Working Memory and Strategy Use Contribute to Gender Differences in Spatial Ability

In this review, a new model that is grounded in information-processing theory is proposed to account for gender differences in spatial ability. The proposed model assumes that the relative strength of working memory, as expressed by the ratio of visuospatial working memory to verbal working memory, influences the type of strategies used on spatial ability tasks. Strategy use, in turn, influences performance on spatial ability tasks. Gender differences in spatial ability can be explained by gender differences in strategy use as a function of the relative strength of visuospatial working memory to verbal working memory.     

Caring for our infants: parents’ antenatal childcare intentions and nine-month reality

Infants are increasingly cared for by adults other than their parents. Here we describe non-parental infant care within a diverse cohort; and investigate the relationship between parents’ antenatal intentions and actual infant care. 6822 New Zealand women were recruited during pregnancy and asked about their intentions for childcare. Non-parental care was assessed when infants were nine months old: 1717 (25%) of the 6853 cohort children were receiving more than 8 h per week of regular non-parental care. In comparison with infants of European mothers, infants of Asian or Pacific mothers were more likely to be cared for by extended family; and infants of Māori mothers were more likely to receive centre-based care. Infants from families with lower household incomes, living in more deprived areas were more likely to be cared for by family. When their infants were nine months old, mothers from low- to medium-income households were less likely to be using the type of non-parental care they had intended antenatally, and the same was true when their children were aged 2 years.     

Moral exemplification in narrative literature and art

Abstract

While the idea of exemplification or role-modelling as a means to the education of moral character and virtue is of ancient pedigree—traceable at least to Aristotle’s ethics—the influence of personal example is clearly not unproblematic since individuals may be admired or imitated for less than morally admirable qualities. However, personal exemplification is evidently not the only route to moral exemplification, insofar as readers may find much to admire or emulate in the characters of literary or other artworks which may allow for some critical distance between admired and admirers. This article is concerned with exploring the potential for moral exemplification of literature and arts.     

Philosophy and Education

This paper argues that the anxieties being expressed in the UK and elsewhere about the lack of impact that philosophy now has on education are nothing other than the inevitable manifestation of a fundamental intellectual disorder deeply rooted in our contemporary understanding of the philosophy of education. In trying to substantiate this claim, the paper offers an historically informed philosophical analysis of how philosophy is related to education and education to philosophy that concludes by clarifying how any debates about the current problems and future development of the philosophy of education ought to proceed.     

The Development of Spatial Skills in Elementary School Students

Through five waves of data collection, this longitudinal study investigated the development of spatial skills in 304 elementary school children (M_age = 7.64 years) as they progressed from the second to fourth grade. The study focused on whether multiple latent classes with different developmental profiles best explain development. Spatial skills were measured by tests featuring two‐dimensional figures. Mathematics achievement was measured by the statewide end‐of‐year test and was included as a distal outcome variable. The role of covariates, including socioeconomic status, verbal working memory, and gender, was also explored. The results indicate a need to view two‐dimensional spatial skills development as multidimensional with two developmental profiles predicted by socioeconomic status, verbal working memory, and gender. The developmental profiles predicted differences in mathematics achievement.     

Model confusion in chemistry

Conclusion This paper has been a preliminary discussion of model confusion about acids and bases, presenting evidence (some of it to be elaborated) that the Arrhenius and the Lowry-Bronsted models are confused in some textbooks, and in many students' minds. A similar analysis of other concepts in chemistry (are some problems about ions a results of carrying Daltonian and Newtonian models of atoma beyond their utility—since in those models atoms are unbreakable; are covalent bonding ideas served at all well by the Bohr model of the atom?) may be a valuable area for research.     

Conceptualising and measuring student engagement through the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE): a critique

Student engagement has rapidly developed a central place in the quality agenda of Australian universities since the introduction of the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE). The AUSSE is based on one developed in the USA. The main arguments given for adopting this survey in Australia are that it provides a valid instrument for measuring engagement and that it enables international comparisons. However, the survey instrument and scales have been adopted with little scrutiny of these arguments. This paper examines these arguments by considering different perspectives of engagement, examining the importance of contextual differences and evaluating the AUSSE engagement scales in the light of both. The paper concludes that the AUSSE results should be used by universities and policy‐makers with caution.