‘You have to understand words … but not read them’: young children becoming readers in a digital age

Given that many young children now enter their early years in education as competent and frequent users of digital technology, this paper examines how this experience influences children's perceptions of reading. Drawing from research conducted with 12 young children (aged 3–6) this paper reports on the ways in which these children were interacting with screen texts and using them to develop strategies to make sense of a whole variety of symbolic representations, including print. It is argued that the medium of computer technology in particular was seen to encourage young children to develop both understandings about texts and the skills needed to read them. This included specific aspects of print awareness as well as a general confidence in handling print. However, this confidence appeared to diminish as the children encountered ‘schooled’ approaches to print literacy. It is therefore concluded that schools need to find ways in which to capitalise on the use of multimedia in order to promote confidence and skills in young readers today.     

Graduate attribute development and employment outcomes: tracking PhD graduates

The provision of diversified research training is regarded as one of the most significant contributions made by the Australian Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) programme [Howard Partners 2003 Howard Partners. 2003. Evaluation of the cooperative research centres programme, Canberra, ACT: Department of Education, Science and Training.  [Google Scholar], Evaluation of the cooperative research centres programme, Department of Education, Science and Training, Canberra, ACT]. Yet, a systematic evaluation of Australia’s CRC research training programmes and outcomes has not yet been undertaken. This article reports on a pilot questionnaire designed to provide the beginnings of such an evaluation. Participants were science‐based research graduates who were awarded with a PhD within the four‐year period 2000–2003 and had completed the majority of their PhD project either in a university school or in a CRC environment. The questionnaire results provide insights into participants’ perceptions of the graduate attributes they developed prior to and during their PhD studies. It also investigates their perceptions about the relative importance of particular skills in university and industry settings. This article argues that understanding the perceptions and employment experiences of recent research graduates is a vital way of ensuring that PhD programmes are more effectively designed to prepare research graduates for a range of careers. In particular, these results confirm the importance of constant re‐evaluation and improvement of all PhD training programmes.     

IAIMS at Columbia: a strategic plan and model project

This report describes the Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) prototype project at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, the factors that led to the selection of this particular project, and the planning for its implementation. The lessons learned to date and implications for the library are summarized.     

Creating Cultural Competence: An Outreach Immersion Experience in Southern Africa

With disasters on the rise, counselors need to increase their cultural awareness, knowledge, and skills to work with affected communities. This study reports outcomes of a four-week immersion experience in southern Africa with six counselor-trainees. Data sources for this qualitative study were: daily journals and demographic forms. Outcomes suggest that sustained contact with community residents and daily supervision experiences served to improve cultural awareness. Recommendations include pushing through students?? resistance using a non-linear dynamic model of transformation.     

Autism-Related Variation in Reciprocal Social Behavior: A Longitudinal Study

Deficits in reciprocal social behavior are a characterizing feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autism-related variation in reciprocal social behavior (AVR) in the general population is continuously distributed and highly heritable—a function of additive genetic influences that overlap substantially with those which engender clinical autistic syndromes. This is the first long-term prospective study of the stability of AVR from childhood through early adulthood, conducted via serial ratings using the Social Responsiveness Scale, in a cohort-sequential study involving children with ASD, other psychiatric conditions, and their siblings (N = 602, ages = 2.5–29). AVR exhibits marked stability throughout childhood in individuals with and without ASD.     

Training letter and orthographic pattern recognition in children with slow naming speed

Although research has established that performance on a rapid automatized naming (RAN) task is related to reading, the nature of this relationship is unclear. Bowers (2001) proposed that processes underlying performance on the RAN task and orthographic knowledge make independent and additive contributions to reading performance. We examined the benefits of training orthographic pattern recognition and speeded letter recognition for children in Grades 1 and 2 with slow naming speed. Children first received training in either orthographic pattern recognition or speeded letter recognition, and then switched to the other type of training. Results indicated that speeded letter recognition can improve through training, but only when preceded by training in orthographic pattern recognition. Orthographic pattern recognition training improved the accuracy and speed of reading training words, whether training occurred alone or following letter training. Letter training prior to the orthographic training provided no additional benefit. Together, these results argue for the importance of orthographic training for children with slow naming speed.     

Attrition After Intake at a University Counseling Center: Relationship Among Client Race,Problem Type,and Time on a Waiting List

The present study examined the relationship between attrition after intake and the length of time that clients spent on a waiting list by client race and problem type. Participants were 1,461 clients who completed an initial intake evaluation at a large, Mid‐Atlantic counseling center over a 6‐year period. Full‐factorial hierarchical logistic regression analyses revealed that African American clients were less likely to return for counseling than were European American clients, regardless of the problem type.