Leadership in Small Colleges

Abstract

The author integrates research and theory to suggest that caring is an important dimension of effective college teaching. Despite the fact that students are acutely aware of whether their professors care about them, professors do not necessarily prioritize this aspect of teaching to the same extent. This article provides concrete suggestions about how professors can develop such rapport with their students, addresses common criticisms and concerns about professors expressing care, and offer avenues for future inquiry.     

Navigating Sexualization as a Sexuality Professional: Recommendations from Sexuality Educators at the 2016 National Sex Ed Conference

Sexuality professionals are likely to experience unwanted sexualization based solely on their profession. Sexuality professionals are sexualized by various groups of people including strangers, colleagues, or even friends and family. The research literature discusses how sexuality researchers experience and navigate this sexualization but includes little information about the ways in which sexuality educators are sexualized. At the 2016 National Sex Ed Conference, we facilitated a workshop for sex educators to discuss how they are sexualized and how they would suggest navigating such experiences. Through this workshop proceeding, we examine how educators echoed many of the same strategies used by sexuality researchers found in the literature along with some unique population concerns and strategies.     

Reading and cognitive abilities: Longitudinal studies of brain and behavior changes in young children

This paper focuses on methods useful for identifying differences in the development of language reading abilities in children that rely on measures of brain responses and behavioral assessments. Findings from longitudinal and cross-sectional studies using brain and behavior measures are described, along with findings from research designed to influence changes in brain and behavioral responses through training. The findings show differences in event-related potentials (ERP) responses recorded at birth that are related to a child’s later performance on language and reading tasks. Such findings point to a strong biological influence on the development of language and reading skills. However, other findings show that the influence of biological factors on brain processing can be modified through learning. In fact, several studies show that even brief periods of stimulation and opportunities for learning can produce changes in the brain’s ERP repsonses. Such findings suggest that new approaches to evaluating the effectiveness of interventions might change the rate and likelihood of developmental changes.     

Parental sensitivity, infant affect, and affect regulation: predictors of later attachment

This longitudinal study on 94 families examined the extent to which parent sensitivity, infant affect, and affect regulation at 4 months predicted mother-infant and father-infant attachment classifications at 1 year. Parent sensitivity was rated from face-to-face interaction episodes; infant affect and regulatory behaviors were rated from mother-infant and father-infant still-face episodes at 4 months. Infants' attachment to mothers and fathers was rated from the Strange Situation at 12 and 13 months. MANOVAs indicated that 4-month parent and infant factors were associated with infant-mother but not infant-father attachment groups. Discriminant Function Analysis further indicated that two functions, "Affect Regulation" and "Maternal Sensitivity," discriminated infant-mother attachment groups; As and B1-B2s showed more affect regulation toward mothers and fathers than B3-B4s and Cs at 4 months, and mothers of both secure groups were more sensitive than mothers of Cs. Finally, the association between maternal sensitivity and infant-mother attachment was partially mediated by infant affect regulation.     

A US-China Interview Study: Biology Students’ Argumentation and Explanation About Energy Consumption Issues

As China and the United States become the top two carbon emitters in the world, it is crucial for citizens in both countries to construct a sophisticated understanding of energy consumption issues. This interview study examines how U.S. and Chinese students compare in explaining and arguing about two critical energy consumption issues: burning fossil fuels and using electricity. In particular, we focused on using scientific knowledge to explain and argue about these issues. Based on relevant literature and our previous research, we developed a model to guide separate assessment and evaluation of students’ argumentation and explanation. We conducted clinical interviews with 40 biology majors, including 20 U.S. students and 20 Chinese students. This study generated several important findings. First, Chinese students tended to be less consistent across explanations and argumentation, and their levels of argumentation were lower than their levels of explanation. Second, in comparison to their Chinese counterparts, U.S. students provided more scientific arguments but many fewer scientific explanations. Finally, although all participants were college students and had completed at least one introductory level science course before the interviews, some of their explanations and arguments were based on informal ideas rather than matter and energy. We discuss the possible interpretations of these findings and their implications for teaching and learning of scientific explanation and argumentation in both countries.     

Treating children with early-onset conduct problems and callous–unemotional traits: an empirical evaluation of KooLKIDS

Children with early-onset conduct problems (EOCP) and callous–unemotional (CU) traits are highly resistant to treatment and cost society significantly more than their healthy counterparts. Employing a multiple baseline design, 13 males (9.0–10.2 years of age) with a history of school suspensions were sequentially introduced to KooLKIDS, a school-based interactive multimedia intervention for young children with EOCP and CU. Teacher and child self-report data revealed significant reductions for the group in proactive and reactive aggression, and antisocial traits. Significant changes in the desired direction were also found on measures of emotion regulation. When the data were analyzed for each individual child, however, the magnitude of any effects for behaviour change varied greatly. KooLKIDS offers potential for treating children with EOCP and CU and hence preventing progression towards more serious antisocial behaviour.