Progression in primary school children's conceptions of burning: Toward an understanding of the concept of substance

Children's conceptions of burning were explored through observation and discussion or a number of challenging phenomena. Analysis of written responses showed that children's conceptions are both specific and contextually based, and that there is little coherence in the use of any one conception across phenomena. Progression across the primary school years can be described, however, in terms of children's growing confidence with the idea of transformation of substances and the analysis relates this to a model based on changing commitments to the notion of substance defined by properties, rather than history. The conceptual trajectories described in the study are broadly consistent with previous studies of secondary school children.     

Effectiveness of peer tutors vs. resource teachers

The purpose of this study was to determine whether mildly handicapped students working on a one-to-one basis with tutors would show a greater academic gain than students working in a small group with the resource teacher. By using a pretest-posttest control design it was found that after a three-month period, students who had tutors did show a more significant gain in reading (especially in the area of reading recognition). Teachers advised that no more than two tutors from one classroom be assigned to the tutor program, and teachers further felt that they could not supervise more than two tutorial pairs.     

Perceived parental social support and psychological control predict depressive symptoms for lesbian,gay, bisexual,transgender, queer,or questioning youth in the United States

Salient practices in the parenting literature—support and control—have seldom been applied to understanding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ) youth mental health. We examine associations among perceived parental social support, psychological control, and depressive symptoms for LGBTQ youth in the United States (n = 536; M_age = 18.98; 48.1% women; 25.2% Black or African American; 37.1% Hispanic or Latino/a/x). Data were collected in 2011–2012. Results indicated joint effects of social support and psychological control predicting youth depressive symptoms. Multiple group analysis yielded a significant interaction of parenting practices for youth whose parent(s) did not know their LGBTQ identity. Findings support further consideration of parental support and control in relation to LGBTQ youth well-being.     

A rhetorician's son: His advice to public speakers

J. M. Barrie's 1922 address Courageconstitutes a paradoxical rhetorical text. In his oratorical debut, Barrie offered seniors at St. Andrews poignant and explicit advice concerning life's liminal passages, even as he carefully obfuscated his own identity. This essay offers two readings of the text to illuminate an alternative relationship between text and context in rhetorical criticism. The first interpretation focuses on the obvious textual paradox related to liminality. The second reading moves from the “textual context” to the social and ideological context, and argues that working within the address is the rhetorical form of “the closet.” Recontextualizing Barrie's address from within “the closet,” renders visible a second “invisible context” related to homosexuality, opening a new interpretive doorway for the critic.     

Training science teachers to utilize better teaching strategies: A research synthesis

This study is a synthesis of practice and research related to the use of behavior analysis to train science teachers. An idealized model (derived from practice) for training science teachers is presented first. Then research related to the categories of the model is reviewed and synthesized. To do this, all available studies on the topic were classified by the type of treatment used to influence the teaching behaviors. The results were meta-analyzed. The effectiveness of training procedures fell into the following order, from lowest to highest: (1) study of an analysis system and self analysis; (2) observing models; (3) analyzing models; and, (4) practice and analysis with feedback. Science educators are encouraged to use the procedures outlined in the model to train better teachers. These results support the idealized model.     

Towards a model for the assessment of student boredom and boredom proneness in the UK higher education context

Recently identified as an academic ‘achievement emotion’, boredom has long been implicated as a factor contributing adversely to student attainment across a diverse range of formal educational settings. Despite this, the study of boredom, particularly among students in higher education, remains a relatively neglected and underdeveloped field. In this article, and following a systematic review of the research literature, we present details of a new research instrument and diagnostic tool derived from Farmer and Sundberg’s Boredom Proneness Scale (BPS), specifically intended to assess or measure the recurring propensity or habitual disposition of students to becoming bored particularly within the UK higher education context (e.g. further education, university college and university provision). Referred to here as the BPS-UKHE, to distinguish it from its predecessor, the statistical validity and reliability as well as educational relevance and meaningfulness of the BPS-UKHE is established, confirming its multidimensional nature with subscales (Tedium, Time, Challenge, Concentration and Patience) reflecting boredom’s acknowledged cognitive, affective, motivational and behavioural components. Full-scale, five-factor and three-factor ‘short-form’ solutions are offered, the immediate utility of which in identifying students more prone to boredom than others and gauging emotional response is demonstrated. The BPS-UKHE has application in many areas and is considered a valuable tool in relation to the UK student engagement agenda, its scales and potential, as well as theoretical underpinning, available for empirical use and critical comment.