The Contribution of Memory and Anxiety to the Math Performance of College Students with Learning Disabilities

The impact of memory and anxiety on math performance was analyzed in a sample of 115 college undergraduates, all of whom had a diagnosed learning disability. The direct effects of memory and anxiety on math performance were first examined, followed by an examination of whether anxiety moderates the relationship between memory and math. Both memory and anxiety were found to directly affect math performance. Additionally, anxiety served as a moderator of the relationship between memory and math for most, but not all, measures of math achievement. The moderating effect of anxiety was stronger for long-term retrieval than for short-term memory. The relationships between memory, anxiety, and math were not significantly different for males and females. These findings suggest that, when working with individuals who have low anxiety but poor memory, enhancing memory strategies may be effective for remediating problems in math. However, for those with high levels of anxiety, it may be more efficacious to first ameliorate the anxiety, as working on memory may have a negligible effect on math performance for these individuals.     

“When I Grow up I Would Like to Be …”: Factors Affecting Career Choice of Community Disability Workers in Southern Africa

The effectiveness of community based rehabilitation (CBR) programmes depends on the calibre of staff recruited and employed. Therefore, this study aimed to understand how the life experiences of community disability workers (CDWs) in Malawi, Botswana and South Africa influenced their choice of career. A life history approach was used to gather data from 16 CDWs, involving two interviews of each participant. Disability Studies postgraduate students conducted the interviews and analysed the data with academic staff, using thematic content analysis. It was found that lack of career guidance and information about community disability work affected participants’ initial choice of career. Some ended up in CBR because poor schooling prevented them from choosing other careers. Personal experience of disability and exposure to role models in rehabilitation motivated the career choice of some. The authors make recommendations including the selection of trainees with personal experience of disability and CDWs mentoring potential recruits.     

Establishing Influential Decision Making Factors for University Library Opening Hours: An Exploratory UK Regional Study

Many factors and pressures affect decisions made in UK university libraries on opening hours especially 24/7. This article reports on a project to examine the decision making process, influential factors, and stakeholders. A workshop for senior library managers in the East Midlands was held to gather data and share experiences. From analysis of the workshop a framework of influential factors was devised and the decision making process was examined. Although each library had different priorities, important factors overall included pressure from undergraduates and the student's union, and provision during exam periods. Further research to examine the framework nationally is required.     

Dielectrophoretic manipulation of ribosomal RNA

The manipulation of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) extracted from E. coli cells by dielectrophoresis (DEP) has been demonstrated over the range of 3 kHz-50 MHz using interdigitated microelectrodes. Quantitative measurement using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy of the time dependent collection indicated a positive DEP response characterized by a plateau between 3 kHz and 1 MHz followed by a decrease in response at higher frequencies. Negative DEP was observed above 9 MHz. The positive DEP response below 1 MHz is described by the Clausius-Mossotti model and corresponds to an induced dipole moment of 3300 D with a polarizability of 7.8×10(-32) F m(2). The negative DEP response above 9 MHz indicates that the rRNA molecules exhibit a net moment of -250 D, to give an effective permittivity value of 78.5 ε(0), close to that of the aqueous suspending medium, and a relatively small surface conductance value of ～0.1 nS. This suggests that our rRNA samples have a fairly open structure accessible to the surrounding water molecules, with counterions strongly bound to the charged phosphate groups in the rRNA backbone. These results are the first demonstration of DEP for fast capture and release of rRNA units, opening new opportunities for rRNA-based biosensing devices.     

Understanding and treating psychopathology in schools: Introduction to the special issue

Investigating psychopathology in school‐aged children is a topical discussion given the recent increased focus of the U.S. government and professional psychology on this issue. In the last 5 years, the Surgeon General of the United States (Satcher, 2000) and the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (2003) both addressed the need for schools to actively participate in the treatment of children's mental health disorders. Further, psychologists were charged with transforming mental health care for children and families by promoting collaboration between schools, families, and communities; identifying empirically supported interventions; and enhancing culturally competent care for children and teens (P. Tolan & K. Dodge, 2005). To achieve these goals, mental health professionals in the schools need to be able to understand and effectively treat psychopathology in the school setting. School‐based treatment of psychopathology should be based on effective collaboration and grounded within the cultural context of the student population. A comprehensive understanding takes into account the biological basis of these disorders and factors influencing risk and resiliency. Treatment needs for these students often combine traditional therapies and psychopharmacology. Within a comprehensive system of care, specific disorders such as Reactive Attachment Disorder, Early Onset Bipolar Spectrum Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, depression, and anxiety can and should be treated in schools. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 413–417, 2006.     

‘Korea … it's not really actually an Asian country’: Australian children's experiences of an intercultural school partnership programme

ABSTRACT

In Australia, intercultural understanding has been prioritised in education and curriculum documents at both federal and state levels. Alongside this educational priority, schools have also been encouraged to demonstrate ‘engagement’ with ‘Asia’, such as through a partnership with another school in the Asia-Pacific region. My research findings are based on an ethnographic study of Year 5 and 6 Australian children's experiences of an intercultural school partnership initiative through on-line classroom exchanges over a two-year period. Through a critical analysis of ‘complexity reduction’ I draw attention to the processes through which children made sense of perceived racial and cultural differences as part of their involvement in partnership activities and conclude with some reflections on the extent to which educational initiatives such as intercultural school partnership programmes that aim to foster intercultural understanding can do so without reinforcing unequal intercultural relations and stereotypes.     

A Systematic Replication Comparing Interteaching and Lecture in the Community College Classroom

Researchers demonstrated the effectiveness of interteaching relative to lecture in 4-year university classrooms, but exploration in other settings is deficient. This systematic replication examines the extent to which interteaching leads to increased exam scores compared to traditional lecture in the community college classroom. Participants in two introductory psychology sections took identical exams following counterbalanced alternating lecture and interteaching conditions. Most student exam scores following interteaching were slightly higher than exams following the lecture condition, with statistically significant differences in two of the six exams. Students in both sections correctly answered more interteaching-based than lecture-based questions on the cumulative final exam, although these differences were not significant. During interteaching, students earned significantly more points throughout the semester compared to the lecture condition. Also, more students reportedly preferred interteaching relative to lecture. The results of this study comparing interteaching to lecture in a community college setting are consistent with the results in the original study within a 4-year university classroom. Students’ exam score gains and significant cumulative point differences suggest interteaching may be an effective alternative to traditional lecture, potentially producing meaningful differences in student performance within the community college setting.     

The Effect of Various Factors on Standard Setting

This paper reports two studies of standard setting using Angoff's method. Results of the first study suggest that specialization within broad content areas does not affect an expert's estimates of the performance of the borderline group. This is reassuring because the knowledge base of many professions is so large that no individual can be considered an expert in all aspects of it. Results of the second study support the recommendation that performance data be provided during the standard-setting process. They are frequently used by experts, but will not have an impact on the standard unless the distribution of item difficulties is skewed markedly. It also increases the correspondence between p-values and estimates of borderline group performance, thereby reducing errors in pass/fail decisions. Overall, the results support recommendations often made in standard-setting literature, but they need to be replicated with other groups of experts     

Women and science education in Cameroon: Some critical reflections

Ten Cameroonian women were interviewed in order to find out how they had managed to become scientists and science educators. We talked to them about the kinds of support they had been given by their families, how science was taught in schools both in the past and at present, and whether or not they thought it possible to integrated science and African traditional thought in schools and universities. We used a framework incorporating the concepts of gender and social class in order to interpret their views. On this basis, we understood why these women tended to underestimate the importance of institutional discrimination in science and to conceive of the norms of professionalism as unsurpassable. In contrast, we suggest that women in Cameroon will only be able to participate fully when their own experience and ways of knowing are incorporated into the teaching and structures of science.