Examining the effect of positive behaviour support on academic achievement of students with disabilities

Students who engage in challenging behaviour compromise the fundamental ability of schools to educate children. Consequently, teachers face the daunting task of designing effective strategies to promote positive educational outcomes for their students. Since the 1997 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act amendments, the use of positive behaviour supports (PBS) to address the behavioural needs of children challenged by disabilities has expanded. There is evidence to support the utility of PBS in reducing challenging behaviour among students. However, successful schools are also gauged by the academic achievement of their students. Hence, it is important to examine the extent to which behavioural outcomes are related to academic outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which PBS interventions aimed at reducing challenging behaviour result in corresponding improvement in academic achievement. A meta‐analysis of extant research indicated a positive correlation of 0.40 between improvement in problem behaviour and academic achievement. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: http://youtu.be/c9OUU0GkGrw .     

Socioeconomic Status– and Gender‐Based Differences in Students’ Perceptions of E‐Learning Systems

Many universities are pursuing increases in on‐line course offerings as a means of offsetting the rising costs of providing high‐quality educational opportunities and of better serving their student populations. However, enrollments in online courses are not always sufficient to cover their costs. One possible way of improving enrollments is through marketing campaigns targeted to specific demographic groups. In this study, we take a first look into how students’ perceptions of e‐learning systems, prior to their enrollment in an online course, vary across socioeconomic status and gender. Findings suggest that prior to taking an online course, working‐class students perceive e‐learning systems more positively than their middle‐class peers but that little difference exists between genders. Armed with this knowledge, universities may improve online course enrollments by marketing online courses specifically to working‐class students or through campaigns aimed at improving middle‐class students’ perceptions of e‐learning systems.     

Using Paper Helicopters to Teach Statistical Process Control

This hands‐on project uses a paper helicopter to teach students how to distinguish between common and special causes of variability when developing and using statistical process control charts. It allows the student to experience a process that is out‐of‐control due to imprecise or incomplete product design specifications and to discover how the process can be brought into control through the use of standardized product specifications and associated construction procedures. It also allows the student to experience common causes of variability, to distinguish these from the special causes of variability resulting from the incomplete design specifications, and to discover how standardization reduces process variability. The project has been used in both undergraduate and MBA classes and demonstrates these concepts in a way that is easy for the student to understand and remember.     

Family walk-in centre—Eaton socon: Evaluation of a project on preventive intervention based in the community

The Family Walk-In Centre opened November 1978 as a pilot project at Eaton Socon in Cambridgeshire with the aims: to encourage parents to visit the centre on “their terms,” including parents who have abused or who fear they will abuse or neglect their child who may be difficult or handicapped, or because of chronic or acute family problems; further to mobilize “Self Help” groups and offer professional support. “Help” offered to the families included informal and formal group work, family casework and education in social and physical skills. Volunteer and professional support was given at the Centre and at home. Close liaison with specialist agencies was maintained to enable families to receive appropriate help. Periodic reviews and visits were made to maintain contact. An analysis of 50 families who attended the Centre between October 1979 and May 1980 was made to assess: the attendance and reattendance rate which indicated their acceptance of help offered and their motivation to use the Centre; the types of problems presented to the Centre, the types of action taken, the progress made when reviewed after three months and the degree of involvement by the volunteers. A final analysis will comprise 100 families. A preliminary summary found: significant reduction in the registration of new cases of child abuse; self-referrals exceeded significantly other modes of referral; loneliness and parenting difficulties formed the major proportion of families seeking help; 48% of families continued to attend for 3 months or more; work done centered upon discussion of parenting problems in 30% of the cases and involvement in activities with other families in 28%; 18% were assessed as showing improved child care after 3 months. The children are being monitored and will be assessed when they enter the infant school.     

African Oral Traditions: Riddles Among The Haya of Northwestern Tanzania

This study argues for the integration of African oral traditions and other elements of traditional learning into the modern school curriculum. It thus contributes to supporting the increased relevance of education to local communities. In particular, using the example of riddles collected from one of the main ethnic groups in Northwestern Tanzania, the Haya people, the present study challenges the views of those social and cultural anthropologists who hold that African riddles have no substantially meaningful educational value. Instead, it is maintained that riddles make an important contribution to children’s full participation in the social, cultural, political, and economic life of African communities, especially by fostering critical thinking and transmitting indigenous knowledge.

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Zusammenfassung MÜNDLICHE TRADITIONEN IN AFRIKA: DER ERZIEHERISCHE WERT VON RÄTSELN BEI DEN HAYA IM NORDWESTLICHEN TANSANIA – Diese Studie argumentiert für die Einbeziehung afrikanischer mündlicher Traditionen und anderer Elemente traditionellen Lernens in den modernen schulischen Lehrplan. Sie fördert somit die gestiegene Bedeutung der Bildung für die örtlichen Gemeinschaften. Insbesondere begegnet die vorliegende Studie, indem sie das Beispiel von Rätseln gebraucht, die bei einer der Hauptvolksgruppen im nordwestlichen Tansania, dem Volk der Haya, gesammelt wurden, den Ansichten derjenigen Sozial- und Kulturanthropologen, die behaupten, dass afrikanische Rätsel keinen wesentlich bedeutungsvollen erzieherischen Wert haben. Stattdessen wird die These aufgestellt, dass Rätsel einen wichtigen Beitrag zur vollständigen Teilnahme von Kindern am gesellschaftlichen, kulturellen, politischen sowie wirtschaftlichen Leben afrikanischer Gemeinschaften leisten, besonders durch die Förderung von kritischem Denken und die Weitergabe des Wissens der Eingeborenen.

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Resumen TRADICIONES ORALES AFRICANAS: EL VALOR EDUCATIVO DE LAS ADIVINANZAS PARA EL PUEBLO DE LOS HAYA EN EL NOROESTE DE TANZANÍA – Con este trabajo, el autor aboga por una integración de tradiciones orales africanas y de otros elementos de aprendizaje tradicional en los actuales planes de estudios de las escuelas. Al mismo tiempo, hace énfasis en la creciente relevancia que la educación tiene para las comunidades locales. Con este estudio, el autor desafía la posición de aquellos antropólogos sociales y culturales que sostienen que las adivinanzas africanas no tienen ningún valor educativo digno de mención, ante todo presentando el ejemplo de adivinanzas que ha recopilado entre los miembros del pueblo de los haya, uno de los principales grupos étnicos del noroeste de Tanzanía. Por lo contrario, el autor afirma que las adivinanzas promueven en gran medida la participación plena de los niños en la vida social, cultural, política y económica de las comunidades africanas, ante todo porque incentivan el pensamiento crítico y transmiten conocimientos indígenas.

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Résumé TRADITIONS ORALES AFRICAINES : LA VALEUR ÉDUCATIVE DES ÉNIGMES CHEZ LES HAYAS DE LA TANZANIE DU NORD-OUEST – Cette étude argumente en faveur de l’intégration des traditions orales africaines et autres éléments de l’apprentissage traditionnel dans le programme d’étude de l’école moderne. Elle contribue ainsi à soutenir la pertinance accrue de l’éducation au sein des communautés locales. En particulier, utilisant l’exemple des énigmes recueillies chez l’un des principaux groupes ethniques de la Tanzanie du Nord-Ouest, le peuple Haya, l’étude présente conteste les vues de ces anthropologues sociaux et culturels qui soutiennent que les énigmes africaines n’ont pas de valeur éducative substantiellement significative. Au lieu de cela, on maintient que les énigmes apportent une contribution importante à la pleine participation des enfants à la vie sociale, culturelle, politique et économique des communautés africaines, spécialement en ce qu’elles favorisent la pensée critique et transmettent les connaissances indigènes.

     

Certainty of Punishment and Criminal Thinking: Do the Rational and Non-rational Parameters of a Student’s Decision to Cheat on an Exam Interact?

The purpose of this study was to determine whether criminal thinking interacts with the rational requirements of human decision-making in a group of college students. A convenience sample of 315 undergraduates (114 males, 201 females) completed self-report measures of criminal thinking and estimated their likelihood of cheating on an exam given different levels of certainty of apprehension. A repeated-measures analysis of covariance revealed that students were significantly more likely to seize on the opportunity to cheat when the certainty of getting caught was 10% than when it was 50% and that students with higher levels of criminal thinking were more likely to take the opportunity to cheat than students with lower levels of criminal thinking. In addition, students exhibiting moderate proactive criminal thinking and moderate to high reactive criminal thinking were significantly less likely to be deterred from cheating when the odds of getting caught were low.     

Assessing sex and career biases in screening candidates for a deanship: An experimental study

To test how sex biases operate in the screening of candidates for administrative positions, an experimental study was conducted to evaluate the contribution of gender and career pattern effects on candidates' ratings. Faculty from seven universities were asked in a task that was judged to be realistic to evaluate vitae of six candidates for a deanship of a college of arts and sciences. Experimental design permitted alteration of the vitae to change gender and career patterns. No significant difference was found in the ratings assigned to male and female candidates. Career break did have a significant effect; candidates with career breaks received higher ratings on the average than those without career breaks. There was no significant interaction of gender and career break. Three different ratings systems were used, but none interacted with either gender or career break. However, closer examination of screeners' ratings did suggest that career experience was evaluated in different ways for male and female candidates.