Ethnic Identity Development and Acculturation Preferences Among Minority and Majority Youth: Norms and Contact

This article tests a longitudinal model of the antecedents and consequences of changes in identification with indigenous (Mapuche) among indigenous and nonindigenous youth in Chilean school contexts over a 6‐month period (633 nonindigenous and 270 Mapuche students, M_ages = 12.47 and 12.80 years, respectively). Results revealed that in‐group norms supporting contact and quality of intergroup contact at Time 1 predicted student's changes in Mapuche identification at Time 2, which in turn predicted changes in support for adoption of Chilean culture and maintenance of Mapuche culture at Time 2; some of the relationships between these variables were found to be moderated by age and ethnicity. Conceptual and policy implications are addressed in the Discussion .     

Systematic academic instruction for students with EBD: the construction and use of a tool for teachers

Educating students with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties requires a thorough systematic approach with the focus on academic instruction. This study addresses the development of a tool, consisting of two questionnaires, for measuring systematic academic instruction. The questionnaires cover the Plan‐Do‐Check‐Act cycle and academic versus behavioural instruction. The questionnaires are both practically oriented as well as theoretically well founded. The reliability turned out to be acceptable (0.76) to high (0.89). Observation scales were developed to determine the validity of both questionnaires. Moderate correlations between questionnaires and observation scales were found (0.31, 0.32). Bland–Altman plots offered us valuable information about the differences between questionnaires and observation scales, supplying us with important issues for further research. It is concluded that the questionnaires might be a valuable tool for assessing teachers' systematic academic instruction.     

Effects of Videotape Mediation on the Development of Skills in Audiovisual Instruction

This study investigated whether videotape‐mediated instruction has any effect on the learning of the principles of audiovisual instruction, and on the development of practical skills. A total of 100 students were used as the sample population, 50 students (control group) receiving lectures on the selected concepts and the other 50 (experimental group) receiving both videotaped and lecture‐based instruction. Results indicated that the experimental group gained more, in general, than did the control group.     

Self‐Compassion,Affect, and Body Image in College Women

The aim of this study was to understand the relationships between self‐compassion, positive affect, negative affect, and variables representative of positive body image for college women. Regression analyses indicated that self‐compassion and affect accounted for 39% and 30% of the variance, respectively, in body appreciation and body image quality of life. Mediational analyses demonstrated that positive affect mediated the relationships between self‐compassion and both indicators of body image. Implications for college counseling are discussed.     

Visual Instruction to Enhance Teaching of Technical Subject to Design Students

Visual instruction complementing verbal lectures is known to promote learning among students. In this study, the role of visual instruction in engaging learners effectively via the simplification of technical concepts was examined. Different aspects of visualisation, such as order of presenting and dimensionality, were tested to observe their effect on students’ approach to learning and learning outcomes. In this mixed‐method quasi‐non‐experimental explanatory study, visual instruction was applied in one of the undergraduate architecture modules that teaches fundamentals of building systems, which students often find difficult to comprehend. Three key variables, including spatial cognitive ability, approach to learning and learning outcomes, were measured using statistically valid instruments along with students’ feedback and interviews. These factors were also measured for the control group that did not receive visual instruction (n = 32), to assess the effect of the intervention. When taught with visualisation, students (n = 69), showed a significant increase in deep approach to learning (e.g., deep motive: t = 2.584, p = 0.011). In interviews, students expressed a deeper interest in the subject and reported that the topic was engaging in class. Visualisation favours students with a higher spatial ability and, thus, is useful for design students who receive spatial ability training in the course. Two‐dimensional visuals must be followed and preceded by three‐dimensional visuals to provide advanced organisation and the connection of new knowledge with known organisational models to be made.     

Baseline Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis and Parasympathetic Nervous System Activity Interact to Predict Executive Functions in Low‐Income Children

We examined interactions between baseline hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity in relation to executive functions (EF) in a sample (n = 1,005) of children in low wealth, nonurban communities at age 48 months. Salivary cortisol and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) represented baseline HPA axis and PNS activity, respectively. The interaction between RSA and cortisol predicted EF such that children with either lower RSA and lower cortisol, or higher RSA and higher cortisol had higher EF scores. These findings suggest a potential compensatory relation in which the PNS and HPA axis counterbalance each other to support cognition.     

Integration of user profiles: models and experiments in information retrieval

One difficult problem in information retrieval (IR) is the proper interpretation of user queries. It is extremely hard for users to express their information needs in a specific yet exhaustive way. In an effort to alleviate this problem, two theoretical models have been proposed to utilize user characteristics maintained in the form of a user profile. Although the idea of integrating user profiles into an IR system is intuitively appealing, and the models seem viable, no research to date has established a foundation for the roles of user profiles in such a system. Aiming at the investigation of the roles of user profiles, therefore, this study first identifies and extends various query/profile interaction models to provide a ground upon which the investigation can be undertaken. From a continuum of models characterized on the basis of interaction types, metrics, and parameters, nearly 400 models are chosen to investigate the “model space.” New measures are developed based on the notion of user satisfaction/frustration. In addition, three different criteria are used to guide users in making judgments on the quality of retrieved items. Analysis of the data obtained from the experiments shows that, for a wide variety of criteria and metrics, there are always some query/profile interaction models that outperform the query alone model. In addition, preferable characteristics for different criteria are identified in terms of interaction types, parameters, and metrics.     

The effect of multimedia instruction for Chinese learning

In Taiwan, lectures are commonly used for younger students to learn their own language, which is traditional Chinese. Passively listening to lectures has led to this group of students making such mistakes as forgetting strokes and word meanings, combining phrases to create incomprehensible blurs of information, and switching radicals with phonetic characters. Thus, the rationale of this study is that better and longer lasting Chinese learning results will occur when a combination of well‐designed texts, audio, graphics, animation, and hands‐on practice are employed. A multimedia system with computer‐based courseware in combination with added, assistive technologies including sound equipment, digital boards, and pens was developed based on this rationale. This study used a treatment group who used the system and a comparison group who received lectures. The subjects were 41 second graders in a southern city in Taiwan and all of them received the same pretest, immediate posttest, and the delayed posttest. Even though some of the differences between the two groups did not reach statistical significance, the results revealed that the treatment group consistently performed better than the comparison group in almost all the areas of competencies in both posttests.     

Early adolescents' and their parents' mental imagery in relation to perceived reading competence

This cross‐sectional survey study examined the relation between mental imagery (i.e., seeing images of a story ‘in the mind's eye’) and perceived self‐competence in reading. The study was conducted with a group of seventh‐grade to ninth‐grade students in the prevocational educational track of secondary schools in the Netherlands and their parents. Results showed a moderate relation between mental imagery and self‐competence beliefs, also after controlling for the quality of students' home literacy environment. Examination of gender differences revealed that girls outperformed boys in self‐competence beliefs. Furthermore, boys perceived themselves as better readers when their parents had higher mental imagery skills. No direct relation was found between parents' and adolescents' mental imagery skills. These findings imply that parents and teachers may need to be made aware of the importance of mental imagery strategies as it may enhance the reading experiences of boys as well as girls.     

LATENT CLASS ANALYSIS OF CONDUCT PROBLEMS OF ELEMENTARY STUDENTS RECEIVING SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES

Students with conduct problems (CPs) may present heterogeneity in terms of behavioral manifestations and service needs. Previous studies using Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to capture this heterogeneity have been conducted mostly with community samples and have often applied a narrow definition of CP. Considering this context, this study investigated CP subgroups among elementary students with CP receiving special education services. LCA was conducted on 10 CP indices for 297 6–9 year old children. Latent CP subgroups were compared with 201 controls without CP. LCA suggests a three‐class solution based on severity of CP and context/informant reports (home/parent, school/teacher). Multinomial logistic regressions indicated that all CP subgroups differed from the control group on social competence and surgency/extraversion temperament scale in the expected direction but varied on specific personal, family, or school correlates. Interventions aimed at reducing CP should consider differences in CP subtype and in correlated risk factors.