E Farina

The relationship between emotional competence and hostile/prosocial behavior in Albanian preschoolers : an exploratory study

We explored the relationship between the ascribed tendency of Albanian preschoolers’ to take on prosocial and/or hostile roles and their empathy and emotion comprehension. Participants were 63 preschoolers (3- to 6-years-old) and six teachers. Pupils’ empathy and hostile/prosocial roles were assessed via teacher reports and their emotional comprehension through a non-verbal test. The results confirmed the pattern of relationships previously found in Italian preschoolers (Belacchi & Farina, 2010, 2012) among children’s roles in bullying, developmental stage of emotion comprehension, and empathic disposition. Differences emerged regarding Albanian teachers’ attributions of roles and empathic disposition as a function of gender; they also perceived children displaying hostile behavior as having strong perspective-taking abilities. This evaluation style may be culture-specific and related to the values of a society-in-transition such as Albania.

Metacognitive reflection in online environments and self-study in university courses

The metacognitive processes of critical thinking, regulation and guiding of cognitive mechanisms are fundamental in promoting self-regulated learning, which, in turn, is crucial for academic success. ICT offers significant possibilities for supporting these capacities. We describe two different experiences in which tools for metacognitive reflection have been implemented in online environments in order to sustain self-regulation in university study. In both cases the students participated in online units – one on educational psychology, the other on study methodology – followed by discussions for stimulating metacognitive reflection. In both experiences, the proposed tools promoted advanced epistemic activation and better awareness of personal self-regulation skills in study processes.