Web Sites that Address Prematurity

Families of preterm infants need a tremendous amount of support. This resource column highlights several Web sites that may be useful to health care providers and childbirth educators, as well as to parents of premature infants and their families.     

Strategic escapes: Negotiating motivations of personal growth and instrumental benefits in the decision to study abroad

Studying abroad is one way in which university students can develop personal capital and distinguish themselves in an increasingly congested graduate labour market. Data show that studying abroad indeed provides employment benefits, with evidence pointing to even greater positive effects for students from low socio‐economic status backgrounds. Focusing on a group of Canadian students about to embark on a study exchange, we find no evidence that career‐instrumental reasons played a role in participants’ decisions to study abroad. Rather, they sought personal growth and escape from the everyday frustrations of being an undergraduate student. We argue, however, that these motivations nonetheless have to be understood as strategic, since going on a study exchange abroad allows students to escape temporarily, while ‘staying in the game’ of becoming credentialed at home. We discuss the role of socio‐economic status, as well as the policy implications of these findings.     

Modeling maternal emotion-related socialization behaviors in a low-income sample: Relations with toddlers’ self-regulation

This study tested the validity of an emotion-related parenting construct, indicated by six key emotion-related socialization behaviors (ERSBs) occurring in daily, developmentally salient parenting in a low-income sample of mothers (N = 123) of toddlers, and examined the relationship between the ERSB construct and toddlers’ self-regulation. Structural equation modeling confirmed a latent emotion-related parenting construct, indicated by observed maternal warmth and supportiveness, observed emotional responsivity in the home, maternal report of mealtime socialization practices, observed maternal use of mental state language and emotion talk, and maternal report of positive self-expressivity in the family. Emotion-related parenting significantly related to toddlers’ effective coping and delay of gratification (medium effect sizes). Maternal demographic risk was negatively related to emotion-related parenting (large effect size) but positively related to toddlers’ effective coping (medium effect size); toddler age and gender were not significantly related to ERSBs. Results suggest that maternal ERSBs are cohesive in a low-income population, reflecting emotion-related parenting, and play a role in economically at-risk toddlers’ self-regulation. Implications for parenting and family support programs as well as implications for future research are discussed.     

Longitudinal links between spanking and children's externalizing behaviors in a national sample of White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian American families

This study examined whether the longitudinal links between mothers' use of spanking and children's externalizing behaviors are moderated by family race/ethnicity, as would be predicted by cultural normativeness theory, once mean differences in frequency of use are controlled. A nationally representative sample of White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian American families (n = 11,044) was used to test a cross-lagged path model from 5 to 8 years old. While race/ethnic differences were observed in the frequency of spanking, no differences were found in the associations of spanking and externalizing over time: Early spanking predicted increases in children's externalizing while early child externalizing elicited more spanking over time across all race/ethnic groups.     

Experiences of instructors in online learning environments: Identifying and regulating emotions

In an effort to expand existing research on the barriers of instructors experience in online learning environments (OLEs), a qualitative study was conducted at a large mid-Atlantic university. Six instructors teaching in different OLE formats (e.g., asynchronous, hybrid, and synchronous via videoconferencing) participated in two focus groups in order to explore their emotional experiences and ways to regulate the emotions when teaching in OLEs. The overarching themes included emotions of feeling (a) restricted, (b) stressed, (c) devalued, (d) validated, and (e) rejuvenated. The article also provides practical strategies on how participating instructors attempted to manage the challenging emotions. A consensus among all participants is that continuous dialog in a community of practice about strategies to enhance OLEs is imperative.     

Inquiry-Based Professional Development: What does it take to support teachers in learning about inquiry and nature of science?

This study examined the geologic and evolutionary subject matter and views of inquiry and nature of science (NOS) of a group of 5th–9th grade teachers, and a comparison group, before and after participating in an inquiry-based professional development (PD) experience. Project teachers participated in an intensive, week-long, resident institute where they learned about geology, evolutionary concepts, NOS, and inquiry while engaging in an authentic scientific investigation. They were also given support in how to teach these topics using an inquiry-based approach. Analyses of data indicate that project teachers showed greater gains in subject matter than comparison teachers and the relative change was significantly different statistically. Furthermore, most project teachers demonstrated a shift from less informed to more informed views of inquiry and NOS and the relative change between participant and comparison teachers was significantly different statistically. These gains are promising because they suggest that short-term and intensive PD can support teachers in enhancing their knowledge and views. Moreover, analysis of post-programme questionnaires and interviews indicated that supporting teachers in reflecting on the relationship between their former classroom teaching practice, and new knowledge acquired during PD, may be an important link in enhancing teacher knowledge and supporting change in practice. This suggests that enhanced knowledge and views may not be the only factor contributing to changing one's practice. The study points to the importance of reflection in promoting teacher change. Results from this study add insights to supporting teachers in enacting inquiry-based instruction and teaching about NOS in their classrooms.