Conceptualization and Measurement of Cognitive Holding Power

The concept of cognitive holding power is synthesized from theories of settings and of cognitive structures and is conceptualized as a characteristic of a learning setting that presses students into different kinds of cognitive activity. Settings which press students into using first- or second-order cognitive procedures are regarded as having first- or second-order cognitive holding power. The development of an instrument to measure these two dimensions of cognitive holding power is outlined. The independence of the dimensions, their reliabilities and validity, and factor structures are examined. Each dimension was found to have high reliability across vocational education and high school settings, and each was correlated as predicted with other classroom variables. The potential contribution of this research to understanding the relationship between different approaches to the teaching of problem solving and the ability to undertake problem-solving transfer tasks is outlined.     

The implications of size for educational development in small territories: The case of Macau

The educational issues associated with the small size of countries have long been neglected by administrators and academics. Recent work by the Commonwealth Secretariat has done much to remedy this neglect, but the topic is still in its infancy. This paper contributes to the body of literature by providing a specific case-study. By focusing on Macau, it also helps balance the bias of existing work, most of which concentrates on Commonwealth countries.

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Zusammenfassung Erziehungswissenschaftliche Fragen, die mit einer kleinen Ländergröße verbunden sind, sind lange von Verwaltungsbeamten und Wissenschaftlern vernachlässigt worden. Jüngere Arbeiten des Commonwealth-Sekretariats haben viel dazu beigetragen, diesem Versäumnis abzuhelfen, aber die Behandlung dieses Themas steht noch im Anfangsstadium. Dieser Artikel stellt einen Beitrag zur Gesamtheit der Literatur dar, indem er eine spezielle Fallstudie liefert, und dadurch, daß das Augenmerk auf Makao gerichtet ist, hilft er darüberhinaus, die Einseitigkeit bereits vorliegender Arbeiten, die sich überwiegend auf Commonwealthländer konzentrieren, auszugleichen.

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Résumé Administrateurs et universitaires ont longtemps négligé les problèmes éducatifs liés aux petits pays. Le travail qui a été entrepris récemment par le secrétariat du Commonwealth a contribué pour une grande part à pallier cette négligence, mais ce thème en est encore à ses débuts. Cette étude de cas spécifique apporte sa contribution à l'ensemble de la littérature qui existe sur ce sujet. En mettant l'accent sur Macao, elle permet également de rétablir l'équilibre dans les travaux existants qui se focalisent essentiellement sur les pays du Commonwealth.

     

A tale of two countries: comparing civic education in the Philippines and Singapore

This article provides a comparative analysis of citizenship education in the Philippines and Singapore. Through an analysis of historical contexts, citizenship education policy and curriculum, it examines Makabayan in the Philippines and National Education in Singapore. It identifies particular policy and curriculum trajectories as responses to national and global imperatives to demonstrate how countries are redefining the kinds of knowledge, skills and values deemed necessary for national citizenship in global contexts. This comparative case study illustrates some of the tensions and contradictions facing citizenship education in new global contexts and highlights the different ways countries try to manage these tensions through citizenship education policies and curricula. Findings point to different factors that shape and constrain the implementation of citizenship education programmes in both countries.     

The relations of effortful control and impulsivity to children's resiliency and adjustment

The unique relations of effortful control and impulsivity to resiliency and adjustment were examined when children were 4.5 to 8 years old, and 2 years later. Parents and teachers reported on all constructs and children's attentional persistence was observed. In concurrent structural equation models, effortful control and impulsivity uniquely and directly predicted resiliency and externalizing problems and indirectly predicted internalizing problems (through resiliency). Teacher-reported anger moderated the relations of effortful control and impulsivity to externalizing problems. In the longitudinal model, all relations held at T2 except for the path from impulsivity to externalizing problems. Evidence of bidirectional effects also was obtained. The results indicate that effortful control and impulsivity are distinct constructs with some unique prediction of resiliency and adjustment.     

Towards a taxonomy of novices' misconceptions of the Prolog interpreter

A series of novice programmers' misconceptions of Prolog flow-of-control and variable unification are identified on the basis of existing empirical evidence, and informal observation. This classification is intended to serve as a first pass attempt towards an understanding of these errors and as a basis for future empirical work.     

Predictors of Client Preferences for Counselor Roles

This study examined 152 undergraduate clients' interpersonal styles as they relate to preferences for counselor roles. The results indicated a moderate positive association between clients' interpersonal styles and their preferences for counselor roles. Moreover, beginning clients were found to prefer advice giving to active listening. Counselors can promote continuation and improve the quality of the working relationship by adapting their initial approach to match the preference of the client.