High school boys’ and girls’ writing conceptions and writing self-efficacy beliefs: what is their role in writing performance?

This study investigated the conceptions about writing and writing self-efficacy beliefs held by high school students in relation to the students’ gender as well as their associations with writing achievement. The results show that female students have more sophisticated writing conceptions than their male counterparts but no gender differences were found in writing self-efficacy beliefs. In addition, results reveal that writing self-efficacy beliefs and gender play an important role in predicting writing performance and that writing performance is moderated by students’ writing conceptions. Educational implications and further research are discussed.     

The Meaning-Based Adult Day Care Program Managed by Nurses for Filipino Older Persons

The study aimed to develop a meaning-based adult day care program managed by nurses for Filipino older persons. Meaning-based nursing care is intended to serve as a guide in creating meaningful, focused, and structured activities for nurses in adult day care.

A mixed methods research design was used in the study. This method involved the development of a training module, meaning-based nursing care, training of registered nurses, training evaluation of nurses, and referral for interdisciplinary team meetings and consultations. Meaning-based care was approaches that address the meaning of experiences for older persons in the process of conducting adult day care services.

The study gave evidences to the ability of nurses to manage a program for older persons. Thus, the study recommends the use of the nursing model developed to prescribe guidelines in the conduct of meaning-based adult day care programs and services.     

Designing customizable reading modules for a high school literature classroom

This design case follows an ongoing collaboration between an instructional technologist and a high school literature teacher promoting reading comprehension through modules that provide visually interesting display of text on a computer screen along with cognitive tools. The modules were found to boost comprehension of specific content in even one use, and over time, overall reading skills were improved. Specific examples from the design and development process of this collaboration are shared here to illustrate decisions made in the face of common constraints—limited time, funding, and technical know-how—that emerged from theory and pilot studies. Teacher educators and their instructional-technology collaborators can use the information from this design and research process to harness the potential of ubiquitous software in affordable, replicable, and pedagogically sound ways.     

Asymptotic behavior of solutions of some semilinear functional differential and integro-differential equations with infinite delay in Banach spaces

We prove in this paper the existence and uniqueness of mild solutions to some functional differential and functional integro-differential equations with infinite delay in Banach spaces which approach almost automorphic functions at infinity. We also discuss the existence of S-asymptotically $\omega \text{-}\mathrm{periodic}$ mild solutions. The results are new.     

Measuring the quality of e‐learning

This paper shows how concept mapping can be used to measure the quality of e‐learning. Six volunteers (all of them 3rd‐year medical students) took part in a programme of e‐learning designed to teach the principles of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Their understanding of MRI was measured before and after the course by the use of concept mapping. The quality of change in individuals' maps was assessed using criteria developed to distinguish between meaningful and rote‐learning outcomes. Student maps were also scored for evidence of conceptual richness and understanding. Finally, each map was compared directly with the content of the electronic teaching material. The results show that many of the student misconceptions were put right in the course of their learning but that many of the key concepts introduced in the teaching were ignored (or sometimes learnt by rote) by the students. This was because the teaching material locked these new ideas in structures and terminology that precluded meaning‐making among non‐experts. Our data suggest that students' prior knowledge is a key determinant of meaningful learning. We suggest that this must be acknowledged if the design and use of electronic teaching material is also to be meaningful. Ultimately, measures of student learning are the only authentic indicators of the quality of teaching through technology.     

Determinants and patterns of physical activity practice among Spanish university students

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the socio-demographic and lifestyle determinants of physical activity practice, as well as the motivations for being or not being physically active in Spanish university students. A representative sample of students from a Spanish university (n = 2,051; 42.1% males; mean age 21.9, s = 4.8 years) participated in the present cross-sectional study. A questionnaire including questions regarding lifestyle, dietary habits, parents' characteristics, and physical activity habits was administered to the students. The socio-demographic and lifestyle determinants of physical activity practice were assessed using multivariable logistic regression. 68.4% of men and 48.4% of women reported to practise physical activity in the present sample. Those who practised physical activity consumed more fruits and were less likely to be smokers compared to non-physically active students. Also, physically inactive men spent more time in front of the computer and physically inactive women spent more time in front of the TV and were more likely to be frequent alcohol consumers. Maternal educational level and maternal physical activity habits were also important determinants of physical activity practice among men and women respectively. In conclusion, physically active students tended to engage in other healthy habits in the present population, suggesting the clustering of healthy or unhealthy lifestyle factors among specific subgroups.     

Infant Attention and Early Childhood Executive Function

Individual differences in infant attention are theorized to reflect the speed of information processing and are related to later cognitive abilities (i.e., memory, language, and intelligence). This study provides the first systematic longitudinal analysis of infant attention and early childhood executive function (EF; e.g., working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility). A group of 5‐month‐olds (n = 201) were classified as short or long lookers. At 24, 36, and 48 months of age, children completed age‐appropriate EF tasks. Infant short lookers (i.e., more efficient information processors) exhibited higher EF throughout early childhood as compared to infant long lookers, even after controlling for verbal ability (a potential indicator of intelligence). These findings are discussed in relation to the emergence of executive attention.     

Adquisición y desarrollo del lenguaje en bilingües familiares: primeros datos de una investigación

Resumen

Este trabajo versa sobre la adquisición del lenguaje en bilingües familiares. Los datos que se aportan se refieren al léxico de uno de los sujetos de la investigación que se ve recogido en sesiones de 30' grabadas en magnetoscopio, cada 2 semanas aproximadamente, a partir de los 6 hasta los 24 meses de edad. Los resultados concuerdan con los de investigaciones precedentes, donde se demuestra que los niños que adquieren dos lenguas a la vez pasan por una primera fase de “sistema lexical único”, en la cual el niño incorpora palabras de una u otra lengua, sin diferenciar los dos códigos.     

Catalán y castellano en la escuela: Un primer balance

Resumen

El artículo describe el sistema educativo en Cataluña en relación con las dos lenguas utilizadas en la enseñanza: catalán y castellano y comenta los resultados alcanzados en una investigación? realizada para aclarar la influencia de esta enseñanza bilingüe sobre las competencias lingüísticas de los escolares en una y otra lengua. La principal consecuencia que se desprende de la investigación es que a pesar del gran espacio concedido al catalán la mayor presencia social del castellano continúa favoreciendo a esta lengua de tal modo que en igualdad de condiciones los niños de lengua catalana adquieren más dominio del castellano que los niños de lengua castellana dominio del catalán. Aunque la investigación se refiere sólo a la competencia lingüística y no al rendimiento escolar, el autor señala la conveniencia de investigar también este aspecto poniéndolo en relación con el nivel sociocultural de los alumnus.