Language proficiency and lateral position in the classroom

This paper not only makes a contribution to the mosaic of scientific knowledge of the brain and nervous system, but suggests implications of practical value. Observant, experienced teachers know empirically that some youngsters learn best, and perhaps only, when seated front-center, right before the teacher’s desk. Such children need to have the eye contact, or to be in quick arm’s reach, or to have distractions screened out. Drs. Bakker and Van Rijnsoever give evidence here that, for many children, taking in and remembering the message is dependent on their physical placement to catch most effectively the stream of sound. This is important to consider in the popular open classroom. Although many children can adapt readily to less-than-perfect physical learning conditions, for some we must “re-invent the wall,” not to climb, but to provide a place to call “home.” The theoretical re-inforcement presented in this paper proves that such boundaries can also provide source and direction for sound as part of some children’s currently needed sensory security and enhance the efficiency of their auditory intake. Editor     

Infant search and object permanence: a meta-analysis of the A-not-B error

Research on Piaget's stage 4 object concept has failed to reveal a clear or consistent pattern of results. Piaget found that 8-12-month-old infants would make perserverative errors; his explanation for this phenomenon was that the infant's concept of the object was contextually dependent on his or her actions. Some studies designed to test Piaget's explanation have replicated Piaget's basic finding, yet many have found no preference for the A location or the B location or an actual preference for the B location. More recently, researchers have attempted to uncover the causes for these results concerning the A-not-B error. Again, however, different studies have yielded different results, and qualitative reviews have failed to yield a consistent explanation for the results of the individual studies. This state of affairs suggests that the phenomenon may simply be too complex to be captured by individual studies varying 1 factor at a time and by reviews based on similar qualitative considerations. Therefore, the current investigation undertook a meta-analysis, a synthesis capturing the quantitative information across the now sizable number of studies. We entered several important factors into the meta-analysis, including the effects of age, the number of A trials, the length of delay between hiding and search, the number of locations, the distances between locations, and the distinctive visual properties of the hiding arrays. Of these, the analysis consistently indicated that age, delay, and number of hiding locations strongly influence infants' search. The pattern of specific findings also yielded new information about infant search. A general characterization of the results is that, at every age, both above-chance and below-chance performance was observed. That is, at each age at least 1 combination of delay and number of locations yielded above-chance A-not-B errors or significant perseverative search. At the same time, at each age at least 1 alternative combination of delay and number of locations yielded below-chance errors and significant above-chance correct performance, that is, significantly accurate search. These 2 findings, appropriately elaborated, allow us to evaluate all extant theories of stage 4 infant search. When this is done, all these extant accounts prove to be incorrect. That is, they are incommensurate with one aspect or another of the pooled findings in the meta-analysis. Therefore, we end by proposing a new account that is consistent with the entire data set.     

Why states should enact an Adult Recurrent Education Entitlement Voucher program

This paper addresses the problems of financing adult continuing and recurrent postsecondary education in America. An analysis of the public investment and policy needs and recommendations for a specific state policy and program for meeting these needs are presented. It is adapted from the state-based Adult Recurrent Education Entitlement Voucher (AREEV) plan pending as legislation in Massachusetts. The AREEV design and the data on which it was originally based in Massachusetts are generalizable to other states. The rationale is not peculiar to Massachusetts.The AREEV proposal provides public investment in recurrent education in a manner that will enable existing educational resources to be utilized most efficiently by adults currently not being adequately served. The general context and rationale for public policy and investment is presented, and a specific, implementable design for legislation to create a state-based Adult Recurrent Education Entitlement Voucher program is recommended.This proposal is designed to aid selectively the working middle class, the disadvantaged, and the socially dependent to pursue part-time recurrent education to improve their career and social condition. The program places a priority first on subsidizing those adults who have the greatest need and then on subsidizing those activities that will yield the highest social rate of return, particularly in relation to problems of unemployment, social dependency, and the national skills base.Dr. Nolfi, an independent public policy analyst, is President of University Consultants, Inc., 45 Hancock Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139. This paper is a chapter in the forthcoming bookRecurrent Education and Open Learning: Policy Analysis and Program Design at the State and National Level. The substance of the paper is drawn from several documents, and extended references for those sources are available from the author.     

Educational services in the University of Bath

Educational technology units, audio-visual aids centres or television services have been established in many British Universities during the present quinquennium. These have met with varied responses from academics, and several organizational patterns have emerged. This article sets out to describe the organizational structure and the range of services offered by the Educational Services in the University of Bath. The Service grew out of the amalgamation of several discrete and independent provisions within the University—projection services, a City-University television service, a unit in the School of Education and so on.Across the board involvement is achieved via a Senate Committee responsible for overall direction, credibility is established by the appointment of an existing academic staff member as director, and an internal bulletin provides the core of a communications system with the academics. Staff seminars on curriculum analysis and development, methods of evaluation and so on, backed up by occasional visiting speakers, provide theoretical backup to the practical and hardware services. An important aspect of the work of the Service is co-operation and co-ordination with the new University Library which has been designed to provide both book and non-book information services. Professor Austwick is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Educational Technology, and Mr. Harris is the Director of Educational Services in the University.

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Les services annexes de l'enseignement a l'Universite de Bath

Résumé Des services rassemblant les moyens techniques d'enseignement, ainsi que des centres audio-visuels ou télévisuels ont été créés dans de nombreuses universités anglaises ces dernières années. Ils ont suscité des réactions différentes de la part du milieu universitaire et, de ce fait, des formes d'organisation différentes sont apparues. L'article vise à décrire l'organisation et la gamme des services qui se rencontrent en cette matière à l'Université de Bath. Le Service des moyens pédagogiques est né de l'intégration de plusieurs services indépendants qui existaient au sein de l'Université: services de projection, de télévision, un groupe de l'Institut d'éducation etc.Les relations avec le Conseil sont assurées par un comité responsable de la marche générale des services; le sérieux de l'entreprise est garanti par la nomination comme directeur d'une personalité membre du corps universitaire; la publication d'un bulletin intérieur fournit un moyen de communication avec l'ensemble des universitaires. Des séminaires consacrés à l'analyse et à l'élaboration des filières d'études, aux méthodes d'évaluation des résultats et autres sujets semblables sont animés par des spécialistes invités et procurent une aide théorique aux services d'exécution technique. Un aspect important de l'activité du Service réside dans la coopération et la coordination avec la nouvelle bibliothèque de l'Université qui a été concue pour diffuser l'information, que celle-ci soit livrescue ou non. Le professeur Austwick est président du Comité pour la technologie de l'enseigement et M. Harris est directeur du Service des techniques d'enseignement à l'Université de Bath.

     

MARKETING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES TO COMMERCIAL BROADCASTERS

A major investment in educational television programmes by the federal government led the United States Department of Education to seek ways to extend the audience size for these programmes beyond public television by placing them on commercial broadcast stations in America. This article describes the programmes, the marketing organization and strategies used to promote programming to the commercial marketplace, and the successes achieved in persuading commercial broadcasters to accept educational children's programming, particularly programmes aimed at minority audiences.     

Teacher Evaluation, Leadership and Learning Organizations

This article presents the argument that meaningful teacher evaluation in schools can be an important catalyst for organizational learning and school improvement when it is linked to broader conceptions of leadership in schools. A state-of-the-art teacher evaluation, assessment and professional growth system is described and the manner in which this system is linked to leadership density, organizational learning, and school improvement is detailed. Findings from two contrasting case studies of schools implementing this new system are presented and implications of the findings for linking teacher evaluation systems, newer conceptions of school leadership, and school improvement are described.     

How New Caledonian crows solve novel foraging problems and what it means for cumulative culture

New Caledonian crows make and use tools, and tool types vary over geographic landscapes. Social learning may explain the variation in tool design, but it is unknown to what degree social learning accounts for the maintenance of these designs. Indeed, little is known about the mechanisms these crows use to obtain information from others, despite the question’s importance in understanding whether tool behavior is transmitted via social, genetic, or environmental means. For social transmission to account for tool-type variation, copying must utilize a mechanism that is action specific (e.g., pushing left vs. right) as well as context specific (e.g., pushing a particular object vs. any object). To determine whether crows can copy a demonstrator’s actions as well as the contexts in which they occur, we conducted a diffusion experiment using a novel foraging task. We used a nontool task to eliminate any confounds introduced by individual differences in their prior tool experience. Two groups had demonstrators (trained in isolation on different options of a four-option task, including a two-action option) and one group did not. We found that crows socially learn about context: After observers see a demonstrator interact with the task, they are more likely to interact with the same parts of the task. In contrast, observers did not copy the demonstrator’s specific actions. Our results suggest it is unlikely that observing tool-making behavior transmits tool types. We suggest it is possible that tool types are transmitted when crows copy the physical form of the tools they encounter.     

Developing cultural competency in higher education: an agenda for practice

As a result of changing national values and unrest, demographic and population shifts, and ever-changing admissions practices and policies, implementing a diversity and cultural-competency agenda within university settings has become a priority across the UK, Europe, and US. Furthermore, public institutions across the UK, EU, and US are now more racially and ethnically diverse than ever [Snyder, T. D., C. Debray, and S. A. Dillow. 2016. ‘Digest of Education Statistics 2016.’ NCES 2016-006. National Centre for Education Statistics; Sursock, Andree. 2015. Trends 2015: Learning and Teaching in European Universities. European University Association. Accessed October 28 2017. www.eua.be/Libraries/publicationshomepage-list/EUA_Trends_2015_web.]. Yet, cultural competency efforts on campuses remain largely under theorized [Bezrukova, K., K. A. Jehn, and C. S. Spell. 2012. “Reviewing Diversity Training: Where We Have Been and Where We Should Go.” Academy of Management Learning and Education 11 (2): 207–227] and diffuse [Sue, S., D. C. Fujino, L. T. Hu, D. T. Takeuchi, and N. W. Zane. 1991. ‘Community Mental Health Services for Ethnic Minority Groups: A Test of the Cultural Responsiveness Hypothesis.’ Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 59 (4): 533–540]. This article seeks to outline an agenda for this work, highlighting outcomes of cultural competency learning and underscoring the role of campus leadership in the development of supportive characteristics. These characteristics include attention to shared knowledge, professional learning at all levels of the organization, inclusive instructional methods, integration with other campus initiatives, and inclusivity of diversity foci. Posited are six supportive conditions for successful implementation.     

用改进的元胞自动化模型模拟不同信号灯控制策略下的交通流

Traffic flows controlled by traffic light strategies were investigated via a cellular automaton model with anticipation, which is suitable for describing urban traffic. Three kinds of strategies, i. e., synchronized, green-wave and random switching lights, were designed, simulated and compared with each other. It is shown that the green-wave strategy is only valid at lower density and there is not an effective way with the three strategies to improve the efficiency of traffic flow at high density.     

Identifying correlates of reabuse in maltreating parents

Forty-five abusive parents (40 mothers, 5 fathers) in treatment at a large, urban medical center's child abuse program were compared on 22 parent, child, and treatment variables posited to bear on reabuse. While no one variable by itself was strongly associated with reabuse, the data indicated that interactions involving several variables (e.g., income source, marital status, and the abuser's personal abuse history) significantly differentiated between reabusers and nonreabusers. Implications of the findings for research and clinical intervention are discussed.