Lonely or bored: Children’s lived experiences reveal the difference

In spite of the growing body of research on loneliness, the relationship between the phenomena of loneliness and boredom has not been sufficiently addressed, especially in respect to children. The question, “How does the child’s experience of boredom stand phenomenologically in relation to the experience of loneliness?” is explored from a hermeneutic phenomenological perspective. A critical examination of the literature regarding the phenomenology of both loneliness and boredom provides a theoretical background to the study. Elementary school children’s experiential accounts of loneliness and boredom are collected through research conversations. An original interpersonal communication board game is devised and used to initiate these conversations. The themes of loneliness and boredom emerged in a process of phenomenological reflection based on the participants’ lived experiences, the author’s personal experiences, and experiential accounts available in the literature. Distinctions between the two phenomena are derived from the exploration of these themes. Both boredom and loneliness are viewed as important pedagogical ingredients in the formation of the child’s inner self.     

Domesticated dogs (<Emphasis Type=Italic>Canis familiaris</Emphasis>) tend to follow repeated deceptive human cues even when food is visible

There is abundant evidence that domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) readily follow pointing and other cues given by humans. But there has been much less research into the question of whether dogs can learn to discriminate between different humans giving repeated honest or dishonest cues as to food location, by ignoring the information imparted by the deceiver. Prior research has demonstrated that even after repeated exposures to deceptive cues with respect to food location, dogs failed to learn to ignore those cues completely. Kundey, De Los Reyes, Arbuthnot, Coshun, Molina, and Royer (2010) found the same outcome in a similar experiment. The purpose of the current experiment was to determine if dogs could learn to discriminate between an honest and a deceptive human by ignoring the deceiver’s cues even when it was obvious that the container being pointed at was not baited by using two transparent containers. Eight dogs were tested. On 20 cooperator trials, the experimenter stood behind the baited container and cued the dog, located midway between the containers and 3 m away, to approach it. On 20 deceiver trials, a different experimenter stood behind the empty container and cued the dog to approach that container. Results replicated prior research in that, even though the containers were transparent, the dogs failed to learn to distrust the deceiver completely and went to the empty and indicated container on more than half of the deceiver trials.     

A Pilot Study of a Self-Administered Parent Training Intervention for Building Preschoolers’ Social–Emotional Competence

Social–emotional skills are equally as crucial for school success as cognitive and academic skills (Webster-Stratton and Reid in Infants Young Child 17:96–113, 2004), yet many young children lack these skills (Lavigne et al. in J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 35:204–214, 1996). Therefore, it is essential to invest in the development of social–emotional competence at an early age—a task that necessitates active parent involvement (Webster-Stratton and Reid 2004). This pilot study explored the effectiveness, integrity, and acceptability of a self-administered parent training intervention [Devereux Early Childhood Assessment—Second Edition (DECA-P2) family guide (Mackrain and Cairone in Promoting resilience for now and forever: a family guide for supporting the social and emotional development of preschool children, 2nd edn. Kaplan Early Learning Company, Lewisville, 2013)] targeting the promotion of social–emotional competence in young children (N = 12). Pre- and post-test parent reports revealed that children’s social–emotional competence increased and behavior problems decreased following program completion. Parent ratings indicated the intervention was carried out as intended (i.e., integrity) and that it was helpful (i.e., acceptability). These exploratory findings suggest that this self-administered parent intervention shows promise as an alternative to face-to-face early childhood prevention services.     

The Role of Mental Health Counselors in International Human Rights: Reflections on Counseling Services with Urban Refugees at the Refugee Law Project in Kampala,Uganda

Drawing on the experiences of a Mental Health Counselor trainee in the Anti-Torture and Mental Health Unit of the Legal and Psychosocial Department of the Refugee Law Project in Kampala, Uganda, this article provides an overview of the refugee population and services in sub-Saharan Africa, specifically in East Africa. Using case examples, this paper highlights the challenges of and opportunities for providing effective mental health services to this population within this context, while reflecting on the first author’s experience. The article concludes with considerations for ethical and culturally competent practices for mental health counselors in the early stage of their professional careers who are new to the field of human rights and social justice.     

Challenges in embedding numeracy throughout the curriculum in three Queensland secondary schools

The Australian Curriculum identified seven General Capabilities, including numeracy, to be embedded in all learning areas. However, it has been left to individual schools to manage this. Whilst there is a growing body of literature about pedagogies that embed numeracy in various learning areas, there are few studies from the management perspective. A social constructivist perspective and a multiple case study approach were used to explore the actions of school managers and mathematics teachers in three Queensland secondary schools, in order to investigate how they meet the Australian Curriculum requirement to embed numeracy throughout the curriculum. The study found a lack of coordinated cross-curricular approaches to numeracy in any of the schools studied. It illustrates the difficulties that arise when teachers do not share the Australian Curriculum cross-curricular vision of numeracy. Schools and curriculum authorities have not acknowledged the challenges for teachers in implementing cross-curricular numeracy, which include: limited understanding of numeracy; a lack of commitment; and inadequate skills. Successful embedding of numeracy in all learning areas requires: the commitment and support of school leaders, a review of school curriculum documents and pedagogical practices, professional development of teachers, and adequate funding to support these activities.     

Motives,attitudes and approaches to studying in distance education

This study investigated the relationships between demographic characteristics, motives and attitudes to studying, self-reported study behaviour and measures of outcome. Students taking courses by distance learning received a postal survey containing a short form of the Motivated Strategies and Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory (RASI). Path analysis was used to assess the causal relationships among 395 students’ age, gender and prior qualifications, their scores on the MSLQ and the RASI and their marks. Evidence was obtained for the causal efficacy of most of the paths among the main components. In particular, the causal link between variations in students’ motives and attitudes and variations in their study behaviour is bidirectional.     

Recent advances in dust collection technology and ISO standardization in bag filtration

Dust collection technology is used not only as a countermeasure for air pollution, but also as removing technology for nano-particles, simultaneous removal of gas and dust, and facilitating the use of equipment in extreme conditions such as high and low pressures and temperatures. Particle concentration in the atmosphere, especially PM_2.5, has not decreased despite a reduction in the concentration of dust discharged from stationary sources. This is thought to be because of the formation of secondary particles following the discharge of condensable and/or reactive gaseous materials. Therefore, there needs to be an improvement in dust collection technology. In this paper, recent developments in dust collection technology, especially bag filtration and electrostatic precipitators, are described, and the ISO standards related to bag filtration are summarized. The future prospects for these technologies are outlined. This paper contributes to our understanding of the capture of particulate matter, which will support the improvement of particle removal technologies and the development of future applications.