Sharing and Confronting Propositions in Collaborative Inquiry Learning

This study investigates how collaborative knowledge construction within an inquiry learning environment can be assisted with scaffolds that aim to support students' hypothesis generation process. Sixty-six students on a university preparatory track worked collaboratively on a kinematics task. The instructional goal was to develop students' understanding of one-dimensional kinematics. All students completed a proposition test in which they indicated their individual opinions about the truth-value of specific propositions. Subsequently, students were coupled into dyads and assigned to one of three conditions: (a) a shared proposition scratchpad (expression builder), (b) a shared proposition table, and (c) a control condition. Students in the scratchpad condition were given an expression builder consisting of dropdown menus with pre-defined variables and relations. Students in the shared proposition table condition could combine individual opinions about the truth-value of a proposition into one shared proposition table that highlighted differences in opinion. Students in the control condition received no extra support related to propositions. Learning outcomes were assessed using a variety of pre- and posttests. The findings indicate that students supported with the shared proposition table showed significant gains for qualitative knowledge about relations. The number of unique propositions students discussed during the learning session was a significant predictor of learning gains. A more detailed analysis of students' interaction protocols suggests that students differed in their task perceptions, their interaction patterns, and their use of prior knowledge.     

Longitudinal Analysis of Associations between 3-D Mental Rotation and Mathematics Reasoning Skills during Middle School: Across and within Genders

ABSTRACT

The development of math reasoning and 3-d mental rotation skills are intertwined. However, it is currently not understood how these cognitive processes develop and interact longitudinally at the within-person level – either within or across genders. In this study, 553 students (52% girls) were assessed from fifth to seventh grades on 3-d mental rotation spatial skills (assessed each fall) and numerical and algebraic math reasoning skills (assessed each spring). Boys outperformed girls on mental rotation tests across all three grades, and on fifth and seventh grade math reasoning tests. Consistent with the literature on between-person comparisons, there was a positive correlation between mental rotation and math reasoning skills in the full sample and for both genders. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model was used to control for these confounding group-level differences in order to isolate within-person associations between earlier and later performance. Initially in fifth grade, math reasoning predicted subsequent sixth grade mental rotation skills. By seventh grade, more advanced mental rotation skills were associated with subsequent math reasoning skills while math reasoning skills were no longer predictive of mental rotation skills. An examination of gender differences revealed that this pattern was driven by boys while girls experienced less within-person change. These findings suggest that boys may initially rely in part on their math reasoning skills to solve 3-d mental rotation tasks. However, as their 3-d mental rotation skills mature, they begin to primarily depend upon these developing spatial skills to solve math reasoning problems rather than the reverse.     

Sense of Divine Involvement and Sense of Meaning in Life: Religious Tradition as a Contingency

This study examines the association between sense of divine involvement and sense of meaning in life. Then it proceeds to assess how this association varies by religious tradition. Using a random and national sample from the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey, this study finds that sense of divine involvement is associated with greater odds of having a sense of meaning in life. In addition, religious affiliation modifies this association. Specifically, the positive association between sense of divine involvement and the odds of having a sense of meaning in life is observed only among evangelical Protestants, mainline Protestants, and Catholics, but not among other religionists and religious nones. I discuss how the results make contributions to knowledge about the link between religious beliefs, religious tradition, and mental health.     

How do I see myself? A systematic review of identities in pro‐environmental behaviour research

Encouraging pro‐environmental behaviour (PEB) is an environmental and societal concern. Encouraging PEB focussing on how consumers see themselves (their identity) has blossomed. However, a theoretical assessment of this research is missing. Three main identity theories seem to best explain the research, specifically, and two‐fold, identity, and social identity theory (SIT), collectively known as the unified identity theory (UIT), and place identity theory (PIT). As these theories overlap more than differ in their understanding of identity, we argue that combining these theories is needed to avoid redundancies in identity theorizing, provide a universal approach to identity in terms of the processes and outcomes, and explain the PEB research most succinctly. Therefore, we understand identity similarly between the theories and offer a universal identity theory approach based on the theoretical definitions and assumptions. Finally, we demonstrate how the theory can be used to explain the research. Next, research was identified by conducting a systematic review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses guidelines, where 62 studies were relevant. Multiple identities relevant for a given PEB are assumed and evidenced: 99. Identities are assumed to be either individually‐, group‐, and/or place‐focused, drawing on the specific subsets of the universal theory: identity theory, social identity theory, and place identity theory, respectively. Identities are assumed to relate to behaviour, where identity increased PEB with medium effect sizes. Finally, to move the field forward, we provide a theoretical framework of how to test identities in relation to other psychological variables relevant for PEB research.     

SAMHSA philosophy and statement on ethical principles

As the major federal agency responsible for improving the delivery and effectiveness of substance abuse and mental health services to the American public, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is aware that its programs deal with especially sensitive issues. As a national leader in advancing effective services to persons with addictive and mental disorders, SAMHSA has stewardship over important interventions affecting personal, community, institutional, and social values. Inherent in SAMHSA's mission and goals is a commitment to protect and promote the human, civil, and legal rights and moral freedoms of those individuals and groups who participate in SAMHSA-funded activities and to demonstrate that Agency policies and procedures are congruent with publicly acceptable ethical principles and standards of conduct. A foundation of mutual trust between SAMHSA officials and participants as well as sensitivity to issues of public accountability will hasten and strengthen progress toward this shared vision.     

Well‐being and pressures of daily life in two West Bank villages—Exploring context and history

Interest in the well‐being of people exposed to long‐term violence and conflict has tended to focus on measurable effects of acute traumatic events, while attention to the pressures of their daily living context is relatively new. Using qualitative and quantitative data from a 2005 survey of all female family caretakers in 2 neighbouring Israeli‐occupied West Bank villages (n = 820), we explored the associations of demographic, health‐related and contextual factors with reported pressures and WHO‐5 well‐being index scores. The final model explained 17.8% of the variance with negative associations between health‐related factors (“back‐aches,” “stomach aches” “psychological illness in the family”) and family‐related factors (“male head of household aggressive”, “male head of household physically violent”) and the WHO‐5 well‐being index scores. We found positive associations between socio‐economic factors (“standard of living”; “number of rooms”) and village‐related factors (“residency in village A/B”) and the WHO‐5 well‐being index score. Exploring the daily living context of villages A and B illuminated how the impact of historical and political events differed, even in villages that are geographically close. The paper lends support to calls for including politics and history in research on well‐being in contexts of long‐term violence and conflict.     

Using Multiple Contexts and Retrieval Cues in Exposure-Based Therapy to Prevent Relapse in Anxiety Disorders

The benefits of exposure-based interventions for anxiety disorders are substantial but not stable for everyone, given that these interventions are often followed by relapse of symptoms. A body of research provides a background on how to add certain strategies in exposure-based therapy to prevent relapse in anxiety disorders. This review summarizes some of these strategies and provides clear-cut clinical implications. Studies that provide support for two types of strategies to prevent relapse have been reviewed—the use of multiple contexts and the use of retrieval cues. The use of multiple contexts reduces context and stimulus specificity of extinction learning during exposure, while the use of retrieval cues enhances memory (re)consolidation and retrieval after exposure. The described strategies to enhance the accessibility and therefore the retrievability of exposure-based learning to prevent relapse in anxiety disorders can be summarized as advice to conduct exposure under variable conditions. This way, the generalizability of what is learned during exposure to the patients’ daily life after treatment improves. Therefore, adding these strategies in the course of exposure-based treatment of anxiety disorders seems beneficial. However, future replications and translational studies are needed to verify ecological validity.     

Projection of Own on Others' Job Characteristics: Evidence for the False Consensus Effect in Job Characteristics Information

The present study is an examination of the influence of rater characteristics as a source of bias in job characteristics information, as gleaned from the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS). Participants (N=133) completed an initial JDS for own job characteristics. Non‐incumbents (n=104) then completed a secondary JDS in order to rate incumbents' job characteristics. Non‐incumbents' personality dimensions, own job characteristics, job satisfaction level, and incumbent satisfaction level were hypothesized as predictors of ratings of job characteristics of incumbents. Results indicate that two characteristics, job autonomy and dealing with others, were influenced by non‐incumbents standing on these characteristics, and demonstrated evidence of the false consensus effect. Limitations and implications for interpreting job information are discussed.     

Evolutionary theory in the administrative sciences: Introduction

The term “evolution” is often used in the administrative sciences to designate dynamic processes of change in general. In biology, evolution has a very specific meaning, namely the application of a generative variation-selective retention scheme to change. Applying this to the administrative sciences is more exacting: describing what the variation consists of, how replication of the generated variation occurs and delineating the population from which the selection is made are far from easy. While it is the intention of this special issue as a whole to provide some empirical examples of evolutionary change in the public and private sectors, this introduction will lay out the main lines of thought in what is often referred to as universal Darwinism and what this means in the administrative sciences. Key concepts here are generative variation, selective retention, and selective institutional environment. According to the authors, the Darwinian scheme of evolutionary theory focuses on how new ideas or concepts arise, how they propagate and influence wider actor thinking and on how the institutional environment in which they operate affects their differential survival. This evolutionary process is an interplay between actors and replicators (sounds, images, and in this context mostly words) in which it cannot be said in advance which one is fooling the other. Martin De Jong is associate professor of public management. Haiko Van der Voort is a research associate who lectures and publishes on a wide range of issues including process management and system innovations.