If You Haven't Been There, You Don't Know What It's Like: Doing Day Care

This article examines Sarason's (1995) political principle-“if you are going to be affected, directly or indirectly, by a policy, you should stand in some relationship to the decision making process”-in the work lives of teacher-caregivers in a day care center in a small Midwestern town. Based on ethnographic research, the article explores the face-to-face interactions of teacher-caregivers in the larger highly asymmetric and highly regulated relational system within which day care is situated. It concludes that they have little say in the decisions that affect their daily work lives.     

Biochemical diagnosis of liver disease

It is important that clinicians and laboratorians, including clinical chemists and pathologists, recognize and understand the clinical significance of abnormal liver function tests. The liver regulates many important metabolic functions. Hepatic injury is associated with distortion of these metabolic functions. Hepatic disease can be evaluated and diagnosed by determining serum concentrations of a number of serum analytes. Many serum analytes exist to assist in the biochemical diagnosis of liver disease. The focus of this paper is on the analytes which are associated with hepatic necrosis, cholestasis, defects in excretion and end stage hepatic disease which results in decreased synthetic function. The abnormalities of these serum analytes will be correlated with the important types of liver disease.     

Attending behavior of children near a child who is reinforced for attending

The present study investigated effects of a token program for one child on the behavior of other children in the class. Three nursery school children, sitting at adjacent desks, were observed under five conditions. In Baseline I and Reinforcement I the rewarded child sat between the two unrewarded children. In Baseline II, Reinforcement II and Baseline III the rewarded child sat on the end, and the two unrewarded children alternated at the middle desk. The rewarded child received tokens for attending behavior in the Reinforcement conditions. The teacher's behavior was carefully controlled. Results were: (a) The rewarded child's attending increased in the Reinforcement conditions; (b) The unrewarded children's attending increased in Reinforcement I but remained at baseline in Reinforcement II; (c) Both unrewarded children attended better when seated at the center desk in Reinforcement II; (d) No disturbing effects were found in the behavior of unrewarded children.     

MAKING CONNECTIONS: FROM THE COLLEGE CLASSROOM TO THE EARLY CHILDHOOD SETTING

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge of early childhood teacher candidates within the state of Texas about the inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom. The “Inventory of Opinions About Persons with Disabilities” (IOPD) was utilized to collect self‐report data from preservice educators in their last semester of practical experience (i.e., student teaching or final intern semester) in 10 Texas universities. The return rate of the inventories was 70.85%, with data from 172 useable inventories reported in this study.

The research questions indicated early childhood teacher candidates held positive self‐perceptions (mean = 2.0388) about their beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge related to inclusion and students with disabilities. However, the participants reported less positive attitudes about training (mean = .09884).     

Infusing Mentoring and Technology within Graduate Courses: Reflections in practice

This article provides an overview of relevant connections that can be used to strengthen an instructor's mentoring abilities, specifically those connections between adult development, technological interaction elements, use of course management software, and corresponding mentoring practices. From a context supported by literature within adult development and computer-mediated communication, the authors examined a series of courses at a large university and how mentoring and instruction were infused. In this article, mentoring refers to a collective process that guides and facilitates a learner's educational growth. The unique nature of adult learners and their educational needs emphasises the need for a facilitative rather than a didactic approach in technology-supported courses. Various facets of interactions and the concept of transactional distance provide an additional framework from which to examine professional practice. The authors recommend further refinement and development of the mentoring practices that infuse emerging technologies and facilitate the teaching and learning process.     

Decreased sympathetic cardiovascular influences and hormone-physiological changes in response to Covid-19-related adaptations under different learning environments

To examine the implications of the transition from face-to-face to online learning from a psychobiological perspective, this study investigated potential differences in physiological stress parameters of students engaged in online or face-to-face learning and determined whether these can be identified as possible mediators between learning experience and achievement emotions. In a randomized experimental field study, medical students (n = 82) attended either regular face-to-face classes of the microscopic anatomy course or the same practical course online using Zoom videoconferencing platform. The present study investigated Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and salivary cortisol concentration as stress correlates, within the contexts of online and face-to-face learning and compared these parameters with a control group that was measured at rest. Additionally, participants completed a standardized questionnaire about their experienced emotions in relation to task achievement and subjective stress levels. A significant reduction in HRV was found in face-to-face learning, suggesting stronger stress responses in the face-to-face learning environment (η² = 0.421, P < 0.001). Furthermore, participants engaged in face-to-face learning showed significantly higher cortisol concentrations (η² = 0.115, P = 0.032). Additionally, increased sympathetic activation correlated with the discrete positive emotion of enjoyment exclusively within the face-to-face condition (r = 0.365, P = 0.043). These results indicate that the transfer of a face-to-face practical course in microscopic anatomy to an online learning environment is associated with decreased sympathetic and enhanced vagal cardiovascular influences, together with lower cortisol concentrations in healthy medical students.     

The Habits of Mind Necessary to Generate New Ways of Teaching in a Career of Constant Change

In this paper we explore the philosophy, pedagogy and implementation of the third year course sequence in the M.A. in Educational Technology program at Michigan State University. We discuss how “little-r” revolutions in teaching and learning, i.e., technology facilitated revolutions specific to individual classrooms and contexts, are used to introduce our students to the thinking patterns of designers and innovators. This is accomplished by an overlapping emphasis on learning by design, trans-disciplinary creative cognitive tools, innovative technology, and reflective practice. In this environment, we also transition our students from acting as consumers of educational media to being producers of educational experiences. That is, not only do the students construct new educational media, they consider the aesthetic and affective implications of technology use for teaching and learning. Finally, given the rapid evolution of educational technologies, we support students as they establish a foundational vision for the interplay of education and technology that will serve them into the future, as they, and their learners, adapt tonew and emerging digital environments.     

De la evaluación informal a la evaluación fundamentada: Reconocer el rol del enseñante en clase

Si las evaluaciones realizadas por los educadores directamente implicados están sujetas a limitaciones y errores, las evaluaciones “formales” y externas presentan también graves, aunque distintas insuficiencias. El autor propone desde ahí nuevas estrategias, métodos, condiciones a cumplir para que la evaluación basada en el educador pueda ser un instrumento potente. Wolf examina estrategias que ayudan a los enseñantes a que la evaluación cotidiana sea más significativa y creíble.