Combining scaffolding for content and scaffolding for dialogue to support conceptual break throughs in understanding probability

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11858-015-0720-5In this paper, we explore the relationship between scaffolding, dialogue and conceptual breakthroughs, using data from a design-based research study into the development of understanding of probability in 10-12 year old students. Our aim in the study was to gain insight into how the combination of the scaffolding of content using technology and scaffolding for dialogue in the expectation that this would facilitate conceptual breakthroughs. We analyse video-recordings and transcripts of pairs and triads talking together around TinkerPlots software with worksheets and teacher interventions, focusing on moments of conceptual breakthrough. The dialogue scaffolding promoted both dialogue moves specific to the context of probability and dialogue in itself. This paper focuses on an episode of learning that occurred within dialogues (framed and supported by the scaffolding. We present this as support for our claim that combining scaffolding for content with scaffolding for dialogue can be effective. This finding contributes to our understanding of both scaffolding and dialogic teaching in mathematics education by suggesting that scaffolding can be used effectively to prepare for conceptual development through dialogue.7th European Community Framework Programme - Marie Curie Intra European Fellowshi

Students' informal inference about the binomial distribution of "bunny hops": A dialogic perspective

The study explores the development of 11-year-old students' informal inference about random bunny hops through student talk and use of computer simulation tools. Our aim in this paper is to draw on dialogic theory to explain how students make shifts in perspective, from intuition-based reasoning to more powerful, formal ways of using probabilistic ideas. Findings from the study suggest that dialogic talk facilitated students' reasoning as it was supported by the use of simulation tools available in the software. It appears that the interaction of using simulation tools, talk between students, and teacher prompts helps students develop their understanding of probabilistic ideas in the context of making inferences about the distribution of random bunny hops

Understanding knowledge as a mental state in normal and autistic children

This thesis examines the cognitive-psychological theory of autism, specifically the "theory of mind" account. According to this theory, autistic people lack the ability to attribute mental states to other people and this underlies their social communication difficulties. In the introductory chapters, autism is described, followed by a consideration of different theoretical accounts of the normal child's theory of mind and empirical evidence on the autistic child's theory of mind. Finally, the introduction discusses whether the different theoretical accounts can explain autism. A series of experiments are then described which investigated normal and autistic children's ability to understand knowledge as a mental state. Experiment 1 established a baseline for the subsequent experiments and included three groups of normal children with mean ages of four years nine months, five years nine months and six years nine months. In this experiment the children's ability to differentiate the cognitive mental terms "know" and "guess" with reference to their own and another person's mental states was examined. Results of this experiment indicated that all three groups of children could differentiate "know" and "guess" in reference to their own and another person's mental state. Experiments 2 and 3 compared the ability to differentiate "know" from "guess" with reference to their own and another persons mental state of high language level autistic children, low language level autistic children, children with Down's syndrome, four-year- old and five-year-old normal children. Results of these experiments showed that the high language level autistic children were able to refer to their and another person's mental state of knowledge. In addition the results were related to a number of measures of language ability. Experiment 4 compared the ability to attribute knowledge and ignorance to themselves and another person of high language level autistic children, low language level autistic children, four-year-old and five-year-old normal children. In one task the experimental question involved the mental term "know", in another task, the term "could help" was used. Results of this experiment showed that all four groups of children performed significantly better in the "know" task than in the "help" task. Performances on the tasks was again related to the children's language skills. The thesis reaches two main conclusions. First that autistic children do not totally lack a theory of mind, since high language level autistic children were able to refer to their and another person's knowledge state. Second, autistic children's language level is a strong predictor of their performance on theory of mind tasks. The thesis concludes by discussing a number of issues involved in autism research and indicating future directions for research

Psychometric properties of the antisocial process screening device in a non - clinical sample of Turkish children

The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; Frick & Hare, 2002) to be used with non-clinical Turkish samples. APSD is a 20-item scale that evaluates antisocial behaviors and the presence of psychopathic traits in children between 6-13 years of age. Study 1 was designed to check the internal consistency and test-retest and inter-rater reliabilities. Despite satisfactory test-retest and inter-rater reliability coefficients, the Cronbach alpha coefficients of the Callous Unemotional (CU) dimension were very low in all the three forms (parent, teacher, and combined). Study 2 was designed to check the internal consistency after conducting the revisions and also validity analyses, mainly by using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997). Consequently, the Turkish version of APSD showed reliable and valid results to evaluate the psychopathic traits and antisocial behaviors of the children between 8-11 years of age in the non-clinical Turkish sample

How do the predictors of conduct problems / hyperactivity and callous - unemotional (CU) traits in children differ according to mothers' and teachers' ratings?

WCPCG-2010This study investigated the predictors of conduct problems/hyperactivity and callous-unemotional (CU) traits in children. It was hypothesized that conduct problems/hyperactivity and CU traits are associated with different risk factors. The participants of the study composed of 513 teacher-nominated elementary school children with a mean of 9.62 years of age. Regression analyses revealed some significant differences between risk factors of conduct problems/hyperactivity and CU traits. In addition, predictors according to mothers' and teachers' ratings were not the same, except for some overlapping variables. The results were discussed in terms of using of multiple informants for assessing different problem areas in children

Yetişkin mizaç ölçeği: geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışmaları

Alan yazına bakıldığında yetişkin mizacını klinik örneklemin yanı sıra toplum örnekleminde de değerlendiren bir ölçeğin Türkçe adaptasyonunun bulunmadığı görülmüştür. Bu çalışmanın amacı, birçok farklı dile çevrilen Yetişkin Mizaç Ölçeği-Kısa Formunun (Adult Temperament Questionnaire-Short Form) Türkçe’ye uyarlamasını yaparak, güvenirliğini ve geçerliğini incelemektir. Ölçek Ankara’da yaşayan öğrenciler ve farklı sosyoekonomik düzey ve meslek gruplarından oluşan kişiler olmak üzere 462 kişiye uygulanmıştır. Örneklemi oluşturanların yaşları 18 ile 65 arasında değişmektedir (Ort= 22.97). Örneklemin 274’ü kadın (%59.3), 188’i erkektir (%40.7). Ölçeğin yapı geçerliğini ölçmek için açımlayıcı faktör analizi, güvenirliğini incelemek için iç tutarlığına bakılmıştır. Faktör analizi sonunda dürtüsel negatif duygulanım (α = .77), duyusal duyarlı negatif duygulanım (α = .80), dışadönüklük (α = .75), çaba gerektiren kontrol (α = .75) ve duyarlılık (α = .83) olmak üzere 5 faktör bulunmuştur. Dürtüsel negatif duygulanım boyutu, tepkisellik ve ketleyici kontrol alt boyutlarından; duyusal duyarlı negatif duygulanım boyutu, rahatsız olma ve keyif alma alt boyutlarından; dışadönüklük boyutu pozitif duygulanım ve sosyallik alt boyutlarından; çaba gerektiren kontrol boyutu, dikkat kontrolü ve aktivasyon kontrolü alt boyutlarından ve duyarlılık boyutu, genel algısal hassasiyet, çağrışımlı hassasiyet, duygusal algısal hassasiyet, ve üzüntüye duyarlılık alt boyutlarından oluşmaktadır. Alt boyutların iç tutarlılık katsayıları ise .60 ile .79 arasında değişmektedir. Mizacın alt boyutları ile kavramsal olarak eşdeğer olan kişilik alt boyutları arasındaki korelasyonlar anlamlıdır. Bulgular, Türkçeye uyarlanan Yetişkin Mizaç Ölçeği’nin psikometrik olarak kabul edilebilir düzeylerde güvenilir ve geçerli olduğunu göstermiştir.To the best of our knowledge, there is not any questionnaire in Turkish measuring adult temperament that could be used both with the community and clinical samples. Thus, the purpose of the study was to translate The Adult Temperament Questionnaire-Short Form, which has already been translated into several languages, to Turkish and to examine the reliability and validity of the Turkish version. The questionnaire was distributed to 462 university students and adults from different socioeconomic statuses and professions in Ankara. The age of participants ranged from 18 to 65 years (M=22.97). 274 (%59.3) of them were females, 188 (%40.7) of them were males. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to examine construct validity, and also internal consistency reliabilities were calculated. Five factors, namely impulsive negative affect (α = .77), sensory sensitive negative affect (α = .80), extraversion (α =.75), effortful control (α =.75), and sensitivity (α =.83) were extracted after exploratory factor analysis. Impulsive negative affect includes frustration and inhibitory control; sensory sensitive negative affect includes discomfort and high-intensity pleasure; extraversion includes positive affect and sociability; effortful control includes attentional control and activation control; and sensitivity includes general perceptual sensitivity, associative perceptual sensitivity, affective perceptual sensitivity, and sadness. Internal consistency coefficients ranged from .60 to .79. The correlations between the factors of temperament scale and personality traits were significant. The current findings suggested that The Adult Temperament Questionnaire-Turkish version had acceptable levels of reliability and validity. Thus, this scale can be used with Turkish samples.No sponso

A qualitative investigation of the adult development in terms of parental roles

Bu araştırmada, anne baba rollerinin kişilerin kendi gelişimlerini nasıl etkilediğine yönelik algıları, Erikson’nın yaşam boyu gelişim teorisinde ortaya attığı orta yaş dönemindeki üretkenliğe (bir sonraki kuşağı kurma ve yönlendirme ilgisi) karşı durağanlık evresi temel alınarak incelenmiştir. Erikson bu dönemin yetişkin yaşamında önemli bir role sahip olduğunu ve kişinin kendi çocuğuyla ilgilenmesinin bu gelişimsel işi başarmasında önemli bir role sahip olduğunu önermektedir. Bu doğrultuda, anababalık üretkenliği çerçevesinde; anababaların çocuk yetiştirme davranışları, anne babalığın kişilerin yaşantılarında meydana getirdiği değişimler ve gelişimlerin ne olduğu, anne babalığa yönelik rol algıları, anababalığın evlilik, iş, sosyal ilişkilerine ve kendi gelişimelerine olan etkisi, yaşamdan alınan doyum ve diğer alanlardaki doyumların (evlilik, iş, sağlık vb.) anababalık rolleriyle olan ilişkisi niteliksel olarak incelenmiştir. Bu çalışma için yaşları 37 ile 61 arasında değişen, en az 17 yaşında bir çocuğu olan, 13 anne ve 10 baba ile geriye dönük yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Sonuçta, araştırmaya katılan yetişkinlerin hemen hepsi, hayatlarındaki en önemli rolün anne baba olmaları olduğunu belirtmişlerdir. Ancak, anneler, babalara kıyasla annelik rollerini çok daha güçlü algılamaktadırlar. Anababalar çocuk yetiştirmenin olgunlaşmalarına dramatik bir şekilde olmasa da büyük bir katkısının olduğunu ve yaşamlarına bir disiplin ve sorumluluk getirdiğini, anababalığın kendi gelişimlerinde önemli katkılarının olduğunu belirtmişlerdir. Dolayısıyla, anne babalar bir sonraki kuşağı oluşturacak çocukları yetiştirip, gelişmelerine rehberlik ederken, aynı zamanda kendi kişilikleri ve gelişimleri de bu çocuk yetiştirme sürecinden etkilenmektedir. Bu çalışma algılanan anababalık rolleri, çocuk yetiştirme ile aktif olarak ilgilenme ve yetişkin gelişimi arasındaki bağlantıyı daha derinlemesine anlamaya çalışmıştır

Factors influencing children's appraisals of interparental conflict: the role of parent-child relationship quality

The cognitive contextual model proposes that children’s appraisals of interparental conflict (IPC) can influence their adjustment. In addition, previous research revealed that interparental disputes may reflect on parent-child relationship that is linked with children’s self-blame and threat appraisals concerning IPC. However, there is a scarcity of research directly addressing the intervening role of the parent-child relationship on children’s appraisals of IPC. Thus, we investigated the mediating role of different aspects of the parent-child relationship (i.e., psychological control, warmth, and attachment security) in the link between IPC and self-blame and threat appraisals. Participants were 1,309 children, their mothers, and their fathers. SEM analyses indicated that higher IPC was related to higher parental psychological control and lower child attachment security, which in turn was associated with higher self-blame or threat appraisals. The pattern of relationships was similar across child and parent gender

Pre-Linguistic Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule Adapted for Older Individuals with Severe to Profound Mental Retardation: A Pilot Study

The Autism Diagnostic Observational Schedule (ADOS) is a semi-structured observational scale developed to assess social interaction, communication and play in individuals who are suspected to have autism. Since the ADOS is not suitable to be used with severely or profoundly mentally retarded adolescents and adults with very limited language skills, materials and some of the tasks of the PL-ADOS and the original ADOS (the former versions of the current ADOS) were adapted. Results indicated that almost all of the overall ratings showed good reliability and discriminative diagnostic validity. Furthermore, the combination of codings into an overall algorithm score on social/communicative behavior resulted in a sensitivity of .82 and a specificity of .85 when using a cut-off score of 15.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44627/1/10803_2005_Article_27.pd