Go Away: Participant Objections to Being Studied and the Ethics of Chatroom Research

In this article we present an empirical study aimed at better understanding the potential for harm when conducting research in chatrooms. For this study, we entered IRC chatrooms on the ICQ network and posted one of three messages to tell participants that we were recording them: a recording message, an opt-in message, or an opt-out message. In the fourth condition, we entered the chatroom but did not post a message. We recorded and analyzed how subjects responded to being studied. Results of a regression analysis indicate significantly more hostility in the three conditions where we said something than in the control condition. We were kicked out of 63.3% of the chatrooms we entered in the three message conditions compared with 29% of the chatrooms in the control condition. There were no significant differences between any of these three conditions. Notably, when given a chance to opt in, only 4 of 766 potential subjects chose to do so. Results also indicate significant effects for both size and the number of moderators. For every 13 additional people in a chatroom, the likelihood getting kicked out was cut in half. While legal and ethical concerns are distinct, we conclude by arguing that studying chatrooms constitutes human subjects research under U.S. law, but that a waiver of consent is appropriate in most cases as obtaining consent is impracticable.     

A study of laughter in science lessons

Laughter is a fundamental human phenomenon. Yet there is little educational research on the potential functions of laughter on the enacted (lived) curriculum. In this study, we identify the functions of laughter in a beginning science teacher's classroom throughout her first year of teaching. Our study shows that laughter is more than a gratuitous phenomenon. It is the result of a collective interactive achievement of the classroom participants that offsets the seriousness of science as a discipline. Laughter, whereas it challenges the seriousness of science, also includes the dialectical inversion of the challenge: it simultaneously reinforces the idea of science as serious business. Furthermore, levels of intimacy, complicity, and solidarity between the teacher and her students were reproduced and transformed through their laughter in class. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 437–458, 2011     

Group Work with Multimedia in Mathematics: The Role of the Technology and of the Teacher

This paper reports on a study involving the evaluation and use of the National Curriculum Council sponsored multimedia package World of Number. The project was carried out in a South Yorkshire comprehensive school during the Spring Term of 1994. The intended mode of use of the package was unclear from the initial evaluation and also from initial teacher feedback. In addition little attention seemed to have been given to the role of the teacher. Examples of episodes of classroom interaction between the teacher/researcher and a small group of pupils working at the multimedia system are presented and an interpretation, which takes account of the role of the technology and of the teacher from a Vygotskian perspective, is offered.     

Does shame influence nonsuicidal self-injury among college students? An investigation into the role of shame,negative urgency,and brooding

College students experience high levels of life stress that put them at increased risk for nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). It is important to understand which vulnerabilities put students most at risk, in order to inform treatment in college counseling centers. This study investigated the joint contributions of specific vulnerabilities to lifetime history and frequency of NSSI among a sample of undergraduates (50% reported a history of NSSI). Results showed shame-proneness was uniquely associated with NSSI frequency beyond other negative emotions. Negative urgency and brooding exacerbated this effect. This study provides insights into the contributions of specific vulnerabilities to NSSI and implications for practice.     

External peer review of assessment: an effective approach to verifying standards?

There is growing international concern to regulate and assure standards in higher education. External peer review of assessment, often called external examining, is a well-established approach to assuring standards. Australian higher education is one of several systems without a history of external examining for undergraduate programmes that is currently considering the approach. What can entrants to external examining at that level learn from the UK higher education system's long history of external examining? To that end, this paper reports on a mixed methods research project designed to investigate current practices in how academic standards are conceived, constructed and applied by external examiners and debates the implications of the findings for the development of external examining in other countries. The findings suggest that the potential of experienced peers in a subject discipline to provide the assurance of standards is limited. It concludes by presenting various possible enhancements that might be considered.     

Using Evidence‐Based Practices to Build Mathematics Competence Related to Conceptual,Procedural, and Declarative Knowledge

Abstract Mathematics continues to be one of the most difficult components of the school curriculum for students with learning disabilities (LD). The National Council for Teachers of Mathematics, in conjunction with current educational legislation, challenges teachers to maintain high standards for student performance in mathematics. Fortunately, over the past two decades, researchers have identified and validated a number of instructional practices that help students with LD understand and use mathematics in meaningful ways. The purpose of this article is to discuss instructional guidelines and evidence‐based practices for building conceptual, procedural, and declarative knowledge within a comprehensive mathematics curriculum. The importance of balancing these three knowledge areas across mathematics content areas is noted.