The Index of Forecasting Efficiency,for the Case of a “True” Criterion

A variety of personal characteristics have been shown to be influential in teacher-student relationships. The sex of the child as well as the appropriateness of his behavior were the factors evaluated in this study. An analysis of the results indicated that sex-inappropriate behavior was viewed less favorably than sex-appropriate behavior. A discussion of the results was presented with regard to support for previous studies and implications for future research.     

Learning Introductory Quantum Physics: Sensori‐motor experiences and mental models

This paper reports a cross‐sectional study of Taiwanese physics students’ understanding of subatomic phenomena that are explained by quantum mechanics. The study uses students’ explanations of their answers to items in a questionnaire as a proxy for students’ thinking. The variation in students’ explanations is discussed as is the development in the way in which students link different concepts. A discussion of the source of students’ ideas turns to the way schema contain mental models that derive from sensori‐experiences. The principal recommendation for teaching is the need to include practical activities on a range of precursor phenomena so as to extend the students repertoires of mental models. This advice is different from that given in previous studies.     

The role of planning in outdoor adventure decision-making

ABSTRACT

This article explores the influential role of planning on recognition-primed decision-making. Considerable prior thinking occurs and there is a need to trace and account for the cognitive processes that precede and guide decisions in dynamic outdoor environments. Seven expert leaders from four countries were interviewed about memorable decisions made on outdoor journeys with an educational focus on land, sea and ice. Four stages of planning were identified: (1) long-term preparation; (2) formal leadership meetings; (3) day-by-day planning on route and (4) thinking immediately prior to the event. The stages sequentially capture the planning progression, illuminating the cognitive processes at each stage to culminate in option selection. In each decision situation, planned goals and actions were implemented through the creation and re-creation of micro-plans. As windows of opportunity presented themselves, the flexible execution of plans was a key feature. Planning provided the solid bedrock upon which decisions were made.     

Race and the Education Reform Act

The abandonment of a commitment to the achievement of social democratic consensus in the Thatcherite project and the emphasis on individualism and the market means that a new source of cultural hegemony has to be sought. It is being attempted by the inculcation of a particular form of nationalism using the family and schools as a vehicle. The exact parameters of what constitutes Britishness are achieved by the marginalization of groups and movements that threaten the particular Thatcherite model of the nation and the imposition of a limited, and racist, model of culture. Within education a struggle is developing over content as the government seeks to impose a National Curriculum that reflects its ideology while structural changes hasten the commodification of education. Both the curriculum and structural changes are likely to have a detrimental effect on black and working-class pupils.     

The Development of Gender Stereotype Components

Developmental research has been limited by a narrow concept of stereotypes. A more complex model is presented, and developmental changes in gender stereotypes were investigated using the new model. In 2 studies, children were told about several sex-unspecified children, each described as having 1 masculine or 1 feminine characteristic. The children then predicted the likelihood of each story child having other masculine and feminine characteristics. In Study 1, 56 children (4–6 years) were told about target children who liked either a masculine or feminine toy, and then children predicted the targets' interests in other toys. In Study 2, 76 older children (6, 8, 10 years) were told about target children with a masculine or feminine characteristic from 1 of 4 categories (appearance, personality, occupations, toys), and then they predicted the likelihood of targets having other masculine and feminine characteristics from the same and from different categories as the cue. 2 developmental trends emerged: ( a ) children appear first to learn associations among characteristics relevant to their own sex and, later, to learn them for the other sex, and ( b ) older children's stereotypic judgments are more extreme than those of younger children. The implications of these results for the development of stereotypes, assessing gender knowledge, and understanding social judgments are discussed.     

Classroom Activities and Areas: Regularity of Use and Perceptions of Adaptability by General Early Educators

This report describes a mail survey of general early educators from Head Start, public school pre-kindergarten, public school kindergarten, and community preschool/child care programs. The purposes were to secure information about the availability of classroom activities and areas, and to obtain the respondents' perceptions of the ease with which activities and areas could be adapted to accommodate children with disabilities. Of the 893 mailed questionnaires, 483 (54.1%) were returned and coded. The respondents reportedly used a wide range of classroom activities and areas, and they rated those activities and areas as moderately easy to adapt. Also, respondents from mainstreamed programs used slightly more activities and perceived the activities as easier to adapt than did respondents from non-mainstreamed programs. The findings appear to indicate that placement of children with disabilities in segregated programs cannot be justified on grounds that integration will restrict the range of activities available to typically developing children, or on the grounds that the adaptations are perceived by program staff as too difficult to be accomplished.