Learning about technology: Family vs. peer pairings

Recently a number of institutions have begun sponsoring nondeficit science and/or technology learning experiences for parents and their middle school-aged children which are intended to be enriching rather than remedial or compensatory in purpose. Very little research documenting the effects of parental involvement in the education of older children has been reported, however. The intent of this article was to present two studies designed to determine whether middle school-aged children's attitudes and content achievement are different when they take a technology course with their parents (parent-child treatment) or with their peers (child-child treatment). The first study focused on learning about communications technology (primarily telegraphs, telephones and radios); the second study focused on microcomputers. Results indicate that parents have little affect in helping their children learn the subject matter of technology courses. Likewise, parents do not affect children's attitudes toward computers. Both results were attenuated by the fact that the students in the studies were high achievers who were interested in and motivated to learn the subject matter, regardless of treatment. Significant differences were noted for computer literacy favoring the parent-child group, however. Parents also seemed to effect children's attitudes toward the subject matter of the courses. Further research needs to be done with less appealing course content or with less motivated students to fully determine the effect of parent-child and child groupings in science and technology courses.     

Predicting South Korean University Students’ Happiness through Social Support and Efficacy Beliefs

This study investigated the adversity and coping experiences of 198 South Korean university students and takes a cultural lens in understanding how social and individual factors shape their happiness. Hierarchical linear regression analyses suggest that Korean students’ perceptions of social support significantly predicted their happiness, particularly in their closer social circles. Additionally, their happiness was significantly shaped by their beliefs in their abilities to overcome difficult experiences, but not by their beliefs in maintaining their relationships. Findings demonstrate the importance of better preparing close family and friends to recognize and respond to warning signs, as well as exploring ways to build students’ internal coping assets within family and peer group settings.     

Crisis counseling: An overview

Psychologists working in schools are often the first contacts for children experiencing a potentially traumatizing event or change in status. This article reviews basic concepts in crisis counseling and describes the components of psychological first aid. This form of counseling must be developmentally and culturally appropriate as well as individualized. Effective intervention can prevent post‐traumatic stress syndrome and facilitate normal mourning processes associated with any losses experienced. These prevention activities are also discussed. Some children may need resources beyond those that the school can provide, and appropriate referrals can link children and adults to a variety of treatments such as psychotherapy and medication, also briefly outlined. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The relationship between science process skill and formal thinking abilities

The purpose of this study is to examine integrated process skill and formal thinking abilities of middle and high school students and determine the relationship, if any, between the two. A relationship was thought to exist since both sets of skills strongly emphasize conducting fair experiments as well as other abilities. Pencil and paper measures of formal operational and integrated process skill achievement were given to almost 500 grade 7–12 students. Resulting correlations showed a strong relationship between achievement on the two meansures (r = 0.73) and all subtests of both measures. Factor analysis data corroborate the correlational evidence. One potential inference to be drawn from these results is that process skill teaching might influence formal thinking ability. A follow-up experimental study will determine this.     

Training science teachers to utilize better teaching strategies: A research synthesis

This study is a synthesis of practice and research related to the use of behavior analysis to train science teachers. An idealized model (derived from practice) for training science teachers is presented first. Then research related to the categories of the model is reviewed and synthesized. To do this, all available studies on the topic were classified by the type of treatment used to influence the teaching behaviors. The results were meta-analyzed. The effectiveness of training procedures fell into the following order, from lowest to highest: (1) study of an analysis system and self analysis; (2) observing models; (3) analyzing models; and, (4) practice and analysis with feedback. Science educators are encouraged to use the procedures outlined in the model to train better teachers. These results support the idealized model.     

Learning to Teach Science: The Curriculum of Student Teaching in Hiroshima "Attached" Schools

Journal of Science Teacher Education -