INVESTIGATING A POSSIBLE GAP BETWEEN STUDENTS’ EXPECTATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS: THE CASE OF A PRE-ENTRY SCIENCE PROGRAM

This study investigated a gap that may have existed between students’ expectations and perceptions of the 2007 Pre-Entry Science Program (PESP) cohort at the National University of Lesotho and factors that might have influenced these expectations and perceptions. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used for data collection and administered to students participating in PESP. The gaps between expectations and perceptions that existed were measured using Cohen′s effect size. A large effect size was found for the ability of presenters to give students a good grasp of concepts within the subject area. Factors that seem to have influenced the students′ expectations and perceptions were identified as students′ background knowledge, previous experience, informal communication, and individual needs. Suggestions made to narrow the gap include knowing students′ expectations at the beginning of the program and then making a conscious effort to meet them.     

Routes to research for novice undergraduate neuroscientists

Undergraduate students may be attracted to science and retained in science by engaging in laboratory research. Experience as an apprentice in a scientist's laboratory can be effective in this regard, but the pool of willing scientists is sometimes limited and sustained contact between students and faculty is sometimes minimal. We report outcomes from two different models of a summer neuroscience research program: an Apprenticeship Model (AM) in which individual students joined established research laboratories, and a Collaborative Learning Model (CLM) in which teams of students worked through a guided curriculum and then conducted independent experimentation. Assessed outcomes included attitudes toward science, attitudes toward neuroscience, confidence with neuroscience concepts, and confidence with science skills, measured via pre-, mid-, and postprogram surveys. Both models elevated attitudes toward neuroscience, confidence with neuroscience concepts, and confidence with science skills, but neither model altered attitudes toward science. Consistent with the CLM design emphasizing independent experimentation, only CLM participants reported elevated ability to design experiments. The present data comprise the first of five yearly analyses on this cohort of participants; long-term follow-up will determine whether the two program models are equally effective routes to research or other science-related careers for novice undergraduate neuroscientists.     

高职英语任务型教学方法初探

任务型教学是20世纪80年代末兴起的一种语言教学法,强调在“做中学”,将语言形式的操练和意义表达结合起来。学习者围绕各种任务活动,联系已学过的语言知识和技能,形成综合的表达。学习者通过不断接触新的语言形式,从而发展自己的语言系统。     

An online, interactive approach to teaching neuroscience to adolescents

Most of today's students are skilled in instant messaging, Web browsing, online games, and blogs. These have become part of the social landscape and have changed how we learn and where we learn. The question becomes how to harness the attractiveness and ubiquity of electronic venues toward the goal of teaching neuroscience. At the Rice University Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning, a central focus is the creation of innovative materials that appeal to middle school students. A recent project was undertaken through a Science Education Drug Abuse Partnership Award (R25 DA15063) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to inform adolescents about the neurobiology of substance abuse and the current research dealing with a class of drugs known as club drugs. Problem-based learning, multimedia pedagogy, and the National Science Content Standards were integrated to produce The Reconstructors, an episodic series available via the World Wide Web at http://reconstructors.rice.edu. A field test of students from five schools assessed the retention of content after "playing" The Reconstructors series titled Nothing to Rave About. Gain scores indicated that middle school students' knowledge about club drugs and the basic neuroscience concepts that explain their effects improved significantly.     

Assessing Girls' Reactions to Science Workshops

Many science education programs have recently been developed to increase girls' participation in science, however, few formal evaluations of these types of programs have been reported. The present research evaluated fifth grade girls' perceptions of a 1-day science education program. Students attended workshops describing different science fields. Study 1 revealed that attending the workshops increased students' interest in the specific field covered in the workshop. However, even after attending the workshops, students did not believe women typically entered those various fields. A second year evaluation revealed that most students agreed they had learned about individual tasks that scientists do in the various fields. However, significantly fewer believed they learned about educational requirements, problems women might face in the field, or how science can be used to help people. Results are discussed in terms of potential factors that workshop presenters might want to consider in future programs.     

Brains in Jars: The Problem of Language in Neuroscientific Research

Neuroscience is a rapidly expanding scientific field, and its influence on our perceptions of fundamental aspects of human life is becoming widespread, particularly in the social and behavioral sciences. This influence has many philosophical implications, only one of which will be addressed in this article. For many centuries, philosophers have grappled with the myriad problems presented by consciousness, not the least of which is the so-called “mind–body problem”; now, the gains made in the field of neuroscience promise to answer questions that have been traditionally unanswerable. The richness of neuroscientific data notwithstanding, there are still fundamental philosophical problems in play. This article seeks to answer the question: How do neuroscientists and articles drawing primarily on neuroscience use language to characterize the brain and the mind? Is the same terminology and language used interchangeably, suggesting that the mind and the brain are inherently the same, or does this influential field draw distinctions between the two? We argue that neuroscientific research uses language in a way that does not acknowledge the potential philosophical objections to a mind–brain identity thesis. By doing this, neuroscientific research does not acknowledge the historically problematic discourse about consciousness.     

Identification of histological threshold concepts in health sciences curricula: Students' perception

Students' metacognitive skills and perceptions are considered important variables for high-quality learning. In this study, students' perceptions were used to identify histological threshold concepts (integrative, irreversible, transformative, and troublesome) in three health sciences curricula. A specific questionnaire was developed and validated to characterize students' perceptions of histological threshold concepts. A sample of 410 undergraduate students enrolled in the dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy degree programs participated in the study. Concepts assessed in the study were clustered to ten categories (factors) by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Concepts linked to tissue organization and tissue functional states received the highest scores from students in all degree programs, suggesting that the process of learning histology requires the integration of both static concepts related to the constituent elements of tissues and dynamic concepts such as stem cells as a tissue renewal substrate, or the euplasic, proplasic and retroplasic states of tissues. The complexity of integrating static and dynamic concepts may pose a challenging barrier to the comprehension of histology. In addition, several differences were detected among the students in different degree programs. Dentistry students more often perceived morphostructural concepts as threshold concepts, whereas medical students highlighted concepts related to two-dimensional microscopic identification. Lastly, pharmacy students identified concepts related to tissue general activity as critical for the comprehension and learning of histology. The identification of threshold concepts through students' perceptions is potentially useful to improve the teaching and learning process in health sciences curricula.     

Undergraduate Research and Service-Learning Programs in a Kinesiology Program at a Teaching University

High-impact practices foster student success, but faculty faced with heavy teaching loads and lack of resources and infrastructure are challenged to implement such practices. Kinesiology faculty at California State University, East Bay collaborated to implement two student programs: Kinesiology Research Group and Get Fit! Stay Fit! The Kinesiology Research Group, a faculty–student research group, and Get Fit! Stay Fit!, a service learning experience, partnered to consolidate human and structural resources. Student–faculty mentoring circles were used to support this innovative partnership. Here, we report student perceptions of the value of these programs to their academic and professional development.     

Another look at the relative impact of workplace design on training transfer for supervisory communication skills

This ethnographic study extends the findings of earlier research that authenticated the impact of workplace design features on newly acquired communication skills back on the job. The qualitative nature of the earlier study, however, limited quantitative measurement of workplace design features that may have an impact on learned skills. This study examined supervisor perceptions about the relative importance of organizational factors that affect transfer and prioritized the importance of specific design features to support learned communication skills. Research findings validate earlier research that workplace design is another work environment influence that may facilitate or impede the ultimate success of a training intervention for performance improvement.     

How television production specialists learn distance education skills and knowledge

The purpose of this study was to examine how television‐production specialists, who had no previous experience or educational background in the field of distance education, learned the distance education‐related skills and obtained the knowledge necessary to perform their jobs. The purposive sample for this study comprised 12 full‐time television production specialists who were employed for at least one year at universities across the United States to produce live, interactive, video‐based educational programs, but who, prior to employment at their respective universities, had no experience or educational background in the field of distance education. Qualitative methods, including semi‐structured interviews, observation, and concept maps, were used to collect data. This study found that television production specialists used both incidental and informal learning strategies to learn the necessary skills and knowledge they needed to perform their jobs. Participants learned predominantly by three means: assessing previously held assumptions and beliefs; learning by doing through a trial‐and‐error‐type format; and watching other's videoconference programs. Participants also experienced a ‘mindset change’, brought about by such factors as identifying audience and subject‐matter specialists’ needs, in how they viewed their own performance.     

Ethics in Neuroscience Graduate Training Programs: Views and Models from Canada

Consideration of the ethical, social, and policy implications of research has become increasingly important to scientists and scholars whose work focuses on brain and mind, but limited empirical data exist on the education in ethics available to them. We examined the current landscape of ethics training in neuroscience programs, beginning with the Canadian context specifically, to elucidate the perceived needs of mentors and trainees and offer recommendations for resource development to meet those needs. We surveyed neuroscientists at all training levels and interviewed directors of neuroscience programs and training grants. A total of 88% of survey respondents reported general interest in ethics, and 96% indicated a desire for more ethics content as it applies to brain research and clinical translation. Expert interviews revealed formal ethics education in over half of programs and in 90% of grants-based programs. Lack of time, resources, and expertise, however, are major barriers to expanding ethics content in neuroscience education. We conclude with an initial set of recommendations to address these barriers which includes the development of flexible, tailored ethics education tools, increased financial support for ethics training, and strategies for fostering collaboration between ethics experts, neuroscience program directors, and funding agencies.     

DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A TRAIN‐THE‐TRAINER CURRICULUM ON SUCCESSFUL AND PRODUCTIVE AGING

Despite the fact that Japan has developed many exemplary social policies for their expanding older population and programs to foster elderly workforce participation, shortage of personnel with a comprehensive understanding of gerontology has limited these efforts. In response to the need for greater gerontological education among the Japanese who will work in the allied health professions, we developed an intensive training program on “Successful and Productive Aging,” with two associate degree colleges in Japan. Emphasizing lessons learned from the United States experience, the three‐week program covered issues in health promotion/ disease prevention, health maintenance/independence, mechanisms of formal/ informal caregiving, and preparations for retirement. Instructional methods included didactic presentations by a multidisciplinary faculty, case‐based problem‐solving exercises, and field visits to various agencies and geriatric facilities in the greater Boston area. The educational program was field‐tested with 5 faculty from Japan who were asked to evaluate the program based on whether the learning objectives were met, perceptions of relevance of subject matters to students in Japan, and perceptions of teaching methods’ effectiveness. We present the results of this successful cross‐national collaboration, with emphasis on how information gathered is being integrated into teaching plans upon returning to Japan.     

Communication skills programs that last: Face to Face and relapse prevention

Communication skills are basic to effective management. However, communication training programs must not only show evidence that the skills have been learned, but also demonstrate that this learning can be converted into effective on the job behavior. A communication skills program, Face to Face, based on the microtraining model, is described. This model has substantial empirical evidence of successful skill acquisition. A novel approach to skill transfer and retention, the relapse prevention model is proposed as a methodology for maintaining communication skills in the work setting.     

Philosophy,neuroscience and pre-service teachers’ beliefs in neuromyths: A call for remedial action

Hitherto, the contribution of philosophers to Neuroscience and Education has tended to be less than enthusiastic, though there are some notable exceptions. Meanwhile, the pervasive influence of neuromyths on education policy, curriculum design and pedagogy in schools is well documented. Indeed, philosophers have sometimes used the prevalence of neuromyths in education to bolster their opposition to neuroscience in teacher education courses. By contrast, this article views the presence of neuromyths in education as a call for remedial action, including philosophical action. The empirical basis of this article is a survey, conducted over a period of three years, involving a total of 1144 first-year pre-service student teachers, which revealed alarming levels of belief in five common neuromyths related to children and learning. This study also attempted to probe the origins of these mistaken beliefs and why they gain traction. The findings suggest an urgent need in teacher education to address the problem of neuromyths, not simply because they are mistaken, they often misdirect valuable resources and mislabel children. The article calls for a compulsory unit on neuroscience and education in all courses of teacher education. Moreover, teaching neuroscience in education cannot be left to specialist neuroscientists, philosophers must be involved.     

Better communication = better relationships: Tips for caregivers

We all live in a social environment with others. Indeed, ... we desire and seek out relationships with others, and we have personal needs that can be satisfied only through interacting with other humans (Johnson, 1986). It is not possible to think of living without relating to other people, nor is it possible to develop satisfying relationships without some sort of communication. Communication skills are the tools, the means, the mechanism through which we develop our relationships. Just as a carpenter would not expect to produce a fine piece of furniture with a blunt saw, neither should we assume that we can develop productive relationships with other people, such as children and their parents, colleagues or professional associates, using inadequate or ineffective communication skills. Johnson (1986) suggested that interpersonal skills are learned just as any other skills are learned. However, simply having learned communication skills is not enough! We need to continually practice these skills and occasionally be reminded of their value for interacting with and developing relationships with others. This, therefore, is a small reminder that all of us, caregivers and parents alike, can do with sharpening up our style of communicating with others and learn to create better and more satisfying human relationships!Jillian Rodd is a psychologist who lectures at the School of Early Childhood Studies, University of Melbourne, Australia. She acts as a consultant in parent education and in-services child care staff and for preschool teachers.     

Graduate Experience in Science Education: the development of a science education course for biomedical science graduate students

The University of Rochester's Graduate Experience in Science Education (GESE) course familiarizes biomedical science graduate students interested in pursuing academic career tracks with a fundamental understanding of some of the theory, principles, and concepts of science education. This one-semester elective course provides graduate students with practical teaching and communication skills to help them better relate science content to, and increase their confidence in, their own teaching abilities. The 2-h weekly sessions include an introduction to cognitive hierarchies, learning styles, and multiple intelligences; modeling and coaching some practical aspects of science education pedagogy; lesson-planning skills; an introduction to instructional methods such as case studies and problem-based learning; and use of computer-based instructional technologies. It is hoped that the early development of knowledge and skills about teaching and learning will encourage graduate students to continue their growth as educators throughout their careers. This article summarizes the GESE course and presents evidence on the effectiveness of this course in providing graduate students with information about teaching and learning that they will use throughout their careers.     

Science does not speak for itself: translating child development research for the public and its policymakers

Science has an important role to play in advising policymakers on crafting effective responses to social problems that affect the development of children. This article describes lessons learned from a multiyear, working collaboration among neuroscientists, developmental psychologists, pediatricians, economists, and communications researchers who are engaged in the iterative construction of a core story of development, using simplifying models (i.e., metaphors) such as "brain architecture,"toxic stress," and "serve and return" to explain complex scientific concepts to nonscientists. The aim of this article is to stimulate more systematic, empirical approaches to the task of knowledge transfer and to underscore the need to view the translation of science into policy and practice as an important academic endeavor in its own right.     

Brain‐Based Learning and Educational Neuroscience: Boundary Work

Much attention has been given to “bridging the gap” between neuroscience and educational practice. In order to gain better understanding of the nature of this gap and of possibilities to enable the linking process, we have taken a boundary perspective on these two fields and the brain‐based learning approach, focusing on boundary‐spanning actors, boundary objects, and boundary work. In 26 semistructured interviews, neuroscientists and education professionals were asked about their perceptions in regard to the gap between science and practice and the role they play in creating, managing, and disrupting this boundary. Neuroscientists and education professionals often hold conflicting views and expectations of both brain‐based learning and of each other. This leads us to argue that there are increased prospects for a neuroscientifically informed learning practice if science and practice work together as equal stakeholders in developing and implementing neuroscience research.     

The relationship between teacher sign skills and student evaluations of teacher capability

This study examines the extent to which deaf students' perceptions of their teachers' effectiveness and ease of communication in the classroom are related to the teachers' sign skills. Thirty-three faculty, teaching a variety of courses at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), were rated on "teaching effectiveness" and "communication ease" by their students over a 2-year period. Faculty sign proficiency was evaluated independently using the Sign Communication Proficiency Interview (SCPI). Results indicate a moderate relation between students' perceptions of communication ease and teaching effectiveness, and a weak relation of these two variables to the teachers' assessed level of sign skill. The data also show that the students could clearly differentiate three levels of teacher sign skill in the classroom. Results are discussed in relation to the component parts of effective communication from the perspective of students in the classroom.