Toddlers Default to Canonical Surface‐to‐Meaning Mapping When Learning Verbs

Previous work has shown that toddlers readily encode each noun in the sentence as a distinct argument of the verb. However, languages allow multiple mappings between form and meaning that do not fit this canonical format. Two experiments examined French 28‐month‐olds' interpretation of right‐dislocated sentences (noun_i‐verb, noun_i) where the presence of clear, language‐specific cues should block such a canonical mapping. Toddlers (N = 96) interpreted novel verbs embedded in these sentences as transitive, disregarding prosodic cues to dislocation (Experiment 1) but correctly interpreted right‐dislocated sentences containing well‐known verbs (Experiment 2). These results suggest that toddlers can integrate multiple cues in ideal conditions, but default to canonical surface‐to‐meaning mapping when extracting structural information about novel verbs in semantically impoverished conditions.     

Gender stereotype endorsement and achievement-related outcomes: The role of competence beliefs and task values

In most Western societies, males are stereotyped as having stronger mathematical abilities than females whereas females are stereotyped as having stronger verbal abilities than males. Exposure to negative ability stereotypes reliably undermines performance in laboratory experiments, yet the mechanisms by which such stereotypes may influence boys’ and girls’ achievement outcomes in the more naturalistic setting of primary and secondary school remain unclear. The current study evaluated a hypothesis suggested by expectancy-value theories (e.g., Eccles & Wigfield, 2002): the relationship between stereotypes and achievement outcomes is importantly mediated by a student’s perceived competence and his or her valuation of the domain in question. We tested the hypothesis by examining the career intentions and grades of 762 sixth and eighth graders. As expected, even after controlling for prior achievement, stereotype endorsement primarily predicted grades and career intentions indirectly, through students’ competence beliefs and task values. These results suggest that stereotypes predict achievement-related outcomes most clearly when students internalize them.     

On the epistemological features promoted by ‘Philosophy for Children’ and their psychological advantages when incorporated into RE

This article presents the epistemological paradigm in which Philosophy for Children (P4C) is embedded and the personal epistemological positions that are promoted by P4C, in order to address the concern that P4C might induce relativism in pupils. On the basis of theoretical considerations and empirical results, it is shown that P4C does not promote absolutism or relativism, either in its premises or in pupils’ personal epistemology. Rather, this method is related to a socio-constructivist and pragmatic paradigm and it promotes an evaluativist position. The relevance of promoting evaluativism (rather that absolutism or relativism) during RE lessons in pupils is then examined through a psychological perspective. The conclusion is that it is worth integrating P4C in RE because it stimulates an evaluativist perspective that is beneficial in terms of both personal need for meaning and social cohesion.     

Teaching patterns and learning quality in Swiss and German mathematics lessons

Based on a coding of 39 videotaped three-lesson units on the introduction to the Pythagorean Theorem, three teaching patterns were identified: lecturing, developing based on a problem, and discovery based on a problem. The analysis showed no effect of the teaching patterns on student achievement, whereas effects were discovered on students' perceived learning quality. The discovery teaching pattern had negative effects on the emotional quality of learning. However, this pattern exhibited high degree of externally rated cognitive activation. The lecturing approach to the introduction to the Pythagorean Theorem supported students' self-perceived understanding.     

大龄未婚男性的男男性行为及其对公共安全的意义:基于中国农村性别失衡背景的研究发现

基于2008年安徽省CH市JC区的调查数据,通过与同年龄段已婚男性的对比,对性别失衡背景下中国农村大龄未婚男性的男男性行为发生率及其影响因素进行了分析。结果发现,中国的性别失衡确实会使得农村地区的男男性行为发生率增加;而发生男男性行为的人群中,其无保护性行为也达到了一个较高的比例;同时与已婚男性相比,未婚男性在艾滋病和性病知识方面的掌握情况较差,从而为公共卫生安全带来潜在威胁。论文结尾指出了研究结论的政策启示、研究的局限性和未来改进方向。     

Students’ perceptions of parental and teacher academic involvement: Consequences on achievement goals

The present study examined whether students’ perceptions of two major facets of parental and teacher academic involvement (i.e., academic support and academic monitoring), contribute to the process of students’ achievement goals adoption. French junior high-school students completed two questionnaires assessing first their perceptions of parental and teacher academic involvement, and then their achievement goals three months later. Factorial analyses showed that students differentiated parental academic monitoring from parental academic support, while predominantly perceiving their teacher academic involvement as reflecting monitoring. Multilevel modeling analyses indicated that, as expected, students’ perceptions of parental academic support were positively related to mastery goals while unrelated to performance goals. Also as expected, perceived academic monitoring was associated with performance goals, although the findings revealed an equal contribution of perceived parental and teacher involvement. This new insight about the antecedents of students’ achievement goals emphasizes how important is the role of parental and teacher academic socialization.     

Algebraic thinking,pattern activities and knowledge for teaching at the transition between primary and secondary school

We were interested in exploring the extent to which advanced mathematics lecturers provide students with opportunities to play a role in considering or generating course content. To do this, we examined the questioning practices of 11 lecturers who taught advanced mathematics courses at the university level. Because we are unaware of other studies examining advanced mathematics lecturers’ questioning, we first analyzed the data using an open coding scheme to categorize the types of content lecturers solicited and the opportunities they provided students to participate in generating course content. In a second round of analysis, we examined the extent to which lecturers provide students with opportunities to generate mathematical contributions and to engage in reasoning that researchers have identified as important in advanced mathematics. Our findings highlight that, although lecturers asked many questions, lecturers did not provide substantial opportunities for students to participate in generating mathematical content and reasoning. Additionally, we provide several examples of lecturers providing students with some opportunities to generate important contributions. We conclude by providing implications and areas for future research.     

The role of academic ability indicators in big-fish-little-pond effect research: A comparison study

The authors examined the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) on academic self-concept (ASC) using different indicators of academic ability (i.e., achievement test, cognitive ability test, grades corrected for grading-on-a-curve effects, uncorrected grades). They investigated under what circumstances grades are suitable indicators of academic ability in BFLPE research. The sample comprised 730 sixth-grade students from 30 classes belonging to the top track of the German secondary high school system. Using multilevel models, all indicators of academic ability exhibited negative contrast effects on ASC at class level (i.e., BFLPE). The authors found the strongest effects for corrected grades, followed by achievement tests, cognitive ability, and, finally, uncorrected grades. Thus, the study provides evidence for the usage of grades within BFLPE research for investigating the BFLPE.