Optical Solutions: Reception of an NSF-Funded Science Comic Book on the Biology of the Eye

This article traces the reception of a “science comic book” by various audiences including readers and reviewers after publication as well as grant application review committees vetting the proposed project in its conceptual stage. Specifically, the work is a biology textbook containing comics-style visual explanations couched in the form of an imaginative story interwoven with and supplementing traditional text-based explanations of the same ideas. The analysis uses Genette’s concept of “paratexts” (i.e., a class of speech genres comprising those supplementary texts that contextualize and inform readers’ interpretations of the primary text that they accompany) to examine the rhetoric of the visual in the discourse of science education. This analysis observes that the stigmatization of comics as a medium played some role in how readers, critics, and reviewers responded to the text. The implications of this stigma for cultural conceptions of science and their relationships to other knowledge domains, including the arts and humanities, raise a concern for the mediation of public impressions of science as an institution.     

Deconstructing Meritocracy in the College Classroom

The purpose of this article is to discuss meritocracy as it impacts our undergraduate college teaching. As college educators, we have come to realize how little students have been challenged to critically examine the notion of meritocracy. Seeking to understand why this is so and what we can do to engender a more nuanced understanding of how social class is structured and perpetuated across generations, we present an assessment of why the majority of students believe we live in a meritocratic society and how college educators can use specific activities to complicate this view. As we do this we include evidence of how social class and social mobility are structured and why an adherence to meritocracy is, we believe, an anathema to teaching for social justice.     

Primary school children’s perspectives and experiences of Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) support

ABSTRACT

This study explores primary school aged children’s perspectives and experiences of their Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) support. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 12 Key Stage 2 participants, who had had a minimum of one month’s ongoing ELSA support. Four core themes were identified: positive relationships, unique qualities, facilitates skill development, and positive impact. The findings suggest the importance of a positive therapeutic relationship with an ELSA, and that children value ELSAs teaching specific individualised coping strategies in particular. The findings may also be pertinent to practitioners outside of ELSA related work, highlighting the importance of listening to children of all ages and employing alternative methods, such as drawing, to support them in sharing their views. Since the evidence base for ELSA support is limited, this study contributes children’s views to this area, and should be used to inform future research.     

Students' perceptions of teaching and learning in first-year university physics

The transition from school to university involves substantial change in the structure and organization of teaching, and in the nature and purpose of learning contexts. This paper, which reports some data from a broader study of learning and teaching in first year university physics, focuses on aspects of the school-university transition. In particular, we report perceptions of first year physics students about how they should learn physics, what it is intended they should learn, and what they believe to be the functions of the various teaching situations in which they are placed.     

Responding to Sexual Assault Victims: Considerations for College Counselors

College counselors need to be informed of effective interventions when counseling students who have been sexually assaulted. This article applies research and theory from the general literature on counseling sexual assault victims to college counselors' work with this population. An overview of the effects of sexual assault is followed by specific implications for counseling students who have been sexually assaulted.     

An analysis of excellent early educational practices: Preliminary report

A substantial number of young children seem to reach age six very poorly prepared for future learning experiences, including formal education. This paper is a preliminary report of a large project designed to generate knowledge about how best to rear children during their first six years of life. The strategy has been to systematically and intensively observe how some families manage to do an unusually good job with their young children. Preliminary results are reported on (1) the details of the everyday experiences of well versus poorly developing one- and two-year-old children, (2) their developing competencies, and (3) environmental factors that appear to influence these processes of development in significant ways.

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Résumé Nombre d'enfants semblent atteindre l'âge de six ans malpréparés pour les expériences futures d'études, comprenant l'éducation formelle. Cet article constitue un rapport préliminaire d'un projet considérable dessiné à développer les connaissances concernant les meilleures méthodes d'élever les enfants pendant leurs premiers six ans. On a observé systématiquement et intensivement comment quelques familles parviennent à bien élever leurs enfants. On fait un rapport sur (1) les expériences courantes des enfants âgés d'un an ou deux qui se développent bien et de ceux qui se développent mal, (2) leurs compétences croissantes, et (3) les facteurs environnementaux que semblent influencer ces procédés du développent d'une manière significative.

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I wish to extend my gratitude to the past and present research staff of the Pre-School Project: Dr. E. R. LaCrosse, Jr., Dr. Patrick C. Lee, Mrs. Frances Litman, Dr. Daniel M. Ogilvie, Dr. Susan S. Stodolsky, Mrs. Jacqueline Allman, Miss Frances Aversa, Mrs. Ellen C. Banks, Mrs. Kitty Riley Clark, Mrs. Virginia Demos, Mrs. Marjorie Elias, Dr. John Guidubaldi, Mrs. Barbara Kaban, Miss Barbara Koslowski, Mrs. Mary Meader Mokler, Mrs. Meredith Stone Pandolfi, Mrs. Barbara Rich Bushell, Mrs. Bernice Shapiro, Mrs. Sylvia Skolnick Staub, Mrs. Jolinda Taylor, Mrs. Eleanor Wasserman, Mrs. Louise Woodhead, Mrs. Cherry Collins, Mrs. Nancy Apfel, Mrs. Itty Barnett, Mrs. Martha Carroll, Mrs. Mary Comita, Miss Christine Halfar, Miss Geraldine Kearse, Miss Maxine Manjos, Mrs. Janice Marmor, Mrs. Ingrid Stocking, Dr. Jean Watts, Mr. Paul Weene, Miss A. Elise Weinrich, Mrs. Martha Bronson, Mr. Andrew Cohn, and Dr. Melvin Zolot. Also the cooperation of several hundred families and many school personnel from nearby public and private institutions made this study possible.

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The research and development reported herein was performed in part pursuant to a contract (OE 5-10-39) with the U.S. Office of Education, under the provisions of the Cooperative Research Program as a project of the Harvard University Center for Research and Development on Educational Differences; The Carnegie Corporation of New York; and The Office of Economic Opportunity, Head Start Division. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the author.     

Exclusion Expected? Cardiac Slowing Upon Peer Exclusion Links Preschool Parent Representations to School-Age Peer Relationships

Attachment theory proposes that children’s representations of interactions with caregivers guide information-processing about others, bridging interpersonal domains. In a longitudinal study (N = 165), preschoolers (M_age = 5.19 years) completed the MacArthur Story Stem Battery to assess parent representations. At school-age (M_age = 8.42 years), children played a virtual ballgame with peers who eventually excluded them to track event-related cardiac slowing, a physiological correlate of rejection, especially when unexpected. At both ages, parents and teachers reported on peer and emotional problems. During exclusion versus inclusion-related events, cardiac slowing was associated with greater positive parent representations and fewer emerging peer problems. Cardiac slowing served as a mediator between positive parent representations and peer problems, supporting a potential psychophysiological mechanism underlying the generalization of attachment-related representations to peer relationships.     

The Influence of Ethnic-Racial Identity Developmental Processes on Global Bicultural Competence Development

This study investigated ethnic-racial identity (ERI) developmental processes (i.e., exploration and resolution) as pathways for adolescents to develop global bicultural competence, or the ability to meet heritage and host cultural demands. The sample included 749 U.S. Mexican-origin youth (30% Mexico-born; 51% male) followed from early-to-late adolescence (M_age = 12.79–17.38 years). Longitudinal structural equation analyses revealed that youth’s sequential engagement in ERI exploration and resolution (from early-to-middle adolescence) promoted global bicultural competence in late adolescence. The findings highlight the benefits of achieving clarity about one’s ERI via self-exploration efforts for adolescents’ ability to respond effectively to bicultural demands. This study advances mechanisms via which ERI development may support youth adaptation to multiple cultural systems.     

Evidence informed practice for autism,special educational needs and disability in schools: expanding the scope of the research learning community model of professional development

Research learning communities (RLCs) are an increasingly popular form of collaborative professional development that takes participants into deep engagement with research evidence and empowers them to become researchers themselves. This study describes the use of the RLC model to make research about autism and school system change accessible to teachers in primary schools. An interdisciplinary team of specialists guided teams made up of a school leader and a class teacher through structured engagement with recent, high quality research. Participants devised and trialled evidence-informed interventions that supported pupils with autism and facilitated the improvement of whole school policy and practice on special education and disability (SEND). The RLC allowed them space to share their experiences with other teachers in a process of mutual reflection and learning. Evaluation showed that participants gained confidence in leading change and made effective use of research to develop SEND school policy and practice.     

Surreptitious warfarin ingestion

Munchausen by proxy has been reported involving children who have been given various drugs or toxins. In addition, there is a body of adult literature regarding covert anticoagulant ingestion. This is a case of an 11-month-old female who appears to combine features of both of these syndromes. This child presented with an acute left hemorrhagic otitis media. The physical examination was unremarkable except for the following: weight, fifth percentile; left external auditory canal filled with blood with the right external canal and tympanic membrane being normal; and several scattered 1 X 2 cm firm, movable, nontender, purple nodules on extremities, chest and forehead. The coagulation studies were consistent with Vitamin K deficiency secondary to anticoagulant ingestion. A serum warfarin study confirmed our suspicions. The mother was noted to have a dependent relationship with her child and characteristics of those involved in Munchausen by proxy: falsifying information and thwarting medical assessment. In addition, she displayed some of the characteristics found commonly in anticoagulant malingerers. She was depressed, with limited medical knowledge, and had access to warfarin. The mother was admitted for inpatient psychiatric care and the patient placed with an extended family member. This case report describes the use of an anticoagulant to induce illness in a child by a psychologically ill mother. This form of child abuse must be considered in the differential diagnoses of hemorrhagic disorders.