Growing islands of interest: nurturing the development of young children’s working theories

This presentation draws on the work from a 2-year collaborative practitioner research project, Moments of wonder, every day events: how are young children theorising and making sense of their world. The project aimed to contribute perspectives to the discussion around the ways young children express and develop working theories, how practitioners understand these and how best to respond to this learning in five Playcentres (parent-led early childhood education settings) in Canterbury, New Zealand. Children’s working theories, as described in Te Whāriki (the New Zealand early childhood education curriculum), are derived from Claxton’s view that knowledge consists of a large number of purpose-built situation specific packages called ‘mini theories’, and that ‘learning involved a gradual process of editing these mini theories so that they come to contain better knowledge and skill and be better located with respect to the area of experience for which they are suitable’. When children are engaged with others in complex thinking they are forming and strengthening their working theories. In exploring working theories we recognise that children have many interests. Some of these are fleeting, while others are more connected or revisited more frequently by children. Over the course of our research, we have come to think of these interests as ‘islands’ and in doing so have adopted this as a metaphor for working theories. We were keen to see how we can grow some of these islands of interest: making them more complex, more connected, and more compelling to children. The research team explored the different ways opportunities can be created for children to express and develop working theories and the outcomes for children’s learning as a result. The presentation will focus on some of the strategies implemented and the ways these have contributed to children’s ‘working theories’ learning as the practitioner researchers attempted to build communities of thinkers and ‘wonderers’

Poverty Simulation Participation: Transformative Learning Outcomes Among Family and Consumer Sciences Students

The purpose of this study was to investigate to what extent participating in a poverty simulation effectively increase a student’s understanding of life in poverty among human development and family sciences (HDFS) and teacher education students in family and consumer sciences (FCS). Using a mixed-method design, a convenience sample of junior and senior undergraduate students (N=57) in FCS from a Midwestern state university participated in a modified version of a poverty simulation. Using a pre-post questionnaire, the quantitative results indicated overall scores moved in a favorable direction in attitude improvement toward the poor and the qualitative responses provided support for the poverty simulation as an effective instructional tool. The results concluded encouragement of more positive attitudes among the HDFS and teacher education students, providing future child care specialists, social service agents and educators with an empathic and interaction basis for working with clients and students who are experiencing poverty

Going for growth : improvement in the infrastructural and management support for clinical academic research

Our objective was to implement a Directorate Research Strategy to improve and grow clinical academic capacity and capability and ensure that the organisational systems and processes enabled clinical staff and managers to increase grant capture, undertake clinically relevant research including the adoption of NIHR portfolio sites and established a culture in which research was an accepted part of professional practice. An initial evaluation of senior and middle manager attitudes and understanding of the research infrastructure and benefits of research identified that the Directorate had a deeply segmented view of research and only a partial view of how research could benefit patients and improve their services. A significant number of staff claimed to be research active but this activity was not contributing to the service knowledge or being translated into grant capture, leading to income that could be used to invest in patient -facing research. Few managers had appreciated the challenge of implementing the research strategy or the potential of enabling research active staff to generate clinical academic careers. An improvement approach was adopted, based on the 'Discipline of Improvement' (Penny 2003) recognising the need to embed research activity as a sustained activity that would involve all staff across the Directorate and deliver to the performance targets agree with the organisation. The interventions were introduced to assist key managers in each professional group to champion research and undertake the organisational change that would be needed. The Discipline of Improvement suggests an equal and proportional range of activity to engage staff, amend and adapt processes and systems, carry out organisational change and 'make it a habit'. The four cycles of improvement over 14 months were focused on the aim of inclusion of clinical staff in the delivery of the research strategy and this has resulted in 'academic status' being awarded in 2015. A clinical academic infrastructure, Public and Patient involvement and participation of clinical academic staff (10%) in grant capture and income has sustained the investment in research growth.</p

Cognitive Processes in Depression.

Hypotheses derived from Beck\u27s cognitive theory of depression were tested using 60 depressed and non-depressed males and females as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory. Subjects rated their performance before and after they received positive, negative, and neutral feedback regarding their performance on a social interaction task. They were also asked to recall feedback they received and explain reasons for their post-feedback self-rating. Results showed depressed males and females had a more negative evaluation of present circumstances and poorer memory for feedback. Further, depressed males lowered their self-evaluation upon feedback significantly more than did non-depressed males. In addition, depressed males showed significantly more cognitive distortions in their explanations of post-feedback ratings than did non-depressed males. Results regarding differential response to neutral and positive feedback were not found since subjects apparently perceived all levels of feedbacks as somewhat negative. Discussion concluded data were partially supportive of Beck\u27s cognitive theory of depression, especially in regard to males. Implications for future research were discussed

Solving the Obesity Problem One Bite at a Time: A Review of Interventions

Resource limitations contribute to obesity in southern rural populations. An examination of published research provides evidence related to factors that lead to obesity and to related health consequences. Resource limitations in southern rural areas include a lack of access to healthy foods, a lack of safe areas to exercise or fitness equipment, and a lack of funding to promote the hiring of adequate numbers of healthcare workers to implement prevention programs and treat obesity related diseases. An investigation of obesity rates in Mississippi and Louisiana demonstrate that high rates of obesity exist. Through an exploration of published interventions in both states, many types of obesity focused interventions have been found that address the resource limitations of these areas. Mississippi and Louisiana were used as the study areas in this investigation. Statistics related to rural obesity used in this study were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine obesity prevalence in these states. In addition, intervention strategies published in the targeted states in the past ten years were analyzed on their ability to meet resource limitations

Pathways to Health: a cancer prevention project for Native American schoolchildren and their families. In: Glover CS, Hodge FS, eds. Native Outreach: A Lay Report to American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Communities

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/prc-books/1004/thumbnail.jp

A follow-up study of families referred from a child psychiatric clinic

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Aurora Volume 45

College formerly located at Olivet, Illinois and known as Olivet University (1912-1923) Olivet College (1923-1939), Olivet Nazarene College (1940-1986), and Olivet Nazarene University (1986-Present).https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/arch_yrbks/1111/thumbnail.jp