Cooperative learning and algebra performance of eighth grade students in United Arab Emirates

This study investigated the effect of cooperative learning on eighth grade students' performance in algebra. 54 boys and 57 girls in four middle-school mathematics classes of Grade 8 in the UAE participated. Over a 3-wk. period, two classes (57 students) were taught using a cooperative learning method, and the other two classes (54 students) were taught using the traditional lecture method. Analysis of covariance using pretest scores as a covariant showed no statistically significant increase in the algebra performance for students in the cooperative learning groups compared with the traditional groups. However, boys in the cooperative setting improved significantly on the performance test compared with boys in the traditional setting.     

Structure mapping in spatial reasoning

Four experiments examined whether spatial reasoning about non-spatial concepts is based on mapping concepts to space according to similarities in relational structure. Six- and 7-year-old children without any prior graphing experience were asked to reason with graph-like diagrams. In Experiments 1 and 2, children were taught to map time and quantity to vertical and horizontal lines, and then were asked to judge the relative value of a second-order variable (rate) or a first-order variable (quantity) represented in a function line. Children’s judgments indicated that they mapped concepts to space by aligning similar relational structures: quantity judgments corresponded to line height, and rate judgments corresponded to line slope. These correspondences entail a mapping of first-order concepts to first-order spatial dimensions and second-order concepts to second-order spatial dimensions. Experiments 3 and 4 investigated the role of context in establishing relational structure. Children were taught to map age and rate (Experiment 3) or age and size (Experiment 4) to vertical and horizontal lines, and were then asked to judge the rate or the size represented by a function line. In this context, both rate and size were first-order variables, and children’s judgments corresponded to line height, also a first-order variable. The results indicate that spatial reasoning involves a structure-sensitive mapping between concepts and space.     

Music and movement education as a form of motivation in teaching Greek traditional dances

Research has shown that motivation for participating in physical education, particularly in traditional dances, has decreased dramatically. The aim of this research was to examine whether a music and movement program would increase pleasure and intrinsic motivation of students in elementary education while teaching them Greek traditional dances. 232 students were divided into two groups, a trained group of 135 participants (72 boys, 63 girls) and a control group of 97 (53 boys, 44 girls). The trained group was taught using the music and movement teaching model of traditional dances. The control group was taught using the instructional or guided teaching method of traditional Greek dances. To measure effectiveness of the two methods was accomplished by the completion of McAuley's Intrinsic Motivation Inventory. Analysis of scores showed use of music and movement education had a positive effect on intrinsic motivation for dancing and active participation of students, especially of the trained boys' group.     

A preliminary study of achievement, attitudes toward success in mathematics, and mathematics anxiety with technology-based instruction in brief calculus

This study was designed to compare achievement, attitudes toward success in mathematics, and mathematics anxiety of college students taught brief calculus using a graphic calculator, with the achievement and attitudes and anxiety of students taught using the computer algebra system Maple, using a technology based text book. 50 men and 50 women, students in three classes at a large public university in the southwestern United States, participated. Students' achievement in brief calculus was measured by performance on a teacher-made achievement test given at the end of the study. Analysis of variance showed no significant difference in achievement between the groups. To measure change in attitudes and anxiety, responses to paper-and-pencil inventories indicated significant differences in favor of students using the computer.     

Middle-school students of United Arab Emirates: effects of heterogeneous small group work on attitudes toward mathematics

This study compared the effects of two instructional strategies, small heterogeneous cooperative learning experience versus lecture and discussion, on students' attitudes toward mathematics. 54 boys and 57 girls in Grade 8 of four middle-school mathematics classes participated. Two classes (57 students) were taught using a cooperative learning method and the other two classes (54 students) were taught using traditional lecture and discussion. Differences between attitudes of boys and girls were also investigated and discussed in the light of Arabic culture. The results suggested that cooperative learning might be a valuable method with which to teach mathematics concepts to boys.     

Compliance with homework to employ self-instructions in controlling ice water pain: an analogue to counseling

40 women were taught to use self-statements to cope with pain caused by ice water. The trainer used four different strategies for reassigning a homework task of using self-statements to cope with pain produced by immersing one hand in ice water. The strategies were equally effective in eliciting compliance with the homework assignment.     

THE WOMEN'S STUDIES EXPERIENCE

The impact of women's studies courses on students'feminist activism and related behaviors was assessed through quantitative and qualitative methods. At pretesting, women's studies students (10 classes: 161 women and 18 men) did not report significantly more activism than nonwomen's studies students taught by women's studies faculty (9 classes: 73 women and 48 men) or nonwomen's studies students taught by nonwomen's studies faculty (12 classes: 107 women and 47 men). At posttesting, women's studies students, relative to the comparison students, reported more activism during the semester of evaluation, stronger intentions to engage in future feminist activism, and more important and more positive course-related influences on their personal lives ( p < .0001).     

Contingency management in an introductory psychology course produces better learning

For the contingency management techniques first devised by Keller (1966, 1968) to become a widely accepted teaching method, it is necessary that they be shown (1) to be applicable to general subject matter and (2) to be superior to traditional lecture methods. The present study demonstrated (1) by successfully teaching the material from a standard psychology text. The superiority of contingency management was established by direct comparison of final examination scores from comparable groups taught the same subject matter by either Keller's method or traditional methods. Students taught by Keller's method also rated the course more favorably.     

Comparing instructor-led,video-model,and no-instruction control tutorials for creating single-subject graphs in Microsoft Excel: A systematic replication and extension

Visual inspection of single-subject data is the primary method for behavior analysts to interpret the effect of an independent variable on a dependent variable; however, there is no consensus on the most suitable method for teaching graph construction for single-subject designs. We systematically replicated and extended Tyner and Fienup (2015) using a repeated-measures between-subjects design to compare the effects of instructor-led, video-model, and no-instruction control tutorials on the graphing performance of 81 master's students with some reported Microsoft Excel experience. Our mixed-design analysis revealed a statistically significant main effect of pretest, tutorial, and posttest submissions for each tutorial group and a nonsignificant main effect of tutorial group. Tutorial group significantly interacted with submissions, suggesting that both instructor-led and video-model tutorials may be superior to providing graduate students with a written list of graphing conventions (i.e., control condition). Finally, training influenced performance on an untrained graph type (multielement) for all tutorial groups.     

The Internet and sexuality education: Tapping into the wild side

To see whether observing information exchanges in “cyberspace” had a positive effect on computer usage and attitudes, students in an advanced undergraduate sexuality class were given an Internet project. Their pre- and postproject computer attitude and utilization reports were compared with those of a traditional computer usage research methods course taught by the same instructor. Overall, the e-mail/Internet project did not have a positive effect on computer usage and attitudes, whereas the more traditional computer as research tool usage taught in the methods class did have a positive effect.     

Learning through observation: The effects of peer modeling on acquisition and generalization in autistic children

The purpose of this study was to systematically determine whether lowfunctioning autistic children [MA of approximately half of their CA or less] could learn through observation by the use of a peer modeling procedure. Since modeling is less structured than traditional one-on-one procedures, it was also thought that modeling might facilitate subsequent generalization of tasks learned through observation. Four autistic children were taught two receptive labeling tasks. One task was taught by a traditional trial and error procedure, while the other task was taught by a modeling procedure wherein the models were other autistic children. Results indicated that all four children learned through observation of their peer model. Additionally, generalization and maintenance of correct responding were superior when the children learned through observation rather than by trial and error. These results are discussed in terms of the modeling literature, generalization issues, and implications for designing teaching settings for autistic children.This research was supported by USPHS Research Grants MH 28231 and MH 29210 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors would like to acknowledge Paul Lizotte for his assistance.     

Training Public School Special Educators to Implement Two Functional Analysis Models

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and efficiency of a training package to teach public school special educators to conduct functional analyses of challenging behavior. Six public school educators were divided into two cohorts of three and were taught two models of functional analysis of challenging behavior: traditional and trial-based functional analysis. The effect of the training package on functional analysis implementation was evaluated using multiple-baseline designs across participants for each functional analysis model. The sequence of functional analysis models taught was counterbalanced across cohorts. Following the training package, all participants reached 100 % implementation fidelity during role-plays and classroom sessions with students, and maintained high fidelity at follow-up role-play sessions. Data on training duration, trials to criterion, and social validity revealed that trial-based functional analysis training had a shorter duration and was rated as the more favorable functional analysis model.     

TEACHING MENSTRUAL CARE TO MENTALLY RETARDED WOMEN: ACQUISITION,GENERALIZATION, AND MAINTENANCE

We evaluated a training package designed to teach menstrual care skills to five mild to severely mentally retarded women. Three specific skill areas (changing stained underwear; sanitary napkin; and both stained underwear and sanitary napkin) were task analyzed and taught in a sequential manner. Results of a multiple-baseline design across women indicated that the training package was successful in teaching these skills; the women continued to perform the skills during naturally occurring menses up to 5 months following termination of the study.     

Teacher Gender and Nonverbal Behavior in the Teaching of Gender-Stereotyped Materials1

Twenty teachers each taught a male and a female student two different lessons. One of these lessons was in a stereotypically masculine domain (mechanics), the other in a stereotypically feminine domain (vocabulary). Judges viewed clips from the videotaped lessons and rated teachers' nonverbal behaviors. The students also rated their teachers on a variety of behavioral dimensions. The results showed that teachers exhibited more positive behavior toward the students for whose gender the material being taught was stereotypically appropriate. Similarly, teachers exhibited more negative behavior toward those students for whose gender the material being taught was considered stereotypically inappropriate. Additionally, teacher gender was shown to interact with the above-mentioned biased teaching behavior. Generally speaking, women teachers behaved in a less gender-biased way than did men teachers. It is suggested that these kinds of differential teaching behaviors may contribute to the differential performance of male and female students in traditionally gender-stereotyped academic domains.     

Students’ stereotypes of professors: an exploration of the double violations of ethnicity and gender

This study examined students’ stereotypes of professors based on professor ethnicity, gender, teaching style, and course taught. An ethnically diverse sample of undergraduates (N = 594) rated hypothetical professors on several dimensions including perceived warmth, professional competence, and difficulty. Evidence consistent with response amplification and expectancy violation theories was found. Women professors were viewed as more warm than men professors even though their course syllabuses were identical. Students’ ratings of women and Latina/os were, in some cases, based on their teaching style and the courses they taught, whereas ratings of Anglo men were not. Implications for women and Latina/os in the academy are discussed.     

Event-related potentials reveal the relations between feature representations at different levels of abstraction

In this paper, we use behavioural methods and event-related potentials (ERPs) to explore the relations between informational and instantiated features, as well as the relation between feature abstraction and rule type. Participants are trained to categorize two species of fictitious animals and then identify perceptually novel exemplars. Critically, two groups are given a perfectly predictive counting rule that, according to Hannah and Brooks (2009. Featuring familiarity: How a familiar feature instantiation influences categorization. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology/Revue Canadienne de Psychologie Expérimentale, 63, 263–275. Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.1037/a0017919), should orient them to using abstract informational features when categorizing the novel transfer items. A third group is taught a feature list rule, which should orient them to using detailed instantiated features. One counting-rule group were taught their rule before any exposure to the actual stimuli, and the other immediately after training, having learned the instantiations first. The feature-list group were also taught their rule after training. The ERP results suggest that at test, the two counting-rule groups processed items differently, despite their identical rule. This not only supports the distinction that informational and instantiated features are qualitatively different feature representations, but also implies that rules can readily operate over concrete inputs, in contradiction to traditional approaches that assume that rules necessarily act on abstract inputs.     

Beloved Women: Nurturing the Sacred Fire of Leadership From an American Indian Perspective

Counseling professionals are taught to rely heavily on theories and interventions steeped in a Western, masculinized worldview. This article explores a paradigm shift by providing a contrasting cultural view of leadership among women. The “crosswalk” between the American Indian perspective of nurturing leadership in women and the theoretical basis of relational‐cultural theory is explored as a way of adding critical, ancient knowledge about leadership to the counseling profession. Implications for mentoring female leaders are presented.     

The coordination of visual and tactual input in infants

Traditionally it has been taught that “touch teaches vision” in ontogeny. Recent experiments have shown that in judgment situations vision dominates touch, a finding that has been taken to weaken the traditional argument. The force of the finding is vitiated to some extent by the functional dominance of touch. Developmental experiments show that initially in ontogeny vision is functionally dominant, strengthening the case against the traditional argument.