The Effects of an Autobiographical Dialogue Journaling Activity on Student Teachers\u27 Levels of Cultural Sensitivity and Reflective Skills

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a researcher-designed autobiographical dialogue journaling activity on student teachers\u27 levels of cultural sensitivity and levels of reflection. Written feedback from the university supervisors and cooperating teachers was analyzed to identify differences and similarities in the structure and focus of their responses. Data was collected from 30 student teachers assigned to urban elementary field placements following a six-week structured journaling activity. Student teachers were randomly assigned to one of three journaling conditions: autobiographical dialogue journaling with their cooperating teacher, autobiographical dialogue journaling with their university supervisor, or the traditional student teaching journaling assignment. All student teachers were administrated the Quick Discrimination Index (QDI) as a pre and post test assessment of their level of cultural sensitivity. The three levels of Reflectivity of Deliberative Rationality were used for qualitative analysis of the journals. Dependent t tests, single-classification analysis of variances and an analysis of covariance were used to analyze differences in student teachers\u27 levels of cultural sensitivity among the three groups. The results of the quantitative analysis revealed no statistically significant differences in the student teachers\u27 levels of cultural sensitivity as measured by the QDI following the autobiographical journal activity. However, qualitative analyses indicated that student teachers that used the autobiographical journaling instrument reflect at higher levels than those who used the traditional journaling tool. Student teachers reflecting at higher levels scored higher on the QDI and held different perspectives toward diversity than those student teachers that reflected at the lowest levels. There were also distinct differences in the style of the supervisors and cooperating teachers\u27 written feedback with the supervisors\u27 feedback including more explicit instructional strategies, probing comments, and questions. The results of this study indicate that engaging student teachers in a dialogue journaling activity with university supervisors would encourage critical reflections. Student teachers\u27 perspectives regarding diversity also appear to be related to their reflection skills and cultural sensitivity levels. Findings suggest that the structure of written feedback provided to student teachers might affect their reflection levels. It is recommended that cooperating teachers be trained in providing written feedback

Black History Month Programs: Performance and Heritage

Implications embedded in Black History Month programs access desires for cultural recognition of African American contributions and history within the United States. Equally important at these events is the implicit furthering of knowledge and connection to the past and the sustainability of African American heritage and culture. Concepts of “home” as historical, national, and individual community, infuse each performance and support and encourage connections that in turn insist on the removal of myopic considerations of cultural subjectivity and sustainability. Black History Month programs revision “home” through counter-stories of Blackness in America and American-ness in Black America.Les programmes du Mois de l’histoire des Noirs répondent implicitement aux désirs de reconnaissance culturelle des contributions et de l’histoire des Afro-américains aux États-Unis. Lors de ces évènements, l’approfondissement implicite de la connaissance, la relation au passé et la durabilité de la culture et du patrimoine afro-américains sont tout aussi importants. Les concepts de « chez soi » en tant que communauté historique, nationale et individuelle inspirent toutes les séances et soutiennent et encouragent des connexions qui, en retour, insistent pour que l’on abandonne les considérations à courte vue au sujet de la subjectivité culturelle et de la durabilité. Les programmes du Mois de l’histoire des Noirs revisitent le « chez soi » au moyen de contrerécits portant sur le fait d’être Noir en Amérique et d’être Américain dans l’Amérique noire

Transactional distance theory: the effect of disseminating educational messages to frontline nurses in an acute care hospital setting

Registered nurses (RNs)working in acute care hospitals that provide services 24 hours a day 7 days a week with a variety of schedules are a challenge for Nurse Managers to communicate rapidly changing, important educational messages in a timely and efficient manner. These RNs can be considered dispersed, or distanced, employees from their Nurse Managers. Moore’s (1972) Theory of Transactional Distance was the theoretical framework to explore the effects of disseminating educational messages via email from Nurse Managers to frontline RNs working in an acute care hospital that provides services 24 hours a day 7 days a week. A researcher-developed instrument, the Multivariable Transactional Distance Survey, was used to measure transactional distance, transactional distance constructs of learner autonomy, dialogue and structure, learner experience with technology, overall RN satisfaction with the program and selected professional and personal demographics. Findings indicate that frontline RNs are ready to use email to receive educational messages. They reported confidence in using email and accessibility to a computer. They were overall satisfied with the educational messages delivered electronically. There were no significant differences found in age, gender or type of unit in which the RN worked. Results confirmed that frontline RNs are dispersed employees, working full time but only three days a week 12 hours a day. Nurses that only work two days a week had a statistically lower transactional distance scale score compared to nurses that work five days a week. There was also a statistically lower transactional distance scale score in the nurses that rotated shifts compared to those that worked the day shift. Internal consistency of the total transactional distance scale was analyzed at a Cronbach’s Alpha of .929. Factor analysis of the data resulted in a four-factor model that explained 55.13% of the variance. Ten variables with loadings ranging from .920 to .423 loaded on factor one, dialogue. Ten variables loaded on factor two, structure, with loadings ranging from .745 to .428. Factor three, learner autonomy, contained six variables with loadings ranging from .938 to .654. The fourth factor was learner experience and consisted of six variables with loadings that ranged from .782 to .457. This supports Moore’s Transactional Distance Theory

Differential Effects of Various Language Sampling Procedures on Children\u27s Verbal Output

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether differences exist among four dlfferent language sampling procedures as to measures of communicative competence. Specifically, three questions were posed: Do statistically significant differences exist among obtained LCI scores for the following procedures for evoking child language samples: (1) Toys, (2) Verbal Directives, (3) Child-generated Pictures, and (4) Radio Telemetry. If differences exist, are they manifested in: (1) Noun Phrase One, (2) Verb Phrase One, (3) Noun Phrase Two. What is the frequency of occurrence of the obtained grammatical structures for the sampling procedure yielding the highest LCI scores? PROCEDURE. Four language samples were elicited from each of ten five-year-old children using the sampling procedures listed above. The verbal directives consisted of 15 questions to the child about himself and his environment. For the procedure utilizing toys, each child was asked to tell the examiner about nine different toys. For the child-generated pictures, each subject was trained by the examiner to use a camera, and was allowed to take a camera home and take pictures of anything he wished. A language sample was then elicited using the child\u27s developed prints as stimuli. Utilizing a radio telemetry device required that each child wear a harness and a dummy microphone for two days for familiarization while at school, and then wear the actual microphone the third day. A 30 minute language sample was recorded from each child while he was on the school playground with his peers. The examiner elicited, transcribed, and scored all language samples. The LCI was the measure used for linguistic analysis. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Mean LCI scores, standard deviation, and measures of skewness and kurtosis were computed for each sampling procedure. To assess the significance of the differences in group means, a one-way analysis of variance and then six t tests compairing all possible pairs were computed. Verbal directives were found to yield mean LCI scores which were significantly higher than those of toys and radio telemetry, and statistically equivalent to those from child-generated pictures. The values for verbal directives also demonstrated the least amount of response variability, and also a closer approximation to the normal curve than the other three procedures. Six t tests were also employed to determine whether differences among sampling procedures were manifested in any of the subtest indices. Mean index scores from verbal directives were found to be either significantly higher than or statistically equivalent to those for any of the other three methods. The frequency of occurrence of subtest structures was charted for verbal directives from the Miner study (1970), and the frequency of occurrence for subtest structures from child-generated pictures from the present study was charted for comparison. CONCLUSIONS: The stimulus method does differentially effect verbal output, and, hence, judgments of communicative competence. For the children utilized in this investigation, verbal directives were the highest and most stable indicator of communicative competence. The similarity in structures generated in response to verbal directives and those generated in response to child-generated pictures indicates that these are probably those structures which the five-year-old should be generating appropriately to be considered on a comparable level of language development with his peers

Editor\u27s Welcome and Introduction to KTEJ

The editor, Wanda G. Chandler, welcomes TED members and other readers to the reestablishment of KTEJ and the first issue be published at WKU\u27s TopSCHOLAR® website. Call for papers is March 15, 2014

Regenerative-Relational Tritangtu: Sundanese Triadic Transformation Model

 Tritangtu atau pola pikir tritunggal merupakan kosmologi masyarakat Sunda dan Minang yang terdiri dari tiga entitas (pola tiga). Tritangtu sebagai kearifan lokal juga melatarbelakangi struktur mental pelaku kreatif dalam membuat karya baik berupa pertunjukan, nilai filosofi artefak mau- pun produk budaya lainnya di masyarakat Indonesia. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode etnografi dengan teknik pengumpulan data observasi partisipasi, wawancara mendalam dan dokumentasi. Obyek penelitian ini adalah praktik pelaku kreatif di bidang desain di Bandung. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan adanya transformasi tritangtu Sunda dari struktur yang tetap menjadi struktur dinamis. Perubahan struktur ini ditentukan oleh relasi antar struktur pembentuk unsur desain de- ngan segmentasi pasar global. Peminjaman penanda identitas Sunda khususnya budaya rakyat atau tradisi masa lalu merupakan upaya regeneratif dalam usahanya untuk harmonisasi pola tiga dalam menghadapi dan memenangkan persaingan pasar bebas di Indonesia.

Supporting Collaborative Health Tracking in the Hospital: Patients' Perspectives

The hospital setting creates a high-stakes environment where patients' lives depend on accurate tracking of health data. Despite recent work emphasizing the importance of patients' engagement in their own health care, less is known about how patients track their health and care in the hospital. Through interviews and design probes, we investigated hospitalized patients' tracking activity and analyzed our results using the stage-based personal informatics model. We used this model to understand how to support the tracking needs of hospitalized patients at each stage. In this paper, we discuss hospitalized patients' needs for collaboratively tracking their health with their care team. We suggest future extensions of the stage-based model to accommodate collaborative tracking situations, such as hospitals, where data is collected, analyzed, and acted on by multiple people. Our findings uncover new directions for HCI research and highlight ways to support patients in tracking their care and improving patient safety