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Graders
Kinds of Graders Selected AbstractsInterobserver agreement between primary graders and an expert grader in the Bristol and Weston diabetic retinopathy screening programme: a quality assurance auditDIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 8 2009S. Patra Abstract Aims, To assess the quality and accuracy of primary grading in the Bristol and Weston diabetic retinopathy screening programme and to set standards for future interobserver agreement reports. Methods, A prospective audit of 213 image sets from six fully trained primary graders in the Bristol and Weston diabetic retinopathy screening programme was carried out over a 4-week period. All the images graded by the primary graders were regraded by an expert grader blinded to the primary grading results and the identity of the primary grader. The interobserver agreement between primary graders and the blinded expert grader and the corresponding Kappa coefficient was determined for overall grading, referable, non-referable and ungradable disease. The audit standard was set at 80% for interobserver agreement with a Kappa coefficient of 0.7. Results, The interobserver agreement bettered the audit standard of 80% in all the categories. The Kappa coefficient was substantial (0.7) for the overall grading results and ranged from moderate to substantial (0.59,0.65) for referable, non-referable and ungradable disease categories. The main recommendation of the audit was to provide refresher training for the primary graders with focus on ungradable disease. Conclusion, The audit demonstrated an acceptable level of quality and accuracy of primary grading in the Bristol and Weston diabetic retinopathy screening programme and provided a standard against which future interobserver agreement can be measured for quality assurance within a screening programme. [source] Influence of facial skin attributes on the perceived age of Caucasian womenJOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY & VENEREOLOGY, Issue 8 2008A Nkengne Abstract Background and objective, The facial appearance of a person does not always reflect the chronological age; some people look younger or older than they really are. Many studies have described the changes in skin properties (colour, wrinkles, sagging, micro relief, etc.) with age, but few of them have analysed their influence on the perceived age. The primary objective of this study was to assess the contribution of individual skin attributes of the face on the perceived age of Caucasian women. Secondary objectives were to assess the influence of age and gender of graders with regard to the age perception. Subjects and method, A random sample of 173 subjects of 20 to 74 years of age was taken from a database of more than 5000 healthy Caucasian women. A trained grader performed visual assessment of facial skin attributes (using a visual analogue scale), and a front face photograph was taken from each subject. Photographs were shown to 48 graders (20 men and 28 women, aged 22,64 years) who were asked to estimate the age of the subjects. Graders were classified as young (less than 35 years), middle age (35,50 years) and seniors (older than 50 years). Partial Least Square regression models were built to predict the chronological and the perceived age from the measured facial individual attributes. The contribution of each attribute within the regression model enabled to measure the relevance of this attribute with regards to age prediction. Results, The eye area and the skin colour uniformity were the main attributes related to perceived age. For age prediction, older graders' estimations were more driven by lips border definition shape and eyes opening, whereas younger graders' (older than 50 years) estimations were more driven by dark circles, nasolabial fold and brown spots. There were statistically significant differences in graders' age perception between gender and among age ranges. Our findings suggest that female graders are more accurate than male, and younger graders (under 35 years) are more accurate than older (over 50 years) to predict Caucasian women age from facial photographs. Conclusions, Different skin attributes influence the estimation of age. These attributes have a different weight in the evaluation of the perceived age, depending on the age and of the observer. The most important attributes to estimate age are eyes, lips and skin colour uniformity. [source] Evaluation of sixth grade primary schoolchildren's knowledge about avulsion and dental reimplantationDENTAL TRAUMATOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Lithiene Ribeiro Castilho The avulsed tooth should be immediately reimplanted in its alveolus. This procedure can be performed by anyone at the accident site and not only by dental surgeons. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the knowledge of sixth graders of the city of Araçatuba, SP, about dental avulsion and tooth reimplantation through a structured and standardized survey. Our sample consisted of 778 students. The data collected was processed using the program epiinfo 2000. Most students were around 12 years of age and 94.5% related to practice some kind of sports. Results demonstrated that the possibility of tooth reimplantation after dental avulsion is not acknowledged among these students and dental traumatism was associated to caries, toothache, and use of orthodontic appliances. Only 18.9% of the students associated dental traumatism to an impact trauma; 3.6% would store the tooth in milk, and 3.1% believed the tooth could be reimplanted by anyone present at the accident site. In summary, the results show an overall the lack of knowledge about dental traumatism and highlight the need of special programs designed to educate school-aged students about emergency procedures to handle cases of dental traumatisms. [source] Relationship between eye preference and binocular rivalry, and between eye-hand preference and reading ability in childrenDEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 8 2008J. Fagard Abstract One goal of the experiment presented here was to check, in children, the relationship between eye preference when sighting at different angles and eye dominance in binocular rivalry. In addition, since it is sometimes argued that a crossed pattern of eye-hand preference might put children at risk of difficulties in learning to read, we evaluated the relationship between this pattern and reading achievement in first and sixth graders. Results showed that a majority of children are right-eyed for monosighting, and that intrinsic preference and spatial factor influence the choice of eye. As many children were right- or left-eye dominant, and eye dominance was not related to eye preference. We found no relationship between eye-hand preference and reading proficiency, thus not confirming that a crossed pattern of eye-hand preference might put children at risk of difficulties in learning to read. Consistent handers were more advanced in reading than inconsistent handers. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 50: 789,798, 2008 [source] Interobserver agreement between primary graders and an expert grader in the Bristol and Weston diabetic retinopathy screening programme: a quality assurance auditDIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 8 2009S. Patra Abstract Aims, To assess the quality and accuracy of primary grading in the Bristol and Weston diabetic retinopathy screening programme and to set standards for future interobserver agreement reports. Methods, A prospective audit of 213 image sets from six fully trained primary graders in the Bristol and Weston diabetic retinopathy screening programme was carried out over a 4-week period. All the images graded by the primary graders were regraded by an expert grader blinded to the primary grading results and the identity of the primary grader. The interobserver agreement between primary graders and the blinded expert grader and the corresponding Kappa coefficient was determined for overall grading, referable, non-referable and ungradable disease. The audit standard was set at 80% for interobserver agreement with a Kappa coefficient of 0.7. Results, The interobserver agreement bettered the audit standard of 80% in all the categories. The Kappa coefficient was substantial (0.7) for the overall grading results and ranged from moderate to substantial (0.59,0.65) for referable, non-referable and ungradable disease categories. The main recommendation of the audit was to provide refresher training for the primary graders with focus on ungradable disease. Conclusion, The audit demonstrated an acceptable level of quality and accuracy of primary grading in the Bristol and Weston diabetic retinopathy screening programme and provided a standard against which future interobserver agreement can be measured for quality assurance within a screening programme. [source] Feasibility of using the TOSCA telescreening procedures for diabetic retinopathyDIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 10 2004S. Luzio Abstract Aims The TOSCA project was set up to establish a tele-ophthalmology service to screen for diabetic retinopathy (DR) in Europe. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of establishing telemedicine-based digital screening for detecting DR and to evaluate the satisfaction of both patients and healthcare professionals with the screening procedures used within the TOSCA project. Methods The study was a non-randomized, multicentre study carried out in four different countries over a period of 3 months. Patients (n = 390) with diabetes aged > 12 years were included. Two digital retinal images per eye (macular and nasal) were taken and exported to a central server. Patients were asked to complete a questionnaire to assess satisfaction. Accredited graders carried out grading remotely and the results were reported back to the referring centre. Previously graded patient data chosen randomly to represent examples of both DR and no DR were also sent anonymously to the grading centre at a frequency of approximately every 10 patients. Results Most (99%) of the images were assessable enabling a retinopathy grade to be assigned to the patient. Patients found the retinal photography procedures acceptable; only 6% in one centre would not recommend the procedure. Healthcare professionals (photographers and graders) were also satisfied with the overall procedures. The average time taken to grade each patient was approximately 5 min. Conclusions This study demonstrated that it is feasible to electronically transmit and grade retinal images remotely using the TOSCA process. Built-in quality assurance procedures proved acceptable. [source] The characteristics of young and adult dyslexics readers on reading and reading related cognitive tasks as compared to normal readersDYSLEXIA, Issue 2 2005Shelley Miller-Shaul Abstract Most of the research into dyslexia has been carried out among children and has raised the question whether the characteristics of young dyslexics are similar to those of adult dyslexics. The aim of this research was, therefore, to confirm whether the cognitive deficits, which appear among young dyslexics on reading and reading related tasks, are similar among adult dyslexics. Four groups of subjects were tested in this study: two groups of fourth graders, dyslexic and normal readers, and two groups of students, compensated dyslexics and normal readers. A comparison of the differences in research measures between the young dyslexics and their control group, and between the adult dyslexics and their control group, clearly indicates that the difference between regular readers and dyslexics is significantly smaller in the adult group on orthographic tasks, and this difference increases in adults on phonological tasks. The findings of this study reinforce the assumption that dyslexics have particular difficulty with the phonological-auditory channel. Another main finding is the slow speed of processing in verbal and non-verbal tasks. It can be assumed that these problems start at a young age and persist in compensated adult dyslexics. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Changes in alcohol consumption and beverage preference among adolescents after the introduction of the alcopops tax in GermanyADDICTION, Issue 7 2010Stefanie Müller ABSTRACT Aims The aim of this study is to assess the contribution of the alcopops tax to changes in alcohol consumption and beverage preference among adolescents in Germany. We hypothesize that the decrease of alcohol intake by alcopops is substituted by an increase of alcohol intake by other alcoholic beverages. Design Data came from the German 2003 (n = 10 551) and 2007 (n = 10 598) cross-sectional study of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD). Participants A propensity score-matched subsample of 9th and 10th graders (n = 4694) was used for the analyses. Measurement Alcohol consumption within the last 7 days was assessed by a beverage-specific quantity,frequency index. An individual's beverage preference was assigned for the beverage that had the highest share in total alcohol consumption. Multiple regression analyses were used to assess changes in alcohol consumption; changes in beverage preference were tested using multinomial logistic regression. Findings While alcopop consumption declined after the alcopops tax was implemented, consumption of spirits increased. Changes in beverage preference revealed a decrease in alcopop preference and an increase in the preference for beer and spirits. Conclusions Results indicate a partial substitution of alcopops by spirits and a switch in preference to beverages associated with riskier drinking patterns. Effective alcohol policies to prevent alcohol-related problems should focus upon the reduction of total alcohol consumption instead of regulating singular beverages. [source] Sequencing of DSM-IV criteria of nicotine dependenceADDICTION, Issue 8 2009Denise B. Kandel ABSTRACT Aims To determine whether there is a sequence in which adolescents experience symptoms of nicotine dependence (ND) as per the DSM-IV. Design A two-stage design was implemented to select a multi-ethnic target sample of adolescents from a school survey of 6th,10th graders from the Chicago Public Schools. The cohort was interviewed at home five times with structured computerized interviews at 6-month intervals over a 2-year period. Participants Subsample of new tobacco users (n = 353) who had started to use tobacco within 12 months prior to wave 1 or between waves 1 and 5. Measurements and statistical methods Monthly histories of DSM-IV symptoms of ND were obtained. Log-linear quasi-independence models were estimated to identify the fit of different cumulative models of progression among the four most prevalent dependence criteria (tolerance, impaired control, withdrawal, unsuccessful attempts to quit), indexed by specific symptoms, by gender and race/ethnicity. Findings Pathways varied slightly across groups. The proportions who could be classified in a progression pathway not by chance ranged from 50.7% to 68.8%. Overall, tolerance and impaired control appeared first and preceded withdrawal; impaired control preceded attempts to quit. For males, tolerance was experienced first, with withdrawal a minor path of entry; for females withdrawal was experienced last, tolerance and impaired control were experienced first. For African Americans, tolerance by itself was experienced first; for other groups an alternative path began with impaired control. Conclusions The prevalence and sequence of criteria of ND fit our understanding of the neuropharmacology of ND. The order among symptoms early in the process of dependence may differ from the severity order of symptoms among those who persist in smoking. [source] School-based alcohol education: results of a cluster-randomized controlled trialADDICTION, Issue 3 2009Matthis Morgenstern ABSTRACT Objective This study aimed to examine the effects of a school-based alcohol education intervention. Design Two-arm three-wave cluster-randomized controlled trial, with schools as the unit for randomization. Surveys were conducted prior to intervention implementation, then 4 and 12 months after baseline. Setting A total of 30 public schools in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Participants Baseline data were obtained from 1686 7th graders. The retention rate was 85% over 12 months. Intervention The intervention consisted of four interactive lessons conducted by teachers, booklets for students and booklets for parents. Measures Knowledge, attitudes, life-time alcohol consumption (ever use alcohol without parental knowledge, ever been drunk and ever binge drinking) and past-month alcohol use. Results Intention-to-treat analyses revealed that intervention status was associated with more general knowledge about alcohol and lower levels of life-time binge drinking. No effects were found with respect to students' self-reported attitudes, intentions to drink, life-time alcohol use and past-month alcohol use. Conclusions The results indicate that this brief school-based intervention had a small short-term preventive effect on alcohol misuse. [source] Training evaluation of a course in diabetic retinopathy screeningEUROPEAN DIABETES NURSING, Issue 2 2005R Pauli PhD Senior Lecturer Abstract The success and effectiveness of diabetic screening programmes are dependent on the availability of appropriately trained image graders. This study was designed to evaluate graders enrolled on a locally devised, formal training course by means of a performance-based measure. The course consisted of four days of classroom-based tuition followed by three months of practice-based learning in the workplace. The aim was to establish whether trainees showed an improvement in their ability to grade images, and secondly whether test sets of images are useful in measuring training outcome. Thirteen trainees were required to grade a test set of 24 single images both before and after training. A significant improvement in sensitivity (from 35% before training to 45% after training) was observed as a result of training but at a cost of a decline in specificity. Trainees' confidence ratings measured on a five-point scale increased from an average of 2.4 to 4.1 (p<0.01). We concluded that the course needs to focus more on trainees' ability to discriminate between normal and abnormal images as well as improving grading accuracy in line with increased grading confidence. Test-based course evaluation can be seen to be a valuable instrument in establishing a quality standard for stated learning outcomes. In this research it has clearly indicated weaknesses of the training programme in its current form. Copyright © 2005 FEND. [source] The Relationship Between Classroom Motivation and Academic Achievement in Elementary-School-Aged ChildrenFAMILY & CONSUMER SCIENCES RESEARCH JOURNAL, Issue 2 2004Sheri Coates Broussard The relationship between motivation and academic success has been better established with older children and adults than with younger children. As part of a larger project, the purpose of this study was to examine the relation-ship between classroom motivation and academic achievement in young elementary-school-aged children. The participants were 122 first-grade and 129 third-grade children from a mid-sized city in the southern United States. The findings from the current study were consistent with previous research in that higher levels of mastery motivation and judgment motivation were found to be related to higher math and reading grades in third graders. However, higher levels of mastery motivation, not judgment motivation, were related to higher math and reading grades in first graders. [source] Exploring New Frontiers: What Do Computers Contribute to Teaching Foreign Languages in Elementary School?FOREIGN LANGUAGE ANNALS, Issue 3 2002Joyce W. Nutta ABSTRACT: Two growing trends in foreign language education, the study of foreign languages in the elementary school (FLES) and the use of computer-assisted language learning (CALL), have been well researched independently but rarely in concert. This study compares the use of a print and multimedia program to teach Spanish to second through fifth graders from quantitative and qualitative perspectives. The experimental portion of the study showed that the achievement and proficiency of students using print or multimedia materials did not differ at posttest. However, a small but statistically significant difference in achievement emerged at the delayed test point in favor of the students who used the multimedia materials, although this finding is limited by participant attrition over the 13-month study. The qualitative portion of the study detected differences in language behavior, with the students who used multimedia spending more time to stop, check, and revise their language production, leading to greater precision in pronunciation and the use of larger chunks of language when repeating phrases. [source] First-Person Shooters and the Third-Person EffectHUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH, Issue 2 2008Erica Scharrer A sample of 118 U.S. 6th and 7th graders was used to examine early adolescents' views of whether video games negatively influence themselves, others of the same age, and younger others. Six specific games ranging in rating from E for Everyone to M for Mature were listed for the early adolescents to respond to, with questions asked about both potential influence and whether young people should be allowed to play the games. Results support a third-person perception that grew as the rating of the game became more restrictive and as the "other" group in question became younger. The presence of rules set by parents about video game use was a positive predictor of perceptions of influence on self and others. Résumé Les jeux de tir ŕ la premičre personne et l,effet de troisičme personne Grâce ŕ un échantillon de 118 élčves américains de 6e et 7e années (11-13 ans), cet article explore les opinions des jeunes adolescents quant ŕ l'influence négative des jeux vidéo sur eux-męmes, sur d,autres personnes du męme âge et sur des enfants plus jeunes. Les jeunes adolescents devaient réagir ŕ six jeux spécifiques, classés de E (Everyone, pour tous) ŕ M (Mature, adulte), répondant ŕ des questions portant sur leur influence possible et sur le droit que devraient ou non avoir les jeunes de jouer ŕ ces jeux. Les résultats soutiennent une perception de la troisičme personne qui augmentait plus le classement du jeu devenait contraignant et plus le groupe « autre » en question rajeunissait. La présence de rčgles établies par les parents ŕ propos de l'usage des jeux vidéo était une variable explicative positive des perceptions de l'influence sur soi et les autres. Abstract Ego-Shooter und der Third-Person-Effekt Mit einer Stichprobe von 118 US-amerikanischen 6. und 7. Klässlern wurde die Einschätzung Jugendlicher dazu untersucht, dass Videospiele sie selbst, Gleichaltrige oder Jüngere negativ beeinflussen können. Bezug nehmend auf eine Liste mit sechs spezifischen Spielen (bewertet als J für Jedermann bis E für Erwachsene) sollten die Jugendlichen Fragen zum möglichen Einfluss und die Frage, ob jungen Leuten erlaubt werden sollte, diese Spiele zu spielen, beantworten. Die Befunde stützen die Annahmen einer Third-Person-Wahrnehmung, welche zunahm, wenn die Bewertung des Spiels restriktiver und die Gruppe der anderen jünger wurde. Das Vorhandensein von elterlichen Regeln zu Videospielen war ein positiver Prädiktor für die Wahrnehmung des Einflusses auf einen selbst und auf andere. Resumen La Persona que Dispara Primero y el Efecto de la Tercera Persona Una muestra de 118 estudiantes Norteamericanos de sexto y séptimo grado fue usada para examinar la visión que los adolescentes jóvenes tienen sobre los video-juegos y si los video-juegos influyen negativamente sobre ellos mismos, sobre otros de su misma edad, y sobre otros nińos más jóvenes. Seis juegos específicos variando en su clasificación de E, para Todos, a M, para Maduros, fueron enlistados para que los adolescentes jóvenes respondieran a las preguntas sobre la influencia potencial y si debería permitírsele a la gente joven jugar estos juegos. Los resultados apoyaron la percepción de la tercera persona, la cual creció a medida que la clasificación del juego se convirtió en más restrictiva y que el grupo en cuestión fuera más joven. La presencia de reglas puestas por los padres sobre el uso de video-juegos fue un vaticinador positivo de las percepciones de influencia sobre uno mismo y sobre otros. ZhaiYao Yo yak [source] Perceptions of parent-child attachment, social self-efficacy, and peer relationships in middle childhoodINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2003Priscilla K. Coleman Abstract Relationships among attachment to each parent, children's social self-efficacy, and the quality of peer relations (attachment to peers and perceptions of victimization) were explored with 67 fifth and sixth graders (31 female) attending a rural elementary school. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed main effects for gender and attachment to mother relative to the attachment to peers variable, with girls and more securely attached children reporting higher quality attachment to peers. Main effects were also detected for gender and attachment to father relative to social self-efficacy, with girls and more securely attached children exhibiting higher self-efficacy. No main effects were observed relative to the peer victimization variable. None of the interaction effects involving gender and attachment to each parent relative to attachment to peers, peer victimization, and social self-efficacy were significant. Finally, evidence for mediation of attachment to father on attachment to peers by children's social self-efficacy was revealed. Implications of the results are discussed and ideas for future research are provided. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The differences in human cumulative irritation responses to positive and negative irritant controls from three geographical locationsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE, Issue 5 2008Mingyi W. Trimble A retrospective analysis was conducted to evaluate whether studies from three geographically diverse locations have similar response profiles to the positive and negative controls in a standard 14-day cumulative irritation study. The positive irritant control (0.1% sodium lauryl sulphate) and the negative control (0.9% sodium chloride, saline) data from seventeen 14-day cumulative irritation studies were reviewed. The studies were compiled from three locations representing dry/hot, humid/hot, and dry/cold environments (Scottsdale, Arizona; St Petersburg, Florida; and Winnipeg, Manitoba, respectively). Irritation scores were generated by trained skin graders from a total of 442 subjects studied between 1999 and 2005. Cumulative irritation scores were reviewed and compared between study locations. The irritation scores for the positive and negative controls were not significantly different between locations. Temperature and relative humidity variation did not correlate significantly with overall irritation. However, the dryer climate (i.e. negative or low dew point) had a tendency to induce a higher overall irritation level for both positive and negative controls. [source] Exploring Youth Development With Diverse Children: Correlates of Risk, Health, and Thriving BehaviorsJOURNAL FOR SPECIALISTS IN PEDIATRIC NURSING, Issue 1 2009Laureen H. Smith PURPOSE.,This study explored the relationships between internal and external assets, risk behaviors, health behaviors, and thriving behaviors in diverse children. DESIGN AND METHODS.,The strength of relationships existing between measures, differences between group means based on gender, grades earned, and school, and confidence interval (p , .05) were tested in a sample of 61 urban sixth graders. RESULTS.,Few assets were related to substance use. Assets were related to delinquency acts, health behaviors, and thriving indicators. Group differences between schools and gender and the total number of assets were noted. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS.,Supporting assets are important to consider when nurses perform assessments and design interventions to support youths in their maturation processes. [source] Children's Moral Evaluations of Ecological Damage: The Effect of Biocentric and Anthropocentric Intentions,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 8 2009Katherine V. Kortenkamp Moral evaluations of ecologically damaging events were studied in 5th, 8th, and 11th graders and college students (N = 246). Participants made 4 kinds of judgments about 2 scenarios: decision rightness, damage rightness, blame of the decision maker, and blame of the agents causing the damage. In both scenarios, the decision maker's intentions varied (biocentric vs. anthropocentric) as did the damage severity. Overall, participants' judgments were less harsh when the decision maker had biocentric intentions and when the damage was less severe. However, there were age differences in use of intentions to judge decision rightness. The proposition that judgments of blame of the decision maker should be a joint function of decision and damage rightness was also supported. [source] A Longitudinal Study to Determine the Effects of Mentoring on Middle School Youngsters by Nursing and Other College StudentsJOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIC NURSING, Issue 4 2007APRN-BC, Sylvia M. A. Whiting PhD PURPOSE:, This study aims to utilize nursing and other college students in conducting a mentoring project aimed at determining outcomes of behavior and attitude of high-risk middle school students over a 5-year period. METHOD:, A quasi-experimental study with a sample of fifth and sixth graders was conducted in which mentored subjects were tested using multiple instruments and school data to identify behavioral and attitudinal outcomes. Statistical analyses were conducted using chi-square and one-way analysis of variance. FINDINGS:, Academically below-average males in the treatment group were the only cohort demonstrating significant change across all measures. The magnitude of change in this cohort, however, did significantly affect treatment group outcomes overall. Females in both treatment and control groups reflected similar changes. CONCLUSIONS:, Mentoring of schoolchildren is difficult to accomplish using college mentors because of time and schedule commitments. When college mentors are used, grade allocation seems to be a stronger incentive than when payment is the sole reward. Males whose grades are below average demonstrated positive outcomes from the mentoring experience. [source] Differences in Trait Anger Among Children with Varying Levels of Anger Expression PatternsJOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIC NURSING, Issue 2 2006Marti Rice PhD PROBLEM:,Little research has been done with children to determine effects of using various patterns of anger expression on trait anger. The purpose was to examine differences in trait anger of children who indicated high, moderate, or low use of three patterns of anger expression. METHODS:,A convenience sample of 1,060 third through sixth graders completed trait anger and patterns of expressing anger instruments. FINDINGS:,High users of anger-out (anger expressed outwardly) had the highest trait anger for every grade while high users of anger-reflection/control had the lowest. CONCLUSIONS:,Anger-reflection/control may be more effective than anger-out in reducing trait anger in school-age children. [source] Sex differences in relational and overt aggression in the late elementary school yearsAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 5 2010Janet Kistner Abstract Sex differences in relational and overt aggression among 3rd (n=176), 4th (n=179), and 5th graders (n=145) from three public schools (n=500; 278 girls) were examined. Nominations of relational aggression increased over time among 4th and 5th grade girls, but not among boys or 3rd grade girls. Among 3rd graders, boys received more nominations for relational aggression than girls. By the end of the 5th grade, girls received more relational aggression nominations than boys. There was also a significant rise in nominations of overt aggression among 5th grade girls, but not among 5th grade boys or younger boys and girls. As expected, boys were more likely than girls to be nominated for overt aggression at all grade levels. The findings are helpful for explaining inconsistencies of earlier research pertaining to sex differences in relational aggression and for advancing our understanding of the causes of aggression. Aggr. Behav. 36:282,291, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Socio-economic, socio-political and socio-emotional variables explaining school bullying: a country-wide multilevel analysisAGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, Issue 6 2009Enrique Chaux Abstract Why do some countries, regions and schools have more bullying than others? What socio-economic, socio-political and other larger contextual factors predict school bullying? These open questions inspired this study with 53.316 5th- and 9th-grade students (5% of the national student population in these grades), from 1,000 schools in Colombia. Students completed a national test of citizenship competencies, which included questions about bullying and about families, neighborhoods and their own socio-emotional competencies. We combined these data with community violence and socio-economic conditions of all Colombian municipalities, which allowed us to conduct multilevel analyses to identify municipality- and school-level variables predicting school bullying. Most variance was found at the school level. Higher levels of school bullying were related to more males in the schools, lower levels of empathy, more authoritarian and violent families, higher levels of community violence, better socio-economic conditions, hostile attributional biases and more beliefs supporting aggression. These results might reflect student, classroom and school contributions because student-level variables were aggregated at the school level. Although in small portions, violence from the decades-old-armed conflict among guerrillas, paramilitaries and governmental forces predicted school bullying at the municipal level for 5th graders. For 9th graders, inequality in land ownership predicted school bullying. Neither poverty, nor population density or homicide rates contributed to explaining bullying. These results may help us advance toward understanding how the larger context relates to school bullying, and what socio-emotional competencies may help us prevent the negative effects of a violent and unequal environment. Aggr. Behav. 35:520,529, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] HUI M,lama O Ke Kai: a positive prevention-based youth development program based on native hawaiian values and activities,JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 8 2009Earl S. Hishinuma Evaluation of after-school programs that are culturally and place-based and promote positive youth development among minority and indigenous youths has not been widely published. The present evaluation is the first of its kind of an after-school, youth-risk prevention program called Hui Mal,ma O Ke Kai (HMK), that emphasizes Native Hawaiian values and activities to promote positive youth development for fifth and sixth graders (N=110) in a rural Native Hawaiian community. Results indicated positive gains on youth self-reports in Native Hawaiian values, self-esteem, antidrug use, violence prevention strategies, and healthy lifestyle in Year 1, and in family cohesion, school success, and violence prevention strategies in Year 2. Parent reports of their children indicated positive gains in selected domains. Implications include the support for a promising culturally appropriate program, expansion to middle-school-aged youths, and parent involvement. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Dyadic attachments and community connectedness: Links with youths' loneliness experiencesJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2001Heather M. Chipuer In this article, we explored the belongingness hypothesis by examining the influence of youths' dyadic attachments and community connectedness on their experiences of loneliness. Fifth and sixth graders (N = 187) reported on their attachments to their mothers, fathers, best friends, and their connectedness to their schools and neighborhoods. Self-reports of global loneliness, loneliness in the school and neighborhood contexts, and emotional and social loneliness were obtained. Youths' dyadic attachment to their best friends was more significant in accounting for their loneliness experiences than their attachments to either parent. Youths' connectedness to their school and neighborhood communities was significantly associated with their experiences of global, social, and neighborhood loneliness. The data suggest that youths' sense of community within their different environmental contexts (i.e., neighborhood, school) differentially influence their psychological well-being, as demonstrated by their associations to loneliness. The importance of creating communities that meet youths' needs is discussed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source] Prosodic reading, reading comprehension and morphological skills in Hebrew-speaking fourth gradersJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 2 2007Dorit Ravid Employing prosody skilfully, one of the cornerstones of fluent reading, is an indicator of text comprehension. Morphological knowledge has been shown to underlie lexical acquisition and to be related to reading development. The relationship between reading comprehension, prosodic reading and morphological knowledge was investigated in 51 Hebrew-speaking fourth-grade students aged 9,10. Participants were tested on comprehension of two stories and on appropriate prosodic reading of one of them. Their prosodic reading was compared with an agreed prosodic map compiled from experts' reading. Participants were also administered a battery of morphological tasks. All three domains, including almost all of their component parts, were strongly correlated. The multiple regression in steps showed that morphology and reading comprehension each contribute to prosodic reading, while morphology and prosody each contribute to reading comprehension. The connection between reading comprehension and prosodic reading is however moderated by good morphological skills. [source] The efficacy of computer-based supplementary phonics programs for advancing reading skills in at-risk elementary studentsJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 2 2006Paul Macaruso In this study we examined the benefits of computer programs designed to supplement regular reading instruction in an urban public school system. The programs provide systematic exercises for mastering word-attack strategies. Our findings indicate that first graders who participated in the programs made significant reading gains over the school year. Their post-test scores were slightly (but not significantly) greater than the post-test scores of control children who received regular reading instruction without the programs. When analyses were restricted to low-performing children eligible for Title I services, significantly higher post-test scores were obtained by the treatment group compared to the control group. At post-test Title I children in the treatment group performed at levels similar to non-Title I students. [source] Developing a learning progression for scientific modeling: Making scientific modeling accessible and meaningful for learnersJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 6 2009Christina V. Schwarz Abstract Modeling is a core practice in science and a central part of scientific literacy. We present theoretical and empirical motivation for a learning progression for scientific modeling that aims to make the practice accessible and meaningful for learners. We define scientific modeling as including the elements of the practice (constructing, using, evaluating, and revising scientific models) and the metaknowledge that guides and motivates the practice (e.g., understanding the nature and purpose of models). Our learning progression for scientific modeling includes two dimensions that combine metaknowledge and elements of practice,scientific models as tools for predicting and explaining, and models change as understanding improves. We describe levels of progress along these two dimensions of our progression and illustrate them with classroom examples from 5th and 6th graders engaged in modeling. Our illustrations indicate that both groups of learners productively engaged in constructing and revising increasingly accurate models that included powerful explanatory mechanisms, and applied these models to make predictions for closely related phenomena. Furthermore, we show how students engaged in modeling practices move along levels of this progression. In particular, students moved from illustrative to explanatory models, and developed increasingly sophisticated views of the explanatory nature of models, shifting from models as correct or incorrect to models as encompassing explanations for multiple aspects of a target phenomenon. They also developed more nuanced reasons to revise models. Finally, we present challenges for learners in modeling practices,such as understanding how constructing a model can aid their own sensemaking, and seeing model building as a way to generate new knowledge rather than represent what they have already learned. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 632,654, 2009 [source] Standardized test outcomes for students engaged in inquiry-based science curricula in the context of urban reformJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 8 2008Robert Geier Abstract Considerable effort has been made over the past decade to address the needs of learners in large urban districts through scaleable reform initiatives. We examine the effects of a multifaceted scaling reform that focuses on supporting standards based science teaching in urban middle schools. The effort was one component of a systemic reform effort in the Detroit Public Schools, and was centered on highly specified and developed project-based inquiry science units supported by aligned professional development and learning technologies. Two cohorts of 7th and 8th graders that participated in the project units are compared with the remainder of the district population, using results from the high-stakes state standardized test in science. Both the initial and scaled up cohorts show increases in science content understanding and process skills over their peers, and significantly higher pass rates on the statewide test. The relative gains occur up to a year and a half after participation in the curriculum, and show little attenuation with in the second cohort when scaling occurred and the number of teachers involved increased. The effect of participation in units at different grade levels is independent and cumulative, with higher levels of participation associated with similarly higher achievement scores. Examination of results by gender reveals that the curriculum effort succeeds in reducing the gender gap in achievement experienced by urban African-American boys. These findings demonstrate that standards-based, inquiry science curriculum can lead to standardized achievement test gains in historically underserved urban students, when the curriculum is highly specified, developed, and aligned with professional development and administrative support. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 922,939, 2008 [source] Effect of bead and illustrations models on high school students' achievement in molecular geneticsJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 5 2006Yosi Rotbain Our main goal in this study was to explore whether the use of models in molecular genetics instruction in high school can contribute to students' understanding of concepts and processes in genetics. Three comparable groups of 11th and 12th graders participated: The control group (116 students) was taught in the traditional lecture format, while the others received instructions which integrated a bead model (71 students), or an illustration model (71 students). Similar instructions and the same guiding questions accompanied the two models. We used three instruments: a multiple-choice and an open-ended written questionnaire, as well as personal interviews. Five of the multiple-choice questions were also given to students before receiving their genetics instruction (pretest). We found that students who used one of the two types of models improved their knowledge in molecular genetics compared to the control group. However, the open-ended questions revealed that bead model activity was significantly more effective than illustration activity. On the basis of these findings we conclude that, though it is advisable to use a three-dimensional model, such as the bead model, engaging students in activities with illustrations can still improve their achievement in comparison to traditional instruction. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 43: 500,529, 2006 [source] Promoting fourth graders' conceptual change of their understanding of electric current via multiple analogiesJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 4 2005Mei-Hung Chiu For the past two decades, a growing amount of research has shown that the use of analogies in science teaching and learning promotes meaningful understanding of complex scientific concepts (Gentner, 1983; Glynn, 1989; Harrison & Treagust, 1993; Wong, 1993). This article presents a study in which multiple analogies were used as scaffolding to link students' prior understanding of daily life events to knowledge of the scientific domain. The study was designed to investigate how multiple analogies influence student learning of a complex scientific concept: the electric circuit. We used several analogies in a set of learning materials to present the concepts of parallel and series circuits. Thirty-two fourth graders participated in this study and were randomly assigned to four groups. The four groups were named nonanalogy (control), single analogy, similar analogies, and complementary analogies, according to the materials they used in this study. The results demonstrated that using analogies not only promoted profound understanding of complex scientific concepts (such as electricity), but it also helped students overcome their misconceptions of these concepts. In particular, we found that the reason the students had difficulty understanding the concept of electricity was because of their ontological presupposition of the concept. Implications for teaching and learning are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 429,464, 2005 [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||