Gesture as a window on children's beginning understanding of false belief

Given that gestures may provide access to transitions in cognitive development, preschoolers' performance on standard tasks was compared with their performance on a new gesture false belief task. Experiment 1 confirmed that children (N=45, M age=54 months) responded consistently on two gesture tasks and that there is dramatic improvement on both the gesture false belief task and a standard task from ages 3 to 5. In 2 subsequent experiments focusing on children in transition with respect to understanding false beliefs (Ns=34 and 70, M age=48 months), there was a significant advantage of gesture over standard and novel verbal-response tasks. Iconic gesture may facilitate reasoning about opaque mental states in children who are rapidly developing concepts of mind.     

Research findings and administrative implications for off-campus higher education

While off-campus educational programs grow in number and in importance in American higher education, little systematic research has been conducted concerning their effectiveness and intellectual and developmental impact. The project described here compared students in three categories: those studying abroad; those studying off-campus in this country; and those who remained on their home campus. The implications of the findings of the research suggest that a rethinking of existing programs is appropriate, if off-campus educational programs are to realize their full potential. The authors offer concrete suggestions toward restructuring these programs.

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Zusammenfassung Obwohl Bildungsprogramme ausserhalb der Universität in der amerikanischen Hochschulbildung an Anzahl und Bedeutung zunehmen, wurde deren Fruchtbarkeit und geistige und entwicklungsmässige Auswirkung kaum systematisch untersucht. Das hier geschilderte Projekt vergleicht Studenten dreier Kategorien: im Ausland studierende, im Lande ausserhalb der Universität studierende und solche, die in ihrem heimischen Universitätsbetrieb geblieben sind. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung legen die Folgerung nahe, es sei angebracht, bei eingeführten Programmen zu überdenken, ob die Bildungsprogramme ausserhalb der Universität ihre Möglichkeiten voll ausschöpfen sollen. Die Verfasser machen konkrete Vorschläge für eine Neugestaltung dieser Programme.

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Résumé Tandis que l'importance et le nombre des programmes d'éducation en dehors des universités s'accroît dans l'enseignement supérieur aux Etats-Unis, peu de recherche systématique a été effetué en ce qui concerne leur efficacité et leur impact intellectuel et de développement. Le projet décrit ici a comparé des étudiants de trois catégories: ceux qui étudient à l'étranger, ceux qui étudient hors des universités à l'intérieur du pays et ceux qui sont restés dans leurs universités d'origine. Les implications des conclusions de la recherche suggèrent qu'il convient de repenser les programmes existants, si les programmes d'éducation hors des universités doivent réaliser tout leur potentiel. Les auteurs présentent des suggestions concrètes quant à la restructuration de ces programmes.

     

Perceptions on the Trend of Multi-Authored Collaboration: Results from a National Survey of Criminal Justice and Criminology Faculty

Perceptions of the collaborative research trend and personal rationales for authorship collaboration were examined in a sample (n?=?542) of Criminal Justice and Criminology faculty members. Collaboration was pervasive across the sample with approximately half reporting that collaboration was involved in a majority of their published works. Generally, collaboration is perceived to be a combination of social research networks and more pragmatic concerns (ease of collaboration and increasingly diminishing time to do research due to university obligations). Results are disaggregated by academic rank, research orientation, and collaboration involvement. Preliminary evidence of a “culture of collaboration” is presented and discussed.     

The assessment of off-campus higher education

After acknowledging the general ignorance concerning the changes which occur in American undergraduates who study off-campus, either domestically or internationally, the authors describe various studies which have attempted to assess off-campus educational experiences. These research efforts may be categorized in two types: (1) those which used existing, standardized instruments; and (2) those which used locally designed instruments. Yet both kinds of studies are found wanting. A new instrument, currently being tested, “The Individual Opinion Inventory”, is designed to locate affective levels of perceptual change in those American undergraduates studying off-campus, either in the US or abroad.     

The secret identity of science education: masculine and politically conservative?

This response to Jesse Bazzul and Heather Sykes’ paper, The secret identity of a biology textbook: straight and naturally sexed, explores their critiques of textbooks and curricula that authoritatively present scientific accounts of the natural world without engaging students in critical thinking. It proposes that we need to go beyond such useful critiques to develop alternatives to the unsatisfactory heteronormative status quo in biology textbooks and in science education more generally.