Recent research on the relative efficiency of speaker and listener instruction for children with autism spectrum disorder

The traditional recommendation for sequencing speaker and listener instruction has been to teach listener skills prior to teaching speaker skills. In a review of the research literature prior to 2011, Petursdottir and Carr (2011) concluded that research did not support this recommendation. We reviewed the most recent research on the efficiency of skill acquisition during speaker and listener instruction and found similar results to Petursdottir and Carr. Recommendations for future research and practice are provided.     

数学教学中培养学生学习自我效能感的实验研究

通过构建的渗透培育模式,以初中二年级数学教学为依托,运用教学实验方法探索数学教学中渗透学生学习自我效能感培养的有效性。采用实验组、对照组前后测实验设计,以《自我效能感自陈式问卷》、《数学自我效能问卷》和《中学生心理健康问卷》为测量工具。结果表明:实验后,实验班自我效能感高于前测,高于对照班,差异显著;在学习压力、适应不良、情绪不平衡、心理不平衡及总分上,实验班学生低于对照班,差异显著;数学学业成绩实验班高于对照班,高于实验前,但无显著差异。说明该模式能够显著提高学生学习自我效能感和心理健康水平,促进其学业进步。     

Effectiveness of a need supportive teaching training program on the developmental change process of graduate teaching assistants' created motivational climate

ObjectivesThere is a common trend to train physical education teachers and coaches in need supportive teaching behaviors, however, little research has been done with graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) in college and university physical activity programs. The purpose of this study was to test the effects of a need supportive teaching training program on GTAs' ability to promote need support in college and university physical activity courses.DesignLongitudinal and correlational.MethodParticipants were twelve GTAs from a midsized southeastern university in the United States, trained to deliver instruction in a positive motivational climate via in-person meetings, self-study materials, and tri-weekly meetings with researchers.ResultsMulti-level modeling revealed that the learning environment created by the GTAs improved across the duration of the study, with most of the growth between baseline and the first four intervention data points. Partial correlations seemed to indicate that these changes were influential among students, as evidenced through measurement of perceived autonomy support and motivational regulations.ConclusionsResults revealed that the behavioral change process was carried out quickly (from the beginning of the training), suddenly (rather than gradually), and then leveled off until the end of the semester. These results provide some promise in being able to effectively train GTAs to be need supportive in a relatively short amount of time.     

大学生学习适应量表的编制

对当代大学生学习适应问题进行了深入分析,在有关研究的基础上,探讨了当代大学生学习适应的主要因素,并编制一套适合当代大学生学习适应的测验。对四类院校918名大学生进行了施测,对调查数据进行了探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析。探索性因素分析结果表明,大学生学习适应的主要因素包括学习动机、教学模式、学习能力、学习态度、环境因素等5个方面;验证性因素分析结果表明,所提取的5个因素与构想模型拟合较好,测验具有较好的信、效度     

How Do Students Learn Theology?

This paper explores the way students learn theology through a small qualitative research project. It is undertaken in conversation with current higher education learning theory. This learning theory suggests that it is important to discover how a student conceptualizes learning and how they perceive the teaching environment. Students interviewed increasingly spoke of the value of this academic or more cognitive side of learning as they learned “deep approaches.” Important in this movement to deep, transformational learning was the presence of a relational teaching environment in which peers and teachers played a crucial role. This present study offers support to the view that the tradition of the learning community remains important for deploying deep approaches to the learning of theology in higher education. The paper argues that these relational principals of teaching and learning remain important in the face of the increased use of technology‐based tools and other pedagogical challenges to theological education today.     

IUPsyS — United Nations Activities

On November 11, 1997, in Paris, The General Conference of UNESCO adopted the first international recommendation concerning university and college professors. This is an important event, since the only other document that concerns teachers, i.e. those of the primary and secondary levels, was adopted in 1966 by UNESCO and IWO. This recommendation considers the rights and responsibilities of those involved in teaching and research. The concepts of academic freedom, institutional autonomy and tenure are presented and defined; they are recognized as being part of the definition of the working conditions of higher-education teaching personnel. Although not restrictive, this recommendation supplies a general framework to universities and research centers. In view of its importance, you will find in the next paragraphs the unabridged version of this recommendation.     

关于动力系统中自我强化和学生期待对学习效率影响的实验研究

本实验考察了在教学活动中,动力系统中自我强化和学生期待两因素与中学生学习效率的关系。结果表明：在其它教学条件相同的情况下,适当地、适时地满足学生期待对初中生学习效率的提高有较明显的作用,而对高中学生则作用不明显;对中学生进行自我强化的训练,有助于高中生学习效率的提高,而对初中生学习效率的作用则不明显;实验中未出现交互作用。     

小学语文教学中改善学生情绪调节困难状况的实验研究

采用实验组、控制组前后测实验设计,选取42名小学四年级学生,以语文学科教学为依托,运用教学实验方法探索语文教学中改善学生情绪调节困难状况之渗透方式的有效性。结果表明:学科渗透可以在一定程度上改善学生情绪调节困难状况、促进心理素质发展,特别是对中、高程度情绪调节困难学生的改善更为显著;实验组语文学业成绩比控制组有所提高,但并未达到显著性水平。说明学科渗透可以作为学生心理素质教育实施的有效途径之一。     

Instructional development for teachers in higher education: Effects on students’ perceptions of the teaching–learning environment

Background. Although instructional development for teachers has become an important topic in higher education, little is known about its actual impact. In particular, evidence regarding the impact of teachers’ instructional development on students’ perceptions of the teaching–learning environment is scarce. Aims. The impact of an instructional development programme for beginning university teachers on students’ perceptions of the teaching and learning environment was investigated. We also explored whether this impact is dependent on class size and student level (first years vs. non‐first years). Sample. Quantitative data were gathered from more than 1,000 students at pre‐ and post‐tests, using a quasi‐experimental design. Method. A multi‐level analysis was conducted in which five models were estimated. Results. A basic model made clear that teachers did differ from each other with respect to the dependent variables concerned; however, differences in scale scores also resulted to a large extent from differences between students. A second model, in which the moderating impact by way of teacher characteristics, context, and student characteristics was not taken into account, reported no significant effect of training. A third model, examining the net impact of instructional development revealed some impact, which was, remarkably, negative. A first interaction model proved a differential impact of instructional development for teachers teaching first years and those teaching non‐first years. A second one showed that the impact of training depended on the number of students one teaches. Conclusions. Instructional development for teachers in higher education does not easily result in effects on students’ perceptions of the teaching and learning environment. Perspectives for further research into instructional development are discussed.     

留美学生谈美国某高校护理本科教育

本文基于参加本科护理学专业“2＋3”联合培养项目留美学生的视角下,介绍了美国阿肯色州立大学ASU本科护理教育的培养目标、课程设置、教学方式、考核方式、临床实践教学模式等。指出了中美护理教育中存在的差异,并总结了对我国护理教育的启示：改革教学方法,采取多元护理教学方法、构建符合国情的形成性评价方法与指标、探索适合国情的护理临床实践教学模式。为学习和借鉴先进的护理教育经验,改革我国护理教育,提供科学依据。     

Behavioral variability as a function of noncontingent adult attention,peer availability,and situational demands in three hyperactive boys

Recommendations about placements for children in need of special education are routinely made and carried out without empirical validation for the efficacy of particular approaches nor the appropriateness of an approach for a particular child. A study was designed to examine a methodological model which focuses on empirically deriving recommendations for the most appropriate teaching situation for any given child requiring special education. Prosocial, problem, and task-related behaviors in three hyperactive boys were assessed in eight prearranged situations: (1) group play with one adult supervising; (2) group play with three adults; (3) group teaching with one adult; (4) group teaching with three adults; (5) individual play with low density noncontingent adult attention; (6) individual play with high density noncontingent adult attention; (7) individual teaching with low density noncontingent adult attention; and (8) individual teaching with high density noncontingent adult attention. Behaviors assessed included adult, peer, and target child attention given and received; compliance; aggression; disruption; task involvement; and percent tasks correctly completed of tasks attempted. Data revealed that the most disruptions and least efficient task performance occurred in the group teaching situation with one adult. The most efficient task performance and fewest disruptions in a teaching situation occurred in the individual teaching setting with high density noncontingent adult attention. In addition. overall mean rates of disruptive behavior were higher in group situations than in individual situations. The data strongly validate the need for carefully selecting educational environments for problem children, and that the behavior of such children is, at least, partially influenced by environmental factors.     

Embedding Academic Integrity in Public Universities

Particular concern about academic ethics in higher education and research institutions (HERIs) in Lithuania was addressed in 2009 by the national decision to establish an Office of Ombudsman for Academic Ethics and Procedures (Office). The decision was taken during the approval of the revised Law on Higher Education and Research by the Parliament of Lithuania. Following two failed attempts to appoint an ombudsman, the Office began to function in 2014. Since then, the ombudsman, alongside other state institutions, has been empowered to implement national higher education and research policy. At the outset of the Office activity it is important to consider how public HERIs institutionalise academic integrity, i.e. how they create an ethical environment within the academic community and what means are used to support it further. Collecting data from codes of ethics, regulations of academic integrity committees and interviews, data analysis shows that academic values manifest unevenly in teaching/learning and research. Most efforts concern the behaviour of students rather than the behaviour of academic staff (teachers and researchers). Moreover, ethics infrastructure gives a misleading image, as it lacks harmony and compatibility, despite the fact that there is a myriad of means to foster ethical behaviour. Universities should make greater effort to connect academic values with operations in teaching/learning and research.     

A National Collaboration Process: Finnish Engineering Education for the Benefit of People and Environment

The key stakeholders of the Finnish engineering education collaborated during 2006–09 to reform the system of education, to face the challenges of the changing business environment and to create a national strategy for the Finnish engineering education. The work process was carried out using participatory work methods. Impacts of sustainable development (SD) on engineering education were analysed in one of the subprojects. In addition to participatory workshops, the core part of the work on SD consisted of a research with more than 60 interviews and an extensive literature survey. This paper discusses the results of the research and the work process of the Collaboration Group in the subproject of SD. It is suggested that enhancing systematic dialogue among key stakeholders using participatory work methods is crucial in increasing motivation and commitment in incorporating SD in engineering education. Development of the context of learning is essential for improving skills of engineering graduates in some of the key abilities related to SD: systemic- and life-cycle thinking, ethical understanding, collaborative learning and critical reflection skills. This requires changing of the educational paradigm from teacher-centred to learner-centred applying problem- and project-oriented active learning methods.     

Ethics education in the consulting engineering environment: Where do we start?

As a result of in-house discussions stimulated by previous Gonzaga engineering ethics conferences, Coffman Engineers began the implementation of what is to be a company-wide ethics training program. While preparing a curriculum aimed at consulting engineers, we found very little guidance as to how to proceed with most available literature being oriented towards the academic environment. We consulted a number of resources that address the teaching of engineering ethics in higher education, but questioned their applicability for the Consulting Engineering environment. This lack of guidance led us to informal research into the ethical knowledge and attitudes of both consulting engineers and engineering students. Some of our findings were unexpected, and suggest that a simpler approach to teaching ethics to working professionals might be preferred to that typically promoted in higher education. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the “Ethics and Social Responsibility in Engineering and Technology” meeting, New Orleans, 2003.     

Revisiting the university front

The article argues that the most important trends in the recent metamorphosis of higher education, especially of university teaching and research, cannot be understood without placing them in the context of general developments in political life. Both processes reveal alarming features and there is a link between them. In recent decades a religion has established its dominance in the public policy field. Its dogmas are called “liberalization”, “economic man”, “individual preference”, “the free market”, “competition” and “efficiency”. The consequences of the progressive imposition of this doctrine on the universities—including on the relation between teaching and research—are well documented but not always well understood. It is argued that the “commercialization” of higher education and research means in reality their hyper-bureaucratization, via the imposition of so-called evaluation, assessment and accreditation schemes, the latest avatars of the managerialist ideology. Might the final result be the disintegration of the university as an institution?     

Criterion-related validity of a new classification scheme for institutionalized mentally retarded individuals

Two studies were carried out to test the validity of a new three-cluster classification scheme. The association of cluster membership with both clients' movement and program placement was significant, but only in the case of the latter criterion was prediction improved by knowledge of a client's cluster membership.     

Investigating naturalistic decision making in a simulated microworld: What questions should we ask?

Computer-simulated microworlds can provide a controlled method for investigating concepts related to naturalistic decision making (NDM). However, the extent to which these tools can be used to generate meaningful outcomes is unknown. The current study used a microworld called Networked Fire Chief (NFC) to explore the range of skills and knowledge acquired as participants gained practice on the program. The complexity of the NFC NDM environment was also explored. Twenty participants each completed 20 equivalent 5-min scenarios on NFC. Interview data, behavioral data and performance scores were collected across the trials. Results confirmed that NFC provides an environment that promotes appropriate perceptual-cognitive processing for NDM. However, performance improved to only a small extent across the 20 trials in four performance areas: speed, accuracy, efficiency and planning. In addition, the number of personal and situational factors to be considered when decision making on NFC was not comparable with real-world NDM environments. Overall, results indicated that the use of microworlds for research should be regulated by an understanding of the limitations of their applicability.     

Education,Irreligion, and Non-religion: Evidence from Select Anglophone Census Data

A number of different studies carried out in the twentieth century demonstrated a correlation between higher education and loss of religious belief. However, recent research seems to indicate that contemporary social changes have undermined this previously solid connection: it appears that the irreligious—especially the non-religious who do not self-identify as members of any religion—are no longer substantially more educated than the religious. The decline in higher education represents an important component of an emerging consensus that, in effect, ‘normalizes’ the non-religious. In the present study, this imputed characteristic is challenged by an examination of education data from the national censuses of Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.     

The Effect of Behavioral Family Intervention on Knowledge of Effective Parenting Strategies

There is a paucity of research considering the effect of behavioral family intervention (BFI) on parenting knowledge and the relative importance of both knowledge and parent confidence in reducing parenting dysfunction and problematic child behavior is unclear. In this study ninety-one parents (44 mothers, 47 fathers) of children aged 2–10?years completed an evidence-based BFI and were assessed at pre and post-intervention on knowledge of effective parenting strategies, parenting confidence, parent dysfunction, and reported intensity of externalised child behavior. Results showed that at pre-intervention parents higher in education (N?=?57) demonstrated greater knowledge than those lower in education (N?=?34). Relative to baseline, parents in both groups significantly improved their knowledge and confidence, reduced their dysfunction and reported less externalised child behavior. Effect sizes for the latter two variables were similar for both groups, however for parents higher in education the effect for confidence was larger than knowledge. Change in level of dysfunction explained the largest amount of unique variance in change to externalised child behavior. Results suggest that for optimal outcomes for parenting and child behavior management more knowledgeable parents may benefit from interventions that focus on practice and consolidation of already learned skills in order to increase confidence whereas for less knowledgeable parents the teaching of new skills and strategies, alongside increasing confidence, are important.