A Self-Regulated Learning Approach to Teaching Educational Psychology

In this paper, we describe an undergraduate educational psychology course that utilizes self-regulated learning as the organizing principle. The course aims to facilitate students' development in self-regulated learning and to promote students' understanding of how to embed instruction for self-regulated learning strategies into classroom teaching. In the first section of the paper, we develop the rationale for this position and identify underlying assumptions we believe should guide the development and implementation of such a program. In the second section of the paper, we demonstrate how we have incorporated these assumptions in a basic educational psychology course.     

Child maltreatment as a risk factor for opioid dependence: Comparison of family characteristics and type and severity of child maltreatment with a matched control group

ObjectiveTo examine the prevalence, characteristics and risk factors for child maltreatment among opioid-dependent persons compared to a community sample of similar social disadvantage.MethodThe study employed a case-control design. Cases had a history of opioid pharmacotherapy. Controls were frequency matched to cases with regard to age, sex and unemployment and were restricted to those with a lifetime opioid use of less than five times. The interview covered child maltreatment, family environment, drug use and psychiatric history.ResultsThis study found a high prevalence of child maltreatment among both cases and controls. Despite the elevated prevalence among controls, opioid-dependent males had a higher prevalence of physical and emotional abuse; female cases had a higher prevalence and greater severity of sexual abuse. The prevalence of neglect was similar for both groups. Early parental separation was more prevalent among female cases compared to female controls; otherwise the prevalence of the risk factors was comparable for both groups. The risk factors significantly associated with child maltreatment were also similar for both cases and controls.ConclusionsGiven the documented association between child maltreatment and adult mental disorder, child maltreatment may be an important antecedent of current psychological distress in persons presenting to treatment for opioid dependence. Apart from a possible association between early parental separation and sexual abuse among female cases, the increased prevalence of child maltreatment associated with opioid dependence did not appear to be related to differences in early childhood risk factors considered in this paper. Other risk factors may be more pertinent for those with opioid dependence.Practice implicationsThe high prevalence of child maltreatment among the opioid-dependent sample has implications for the assessment and treatment of clients presenting with opioid dependence. Assessment of child maltreatment history could help inform the development of individual treatment plans to better address those factors contributing to the development and maintenance of opioid dependence. Specifically, management of co-morbid mental disorder associated with child maltreatment could be the focus of relapse prevention programmes and also have a positive influence on treatment retention.     

Examining the Relations Between Spatial Skills,Spatial Anxiety,and K‐12 Teacher Practice

Spatial skills are important for student success in STEM disciplines at the K‐12 educational level. Teachers' spatial skills and feelings about completing spatial tasks influence their teaching as well as their students' spatial learning. However, the relation between teachers' spatial skills and their spatial anxiety is not well understood. Here we investigated if teachers' spatial skills influence two kinds of small‐scale spatial anxiety: (a) anxiety for tasks involving visual imagery and (b) anxiety for tasks involving mental manipulations. In addition, we investigated if teachers' spatial skills in conjunction with their small‐scale spatial anxiety influence the integration of spatial practices, such as gestures and diagrams, into their teaching. Eighty‐two K‐12 teachers completed two subscales of small‐scale spatial anxiety, a measure of spatial skills, and a teaching activities questionnaire. Results indicate that teachers' spatial skills are negatively associated with their spatial anxiety for mental manipulation tasks, and positively associated with their use of spatial practices. These findings highlight the need to account for teachers' spatial skills when considering how to improve students' spatial learning.     

How full is your luggage? Background knowledge of zoo visitors regarding sharks

For the general population, sharks have a reputation that does not really fit with their biological and ecological nature. Informal surveys often classify sharks as dangerous, aggressive and/or man-eaters. This apparent common knowledge seems difficult to detach from the conscience of many worldwide zoo visitors, even with the help of shark-focused educational programmes. As so, how can zoos and aquariums contribute to a change in this paradigm? Are the education and conservation strategies effective to the average zoo visitor? In this study, young visitors’ perceptions regarding sharks were assessed with the goal of identifying a valid Learning Progression, thus helping to update and develop different and more effective educational strategies and methodologies. The study took place at Zoomarine, an oceanographic park located in southern Portugal, with visitors aged between 8 and 16. A case study was conducted using a qualitative research approach (drawings and interviews) resulting in a Learning Progression Hypothesis. The proposed Learning Progression is composed of three knowledge levels for the participants’ biological perceptions regarding sharks. The results of this study showed a clear predominance of anthropomorphic and anthropocentric visions, as well as a utilitarian view of sharks and ecosystem, thus conditioning the visitors’ epistemological knowledge.     

A contribution to the history of assessment: how a conversation simulator redeems Socratic method

Assessment in education is a recent phenomenon. Although there were counterparts in former epochs, the term assessment only began to be spoken about in education after the Second World War; and, since that time, views, strategies and concerns over assessment have proliferated according to an uncomfortable dynamic. We fear that, increasingly, education is assessment-led rather than learning-led and ‘counter to what is desired’ in an ugly judgemental spirit whose moral underpinnings deserve scrutiny. In this article, we seek to historicise assessment and the anxieties of credentialising students. Through this longer history, we present a philosophy of assessment which underlies the development of a new method in assessment-as-learning. We hope that our development of a conversation simulator helps restore the innocence of education as learning-led, while still delivering on the incumbencies of assessment.     

Exploring the everyday realities of grass-roots football coaching: towards a relational perspective

While scholars have increasingly engaged with the (micro)political and emotional experiences of coaches in professional and semi-professional football, little attention has been given to grass-roots coaches’ understandings of these issues. The aim of this paper is to outline one possible research agenda that could contribute to the development of a rich and increasingly nuanced understanding of the everyday realities of being a grass-roots football coach. In particular, we consider (volunteer) coaches’ participation in grass-roots football to be an inherently relational endeavour. Following the presentation of a creative fiction that is based upon our shared experiences of being grass-roots football coaches, we then illustrate how relational thinking might be productively applied to exploring the social, (micro)political and emotional features of grass-roots football coaching.     

An evaluation of four end-user systems for searching MEDLINE

This study compared features and determined which of four end-user systems (PaperChase, GRATEFUL MED, Med-Base, or Compact Cambridge: MEDLINE) would best serve the Medical Sciences and Optometry Libraries of Indiana University in providing biomedical information to faculty and graduate students through MEDLINE. Cost, ease of use, retrieval, training needs, equipment requirements, and adequacy of documentation were examined. The study consisted of a comparison of the features of each system based on available documentation; a controlled search performed by the investigators on each system and on regular NLM MEDLINE; and a user study based on observations, questionnaires, and interviews with eleven library patrons who performed the same search of their choice on each of the four systems.