Preschool Children's Judgments about Hypothetical and Actual Transgressions

Preschoolers' ( N = 112) judgments about hypothetical and actual moral and conventional transgressions were examined. Equal numbers of boys and girls at 2 ages (3 and 4 years old) either made judgments about 8 hypothetical moral and conventional transgressions or were interviewed on the same dimensions about 8 naturally occurring moral and conventional transgressions they witnessed in their preschools. Children judged both hypothetical and actual moral transgressions to be more serious, punishable, generalizably wrong, and independent of rules and authority than conventional transgressions. Regardless of domain, hypothetical transgressions were judged to be more wrong independent of rules than actual transgressions, and hypothetical (but not actual) moral transgressions were judged to be more independent of rules than conventional transgressions. 3-year-old girls judged the wrongness of actual moral transgressions to be more independent of authority than did 3-year-old boys. Similar findings were obtained when hypothetical and actual transgressions were matched, and domain differences were still obtained when individual items were examined. Findings are discussed in terms of previous research on preschoolers' conceptions of rules and transgressions.     

Beacons of light,rays, or sun catchers? A case study of the positioning of literacy teachers and their knowledge in neoliberal times

This paper reports on a case study of a “lead literacy teacher” initiative in one Canadian province. This initiative is related to a “minority world” trend in teacher in-service that seeks to develop “experts” in a field with the intent that such experts can help other teachers to raise student achievement for the betterment of the economy. Using a post-colonial theoretical framework that advocates for professional development premised on teacher knowledge production, the study finds that the initiative instead forwards a “train-the-trainer” model of information transmission that negates teachers' prior knowledge, experience, and practices. The study argues that for teachers to become critically reflective in their practice, they need material supports (e.g., time) to share with one another and knowledge must be allowed to flow in all directions within the educational hierarchy.     

普契尼：150年的感动

普契尼(1858-1924)被认为是威尔第之后最伟大的意大利歌剧作曲家。但让人意外的是,当时很多音乐评论家对其作品的评价不高。例如在1896年《波希米亚人》首映后,一位意大利评论家写道:《波希米亚人》在我们的抒情戏剧史上不会留下多少痕迹。即使在今天,仍然有很多评论家认为普契尼的作品过于伤感,过于甜蜜;他的曲调太明显,最后几幕软弱无力。然而大众并不这样认为,要证明这点,只需把过去一百多年来全世界的票房收入列出即可。普契尼擅长戏剧、欢快的歌曲和优美的通俗剧;他也擅长热情明晰的旋律、和声与配乐法。无可否认,他创作了音乐史上最受欢迎的几部歌剧(中国的歌剧迷肯定对《图兰朵》当年在北京太庙上演的重大场景记忆犹新)。在普契尼出生150年后,他的音乐仍然跨越国界,感动着台下的每一位观众。     

Unpacking the Impacts of a Universal Parenting Program on Child Behavior

This study examined the theory of change of the ACT Raising Safe Kids parenting program, including whether intervention effects on children's behavior problems were explained by improvements in mothers’ reported parenting practices, as well as whether baseline child behavior problems moderated these relations. Adult mothers of 3-to 8-year-old Brazilian children were assigned to the intervention (n = 97) or control (n = 46) groups. Results showed that the intervention improved mothers' perceptions of their parenting practices (positive discipline, emotional and behavioral regulation, and communication). Intervention-induced reductions in children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior problems were mediated by improvements in mothers’ emotional and behavioral regulation. Program effects were strongest for children with high levels of baseline behavior problems.     

Does Inducing Students to Schedule Lecture Watching in Online Classes Improve Their Academic Performance? An Experimental Analysis of a Time Management Intervention

Research in Higher Education - Time management skills are an essential component of college student success, especially in online classes. Through a randomized control trial of students in a...     

College Student Perceptions of The (In)Appropriateness and Functions of Teacher Disclosure

This study investigated college student perceptions of the (in)appropriateness of instructor disclosures and perceived functions of instructor disclosures. An interpretive analysis of 35 college students identified that family relationships, life experiences and background, and everyday talk and activities were forms of appropriate disclosures; whereas, intimate relationship details, personal problems, personal opinions, and drinking behavior were considered inappropriate topics for instructors to disclose. In terms of the function of instructor disclosures, students perceived that these disclosures worked to humanize instructors, make instructors approachable, and create affect for instructors and courses. Implications and future research are also discussed.     

Children's Comparisons of the Recency of Two Events from the Past Year

Research on memory for time has been limited by the difficulty of disentangling several of the fundamentally different processes that contribute to a chronological sense of the past. This study used a developmental approach to isolate one of these processes, impressions of distances in the past. Large samples of children between 3 and 12 years were asked to judge which was longer ago, their birthday or Christmas (and, in one study, Halloween and Thanksgiving). Even children under 6 years of age were able to discriminate the recency of their birthday and Christmas with great accuracy when the events were widely separated and one was within the past several months. The ability to discriminate recency on these scales appears to be a basic property of human memory that changes little with development. Other information about the locations of the events and their relative times of occurrence could only be interpreted correctly by children older than 9 years.