Kazzies,DBTs and Tryhards: categorisations of style in adolescent girls’ talk

One aspect of the work that adolescent girls do in creating and maintaining friendship networks with each other, the process of including some girls and excluding others, is explored using an ethnomethodological framework of analysis. Three adolescent schoolgirls in Australia talk about themselves and the other girls in their school. A close examination of this talk reveals a hierarchy of style categorisations which resonate with the socio‐economic and ethnic composition of the three main feeder areas to the school. The girls rank their own ‘original’ style, which is avant‐garde and eclectic, over the mass‐produced, imitative fashions‐of‐the‐moment displayed by members of other style groups.

By social closure Weber means the process by which social collectivities seek to maximise rewards by restricting access to resources and opportunities to a limited circle of eligibles. This entails the singling out of certain social or physical attributes as the justificatory basis of exclusion. (Parkin, 1979, p. 44)     

Determinants of pre‐school quality in Singapore. An investigation of the effects on teachers,of parents’ involvement

Parents are usually anxious about the quality of pre‐school education for their children and Singapore is no exception. As such, research into quality indicators of pre‐school care and education continues to receive much attention, especially in terms of identifying which aspects are related to positive outcomes for children, their parents and the policy makers. However, the significance of the day to day pre‐school experiences per se, are rarely investigated. Rather than considering outcomes, this paper reports a study which is concerned with pre‐school teachers' views on selected aspects of their working environment, in particular their dealings with parents, as determinant measures of quality in pre‐schools.

The majority of pre‐school centres in Singapore have a central structure and environment which by necessity adheres to government regulations. Except for teachers' views and feelings about aspects of their working conditions, most of the usual measures of centre quality are regulated. The study is concerned to identify which features of their day to day encounters most satisfactorily contribute to their roles as pre‐school teachers, and to examine any differences attributable to qualifications and experience.

The results show, that whilst there are some differences between teachers according to qualifications and experience, amongst the most positive features are satisfaction with parents' involvement, children's behaviour, and positive support from other teachers.     

The Effect of Questioning Style During Storybook Reading on Novel Vocabulary Acquisition of Preschoolers

The effects of adult questioning on children’s novel word acquisition during storybook reading were investigated. Three-year-olds were assigned to one of three conditions: vocabulary eliciting questions, noneliciting questions, and no questions (control). General vocabulary comprehension and novel word knowledge were equivalent across the groups before the storybook reading intervention. Children were read 3 storybooks repeatedly across 4 reading sessions and were tested for production and comprehension of novel words in the final session. Children’s novel word comprehension increased more in both question conditions than in the control condition, suggesting that type of question is not as important to word learning as children’s active engagement in discussion about novel words in general. Novel word production was not strongly affected by any of the reading conditions. However, asking children noneliciting questions did appear to foster production of new words more than not asking questions at all.     

Boxing clever: using shoeboxes to support home–school knowledge exchange

A key tenet of the Home–School Knowledge Exchange Project is that children's learning will be enhanced if the knowledge and experience that are to be found both at home and in school can be brought together. In this paper we explore ways of connecting home and school to support literacy learning at Key Stage 1, focusing on the home‐to‐school direction. We discuss how shoeboxes, filled with children's artefacts, can support a range of literacy‐related activities in school. It is suggested that the extensive diversity of knowledge and interests reflected in the chosen objects presents teachers with an invaluable opportunity to personalise children's literacy learning.     

Conceptual difficulties experienced by senior high school students of electrochemistry: Electrochemical (galvanic) and electrolytic cells

This research investigated students' understanding of electrochemistry following a 7–9-week course of instruction. A list of conceptual and propositional knowledge statements was formulated, and this provided the framework for semistructured interviews that were conducted with 32 students in their final year of high school chemistry, following instruction in electrochemistry. Three misconceptions identified in this study and five which have been reported earlier are incorporated into an alternative framework about electric current. The framework is grounded on the notion that a current always involves drifting electrons, even in solution. Another area where students' misconceptions were prevalent was in relation to the sign of the anode and cathode. Students who thought the anode was negatively charged believed cations would move toward it, and those who thought it was positively charged were unable to explain why electrons move away from it. Electrolytic cells also proved troublesome for students. Many students did not associate the positions of the anode and cathode with the polarity of the applied electromotive force (e.m.f.). Other students attempted to reverse features of electrochemical cells and apply the reversals to electrolytic cells. The implications of the research relate to students' interpretation of the language that is used to describe scientific phenomena and the tendency for students to overgeneralize, due to comments made by teachers or statements in textbooks.     

Contemporary high-profile scientists and their interactions with the community

This article presents a case study of 10 high-profile Australian research scientists. These scientists are highly committed to engaging with the public. They interact with a wide range of groups in the community, including the traditional media. They are aware that they are seen as representatives of science at a time when the authority of science and scientists is threatened in Australia by controversy around issues such as climate change and vaccination. Through their experiences of interacting with non-scientists, they have developed views about qualities, characteristics and knowledge that contribute to, or inhibit, positive interactions between scientists and non-scientists. Their experiences and insights highlight aspects of contemporary science that are not generally acknowledged in science curricula.     

Retention of conditioned autonomic and behavioral responses in preweanling rats: Forgetting and reinstatement

Preweanling rats, 16 days of age, responded to an olfactory conditioned stimulus (CS) paired with a shock unconditioned stimulus (US) with increases in heart rate and behavioral activation. In two experiments this finding was replicated and, in addition, it was found that the form of these conditioned responses (CRs) changed after a retention interval. When tested 24 h after CS-US pairings, the subjects displayed a decrease in heart rate accompanied by CS-elicited freezing. Giving two unsignaled shocks prior to the delayed test effectively reinstated the tachycardia and behavioral arousal CRs. The results are discussed in terms of contextual influences on the form of the CR and how changes in the magnitude of context fear may alter responding to an olfactory CS.