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The expansion of science communication underscores the increasing importance of understanding what constitutes good science communication. This question concerns the public's understanding and engagement with science. The scholarly discussion has shifted from the traditional deficit model to a more dialog-oriented approach yet remains normatively anchored. There is a pivotal lack of attention to the audience's perspective regarding the question of what good science communication is. Moreover, different formats of science communication have hardly been researched thus far. Therefore, this paper introduces a multi-dimensional scale to capture the audience's assessment of specific science communication formats. We utilized a multi-step process to identify relevant criteria from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The instrument integrates 15 distinct quality dimensions, such as comprehensibility, credibility, fun, and applicability, structured according to different quality levels (functional, normative, user-, and communication-oriented). It considered theory-driven and practice-experienced categories and was validated through confirmatory factor analyses conducted on a German representative sample (n = 990). For validation, the scale was applied to a science blog post and a science video on homeopathy. After employing a seven-step process, we conclude that the newly devised scale effectively assesses the perceived quality of both blog and video science communication content. The overall assessment aligns with common target variables, such as interest and attitudes. The results regarding the different quality subdimensions provide a nuanced understanding of their contribution to the perceived overall quality. In this way, the scale aids in enhancing science communication in accordance with audience perceptions of quality. This marks the inaugural introduction of a comprehensive measurement instrument tailored to gauge quality from the audience's standpoint, rendering it applicable for utilization by both researchers and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article calls for a shift of educational approaches from colorblind deficit models to asset-based models that reconsider antiracist art educational narratives. Topics discussed include perpetuation of systemic racism with colorblind deficit-oriented positionalities, strategies for transitioning from deficit-based toward asset-based perspectives about Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) students, and cause and motivation to change White privileging practices.

The prevalence of vaccine hesitancy underscores the fact that the general public does not uniformly embrace scientific recommendations. Vaccine hesitancy represents a spectrum, encompassing both those who accept all vaccines and those who outright reject them. This paper aims to explore the relationship between science literacy, contextual factors, and vaccine hesitancy while accounting for specific mediation mechanisms. The authors applied a theoretical framework derived from the deficit model and the contextual model of public understanding of science. Hypotheses regarding the relationship between scientific literacy, religiosity, political identification, and vaccine hesitancy were tested. The authors also tested several hypotheses based on the assumption that the perception of scientific credibility and institutional trust are significant mediators of the above-mentioned relationships. The data from an online survey with a nationally representative quota sample of the Croatian population (with an average age of 42.6 years.) were used (N = 1,500), while the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that the perception of scientific credibility plays a significant role as a mechanism that translates the impacts of literacy, religiosity, and political identification. Institutional trust proved to be a significant mediator but in a way opposite to the hypotheses, which points to the need to contextualize the aforementioned relationships. The authors also determined that younger age, right-wing political orientation, higher religiosity, and lower scientific literacy were the determinants of hesitancy in both vaccine types (COVID-19 and vaccines in general), thus indicating that they might be connected to deeply rooted value dispositions. Plain Language Summary: Vaccine hesitancy and trust in science The paper deals with the issue of vaccine hesitancy and tries to determine the characteristics of people with a more skeptical attitude towards vaccination. The results of online research conducted among the general Croatian population showed that younger people, more religious people, and people with a right-wing political orientation have a more negative attitude towards vaccination and that this can mostly be explained by their lower trust in science and scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite decades of work by science communication scholars to encourage democraticallyoriented practices in public science communication, approaches based on a deficit model appear to be enduring and even increasing. Studies of scientists' communication practices suggest that it may endure because scientists themselves operate from a deficit model. This article complements existing studies, which tend to be either small in scope or focused on only one area of research, via a large-scale analysis of 4,681 successful NSF abstracts from all areas of research. It specifically examines abstracts in terms of ethos, distinguishing between a deficit-based didactic ethos and a more democratically oriented relational ethos, and finds that the deficit model pervades successful NSF grant proposals. It also identifies positive signs in counter-examples, and offers suggestions for further work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2002, the Live Art Development Agency, in partnership with the Live Art Advisory Network, initiated a London-based pilot project entitled DIY. Conceived at the outset as a professional development scheme run by and for artists, six artist-led projects were selected, with spaces taken up by 51 participants. By 2019, there had been 249 DIY projects led by some 250 artists, in partnership with 75 organisations, and supporting more than 2,700 participants. Given its longevity, it is surprising that DIY has not been the focus of a case study for thinking through the relationship of (live) art and professional development. This article, combining historical review of the scheme with examples of DIY projects and pedagogical analysis, aims to address that oversight. It asks what 'Professional Development' looks like and does in the space of live art. It argues that DIY reimagines professional development as being 'like' live art, and proposes DIY as a model of agential pedagogy, with artists taking the lead in identifying, defining and addressing their professional development needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientists are increasingly motivated to engage the public, particularly those who do not or cannot access traditional science education opportunities. Communication researchers have identified shortcomings of the deficit model approach, which assumes that skepticism toward science is based on a lack of information or scientific literacy, and encourage scientists to facilitate open-minded exchange with the public. We describe an ambassador approach, to develop a scientist's impact identity, which integrates his or her research, personal interests and experiences to achieve societal impacts. The scientist identifies a community or focal group to engage, on the basis of his or her impact identity, learns about that group, and promotes inclusion of all group members by engaging in venues in which that group naturally gathers, rather than in traditional education settings. Focal group members stated that scientists communicated effectively and were responsive to participant questions and ideas. Scientists reported professional and personal benefits from this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-symbolic magnitude abilities are often claimed to support the acquisition of symbolic magnitude abilities, which, in turn, are claimed to support emerging math abilities. However, not all studies find links between non-symbolic and symbolic magnitude abilities, or between them and math ability. To investigate possible reasons for these different findings, recent research has analyzed differences in non-symbolic/symbolic magnitude abilities using latent class modeling and has identified four different magnitude ability profiles residing within the general magnitude ability distribution that were differentially related to cognitive and math abilities. These findings may help explain the different patterns of findings observed in previous research. To further investigate this possibility, we (1) attempted to replicate earlier findings, (2) determine whether magnitude ability profiles remained stable or changed over 1 year; and (3) assessed the degree to which stability/change in profiles were related to cognitive and math abilities. We used latent transition analysis to investigate stability/changes in non-symbolic and symbolic magnitude abilities of 109 5- to 6-year olds twice in 1 year. At Time 1 and 2, non-symbolic and symbolic magnitude abilities, number transcoding and single-digit addition abilities were assessed. Visuospatial working memory (VSWM), naming numbers, non-verbal IQ, basic RT was also assessed at Time 1. Analysis showed stability in one profile and changes in the three others over 1 year. VSWM and naming numbers predicted profile membership at Time 1 and 2, and profile membership predicted math abilities at both time points. The findings confirm the existence of four different non-symbolic–symbolic magnitude ability profiles; we suggest the changes over time in them potentially reflect deficit, delay, and normal math developmental pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that pre-service teachers face traditional approaches to teaching literature in their student teaching placements that contrast with the progressive strategies covered in their graduate education programs. This article describes 4 teacher candidates' (TCs') contrasting assumptions about the teaching of literature in secondary schools and the consequences of those assumptions as they relate to deficit thinking. Using a convenient sampling of 4 participants, I analyzed multiple sources of data (transcribed interviews, lesson plans, and videos of teaching) via a constant comparative approach, which included quantifying data as in a classical content analysis approach. Although I discovered discrepancies that align with existing research, the data also revealed that these discrepancies produced a level of deficit thinking that blinded the TCs to the various interests and abilities of the students they taught. I conclude that education program coordinators should explore how TCs' assumptions about teaching might result in deficit thinking and develop ways to support a reflection process that addresses these assumptions better to prepare TCs for meeting the needs of students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaboration between academic literacies (AcLits) specialists and subject specialists is still a significant issue in student support because AcLits practitioners now need to negotiate the advantages of both stand-alone and embedded courses. This paper focuses on some challenges of one such a collaboration between the provider of AcLits courses (the Language Centre) and the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science at an institution of higher education. The theory of framing (as in Scheufele, 2013) is used to explain some of the frustration experienced during this collaboration. The study also draws on New Literacies Studies in suggesting that student autonomy in constructing knowledge is negated when focus is placed on academic skills that students lack instead of the contribution students can make towards their own learning. Where previous AcLits collaborations have sometimes used the deficit model (Smit, 2012) to measure the impact of interventions, this study attempts to show that the collaboration itself aids deep learning. However, some challenges have to be overcome, of which an important one is the measurement of impact when the deficit model is not used. Whereas ATLAS.ti has often been used to analyse data sets, this investigation opts for open coding to explicate the frames relevant to this kind of collaboration. Analysis of the findings shows that students perceived this collaboration as a valuable learning experience despite all the challenges experienced. The paper concludes by suggesting that identification, explication and management of the challenges of collaboration thus proved well worth the effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of integrated activities to reduction repetitive behavior in children with autism. The participants were students, age ranged from 4 - 10 years old, who were clinically diagnosed as autism and enrolled at Special Education Center, Loei Province. Research was single subject design with AB design. The participants were selected by purposive sampling. Over the course of 13 weeks of the study, integrated activities were designed for individual program for reduction repetitive behaviors that were negative effect to learning. These behaviors include head butting, hand flapping, finger knocking, finger banding, body shaking and hand gesturing. The behaviors in academic class were video recorded for further analysis where the frequency of the behaviors can be recorded at 1st (A), 5th (B5), 9th (B9), and 13rd (B13) Week. Video recordings were individually replayed by 2 evaluators (inter-observer reliability = 98.3%), the main researcher and research assistant who are teaching special educators and counted number of repetitive behaviors. Data were consensused and analyzed by using descriptive analysis for general information and The Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test for analysis median difference among number of repetitive behaviors at A1, B5, B9, and B13. The result revealed that integration activities significantly decreased repetitive behaviors for children with autism between the 1st (A) and 13rd (B13) week (Median difference = -32.5, 95% confidence interval = 24.09-38.78). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developmental disabilities including cognition, motor performance, vision, hearing and speech, and behavior are listed as major categories of developmental disability with corresponding (ICD)-10 codes. Treatment of these disorders can be difficult; treatment often involves a combination of professional therapy, pharmaceuticals, and home- and school-based programs. Traditional scalp acupuncture systems have been reported to be beneficial but do not include the Fusiform Face area treatment zone and the corpus callosum treatment zone, which the latest brain study found to be very important in child neurological development problem. 9 child patients, aged from 3 to 18 years old and corresponding (ICD)-10 codes, were treated with Neoh Scalp Acupuncture and Jessie Point to relieve their spasticity, with a five year follow up at our acupuncture clinic. The location of the Jessie Golgi Reflex Point is near the bicep muscle distal biceps tendon where the Golgi tendon organ is. No patients have dropped out of our five year acupuncture clinic follow up. They all still continue receiving treatment at our clinic as their parents found that their children continue to improve in every aspect of development. Interviews with their parents reported that most of their children's disabilities and spasticity improved progressively. The Jessie Golgi Reflex Point showed immediate improvement in their spasticity, whereas the spasticity of adult stroke patients in our clinic also improved with Jessie Golgi Reflex Point massage. Most children's disabilities were found to have hypoactive or hyperactive development at their Corpus Callosum, and Neoh Scalp Acupuncture specifically treated this area. Muscle spasticity was well treated with Jessie Golgi Reflex Point massage. This report is valuable for experienced acupuncturists in treatment of their own similar patients, and also for western trained physicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While accepting that the concept of restricted code has a troubled history that resulted in Bernstein being associated with deficit models of working-class life, it is argued that the concept should be re-imagined rather than abandoned. Bernstein’s early work refers to restricted code as a form of condensed, shorthand established through familiarity that was not tied to class per se. In Volume 2 of Class, Codes and Control social class was an independent variable in the research designs and coding only that which could be explicitly spoken, produced working class groups as inferior in comparison to middle class groups: Bernstein’s disquiet can be sensed in many places across his work where he explicitly renounced a deficit model. Methodological and theoretical work on embodied knowledge is used here to explicate the more-than, codeable features of restricted codes. An illustration from studies in ex-coalmining, working-class communities is used to explore what is missed in conventional approaches to data coding. Other studies in ex-mining communities reveal the intergenerational transmission of rich resources that were vital for community survival. Re-imagining restricted codes as relational assemblages recognises the value of the dynamic, creative and intergenerational features of localised, embodied knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no consensus about the meaning of the phrase 'widening participation'. A clearly understood and resonant definition of widening participation, commonly held by work-based and academic practitioners, may be fundamental to coherent and impactful access initiatives across sectors. Focusing on the healthcare sector, using qualitative interview data gathered from those involved with widening participation initiatives in education and in the healthcare workplace, and focus groups with current and prospective students, this research explores understanding in practice and resulting actions. Findings strongly suggest that aspirants to higher education (including healthcare workers) do not recognise 'widening participation' as a phrase, potentially limiting the impact of interventions as the target groups may assume it does not apply to them. Conversely, advocates for this group (practitioners in both higher education and healthcare) offer a range of definitions, however the breadth of definitions allows for different priorities. There is some evidence that this results in higher education and healthcare employers targeting different groups, with universities looking to enrol students from non-traditional backgrounds but often with traditional qualifications, and employers wishing to concentrate most of their effort on supporting existing staff into higher education. In contrast to definitions in policy documents which focus on deficits, both advocates and aspirants spoke about the positive qualities brought by students typically targeted by widening participation initiatives. Along with discussing the lack of concept recognition in the workplace, this paper argues for the development and widespread adoption of a definition enshrining the creation of equal access as a positive step, rather than a deficit remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to write about insights and special considerations for researchers who are, to some degree, 'insiders' to the communities they study by expanding on the concept of representational ethics as applied to research in community psychology with diverse and marginalized groups. Representational ethics refers to the ways that researchers, artists, or corporations represent the identities of the people they portray in their communications. As community psychologists we generate and disseminate knowledge about the communities we work with, and in that process, create narratives about the people who participate in our studies. In preparing a report on psychological issues among Evangelical Christian refugees from the former Soviet Union, Dina Birman struggled with her portrayal of this group and her own status of being both an insider and an outsider to this community. When investigating academic aspirations and psychological distress among Muslim high school students, Ashmeet Oberoi was forced to acknowledge the one-sidedness of the discourse on autonomy and cultural socialization of Muslim adolescents. In her research with Cuban-educated doctors in Miami, Florida, Wendy Moore encountered similar issues as she considered how to represent gender dynamics among her participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This final contribution to this special Journal of Language and Social Psychology issue on “using the science of language to improve translation of the language of science” places the articles in the context and nature of the broader literature on science communication, particularly as it relates to the media. This framework is crafted with a view to identifying the complex factors and processes that create translation problems, highlighting models and approaches that can improve science communication. Throughout, we propose a parsimonious set of research agenda items. Scholars wishing to move between different models of science communication should take into consideration the processes of formative evaluation, intergroup accommodation, and message design logics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The knowledge deficit model proposes that more information increases public knowledge levels about a given topic and thus leads to improved attitudes and practice. However, research critiques the varying and limited ability of the deficit model. We argue that the deficit model can also produce an unintended cumulative advantage system: growing inequality between and within the knowledge-attitude-practice (KAP) gap of individuals and groups due to a wide variety of possible moderators. Over time, these effects can exacerbate gaps between individuals’ and groups’ levels of KAP. We discuss the negative effects of increasing inequality in sustainability KAP and provide recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a rich body of empirical evidence that supports the use of teacher praise to improve student outcomes, it continues to be underused in practice. One method of ameliorating this problem is the use of performance feedback. Although some studies have indicated that the use of performance feedback is an effective approach for increasing teachers' use of praise, the quality of the literature base has yet to be examined. The purpose of this study was to examine the current literature base related to the use of performance feedback to increase teachers' use of praise to determine whether it could be classified as an evidence-based practice. A systematic review of the literature was conducted, and each study was evaluated using the Council for Exceptional Children's (CEC) Standards for Evidence-Based Practices in Special Education (i.e., quality indicators). Fourteen single-case studies were reviewed for methodological rigor across 21 quality indicators. Results indicated that performance feedback is a promising practice to increase teachers' use of praise; however, not enough studies met quality standards to classify the practice as evidence-based. Future research should focus on conducting studies that meet the standards set forth by the CEC to build empirical support for the use of performance feedback as a method for increasing teachers' use of praise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oral re-telling of traditional tales, modelled by a storyteller and taught to children in school, can be understood as ‘non-instrumental’ practice in speaking and listening that emphasises oral language over the reading and writing of stories. While oral storytelling has significant benefits to children’s education and development, it is under-utilised within Primary Education in the UK. This interview and library-based study explores participant perceptions of oral storytelling and the barriers to the utilisation of such non-instrumental practice in school. In addition, observation of an oral storytelling initiative provides a research context through which such perceptions are understood. The findings suggest that speaking and listening is implicitly devalued as a result of the elevation of instrumental literacy-based practice in the primary curriculum. In addition, enquiry into the specific effects of engaging with orality as a precursor to literacy development is lacking. It is suggested that while New Literacy Studies has enhanced our understanding of the interrelationship between the written and spoken word, it is less helpful when considering language as a ‘continuum of spontaneity’. It is concluded that spoken language that is explicitly unattached to literacy-based outcomes should be strongly encouraged in school. In addition, it is important to understand on an empirical basis whether the attachment of a written outcome affects the way that spoken language practice is engaged with in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper focuses on two trends in the debate over the scope and nature of public archaeology. The first is a growing concern to define and codify its disciplinary boundaries. The second trend, arguably in tension with the first, is the ever-widening exploration of how people engage with their past, and the ramifications for the way archaeology, in its widest sense, is practised. It is argued that an excessive preoccupation with demarcating the disciplinary boundaries of public archaeology may risk obscuring a far more important objective, tied to the second trend referred to above. Debates on the relationship between the public, the past, and archaeological practice have resulted in a sea-change in attitudes to the responsibilities of the archaeologist, in the relationship between scientific knowledge and popular and indigenous knowledge, and in ideas about the relevance and usability of the past. Public archaeology is concerned with all these issues. It is argued that, to fulfil this wider vision, public archaeology cannot afford the strictures of a specialized discipline within archaeology, but must remain a persistent, essential, and foundational ingredient in the competencies and sensibilities of every archaeologist and co-worker in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In response to the study and recommendations presented in the article "'I Didn't See it as a Cultural Thing,'" written by Linda Griffin, Dyan Watson and Tonda Liggett, we explore three interrelated topics. First, we seek to problematize some of the assumptions in the study. We review some of the authors' approaches and assertions that seem to reflect a hierarchical power structure and a deficit model. Second, we examine our own dilemmas and struggles in enacting culturally relevant practices within our teacher education program. Our reflections derive from our recent experience preparing for a reaccreditation site visit by NCATE. Third, we end by exploring some promising possibilities in culturally relevant teaching by describing a successful project we have been able to implement, which involved a partnership with a school district. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is the second of a two-part literature review on the evolution of the relationship between science and the public after the second half of the twentieth century. The first part presented a general review on public understanding of science (PUS), PUS measurements and what has motivated a shift from a deficit model to a contextual one. In this second part, we look more closely at the discussion around the role of the public in science and the transformation from the idea that lay people are isolated from science to the idea that the public should participate in policy-making on science and technology issues. In particular, we focus on the debate around who should and should not contribute to decision-making by presenting both the arguments in favour of and against public participation in science policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Science Media Centre (SMC) is a new type of organisation at the science-media interface that acts like a press office and supports newsrooms. The first SMC was founded in 2002 in the UK, but, despite its supposed success, its impact on public debates has so far hardly been studied. Based on theoretical considerations and an interview study, this paper argues that the SMC can be understood as a public policy instrument to secure science's licence to practice. As a technical fix to the social problem of a 'crisis of public trust in science', the SMC acts as an emergency press office in science- and technology-intensive controversies. Its deficit model- informed communication policy is that the political is technical, the technical should be evidence-based and this evidence should come from scientific experts. The implications for public debates are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reconstruction of the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector into a competitive training market, which led to the participation of international students and commercial for-profit private VET providers, has until recently focused on the importance of international students to the national economy whilst ignoring the students’ important educational characteristics and the other benefits that accrue to Australia. Drawing on views and perspectives of students, teachers, training managers and quality assurance auditors, this article presents an analysis of the VET provider-level processes, which have contributed to limited discursive constructions of the identities of international students in private VET providers in Melbourne. It argues that there is an urgent need for a rethinking of the way international students are conceptualised and represented in the competitive training market environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Written language is a difficult endeavour as the demands of transcription require self-regulatory skills from a motor, cognitive and attention perspective. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between the Test of Writing Difficulties (Porpodas et al., 2007) and the Test of Detection and Investigation of Executive Functions (Simos et al., 2007) in a sample of 50 Greek-speaking, 5th-grade students with writing disabilities. The results of our study indicated that there were significant Pearson correlations ranging from .35 to .44 between executive functions and written expression. Furthermore, regression analysis showed that the subscales of the Test of Executive Functions had significant predictive power for spelling correctness and correction of jumbled sentences. Further implications of these findings for a school-based neuropsychological evaluation and planning of individualised educational interventions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Young children typically demonstrate a transfer deficit, learning less from video than live presentations. Semantically meaningful context has been demonstrated to enhance learning in young children. We examined the effect of a semantically meaningful context on toddlers' imitation performance. Two- and 2.5-year-olds participated in a puzzle imitation task to examine learning from either a live or televised model. The model demonstrated how to assemble a three-piece puzzle to make a fish or a boat, with the puzzle demonstration occurring against a semantically meaningful background context (ocean) or a yellow background (no context). Participants in the video condition performed significantly worse than participants in the live condition, demonstrating the typical transfer deficit effect. While the context helped improve overall levels of imitation, especially for the boat puzzle, only individual differences in the ability to self-generate a stimulus label were associated with a reduction in the transfer deficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Learning Disability Screening Questionnaire (LDSQ; McKenzie & Paxton, 2006 ) was developed as a brief screen for intellectual disability. Although several previous studies have evaluated the LDSQ with respect to its utility as a clinical and research tool, no studies have considered the fairness of the test across males and females. In the current study we, therefore, used a multi-group item response theory approach to assess differential item functioning across gender in a sample of 211 males and 132 females assessed in clinical and forensic settings. Although the test did not show evidence of differential item functioning by gender, it was necessary to exclude one item due to estimation problems and to combine two very highly related items (concerning reading and writing ability) into a single literacy item Thus, in addition to being generally supportive of the utility of the LDSQ, our results also highlight possible areas of weakness in the tool and suggest possible amendments that could be made to test content to improve the test in future revisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the first of a two-part historical review on the relationship between science and its publics in the second half of the twentieth century. The two-part literature review covers major trends in the evolution of this relationship from 'public understanding of science' (PUS) in which science was separated from laypeople, through the transition to 'public participation' when PUS became a matter for science policy. This first part of the literature describes the arguments that called for an increase in the public's understanding of science, its measurement, and the academic debate in favour of and against PUS measures. In particular, we refer to the evolution of survey design, and how criticisms of measures of PUS gave rise to the 'contextual' perspective in the PUS being favoured over a 'deficit' one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state regulation deficit model posits that individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulty applying mental effort effectively under suboptimal conditions such as very fast and very slow event rates (ERs). ADHD is also associated with diminished suppression of default mode network (DMN) activity and related performance deficits on tasks requiring effortful engagement. The current study builds on these 2 literatures to test the hypothesis that failure to modulate DMN activity in ADHD might be especially pronounced at ER extremes. Nineteen adults with ADHD and 20 individuals without any neuropsychiatric condition successfully completed a simple target detection task under 3 ER conditions (2-, 4-, and 8-s interstimulus intervals) inside the scanner. Task-related DMN deactivations were compared between 2 groups. There was a differential effect of ER on DMN activity for individuals with ADHD compared to controls. Individuals with ADHD displayed excessive DMN activity at the fast and slow, but not at the moderate ER. The results indicate that DMN attenuation in ADHD is disrupted in suboptimal energetic states where additional effort is required to optimize task engagement. DMN dysregulation may be an important element of the neurobiological underpinnings of state regulation deficits in ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights deficit-oriented descriptions of underrepresented undergraduate students in STEM intervention programs at large public 4-year universities. Drawing from interview data and using critical discourse analysis, the author identifies how deficit discourses are mobilized among program staff and argues that such descriptions reproduce discriminatory perceptions of underrepresented students. Recommendations for practice are provided as they relate to campus-wide recruitment and retention efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socio-ethnic stratification and segregation processes present in Flemish society are reflected in the everyday school environment. Pupils with a different socio-ethnic background than the dominant majority and middle class seem to be confronted with a lot of difficulties in this school system. The dominant meritocratic discourse frequently applies a deficit thinking perspective to frame educational success and failure, focusing on deficiencies originating outside of the school. In this paper we analyse newly collected survey data (N = 11,015 pupils) and a large amount of qualitative data (from pupils, parents, teachers, principals) to answer our two main research questions: (i) how is educational success/failure defined, and (ii) how is educational success/failure explained? The factor analyses as well as the qualitative analyses illustrate how the idea of meritocracy relates to individualistic features such as effort, merit and competence. However, the findings also reveal that this individualistic approach goes hand-in-hand with a focus on the family environment and 'culture' which seems to limit individual agency to a large extent. In these discourses, pupils, parents and even teachers are presented as being largely determined by their direct social environment with almost no regard for social inequalities within the educational system. The paper ends with a discussion on how processes of victimization and the denial of systemic bias, influence educational trajectories and proposes a different approach to multiculturalism and the appreciation of cultural background and specific family resources as positive elements in these trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific debates in modern societies often blur the lines between the science that is being debated and the political, moral, and legal implications that come with its societal applications. This manuscript traces the origins of this phenomenon to professional norms within the scientific discipline and to the nature and complexities of modern science and offers an expanded model of science communication that takes into account the political contexts in which science communication takes place. In a second step, it explores what we know from empirical work in political communication, public opinion research, and communication research about the dynamics that determine how issues are debated and attitudes are formed in political environments. Finally, it discusses how and why it will be increasingly important for science communicators to draw from these different literatures to ensure that the voice of the scientific community is heard in the broader societal debates surrounding science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to establish the extent to which rapid automatized naming (RAN) and non-word repetition (NWR) tasks predict reading fluency and reading accuracy in Urdu. One hundred sixty (8-9 years) children attending two types of schools (Urdu and English medium schools) were distributed into two groups, a control and a reading disability group on the basis of teacher's report. The results confirmed the role of RAN in predicting reading fluency in both groups. The role of NWR as a predictor of accuracy was also confirmed, although the strength of the relationship was modulated by RAN in the reading disability group. There are no tests available to identify children with reading problems in Urdu. Our study supports the validity of NWR and RAN tasks for the purposes of screening for reading deficits. The performance results also confirm the original grouping based on teacher reports. The study further highlights the importance of medium of instruction and increased oral language input in learning to read. © 2014 The Authors. Dyslexia published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research reported here investigated pre-service English language teachers’ perceptions of newly arrived immigrant children from Mainland China in Hong Kong. Seventeen participants, who had at least 10 weeks of experience working with these immigrant children during teaching practicum, participated in focus group discussions and shared their perceptions. The data analysis revealed that the participants widely perceived these children as deficit and consider them a serious professional challenge. Further examination of the data helped reveal media, life and teaching practicum experiences with immigrant children as crucial sources that contributed to the formation of these perceptions. The findings call for teacher education programmes to involve pre-service teachers in critical engagement with the mass media and their own experiences so that they can address the deficit model applied by teachers to immigrant children. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The start of the twenty-first century witnessed the flourishing of both the biosciences (particularly genomics) and initiatives around public engagement in science, particularly in the UK and USA. STS researchers have both followed and fuelled this latter trend. Hence, it may be helpful to review the genealogy of these recent developments and of STS concern for the publics of science. This provides a way of assessing whether STS activities have been contributing to making the sciences more open and accountable to their publics. One trail returns to the institutionalisation of Public Understanding of Science (PUS) in the mid-1980s. The critique of this movement by STS scholars through reference to the deficit model (of public understanding of science) also figures here. However, less attention has been given to other modes of conceptualising science and publics, including what Cooter and Pumfrey label as the 'diffusionist' or 'diffusion' model (of scientific knowledge), which they contend entrenched traditional views of scientific knowledge and of publics as receivers of such knowledge. More recently, investigations of the making of science in diverse locations, attention to multiplicity and co-production have taken STS in new directions. Nevertheless, the legacies of both the deficit and diffusion models of science and publics continue to influence STS and its 'regimes of truth'. Questions remain around STS researchers' persistent failure to acknowledge the diffusion model, in particular, and the consequent retrenchment of traditional views of how science works, limiting prospects for substantial public engagement and more open, democratic modes of science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-way public engagement with science is an important modern democratic practice that paradoxically coincides with the intensifications of state surveillance and policing of publics and social movements engaging with issues involving science. This raises important questions about the contemporary anatomies of publics, and what count as legitimate expressions of public concern over scientific stakes within the knowledge economy. Implicit in the tension between inclusion and surveillance are concerns over the social meaning and authority of science amongst both scientific practitioners and publics. Bringing science and technology studies (STS) and social movement studies (SMS) into dialogue offers a means to explore the neglected ontological stakes in the framing of scientific imaginaries of publics, and public imaginaries of science. Post-WWII UK science-publics relations have emerged in three significant modalities, with publics imagined: as passive non-entities, circa 1950-1990 (continuing); as incipient threats due to presumed deficits in their grasp of science 1990-2000 (continuing); and, since circa 2000, as politicised threats requiring state control. Each modality is shaped by elite denial of the normative commitments embedded within science as surrogate politics--scientism. In each mode, scientistic elite emphasis on epistemic issues forecloses engagement with broader public meanings expressing legitimate normative and ontological differences. Fusing the more epistemic focus of STS with SMS's emphasis on meaning and democratic process offers a route to deeper democratic forms of public engagement with what is called science, which would also precipitate more accountability in elite discourses around science and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarship on fictive kinship has relied on many different terminologies. I argue for a new precision. I review existing discussions and draw on those to suggest a new, experimental typology. I suggest that the typology illuminates a variety of issues, including the aspects of family that are accomplished through fictive kin. I also discuss issues surrounding fictive kinship for which no information exists but about which the typology might help make predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on present trends and future directions of the education of students with emotional and behavior disabilities in Australia. It falls on the general education teacher to initially determine students with behavioral problems because all students start in regular settings.

The treatment and education of children with disabilities in the United States (U.S) have undergone significant changes in past fifty years. When the U.S adopted an inclusive system of education, all children gained the opportunity to receive a free, age-appropriate public education. Children with disabilities who never interacted with their typically developing peers or community members received equal rights similar to other citizens. This paper discusses the history of special education, the legal system, the current status of people with disabilities, inclusive system of education and its ongoing challenges in the U.S. A systematic review of the literature was conducted after a search of the main education databases using the following key words: disability laws, legal system, special education in the United States and inclusion. One hundred and sixty two abstracts were retrieved from the Education Electronic Publishing search engine. All abstracts were reviewed and selected articles are included in the reference list. Articles included case studies, theoretical papers, and research reports. Literature that did not focus on history, legal system of disability was excluded from the review. Literature that included broader discussions on school practices was excluded. This review of literature will help people around the globe understand the history and current status of the special education system in the U.S including the benefits and challenges of inclusive system of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Which social aspects shape the process of biotechnological research? How do researchers of a biotechnological company perceive society? How have these social representations shaped their relations with the public? This paper present the principal results of an ethnographic explorative research carried out in laboratories of a drug discovery company in 2006/2007. The aim of the research was to gain a deeper understanding of the process of biotechnological knowledge construction and of factors that can have influence on it. 724 primary documents were collected through interviews, non participant observations of laboratory work and group meetings, and the collection of images, pictures, photos, papers, articles and power point presentations. The material was subjected to classical content analysis technique and the outcomes analysed with Atlas-Ti, a computer assisted analysis software. The presentation will focus on three thematic areas that emerge from the research results. They point out specific and interconnected representations related to the company (its mission, its scientific community and its scientific and economic responsibility); to the peculiar identity that the researcher need to develop to work in a company (vs. in the academy); to the public. On the whole, an ambivalent representation of the role that society plays in the process of biotechnological knowledge construction emerges. On the one hand society is considered the bearer of a demand and the researcher answers to it offering a particular product of scientific knowledge, the drug, on the other hand the public is represented by researchers using a deficit model: unskilled and passive in the relation with science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the topic of learning English language, discussing the role of the teachers and the learners. The article states that terms including limited English proficient (LEP), English language learners (ELLs) and former limited English proficient (FLEP) needs rethinking. The use of these deficit-laden descriptors used by the educators unintentionally shows the incapability of the emergent bilingual learners and views them as deficient.