The Genetic Drift Inventory: A Tool for Measuring What Advanced Undergraduates Have Mastered about Genetic Drift

Understanding genetic drift is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of biology, yet it is difficult to learn because it combines the conceptual challenges of both evolution and randomness. To help assess strategies for teaching genetic drift, we have developed and evaluated the Genetic Drift Inventory (GeDI), a concept inventory that measures upper-division students’ understanding of this concept. We used an iterative approach that included extensive interviews and field tests involving 1723 students across five different undergraduate campuses. The GeDI consists of 22 agree–disagree statements that assess four key concepts and six misconceptions. Student scores ranged from 4/22 to 22/22. Statements ranged in mean difficulty from 0.29 to 0.80 and in discrimination from 0.09 to 0.46. The internal consistency, as measured with Cronbach''s alpha, ranged from 0.58 to 0.88 across five iterations. Test–retest analysis resulted in a coefficient of stability of 0.82. The true–false format means that the GeDI can test how well students grasp key concepts central to understanding genetic drift, while simultaneously testing for the presence of misconceptions that indicate an incomplete understanding of genetic drift. The insights gained from this testing will, over time, allow us to improve instruction about this key component of evolution.     

Algunas observaciones sobre la capacidad de revisión de los adolescentes

Resumen

Este artículo, a partir de los resultados de las investigaciones sobre el subproceso de revisión y de los modelos más recientes que explican las operaciones implicadas en él, analiza los protocolos de las interacciones orales de un grupo de tres alumnos adolescentes (13–14 años) trabajando en grupo y formula algunas observaciones referidas al tipo de revisiones que efectúan. En esta situación de producción en grupo se pone de manifiesto: a)que los alumnos realizan numerosas operaciones de revisión que en su mayoría no se reflejan en cambios en el texto; b)que dichas revisiones afectan a todos los niveles de producción desde los superficiales a los globales referidos al contenido y a la función del texto y a la situación discursiva; c)que las revisiones pretextuales son fundamentalmente de dos tipos: las que afectan a los planes elaborados oralmente y la que afecta a los que llamaremos texto intentado, o producciones orales formuladas para ser escritas.     

Establishing a method for analysing metaphors in higher education teaching: a case from business management teaching

ABSTRACT

It has been suggested that metaphors have a crucial influence on the way we perceive and construct the world. As a result, metaphor analysis has been used as a way to reveal, analyse and understand conceptions of teaching in higher education. This paper introduces a different way to analyse metaphors for teaching than the ones previously used in higher education. By focusing on temporarily stable, spontaneously uttered metaphors in conversation data, the unfiltered metaphors for teaching are analysed. Through a thorough analysis of eight interviews with lecturers from business management, it is established how teaching in this context is conceptualised as a vehicle on tracks and as having levels as well as depth and width. It is discussed how the identified metaphors open up a space of possibilities for the lecturers and to what extent these results can be generalised beyond this context.     

Differential Associations Between Domains of Sibling Conflict and Adolescent Emotional Adjustment

Issues of equality and fairness and invasion of the personal domain, 2 previously identified topic areas of adolescent sibling conflict (N. Campione‐Barr & J. G. Smetana, 2010), were examined in 145 dyads (M_first‐born = 14.97, SD = 1.69 years; M_{second‐born} = 12.20, SD = 1.90 years) for their differential effects on youths' emotional adjustment over 1 year. The impact of internalizing symptoms on later sibling conflicts also was tested. Invasion of the personal domain conflicts were associated with higher levels of anxiety and lower self‐esteem 1 year later, whereas Equality and Fairness issues were associated with greater depressed mood. Conversely, greater internalizing symptomatology and lower self‐esteem predicted more of both types of conflict. Moderating influences of gender and ordinal position were also examined.     

ADHD expressive writing difficulties of ADHD children: when good declarative knowledge is not sufficient

A large body of evidence shows that many of the academic difficulties Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) children have may be related to their problems in executive control. However, the particular case of expressive writing has not been deeply explored. The present study examines the typical school exercise of writing a letter. Participants were 33 third, fourth, and fifth graders referred by teachers for the presence of ADHD symptoms plus 33 controls. The task consisted of describing an aspect of their life in the form of a letter. Texts of ADHD children were poorer than those of the controls for structure, vocabulary, grammar, length, and accuracy. Furthermore, the difference persisted even when a guide was used to support the writing task. However, the two groups were not significantly different in a metacognitive test measuring knowledge on critical factors affecting expressive writing. Results show that ADHD children may encounter severe difficulties in expressive writing that are not due to differences in knowledge about how to write. Educational implications are discussed.     

Differential Effects of Salient Visual Events on Memory-Guided Attention in Adults and Children

Both salient visual events and scene-based memories can influence attention, but it is unclear how they interact in children and adults. In Experiment 1, children (N = 27; ages 7–12) were faster to discriminate targets when they appeared at the same versus different location as they had previously learned or as a salient visual event. In contrast, adults (N = 30; ages 18–31) responded faster only when cued by visual events. While Experiment 2 confirmed that adults (N = 27) can use memories to orient attention, Experiment 3 showed that, even in the absence of visual events, the effects of memories on attention were larger in children (N = 27) versus adults (N = 28). These findings suggest that memories may be a robust source of influence on children's attention.     

Exploring the relationship between doctoral students’ experiences and research community positioning

Despite the growing number of studies exploring PhD students’ experiences and their social relationships with other researchers, there is a lack of research on the interaction between the type of experiences and the social agents involved, especially in relation to not only problems and challenges, but also to positive emotions and experiences. In this study, we addressed this gap exploring the relationship between four ecology doctoral students’ most significant experiences and their perceived position in the research community. Additionally, we aimed at exploring the utility of a methodological device with two instruments, Journey Plot and Community Plot. Results showed, in one hand, that both positive and negative experiences were significant in students’ trajectories, but the proportion varied greatly across participants. Supervisors were related to negative experiences, whereas the broader community was mostly source of positive experiences. Research writing and communication experiences were significant in relation to all the social agents, while other contents of experience were restricted to the smallest social layers (e.g. research motives were confined to the individual layer, and research organization to the individual and supervisor layers). Relationships between the type of experiences and participants’ position in the community were found and implications for doctoral education discussed.