Are there implications for prevention research from studies of resilience?

In this commentary, the question is raised whether prevention research can benefit from resilience research in designing interventions. Although many areas in the investigative interests of prevention and resilience researchers overlap, Luthar, Cicchetti, and Becker may have set the bar too high for defining resilience in the context of varying levels of adversity.     

Errorless learning in newborn chicks

Nine newborn chicks were trained on a successive, red-green discrimination task. At the start of discrimination training, the intensity of the green light (S?) was slowly faded in for six chicks and was presented at full intensity for the remaining three. While meeting the response criterion for errorless learning, the chicks conditioned with the fading procedure made five times fewer errors than the full-intensity group. It was concluded that preexperimental error experience is not a necessary condition for the development of errorless learning.     

For a revival of feminist consciousness-raising: horizontal transformation of epistemologies and transgression of neoliberal TimeSpace

ABSTRACT

This paper looks back on the methodology and experience of feminist consciousness-raising (CR) in the 1970s, in relation to the current re-emergence of feminism. It constructs an argument that a new wave of CR is desirable so as to construct new forms of feminist pedagogy and activism. The paper will argue that contemporary feminism in the UK and USA would benefit from this kind of methodology, through which a standpoint is constructed. The core of the paper is an analysis of how CR works as an affective and social process. Drawing on academic studies and participant accounts, the paper reconstructs the mechanisms through which participants’ subjectivities and narratives are expressed and transformed. It suggests that these mechanisms express different non-homogeneous temporalities. The paper invites feminist pedagogy to get back to the base level of experience and unfold new theories and strategies to address the current context.     

Academic Literacy Skills and Progression Rates Amongst Pharmacy Students

This article addresses relationships between academic literacy skills and progress in a university degree program. Academic literacy skills of enrolling cohorts of pharmacy students were measured on four criteria. Correlations were calculated between these literacy measures; the time taken to reach graduation; the Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER); and each final first‐year course mark. Results indicate that almost half the enrolling students lacked adequate English language resources necessary for tertiary study. More interesting was the lack of significant correlation between each of these literacy skills and the TER. Logistic regression indicated that measures on three separate literacy criteria were better predictors of university success than the TER alone. When each of these three literacy measures was combined with the TER, prediction of the time taken to reach graduation was improved above using the TER alone. The outcome of this research indicates not only the importance of identifying and subsequently assisting those incoming students who may be experiencing literacy related problems, but also has wider implications for curriculum design and choice of selection criteria employed by university faculties.     

Introductory Biology Courses: A Framework To Support Active Learning in Large Enrollment Introductory Science Courses

Active learning and research-oriented activities have been increasingly used in smaller, specialized science courses. Application of this type of scientific teaching to large enrollment introductory courses has been, however, a major challenge. The general microbiology lecture/laboratory course described has been designed to incorporate published active-learning methods. Three major case studies are used as platforms for active learning. Themes from case studies are integrated into lectures and laboratory experiments, and in class and online discussions and assignments. Students are stimulated to apply facts to problem-solving and to learn research skills such as data analysis, writing, and working in teams. This course is feasible only because of its organizational framework that makes use of teaching teams (made up of faculty, graduate assistants, and undergraduate assistants) and Web-based technology. Technology is a mode of communication, but also a system of course management. The relevance of this model to other biology courses led to assessment and evaluation, including an analysis of student responses to the new course, class performance, a university course evaluation, and retention of course learning. The results are indicative of an increase in student engagement in research-oriented activities and an appreciation of real-world context by students.     

Teaching algorithmic problem solving or conceptual understanding: Role of developmental level,mental capacity,and cognitive style

It has been shown previously that many students solve chemistry problems using only algorithmic strategies and do not understand the chemical concepts on which the problems are based. It is plausible to suggest that if the information is presented in differing formats, the cognitive demand of a problem changes. The main objective of this study is to investigate the degree to which cognitive variables, such as developmental level, mental capacity, and disembedding ability explain student performance on problems which: (1) could be addressed by algorithms or (2) require conceptual understanding. All conceptual problems used in this study were based on a figurative format. The results obtained show that in all four problems requiring algorithmic strategies, developmental level of the students is the best predictor of success. This could be attributed to the fact that these are basically computational problems, requiring mathematical transformations. Although all three problems requiring conceptual understanding had an important aspect in common (the figurative format), in all three the best predictor of success is a different cognitive variable. It was concluded that: (1) the ability to solve computational problems (based on algorithms) is not the major factor in predicting success in solving problems that require conceptual understanding; (2) solving problems based on algorithmic strategies requires formal operational reasoning to a certain degree; and (3) student difficulty in solving problems that require conceptual understanding could be attributed to different cognitive variables.     

Nap schedules and sleep practices in infant-toddler groups

This article describes and analyzes sleep-wake schedules and nap times in multiage infant-toddler groups through three case studies based on ethnographic research conducted in two Finnish day care centers. The study asks how day care centers and homes in collaboration can protect children’s biological sleep-wake rhythms and the physiological effectiveness of sleep. Data were derived through participant-observation in the groups, taped interviews with staff and parents, and sleep diaries kept by the parents. Findings show some of the complex interactions among family daily patterns, day care patterns, and sleep disturbances in very young children. The findings further show that major differences exist in day care practices regarding the quality of sleep and its physiological effectiveness. These differences are related to three issues: (1) whether the timing of naps in the multiage group is simultaneous or staggered in an age-appropriate and individually appropriate manner; (2) how efficiently the home/day care personnel communicate with one another; and (3) what is the awareness level of the day care staff about the significance of the sleep environment. The article further discusses the team aspect of protective practices, differences between caregivers and their differences in organizing work, as well as implications for further research and for caregiver training.     

Class‐Room Discipline: power,resistance and gender. A look at teacher perspectives

Class‐room discipline, an issue of ‘power’ and ‘control’ for many teachers and students, is investigated in relation to teachers' attitudes towards stereotyped models of masculinity and femininity. Two important issues are considered; firstly, that what is generally regarded as appropriate gender behaviour by teachers plays a major role in determining their approaches and responses to the behaviour of boys and girls in the classroom. This paper focuses on the experiences of girls and teachers' traditional perceptions of femininity and it is believed that the stereotyped, often middle‐class assumptions made by many teachers, which make up an overall view of how girls ‘should’ behave, have serious effects on girls' motivation, self‐esteem, reputations, their ability to fulfil their educational potentials and their futures. It will also seriously affect their class‐room behaviour. Secondly, stereotyped beliefs around women, men and power in our society, can influence the discipline measures of teachers, particularly male teachers, so that ‘controlling’ students in the class‐room becomes paramount, at any cost. The predominantly authoritarian regimes that were incorporated in the structure of the schools that were part of this research, were perpetuated through the ideology of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ that dominates within most levels of the schooling system.     

Victimization during childhood and revictimization in dating relationships in adolescent girls

OBJECTIVE: Various experiences with violence during childhood and adolescence (parental violence, exposure to marital violence, sexual abuse within and outside the family, sexual harassment at school, community violence, involvement with violent or victimized peers, and previous dating violence) are examined as potential risk factors for psychological, physical, and sexual revictimization in adolescent girls' dating relationships. METHOD: A group of 917 teenage girls (mean age = 16.3) were recruited in 5 high schools located in low to middle socioeconomic areas. Participants were in the 10th and 11th grades, and each completed a self-administered questionnaire. Analyses were performed on the 622 participants who reported having at least one dating partner in the last 12 months. RESULTS: Prevalence rates for past victimization experiences varied from 13% to 43%. Regarding last-year dating victimization, prevalence rates varied from 25% to 37%, depending on the type of violence sustained. Results suggest that extrafamilial experiences with violence are stronger risk factors for recent dating victimization than intrafamilial experiences, especially being sexually harassed by male peers at school and being involved with violent or victimized peers during the year preceding the survey. However, it is important to differentiate between girls who are repeatedly victims of violence in a single, long-term relationship (repeat dating victimization), and girls who are revictimized by different partners (dating revictimization), the former sustaining more frequent physical and psychological violence than the latter. CONCLUSIONS: Findings underline the importance of early prevention of adolescent dating violence. Prevention programs should especially address extrafamilial experiences with violence as important risk factors for victimization in dating relationships, and teach girls strategies to break up abusive relationships.