The Impact of After-School Programs That Promote Personal and Social Skills

The first of several reports to come from CASEL's major meta-analysisproject. Conducted in collaboration with Joseph Durlak of Loyola Universityand funded by the W.T. Grant Foundation, this first report describes thestrong positive effects after-school programs can have, and the conditionsneeded to realize these benefits

Retour sur interactivité

Cet article discute de l'interactivité sous trois éclairages de nature différente. Dans une première partie, l'auteur tente de renouveler la définition de l'interactivité dans ses rapports à la simulation de la présence humaine. Une deuxième partie s'attache aux enjeux éducatifs propres à l'interactivité, cherchant à montrer pourquoi et comment devrait s'imposer un objectif central consistant à favoriser, entre autres, le « devenir auteur » des générations montantes. La troisième partie porte sur le récit interactif. L'auteur fait apparaître qu'à travers les questions de la séquentialité du récit, des temporalités de sa réception, de la présence de l'interlecteur dans la narration ou de l'irruption d'un tiers le programme dans la relation auteur/lecteur, ce sont toujours des théories fictionnelles de la vie qui se tiennent en arrière-plan.This article presents a discussion of interactivity from three very different viewpoints. In the first section, the author re-examines the definition of interactivity as it is related to simulation and considering human characteristics. A second section presents educational issues related to interactivity and attempts to show both why and how to promote a central objective which facilitates "becoming an author". The third section describes interactive narrative which reveals that through questions about narrative sequences, aspects of temporality, presence of the reader or the program in the relationship between author-reader, that "fictional theories" about life are always present in the background.Este articulo discurre sobre la interactividad desde très puntos de vista de diferente naturaleza. En la primera parte, el autor ensaya de renovar la definiciôn de interactividad en Io que hace a su relaciôn con la simulacion de la presencia humana. En la segunda parte, encara los desaffos educativos propios de la interactividad, buscando mostrar porqué y como deberia imponerse un objetivo central destinado a favorizar, entre otros, el "convertirse en autor" de las generaciones montantes. La tercera parte trata sobre el relato interactivo, el cual révéla que mas alla de las cuestiones de secuencialidad, de las temporalidades de su recepcion, de la presencia del interlector en la narraciôn o en la irrupcion de un tercero - el programa - en la relaciôn autor/lector, son siempre las teorias de Io fîctivo que se encuentran como tela de fondo del relato.Dieser Artikel bespricht die Interaktivität aus drei verschiedenen Blickwinkeln. AIs Erstes unternimmt der Verfasser, die Interaktivität in ihrem Zusammenhang mit der Simulation eines menschlichen Gegenübers neu zu definieren. Dann erôrtert er die Bedeutung der Interaktivität fiir die Erziehung und versucht darzulegen, weshalb und wie sich die Förderung des "Autor-Werdens" der kommenden Generationen als Hauptziel durchsetzen sollte. Im dritten Teil wird das interactive Erzählen untersucht, durch das klar wird, dass jenseits der Fragen der sequentiellen Eigenschaft des Erzählens, der Temporalität der Rezeption, der Existenz eines "Zwischen-Lesers" in der Erzählung oder des Eindringens eines dritten Elementes - des Programms - in die Autor-Leser-Beziehung immer die fiktionalen Theorien des Lebens im Hintergrund stehen

Evaluation of The Dyad Bonding Dance Model for Mothers and Infants Exposed to Stressful Life Situations

This study examines the Dyad Bonding Dance (DBD), a dance movement group therapy model developed to improve nonverbal communication between mothers exposed to stressful life situations and their children. The research emphasizes the importance of mother-child attachment relationships and transmission of stress from parents to children via nonverbal communication, which may affect bonding and child health. This qualitative study assessed the experience of dance movement therapists using this novel model. Broad research questions addressed were: (1) What are dance therapists’ experiences with the DBD model, focusing on its impact or lack of impact in improving the dyadic relationship between mother and child and reducing their stress levels? (2) Which aspects of this model work well and which should be changed or improved? Four dance movement therapists participated in this study (three in group therapy and one in individual therapy). All attended a DBD training seminar and then each independently led an eight-session intervention using the DBD model. Participants completed questionnaires after the first and last sessions regarding the appropriateness of the mothers’ nonverbal behavior with their children and discussed the model in semistructured interviews. This study incorporated a constructive approach to analyze the data. Four emergent themes emerged: Structure; Influence on the mothers, children, and their relationships; Therapist’s role; and Value of the DBD model in group therapy. Participant responses suggest all the structure was effective overall. It positively influenced the mothers and children individually, as well their relationships, developing mutuality and intimacy, better bonding, happiness in the relationship, and quality time. Participants saw value in the therapist roles, such as observer, mirror, and empathic reflection, during the model. They also noted the DBD model encouraged mothers to create better nonverbal communication with their children. Further, the participants who led the DBD model as a group therapy mentioned its value in providing mothers a way to be with other mothers in situations similar to their own

Children’s Musical Empowerment in Two Composition Task Designs

The purpose of this study was to investigate elementary students’ creating processes and perspectives through composition. Two fourth-grade classes took part in this action research, which consisted of creating four compositions—two with acoustic instruments and two with computer software. For each of the two sound sources, the first composition was written with specified constraints and the second with freedom. Research questions included: 1) how do students respond to composition tasks with differing levels of freedom and constraint; and 2) how does composing in different group sizes impact composition? Data included field notes, recordings, student interviews, and response forms. Major themes included: students benefit from continuous variations of freedom and constraint in task design; autonomous decisions about grouping and leadership can benefit students’ processes; and teachers must consider facilitation roles with sensitivity. Results of the study suggest that given time to compose, students can improve in ability to facilitate and participate in compositional processes

Effects of dynamic loads on plate girder panels

This paper presents a brief theoretical and experimental study of the effects of dynamic loads on plate girder panels. Dynamic response of plate girders, expressed in terms of a dynamic load factor, was evaluated for sinusoidally varying loads

Customized Gesture Interactions to Issue Virtual Assistant Commands on Wearables

Wearable devices recognize a limited set of gestures due to the small size of the device. The actions associated with a given gesture are typically pre-configured and non-editable, thus limiting the functions that the user can perform. This disclosure describes techniques that enable wearable device users to map gestures available via a wearable device to specific tasks, e.g., performed by a virtual assistant. Once configured, input of the gesture results in the associated command being passed to a virtual assistant, provided by the wearable device or a separate paired device, as if it were spoken by the user at the instant at which the user performed the gesture