Differences in Conversational Skills as a Function of Attachment Style: A Follow-up Study

A recent set of studies demonstrated that people evaluate their own and their partner's social skills differently as a function of attachment style. The present study extends this work by examining attachment-style differences in four conversational skills—expressiveness, composure, other-orientation, and interaction management—as rated by observers. To test for attachment-style differences, romantic couples were videotaped as they discussed relational problems or conflict issues. Based on a pretest, one of the romantic partners was targeted as representative of the secure, dismissive, fearful avoidant, or preoccupied attachment style. Two dimensions related to attachment—anxiety and avoidance—were also investigated in regard to their relations with conversational skills. Results suggest that the behavioral profiles largely reflect attachment theoretical assumptions for secures, dismissives, and fearful avoidants, and to a lesser extent, preoccupieds.     

Students’ and Teachers’ Application of Surface Area to Volume Relationships

The National Science Education Standards emphasize teaching unifying concepts and processes such as basic functions of living organisms, the living environment, and scale (NRC 2011). Scale includes understanding that different characteristics, properties, or relationships within a system might change as its dimensions are increased or decreased (NRC 2011). One such relationship involves surface area to volume which is a pervasive concept that can be found throughout different sciences. This concept is important for students to not only understand the association of the two, but to also be able to apply this relationship in science contexts. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that influence the understanding surface area to volume relationships. This study examined middle school students’, high school students’, and science teachers’ logical thinking skills (including proportional reasoning), visual-spatial skills, and understandings of surface area to volume relationships. Regression results indicated that participants’ reasoning abilities and components of visual-spatial skills could be possible predictors for one’s ability to understand surface area to volume relationships. Implications for teaching scale concepts such as surface area to volume relationships in the science classroom are discussed.     

Collaboration at a Distance: Using a Wiki to Create a Collaborative Learning Environment for Distance Education and On-Campus Students in a Social Work Course

Continuing moves towards more flexible approaches to the provision of higher education have been reflected in the increased provision of social work education through distance learning and the related increase in the use of online technologies for social work education. This article reports on the use of a wiki in a final year social work subject. Wiki technology was used to create a collaborative learning environment where on-campus and distance students were able to work together to produce assessable material. Drawing on student comments regarding the process and outcomes of the wiki assignment, a number of issues and benefits of the use of wikis in social work education are identified and discussed.     

The Pathway Program: How a Collaborative,Distributed Learning Program Showed Us the Future of Social Work Education

This paper describes a three-campus collaborative, distributed learning program that delivers social work education to remote rural and desert communities in California via distance learning modalities. This “Pathway Program” provides accredited social work education for a career ladder beginning with advising and developing an academic plan and leading to BSW and MSW degrees. The paper offers assessment data on the Pathway Program and also suggests the potential for major changes in social work education. Questions about the nature of the university, the role of the faculty member, and the future of social work students in the twenty-first century are discussed.     

Teachers' views of their pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties

This paper explores the perceptions of a small group of teachers of pupils with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) in north‐eastern England. The focus of the paper is their views of their pupils who have PMLD. A total of 14 teachers were interviewed, both individually and in small groups over a four‐year period. This paper stems from the individual interviews, which were validated at the group interview stage. Through the interviews we hear how neurological, developmental and co‐existence issues help shape teachers’ views of their pupils. Thirty years ago this group of pupils received their education from the Department of Health; today they are in schools and we hear the teachers in this project reflect on their students’ learning needs in positive and professional ways. What emerges through this research is the need for teacher educators to support professional development experiences that enable teachers to integrate the distinct perspectives of parents and the more contemporary theories of disability into their understandings of this group of learners. In this way, teachers of pupils with PMLD would build upon their professional knowledge base to include wider parental and societal perspectives.     

Issues and Concerns of Directors of Postsecondary Distance Learning Programs Regarding Online Methods and Technologies

Abstract

This study, a naturalistic inquiry conducted between 2002 and 2005, presents an integrated portrayal of issues and concerns of twenty-seven directors of postsecondary distributed/distance learning programs as well as the results of a survey that examined technology utilization and methods in 316 postsecondary schools. The major issues and concerns that emerged from the interviews included worries about planning and integrating future changes in technology, Digital Divide issues, ongoing cost of content creation, and vendor lock-in. Emerging during the analysis of the survey of methods and technology utilization was awareness of what technology or methods were not being used as compared with previous studies showing what technology was being used for distance education.     

Grammar for writing? An investigation of the effects of contextualised grammar teaching on students’ writing

The role of grammar instruction in the teaching of writing is contested in most Anglophone countries, with several robust meta-analyses finding no evidence of any beneficial effect. However, existing research is limited in that it only considers isolated grammar instruction and offers no theorisation of an instructional relationship between grammar and writing. This study, drawing on a theorised understanding of grammar as a meaning-making resource for writing development, set out to investigate the impact of contextualised grammar instruction on students’ writing performance. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach, with a randomised controlled trial and a complementary qualitative study. The statistical analyses indicate a positive effect on writing performance for the intervention group (e = 0.21; p < 0.001); but the study also indicates that the intervention impact differentially on different sub-groups, benefiting able writers more than weaker writers. The study is significant in being the first to supply rigorous, theorised evidence for the potential benefits of teaching grammar to support development in writing.     

Chinese and US Middle-School Science Teachers' Autonomy,Motivation, and Instructional Practices

This study examined Chinese and US middle-school science teachers' perceptions of autonomy support. Previous research has documented the link between teachers' perceptions of autonomy and the use of student-oriented teaching practices for US teachers. But is not clear how the perception of autonomy may differ for teachers from different cultures or more specifically how motivation factors differ across cultures. The survey measured teachers' motivation, perceptions of constraints at work, perceptions of students' motivation, and level of autonomy support for students. Exploratory factor analysis of responses for the combined teacher sample (n?=?201) was carried out for each of the survey assessments. Significance testing for Chinese (n?=?107) and US (n?=?94) teachers revealed significant differences in teachers' motivation and perceptions of constraints at work and no significant differences for perceptions of students' motivation or their level of autonomy support for students. Chinese teachers' perceptions of constraints at work, work motivation, and perceptions of student motivation were found to significantly predict teachers' autonomy support. For the US teachers, teacher motivation was the only significant predictor of teachers' autonomy support. A sub-sample of teachers (n?=?19) was interviewed and results showed that teachers in both countries reported that autonomy was important to their motivation and the quality of science instruction they provided to students. The primary constraints on teaching reported by the US teachers related to materials and laboratory space while the Chinese teachers reported constraints related to the science curriculum and standards.     

Proportional Reasoning Ability and Concepts of Scale: Surface area to volume relationships in science

The National Science Education Standards emphasise teaching unifying concepts and processes such as basic functions of living organisms, the living environment, and scale. Scale influences science processes and phenomena across the domains. One of the big ideas of scale is that of surface area to volume. This study explored whether or not there is a correlation between proportional reasoning ability and a student's ability to understand surface area to volume relationships. Students' knowledge of surface area to volume relationships was assessed pre and post to a one‐week instructional intervention involving investigations about surface area to volume as a limiting factor in biological and physical systems. Results showed that proportional reasoning scores of middle school students were correlated to pre‐test and post‐test assessment scores, and a paired‐sample t‐test found significant differences from pre‐test to post‐test for the surface area to volume assessment. Relationships between proportional reasoning, visualisation abilities and success in solving surface to volume problems are discussed. The implications of the results of this study for learning concepts such as magnitudes of things, limits to size, and properties of systems that change depending on volume and surface are explored.     

ICEM News

This article addresses the results of analysis of the data collected over four semesters of a situated course in Web-based instruction. In particular, it discusses results in such areas as synchronous vs. asynchronous interaction, the importance of technical prowess, aids and barriers to the establishment of a learning community, and the affective dimensions of Web-based instruction. In addition, it discuses the effectiveness of various traditional and constructivist instructional strategies in a Webbased environment. We also focus on the use of social engineering techniques as a means of facilitating the creation of a constructivist learning community. Analyse d’un environnement éducatif en ligne. Cet article présente les résultats d'une analyse de données collectées durant quatre semestres d'un cours utilisant Internet. En particulier, il étudie les résultats obtenus dans le domaine des interactions synchrones et asynchrones, l'importance du potentiel technologique, les aides ou les freins à l'établissement d'une communauté éducative, ainsi que la dimension affective de l'éducation par Internet. De plus, il examine l'efficacité de différentes stratégies d'apprentissage constructivistes utilisées dans cet environnement en ligne. Il aborde aussi des techniques d'ingénierie sociale utilisées qui sont aptes à faciliter l'établissement d'une véritable communauté d'apprentissage. Analyse einer Web-basierten Ausbildung. Dieser Artikel behandelt die Ergebnisse der Analyse der über vier Semester gesammelten Daten eines vorliegenden Kurses über web-basierte Ausbildung. Insbesondere werden Ergebnisse zu Fragen von synchroner versus asynchroner Interaktion, die Wichtigkeit des technischen Prozesses, Hilfen und Hindernisse für die Aufstellung einer Lerngemeinschaft und die affektiven Dimensionen web-basierten Instruierens diskutiert. Außerdem wird in dem Artikel die Wirksamkeit verschiedener traditioneller und konstruktivistischer Lehrstrategien in einer web-basierten Lernumgebung problematisiert. Wir verweisen auch auf die Verwendung von Sozialtechniken als ein Mittel, die Schaffung einer konstruktivistischen Lerngemeinschaft zu erleichtern.