Child Development and the Social Demography of Childhood

This article provides background information and a practical guide for including demographic information in developmental research. First, it portrays historic demographic trends reflecting critical ways in which the family and economic environments of children have been, and continue to be, transformed in the United States. Second, it presents current demographic statistics to provide a basis for researchers to compare their special study population to the general population of children and to formulate specific hypotheses about ways in which their result might differ for children in various demographic situations. Third, it offers an Appendix with standardized wording for a minimum set of questions needed to measure the demographic characteristics and environments of children. The Appendix provides researchers the technical capacity to collect such data, so they can develop and test hypotheses about how family and econmic environments shape child development processes and outcomes.     

Correlates of Work-Life Balance for Faculty Across Racial/Ethnic Groups

Very few studies have examined issues of work-life balance among faculty of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. Utilizing data from Harvard University’s Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education project, this study examined predictors of work-life balance for 2953 faculty members from 69 institutions. The final sample consisted of 1059 (36%) Asian American faculty, 512 (17%) African American faculty, 359 (12%) Latina/o faculty, and 1023 (35%) White/Caucasian faculty. There were 1184 (40%) women faculty and 1769 (60%) men faculty. The predictors of worklife balance included faculty characteristics, departmental/institutional characteristics and support, and faculty satisfaction with work. While African American women faculty reported less work-life balance than African American men, the reverse was true for Latina/o faculty. In addition, White faculty who were single with no children were significantly less likely to report having work-life balance than their married counterparts with children. Faculty rank was a significant positive predictor of work-life balance for all faculty. Notably, the findings highlight the importance of department and institutional support for making personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible. Institutional support for making personal/family obligations and an academic career compatible was consistently the strongest positive predictor of perceived work-life balance for all faculty. In addition, satisfaction with time spent on research had positive associations with work-life balance for all faculty, highlighting how faculty from all racial/ethnic backgrounds value being able to spend enough time on their own research.     

On mathematical understanding: perspectives of experienced Chinese mathematics teachers

Researchers have long debated the meaning of mathematical understanding and ways to achieve mathematical understanding. This study investigated experienced Chinese mathematics teachers’ views about mathematical understanding. It was found that these mathematics teachers embrace the view that understanding is a web of connections, which is a result of continuous connection making. However, in contrast to the popular view which separates understanding into conceptual and procedural, Chinese teachers prefer to view understanding in terms of concepts and procedures. They place more stress on the process of concept development, which is viewed as a source of students’ failures in transfer. To achieve mathematical understanding, the Chinese teachers emphasize strategies such as reinventing a concept, verbalizing a concept, and using examples and comparisons for analogical reasoning. These findings draw on the perspective of classroom practitioners to inform the long-debated issue of the meaning of mathematical understanding and ways to achieve mathematical understanding.     

Redefining the ResponsibiIities of Teachers and the Social Position of the Technical Communicator

As we increasingly recognize the social nature of technical communication, our responsibilities as teachers need to be redefined. Three levels of responsibility are suggested: at the theoretical level, we should study technical communication as a historically emergent social practice; at the pedagogical level, we need to incorporate social and historical perspectives into technical communication courses and curricula; at the level of social action, we should participate in defining and creating new sites of practice for technical communicators. Several suggestions are offered for helping students locate or develop alternative sites of technical communication practice.     

Perceived and Measured Needs Levels of Counselor Education Students

Because the counseling profession places high value on counselors possessing accurate self-awareness, this study investigated the differences and relationships between counselor education students' self-perceived and measured needs levels. A sample of 107 counselor students estimated their needs levels and then completed the Personality Research Form (PRF). Significant differences between their perceived and measured needs levels were found for 10 of the 14 PRF scales. Wide variations were evident in both perceived and measured needs levels. Significant correlations between perceived and measured needs levels percentiles for all 14 scales indicated consistency in over or under estimation of needs levels. Age and number of quarter hours completed were generally unrelated to accuracy of needs level estimation.     

Teacher capacity for and beliefs about data-driven decision making: A literature review of international research

Data-driven decision making continues to be a growing educational reform initiative across the globe. The effective use of data requires that teachers develop the knowledge and skills to analyze and use data to improve instruction. The purpose of this article is to examine teachers’ capacity for and beliefs about data use. These issues are examined through a review of research in the past decade. We find that teachers’ beliefs about and capacity for data use are often not connected within the literature or in practice, but we argue they are the heart of the connection between data and instructional change. Teachers’ capacity to use data and their beliefs about data use are shaped within their professional communities, in training sessions, and in their interactions with coaches, consultants, and principals. However, efforts to develop teachers’ capacity for data use often fall short of their goals. Correspondingly, teachers have varied beliefs about data use, and some feel they lack the ability to use data to inform instruction. In order to be more successful, capacity building should directly address teachers’ beliefs, and data use must be decoupled from external accountability demands and involve a variety of information on student learning.     

Student Perceptions of Chemistry Laboratory Learning Environments, Student–Teacher Interactions and Attitudes in Secondary School Gifted Education Classes in Singapore

This study investigated the chemistry laboratory classroom environment, teacher–student interactions and student attitudes towards chemistry among 497 gifted and non-gifted secondary-school students in Singapore. The data were collected using the 35-item Chemistry Laboratory Environment Inventory (CLEI), the 48-item Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI) and the 30-item Questionnaire on Chemistry-Related Attitudes (QOCRA). Results supported the validity and reliability of the CLEI and QTI for this sample. Stream (gifted versus non-gifted) and gender differences were found in actual and preferred chemistry laboratory classroom environments and teacher–student interactions. Some statistically significant associations of modest magnitude were found between students' attitudes towards chemistry and both the laboratory classroom environment and the interpersonal behaviour of chemistry teachers. Suggestions for improving chemistry laboratory classroom environments and the teacher–student interactions for gifted students are provided.     

Novel high torque bearingless two-sided rotary ultrasonic motor

Applications are limited at present because the currently available ultrasonic motors (USMs) do not provide suffi-ciently high torque and power. The conventional travelling-wave USM needs the bearing to support, which required lubricant. To solve the above problem, a bearingless travelling-wave USM is designed. First, a novel structure of the two-sided USM consisting of a two-sided teeth stator and two disk-type rotors is designed. And the excitation principle of the two-sided travelling-wave USM is analyzed. Then, using ANSYS software, we set up the model of the stator to predict the excitation frequency and modal response of the stator. The shape of the vibration mode was obtained. Last, the load characteristics of the USM are measured using ex-perimental method. The maximum stall torque and the no-load speed were obtained. The results showed that the characteristics of the two-sided USM are better than those of the conventional one-sided USM.     

Acculturation, substance use, and deviant behavior: examining separation and family conflict as mediators

This longitudinal study examined how separation and family conflict mediated the effects of two acculturation variables (English language use and generational status) on substance use (alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use) and deviant behavior outcomes in a Mexican American high school age sample. Structural equation modeling indicated that separation was a significant mediator of the relationship between acculturation and alcohol use, tobacco use, and deviant behavior. Family conflict mediated the effects of acculturation on marijuana use and deviant behavior. Model comparisons across gender groups suggested that generational status was an influential acculturation measure for females but not males. Additionally, English language use maintained a direct effect on marijuana use among females, whereas this relationship was mediated by separation for males.     

Teaching Against the Grain as an Act of Love: Disrupting White Eurocentric Masculinist Frameworks Within Teacher Education

What is radical love in teaching? How can radical love incite change and transformation within teacher education? What does radical love entail to prepare critically minded teachers for urban schools? In this conceptual paper, we respond to these questions through our individual and collective experiences as social justice oriented teacher educators preparing students to teach in urban schools. We engage with our womanist ways of knowing (Walker in In search of our mothers’ gardens: womanist prose, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, 2004) and “theory in flesh” (Moraga and Anzaldúa in This bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color, 2nd edn, Kitchen Table/Women of Color Press, New York, 1983) to collaboratively reflect and analyze our conversations, reflective journaling, meetings, and other telling moments about what it means to practice radical love in teaching. More specifically, we identify three central concepts of what love as an act of resistance or teaching against the grain entails: (1) vulnerability, (2) collective support and healing, and (3) critique. Through these concepts we offer a framework from which to practice radical love in teaching and work in solidarity with others to transform oppressive systems in urban (teacher) education.