Assessment of attention in school children: teachers' ratings related to tests of attention

The paper provides (1) a teacher-administered rating instrument for inattention without confounding the rating with hyperactivity and conduct disorder, and (2) evidence that the ratings correlate with the scores obtained from cognitive tests of attention. In Study I, the first objective was to investigate the construct validity and the inter-rater reliability of the Attention Checklist (ACL) by factor analysing the teacher ratings of 110 Grade 4 children, obtained by using the ACL. The second objective was to investigate the predictive validity of the ACL by examining the relationship between the scores obtained for the participants from teachers' ratings using the ACL and the scores obtained by participants in the lab-type attention tests. The results of factor analysis showed that a single factor labelled ‘inattention’ underlies the 12 items in the ACL. Examining the differences in performance on attention tests, the ‘low attention’ children as rated by the teachers on the ACL scored lower than the ‘high attention’ children on the objective tests of attention. These findings were replicated in Study II, which was conducted to test further the construct validity and predictive validity of the ACL. This time, only those two tests (Auditory Attention and Visual Attention) that had shown relatively poor discrimination between the high and low attention groups in Study I were, again, administered to another cohort of 97 Grade 4 children, as it was our intention to further challenge the reliability of the ACL. Overall, the results of both studies suggest that comprehensive assessment of attention skills should include both ACL and objective measures of selective attention.     

The Potential of Conjoint Analysis for Communication Research

Surveys on choices oftentimes rely on Likert-type scales. However, they prevent researchers from identifying the relative importance of different stimulus features for the choice decision. Here, it is shown that conjoint analysis offers a variety of advantages emerging from its use of questions that force the subject to trade off conflicting attribute levels. This study discusses some problems of Likert-type scale measures and shows when conjoint analysis may solve some of these problems. Differences between measurements are illustrated in a uses and gratifications study, assessing convergent validity on Likert-type scale measures with traditional conjoint analysis and choice-based conjoint analysis. Results show that subjects prefer “cognitive needs” by Likert-type scale measures against “tension release needs” by both conjoint analyses. The different outcome is independent from linguistic variation and from dual-process models of information processing. Implications for communication research are discussed.     

Full time adult credential students’ instructional preferences at California State University,Long Beach: pedagogy or andragogy?

This study investigated the instructional preferences of full time adult credential students after they took a live course called Principles of Adult Education at California State University, Long Beach, (CSULB) in the fall semester of 2002. These full time adult credential students had been working on their adult teaching credentials to meet the competencies specified by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The course introduced students to Andragogy developed by Malcolm Knowles out of the andragogical model, developed by Lindeman (1926). The study used Principles of Adult Learning Scales (PALS), advanced by Gary Conti in 1983 to measure instructional preferences. Data were collected from 30 (100% of 30) full time adult credential students enrolled in a live course to, determine their instructional preferences of helping adults learn. The results of the study showed in most cases these adult learning professionals taught adult students andragogically: in some cases they taught adult students pedagogically.     

我国村级小学面临的困境与对策分析

分析了现阶段我国村级小学面临的困境:在校学生逐年减少,办学规模日趋萎缩;教师素质不高;办学条件差等。提出了:调整农村小学布局;加强村级小学师资队伍建设;以政府投入为主,改善村级小学办学条件。以此提高办学效益和教学质量,使村级小学走出目前的困境。     

小学低段儿童行为问题调查报告——以成都市泡桐树小学二年级学生为例

童年时代是一个人心灵成长的关键期,也是个性和世界观最终形成奠基的时期,这个阶段的心理成长直接影响到日后的心理健康状态,所形成的行为将会影响到以后的身心发展.随着社会的发展,儿童的行为问题受到越来越多的关注,近年来儿童行为问题的检出率有明显上升的趋势,且因区域差异而有所不同.     

The Research of James C. McCroskey: A Personal and Professional Remembrance

James C. McCroskey passed away on December 27, 2012. He contributed immensely to the study of human communication. He led the field in in-field publications and citations. Perhaps his most lasting contribution is naming and measuring communication constructs. James C. McCroskey contributed substantially to Communication Research Reports as a past editor, editorial board member, and contributing author. This essay is a personal and professional remembrance of James C. McCroskey.     

Full time adult credential students'' instructional preferences at California State University, Long Beach:pedagogy or andragogy?

This study investigated the instructional preferences of full time adult credential students after they took a live course called Principles of Adult Education at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) in the fall semester of 2002. These full time adult credential students had been working on their adult teaching credentials to meet the competencies specified by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The course introduced students to Andragogy developed by Malcolm Knowles out of the andragogical model developed by Lindeman (1926). The study used Principles of Adult Learning Scales (PALS), advanced by Gary Conti in 1983 to measure instructional preferences. Data were collected from 30 (100% of 30) full time adult credential students enrolled in a live course to determine their instructional preferences of helping adults learn. The results of the study showed in most cases these adult learning professionals taught adult students andragogically; in some cases they taught adult students pedagogically.     

Full time adult credential students?instructional preferences at California State University, Long Beach: pedagogy or andragogy?

INTRODUCTIONTheimplementationofandradogy,theartandscienceofhelpingadultslearn,toenhanceadultlearninghasbeenakeyissueintheeducationandtrainingofadultsinthe21stcentury.Thesignifi-canceofthestudywastodeterminehowadultlearningprofessionalspracticeandragogyafter30yearsofitspurposefulimplementation.Andragogy,accordingtoNuckles(2000),isaconceptinadulteducationthatflowsdirectlyfromhumanisticedu-cationalphilosophy.TheandragogicalmodelwasfirstdevelopedbyEdwardLindeman(1926).MalcolmKnowles,develop…     

A test of competing models of the influence of social support on school engagement in the presence of neighborhood danger

This study compared self‐reports of speech preparation activities of students exposed to visualization with the self‐reports of the preparation activities of those in placebo and control groups. Interestingly, these three groups did not differ in overall preparation time, but they did apportion that time in somewhat different ways. Those exposed to visualization reported spending less time preparing speaking notes, more audience analyses time, more time rehearsing in front of an audience, and received slightly higher grades than did those in the placebo and control groups. As is to be expected, students exposed to visualization also reported less trait and state communication apprehension (CA) than those in the placebo and control groups. These findings and their implications are discussed at the conclusion of this report.