A STUDY OF JUNIOR AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE HISTORY INSTRUCTORS IN THE SOUTH

Instructors in community and junior colleges within the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ accrediting region were the focus of this study to determine characteristics and activities of those teaching history. A questionnaire was mailed to each history instructor in 88 of the 285 institutions in the region. A total of 230 instructors responded. After data were compiled and analyzed, it was determined that the typical history instructor in the region is a married, middle‐aged male who is Southern born and bred, and holds at least a master's degree in history. He has been in his present position for at least 10 years, coming to the present position from the high school ranks. The lecture method is used in teaching the 13‐to 15‐credit‐hour average load. Teaching is the primary activity of history instructors, with research and service not a part of usual expectations.     

Effects of Restructuring Training and Cognitive Style

Herman Witkin's research in differentiation theory proposed a conceptual framework describing the cognitive style known as field dependence‐independence. The operational measures of this construct are restructuring skills and interpersonal competencies, and were originally conceived to be fixed in an individual. A recent reconceptual‐isation, however, suggested that there may be some malleability in learning strategies that flow from cognitive style. Learners predisposed to field dependence might gain access to restructuring skills brought to problem‐solving situations by field independents. This study undertook to examine the effects and practicability of restructuring training as a means of addressing individual learner differences. Field independent subjects significantly out‐scored field‐dependent subjects on all three test tasks in the control group. Experimental group field independents did not significantly outscore experimental field dependents. Training enhanced field dependent subject performance on two dependent measures tasks. There was interaction across treatment and field dependence on all three dependent measures.     

Client partnership throughout the performance improvement/human performance technology model

Partnerships between the performance consultant and client occur through collaboration with all stakeholders to make decisions during every phase of the human performance technology (HPT) process. During the HPT process, the performance consultant fulfills the role of expert, critic, facilitator, doer, and spectator. Regardless of the role, a performance consultant needs to assess the ongoing situation, apply the appropriate skills and techniques required to adequately handle the situation, and foster customer partnership and collaboration through the HPT life cycle.     

Stress,Interviewer Support,and Children's Eyewitness Identification Accuracy

Few studies have investigated how stress affects eyewitness identification capabilities across development, and no studies have investigated whether retrieval context in conjunction with stress affects accuracy. In this study, one hundred fifty‐nine 7‐ to 8‐ and 12‐ to 14‐year‐olds completed a high‐ or low‐stress laboratory protocol during which they interacted with a confederate. Two weeks later, they attempted to identify the confederate in a photographic lineup. The lineup administrator behaved in either a supportive or a nonsupportive manner. Participants who experienced the high‐stress event and were questioned by a supportive interviewer were most accurate in rejecting target‐absent lineups. Results have implications for debates about effects of stress on eyewitness recall, how best to elicit accurate identifications in children, and developmental changes in episodic mnemonic processes.     

Wikipedia as Public Scholarship: Communicating Our Impact Online

Although computer-mediated support groups have been argued to be beneficial for individuals coping with health-related stigma, few studies have explored how communication processes may moderate perceptions of stigma and health outcomes. Increasing our understanding of the relationships among these variables may help to inform social support interventions for individuals facing stigmatized health issues. Drawing from the optimal matching model, the reported study examined the relationships among strong-tie/weak-tie support network preference and health-related stigma for stress and depression among members of health-related computer-mediated support groups. The results indicated that health-related stigma was positively associated with preference for weak-tie support, and preference for weak-tie support was found to moderate the relationship between stigma and both stress and depression. The implications of the findings for the role of on-line weak-tie network supportive relationships in reducing stigma and its application to developing support-focused health interventions and segmenting potential intervention participants are discussed.     

A new instrument for measuring pre-service biology teachers' pedagogical content knowledge: The PCK-IBI

Teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is highly important for effective design and implementation of school teaching. Thus, the current status, development and efficacy of this knowledge, its relationships with teaching quality parameters, and its impact on students' learning processes and success, require rigorous examination. Thoroughly validated, objective and reliable test instruments that are highly sensitive to changes in variables of proven knowledge-related relevance in teacher education are also required. Previous attempts to design such instruments for assessing science teachers' PCK have largely focused on mathematical content. Therefore, here we present an instrument (the pedagogical content knowledge in biology inventory, PCK-IBI), based on conceptualizations of teachers' professional competence, for assessing secondary school pre-service biology teachers' PCK. In a series of three evaluations and refinements it was tested with samples of N = 274 and N = 432 German pre-service as well as one sample of n = 65 German pre-service and n = 35 German in-service biology teachers. Item analysis, scale analysis and empirically obtained indicators of validity suggest that the final 34-item-version of the PCK-IBI is unidimensional, provides objective test scores and enables reliable and valid registration of pre-service biology teachers' PCK. Thus, hypotheses regarding specific aspects of the model on which the PCK-IBI's construction is based on are empirically supported. The results of our study provide empirical support for the instrument's potential utility.     

以史为训:佛儒关系的考察

在后现代的语境下重建儒学,是当代学术界传达出的一个新的声音,而这种重建首先遇到的便是其与多元文化如何相处的问题。本文以宋初佛儒关系之交涉为题,考察了其时二教争端的历史事实,提醒我们需要关注历史上儒家呈显出的排他与偏狭的倾向,及同时出现的儒家温和改革的主张,以便更好地接受历史的经验,使儒学能以积极与更有意义的方式参予当代社会与文化的各种对话。