Effects of Conflict Resolution Training Integrated Into a High School Social Studies Curriculum

Abstract

The authors examined the effectiveness of conflict resolution and peer mediation training among California high school students. The authors randomly assigned 2 of 4 classes to receive 5 weeks of conflict resolution and peer mediation training integrated into the required social studies curriculum. The remaining 2 classes studied the same social studies curriculum for an identical amount of time (105 min every other day) without conflict resolution and peer mediation training. The authors investigated 2 issues. The 1st was the effectiveness of the conflict resolution and peer mediation training. The trained students, compared with the untrained students, learned the integrative negotiation and peer mediation procedures better, applied the procedures more completely, chose an integrative over a distributive approach to negotiation, and developed more positive attitudes toward conflict. The 2nd issue was the impact of the training program on academic achievement. Integrating conflict resolution and peer mediation training into an academic course promoted higher achievement, greater long-term retention of the academic learning, and greater transfer of academic learning in social studies to language arts.     

Dysregulated negative emotional reactivity as a predictor of chronic peer victimization in childhood

This study examined the relations of dysregulated negative emotional reactivity, emotional distress, and chronic peer victimization in childhood. A model was proposed whereby dysregulated reactivity was directly and indirectly related to concurrent peer victimization through victimization‐related emotional distress. The model further proposed that dysregulated reactivity directly incrementally predicted longitudinal peer victimization above and beyond the effect of concurrent victimization. Two hundred thirteen 9‐ to 13‐year‐old children and their parents completed measures of dysregulated reactivity and victimization experiences at baseline and 6‐month follow‐up. Children also related narratives of personal victimization experiences at baseline that were coded to assess victimization‐related emotional distress. Model testing strongly supported the direct association of dysregulated reactivity with concurrent victimization and incremental predictive effects of dysregulated reactivity on peer victimization over time. Model testing also provided support for an indirect effect of dysregulated reactivity on concurrent peer victimization through victimization‐related emotional distress. This study demonstrated the powerful role that dysregulated negative emotional reactivity plays in the development of chronic peer victimization over time. Aggr. Behav. 38:414‐427, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Clinical Psychology Students’ Experiences of a Pilot Objective Structured Clinical Examination

There is a need to improve methods used to assess students’ clinical skills in postgraduate clinical psychology training, but research into the use of new competency‐based assessments are sparse. The current study examines the potential application of the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) to clinical psychology training. Commonly used in medical training, the OSCE requires students to demonstrate clinical skills across a number of standardised stations with trained actors playing the part of patients. A pilot OSCE was conducted with nine students from a psychology doctoral program. Participants completed a brief student feedback questionnaire and attended a focus group after the OSCE. They also completed the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory before and after the OSCE. The results showed that students viewed the OSCE as a valid, realistic, and fair assessment method. They reported high levels of anxiety during the OSCE but noted that the OSCE was a positive learning experience. These results suggest that OSCEs should be considered in clinical psychology training programs for the assessment of clinical competence. Further evaluations of the validity and reliability of the clinical psychology OSCE using a larger sample size are required. Other limitations and implications of the study are discussed.     

Negotiating Reintegration and Meanings of Space: Formerly Abducted Youth in Uganda

The war in Northern Uganda has ended, and youth who were abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army continue to return to communities. Research conducted in the summer of 2010 in two locations in Uganda, Gulu and Masindi, shows that the process of reintegration is an ongoing process in which formerly abducted youth (FAY) negotiate social relations for reintegration in a very interactive way. FAY consciously decide to stay quiet about their past to avoid compromising social reintegration. The experience‐oriented approach has allowed for an in‐depth exploration and understanding of the reintegration process from the perspective of FAY. In Northern Ugandan cosmology, meaning given to FAY personal spaces dominates. With FAY facing social exclusion by community members and the need to overcome boundaries to reintegration, coping mechanisms are adopted to facilitate reintegration and to carve out personal space within the Northern Ugandan cosmology. In the exploration of the process of negotiating reintegration, a conceptual model is adopted and adjusted to represent personal space within Northern Ugandan cosmology. The main findings suggest that FAY negotiate social relations for reintegration in a very interactive way and that they consciously decide to stay quiet about their past so as to not compromise social reintegration. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

La formation dans l’enseignement de la psychologie pour les étudiants de cycle supérieur : les compétences essentielles pour les nouveaux enseignants

What pedagogical skills are necessary for first-time college instructors? Ninety-two faculty (M = 41.3 years old, 68% female, 90.2% white, 91% born in the US) and 64 graduate students (M = 28.3 years old, 83% female, 87.5% white, 81% born in the US) listed the top three skills they believed were essential to instructors’ success in the college classroom. Despite differing levels of classroom teaching experience, graduate students and faculty members prioritized “survival” skills: public speaking, organization, and content mastery. Notable differences did emerge: faculty members were more likely to list reflection on teaching and graduate students were more likely to list classroom management and comfort with technology. Faculty also preferred more informal training methods (e.g., self-reflection, mentorship), whereas graduate students preferred more formal training methods (e.g., practice/experience, seminar/workshop). Recommendations for graduate teacher training programs include a focus on lower as well as higher-level skills and an attempt to incorporate formal and informal training methods.     

教师教学自主权与教师领导力的关系：心理授权和教学自主性的中介作用

教师领导力是指教师在课堂内外带领同事提升专业技能,与其他教师和校长合作处理学校事务的一种专业特质。为探究教师教学自主权与教师领导力的关系,以及教师心理授权和教学自主性的中介作用,从而寻求提升教师领导力的路径,研究选取403名中小学教师进行问卷调查。结果发现：（1）教学自主权与教师领导力呈显著正相关,且前者对后者有显著直接效应;（2）教师心理授权和教学自主性分别在教学自主权与教师领导力间发挥部分中介作用;（3）教师心理授权和教学自主性在教学自主权对教师领导力间发挥部分链式中介作用,即教学自主权的提高会促进教师心理授权和教学自主性的提升,进而促进教师领导力的发展。     

Children’s effortful control and academic achievement: do relational peer victimization and classroom participation operate as mediators?

Given that early academic achievement is related to numerous developmental outcomes, understanding processes that promote early success in school is important. This study was designed to clarify how students’ (N = 291; M age in fall of kindergarten = 5.66 years, SD = 0.39 year) effortful control, relational peer victimization, and classroom participation relate to achievement, as students progress from kindergarten to first grade. Effortful control and achievement were assessed in kindergarten, classroom participation and relational peer victimization were assessed in the fall of first grade, and achievement was reassessed in the spring of first grade. Classroom participation, but not relational peer victimization, mediated relations between effortful control and first grade standardized and teacher-rated achievement, controlling for kindergarten achievement. Findings suggest that aspects of classroom participation, such as the ability to work independently, may be useful targets of intervention for enhancing academic achievement in young children.     

医学影像学见习应用PACS教学法与传统读片教学法的对比研究

将中南大学湘雅医学院2010级临床医学五年制197名学生随机分成两组,在医学影像学见习教学过程中分别应用影像存储及传输系统（PACS）教学法（98人）及传统读片教学法（99人）,学期结束时对两组学生考试成绩进行分析,并对PACS组学生进行问卷调查及结果分析.统计数据显示,PACS组学生读片测验及卷面考试中,病例分析题成绩显著高于传统读片组,问卷调查显示PACS组学生大多数认可该教学方法.因此,应用PACS教学有助于提高学生的临床分析能力及主动学习的能力,是学生欢迎的教学方式.但对医学影像学基本知识的传授,应用PACS法较传统读片法并无明显优势.