‘The trouble with Year 10’: 13 – 16 year old school students’ attitudes to higher education

This study looked at the impact of Widening Participation interventions on the attitudes of young people towards higher education. A total of 2731 adolescents aged 13–16 years completed a self-report measure of their attitudes to higher education, general and academic self concept and identification with school, family and peers. This was matched with data on the students’ academic attainment and social backgrounds. As expected, attainment scores were significantly positively correlated with take up of Widening Participation activities aimed at increasing participation in higher education, attitudes towards going to university and academic motivation. However, attainment was negatively correlated with perceptions of family attending university and identification with family. Regression analyses found that perceptions of family views about attending university were not a predictor of taking part in Widening Participation activities but were a predictor of attitudes towards higher education. Students in Year 10 aged 14–15 were significantly more negative on most factors than either older or younger students.

Local perceptions of the QICS experimental offshore CO2 release: Results from social science research

This paper explores the social dimensions of an experimental release of carbon dioxide (CO2) carried out in Ardmucknish Bay, Argyll, United Kingdom. The experiment, which aimed to understand detectability and potential effects on the marine environment should there be any leakage from a CO2 storage site, provided a rare opportunity to study the social aspects of a carbon dioxide capture and storage-related event taking place in a lived-in environment. Qualitative research was carried out in the form of observation at public information events about the release, in-depth interviews with key project staff and local stakeholders/community members, and a review of online media coverage of the experiment. Focusing mainly on the observation and interview data, we discuss three key findings: the role of experience and analogues in learning about unfamiliar concepts like CO2 storage; the challenge of addressing questions of uncertainty in public engagement; and the issue of when to commence engagement and how to frame the discussion. We conclude that whilst there are clearly slippages between a small-scale experiment and full-scale CCS, the social research carried out for this project demonstrates that issues of public and stakeholder perception are as relevant for offshore CO2 storage as they are for onshore.

Shark personalities? Repeatability of social network traits in a widely distributed predatory fish. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 68, 1995-2003.

Interest in animal personalities has generated a burgeoning literature on repeatability in individual traits such as boldness or exploration through time or across different contexts. Yet, repeatability can be influenced by the interactive social strategies of individuals, for example, consistent inter-individual variation in aggression is well documented. Previous work has largely focused on the social aspects of repeatability in animal behaviour by testing individuals in dyadic pairings. Under natural conditions, individuals interact in a heterogeneous polyadic network. However, the extent to which there is repeatability of social traits at this higher order network level remains unknown. Here, we provide the first empirical evidence of consistent and repeatable animal social networks. Using a model species of shark, a taxonomic group in which repeatability in behaviour has yet to be described, we repeatedly quantified the social networks of ten independent shark groups across different habitats, testing repeatability in individual network position under changing environments. To understand better the mechanisms behind repeatable social behaviour, we also explored the coupling between individual preferences for specific group sizes and social network position. We quantify repeatability in sharks by demonstrating that despite changes in aggregation measured at the group level, the social network position of individuals is consistent across treatments. Group size preferences were found to influence the social network position of individuals in small groups but less so for larger groups suggesting network structure, and thus, repeatability was driven by social preference over aggregation tendency.

Social networks and cooperative learning in a MOOC

MOOCs are changing the educational landscape and gaining a lot of attention in scientific literature. However, the pedagogical design of these proposals has been called into question. It is precisely MOOCs’ social aspect, i.e. the interaction between course participants and the support for learning processes that has become one of the main topics of interest. This article presents the results of a research project carried out at the University of the Basque Country, which focused in cooperative learning and the intensive use of social networks in a MOOC. Significant data was compiled through Likert-type surveys, revealing that the use of both external and internal social networks in a massive open online course is a factor that is evaluated positively by students. We argue that the use of social networks as a learning strategy in a MOOC has an influence on academic performance and on the students' success rate. Furthermore, the participants’ age also has a bearing on the social networks they use, and we have found that the younger members tend to work with external networks such as Twitter or personal blogs, whereas the older students are more inclined to use forums from the Chamilo or Ning platforms.

Interpersonal Aspects of Thinking Skills in an Intercultural Language Learning Context

Asking and answering certain types of questions are thought to develop thinking skills in all types of classrooms. Previous research has demonstrated that asking higher order questions and answering with elaborated responses are associated with high achievement in first, second, and foreign language contexts. Typically more attention is paid to question frequency or achievements inferred from individual performances than to the dialogues in which asking and answering occurs. This paper argues for a focus on the construction of responses in interaction as an alternative to the investigation of questions, effects of training or individual measurements of performance. Drawing on interactional data from an adult English as a Second Language classroom, it is argued that constructing an answer to a critical question appears to be a highly collaborative and evaluative affair. The thinking skills literature suggests that responding to higher order questions is an individual higher cognitive function, however it is argued in this paper that in attempting to construct evaluative answers language learners are involved not only in a cognitive task, which may or may not be helpful to language learning, but also in a complex social task in which perspectives need to be negotiated, stances taken and identities navigated. It is suggested that higher order thinking cannot be separated from the social and cultural knowledge through which it is brought into being. It is argued that any implementation of thinking skills in an English language teaching context ought to consider interpersonal and social aspects, particularly in intercultural settings.

Social Work Students Learn about Social Work Values from Service Users and Carers

Teaching on social work values is centrally important in social work education as a core aspect of underpinning knowledge in preparing students for practice. This paper describes an innovative project occurring within the first year of the degree in social work, where service users and carers have assisted students with their understanding of social work values. The positive contribution of service users and carers in facilitating students to make links between theory and practice is now well documented. Applying this user perspective to the educational domain of values, however, is relatively uncharted territory given the challenges that have traditionally accompanied the teaching of values. Importantly, this paper describes the ‘value talk’ which occurred when first-year students sought further meaning from service-user and carer groups in their community settings following classroom teaching on values. The paper not only discusses the detailed preparations involved in the project but also the learning which resulted, drawing on the evaluation findings from the students and participating groups. Whilst the findings show that the students' understanding of social work values has been most significantly influenced by the contributions from service users and carers, it is recognized that further research is needed to monitor the longer term impact on social work students' practice after they qualify.

Cooperative Learning in Science: Follow-up from primary to high school

This paper reports a two-year longitudinal study of the effects of cooperative learning on science attainment, attitudes towards science, and social connectedness during transition from primary to high school. A previous project on cooperative learning in primary schools observed gains in science understanding and in social aspects of school life. This project followed 204 children involved in the previous project and 440 comparison children who were not as they undertook transition from 24 primary schools to 16 high schools. Cognitive, affective, and social gains observed in the original project survived transition. The implications improving the effectiveness of school transition by using cooperative learning initiatives are explored. Possibilities for future research and the implications for practice and policy are discussed.

Beyond Individualism: Social Work and Social Identity

Individualism continues to have a notable impact on social work. The personalisation of services and the individualisation of care are just two examples of this societal trend. While helping service users to articulate their aspirations for a better future, individualism, if taken too far, undermines the social aspects of life. In response to this concern, this paper argues that social work must appreciate the interplay between the individual and the collective spheres, and its impact on identity formation, in order to enhance human well-being. To give substance to this argument, Jenkins's model of social identity is appropriated and augmented to take account of four interlinked, yet distinct, orders of experience, namely the individual, interactional, institutional and societal orders. This reworked conceptualisation is then considered in terms of its implications for social work practice.

Avaliação da qualidade em creche: implicações e resultados da aplicação do modelo de avaliação da qualidade das respostas sociais - creche, numa instituição particular de solidariedade social

Dissertação apresentada à Escola Superior de Educação de Lisboa para obtenção do Grau de Mestre em Ciências da Educação, especialização em Administração Escolar

Da liderança ao bullying: estratégias a adotar numa sala de pré-escolar para promover o desenvolvimento social e moral

Relatório da Prática Profissional Supervisionada Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar

Predictors of academic achievement and social competence in adolescence : facilitation, inhibition and general cognitive processing /

The relevance of attentional measures to cognitive and social adaptive behaviour was examined in an adolescent sample. Unlike previous research, the influence of both inhibitory and facilitory aspects of attention were studied. In addition, contributions made by these attentional processes were compared with traditional psychometric measures of cognitive functioning. Data were gathered from 36 grade 10 and 1 1 high school students (20 male and 16 female students) with a variety of learning and attentional difficulties. Data collection was conducted in the course of two testing sessions. In the first session, students completed questionnaires regarding their medical history, and everyday behaviours (the Brock Adaptive Functioning Questionnaire), along with non-verbal problem solving tasks and motor speed tasks. In the second session, students performed working memory measures and computer-administered tasks assessing inhibitory and facilitory aspects of attention. Grades and teacher-rated measures of cognitive and social impulsivity were also gathered. Results indicate that attentional control has both cognitive and social/emotional implications. Performance on negative priming and facilitation trials from the Flanker task predicted grades in core courses, social functioning measures, and cognitive and social impulsivity ratings. However, beneficial effects for academic and social functioning associated with inhibition were less prevalent in those demonstrating a greater ability to respond to facilitory cues. There was also some evidence that high levels of facilitation were less beneficial to academic performance, and female students were more likely to exceed optimal levels of facilitory processing. Furthermore, lower negative priming was ''S'K 'i\':y-: -'*' - r " j«v ; ''*.' iij^y Inhibition, Facilitation and Social Competence 3 associated with classroom-rated distraction and hyperactivity, but the relationship between inhibition and social aspects of impulsivity was stronger for adolescents with learning or reading problems, and the relationship between inhibition and cognitive impulsivity was stronger for male students. In most cases, attentional measures were predictive of performance outcomes independent of traditional psychometric measures of cognitive functioning. >,, These findings provide support for neuropsychological models linking inhibition to control of interference and arousal, and emphasize the fundamental role of attention in everyday adolescent activities. The findings also warrant further investigation into the ways which inhibitory and facilitory attentional processes interact, and the contextdependent nature of attentional control.associated with classroom-rated distraction and hyperactivity, but the relationship between inhibition and social aspects of impulsivity was stronger for adolescents with learning or reading problems, and the relationship between inhibition and cognitive impulsivity was stronger for male students. In most cases, attentional measures were predictive of performance outcomes independent of traditional psychometric measures of cognitive functioning. >,, These findings provide support for neuropsychological models linking inhibition to control of interference and arousal, and emphasize the fundamental role of attention in everyday adolescent activities. The findings also warrant further investigation into the ways which inhibitory and facilitory attentional processes interact, and the contextdependent nature of attentional control.

Social comparison and body image in non or infrequent exercisers and exercisers

Body image refers to an individual's internal representation ofhis/her outer self (Cash, 1994; Thompson, Heinberg, Altabe, & Tantleff-Dunn, 1999). It is a multidimensional construct which includes an individual's attitudes towards hislher own physical characteristics (Bane & McAuley, 1998; Cash, 1994; Cash, 2004; Davison & McCabe, 2005; Muth & Cash, 1997; Sabiston, Crocker, & Munroe-Chandler, 2005). Social comparison is the process of thinking about the self in relation to others in order to determine if one's opinions and abilities are adequate and to assess one's social status (Festinger, 1954; Wood, 1996). Research investigating the role of social comparisons on body image has provided some information on the types and nature of the comparisons that are made. The act of making social comparisons may have a negative impact on body image (van den Berg et ai., 2007). Although exercise may improve body image, the impact of social comparisons in exercise settings may be less positive, and there may be differences in the social comparison tendencies between non or infrequent exercisers and exercisers. The present study examined the nature of social comparisons that female collegeaged non or infrequent exercisers and exercisers made with respect to their bodies, and the relationship of these social comparisons to body image attitudes. Specifically, the frequency and direction of comparisons on specific tal-gets and body dimensions were examined in both non or infrequent exercisers and exercisers. Finally, the relationship between body-image attitudes and the frequency and direction with which body-related social comparisons were made for non or infrequent exercisers and exercisers were examined. One hundred and fifty-two participants completed the study (n = 70 non or ill infrequent exercisers; n = 82 exercisers). Participants completed measures of social physique anxiety (SPA), body dissatisfaction, body esteem, body image cognitions, leisure time physical activity, and social comparisons. Results suggested that both groups (non or infrequent exercisers and exercisers) generally made social comparisons and most frequently made comparisons with same-sex friends, and least frequently with same-sex parents. Also, both groups made more appearance-related comparisons than non-appearance-related comparisons. Further, both groups made more negative comparisons with almost all targets. However, non or infrequent exercisers generally made more negative comparisons on all body dimensions, while exercisers made negative comparisons only on weight and body shape dimensions. MANOV As were conducted to examine if any differences on social comparisons between the two groups existed. Results of the MANOVAs indicated that frequency of comparisons with targets, the frequency of comparisons on body dimensions, and direction of comparisons with targets did not differ based on exercise status. However, the direction of comparison of specific body dimensions revealed a significant (F (7, 144) = 3.26,p < .05; 1]2 = .132) difference based on exercise status. Follow-up ANOVAs showed significant differences on five variables: physical attractiveness (F (1, 150) = 6.33,p < .05; 1]2 = .041); fitness (F(l, 150) = 11.89,p < .05; 1]2 = .073); co-ordination (F(I, 150) = 5.61,p < .05; 1]2 = .036); strength (F(I, dO) = 12.83,p < .05; 1]2 = .079); muscle mass or tone (F(l, 150) = 17.34,p < .05; 1]2 = 1.04), with exercisers making more positive comparisons than non or infrequent exercisers. The results from the regression analyses for non or infrequent exercisers showed appearance orientation was a significant predictor of the frequency of social comparisons N (B = .429, SEB = .154, /3 = .312,p < .01). Also, trait body image measures accounted for significant variance in the direction of social comparisons (F(9, 57) = 13.43,p < .001, R2adj = .68). Specifically, SPA (B = -.583, SEB = .186, /3 = -.446,p < .01) and body esteem-weight concerns (B = .522, SEB = .207, /3 = .432,p < .01) were significant predictors of the direction of comparisons. For exercisers, regressions revealed that specific trait measures of body image significantly predicted the frequency of comparisons (F(9, 71) = 8.67,p < .001, R2adj = .463). Specifically, SPA (B = .508, SEB = .147, /3 = .497,p < .01) and appearance orientation (B = .457, SEB = .134, /3 = .335,p < .01) were significant predictors of the frequency of social comparisons. Lastly, for exercisers, the results for the regression of body image measures on the direction of social comparisons were also significant (F(9, 70) = 14.65,p < .001, R2adj = .609) with body dissatisfaction (B = .368, SEB = .143, /3 = .362,p < .05), appearan.ce orientation (B = .256, SEB = .123, /3 = .175,p < .05), and fitness orientation (B = .423, SEB = .194, /3 = .266,p < .05) significant predictors of the direction of social comparison. The results indicated that young women made frequent social comparisons regardless of exercise status. However, exercisers m,a de more positive comparisons on all the body dimensions than non or infrequent exercisers. Also, certain trait body image measures may be good predictors of one's body comp~son tendencies. However, the measures which predict comparison tendencies may be different for non or infrequent exercisers and exercisers. Future research should examine the effects of social comparisons in different populations (i.e., males, the obese, older adults, etc.). Implications for practice and research were discussed.

Association between adolescent leisure, peer social capital and academic performance among Canadian youth

Previous research shows discrepant findings between youth leisure programming (before and after school programs, structured summer program, day camp, overnight camp), academic performance and other youth developmental outcomes. Studies underscores the importance of family, community and school social capital in educational success of youth, investigation of peer social capital in the leisure context and academic performance outcomes is limited. This study uses a sample of 10 and 11 year olds (N=1764) from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) Cycle 6, to study the association between youth leisure programming, peer social capital and academic performance. Ordinal logistic regression models consistently showed a positive association between overnight camp and academic performance even after controlling for determinants of health, and measures of family, school and community social capital. Similarly, the measure of peer social capital was positively associated with academic performance. Most importantly, the interaction between overnight camp participation and peer social capital was significantly associated with academic performance. Study findings, highlight overnight camp opportunities and peer social

Life after hockey : an examination of athletic career transition and the National Hockey League's career transition program

The existent body of athletic career retirement literature is scant in studies of career transition programs. In an effort to attend to this analytical gap, the present study set out to examine the transitions of National Hockey League (NHL; ice hockey) alumni, as well as the effect ~and effectiveness of their respective career transition program, the Life After Hockey program. Interviews with 17 NHL/program alumni revealed that quality of transition (to post-playing life) was affected by: the continuity between pre- and postretirement environments; athletic identity; physical/psychological health (particularly with respect to post-concussion syndrome); selective coping strategies (e.g., preretirement planning (e.g., financial planning, continued education), positive reinterpretation, alcohol/substance abuse); and social support. Also affecting quality of transition, and found to be highly effective (particularly in generating new occupational opportunities, assisting in the acquisition of new skills, and providing a system of continuous support), was the Life After Hockey program.