Reading in pairs Network: a training model based on peer learning (pairs of teachers and school networks) for the sustainability of educational innovation / Red Leemos en pareja: un modelo de formación basado en el aprendizaje entre iguales (parejas de profesores y redes de centros) para la sostenibilidad de la innovación educativa

Abstract

This article presents a study on a Primary and Secondary Education teacher training network from Catalonia for the implementation of the Reading in pairs program. The goal is to describe, analyse, and assess the training model’s characteristics in relation to the learning promoted among participants, as well as the possibilities of actually incorporating educational innovation in the schools. The results suggest that this formative ecosystem permits a degree of learning and understanding of the program and its conceptual foundations that is relevant to the ability to implement it creatively and to adapt it to each school so that its sustainability is guaranteed.     

Re-Examining the Similarities Between Teacher and Student Conceptions About Physical Science

There is a large body of research that has explored students’ misconceptions about science phenomena. Less research, however, has been devoted to identifying teachers’ misconceptions, but the results of the few existing studies demonstrate that teachers and students possess similar misconceptions. This study explored the physical science conceptions of 103 elementary science teachers to determine whether, after three decades of misconception research, teachers still possess conceptions similar to those held by students. We found that our teachers expressed misconceptions regarding gravity, magnetism, gases, and temperature that were similar to common student misconceptions. Suggestions for improving science professional development programs are discussed.     

Developmental Relations Among Motor and Cognitive Processes and Mathematics Skills

This study explored transactional associations among visuomotor integration, attention, fine motor coordination, and mathematics skills in a diverse sample of one hundred thirty‐five 5‐year‐olds (kindergarteners) and one hundred nineteen 6‐year‐olds (first graders) in the United States who were followed over the course of 2 school years. Associations were dynamic, with more reciprocal transactions occurring in kindergarten than in the later grades. Specifically, visuomotor integration and mathematics exhibited ongoing reciprocity in kindergarten and first grade, attention contributed to mathematics in kindergarten and first grade, mathematics contributed to attention across the kindergarten year only, and fine motor coordination contributed to mathematics indirectly, through visuomotor integration, across kindergarten and first grade. Implications of examining the hierarchical interrelations among processes underlying the development of children's mathematics skills are discussed.     

Communicative adaptability: A measure of social communicative competence

The purpose of this research was to reassess the validity and increase the variance accounted for by the Communicative Adaptability Scale (CAS). Previous research produced two factors, social confirmation and social experience, accounting for 28% of the variance. The present study tested the inclusion of four additional dimensions: social composure, articulation, wit, and appropriate disclosure. The Communicative Adaptability Scale was administered to adult and student populations. The relationships among the dimensions of the CAS, self‐esteem, and communication apprehension were investigated. This project indicated a stable factor structure and consistent results across samples.     

Holistic Media Education: An Assessment of the Effectiveness of a College Course in Media Literacy

The general purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a college course in media literacy. Specifically, the course took a holistic approach to media literacy and was designed to heighten college students' awareness of media structures, content, and impact, as well as to encourage students to become more critical/informed participants in the media environment. A pre-test, post-test, control group post-test only, quasi-experimental design was employed to assess the effectiveness of this approach to media literacy education. Overall, students' responses produced significant differences between the control group and the experimental groups' post-test scores on most (but not all) dependent measures. The implications of these results and suggestions for future research were discussed.     

Gender Differences in Attachment Styles Regarding Conflict Handling Behaviors Among Turkish Late Adolescents

This study was designed to examine gender differences in attachment styles and explore the relationship between attachment styles and preference for conflict handling behavior in close relationships among Turkish adolescents. The participants comprised 371 Turkish undergraduate students (252 females and 119 males; with a mean age of 21.98 years; standard deviation 1.18) enrolled in different departments of the Faculty of Education at Middle East Technical University in Ankara. A Turkish version of Bartholomew and Horowitz’s (J Pers Soc Psychol, 61:226–244, 1991) Relationship Questionnaire (RQ) and the Conflict Questionnaire (CQ) developed by Tezer (J Psychol, 130:281–292, 1996) were used to obtain data. Intercorrelations among four attachment style subscales, and correlation coefficients among four attachment styles and five conflict handling behaviors were computed in addition to a series of ANOVAs and ANCOVAs. Results revealed an association between attachment styles and conflict handling, as well as gender differences in attachment styles.     

Child maltreatment prevalence and mental disorders outcomes among American Indian women in primary care

OBJECTIVE: To examine (1) the prevalence, types, and severity of child abuse and neglect (CAN) and (2) the relationship between CAN and lifetime psychiatric disorders among American Indian women using primary care services. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 234 American Indian women, age 18-45 who presented for outpatient ambulatory services at a community-based Indian Health Service Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dependent measures included mood, substance abuse, and anxiety disorders as well as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as measured by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. CAN was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. RESULTS: Approximately three-quarters of respondents (76.5%; 95% CI = 70.4, 81.7) reported some type of childhood abuse or neglect; over 40% reported exposure to severe maltreatment. Severity of child maltreatment was associated in a dose response manner with lifetime diagnosis of mental disorders. After adjusting for social and demographic correlates, severe child maltreatment was strongly associated with lifetime PTSD (prevalence ratio [PR] 3.9; 95% CI = 1.9, 8.0); and was moderately associated with lifetime substance use disorders (PR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.6, 3.3); mood disorders (PR = 2.1; 95% CI 1.4, 3.2); and with two or more disorders (PR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.6, 3.4). CONCLUSION: CAN was common in our sample of American Indian women in primary care and was positively associated with lifetime psychiatric disorders outcomes. Screening for CAN and psychiatric disorders would enhance the treatment of patients seeking primary care services. Primary prevention of child maltreatment might reduce the high prevalence of mental disorders among American Indian women.