Scaffolding: integrating social and cognitive perspectives on children’s learning at home

Since the translation and cultural assimilation of Vygotsky’s (1978) ideas into the English-speaking academic community from the 1970s, through thinkers such as Wertsch (1984), Vygotsky’s ideas continue to have a powerful influence in psychology and education, as well as being enthusiastically appropriated in other fields such as technology-mediated education (Luckin, 2003). As academics working across these disciplines, we felt the time was right to reflect on the use of socio-cultural theory, and the concept of scaffolding in particular, in understanding parent-child tutoring interactions at home, with reference to children’s academic achievement at school. Thanks to funding from the British Psychological Society, we ran a series of three seminars, and this Special Issue arises from questions raised there

Mathematics, mastery and metacognition: how adding a creative approach can support children in maths

Background: Children who hold an incremental view of ability show greater perseverance, improved help-seeking skills and are better able to cope with unexpected challenges. Classroom instruction can influence how children view themselves as learners. Aim: To explore how mastery-orientated classroom instruction, collaborative learning and metacognitive reflection can foster learners’ attitudes to their task performance. We hypothesised that using a mastery-oriented approach within a mathematics curriculum encourages metacognition, improves motivation and helps children achieve an underlying understanding of mathematical concepts thus improving mathematics performance. Method: This paper reports an 11-week project aiming to embed problem-solving strategies within a mastery-oriented whole-class environment. Children completed pre- and post-task semi-structured interviews and maths problems in addition to the 11-week collaborative maths project. Participants were 24 children from a rural primary school in East Sussex, 12 boys and 12 girls (mean age 8 years and 9 months). The interviews are presented qualitatively and a repeated measures analysis of variance on mathematics motivation and performance was conducted. Findings: The learners showed increased metacognitive reflection on learning strategies as well as increases in girls’ motivation for mathematics. Limitations: This is a small sample size and, being conducted within a typical everyday classroom, there were several uncontrolled variables. Although change was evident in both attitude and maths scores, it was difficult to apportion added value to the different variables contributing to the change in maths scores. Conclusions: Challenging children’s perceptions of mathematics encouraged greater self-reflection and increased motivation for girls

Using voice assistant skills in family life

Voice assistants are increasingly prevalent in family life, being used, for example, for listening to music, finding out information, asking jokes and playing games together. However, little research shows how such technology influences dynamic family interactions in the home over time. An in-the-wild study was conducted in six family homes over three weeks. An Alexa, with a number of skills, was set up in each home for the families to use. The findings showed differences in use over time. To begin, family cohesion behavior and family rituals were most prevalent. At the end of the study, the skills were found to motivate distinct family interaction patterns: including more collaboration to manage Alexa and scaffolding of children’s interactions with Alexa, given developmental differences in users’ grasp of Alexa’s capabilities and limitations. We discuss how voice assistants support different interaction patterns and potentially, offer different learning opportunities

Lo-fi prototyping to design interactive-tabletop applications for children

Interactive tabletops are an exiting new platform for supporting children's collaboration. With design guidelines and standardized interaction principles still immature, there is a considerable need for iterative prototyping to define the task and interface. Lo-fi prototypes-using cardboard, paper, etc.- are easy to develop, flexible to adjust during design sessions, and intuitive for users to manipulate. Using them can be a valuable step in designing tabletop applications. In this paper, we detail the design process of two tabletop applications, concentrating on the role of lo-fi prototyping. TransTime is a pattern game for 5-6 year olds to engage how time progresses. OurSpace is a design tool for 7-9 year olds to arrange desks and assign seats for students in their classroom. By comparing the experiences, we arrive at a better understanding of the benefits, challenges, and limits of using lo-fi prototypes to design interactive-tabletop applications for children

Patterns of care and emergency presentations for people with non-small cell lung cancer in New South Wales, Australia: A population-based study

Introduction Little is known about population-wide emergency presentations and patterns of care for people diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in Australia. We examined patients’ characteristics associated with presenting to an emergency department around the time of diagnosis (“emergency presenters”), and receiving anti-cancer treatment within 12 months of diagnosis. Materials and Methods Participants in the 45 and Up Study who were newly diagnosed with NSCLC during 2006–2010 were included. We used linked data from population-wide health databases including Medicare and pharmaceutical claims, inpatient hospitalisations and emergency department presentations to follow participants to June 2014. Patients’ characteristics associated with being an emergency presenter and receiving any anti-cancer treatment were examined. Results A total of 647 NSCLC cases were included (58.6% male, median age 73 years). Emergency presenters (34.5% of cases) were more likely to have a high Charlson comorbidity index score, be an ex-smoker who had quit in the past 15 years and to be diagnosed with distant metastases. Almost all patients had visited their general practitioner ≥3 times in the 6 months prior to diagnosis. Nearly one-third (29.5%) of patients did not receive any anti-cancer treatment, however, there were no differences between emergency and non-emergency presenters in the likelihood of receiving treatment. Those less likely to be treated were older, had no private health insurance, and had unknown stage disease recorded. Conclusion Our results indicate the difficulties in diagnosing lung cancer at an early stage and inequities in NSCLC treatment. Future research should address opportunities to diagnose lung cancer earlier and to optimise treatment pathways

The selectivity, voltage-dependence and acid sensitivity of the tandem pore potassium channel TASK-1 : contributions of the pore domains

We have investigated the contribution to ionic selectivity of residues in the selectivity filter and pore helices of the P1 and P2 domains in the acid sensitive potassium channel TASK-1. We used site directed mutagenesis and electrophysiological studies, assisted by structural models built through computational methods. We have measured selectivity in channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes, using voltage clamp to measure shifts in reversal potential and current amplitudes when Rb+ or Na+ replaced extracellular K+. Both P1 and P2 contribute to selectivity, and most mutations, including mutation of residues in the triplets GYG and GFG in P1 and P2, made channels nonselective. We interpret the effects of these—and of other mutations—in terms of the way the pore is likely to be stabilised structurally. We show also that residues in the outer pore mouth contribute to selectivity in TASK-1. Mutations resulting in loss of selectivity (e.g. I94S, G95A) were associated with slowing of the response of channels to depolarisation. More important physiologically, pH sensitivity is also lost or altered by such mutations. Mutations that retained selectivity (e.g. I94L, I94V) also retained their response to acidification. It is likely that responses both to voltage and pH changes involve gating at the selectivity filter

Clinicians' perspectives and experiences of providing cervical ripening at home or in-hospital in the United Kingdom

Induction of labour, or starting labour artificially, is offered when the risks of continuing pregnancy are believed to outweigh the risks of the baby being born. In the United Kingdom, cervical ripening is recommended as the first stage of induction. Increasingly, maternity services are offering this outpatient or 'at home', despite limited evidence on its acceptability and how different approaches to cervical ripening work in practice. There is also a paucity of literature on clinicians' experiences of providing induction care in general, despite their central role in developing local guidelines and delivering this care. This paper explores induction, specifically cervical ripening and the option to return home during that process, from the perspective of midwives, obstetricians and other maternity staff. As part of a process evaluation involving five case studies undertaken in British maternity services, interviews and focus groups were conducted with clinicians who provide induction of labour care. The thematic findings were generated through in-depth analysis and are grouped to reflect key points within the process of cervical ripening care: 'Implementing home cervical ripening', 'Putting local policy into practice', 'Giving information about induction' and 'Providing cervical ripening'. A range of practices and views regarding induction were recorded, showing how the integration of home cervical ripening is not always straightforward. Findings demonstrate that providing induction of labour care is complex and represents a significant workload. Home cervical ripening was seen as a solution to managing this workload; however, findings highlighted ways in which this expectation might not be borne out in practice. More comprehensive research is needed on workload impacts and possible lateral effects within other areas of maternity services

Contesting the Dominant Discourse of Child Sexual Abuse: Sexual Subjects, Agency, and Ethics

Responding to previous scholars’ call to explore the complexities of child sexual abuse (CSA), this article presents narratives of CSA and scrutinizes a binary construction underpinning this discourse of CSA, namely, the positioning of children as powerless and adults as powerful. The narratives belong to three Indonesian young people who have had sexual interactions with adults when they were children. The findings demonstrate how this binary positioning has been both drawn upon and resisted in the ways participants understand their sexual experiences. This article contributes to the existing literature by providing analyses of some vignettes of everyday experiences of how children might be constituted as sexual subjects, including their capability to exercise agency, perform resistance, and negotiate ethics. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to how the recognition of children as sexual subjects and their sexual agency might be beneficial for parents, educators, and counselors

PDD symptoms in ADHD, an independent familial trait?

The aims of this study were to investigate whether subtle PDD symptoms in the context of ADHD are transmitted in families independent of ADHD, and whether PDD symptom familiality is influenced by gender and age. The sample consisted of 256 sibling pairs with at least one child with ADHD and 147 healthy controls, aged 5-19 years. Children who fulfilled criteria for autistic disorder were excluded. The Children's Social Behavior Questionnaire (CSBQ) was used to assess PDD symptoms. Probands, siblings, and controls were compared using analyses of variance. Sibling correlations were calculated for CSBQ scores after controlling for IQ, ADHD, and comorbid anxiety. In addition, we calculated cross-sibling cross-trait correlations. Both children with ADHD and their siblings had higher PDD levels than healthy controls. The sibling correlation was 0.28 for the CSBQ total scale, with the CSBQ stereotyped behavior subscale showing the strongest sibling correlation (r = 0.35). Sibling correlations remained similar in strength after controlling for IQ and ADHD, and were not confounded by comorbid anxiety. Sibling correlations were higher in female than in male probands. The social subscale showed stronger sibling correlations in elder than in younger sibling pairs. Cross-sibling cross-trait correlations for PDD and ADHD were weak and not-significant. The results confirm that children with ADHD have high levels of PDD symptoms, and further suggest that the familiality of subtle PDD symptoms in the context of ADHD is largely independent from ADHD familiality

Working memory, reading ability and the effects of distance and typicality on anaphor resolution in children

We investigated the time course of anaphor resolution in children and whether this is modulated by individual differences in working memory and reading skill. The eye movements of 30 children (10?11 years) were monitored as they read short paragraphs in which (1) the semantic typicality of an antecedent and (2) its distance in relation to an anaphor were orthogonally manipulated. Children showed effects of distance and typicality on the anaphor itself and also on the word to the right of the anaphor, suggesting that anaphoric processing begins immediately but continues after the eyes have left the anaphor. Furthermore, children showed no evidence of resolving anaphors in the most difficult condition (distant atypical antecedent), suggesting that anaphoric processing that is demanding may not occur online in children of this age. Finally, working memory capacity and reading comprehension skill affect the magnitude and time course of typicality and distance effects during anaphoric processing