Sex differences in adolescent depression: stress exposure and reactivity models

Stress exposure and reactivity models were examined as explanations for why girls exhibit greater levels of depressive symptoms than boys. In a multiwave, longitudinal design, adolescents' depressive symptoms, alcohol usage, and occurrence of stressors were assessed at baseline, 6, and 12 months later (N=538; 54.5% female; ages 13-18, average 14.9). Daily stressors were coded into developmentally salient domains using a modified contextual-threat approach. Girls reported more depressive symptoms and stressors in certain contexts (e.g., interpersonal) than boys. Sex differences in depression were partially explained by girls reporting more stressors, especially peer events. The longitudinal direction of effects between depression and stressors varied depending on the stressor domain. Girls reacted more strongly to stressors in the form of depression.     

What stories do I tell now? New times and new narratives for the adult educator

Globally, the world of adult education has been much transformed in recent years. While there has been an expansion in the provision made available to adults, the profile of that provision has shifted with a greater emphasis placed on work‐related and certificated education and training, and an increased diversity in learning settings. This has led to a sense of crisis over the meaning of adult education as a specific form of provision and what it means to be an adult educator.

This article examines the ways in which these changes have found expression in the narratives through which adult educators construct their practices and experiences as meaningful. We argue that there is an interaction between the impact of contestation and change in the field of adult education and learning, its narrative or story‐telling practices and the processes by which the identities of adult educators are formed. We examine the significance of this interaction by drawing on three inter‐related themes‐‐the so‐called turn to textuality, the changes taking place in the economy and the organisation of work including the work of adult educators, and contemporary debates over (post) modern identities. In this way, we demonstrate the significance of new theoretical perspectives in providing insights into the contemporary condition of adult educators.     

Enhancing Student Learning in Food Engineering Using Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations

Abstract: The current generation of students coming into food science and engineering programs is very visually oriented from their early experiences. To increase their interest in learning, new and visually appealing teaching materials need to be developed. Two diverse groups of students may be identified based on their math skills. Food science students tend to find it difficult to use mathematics as a problem‐solving tool for food engineering problems. Food engineering students, on the other hand, should be challenged to use emerging mathematical tools to develop their problem‐solving skills. Therefore, the approach of this project involved the development of a curriculum to train undergraduate food engineers in the effective use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software to solve food engineering problems by engaging them in the creation of food engineering teaching tools. These CFD outputs were then used as innovative teaching tools for the food science students. In this paper, this concept will be illustrated by unsteady‐state heat transfer and fluid flow problems. To evaluate the efficiency of the teaching materials developed, a student focus group was asked to answer the same quiz following a conventional and CFD output aided teaching session. The assessment result showed an improved understanding of the subject after the CFD teaching session. These visual aids were excellent tools to illustrate the validity of the formulas presented in class. In addition, the new visual materials enabled a better understanding of the relationships among different process parameters. In general, this helped the food science students better appreciate the food engineering concepts that govern food processing operations.     

Supporting the education and well-being of children who are looked-after: what is the role of the virtual school?

The Children and Families Act (2014) placed a statutory responsibility on local authorities in the UK to establish a virtual school headteacher with the role of championing the education of all children looked-after within that authority. The current research was designed to illuminate how virtual schools are currently supporting educational outcomes for children looked-after, not only through educational interventions, but also through supporting broader psychological factors that might impact on attainment such as attachment, relationships and mental health. Virtual school headteachers from 29 local authorities completed an online survey about the services they provided to three target groups—children looked-after, foster carers and schools—with a particular focus on the transition years from primary to secondary school, which have been identified as being a difficult time for children looked-after. Using inductive thematic analysis, four overarching themes to service provision were identified: enhanced learning opportunities, specific transition support, well-being and relationships, and raising awareness. Direct work, interprofessional working and the development of supportive environments, particularly guided by attachment theory, were identified as important areas of practice. Practice is discussed in relation to resilience and ecological systems theory and suggestions for future research are identified.

     

Learning,Media and Technology—40 years on

This is a brief historical review of the key content and influence of the three predecessor publications to Learning, Media and Technology, the NECCTA Bulletin (1968–1975), the Journal of Educational Television (1975–1995), and the Journal of Educational Media (1996–2004). Study of these publications affords an overview of 40 years of using technology in the service of education.     

THE LOST PROFESSION

In the United Kingdom, the higher education community is being deprived of components of its professionalism just when it is clarifying to itself the nature of that professionalism. Historically, academics were not required to define their obligations to society. Now, they must function in an age of accountability in which public services are being asked to demonstrate their wider value. Behind this shift stands a changing relationship between higher education and the state in which the state has moved to assess the quality of what was on offer and is now playing a direct part in influencing the shape of graduate formation. Currently, academic life is becoming so subject to external control that the autonomy required as a necessary component of professionalism is being lost. In Halsey's terminology, academics are changing from being a status group to being a proletariat but without ever having properly been a profession.     

THE EFFECTS OF GROUP COACHING ON THE HOMEWORK PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY SECONDARY STUDENTS WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES

Research on the effectiveness of homework provides ample evidence that homework has a positive effect on learning, particularly for secondary students. Unfortunately, the rate of consistent homework completion for students, with and without disabilities, is low. This study used a between‐groups design to examine the differential effectiveness of coaching, a self‐management intervention, compared with the local treatment‐as‐usual (homework center) on improving the homework completion of 50 middle school students (Grades 6 to 8) with and without disabilities who were having substantial difficulty with homework. Results indicated that both group coaching and homework center (treatment‐as‐usual) were effective in significantly decreasing homework problems, with no clear indication that one intervention was, overall, superior to the other. However, preliminary analyses suggest that these interventions might be differentially effective as a function of disability status.