Simulating scientific thinking online: an example of research‐led teaching

In the contemporary higher education system there is growing interest in, and debate about, the need to strengthen and sustain the relationships between teaching and research. While there are multiple and varied explanations about these relationships, most acknowledge the importance of designing learning activities that explicitly develop the research–teaching nexus: a methodology known as research‐led teaching. The paper illustrates the integration of a research‐led teaching approach in an online context, using an ocean (climate) model simulation activity in two undergraduate units as a case study. The modelling activity draws on disciplinary research as the underpinning content and stimulus for learning, and incorporates tasks designed to simulate scientific thinking as well as facilitate understanding of abstract concepts about the ocean (and atmosphere) climate system. It also demonstrates a research‐led teaching activity that has been successfully applied in different disciplinary contexts, physical geography (atmospheric science sub‐discipline) and physics.     

Helpful Resources for Childbirth Educators and Parents

In this column, reviewers offer perspectives and comments on a variety of current media resources (books, DVDs, booklets, and teaching aids) that address pregnancy and birth.     

Freudian repression revisited: The power and pain of shame

Shame is a feeling of being flawed and defective as a human being. Repeated shame experiences can be so painful to the individual that it creates a rupture of the self with the self. The true self which has been shamed becomes isolated and hidden, and a false self may emerge. Shame rarely remains a wholly conscious process, with the major defense against this pain being repression. This paper discusses shame, examines its relationship with repression and emotional or psychological disorder, and highlights the implications of repressed shame for counseling practice.     

Creating a Progress‐Monitoring System in Reading for Middle‐School Students: Tracking Progress Toward Meeting High‐Stakes Standards

In this study, we examined the reliability and validity of curriculum‐based measures (CBM) in reading for indexing the performance of secondary‐school students. Participants were 236 eighth‐grade students (134 females and 102 males) in the classrooms of 17 English teachers. Students completed 1‐, 2‐, and 3‐minute reading aloud and 2‐, 3‐, and 4‐minute maze selection tasks. The relation between performance on the CBMs and the state reading test were examined. Results revealed that both reading aloud and maze selection were reliable and valid predictors of performance on the state standards tests, with validity coefficients above .70. An exploratory follow‐up study was conducted in which the growth curves produced by the reading‐aloud and maze‐selection measures were compared for a subset of 31 students from the original study. For these 31 students, maze selection reflected change over time whereas reading aloud did not. This pattern of results was found for both lower‐ and higher‐performing students. Results suggest that it is important to consider both performance and progress when examining the technical adequacy of CBMs. Implications for the use of measures with secondary‐level students for progress monitoring are discussed.     

Path analysis of self-efficacy and diving performance revisited

The Feltz (1982) path analysis of the relationship between diving efficacy and performance showed that, over trials, past performance was a stronger predictor than self-efficacy of performance. Bandura (1997) criticized the study as statistically "overcontrolling" for past performance by using raw past performance scores along with self-efficacy as predictors of performance. He suggests residualizing past performance by regressing the raw scores on self-efficacy and entering them into the model to remove prior contributions of self-efficacy imbedded in past performance scores. To resolve this controversy, we reanalyzed the Feltz data using three statistical models: raw past performance, residual past performance, and a method that residualizes past performance and self-efficacy. Results revealed that self-efficacy was a stronger predictor of performance in both residualized models than in the raw past performance model. Furthermore, the influence of past performance on future performance was weaker when the residualized methods were conducted.     

Art versus commerce in the movie industry: a Two-Path Model of Motion-Picture Success

Previous studies of the movie industry have raised questions concerning the problematic relationship between the success-related aspects of artistic excellence and commercial appeal. The present article proposes that—when the former is measured by industry recognition (Oscars and other awards) and the latter by market performance (box office and video rentals) and when the former hinges on the evaluative judgments of reviewers and consumers (ratings of excellence) and the latter on the level of buzz among these audience members (amount of attention, word of mouth, or click of mouse)—the two phenomena are essentially separable as independent paths to conceptually distinct and empirically uncorrelated aspects of motion-picture success. An analysis of data for 190 movies from the year 2003 shows that reviewer-and-consumer evaluations and buzz respond differently to a film’s marketing clout (production budget, opening screens, and opening box office) and that these audience responses contribute independently to a film’s industry recognition and market performance along two separable paths. These findings suggest various implications for movie marketers, film producers, actors or actresses, and other members of the motion-picture industry.

Modeling the appeal of movie features to demographic segments of theatrical demand

Various studies have built models, using aggregate box-office data, to predict the contribution of a motion picture’s features to its theatrical demand. But such an approach fails to represent the heterogeneous influence of movie features on demographic groups and is unable to assist market-segmentation decisions. We propose and illustrate a new approach for modeling the appeal of movie features to market segments via the use of appropriate individual-specific data and canonical correlation analysis. Specifically, through demographically detailed movie-attendance data available in Spain, we build a model of how movie features influence the demographic composition of audiences. Via a canonical correlation analysis, we identify four dimensions underlying the relationships between several movie features (country of origin, genre, objectionable content, stars, promotional effort, and critical evaluations) and audience demographics (gender, age range, presence of children, education, social class, and size of municipality). These dimensions represent the strong pairings between four moviegoer demographic profiles and four movie-feature profiles. Our approach can potentially aid in segmentation and green-lighting decisions by matching movie features with the most relevant segment-specific preferences.     

Efficacy of the Nemours BrightStart! Early Literacy Program: Treatment Outcomes From a Randomized Trial With At-Risk Prekindergartners

Research Findings: This study reports outcomes from a randomized, controlled trial of an emergent literacy intervention for prekindergarten children at-risk for reading failure. Children (N = 2219) in 114 preschools and childcare centers were screened for eligibility in fall. Children who scored at-risk (n = 476) were randomized to fall or spring treatment and received nine weeks of explicit, multisensory, emergent literacy instruction in small groups provided by early literacy interventionists. Trained observers noted high implementation fidelity. Pre-reading skills were assessed before and after intervention for both treatment groups. The spring intervention group served as at-risk controls for children who completed fall intervention. Three-level, linear growth models (time-student-school) were used to estimate treatment effects, found for print awareness, elision, rhyming, and the screener (print and letter knowledge, phonological awareness), replicating previous findings for the screener, rhyming, and print knowledge, and extending them to elision. Significantly accelerated growth in print knowledge, elision, rhyming, and the screener was observed during intervention. Practice or Policy: Results demonstrate benefits of high-quality emergent literacy instruction for children at risk. Growth in skills for both fall and spring treatment groups following this 18-lesson program supports some implementation flexibility among interventionists with delivery constraints during the year.