Behavioral and relational correlates of low self-perceived competence in young children

It is developmentally normative for preschoolers (aged four to five years) to have self-perceptions that are typically positive and even over-inflated. However, because not all children have positive self-perceptions in early childhood it is important to understand factors that influence the development of self-perceptions, especially low self-perceptions, in early childhood. Therefore, this study examined the associations between self-perceptions and teacher ratings of social behaviors, subtypes of withdrawal, and peer ratings of acceptance/rejection in preschoolers. Participants included 199 children (107 males, 92 females) attending two early childhood programs in a midsized community in the western United States. The major findings were that children in early childhood who have lower self-perceptions of their abilities than their peers tended to engage in more reticence, solitary-passive withdrawal, and solitary-active behavior.     

The Contribution of International Large-Scale Assessments to Educational Research: Combining Individual and Institutional Data Sources

The present paper aims to discuss how data from international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) can be utilized and combined, even with other existing data sources, in order to monitor educational outcomes and study the effectiveness of educational systems. We consider different purposes of linking data, namely, extending outcomes measures, analyzing differences over time or across cohorts, and supplementing context information. These linking strategies are illustrated by a non-exhaustive selection of studies that exploited ILSAs to investigate a wide range of educational topics. We conclude that the main contribution of ILSA to educational research lies in the ways they facilitate analyses of educational policy and policy-related issues at the institutional level by means of cross-country analyses. However, the scope of these studies also covers high-quality data on lower levels of the educational system.     

Designing SQL Database Modules Using Correlation Coefficients and Linear Regression: A Content‐Centered Approach

Information systems educators are increasingly incorporating business intelligence and analytics topics into information systems training. Educators often create modules independently, which can be difficult to effectively design given most information systems trainers have no formal training in instructional design. This article incorporates a content‐centered design model, pebble‐in‐the‐pond (Merrill, 2002 ), and provides an example of the design process using the topic of predictive analytics that information systems educators can follow to create instructional modules using sound instructional design considerations.     

High-speed observations of football-boot-surface interactions of players in their natural environment

A protocol has been developed to obtain two-dimensional kinematic shoe data of football players in their training environment through high-speed video analysis. Such kinematic data can provide an understanding of how to better replicate the boundary conditions of football movements when simulated using mechanical traction and penetration test devices. As part of a pilot study, 11 youth academy players from a Premiership football club performed football-specific movements which were filmed at 1000 frames s^-1. The protocol required minimal set-up time and the area of the pitch to be filmed could be positioned in any part of the playing area, causing low disruption to the players. This aimed to ensure that the movements performed were representative of those carried out during competitive play. Results in this study are concerned with the kinematics of the shoe during contact with the ground for movements identified to be important in terms of injury risk and loss of performance (slipping). Shoe velocities and orientations were measured for subjects wearing shoes of different stud types (traditional round studs versus contemporary bladed studs) on two surfaces (artificial turf, in-filled with rubber and sand, versus a natural surface). All the parameters measured from the relatively small population of subjects had high variances and therefore few significant effects of studs and surface could be found. The data does however provide insight into the appropriate boundary conditions to be used in mechanical test devices. For example, in the forefoot push-off movement it can be seen that test devices should measure the traction forces when the shoe first starts to move, as this is when the player would lose performance, as opposed to the maximum traction which can occur after significant displacement of the shoe through the surface. Analysis of the orientation and velocity path of the studs just before contact with the ground shows that the studs could be aligned to enhance their penetration into the surface and optimise the traction properties of the studs. In order to determine the orientation and velocity of the shoes at crucial phases in movements force-plate data obtained in the laboratory should be utilised in future studies.     

Supporting learning from illustrated texts: conceptualizing and evaluating a learning strategy

Texts and pictures are often combined in order to improve learning. Many students, however, have difficulty to appropriately process text-picture combinations. We have thus conceptualized a learning strategy which supports learning from illustrated texts. By inducing the processes of information selection, organization, integration, and transformation, the learning strategy should lead to a more elaborated learning. After conducting a pilot study, a main study with 133 sixth-grade students from two different middle schools was carried out in order to analyse the learning effectiveness of the strategy. One group of students learned without the strategy whereas the second group learned with the strategy. All students had to complete a pre-test as well as a post-test which followed the learning period. The learning outcomes of the two groups were then compared: both studies demonstrated that the students who employed the strategy attained significantly better learning results. The effect sizes are medium to large.     

Opportunities for a democratic pedagogy: a comparative study of South African and Swedish teachers' attitudes to inclusive education

This paper is based upon the collaboration between two research groups from Stockholm University and the University of South Africa. The main objective is to compare attitudes between South African (SA) and Swedish teachers regarding inclusive education (IE). IE in this paper is examined as a distinct part of the Swedish welfare system. The method used can be characterised as a combined, quantitative and qualitative research design with a purposive sampling. A similar adapted questionnaire was distributed in the two countries. The Swedish teachers in our data are more pro‐inclusion and more hesitating to accommodate learners with barriers in special schools. However, both the Swedish and the SA teachers in the study are hesitating towards the feasibility to implement IE practically. A team approach is concluded to be an adequate pedagogy for supporting IE both in South Africa and Sweden.     

Helping Struggling Students in Introductory Biology: A Peer-Tutoring Approach That Improves Performance,Perception, and Retention

The high attrition rate among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors has long been an area of concern for institutions and educational researchers. The transition from introductory to advanced courses has been identified as a particularly “leaky” point along the STEM pipeline, and students who struggle early in an introductory STEM course are predominantly at risk. Peer-tutoring programs offered to all students in a course have been widely found to help STEM students during this critical transition, but hiring a sufficient number of tutors may not be an option for some institutions. As an alternative, this study examines the viability of an optional peer-tutoring program offered to students who are struggling in a large-enrollment, introductory biology course. Struggling students who regularly attended peer tutoring increased exam performance, expert-like perceptions of biology, and course persistence relative to their struggling peers who were not attending the peer-tutoring sessions. The results of this study provide information to instructors who want to design targeted academic assistance for students who are struggling in introductory courses.     

Health education and reading skills of lower SES students

Conclusions Students exposed to the SHCP did not achieve significantly different (p=.01) reading comprehension mean scores than students not exposed to the program. However, the gains measured in this research covered only a nine week period, and if the reading comprehension mean score gains were projected over the academic year, the difference would be significant.The experimental students achieved significantly higher posttest vocabulary mean scores than students receiving their regular health instruction. Since there was no difference in mean scores by sex, it was concluded that the special prototype health-education curriculum in combination with the process used by the teachers appeared to have some impact on the experimental students' vocabulary mean scores.Since the total sample used in this study was small, there is a need for further studies with larger samples to further investigate the effects of the SHCP, as well as other prototype programs on the basic skill development of lower SES students.