Developmental change in proactive interference

The aim of the present research was to examine age-related change in proactive interference, which refers to impaired recall due to interference from material presented previously. Study 1 was a meta-analysis based on 26 studies that included 82 data sets. The results indicated that proactive interference decreased between 4 and 13 years of age. In Study 2, children from grades 3 through 6 and college students (N = 125) were administered a short-term memory task in which they briefly remembered sets of three words. For all ages, recall was accurate on Trial 1. However, recall became less accurate over Trials 2 through 4, particularly for the younger children in the sample. In addition, structural equation modeling revealed that age-related change in interference was linked to age-related change in speed of information processing. Results are discussed in terms of the nature of age-related change in interference.     

Achievement differences in structured versus unstructured instructional geometry programs

This study investigated the effect of students' ability and type of instructional program, structured and unstructured, on easy and difficult posttest items. Seventh-grade students worked through 14 instructional activities in The Geometer Sketchpad, a dynamic geometry program, and accessed a Geometry tutorial developed to parallel the state geometry standards. Low-ability students scored higher in the less structured program, whereas high- and medium-ability learners performed better in the structured program. High- and medium-ability students outscored low-ability learners by a greater margin on the difficult items than on the easy items. Although their overall performance was poor in both programs, that low-ability learners performed relatively better in the less structured, less traditional, mathematics activities is an encouraging finding for mathematics educators and designers of open-ended learning environments.     

Attitudes to Making Art in the Primary School

Recent research suggests that the majority of primary school teachers in the UK believe that the purpose of teaching art and design is to develop skills associated with creativity, communication and expression. This article is based on research into the attitudes held by primary school pupils towards making art. The reflective nature of many of the responses to the survey provides persuasive evidence of young children's capacity for absorbing relatively complex ideas, which in turn has implications for teacher expectations of pupil learning in art and design.     

GAP: a Graphics Authoring Package which produces BASIC from graphical input

The authors argue that there is a need for a microcomputer software authoring package which produces graphics. The novel feature of the Graphics Authoring Package (GAP) which they developed is that it produces Basic code from the user's graphical input. GAP is described together with the results of an evaluation study. The results indicate that the package is easy to use, effective in rapidly producing graphics code and that, in general, it fills a gap in the current range of educational software.     

New settings and changing norms for principal development

During the 1980s, the field of professional development for school leaders expanded in numerous respects: raw enrollment figures, intensity and breadth of participation, types and number of in-service providers, approaches to program governance, variety of curricular and instructional approaches. Previous analyses have compared this new inservice movement with traditional efforts to prepare school administrators. Typically these comparisons have sought to highlight differences between pre- and post-1980 development efforts, thereby unintentionally masking important organizational and programmatic differences among the emergent programs. This article focuses specifically on describing and assessing the range of variation among the predominant professional development programs born in the 1980s. We highlight divergent trends with respect to the organizational processes and program content that characterize these programs and identify their varying potential for reaching competing policy goals. Finally, we suggest implications for both policy and practice in the field of administrative development.     

Math Fluency: Accuracy Versus Speed in Preoperational and Concrete Operational First and Second Grade Children

Cognitive abilities as well as math fluency play an important role in mathematical skills. Understanding the relationship between cognitive abilities and mathematical skills is imperative to teaching effective arithmetic skills. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between cognitive ability and math fluency with 38 first and second grade elementary aged children. Results demonstrate that preoperational children lacked the speed of concrete operational children but achieved comparable levels of accuracy when completing arithmetic problems.     

Tracing variations within ‘rural habitus’: an explanation of why young men stay or leave isolated rural towns in southwest Queensland

An explanation is presented about what keeps young men in isolated rural areas. The purpose is to contribute a concrete analysis of habitus as used in educational research. Inadequacies in application of the term are demonstrated in research conducted on school and work by the author in a rural town. An analysis of changes from labour‐intensive work on grazing properties and practices of kangaroo and pig hunting are linked to a form of capital to demonstrate proof of a man's ability as a good worker. A form of ‘rural habitus’ is illustrated in an interview with a young man about to enter the workforce. It is argued that dispositions to working on rural properties and in the bush have become enduring forms of capital. They are resistant to school capital and the means through which young men prove their worth as adults in changing rural labour markets.     

Amerikanische „Elitehochschulen“

The system of higher education in the USA comprises the undergraduate programs of the colleges and the graduate programs in research universities. This distinction has no equivalent in Germany. The idea of elite education is connected exclusively with the colleges. Its meaning and functions are demonstrated with an analysis of the criteria which are used for the ranking of higher education institutions. The ranking of the colleges is addressed to the students and is based on indicators, which give expression above all to the educational priorities of the students and the alumni. The ranking of the graduate programs focuses on specific academic programs and is addressed to the members of the various academic fields and to their prospective students. A few rankings cover whole educational institutions and serve to inform the higher educational management. We use these data to identity the specifics of outstanding research universities and their role in American higher education.     

Information recall of younger and older skilled athletes: The role of display complexity,attentional resources and visual exposure duration

This study was concerned with the interactive role of experience of athletic skill with other relevant environmental variables (display complexity, attentional resources, exposure time of stimuli) on perception (recall) of structured handball game situations. Nineteen experienced (older) and 19 less experienced (younger) handball players were assigned randomly either to ball‐bouncing (diverted attention) or to calm seated (focused attention) conditions. In each of the two conditions, the subjects were exposed to a total of 36 slides containing 2–3, 5–6 and 8–10 players. Eighteen slides were exposed for 0.5 s and 18 for 1.0 s. All the slides contained structured defence and offence situations. Recall scores were subjected to repeated‐measures ANOVA using attention condition and age as between‐subject factors and task complexity and exposure duration as within‐subject factors. The results showed that the recall of less experienced players deteriorated more than the recall of more experienced players following exposure to complex displays (≥ 8 players) while engaging in a secondary task (bouncing). The findings suggest that research paradigms should be applied in the field of sport which share both ecological validity and a potential to discover the cognitive substrates underlying experience and age in skilled motor performance.     

Perceptions of the Future of Cataloging: Is the Sky Really Falling?

Cataloging procedures have evolved in many academic research libraries over the past 10 years. Some predicted trends—outsourcing, original cataloging by paraprofessionals, more digital material—have been borne out. Others, such as a decline in the amount of material to catalog or in the number of professional catalogers, have not. Changes have been mostly procedural and have not affected the catalog itself. Recently, however, the emergence of powerful Internet search engines has allowed researchers to bypass the catalog. This has led some to question the wisdom of continuing it and others to vigorously defend current practice. In 2005–2007 this debate became especially heated, but a consensus appears to be emerging that although the character of the professional cataloger's job will continue to evolve over the next 5 to 10 years there will not be a revolution. The cataloger's basic skills will still be needed and the fundamental nature of cataloging will remain much as we know it.