Scaffolding young children’s understanding of symbolic objects

Symbolic objects are cognitive tools children must learn to master very early in life. A crucial factor in cognitive development is the instruction or informational support children receive in social contexts. While numerous studies have investigated the relation between instruction and development in various domains, like language or symbolic play, still little is known concerning the role of this factor in the comprehension of symbolic objects. The purpose of this article is to illustrate with an overview of the results of the authors’ research how instruction scaffolds the comprehension and use of symbolic objects. In this framework instruction is conceived as a process that mediates the skills that children develop and meanings they build. Some educational implications are discussed.     

Young children category learning: a training study

From an integrative approach, this work focuses on the role of conceptual mechanisms, such as comparison and conceptual-based inference, and sociopragmatic support in young children's taxonomic categorization. “Experiment 1” assessed whether 3-, 4-, and 6-year-old children succeed in detecting taxonomic relations on their own. A clear developmental trend was found: 6-year-olds succeeded, whereas 4- and 3-year-olds relied primarily on perceptually based categories. “Experiment 2” assessed if 3-year-olds are able to change their perceptual response into a taxonomic categorization as a function of the co-occurrence of contingent category information and feedback in an interactive process with an adult (experimenter). A pretest–posttest training study compared 3-year-olds' performance in four conditions: comparison, conceptual-based, information-only, and feedback-only. A perceptual–totaxonomic shift was found only in the comparison and conceptual-based training groups. Children who only received either category information or corrective feedback did not make such a shift. The results show that social interaction with supportive adults is a mechanism that drives conceptual understanding in early childhood.     

The Role of Sex of Peers and Gender‐Typed Activities in Young Children's Peer Affiliative Networks: A Longitudinal Analysis of Selection and Influence

A stochastic actor‐based model was used to investigate the origins of sex segregation by examining how similarity in sex of peers and time spent in gender‐typed activities affected affiliation network selection and how peers influenced children's (N = 292; M_age = 4.3 years) activity involvement. Gender had powerful effects on interactions through direct and indirect pathways. Children selected playmates of the same sex and with similar levels of gender‐typed activities. Selection based on gender‐typed activities partially mediated selection based on sex of peers. Children influenced one another's engagement in gender‐typed activities. When mechanisms producing sex segregation were compared, the largest contributor was selection based on sex of peers; less was due to activity‐based selection and peer influence. Implications for sex segregation and gender development are discussed.     

DESCRIBE IT: A Strategy for Teacher Candidates Implementing Behavior Interventions

Teachers with years of experience in the classroom rely on that experience to help them develop behavior intervention plans for students with behavioral challenges. New teachers, however, may struggle with the complex steps needed to develop successful plans as they address other aspects of their professional work for the first time. DESCRIBE IT is a strategy that novice teachers can use to help generalize the process of behavior intervention planning they learned in university courses to their practice in the field. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how DESCRIBE IT guided one special education teacher through the process for behavior intervention planning and implementation. Use of DESCRIBE IT may help new teachers plan and monitor behavior interventions as they start their careers.     

Self-Advocacy Group Advisor Activities and Their Impact/Relation to Self-Advocacy Group Development

The purpose of this study was to identify self-advocacy group advisor activities, to examine advisor activities as they are linked to self-advocacy group development, and to examine how advisor activities change over time. A telephone survey was administered to 118 advisors randomly selected from a directory of self-advocacy groups (Longhurst, 1994). A total of 90 telephone surveys were completed representing a response rate of 76%. Major findings reveal a wide array of advisor activities, but perhaps most importantly, information on how advisors see their activities changing as the group changes. The results of this investigation provide important baseline information for individuals affiliated with the self-advocacy movement, university affiliated programs, developmental disability councils, and professionals in the field of intellectual impairment/developmental disabilities. The results can be used to help better meet the needs of advisors, self-advocacy group members, and to help readers to better understand how to support a self-advocacy group as it is evolving.     

Cardiorespiratory fitness and telomere length: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to systematically review the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and telomere length (TL). Studies were identified from searches in Cochrane Central, PubMed, Scopus, Sportdiscus, and Web of Science databases through July 2019. Eligibility criteria included: cross-sectional, prospective, and experimental study design; outcomes included TL; results expressed the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and TL; studies published in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. A total of 20 articles met the inclusion criteria. Sixteen studies (80%) reported a significant relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness, or training load, and TL. Better cardiorespiratory fitness or a large cardiorespiratory training load are associated with an increase in TL. Although, TL was related to regular moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise and cardiorespiratory fitness in older healthy humans, it was not related to cardiorespiratory fitness among young subjects. There seems to be a positive and significant relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and TL, mainly among middle age and older people, which emphasizes the importance of cardiorespiratory fitness for healthy ageing. Therefore, endurance exercise and better cardiorespiratory fitness may regulate the TL in middle age and older adults, slowing the cellular ageing process.     

Supporting computer-mediated learning: A case study in online staff development and classroom learning environment assessment

The rapid growth of online learning has led to the development of staff inservice evaluation models that are geared towards improving degree programs. Based on best practices in student online assessment, the Online Faculty Development and Classroom Learning Environment Assessment course was designed to serve the dual purpose of staff development and classroom learning environment assessment. Results of analyses showed that the course maximised the potential of online staff development for encouraging staff to reflect on Curriculum and Teaching Capacities (CTC). Implications are discussed in terms of emphasising the process of online CTC learning and incorporating perspectives to capture a comprehensive view of staff teaching attitudes and their association with student perceptions of the classroom learning environment.