This book serves as an up-to-date Rorschach primer and elaborates on the various applications of Rorschach assessment for adolescents with respect to differential diagnosis, forensic consultation, and therapeutic assessment. It opens with three chapters that provide readers with a basic overview and introduction to the topics integrated throughout the text. The first reviews the development and foundations of the Rorschach Inkblot Method; the second discusses key issues in the assessment of adolescents, with particular attention to differentiating patterns of psychopathology from normal developmental variations; and the third presents general considerations in using performance-based assessment instruments in the assessment of personality functioning in adolescence. Later chapters explore the current status of the Rorschach Inkblot Method with respect to theoretical formulations, research findings, and practice guidelines. The final chapter draws on information in the preceding chapters to present a model for Rorschach assessment of adolescents. This model is designed to facilitate accurate and useful formulations of personality functioning that contribute substantially to advancing responsible adolescent development.

Collaborating with the genius of C.S. Lewis, and particularly his brilliant work 'The Abolition of Man', the authors offer a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary investigation of perennial questions that impact human development and freedom.

This book introduces new concepts and mechanisms regarding the usage of both social media interactions and artifacts for peer education in digital educational games. Digital games in general, and digital educational games in particular, represent an area with a high potential for interdisciplinary innovation, not only from an information technology standpoint, but also from social science, psychological and didactic perspectives. This book presents an interdisciplinary approach to educational games, which is centered on information technology and aims at: (1) improving digital management by focusing on the exchange of learning outcomes and solution assessment in a peer-to-peer network of learners; (2) achieving digital implementation by using forms of interaction to change the course of educational games; and (3) providing digital support by fostering group-formation processes in educational situations to increase both the effects of educational games and knowledge exchange at the individual level. In addition to a systematic analysis of the relationship between software architecture, educational games and social media applications, the book also presents the implemented IT systems' architectures and algorithmic solutions as well as the resulting applicable evaluation findings from the field of interactive multimedia learning.

This is the first collection of key articles on the psychology behind educational attainment. It brings together in one volume for students a set of accessible but influential papers, representing the best classic and cutting edge work in the field. Under the themes of basic processes in learning, interactions between teachers and learners, and metacognitive approaches to learning, the thirteen readings cover a wide range of topics. To help students gain an overview of the subject, each article is introduced and contextualized by the editors, as is the volume as a whole. Each paper is also accompanied by suggestions for further reading so that students can investigate topics in more depth if they wish. This book of readings can be used alone or alongside a text on teaching and learning. In either context, it offers an ideal starting point for the exploration of key issues in educational attainment.

The book will be designed primarily for graduate students (or advanced undergraduates) who are learning psychometrics, as well as professionals in the field who need a reference for use in their practice. We would assume that users have some basic knowledge of using SPSS to read data and conduct basic analyses (e.g., descriptive statistics, frequency distributions). In addition, the reader should be familiar with basic statistical concepts such as descriptive statistics (e.g., mean, median, variance, standard deviation), percentiles and the rudiments of hypothesis testing. They should also have a passing familiarity with issues in psychometrics such as reliability, validity and test/survey scoring. We will not assume any more than basic familiarity with these issues, and will devote a portion of each chapter (as well as the entire first chapter) to reviewing many of these basic ideas for those not familiar with them. We envision the book as being useful either as a primary text for a course on applied measurement where SPSS is the main platform for instruction, or as a supplement to a more theoretical text. We also anticipate that readers working in government agencies responsible for testing and measurement issues at the local, state and national levels, and private testing, survey and market research companies, as well as faculty members needing a practical resource for psychometric practice will serve as a market for the book. In short, the readership would include graduate students, faculty members, data analysts and psychometricians responsible for analysis of survey response data, as well as educational and psychological assessments. The goal of the book is to provide readers with the tools necessary for assessing the psychometric qualities of educational and psychological measures as well as surveys and questionnaires. Each chapter will cover an issue pertinent to psychometric and measurement practice, with an emphasis on application. Topics will be briefly discussed from a theoretical/technical perspective in order to provide the reader with the background necessary to correctly use and interpret the statistical analyses that will be presented subsequently. Readers will then be presented with examples illustrating a particular concept (e.g., reliability). These examples will include a discussion of the particular analysis, along with the SPSS code necessary to conduct them. The resulting output will then be discussed in detail, focusing on the interpretation of the results. Finally, examples of how these results might be written up will also be included in the text. It is hoped that this mixture of theory with examples of actual practice will serve the reader both as a pedagogical tool and as a reference work. To our knowledge, no book outlining psychometric practice using commonly available software such as SPSS currently exists. Given that many practitioners in academia, government and private industry use SPSS for statistical analyses of testing data, we believe that our book will fill an important niche in the market. It will contain very practical information regarding how to conduct a wide variety of psychometric analyses, along with tips on interpretation of results and the appropriate format for reporting these results. We believe that it will prove useful to individuals in educational measurement, psychometrics, and survey and market research. Our text will add to the literature by providing users with a single reference containing the major ideas in applied psychometrics with instructions and examples for conducting the analyses in SPSS. In addition, we will provide original macros for estimating a variety of statistics and conducting analyses common in educational and psychological measurement.

This book explores important current social justice issues that confront young children in America. A broad range of topics related to the fair treatment of young children and their families are approached with a fresh and hopeful energy. The central argument of this volume is that a fair and just society must protect the basic needs of all children so they are able to reach their full potential to learn, grow, and ultimately become productive democratic citizens. The book includes contributions from an impressive group of authors who have been consistent voices for the fair and equitable treatment of children in school and society. Each chapter examines a critical issue in child social justice with a focus on the current problem, historical importance of the issue, potential solutions, and a vision for the future. The book has been developed to reach a wide audience of professionals whose work involves children and who have grown concerned about social forces that cause child suffering and threaten the well-being or even the survival of children in the United States. Readers will come away with up to date information and a renewed commitment to being life-long advocates for children.

In the digital age, the integration of technology has become a ubiquitous aspect of modern society. These advancements have significantly enhanced the field of education, allowing students to receive a better learning experience. Digital Tools and Solutions for Inquiry-Based STEM Learning is a comprehensive source of scholarly material on the transformation of science education classrooms through the application of technology. Including numerous perspectives on topics such as instructional design, social media, and scientific argumentation, this book is ideally designed for educators, graduate students, professionals, academics, and practitioners interested in the latest developments in the field of STEM education.

In today's world, contact with other cultures is an inevitable part of university and college life. "Learning and Teaching across Cultures in Higher Education" is intended for anyone who has an interest in intercultural aspects of higher education. The book contains theoretical rationale, resources and examples to help readers understand and deal with situations involving contact between learners or educators from different cultural backgrounds, as well as giving insights into the new global context of higher education.

Rhetorical Ways of Thinking focuses on how the co-construction of learning models the interpretation of a mathematical situation. It is a comprehensive examination of the role of sociocultural-historical theory developed by Vygotsky. This book puts forward the supposition that the major assumptions of sociocultural-historic theory are essential to understanding the theory's application to mathematical pedagogy, which explores issues relevant to learning and teaching mathematics-in-context, thus providing a valuable practical tool for general mathematics education research. The most important goal, then, is to exemplify the merging of the theory with practice and the subsequent applications to mathematics teaching and learning. This monograph contains five chapters, including a primer to Vygotsky's sociocultural historic theory, three comprehensive empirical studies examining: prospective teachers' perception of mathematics teaching and learning and the practice of scaffolded instruction to assist practicing teachers in developing their understanding of pedagogical content knowledge. Finally, the book concludes with a contextualization of the theory, linking it to best practices in the classroom.

Human Performance in Complex Systems introduces readers to the theory of complex systems, examining the role of humans within larger systems and the factors that affect human performance. Sections review the history of one particularly fruitful approach to complexity, providing an overview of complexity science that also discusses our current understanding of complex systems in a variety of domains, including physical, biological, mechanical and organizational. The author also introduces the idea that there are similarities between the successful architecture and control of both biological and organizational systems. Case studies concerning failures and successes within complex systems are also included. The book concludes by using the preceding material to develop principles that can be applied for successful design and control of complex systems.

Handling complexity in learning environments: theory and research
What do we mean when we say that "learning environments are increasingly complex"? What do we know about the cognitive processing that occurs during complex learning? How can we provide effective instructional support for students who must learn and apply complex knowledge? These questions, and related issues, have fascinated educators and educational researchers for many years and are they are the focus of this book.

As a tribute to Joost Lowyck, professor educational technology at the K.U.Leuven, eminent scholars from around the globe have contributed to a far reaching analysis of complexity in learning environments from a cognitive perspective. The chapter authors summarize what we know now about complexity and make specific suggestions for educational practice and for future research on complexity. The different contributions in the several chapters discuss theoretical accounts and empirical findings about learning, the learner, and learning environments. Wide-ranging topics include current descriptions of our cognitive architecture, new contributions to cognitive load theory, research and evaluation design considerations, motivation to learn, the influence of prior knowledge, the use of simulations and multimedia, alternative instructional methods and interventions, studies of the classroom context for complex learning and mental model-building.
*A tribute to Joose Lowyck, professor educational technology at the KU Leuven
*International scholars provide far reaching analysis of complexity in learning environments from a cognitive perspective
*Makes specific suggestions for educational practice andfor future research

This volume presents different conceptual and theoretical frameworks as well as research methods that have helped educational researchers to study emotions. It includes innovative approaches that push the methodological boundaries that have served educational researchers until now and proposes new ways of researching emotions in educational contexts. In particular, this edited volume provides a historical frame for studying emotions. It connects theoretical/epistemological views with choice of research methods and describes specific methods helpful in doing research on emotions as they are grounded in different theoretical and disciplinary traditions such as psychology, philosophy, sociology, history, political science, cultural studies, and feminist studies. Finally, it appreciates the contextual and international dimensions of studying emotions in education and contributes to ongoing debates about the implications of our methodological choices for understanding emotion in education. This combination of variety, timeliness, potential for transformation of the field, and uniqueness make this a very valuable resource to introduce new scholars in the field alongside established scholars.

This edited volume explores the multifaceted nature of teacher emotions, presenting current research from different approaches and perspectives, focused towards the second language classroom. Twenty three chapters by well-known scholars from the applied linguistics, TESOL and educational psychology fields provide the reader with a holistic picture of teacher emotions, making this collection a significant contribution to the field of second language teaching. Given the emotional nature of teaching, the book explores a number of key issues or dimensions of L2 teachers' emotions that were until now rarely considered. The contributions present the views of a select group of applied linguistic researchers and L2 teacher educators from around the world. This international perspective makes the book essential reading for both L2 teachers and teacher educators.

Contemporary Capacity-Building in Educational Contexts extends current understandings of what capacities and capacity-building are and of the dimensions that maximise their prospects of success in current educational policy-making and provision. It does this by exploring how capacity-building is implemented among nine groups of research participants, including Australian, Dutch and English circus families, migrants and refugees in an Australian regional town, and a university education research team. These data sets are analysed to address eight 'hot topics' and 'wicked problems' in contemporary education: consciousness; creativity; dis/empowerment and agency; diversity and identity; forms of capital and currencies; knowledge sharing; regionality and rurality; and resilience.

"Rasch Analysis in the Human Sciences" helps individuals, both students and researchers, master the key concepts and resources needed to use Rasch techniques for analyzing data from assessments to measure variables such as abilities, attitudes, and personality traits. Upon completion of the text, readers will be able to confidently evaluate the strengths and weakness of existing instrumentation, compute linear person measures and item measures, interpret Wright Maps, utilize Rasch software, and understand what it means to measure in the Human Sciences.

Each of the 24 chapters presents a key concept using a mix of theory and application of user-friendly Rasch software. Chapters also include a beginning and ending dialogue between two typical researchers learning Rasch, "Formative Assessment Check Points," sample data files, an extensive set of application activities with answers, a one paragraph sample research article text integrating the chapter topic, quick-tips, and suggested readings.

"Rasch Analysis in the Human Sciences" will be an essential resource for anyone wishing to begin, or expand, their learning of Rasch measurement techniques, be it in the Health Sciences, Market Research, Education, or Psychology. "

This ambitious multidisciplinary volume assembles diverse critical-theory approaches to the current and future states of networked learning. Expert contributors expand upon the existing literature by analyzing the ethical aspects of networked learning and the ongoing need for more open, inclusive, and socially engaged educational practice. Chapters explore in depth evolving concepts of real and virtual, the processes of learning in, against, and beyond the internet, and the role of critical pedagogy in improving social conditions. In all, coverage is both realistic and positive about the potential of digital technologies in higher education as well as social and academic challenges on the horizon. Included among the topics: Counting on use of technology to enhance learning. Decentralized networked learning through online pre-publication. The reality of the online teacher. Moving from urban to virtual spaces and back. The project of a virtual emancipatory pedagogy. Using information technologies in the service of humanity. It is no longer a question of "Can technology enhance learning" it's a given that it does. Critical Learning in Digital Networks offers education researchers, teacher educators, instructional technologists, and instructional designers tools and methods for strengthening this increasingly vital interconnection.

The construct of intellectual disability has developed over centuries and has had different functions at different times; from a concept that was used to describe people from whom society needed protecting from in the late to 19th and early 20th centuries, to one used to describe people who are unable to cope in the current environment. It is now defined in terms of having a measured IQ below a fixed cut off point, usually 70, and a low level of adaptive behaviour also often specified in terms of being below a cut off point. Intellectual Disability demonstrates that neither IQ nor adaptive behaviour can be measured with sufficient accuracy for fixed cut off points to be used and suggests a number of new much more loosely defined constructs of intellectual disability based on clinical judgment.

The research and theoretical contributions of international and multidisciplinary scholars have advanced our understanding of the role of play in evolution and behavior. The diverse articles in this volume range from theoretical and conceptual advances, scientific investigations, to discourse about applied issues and different dimensions of play. The authors provide excursions into the adaptive, cultural, and social significance of play. The databased papers fall into four categories: the role of age, gender, and ethnicity in play participation, social-cognitive connections to play, fighting and play fighting, and play and process in adulthood. Play is defined as behavior that is not necessary to survival and yet is undertaken voluntarily as a method by which to improve the quality of life. This study, addressing the definition, role, and characteristics of play, falls within the research of education, psychology, anthropology, sociology, leisure studies, and primatology. The play of humans and nonhumans takes a variety of forms and serves multiple purposes within mental and emotional states of being. The motivation and impact of play behavior varies with the type of play performed. The studies included in this volume address simple games, more complex creative activities, the emotional implications of play throughout adult life, and the role of play in human social construction.

This book advances a new framework for learning to teach, using in-depth case studies to show how learning to teach-in any type of program-can best be understood as a recursive and dynamic process, wherein teachers differentially access programmatic, relational, experiential, disciplinary, and dispositional resources. In the last twenty years, debates in the field of teacher preparation have increasingly become paralyzing and divisive as rhetoric around the failure of university teacher preparation intensifies. The author addresses the historical and practical factors that animate these debates, arguing that novice teachers and teacher educators must understand the central conflicts in the field; however, the book also advances a way of approaching learning to teach that accounts for but does not get stuck at the level of programmatic designation. Using lively, in-depth case studies, the author shows how novice urban English teachers from two different teacher preparation pathways-a university-based program and an urban teacher residency-learn to teach within a policy context of high-stakes testing and "college readiness."

This book contributes to our growing understanding of the nature and development of language learner self-concept. It assesses the relevant literature in the disciplines of psychology and applied linguistics and describes in-depth, qualitative research examining the self-concepts of tertiary-level EFL learners. Although researchers in applied linguistics and SLA have recognized the importance of self-constructs, there remains little empirical work in the context of foreign language learning that focuses exclusively and at length on this central psychological construct. The content of this monograph draws on interdisciplinary sources, with input from psychology and applied linguistics. It will appeal to students and researchers interested in language-learner psychology as well as self-related constructs in general. The text provides insights into how learners view themselves, and how these self-beliefs can develop and affect the progress of an individual's language learning.

This book explores the impact of socio-emotional intelligence on wellbeing in higher education. Stemming from years of investigation and educational expertise with trainee teachers and academics, the book identifies ways in which socio-emotional intelligence can be developed in university environments. The author begins by analysing the concept of socio-emotional intelligence and its development, before confronting distinctive areas for improvement within the context of teaching and learning in higher education. The book explores the importance of understanding and labelling emotions, and how opportunities for self-reflection arise through an environment that meets practical needs. The author contends that support from other scholars is vital to the development of socio-emotional intelligence. The book concludes with a set of practical suggestions for promoting personal development. It will be a valuable resourse for anyone working in higher education who is interested in improving their own wellbeing and that of those around them.

This volume addresses the current situation in higher education and what creative action needs to be taken for the future development of the various systems of higher education. Higher education in the 21st centuries is under immense pressure from various sides. First, there is dramatic limitation of funding from public sources and limited and selective funding support from private sources that is re-constructing the landscape of higher education in most societies around the World. Secondly there is the continuous stream of administrative re-organization efforts of political origins (e.g. "the Bologna process") that guide the advancement of higher education in our present time. Increasing privatization of all forms of higher education-from bachelor to doctoral levels-and its corresponding focus on the advancement of the kind of knowledge that has immediate applicability in various spheres of societies leads to the question- what kind of creativity is expected from the new cohorts of students-future makers of knowledge-once the current social re-organization of higher education systems becomes fully established. To address these questions the international, interdisciplinary cast of authors in this volume provides a multitude of possible scenarios for future development of the systems of higher education. This book on "Sustainable Futures of Higher Education" captures the current trends and perspectives of the Knowledge Makers from various nations of the world on meeting and greeting the challenges of globalization and the pressures of the knowledge economy. It makes a strong case for universities of tomorrow sustaining their autonomous thinking and yet nurturing an environment of collaborative partnership with society, corporate and industry to fuel innovations in plenty and continuous supply of new science and technologies. Higher Education has been and shall remain a powerful vehicle of national and global transformation. I see a great value of the publication in impacting the minds of the leaders in higher education around the globe for revitalizing the universities. Professor P. B Sharma, President of Association of Indian Universities, AIU How should the higher education system be in the globalization era? In this book Jaan Valsiner and his colleagues analyze, criticize the existing and propose a new higher education system. When we say "higher education", three different layers are supposed to be there-- the lower, the middle and the higher. The latter has the function of production of new knowledges. Without new knowledge, our societies are never improving. Authors warn commercialized systems such as the "Bologna system" overestimate the homogeneity of education. ""Universities without Borders" would guarantee both diversity and innovation in the higher education systems. Professor Tatsuya Sato, Dean of Research, Ritsumekan University