Face-to-face versus computer-mediated discussion of teaching cases: Impacts on preservice teachers’ engagement, critical analyses, and self-efficacy

Two frequently-used discussion protocols were investigated as part of a program to implement teaching cases in undergraduate educational psychology classes designed for preservice teachers. One protocol involved synchronous face-to-face (FTF) discussion of teaching cases, which occurred in class after students had individually completed written case analyses as homework outside of class. The other was asynchronous computer-mediated (CM) discussion taking place outside of class, simultaneous to students’ completion of their written case analyses. Six class offerings of an undergraduate child development course taught by two instructors (three classes by each instructor) were randomly assigned within instructor in a quasi-experimental design to one of the three discussion conditions: FTF, CM, or no discussion of the cases across the semester. Findings indicated that both CM and FTF discussion conditions were associated with positive outcomes relative to the control condition. Both CM and FTF discussion related to higher cognitive–affective engagement with the cases than the control condition; and the CM discussion condition was associated with higher cognitive–affective engagement than FTF discussion. In contrast, FTF discussion, but not CM discussion, was associated with higher-than-control-condition case analysis ability at the end of the semester. Potential explanations for these findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Citizen reactions to municipalities’ Instagram communication

In this paper, we explore how local governments are using Instagram as a communication tool to engage with their citizens, using data from the municipalities of Andalusia (Spain). We seek to identify the determinants of local government use of Instagram, the determinants of activity in this channel and the determinants of citizen reactions in order to understand the influence of media types (picture, video or album) used in municipality posts, and to understand content type (what the post is about). Instaloader, an open source intelligence (OSINT) tool for Instagram, was applied. It made it possible to automatically extract all posts of the analysed municipalities (14,742 posts). These were later automatically analysed using R, an open source software. It was determined that of the 29 Andalusian local governments with the highest populations, only those that maintain an account on Instagram, totalling 17 municipalities (58.62%), would be part of the final analysis. Our findings demonstrate that when local governments have a high level of debt, they do not maintain and actively use Instagram accounts. We also found that quality of posts’ content is more important than quantity of followers, since there is no significant relationship between citizen reactions and the number of inhabitants of a municipality or the number of followers (audience), while there is a significant negative relationship between the number of posts (activity) and reactions. Our results also highlight that the level of reactions can be stimulated by certain media and content types.     

Peer Play Interactions and Learning for Low-Income Preschool Children: The Moderating Role of Classroom Quality

Research Findings: The present study examined the degree to which the association between interactive peer play and academic skills was dependent upon the level of classroom quality for a representative sample of culturally and linguistically diverse urban Head Start children (N = 304 children across 53 classrooms). Peer play interactions within the classroom were assessed by teacher assistants in the fall of the year; observations of the quality of classroom instructional, emotional, and organizational support were conducted in the middle of the year; and norm-referenced direct assessments of literacy, language, and mathematics skills were administered in the spring. Findings from multilevel models indicated that disruptive and disconnected peer play behaviors early in the preschool year were associated with lower literacy and language skills regardless of classroom quality. However, interactive peer play early in the year was associated with higher mathematics outcomes when children were enrolled in classrooms characterized by high instructional support. Practice or Policy: Implications for early childhood research, practice, and policy are discussed.     

Emblematic gestures among Hebrew speakers in Israel

A field study was conducted in Israel to identify emblematic gestures recognized and used by Hebrew speakers. Studies which have identified the emblematic gestures of particular ethnic or national groups are reviewed and criticized. This study seeks to contribute increased rigor and systematology to the identification of particular groups' emblematic gestures.Twenty-six gestures commonly used in classroom interaction were selected for testing. The instrument used was Schneller's form, “Investigations of Interpersonal Communication in Israel.” Subjects included college students, members of YMCA classes for pensioners, and others. On the instrument, subjects noted their recognition and interpretations of the investigator's encoding intentions, their certainty or interpretation and where they learned each gesture.Whereas previous studies of this nature accepted around 70% interpretive agreement among subjects, this study indicates that at least 90% is a more reliable measure by which to label gestures “emblems.” In addition, correlations were tabulated for the effects of subjects' age, ethnicity, years in Israel, certainty about interpretation, and accuracy of interpretation.The findings of this study were: (a) eight gestures were identified as emblems, and three more gestures identified as possible emblems, (b) slightly negative although insignificant correlations were found between increased age, years in Israel, expressed certainty of interpretation and accuracy of interpretation, and (c) natives and subjects from 20–24 years of age tended to have the highest rates of expressed certainty of interpretation as well as accuracy of interpretation.The findings are compared with those of three other studies of Jews' gesturing and differences between the studies are considered. Recommendations include continuing such studies and comparing the results of related projects in order to form a comprehensive picture of particular groups of people.Limitations are discussed. These include: (a) a less than representative sample, (b) lack of a consistent conversational context, (c) potential for distortion in the decoding process, (d) the lack of a unified gesture labeling system, and (e) the possibility of cultural or researcher bias.