Information and culture: Cultural differences in the perception and recall of information

Culture is found to play an important role in the perception and recall of information. Hypotheses based on the two cultural models (individualism and context) were tested using a 2 × 2 factorial between-subject experimental design: individualism/collectivism and high/low-context conditions. The subjects consisted of 82 American students and 82 Korean students. The cultural tests confirm that the American culture represents individualism, whereas the Korean culture represents collectivism. The results indicate that Koreans tend to be more comfortable with a high-context culture that uses indirect and ambiguous messages. The Korean subjects show higher ratings for perceptions of information in a high-context design compared to the American subjects. There was no statistically significant difference in recall of information from high- and low-context conditions between the American and the Korean subjects. The findings of this study may benefit information professionals who are looking for effective ways of conveying information to intended audiences.     

Examining Equivalence of Accommodations on a Statewide Elementary-Level Science Test

This study examined the extent to which the underlying factor structure of the 2005 South Carolina Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests (PACT) in science for grades 3, 4, and 5 was equivalent for students who were administered the test in a regular (standard) or accommodated form. Three accommodation groups were of interest: students who received any testing accommodations, students who received any testing accommodations excluding those for whom setting was the only accommodation provided, and students who received the oral administration accommodation. Each accommodation group was compared to a matched sample of the regular group. It was found that the science test for a given grade level is appropriately described by the factor model for regular and accommodation groups. Results indicated that the factor structure, factor loadings, and error variances of the science test were similar across the regular and accommodation groups.     

Exploring the Relationship between Students' Understanding of Conventional Time and Deep (Geologic) Time

Many geologic processes occur in the context of geologic or deep time. Students of all ages demonstrate difficulty grasping this fundamental concept which impacts their ability to acquire other geoscience concepts. A concept of deep time requires the ability to sequence events on an immense temporal scale (succession) and to judge the durations of geologic processes based on the rates at which they occur. The twin concepts of succession and duration are the same ideas that underlie a concept of conventional time. If deep time is an extension of conventional time and not qualitatively different from it, students should display similar reasoning patterns when dealing with analogous tasks over disparate temporal periods. Thirty-five US students aged 13–24 years participated in individual task-based interviews to ascertain how they thought about succession and duration in conventional and deep time. This is the first attempt to explore this relationship in the same study in over 30 years. Most students successfully completed temporal succession tasks, but there was greater variability in responses on duration tasks. Conventional time concepts appear to impact how students reason about deep time. The application of spatial reasoning to temporal tasks sometimes leads to correct responses but in other instances does not. Implications for future research and teaching strategies are discussed.     

Teach-In: Positive Responses during Divisive Times

In response to the well documented divisiveness throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, faculty members at one university developed a “teach-in” to help students identify and respond to the resulting difficult communications in positive ways. This was accomplished through planned activities implementing micro/macro theories and skills. In March 2017, as part of Social Work Month, 71 BSW and MSW students participated in a Teach-in event. Paired sample t-tests showed significant differences between pre-post test scores on seven measured items. The teach-in appeared to be successful in increasing student preparedness to talk to individuals with differing political opinions through self-reflective participatory exercises related to their own (and conflicting) political perspectives, knowledge related to understanding contemporary political conflicts, and instruction on positively and professionally responding to divisive communications. Social work educators are important catalysts in helping students effectively respond to and advocate for those threatened during these divisive times. Teach-ins may also be an appropriate tool for addressing contemporary issues when curriculum requirements provide limited options for additional elective course offerings.     

Behavioural disorders in Danish schools: a quantitative survey

Behavioural problems in schools have been a topic of political debate in Denmark recently. The last time the topic was in the news was before the establishing of special educational provisions for pupils with social and emotional disorders in the 1960s. As a result of the recent debate, a national survey was made. It shows that the incidence of serious problems is 10 per cent. Comparisons with earlier studies indicate that there is an increase in behavioural problems during the first years of primary schooling. A multivariate analysis shows that pupils gender, the degree of urbanization, teacher experience and geographical location are significant predictors of disturbance, while school size, class size, teacher age and gender are insignificant.     

Educational Vouchers: A Primer

Advancements in technology have changed the day to day operation of society. The ways in which we teach and learn have begun the same process. For this reason, we must reexamine instruction. In this article, the author analyzes the changing environment of educational technology and how to incorporate the theory of multiple intelligences. The teaching strategies presented outline how to enhance student performance by blending new technologies with time-tested pedagogy. The author explains and matches up each intelligence with an effective technology tool. He also provides examples from scholarly publications and actual classroom practice.     

Spiralling towards transformational action research: philosophical and practical journeys

The two‐stranded spiral shown in Figure 1 represents two aspects of the authors’ journey in becoming critical. The journey, conveyed through discussion, reflexive accounts and illustrations of particular and summary achievements, shows how Carr and Kemmis’s work has influenced the authors as action researchers, both individually and together, in nursing, over 16 years. The first strand unfurls their journey as they learned to develop their philosophical and theoretical understandings of action research as collaborative, emancipatory and transformational. They show how they now use innovative and creative methodologies to transform practice and, simultaneously, develop critical practice theory that draw on assumptions from different worldviews in the same study. Their second strand is concerned with the creation of critical communities of healthcare practitioners who undertake action research to transform themselves, practices and organisations. This strand shares the practicalities of an action research team genuinely involving stakeholders in the collaborative, democratic design of projects, their implementation and evaluation. Both strands are concerned with preparing practitioners as researchers of their own practice and with human flourishing as both the end and means of action research. Seven insights are presented.     

Sobre el aprendizaje de la referencia

Resumen

Se discute el primer lenguaje infantil en relación con las habilidades lingüísticas y cognitivas necesarias para utilizar las palabras referencialmente. Se subraya un conjunto de criterios de conducta que establecen que el niño está utilizando nombres para referirse al mundo exterior. Aunque se reconoce que el desarrollo infantil de las habilidades simbólicas debe jugar un papel crucial en el acto de referencia, sigue estando confuso cómo llega el niño al «insight» de que uno se puede referir a los objetos y a los acontecimientos mediante nombres.