Dimensions of intercultural effectiveness: An exploratory study

The present study investigated some of the major dimensions of intercultural effectiveness. Based upon a review of the literature, 24 “abilities” thought to be important for intercultural effectiveness were generated. Fifty-three subjects who had reported functioning effectively in other cultures rated these abilities in terms of their importance in facilitating intercultural effectiveness. Factor analysis of the data yielded three dimensions of intercultural effectiveness: (1) the ability to deal with psychological stress; (2) the ability to communicate effectively; and (3) the ability to establish interpersonal relationships. Results of the study were then related to previous work on intercultural effectiveness.     

Developing young readers through the linguistic phonics approach

This paper reports findings from a large‐scale evaluation undertaken to explore the impact of the ‘linguistic phonics approach’ (LPA) on young children’s reading. The LPA is a systematic and applied programme that differs from traditional phonics programmes. For example, rather than ask children to look at letters and speculate on the sounds they make, the LPA begins with the sounds and oral language skills children bring with them to school and progresses to a stage where they marry sounds with the written word. Implicit in the approach is the notion that children can learn to make associations between their spoken language (native speech sounds which are embedded from around the age of one) and the written language. Findings from this three‐stage test/retest matched‐samples evaluation (n = 745, Yr 2 and Yr 3 pupils) indicate that the LPA does significantly raise standards and that the gains made by pupils taught through this approach sustain over time. Particularly worthy of note is the finding that, in contrast to non‐systematic phonics approaches, the LPA positively affects the attainment levels of high‐, middle‐ and low‐ability readers.     

Towards a model of interprofessional preparation to enhance partnering between educators and families

Abstract

Interprofessional education (IPE) involves cross disciplinary learning, teaching, and supervision to foster greater interdisciplinary collaboration. In the field of medicine, this training approach has been adopted to improve collaboration amongst health care professionals. Rarely has this approach been adopted in regard to the preparation of student teachers. Yet professionals from the disciplines of general and special education, school social work, and school psychology often must work together and with families and pupils. A rationale will be forwarded for offering IPE to graduate students in these fields before they graduate. A multi departmental project was undertaken to design a new IPE training programme to foster collaborative knowledge of, dispositions towards, and skills in family school partnering. The components of the programme, the proposed criteria to gauge the success an initial pilot of the programme, and challenges faced in setting up such cross-discipline training will be described with lessons learned for the future.     

Time limits in testing: An analysis of eye movements and visual attention in spatial problem solving

Individuals with an aptitude for interpreting spatial information (high mental rotation ability: HMRA) typically master anatomy with more ease, and more quickly, than those with low mental rotation ability (LMRA). This article explores how visual attention differs with time limits on spatial reasoning tests. Participants were assorted to two groups based on their mental rotation ability scores and their eye movements were collected during these tests. Analysis of salience during testing revealed similarities between MRA groups in untimed conditions but significant differences between the groups in the timed one. Question‐by‐question analyses demonstrate that HMRA individuals were more consistent across the two timing conditions (κ = 0.25), than the LMRA (κ = 0.013). It is clear that the groups respond to time limits differently and their apprehension of images during spatial problem solving differs significantly. Without time restrictions, salience analysis suggests LMRA individuals attended to similar aspects of the images as HMRA and their test scores rose concomitantly. Under timed conditions however, LMRA diverge from HMRA attention patterns, adopting inflexible approaches to visual search and attaining lower test scores. With this in mind, anatomical educators may wish to revisit some evaluations and teaching approaches in their own practice. Although examinations need to evaluate understanding of anatomical relationships, the addition of time limits may induce an unforeseen interaction of spatial reasoning and anatomical knowledge. Anat Sci Educ 10: 528–537. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Children''s Interpretation of Messages from a Speaker with a False Belief

In 5 investigations we examined a new procedure for assessing children's understanding that messages arise from speakers' internal representations. 3- and 4-year-olds watched the enactment of a message-desire discrepant story in which a speaker doll, who believed wrongly that bag A was in location 1 and that bag B was in location 2, gave a message referring to the bag in location 1. In a message-desire consistent control condition, the speaker had a correct belief about the bags' locations. Children frequently judged correctly in the discrepant story that the speaker (who specified location 1) wanted the bag in location 2, and judged correctly in the consistent story that the speaker wanted the bag in location 1. That is, young children attended to the speaker's internal representations, and not just the real-world referent of the message, when judging what the speaker wanted. In one of the investigations, children performed better on the message-desire discrepant task than on a false belief task. We discuss why they might find it particularly easy to take into account false belief when inferring desire on the basis of behavior.     

Relationships between attitude and achievement among college biology students

The purposes of this study were to (1) study changes in attitude toward science, school, and academic self among college biology students, and (2) to examine relationships between attitudes and achievement in an introductory college course in biology. The three attitude variables were assessed at the beginning and end of the study. Each of the three constructs was measured by the semantic differential and one additional instrument. One cognitive measure, biology achievement, was taken at the beginning and end of the study. This was accomplished by using the Nelson Biology Test. Another cognitive measure, grade in the course, as given by the instructor, was recorded at the end of the course. Normative data and correlation coefficients among pre- and postadministrations were calculated for each institution and the composite sample as well. An analysis of variance showed that while gains in scores on the Nelson Biology Test were significant beyond the 0.01 level of probability, changes in attitude scores were not. Correlations were calculated between the attitude and cognitive variables in this study. Relationships between academic self-concept and achievement in biology were the strongest. Data from this study show that while student cognitive behavior was changed during an introductory college biology course, selected attitudes either stayed the same or became slightly more negative. Affective as well as cognitive gains would appear to be desirable goals in college courses. As we learn more about relationships that exist between cognition and affect, science educators at all levels will become better equipped to improve learning in science.     

Sound’s use in instructional software to enhance learning: a theory-to-practice content analysis

Sound may hold great promise for instructional software by supporting learning in a variety of ways. Conceptual and preconceptual barriers, however, still appear to prevent software designers from using sound more effectively in their instructional products. Interface books seldom discuss the use of sound and when they do, it is most often simple verbatim narration of on-screen text. This content analysis of 12 award-winning instructional software products indicated that, while sound is being incorporated into many learning environments, many instructional designers are using sound only for literal, information conveyance and not yet exploring how to exploit the associative potential of music, sound effects, and narration to help learners process the material under study more deeply.