Instructional approaches in relation to student behavior: A matter of adaptiveness

This study examined the relationship between task involvement and instructional approaches of differing complexity. Observation of 106 high school Grade 8 lessons yielded 293 broad segments of lesson activity, which were classified into four types, differing in environmental complexity (Transmission, Practice, Exchange, and Exploration). Statistically significant relationships were found between degree of complexity and student on-task behavior and peer interaction, but no differences relating to segment complexity were found in off-task behavior. The study also found that teacher use of the four segment types was influenced by subject area taught-maths-languages teachers employing more low complexity segments than high complexity ones, and humanities-sciences teachers giving similar emphasis to all segment types. These results shed light on the role of direct instruction, and suggest that teachers’ instructional approaches are adaptive to the informational complexity of classroom activities, in that teachers choose approaches that assist them in processing student behavior cues

The emergence of adolescent territories in a large urban leisure environment

This study explored person-environment fit relationships between age and gender characteristics of adolescents and their usage of leisure places within an unusual leisure environment, World Expo '88, and the extent to which adolescent territories emerged as a result of concentrated usage of some places by adolescents. Data from a survey of 465 young people and from interviews with a subsample of these, revealed distinct concentrations of adolescents in entertainment-related places, and in pavilions which adopted 'dynamic' rather than static displays. Interview data further suggest that the places preferred by adolescent visitors had a distinctive atmosphere associated with fun, excitement and relaxation, and allowed them room for personal expression. This cognition of particular leisure places as having a distinctive personal 'feel' seems to contribute, along with frequent usage, to the development of adolescent territories

Do macro-level changes in the leisure environment alter leisure constraints on adolescent girls?

This study compared the use of public leisure places and the distribution of leisure time among adolescent girls and boys. It focused in particular on changes in the social and environmental constraints on girls' leisure as a consequence of alterations in the macro-level environment associated with the staging of a World Expo. It found that girls attended major clusters of Expo settings at a higher rate than boys, and that girls spent as much time in public leisure places as boys. No gender differences in environmental constraints were found in relation to the rates of existing Expo attractions, both sexes being affected similarly by geographical access. However, there were gender-role differences in time spent in public places in the evening, with boys spending more time with peers and girls spending more time with parents. It was concluded that changes in the macro-level environment may have reduced the extent of gender differences in adolescent leisure, but that constraints relating to gender-role socialization continued to influence behavior

The Relation of Attachments and Supports to Adolescent Well-Being and School Adjustment

This study examined the relationship between adolescents 'adjustment and their supportive relations with significant others. It linked the Bowlby concept of social attachment with that of social support (derived from social network theory) in describing the exchange content of adolescents interactions with parents, peer-friends, and adult nonkin. Within each of these three support systems, only moderate relationships were found between adolescents number of supports and the strength of attachments to members of the respective support systems. Fewer relationships were found between supports and adjustment than between attachments and adjustment. For both sexes, the strength of attachments to parents and to teachers was associated with young people's positive feelings about themselves. Network ties providing informational support (encouragement, guidance, and advice) were related to girls'and boys'academic outcomes in different ways: among girls, support from parents and adult nonkin was related to academic self-concept, whereas among boys, support from friends was negatively related to self-concept and educational plans

School Size as a Factor in Adolescents' Adjustment to the Transition to Secondary School

Students from 30 elementary school classrooms were classified according to the transition paths taken in moving from elementary school to 32 high school classrooms, and their adjustment was assessed at three time-points (prior to the transition, shortly after the transition event, and 4 months later). Results showed strong effects for transition path for both the expectations and reactions measures, with no effects for gender or personality factors. Where ecological change was greatest (i.e., moving from a small school to a large school) students were initially most optimistic, but also showed the greatest anxiety following the move. Later assessment of adolescents' perceptions of classroom environment found less favorable views following transition, with an increase recorded in the level of pressure and a decrease in supportiveness