Morning-to-afternoon increases in cortisol concentrations for infants and toddlers at child care: age differences and behavioral correlates

This study examined salivary cortisol, a stress-sensitive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis hormone in 20 infants (12 females; M age = 10.8 months) and 35 toddlers (20 females; M age = 29.7 months) in full-day, center-based child care. Samples were taken at approximately 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at child care and at home. At child care, 35% of infants and 71% of toddlers showed a rise in cortisol across the day; at home, 71% of infants and 64% of toddlers showed decreases. Toddlers who played more with peers exhibited lower cortisol. Controlling age, teacher-reported social fearfulness predicted higher afternoon cortisol and larger cortisol increases across the day at child care. This phenomenon may indicate context-specific activation of the HPA axis early in life.     

An Alternative Multiple‐Choice Question Format to Guide Feedback Using Student Self‐Assessment of Knowledge

Management science professors who teach large classes often assess students with multiple‐choice questions (MCQs) because it is efficient. However, traditional MCQ formats are ill‐fitted for constructive feedback. We propose the reward for omission with confidence in knowledge (ROCK) format as an original formative assessment technique to help guide feedback associated with MCQs in an introductory undergraduate management science course. Our study contributes to theory by empirically showing that students can self‐assess their state of knowledge, signal it to the professor, and use proper answering options. In practice, ROCK is an easily implementable MCQ format that allows professors to gain information on student learning based on answers selected. ROCK identifies lack of knowledge or misinformation at both individual and collective levels thus providing opportunities for better feedback in class and during office hours. Limitations of the application of ROCK are also discussed.     

The contextual nature of university-wide curriculum change

We explored the relationships between social contexts and factors that promoted and inhibited curriculum change at two universities. Thirty interviews were analysed using a general inductive approach to identify factors and forces in three social contexts (lecturer, departmental, and institutional). Curriculum change was characterised by six forces: ownership, resources, identity, leadership, students, and quality assurance, each composed of factors that differed in their direction (enabling or inhibiting) and/or intensity (strong or weak). Academic developers should find the approach and lessons learned useful for planning interventions and identifying where they may encounter resistance or enablers in the process of change.     

Leader noticing of facilitation in videocases of mathematics professional development

In this article, we report on Researching Mathematics Leader Learning (RMLL), a project designed to support leaders in learning how to facilitate robust opportunities for teachers’ mathematical learning. Our two-phase research design allowed us to construct a set of videocase seminars, enact the seminar design with leaders, analyze these data, refine our seminar design, and implement a second set of seminars with a new group of leaders. We drew on the noticing literature to examine leaders’ pedagogical reasoning as they discussed videocases of professional development. In this article, we demonstrate how changes in our framework for leader development and the resulting changes in the prompts and tasks shaped leader noticing in three ways: (a) accounting for the mathematical work of the facilitator and teachers in the videocase; (b) linking the mathematical work to goals for teacher learning; and (c) reasoning around the facilitator’s work in advancing those learning goals. Analysis indicates that in Phase II, leader discussions were more focused on the mathematical and pedagogical work needed to advance teacher learning. Based on our research and development work with over 70 leaders, we offer a set of design principles for leader professional development.     

Gamer Girls,Gold Farmers,and Activism In Real Life

This essay analyzes the graphic novel In Real Life as an example of Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang’s intention to raise young people’s awareness about gender and economic disparities within the gaming industry. Broadly, In Real Life combats the pervasive cultural anxiety that Jane McGonigal challenges in her book Reality is Broken–namely that young people’s growing connection to technology, and specifically to gaming, will cause them to spend their lives “wasting time, tuning out, and losing out on real life” (2011, p. 11). Specifically, it provides a realistic, accessible example of digital citizenship for twenty-first century youth. The innovative notions of digital citizenship Doctorow and Wang present in the text call for an end to gender and economic marginalization as facilitated by a gaming industry in which many young adults participate. By connecting gaming to activism, In Real Life offers a new avenue by which to use young adult literature to inspire civic engagement on the part of young people. The aim is to show that the imaginary activism depicted in literature not only has the potential to, but is actually designed to engage young people as active users, consumers, and shapers of technology.     

Positive psychology and externalizing students in a sea of negativity

Students with externalizing disorders make up from three to five percent of the population in public school classrooms and are some of the most difficult students to manage in an educational setting. Behavioral excesses and deficits exhibited by these students are a major factor in poor retention rates for new teachers while the students themselves have the highest school drop out rates and experience some of the most restrictive educational settings of any disability. The authors of this article draw upon recent theoretical and applied work in the study of optimism to describe several essential elements of positive psychology and optimal functioning that may be unavailable or lacking in the lives of these students. A variety of factors intrinsic to the nature of these students, as well as environmental and interpersonal factors, are described. These factors often place these students in a “sea of negativity” with minimal opportunities for positive educational experiences or personal relationships. Vigorous debate concerning the effects of positive reinforcement on motivation, academic functioning, and other variables also continues. However, recent advances in proactive behavior management strategies (i.e., positive behavioral support, whole school management/discipline, etc.) are promising, despite a lack of sufficient data to draw firm conclusions. The authors describe several student, teacher, and classroom programs that provide empirically based strategies to promote positive successful experiences and high rates of praise for students with externalizing behavior disorders. Without components of positive psychology it is very likely that schools will continue to lose these students, and at a significant cost to society down the road. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 67–79, 2004.     

Domestic and international power relations in a Cameroonian mission school system

This paper is a critical ethnography of mathematics teachers in a Cameroonian private, mission school system. Findings from in-depth interviews with secondary mathematics teachers indicate that most of these teachers perceive their educational situation as disconnected, in several ways, from their cultures. However, most participants look to western processes as models for their own development. An analysis of state and international postcolonial hegemonies which influence these teachers is presented, including allocation of resources, curricular agendas, and professional development opportunities.     

The role of teacher instructional practices in student collaboration

Prior research on collaborative learning identifies student behaviors that significantly predict student achievement, such as giving explanations of one’s thinking. Less often studied is the role of teachers’ instructional practices in collaboration among students. This article investigates the extent to which teachers engage in practices that support students’ explanations of their thinking, and how these teacher practices might be related to the nature of explanations that students give when asked by the teacher to collaborate with each other. The teachers observed here, all of whom received specific instruction in eliciting the details of student thinking, varied significantly in the extent to which they asked students to elaborate on their suggestions. This variation corresponded to variation across classrooms in the nature and extent of student explanations during collaborative conversations and to differences in student achievement.     

“We are Humans First”: Expanding Learning Outcomes in an Undergraduate Research Methods Course Through an Experiential Learning Project on Homelessness

This paper outlines my approach to and lessons learned from an experiential learning project on homelessness in an undergraduate research methods course for criminal justice majors. Students receive training in research ethics as well as interpretivist research epistemology and methods, and then conduct structured interviews with un-housed individuals. Drawing on a thematic analysis of students’ research reflection papers, I discuss three ways in which this approach can enhance and expand learning outcomes beyond what is conventionally achieved in a methods course: (1) developing competency in conducting human subjects research; (2) challenging pre-existing views on social issues; and (3) increasing empathy and enhancing communication skills, which may be particularly important for aspiring law enforcement officers.