Thinking emotions with two-year-old children: an educational programme to improve emotional knowledge in young preschoolers / Pensando las emociones con niños de dos años: un programa educativo para mejorar el conocimiento emocional en primer ciclo de Educación Infantil

Abstract

This article aims to present preliminary data to validate and show the effectiveness of the educational programme Thinking emotions with a sample of children aged two years. To test its effectiveness, a sample of 57 children was selected. The sample was divided into experimental group (N = 38) and control group (N = 19). Participants were evaluated for overall development (Brunet-Lezine) and emotional understanding through two tests (AKT and TEC) before and after the implementation of the programme in the classroom. The tutors implemented the programme during school hours in weekly 45-minute sessions over six months. The results show significant advances in emotion understanding of children in the experimental group versus the control group. Results are discussed considering the implications of early education on emotions and the consequences on psychological wellbeing.     

Using Online Studio Groups to Improve Writing Competency: A Pilot Study in a Quality Improvement Methods Course

Communication skills are a significant contributor to an individual's success in the workplace. Unfortunately, students often have trouble expressing their ideas in written form and the poor quality of students’ written work often impedes the learning process. This pilot study investigates the use of online writing studios within a quality improvement methods course and the impact of this intervention on students’ writing competency and perceptions about the writing process. The impact of this approach on student performance is evaluated within and across semesters using comparative statistical analyses. Results show that students who participated in online writing studios performed better (i.e., at least one rubric level higher) on their final written assignments for the course compared to students who did not, and that this approach is associated with improved students’ perceptions about the writing process. This research suggests that the use of online writing studios within a content‐specific course can incrementally improve students’ writing competency over the course of one semester, and can positively affect the learning of written communication skills and change students’ perceptions about various aspects of the writing process.     

Resilience does not predict academic performance in gross anatomy

Few studies have evaluated resilience in an academic environment as it relates to academic success or failure. This work sought to assess resilience in regular and remedial students of gross anatomy during the first and second semesters of medical school and to correlate this personal trait with academic performance. Two groups of students were compared: the first group included first‐year medical students in the regular course, and the second group included first‐year medical students who did not pass the regular anatomy course and so were enrolled in the remedial course. Both groups completed anonymous surveys designed to gather demographic data and establish scores on the Connor‐Davidson resilience scale, which includes 25 statements rated zero to four on a Likert scale (maximum score 100). The average resilience score was the same for both groups, 80 ± 9. The average anatomy grades differed significantly between regular students (67± 15.0) and remedial students (61 ± 12.0). While there was no overall correlation between resilience score and anatomy grade, regular students with resilience scores of 75 or greater showed slightly better academic performance than their classmates. Similarly, remedial students with resilience scores of 87 or greater faired better academically. Resilience does not predict academic performance in gross anatomy, and further work is necessary to identify those intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence students' achievements. Anat Sci Educ. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.     

Reflecting on the moral bases of critical pedagogy in PETE: toward a Foucaultian perspective on ethics and the care of the self

In teacher education and in physical education teacher education (PETE), the possibilities and pitfalls of critical pedagogy (CP) for transforming society have been frequently debated. From these debates, it has become quite clear that the lines separating ‘technocrats’ from ‘radicals’ are so strongly drawn that limit the advance of PETE. In the spirit of collegiality, we offer an alternative approach to CP based on Foucault's genealogical work on the History of Sexuality. It promotes a pedagogical perspective toward the development of ethics and the care of the self. We argue that this approach, far from discrediting what non-critical pedagogues do, can not only advance the practice of CP, but also open up new ways of conceptualizing PETE that are worth considering both by critical pedagogues and by the members of other pedagogical camps. We discuss the implications of this approach in the personal, social–professional and political spheres.     

Funciones del logopeda en un centro de educación especial

RESUMEN

La complejidad de los trastornos del habla y las alteraciones del lenguaje que presentan los deficientes mentales requiere un tratamiento terapéutico especializado por parte del logopeda en su medio natural, que deberá desarrollarse en colaboración con la familia y profesores, con el fin de que el trabajo se realice en una misma dirección. Estos niños presentan desfases de comprensión y expresión verbal, desfases que aumentan con la edad. Por ello un diagnóstico adecuado en colaboración con otros profesionales es imprescindible para realizar una intervención lo más temprana posible. La escuela es un medio adecuado para su tratamiento por utilizarse el lenguaje como medio de comunicación. Se aconseja un tratamiento grupal para favorecer la comunicación y la sociabilidad de estos niños. Sin embargo, aquellos con algún problema específico deben recibir atención individualizada.     

Memoria incidental e intencional en preescolares

Resumen

En general, se ha mantenido que los niños en edad preescolar recuerdan mejor en tareas de aprendizaje incidental que en las de aprendizaje intencional. En este estudio se ha reexaminado esta cuestión y se ha visto que no existe tal diferencia. Niños de 3 a 5 reconocieron de modo semejante una serie de objetos y dibujos, tanto si se les había advertido previamente que debían recordar como si no. El estudio ha demostrado asimismo, y en concordancia con otros trabajos, que el recuerdo no es independiente del nivel de conocimiento ni de la edad del niño. En virtud de estos resultados se hace una interpretación de la memoria infantil acorde con la teoría de los niveles de procesamiento.     

Social representations of the development of intelligence, parental values and parenting styles: a theoretical model for analysis

Within the theoretical framework of social representations theory, a substantial body of literature has advocated and shown that, as interpretative systems and forms of knowledge concurring in the construction of a social reality, social representations are guides for action, influencing behaviours and social relations. Based on this assumption, the primary goal of the current study was to investigate the relationship between social representations of the development of intelligence and parenting styles while also examining the role played by the values that parents desire for their children. The sample included 466 subjects with educational responsibilities (117 fathers, 227 mothers and 122 mother–teachers). Participants completed a self-administered survey on their representations of the development of intelligence, values desired for their children and parenting styles. A theoretical model which examined the relations among these variables was tested. Structural equation modelling procedures indicated, as hypothesised, that dimensions which emphasise the role of parents and the importance of constant accompaniment of children for the development of intelligence influence the authoritative parenting style, while dimensions which outline the role of school and teachers relate to authoritarian and permissive parenting styles. Additionally, although in some cases values were seen both to be determined by social representations and to influence parenting styles, the meditational hypothesis of values was not fully confirmed. Overall, the results obtained suggest that social representations, styles and values tend to build up a potentially significant organisation for parental activities. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings in research and educational intervention are discussed.     

The Relationship of Competition and Financial Commitment Revisited: A Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis in European Newspaper Markets

The Cincinnati Post published its last edition on New Year's Eve 2007, leaving the Cincinnati Enquirer as the only daily newspaper in the market. The next year, fewer candidates ran for municipal office in the Kentucky suburbs most reliant on the Post, incumbents became more likely to win reelection, and voter turnout and campaign spending fell. These changes happened even though the Enquirer at least temporarily increased its coverage of the Post's former strongholds. Voter turnout remained depressed through 2010, nearly three years after the Post closed, but the other effects diminished with time. The authors exploited a difference-in-differences strategy and the fact that the Post's closing date was fixed 30 years in advance to rule out some noncausal explanations for their results. Although their findings are statistically imprecise, they suggest that newspapers—even underdogs such as the Post, which had a circulation of just 27,000 when it closed—can have a substantial and measurable impact on public life.     

Teaching skills to promote clinical reasoning in early basic science courses

Basic and superior reasoning skills are woven into the clinical reasoning process just as they are used to solve any problem. As clinical reasoning is the central competence of medical education, development of these reasoning skills should occur throughout the undergraduate medical curriculum. The authors describe here a method of teaching reasoning skills in a clinical context during a human anatomy course. Anat Sci Educ 3:267–271, 2010. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.     

Emotional design application to evaluate user impressions of library information desks

To evaluate the quality of service it is critical to know the concepts on which such evaluations are made from the user point of view. Differential semantics was applied in an emotional design framework to identify these concepts, or dimensions, and an equation was devised to discover the influence they have in the acceptance of a service by users. Some 53 users evaluated the tangible elements of 28 library information desks. Five latent concepts emerged from the analysis: modern, welcoming, professional, simple, and accessible. The most influential concepts influencing willingness to interact at library information desks were, in descending order, modernity, professionalism, welcoming environment, and accessibility. Finally, a comparative semantic profile was developed to explore the perception differences between the most and the least desirable information desks. Understanding the concepts that users consider when evaluating information desks and the influence of those concepts on user behavior can help designers improve overall service quality impressions.