Comparative studies of the preference for free vs response-produced reinforcers

Neither domesticated hooded rats nor wild black rats responded appreciably for water on a CRF schedule when free water was available. However, four out of five crows showed substantial responding for food in the presence of identical free food. Previous reports also indicate that type of reinforcer and species are variables which significantly influence this phenomenon. Nevertheless, the overall findings seem to be amenable to an explanation based upon incentive-motivation theory.     

Using stakeholder feedback to improve online professional development opportunities

Abstract

Traditional professional development is often characterized as being expensive, time consuming, and lacking impact. In contrast, online professional development provides greater flexibility and is becoming increasingly popular for school personnel. In this article, we report the process and outcomes of gathering feedback to adapt traditional in-person to online training differentiated for the participants to maximize utility, efficiency, and effectiveness in meeting the needs of key stakeholders. Focus groups were conducted with teachers, administrators, and other specialists to gather feedback on content as well as how online learning modules (OLMs) could be tailored to meet specific school site and team needs. We discuss our findings in the context of continuing efforts to improve general and specific professional development opportunities.     

Learning science through writing: associations with prior conceptions of writing and perceptions of a writing program

Students in a large undergraduate biology course were expected to write a scientific report as a key part of their course design. This study investigates the quality of learning arising from the writing experience and how it relates to the quality of students’ preconceptions of learning through writing and their perceptions of their writing program that led to their report. Closed‐ended questionnaires investigating student conceptions and perceptions of writing, and approaches to writing, were completed by 121 students. Significant associations were found amongst qualitatively different prior and post conceptions of writing, approaches to writing and achievement. The results of the analyses suggest that the effective support of student experiences of writing reports requires teachers to be aware of the type of conceptions that students bring to their course and the perceptions they hold about the purpose of the writing program in which they are engaged.     

Differential Item Functioning Resulting From The Use of Different Solution Strategies

The present study investigates the degree to which item "bias" techniques can lead to interpretable results when groups are defined in terms of specified differences in the cognitive processes involved in students' problem-solving strategies. A large group of junior high school students who took a test on subtraction of fractions was divided into two subgroups judged by the rule-space model to be using different problem-solving strategies. It was confirmed by use of Mantel-Haenszel (MH) statistics that these subgroups showed different performances on items with different underlying cognitive tasks. We note that, in our case, we are far from faulting items that show differential item functioning (D1F) between two groups defined in terms of different solution strategies. Indeed, they are "desirable" items, as explained in the discussion section     

Approaches to Studying and Perceptions of the Academic Environment in Students Following Problem-Based and Subject-Based Curricula

To investigate the effects of different kinds of curriculum, the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and a short form of the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI) were administered to 225 2nd-year students at six different schools of occupational therapy. Their curricula were classified as problem-based, subject-based or hybrid. Their scores on the scales of the CEQ and ASI were closely related, insofar as they shared more than half of their respective variance. Problem-based curricula were associated with higher scores on the scales of the CEQ concerned with appropriate assessment and emphasis on independence. With the ASI, problem-based curricula were associated with lower scores on all of the scales concerned with a reproducing orientation, and with higher scores on the scale concerned with a deep approach. These findings suggest that the implementation of a problem-based curriculum has desirable effects on the quality of learning, and these are at least in part mediated by students' perceptions of their academic environment.     

Special stresses of infant caregiving

Because the characteristics of children vary greatly from age to age, the knowledge and techniques that their caregivers need to have likewise vary a great deal. Similarly, the pleasures and the stresses of caring for different age groups also vary. Not surprisingly, most caregivers have preferences in terms of the age of children they prefer to work with.Gerri Ginsburg and Marcy Whitebook are Directors of the Child Care Employee Project, a national clearinghouse for information on child care staff working conditions. Derk Richardson teaches at the University of California Child Care Center in Berkeley.     

Acceptance of self,acceptance of others,and preferred teaching approach

One hundred and eighty-one teacher training students sat three attitude measuring instruments to investigate the relationships between attitudes to self, attitudes to others and attitudes to educational practices. Clinical studies within the ambit of Rogerian psychotherapy suggest that a relationship between self and other attitudes should be positive. Substantial and statistically significant positive correlations, in the order of p<0.01, emerged consistently in this study between attitudes to self and attitudes to a range of others and to progressive child centred educational practices. Self acceptance level would seem to be an index of attitudes to a wide range of others. This relationship provides a principle of utmost importance for human relationships since the application of psychological processes to enhance the self concept should facilitate as a corollary a decrease in interpersonal tensions and inter group conflict. This relationship is of particular consequence in the teaching context since teaching is a sharing of self with others. The results of the study suggest that those with low self acceptance prefer (p<0.01) to avoid close encounters with pupils and prefer a more traditional formal teaching style.