Children’s Perspectives on Their Everyday Lives in Child Care in Two Cultures: Denmark and the United States

The purpose of this study was to investigate young children’s perspectives related to their experiences in child care. Researchers used individual interviews and drawings in an early childhood program in Denmark and one in the United States as the basis for examining children’s perspectives on their everyday lives in child care. Observations documented the everyday cultural practices for the children in the two child care centers and provided a foundation for interpreting the interviews and the drawings. The information collected was analyzed to determine what aspects of child care young children like best and least, as well as their thoughts on the adults and peers in their center.     

Mode of communication, perceived level of understanding, and perceived quality of life in youth who are deaf or hard of hearing

Given the important role of parent-youth communication in adolescent well-being and quality of life, we sought to examine the relationship between specific communication variables and youth perceived quality of life in general and as a deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) individual. A convenience sample of 230 youth (mean age = 14.1, standard deviation = 2.2; 24% used sign only, 40% speech only, and 36% sign + speech) was surveyed on communication-related issues, generic and DHH-specific quality of life, and depression symptoms. Higher youth perception of their ability to understand parents' communication was significantly correlated with perceived quality of life as well as lower reported depressive symptoms and lower perceived stigma. Youth who use speech as their single mode of communication were more likely to report greater stigma associated with being DHH than youth who used both speech and sign. These findings demonstrate the importance of youths' perceptions of communication with their parents on generic and DHH-specific youth quality of life.     

Improving the Acquisition of Novel Vocabulary Through the Use of Imagery Interventions

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of imagery interventions on the vocabulary acquisition abilities of second grade students. A total of 15 students were randomly assigned to three different intervention conditions: Word Only, which involves the simple verbal presentation of a vocabulary word; Dual Coding, in which a picture was paired with the vocabulary word, and Image Creation, in which students were told to create a mental picture of the vocabulary word in their mind and draw it on paper. These students were taught a total of 21 vocabulary words: seven animal and habitat words, seven musical instrument terms, and seven science terms. A Latin square design was used, in which each group of students rotated through each of the interventions, being exposed to a different treatment condition for each category of words. Participants were measured on the number of words they were successfully able to acquire through the use of experimenter designed comprehension measures. While no statistical significance was shown between the interventions across the word categories, a significant difference was found between the Image Creation and Word Only interventions within the science terms category. Students also reported that the imagery interventions facilitated the ease with which they learned the words. The findings have implications for increasing the success of classroom instruction, specifically for presenting novel vocabulary words to early elementary learners using imagery methods.     

A tale of three campuses: Unearthing theories of residential life that shape the student learning experience

Frank Shushok Jr., T. Laine Scales, Rishi Sriram, and Vera Kidd share some initial thoughts about responses to their Campus Residential Experience Survey. Do you recognize your institution?     

The Czech Republic Between Studentocracy,Academic Oligarchy and Managerialism: Are students powerful or powerless?

Tertiary Education and Management - In this article, we will argue that students played an important role at several crucial junctures of modern Czech history, which secured them a central position...     

Computers in Artificial Intelligence Education

Both the origin and development of artificial intelligence (AI) are connected with the origin and development of computers. Computers play a very important role in engineering education. AI influences such disciplines like CAD, CASE, CAE, and others. The specific experience concerning AI education at a technical university has been gathered in this paper. There is stressed need of good balance between theoretical background and individual training with computers as well as importance of personal experience in solving practical AI.