Cartoon Violence: Is It as Detrimental to Preschoolers as We Think?

It is a commonly accepted belief that the violence depicted in television programs, particularly cartoons, has a negative impact on young children's behavior. However, young children may be less inclined to emulate violent actions seen on television than currently thought. Research indicates that preschoolers have limited comprehension of television content but relatively sophisticated moral reasoning. This research review critically examines the effects of cartoon violence on children's moral understanding and behavior for the purposes of enabling early childhood educators and parents to make informed decisions about what constitutes potentially harmful television viewing.     

Video games vs. reading and school/cognitive performances: a study on 27000 middle school teenagers

Video games are a very common leisure activity among teenagers and the aim of this study is to analyse their relations with cognitive and school performances. This study is part of a broad survey, conducted on 27,000 French teenagers (14.5?years old) in middle school (9th grade). The survey contained both a questionnaire on leisure activities practised by teenagers and school/cognitive tests: Comprehension tests, Math, School Knowledge, and Reasoning. The activity frequency (‘never’ to ‘every day or almost’) is studied on five kinds of video games (i.e. action/fighting) vs. seven reading activities (i.e. crime/thriller/fantasy). Results show that there are no correlations or very slight ones between Video Games and cognitive/school tests. Reading activities have potentially important associations with cognition and especially school tests. To conclude, video games are primarily recreational activities and the cognitive stimulation they produce is very different from the one involved in specialised academic subjects     

The uniqueness of the handicapped person and the politics of integration

We summarize the different legal measures taken during the last few years in Europe to integrate the handicapped person. The problem today is to remedy the inefficacy of official help because of the economic crisis. But the main problem that we underline is the contradiction between politics for a relatively large group of people and for handicapped persons, each of whom is unique in the originality of his psychological development. We take two examples of this uniqueness from several studies of the mentally handicapped. We show that the counsellor must ensure that the fate of the handicapped does not become bound to the politics of integration as defined by limited regulations.A lecture given at the IRTAC consultation on Counselling for the integration of the handicapped in society. Montecatini, 26–30 April 1981.     

Starting school: the importance of parents' expectations

Following the diagnosis of a child's disability parents can find that their expectations are shattered. As they adjust to their new situation they will begin to develop new ideas of what the future will hold. Supporting families is a key theme in current government policy, hence the development of the Early Support Programme. In this paper Fran Russell, who has a son with a learning disability, sets out the rationale for supporting parents through focusing on their expectations. She presents the findings of a research study, conducted as part of her Education Doctorate at Leeds University, which investigated parents' expectations as their disabled child started school. The findings indicate what can help and/or hinder parents developing expectations that are likely to have positive outcomes and so enhance the relationships families develop with support professionals and practitioners. Finally she proposes the development of an Early Years Transition Plan to facilitate this process based on the Family Service Plan, currently being introduced.     

The expectations of parents of disabled children

Following the diagnosis of a child's disability, parents have to develop new expectations concerning the child, their role as parents and the support services that are designed to meet their needs. Research shows, however, that these needs frequently remain unmet. In this article, Fran Russell, who writes as a parent of a son with a learning disability and as a professional with experience of practice in early years support services, explores parents' perspectives from a different direction. She argues that an investigation into parents' expectations could lead to a greater understanding of how parents of disabled children respond to their new-found situation. Fran Russell's own research, undertaken as part of her Education Doctorate programme at Leeds University, reveals that little is currently known about parents' expectations and indicates a pressing need for parents to be better informed, at an early stage in their experience of parenthood, in order to interact more effectively with professionals at a range of levels.     

Proportions in elementary school

Proportion problems were given to pupils in grades 3, 4, and 5. The number structure of the problems was kept at an elementary level and the contexts were varied. The success rates were high, which shows that young children have some understanding of the concept of proportion. Elementary strategies based on addition were often used. Familiarity with the use of ratios in the context, the presence of a mixture, and the use of manipulatives were context variables that influenced performance. The abilities required to solve proportion problems in various contexts were essentially independent from each other. The cognitive characteristics that predict success were found to be different from those that predict use of multiplicative strategies.     

Giving new life to out‐of‐print books: when publishers' and libraries' interests meet

The Library of the Université Libre de Bruxelles and Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles (EUB), the University's publishing imprint, have recently agreed to collaborate to provide free online access to recent out‐of‐print books published by EUB. The e‐books are available on the Digithèque website, a collection of digital copies of printed books created by the Library. This initiative is valuable for the scientific community and the general public who can freely access the books online, for the authors whose books have been digitized and widely disseminated, and for the publisher whose collections become more visible on the Internet, thereby generating more traffic on its website and potentially increasing sales of its other books. Around 20 books have been made available online so far. This article describes the context of the agreement, how the collaboration operates, the options of file conversion vs. book scanning, issues relating to copyright and users' rights, how access is provided to the digital copies, and future collaborative projects of the Library and EUB.     

Implicit measures of beliefs about sport ability in swimming and basketball

Sport ability may be seen as relatively stable, genetically determined and not easily modified by practice, or as increasable with training, work and effort. Using the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the purpose of the present study is to examine whether the practice of a particular sport (swimming or basketball) can influence automatic beliefs about sport ability in these two sports. The IAT scores evidence that swimmers and basketball players automatically and implicitly associate their own sport with training rather than genetics, whereas non-sportspersons have no significant automatic association. This result is strengthened when perceived competence and intrinsic motivation in swimming or basketball are high.     

The Automation Game: technological retention activities and perceptions on changes to tutors’ roles and identity

This paper demonstrates the importance of considering lived experiences of adjunct teaching staff during the introduction of automated student messaging services in a UK Business School. With cost-orientated moves to expanding online provision through emergent technologies and the growth of alternative HE strategies, traditional group-orientated student and tutor interactions are developing into a continuum. Automated messages aim to increase retention, and standardise the student experience in terms of academic qualification communications. These messages, however, have necessarily required tutors unlearning previous pedagogical support routines, thus changing academic roles and in consequence impacting academic identity processes. The investigation adds to emerging literature by examining the impact on a group of adjunct faculty staff during change introduction. Study into these changes to academic routines has value, as much existing retention literature privileges the institutional or student experience, and much of learning/unlearning literature is in a non-educational setting.     

L'harmonisation des actions de formation initiale et continue entre pays de la Communauté: principes théoriques et réalisation pratique

Schemes aiming to promote free movement for teachers and other schemes stressing the European dimension of school teaching should be distinguished. The latter affect most teachers. Difficulties arise from the need of harmonising the different educational systems, vis‐à‐vis the shortage of time allotted to the training of teachers. Increasing familiarity with foreign languages should not hide other pedagogical, administrative or financial difficulties. Harmonisation can be promoted, for instance, by: (1) a pattern of training encouraging trainees to produce their own instruments; (2) positive relationship between initial training and INSET, at the same geographical scale, on a module‐based pattern; (3) training based on mutually shared educational projects. Two cases are analysed, showing the relationship between European dimension and teachers’ exchange.