The influence of speaker reliability on first versus second label learning

Children's confidence in their own knowledge may influence their willingness to learn novel information from others. Twenty-four-month-old children's (N = 160) willingness to learn novel labels for either familiar or novel objects from an adult speaker was tested in 1 of 5 conditions: accurate, inaccurate, knowledgeable, ignorant, or uninformative. Children were willing to learn a second label for an object from a reliable informant in the accurate, knowledgeable, and uninformative conditions; children were less willing to apply a novel label to a familiar object if the speaker previously was inaccurate or had expressed ignorance. However, when the objects were novel, children were willing to learn the label regardless of the speaker's knowledge level.     

eResources in Academic Libraries: A Look Ahead

Tim Collins, President and Founder, EBSCO Publishing, presented “eResources in Academic Libraries: A Look Ahead” at the eResource & Emerging Technologies Summit held at Mississippi State University Libraries on August 3, 2012. Collins presented EBSCO's strategy for creating the single search box and the philosophy behind their Discovery Service. He provided information on the different types of content providers and the search capabilities of their Discovery Service. Collins also presented information regarding eBooks on EBSCOhost and what they have done since acquiring NetLibrary.     

Desk Bound No More: Reference Services at a New Research University Library

The authors discuss a newly established academic library at the University of California, Merced, as a model for reference service that foregoes a desk staffed with reference librarians. The library provides innovative, quality reference services for its users by using well-trained staff at a library services desk and employing new technologies for asynchronous communication and instruction.     

Hope,optimism and loneliness among first-year college students with learning disabilities: a brief longitudinal study

The goals of the study were to examine personal resources and social distress during the first month in college among students with learning disabilities (LD) and to compare their experiences with non-LD peer. The sample consisted of 335 first-year undergraduate students falling into two groups: 85 students with LD and 250 non-LD students. Questionnaires assessed hope, dispositional optimism and loneliness. We hypothesised that, after participation in a single-session hope intervention workshop, the hope and optimism levels of both students with LD and without LD would increase, while their loneliness would decrease. However, after a month of facing the academic and social demands of their new college environment, we expected that the hope and optimism scores of students with LD would be lower than their peers without LD and that their loneliness scores would be higher. As hypothesised, both groups reported enhanced hope and optimism, as well as lower loneliness, immediately after the workshop. However, students with LD – but not their peers – returned to baseline levels of hope and loneliness after a month. Loneliness after a month predicted lower hope, after controlling predictors from the beginning of the year.     

Why relationships matter: parent and early childhood teacher perspectives about the provisions afforded by young children's relationships

This study investigated the perspectives of early childhood teachers and parents regarding the importance of provisions afforded by child–teacher and peer relationships in early childhood centres. Participants were 200 parents and 71 teachers of children aged 0–5 years who responded to an online survey containing a series of relationship function statements that were rated according to their perceived importance. Results demonstrate that most functions were rated as more important in the context of child–teacher relationships than peer relationships, although statements reflecting the provision of friendship were regarded as more important in the domain of peer relationships. Ratings for particular provisions of infant relationships were significantly lower than those for older children; a result generated largely by variation in the ratings of teachers in comparison to those of parents. Findings are discussed in relation to differences between parent and teacher perspectives and implications for the development of inclusive, relationship-based pedagogies.     

Developing mathematical thinking in the primary classroom: liberating students and teachers as learners of mathematics

This paper reports on a research study conducted with a group of practising primary school teachers (n = 24) in North East Scotland during 2011–2012. The teachers were all participants in a newly developed Masters course that had been designed with the aim of promoting the development of mathematical thinking in the primary classroom as part of project supported by the Scottish Government. The paper presents the background for this initiative within the context of the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence reform. Particular attention is given to the epistemological positioning of the researchers as this influenced both the curriculum design process and also the theoretical framing of the research study which are both described. The project was set up within a design research framework, which aimed to promote classroom-based action research on the part of participants through the course and also research by the university researchers into the process of curriculum development. The research questions focused on the teachers’ confidence, competence, attitudes and beliefs in relation to mathematics and their expectations and experiences of the impact on pupil learning arising from this course. Empirical data were drawn from pre- and post-course surveys, interviews and observations of the discussion forums in the online environment. Findings from this study highlight the way the course had a transformational and emancipatory impact on these teachers. They also highlight ways in which the ‘framing’ of particular aspects of the curriculum had an oppressive impact on learners in the ways that suppressed creativity and limited the exercise of learner autonomy. Furthermore, they highlight the ways in which a number of these teachers had experienced mathematics as a school subject in very negative ways, involving high levels of ‘symbolic violence’ and of being ‘labelled’.     

Intelligence Recreated

Many of us are frustrated with the overuse of intelligence tests. But intelligence tests have become so entrenched in our society that it is hard to imagine how they realistically could be replaced. Schools would be without a well-established screening device, and intelligence research would be without an external measure of validity. But what if we started over and imagined thinking about intelligence without the benefit (some would say hindrance) of Binet? What would theories and tests of intelligence look like? The articles in this special issue address this topic; here, I discuss the articles. The discussion is divided into three sections. The first section deals with definitional issues: How can intelligence be operationally defined, and can a single definition capture cognitive abilities of individuals at all ages? The second section briefly summarizes and evaluates each of the seven theories: How intelligent are these theories of intelligence? The final section focuses on the implications of the theories and theory-based tests reported in this issue: How can future research and educational practices benefit from the views presented here?     

The ‘dissertation marathon’ in doctoral distance education

Participation in “communities of practice” is often depicted as a central feature of various theoretical understandings of the social nature of learning. How are such communities of practice to be enacted in distance education, which, by definition, implies spatial detachment? This article reflects on the dimensions of communities of practice experienced by four students undertaking doctoral studies by distance education, working in different countries than the one in which the institution of their studies is based, and at four different phases of their doctoral program. In each writer’s experience, community of practice involvement was identified as critical in program completion, yet the source of the learning community was in each case outside of institutional provision.     

Evaluation of retirement planning programs: A qualitative analysis of methodologies and efficacy

ABSTRACT

The objective of this integrative literature review was to evaluate the quality of retirement planning programs described in the extant literature. This was accomplished through a qualitative analysis of methodological and efficacy criteria as described by Flay et al. (2005), Kazdin (2010, 2011 and Murta (2005). Several databases were consulted in searching for retirement program articles including: Academic Search Premier, Medline, PsycInfo, and Web of Science, among others. Retirement planning intervention articles published in English, Portuguese, and Spanish were considered, with a focus on their evaluation methods and results. Eleven studies were identified that described the procedures for both program implementation and intervention evaluation. Results revealed methodological shortcomings in the papers reviewed, with concerns being related to a lack of experimental or quasiexperimental approaches, a failure to use previously validated measurement instruments and longitudinal assessments, and insufficiently robust data analysis procedures. That said, however, there was evidence from multiple investigations that the intervention programs examined led to increases in knowledge, positive changes in attitudes linked to retirement, and an increase in retirement-linked planning and preparation behaviors. Identification of strengths and weaknesses in the methods used and efficacy of these interventions could facilitate the construction of a research agenda aimed at promoting more favorable research designs. Use of more rigorous designs would stand to improve the internal validity of these retirement programs and, consequently, progress in this field.