Supplied visuals and imagery instructions in field independent and field dependent children’s recall

Does showing children pictures that depict a story help them recall story content? Is having them form mental pictures of the story more effective? Is it better to show the pictures or give instructions to form mental images before or after the children hear the story? Do field independent and field dependent children respond differently? This study involving sixth graders found that imaging was the most effective method of instruction, regardless of whether instructions to image came before or after the listening period.     

Positive Affectivity and Fear Trajectories in Infancy: Contributions of Mother–Child Interaction Factors

Fear and positive emotionality were considered in a growth modeling context. Mothers, primarily Caucasian (91.9%) and of middle socioeconomic status, participated in play interactions with infants at 4 months (N = 148). Infant fear and positive affectivity were evaluated at 6, 8, 10, and 12 months of age. A linear trajectory was superior in explaining growth for parent report and observation‐based indicators of positive affectivity and parent report of fearfulness; a piecewise model explained the nonlinear growth of observation‐based fear. Responsiveness in mother–infant interactions emerged as a significant predictor of the fear trajectory, with higher sensitivity predicting lower levels of observed fear. Reciprocity, tempo, emotional tone, and intensity of mother–infant interactions also made significant contributions to temperament development; however, analyses addressing these were exploratory.     

Faculty at Mid-Career: A Program to Enhance Teaching and Learning

While the number of mid-career faculty currently in U.S. higher education is significant, professional development programming that addresses the teaching and learning issues of this population has not been a priority. This article describes the Mid-Career Teaching Program (MCTP) and presents data that assesses its impact on participants' professional and personal lives. Survey and interview results indicate positive changes in teaching behaviors and knowledge as well as an increase in teaching satisfaction and confidence. Faculty also reported that MCTP renewed their energy and enthusiasm and positively impacted their life outside of the academy.     

‘Whoops,I forgot David’: children's perceptions of the adults who work in their classrooms

This article reports on the findings of a small‐scale study into the perceptions of 78 primary school children regarding the adults in their classrooms. The data show that children easily differentiate between their own class teacher and other adults, but report a substantial overlap between the activities of teachers and teaching assistants. Some express the difference in terms of status rather than role. Accounts call into question the notion that teaching assistants ‘help’ rather than teach and that there is a clear division of labour between them and teachers. Teachers and assistants are seen as working in an interdependent way, with each making a significant contribution to children's learning. The difficulties of using children's language as evidence are considered and it is concluded that the notion of a ‘remodelled’ primary school workforce needs to take into account the ways in which teachers and assistants maintain fluid working relationships.     

Oh No! They Cut My Funding! Using “Post Hoc” Planned Missing Data Designs to Salvage Longitudinal Research

Having one’s funding cut in the course of conducting a longitudinal study has become an increasingly real challenge faced by developmental researchers. The main purpose of the current work is to propose “post hoc” planned missing (PHPM) data designs as a promising solution in such difficult situations. This study discusses general guidelines that can be followed to search for viable PHPM designs within a given budget restriction. Illustrative examples across different longitudinal research contexts are provided, each showing how PHPM data designs can help salvage longitudinal studies when an unexpected funding cut occurs mid-study. With the illustrative examples, the article also shows how developmental researchers can conveniently identify viable designs using the R package simPM .     

Enhancing Early Childhood Development Through Arts Integration in Economically Disadvantaged Learning Environments

Education in the arts continues to struggle for inclusion in PreK-12 classrooms as public schools face increasing challenges from high stakes testing, Common Core politics, and endless budget cuts. Advocates point to the growing body of research linking art education to academic achievement as justification for arts’ continued inclusion in the curriculum. In its 2005 report, the National Association of State Boards of Education highlighted this research trend and called for stronger emphasis on arts in educational curricula (Meyer in Arts Educ Policy Rev 106(3):35–40, 2005). Yet despite the evidence, school districts across the nation have been slow to include more arts programming within the classroom. This study, however, examines one school district that did. In a collaborative project between a large urban school district and a local arts and science council, an arts integration program called Wolf Trap was implemented in economically disadvantaged pre-Kindergarten and first-grade classrooms at selected schools across the district. Objectives of the program were to: (a) improve school readiness skills among participants; (b) increase capacity of classroom teachers to learn and implement effective arts-based teaching strategies; and (c) increase the capacity of teaching artists to acquire and model effective arts-based teaching strategies. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the program using data from the teaching artists, classroom teachers, and the external evaluators. We discuss the program in detail and explain the methodology used in our evaluation. Finally, we present evidence that indicates the program’s success and we offer recommendations for program stakeholders.     

Who succeeds? II. Perceptions of graduates and inactive students of a nontraditional bachelor of arts degree program

A questionnaire was returned by 241 (79%) graduates and 75 (31%) of the inactive students of a nontraditional BA degree program. A profile of each type of adult learner was presented and differences between the profiles in age and ethnic affiliation are discussed. The two groups did not differ in primary reason for seeking a degree or a nontraditional program, but graduates gave more reasons in each case. Graduates were more likely to perceive dispositional, communication, and program variables as assets. Inactive students were more likely to perceive time to study and cost of courses as problems. Results are compared to the concept of educational barriers.Dr. Losty is Associate Dean of the Faculty at Stephens College, Columbia, Missouri. She has served as Associate Director and Director of Stephens College Without Walls. Ms. Kreilick is a graduate of Stephens College.