Jerry S. Carlson - Böcker

While it is assumed that American undergraduates who study abroad derive unique benefits from the experience, until now its actual impact has not been assessed. This book, which presents the findings of a long-term evaluation project, provides the kind of systematic and comprehensive data needed to document and give future guidance to programs of study abroad. Using comparative measures, the authors examine the effects of overseas study in terms of education, career, personal satisfaction, and cultural values.Undergraduates in four U.S. college and university programs involving nearly thirty European institutions were chosen for the study. The focus of the research is the role of study abroad in students' acquisition of foreign language proficiency, knowledge of and concern for foreign cultures and international issues, attitudes toward their home country and its values, and career objectives and accomplishments. Student profiles indicate consistent patterns in motivation, achievement, and satisfaction that relate to the experience abroad. In their conclusion, the authors look at the implications of their findings in the context of our times and society and offer suggestions for some new directions for study abroad in the coming years. This analysis will be relevant for educational decision-makers, funding organizations, government, and the research community.

With the publication of this book, the scholarly journal Issues in Education: Contributions from Educational Psychology is moving to a book series publication format. Carlson (University of California-Riverside) and Levin (University of Arizona) present material on aspects of the No Child Left Behind legislation.

With the publication of this book, the scholarly journal Issues in Education: Contributions from Educational Psychology is moving to a book series publication format. Carlson (University of California-Riverside) and Levin (University of Arizona) present material on aspects of the No Child Left Behind legislation.

In this volume, David Geary provides a comprehensive theory that brings children’s education into the 21st century, and provides directions for the development of a new discipline, “evolutionary educational psychology.” Geary presents the case that a scientifically grounded approach to children’s schooling and, to a lesser degree, their later occupational interests can be informed by recent advances in the application of evolutionary theory to the understanding of the human brain, mind, and its development. He develops a taxonomy of evolved cognitive abilities and describes how, from an evolutionary perspective, these abilities are modified and refined during childhood. From there, he lays the framework for understanding the relation between evolved abilities, such as language, and the non-evolved competencies that are built from them with schooling, such as reading. Geary describes the mechanisms, such as working memory, that enable humans to transform evolved cognitive abilities into culturally important, school taught competencies. These are integrated with discussion of human intellectual history and cultural evolution, and the sources of children’s motivation to learn inside and outside of the classroom. In all, this may well be the most revolutionary theory of children’s schooling since Rousseau.

In this volume, David Geary provides a comprehensive theory that brings children’s education into the 21st century, and provides directions for the development of a new discipline, “evolutionary educational psychology.” Geary presents the case that a scientifically grounded approach to children’s schooling and, to a lesser degree, their later occupational interests can be informed by recent advances in the application of evolutionary theory to the understanding of the human brain, mind, and its development. He develops a taxonomy of evolved cognitive abilities and describes how, from an evolutionary perspective, these abilities are modified and refined during childhood. From there, he lays the framework for understanding the relation between evolved abilities, such as language, and the non-evolved competencies that are built from them with schooling, such as reading. Geary describes the mechanisms, such as working memory, that enable humans to transform evolved cognitive abilities into culturally important, school taught competencies. These are integrated with discussion of human intellectual history and cultural evolution, and the sources of children’s motivation to learn inside and outside of the classroom. In all, this may well be the most revolutionary theory of children’s schooling since Rousseau.

The twin objectives of the series Psychological Perspectives on Contemporary Educational Issues are: (1) to identify issues in education that are relevant to professional educators and researchers; and (2) to address those issues from research and theory in educational psychology, psychology, and related disciplines.The present volume, consisting of two focal chapters, commentaries, and final responses targets instructional strategies for improving students’ learning in two of the traditional “three R” areas, reading and 'rithmetic (mathematics), in the elementary school grades. The focal chapters in those two skill areas are written by leading contributors to the reading and mathematics research literatures, Cathy Collins Block for the reading section and Douglas Clements and Julie Sarama for the mathematics section. Few would dispute the essentiality of these two curricular domains in laying the foundation for the development of students’ competencies in a vast array of academic disciplines in both the in- and out-of-school years that lie ahead.The present volume is intended for practitioners and researchers who are seeking the latest instructional research-based strategies for improving students’ early reading and mathematics performance.