Behavior Regulation and Early Math and Vocabulary Knowledge in German Preschool Children

Research Findings: Behavior regulation, including paying attention, remembering instructions, and controlling action, contributes to children's successful adaptation to and functioning in preschool and school settings. This study examined the development of behavior regulation in early childhood and its potential contribution to individual differences in children's early knowledge (mathematics and vocabulary). Sixty German preschool children were administered a direct observational measure of behavior regulation, the Head-to-Toes Task, and a standardized test to assess early mathematics and vocabulary. Results revealed significant gains in behavior regulation between of 3 and 4 years of age. Moreover, early gender differences were found, with girls outperforming boys at age 4. Behavior regulation was significantly related to performance on the academic tasks, but the pathways to math and vocabulary knowledge differed. Practice or Policy: Discussion focuses on the role of behavior regulation in early academic achievement.     

Effect of Intermittent Kangaroo Mother Care on Weight Gain of Low Birth Weight Neonates With Delayed Weight Gain

Objective: To evaluate intermittent Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) with additional opportunities to breastfeed on weight gain of low birth weight (LBW) neonates with delayed weight gain. Methods: 40 LBW neonates were followed to see whether KMC with additional opportunities to breastfeed improved weight gain. Results: In the KMC group, the mean age of regaining birth weight was significantly less (15.68 vs. 24.56 days) and the average daily weight gain was significantly higher (22.09 vs. 10.39 g, p < .001) than controls. Conclusion: KMC with additional opportunities to breastfeed was found to be an effective intervention for LBWs with delayed weight gain and should be considered to be an effective strategy.     

Mediation Analysis in a Latent Growth Curve Modeling Framework

This article presents several longitudinal mediation models in the framework of latent growth curve modeling and provides a detailed account of how such models can be constructed. Logical and statistical challenges that might arise when such analyses are conducted are also discussed. Specifically, we discuss how the initial status (intercept) and change (slope) of the putative mediator variable can be appropriately included in the causal chain between the independent and dependent variables in longitudinal mediation models. We further address whether the slope of the dependent variable should be controlled for the dependent variable's intercept to improve the conceptual relevance of the mediation models. The models proposed are illustrated by analyzing a longitudinal data set. We conclude that for certain research questions in developmental science, a multiple mediation model where the dependent variable's slope is controlled for its intercept can be considered an adequate analytical model. However, such models also show several limitations.     

An SEM Approach for the Evaluation of Intervention Effects Using Pre-Post-Post Designs

A directly applicable latent variable modeling procedure for classical item analysis is outlined. The method allows one to point and interval estimate item difficulty, item correlations, and item-total correlations for composites consisting of categorical items. The approach is readily employed in empirical research and as a by-product permits examining the latent structure of tentative versions of multiple-component measuring instruments. The discussed procedure is straightforwardly utilized with the increasingly popular latent variable modeling software Mplus, and is illustrated on a numerical example.     

The Influences of Syllable Structure and Reading Ability on the Development of Phoneme Awareness: A Longitudinal,Cross-Linguistic Study

Effects of syllable structure and of alphabetic reading skills on the development of phoneme awareness were investigated in a longitudinal study. Awareness of phonemes in syllable onsets and codas was examined in first graders speaking Czech (n = 45) and German (n = 33). Czech children showed higher awareness of phonemes in onsets than in codas, whereas the reverse was true for German children. The patterns of behavioral data largely reflected distributional differences in corpus data between these languages. The effects were present among prereaders and persisted to the end of Grade 1. In sum, children's experience with the syllable structure of their native language plays an important role in shaping phoneme awareness from early in development and predates influences of alphabetic reading skills.     

Learning to teach STEM disciplines in higher education: a critical review of the literature

ABSTRACT

Enrolments in STEM disciplines at universities are increasing globally, attributed to the greater life opportunities open to students as a result of a STEM education. But while institutional access to STEM programmes is widening, the retention and success of STEM undergraduate students remains a challenge. Pedagogies that support student success are well known; what we know less about is how university teachers acquire pedagogical competence. This is the focus of this critical review of the literature that offers a theorised critique of educational development in STEM contexts. We studied the research literature with a view to uncovering the principles that inform professional development in STEM disciplines and fields. The key finding of this critical review is how little focus there is on the STEM disciplines. The majority of studies reviewed did not address the key issue of what makes the STEM disciplines difficult to learn and challenging to teach.     

Comparability of educational achievement and learning attitudes across nations

We estimated the invariance of educational achievement (EA) and learning attitudes (LA) measures across nations. A multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was used to estimate the invariance of educational achievement and learning attitudes across 55 nations (Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA] 2006 data, N?=?354,203). The constructs had the same meaning (factor loadings) but different scales (intercepts). Our conclusion is that comparisons of the relationships between educational achievement and learning attitudes across countries need to take into consideration two sources of variability: individual differences of students and group differences of educational systems. The lack of scalar invariance in EA and LA measures means that the relationships between EA and LA may have a different meaning at the level of nations and at the student level within countries. In other words, as PISA measures are not invariant in scalar sense, the comparisons across countries with nationally aggregated scores are not justified.     

Political distrust in Hong Kong: News media use and political beliefs regarding the 1997 transition

As Hong Kong prepares for a political transition in 1997, neither the existing colonial British government nor the impending People's Republic of China (PRC) has established a strong historical foundation for political trust within the territory. In this study, we examine the level of distrust towards the existing and future political regimes, as well as attitudes towards Hong Kong's future. Based on a representative telephone survey of Hong Kong residents (N = 512), we find a high degree of political distrust among respondents, particularly towards the PRC administration. Although initial bivariate analyses establish some association between distrust and media exposure, channel preference, and demographic variables, further multivariate analyses suggest that many of these factors are highly interrelated. One central finding is that among men and those with middle to high socio‐economic status, television news exposure is associated with trust in the PRC. Conversely, women and younger people tend to distrust the PRC, regardless of their news exposure.     

Relational Uncertainty as a Consequence of Partner Jealousy Expressions

The present study examines how the relational-uncertainty levels of individuals whose partners are jealous (i.e., “jealousy targets”) are predicted by how partners express jealousy. Students and community members completed a questionnaire where they recalled an instance when they were the recipients of their romantic partners' expression of jealousy. In general, jealousy-target relational uncertainty was positively predicted by a majority of negative and general behavioral partner jealousy expressions. However, positive partner jealousy expressions were not generally associated with jealousy-target relational uncertainty. Implications for the theoretical understanding of relational uncertainty and consequences of partner jealousy expression are discussed.