Contemporary Classics? The Early Onset of Influence of Articles Published in Criminology and Criminal Justice Journals, 2010–2015

Citation analysis is a valuable method for tracking the growth and transmission of scientific knowledge. In criminology and criminal justice, such analyses tend to be focused on “classic” works or on highly cited scholars over many years. As an alternative approach, we focus on work that has been cited rather quickly – what we term the “early onset” of impact. In doing so, we identified 221 of the most highly cited peer-reviewed articles, authored by 480 scholars, which were published in criminology and criminal justice journals between 2010 and 2015. Analyses reveal wide variation in substantive topics and methodological approaches, as well as a substantial gender gap with respect to authorship. Additional analyses provide insight into both journal and institutional/program prestige. We conclude with directions for future research and stress the importance of tracking over time articles that appear to be off to an early start with respect to scholarly impact.     

General system theory: Toward a conceptual framework for science and technology education for all

In this paper we suggest using general system theory (GST) as a unifying theoretical framework for science and technology education for all. Five reasons are articulated: the multidisciplinary nature of systems theory, the ability to engage complexity, the capacity to describe system dynamics and change, the ability to represent the relationship between the micro-level and macro-level of analysis, and the ability to bring together the natural and human worlds. The historical origins of system ideas are described, and the major concepts of system theory are mapped; including the mathematical, technological, and philosophical constructs. The various efforts to implement system thinking in educational contexts are reviewed, and three kinds of learning environments are defined: expert presentation, simulation, and real-world. A broad research agenda for exploring and drawing-out the educational implications of system thinking and learning is outlined. The study of both real-world and simulated learning environments is advocated.     

Metacognition,elaboration, and knowledge acquisition: Implications for instructional design

The robustness of the effect of precise elaborations on memory and the relationship of these effects to metacognitions about learning was investigated in two studies. Twenty-six naive experimenters administered prepared tasks to 130 subjects. Participants rated the comprehensibility of each sentence as it was read. An unexpected cued-recall test with a confidence rating for each answer given was administered, followed by rating the ease of learning the types of items used in three treatments: precisely elaborated, imprecisely elaborated, and unelaborated base sentences. Both studies resulted in very similar findings: Memory for precise elaborations was 50% greater than for either imprecisely elaborated or unelaborated statements. Comprehension ratings of the three sets of statements were not significantly different. Confidence ratings of correctly answered items were significantly higher than of incorrectly answered items.     

Language science in the tertiary curriculum

The goal of linguistics has been in dispute since its origin as a scientific discipline. The situation remains confused and consequently the curricular position of linguistics is ambiguous. An examination of the historical reasons for this indicates the following conclusions: At the time when language was first proposed as a subject for scientific study the natural sciences were still dominated by the mechanical model of Newtonian physics; this attitude of mind has inhibited the development of linguistics.Further development ought logically to depend on the harmonisation of linguistics with modern scientific concepts, such as relativity, probability, system and field. Such a move would constitute in part a new goal for linguistics. If such an innovation is admitted, those areas where language study overlaps with other subjects, e.g. psychology, logic and anthropology, provide natural exit points for a study of language and the epistemology of science.Linguistics is therefore capable of serving as a foundational discipline in a liberal arts curriculum. Its particular claim to assume this role lies in the fact that language is the object of both humanistic and scientific study. Hence to give linguistics a more central role in the tertiary curriculum offers a fundamental educational benefit in narrowing the cultural gap between the arts and science, and it is worth considering a change of emphasis in the curriculum to achieve this end.The aim of this paper is not to suggest detailed changes but to stimulate discussion of this consideration.     

The Relationship Between Church Schools and Local Church Life: Distinguishing between aided and controlled status

This study compares the impact of Anglican voluntary aided and voluntary controlled schools on a range of indices of local church life throughout the diocese of Chelmsford. After controlling for the influence of population size, the church electoral roll, the age of the priest in charge of the benefice, the number of churches in the benefice, and the number of stipendiary clergy employed in the benefice, the data lead to two conclusions. Voluntary controlled primary schools have no significant impact on any of the indices of local church life included in the study. Voluntary aided primary schools are associated with a significantly higher level of pre-teenage confirmands, but they have no influence on the number of older confirmands, the number of baptisms, the usual Sunday church attendance, or the number of festival communicants.     

Meeting the Needs of Multiracial and Multiethnic Children in Early Childhood Settings

Early childhood programs have been in the forefront of implementing a multiracial curriculum. Early childhood educators need to extend these approaches to support and embrace multiracial and multiethnic children. These are children whose biological parents crossed traditional U.S. Census categories to have children. To meet the unique needs of these children and their families, early childhood educators need to engage in staff training, provide classroom materials, work closely with parents, and challenge the single race approach to multicultural education.