The effects of graphic organizer completeness and note-taking medium on computer-based learning

Education and Information Technologies - The purpose of this study was to determine how graphic organizer completeness (complete, partial, or no organizer) and note-taking medium (longhand or...     

Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality,edited by Randall Packer and Ken Jordan. New York: Norton, 2001. 394 pp. $27.95. ISBN 0-393-04979-5.

Peter G. W. Keen, Shaping the Future: Business Design Through Information Technology Harvard Business School Press, 1991, 264 pp.     

Making the implicit explicit: Supporting teachers to bridge cultures

In this paper, we report the results of a longitudinal action research project in which elementary teachers used a cultural framework (individualism–collectivism) to understand differences between the culture of immigrant Latino families and the culture of U.S. schools. Making explicit the culture-based beliefs implicit in home and school practices allowed teachers to think differently about their students and their own teaching, and with that change in thinking came the immediate and ongoing creation of a wide range of innovations to bridge home and school cultures. Shifting to a preschool emphasis, we discuss how the individualism–collectivism framework has been used in professional development for early childhood educators. A broad view of professional development is discussed including the role of college faculty, early childhood program administrators, teachers, and families. We suggest how such professional development might be mounted through use of methods and materials that promote explicit models of immigrant cultures to reduce home–school cultural mismatches for immigrant children.     

Preschool Attendance and Executive Function Mediate Early Academic Achievement Gaps in East Asia and the Pacific

Research Findings: This study investigated the relationship between family socioeconomic status (SES) and children’s early attainment, and the roles of preschool attendance and executive function (EF) in this association. Participants were 3,331 children (1,584 girls) ranging in age from 36 to 71 months from Cambodia, Mongolia, and Vanuatu. Children’s language, literacy, and mathematics attainment and EF were assessed using the East Asia-Pacific Early Child Development Scales. Mothers reported on family demographics and children’s preschool experience. Results indicated significant associations between SES and academic attainment in all three countries. Further analysis showed that preschool attendance and EF were significant mediators of SES- related disparities in attainment, but differed by country. Both served as parallel and sequential mediators in the associations between SES and performance in language, literacy, and mathematics in Mongolia. However, only preschool attendance mediated the association of SES with literacy attainment in Cambodia, and only EF mediated that with children’s mathematics and language performance in Vanuatu. Although SES is substantially related with early achievement in these developing countries, our findings indicate that preschool attendance and EF may attenuate this relationship. Practice or Policy: Implications for the provision of early childhood education programs and public policy are discussed.     

STEM Doctoral Completion of Underrepresented Minority Students: Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Participation in the Doctoral Workforce

This article is a result of the analysis of student-level enrollment records from twenty-one research universities in the United States, and it contributes to a more robust understanding of timely completion of STEM doctorates by underrepresented minority students. Using multivariate logit regression models, findings indicated that Hispanic/Latino and students from other underrepresented groups complete at higher rates than do their Black/African American counterparts. Findings also indicated that prior master’s degrees and institutional participation in doctoral completion programs positively correlate with STEM doctoral completion. We conclude by offering insights and recommendations for graduate schools about how to increase the STEM doctoral attainment rate of students from underrepresented groups.     

Insights from industry: a quantitative analysis of engineers' perceptions of empathy and care within their practice

This study focuses on two seldom-investigated skills or dispositions aligned with engineering habits of mind – empathy and care. In order to conduct quantitative research, we designed, explored the underlying structure of, validated, and tested the reliability of the Empathy and Care Questionnaire (ECQ), a new psychometric instrument. In the second part, we used the ECQ to explore the perceptions of empathy and care of alumni/ae of an internationally ranked US institution, along with how perceptions differed by work experience and gender. Results show that participants perceived empathy and care to be important in multiple respects, most notably in relational aspects of engineering practice. Engineers with more engineering experience were more likely to perceive empathy and care as existing in engineering practice and as important to their work. While these phenomena are sometimes depicted as feminine qualities, we found no gender differences among our respondents.     

Peer Problems Among Postinstitutionalized,Internationally Adopted Children: Relations to Hypocortisolism,Parenting Quality,and ADHD Symptoms

Seventy-eight postinstitutionalized (PI) children adopted at ages 17–36 months were assessed 2, 8, 16, and 24 months postadoption on measures of cortisol and parenting quality, and compared to same-aged children adopted from foster care (FC, n = 45) and nonadopted children (NA, n = 45). In kindergarten (M_age = 6.0 years), teachers, parents, and trained observers completed measures of peer relationships and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. PI children had more peer problems and ADHD symptoms according to teachers and observers than NA children with FC children in between, whereas both PI and FC children were at significantly greater risk of hypocortisolism (i.e., blunted cortisol diurnal rhythm and reactivity). Hypocortisolism and ADHD symptoms mediated the association between preadoption adversity and peer difficulties. Higher postadoption parenting quality was protective.     

Introduction to the Special Issue on Interdisciplinary Conversations (Part 2): The Impact of Interdisciplinary Conversations on Courses

Abstract

The two parts in this special issue address interdisciplinary conversations involving mathematics courses in the first 2 years of undergraduate work. The special issue was inspired by work funded by the National Science Foundation under a grant titled “SUMMIT-P.” The special issue includes papers written about projects both from SUMMIT-P and from outside of SUMMIT-P. Part II focuses on what the results of interdisciplinary collaboration look like in the classroom.     

#Socialmedia: A Preliminary Report of Social Networking Use Among University and College Counseling Center Mental Health Providers

The social networking use of university and college counseling center (UCCC) mental health providers has not been widely researched. Most of the 20 providers surveyed in this preliminary study reported engaging in social networking despite identifying pros and cons to its use. Participants’ reported use of social media may indicate that social networking sites are used primarily to glean information. Risks associated with social networking for UCCC practitioners are discussed and implications for training and social media use are provided.