Contingency Awareness in Infants and Children with Severe and Profound Learning Disabilities

Seven infants and children with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties (CA 3 months to 4 years, MA 2 months to 12 months, mean MA 4.5 months) were presented with a contingency situation where they could control the onset of a visually and auditorily attractive toy. In this situation their responding increased and some positive emotional effects were seen. When they were subsequently unable to control stimulation, negative effects were seen on a range of emotional, motivational and self‐stimulation measures. These results suggest that from a mental age level of 2 months children are equipped to detect cause and effect relationships and build up a picture of their world based on expectancies about such relationships; and that violations of these expectancies can lead to negative effects.     

A mixed-methods evaluation of the longer-term implementation and utility of a teacher classroom management training programme in Irish primary schools

Inappropriate, aggressive and disruptive behaviour in the classroom can be detrimental to child and teacher well-being. This study involved a longer-term evaluation of the Incredible Years Teacher [Classroom Management] programme (IYTP) undertaken mainly within disadvantaged schools in south-west Ireland. The IYTP is designed to strengthen teacher classroom management competencies. Eleven teachers, who had previously participated in a group-randomised control trial (RCT), took part in a 12-month post-baseline follow-up assessment. Psychometric and observational measures were administered to assess teachers when interacting with children (n?=?217) in their classes. Qualitative data were collected from a sub-sample of teachers to explore their perceptions of programme impact and utility. The quantitative results showed some significant improvements in teachers’ classroom management, although few changes were recorded on teacher-child observation measures. Qualitative findings indicated continued implementation of proactive disciplining strategies and higher levels of teacher self-efficacy. These results suggest, albeit tentatively in view of the study limitations, that the IYTP can benefit teacher classroom management, as well as teacher well-being, particularly within disadvantaged schools where behavioural problems tend to be more prevalent. The IYTP could prove useful in improving teacher competencies and the classroom environment in the longer term, although a need for further research is indicated.     

Does immigration background matter? How teachers’ predictions of students’ performance relate to student background

Accurate teacher evaluations of student performance are crucial for effective teaching. This study examined whether students’ immigration and language background affect teachers’ evaluations. Multilevel analyses tested whether teachers overestimate the performance of immigrant relative to that of non-immigrant students. As part of the German PISA 2003 assessment, 305 teachers predicted the performance of seven of their students on two mathematics problems of different linguistic complexity. Results revealed an interaction effect of students’ language background and linguistic complexity of the problem on teachers’ predictions. Teachers overestimated the performance of bilingual students more than the performance of monolingual immigrant or non-immigrant students on a linguistically complex problem. Teachers need to consider both students’ language background and linguistic demands of the material used to appropriately support bilingual students.     

Preference for rewards that follow greater effort and greater delay

Humans prefer (conditioned) rewards that follow greater effort (Aronson & Mills, 1959). This phenomenon can be interpreted as evidence for cognitive dissonance (or as justification of effort) but may also result from (1) the contrast between the relatively greater effort and the signal for reinforcement or (2) the delay reduction signaled by the conditioned reinforcer. In the present study, we examined the effect of prior force and prior time to produce stimuli associated with equal reinforcement. As expected, pressing with greater force or for a longer time was less preferred than pressing with less force or for a shorter time. However, participants preferred the conditioned reinforcer that followed greater force and more time. Furthermore, participants preferred a long duration with no force requirement over a shorter duration with a high force requirement and, consistent with the contrast account but not with the delay reduction account, they preferred the conditioned stimulus that followed the less preferred, shorter duration, high-force event. Within-trial contrast provides a more parsimonious account than justification of effort, and a more complete account than delay reduction.     

‘If you miss the ball,you look like a total muppet!’ Boys investing in their bodies in physical education and sport

Connections have been drawn between masculinity, muscularity and physical or social status in sport. Not only are sporting bodies often related to masculinity but also to whiteness, leading to the devaluing of Asian boys' bodies and sporting experiences. This paper draws on three British Asian teenage boys' visual and verbal narratives to enquire how they negotiate these connections in their physical education and recreational sport experiences. Bourdieu's notion of capital is used to make sense of boys' ways of investing in their bodies to manage their status in school. Drawing from focus-group interviews which used participant-driven photography and photo elicitation techniques, the research indicates how three boys invested in their bodies by doing particular types of physical activity that would enable them to develop muscularity, fitness and/or motor competence, to attain or retain physical and social capital in school. Along the way, they add pertinent comments on the intersections of masculinity and ethnicity in constructing and performing a sporting body.     

Impact of Anatomy Boot Camp on Students in a Medical Gross Anatomy Course

Lincoln Memorial University‐DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine (LMU‐DCOM) offers an optional three‐week summer Anatomy Boot Camp course (ABC) to facilitate students' transition into medical school and promote retention of anatomy subject matter. The pre‐matriculation program is a supplemental instruction course that utilizes a small group learning format. Boot camp instruction is led by teaching assistants and two anatomy professors. Enrollees gain early exposure to Medical Gross Anatomy (MGA) course subject matter, which is taught in the fall semester, and learn study skills necessary to excel in medical school. No grade is assigned for the course, therefore participants can study without the fear of potentially affecting grades. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the LMU‐DCOM ABC course using data from four consecutive summers. Independent two‐sample t‐tests were used to compare ABC to non‐ABC students for the following variables: incoming grade point average (GPA) and Medical College Admission Test® (MCAT®) scores, MGA written and laboratory practical examination grades, and final MGA course grade. Additionally, a 26‐question survey was administered to 2012–2014 boot camp participants. There were no significant differences in incoming GPA and MCAT scores. However, boot campers scored significantly higher on the first two lecture and laboratory examinations (P < 0.05) for each year of the study. Thereafter scores varied less, suggesting a faster head start for boot camp participants. Mean MGA final grade was on average 3% higher for the boot camp cohort. The survey feedback supports that the ABC course assists with the academic and social transition into medical school. Anat Sci Educ 10: 215–223. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.     

Relationships between attributions and emotions in a laboratory-based sporting contest.

A series of one-vs-one fencing contests was staged in a laboratory to investigate the nature and extent of relationships between attributions and emotions. The experimenter had full control over the outcome and created a substantial defeat for one subject. A pre-contest measure of the importance of winning was obtained via a questionnaire. After the contest, questionnaire ratings of 12 attributions for outcome (winning/losing), 28 adjectives describing emotions, and a rating of satisfaction with performance were elicited. Factor analysis of emotion ratings revealed three factors of 'positive self-esteem', 'depression-frustration' and 'intropunitiveness'. Relationships between emotion factors and attributions involved primarily internal attributions. Multiple regression analyses showed that positive self-esteem for winners was best predicted by performance satisfaction, outcome importance and attributions, whereas depression-frustration was predicted only by attributions. For losers, positive self-esteem was predicted from attributions. These results suggest that attributions and emotions are related after sports competition but that non-attribution variables are also important predictors of sport-related emotion.     

Multicultural And International Education: Never The Twain Shall Meet?

The paper commences with an attempt to define multicultural education (also referred to as intercultural education) with reference to its historical development and current uses of the term. The rise of international schools is then addressed as a necessary preamble to a definition of international education from an historical perspective; a comparison with multicultural education sharpens the definition. The author goes on to propose that intercultural understanding is a principal, common objective of multicultural and international education and should serve to bring together scholars and practitioners in both fields whereas the literature and practice shows them, by and large, operating independently with little reference, one to the other. Greater collaboration can only be of mutual benefit in achieving common objectives and improving practice. The paper concludes with some suggestions for collaborative research across both fields.