Student Reciprocal Peer Teaching as a Method for Active Learning: An Experience in an Electrotechnical Laboratory

Active learning is one of the most efficient mechanisms for learning, according to the psychology of learning. When students act as teachers for other students, the communication is more fluent and knowledge is transferred easier than in a traditional classroom. This teaching method is referred to in the literature as reciprocal peer teaching. In this study, the method is applied to laboratory sessions of a higher education institution course, and the students who act as teachers are referred to as “laboratory monitors.” A particular way to select the monitors and its impact in the final marks is proposed. A total of 181 students participated in the experiment, experiences with laboratory monitors are discussed, and methods for motivating and training laboratory monitors and regular students are proposed. The types of laboratory sessions that can be led by classmates are discussed. This work is related to the changes in teaching methods in the Spanish higher education system, prompted by the Bologna Process for the construction of the European Higher Education Area     

PROBLEMS AND PRIORITIES OF RUSSIAN HIGHER EDUCATION

A wide‐ranging discussion of the problems facing Russian higher education in the period of transition is introduced. Although enrollment and employment levels in higher education continue to be high and have not suffered the sorts of cuts as in the other sectors of the Russian economy, much must be done to increase the efficiency of the system. For the author, the key to increased modernization and efficiency is increased reliance on the information technologies in all areas of teaching, learning, and research. She cites the case of World University in California that is completely an on line operation even while arguing that certain elements of traditional higher education should be retained in the Russian Federation. She is persuaded that both humanistic and scientific subjects and programmes can benefit from informatization. The result will be a world‐class higher education system for Russia.     

A missing link? Contemporary insights into principal preparation and training in Russia

Over the last decade, the Russian education system has undergone significant transformation that has radically changed the expectations placed upon the school principals. This current reform process has placed far greater responsibilities and accountabilities upon principals to secure school effectiveness and improved student learning outcomes. This article offers some insights into the way in which principals in Russia are currently prepared and trained. It outlines initial quantitative findings from Russian principals, as part of a contemporary, large-scale empirical study of principal leadership preparation and training. The emerging empirical evidence highlights that the new principal standards and training requirements in Russia reinforce “managerial approaches” that are not necessarily meeting the needs of principals.     

Before the Federal Bilingual Education Act: Legislation and Lived Experience in California

The federal Bilingual Education Act (BEA; 1968) augured a new era in the national politics of diversity, schooling, and state, and California became symbolic of the problems and promise of bilingual pedagogy. This article explores how the BEA was pivotal not only in conceiving a federal commitment to the educational achievement of limited-English-speaking children but also in spurring state and local action. Yet close attention reveals how philosophically and fiscally limited were the terms of the federal act. California had been experimenting with bilingual education in many districts, where innovative programs operated independently of state or federal involvement. On one hand, the emerging legislative structure embodied by the federal BEA pushed districts and states to question the received attitudes about Mexican American underachievement that permeated their practice. On the other hand, the BEA supplanted earlier, locally developed programs, increasing oversight and enforcement and often casting districts as villains and at times even checking adventurous earlier programs. In the 1960s, Californians as well as national politicians and educators engaged in an unprecedented, bipartisan dialogue about bilingual education, in which California conservatives earnestly advocated albeit moderate programs during these early but crucial years in the modern history of bilingual education.     

Plasticity of altruistic behavior in children

The present study investigates the plasticity of altruistic behavior in children, analyzing the effect of a short intervention on 6- to 7-year-olds. After a 10-session intervention performed in a school context, altruism significantly increased. The intervention, which included relaxation practices, cooperative activities and emotional security priming, positively modulated altruistic behavior in children, beyond reciprocation and reputation. The experiences of collaborating, feeling emotional security and attaining moments of relaxation increased participants’ awareness of themselves and of others, favoring the emergence of intrinsic altruism. These results are in line with our hypothesis that altruism is an embodied human resource, highly susceptible to experience within social contexts.     

Attachment and sensitivity among parents with ADHD – a multiple-case study

This study aimed to explore the self-protective strategies of six parents with ADHD and the sensitivity they displayed in dyadic interaction with their under 3-years-old children. The parents were interviewed using the Adult Attachment Interview. Parental sensitivity was assessed using the CARE-Index. The study showed a variation of the parents’ self-protective strategies and sensitivity. The more complex the parent’s self-protective strategy was, the less sensitive was the interaction. Some parents’ need for self-protection compromised their ability to protect their child and decreased their sensitivity. All parents displayed indications of unresolved traumas, which also impaired their sensitivity to the signals of their child and ability to engage in mutual regulation of arousal and emotion with their child. Attachment-oriented family psychological assessment, including assessments of the self-protective strategies of each family member would make possible to design a treatment adapted to the unique family needs, also in order to alleviate early risk.     

Reciprocal Relations Between Maternal Depression and Child Behavior Problems in Families Served by Head Start

This study used longitudinal cross-lagged modeling to examine reciprocal relations between maternal depression and child behavior problems. Data were drawn from 3,119 children (40% Hispanic, 30% African American, 20% White, and 10% other) from the Family and Child Experiences Survey of 2009 (a nationally representative sample of children served by Head Start). Results documented reciprocal relations between maternal depression and child behavior problems across early childhood (i.e., child age 3–5). Furthermore, the effect of child behavior problems on maternal depression was moderated by child race/ethnicity during children’s first year in Head Start, such that the negative effect of child behavior problems on African American mothers’ depression was more pronounced compared to Hispanics and other racial/ethnic groups.     

Towards self‐direction in study methods: The ways in which new students learn to study part‐time

This study examined the ways in which new students attempt to adjust to part‐time study. Data were gathered through interviews with 53 students enrolled in part‐time courses in Hong Kong. It was found that the data could be interpreted in terms of the construct of self‐direction. The novice students showed a surprising degree of determination towards personal autonomy. When it came to self‐management in learning, those least equipped for self‐management were the ones tending to show the greatest difficulties in part‐time study. Some students were able to find help from teaching staff, fellow students or friends in developing self‐direction. It would appear, though, that universities could do more to help students develop self‐managed learning capabilities, and if they did so would ease the transition towards becoming a successful part‐time student.