Childhood peer status as predictor of midadolescence peer situation and social adjustment

This longitudinal study examined the relation between stable sociometric status among same‐gender classmates at age 10–11 and peer situation and social adjustment at age 15. Rejected, popular, and average groups of both genders (N = 90) were selected from a representative school sample. Rejected boys and girls preserved their low position among same‐gender class peers at age 15. They also had low status among cross‐gender class peers. Furthermore, rejected children perceived their peer situation as worse compared to other children. As expected, adolescents had most of their peers in ordinary or conventional peer categories, that is, same‐age peers, class peers, and other school peers. Rejected participants had a smaller number of conventional peers than other children in some categories (same‐age and school peers). There were, however, no peer‐status differences in nonconventional peer categories, like different‐age and antisocial peers; neither were there differences in own antisocial tendencies. Antisocial deviancy seems to be more common among boys and their peers than among girls. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 745–757, 2005.     

Summation and configuration between and within sensory modalities in classical conditioning of the rabbit

Three experiments examined “atomistic” and “configurai” processes in stimulus compounding using the rabbit’s conditioned nictitating membrane response. Two conditioned stimuli (CSs) were trained separately and then tested together in a compound. Animals trained with CSs from different modalities—namely, tone and light—showed summation in both acquisition and extinction. That is, the probability of a response to the compound could be predicted by the statistical sum of responding to the CSs. In contrast, animals trained with CSs from the auditory modality, tone and noise, showed a level of responding to the tone + noise compound that was the same as that of the CSs, well under the level predicted by the statistical sum of responding to the CSs. In conclusion, atomistic processes appear to predominate in cross-modal compounding. Configurai processes may occur during compounding within the auditory modality, but atomistic alternatives—namely, common elements and selective attention hypotheses—may be able to explain the results.     

Mental toughness and transitions to high school and to undergraduate study

Mental toughness can be conceptualised as a set of attributes that allow people to deal effectively with challenges, stressors and pressure. Recent work has suggested that it may be a valuable construct to consider within educational settings. The current studies explored the associations between mental toughness and educational transitions. Study 1 examined the relationships between mental toughness and concerns about moving to a new school in 105 children aged 12–13 years of age. The results revealed significant relationships between several aspects of mental toughness, but particularly confidence in abilities, and children’s concerns. Study 2 examined the relationships between mental toughness and adjustment to university in 200 undergraduate students at various stages of their course. The results revealed a role for several aspects of mental toughness; commitment, control of life, control of emotion, confidence in abilities and interpersonal confidence. The results are discussed in terms of implications for educational practice. It is suggested that measures of mental toughness could be used to identify individuals who may benefit from additional support during transition to a new school or to university, and that future research should explore the potential benefits of mental toughness training.     

Conceptual change through vicarious learning in an authentic physics setting

Recent research on principles of best practice for designing effective multimedia instruction has rarely taken into account students’ alternative conceptions, which are known to strongly influence learning. The goal of this study was to determine how well students of quantum mechanics could learn ‘vicariously’ by watching a student-tutor dialogue based on alternative conceptions. Two video treatments were created to summarize key aspects of quantum tunneling, a fundamental quantum mechanical phenomenon. One video depicted a student-tutor dialogue, incorporating many of the common alternative conceptions on the topic, and resolving inconsistencies in reasoning through discussion. The other presented the same correct physics material in an expository style without alternative conceptions. Second year physics students were randomly assigned to one of the two treatments and were tested before and after watching the video during a lecture. Results show a statistically significant (p < .01) advantage for the learners in the dialogue treatment (d = 0.71). Follow-up interviews of students yielded insight into the affective and cognitive benefits of the dialogue video.     

The effect of concept mapping on students' anxiety and achievement in biology

The results of recent studies into the use of the concept mapping heuristic seem to demonstrate that meaningful learning results through its use in science classrooms. While this underscores the need to use more effective instructional strategies in science teaching, the issue of the intervening variable of anxiety in learning and science achievement, and the possible use of a metacognitive strategy in anxiety reduction have not been addressed. This study, therefore, sought to find out if the metacognitive strategy of concept mapping reduces anxiety and thereby enhances achievement in biology. A total of 51 (30 boys, 21 girls) senior secondary one (grade 10) students participated in this experiment. Two instruments—the Zuckerman Affect Adjective Checklist and the Biology Achievement Test—were used in pre- and posttest administrations to measure the treatment effect on anxiety and achievement, respectively. Findings support the stand that concept mapping is significantly more effective than the traditional/expository teaching strategy in enhancing learning in biology. In addition, it apparently reduces students' anxiety towards the learning of biology. A significant reduction of anxiety was noticed for male subjects.     

Mini-languages: a way to learn programming principles

Mini-languages are a visually intuitive, simple and powerful way to introduce students to programming. They are a good foundation for general computer science instruction, provide insight into programming for the general population, and teach algorithmic thinking. The goal of the paper is to provide an extensive review of the mini-language approach to teaching programming. For different audiences and in different countries, the authors have extensive experience in design and application of mini-languages. We outline the problems that motivate the application of this approach, present a brief history, review several existing mini-languages, and provide discussion of lessons learned. In particular, we discuss how to choose a mini-language for a particular group of students and list some requirements for a successful application of a mini- language. We conclude with a discussion of possible future directions of the mini-language approach development