Aimee A. Callender

The Role of Gender, Embedded Questions, and Domain Specific Readings with Learners of Spanish

The present study utilizes readings taken from texts in social psychology to examine the effects by gender of embedded “what” questions and elaborative “why” questions on reading comprehension. During regular class time, 97 advanced second language (L2) learners of Spanish read two different vignettes, either with or without the adjuncts, and then completed a written recall, multiple choice items, and a topic familiarity inventory. Results revealed significant effects of gender and question type for wriftten recall with passage one, which was about first impressions and schemas. Females outscored males with the inserted “why” questions and males outscored females with the inserted “what” questions. No significant effects by gender and embedded questions were found with recall for passage two, concerning implicit personality theory and attribution theory. Additionally, no gender differences were found for the interaction of gender and embedded question type for multiple choice items across both passages. Results are discussed in light of previous research that reports females outperform males on recall tasks for L2 reading. Instructional implications along with suggestions for more research of this nature are offered.

Relating the Strength Capabilities of Children to the Design of School Bus Emergency Roof Hatches

School bus emergency exits are regulated by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 217 which does not consider the strength capabilities of children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the strength capabilities of children to determine the optimal force specifications required to operate school bus emergency escape roof hatches. Force exertions were measured using test apparatuses built to replicate the operating mechanisms of the emergency escape roof hatch on a school bus. Force and torque exertions of 33 subjects in the first grade were measured using an emergency escape roof hatch knob. Forty two percent of the measured maximum push force exertions on the emergency escape hatch knob were less than the 89 newton minimum force requirement specified by FMVSS No. 217. Matching the operational requirements of emergency exits to the strength capabilities of children can help improve the overall effectiveness of the emergency evacuation system.