Preschoolers’ Understanding of How Others Learn Through Action and Instruction

It is widely believed that exploration is a mechanism for young children's learning. The present investigation examines preschoolers’ beliefs about how learning occurs. We asked 3‐ to 5‐year‐olds to articulate how characters in a set of stories learned about a new toy. Younger preschoolers were more likely to overemphasize the role of characters’ actions in learning than older children were (Experiment 1, N = 53). Overall performance improved when the stories explicitly stated that characters were originally ignorant and clarified the characters’ actions, but general developmental trends remained (Experiment 2, N = 48). These data suggest that explicit metacognitive understanding of the relation between actions and learning is developing during the preschool years, which might have implications for how children learn from exploration.     

Generational perceptions of promotion and tenure expectations by faculty in a striving university: A quest for legitimacy?

Striving universities seek to gain prestige in the academic market. One characteristic of striving universities is a change in the faculty reward system. In this study, we examined historical promotion and tenure criteria in five disciplinary units at one striving university and then conducted interviews with senior faculty and recently tenured faculty in each unit to better understand the striving dynamics at play. Findings demonstrated that pressures to seek legitimacy were a result of the faculty themselves, the institution’s desire to gain legitimacy through an increased research profile and the disciplinary ties outside the university.     

Mothers' Physiological and Affective Responding to Infant Distress: Unique Antecedents of Avoidant and Resistant Attachments

In a sample of 127 mother–infant dyads, this study examined the predictive significance of mothers' physiological and observed emotional responding within distressing and nondistressing caregiving contexts at 6 months for infant attachment assessed with Fraley and Spieker's (2003) dimensional approach and the categorical approach at 12 months. Findings revealed that a lesser degree of maternal respiratory sinus arrhythmia withdrawal and higher levels of maternal neutral (vs. positive) affect within distressing (vs. nondistressing) caregiving contexts were distinctive antecedents of avoidance versus resistance assessed dimensionally (but not categorically), independent of maternal sensitivity. Discussion focuses on the usefulness of examining mothers' physiological and affective responding, considering the caregiving context, and employing the dimensional approach to attachment in identifying unique antecedents of patterns of attachment insecurity.     

Appealing to the soul: towards a Judeo-Christian theory of learning

Beginning with the recognition that every learning theory rests on particular assumptions about the nature and capacities of the learners, this study provides an examination of the implicit premises upon which several of the more prominent learning theories - behaviourism, cognitivism, situated learning, and social cognitivism - have been built. Even as each theory is found to propose a slightly distinct conceptualization of human nature, none are found to accommodate acknowledgement of the role of the soul, the spiritual dimension, in determining individuals' ability to learn. Expanding on Habermas's and Mezirow's ideas of learning domains as popularized by Cranton (1994), this paper shows that ultimately, the learning transaction hinges upon the phenomena of perceptions, and perceptions are realized through the realms of physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual input. This reconceptualization of learning to include the soul as a key determinant concludes with a concrete explanation of how acknowledgement of humans' spiritual dimension holds significant potential for enhancing teaching-learning situations.     

Dance Education as an Aspect of Movement and Mobility in Everyday Living

Dance Education can be considered an aspect of everyday living when using the correct definition of dance education. Rather than referring to the rarified form of movement that we encounter on the concert stage, dance education is the education of our moving selves with the goal as self expression. This can be initiated as an aspect of the initial developmental movement stages encountered by an infant through toddler stage, developed through early schooling in order to counteract the sedentary school lifestyle, and continued through adulthood as an aspect of keeping ourselves as fully integrated thinking, moving, and feeling human beings.     

Supporting academic persistence in low‐skilled adult learners

The current literature review explores the factors that contribute to academic persistence for adult learners. The aim of the study is to identify current research‐based strategies aimed at supporting learner persistence, particularly for low‐skilled adults. Elements of three theoretical frameworks, namely, expectancy‐value theory (EVT), goal theory (GT) and self‐determination theory (SDT) are conceptualised in a new, melded cognitive model to explain better the constructs that contribute to academic persistence. These theories are used to frame and explain the challenges that adult learners face when returning to school and to understand better the psychosocial demands on adult learners, based on social cognitive theory. This study is particularly significant in the light of current national attention directed towards redesigning adult basic education programmes to include more workforce development and strategies aimed at accelerating the progress of adult learners through basic skills and into post‐secondary education and/or career training. Questions guiding the current study include identifying research‐based strategies that instructors can use, and elements of programme design that support student persistence.