Effects of cooperative learning on performance,attitude, and group behaviors in a technical team environment

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cooperative learning strategies on performance, attitude toward working in teams, and group interaction behaviors in a technical training context. Participants were 274 engineering employees enrolled in a required training class that focused on communicating technical procedures in plant operations. Participants were divided into small groups and cooperative teams. Instruction was the same for all participants. Only the practice portion of the lesson reflected cooperative strategies versus no process direction. Results indicated that the practice conducted in a cooperative manner had a significant effect on performance and group behaviors. Participants in the cooperative teams performed better on the posttest, enjoyed working in teams, perceived more accomplishment, and displayed higher levels of social and cognitive interaction than participants who worked in unstructured small groups. Implications for integrating cooperative strategies into technical team training are provided.     

A Naturalistic Study of Affective Expression, Social Competence, and Sociometric Status in Preschoolers

Research findings. Naturalistic observation during freeplay was used to explore the role of affective expression and gender in preschoolers' social competence and sociometric status. Observers recorded occurrences of 4 types of affect: moderate and strong positive affect, anger, and distress among 56 children (M age = 50.3 months) in five classrooms. Teacher ratings of social competence and peer sociometrics were also collected. Social competence and peer acceptance were associated with strong, but not moderate positive affect. The correlates of anger and distress were moderated by the gender of the child. Girls' anger, but not distress, was negatively related to peer rejection. In contrast, boys' anger and distress were both positively related to peer rejection. Practice. These findings confirm the relations between affective expression and social competence, but also indicate that these relations may be different for boys and girls.     

Neglected realities: exploring the impact of women’s experiences of violence on learning in sites of higher education

Feminist pedagogy offers an exciting alternative to more conservative, traditional academic approaches, as it offers a site where women’s lives and experiences are accorded a place of importance and are considered worthy of theorizing. Within the last decade, feminism has been increasingly challenged to broaden its perspective and include the standpoints of those who are not part of the dominant group, whose voices have been traditionally silenced within academia. Issues of race, class, sexuality and ability have subsequently become a core focus of most women’s studies classrooms. Yet despite its transformative goals and sometimes radical pedagogical practices, these spaces often remain complicit in not fully acknowledging the impact of trauma on women’s lives. Drawing on the journal entries of first year social work students, this inquiry explores the impact of trauma on three women, struggling to negotiate the demands of academia, while simultaneously coping with memories of past abuse. It is argued that violence against women is a collective responsibility, rather than an individual pathology, as it has been conceptualized in the past. The findings highlight the need to address women’s experiences of violence as a legitimate barrier to learning.     

The Concerns of School Counselors‐in‐Training About Working With Children and Adolescents With HIV Disease: Training Implications

As the number of children and adolescents who have or are affected by HIV disease increases, so does the need to examine the preparation of counselors to work with this population. This study assessed (a) the knowledge, beliefs, and social comfort of school counselors‐in‐training, as related to working with this population, and (b) these students' concerns and perceptions about their preparedness. Participants reported high levels of general knowledge and positive beliefs; however, they also demonstrated deficits in specialized knowledge and discomfort in counseling situations. Participants expressed concerns about their preparation and ability to deal with grief issues. Implications for training counselors are discussed.     

The importance of early phonics improvements for predicting later reading comprehension

The role of phonics instruction in early reading development has been the subject of significant conjecture. Recently, England implemented a phonics screening check to assess the phonetic decoding of 6-year-old students, to ensure that all students master this foundational literacy skill and attain adequate phonemic awareness in the early years of primary schooling. Students who fail this check are obliged to retake the assessment the following year. In this article, we compare the performance of students who initially pass this check (pass) and students who fail the original assessment but pass the retaken assessment (fail–pass), with students who fail both the original and retaken assessments (fail–fail). Using data from the Key Stage 1 assessment of reading and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), we examined the reading comprehension performance of these students approximately 1 and 4 years after their first phonics screening. The results suggested that fail–pass students performed substantially better than fail–fail students, even after performance on the initial phonics check was controlled for. While fail–pass students do not appear to entirely catch up with pass students in reading comprehension, their relatively better performance underscores the importance of intervening for those students who are identified as having problems with phonetic decoding to increase their likelihood of success at reading comprehension in later schooling.     

Perceived Competency in Working With LGB Clients: Where Are We Now?

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients use counseling services at higher rates than their heterosexual counterparts, yet current training for counselors may be inadequate. In this online study, 234 graduate counselor education and counseling psychology students completed the Sexual Orientation Counselor Competency Scale ( Bidell, 2005 ) and provided information about their training in working with LGB clients. Participants viewed themselves as more competent on the Awareness and Knowledge subscales than on the Skills subscale. Increased level of training (doctoral vs. master's), number of LGB clients seen in practica, and attendance at LGB‐focused workshops and conferences were associated with increased competence. Implications for programmatic development are discussed.     

Stressors, coping, and coping effectiveness: gender, type of sport, and skill differences

The aim of this study was to examine stressors, coping, and coping effectiveness as a function of gender, type of sport, and skill. The sample consisted of 749 undergraduate athletes (455 males, 294 females) aged 18-38 years (mean= 19.8 years). Skill was classified as international/national, county, university, and club standard. Participants completed a stressor and coping concept map (Novak & Gowin, 1984). The results revealed gender, type of sport, and skill differences in relation to stressor frequencies, coping strategy deployment, and coping effectiveness. In contrast to previous research, females used a variety of problem-focused (e.g. planning, communication, technique-orientated coping) strategies more frequently than males. Team sport athletes reported a variety of sport-specific stressors relating to the demands of playing in a team environment. The group of national/international athletes reported using more planning, blocking, and visualization, and also reported that their coping was more effective than that of less-skilled athletes.