Building bridges: the use of reflective oral diaries as a qualitative research tool

The article is a reflection on the use of an oral diary as a qualitative research tool, the role that it played during fieldwork and the methodological issues that emerged. It draws on a small-scale empirical study into primary school teachers' use of group discussion, during which oral diaries were used to explore and document teacher reflective thinking across time. The paper considers the design of the oral diary tool in this context and how its use created both a window on the developing construction of teachers' ideas about their practice of using group discussion in science and also a space to explore emerging analytical themes. The way in which the regular routine of the oral diary entries helped to make connections between the researcher and the participant and nurture fieldwork relationships is discussed in addition to the limitations of this specific research tool.     

Assessing Scientific Practices Using Machine-Learning Methods: How Closely Do They Match Clinical Interview Performance?

The landscape of science education is being transformed by the new Framework for Science Education (National Research Council, A framework for K-12 science education: practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2012), which emphasizes the centrality of scientific practices—such as explanation, argumentation, and communication—in science teaching, learning, and assessment. A major challenge facing the field of science education is developing assessment tools that are capable of validly and efficiently evaluating these practices. Our study examined the efficacy of a free, open-source machine-learning tool for evaluating the quality of students’ written explanations of the causes of evolutionary change relative to three other approaches: (1) human-scored written explanations, (2) a multiple-choice test, and (3) clinical oral interviews. A large sample of undergraduates (n = 104) exposed to varying amounts of evolution content completed all three assessments: a clinical oral interview, a written open-response assessment, and a multiple-choice test. Rasch analysis was used to compute linear person measures and linear item measures on a single logit scale. We found that the multiple-choice test displayed poor person and item fit (mean square outfit >1.3), while both oral interview measures and computer-generated written response measures exhibited acceptable fit (average mean square outfit for interview: person 0.97, item 0.97; computer: person 1.03, item 1.06). Multiple-choice test measures were more weakly associated with interview measures (r = 0.35) than the computer-scored explanation measures (r = 0.63). Overall, Rasch analysis indicated that computer-scored written explanation measures (1) have the strongest correspondence to oral interview measures; (2) are capable of capturing students’ normative scientific and naive ideas as accurately as human-scored explanations, and (3) more validly detect understanding than the multiple-choice assessment. These findings demonstrate the great potential of machine-learning tools for assessing key scientific practices highlighted in the new Framework for Science Education.     

Relationships among stress,coping, and mental health in high‐achieving high school students

This study investigates the relationships among stress, coping, and mental health in 139 students participating in an International Baccalaureate (IB) high school diploma program. Mental health was assessed using both positive indicators (life satisfaction, academic achievement, academic self‐efficacy) and negative indicators (psychopathology) of adolescent social‐emotional and school functioning. Findings include that students in an IB program perceive significantly more stress than a sample of 168 of their general education peers, and that specific coping styles are differentially related to mental health outcomes in this subgroup of high‐achieving high school students. Furthermore, coping styles (specifically, anger and positive appraisal) moderate the influence of stress on global life satisfaction and internalizing symptoms of psychopathology. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Distress and Suicidality in Higher Education: Implications for Population-Oriented Prevention Paradigms

College students respond to stressful experiences along a continuum of distress and suicidality. This study investigated, from students’ perspectives, the contributors to stress, nature of stress, coping strategies used, and role of drugs and alcohol during stressful periods—all with particular relevance for suicidality. Undergraduate and graduate students were sampled on an online survey from 73 institutions, totaling 26,292 respondents. The pervasiveness of stressful experiences students endorse appears to be more than traditional clinical interventions can manage on their own. Recommendations are, therefore, made about how to utilize population-based prevention to reduce students’ distress and suicidality and improve their mental health.     

Autonomy and children's reactions to being controlled: evidence that both compliance and defiance may be positive markers in early development

This study examined reactions of 1-year-olds and young 2-year-olds to being controlled by mothers. Mothers' supportive behavior predicted children's willing compliance. However, contrary to research with older children, defiance was also associated with variables linked to maternal competence, specifically, mothers' supportive behavior, autonomy-granting controls, and low depressive symptoms. At this age high-defiant children initiated positive interaction with mothers more than did low-defiant children. With age, children displayed more willing compliance and more active resistance (defiance, low passivity). However, developmental increases in active resistance were absent when mothers were high in depressive symptoms. Findings are consistent with the proposal that in early development active resistance to parents often reflects children's motivation to control events, not poor parenting or strained parent-child relationships.     

The coping mechanisms of children with school refusal

There are a variety of ways in which the children of today cope with the stresses of modern life. This paper examines the mechanisms used by a sample of children who had established school refusal and found their mechanisms of coping to be quite different from those of a control group. The findings raise the question as to whether there is a connection between social isolation and poor socialisation in the aetiology of school refusal, and suggest a possible mechanism by which such problems are compounded by enmeshed family relationships. This work also indicates that some protection against the need to refuse school can be gained by establishing good social relationships, focusing upon improving coping strategies and increasing the young person's sense of belonging.     

Do maternal concerns at delivery predict parenting stress during infancy?

OBJECTIVE: In a previous study, we found that new mothers could and would express concerns about their parenting, including concerns about maltreatment and poor care. In this study, we examine the utility of early maternal concerns for predicting parenting stress in the first year. Parenting stress is important because it has been shown to be related to maltreatment and poor parent-child relationships. METHOD: A sample of 246 mothers were interviewed shortly after delivery in a publicly funded hospital about their parenting concerns, and 93% were reinterviewed in their homes about their parenting when the infants were 6 to 12 months old. Standardized measures with demonstrated psychometric properties were employed, including a measure of parenting stress due to the demands of the parenting role, characteristics of the child that make him or her difficult to care for, and stress due to difficult interactions. RESULTS: Multiple regression results indicate that both mothers concerns at delivery and sociodemographic variables are significant predictors of all three types of parenting stress in infancy. Maternal concerns were more powerful than sociodemographics in predicting stress related to the demands of parenting, while sociodemographics were more powerful for the prediction of stress related to difficult child characteristics and difficult mother-infant interaction. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that knowledge of new mothers' parenting concerns might be useful for predicting parenting problems, as well as for engaging mothers' in and enhancing the effectiveness of parenting services.     

The Answer Is Readiness—Now What Is the Question?

Although readiness is often posed as the answer in early childhood education, there is typically confusion about exactly what question this complex term responds to. In this article, I explore common uses of the term readiness, examine their theoretical and empirical problems, and suggest a more synthetic conception that merges attention to the child, the school, and the community. I argue that readiness is an ethical responsibility we have to children that encompasses coordinated systems of early care and education and receptive schools that are developmental, inclusive, and accountable to all.     

Telecommunications in rural America: An appraisal and a prediction

Abstract

Rural America has historically been plagued with a disproportionate shortage of health, education, and other public services. However, the application of rapidly changing telecommunications technologies can alleviate many of the problems associated with these isolated and “technologically undernourished” areas. Technologies such as low‐power television, direct broadcast satellites, and satellite‐fed cable services offer the opportunity for building a rural telecommunications network and thus improving services and the quality of life. However, in order for this goal to be realized, the economic constraints presented by insufficient consumer demand and unprofitable markets must be overcome. Direct government subsidization or increased support of projects may be necessary to encourage the private sector to increase investment in telecommunications facilities in rural communities.