Counseling in Nigeria and the United States of America: Contrasts and Similarities

This paper compares the profession of counseling in Nigeria and the United States of America (USA). Many differences exist in the practice of counseling in these two countries, including a greater emphasis on specialization, credentialing and licensing in the USA. Issues such as lack of insurance coverage and general economic disadvantage affect the utilization of counseling services in Nigeria. Although both countries are dealing with similar societal concerns, training standards remain localized. The authors recommend that given the global nature of counseling's reach and potential impact across the world, efforts should be made to implement international credentialing standards.     

Context matters: increasing understanding with interactive Clicker Case studies

Although interactive technology is presumed to increase student understanding in large classes, no previous research studies have empirically explored the effects of Clicker Cases on students?? performance. A Clicker Case is a story (e.g., a problem someone is facing) that uses clickers (student response systems) to engage students in understanding the meaning of the science contained within the story. Using an experimental randomized Solomon design across 11 institutions, we found that Clicker Cases increased student understanding more than PowerPoint lectures in large introductory biology classrooms, although there was variation across institutions and topics. By examining student performance in conjunction with faculty experience, we found that strong Clicker Cases created dissonance, captured attention and involved students in interpreting data or making decisions. This study provides a model for collaborative research across multiple institutions and demonstrates the need for using multiple institutions and topics in research on education.     

The relationship between neonatal characteristics and three-month mother-infant interaction in high-risk infants

The behavior of 4 groups of infants--healthy term, healthy preterm, sick preterm, and sick full-term--was assessed in the neonatal period using the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). At 3 months postterm, infants and their mothers were observed and videotaped in a free-play session. Both the NBAS and mother-infant interaction data were analyzed to assess the effects of maturity (term vs. preterm), illness (sick vs. healthy), and their interaction. Results revealed that illness of the infant affected both NBAS performance and maternal behavior during the interaction at 3 moths. Infants who were ill performed poorly on the NBAS orientation dimension; this dimension was found to be significantly associated with maternal and infant behaviors at 3 months. These data demonstrate an association between early infant characteristics and subsequent mother and child interactive behaviors. They also identify postnatal illness as an important influence on the development of the mother-infant dyad.     

From faith to good fellowship: Sunday school magazines in the late nineteenth century

Maureen Nimon has taught high school and college students and is currently teaching in Librarianship at the South Australian College of Advanced Education in Adelaide. She holds a doctorate from Flinders University.     

Reading, writing, and remediation: Perspectives on the dyslexic learning disability from remedial outcome data

This article addresses the problem of what constitutes effective remediation for developmental dyslexia, combining neuropsychological and applied cognitive perspectives on specific reading disability. Despite its high prevalence, whether the disorder is amenable to treatment and what constitutes effective treatment were questions which, until recently, remained essentially unaddressed by properly controlled evaluation studies. Positive results from controlled remediation studies and experimental training paradigms with disabled and poor reader samples are reviewed. As part of a clinical research program at The Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto, we have completed a series of treatment outcome studies with dyslexic samples (cumulative N = 285) in which we evaluated the efficacy of different programs designed to remediate the reading and reading-related deficits of dyslexic children and adolescents. Results from one of these studies are summarized to illustrate the unique perspective afforded through remedial outcome data: Emphasis is placed on what the results of such studies may reveal of dyslexic learning disabilities.     

The effects of differential college environments on academic learning and student perceptions of cognitive development

It was the purpose of this study to assess the effects of differential college environments on academic learning and cognitive development by testing Pascarella's theoretical general causal model with longitudinal data from a national database on college students. Secondary analysis of longitudinal data from the 1986 Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) freshman survey and from the 1990 follow-up CIRP survey was conducted to formulate the five clusters of independent variables and two dependent variables as postulated by Pascarella. The final sample was composed of 2,165 students at four-year institutions. The data were analyzed using path analysis. Direct, indirect, and total effects of all variables are reported. Results of the path analyses partially supported Pascarella's theoretical causal model. Findings suggested that student precollege traits, the quality of student effort in academic pursuits during college, and interactions with faculty and peers are more salient influences on learning and student perceptions of cognitive development than institutional characteristics and institutional environment. Based on the findings of the present study, a refined causal model for college student academic and cognitive outcomes is proposed. Recommendations and implications for further study are given.     

Conditioned cardiac and behavioral response topography to an olfactory CS dissociates with age

Conditioned cardiac and behavioral responses to an olfactory stimulus (CS) paired with electric shock (US) were studied in 16-, 23-, and 75-day-old rats. Heart rate and behavior were recorded during a single 15-trial training session in which a 10-sec olfactory stimulus (amyl acetate) was either paired or explicitly unpaired with the US. In the preweanling rats, the conditioned cardiac response consisted of anincrease in heart rate (tachycardia) and a slight increase in investigatory behaviors. In contrast, the conditioned cardiac response in the adult rats consisted of adecrease in heart rate (bradycardia) and a striking increase in behavioral immobility (freezing). The 23-day-old rats showed a dichotomous pattern of responding; some showed preweanling-like conditioned responses and some showed adultlike responses. Developmental changes in neural organization and degree of learning are discussed as possible determinants of the transition from infant to adult modes of responding.     

Information and communication technologies: transforming views of literacies in early childhood settings

This paper reports on an early childhood technology project that has been conducted in Australia since 2000. The background to the project is that IBM extended their international KidSmart Early Learning program to the Asia‐Pacific region. A partnership with the Australian National Schools Network was formed to implement the program in Australia. This organisation took responsibility for identification of early childhood centres (preschool and day care) serving low socio‐economic status communities across Australia (approximately 100 centres per year), the design and facilitation of professional development for teachers and research and evaluation in conjunction with the program. Whilst this was a national project, this paper deals only with the research conducted in Western Australia with the first round of centres involved in the project. The paper highlights themes emerging from teacher action research based in early childhood centres. The pedagogical considerations, challenges and dilemmas emerging from teachers' use of ICT in early childhood settings are also discussed.     

Reading Instruction in Lower Primary Classes: A Second Observational Study

1985 marked the beginning of the implementation of the Reading and English Acquisition Programme (REAP)—a programme aimed at retraining lower primary English teachers in reading and English language instruction. This programme covering 90 schools in 1986 evolved from research conducted by the Institute of Education personnel. The Reading Skills Project (see Ng, 1984), a 3-year study, examined pupils' reading progress from Primary 1 to 3 in 35 schools; a teacher-observation study looked into reading instructional activities in 24 of the above schools. There was simultaneously a search for reading instruction approaches suitable for the Singapore classroom followed by a small feasibility survey on a chosen approach; a re-examination of in-service reading courses and a literature search for strategies for programme implementation. The present study attempts to discuss only the teacher-observation facet of the total research work behind REAP. In view of the fact that Singapore-based teacher-observation studies are few (see Evaluation of CLIPS, 1981) and studies on the teaching of reading in lower primary still fewer (see Ng, 1980), it is important to first record the research findings for the study done in 1984, and their implications for classroom practice. As this study both replicates and extends a similar study done earlier, teacher educators and educational authorities may find, from the accumulated experience, confirming evidence of directions for a retraining programme for reading teachers, and the urgent need for both curriculum and instructional change in this field.     

Patterns of subsidies to higher education in Europe

The patterns of government subsidies to higher education in France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (UK) are compared and contrasted. The subsidies are subsequently evaluated in the light of stated policy objectives, with particular attention to the objectives of efficiency and equity. Two extreme models of financing are considered; one in which public subsidy covers 100 per cent of the private costs of higher education, including income forgone by students, the other in which public subsidy to students is kept at a minimum. The study concludes that the ideal package from the standpoint of efficiency and equity is (1) a grants system in the last few years of secondary education; (2) a system of fees equal to about 30–50 per cent of institutional incomes and (3) an income contingent loan scheme (or graduate tax) for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.The research for this paper was sponsored by the United States Education Policy Research Center for Higher Education and Society under HEW Contract No. 300-76-0026. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Center. Our thanks are due to J. Froomkin for valuable comments on an earlier draft.