Evening activities as a potential confound in research on the adrenocortical system in children

The relation among children's evening activities, behavioral characteristics, and activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis was assessed in normally developing children ages 7 to 10 years. Salivary cortisol at bedtime was compared on evenings when children had structured activities outside of the home with unstructured evenings at home in relation to parental reports of children's behavioral characteristics. Participating in evening activities, particularly sport activities, was associated with small increases in bedtime cortisol levels in boys but not in girls. Differences in cortisol on activity versus no-activity nights were negatively related to children's social isolation. These results show that in studies with children, nights on which participants engage in sport activities should be avoided when collecting ambulatory measures of salivary cortisol concentrations.     

Using Animals to Teach Children Biology: Exploring the Use of Biological Explanations in Children’s Anthropomorphic Storybooks

Research Findings: Anthropomorphism—the attribution of human characteristics to nonhuman entities—has long been a staple of children’s media. However, children’s experiences with anthropomorphic media may interfere with biological reasoning instead encouraging an anthropocentric view of the natural world. To date, little research has addressed the typical content of children’s storybooks about animals: Do these storybooks present factual information that may support early developing biological reasoning, or do they instead focus on human-centered, psychological information that may encourage anthropocentrism? We analyzed the types of causal explanatory information that commercial storybooks about animals provide to children about 2 biological concepts that have been extensively studied in the experimental literature: biological inheritance and the transmission of illness. Using coding schemes similar to those used in prior experimental literature to assess preschool-age children’s biological reasoning, we found that none of the anthropomorphized books presented children with scientifically accurate causal mechanisms. These books focused almost exclusively on social-emotional experiences as opposed to biological explanations, which may inadvertently encourage anthropocentric reasoning. Practice or Policy: Understanding more about the content of informal sources of early learning can help inform educators on how to best support developing knowledge about the natural world and biological properties.     

Learning from our own lessons: pre-service teachers’ narratives of teaching as an experiment

Pre-service teachers need to develop habits of mind that allow them to grow as new teachers. This article describes an elementary mathematics methods course in which teaching as an experiment was used a framework for pre-service teachers to participate in action research by developing learning goals, observing and analyzing student thinking, hypothesizing and enacting teaching strategies, and reflecting on the effectiveness of a lesson. Through analysis of reflections and lesson plans, the article explores three groups of pre-service teachers’ reflections on teaching as well as their confidence across the semester. By treating lessons as experiments, the pre-service teachers were able to develop appropriate teaching responses over time as well as gain confidence in their abilities.     

Equivalent but not the Same: Teaching and Learning in Full Semester and Condensed Summer Courses

Research on teaching and learning in condensed-course formats is varied and difficult to generalize. We analyze this research and identify factors that may account for the varied findings. Additionally, we present a mixed methodology study of 20 matched-pair courses (i.e., full and condensed formats) from 11 disciplines which examines student learning and student and faculty perception data. We find that faculty and students perceive condensed courses as more effective, but that student learning varies depending upon the measures used to assess it. We conclude by considering the implications of our study for teaching and assessment practices.     

Dampening of Adrenocortical Responses during Infancy: Normative Changes and Individual Differences

Changes in cortisol and behavioral responses were examined longitudinally in 83 infants (39 girls, 44 boys) tested at their well-baby exams with inoculations at 2, 4, 6, and 15 months (72 infants completed all testing). Another sample of 2-, 4-, and 6-month-olds ( n = 18 per age) received mock exams without inoculations to determine early developmental changes to the exam procedures. Behavioral distress was coded every 30 sec during the exam, a 5-min inoculation period, and a 20-min recovery period. Salivary cortisol was obtained upon arrival at the clinic and 25 min after the beginning of the inoculation period. To the exam-inoculation procedures, cortisol responses were high at 2 months, decreased significantly between 2 and 4 months, remained comparable between 4 and 6 months, and then declined again between 6 and 15 months. Between 6 and 15 months there was also a decrease in pretest cortisol. By 15 months, significant increases in cortisol from pre- to posttest were no longer observed for most infants. To the exam-only procedures, cortisol responses decreased between 2 and 4 months, and by 4 months most infants failed to show pre- to posttest increases in cortisol. Behavioral distress decreased between 2 and 6 months, but increased again at 15 months. While crying and cortisol were modestly correlated during the 2- to 6-month exam-inoculation procedures, at 15 months no significant correlations were obtained. Behavioral and hormonal reactions thus followed different ontogenetic paths and may provide different information about infant functioning. There was some evidence that the emergence of the circadian rhythm in cortisol might be related to the early decrease in cortisol response.     

Creating change agents for interprofessional education and practice: a leadership programme for academic staff and health practitioners

Universities face increasing pressure not only to embed interprofessional education within health education curricula but also to prepare graduates as catalysts of change for interprofessional, team-based approaches to health care delivery. Currently, few leadership programmes exist that support the expansion of interprofessional education. This paper describes the development, implementation and evaluation of a leadership programme aimed to build faculty and health practitioners’ capacity to become change agents for interprofessional education and practice. The programme was delivered by two Australian universities, each in partnership with a local health care provider. A mixed method approach was adopted to measure participants’ pre- and post- knowledge, reactions to the programme, planned and reported behavioural changes, and organizational outcomes. The programme was positively evaluated and reported to increase participants’ understanding of interprofessional education and practice. Follow up with participants suggested the programme had facilitated the implementation of interprofessional education and practice in both academic and practice contexts.     

A University-Based Literacy Service-Learning Program for Youthful Offenders on Probation: A Preliminary Study of the Program’s Development,Implementation and Feasibility

This article reports on the development, implementation and feasibility of a mid-Atlantic university-community service-learning literacy program for youth on probation. Undergraduate teacher candidates served as literacy instructors for the youth. We focus on benefits and administrative challenges of developing and implementing a preliminary service-learning program for probated youth living in the community. We analyzed focus group data collected from special education undergraduate instructors, interview data collected from probated youth and their case managers, pre-post literacy assessments administered to the youth, the youths’ court files and data maintained by the community-based agency. We conclude that our model of a university-community literacy partnership has the potential to raise reading performance of youth, motivation, and promote prosocial behaviors. Addressing the educational needs of youth on probation, however, is complex and multifaceted. We find that success requires consistent communication among all stakeholders, adequate funding for leadership, organization and curricula, and ongoing assessment and evaluation.     

‘I think autism is like running on Windows while everyone else is a Mac’: using a participatory action research approach with students on the autistic spectrum to rearticulate autism and the lived experience of university

This co-authored article outlines the research process and key findings from the Stratus Writers Project, a participatory action research project with a group of seven students on the autistic spectrum at a university in the North of England. The project explores their experiences of university through critical autobiographies and offers unique insider perspectives into some of the key issues, challenges and successes. Building on a participatory action research approach, the data were collected by the participants themselves; however, this study departs from traditional research in that the participants also analysed the data, thus offering rich and potentially overlooked theoretical knowledge. The article concludes by demonstrating the strength of participatory action research approaches by identifying the impact that our project and its findings have had so far.     

Out of Reach,Out of Mind? Infants’ Comprehension of References to Hidden Inaccessible Objects

This study investigated the nature of infants’ difficulty understanding references to hidden inaccessible objects. Twelve‐month‐old infants (N = 32) responded to the mention of objects by looking at, pointing at, or approaching them when the referents were visible or accessible, but not when they were hidden and inaccessible (Experiment I). Twelve‐month‐olds (N = 16) responded robustly when a container with the hidden referent was moved from a previously inaccessible position to an accessible position before the request, but failed to respond when the reverse occurred (Experiment II). This suggests that infants might be able to track the hidden object's dislocations and update its accessibility as it changes. Knowing the hidden object is currently inaccessible inhibits their responding. Older, 16‐month‐old (N = 17) infants’ performance was not affected by object accessibility.     

Futurescaping: school choice of internationally mobile global middle class families temporarily residing in Malaysia

ABSTRACT

This paper explores internationally mobile global middle class families (GMCF) in terms of how they rationalise moving away from their home country, select schools and reimagine their young children’s futures in an international setting. Building on Appadurai’s notion of ‘the future as a cultural fact’ and Anagnost’s concept of ‘life-making in neoliberal times’ we analyse how the search for escaping the past is dialectically related to seeking better futures. For GMCFs, the search for better futures within current neoliberal times leads to them discursively constructing spatial–temporal movements across international boundaries. The term ‘futurescaping’ is introduced and used to understand the act of imagining futures that are shaped by a person’s past and present experience. We argue that futurescaping is more than simply transnational mobility, but is a multidimensional act, which is dynamic, culturally value-ladened, historically embedded, futuristic and provides a unique view into the everyday lives of internationally mobile GMCF.