Expanding the conceptual and empirical boundaries of family communication patterns: The development and validation of an Expanded Conformity Orientation Scale

Family communication patterns theory (FCPT) explores how family members communicate to create a shared social reality via conversation and conformity orientations. Recently, scholars have noted that the current conceptualization and operationalization of conformity orientation is unnecessarily narrow in scope by representing conformity as controlling and repressive, rather than as cultivating homogenous attitudes, beliefs, and values among family members. To address these concerns, we tested the factor structure of the most common measure in FCPT research, the Revised Family Communication Patterns scale (Study One). Based on theoretical and methodological concerns that emerged from Study One, we then created and validated a new scale in Study Two – the Expanded Conformity Orientation Scale (ECOS). Findings from Study Two demonstrated concurrent and discriminant validity. Implications for the use of the ECOS in future studies are discussed.     

Individual (Learning and Motivational) Needs versus Instructional Conditions of Gifted Education[1]

A decisive factor in the determination of effective Gifted Education is the fit between the individual cognitive and motivational pre‐conditions of the learning process and the instructional situation. This central thesis is based partly on the multidimensional talent and giftedness concepts and partly on the interaction between the individual learning needs and learning opportunities as found in the Aptitude‐Treatment‐Interaction Model (Corno & Snow, 1986). In a series of quasi‐experiments in a school setting, so‐called attributional retraining has proved to be an effective intervention method in reducing helplessness and similar unfavorable behavior patterns. This procedure works according to Weiner's causal attribution model (Weiner, 1986) and Dweck's model of achievement motivation (Dweck & Leggett, 1988). The possibilities of using this method in school settings are shown in this article and the method's contribution to the promotion of the gifted is discussed.

     

Assessing the Assessments of Teacher Preparation

Teacher preparation programs have both a desire and a responsibility to demonstrate, with affirmative evidence, that teacher education makes a difference in PreK–12 student learning. Program faculty need good data to make decisions about the progress of students, whom to recommend for state licensure, and how to improve teacher education. This article describes an American Psychological Association task force report that discusses 3 measures of program effectiveness that have potential for both informing the public and providing useful data for programs to continuously improve: (a) outcome data from PreK–12 student academic growth as assessed by standardized tests; (b) teacher performance as evaluated by valid and reliable observational instruments; and (c) judgments of graduates, their PreK–12 students, and those who hire teachers as gauged by surveys. Although no technique of data collection and analysis is perfect, this report provides directions for teacher educators who seek to continuously improve their programs.     

Resistance to extinction as a function of percentage of reward: A reinforcement-level interpretation

Three experiments investigated the effects of percentage of reinforcement on the resistance to extinction of an instrumental running response. In Experiment 1, with N-length held constant, 47% reinforcement during acquisition generated greater resistance to extinction (R_n) than did 77%. In Experiment 2, this result was replicated with both functional N-length and number of N-R transitions held constant. In Experiment 3, R_n was shown to be a function of both N-length and percentage of reinforcement. The results of all three experiments were discussed in terms of Capaldi’s reinforcement level theory and possible alternative explanations.     

A co-evolutionary model for supporting the emergence of authenticity

The purpose of this study was to share our experiences using emerging technologies to create an authentic learning context where preservice teachers at a university and practicing K-12 teachers collaborate in the conduct of real-world (as opposed to textbook) tasks. In this paper, we demonstrate and evaluate the design of professional development that involved a partnership between two universities and eight surrounding K-12 schools. This partnership provides the foundation for supporting a learning community of preservice and practicing teachers that situates in collaborative practices that are both authentic and valuable to all involved. Specifically, we studied how issues of ownership, power, authenticity, and collaboration contribute to students' successes and the success of the program through four case studies. We also explored how asynchronous conferencing tools might be used to facilitate communication across geographic and chronological boundaries, breaking down traditional barriers to distributed communities of practice and making possible the creation of a co-evolutionary model for supporting the emergence of a context that was authentic to both preservice and in-service teachers. In contrast to claims that suggest authenticity for an individual can be prescribed to a learner by the instructor, we deny the legitimacy of preauthentication. Instead, an assumption underlying this research is that authenticity is an emergent process that is actualized through individuals' participation in tasks and practices of value to themselves and to a community of practice. The co-evolutionary model for supporting the emergence of authenticity described in this study provides a means of overcoming some of the challenges associated with simulation and participation models for establishing authentic learning experiences.     

Transient and Robust Knowledge: Contextual Support and the Dynamics of Children's Reasoning About Density

ABSTRACT— Contextual support for performance and understanding plays an important role in learning and teaching. This study investigated the temporal course of the effects of support—how it affects complexity and correctness of judgments about density in kindergarten ( n = 35) and second-grade ( n = 29) children. In the experimental group, a teacher provided support through modeling more complex reasoning about why objects sink or float. Children's complexity judgments increased sharply with support compared to no support, although their predictions about whether objects would sink or float were mostly correct from the start. Following the support event, children showed a sudden jump in complexity of explanations, which was transient for most children, who showed either rapid decrease or some oscillation and then decrease. A few sustained the high-level explanation after the jump, showing robust knowledge. That is, patterns of performance across trials were primarily nonlinear, following mostly cubic or quadratic change. In addition, second-graders had a more complex understanding of density than did kindergarteners. Findings indicate that children's concepts are dynamic rather than static, as evidenced by the strong but transient effects of support for most students. To move from transient to robust knowledge requires the building of knowledge and skill over time.     

Multiple-transfer students in a public urban university: Background characteristics and interinstitutional movements

Little research has been conducted on multiple-transfer students, those students who transfer more than once during their collegiate careers. In this study, background characteristics and previous interinstitutional movements of a sample of multiple transfers enrolled at a large, urban, public university were examined. These students moved along four different transfer paths before enrolling at the university, where they comprised one-fifth of new undergraduate enrollments. Their paths differed significantly on a number of demographic, institutional, and interaction variables. Overall, these students were academic achievers with high socioeconomic status backgrounds, who focused on academic quality and programs in choosing four-year colleges. Their tendency to transfer among large, inexpensive, public institutions has negative implications for the private sector of higher education.     

Motivational Preconditions for Girls Gifted and Highly Gifted in Physics

During their socialisation process, many girls gifted in physics acquire a reality construction inconsistent with their objectively measurable competencies. In comparison to boys they rate their action and problem solving competencies unrealistically low, which results, for example, in extremely low participation rates in scientific and technical studies and professions. For this reason differences in motivation and self‐related cognitions become the focus of interest in explaining achievement differences. The present study was carried out prior to initial physics instruction. Students in the 7th grade of the German Gymnasium (243 girls and 282 boys) were divided according to their KFT 4‐13+ results into “average”, “gifted” or “highly gifted groups”. Prior to commencement of physics instruction, boys in general, as well as gifted male and female students, already possessed more knowledge of physics and more favourable motivation for the subject than girls or male and female students of average ability. In addition, domain specific measures and self‐related cognitions were evaluated in accordance with Dweck's model of achievement motivation.