The socially skilled teacher and the development of tacit knowledge

Skilled interpersonal relations are crucial for effective teaching and learning but much professional knowledge here is tacit and thus not easily communicated. This article presents the results of a study that examined the tacit knowledge of trainee and experienced teachers in relation to various problematic interpersonal aspects of school life. Trainee (n = 501) and experienced (n = 163) teachers in secondary schools were presented with a series of hypothetical vignettes and asked to rate each of 128 potential response options. Trainees completed the survey at the beginning and end of their professional training year. It was found that experience appeared to be related to the capacity to identify ‘bad’ responses, but there was little difference in relation to the identification of ‘good’ responses. Further differences between novice and experienced teachers in relation to preferred strategies are reported. Implications for teacher education and for future research are identified and discussed.     

Modular microfluidic system as a model of cystic fibrosis airways

A modular microfluidic airways model system that can simulate the changes in oxygen tension in different compartments of the cystic fibrosis (CF) airways was designed, developed, and tested. The fully reconfigurable system composed of modules with different functionalities: multichannel peristaltic pumps, bubble traps, gas exchange chip, and cell culture chambers. We have successfully applied this system for studying the antibiotic therapy of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the bacteria mainly responsible for morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis, in different oxygen environments. Furthermore, we have mimicked the bacterial reinoculation of the aerobic compartments (lower respiratory tract) from the anaerobic compartments (cystic fibrosis sinuses) following an antibiotic treatment. This effect is hypothesised as the one on the main reasons for recurrent lung infections in cystic fibrosis patients.     

Direct Measurement of Scientific Giftedness

Giftedness in science today is largely measured by various kinds of standardized tests—IQ tests, SATs, ACTs, GREs, and so forth. For example, many STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) gifted programs rely at least in part on IQ tests or the SAT for identifying students as gifted. It might be useful to supplement such standard measures with measures that directly measure the skills involved in actual scientific work, such as (a) generating hypotheses, (b) generating experiments, (c) drawing conclusions, (d) reviewing (i.e., analyzing scientific work), (e) editing (i.e., evaluating reviews of scientific work), and (f) evaluating teaching. This article discusses the status of the measurement of scientific giftedness and also describes assessments designed to measure scientific giftedness as well as giftedness in evaluating teaching (an important component of scientific success).     

ACCEL: A New Model for Identifying the Gifted

Serious identification of the gifted started with the work of Lewis Terman early in the 20th century. Terman’s model, based largely on IQ, may have made sense in the early 20th century, but it no longer makes sense today. The problems that society needs its gifted individuals to solve in the 21st century require much more than IQ—in addition to analytical, IQ-like skills, they also require creative, practical, wisdom-based, and ethical skills. In this essay, I discuss some of the background for the conventional IQ-based model of gifted identification and education and then consider the problems the world faces today and why IQ is insufficient to solve them. I then present a new model—ACCEL (Active Concerned Citizenship and Ethical Leadership)—that perhaps will better prepare our gifted students for the world of the future.     

Adolescents' perceptions of attachments to their mothers and fathers in families with histories of domestic violence: a longitudinal perspective

OBJECTIVE: The effects of both childhood and teenage experiences of domestic violence on adolescent-parent attachments were examined. METHOD: Israeli adolescents (M = 15.9 years) who were either victims of physical abuse, witnesses of physical spouse abuse, victims and witnesses of abuse, or neither victims nor witnesses of abuse were questioned about attachments to their parents using the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment [IPPA; Armsden, G. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16, 427-454]. FINDINGS: Abuse status 5 years earlier was unrelated to the adolescents' current perceptions of their attachments whereas current abuse status predicted the adolescents' perceptions of attachment to their mothers. Adolescents who were victims of physical abuse reported weaker attachments to their parents than adolescents who were not abused or who had solely witnessed interparental physical abuse. Attachments to mothers were weaker whether or not mothers were the perpetrators of abuse. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that victimization adversely affects children's perceptions of relationships with their parents, but that changes in the exposure to family violence are associated with changes in relationships with parents. These findings suggest that intervention can have positive effects on parent-child relationships despite violent histories.     

Does ACCEL Excel as a Model of Giftedness? A Reply to Commentators

In this essay, I respond to commentators on my article on the Active Concerned Citizenship and Ethical Leadership (ACCEL) model for understanding giftedness. I cover a number of topics that arose in or out of the commentaries, in particular, systems inertia; toxic leadership; teaching for creativity; flight from reality; the role of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in teaching for wisdom; the developmental nature of giftedness; making a positive, meaningful, and enduring difference; IQ as a diagnostic tool rather than as a gatekeeper; meeting the needs of marginalized young people; teacher education; and retrospective studies. I conclude that the differences among all of us in this symposium are small and that we all agree that a model like ACCEL—whatever its exact terms—is needed to move the field of giftedness beyond a preoccupation with abilities, narrowly defined.     

Contamination of dietary supplements and positive drug tests in sport

The use of dietary supplements is widespread in sport and most athletes competing at the highest level of competition use some form of dietary supplementation. Many of these supplements confer no performance or health benefit, and some may actually be detrimental to both performance and health when taken in high doses for prolonged periods. Some supplements contain excessive doses of potentially toxic ingredients, while others do not contain significant amounts of the ingredients listed on the label. There is also now evidence that some of the apparently legitimate dietary supplements on sale contain ingredients that are not declared on the label but that are prohibited by the doping regulations of the International Olympic Committee and of the World Anti-Doping Agency. Contaminants that have been identified include a variety of anabolic androgenic steroids (including testosterone and nandrolone as well as the pro-hormones of these compounds), ephedrine and caffeine. This contamination may in most cases be the result of poor manufacturing practice, but there is some evidence of deliberate adulteration of products. The principle of strict liability that applies in sport means that innocent ingestion of prohibited substances is not an acceptable excuse, and athletes testing positive are liable to penalties. Although it is undoubtedly the case that some athletes are guilty of deliberate cheating, some positive tests are likely to be the result of inadvertent ingestion of prohibited substances present in otherwise innocuous dietary supplements.     

‘It's the end of the university as we know it (and I feel fine)’: the Generation Y student in higher education discourse

This paper examines discussions of Generation Y within higher education discourse, arguing the sector's use of the term to describe students is misguided for three reasons. First, portraying students as belonging to Generation Y homogenises people undertaking higher education as young, middle-class and technologically literate. Second, speaking of Generation Y students allows constructivism to be reinvented as a ‘new’ learning and teaching philosophy. Third, the Generation Y university student has become a central figure in concerns about technology's role in learning and teaching. While the notion of the ‘Generation Y student’ creates the illusion that higher education institutions understand their constituents, ultimately, it is of little value in explaining young adults' educational experiences.     

Seven Lessons for Helping Children Make the Most of Their Abilities

We describe seven essential lessons for anyone involved in teaching or research on education. These lessons emerged from our research on developing thinking skills in children and adults. The lessons focus on helping children develop self‐confidence and a belief in self‐efficacy, teaching children to ask good questions, helping children discover their true motivations, encouraging children to take intellectual risks, teaching children to take responsibility for themselves, showing children the value of delaying gratification and encouraging children to put themselves in another's place. We discuss the insights of each lesson through examples from our own and others’ work, and review the recommendations of each lesson for educators and researchers.