Children’s first manifestations of cognitive control in the early years school: the importance of the educational situation and materiality

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Executive functions (EFs) embrace a range of cognitive control processes that allow us to control and direct our own behavior, thoughts, and emotions...     

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International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance -     

Analysis of Articles in The American Biology Teacher for Essential Features of Inquiry Representation

Research in Science Education - Most studies on inquiry have focused on student outcomes, teachers’ conceptions of inquiry, implementation of inquiry in science classrooms, and inquiry...     

Examining the Psychometric Properties of a New Integrative Learning Scale

Research in Higher Education - Integrative learning is the ability to connect, apply, and/or synthesize. A highly valued skill for the knowledge economy and combating false narratives, integrative...     

Developing and Using Multiple Models to Promote Scientific Literacy in the Context of Socio-Scientific Issues

Science & Education - Learning science in the context of socio-scientific issues (SSI) can promote scientific literacy that links science to everyday life and society. In this position paper,...     

Using a World Café to Explore New Spaces and New Models for Front Line Services: A Case Study from the Irish University Library Sector

World Café, sometimes termed Knowledge Café, is now an established method of facilitating productive dialogue between a group or groups of people around an issue that matters to the group as a whole. Now a world movement, the methodology is straightforward and uses conversation as a key process to connect people, who may be from different organizations, age groups, cultures, continents, and so forth. Café conversations draw on the wisdom and creativity of the participants to explore issues of concern to them and to confront real life challenges. Following some background information and a brief review of the literature relating to the World Café, this article presents a case study of the application of the model to facilitate discussion and learning around a topic of common concern, frontline desk services, for 61 staff from 11 Irish academic libraries at Maynooth University (MU) Library in October 2015. This was part of a one-day staff development event: MU Library Innovation Day. The application of the World Café methodology is described. The results of the evaluation of the event are presented and discussed. Actions and outcomes are provided. Limitations of the case study are presented.     

Data‐Driven Improvement in Prekindergarten Classrooms: Report From a Partnership in an Urban District

In 2014–2015 and 2015–2016, a metropolitan school system in the southern United States embarked on a unique mission to improve the quality of its public prekindergarten programs through a partnership with a group of developmental researchers in an iterative, data‐based venture. Data on 407 children in Year 1 and 433 in Year 2 (who were enrolled in 26 classrooms and extensively observed) are presented from the first 2 years of the ongoing partnership. All children were 4 years of age. Variability in classroom practices, measured empirically, and variability in child outcomes provided the means to examine the relations between children's gains in academic and social‐emotional areas and major areas of classroom practices. Lessons learned, the eight identified significant practices, implications, and next steps in the partnership are addressed.     

Judicious imitation: children differentially imitate deterministically and probabilistically effective actions

Three studies look at whether the assumption of causal determinism (the assumption that all else being equal, causes generate effects deterministically) affects children's imitation of modeled actions. These studies show even when the frequency of an effect is matched, both preschoolers (N = 60; M = 56 months) and toddlers (N = 48; M = 18 months) imitate actions more faithfully when modeled actions are deterministically rather than probabilistically effective. A third study suggests that preschoolers' (N = 32; M = 58 months) imitation is affected not just by whether the agent's goal is satisfied but also by whether the action is a reliable means to the goal. Children's tendency to generate variable responses to probabilistically effective modeled actions could support causal learning.     

Promoting Vocational Development: Methods of Intervention and Techniques Used in the Italian Context

This article describes a Master Educator Series designed to help educators in Italy design and implement comprehensive vocational guidance curriculum. In this “Master Educator” training, a variety of vocational development models and theories are presented. The goal is to provide a broad range of skills in assessment and intervention strategies to prepare educators for developing the curriculum that best fits their unique context. Five curriculum examples are described. Each of these interventions is built around a vocational development topic, including: providing individualized feedback, improving social relationships and connections, using written exercises, and providing mastery and vicarious experiences.