In my life: youth stories and poems on HIV/AIDS: towards a new literacy in the age of AIDS

This article comes out of an HIV and AIDS prevention and education project with young people in two townships in the Western Cape of South Africa. As part of that project, a small anthology—In my life: youth stories and poems on HIV/AIDS—was produced and distributed locally as well as in several districts in other provinces. The avid consumption of In my life by local youth in Khayelitsha and Atlantis but also as far away as Durban in KwaZulu‐Natal speaks to the power of a youth‐to‐youth connection. In the article I examine some of the ways in which literacy is changing in the age of AIDS in an area of the world which has been ravaged by the AIDS pandemic.     

Using LOGO with Infant School Children

Abstract The recent introduction of micro‐computers into schools is opening up many new avenues for developmental psychologists interested in studying how children learn. Of particular interest at present are approaches in which children program computers themselves, using languages such as LOGO and PROLOG. This paper describes a study in which a simplified version of LOGO was introduced to a group of six‐year‐olds in a severely deprived area of Edinburgh. The children used a special touch‐sensitive keyboard (Concept Keyboard) to control the movements of a floor‐crawling robot called a Turtle. The sessions with the Turtle were marked by high levels of concentration, collaborative problem‐solving and the use of mathematical language. Pre‐ and post‐tests on the British Ability Scales revealed statistically significant gains on the sub‐scales concerned with number and shape: these gains, however, were found only in the boys.     

Inquiry-Learning with WebLab: Undergraduate Attitudes and Experiences

The Microelectronics WebLab at MIT allows students to do actual (not simulated) laboratory research on state-of-the art equipment through the Internet. This study assesses the use of WebLab in a junior-level course on microelectronic devices and circuits in 2004–05 and 2005–06. In quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews, students and faculty reported that WebLab was effective as an instrument of learning, and grew more so with refinements of the program. WebLab allowed undergraduates to learn at their own pace and on their own schedules. It enabled them to use different processes of learning (intuitive, visual, abstract), and it gave them an opportunity to link individual and collaborative effort in creative combinations. Online laboratories on this model have broad applications in the experimental sciences and in other research-oriented disciplines.     

Consistent occupational preferences and academic adjustment

This study explored the differences in academic adjustment variables between students who made congruent, incongruent, and undecided college major choices. The academic adjustment variables were operationally defined by the College Inventory of Academic Adjustment. Congruent, incongruent, and undecided college major choice groups were defined operationally using the Vocational Preference Inventory. The analysis of variance revealed the main effect of groups (congruent, incongruent, and undecided) to be significant for two academic adjustment variables. The test for the main effect of sex was found to be significant for one adjustment variable. The test for interaction was found to be significant for one variable. The findings suggest that students in the congruent female and male groups tend to be more academically adjusted than students in the undecided male group.     

Confirmation of precounselling expectations: Does expectation valence moderate changes in state anxiety?

Despite considerable research attention, it remains unclear whether failing to meet clients' precounselling expectations causes increases in state anxiety. Empirical support for such a relationship is equivocal and it has been suggested that the treatment of expectations as a unitary construct and a lack of theory have given rise to this situation. The present study measured pre- and post-session expectations and anxiety in a sample of clients attending a university counselling service. The Expectations About Counselling questionnaire (EAC) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory — Form Y (STAI-Y) were used as dependent measures. Self-Regulation theory and the Attentional Bias model of anxiety provided a theoretical framework from which the experimental hypothesis was drawn. Affective valence of expectations (positive vs. negative) was assessed as well as whether confirmation or disconfirmation occurred. As predicted, the results failed to support a main effect for disconfirmation on elevations in state anxiety, but the moderating effect of expectation valence was observed. The theoretical and methodological implications of the results are briefly discussed.     

Recasting the academic workforce: why the attractiveness of the academic profession needs to be increased and eight possible strategies for how to go about this from an Australian perspective

This article analyses academic work and the academic workforce in the context of current dynamics and likely futures. It discusses the significance of academic work, reviews workforce characteristics, and analyses tensions and pressures. Prevailing conceptualisations, it is argued, do not reflect the current situation in which the profession finds itself, and would provide a very shaky foundation on which to build the future workforce. There is an overarching need for a fresh conceptualisation of academic work that is authentic and feasible and suggestions are offered of what this might look like. A number of strategies are proposed how such a recasting might be implemented. The paper works from Australian research, and make suggestions for other systems.     

Large-scale academic achievement testing of deaf and hard-of-hearing students: past, present, and future

The first large-scale, nationwide academic achievement testing program using Stanford Achievement Test (Stanford) for deaf and hard-of-hearing children in the United States started in 1969. Over the past three decades, the Stanford has served as a benchmark in the field of deaf education for assessing student academic achievement. However, the validity and reliability of using the Stanford for this special student population still require extensive scrutiny. Recent shifts in educational policy environment, which require that schools enable all children to achieve proficiency through accountability testing, warrants a close examination of the adequacy and relevance of the current large-scale testing of deaf and hard-of-hearing students. This study has three objectives: (a) it will summarize the historical data over the last three decades to indicate trends in academic achievement for this special population, (b) it will analyze the current federal laws and regulations related to educational testing and special education, thereby identifying gaps between policy and practice in the field, especially identifying the limitations of current testing programs in assessing what deaf and hard-of-hearing students know, and (c) it will offer some insights and suggestions for future testing programs for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.     

The Independence of Research—A Review of Disciplinary Perspectives and Outline of Interdisciplinary Prospects

Minerva - The independence of research is a key strategic issue of modern societies. Dealing with it appropriately poses legal, economic, political, social and cultural problems for society, which...