Students’ reproduction and transformation of norms incorporated into a programme for social and emotional learning

The present ethnographic study aims to explore how students reproduce and make use of a programme for social and emotional learning to create their own moral orders and routines for interaction in their local school context. The study demonstrates that the students made use of routines and norms conveyed by the programme to negatively position and exclude peers as well as to reproduce discourses of ‘blaming the victim’. The results highlight the inappropriateness of implementing a programme that strips emotions and behaviours of their meaning and that fails to situate emotions within students’ actual social and cultural contexts. The study demonstrates how such an approach relocates the responsibility for dealing with socially and culturally situated problems to the individual and denies teachers the opportunity to respond to problematic situations that give rise to emotions of anger and that emerge in social and cultural contexts at school.     

Identifying the key success factors for the adoption of mobile learning

Education and Information Technologies - There is evidence that sustainability and efficiency are challenges for mobile learning adoption methods. The objective of this study is to identify,...     

Arts‐based responses to teaching poetry: a literature review of dance and visual arts in poetry education

This study investigates the use of dance and visual arts in poetry education by systematically reviewing peer‐reviewed articles published on the topic from 2000 to 2019. The review focuses on empirical results in studies concerned with using dance and visual arts in poetry education and implications for poetry pedagogy in research and practice. The review encompasses 21 articles that were analysed thematically. The thematic analysis yielded seven themes: expand and deepen understandings of poetry; break curricular boundaries; interaction and collaboration; personal knowledge, reflection and experience; increase interest, motivation and confidence; challenges, limitations and constraints; and disciplinary knowledge. With research on this topic having increased in the 2010s, the findings show the potentials and challenges of using dance and visual arts in different ways in poetry education. Still, the research field is understudied, and many questions remain unanswered. Consequently, this study concludes with suggestions for future research on arts‐based responses in poetry education. The study adds to the dialogue on poetry education and contributes to raising awareness of the possibilities and challenges of using dance and visual arts in the poetry classroom.     

How Computer-Assisted Learning Influences Medical Students' Performance in Anatomy Courses

Anatomy is an essential subject of the medical curriculum. Despite its relevance, the curricular time and logistical resources devoted to teaching anatomy are in decline, favoring the introduction of new pedagogical approaches based on computer-assisted learning (CAL). This new pedagogical approach provides an insight into students' learning profiles and features, which are correlated with knowledge acquisition. The aim of this study was to understand how training with CAL platforms can influence medical students' anatomy performance. A total of 611 medical students attending Musculoskeletal Anatomy (MA) and Cardiovascular Anatomy (CA) courses were allocated to one of three groups (MA Group, CA Group, and MA + CA Group). An association between the performance in these anatomy courses and the number of CAL training sessions was detected. In the MA Group (r = 0.761, P < 0.001) and the MA + CA Group (r = 0.786, P < 0.001), a large positive correlation was observed between musculoskeletal anatomy performance and the number of CAL training sessions. Similarly, in the CA Group (r = 0.670, P < 0.001) and the MA + CA Group (r = 0.772, P < 0.001), a large positive correlation was observed between cardiovascular anatomy performance and the number of CAL training sessions. Multiple linear regression models were performed, considering either musculoskeletal or cardiovascular anatomy performance as the dependent variable. The results suggest that using CAL platforms to study has a positive dose-dependent effect on anatomy performance. Understanding students' individual features and academic background may contribute to the optimization of the learning process.     

Quantification of mercury in XVIII century books by Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF)

This work describes the quantitative analysis of mercury present in the ink used to colour some books of XVIII century. The mercury content was determined by Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry. This is a non-destructive technique which allows elemental identification and quantification (Z > 13) by atomic physics processes. The organic pigments cannot be identified by this technique, taking into account that its composition is mainly C, O and H. Levels of 2 wt.% and 4.5 wt.% were measured in 1756 and 1753 books respectively. No significant amount of mercury was observed in other red books, on a total of 11, all from XVIII century: 1720, 1732, 1753, 1756, 1780, 1798, 1800. More than one book for each year were analysed. The studied books belong to a private collection, and were selected taking into account the age and the reddish colour of their external parts. High content on Fe were observed in some of the books. This work highlights the application of a physics technique in a very important aspect for art and cultural heritage conservation and restoration, considering that high levels of toxic elements might be found in ancient documents. It is of great importance that preliminary elemental analyses are performed on ancient documents before handling them, because they might constitute some danger for restorers, conservators and collectors. This work highlights, for the first time, the danger of some ancient books. They might contain a very high concentration of mercury, which is toxic for the organism. This is also a particularly important problem of public health never mentioned in literature before.     

Interaction of race with other variables on achievement in school

This study was concerned with academic performance in black and white children and the interactions of race with other variables on school achievement. Subjects were 334 blacks and 637 whites in grades three to six. Data consisted of general background information and grade equivalent scores on the California Achievement Tests. They were analyzed using multiple re- gression analysis of variance. Results indicated that blacks scored lower than whites and fell farther behind as they progressed from grade to grade. Significant interactions were revealed for sex, social class, family structure, and teachers. Means for black children were generally less variable than for white children.     

Hope in the Shadows: Testing the Immigrant Optimism Hypothesis Among College Aspirational Latino Students

Scholars have proposed that immigrant optimism explains why some immigrant students outperform their United States-born peers academically. Yet, immigrant optimism has not been directly measured. This study aims to test the immigrant optimism hypothesis by operationalizing it using the Children’s Hope Scale. Using structural equation modeling, the author examined the associations between hope, immigrant generation, citizenship status, and academic outcomes among a sample of 2,369 Latino 14- to 17-year-old students. Though no difference by immigrant generation was found, undocumented students were more hopeful than their documented peers. This finding suggests that the documentation status has an indirect relative effect on academic outcomes via hope. This article reexamines the immigrant optimism as a resource that could be fostered among Latino youth, regardless of immigrant status.     

Promoting Curiosity?

Science & Education - Curiosity is a wonder of the human mind. It goes to the heart of modernity, as a driving force for learning, novel insights, and innovation, both for individuals and...     

Teachers' perceptions of behavior problems in children from intact,single-parent,and stepparent families

This study examined differences in the incidence of behavior problems between children living with both natural parents and those in single-parent or in stepparent families. Subjects were 3,644 white children in kindergarten through eighth grade; 2,991 were living with both of their own parents; 312 with mother only; 43 with father only; 264 with mother and stepfather; and 34 with father and stepmother. Teachers provided background information and Behavior Problem Checklist ratings on the youngsters. Compared to children from intact homes, those living with mother only had more problems checked on all five scales of the checklist; those with father only, more Socialized Delinquency; those with mother and stepfather, more Conduct Problems and Socialized Delinquency; and those with father and stepmother, more Conduct Problems. Interactions were found for sex, social class, and grade in school.     

ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME CHILD? PARENT–TEACHER RATINGS OF PRESCHOOLERS’ SOCIAL–EMOTIONAL BEHAVIORS

The parent‐teacher agreement has become an important issue of children's psychological assessment. However, the amount of research available for preschool children is small and mainly based on one index of agreement with samples of modest size/representativeness. This study examined parent‐teacher agreement (correlations) and discrepancies (t tests) on preschoolers' social skills and problem behaviors for the normative Portuguese sample (N = 1,000) of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales – 2^nd Edition (PKBS‐2). Analyses were replicated according to the child's gender and mothers' educational level. Correlational analyses suggest weak to moderate informant agreement (mean correlation = .32). Parents' and teachers' ratings are significantly different for all PKBS‐2 scores, with parents assigning higher scores both on social skills and problem behaviors. Results highlight the importance of both parents' and teachers' perspectives to achieve a more comprehensive picture of preschoolers' social‐emotional behaviors, and reinforce the evidence of reliability of the PKBS‐2 Portuguese version.