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Early Childhood News

2012-02-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

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JOBS
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Researcher, Fussy Baby Network
Requisition Number 089033
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
https://jobopportunities.uchicago.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp?postingId=553715

Director, QRIS National Learning Network
The BUILD Initiative
http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102634765558-39/JobDescription+QRIS+NLN+Dir+Feb+2012+rev.pdf

Associate Director
Job No.: H60048
UCLA TIES for Families
https://jobs2.mednet.ucla.edu/css_external/CSSPage_JobDetail.ASP?T=20120130090430&

Open Rank Tenure Track, Early Childhood Faculty Position
Department of Education, University of California, Irvine
https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/apply/details/JPF01687

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CONFERENCES
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Investing in America's Future Workforce: Effective Workforce Development Starts in Our Children's Earliest Years
Friday, February 10 from 3:00 - 4:00 pm ET
https://www323.livemeeting.com/cc/americaspromise/join?id=G5B34B&role=attend

National Child Care Policy Symposium
Child Care and Education: Unequal Opportunities
March 6-10, 2012
Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill
Regular Registration Ends on February 19
http://www.naccrra.org/conferences/2012-national-child-care-policy-symposium

2012 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting
April 13 – 17, 2012
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Early bird rates are available only through March 2
http://aera.net/2012AnnualMeeting.htm

Association for Psychological Science 24th Annual Convention
May 24-27, 2012
Chicago, IL
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/convention

NAEYC 21st National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development
“Leadership throughout the Early Childhood Profession: Research, Policy, and Practice”
June 10-13, 2012
Indianapolis, IN
http://www.naeyc.org/institute/

Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Biennial Conference
“Changing Societies: Learning From and For Research, Social Action, and Policy”
June 22-24, 2012
Charlotte, NC
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: February 20, 2012
http://www.spssi.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=480&parentID=473

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RESOURCES
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Journal of “Infant and Child Development”
New special issue 'Family Processes and Child Adjustment'
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/icd.v21.1/issuetoc

The Recession’s Ongoing Impact on America’s Children: Indicators of Children's Economic Well-Being Through 2011
The Brookings Institution, First Focus, December 2011
http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2011/1220_children_wellbeing_isaacs.aspx

From Crib to Classroom: Developing Language and Skills for Reading
invest in us
http://investinus.org/crib-classroom-developing-language-and-skills-reading

FrameWorks year-in-review newsletter
Children's mental health issues
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs040/1102110589910/archive/1108939612160.html

APA Committee on Children, Youth, and Families
Winter 2012 Newsletter
http://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/newsletter/index.aspx

Child Abuse and Neglect Cost the United States $124 Billion
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childmaltreatment/EconomicCost.html

National and State-Level Estimates of Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Eligibles and Program Reach, 2000–2009 Final Report
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Research and Analysis, December 2011
http://www.fns.usda.gov/ora/MENU/Published/WIC/FILES/WICEligibles2000-2009Vol1.pdf

National Association for the Education of Young Children

What You Need to Lead an Early Childhood Program: Emotional Intelligence in Practice By Holly Elissa Bruno
http://www.naeyc.org/store/node/17253

Our Inquiry, Our Practice: Undertaking, Supporting, and Learning from Early Childhood Teacher Research(ers)
http://www.naeyc.org/store/node/17248

Information and Resources for the Week of the Young Child
http://www.naeyc.org/woyc

State Early Care and Education Public Policy Developments: Fiscal Year 2012
http://www.naeyc.org/policy/statetrends/state-early-care-education-policy-developments-FY12

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GRANTS
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Nutrition Obesity Research Centers (P30)
National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-DK-12-004.html

National Maternal and Child Health Data Resource Center Cooperative Agreement Program
https://grants.hrsa.gov/webExternal/SFO.asp?ID=6EF819B7-8CD4-4FF4-A271-2DA594807AC5

National Institutes of Health (NIH), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Learning Disabilities Innovation Hubs (R24)
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HD-12-203.html

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NEWS
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Common-Core Work Must Include Teacher Development: Standards movement must embrace teacher professional learning
By Stephanie Hirsh, Education Week, January 31, 2012
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/02/01/19hirsh.h31.html

Study: Kindergartners' Attentiveness Key to Later Success
By Julie Rasicot, Education Week, January 31, 2012
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/early_years/2012/01/study_kindergarteners_attentiveness_key_to_developing_good_work_skills.html

Kids Missing From State of the Union
Billy Shore, Huffington Post, 01/30/2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/billy-shore/kids-missing-from-state-o_b_1242388.html

By The Numbers: Autism Is Not a Math Problem
By Ferris Jabr, Scientific American, January 30, 2012
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=autism-math-problem

Ups and downs seen in day care industry
By Blake Jones, The Post-Star, Saturday, January 28, 2012
http://poststar.com/business/local/ups-and-downs-seen-in-day-care-industry/article_5cd652aa-49da-11e1-97d2-001871e3ce6c.html

How the Recession Has Affected Your Kids in an Unexpected Way
By Alice G. Walton, The Atlantic, Jan 26, 2012
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/01/how-the-recession-has-affected-your-kids-in-an-unexpected-way/251475/

USDA Unveils Historic Improvements to Meals Served in America’s Schools
USDA Office of Communications, Jan. 25. 2012
http://www.fns.usda.gov/cga/PressReleases/2012/0023.htm

Early Education a Crime-Fighting Weapon?
By Julie Rasicot, Education Week Early Years blog, January 25, 2012
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/early_years/2012/01/early_education_a_crime_fighting_weapon.html

Teachers take to Twitter to improve craft and commiserate
By Emma Brown, Washington Post, January 21
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/teachers-take-to-twitter-to-improve-craft-and-commiserate/2012/01/19/gIQAGv8UGQ_story.html

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ADVOCACY
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Child Care Tax Credits Outreach
National Women’s Law Center
http://www.nwlc.org/tax-credits-outreach

NYS Legislative Task Force Releases New State Assembly and Senate District Lines
http://www.earlycareandlearning.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-york-state-legislative-task-force.html

National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies
Background Check Campaign
http://www.naccrra.org/public-policy/advocacy-campaigns/background-checks

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Early Childhood News

2012-01-26T08:36:00.000-08:00

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JOBS
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Westchester Institute for Human Development
Pre-Doctoral Internships & Post-Doctoral Fellowships in Child/Pediatric Psychology with Underserved Populations (Developmental Disabilities & Child Welfare)
http://www.wihd.org/page.aspx?pid=269

Endowed Chair in Family Policy Studies
College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University
http://health.oregonstate.edu/knudson

Lab Coordinator position
Johns Hopkins Child Development Lab
https://hrnt.jhu.edu/jhujobs/job_view.cfm?view_req_id=51362&view=sch

Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University and McMaster
Children’s Hospital
One to two-year Lawson post doctoral fellowship in the area of child health and development
http://www.offordcentre.com/about/grad_postdoc.html

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CONFERENCES
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New York Zero-to-Three Network Annual Hedi Levenback Memorial Evening
Michael Lewis, PhD interviewed by Evelyn Blanck, LCSW
Thursday Feb 2nd from 6-8
Ackerman Institute in NYC
https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e5huxki51686f730&oseq=

NYS Child Abuse Prevention Conference: Diverse Paths, Common Dreams
April 16-18, 2012
Marriott Hotel, 189 Wold Road, Albany, NY 12205
http://www.preventchildabuseny.org/news_events/nys-child-abuse-prevention-conference/

5th National Research Conference on Child and Family Programs and Policy
July 24-26, 2012
Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts
Abstracts must be submitted by March 5, 2012
http://www.nrccfpp.org/2012_Conference_8VD3.html

Capital District Child Care Council Annual Conference
October 8, 2012
Albany, NY
Submissions due February 22
http://www.cdcccc.org/education_annualconference.cfm

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RESOURCES
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Early Care & Learning Council
Winter Newsletter
http://www.earlycareandlearning.org/media-room/documents/EarlyCareandLearningCouncilNewsletterWinter2012_000.pdf

The Importance of Fatherhood in Home Visiting
Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy
http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1104293819043-25/FatherhoodHomeVisitingbriefJan2012.pdf

Child Health USA 2011
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration
http://mchb.hrsa.gov/chusa11/more/downloads/pdf/c11.pdf

Loving and Learning: Early Emotional Communications as the Pathway for Learning
For Our Babies, By Ron Lally, December 23, 2011
http://forourbabies.org/wp/2011/12/23/loving-and-learning-early-emotional-communications-as-the-pathway-for-learning/

Child and Youth Well-Being Impacted by Child Care Investments
Center for Law and Social Policy, By Christine Johnson-Staub, Jan 24, 2012
http://www.clasp.org/issues/in_focus?type=child_care_and_early_education&id=0350

Child Care & Early Education Research Connections
Recent Publications and Datasets
http://www.researchconnections.org/childcare/publications/recent.jsp

Free Zero to Three Journal Article
The Influence of Media on Young Children’s Development
http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/32-3_Wartella.pdf?docID=12981

Podcast: Assessing Young Children, Birth Through Third Grade
New America Foundation
http://earlyed.newamerica.net/blogposts/2012/podcast_assessing_young_children_birth_through_third_grade-62724

Creating Opportunity Starts with Children
Center for Law and Social Policy, Jan 20, 2012
http://www.clasp.org/issues/in_focus?type=child_care_and_early_education&id=0349

State Efforts to Address Obesity Prevention in Child Care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems
Altarum Institute
http://www.altarum.org/research-initiatives-health-systems-health-care/improving-human-health-systems-mission-projects/childhood-obesity-reports

Five new book reviews
Education Review
http://nepc.colorado.edu/education-review

National Association for the Education of Young Children

State Early Care and Education Public Policy Developments: Fiscal Year 2012
http://www.naeyc.org/policy/statetrends/state-early-care-education-policy-developments-FY12

Guidance Matters: From Rules to Guidelines Moving to the Positive
http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/201201/Gartell_Guidance_Matters_Jan2012.pdf

Expand Your Network—Start a Blog: FOR THE PRESCHOOL PROFESSIONAL
http://www.naeyc.org/files/tyc/file/V5N2/Gorman.pdf

More Threats to Preschoolers' Play
http://www.naeyc.org/content/research-news-you-can-use-more-threats-preschoolers-play

Calendar Time for Young Children: Good Intentions Gone Awry
http://www.naeyc.org/files/tyc/file/CalendarTime.pdf

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GRANTS
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Collaborate for Healthy Weight: Call for Team Applications—Phase Two
National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality
http://www.cvent.com/events/collaborate-for-healthy-weight-call-for-team-applications-phase-two/event-summary-5d48b519746b4ba1894d65329f95ca5f.aspx

US HHS Department of Health and Human Services
Health Resources & Services Administration Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part D Grants for Coordinated HIV Services and Access to Research for Women, Infants, Children, and Youth (WICY) Grant
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=138833

US HHS Department of Health and Human Services
National Institutes of Health
Learning Disabilities Innovation Hubs (R24) Grant
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=140313

NYS Early Childhood Advisory Council
Social-Emotional Development Support of children in New York State
http://library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1104293819043-24/SocioEmotRFPFull.pdf

The Jacobs Foundation
Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize
http://award.jacobsfoundation.org/

NACCRRA
Sandra J. Skolnik Public Policy Leadership Award
http://www.naccrra.org/sites/default/files/default_site_pages/2012/sandy_background_infopdf.pdf

Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County
Home Visitation Evaluation
http://www.cscpbc.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=rfp.showDetail&content_id=632

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NEWS
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Changing Autism Definition Raises Questions
The Slatest, By Abby Ohlheiser, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012
http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2012/01/20/dr_fred_r_volkmar_new_dsm_autism_definition_harmful_.html

Study lauds role of early education
By Jane Stancill, McClatchy Newspapers, January 19, 2012
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/SCI-EARLYEDUCATION_7071443/SCI-EARLYEDUCATION_7071443/

Education Week

State-funded Preschools Feel Effects of Recession
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/early_years/2012/01/state-funded_preschools.html

Study: Early Education for Poor Students Carries Long-Term Benefits
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/early_years/2012/01/study_early_education_for_poor_kids_provides_long-term_benefits.html

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ADVOCACY
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Early Care & Learning Council

Governor Cuomo Releases 2012-2013 Executive Budget: State dollars supplement lost TANF funds
http://www.earlycareandlearning.blogspot.com/2012/01/governor-cuomo-releases-2012-2013.html

Sheriff Says Invest in Kids to Reduce Crime
http://www.earlycareandlearning.blogspot.com/2012/01/sheriff-says-invest-in-kids-to-reduce.html

NACCRRA Supports Legislation Introduced by U.S. Representative Gwen Moore to Require Comprehensive Background Checks for Child Care Providers
January 25, 2012, Press Release
http://www.naccrra.org/news-room/press-releases/2012/1/naccrra-supports-legislation-introduced-by-us-representative-gwen-mo

Early Childhood News

2012-01-19T08:17:00.000-08:00

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JOBS
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Executive Director
National AfterSchool Association
http://www.naaweb.org/default.asp?contentID=699

Associate Director for Extramural Research
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
http://www.jobs.nih.gov/vacancies/executive/nichdassocdirextrresch.htm

Laboratory Assistant II
UC San Diego
http://jobs.ucsd.edu/bulletin/job.aspx?cat=search&sortby=rank&jobnum_in=60726&search=60726

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CONFERENCES
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Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) topical meeting
Developmental Methodology
February 9 - 11, 2012
Tampa, Florida
http://www.srcd.org/

SITE 2012: 23rd annual conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education
March 5 -9, 2012
Austin, Texas
Proposals Due: January 16, 2012
http://wwww.site.aace.org/conf

2012 National Child Care Policy Symposium
Child Care and Education: Unequal Opportunities
March 6-10, 2012
Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill
http://www.naccrra.org/conferences/2012-national-policy-symposium

44th Banff International Conference on Behavioural Science
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Challenges in Practice, Research and Policy
March 18-21 2012
Banff, Alberta, Canada
http://www.banffbehavsci.ubc.ca/

NAEYC's Intensive One-Day Training of Trainers Sessions
4/3/12 - Communication Skills for Challenging Conversations
4/4/12 - Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Training Program for Teaching Staff
1313 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20005
RSVP Friday, March 23, 2012
http://www.cvent.com/events/training-of-trainers-for-program-administrators/event-summary-ec6b0ec099004c488aaf149b374d7806.aspx

Harvard Graduate School of Education professional education institute
Making it Work: Implementing a Comprehensive PreK-3rd Grade Approach
May 9-12, 2012
Interested teams should submit the application by March 1, 2012.
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/ppe/programs/prek-12/portfolio/prek-3rd.html

Dr. Alice Sterling Honig's 36th Annual Quality Infant/Toddler Caregiving (QIC) Workshop
May 14-18, 2012
Community Folk Art Center, Syracuse, NY
http://falk.syr.edu/ChildFamilyStudies/QIC.aspx

5th National Research Conference on Child and Family Programs and Policy
July 24-26, 2012
Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: JANUARY 15-MARCH 5, 2012
http://www.nrccfpp.org/

NBCDI 42nd Annual Conference
Fulfilling the Promise: Our Children Deserve the Best
October 6-9, 2012
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
The deadline for all submissions is Monday, February 17, 2012
http://www.nbcdi.org/

5th International Conference on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Research
February 27 – March 2, 2013
The Westin Bayshore, Vancouver, BC
Deadline For Abstract Submissions: May 31, 2012
http://www.interprofessional.ubc.ca/FASD/default.asp

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RESOURCES
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2011 Child Well-Being Index
Foundation for Child Development
http://fcd-us.org/resources/2011-child-well-being-index-cwi

2011 New York State Touchstones / KIDS COUNT Data Book
NYS CCF KWIC
http://www.ccf.state.ny.us/Initiatives/KidsCountRelate/kcResources/2011_KidsCountDB.pdf

Watching Teachers Work: Using Observation Tools to Promote Effective Teaching in the Early Years and Early Grades
New America Foundation
http://earlyed.newamerica.net/publications/policy/watching_teachers_work

Family Engagement in Early Childhood: A Resource Guide for Early Learning Challenge Grant Recipients
Harvard Family Research Project
http://www.hfrp.org/family-involvement/publications-resources/family-engagement-in-early-childhood-a-resource-guide-for-early-learning-challenge-grant-recipients

Hidden Hazards in the Nursery
Clean and Healthy New York
http://www.cleanhealthyny.org/2012/01/hidden-hazards.html

NYS Developmental Disabilities Planning Council
Monthly Update - January, 2012
http://ddpcmonthlyupdate.us/index.htm

National Association for the Education of Young Children
New Book - Growing Minds: Building Strong Cognitive Foundations in Early Childhood, Author(s): Carol Copple, ed.
http://www.naeyc.org/store/node/17255

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NEWS
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How to Unlock Your Child’s Academic Potential
Time Ideas, January 17, 2012
http://ideas.time.com/2012/01/17/how-to-unlock-your-childs-academic-potential/?iid=op-article-latest

Bioethicist: Transplant denial for mentally disabled child raises questions
Vitals on msnbc, 1/17/12, By Art Caplan, Ph.D.
http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/17/10175611-bioethicist-transplant-denial-for-mentally-disabled-child-raises-questions

Expansion in prekindergarten programs slowed; Many preschoolers go without early learning
By Associated Press, January 17, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/growth-in-prekindergarten-slowed-in-recession-advocates-hopeful-momentum-will-return/2012/01/17/gIQAeRoZ5P_story.html

Babies don’t just listen, they try lip-reading while turning babble into words
By Associated Press, January 16, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/healthbeat-babies-dont-just-listen-they-try-lip-reading-while-turning-babble-into-words/2012/01/16/gIQAryxf3P_story.html

Day Care Centers Adapt to Round-the-Clock DemandBy SABRINA TAVERNISE
NY Times, January 15, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/us/day-care-centers-adapt-to-round-the-clock-demands.html

10 Hot Spots in Early Ed for 2012
Early Ed Watch, January 12, 2012
http://earlyed.newamerica.net/blogposts/2012/10_hot_spots_in_early_ed_for_2012-62352

Funding to Be Offered to Help Low-Income Parents Move Back Into Workforce
readMedia, 01/10/2012
http://readme.readmedia.com/Funding-to-Be-Offered-to-Help-Low-Income-Parents-Move-Back-Into-Workforce/3236100

A Poverty Solution That Starts With a Hug
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, NY Times, January 7, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/kristof-a-poverty-solution-that-starts-with-a-hug.html

Day Care Focuses on Teaching, and Exercise Suffers
MyHealthNewsDaily, Jan 4, 2012
http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/2068-embargoed-day-care-focuses-teaching-exercise-suffers.html

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ADVOCACY
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Tiny Feet with Big Dreams Campaign
Early Care & Learning Council
http://www.earlycareandlearning.org/policy/TintFeetwithBigDreams.cfm

Early Childhood News

2012-01-10T12:26:00.000-08:00

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JOBS
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Research Coordinator
University of Denver

We are recruiting a Research Coordinator to supervise a new, federally-funded, 5-year randomized control trial testing a parenting intervention to reduce physiologic stress dysregulation in infants and toddlers experiencing chronic and pervasive stress. The Research Coordinator works directly with at-risk children and families, as well as the Principal Investigator to coordinate and implement the study. The Coordinator ensures compliance with protocols and research objectives. This position is responsible for recruiting, coordinating home visits, compiling and updating participant files, supervising data entry, and assisting with regulatory submissions to the Institutional Review Board (IRB), as well as budgeting and purchasing duties. The position involves participant contact for study recruitment, screening, collection of study data and participant follow-ups. The Coordinator is also responsible for saliva sample collection preparation, storage and coordination of assay processing and maintaining study supplies and kits. The Research Coordinator provides oversight to the Clinical Research Coordinator, local Early Head Start sites, Research Assistants and Graduate Students to coordinate/implement study.
https://www.dujobs.org/postings/15595

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Research Assistant Internship in Infant Cognition – Boston College Infant and Child Cognition Lab

Dr. Sara Cordes’ Infant and Child Cognition Lab (http://www.cordeslab.org/) located on the main campus of Boston College is looking for motivated and enthusiastic undergraduates interested in participating in a summer internship in developmental psychology. This is a great opportunity for students looking to gain valuable research experience and to expand their knowledge in the fields of infant and child cognition. The lab’s main focus is examining how infants and children keep track of number and other quantities, including time and space, and how language and social factors may play a role in affecting these early abilities.
Each intern will have a primary research project to focus on, gaining valuable experience in experimental design, working with infants and children, subject recruitment, data coding and analysis, and much more.
The internship will take place over a 10-week period beginning in June 2012. Interns will receive a $1,000 stipend for participation in the program. This internship is open to any undergraduate interested in cognitive developmental research. Students from primarily undergraduate institutions are strongly encouraged to apply.

To apply, please send your resume and a letter describing your interests and experiences to Alison Goldstein (bccognition@gmail.com).

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CONFERENCES
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NYS Infant Mental Health Association Workshop: Meredith S. Wiley
January 31, 2012 at 6:00-8:00PM
Albany, NY
http://mhanys.org/calendar/calendar.php?display=event&id=336&date=2012-Jan-31&returnto=month

Global TIME: Global Conference on Technology, Innovation, Media & Education (Online Conference)
February 7 - 9, 2012
FINAL Call for Virtual Participation Proposals Due: January 11, 2012
http://www.aace/org/conf/gtime

The National Child Care Policy Symposium
“Child Care and Education: Unequal Opportunities”
March 6-10, 2012
Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. 20001
http://www.naccrra.org/conferences/symposium/2012/2012-nps.php

NAEYC Intensive One-Day Training of Trainers Sessions
4/3/12 - Communication Skills for Challenging Conversations
4/4/12 - Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Training Program for Teaching Staff
NAEYC Headquarters, Washington, DC
RSVP Friday, March 23, 2012
http://bit.ly/xI0JRm

2012 NYSAEYC Annual Conference
April 19-21, 2012
Buffalo, NY
Special reduced rate by February 3rd
http://www.nysaeyc.org/conference/geninfo.asp

National Association of Child Care Professionals
2012 NACCP 28th Annual National Conference
“How Successful Directors Manage”
April 25-27, 2012
San Antonio, TX
https://m360.naccp.org/event.aspx?eventID=31890

XVIII Biennial International Conference on Infant Studies
June 7 - 9, 2012
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Online registration will open February 1, 2012
http://www.isisweb.org/view/0/conference2012.html

Penn Neuroscience Boot Camp
July 30th - August 8th, 2012
University of Pennsylvania
Complete applications are due by midnight on Friday, February 3rd, 2012
http://www.neuroethics.upenn.edu/index.php/events/neuroscience-bootcamp

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RESOURCES
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Caring for Babies: How State Child Care Policies Can Support Continuity
2011 NAEYC Annual Conference Presentation
http://www.clasp.org/admin/site/publications/files/NAEYC-2011-Presentation.pdf

The State of America's Children 2011
Children's Defense Fund
http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-publications/state-of-americas-children-2011/

Healthy New Year's Resolutions for Kids
American Academy of Pediatrics
http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/news-features-and-safety-tips/Pages/Healthy-New-Year-Resolutions-for-Kids.aspx

Little Kids, Big Questions: A ZERO TO THREE Podcast Series on Early Childhood Development
http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/funded-projects/parenting-resources/podcast/

Early Childhood Adversity, Toxic Stress, and the Role of the Pediatrician: Translating Developmental Science Into Lifelong Health
American Academy of Pediatrics, POLICY STATEMENT
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/pediatrics;129/1/e224.pdf

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
1 February 2012; Vol. 43, No. 2
http://jcc.sagepub.com/content/vol43/issue2/?etoc

The #earlyed Daily
http://paper.li/tag/earlyed

NAEYC - National Association for the Education of Young Children

Young Children, January 2012 - Vol. 67, No. 1
“Curriculum, Assessment, and Teaching: Putting It All Together”
http://www.naeyc.org/yc/currentissue

New Book
Growing Minds: Building Strong Cognitive Foundations in Early Childhood
http://www.naeyc.org/store/node/17255

January 2012 e-News
http://newsmanager.commpartners.com/naeyc/issues/2012-01-05.html

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NEWS
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The Politics of Child Protection Led by a Motley Pirate Ship of Pissed Off People
The Huffington Post, By Trish Kinney, 12/27/11
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trish-kinney/the-politics-of-child-pro_b_1171373.html

State cuts to child care force some parents, especially single moms, to consider quitting work
The Washington Post, 12/29/11
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/state-cuts-to-child-care-force-some-parents-especially-single-moms-to-consider-quitting-work/2011/12/29/gIQAQsbuOP_story_1.html

Playtime for preschoolers essential, study says
CNN Health, The Chart, 1/4/2012
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/04/playtime-for-preschoolers-essential-study-says/

Early investments pay off for poor children, study finds
APA Monitor on Psychology, January 2012, Vol 43, No. 1
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/01/investments.aspx

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OUTREACH
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Early Care & Learning Council
Become a Friend of the Council
http://earlycareandlearning.blogspot.com/2011/12/become-friend-of-council.html

2012-2013 National Head Start Fellowships Program
Applications are due on January 15, 2012
http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/hs/resources/pd/Individual%20Development/Head%20Start%20Fellowship%20Program

FYI 2012

2012-01-01T08:50:00.000-08:00

The central task of education is to implant a will and a facility for learning; it should produce not learned but learning people. The truly human society is a learning society, where grandparents, parents, and children are students together. In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.

Eric Hoffer (1973) Reflections on the Human Condition

There are two kinds of truth: the truth that lights the way and the truth that warms the heart. The first of these is science, and the second is art. Neither is independent of the other or more important than the other. Without art science would be as useless as a pair of high forceps in the hands of a plumber. Without science art would become a crude mess of folklore and emotional quackery. The truth of art keeps science from becoming inhuman, and the truth of science keeps art from becoming ridiculous.

Raymond Chandler (1938) Great Thought

Early Childhood News

2011-12-13T11:20:00.000-08:00

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JOBS
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Part-time RA position open at BU's Child Cognition Lab

Project Description:

The Child Cognition Lab at Boston University conducts research projects with children and adults. We are currently engaged in a large-scale, federally funded research project examining young children’s understanding and learning of complex biological concepts. We are seeking a highly motivated and research oriented R.A. to work on this project. The ideal candidate would be interested in how children learn, science education, and applied psychological research. The roles of the position include recruiting participants, processing data, and helping run participants both in lab and outside of lab settings. This part-time paid position is for 20 hours a week. It would be perfect for someone interested in acquiring further experience before applying for graduate school in developmental psychology or a closely related field.

Necessary Qualifications:
· Positive, outgoing, and friendly demeanor
· Intellectual curiosity and ability to learn quickly
· Interest in developmental psychology research
· Willingness and ability to work in a fast-paced, intellectual environment
· Strong organizational skills, detail-orientation and conscientiousness
· Knowledge of experimental design
· Experience working with children in some capacity

Preferred Qualifications:
· Experience working in a research lab
· Interest in biological education
· Familiarity with SPSS

We are looking for the ideal candidate to begin at the start of January 2012. Send your resume and cover letter outlining how you meet the requirements for this post to Dr. Natalie Emmons at nemmons@bu.edu.

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CHILD/ADOLESCENT CLINICAL INTERVIEWER/RESEARCH ASSOCIATE POSITION

Brown Medical School, Providence, RI

Brown Medical School, Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine is seeking a licensed CLINICAL INTERVIEWER/RESEARCH ASSOCIATE to administer structured diagnostic interviews (K-SADS, SCID) to parents and children/adolescents and longitudinal clinical follow-up assessments as part of a new research study focused on biomarkers of adolescent depression risk. Position also involves providing clinical supervision to study staff, project coordination, and working within a multidisciplinary team. Opportunities for participating in research including authoring and co-authoring manuscripts, and submitting grants also offered. Experience with structured interviewing with children/adolescents and adults, experience in a research setting, supervisory and interpersonal skills strongly preferred.

The Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, directed by Michael Carey, PhD, has a history of over 25 years of conducting innovative research involving inter-disciplinary, behavioral approaches to the prevention and treatment of disease. Research in the Centers includes some combination of laboratory-based, clinical, and community approaches.

To apply and for questions, please contact Laura Stroud, Ph.D., 401-793-8194, lstroudri@gmail.com.

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CONFERENCES
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ECE Leader's Guide to Effective Staff Development - How to Get Your Money's Worth, by Karen Nemeth
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM EST
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/656878368

2012 National Child Care Policy Symposium
Child Care and Education: Unequal Opportunities
March 6-10, 2012
Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill
Register by December 30 for early bird reduced rates
http://www.naccrra.org/conferences/symposium/2012/2012-nps.php

Development of Executive Functions Workshop
19th-20th April, 2012
Utrecht University, the Netherlands
Submission deadline: 9th January 2012
http://www.fss.uu.nl/defworkshop/

42nd Annual Meeting of the Jean Piaget Society
May 31 - June 2, 2012
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Deadline for submissions: 15 December 2011
http://www.piaget.org/

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RESOURCES
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2011 HOLIDAY SAFETY TIPS
American Academy of Pediatrics
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/novtips.cfm

Zero to Three Journal Article
Challenging Behavior and Expulsion From Child Care: The Role of Mental Health Consultation
http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/32-2_Perry.pdf?docID=12901

Gene X Environment Interplay: Genetics, Epigenetics, and Environmental Influences on Development
Guest Editors: Kay L. Wanke, Ty Partridge, Toni Antonucci
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hrhd20/current

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GRANTS
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Injury Science REU Program Announcement

The Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP) at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania, announces 10-week paid summer research internships for undergraduate students. CIRP is a leading multi-disciplinary center engaged in collaborative research implementing real world applications. The Injury Science Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site program (sponsored by the National Science Foundation) will provide students with mentorship and hands-on research experiences in the fields of engineering, behavioral science, public health, epidemiology, population science and statistics as applied to pediatric injury science (i.e., prevention of injury; secondary prevention, post-injury/traumatic stress).

The program will provide students with a stipend, housing at the University of Pennsylvania if needed, and a contribution toward travel expenses.

CIRP is accepting applications from January 3 to January 31.

Visit http://www.research.chop.edu/programs/injury/about_cirp/reu.php for more information and to apply.

Contact Carol Murray murrayca@email.chop.edu with questions.

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Jumpstart for Young Children is pleased to announce the release of the
Request for Proposal (RFP) for the 2011-2012 Research Grant Competition.
This research program provides small grants ranging between US$7,500 and
$10,000 for promising research that addresses significant questions on the
processes and impact of Jumpstart for early language and literacy
development and social-emotional development. The intent of such grants is
to provide researchers with the opportunity to investigate the influence of
Jumpstart (1) on the lives of young children who live in low-income and
high-stress communities, and (2) on adult volunteers who implement the
Jumpstart program. For the 2012 grants awards, researchers must submit
proposals by *February 20, 2012*. Up to three grants will be awarded each
year.

Additional information on Jumpstart, the RFP process and supporting
research can be found on Jumpstart’s website www.jstart.org or by clicking
on the following link: Research Grants Program Information
Center http://www.jstart.org/site/PageServer?pagename=WhatWeDo_InfoCenter

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Parents @ Symposium 2012 Scholarship Application

We are excited to announce that NACCRRA will be hosting the Parents @ Symposium program again this year!

Parents play a key role in helping Members of Congress understand why child care laws need to be strengthened. Our previous Parents @ Symposium programs have been incredibly successful in motivating parents to be more involved in advocacy and we have seen parents have a real influence on policymakers’ decisions. We would like to invite all Child Care Resource & Referral member agencies (CCR&Rs) and State Networks to sponsor a parent advocate at NACCRRA’s National Policy Symposium, March 6-10, 2012.

NACCRRA will be providing a limited number of $750 scholarships to help underwrite the cost of sponsorship. We are putting together a great program to help ensure that your parent advocates are strong additions to both your Day on the Hill visits with Members of Congress, as well as parent advocacy leaders when they return to your state following Symposium. As a reminder, we are looking for parents who both want to be a leader and have a story to tell (i.e.- affordability, availably or quality of care).

Please visit our Parents @ Symposium webpage (http://www.naccrra.org/conferences/symposium/2012/2012-parents-symposium.php) to learn more about the program, including:
• How to Find a Parent Advocate
• Local Outreach Tips for Fundraising
• Sponsor a Parent Advocate Application

Please review the materials, including sponsor responsibilities and complete the application by the deadline on Friday, January 13, 2012. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Kim Kober, Parent Network Associate, at Kim.Kober@naccrra.org.

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ADVOCACY
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Become a member of Winning Beginning NY today!

Do you value the opportunity to weigh in on matters of policy at the state and federal level with just the click of a button?
Would you like to continue to support these efforts or become even more involved in the coalition’s work?

Then you should become a member of Winning Beginning NY!

We rely in part on membership dues to accomplish our goals and to provide:
• Executive and Legislative Agendas and materials to support advocacy and lobbying
• State budget analysis
• Urgent e-mail blasts and timely e-newsletters to mobilize our members, supporters and citizens across the state
• Organization of and support for our regional networks

If you would like to officially join Winning Beginning NY, please fill out a membership agreement that affirms your commitment to ensuring high-quality early care and education for all children - and mail it in with your dues.

http://www.winningbeginningny.org/documents/wbny_membership_dues_agreement_dec2011.pdf

Thank you for your generous support!

Sincerely,

Jenn O’Connor, Winning Beginning NY

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OUTREACH
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YOU'VE BEEN WORKING HARD - GET THE TAX CREDITS YOU DESERVE!

Families in New York:

Whether or not you owe income tax, you could get thousands of dollars in tax credits. You could qualify for:

Up to $2,100 from the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, up to $2,310 from the New York State Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and up to $1,733 from the New York City Child Care Tax Credit.

Up to $5,751 from the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, up to $1,725 from the New York State Earned Income Tax Credit and up to $288 from the New York City Earned Income Tax Credit.

Up to $1,000 per child from the federal Child Tax Credit and $330 per child from the Empire State Child Tax Credit.

More families than ever are eligible for these credits this year.

To get these credits, you must file a tax return.

Find out where you can get FREE help with your taxes by calling the IRS toll-free at (800) 906-9887 or go to www.irs.gov. You can also contact the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance at (518) 457-5181. To find out where to get free income tax preparation assistance, call AARP Tax-Aide toll-free at (888) AARPNOW or (888) 227-7669. New York City residents call 311.

For more information about the Tax Credits Outreach Campaign contact the Early Care & Learning Council at (518) 690-4217 or go to http://www.earlycareandlearning.org

For more information on the federal and state child care credits, visit the National Women’s Law Center at http://www.nwlc.org/.

THE EARLY CARE & LEARNING COUNCIL IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S LAW CENTER
TAX CREDITS OUTREACH CAMPAIGN
2012 TAX FILING SEASON

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Postdoctoral Coursework

2011-11-27T08:23:00.000-08:00

The Sage Colleges

NCR 500 Initial Moodle Training
NCR 502 Best Practices in Online Instruction

Social Emotional Consultation Evaluation

2011-09-29T12:01:00.000-07:00

Social-Emotional Consultation in Infant and Toddler Child Care Programs: Final Evaluation Report

Asil Ali Özdoğru and Samantha Wulfsohn

Executive Summary

Background
Social-Emotional Consultation in Infant and Toddler Child Care Programs was a statewide demonstration project to promote healthy social-emotional development, prevent problem behaviors, and treat developmental disorders of infants and toddlers in early care and learning environments. The project was coordinated by the Early Care & Learning Council and funded by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services between January 2010 and June 2011 through a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Four communities were selected as demonstration sites including Syracuse, Putnam County, Westchester County, and New York City. Each site provided on-site mental health consultation to child care or home visiting programs that serve infants and toddlers. A collaborative model was developed to include representatives of child care councils, Regional Infant/Toddler Resource Centers, Early Head Start, county departments of health and mental health, and/or provider agencies with a focus on infant and toddler development. A child development organization provided training and technical assistance to the four sites. The following six evaluation questions guided the evaluation activities.
1. Are infants and toddlers who are involved in the consultation showing improved social-emotional behaviors?
2. Are the parents of infants and toddlers who are involved in the consultation satisfied with services?
3. Do the child care providers who are involved in the consultation have improved knowledge and skills?
4. Does the social-emotional consultation increase child care program quality?
5. Is the consultation instrumental in improving cross-system collaboration in I/T social-emotional development?
6. What are the training needs and outcomes of consultants and other partners involved in the project?

Methods
The evaluation sample consisted of multiple groups of programs and individuals from the four sites involved in the project. There were a total of 12 participating child care and Early Head Start programs, 752 infants and toddlers, and 165 caregivers and home visitors across four sites. A mix of observation tools, surveys, interviews, and focus groups were used by the central evaluation team and the local partners. A case tracking program was used to record and transmit data on child and family consultations, programmatic consultations, and Ages & Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE) scores. Teachers and home visitors who participated in the project were asked to complete an evaluation survey at the end of the consultation process. Child care directors were interviewed at the beginning and end of the project. Parents of infants and toddlers in participating child care centers were asked to complete a satisfaction survey towards the end of the project. Training services provided by the training organization were evaluated through background and training/supervision evaluation questionnaires that were distributed at the end of large group trainings and reflective supervision sessions. On-site focus groups were held in each of the four sites with different stakeholder groups. All of the instruments were developed and reviewed with the involvement of the advisory committee including the local representatives.

Results
The number of times a consultation type was selected among the given options for child/family consultations and program consultations in each community was analyzed. The most frequently selected consultation type across communities was “consult to director and/or owner” (22%), which was followed by “consult to teachers(s)” (17%), “conduct observation” (17%), “other” (14%), “consult to parent(s)” (13%), “modeling in classroom or socialization group” (8%), “train in formal workshop” (6%), “referral or collateral consultation” (3%), and “EI to CPSE transition” (0.3%).

Three of the four sites had data on follow-up ASQ:SE scores. As shown in the following table, average ASQ:SE scores between initial and follow-up assessments in those sites showed a three point decrease from 23 to 20, which indicated an improvement in social-emotional behaviors and development of the children. In five of the six age groups, there was a reduction in the average scale scores.

Parents who received consultation were asked to rate their satisfaction with the services. Among the 51 parents from the two sites who completed an evaluation survey, nine parents, five from one site and four from the other, indicated that they received consultation services. 99% of the responses (82 out of 83) agreed or strongly agreed with the positively stated qualities of consultation services.

In the pre-post phone interviews, program directors from the four partnerships commented on knowledge and skills of their staff. Of the 11 items from the survey, there was an increased rating for 7 items, no change for 1 item, and a decrease for 3 items. The top three items with the biggest increase were 16 “Teachers feel comfortable referring a child and family to social-emotional development services,” 18 “Teachers feel competent and confident in their ability to respond to behavior that worries them,” and 13 “Teachers communicate regularly with parents about their infant/toddlers’ strengths and needs.”

Consistent themes emerged from the focus groups and interviews demonstrating how teachers and home visitors benefited from the consultation. The following areas were impacted by consultation according to teachers, directors, partners, and lead contacts: (1) Responding to individual children, (2) General classroom and program practices, (3) Professional relationships, and (4) Teacher and home visitor professional self-worth. Participants in the focus group consistently pointed to two notable program impacts: (1) Referral system within program and (2) system support and recognition of the infant/toddler years.

Each of the participating communities was unique and at a different stage of system development with regard to mental health provision and services for infants and toddlers. Despite these differences there were two consistent changes in cross-systems development that emerged from the focus group and structured interviews. First, each site reported that their communities increased their emphasis on the importance of focusing resources and supports to the infant-toddler population. Additionally, all communities reported that they had made new linkeages or had created stronger ties that were likely to be sustained beyond the period of the grant. Eighty-eight percent of the 32 participants at the initial training and 90% of the 10 participants at the mid-year training who completed an evaluation survey indicated that the overall training increased their knowledge and skills to some or great extent.

Conclusions
Results from the evaluation of Social-Emotional Consultation in Infant and Toddler Child Care Programs show that the four demonstration projects were instrumental in improving children’s behavioral outcomes, meeting parents’ needs, increasing knowledge and skills of caregivers and home visitors, enhancing program quality, and creating opportunities for cross-system collaborations. Data from the surveys, interviews, and focus groups, as well as information from other sources provided supportive indication of the overall project’s effectiveness and contributions. Successes, challenges, lessons learned, and limitations of the evaluation provide useful information in the understanding of the results from this evaluation as well as the implications for the future projects.

Published by the Early Care & Learning Council in print and online at
http://www.earlycareandlearning.org/programs/infant-toddler/documents/ExecutiveSummary_FINAL_REV.pdf

Infant Toddler Network Evaluation

2011-09-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

New York State Infant and Toddler Resource Network: 2011 Evaluation Report

Asil Ali Özdoğru and Rebekah M. Widrick

Executive Summary

Introduction
Beginning in 2002, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services used federal Child Care Block Grant funds to develop seven Regional Infant and Toddler Resource Centers. These Centers, established in the Child Care Resource and Referral agencies across the state, are staffed with Infant/Toddler (I/T) Specialists dedicated to improving the quality of child care for infants, toddlers, and their families. The I/T Project at the Early Care & Learning Council acts as a clearinghouse of best practice for the I/T Specialists. Additional funding allowed for an evaluation of the Infant and Toddler Resource Network and the following four outcome domains were developed by the project team at the Council in consultation with some of the key stakeholders: 1. User satisfaction 2. Increased knowledge and awareness 3. Increased quality of practice 4. Cross-system changes

Methodology
A process and outcome evaluation was implemented through the tracking and evaluation of I/T Specialist activities and through the solicitation of stakeholder feedback. Starting in November 2010, a common data collection system was used across the seven regions in order to evaluate the activities and experiences of individuals who are involved in and/or affected by the Network. I/T Specialists were provided with a set of information tracking forms, evaluation forms, corresponding data entry programs, and instruction manuals to record their activities in technical assistance, training, and capacity building. The content of most of the forms was anchored in The 10 Components of Quality Child Care for Infants and Toddlers. The Network uses these components as their shared definition of quality child care. The data were submitted periodically to the central evaluation team at the Council.

Findings
Technical Assistance (TA) is the leading type of service the I/T Specialists offer, followed by training and capacity building activities. For all TA and training services, 59.9% of the service users were child care center staff and directors. Across the three types of services, the top three most frequently selected components were well trained staff (21.3%), environments (13.9%), and curriculum (11.1%). Over 90% of TA and training users were highly satisfied and gave positive comments. The breadth of basic TA topics and the change in self-rated knowledge before and after the trainings indicated a positive change in Network users’ awareness and knowledge. Formal assessments of TA recipients via standardized environmental rating scale scores and goal progress indices in quality improvement plans show that there is an increased quality of practice in child care programs. Results from the stakeholder surveys and interviews also corroborated the positive findings in satisfaction, learning, and practice outcomes.

Conclusion
The data on the evaluation of the New York State Infant and Toddler Resource Network present supportive evidence that the Network is offering a range of services predominantly to the child care workforce by (1) meeting the needs and expectations of the workforce, (2) increasing awareness and building a firm knowledge base in nationally recognized quality components, (3) enhancing the quality of practice in infant/toddler care, and (4) forming and sustaining professional collaborations and working relationships among the major players in the field of infant/toddler care and development.

Published by the Early Care & Learning Council in print and online at
http://www.earlycareandlearning.org/programs/infant-toddler/documents/FinalEvaluationReport_FINAL_REV.pdf

APA 2011

2011-08-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

Children’s Weekend Time Use, Activity Choices, and Enjoyment Across Four Cultures

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Out-of-school time constitutes a major context of social and emotional development for children across cultures. Weekend time as an out-of-school context is particularly important because of its length of duration and availability of activities. Children’s participation and engagement in various weekend activities are influenced by their social, economic, and cultural environments. Because it is not constrained by school attendance, weekend time allows cultural and gender differences in time usage to emerge. As in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory, different layers of environment provide distinct set of activities and interactions for children. Parental preferences and cultural values shape children’s time use, activity choices, and enjoyment of those activities. Time use offers insight on the valued developmental outcomes associated with different activities in different cultures. Parental involvement in children’s activity choices provides information on cultural parenting strategies and socialization patterns. Children’s activity enjoyment is associated with positive developmental outcomes due to activity participation. Relationship between activity choice and enjoyment is valuable in the test of overscheduling hypothesis, which claims that children develop negative emotional outcomes when hurried into many structured activities.

In this study, children’s weekend activities and choices were examined for fourth grade students in four countries. A total of 1,265 children of families from middle socioeconomic status in Bulgaria, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States completed an activity survey asking them to state their typical activity for each of 12 hours on Saturday from 10am to 10pm. Children also reported their enjoyment of each activity and whether it was self- or adult-chosen. Activities children freely entered into each hour field then coded into eight major activity categories, which were watching TV, play, reading for fun, academics, organized sports, extracurricular activities, outings, and routine maintenance activities. Average interrater reliability between different activity coders was .89.

Findings indicated that children across the four countries spent most of their weekend time in self-chosen unstructured activities. There was a great deal of variation across countries in the amount and choice of time spent in different activity types. In the two-way 4x2 ANOVA models, country was a significant factor in all of the eight activity duration outcomes, whereas gender was significant in four of the eight activities. Taiwanese children led other countries in the amount of time spent in academics, extracurricular activities, and watching TV. Children in Turkey spent more time in routine maintenance activities, reading, and outing than children of other countries. Children from the US reported spending more time than other children in play and sports. Girls reported spending more time than boys in routines, reading, and extracurricular activities, whereas boys used more time in play than girls. Girls in all countries spent more time in academics than boys except in Taiwan.

In terms of activity choices, Bulgarian children led other countries in the amount of time spent in self-chosen activities, whereas Taiwanese children had the highest amount of time spent in adult-chosen activities. Girls in overall had more time in adult-chosen activities than boys did. Among the activities, outing and extracurricular activities had higher proportions of adult-choice than self-choice.

Children’s enjoyment of their activities was negatively related to the amount of adult-chosen activities they had (r = .233, p < .001). Even though there was not a moderation effect of country or gender on this relationship, there were some differences between Turkish children and children from other countries.

Results suggest that cultures differ in the available and socially acceptable types of weekend activities as demonstrated by the time spent by children in different activities and extent of parental involvement in children’s activity decisions. It is not surprising that Taiwan, like other Asian cultures, would have higher levels of parental control and authority than other cultures. The finding that Bulgarian children had the lowest level of adult-chosen weekend activities might be due in part to changing parenting models in the post-socialist era providing greater autonomy to children. To a certain extent, the findings about adult-choice and enjoyment support the claims of adherents of the overscheduling hypothesis that free play and less adult control foster optimal emotional outcomes. However, culturally different socialization processes associated with activity choice and participation help shape children’s emotional experiences. The relatively less negative reaction of Turkish children, especially boys, to adult-chosen activities may point to unique qualities of parenting and socialization practices of Turkish parents. Turkish parenting strategies are described as authoritarian as well as caring, a combination which is not easily categorized within major parenting styles. Weekend time provides important developmental niches within which children in different countries experience activities that contribute to their personal and social developmental outcomes.In addition to often-studied American and Taiwanese cultures, this study focused on children in the less researched Bulgarian and Turkish cultures. Offering a cross-cultural comparison of aspects of child development and socialization practices in the out-of-school context, the study produced some findings that challenge strictly categorical and polarized views of cultural processes. It calls attention to the dynamic and complex nature of social and emotional development of children in different cultures around the world.

Keywords: Out-of-school time, weekend activities, children, cross-cultural

Poster presented at the 119th convention of the

American Psychological Association

August 4-7, 2011
Washington, DC

ECBD 2011

2011-07-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory
Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory is a comprehensive system theory of human development that includes elements from social, cultural, economic, and political contexts in the development of an individual...

Bronfenbrenner, Urie
Urie Bronfenbrenner is a world-renowned developmental psychologist who developed the theory of ecological human development and co-founded the national Head Start program in the United States...

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Published in the
Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development
Sam Goldstein & Jack A. Naglieri, Eds.
2011 New York: Springer

NYS AEYC 2011

2011-04-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

Evaluation of Early Childhood Social-Emotional Consultation Programs

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Infant mental health, used interchangeably with healthy social–emotional development, is the capacity of children from birth to age three to experience, regulate, and express emotions; form close and secure interpersonal relationships; and explore the environment and learn—all in the context of family, community, and cultural expectations for young children. Social-emotional consultation for infants and toddlers is a specific type of Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation. Consultants providing ECMHC engage in variety of activities such as observing children, consulting with directors and teachers, and meeting with families. Outcome evaluations of social-emotional consultations reported positive findings for children, parents, staff, and program outcomes. The most important consultant competencies for effective consultation are described as knowledge, skills, and experience in ECMH, child development, and early childhood education; positive relationships with staff and families; knowledge of community services and supports; and cultural sensitivity and linguistic competence. Quality of staff-consultant relationships is also reported as a mediating factor between frequency of consultant activities and effectiveness of consultation for children and staff. In New York’s Social-emotional Consultation in Infant and Toddler Child Care Programs initiative, a comprehensive set of data collection activities are underway to evaluate the processes and outcomes of the project.

Keywords: Early childhood, mental health, evaluation

Presented at the annual conference of the
New York State Association for the Education of Young Children
April 28-30, 2011
Rye Brook, NY

Turkish Student Association

2011-01-18T20:23:00.000-08:00

New Year for Turksa

One week before the Spring 2011 semester started at UAlbany, former president of Turkish Student Association (Turksa) Asil Özdoğru handed over the documents and files for the management of Turksa to new president Cüneyt Gözü, who started his new position with the new year. Turksa was started in February 2006 and presided by Asil since then. Unchallenged in any of the annual elections, Asil managed the organization with the support of a host of officers and volunteers. Working in different roles Cüneyt also took part in Turksa from the very first day and served in different roles as treasurer and vice president. With Asil’s graduation, Cüneyt took over the leadership of Turksa to take it to the elections in the summer of 2011 and beyond.

Published online in Turkish Student Association Blog at
http://turksa.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-year-for-turksa.html

FYI 2011

2011-01-01T09:23:00.000-08:00

Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) Louis Pasteur, Free Lance of Science

And the very air [student] breathes should be charged with that enthusiasm for
truth, that fanaticism of veracity, which is a greater possession than much learning; a nobler gift than the power of increasing knowledge; by so much greater and nobler than these, as the moral nature of man is greater than the intellectual; for veracity is the heart of morality.

Thomas H. Huxley (1874) Universities, Actual and Ideal

Doctoral Dissertation

2010-12-18T10:17:00.000-08:00

Children’s Weekend Activities in Four Countries: Context for Personal and Social Development

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Out-of-school time constitutes a major context of social and emotional development for children across cultures. Because it is not constrained by school attendance, weekend time allows cultural and gender differences in time usage to emerge. In this study, children‘s weekend activities, choice, and some of the related emotional outcomes were examined for fourth-grade students in four countries. A total of 1,265 children of families from middle socioeconomic status in Bulgaria, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States completed an activity survey asking them to state their typical activity for each of 12 hours on Saturday, their enjoyment of the activity, and whether it was selfor adult-chosen. They also completed the Revised Children‘s Manifest Anxiety Scale. Findings indicated that children across the four countries spent most of their weekend time in self-chosen unstructured activities. There was a great deal of variation across countries in the amount and choice of time spent in different activity types. Children‘s enjoyment was negatively related to the amount of adult-chosen activities, and this relationship varied little across countries. The general anxiety level of children was slightly related to amount of adult-chosen activities without any country or gender differences. Results suggest that cultures differ in the available and socially acceptable types of weekend activities as demonstrated by the time spent by children in different activities and extent of parental involvement in children‘s activity decisions. Culturally different socialization processes associated with activity choice and participation help shape children‘s emotional experiences. Weekend time provides important developmental niches within which children in different countries experience activities that contribute to their personal and social developmental outcomes.

Keywords: Anxiety, autonomy, cross-cultural differences, enjoyment

Published by the
UMI Dissertation Publishing
ISBN: 9781124369839

Graduate Coursework

2010-12-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

University at Albany

ASOC 708 Multilevel Analysis
EAPS 887 Hierarchical Linear Modeling
ECPY 720 Computer Applications in Counseling Psychology
EPSY 502 Educational Psychology
EPSY 530 Statistical Methods: I
EPSY 614 Children's Learning
EPSY 623 Advanced Developmental Psychology
EPSY 630 Statistical Methods: II
EPSY 640 Educational and Psychological Measurement
EPSY 680 Research Project in Educational Psychology
EPSY 687 Institute: Principles and Applications of Item Response Theory
EPSY 721 Comparative Theories in Human Development
EPSY 725 Seminar in Human Development
EPSY 735 Seminar in Selected Topics in Statistics
EPSY 740 Seminar in Topics of Measurement
EPSY 742 Test Construction
EPSY 750 Educational Research and Design
EPSY 780 Seminar in the Profession of Educational Psychology
EPSY 797 Research Apprenticeship
EPSY 890 Research and Independent Study in Educational Psychology
EPSY 895 Internship in Educational Psychology
EPSY 899 Doctoral Dissertation
ESPE 561 Integrating Students with Disabilities in General Education Classrooms
ETAP 683 Seminar in Instructional Technology
ETAP 743 Meta-Analysis and Literature Review in Educational Research
RSSW 705 Advanced Structural Equation Modeling
RSSW 705 Introduction to Structural Equation Modeling

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

2010-07-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

The Use of Mental Health Court Appearances in Supervision

Allison D. Redlich, Henry J. Steadman, Lisa Callahan, Pamela Clark Robbins, Roumen Vessilinov, and Asil Ali Özdoğru

A defining feature of mental health courts (MHCs) is the requirement that enrollees appear periodically for status review hearings before the MHC judge. Although the research base on these specialty courts is growing, MHC appearances have yet to be examined. In the present study, the authors followed more than 400 MHC clients from four courts. We examined the number of court appearances that were mandated versus attended, the number of bench warrants issued, and the proportion of court appearances that were made in-custody versus out-of-custody. Finally, we describe and report on the proportion of clients at each court who had graduated, had been terminated, or who were still in the court one year following enrollment.

Keywords: Mental health courts; Judicial supervision

Published in the

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry

33(4), 272-277

WCCES 2010

2010-06-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

Children’s Weekend Activities and Emotional Outcomes across Cultures

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Out-of-school time is one of the primary developmental contexts in children’s personal and social development. Cultural differences shape not only children’s activity patterns but also emotional outcomes associated with these activities. The purpose of this study is to look at children’s weekend activities in four countries in terms of adult structure and its relation to children's enjoyment and general anxiety. Fourth graders from Bulgaria, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States reported on their usual Saturday activities, person who chose their activities, and their enjoyment of each activity. The Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale provided a measure of children’s general anxiety levels. Children in four countries showed similarities in the amount of time they spent in watching TV and play but differences in other activities such as academic and sports activities. In overall, more than half of the time children decided their activities, level of enjoyment was higher for self-chosen activities, and anxiety was slightly positively related to activities chosen by adults. American and Bulgarian children reported higher levels of anxiety for adult-chosen activities than Taiwanese and Turkish children. Differences and similarities between four countries draw attention to social, economic, and cultural differences in parenting practices and socialization processes in children’s activity schedules and structures.

Keywords: Out-of-school time, weekend activities, cross-cultural parenting, enjoyment, anxiety

Presented at the

14th World Congress of Comparative Education Societies

June 14-18, 2010

Istanbul, Turkey

FYI 2010

2010-01-01T03:41:00.000-08:00

Sensation is unorganized stimulus, perception is organized sensation, conception is organized perception, science is organized knowledge, wisdom is organized life: each is a greater degree of order, and sequence, and unity.

William J. Durant (1926) The Story of Philosophy

Education is … reconstruction or reorganization of experience which adds to the meaning of experience, and which increases ability to direct the course of subsequent experience.

John Dewey (1916) Democracy and Education

Conception of Human Life during Fertilization © 2010 Dr. David Phillips

Times Union

2009-11-27T08:01:00.000-08:00

An offshore educational experience
By Scott Waldman Staff Writer
Published: 01:00 a.m., Friday, November 27, 2009

Asil Ozdogru has a lot of company.

The University at Albany doctoral student moved here from Turkey seven years ago to pursue his degree. He's enjoying the small classes and personal attention he gets from the professor as he finishes his Ph.D. in educational psychology. Someday, the 28-year-old will take that experience back to Istanbul.

"In my country, it's prestigious to get a degree from the United States, England and other developed countries," Ozdogru said.

The number of foreign students in the United States reached a record high, 671,616, in the 2008-2009 academic year, according to a new report from the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit group that tracks international enrollments for the State Department. The 8 percent jump is the largest percentage increase in more than 25 years, the report found.

New York state hosts 74,934 foreign students, an increase of 7 percent. New York City accounts for about 60,000 of those students and is the top metro area draw for foreign students, according to the report. The report found that business and management are the most popular fields of study for foreign students, followed by engineering and computer science.

In tuition and living expenses alone, those students contributed nearly $2 billion to the state's economy.

Locally, the University at Albany has the most international students. There were 1,135 foreign students working toward a UAlbany degree last academic year. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute says it had 708 international students last year.

Raymond Lutzky, director of outreach and associate director of enrollment at RPI, wants to see more students from abroad studying upstate.

RPI, which has a total enrollment of about 6,500, has joined a new statewide effort to attract more international students. The school has joined with Study New York, a consortium of private and public colleges and universities, to promote the state as a destination for foreign study. The schools will meet annually and share information on recruitment strategies and research.

"Our students are competing globally and it's important our student body be reflective of the world," said. "It's a cultural exchange."

There were 65 international students in this year's RPI freshman class of 1,300, Lutzky said. He hopes to increase that number in the future.

Lutzky said increasing the number of foreign students at a school also creates a network of alumni and boosters who can promote it in their home countries. He said alumni in South Korea, Switzerland and Venezuela all recruit future RPI students in places where the admissions staff can't reach.

The transition to another country isn't always easy, especially when you're used to the bustle and heat of Istanbul. Ozdogru has struggled to get around town because the bus system is so much better in his home country. He doesn't mind the snow as much as he does living in a town where there are not so many social options for a young man.

Still, Ozdogru said he'll recommend the University at Albany to other students in Turkey. He can envision the advice he'd give another young man if he was curious about studying here.

"If he wants to focus on his studies," Ozdogru said, "if he wants a small program where he can get to know people and be an individual rather than a number."

Scott Waldman can be reached at 454-5080 or by e-mail at swaldman@timesunion.com.

Published in print and online
in Times Union Newspaper
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/An-offshore-educational-experience-560200.php

AEA 2009

2009-11-12T16:30:00.000-08:00

Evaluation of Mental Health Courts: Lessons Learned From a Multi-site Longitudinal Study

Asil Ali Özdoğru and Henry J. Steadman

Mental health courts (MHC) are specialty courts within the legal system to facilitate the processing and diversion of people with mental health problems involved in the criminal justice system. MacArthur MHC evaluation study looked at four courts across the United States for three years in terms of public safety and mental health outcomes of defendants who were processed through MHCs and a similar comparison group who went through the regular court system. Preliminary analyses and our experiences show that adoption of a multi-site longitudinal evaluation strategy involving a wide range of stakeholders in an attempt to create change in multiple systems has methodological and analytical advantages as well as administrative and contextual challenges in the design and implementation of an evaluation study.

Keywords: Multisite evaluation, criminal justice programs, mental health courts, lessons learned

Presented at the
23rd annual conference of the American Evaluation Association
November 11-14, 2009
Orlando, FL

Behavioral Sciences & the Law

2009-05-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

Alford Pleas in the Age of Innocence

Allison D. Redlich and Asil Ali Özdoğru

In 1970, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in North Carolina v. Alford that has since allowed defendants who do not wish to risk their fates at trial to plead guilty while simultaneously asserting their innocence. Although Alford pleas have remained unexamined by researchers, the increasing number of identified wrongful convictions of those factually innocent highlights the need for an in-depth examination of them. In the present study, using the Department of Justice 2004 State Survey of Inmates in Correctional Facilities dataset, we examined the likelihood of entering Alford pleas over traditional guilty, no contest, and not guilty pleas for those convicted of murder/manslaughter. Although we generally found few differences between the three guilty plea types, interesting differences between Alford and not guilty pleas emerged. Implications for actual innocence are discussed.

Keywords: Alford pleas, plea types, criminal characteristics

Published in the

Behavioral Sciences & the Law

27(3), 467-488

FYI 2009

2009-01-01T03:34:00.000-08:00

Words ought to be a little wild—for they are the assault of thoughts upon the unthinking.

J. Maynard Keynes (1933) National Self-Sufficiency. The Yale Review

Consciousness is reflected in the word as the sun in a small drop of water. The meaningful word is a microcosm of human consciousness.

Lev S. Vygotsky (1934) Thought and Language

The Most Famous Fractal: Mandelbrot Set © 2009 PBS NOVA

NERA 2008

2008-10-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

Children’s Weekend Activities across Cultures: A Dissertation Proposal

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Children’s out-of-school time activity patterns and profiles reveal important information about their individual and emotional development. Studying the structure and the schedule of children’s weekend activities across cultures is valuable in the understanding of developmental processes as well as the role of culture in human development. In addition to looking at activity profiles of children from four different cultures, this dissertation will test the relation between adult-structure in activities and specific outcomes of emotional development. Fourth grade students’ adult-structured weekend activities and their relation to enjoyment and anxiety in children from Bulgaria, Taiwan, Turkey, and United States will be discussed.

Keywords: Out-of-school activities, cross-cultural psychology, anxiety, enjoyment

UAlbany ISSS

2008-06-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

Asil Ozdogru awarded International Student Leadership Award for 2008

Congratulations to Asil Ozdogru for winning the International Student Leadership Award for 2008 (shown here with Margaret Reich, Director of International Student and Scholar Services). Asil is a doctoral student in Educational Psychology who has given a large amount time and energy to improving the lives of students here at the University at Albany.

In 2004, he served as an Orientation Assistant in the International Student & Scholar Services program for new international students. He and a group of friends, then, started the Turkish Student Association in the Spring of 2006. They have organized various cultural events open to the entire University, including movie screenings, a painting exhibition, a cooking class and a graduation party, in collaboration with the Graduate Student Organization.

Asil volunteers his time to assist international students in many ways, such as transporting them to and from airports in Albany and New York City, helping to move furniture, and helping them find apartments or roommates. He also advises them on writing papers and introduces them to new friends from different cultures. He has started two email groups, one for people interested in playing pick-up soccer at UAlbany and the other for Turkish people within the University and the local community, both quite successful with 74 and 84 members respectively.

Asil has taken the initiative to develop ways to help people connect here at the University. Although his main concern has been international students, helping to ease their cultural transition to living in Albany, his activities have benefited the larger community by introducing them to Turkish culture and providing an outlet for physical activity.

Published online in the International Student and Scholar Services Web site
http://www.albanyinternationaleducation.com/iss/article.php?articleid=13

TASSA 2008

2008-04-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Case of “Hurried Child” in Different Cultures:
A Dissertation Proposal

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Fast pace of modern times requires effective time management skills. In terms of parenting, it translates into efficient use of children’s time in wide array of activities that are enriching and preparing children for a competitive economic system. Some scholars argue that this form of parenting is harmful for normal child development and label these children as hurried or overscheduled children who are rushed through one activity to another. Some others defend organized activities for their skill-building and protective features. This study proposes to look at fourth grade students’ adult-structured weekend activities in relation to enjoyment and anxiety associated with these activities in Bulgaria, Taiwan, Turkey, and United States. Preliminary findings show that children from these four cultures spend different amount of time in activities like watching television, studying academics, and playing sports. Gender differences also offer valuable insight for parenting and socialization in cultures with different value orientations.

Keywords: Cross-cultural psychology, parenting, out-of-school activities, anxiety

FYI 2008

2008-01-01T03:25:00.000-08:00

The aim of science is, on the one hand, a comprehension, as complete as possible, of the connection between the sense experiences in their totality, and, on the other hand, the accomplishment of this aim by the use of a minimum of primary concepts and relations.

Albert Einstein (1936) Physics and Reality

Perceptions are guided by preconceptions. … [Individuals'] expectations not only channel what they look for but partly affect what features they extract from observations and how they interpret what they see and hear.

Albert Bandura (1986) Social Foundations of Thought and Action

View of Earth from Moon in 1969 © 2008 NASA

AEA 2007

2007-11-08T11:15:00.000-08:00

Creating a Sense of Community Through Empowerment Evaluation of an Academic Program

Asil Ali Özdoğru

In the evaluation of an academic program, students and faculty, as major groups of stakeholders, can perform various phases of evaluation. This study demonstrates a case example of a graduate program utilizing its constituents in the planning and implementation steps of its evaluation. The program accomplished a valid and responsive evaluation as a result of the collaborative project between students and faculty. Triangulation of different perspectives and experiences provided a rich array of information in the identification of major program components, development of essential outcome measures, and interpretation of evaluation results. This collaborative approach also resulted in the strengthening of sense of community among program members by enhancing community knowledge and ownership. Findings and experiences from this participatory evaluation process will be shared to exemplify the lessons learned and best practices for academic program evaluation from an empowerment perspective.

Keywords: Empowerment evaluation, program evaluation, sense of community

NERA 2007

2007-10-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

Days of Our Lives in Graduate School

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Our days in graduate school can follow very much the same kind of storylines we used to see in soap operas. We make plans for our future, work towards achieving our goals, and negotiate solutions to our daily stressors and long-term problems. In the company of Jorge Cham's intuitive cartoons (http://www.phdcomics.com/) this talk lays the ground for necessary steps of action and golden keys for success in academic and non-academic settings for graduate students.

Keywords: Graduate students, life planning, peer advise

ISHS 2007

2007-06-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

Sense of Humor and Humor-Assisted Learning in College Students

Asil Ali Özdoğru and Robert F. McMorris

Appreciation and production of humor has cognitive, affective, and social components. Sense of humor is a psychological construct that is associated with many social, emotional, and health outcomes. We hypothesize that sense of humor as an individual differences variable can also influence cognitive processes and learning of basic concepts. Principles of aptitude-treatment interaction also assert that effectiveness of a treatment is the result of the interplay between individual characteristics of learners and qualities of instructional treatments. In order to test relative influences of sense of humor and humorous concept presentation on student learning, we surveyed 156 undergraduate seniors and graduate students. After students studied six one-page concept presentations–three with and three without humorous cartoons–from an introductory psychology textbook, they completed a questionnaire including demographic questions, rating items about their perceptions of the material, the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale, and achievement items related to concepts. Our results did not show significant effect of sense of humor nor the humor treatment on learning outcomes, but students’ reported opinions favored using humorous instructional materials. Higher sense-of-humor scores are associated with more positive ratings of the humorous material. We discuss that consistent findings of favorable student perceptions about using humor in instruction and inconsistent results from studies looking at learning outcomes in the literature point out potential roles of instructional sensitivity, student motivation, and effect sizes on assessment of student learning.

Keywords: Sense of humor, learning, methodology

APS 2007

2007-05-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

A Cross-Cultural Examination of Children's Weekend Activities

Asil Ali Özdoğru, Joan Newman, Çağrı Özköse-Bıyık, Temi Bidjerano, Chin-Cheng Kao

936 fourth graders from Bulgaria, Taiwan, Turkey, and United States reported on their usual activities in Saturdays. Play, watching television, and routines were the most reported activities across four countries. There were apparent cultural differences in time spent in academics and sports, and gender differences in reading and play.

Children's participation and engagement in various out-of-school time activities and programs are defined by their social, economic, and cultural contexts (Göncü, 1999). Activities of children in developing countries can be much different than the ones in developed countries (Ritchie, Lloyd, & Grant, 2004). Differences as well as similarities in various out-of-school activities across cultures were noted in the literature. However, there are limited data on activity patterns of children from Bulgaria, Taiwan, and Turkey. Weekend is the two-day leisure period in which children can engage in variety of activities unrestricted by the schooling schedule. Previous research has shown some differences in time usage during weekends and weekdays. Following Larson and Verma's (1999) recommendations for more descriptive studies of children's activity patterns in different cultures, this study investigates children's weekend activities in four countries.

Participants of this study were fourth grade elementary school students primarily from middle socioeconomic classes in four countries; Bulgaria (n = 289), Taiwan (n = 249), Turkey (n = 137) and USA (n = 195). An after-school activity questionnaire developed by the researchers, asked children to recall the activity they generally engaged in during each given one-hour time period on Saturdays from 10:00 to 22:00. Sample activities (music lesson, soccer, TV, eating, homework, reading, and playing with friends) were provided to facilitate children's response generation.

Across all countries and both genders the average amount of time spent in each activity showed that children spend most of their time in play (32 %) then routines (29.5 %), TV (19 %), academics (8.5 %), extracurricular (7 %), reading (2.5 %) and sports (1.5 %) respectively during weekends. A 4 by 2 Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was performed by using 7 activity categories as dependent variables. Country with 4 levels and gender with 2 levels were the independent variables. MANOVA revealed a significant effect for each independent variable and their interaction. An individual Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for each activity category tested the effects of country, gender, and their interaction on activity participation. All three factors were statistically significant (p<.05) for reading and play. Country and interaction effects were significant for extracurricular; country factor for TV, academics, and sports; and interaction effect for routines.

Turkish children spent significantly more time in reading than their American and Bulgarian counterparts who spent more time in reading than Taiwanese children. Female students in each country spent more time in reading than their male counterparts except in the Bulgarian sample. American and Bulgarian children spent significantly more time in play than Turkish children who spent more time in play than their Taiwanese peers. Males spent more time in play than females in all countries except in the Bulgarian sample. In extracurricular activities, Taiwanese and Turkish children spent significantly more time than their American and Bulgarian counterparts. Taiwanese children spent significantly more time watching TV than their American and Bulgarian counterparts who spent more time watching TV than Turkish children. Taiwanese and Turkish children spent significantly more time in academics than Bulgarian children who spent more time in academics than American children. American children significantly surpassed other countries in time spent in sports.

Keywords: Out-of-school activities, cross-cultural psychology, gender differences

Kelly 2007

2007-04-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

Stakeholders as Evaluators in Academic Program Evaluation

Asil Ali Özdoğru

In an attempt to evaluate an academic program, students and faculty, as a major group of stakeholders, can perform various phases of evaluation. This study presents a case example of a graduate program utilizing its constituents in the planning, information gathering, and analysis steps of its process evaluation. A doctoral program in educational measurement and methodology asked one of its seminar groups to carry out the evaluation of program activities and student attitudes about the program. The program accomplished a valid and responsive evaluation as a result of the collaborative group project between students and faculty. Triangulation of different perspectives and experiences provided a rich array of information in the identification of major program components, development of essential outcome measures, and interpretation of evaluation results.

Keywords: Program evaluation, stakeholders, empowerment evaluation

AERA 2007

2007-04-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

Gender Differences in Children's Afterschool Autonomy in Taiwan and the United States

Temi Bidjerano, Joan Newman, Chin-Cheng Kao, Asil Ali Özdoğru, and Çağrı Özköse-Bıyık

The study examined boys’ and girls’ autonomy of choice of activities in the after-school hours from a cross-cultural perspective. Pre-adolescent children from Taiwan (n= 252) and US (n=195) completed a questionnaire on their usual after-school activities indicating who determines the choice of any particular activity. The children from the two countries differed significantly with respect to proportion of adult chosen time spent in media use, extra-academic activities, extracurricular activities, sports, and routines. In addition, boys tended to report that they engage in academic activities by virtue of their parents’ demands to a greater extent than girls. The paper offers tentative interpretations of the observed cross-cultural and gender differences.

Keywords: Autonomy, gender differences, cross-cultural psychology

SRCD 2007

2007-03-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

Children's Autonomy:
A Comparative Analysis of Fourth-Grade Children's Activities in Taiwan and USA

Joan Newman, Temi Bidjerano, Asil Ali Özdoğru , Chin-Cheng Kao, and Çağrı Özköse-Bıyık

The study examined boys’ and girls’ autonomy of choice of activities in the after-school hours from a cross-cultural perspective. Pre-adolescent children from Taiwan (n= 252) and US (n=195) completed a questionnaire on their usual after-school activities indicating who determines the choice of any particular activity. The children from the two countries differed significantly with respect to proportion of adult chosen time spent in media use, extra-academic activities, extracurricular activities, sports, and routines. In addition, boys tended to report that they engage in academic activities by virtue of their parents’ demands to a greater extent than girls. The paper offers tentative interpretations of the observed cross-cultural and gender differences.

Keywords: Autonomy, after-school activities, cross-cultural psychology

TASSA 2007

2007-03-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

Preferred and Actual Out-of-school Activities:
A Comparative Case Study of Turkish Children

Asil Ali Özdoğru and Çağrı Özköse-Bıyık

Human learning and development can best be understood through their analyses in a variety of contexts. Studying children beyond school context provides a more complete picture of their development. Children’s leisure time activities have a considerable impact on their physical, cognitive, social, and affective development. In this study, we looked at children’s preferred and actual out-of-school activities by comparing our results to another study. In the spring of 2004, we surveyed elementary school students from two schools located in Istanbul regarding how they actually spend their after-school time. A nationwide study conducted by Turkish Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) in 2006 investigated children’s preferred leisure time activities. Our study asked 98 fourth graders what they usually do on Thursday and Friday after school, and all day Saturday. RTÜK study collected children’s activity data from 805 students between 7 and 10 years of age in 17 cities of Turkey. We found that children mostly spent their out-of-school time in play, watching TV, and reading, respectively. On the other hand, results from RTÜK study indicated that children’s most preferred activity was watching TV, followed by reading, and play. Our preliminary comparisons show that there is a noticeable difference between children’s actual and preferred activity patterns. Preference and actual engagement in activities are shown to be distinct constructs as put forward by King et al. (2006). Disparity between actual and preferred activities substantiates the importance of social norms and cultural values in child reading practices.

Keywords: After-school activities, Turkish children, preference

Journal of Early Adolescence

2007-01-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

What do they usually do after school? A comparative analysis of fourth grade children in Bulgaria, Taiwan and USA

Joan Newman, Temi Bidjerano, Asil Ali Özdoğru, Chin-Cheng Kao, Çağrı Özköse-Bıyık, and John J. Johnson

The activities and self-direction allowed after school provide children in different countries with distinct developmental opportunities that promote culturally valued orientations and outcomes. Fourth grade children in Bulgaria, Taiwan and USA (countries with contrasting social values and expectations) reported their usual activities during each after-school hour on two week days and one weekend day. The children also reported whether the activities were self chosen or chosen by an adult. There were considerable differences in the reported activity patterns, with particular contrast between the American and the Taiwanese children. Compared to American children, Taiwanese reported spending more time in academic and extracurricular pursuits, and less time in playing, reading for fun, in sports or in self chosen activities. There was substantial agreement in the gender based participation differences across countries. Girls reported less time spent in free play or computer games, and more time in reading, extracurricular activities, routines and adult chosen activities.

Keywords: After-school activities, early adolescence, cross-cultural psychology, autonomy, gender differences

Published in the

Journal of Early Adolescence

27(4), 431-456

FYI 2007

2007-01-01T03:16:00.000-08:00

Knowledge of science is to know science,
Knowledge of science is self-knowledge;
If you fail to attain self knowledge,
What good is there in your studies?

Yunus Emre (1307) Risale [Treatise]

I am convinced that the best learning takes place when the learner takes charge.

Seymour Papert (1993) The Children's Machine

Mathematical Surfaces © 2007 Palais & Benard

NERA 2006

2006-10-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

Use of Cartoons to Enhance Memory of Instructional Material:
Reliability of Rho-Bustness

Asil Ali Özdoğru and Robert F. McMorris

We previously studied the inclusion of humor in instructional material. Was the inclusion beneficial? Yes and no. How do you operationalize “beneficial”? We had selected passages from a psychology text by Baron’s introductory Psychology textbook. Students studied six passages, each on a different topic, three topics each with a cartoon and three without. Two forms of the instructional material allowed a true experiment. Students completed a sense-of-humor measure, a questionnaire, and a multiple-choice achievement test on the six passages. Based on the responses to the brief questionnaire, the students supported the use of cartoons. Based on the responses to the multiple-choice items, however, any impact of the humor was not obvious. There are many reasons why we would suspect that humor would be an assist in instruction. This will be presented.

Keywords: Humor, sense of humor, cartoons, methodology

Great Dane-files

2006-09-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

UAlbany Students: Who we are. What we do.
Meet Graduate Student:
Asil

Who he is...Active. Social. Motivated.

Hometown, Country: Tire, Turkey
Graduate Program: Division of Educational Psychology and Methodology
Undergraduate University: Bogazici University, Turkey
Undergraduate Major: Double Major in Educational Sciences and Psychology
Activities: President and webmaster of Educational Psychology Graduate Student Organization, vice-president and webmaster of Future Educators' Club, captain of intramural soccer team of Inter-Karma, Intern at New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.

What he does...

Asil has completed his Master's of Science degree already and has passed one of the two doctoral qualification comprehensive exams. As he completes his coursework and prepares to enter the dissertation phase, Asil is glad he chose UAlbany." It's a great program."

As an undergraduate, Asil studied educational sciences and psychology. His concentration in education was guidance and psychological counseling. He knew he wanted to pursue a graduate education that combined his knowledge and training from both fields. He is currently a third year doctoral student and instructor of an EPSY 200 course.
Ten years from now, Asil hopes to be in a well known higher education institution teaching, advising and conducting research. "I want to have a faculty or researcher position in a respected institution. I also want to travel around the world!"

Published online at

http://www.albany.edu/greatdanefiles/students/5graduates/asil/asil.html

Journal of Online Learning and Teaching

2006-09-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

Adoption of the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) Among Higher Education Faculty: Evidence from the State University of New York Learning Network

Peter Shea, Stacey McCall, and Asil Ali Özdoğru

This paper examines higher education faculty adoption of the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) through a case study of 710 online faculty teaching at thirty-three institutions in the State University of New York. This research is framed in the literature of technology adoption and diffusion of innovation theory. These conceptual approaches focus on the stages that individuals traverse in the process of adopting technologies and other innovations. Results presented here indicate high levels of awareness of MERLOT, but lower levels of use among the targeted population. Data analysis reveals heterogeneity in adopter profiles, indicating that the most committed online faculty were significantly more likely to adopt MERLOT. Results also suggest that the stage-approach common to technology adoption models is appropriate in understanding some aspects of the data (the design of professional development); however, a more powerful organizing principle may be contextual relevance of the innovation, which precedes and predetermine levels of concern and stages of adoption. Suggestions for faculty development and further research are included.

Keywords: Technology adoption, online teaching, online resources

Published in the

Journal of Online Learning and Teaching

2(3), 136-157

Proposal for the Journal of Research Practice

2006-05-31T15:07:00.000-07:00

The Vicious Cycle of Search for Research:
Perspective of a Graduate Student

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Experiences of a graduate student can be a rich material not only for producing humor but also to learn about the research process. In addition to coursework in research methods and statistics, actual experiences of graduate students in doing research can be quite informative and inspiring for anyone interested in research (e.g., Probert, 2006).

As a senior graduate student in his program, I have been involved in research for many years now, starting in my early years of undergraduate education. Back in those days, I was one of the few students who enjoyed doing class projects –may be only those few went on to graduate school. It was, and still is, a joy of a discovery for me to locate publications in the library or Internet. Taking information from individual articles or books, synthesizing them, producing an intellectual product was much more fun to me than taking those dreary exams.

My first research papers were literature reviews and evaluations of existing literature. Those papers gave me an idea about the qualities of scholarly research papers like how they are similar to and different than other writings such as newspaper articles or literary pieces. Later on we started to do hands on research by collecting data from our classmates or random students we caught in the campus. Planning and implementing our own research questions, measurement scales, data collection methods, analytic and inferential strategies provided me a sense of self-determination and ownership in my work. Those class papers and projects were not something to get done but opportunities to learn more about the complexities and challenges of real world –as they were designed to be.

Years in graduate school were more research-intensive. Research ideas that I carried from my undergraduate years were merged with new areas of interest. Participating in my advisors’ ongoing projects helped me to figure out what kind of studies are needed and valued in the area of my study. We presented those initial studies in local and regional conferences, which are very valuable experiences in preparing for national conferences and learning about high quality research. Conferences and seminars were perfect places to develop my presentation skills and meet fellow researchers in my area. Forming collaborations with students and faculty from other departments and schools helped me widen my vision and skills in research.

Although I had several research projects that I was working on and I recommended other graduate students to involve in various research venues (Özdoğru, 2005), I was never definite about my major area of focus. I was always in the search of my ideal research topic that I would continue throughout my professional life, which was almost looking for a partner to marry. Whether it is my insatiable intellectual curiosity or my plain indecisiveness, I am still facing the million dollar question of what to study for my dissertation. However, it is, and will be, my relatively wide-ranging research experience that gives me self-confidence and sense of control in my search for research.

References

Özdoğru, A. A. (2005, April). Interested in educational research? How to decide what to study. The NERA Researcher, 43(2), 8.

Probert, A. (2006). Searching for an appropriate research design: A personal journey. Journal of Research Practice, 2(1), Article D3. Retrieved on April 2, 2006 from http://jrp.icaap.org/content/v2.1/probert.html

EPSY Poster Session Proceedings

2006-05-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

History of Educational Psychology at the University at Albany: An interview with Founding Faculty Dr. Jack Rosenbach

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Establishment and development of educational psychology program is revisited through founding faculty Dr. Jack Rosenbach’s memories of early days of School of Education and the State University of New York at Albany. The interview touches upon the initial struggles of a newly-formed program and departmental evolution of a rapidly expanding college.

Keywords: Department history, educational psychology, interview

Published in the
Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Educational Psychology and Methodology Student Research Poster Session
A. A. Özdoğru & J. Newman, Eds.
2006 Albany, NY: Educational Psychology Students

Kelly 2006

2006-04-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

Mixed Methodology in Data Collection and Analysis: A Case from Disability Services

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Mixed methods are utilized to increase reliability and validity of any research and evaluation project. In this study, a case from developmental disabilities field is exemplified in order to present the practical efficacy of mixed methods in addressing special needs of participants and different qualities of survey data. The purpose of survey and the characteristics of population were influential factors in calling for a pragmatic research orientation. Use of mixed methods and model allowed researchers to obtain more useful information from people with special needs and more valid inferences from the collected data.

Keywords: Mixed methods, disability research, triangulation, case analysis

Published in the
Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Edward F. Kelly Evaluation Conference
E. Reinhard, T. Bidjerano, & A. Passa, Eds.
2006 Albany, NY: Evaluation Consortium

AERA 2006 - 2

2006-04-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

Faculty Adoption of the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching

Asil Ali Özdoğru, Stacey McCall, and Peter Shea

One of the largest and most widely known projects seeking to facilitate the integration of technology in higher education teaching and learning is the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching. The project, begun by the California State System in 1995, has sought to make high quality, discipline specific online learning materials freely and easily available to faculty and their students. Through the participation of a large number of institutions – 18 system partners representing more than 8 million students, the MERLOT project utilizes a peer-review system that allows educators to locate, evaluate and use high-quality online teaching and learning materials across a fourteen discipline areas. The broad scale approach taken by the project leaders seeks to transform the use of technology in higher education and thereby transform higher education itself. Until recently, however, there have been relatively few larger scale assessments of the project from the perspective of faculty adopters. This paper will present background information, context, and evidence that begin to address this gap with survey results from more than 700 faculty located at more than twenty different colleges.

Keywords: Online learning, online teaching, learning environments, media

AERA 2006 - 1

2006-04-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

Children’s After-School Activities as Developmental Contexts:
A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Joan Newman, Temi Bidjerano, Asil Ali Özdoğru, Çağrı Özköse-Bıyık, and Ching-Chen Kao

International comparisons in educational studies mainly look at academic outcomes such as achievement. It is also important to learn about children's activities after school as they play a major role in children’s cognitive, emotional, and social development. The study examines the types of after-school activities children from three different countries are involved in during the after school hours. Ten and 11 years old fourth graders from Bulgaria (n = 312), Taiwan (n = 292), and USA (n = 196) were surveyed about their typical after-school activities on three given days of the week. A series of ANOVAs indicated that there were significant differences among countries in all of the activities except TV viewing and outing. Within country gender differences were also observed.

Keywords: After-school activity, development, cross-cultural comparison

TASSA 2006

2006-03-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

Teaching in America:
Perspectives of Turkish Graduate Student Instructors

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Teaching in higher education institutions is an arduous task including many elements like adult learner characteristics, instructional design, assessment concerns, and classroom management. Growing numbers of international students carry out various teaching responsibilities (i.e., teaching assistant, co-teacher, and adjunct instructor) in the United States. As one of the leading countries, Turkey is the top eight country of origin for international students. Purpose of this qualitative study is to provide a general perspective on the perceptions and experiences of Turkish graduate students on teaching undergraduate and graduate level classes in the United States. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 Turkish graduate students teaching in a university setting. In addition to challenges and difficulties of teaching in a different environment, advantages and rewards of this experience were solicited through the interview protocol. Procedure was tailored to capture students' opinions and suggestions about teaching in a multicultural environment. Results suggested that it is not an easy endeavor but a rich and useful experience for both students and instructors to take place in ethnically and culturally diverse classroom settings. Linguistic limitations and cultural differences were the major barriers in creating an effective and efficient learning environment for Turkish graduate student instructors. Having a different background than students and knowledge of international issues were mentioned as being valuable qualities in teaching. Difference between undergraduate and graduate student expectations, needs, and attitudes was also one of the primary points interviewees referred. Implications for multicultural education are discussed in terms of teaching styles and strategies.

Keywords: International students, college teaching, multicultural education

HGSE Student Research Conference 2006

2006-02-24T20:47:00.000-08:00

Challenges and Rewards of Teaching as an International Graduate Student

Asil Ali Özdoğru

As a major cluster of graduate student population in the USA international students carry out teaching responsibilities of various college courses from helping as a teaching assistant to being an adjunct instructor. This single-subject study aims to outline effective ways of dealing with linguistic and cultural barriers international graduate student instructors or TAs might experience through a self-observation case analysis and a review of the extensive educational psychology literature.

Keywords: International students, college teaching, multicultural education

EPSY Brown Bag 2006

2006-02-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

Rho-Bustness of Research on Humor in Teaching and Testing: What We Have Learned from Research and Practice

Robert F. McMorris, Temi Bidjerano, and Asil Ali Özdoğru

In an attempt to outline the research done by Robert McMorris and colleagues, several studies looking at the influence of humor on instruction and testing were revisited. Performance and self-report outcomes within each of the two domains were discussed along with corresponding studies. While studies on the effect of humor in learning yielded non-significant results, inclusion of humor in classroom tests to improve test scores and to reduce test anxiety produced inconsistent results. Student perceptions, however, consistently supported the use of humor in education. Methodological considerations and their effects on the findings of the studies have been discussed in the light of researcher-developed concept of rho-bustness.

Keywords: Humor in education, learning, testing, rho-bustness

FYI 2006

2006-01-01T03:09:00.000-08:00

It is science. It is a work of human conjecture, the task of formulating alternative paradigms and hypotheses with luck being able to test some of them, none of them ever completely.

Jerome S. Bruner (2005) Virginia and Leonard Marx Lecture, Teachers College

A theory is then a special gift, a gift for the mind in a society (of science, not the world) where thought and understanding are preeminent. A gift from one human being to another, to us all.

Roald Hoffmann (2003) Why buy that theory? American Scientist

Sharp Eye © 2006 Lolita Asil

NERA 2005

2005-10-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

After-School Activities of Second-Shift Students in Turkey and Bulgaria

Asil Ali Özdoğru, Temi Bidjerano, and Çağrı Özköse-Bıyık

After-school activities compose a major developmental context for children to develop skills, build relationships, and learn about their selves and the society. This study looks at the after-school activities of non-traditional students in a cross-cultural framework. One hundred and eighty-six second-shift fourth graders in Turkey and Bulgaria completed a questionnaire about their regular daily schedule for given three days of a week. Results indicated similarities and differences between first- and second-shift students in the amount and type of activities they engaged in. Differences and similarities between the countries also implied the importance of cultural values and norms on the time-use of young people in different cultures.

Keywords: After-school activities, cross-cultural comparison, second-shift students

Gardner 2005

2005-10-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

The Impacts of Humor in Instructional Materials:
Conclusions Dependent on “Rho-Bustness” of Methods

Asil Ali Özdoğru and Robert F. McMorris

In this study, the effects of humorous cartoons on graduate students’ perceptions and learning of psychological concepts were investigated by taking sense of humor as a moderator variable. Fifty-five graduate students were given 3 concepts with cartoons and 3 without cartoons to study. Then students were handed survey items including demographic questions, Likert-scale items asking their perceptions about the materials, the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale, and 24 multiple-choice test items, 4 per concept, on the given concepts. The self-report data were very supportive of using cartoons in instructional material. Students reported favorable attitudes for inserting cartoons into reading passages; however there was no apparent effect of humorous cartoons on students’ learning of concepts. The methodological considerations and robustness of the design has been discussed in terms of their effects on the findings of the study.

Keywords: Humor, sense of humor, cartoons, robustness

ISHS 2005

2005-06-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

Humorous Cartoons in College Textbooks:
Student Perceptions and Learning

Asil Ali Özdoğru and Robert F. McMorris

In this study, the effects of humorous cartoons on graduate students’ perceptions and learning of psychological concepts were investigated by taking sense of humor as a moderator variable. Fifty-five graduate students were given 3 concepts with cartoons and 3 without cartoons to study. Then students were handed survey items including demographic questions, Likert-scale items asking their perceptions about the materials, the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale, and 24 multiple-choice test items, 4 per concept, on the given concepts. The self-report data were very supportive of using cartoons in instructional material. Analyses of the test results, however, showed no significant difference in the performance scores of students in humorous and non-humorous concepts. In summary, students reported favorable attitudes for inserting cartoons into reading passages; however there was no apparent effect of humorous cartoons on students’ learning of concepts. Sense of humor was also seen to be an important variable associated with students’ tendency to read cartoons.

Keywords: Humor, sense of humor, cartoons, learning

Jean Piaget Society 2005

2005-06-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

The “Hurried Child” in Turkey:
After-School Activities and Anxiety in Fourth Graders

Asil Ali Özdoğru, Çağrı Özköse-Bıyık, and Joan Newman

After-school activities play major roles in the development of children and they can vary from unstructured and self-selected ones to programmed and adult-controlled activities. David Elkind (1988) proposed that children are ‘hurried’ throughout their development and expected to excel in many different areas by their parents. In the context of collectivistic Turkish culture, in which respect for elders, protection of youngsters, and obedience are among the primary values, it is important to investigate the prevalence of hurrying among Turkish children who may have less control over their activities. Ninety-eight students from one state (N = 74) and one private elementary school (N = 24) were included in the study. Results indicated that Turkish fourth graders spent more time in self-chosen and highly enjoyable activities than adult-chosen and less enjoyable activities. This study pointed out the importance of children’s control on deciding their own activities, their degree of enjoyment from those activities, and related emotional outcomes.

Keywords: Hurrying, after-school activities, anxiety, Turkish culture

Cultural Studies Matters

2005-04-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

Occupational Models for Boys and Girls:
Content Analysis of Turkish Elementary School Textbooks

Asil Ali Özdoğru, Gizem Aksoy, Nurçin Erdoğan, and Fatma Gök

One of the essential functions of educational systems is to assist students’ development of personal as well as professional identities. The present study investigated the occupations men and women associated with in the Turkish elementary school textbooks to discern the range of occupational opportunities the Turkish educational system provided their students with. Content analysis of the first, second, and third grade Turkish Language and Social Studies textbooks published by Ministry of Education in 2001 searched for explicit and implicit gender biases in occupations presented. Men were involved in economically and/or socially prestigious jobs, whereas women were mainly housewives and mothers, and their narrow career options were limited to low-status occupations. Male students received a wider range of occupational models, whereas female students had limited options other than being a housewife or mother. Textbooks can be employed to offer students alternatives and to encourage them to make use of their abilities in the ways that will fit to them.

Keywords: Gender roles, occupational models, content analysis, textbooks

SRCD 2005

2005-04-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

Report Cards:
A Universal Source of Anxiety for Children?

Asil Ali Özdoğru, Chin-Cheng Kao, Joan Newman, and John J. Johnson

The present cross-cultural study examined how children themselves and their parents responded to their report cards and how it relates to their anxiety level. Fourth grade elementary school students from predominantly middle class schools in Taiwan (n = 291), Turkey (n = 90), and USA (n = 189) completed the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) and a report card reaction questionnaire developed by the researchers. The report card questionnaire asked children to report their own reactions and parents’ reactions to their last report card by selecting among 32 statements with positive and negative connotations. Results showed that perceived pressure for academic achievement subsequent to receipt of the report card was associated with children’s manifest anxiety levels. Children’s self perceptions about their report cards were more influential on their anxiety levels than their perceptions of parental reactions. Male students’ report card reactions had a closer association to their anxiety levels than female students’ in each country.

Keywords: Academic achievement, report cards, anxiety, parental reactions

Kelly 2005

2005-04-01T21:11:00.000-08:00

Computer Skills and Student Attitudes toward Online Courses: A Narrative Review of the Literature

Asil Ali Özdoğru

Online education as the major form of distance education is getting widespread use in higher education institutions across the world. Student attitudes towards online courses play important roles in the future of online education. One of the various factors influencing student attitudes is computer literacy skills. This review analyzed and discussed the studies about student attitudes toward online courses in relation to computer literacy. A general bi-directional relation between attitudes and computer literacy has been identified. A higher level of computer knowledge was associated with more positive attitudes. A positive attitude toward online courses was also found to be important in yielding higher computer literacy. In combination with other instructional and institutional factors computer literacy is important in the formation of positive attitudes. Literature needs a conceptual clarification among various similar terms and methodologically rigorous studies with more sound conclusions.

Keywords: Online courses, student attitudes, computer literacy, literature review

Published in the
Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Edward F. Kelly Evaluation Conference
M. Bose & D. A. Chapin, Eds.
2005 Albany, NY: Evaluation Consortium

Blogs as collaborative learning tools

2005-03-30T21:59:00.000-08:00

I found this article titled “Blogs and wikis: Environments for on-line collaboration.” It is written by Robert Godwin-Jones at Virginia Comonwealth University (VCU) and published in the journal of Language, Learning & Technology. Dr. Godwin-Jones is the chairperson of Foreign Language Department at VCU.

Dr. Godwin-Jones introduces second generation Web tools of blogs, wikis, and RSSs and talks about their use in language learning. He defines first generation Web tools as asynchronous ones like e-mails and discussion forums, and synchronous ones like chat rooms.

Then he describes and gives examples on the use of these new technologies. As he stated “Blogs are well suited to serve as on-line personal journals for students, particularly since they normally enable uploading and linking of files. Language learners could use a personal blog, linked to a course, as an electronic portfolio, showing development over time. By publishing the blog on the Internet, the student has the possibility of writing for readers beyond classmates, not usually possible in discussion forums.” (p. 2).

On the other RSS (really simple syndication) “supplies rich meta-data about Web-based resources, which can then be automatically retrieved and cataloged by RSS software, such as amphetaDesk or NetNewsWire, usually described as news readers or news aggregators.” (p. 3).Wikis (WikiWikliWeb – wiki wiki is Hawaiian for “quick”) are other online collaboration tools and “they feature a loosely structured set of pages, linked in multiple ways to each other and to Internet resources and an open-editing system in which anyone can edit any page (by clicking on the "edit this page" button).” (p. 3).

At the end Dr. Godwin-Jones finishes with a list of Web resource list for computer-mediated communication, chat and discussion forums, blogs, RSS, and wikis.

Reference: Godwin-Jones, R. (2003).Blogs and wikis: Environments for on-line collaboration. Language, Learning & Technology, 7(2), 12-17.

Here is my discussion provoker question: Do you think these technologies provide collaborative environments? And how are they different than online discussion groups or chat rooms?

AWP 2005

2005-02-25T21:15:00.000-08:00

Seeking Gender Equity in 1st and 2nd Grade Turkish Social Textbooks

Gizem Aksoy, Nurçin Erdoğan, Fatma Gök, and Asil Ali Özdoğru

The aim of this study was to examine gender role portrayals in 1st and 2nd grade Turkish Social textbooks. For this purpose, a content analysis of the 4 textbooks that were prepared and published by the Ministry of Education in 2001 was carried out. The quantitative and qualitative data showed that equal visibility of men and women in textbooks would not necessarily stand for gender-equality in textbooks. Although the analyzed textbooks were more likely to illustrate evidences for gender-equity, gender bias was still evident in the roles, occupations and settings in which men and women were represented. Improvements in the textbooks and implications for policy-makers and teachers were discussed.

Keywords: Gender-equity, elementary school, Turkish textbooks

HGSE Student Research Conference 2005

2005-02-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

Students’ Self-Reported Experiences about Electronic and Paper Homework Submission

Asil Ali Özdoğru and Nancy Peña

Homework submission as an important step of the entire homework task includes its own components and processes. Differences and similarities between electronic submission and paper submission (e- and p-submission), and students’ perceptions of the two were investigated by self-report data collection techniques. Two graduate students recollected their last five e- and p-submissions with coding schemas developed to track the underlying elements and experiences involved in each type of submission. Results indicated that less time and resources were required in e-submission. Other than submission type, feedback time was dependent on factors such as volume and length of submissions. The problems in each form of submission and their interchangeable usage pointed out their complementary roles in submission and the importance of student experiences in making use of technology.

Keywords: Homework, electronic submission, paper submission, student experiences

FYI 2005

2005-01-01T03:02:00.000-08:00

One difficulty in the psychological sciences lies in the familiarity of the phenomena with which they deal. A certain intellectual effort is required to see how such phenomena can pose serious problems or call for intricate explanatory theories. One is inclined to take them for granted as necessary or somehow “natural.”

Noam Chomsky (1968) Language and Mind

No matter what philosophy of life we espouse, it is important to see childhood as a stage of life, not just as the anteroom to life.

David Elkind (2001) The Hurried Child

Times Union

2004-12-07T21:20:00.000-08:00

School District is Smart to Add Climbing Walls

Asil Ali Özdoğru

The traverse rock-climbing walls that the Schenectady school district has installed ("Rock walls teach students to reach," Nov. 29) are valuable assets in contributing to pupils' physical and psychological development. These walls are essential not only for physical education but also in changing and creating better school environments. An atmosphere only emphasizing academics and instruction is not helpful in creating favorable student perceptions of the school. When this sort of fun and enjoyable activity is associated with schools and combined with formal curriculum, students can have better perceptions of and attitudes about their schools, and education in general. A positive approach to school is vital for student motivation and achievement. Instead of offering activities students like only through after-school activities or other ways, schools should be places offering activities and programs designed in accordance with student interests.

NERA 2004

2004-10-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

Preschool Children’s Private Speech and Play Types

Asil Ali Özdoğru and Xiuyuan Zhang

The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between preschooler’s uses of private speech in different play types changing in social involvement. Private speech is the young child’s self-talk without addressing any listener and without any communicative intent. Piaget thought that it stems from egocentric thoughts of children who cannot take the perspective of other people. However, current views starting with Vygotsky support that it is self-regulative and has a social nature, playing significant roles in cognitive development. Twenty-three children (11 three-year-old and 12 four-year-old) were observed in their day care settings, and their play and private speech types were coded with checklists developed by the authors. Results showed no difference between the two age groups and gender groups. Ethnic groups differed in their use of private speech. There was a decline in the vocalization of private speech in more social play types.

Keywords: Private speech, play, Piaget, Vygotsky, daycare setting

EQRE 2004

2004-06-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

Content Analysis for Gender Bias in Turkish Elementary School Textbooks

Asil Ali Özdoğru, Gizem Aksoy, Nurçin Erdoğan, and Fatma Gök

This study analyzed the presentation of gender roles in Turkish elementary school textbooks. Gender roles and identity are among the primary social values that educational systems help their students to develop and internalize. Content and delivery of the educational materials reflect the values and ideals in a given society. Turkey, like other patriarchal societies, has values that put emphasis on male dominance and favor male priority. In this study, the way that gender roles were presented and members of the two genders were depicted in two Turkish elementary school textbooks were investigated by utilizing content analysis method. Content analyses of Turkish and Life Studies textbooks for 3rd grades showed that there were important differences for two genders in terms of social values, roles, and relations both in school atmosphere and family environment. Results implied important directions for educational administrators and policy makers in the preparation and use of educational content.

Keywords: Gender roles, identity formation, content analysis, textbooks

Published in the
Proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual Ethnographic and Qualitative Research in Education Conference
http://www.albany.edu/eqre/

NEERO 2004

2004-04-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

Children’s After-School Activities and Anxiety Level:
American and Taiwanese Comparison

Joan Newman, Christyn Perras, Asil Ali Özdoğru, Chin-Cheng Kao, Yiping Chang, and Anastoassios Matsopoulos

This study investigated the relation between children’s use of after-school time and their anxiety levels. How children use after-school time has important developmental outcomes. Some psychologists think that children are overwhelmed, “hurried,” (Elkind, 1981) and “hot housed” (Sigel, 1987) by their parents. To investigate this possibility, 90 American and 292 Taiwanese 4th graders completed a “what I usually do” questionnaire developed by researchers, and Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale. While American students were found to spend more time in enjoyable and self-chosen activities such as sports, peer interaction, reading, and play, Taiwanese students spent more time in adult-chosen activities such as homework, extra academics, and non-sports. Taiwanese students had also higher anxiety scores than their American counterparts. Perceived enjoyment and hours of adult-chosen activities were important contributors to anxiety level for both groups of children.

Keywords: After-school activity, anxiety, cross-cultural comparison

FYI 2004

2004-01-01T03:31:00.000-08:00

Most people think of science as a subject, such as physics or chemistry. Science is not a subject but a method.

Frank J. Sulloway (1996) Born to Rebel

Children are very active, constructive thinkers and learners. They are clearly not blank slates that passively and unselectively copy whatever the environment presents to them.

John H. Flavell (1992) Cognitive development: Past, present, and future. Developmental Psychology

Human and Cosmos © 2004 ZeD Open Source TV

FYI 2003

2003-11-18T03:34:00.000-08:00

There is nothing so practical as a good theory.

Kurt Lewin (1951) Field Theory in Social Science

Psychology is a science, and teaching is an art; and sciences never generate arts directly out of themselves. An intermediary inventive mind must take the application, by using its originality.

William James (1900) Talks to Teachers on Psychology

Brain Cell and Synaptic Gap: Peptides, proteins and electric charges outside a brain cell membrane during synapsis © 2003 Michael Freeman/CORBIS

FYI

2003-11-18T02:12:00.000-08:00

FYI is my annual compilation of quotations and visuals on education, psychology, science, technology, arts, and more from identified sources. They aim to achieve what FYI stands for me. Even though FYI is defined as for your information by most dictionaries, I would like to extend that to the following, but not limited to, in no particular order:

For Your i (pronounced same as eye)

For Your I

For Your Insight

For Your Imagination

For Your Inspiration

For Your Idea

For Your Input

For Your ...

Please do not hesitate to add to the list and share your favorite quotes and images with me.

Turkish Psychology Students 2003

2003-07-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

A Correlational Study of Self-Esteem, Popularity, Extraversion, and Academic Achievement in Elementary School Children

Asil Ali Özdoğru, Elif Alkan, Elif Tunç, M. Feyza Bağlan, and Şengül Hafızoğlu

Present study aimed to investigate interactions between self-esteem, popularity, extraversion, and academic achievement. Two hundred and seven (119 boys and 88 girls) students, from 4th, 5th, and 6th grades of two private schools located in Istanbul and Ankara, participated in the study. Coopersmith’s 58-item Self-esteem Scale and a sociometric rating scale were administered to students. Two teachers for each class evaluated their students’ extraversion along the LeFebvre’s criteria. Students’ grade point averages (GPA) were gathered from their school files. Analyses revealed that there was a significant relationship between self-esteem and popularity. Popularity and GPA, self-esteem and GPA were found to be significantly positively correlated. However, there was not interaction effect of extraversion, self-esteem, and popularity on achievement. The importance of self-esteem on academic and social spheres was emphasized.

Keywords: Self-esteem, popularity, extraversion, academic achievement

Undergraduate Coursework

2003-07-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

Boğaziçi University

AE 111 Advanced English I
AE 112 Advanced English II
BIO 152 Introduction to Modern Biology
CET 360 Instructional Technologies and Materials Development
EC 101 Introduction to Economics I
ED 101 Introduction to Education
ED 104 Social Foundations of Education
ED 122 Orientation to Guidance and Counseling
ED 213 Development and Learning
ED 221 Fundamentals of Guidance and Counseling
ED 270 Program Development and Evaluation
ED 301 Statistics in Education I
ED 302 Statistics in Education II
ED 310 Gender and Education
ED 325 Theories of Personality in Counseling
ED 326 Interview Techniques
ED 327 Research Methods in Education
ED 328 Applied Research in Education
ED 340 Career Development in Counseling
ED 373 Measurement and Evaluation
ED 382 Classroom Management
ED 417 Crisis Intervention
ED 419 Life Span Development
ED 421 Assessment in Guidance and Counseling
ED 425 Group Dynamics and Counseling
ED 434 Counseling Skills II
ED 442 Adult Education
ED 452 Educational Administration
ED 469 Psychology of Adolescence
ED 478 Field Practice
ED 511 Advanced Educational Psychology
GER 101 Elementary German I
GER 102 Elementary German II
HTR 311 History of the Turkish Republic I
HTR 312 History of the Turkish Republic II
MATH 105 Introduction to Finite Mathematics
PA 216 Painting
PE 123 Tennis I
PE 124 Tennis II
PHIL 101 Introduction to Philosophy
PRED 321 Child Guidance and Discipline
PSY 101 Introduction to Psychology I
PSY 102 Introduction to Psychology II
PSY 206 Computer Use in Psychology
PSY 228 Cognitive Psychology
PSY 234 Life Span Developmental Psychology II: Personality and Social Processes
PSY 241 Social Psychology
PSY 304 Experimental Psychology
PSY 351 Psychology of Personality
PSY 362 Measurement in Psychology
PSY 377 Physiological Psychology
PSY 411 Theories in Psychology
PSY 428 Language Acquisition
PSY 463 Abnormal Psychology
SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology
SOC 106 Sociological Perspectives
TK 221 Turkish
TK 222 Turkish