Academic self-concept and academic interest measurement: A multi-sample European study

Academic self-concept and academic interest are crucial concepts for understanding students’ academic achievement. Yet, few questionnaires currently exist that have been used and validated in more than one country. This study aimed at assessing these concepts using an academic self-concept questionnaire (Marsh, 1990) and an academic interest questionnaire (Corbière & Mbekou, 1997) with French and Italian student samples. Confirmatory Factor Analyses enabled us to assess the structure of the two questionnaires with regard to two academic subjects — Math and First Language (French or Italian) — and to determine the theoretical directions between the concepts. Results from Confirmatory Factor Analyses of both French and Italian samples supported a theoretical model in which academic self-concept and academic interest were intercorrelated, yet maintaining their unique characteristics. On the other hand, results from Multi-Sample Confirmatory Factor Analyses (French and Italian samples) endorsed a correlational model between the two concepts. Finally, the results indicated a significant and positive correlation between academic self-concept, academic interest, and academic achievement in both academic subjects.     

Numeration a l'ecole elementaire

This paper presents results of research concerning the construction of the concept of natural integers by children. By testing the same children, whose school history was known with accuracy, at one year in tervals, we have sought to determine:

— How their competence in counting and numeration evolved during this period.

— What the mechanisms of this evolution were.

— What role school learning played.

     

Nullor网络一种新的拓扑分析方法

从节点导纳矩阵出发 ,定义了电压图、电流图 ,把节点导纳矩阵的代数余子式表示为电压图、电流图中完全树的树支导纳乘积之和     

Coordination of Knowledge of Numeration and Arithmetic Operations on First Grade Students

The aim of this study was to develop a better understanding of the processes involved in the construction of the oral and written symbolic systems of numbers and to grasp their role in the elaboration of the modeling function of numbers. Tasks related to both spoken and written number sequenceS and to addition and subtraction problems were given to six first graders. Analysis of the children's behavior permits discussion of certain theoretical questions raised by the research results of the construction of number sequence, contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between numeration and arithmetic operations and finally, in light of these results, permits us to propose ideas for teaching.     

What makes a good writer? Differences in good and poor writers' self-regulation of writing

Instructional Science - What makes someone a good writer? To begin to answer this question, we compared the discourse knowledge and self-regulation of good and poor writers, as well as the quality...     

From communication to verbalization: Language practices in kindergarten

Most children attend kindergarten very early in western societies; in fact, they are inserted in different contexts of socialization (family, school and/or other day-care). In what are these contexts of socialization different for linguistic abilities that they contribute to develop? How can the young children adapt themselves to these differences? These questions are discussed considering theoretical interactionnist approaches, and some analyses of communication practices in french kindergarten. Perspectives are released for a discussion on a pedagogy of oral language with young children.     

Comparisons of observed process quality in early child care and education programs in five countries

In this cross-national study, observed process quality in preschool classrooms was compared across five countries—Austria (n = 37), Germany (n=103), Portugal (n=88), Spain (n=80), and the U.S.A. (n=390). Process quality was assessed using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) and the Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS). Both instruments had comparable properties when used in the different countries. A MANOVA found overall ECERS differences between countries, with Austria and Germany scoring higher than Spain, and Austria higher than the U.S.A. CIS Sensitivity scale differences showed Austria and Spain with higher scores than the U.S.A. Tests of homogeneity of variance showed U.S.A. with the highest standard deviations. A discriminant analysis, using countries as groups and ECERS items as criterion variables, revealed differences between countries on two discriminant functions: Personalized Care and Availability and Use of Space and Play Materials. Results are discussed in terms of the early childhood traditions and infrastructures found in the five countries.     

Scientific discovery and topological transitions in collaboration networks

We analyze the advent and development of eight scientific fields from their inception to maturity and map the evolution of their networks of collaboration over time, measured in terms of co-authorship of scientific papers. We show that as a field develops it undergoes a topological transition in its collaboration structure between a small disconnected graph to a much larger network where a giant connected component of collaboration appears. As a result, the number of edges and nodes in the largest component undergoes a transition between a small fraction of the total to a majority of all occurrences. These results relate to many qualitative observations of the evolution of technology and discussions of the “structure of scientific revolutions”. We analyze this qualitative change in network topology in terms of several quantitative graph theoretical measures, such as density, diameter, and relative size of the network's largest component.To analyze examples of scientific discovery we built databases of scientific publications based on keyword and citation searches, for eight fields, spanning experimental and theoretical science, across areas as diverse as physics, biomedical sciences, and materials science. Each of the databases was vetted by field experts and is the result of a bibliometric search constructed to maximize coverage, while minimizing the occurrence of spurious records. In this way we built databases of publications and authors for superstring theory, cosmic strings and other topological defects, cosmological inflation, carbon nanotubes, quantum computing and computation, prions and scrapie, and H5N1 influenza. We also built a database for a classical example of “pathological” science, namely cold fusion. All these fields also vary in size and in their temporal patterns of development, with some showing explosive growth from an original identifiable discovery (e.g. carbon nanotubes) while others are characterized by a slow process of development (e.g. quantum computers and computation).We show that regardless of the detailed nature of their developmental paths, the process of scientific discovery and the rearrangement of the collaboration structure of emergent fields is characterized by a number of universal features, suggesting that the process of discovery and initial formation of a scientific field, characterized by the moments of discovery, invention and subsequent transition into “normal science” may be understood in general terms, as a process of cognitive and social unification out of many initially separate efforts. Pathological fields, seemingly, never undergo this transition, despite hundreds of publications and the involvement of many authors.