Effects of a Reading Strategy Training Aimed at Improving Mental Simulation in Primary School Children

This study investigated the effects of a mental simulation training targeted at improving children’s reading comprehension. In a 4-week period, one group of third and fourth graders (n?=?75) learned to draw upon their sensorimotor memories and experiences to mentally simulate text (experimental training group), whereas another group (n?=?51) received the schools’ regular reading comprehension instructions (control training group). Pre-to-posttest differences in general reading comprehension, reading motivation, and mental simulation (distinguishing between perceptual and motor simulation) were examined to evaluate the trainings’ effectiveness. Compared to the control group, children who had received the mental simulation training showed improved performance on general reading comprehension (in Grade 3) and scored higher on reading motivation (in Grades 3 and 4). There were no performance differences between groups on the mental simulation measures. These findings indicate that it is beneficial for children to encourage and teach them to connect their sensorimotor experiences to the text they are reading.     

Constructing student portfolios: A process and product that fosters communication with families

When parents pick their children up from day care or preschool, one of the first questions that is typically asked of their child is “What did you do in school today?” At an open house parents usually ask teachers, “How is my child doing in your class?” “Is my child learning new things?” “Has my child improved any since the beginning of the school year, and in what ways?” Or think of the child who turns in a product and asks, “What do you think of this, Teacher?” or “Did you like my work today?”     

Professional concerns of beginning teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students

The professional concerns of beginning teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing were examined. Five first-year teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students served as participants. Two of the participants were itinerant teachers; three taught in self-contained classrooms. Participants were selected from programs serving deaf and hard of hearing students in rural and urban areas of the midwestern and southwestern United States. To interview the study participants, the researcher used an in-depth phenomenological method employing semi-structured questions and guided by a constructivist paradigm. Data were analyzed using qualitative analysis strategies (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992; Miles & Huberman, 1994). Results showed that concerns of beginning teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students are specific to service delivery models and geography. Participants provided specific recommendations for addressing the concerns of beginning teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students.     

Ego development and psychopathology: a study of hospitalized adolescents

This paper explores the relationship between ego development and psychiatrically relevant behaviors in a group of hospitalized adolescents. Building on Loevinger's model of ego development, we administered the Sentence Completion Test to 114 adolescent girls and boys. To study psychiatric symptoms, Achenbach and Edelbrock's Child Behavior Checklist was used. With these procedures, the Achenbach and Edelbrock factor scores were compared to ego stage using correlational and multiple regression analyses. Findings indicate significant negative correlations with the externalizing and internalizing factors as well as a variety of behavioral subscales. A significant relationship also exists between the total number of symptoms and ego development. Ego development is found to be an important predictor for the externalizing factor and 2 subscales after the background variables of age, sex, and SES are partialed out. Our discussion addresses the question of the relationship between stages and transitions in ego development in relation to psychopathology. In addition, "age-stage dysynchronies" are discussed as ways of understanding psychopathology from a developmental perspective.     

冲积河道河床冲刷过程的数值模拟

本建立了一维数值模型来模拟顺直冲积渠道的冲刷过程．模型考虑了床沙的非均匀性、床面形态变化，应用该模型预测计算了冲刷过程中的床沙级配变化．模型计算结果表明床沙粗化过程不仅与水流的水力特性有关，还与床沙的颗粒大小及分布有关．模型计算结果与2组非均匀床沙水槽试验结果进行了比较，结果表明模型计算结果与试验结果符合得较好．     

Globalization and the Emergence of For-Profit Higher Education

Globalization and the revolution in technological communications are major forces of change in higher education. This environment, when coupled with the needs of adult learners and the rising costs of tuition at traditional colleges and universities, has stimulated the emergence of for-profit, degree-granting higher education in the United States. This paper examines the growth of for-profit higher education, provides a cost/profit analysis, and gives examples of for-profit universities that are increasing international in scope. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these developments for traditional colleges and universities.     

A model for portfolio assessment in early childhood education programs

It is necessary for teachers to consider alternative means of evaluating their students. One method proving to be effective for gathering and organizing student productivity, growth, and development is the portfolio approach. This article describes the Early Childhood Portfolio Assessment Preparation (ECPAP) Model that was used to facilitate the use of student portfolios in two different early childhood education programs. The goals of the model, the six steps followed and the participants' responses to this project are discussed. This article may serve early childhood directors and supervisors who are preparing teachers to implement student portfolios as a supplement or an alternative to the existing assessment and evaluation programs. Also early childhood teacher education students can benefit from the design and implementation of ECPAP.     

Development of time quantification: integration and nonintegration of beginnings and endings in comparing durations

This study investigated how children handle time information when deducing durations of events. In an elaboration of the commonly used choice paradigm to study children's time concepts, pairs of durations were presented in a 4 beginning lags X 4 ending lags design in 2 different problem series. Children's task was to equalize the durations of the 2 events by restarting 1 event for a certain time. The normative rule, quantification of duration differences in beginnings and endings and their integration by addition or subtraction, began to predominate at the age of 10 years and was the only rule employed by 13-year-olds. In contrast, almost all 7-year-olds simplified the task to an ordinal level. 4 different nonalgebraic rules were identified, each placing more importance on endings than on beginnings. Neither young children's tendency to simplify nor older children's capacity to quantify could be detected in previous studies, because they investigated time concepts on an ordinal level only. In light of the present findings, previous notions on the development of time concepts in children have to be reevaluated.     

ZnS<Subscript>0.8</Subscript>Se<Subscript>0.2</Subscript> film for high resolution liquid crystal light valve

The structural characteristics and optical and electrical properties of molecular-beam-epitaxy (MBE) grown ZnS_0.8Se_0.2 thin films on indium-tin-oxide(ITO) glas substrates were investigated in this work. TheX-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicated that high quality polycrystalline ZnS_0.8Se_0.2 thin film grown at the optimized temperature had a prefered orientation along the (111) planes. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) cross-sectional micrograph of the sample showed a well defined columnar structure with lateral crystal dimension in the order of a few hundred angstroms. Ultraviolet (UV) photoresponsivity as high as 0.01 A/W had been demonstrated and for wavelengths longer than 450 nm, the response was down from the peak response by more than 3 orders of magnitude. The thin ZnS_0.8Se_0.2 photosensor layer, with a wide energy gap and anisotropic electrical property, makes a transmission UV liquid crystal light valve (LCLV) with high resolution feasible. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 59910161981) and RGC grant from the Hong Kong Government Grant (No. NSFC/HKUST 35), China