Collaboration by Design: Using Robotics to Foster Social Interaction in Kindergarten

Research shows the importance of social interaction between peers in child development. Although technology can foster peer interactions, teachers often struggle with teaching with technology. This study examined a sample of (n = 19) children participating in a kindergarten robotics summer workshop to determine the effect of teaching using a structured versus unstructured robotics curriculum on fostering peer-to-peer collaborative interactions. Results indicated that using a structured curriculum was associated with significantly less collaboration than an unstructured curriculum. Findings from this study indicated that to foster peer collaboration, a less structured learn-by-doing approach might be useful for teachers when integrating technology.     

The Effect of a Classroom-Based Intensive Robotics and Programming Workshop on Sequencing Ability in Early Childhood

This paper examines the impact of programming robots on sequencing ability during a 1-week intensive robotics workshop at an early childhood STEM magnet school in the Harlem area of New York City. Children participated in computer programming activities using a developmentally appropriate tangible programming language CHERP, specifically designed to program a robot’s behaviors. The study assessed 27 participants’ sequencing skills before and after the programming and robotics curricular intervention using a picture-story sequencing task and compared those skills to a control group. Pre-test and post-test scores were compared using a paired sample t test. The group of children who participated in the 1-week robotics and programming workshop experienced significant increases in post-test compared to pre-test sequencing scores.     

Relationships among peak power output,peak bar velocity,and mechanomyographic amplitude during the free-weight bench press exercise

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among mechanomyographic (MMG) amplitude, power output, and bar velocity during the free-weight bench press exercise. Twenty-one resistance-trained men [one-repetition maximum (1-RM) bench press = 125.4 ± 18.4 kg] performed bench press muscle actions as explosively as possible from 10% to 90% of the 1-RM while peak power output and peak bar velocity were assessed with a TENDO Weightlifting Analyzer. During each muscle action, surface MMG signals were detected from the right and left pectoralis major and triceps brachii, and the concentric portion of the range of motion was selected for analysis. Results indicated that power output increased from 10% to 50% 1-RM, followed by decreases from 50% to 90% 1-RM, but MMG amplitude for each of the muscles increased from 10 to 80%1-RM. The results of this study indicate that during the free-weight bench press exercise, MMG amplitude was not related to power output, but was inversely related to bar velocity and directly related to the external load being lifted. In future research, coaches and sport scientists may be able to estimate force/torque production from individual muscles during multi-joint, dynamic constant external resistance muscle actions.     

Coping strategies,optimism, and life satisfaction among first<Emphasis Type="Italic">-</Emphasis>year university students in Italy: gender and age differences

The transition to university appears to be a complex and delicate time in students’ lives, involving a sequence of changes regarding both the personal/affective and social/professional spheres, facilitating students’ ability to adapt to a new life context. It represents a challenging time that requires students to use adaptive resources to face many changes, including a new academic environment (Park and Adler Health Psychology, 22(6), 627, 2003; Anderson et al. International Journal of Educational Research, 33(4), 325–339, 2000). This paper presents an investigation that focuses on Italian students in transition to university to assess existing gender and age differences in coping strategies and optimism. Furthermore, the study also was designed to explore the impact that coping strategies and optimism have on students’ life satisfaction. The sample consists of 298 first-year undergraduate Italian students enrolled in social science courses at the University of Cagliari (Sardinia): 152 (51%) were female and 146 (49%) were male. The ages of the participants ranged from 18 to 37 years, with a mean age of 23.2 years (SD = 3.9) The statistical analysis revealed a strong influence from optimism and coping strategies on life satisfaction, as well as an important role played by both gender and age in shaping students’ coping strategies, optimism, and life satisfaction. This research could contribute to helping students better face this life transition, thereby increasing life satisfaction and class-attendance levels, improving academic performance, and reducing the number of university dropouts.     

Self-Regulation and Economic Stress in Children of Hispanic Immigrants and Their Peers: Better Regulation at a Cost?

Research Findings: Although there is a well-established relationship between economic stress and children’s self-regulation, few studies have examined this relationship in children of Hispanic immigrants (COHIs), a rapidly growing population. In a sample of preschool children (N = 165), we examined whether economic stress predicted teacher evaluations of children’s self-regulation, whether economic stress predicted children’s physiological reactivity (via cortisol levels), and whether economic stress had a similar effect on self-regulation and children’s cortisol for COHI versus nonimmigrant children. Greater economic stress was associated with poorer child self-regulation and heightened physiological reactivity across a challenging classroom task for the sample as a whole. However, when we examined children by group, greater economic stress was associated with poorer teacher-reported self-regulation for nonimmigrant children only. In contrast, greater economic stress was related to greater cortisol reactivity across a challenge task for COHIs but not for nonimmigrants. Practice or Policy: Results demonstrate the importance of considering physiological indices of self-regulation (heightened stress physiology), in addition to traditional external indices (teacher report), when assessing self-regulation or risk more generally among preschool samples that are diverse in terms of ethnicity, economic risk, and parents’ nativity.     

Feedback in written instruction: The place of response certitude

This paper reviews written feedback from an information-processing perspective. The first section discusses the question of feedback as a reinforcer, and describes the feedback paradigm used as a conceptual guide for the following sections. In the second section we evaluate research on the form and content of feedback. In the last section, a model is developed that applies concepts from servocontrol theory to the feedback sequence. Finally, we report three experiments which support the major predictions of the control model.     

Evaluations of Conflicts Between Latino Values and Autonomy Desires Among Puerto Rican Adolescents

Puerto Rican adolescents (N = 105; M_age = 15.97 years, SD = 1.40) evaluated hypothetical situations describing conflicts between Latino values (family obligations and respeto) and autonomy desires regarding personal, friendship, and dating activities. Adolescents judged that peers should prioritize Latino values over autonomy, which led to greater feelings of pride than happiness. However, they believed that teens would prioritize autonomy over Latino values, which led to greater feelings of happiness than pride. Adolescents reasoned about autonomy desires as personal issues, whereas reasoning about Latino values was multifaceted, including references to conventions and concerns for others. Furthermore, judgments and reasoning depended on the type of autonomy desire and Latino value and sometimes, by participants' age and sex.