Handedness in the First Two Years of Life

A study of handedness in the first two years of life should contribute to a systematic description of the development of handedness at this period, factual information concerning which has heretofore been lacking. In this approach handedness has been defined in terms of a psychological concept and is limited to overtly discernible handed behavior

Methodology of gender research and local development concepts: report on workshop, 11-12 November 1999

Der Workshop "Methodology of Gender Research and Local Development Concepts" wurde aus Anlass eines Besuches zweier Angehöriger der 'Ahfad University of Women' Omdurmman, Sudan von der 'Gender Division of the Sociology of Development Research Centre' an der Universität Bielefeld organisiert und von ungefähr 30 Teilnehmern besucht. Erfahrungen von empirischen Feldforschungsarbeiten aus dem Sudan, Kenia, Ruanda, Westafrika und Südasien bildeten den Ausgangspunkt für Diskussionen über methodologische Probleme der Gender-Forschung. Die Vorträge kamen von Mitarbeitern und Doktoranden des Bielefelder Forschungszentrums, von Gästen der 'Ahfad University of Women' Omdurmman, Sudan und von Angehörigen der landwirtschaftlichen Fakultät der Humboldt Universität Berlin, die 1998 ein Kooperationsabkommen mit der Ahfad University unterschrieben hat. (ICD

A Design for a Family-Centered Nursery School Affiliated With a College Home Economics Program

Although today we are just as concerned as ever about what is happening to children in our society, we are also broadening the scope of our concern to include the parents. To put this philosophy into practice, it is obvious that all phases of family-life education, including the laboratory nursery schools which are associated with Divisions of Home Economics, ought to be “family-centered” rather than either “child-centered” or “adult-centered”. The problem, then, is to design a nursery school program that is family-centered; that is, one that not only meets the needs of the child, but also is cognizant of the needs of the other family members. The result of such a program should be an improvement in the quality of the family life of the families involved. The hypothesis that was tested in the study described here may be stated as follows: The nursery school program presented in this paper is an improvement over the traditional program in accomplishing the goal of better family living. In order to verify or negate the hypothesis, a program was put into operation at South Dakota State College under the auspices of the Department of Child Development and Family Relations in the Home Economics Division. At the end of two college quarters the parents of the twenty-four enrolled nursery school children were asked to evaluate the effect of the program on their family lives by filling out a questionnaire and returning it to the nursery school teachers anonymously

Helmut Böttiger, Die Gruppe 47

De 1947 à 1967, l’écrivain et découvreur de talents Hans Werner Richter a réuni chaque année sous le nom de Groupe 47 des écrivains et des poètes souvent peu connus, qui ont constitué par la suite des grands noms de la littérature de langue allemande : Ilse Aichinger, Ingeborg Bachmann, Paul Celan, Günter Eich, Günter Grass, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Heinrich Böll, Peter Handke, Martin Walser, entre autres. Ce volume prend en compte les nombreuses analyses et études parues précédemment sur le..

Measuring the Mathematics Anxiety of High School Students: An Application of Rasch Measurement Theory

Thesis advisor: Larry H. LudlowThe focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields has noticeably increased in recent decades with the rapid growth in technology. Mathematical knowledge and competence is in many ways a gateway to scientific and technical development, and therefore careers (Prieto & Delgado, 2007). Unfortunately, national and international assessments of mathematics achievement (e.g., Kena et al., 2016; NCES, 2015; OECD, 2013) show that schools in the United States are not helping students achieve acceptable levels of mathematical and numerical proficiency. Therefore, we need to understand how various factors, including mathematics anxiety, affect student performance and persistence in STEM. To do this, a valid and reliable measure of mathematics anxiety is needed. Existing instruments to measure mathematics anxiety have been insufficient in several ways, including in their conceptualization of the construct and use of classical test theory over Rasch measurement theory methods.In this study, an instrument – the Comparative Mathematics Anxiety Scale (CMAS) – was developed to measure the three-dimensional conceptualization of mathematics anxiety that Dr. Caroline Vuilleumier and I originated. A unique, comparative item format adapted from Ludlow et al. (2014, 2019) and Rasch measurement theory (Rasch, 1960/1980) were utilized to mitigate some of the limitations of existing instruments. The overarching research question and three sub-research questions explored whether the CMAS could measure mathematics anxiety in a valid, reliable, and meaningful way. This study employed a seven-step iterative scale development process and was accomplished across three rounds. Ultimately, twenty-three third-person items were developed to capture the emotional-attitudinal, mental-cognitive, and physical-somatic dimensions of mathematics anxiety. Using the Rasch rating scale model, the outcome was the 23-item CMAS that reliably and validly measures increasing levels of three dimensions of mathematics anxiety. The distribution of the items mostly confirmed their hypothesized order and the Rasch measurement theory principles. The scale also provides meaningful interpretations of what a raw score means regarding a student’s experience of emotional-attitudinal, mental-cognitive, and physical-somatic mathematics anxiety. Overall, the findings suggest that the novel approach of combining Rasch measurement theory with third-person items and comparative response options can be successful in developing a scale that measures an important construct. Furthermore, the scale can provide the evidence needed in the provision of interventions and in research to reduce students’ overall experience of mathematics anxiety.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation

A good place to raise a family? Comparing parents, service-providers\u27, and media perspectives of the inner and outer suburban areas of Melbourne

In Australia, the suburbs have historically been the favoured place to raise children. However this is being challenged both by social change and government policy encouraging innerurban renewal. We examined how inner-urban areas compare with more traditional suburban locations as places to raise a family. Recognising that there are many influences on perceptions of place, we included the opinions of parents, service-providers and the media in the two locations.Research focused on two municipalities in Melbourne, one located >25km and the other <10km from the CBD. Themes were obtained and compared from in-depth interviews with parents, serviceproviders and analysis of municipality-specific and state-wide newspaper articles.Service provision was the only theme common at all levels of analysis. For all other themes, differences occurred between perspectives of service-providers, media and parents, as well as between the two residential locations. These in-depth snapshots on the challenges and rewards of raising children in different urban locations can help inform government in planning healthy neighbourhoods that better serve the needs of contemporary Australian families

Metabolic changes associated with two endocrine abnormalities in dogs : elevated fructosamine and low thyroxine

Introduction Metabolomics studies in canine endocrine abnormalities are sparse and basic information on these abnormalities must be generated. Objectives To characterize the metabolic changes associated with elevated fructosamine, reflecting poor glycemic control, and low thyroxine, a thyroid hormone controlling metabolism. Methods Leftovers of clinical serum samples; 25 controls, 79 high fructosamine, and 47 low thyroxine, were analyzed using H-1 NMR and differences were evaluated using Firth logistic regression. Results Both high fructosamine and low thyroxine were associated with changes in concentrations of multiple metabolites, including glycoprotein acetyls and lipids. Conclusion These findings suggest promising makers for further research and clinical validation.Peer reviewe