk behaviors (B=.027, SE .008, beta=.32, sr(2)=.105, p=.001), as well as risk-taking propensity (B=.35, SE .11, beta=.30, sr(2)=.090, p=.003) and sensation seeking (B=.17, SE .05, beta=.35, sr(2)=.124, p=.0004). Abuse history was not related to impulsivity. Further, while sensation-seeking and risk-taking propensity (to a lesser extent) mediated this relationship, impulsivity did not. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide an initial step in the examination of the mechanisms underlying the relationship between childhood abuse and engagement in HIV-related risk behaviors.     

Effect of productive discussion on written argumentation in earth science classrooms

Abstract

Active teachers noted persistent problems in their classrooms, including low levels of student engagement and gaps in students’ use of evidence in forming arguments. Earth Science students provided written responses to two questions using the previously implemented Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) framework. The first question was answered without a preceding discussion whereas the second question was answered following a discussion protocol—no discussion, discussion without Talk Science, and discussion with Talk Science. A ninth grade teacher more comprehensively implemented Talk Science by incorporating statements from all four goals whereas a seventh grade teacher did not. As a result, ninth grade students improved their use of evidence, reasoning, and content, but seventh graders did not show the same improvements. All students valued the discussion, but this study shows that Talk Science discussions can be used to improve students’ content knowledge and CER argumentation skills.     

TechCheck: Development and Validation of an Unplugged Assessment of Computational Thinking in Early Childhood Education

Journal of Science Education and Technology - There is a need for developmentally appropriate Computational Thinking (CT) assessments that can be implemented in early childhood classrooms. We...