What Does a Modern Anatomist Look like? Current Trends in the Training of Anatomy Educators

Anatomical sciences are foundational to the health professions, yet little is known about the qualifications of anatomy educators at the graduate and professional level in the United States. Moreover, there is concern that the number of qualified anatomy educators being trained may be insufficient to meet the growing demand posed by new and expanded programs in medicine and allied health specialties. The authors surveyed anatomists from across the country to (i) characterize the educational credentials of current anatomy educators and (ii) assess the perceived need for education-focused postdoctoral positions or formal mentorships to prepare anatomists for teaching-intensive faculty positions. To probe the survey responses more deeply, one-on-one interviews were conducted with eight individuals selected to represent a diverse sample of respondents in terms of institution, gender, and academic rank. Results indicate that 30–40% of educators at the graduate level and approximately 60% of those at the undergraduate level lack graduate coursework in histology, embryology, and neuroanatomy. Forty-five percent of respondents had completed a postdoctoral fellowship. Eighty-six percent replied “yes/maybe” to the question of whether an anatomy education postdoctoral fellowship would benefit doctoral graduates. The top 3 reasons for this recommendation were to (i) establish independent educational research, (ii) improve a publication record, and (iii) gain additional teaching experience. Notable weaknesses of education-focused postdoctoral training were related to finances, fear of exploitation, and undervaluing of teaching. Moving forward, postdoctoral fellowships and other forms of postgraduate training may represent a key strategy for training anatomists in the current educational climate. Anat Sci Educ 00: 000–000. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.     

Being Black, Male, and Gifted in Miami: Prevalence and Predictors of Placement in Elementary School Gifted Education Programs

Although it is well established that Black male students are underrepresented in gifted educational programs in the United States, due to a scarcity of longitudinal prospective research, little is known about the protective factors at the child, family, and school level that increase the probability of Black male students being identified as gifted during early elementary school. Using data from the Miami School Readiness Project, we followed 6,926 low-income Black males from preschool through 5th grade to describe trajectories for the 453 Black males (6.5 %) who were identified as gifted, and examined child, family, and preschool variables associated with gifted classification. Boys were most commonly identified as gifted in first and second grade, and 15 % of the identified boys did not appear to be receiving gifted courses. Hierarchical multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that being classified as gifted in early elementary school was more likely for Black males who (a) attended public school pre-K programs at age four, (b) had higher cognitive, language, fine motor, behavioral, and emergent literacy school readiness skills before entering kindergarten, (c) spoke a language other than English at home, (d) were older upon entering kindergarten, (e) received higher grades in school, and (f) scored higher on standardized tests of math and reading. Predictors of gifted identification in the kindergarten year were different and weaker compared to identification in later years. Implications for early identification and intervention for talented Black males are discussed.     

All Validities are Not Created Equal: Determinants of Variation in SAT Validity Across Schools

Previous research has demonstrated that cognitive test validities are generalizable and predictive of academic performance across situations. However, even after accounting for statistical artifacts (e.g., sampling error, range restriction, criterion reliability), substantial variability often remains around estimates of cognitive test–performance relationships suggesting the presence of additional moderators. In the present study, we examine the sources of institutional variation in Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) validity across a sample of 110 institutions. Institutional characteristics moderated the size of SAT validities, such that more selective schools and schools that emphasize traditional assessment techniques (i.e., school records, standardized tests) showed higher SAT validities while schools that were larger and where students demonstrated more financial need, schools that emphasized the usage of alternative assessment techniques (i.e., essays, letters of recommendations, extracurricular activities), and schools that enrolled higher percentages of historically disadvantaged minority students generally exhibited lower SAT validities. Future directions in the understanding of situational influences on SAT–grade point average validities are discussed.     

3D printing as an educational technology: theoretical perspectives,learning outcomes,and recommendations for practice

Education and Information Technologies - 3D printing is an emerging educational technology that is said to prepare learners for a more technologically designed world. In this review, 3D printing...     

Correction to: Plotting Academic Innovation: A Content Analysis of Twenty Institutional Websites

Innovative Higher Education -     

The Potential Impact of COVID-19 on Student Learning and How Schools Can Respond

There is no denying the impact that the coronravirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has had on many aspects of our lives. This article looks at the potential impact of COVID-19 on student learning as schools abruptly morphed into virtual learning environments using data from several instructional, practice, and assessment solutions offered by Renaissance. First, three hypothetical learning scenarios are considered using normative data from Star assessments to explore the potential impact on reading and math test performace. Next, data on Focus Skills are used to highlight which grades may have missed the most foundational math and reading content if instruction was stopped or reduced. Last, data from two of Renaissance's practice tools are used to evaluate whether students were practicing key skills following school closures. The article concludes that academic decline will likely occur but may be tempered by the increased use of practice tools; effects may look different for math and reading; and may impact grades and schools differently. As such, schools may need to leverage decision-making frameworks, such as the Multi-tiered Systems of Support/Response-to-Intervention (MTSS/RTI) framework, more than ever to identify needs and target instruction where it matters most when school begins in fall 2020.     

A Critical Look into the Beuk Standard-Setting Method

One commonly used compromise standard-setting method is the Beuk (1984) method. A key assumption of the Beuk method is that the emphasis given to the pass rate and the percent correct ratings should be proportional to the extent that the panelists agree on their ratings. However, whether the slope of Beuk line reflects the emphasis that panelists believe should be assigned to the pass rate and the percentage correct ratings has not be fully tested. In this article, I evaluate this critical assumption of the Beuk method by asking panelists to assign importance weights to their percentage correct and pass rate judgments. I show that in several cases that the emphasis suggested by the Beuk slope is noticeably different from what one would expect and is inconsistent with importance weight ratings. I also suggest two ways that the importance weights can be used to calculate alternate cut scores, and I show that one of the ways of calculating cut scores using the importance weights leads to larger potential differences in cut score estimates. I suggest that practitioners should consider collecting importance weights when the Beuk method is used for determining cut scores.     

What types of functions may be the lower Bohl function of a diagonal discrete linear time-varying systems?

In this paper, we give the necessary and sufficient conditions for a function f to be a lower Bohl function of a diagonal discrete linear time-varying systems.     

留学的可知风险(1780～1880):国家主义、国际主义与美国大学的起源

在美国从殖民地走向独立的过程中,政治领袖们常常将教育视为国家进步的工具之一.学校和学院成为培养国家认同感和民族统一的理想场所,教育的"功用"与对国家繁荣、安全、和谐的追求紧密结合.美国革命初期,民族领袖们就教育与国家发展提出了一系列提议.其中,他们着重考虑了国立大学的提议--即建立一所确保美国立于世界开化国家之列的研究生教育机构.每一个关于国立大学的提案中都包含追求国家独立与清楚认识美国与欧洲的持续联系的深层矛盾.一些人认为欧洲能提供最好的高等教育机会,另一些人则警示国人有可能遭受来自海外的政治和学术"污染".因此.美国独立战争后主要的矛盾就在于留学海外的可知风险.本文认为,1780～1800年间,阻止未来的领导者留学海外的希望是推动美国高等教育发展的主要动力.