Predictors of teachers perceived self-competence in classroom management

The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify predictors of teacher manageability beliefs (the degree to which teachers believe they can personally manage a behavior). One hundred and eighty-two teachers completed the 39-item, nine-subtest Teacher Manageability Scale (TMS), which asked participants to rate each behavior (on a 5-point scale) by responding to the question “How easily can you manage the behavior when any student…?” Results of a multivariate regression analysis evaluating the relationship between the nine subtests (dependent variables) and eleven teacher-reported independent variables indicated that between 13% and 18% of the variance was predicted for the six TMS subtests achieving significance. The variables related to the greatest number of dependent measures were student academic achievement and socioeconomic status. Surprisingly, principal's disciplinary support and class size (enrollment) failed to predict even a single subtest. Implications for professional educators working with students identified for special educational services and future research are discussed.     

Tutor and tutee characteristics as predictors of tutorial outcomes

A peer tutoring program in spelling was developed to investigate the effects of several tutor and tutee characteristics on tutorial outcomes, amount of learning and learning efficiency. Examination of the data reveals that only the tutee's pretutorial spelling score was a significant predictor of the amount of learning.     

A replication of a survey of school psychologists: Congruence between training,practice, preferred role,and competence

The present study is a replication of an earlier effort by Meacham and Peckham (1978) that surveyed practicing school psychologists to obtain their perceptions regarding the congruency between the role functions of assessment, interpretation, remediation, consultation, change agent, and research and training, present job, preferred job, and competence. Overall, results indicate a greater congruency between the training and practice of school psychologists. Other findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the training and practice of school psychology.     

Concurrent Validity of the standard progressive matrices for Hispanic and nonHispanic and seventh-grade students

Correlations between the Standard Progressive Matrices test (SPM) and the California Achievement Test, Reading, Language, and Mathematics Tests were examined for 99 Hispanic and 93 nonHispanic Caucasian seventh-grade students in the Southwest. All correlations were highly significant, indicating concurrent validity of the SPM. Correlations computed separately for Hispanic and nonHispanic students also were compared; those differences were not significant. This evidence supports the continued use of the SPM as a measure of nonverbal intellectual ability for Hispanic and nonHispanic students.     

Detecting subtle yet fast skeletal muscle contractions with ultrasoft and durable graphene-based cellular materials

Human bodily movements are primarily controlled by the contractions of skeletal muscles. Unlike joint or skeletal movements that are generally performed in the large displacement range, the contractions of the skeletal muscles that underpin these movements are subtle in intensity yet high in frequency. This subtlety of movement makes it a formidable challenge to develop wearable and durable soft materials to electrically monitor such motions with high fidelity for the purpose of, for example, muscle/neuromuscular disease diagnosis. Here we report that an intrinsically fragile ultralow-density graphene-based cellular monolith sandwiched between silicone rubbers can exhibit a highly effective stress and strain transfer mechanism at its interface with the rubber, with a remarkable improvement in stretchability (>100%). In particular, this hybrid also exhibits a highly sensitive, broadband-frequency electrical response (up to 180 Hz) for a wide range of strains. By correlating the mechanical signal of muscle movements obtained from this hybrid material with electromyography, we demonstrate that the strain sensor based on this hybrid material may provide a new, soft and wearable mechanomyography approach for real-time monitoring of complex neuromuscular–skeletal interactions in a broad range of healthcare and human–machine interface applications. This work also provides a new architecture-enabled functional soft material platform for wearable electronics.     

Effect of response mode and subject characteristics on learning in programed instruction

60 Ss took a program in one of three ways: writing the answer, “thinking” the answer without writing it, or reading a program with the answers filled in. Results indicated no significant differences among the groups on two measures of amount learned. Low positive correlations were obtained between amount learned and IQ and reading comprehension of the Ss. Percent error on test frames within the program was negatively correlated with adjusted gain scores (r = −0.71). Results were also related to possible pragmatic applications.