Abstracts - Earli

expectancies and to influence whether the expectancies relate to general or specific self-concepts.Positive mood should lead to more intensive information processing than negative mood. Morespecifically, individuals with positive mood should simply infer their performance expectanciesconcerning a specific task from their general self-concept (as a result of intensive informationprocessing), whereas for participants in negative mood, performance expectancies should beinferred from the relevant specific self-concept (as a result of less intensive informationprocessing). In an experiment, positive or negative mood was induced in N = 158 universitystudents. General and specific self-concept as well as task specific performance expectancies andtask performance were assessed. As predicted, mean expectancies were higher in the positivemood-condition than in the negative mood-condition. Furthermore, specific self-concept waspredictive of expectancies when participants were in negative mood. When participants were inpositive mood, expectancies could only be predicted on the basis of the general self-concept. Thefindings support the idea that the formation of performance expectancies can be understood asinformation processing. We discuss how emotional states affect learning processes.The reading skill and reading strategy definition problemPeter Afflerbach, University of Maryland, USADavid Pearson, University of california, USAScott Paris, University of Michigan, USAThe terms "reading skill" and "reading strategy" are central to how we conceptualize and teachreading. Across the history of reading research and reading instruction (Huey, 1908; Snow, 2002;van Dijk & Kintsch, 1978) skill and strategy are key terms. Despite their importance, the terms arenot well defined nor are they used consistently. The lack of consensus in understanding and usingthese terms may diminish the impact of research and practice aimed at helping children becomebetter readers. This presentation describes the problem of lack of clarification of the terms skilland strategy, examines the history of use of the terms in published reading curriculum, andanalyzes the development and use of the terms in reading research. Definitions for reading skilland reading strategy that clarify both their differences and their relations are proposed.A comparison of e-learning in Scotland’s colleges and secondary schools: the case of NationalQualifications in ‘Core Skills’Julia Davidson, University of Glasgow, United KingdomThe National Qualifications (NQ) framework has been linked to online resources to support itsdevelopment in Scotland’s colleges and secondary schools. The framework involves the ‘CoreSkills’ units: Numeracy, Communication (English Language), Information Technology (IT),Problem Solving, and Working With Others. This paper compares the utilisation of the web-basedmaterials in secondary schools and colleges. The research included a national survey of collegelecturers and teachers, and case studies of secondary schools and colleges. By far the most popular‘Core Skills’ resources were for Numeracy. In the majority of surveyed colleges, respondents’attitudes to the resources were positive. The online materials were typically used in courses inconjunction with other teaching approaches. The materials provided helpful benchmarks for NQassessments. The evidence suggested that less motivated learners benefited from the onlineresources when they were contextualised for some college courses. Among secondary teacherrespondents, the resources were virtually unknown. The majority of secondary teachers reportedthat they needed more time to evaluate the ‘Core Skills’ resources. In conclusion, although the twosectors have overlapping student groups, in terms of developing and piloting suitable onlineresources each sector needs to be considered separately.– 198 –