Intergenerational exchange: undergraduate researchers’ learning and listening enhanced through older adults’ entertainment preferences

The purpose of this qualitative study was to provide an intergenerational exchange as undergraduate students taking an introductory Psychology of Aging course, interviewed and watched films with older adult participants (N = 13) residing in an assisted living community. The undergraduate researchers (N = 10) conducted and transcribed interviews, wrote about their perceptions of interviews and film viewing with older adults, and their instructor interviewed assisted living staff (N = 2) creating an assessment of participants, researchers, and staff. Researchers listened and learned from older adult’s words, thereby improving researchers’ understanding that older adults preferred in-person discussions over film viewing. Researchers learned from older adults’ words, as they began to understand that sexual content in today’s films may reduce entertainment viewing for youth and older adults. Older adults described television remotes and phones with frustration and researchers felt angst for their frustration. Findings suggested understanding and meaning for participants and researchers in this service learning intergenerational exchange generated through undergraduate research.     

Choice of operation in verbal arithmetic problems: the effects of number size,problem structure and context

12-and 13-year-olds were tested with two types of tasks to test their understanding of applications of the multiplication and division of positive numbers: (i) writing down calculations required to solve verbal problems, and (ii) making up stories to fit given calculations. Selected pupils were interviewed to investigate further the thinking processes involved. The results indicate (a) the pervasive nature of certain numerical misconceptions, (b) the effects of structural differences among the items; particularly whether multiplication can be conceived as repeated addition or not, and whether division has the structure of partition, quotition or rate, (c) specific effects of context attributable to such aspects as relative familiarity, and (d) various interactions between these three sets of factors.With the collaboration of Joanna Rigg and Malcolm Swan.     

Learning Disability and Career Entry into the Sciences: A Critical Analysis of Attitudinal Factors

The present study examined the perceptions of 140 parents and 323 teachers regarding career entry into science and engineering for students with learning disabilities. Parents' and teachers' perceptions were assessed on the following eight variables: (a) facility access, (b) expense of accommodations, (c) role models, (d) teacher understanding of students' academic needs, (e) length of learning time, (f) student aptitude and educational preparation, (g) career guidance, and (h) employer attitudes. Results revealed that parents, significantly more than teachers, feel that teachers do not make the necessary effort to accommodate students with learning disabilities and that employers in the science and engineering fields are reluctant to hire persons with learning disabilities. Implications of the results for rehabilitation counselors working with learning disabled students interested in science and engineering are offered.     

Concurrent validity of the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test and the Leiter International Performance Scale–Revised

One hundred elementary‐ and middle‐school students were administered the Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test (UNIT; B.A. Bracken & R.S. McCallum, 1998) and the Leiter International Performance Scale‐Revised (Leiter‐R; G.H. Roid & L.J. Miller, 1997). Correlations between UNIT and Leiter‐R scores were statistically significant ( p < .001), ranging from .33 to .74. The UNIT Full Scale score was 5 points higher than the Leiter‐R Full Scale score, t = 4.73, p < .001. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 143–148, 2006.     

Instructional support and implementation structure during elementary teachers’ science education simulation use

This investigation sought to identify patterns in elementary science teachers’ computer simulation use, particularly implementation structures and instructional supports commonly employed by teachers. Data included video-recorded science lessons of 96 elementary teachers who used computer simulations in one or more science lessons. Results indicated teachers used a one-to-one student-to-computer ratio most often either during class-wide individual computer use or during a rotating station structure. Worksheets, general support, and peer collaboration were the most common forms of instructional support. The least common instructional support forms included lesson pacing, initial play, and a closure discussion. Students’ simulation use was supported in the fewest ways during a rotating station structure. Results suggest that simulation professional development with elementary teachers needs to explicitly focus on implementation structures and instructional support to enhance participants’ pedagogical knowledge and improve instructional simulation use. In addition, research is needed to provide theoretical explanations for the observed patterns that should subsequently be addressed in supporting teachers’ instructional simulation use during professional development or in teacher preparation programs.     

Back to the future: A methodology for comparing old A-level and new AS standards

Curriculum 2000 has meant significant change for the post-16 sector. New qualifications have been introduced (e.g. the new Advanced Subsidiary examination) and the number of students involved in education and training post-16 has increased. In this scenario how can the standards of new qualifications, particularly the new Advanced Subsidiary examinations, be compared with those of previous qualifications? One method is to use the prior achievement of candidates (i.e. GCSE results) as a basis for comparison of their results on subsequent qualifications (i.e. A levels and AS). This method of comparability and its limitations will be explored using examples with actual data.     

Mother–Child Interaction: Links Between Mother and Child Frontal Electroencephalograph Asymmetry and Negative Behavior

It is well accepted that parent–child interactions are bidirectional by nature, yet not much is known about the psychophysiological activity underlying these interactions. This study examined, during a parent–child interaction, how a child's negativity statistically predicted maternal frontal electroencephalograph (EEG) asymmetry and how a mother's negativity statistically predicted child frontal EEG asymmetry. Thirty‐four mother–child dyads participated in the study. Maternal and child behaviors and physiology were measured during a puzzle task. Results indicated that mothers whose children exhibited more challenging behaviors during the dyadic interaction displayed more right (relative to left) asymmetry, as did children whose mothers were high in negativity during the interaction. These findings suggest that mothers and children react to each other's signals not only behaviorally but also physiologically.     

The Role of the College Teacher

Abstract

This qualitative case study evaluates the impact of international study experiences on college students. Three international study tours originating from a Mid-west state university are the focus of the study. Despite differing leadership styles, teaching and tour formats, academic orientations, and destinations, the outcome reveals that such tours have a powerful effect on participants. The study highlights intentional and incidental learning that occurs at both conscious and unconscious levels. The results emphasize the powerful opportunity that international study experiences present to educators who wish to transcend traditional teaching pedagogies.     

‘Our garden is colour blind,inclusive and warm’: reflections on green school grounds and social inclusion

In the interest of enhancing children's environments, communities around the world are ‘greening’ school grounds, replacing asphalt and manicured grass with a diversity of design elements such as trees, shrubs, gardens, water features, artwork and gathering areas. Despite a growing body of research from a number of disciplines exploring the potential of these spaces, very little is known about the ways they can promote social inclusion with respect to gender, class, race and ability. This paper explores the relationship between school ground greening and social inclusion in a Canadian public school board where approximately 20% of more than 500 schools have begun the greening process. A mixed methods approach was used: (1) 149 questionnaires were completed by administrators, teachers and parents associated with 45 school ground greening initiatives; and (2) 21 follow‐up interviews were conducted with administrators, teachers and parents at five schools across a range of socio‐economic statuses. The study revealed that green school grounds are more inclusive of people who may feel isolated on the basis of gender, class, race and ability, suggesting that these spaces promote, in a very broad sense, social inclusion.     

Dyslexia and education in the 21st century

This paper both reviews the other papers in this special issue and puts them in the context of the current agenda of research in dyslexia education. The pluralistic nature of the field is explored with reference to this special issue. The paper suggests a way forward for the field in terms of a developing research agenda for dyslexia education as we progress further into the 21st century.