School Work,Homework and Gender

This paper explores female and male students' attitudes towards school work in terms of application and achievement. The data are drawn from interviews with students, teachers, careers officers and welfare officers in three semi‐rural comprehensive schools in one local education authority (LEA) [1]. (The students were in their last year of compulsory schooling, Year 11, and were aged 16 [2].) The three schools had invited the authors to explore why boys were achieving below their potential in terms of course work and end of course grades. The findings of the study show how school, peer group and community factors influence students' attitudes towards school work and homework. However, the situation is not just one of boys' under‐performance: the pattern of girls' achievement at 16 (the school leaving age) is not always carried through post‐16 or into career destinations. The problem is one of ‘equalising opportunities’ for all young people, taking into account the different patterns of need at different stages in their school careers.     

Metaphorical understandings and scientific ideas

This study looks at the ideas which children have of the particulate model of matter, at the time they start formal science in school. Pupils aged about eleven in three European countries‐‐Greece, Portugal and the UK‐‐were studied using word association tests. In the UK and Portugal the children had received no teaching of the particulate model; in Greece the pupils had received one year of introductory science, containing some teaching of the particulate model. Key words associated with the particulate model were investigated as free associations. In Portugal and the UK there was little or no evidence of particulate ideas in the pupils’ responses. In the Greek data particulate ideas were more in evidence. There were other clear differences in the data from the three countries. Educational and research implications of the findings are discussed.     

Exploration of the DSM-5’s Autism Spectrum Disorder Severity Level Specifier and Prediction of Autism Severity

ABSTRACT

With the publication of DSM-5, clinical assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has begun to follow a new dimensional framework which includes new severity specifiers. Little research has explored these severity ratings in comparison to other previously established severity indicators (e.g. ADOS-2 calibrated severity score). The current study compared parent and teacher ratings using the BASC-2 for 43 children and adolescents diagnosed with DSM-5 ASD, to contribute novel information to the BASC literature and to explore the new DSM-5 severity ratings. Linear regression analyses were conducted to determine the extent to which the DSM-5 Social Communication and Restrictive/Repetitive Behavior Severity Ratings (clinician-rated) predicted autism severity based on ADOS-2 calibrated severity scores. Furthermore, linear regressions were conducted to explore whether teacher ratings on the BASC-2 enhance parent ratings. Implications of these preliminary results for the assessment of children and adolescents with ASD are suggested.     

Precollegiate international schools: Leach's “ideal-type” and today's “reality”

International schools were begun to provide precollegiate education to children whose families lived abroad. In 1969 Robert Leach outlined a conceptual framework that would insure the formation of a spirit of internationalism throughout the school. The research described in this paper compared Leach's original model with perceptions held in the 1990s by educators, administrators, and board members working in those schools. The survey involved 185 respondents from 87 international schools in 11 countries. Results indicate that the elements Leach identified continue to be integral to international schools today.

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Zusammenfassung Internationale Schulen wurden für die Schulausbildung von Schülern eingerichtet, die mit ihren Familien im Ausland leben. Robert Leach entwarf 1969 einen konzeptionellen Rahmen, der die Schaffung eines Geistes des Internationalismus innerhalb der Schule sichern sollte. Die in diesem Artikel beschriebene Forschungsarbeit vergleicht das ursprüngliche Modell von Leach mit den Beobachtungen, die Lehrer, Verwalter und Aufsichtsratsmitglieder 1990 in diesen Schulen machten. Die Studie beinhaltete 187 Beteiligte aus 87 internationalen Schulen in 11 Ländern. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, daß die von Leach identifizierten Elemente weiterhin Bestandteil der internationalen Schulen von heute sind.

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Resumen Los colegios internacionales comenzaron a ofrecer educaión preescolar a ninos cuyas familias vivían en el extranjero. En 1969, Robert Leach creó un delineamiento conceptual que aspiraba a asegurar la formación de un espíritu de internacionalismo a través de los colegios. El estudio descrito en este trabajo compara el modelo original de Leach con las percepciones que en los años noventa tuvieron educadores, administradores y miembros de la dirección que trabajaban en esos colegios. El estudio abarcaba a 185 sujetos de estudio de 87 colegios internacionales en 11 países. Los resultados indican que los elementos que Leach había identificado siguen formando parte de los colegios internacionales hoy en día.

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Résumé Les écoles internationales ont été créées afin de dispenser des cours aux enfants de familles vivant à l'étranger. En 1969 Robert Leach esquisse un cadre de travail conceptuel qui assurerait la formation d'un esprit d'internationalisme par l'intermédiaire de l'école. La recherche évoquée dans cet article compare le modèle original de Leach avec les expériences des éducateurs, administrateurs et membres des comités directeurs de ces écoles dans les années 90. L'étude concernait 185 personnes travaillant dans 87 écoles internationales réparties dans 11 pays. Les résultats montrent que les éléments identifiés par Leach continuent d'être partie intégrante des écoles internationales d'aujourd'hui.

     

Librarians as Mentors in an Undergraduate Research Program

Projects in undergraduate research programs differ from assignments in courses in that they are independent of an institution's curriculum, and faculty mentoring plays a more important role. These programs can be fertile ground for librarians interested in participating. Whether such librarians would make good mentors for undergraduate researchers depends largely on their experience and education. Texas Tech University has two of these programs, but library support for them has been sporadic. The time is overdue for librarians involved in campus outreach and instruction to examine how they can best support Texas Tech's undergraduate research activities, and, in particular, whether they are adequately prepared to provide effective mentoring to undergraduate research students. This article reports on such an examination.     

Inductive Influence

Objective Bayesianism has been criticised for not allowing learningfrom experience: it is claimed that an agent must give degreeof belief