Introducing micro-computers to micro-learners through play

Computers, once available exclusively to wealthy industries, are now rapidly becoming as familiar in preschool and kindergarten classrooms as block and crayons. Articles making claims such as Learning by Computers at Age 4 and Computers Preparing Preschoolers for Kindergarten now permeate the news media. Increasing numbers of child care centers, attempting to maximize public interest in computers, now readily advertise Computer Tutor in their literature. Computer Tutor is often even listed above other important qualifications such as certified teachers and professional affiliations of centers.Theresa Rubens has had extensive experience working with children in both family day homes and child care centers. Jennifer Poole is the Nursery Director at the First United Methodist Church in Carrollton, TX. James L. Hoot is Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at North Texas State University in Denton, Texas.     

Exploring Relational and Individualistic Counseling Preferences of Culturally Diverse College Students

This exploratory study examined the influence of gender and ethnicity on college student preferences for individualistic vs. relational‐focused counseling approaches. Overall, the results did not demonstrate significant differences across gender and ethnicity. However, there was a small tendency for women and African American participants to rate the counselor conducting the relational‐focused counseling approach more positively than did men and White participants, respectively.     

Mother–Child and Father–Child Mutually Responsive Orientation in the First 2 Years and Children's Outcomes at Preschool Age: Mechanisms of Influence

Mechanisms accounting for the effects of mutually responsive orientation (MRO) at 7, 15, and 25 months in 102 mother–child and father–child dyads on child internalization and self-regulation at 52 months were examined. Two mediators at 38 months were tested: parental power assertion and child self-representation. For mother–child relationships, the causal pathway involving power assertion was supported for both outcomes. Diminished power assertion fully mediated beneficial effect of mother–child MRO on internalization and partially mediated its effect on self-regulation. For father–child relationships, MRO predicted self-regulation, but the mediational paths were unsupported. Paternal power assertion correlated negatively with both outcomes but was not a mediator. Although MRO with both parents correlated with child self-representation, and it correlated with self-regulation, this mediational path was unsupported.     

CD‐ROM Technology for Education and Support of Site Supervisors

The authors discuss the creation and evaluation of a CD‐ROM to train and support prepracticum, practicum, and internship site supervisors in a master's‐level counselor education program. The authors, from a small, rural, southwestern college, created and distributed a CD‐ROM containing video and document resources for this purpose. Small focus groups were then conducted to gather data to measure the CD‐ROM's effectiveness. Data showed strong support for the use of CD‐ROM technology in providing training of site supervisors. Recommendations are offered to improve future versions of the CD‐ROM.     

The impact of communication on the learning process: A study of secondary schools in Calabar municipality,cross river state of Nigeria

The premise being that there is a significant correlation between communication in the classroom and the academic performance of students, this article approaches the learning process as itself a function of communication, whereby communication is understood as a two-way interactive process. This is not to say that learning is communicatiion, nor is it to say that academic performance exists in a simple causal relationship to successful classroom communication: Successful communication between the teacher and students is a necessary condition of academic achievement. Effective teaching presupposes effective communication. The teacher makes effective communication possible by identifying the needs of the students, addressing these needs at the appropriate level, and creating a relaxed atmosphere in which a free, democratic flow of discussion is possible. Active classroom participation is not in itself sufficient, however; the cognitive processes must be brought into play. If the needs of the students have been accurately identified, and if appropriate verbal and non-verbal communication is employed, the chances of success are correspondingly high.Effective teacher ccmmunication can be learned, and it is the responsibility of teacher training institutions and supervisory bodies, as well as of the teachers themselves, to ensure an adequate awareness of modern communication theories.

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Zusammenfassung Ausgehend von der Prämisse, daß eine wichtige Korrelation zwischen Kommunikation im Klassenzimmer und der formalen schulischen Leistung von Schülern besteht, wird der Lernprozeß in diesem Artikel als eine Funktion der Kommunikation verstanden, wobei Kommunikation als ein wechselseitiger, interaktiver Prozeß angesehen wird. Das heißt nicht, daß Lernen Kommunikation sei oder daß formale schulische Leistung in einem einfachen, kausalen Verhältnis zur erfolgreichen Klassenzimmerkommunikation steht. Erfolgreiche Kommunikation zwischen Lehrer und Schülern ist eine unerläßliche Voraussetzung für die schulische Leistung. Wirksamer Unterricht setzt eine wirksame Kommunikation voraus. Der Lehrer macht die wirksame Kommunikation möglich, indem er die Bedürfnisse der Schüler feststellt, sie auf der angemessenen Ebene zur Sprache bringt und eine entspannte Atmosphäre schafft, in der ein freier, demokratischer Kommunikationsablauf möglich ist. Aktive Klassenraumbeteiligung allein ist jedoch nicht ausreichend: der kognitive Prozeß muß mit einbezogen werden. Wenn die Bedürfnisse der Schüler genau festgestellt worden sind und wenn die adequate verbale und nonverbale Kommunikation stattfindet, sind die Erfolgsaussichten dementsprechend hoch.Wirksames Lehrerverhalten kann gelernt werden und es gehört zu den Aufgaben der Lehrerbildungseinrichtungen, der Aufsichtsbehörden und der Lehrer selbst, ein angemessenes Verständnis von modernen Kommunikationstheorien zu vermitteln.

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Résumé En partant de l'hypothèse qu'il existe une corrélation significative entre la communication à l'intérieur de la classe et les performances académiques de l'apprenant, cet article considère le processus d'apprentissage lui-même comme une fonction de communication, entendue comme un processus interactif à deux sens. Il ne s'agit pas de dire que l'apprentissage est communication, ni que la performance académique existe dans une simple relation causale avec une bonne communication à l'intérieur de la classe: Réussir à établir une bonne communication entre l'enseignant et l'apprenant est une condition nécessaire à une bonne performance académique. Tout enseignement efficace suppose une communication efficace. L'enseignant-facilitateur rend une communication efficace, en identifiant les besoins des apprenants, en y apportant des solutions au niveau approprié et en créant une atmosphère détendue failitant le déroulement libre et démocratique des discussions. Une participation active à l'apprentissage n'est pas une condition suffisante en soi, car les processus cognitifs doivent entrer en ligne. Une fois les besoins des apprents correctement dépistés et servis, et une bonne communication verbale aussi bien que non-verbale établie, les chances de succès sont accrues en conséquence.Savoir communiquer de manière effective peut être appris par l'enseignant, et il appartient aux institutions de formation des enseignants, au corps des superviseurs ainsi qu'aux enseignants eux-mêmes de se tenir informés et de tirer avantage des théories modernes de communication.

     

A path analytic model linking foundational skills to Grade 3 state reading achievement

Considerable evidence supports that close to two thirds of all fourth-grade students read at less than adequate levels on reading achievement tests and that the problem has persisted for decades. This study of 1,064 third-grade students at risk for reading failure uses path analytic techniques to measure a hypothesized model linking developmental spelling, sight- and pseudo-word reading, and reading fluency to achievement on an end-of-year state reading test. While all hypothesized paths were found to be significant, paths not hypothesized were also significant. These paths included direct effects for spelling development on fluency and reading achievement, as well as the direct effect of sight-word reading on state reading achievement. In total, the model predicted 41.9% of the variance in state reading achievement and found that students proficient at foundational reading skills were 7 times more likely to be proficient on the state reading achievement assessment.     

Taming cosmopolitanism: the limits of national and neoliberal civic education in two global cities

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes global education policy and curricular documents in Singapore and Hong Kong. Using a discursive approach, we characterize curricular aims through various cosmopolitan perspectives. We posit that although touted as Asian global cities, Singapore and Hong Kong are cases where neoliberal and nation-centric educational agendas have effectively rebranded cosmopolitanism and tamed its transformative potential. To develop this argument, we review theories and critiques of cosmopolitan forms of global citizenship education deemed necessary to prepare young people for complex global social conditions. We discuss cosmopolitan principles on identity, values, and deliberation and draw on critical cosmopolitanism and Asian forms of cosmopolitanism to provide a discursive framework for analyzing curricular intentions in the two cases.     

Traditional Governance Structures – Current Policy Pressures: The Academic Senate and Canadian Universities

The objective of this paper isto identify current policy pressures inCanadian higher education and explore theirimplications for academic decision-makingbodies based on data we obtained in ournational study on university senates. Wedescribe two inter-related sets of publicpolicy pressures that have emerged in recentyears in Canada including on-going financialrestraint and a renewed interest in universityresearch. We conclude by reviewing a number ofimportant implications for Canadian universitygovernance in the context of contemporarypolicy pressures.     

Destination unknown: An exploratory study of full-time faculty off the tenure track

The source of data in this study is the 1989 National Survey of Faculty by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.