Navigating the muddy waters of the research into single sex classrooms in co-educational middle years settings

Establishing single sex classes within co-educational sites is an option that Australian schools are again exploring. To date Australia has experienced three ‘waves’ of interest in establishing single sex classes, the first focused on equitable education opportunities for girls (Alloway & Gilbert, 1997), the second centered on boys’ literacy and engagement (Gilbert & Gilbert, 1998) and this current wave focuses on perceived difference between the sexes in co-educational classrooms (Protheroe, 2009; Gurian, Stevens & Daniels, 2009). With the intersection of middle schooling movement, focusing on learner centered classrooms (Pendergast & Bahr, 2010) and current educational agendas aimed at improving student performance and measurable learning outcomes (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, 2008), it is understandable that schools are exploring such student grouping options. However, after thirty years of international research into the efficacy of single sex classes in co-educational settings, the results still remain unclear. This paper seeks to navigate the ‘muddy waters’ of this body of research and suggests a framework to help guide school communities through the decision-making process associated with considering single sex classes

Maladaptive cognitive appraisals in children with high-functioning autism : associations with fear, anxiety and theory of mind

Despite the well-documented success of cognitive restructuring techniques in the treatment of anxiety disorders, there is still little clarity on which cognitions underpin fear and anxiety in children with high-functioning spectrum disorders (HFASD). This study examined whether certain cognitive appraisals, known to be associated with fear and anxiety in non-HFASD groups, may help explain these emotions in children with HFASD. It also investigated relations between these cognitive appraisals and theory-of-mind (TOM). Using a vignette approach, appraisals, fear and anxiety were assessed in 22 children with HFASD and 22 typically developing (TD) children. The two groups differed significantly on all four appraisal types. Anxiety was negatively correlated with future expectancy and positively with problem-focused coping potential in the HFASD group, but was not correlated with appraisals in the TD group. Emotion-focused coping potential was the only appraisal correlated with fear in the HFASD group and only self-accountability in the TD group. Linear regression analysis found appraisals of emotion-focused coping potential, problem-focused coping potential and future expectancy to be significant predictors of TOM ability in the HFASD group. These findings indicate that specific, problematic patterns of appraisal may characterise children with HFASD

Movement and the Body in Teaching: Challenging the Commonsense Dualism

Much has been written on schools as sites for controlling young people and reproducing particular citizens. As part of these conversations there seems to be a 'commonsense' view that schooling is about educating the mind while at the same time taming the body. The underlying assumption that is being played out in such learning environments reflects that of Cartesian dualism, also referred to as a mind/body dualism and credited to the seventeenth century philosopher, Descartes. I would argue that this dualism is partly responsible for student disengagement with schooling and related to other issues including bullying and disconnection with healthy lifestyles. I am advocating for teachers and schools to interrupt mind/body hierarchies by attending to the embodied learner, a concept that will be unpacked below before suggesting measures to help start this process

Impact of Argument Type and Concerns in Argumentation with a Chatbot

Conversational agents, also known as chatbots, are versatile tools that have the potential of being used in dialogical argumentation. They could possibly be deployed in tasks such as persuasion for behaviour change (e.g. persuading people to eat more fruit, to take regular exercise, etc.) However, to achieve this, there is a need to develop methods for acquiring appropriate arguments and counterargument that reflect both sides of the discussion. For instance, to persuade someone to do regular exercise, the chatbot needs to know counterarguments that the user might have for not doing exercise. To address this need, we present methods for acquiring arguments and counterarguments, and importantly, meta-level information that can be useful for deciding when arguments can be used during an argumentation dialogue. We evaluate these methods in studies with participants and show how harnessing these methods in a chatbot can make it more persuasive

THE EFFECT OF CONTROL OVER WORK SCHEDULE, AVAILABILITY OF RESOURCES, UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES, AND WORK-SCHOOL-LIFE DEMANDS ON WELLNESS

With college students working an ever increasing number of hours, the demands placed on them from multiple roles is often significant leading to decreases in their overall wellness. This study used the job demands-resources perspective (Bakker & Demerouti, 2007) to examine how the availability and utilization of resources buffered the negative effects of work-school-life demands (WSLD) on student wellness. Wellness, a multidimensional construct, defines an active process in which people attempt to better themselves to achieve their full potential (Dunn, 1957; Hettler, 1980). We hypothesize that the availability and utilization of life resources will moderate the effect of WSLD on overall wellness. Consistent with the JD-R model, we predicted that there would be a negative relationship between life demands and wellness for those with lower levels of resources, whereas those with higher resources were predicted to report higher wellness regardless of their level of life demands