Reviews

Foster , John , L. (Editor ). (1977). Reluctant to Read? Edinburgh Reading Tests - Stages 1 and 4 - Godfrey Thomson Unit. Dubin , F. and Olshtain , E. (1977). Facilitating Language Learning. Skitt , Frank . (1978). Themes for Language Learning.     

Environmental identity formation in nonformal environmental education programs

This paper explores experiences that remained salient in the memories of former participants in three nature-based programs in Colorado, five to forty years after childhood involvement. Interviews with program founders and staff, archival research, and observations of current activities provided an understanding of each program’s history, mission and educational approach. In this context, 18 former participants were interviewed about program experiences that they remembered and program impacts on their environmental identities and academic or career choices. Results were analyzed through the lens of social practice theory, which has significant implications for the design and evaluation of environmental education programs. Results showed that social practice theory is a useful framework for interpreting the development of a social environmental identity, but an ecological identity that forms through direct contact with the natural world is an important complementary concept.     

Managerial behavior of college chairpersons and administrators

To explore Daft's dual-core model of educational organization, this study compares the managerial behavior of academic department chairpersons and nonacademic unit managers across 140 colleges and universities. For the study, 6,357 faculty and administrators completed questionnaires that profiled their formal leader's behavior, their work group characteristics, and their personal satisfaction. Of 54 variables submitted to discriminant analysis, 31 discriminated the bureaucratic units from the academic groups. Managers of the two types of group behave differently in ways consistent with their distinct group tasks. The empirically derived role profiles of the academic and nonacademic managers are discussed, as are the implications of the findings for institutional researchers, change agents, and trainers of college managers.This article is based in part upon a paper presented at the Seventh Annual European AIR Forum, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1985.     

A Methylome‐Wide Association Study of Trajectories of Oppositional Defiant Behaviors and Biological Overlap With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

In 671 mother–child (49% male) pairs from an epidemiological birth cohort, we investigated (a) prospective associations between DNA methylation (at birth) and trajectories (ages 7–13) of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and the ODD subdimensions of irritable and headstrong; (b) common biological pathways, indexed by DNA methylation, between ODD trajectories and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); (c) genetic influence on DNA methylation; and (d) prenatal risk exposure associations. Methylome‐wide significant associations were identified for the ODD and headstrong, but not for irritable. Overlap analysis indicated biological correlates between ODD, headstrong, and ADHD. DNA methylation in ODD and headstrong was (to a degree) genetically influenced. DNA methylation associated with prenatal risk exposures of maternal anxiety (headstrong) and cigarette smoking (ODD and headstrong).     

One-to-One Computing and Student Achievement in Ohio High Schools

This study explores the impact of one-to-one computing on student achievement in Ohio high schools as measured by performance on the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT). The sample included 24 treatment schools that were individually paired with a similar control school. An interrupted time series methodology was deployed to examine OGT data over a period of 5 to 8 years. Overall student performance and content-specific achievement in math, reading, science, social studies, and writing were not significantly affected by the introduction of 1:1 computing. Treatment schools using a netbook device produced the greatest overall change in scores.     

Resilience in higher education students: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

The health, wellbeing and employability of university students are key considerations within higher education. In response, interest in student resilience is on the rise. Reviews of contemporary resilience literature highlight both conceptual and methodological weaknesses, issues which hamper attempts to design effective resilience interventions. To inform the design of a student resilience program, to be piloted at three Australian universities, a scoping review of resilience specific to the higher education context was undertaken. Searches of three electronic databases (PsychINFO, CINAHL and ProQuest) were conducted. Seventy-two peer-reviewed articles published between 2007 and 2017 were included in the review. While the review reaffirms the conceptual and methodological issues found in previous resilience research, it provides a useful critique of key issues in relation to university student resilience and interventions to enhance students’ resilience. Recommendations for educators and researchers are provided.     

Zinc: what is its role in biology?

Zinc is as common as iron in biology. It is usually thought to be a trace element required only for catalysis. Here it is shown that the role of zinc is much more fundamental not only in catalysis but in inhibitory control. There may well be several such control elements—calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium, and zinc.