Colouring in the Blanks: Memory Drawings of the 1990 Kuwait Invasion

This study used drawing tasks to examine the similarities and differences between females and males who shared a collective traumatic event in early childhood. Could these childhood memories be recorded, measured, and compared for gender differences in drawings by young adults who had shared a similar experience as children? Exploration of this question drove this qualitative research project to examine drawings by young Kuwaiti men and women, who were residents in Kuwait during the 1990 Saddam‐Hussein‐led Iraqi invasion of their country. Visual results from this study show colour, image and symbol (CIS) patterns, and differences in gender images in drawings which represent a select population's response to the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.     

Investigating the Use of Integrated Instructions to Reduce the Cognitive Load Associated with Doing Practical Work in Secondary School Science

This study investigated the effects of integrated illustrations on understanding instructions for practical work in science. Ninety‐six secondary school students who were unfamiliar with the target content knowledge and practical equipment took part. The students were divided into two conditions: (1) modified instructions containing integrated text and illustrations, and (2) conventional instructions containing text only. Modified instructions produced significantly higher levels of performance on task, lower time to completion and perceived cognitive load and task difficulty, higher relative efficiency score, and higher post‐test scores than the conventional instructions. When learners are inexperienced and the information is complex, the results suggest that physically integrating mutually referring sources of information reduces cognitive load, and therefore makes practical work instructions easier to understand.     

A two‐component growth mindset intervention for young people with SEND

Interventions to increase the endorsement of the growth mindset (the belief that intelligence can be improved with effort) have been successfully implemented in schools. However, they rarely target children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), a group who are more likely to endorse a fixed mindset, experience lower academic self‐concept and academic resilience, and be at risk of negative stereotyped attitudes. This quasi‐experimental study implemented a 10‐week PSHE programme as well as dedicated lessons with adapted classroom practices, for example, task framing and feedback, to promote the growth mindset message to young people with SEND (N = 18). Analyses of pre‐ to post‐intervention measures demonstrated moderate evidence for the intervention having increased students’ endorsement of the growth mindset, as well as anecdotal evidence for increased academic self‐concept, academic resilience and positive attitudes to disability. However, these effects were not sustained in follow‐up measures conducted 7 weeks post‐intervention. The intervention did not improve students’ academic performance. Although preliminary, findings demonstrate the viability of growth mindset interventions for children and young people with SEND, but suggest that interventions should be maintained for longer‐lasting effects.     

Reading for meaning: the effects of Developmental Education on reading achievements of primary school students from low SES and ethnic minority families

The appropriateness of innovative educational concepts for students from a low socioeconomic status (SES) or ethnic minority background is sometimes called into question. Disadvantaged students are supposed to benefit more from traditional approaches with Programmatic Instruction (PI). We examined Developmental Education (DE), an innovative approach, inspired by Vygotskian theory, in which reading skills are developed through meaningful reading of texts corresponding to students’ self-generated problems. The effectiveness of DE is compared to PI in terms of reading comprehension, strategy knowledge, and reading motivation of 4th-grade students; 170 students from ethnic minority or low SES background participated in a pretest-posttest natural 2-group design. Outcomes were similar in both approaches, with one exception: Students with an ethnic minority background in DE performed better on strategy knowledge than similar students in PI. These results are discussed in relation to previous studies on the appropriateness of innovative curricula for disadvantaged students.     

Teaching teachers to teach ICT integration—T3

Based upon a nation wide campaign called Public Private Partnership—Schools in the Net (PPP-SiN) (Public Private Partnership—Schule im Netz (PPP-SiN), 2000) we were able to initiate an externally financed project of in-service teacher education. The paper describes the realization of this project. Reflections are given on why teachers hesitate to integrate ICT into their teaching. Media competencies are recognized to be key in this context. We reflect upon the following five questions:

1. How do we educate the right thing as well as educate the right way?
2. Which ambient conditions must be met?
3. Which preliminary actions have to be taken and implemented?
4. Which tools, methods and instruments do we need?
5. How do we make sure that the transfer of learned knowledge will take place to find its way into successful teaching?

     

Developmental Pathways to Preference and Popularity in Middle Childhood

This study examined the associations between children's early life experiences with parents, ego resiliency and ego undercontrol, and peer group social status in a longitudinal, multimethod study from infancy to middle childhood. Participants were 129 children (52% boys) who were followed from 15 months of age to 9 years and their primary caregivers from the Nijmegen Longitudinal Study on Infant and Child Development. The measurements included observations of parent–child interaction, teacher ratings of ego resiliency and ego undercontrol, and peer‐reported social status. Quality of parental interactive behavior was associated with ego resiliency and ego undercontrol. Ego resiliency and ego undercontrol were uniquely related to preference and popularity. The findings provide insight into the developmental pathways leading to the two distinct types of social status.