Concordance of mothers' and fathers' ratings of children's behavior

Behavior rating scales and checklists are frequently used in the assessment of children and adolescents. These instruments are often completed by parents. There is little in the literature comparing mothers' and fathers' responses to such scales. Results of the present study indicate that mothers and fathers often differ in their perceptions of the behavior of their children. The need for separate norming by parent seems to be indicated.     

Facework in Syria and the United States: A cross-cultural comparison

“The first rule when communicating with people from the Arab world is not to let them lose face” said J. Al-Omari. Face or one's social identity is cultural. A face threat is a situation which threatens to create a loss of face. When experiencing face-threats people guard their face with facework – behavioral actions enacted to protect one's face. Since facework varies across cultures, this study analyzed how cultural collectivism, power distance, masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance influence direct, indirect, competitive, cooperative, hostile, and ritualistic facework in Syria and the United States, employing a MANCOVA design with gender as the covariate. Significant findings (n = 336) showed that: (a) US Americans reported using more direct, competitive, and hostile facework strategies than Syrians while (b) Syrians reported using more indirect, cooperative and ritualistic facework strategies than US Americans (c) US American facework strategies corresponded to individualistic, weak power distance, masculine, and low uncertainty avoidance cultural dimensions while Syrian facework corresponded to collectivistic, high-power distance, moderately masculine, and high uncertainty avoidance and (d) VSM 94 results showed Syria to be more individualistic than Hofstede's original rankings.     

Estimated maturity status and perceptions of adult autonomy support in youth soccer players

In this study, we examined the relations between biological maturity status, body mass index, age, and perceptions of adult autonomy support in the context of youth soccer. A total of 70 female and 43 male soccer players, aged 9 - 15 years, completed three adult-specific versions (i.e. mother, father, coach) of the perceived autonomy support subscale from the Interpersonal Style Scale. The participants' percent predicted adult stature was used as an estimate of biological maturity status. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that advanced maturity status in male players predicted lower perceptions of autonomy support from the coach. Maturity status was unrelated to perceptions of autonomy support from the coach in female soccer players, and paternal and maternal autonomy support in male and female players. Age and body mass index were unrelated to perceptions of adult (i.e. coach, mother, father) autonomy support in male and female players.     

Teaching communication in general science degrees: highly valued but missing the mark

Abstract

Effective communication of science is a ubiquitous learning outcome for most science degrees, and a national threshold learning outcome for science in Australia. Evidence suggests that employers and academics are dissatisfied with the communication skills of many science graduates. Our study examines communication tasks used in summative assessment in bachelor of science (BSc) degrees. We compiled public information for all units of study from the BSc programmes at five research-intensive Australian universities. Our analysis suggests that science academics place high value on developing the ability of students to communicate, with 66% of all science units (n?=?1225) using one or more communication tasks as assessment (mean weighting 44%). However, opportunities for students to communicate in a variety of contexts are lacking. We found that communication tasks from eight majors (n?=?683) across the five universities addressed a very narrow range of contexts; an audience of scientists (including students) in the same discipline (97%), in the mode of traditional writing (79%) and for the purpose of interpreting and presenting results (66%). As such, assessment practice does not match the variety of contexts required by the Australian threshold learning outcomes or guiding statements in other countries. We identify opportunities and offer practical recommendations to help correct this mismatch.     

A Framework for Naming the Scope and Nature of Teacher Candidate Supervision in Clinically-Based Teacher Preparation: Tasks,High-Leverage Practices,and Pedagogical Routines of Practice

Abstract

This study introduces the scope and nature of teacher candidate (TC) supervision in an era of clinically-based teacher preparation. The findings emerged from a qualitative meta-analysis of 82 articles related to TC supervision published between 2001 and 2017. The study recognizes core supervision concepts drawn from decades of empirical literature yet moves the field substantially forward by identifying a framework that includes: (1) tasks, (2) high-leverage practices, and (3) pedagogical routines of supervisory practice. This framework defines a new understanding of how supervisors support TC learning throughout their clinical experiences. By naming the scope and nature of TC supervision, the framework of tasks, high-leverage practices, and pedagogical routines of supervisory practice can help supervisors become more conscious and more skilled about their practice to develop their professional vision of supervision. The framework can also guide the evaluation and re-design of TC supervision within clinically based teacher preparation.