Professor Phil Zelazo (Institute of Child Development) discusses his recently published research on the positive effects of mindfulness mediation.

Shedding stress and anxiety through meditation

• Fully produced :90 feature (MP3)


• Raw audio (MP3)

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Professor Cynthia Lewis (Curriculum and Instruction) and her fellow co-editors of the recently published Reframing Sociocultural Research on Literacy: Identity, Agency, and Power have won the Edward Fry Book Award from the National Reading Conference. The award is given annually to recognize a book that makes a noteworthy contribution to research in the field of literacy. Read the previous news entry about the book here.

Congratulations Cynthia!

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Recent research on preschool intervention by Professor Arthur Reynolds (Institute of Child Development) was mentioned in an article on a Chicago Public Schools preschool program.

Study shows CPS preschool program engenders success
WMAQ-TV (Ill.) Dec. 20, 2007

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Graduate Students in Education and Human Development (GradSEHD) received a Coca-Cola Academic, Community, and Campus Life grant. The group will use the funds to offer professional development workshops as part of their preconference support of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GAPSA) conference in February. Congratulations GradSEHD!

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Professor Bill Doherty (Family Social Science) and Assistant Professor Karen Miksch (Postsecondary Teaching and Learning) served on the University's 2006-2007 Academic Freedom and Tenure committee, a group charged with revising the University's tenure policy. The new "Procedures for Reviewing Candidates for Tenure and/or Promotion: Tenure-Track and Tenured Faculty" went into effect in October.

"Tenure policy revised in historic effort"
UMN Brief (Minn.) Dec. 19, 2007

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Professor David O'Brien (Curriculum and Instruction) comments on the need for literacy programs aimed at boys to attract more non-readers (as opposed to boys who are already avid readers).

"Boys and books: How do you get them together?"
Star Tribune (Minn.) Dec. 18, 2007

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Sharon Danes, a professor and extension specialist in the Department of Family Social Science, is mentioned in an article on the management challenges of family-owned businesses.

"Marriages may hurt businesses, vice versa"
Springfield Business Journal (Fla.) Dec. 17, 2007

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The Department of Curriculum and Instruction is looking for a lecturer or teaching specialist to begin in the fall of 2008. Read on for further details.

The Department of Curriculum and Instruction invites nominations and applications for the position of Lecturer or Teaching Specialist in the area of reading/literacy education, with an emphasis on reading in the elementary grades. This is a full-time academic professional position in a highly regarded college of a major urban research university beginning August 25, 2008.

The individual in this position will collaborate with literacy faculty in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and across the College to support ongoing and new efforts to investigate and create excellent literacy education in grades K-6, with a special emphasis on multicultural urban settings and students in the elementary school. Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Teaching and advisement: Strengthen the existing preparation and development of licensure students and graduate students in elementary reading. Teach and advise students in elementary reading education licensure and graduate programs.

Service: Support the literacy education program area and coordinate the K-12 reading licensure program. Participate in College, University, and community service or other outreach activities, such as service on internal committees or task forces and/or collaborating with external constituencies such as the public schools. Participate in the activities of relevant professional organizations.

Desired Background and Experience:

Minimum Qualifications

• An earned master's degree in reading/literacy education (for Teaching Specialist); an earned doctorate in reading/literacy education (for Lecturer). Applications from ABD candidates will be considered provided the individual is on track to complete the doctorate by 8/25/2008.


• Demonstrated record of excellence in teaching and academic program development at the postbaccalaureate and graduate level, and service/outreach activities.


• At least two years of teaching experience in the elementary grades in US schools.

Preferred Qualifications

• An earned doctorate in education with an emphasis on elementary reading or a closely related field. Applications from ABD candidates will be considered provided the individual is on track to complete the doctorate by 8/25/2008.


• Evidence of a commitment to teaching and working with schools in multicultural urban and rural settings


• Evidence of leadership skills, organization, and ability to coordinate literacy program components, particularly the reading licensure program, and work with faculty members on literacy initiatives, scheduling, and program planning


• Demonstrated current knowledge of research in reading/literacy related to primary-grade instruction and ability to communicate this information

Appointment Details: The individual hired will be appointed to a full-time, 9-month position beginning August 25, 2008 as a lecturer or teaching specialist. Summer and Intersession employment is a possibility but is not guaranteed. Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.

Application Process: This position will remain open until filled. To receive fullest consideration, applications should be submitted by January 21, 2008, when the search committee will begin its deliberations. Completed applications will consist of an application letter addressing qualifications, a curriculum vita, an academic transcript, the names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of three references from whom you have requested letters to be sent to the search committee, and the three letters from the references.

Apply online by accessing the University of Minnesota employment system at https://employment.umn.edu. Search for requisition number 152197. Supporting materials, such as the application letter and curriculum vita, academic transcript, and names of references and their contact information may be attached electronically to the online application or mailed to: Reading/Literacy Search Committee, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, 125 Peik Hall, University of Minnesota, 159 Pillsbury Drive S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455. The letters of reference should be mailed directly to the search committee at this address. For additional information, contact Assistant Professor Lori Helman, Search Committee Chair, at 612-624-2034; e-mail address: lhelman@umn.edu.

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Assistant Professor Beth Lewis (Kinesiology) recently published a commentary.

Lewis, B.A. (2007). Should the Internet be used to promote healthy living? The Lancet, 370, 1891-1892.

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Research on motion sickness from the School of Kinesiology's Tom Stoffregen's Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory (APAL) is featured in an article on the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) Web site, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The video clip in the article is one of only five currently listed, and one of only 32 in the history of the HFES program. Read the article here: http://www.aip.org/dbis/HFES/stories/17051.html.

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Professor Theodore Lewis (Work and Human Resource Education) published an editorial in Sunday's Trinidad and Tobago Express.

Put down your guns this Christmas
Trinidad and Tobago Express (Trinidad) Dec. 16, 2007

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Faculty and graduate students in the learning technologies program within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction have recently published several book chapters.

Assistant Professor Aaron Doering, Dr. Joan Hughes (now at the University of Texas at Austin), and Cassie Scharber (Ph.D. candidate in learning technologies and literacy) have contributed a chapter titled "Online Learning and Social Studies" in ISTE's new book, What Works in K-12 Online Learning.

Doering, George Veletsianos (Ph.D. candidate in learning technologies), and Scharber have contributed a chapter titled "Coming of Age: Research and Pedagogy on Geospatial Technologies within K-12 Social Studies Education" in a new book published by Information Age Publishing titled Digital Geography: Geo-Spatial Technologies in the Social Studies Classroom.

Doering and Veletsianos have recently published a paper entitled "Multi-Scaffolding Learning Environment: An Analysis of Scaffolding and Its Impact on Cognitive Load and Problem-Solving Ability" in the Journal of Educational Computing Research.

Brad Hokanson (associate professor in the Department of Design, Housing and Apparel), Charles Miller (postdoctoral associate in learning technologies), and Dr. Simon Hooper (now at Pennsylvania State) recently published a chapter titled "Commodity, firmness, and delight: Four modes of instructional design practice" in the Handbook of Visual Languages for Instructional Design: Theories and Practices.

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Kinesiology faculty members Nicole LaVoi and Diane Wiese-Bjornstal and doctoral candidate Jens Omli of the Minnesota Youth Sport Research Consortium (MYSRC), housed in the School of Kinesiology, have had three recent articles addressing the behavior of youth sport parents and coaches accepted for publication.

• Omli, J., LaVoi, N.M., Wiese-Bjornstal, D. (in press). Towards an understanding of parent spectator behavior at youth sport events. Journal of Youth Sports.
• LaVoi, N.M., Omli, J., Wiese-Bjornstal, D. (in press). Minnesota PLAYS (Parents Learning About Youth Sports): A research-based parent education solution. Journal of Youth Sports.
• LaVoi, N.M. (2007) Expanding the interpersonal dimension: Closeness in the coach-athlete relationship. International Journal of Sport Science & Coaching, 2(4), 497-512.

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A team of researchers recently presented at the National Reading Conference in Austin, Texas. "Motivating Boys to Read: An Evaluation of a Community Library Book Club Program" was presented by literacy education graduate students Cassie Scharber, Kristen Nichols-Besel, Brad Biggs, and Beth Brendler and professors Deborah Dillon and David O'Brien from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.

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Professor Philip Zelazo in the Institute of Child Development recently published the following article.

Ortner, C.N.M., Kilner, S.J., & Zelazo, P.D. (2007). Mindfulness meditation and reduced emotional interference on a cognitive task. Motivation and Emotion, 21(4), pages 271-283.

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Kevin Burns, a kinesiology doctoral student advised by Professor Don Dengel, has been awarded an American Heart Association (AHA) Pre-doctoral Fellowship Award for his project "Chronic Effects of Right Ventricular Pacing on Left Ventricular Torsion."

Only 26 percent of applications for this prestigious award receive funding. Kevin's percentile ranking was 4.3 percent, which is exceptionally high for this award. Kevin is the fourth student from the School of Kinesiology to receive the AHA award, joining Aaron Kelly (Ph.D., 2004), Tom Olson (Ph.D., 2005), and Ulf Bronas (Ph.D., 2007). Professor Dengel says, "This exceptional accomplishment speaks to the quality of our students, the research they are conducting, and the education that they are receiving."

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The Center for Early Education and Development (CEED) has a job position available for an undergraduate student office assistant. Applicants must be able to work a minimum of 20 hours per week, and hours are flexible between 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Download more details about this position, including responsibilities, qualifications, and how to apply:
CEED Undergraduate Student Office Assistant [PDF]

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The University of Minnesota's Office of International Programs just released a series of grants for faculty, staff, departments, and students. Grant categories include:

• Interdisciplinary International Institutional Partnership Grants (up to $25,000)
• Interdisciplinary International Research Circle Grants (from $20,000 to $25,000)
• OIP Graduate Fellowships for International Research ($15,000)
• OIP International Pre-Dissertation and Small Grants Competition (up to $5,000)

For more information visit http://www.international.umn.edu/funding/strategic/.

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Sophmore Emma Yang and senior Manu Kuffour, both in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, have been awarded UROP grants to support research on learning technologies. Both students will be exploring learning with social computing technologies as part of Dr. Christine Greenhow’s Social Networks Research Collaborative.

Congratulations to these motivated students!

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Ann Werner (EdPA) (left), Kyla Wahlstrom (CAREI/EdPA) (right), and Amy Garrett Dikkers (EdPA) presented at the December 6 National Community Education Association (NCEA) annual conference on ongoing research into the work lives of school administrators. Their presentation was titled “An investigation into the daily work of Directors of Community Education using weblog technology. An article on their work, "Authentic Partnerships in the Preparation of Community Education Professionals," will be published in NCEA Journal in January 2008.

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Maureen Weiss, professor in the School of Kinesiology, was named Chair of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS) Science Board for 2008. The board’s activities include review and input on the long-standing President’s Challenge program as well as many other initiatives related to physical activity and health across the lifespan. The board includes ten scholars from across the nation who were selected due to their significant contributions to the research and science of physical activity, fitness, health, and sports.

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Professor Emeritus John Cogan (Educational Policy and Administration) was one of three University faculty members honored on November 27 for receiving the 2007 Award for Global Engagement. The award, presented by Senior Vice President for System Academic Administration Robert Jones, honors active or retired faculty and staff members for outstanding contributions to global education and international programs in their field or to the University. More than 125 friends, family, and colleagues attended the ceremony and reception held in the atrium of the Andersen Library. Each recipient received a cash prize, certificate, and award sculpture designed by University art professor Thomas Rose.

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Assistant Professor Bic Ngo (Curriculum and Instruction) recently published the following article.

Ngo, B., and Lee, S. (2007). Complicating the Image of Model Minority Success: A Review of Southeast Asian American Education. Review of Educational Research, 77(4), 415-453.

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Family social science professor Cathy Solheim commented on the importance of parent-child communication in a recent article on baby boomer history classes for college students.

Boomer course closes generation gap
USA Today (V.A.) Dec. 3, 2007

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The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is seeking proposals for the DEC*2008 conference program. The conference will be held from October 26-29, 2008, in Minneapolis.

DEC’s conference is designed to cover a wide range of vital issues facing those who work with young children with special needs and their families. Every year DEC brings together experts, students, practitioners, and family members to learn about important research, policy, and practice happening in the field of early childhood special education.

For information about submitting a proposal please visit the conference page at the DEC Web site at www.dec-sped.org/conference. Proposals are due January 15, 2008 and submissions are accepted through the DEC online system only.

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