The family check-up with high-risk indigent families: preventing problem behavior by increasing parents' positive behavior support in early childhood

Seven hundred thirty-one income-eligible families in 3 geographical regions who were enrolled in a national food supplement program were screened and randomized to a brief family intervention. At child ages 2 and 3, the intervention group caregivers were offered the Family Check-Up and linked parenting support services. Latent growth models on caregiver reports at child ages 2, 3, and 4 revealed decreased behavior problems when compared with the control group. Intervention effects occurred predominantly among families reporting high levels of problem behavior at child age 2. Families in the intervention condition improved on direct observation measures of caregivers' positive behavior support at child ages 2 and 3; improvements in positive behavior support mediated improvements in children's early problem behavior.     

Gardening with grandparents: an early engagement with the science curriculum

In many cultures, elders are revered within the extended family as a source of wisdom gained from long experience. In Western societies, this role has been marginalised by changes in family structure, and grandparents' significant contribution to children's upbringing often goes unacknowledged. A research study with families of three‐ to six‐year‐olds in East London reveals how grandparents from a variety of cultural backgrounds passed on knowledge about growing fruit and vegetables to their grandchildren through joint gardening activities. Children learned to identify different plants, and to understand conditions and stages of plant growth. Grandparents from Bangladesh introduced children to a wide range of fruits and vegetables, and concepts were reinforced through bilingual communication. Analysis shows that these intergenerational learning encounters fostered children's scientific knowledge in ways that supported and extended curriculum work in the early years.     

Reactivation of an appetitive discrimination memory following retroactive interference

The present experiment employed an appetitive spatial discrimination response to examine alleviation of forgetting induced by retroactive interference. For separate groups of rats, a footshock that had occurred during acquisition contingent upon a correct response was tested for its effectiveness as a reactivation treatment. The results indicated that the footshock effectively alleviated forgetting, but only for rats experiencing the shock stimulus during original learning. These results suggest that a reactivation treatment may arouse affective or stimulus properties in common with the target memory to elicit retrieval of that memory.     

Low volume–high intensity interval exercise elicits antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in humans

The purpose of the present study was to compare acute changes in oxidative stress and inflammation in response to steady state and low volume, high intensity interval exercise (LV-HIIE). Untrained healthy males (n = 10, mean ± s: age 22 ± 3 years; VO_2MAX 42.7 ± 5.0 ml · kg^?1 · min^?1) undertook three exercise bouts: a bout of LV-HIIE (10 × 1 min 90% VO_2MAX intervals) and two energy-matched steady-state cycling bouts at a moderate (60% VO_2MAX; 27 min, MOD) and high (80% VO_2MAX; 20 min, HIGH) intensity on separate days. Markers of oxidative stress, inflammation and physiological stress were assessed before, at the end of exercise and 30 min post-exercise (post+30). At the end of all exercise bouts, significant changes in lipid hydroperoxides (LOOH) and protein carbonyls (PCs) (LOOH (nM): MOD +0.36; HIGH +3.09; LV-HIIE +5.51 and PC (nmol · mg^?1 protein): MOD ?0.24; HIGH ?0.11; LV-HIIE ?0.37) were observed. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) increased post+30, relative to the end of all exercise bouts (TAC (µM): MOD +189; HIGH +135; LV-HIIE +102). Interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10 increased post+30 in HIGH and LV-HIIE only (P < 0.05). HIGH caused the greatest lymphocytosis, adrenaline and cardiovascular response (P < 0.05). At a reduced energy cost and physiological stress, LV-HIIE elicited similar cytokine and oxidative stress responses to HIGH.     

Teacher Effectiveness Research: towards describing user‐friendly classroom instruction

In this article we examine the teacher's role as a mediator of knowledge and cognitive learning in the classroom. We cite findings from the research areas of teacher effectiveness, teacher expertise, and curriculum knowledge. These data strongly support user‐friendly explicit methods of classroom teaching. We also discuss issues raised in conjunction with alternative conceptions of the teaching process. Finally, we note the importance of incorporating teacher effectiveness research findings into teacher education programmes, and of identifying the various misconceptions that have been used to criticise this body of information.     

Use of Instructional Feedback and Modification Methods among University Faculty

This study focused on methods used by faculty to gather feedback and how this feedback was used to modify instruction. Data were gathered to determine the degree to which these methods of feedback and modification of instruction were dependent upon variables such as class size, teaching experience, pedagogical training, academic rank and status, gender and academic discipline. It was found that the amount of feedback and modification of instruction did not vary significantly across the variables of teaching experience and class size. The analyses examining the effects of the remaining independent variables (i.e. college of study, pedagogical training, gender, rank, status) did detect statistically significant results. Specifically, those instructors who had received some training in pedagogical methods gathered feedback about their teaching more than those instructors without such pedagogical training. Also, faculty from the Colleges of Education and Liberal Arts used more methods to gather feedback than those faculty from the College of Science and Mathematics. Faculty in the College of Science and Math also did the least in terms of course and instructional modification, significantly less than faculty in the Colleges of Agriculture, Business, Education, Engineering and Liberal Arts.     

Academic Achievement Performance of University Students with Disability: Exploring the Influence of Non-academic Factors

This study examined whether: (1) the non-academic constructs of psychological well-being, motivation to learn and quality of life (QOL) explained the variance in the academic achievement of students with disability; and (2) students with a mental health disability (MHD) differed from students with other disability on academic achievement and on the aforementioned non-academic constructs. Eighty-three students with disability were administered the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, the World Health Organisation QOL questionnaire, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. Grade-point average was used as the measure of academic achievement. The results showed that measures of social relationships and self-efficacy were significant explanatory variables that could clarify the variance in academic achievement. Secondly, students with MHD differed from students with other disabilities on measures of psychological health, physical health, and social relationships. The findings have consequences for learning services provided to students with disability. It highlights the importance of examining the influence of disability type on student’s cognitive and behavioural dimensions such as their motivation to learn, engagement, persistence and academic attainment.     

Learning in honeybees as a function of amount and frequency of reward

In a series of four experiments with free-flying honeybees, individual foragers were trained with targets of two different colors that contained 5 or 20 μl of 50% sucrose solution. The two targets were singly presented in quasi-random sequences on each visit, with the amount of reward to be found on each target perfectly predictable from its color. The number of training visits (4–32) was varied both within and between experiments, and so also was the relative frequency of trials with the 5- and 20-μl targets (1:1, 2:1, 3:1, and 9:1). At the conclusion of training under each condition, unrewarded responses to the targets were measured in a 10-min extinction test, with the targets presented either separately to two different groups of animals (Experiment 1) or as a pair (Experiments 2–4). When the number of training trials with each target was the same (Experiments 1 and 2), the animals responded more in extinction to the 20-μl target than to the 5-μl target, although there was a decline in the overall level of responding to both targets (an overlearning-extinction effect) as the number of training trials increased. After nine times as many, or only three times as many, training trials with the5- μl target as with the 20-μl target, the animals responded more in extinction to the 5-μl target (Experiment 3); after twice as many training trials with the 5-μl target as with the 20-μl target, there was equal responding to both (Experiment 4). The preferences shown in the choice tests of Experiments 2–4 could be simulated rather accurately on the assumptions of a model previously developed to deal with the discrete-trials choice behavior of honeybees and the further assumption that associative strength grows at a rate increasing with amount of reward to an asymptote independent of amount of reward.