Concept mapping,vee mapping,and achievement: Results of a field study with black high school students

This article reports on the results of a project that studied the effectiveness of two specific learning heuristics, concept mapping and Vee mapping, in helping black, inner-city, high school students learn biology concepts meaningfully. The project sought to assess the effects on achievement of the use of these two heuristics as part of a carefully designed sequence of instruction. Two instructional treatments were compared, one that utilized the two experimental heuristics as study aids and one that utilized outlining as a comparison study aid. The instructional treatments were administered over approximately a one semester period. Two hundred and fifty subjects, nearly all black, from two urban high schools in Indiana took part in the study. Achievement instruments designed to measure meaningful (higher order) learning were developed. Analysis of variance of the achievement test means failed to reveal statistically significant differences between the experimental and comparison treatment at the 0.05 alpha level. However, there were suggestions of a tendency toward an effect of the experimental treatment, and several factors contributing to the difficulty in distinguishing achievement differences were identified.     

The implementation of equitable teaching strategies by high school biology student teachers

Teachers can perpetuate stereotypic cultural beliefs regarding girls' ability in, aptitude for, and suitability for science by their teaching practices and behaviors. As teachers have a major influence on girls' career choices their equitable teaching practices in the classroom are important to encourage all students, but especially girls, to continue with science. Researchers have studied science classrooms and have defined common strategies and practices that can help create an equitable classroom environment. The purpose of this study was to determine if high school biology student teachers could transfer learned equitable teaching strategies to actual teaching and the support conditions necessary for that transfer. Two support conditions were assessed: cooperating teacher and peer group support. Seven preservice teachers were placed into three groups. One group had both support conditions, the second group had only one condition (peer support), and the third group did not have either support condition. Both qualitative and quantitative data sources were collected. Results showed that preservice teachers could transfer learned equitable teaching into actual teaching practice. However, they were more successful in achieving the transfer if they were supervised by cooperating teachers who are sensitized to the issue of gender equity in education. Being involved in a peer support group was not as crucial to using the strategies as having a supportive cooperative teacher.     

The incidence of severe physical child abuse in Wales

OBJECTIVES: The purposes of this study were: (1) to ascertain the incidence and nature of severe physical child abuse in Wales; (2) to ascertain the incidence of all physical abuse in babies under 1 year of age; and (3) to determine whether child protection registers (CPR) accurately reflect the numbers of children who are physically abused. METHODS: This is a population-based incidence study based in Wales, UK, for 2 years from April 1996 through March 1998. Children studied were under the age of 14 with severe physical abuse consistent with the criminal law level of Grievous Bodily Harm. This included seven categories of injury (death; head injury including subdural hemorrhage; internal abdominal injury; physical injury in Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy including suffocation; fracture; burn or scald; adult bite). Cases were ascertained by a pediatrician surveillance reporting system (WPSU). A criterion for inclusion was multidisciplinary agreement that physical abuse had occurred (at case conference, strategy meeting, or Part 8 Review). The incidence of all babies under 1 year of age with physical abuse was also studied. Ascertainment of babies under the age of 1 year was undertaken from CPR as well as the WPSU. RESULTS: Severe abuse is six times more common in babies [54/100,000/year (95% CI +/- 17.2)] than in children from 1 year to 4 years of age [9.2/100,000 (95% CI +/- 3.6)]. It is 120 times more common than in 5- to 13-year-olds [0.47/100,000 (95% CI +/- 0.47)]. This is mainly because two types of serious abuse (brain injury including subdural hemorrhage and fractures) are more common in babies under the age of 1 year than older children. Using data from two sources (the WPSU and CPRs), the incidence of physical abuse in babies is 114/100,000 (CI 114 +/- 11.8) per year. This equates to 1 baby in 880 being abused in the first year of life. The largely rural Health Authority area in Wales had incidence figures for abuse in babies that were 50% of the three other predominantly urban Health Authority areas. Boys throughout the series were more at risk of being severely abused than girls (p < .025). Only 29% of the babies under 1 year of age on the CPR had actually been injured. Thirty percent of abused babies under the age of 1 year and 73% of severely abused children over the age of 1 year had caused previous concern to health professionals regarding abuse or neglect. Conclusions: Physical abuse is a significant problem in babies under the age of 1 year. Very young babies (under 6 months old) have the highest risk of suffering damage or death as a result of physical abuse. Severe abuse, in particular subdural hematoma and fracture, is much more common in babies than in older children. There is evidence of failure of secondary prevention of child abuse by health professionals, with a greater need to act on concerns regarding abuse and neglect. Interagency child protection work in partnership with parents should focus more on protecting babies under age 1 year from further abuse than on maintenance of the infant within an abusive home. The CPR is not intended as an accurate measure of children suffering abuse. It is a record of children requiring a child protection plan and must not be used as a measure of numbers of abused children.     

Early language intervention: A deterrent to reading disability

Reading is a language art! In acquiring competence in reading we build on proficiencies already available in the primary (spoken) language system. Language is made up of three primary components that impact on reading—phonology, or the sound structure of language including syllables and phonemes; syntax, or the rules governing the sequential ordering of words in phrases and sentences; and semantics, or the meaning system that is attached to words and phrases as a consequence of experiences in a variety of contexts. All three depend upon adequate short- and long-term memory capacities and functioning for their growth and refinement. Additionally, the bridging of speech to print, or the task of establishing sound/symbol correspondences in beginning reading draws not only upon phonological competencies and memory, it is also dependent upon the discovery that words are made up of smaller and isolable parts. This knowledge is often referred to as auditory segmenting which is one aspect of metalinguistic awareness. This paper will discuss these five language roots of reading. The authors will report on research that demonstrates that children, upon school entrance, do not all possess equal levels of competencies in these five critical language areas. Since success in beginning reading is dependent upon the adequate development and functioning of each of the five language areas noted above, early school experiences should be directed toward language development, as well as reading instruction, if we are to reduce the incidence of reading difficulties in our schools. Finally, we will offer suggestions for enhancing language competencies that will support and promote the acquisition of reading.     

A comparison of elementary teacher attitudes and skills in teaching science in Australia and the United States

A study, originally don in Australia in 1983, was replicated in an urban-suburb in the Unitd States. The Australian project vivolved matched pairs of year-fiv teachers in one of two workshops. One workshop taught the skills of teaching electricity, while the other one discussed issues in gender equity in science education (active participation of both girls and boys, comparble student-teacher interactions, and research findings concerning equity). The U.S. study provided three types of workshops (skills, equity and skills, and equity) for comparable groups of fourth and fifth grade teachers. All teachers and their students were subsequently obseved during lessons involving an electricity unit, queried both students and teachers concerning the appropriateness of different fields of science for boys and girls and their interest and aptitudes in doing various types of science. Results from both studies suggest that gender differences in student attitudes toward science may be amellorated by specific types of teacher workshop. Specializations: Gender research, science teacher education, science education national policy. Specializations: Elementary and middle school science education, classroom research. Specializations: Secondary science education, data analysis.     

Sex Differences in Goals for Supportive Interactions

One explanation for sex differences in supportive behavior is that men and women pursue different goals in supportive interactions. Sex differences in goals may themselves be explained by personality traits such as expressivity and supportive self‐efficacy, or situational factors such as target responsibility. The current study examined sex differences in the pursuit of eight supportive goals, and the extent to which differences were explained by personality and situational factors. Participants (254 men, 386 women) read hypothetical scenarios involving a distressed friend who was depicted as responsible or not responsible for his or her problematic situation, and responded to measures of supportive goals and personality traits. Results indicate that women are somewhat more likely to pursue a range of goals that are likely to result in effective supportive messages (e.g., emotional support, problem‐solving). Many of the sex differences in goal pursuit were mediated by the personality traits of expressivity and supportive self‐efficacy.