Looking Back in Time: An Interview with Madame Blanche Cohen

Madame Blanche Cohen, a French physiotherapist, was both a colleague of Drs. Fernand Lamaze and Pierre Vellay and their primary teacher of the Lamaze method (also known as accouchement sans douleur, or “painless childbirth”). She is the woman we read about in Marjorie Karmel''s landmark book, Thank You, Dr. Lamaze. In her Paris apartment in 1955, Madame Cohen conducted private classes to prepare Marjorie for her birth experience. She also served as Marjorie''s monitrice when Marjorie gave birth to her first daughter. Madame Cohen is still living in France with her husband, Henry. In this interview, she shares a fascinating glimpse into the history of the Lamaze method.     

University academics’ experience of research and its relationship to their experience of teaching

There has been a growing research debate over the relations between university teaching and research. This paper contributes to that debate by describing the variation in the way university academics’ experience research, then linking that empirical evidence with previous work to explicate the relations between variation in research, teaching, and understanding of the subject matter being taught. Previous investigations have shown that conceptual change/student-focussed approaches to teaching are associated with clear articulation of the important aspects of the subject matter being taught, how those aspects relate to each other, and how the teacher situates their understanding of the subject matter in the field as a whole. However, teachers who were unable to explain their understanding of their subject matter in these ways were more likely to experience their teaching as a process of information transfer from a teacher-focussed perspective. Since the characteristics of the first type of understanding subject matter resemble processes underlying the experience of active researchers, these findings seemed to justify a more intensive search for evidence of the link between effective university teaching and research. Interviews have been conducted with 37 university teachers who had strong publication and grant success records and who were teaching and researching in similar topic areas. They represent a range of disciplines and universities, and from both the UK and Australia. The study methods and results are described and we conclude that qualitative variation in the experience of research is related (a) moderately to experience of teaching and (b) strongly to experience of understanding the subject matter.

Links between early oral narrative and decoding skills and later reading in a New Zealand sample*

Abstract

We examined earlier oral narrative and decoding and later reading in two samples spanning the first four years of reading instruction. The Year 1 sample (n = 44) was initially assessed after one year of instruction (M = 6; 1 years) and followed through their third year (M = 8; 1 years); the Year 2 sample (n = 34) assessed after two years of instruction (M = 7; 0 years) and followed to their fourth year (M = 9; 0 years). Oral narrative and decoding were assessed initially, oral reading, retell, and maze fluency, plus reading age, obtained at outcome. For the Year 2 sample, oral narrative and decoding contributed to oral reading and comprehension two years later. For the Year 1 sample, decoding contributed to most reading outcomes, with narrative quality uniquely predicting Year 3 retell fluency. Post-hoc exploratory analyses suggest story memory indirectly contributed to Year 3 reading via Year 2 retell.     

Statistical reform: Evidence‐based practice,meta‐analyses,and single subject designs

Evidence‐based practice approaches to interventions has come of age and promises to provide a new standard of excellence for school psychologists. This article describes several definitions of evidence‐based practice and the problems associated with traditional statistical analyses that rely on rejection of the null hypothesis for the establishment of invention effectiveness. Meta‐analysis as an approach to ascertain EBPs is reviewed along with the inherent difficulties associated with single subject design research such as autocorrelations. Four meta‐analytic approaches are reviewed which include Percentage of Nonoverlapping Data points (PND), the Busk and Serlin: Assumption models, ITSACORR, and Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). HLM is offered as the most promising approach for the analysis for single subject designs. Monte Carlo simulations are modeled with varying degrees of autocorrelations, differing numbers of data points, and simulated effects sizes to show that HLM is an acceptable approach for controlling the risk of Type I errors. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 44: 483–493, 2007.     

Individual and Organizational Trust in a Reciprocal Peer Coaching Context

This paper explores organizational and peer dynamics that impact the potential for productive, trusting peer relationships. An in-depth phenomenological study of five peer coaching dyads was undertaken to examine the establishment and maintenance of peer coaching. Joint interviews were used to promote co-construction of responses. Findings suggested that formation of trust is impacted by values-based attachment, confidentiality, and the capacity of peers to make themselves vulnerable. Individual bonds are important at the start of coaching, but trust is further strengthened through contracting and reciprocity within the relationship itself and by an open culture within the organization. Organizational culture was found to influence trust and the need for a combination of benign organizational support, transparency, and non-intervention was seen as vital.     

Swimming against the tide of male mythology

This paper describes aspects of the real and hidden shortage of mathematics teachers. Possible causes of teacher shortage are discussed: salary levels, the image of teaching as a career, the image of mathematics, the diversion of mathematicians into the teaching of computing, and promotion of mathematicians into administrative positions. The effects of shortage on mathematics departments are also considered, in particular the effects on curriculum development, the role of the head of department, overloading of mathematics teachers, and the consequences of teacher shortage for certain pupil groups. With the current focus of attention on teacher shortage in certain subject areas, the paper raises a number of important points.     

Audience duplication and its determinants: a study in the multichannel and multiculture television market in Guangzhou,China

This study examines audience duplication, the extent to which the audience of one program also watches the other, and its determinants. Using peoplemeter data from Guangzhou, a multichannel and multicultural television market in China, the study tests the intertwining effects of media structural factors and audience preference factors on audience duplication levels of program pairs. The results show significant effects of the two types of factors. A regression model was established in which these two types of factors together explained 59% of the total variance in audience duplication.     

A Network Analytic Approach to Audience Behavior and Market Structure: The Case of China and the United States

This study adopts a network analytic approach to understand media audiences in relation to media markets, bridging the literature on audience behavior and media economics. Using audience data in the Chinese and U.S. markets, we apply multi-level measures to compare audience fragmentation patterns, a key indicator of market structure, across television channels. Drawing on McQuail's four–stage fragmentation model, we find the Chinese television market exhibits the Core-Peripheral model where a few channels dominate the marketplace and the rest are viewed by niche segments of the audience. In contrast, the U.S. market represents the Pluralism model with extremely high levels of audience duplication across channels, suggesting overlapping patterns of exposure throughout the market rather than isolated segments.     

Editorial

This study hypothesized a Socratic effect for the receiver's perceptions of the consequences of a proposal which were not mentioned by a persuader. Unlike earlier research, this study employed affective‐cognitive consistency theory since the perceptions of consequences were related psychologically, not logically. The analysis generally supported the speculations concerning belief‐ and attitude change.