PSYCHOLOGICAL ACCULTURATION: DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW MEASURE FOR PUERTO RICANS ON THE U.S. MAINLAND

Most instruments designed to measure acculturation have relied on specific cultural behaviors and preferences as primary indicators of acculturation. In contrast, feelings of belonging and emotional attachment to cultural communities have not been widely used. The Psychological Acculturation Scale (PAS) was developed to assess acculturation from a phenomenological perspective, with items pertaining to the individual's sense of psychological attachment to and belonging within the Anglo-American and Latino/Hispanic cultures. Responses from samples of bilingual individuals and Puerto Rican adolescents and adults are used to establish a high degree of measurement equivalence across the Spanish and English versions of the scale along with high levels of internal consistency and construct validity. The usefulness of the PAS and the importance of studying acculturation from a phenomenological perspective are discussed.     

Spanish Bilateral Initiatives for Education in Latin America

The research presented in this article concerns la Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (Spanish Agency for International Cooperation—AECI) and its growing presence in Latin America since the late 1990s. The aim is to evaluate the transformative potential that bilateral funding can have on educational reform in the region. The article starts with a brief history of Spain’s past and present strategies for educational initiatives in Latin America, and then it focuses on three of AECI’s successful projects: basic and adult literacy; gender mainstreaming in development projects; and multicultural and bilingual education. The article explains the effectiveness of Spanish-sponsored projects in Latin America and compares their strategies with those of other bilateral and multilateral donors, such as PREAL. The article concludes by analysing multi-sectoral development efforts that are the foundation of educational strategies sponsored with Spanish funds, based on the grounds that elimination of poverty will not result from projects that focus exclusively on the individual or the family, but rather from those at the community level. AECI’s efforts are directed at cultivating internal capacities already present in the communities through training human resources and deploying financial resources.     

Investigating First-Year Chemistry Learning Difficulties in the South Pacific: A Case Study from Fiji

The learning difficulties for new entrant chemistry students from a multi-national, regional, tertiary education institution in the South Pacific were investigated using a purpose-designed diagnostic instrument. The instrument contained 25 items distributed across three themes: scientific reasoning, numeracy and scientific language literacy. The research findings suggest that the main learning difficulty facing these students is in numeracy with students able to interpret numerical data presented in graphical form and to complete rudimentary numerical calculations, but unable to use numerical data or perform calculations involving ratios. Targeted remedial tutoring, based on the results of this diagnostic test instrument, rather than content-driven extra tutorials, are suggested for remediation of learning difficulties.     

A surprising effect of feedback on learning

As meta-analyses demonstrate feedback effects on performance, our study examined possible mediators. Based on our cognitive–motivational model [Vollmeyer, R., & Rheinberg, F. (1998). Motivationale Einflüsse auf Erwerb und Anwendung von Wissen in einem computersimulierten System [Motivational influences on the acquisition and application of knowledge in a simulated system]. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 12, 11–23] we examined how feedback changed (1) strategies, and (2) motivation during learning, and by doing so improved (3) final performance. Students (N = 211) learned how a dynamic system works and how to reach given goal states for the system. One group received feedback (i.e., knowledge of performance) the other one did not. We expected learners to improve after they received the first feedback. However, we found that learners expecting feedback used better strategies right from the start. Thus, they acquired more knowledge over fewer trials. Although we had also expected effects of feedback on motivation during learning, we could not support this hypothesis.     

Motivational Effects on Self-Regulated Learning with Different Tasks

In our cognitive motivational process model (Vollmeyer &; Rheinberg, Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 12:11–23, 1998) we assume that initial motivation affects performance via motivation during learning and learning strategies. These variables are also central for self-regulation theories (e.g., M. Boekaerts, European Psychologist, 1:100–122, 1996). In this article we discuss methods with which the model can be tested. Initial motivation with its four factors challenge, probability of success, interest, and anxiety was measured with the Questionnaire on Current Motivation (QCM; Rheinberg, Vollmeyer, &; Burns, Diagnostica, 47:57–66, 2001). As an indicator for the functional state we assessed flow with the FKS (Rheinberg, Vollmeyer, &; Engeser, Diagnostik von Motivation und Selbstkonzept [Diagnosis of Motivation and Self-Concept], Hogrefe, Göttingen, Germany, 261–279, 2003). We also used different tasks, including a linear system, a hypermedia program, and university-level classes. In general, our methods are valid and with them we found support for our model.     

Cultivating student skills in self-regulated learning through evaluation of task complexity

In order to self-regulate, students need to honestly reflect on their learning and to take appropriate corrective action. A simple procedure to cultivate student skills in self-regulated learning, known as the Task Evaluation and Reflection Instrument for Student Self-Assessment (TERISSA) is discussed in this paper. TERISSA guides students through two evaluations of the complexity of a task: the first is undertaken just before solving the task and the second straight after completing the task. This study involved 63 undergraduate students and observed a statistically significant difference (p = 0.007) in performance between the students who did (6.1/10) and did not (4.1/10) use TERISSA during tutorials leading up to an assessment task.     

Chapter 8

PIE-J [Presentation and Identification of E-Journals] is a set of developing National Information Standards Organization–recommended practices that tries to resolve some of the “pain points” associated with electronic journals. Regina Reynolds, at the Mississippi State University Libraries eResource & Emerging Technologies Summit in August 2012, presented these pain points and the attempts of PIE-J to overcome the obstacles.     

Historical Constitution of Public Radio Stations in Brazil

Educational, state, cultural, and university radio stations have already developed over more than 70 years of history in Brazilian radio broadcasting. Currently, there are hundreds of stations transmitting across the country, from the North to the South. Some of them—that in the 1990s included 100 broadcasting stations and among these, the oldest and nationally referenced—up to this decade operated and were referenced as a component of the educational radio system. Mainly from this period on, most of these stations began to call themselves public. And, especially due to their programming, they have been attempting to define themselves within the profile of public radio stations. The purpose of this article is to uncover the historical construction of this group of radio broadcasting stations, by means of a timeframe, from the advent of the non-commercial segment in the 1930s until today. It reconstructs referential models and presents main threads and features of the programming of these stations throughout these seven decades. In this way, it will also evince how Brazil is constructing its model of public radio.     

A FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING COMMUNITY COLLEGE COUNSELING PROGRAMS AND FUNCTIONS: SHOWING CONTRIBUTIONS THROUGH STUDENT SUCCESS

This article describes a framework for the comprehensive evaluation of counseling programs and functions within the community college, using Astin's student success conceptualization. Some evaluative results using this framework are included. With such a framework, counselors can clearly show their contributions to the community college and the students they serve. The topic of counselors as sources of pertinent information about campus students in general is also discussed.