Did muslim survivors of the 1099 massacre of jerusalem settle in damascus? the true origins of the al-.(S)āli.(h)iyya suburb

This article retraces the genealogy of a mistaken contention, quoted and requoted by a legion of historians of the Crusades; namely, that Muslim survivors of the 1099 massacre in Jerusalem settled in the al-.(S)āli.(h)iyya suburb of Damascus. Actually, the al-.(S)āli.(h)iyya suburb was established some 60 years after the foundation of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1099, by emigrants from Muslim villages in central Palestine, then under Frankish rule. Medieval Muslim sources hold no evidence to the relocation of any Jerusalemites of Damascus in 1099.     

Does secondary school size make a difference?: A systematic review

There is a vast body of literature on school size but comparatively few high quality empirical studies comparing outcomes in schools of different sizes. This systematic review synthesizes the results of the published research from 31 studies on the effects of secondary school size from OECD countries since 1990. Overall the directions and patterns of effect vary for different outcomes. For pupil attainment measured by exam results, and for attendance, larger schools appear to do better up to some optimal school size but estimates of this point or range are insufficiently precise to be useful. The implications of different school sizes on student behaviours are equivocal, but teachers and pupils at smaller schools are more likely to have a positive perception of their ‘school environment’. Costs per pupil appear to decrease as school size increases. The results of the review suggest that there is little empirical evidence to justify policies that aim to ‘change’ or mandate particular school sizes. However, given the evidence that there do appear to be optimal sizes for some outcomes, stakeholders should be made aware that dramatic changes in a school's size may change the characteristics of a school's learning environment.     

Emotion socialization and expressive development in preterm and full-term infants

The expressive behaviors of full-term and preterm infants and their mothers were examined during face-to-face interaction when the infants were approximately 2 1/2, 5, and 7 1/2 months old. Videotapes of the sessions were coded on a second-to-second basis using Izard's discrete emotion coding system. Overall, infants showed a linear increase in positive effect, especially interest and joy, and a corresponding decrease in negative affect, especially pain and knit brow, with age; decrease in negative affect was accounted for largely by the preterm infants. In terms of maternal responses, there was an increase in contingent responding to infant interest expressions and a decrease in contingent responding to infant pain expressions over time, especially in the case of the preterm infant. The data set as a whole was examined further to establish the directionality of influence between mothers and infants in change patterns over time. There was evidence of learning effects in infants as a function of maternal modeling and contingency patterns. Anomalies in maternal responses to preterm infant affect expressions were observed. Mothers of these infants displayed significantly less matching or imitation of their infant's facial expressions, showed random rather than contingent responsiveness to sadness, and a significant ignoring response to infant anger. These differences were attributed to differences in gazing patterns and negative emotion expression in preterm infants. The results are discussed within a framework of emotion socialization that recognizes bidirectionality of influence in the emotional patterns of mothers and infants.     

Using virtual reality in the classroom: preservice teachers’ perceptions of its use as a teaching and learning tool

Virtual reality (VR) platforms act as a potentially transformative tool in learning and teaching. The aim of this study was to examine pre-service teachers’ (PST) perceptions about VR, inclusive of their beliefs about its capacity to be used as a teaching and learning tool. A case-study, conducted at an urban university in Australia involved a sample of n = 41. Participants’ positive perceptions of VR in their teaching relate to its potential to engage learners, the immersive potential of the platform and the scope of VR to offer students experiences they might otherwise not have with other learning tools. Concerns expressed by PSTs include their relatively low self-efficacy to use VR in their teaching, monitoring-related matters, financial cost and implementing the technology in a safe and supportive way. There was a significant difference in PSTs’ amount of self-efficacy to teach using VR when compared to their overall confidence to use digital technologies. PSTs typically had greater awareness of the immersive and engagement potential of VR and less awareness about its potential to foster and promote collaborative learning. This paper contributes to an emerging discourse regarding the possible applications of VR in educational environments and particularly in relation teacher-educator contexts.     

Caseworker assessments of risk for recurrent maltreatment: association with case-specific risk factors and re-reports

OBJECTIVE: This article focuses on caseworkers' assessments of risk of maltreatment recurrence among families in contact with social services. Specifically, the article has two primary goals: (1) to examine the association between caseworkers' risk assessments and demographic, child, parent and family-level risk factors; and (2) to examine agreement between caseworkers' risk assessments and any subsequent report, or reports, of maltreatment. METHOD: Data are from the baseline, 12-month, and 18-month assessments of the National Survey for Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW), a nationally representative sample of youth and families who were the subjects of allegations of maltreatment investigated by child welfare agencies. The sample consisted of a subset of NSCAW participants: cases with a report of child physical abuse or neglect who were not placed in out-of-home care (N=2,139). RESULTS: Analyses indicated that parent-level risk factors and a prior report of maltreatment were most strongly associated with caseworkers' assessments of risk for both physical abuse and neglect cases. A smaller set of factors, which varied by the type of maltreatment, were associated with a subsequent report of maltreatment. Despite some overlap in correlates of risk assessment and subsequent reports, analyses indicated that agreement between caseworkers' assessments of risk and re-reports was low. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that although caseworkers' assessments were associated with a limited set of risk factors from the literature, few of these factors also were associated with a recurrent report of maltreatment. Correspondence between caseworkers' assessments of risk and a subsequent report of maltreatment was low, suggesting that considerable work may be needed to improve accuracy and identification of cases most at risk. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This study provides information to assist caseworkers, administrators, and policymakers in thinking critically about risk assessment policies and procedures. Although caseworkers' assessments of risk were associated with some of the empirical predictors of recurrent maltreatment, their assessments were only slightly better than guessing. Agreement between caseworkers' risk assessments and actual subsequent reports was better for low-risk cases, but primarily because the majority of cases did not have a subsequent report during the study period. Clearly, considerable improvement in risk assessment is needed so that at-risk families can be better identified and the limited services available can be directed toward those most in need.     

Beyond the Face: An Empirical Study of Infant Affective Configurations of Facial, Vocal, Gestural, and Regulatory Behaviors

This article evaluates the extent to which infants' expressive modalities of face, gaze, voice, gesture, and posture form coherent affective configurations and whether these configurations are related to specific interactive contexts. 50 6-month-old infants and their mothers were videotaped in Tronick's Face-to-Face Still-Face Paradigm. The infants' gaze, voice, gestures, self-regulatory, and withdrawal behaviors were coded with the Infant Regulatory Scoring System (IRSS). The infants' facial expressions were coded with Izard's AFFEX system. Contingency analyses of IRSS behaviors and AFFEX expressions revealed 4 distinct affective configurations: Social Engagement, Object Engagement, Passive Withdrawal, and Active Protest. These affective configurations were differentially distributed among the different interactive contexts of the Face-to-Face Still-Face Paradigm. It is suggested that behaviors and facial expressions are fundamental expressive units flexibly organized into configurations that convey messages about the infant's internal state and intentions. Furthermore, it is hypothesized that the basic units of the infant's experience are these distinct affective configurations of emotion and behavior.