Sense of belonging at school is an important factor in the school context. Especially for pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) a sense of belonging is important in order to have positive...Show moreSense of belonging at school is an important factor in the school context. Especially for pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) a sense of belonging is important in order to have positive experiences at school. The most important contributor to a sense of belonging at school is the staff-pupil interaction. The purpose of the current research is to investigate the relationship between a sense of belonging at school and staff-pupil interaction for pupils with ASD. The relationship will be investigated for boys and girls at primary school and secondary school. Participants are parents of 200 children with ASD between the age of three and seventeen years old. The parents filled in questionnaires about the well-being of their children in the school context. The current research showed that there is a strong positive relationship between sense of belonging at school and staff-pupil interaction for pupils with ASD. No differences were found in the levels of sense of belonging at school and staff-pupil interaction between boys and girls and between primary and secondary school.Show less
This study compares the effect of the learning strategies generating predictions and passive learning on learning number facts, with the between group factor of order of training and covariates of...Show moreThis study compares the effect of the learning strategies generating predictions and passive learning on learning number facts, with the between group factor of order of training and covariates of executive function and critical thinking skills. Participants took part in a training session, learning 35 number facts by passive learning and another 35 by generating predictions. Half the participants started with passive learning; the other half started with making predictions. After a distractor task, in the form of a self-evaluation questionnaire on executive function, curiosity, and critical thinking skills, participants were tested on how many number facts they remembered correctly. There was an overall significant result of learning strategy, with participants scoring higher when learning from making predictions. Also, a significant interaction result was found for order of training and learning strategy, pointing to a possible carry-over effect for the participants starting the training with generating predictions. The covariates of critical thinking and executive function showed no significant interaction with the learning strategies. These results possibly point to the potential benefit learning from making predictions when learning number facts could have for all students, regardless of individual characteristics.Show less
Numerous studies have been directed to the interaction between intelligence and (mathematical) creativity. However, there is no consistency in the results of these studies they are mostly based on...Show moreNumerous studies have been directed to the interaction between intelligence and (mathematical) creativity. However, there is no consistency in the results of these studies they are mostly based on adolescents and/or adults. This study aims to understand the relationship between intelligence and mathematical creativity by examining these constructs among primary school children in the age of 8 to 12. The sample was collected in The Netherlands among nine primary schools and consists of 334 students. A verbal intelligence subtask was conducted to determine the verbal intelligence level of students in either low, average or high. A mathematical divergent thinking task was conducted to determine the mathematical creativity score of students, the score is based on the creativity components fluency, flexibility and originality. The results indicate a positive relationship between intelligence and mathematical creativity. Students with the highest intelligence scores also have the highest mathematical creativity scores. Accordingly, students with average or low intelligence scores have a significantly lower level of mathematical creativity than students with high intelligence scores. No support was obtained for the hypothesis that the relationship between originality and intelligence would be stronger than the relationship between intelligence and fluency and flexibility. These results are discussed in light of domain-specificity, executive functions, uncontrolled variables and reliability.Numerous studies have been directed to the interaction between intelligence and (mathematical) creativity. However, there is no consistency in the results of these studies they are mostly based on adolescents and/or adults. This study aims to understand the relationship between intelligence and mathematical creativity by examining these constructs among primary school children in the age of 8 to 12. The sample was collected in The Netherlands among nine primary schools and consists of 334 students. A verbal intelligence subtask was conducted to determine the verbal intelligence level of students in either low, average or high. A mathematical divergent thinking task was conducted to determine the mathematical creativity score of students, the score is based on the creativity components fluency, flexibility and originality. The results indicate a positive relationship between intelligence and mathematical creativity. Students with the highest intelligence scores also have the highest mathematical creativity scores. Accordingly, students with average or low intelligence scores have a significantly lower level of mathematical creativity than students with high intelligence scores. No support was obtained for the hypothesis that the relationship between originality and intelligence would be stronger than the relationship between intelligence and fluency and flexibility. These results are discussed in light of domain-specificity, executive functions, uncontrolled variables and reliability.Show less
Executive functions are critical for adequate social functioning which is mediated by social skills. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between executive functions and social skills...Show moreExecutive functions are critical for adequate social functioning which is mediated by social skills. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between executive functions and social skills of young children because associations between these domains have only rarely been examined. The research group consisted of 109 boys and 98 girls from primary schools with an average age between 4-7 years in 2009 and 5-9 years during the follow-up study in 2010. These children completed measurements of the Social Skills Rating Scale, the Dysexecutive Questionnaire for Children, the Zoo Map task, the Spatial Temporal Span task, the Go No Go task and the Response Organization Objects task. Results indicate that executive dysfunction in daily life is negatively correlated to social skills of boys and girls. For boys there also exists a positive correlation between working memory in 2009 and social skills in 2010. Based on the findings of this study it is concluded that executive dysfunction in daily life is a negative predictor for social skills of boys and girls.Show less
De ontwikkeling van bètaleren bij kinderen krijgt op het moment veel aandacht, omdat het voor de maatschappij belangrijk is dat jonge kinderen interesse hebben voor natuur en techniek. Daarmee...Show moreDe ontwikkeling van bètaleren bij kinderen krijgt op het moment veel aandacht, omdat het voor de maatschappij belangrijk is dat jonge kinderen interesse hebben voor natuur en techniek. Daarmee wordt de kans verhoogd dat ze later in hun leven een bètagerelateerd beroep zullen kiezen. Daarnaast ontwikkelen jonge kinderen vaardigheden die zij nodig zullen hebben om zich optimaal te kunnen ontwikkelen in alle domeinen van hun functioneren. Daarom moet duidelijk worden op welke ontwikkelingsgebieden kinderen stimulering nodig hebben om deze ontwikkeling te optimaliseren. In het basisonderwijs wordt de sociale en cognitieve ontwikkeling van kinderen gestimuleerd om hen daarmee voor te bereiden op de toekomst. Vooralsnog blijkt bètaonderwijs veelal geen grote plaats in het onderwijsprogramma te hebben, terwijl bètaberoepen belangrijk zijn voor de maatschappij. Aangezien de sociale ontwikkeling bijdraagt aan het leerproces is het belangrijk om te onderzoeken hoe sociale ontwikkeling in relatie staat tot het bètaleren. Hierdoor wordt bekend of kinderen kunnen groeien in hun sociale ontwikkeling en in het bètaleren wanneer de aandacht voor deze gebieden gecombineerd wordt. In dit onderzoek is daarom de relatie tussen de ontwikkeling van sociale cognitie en bètaleren van 160 vier- tot achtjarige kinderen (gemiddelde leeftijd = 5.90 jaar, 47.5% jongens) uit West- en Zuid-Nederland onderzocht. Bètaleren werd gerelateerd aan de sociale cognitie emotieherkenning en aan sociale vaardigheden. Bij de kinderen is een emotieherkenningstaak (Identification of Facial Emotions, IFE) en een taak voor kwantitatief redeneren (subtest Kwantiteit uit de Revisie Amsterdamse Kinder Intelligentietest, RAKIT) afgenomen als maat voor hun bètavaardigheden. De ouders hebben een vragenlijst over de sociale vaardigheden van hun kind ingevuld (Social Skills Rating System, SSRS). De belangrijkste bevinding was dat sociale cognitie en bètaleren positief aan elkaar gerelateerd zijn. Daarnaast werd een significante relatie (r = 0.38) gevonden tussen sociale vaardigheden en bètaleren. Naast de huidige stimulering van de sociale ontwikkeling lijkt het daarom van belang om daarbij ook het bètaleren bij jonge kinderen te stimuleren, zodat groei op deze gebieden elkaar wederzijds versterkt. Een sociale en uitdagende omgeving speelt daarbij waarschijnlijk een belangrijke rol.Show less
