Explaining the modality effect in multimedia learning: Is it due to a lack of temporal contiguity with written text and pictures?

The study examined whether the modality effect is caused by either high visuo-spatial load or a lack of temporal contiguity when processing written text and pictures. Students (N = 147) viewed pictures on the development of tornados, which were accompanied by either spoken or written explanations presented simultaneously with, before, or after the pictures. For verbal recall no modality effect was observed, whereas for transfer the influence of modality varied as a function of phonological working memory capacity. For pictorial recall the results showed a modality effect that was limited to simultaneous presentation, apparently in line with the temporal contiguity explanation. However, spoken simultaneous presentations were not superior to spoken sequential presentations, which contradicts the temporal contiguity explanation for the modality effect. Rather, it seems as if learners with simultaneous presentation of written text and picture concentrated more on the text and ignored the pictures, resulting in worse pictorial recall.     

Outcomes for Women and Infants Following Assisted Conception: Implications for Perinatal Education,Care, and Support

Assisted conception is becoming an increasingly more common treatment option for women and couples who experience fertility problems. Links have been made in the literature between assisted conception and a greater incidence of pregnancy or birth complications, low birth weight or premature babies, and babies with congenital abnormalities. In addition, evidence suggests that the experience of assisted conception may influence the development of early mothering relationships and impact parenting adjustment. Although this commentary article does not strategically review all available literature, it provides an overview of the health issues that women and families undergoing assisted conception have experienced or may experience. Through raising awareness and promoting discussion of these issues, practitioners will be better equipped to provide informed education and support.     

Organizing, Teaching, and Assessing for Student Success in Introductory College Physics

As part of a doctoral dissertation, Ben （2010） completed a study that extends to 462 pages. After a careful examination of this study and others that are in print, there seems to be a direct relationship between the decline in physics enrollment at the postsecondary level and the increase in the number of studies that have been carried out to determine why have we been off the mark in identifying the real problems that are contributing to the declining enrollment and the decreased student success in physics courses？ One problem is introductory physics books are generally written using a deductive approach, and because the teachers follow the organization of these books, they teach in a deductive, boring, and confusing way, and then, blame the students for being unprepared when they do not succeed. This approach distances the teachers--and physics--from the experience, knowledge, and initial interest of many beginning students. Another problem has been the absence of any alternative curriculum to the deductive one. In this paper, we describe a fully-developed alternative curriculum, really a detailed course design for Introductory College Physics I and II, each with its own text presented in the format of a three-ring binder, one for students and one for teachers which closely parallel one another. The course content is constructed to be both teacher and student friendly, so that a teacher can teach physics in an inductive, exciting, and clear manner. In addition, we describe and provide examples of the pedagogical and classroom management techniques that have proven extremely successful.     

Classroom Learning Environment, Brain Research and The No Child Left Behind Initiative: 6?years Later

Six years have gone by since the passing of No Child Left Behind (2002) and due to the ‘high-stake’ riders attached to this legislation, educators at all levels have found themselves in a state of both emotional and cognitive dissonance. Recent research in the field of neuroscience combined with principles gained from constructivism support the importance of developing and implementing both a child-centered curriculum and a positive learning environment that is appropriate for young children. This paper addresses some of the difficulties that arise from the No Child Left Behind act and teaching from a constructivist model. Additionally, positive suggestions are provided for the early childhood educator in order to support current teaching philosophies despite the pressures of high-stakes testing.     

Teacher and school characteristics and their influence on curriculum implementation

Reform‐based curriculum materials have been suggested as a mechanism to make inquiry‐based instruction more prevalent in secondary science classrooms, specifically when accompanied by comprehensive professional development (Loucks‐Horsley, Hewson, Love, & Stiles, 1998 ; Powell & Anderson, 2002 ). This research examines the implementation of a reform‐based high school chemistry curriculum in a large, urban school district. We explicitly consider the role of the teachers' knowledge and beliefs in their implementation of the reform‐based chemistry curriculum, as well as school level factors. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected in the form of beliefs interviews and classroom observations from 27 high school chemistry teachers. Analysis of the data revealed that implementation of the curriculum was strongly influenced by the teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning, and the presence of a supportive network at their school sites. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 883–907, 2007     

The health and wellbeing of international students at an Australian university

A representative sample of undergraduate and postgraduate international students at a large Australian university (n=979, 64% females) completed a mail-back survey of their health and wellbeing. Most students evaluated their current and previous physical and mental health positively. Health-related risk practices such as unprotected sexual activity, drug use, smoking and gambling, were reported by few students. There was little change in health or risk behaviours since coming to Australia and few changes that were health compromising. Few demographic or situational variables, including age and gender, had a significant impact on students' wellbeing. This study has revealed that few international students find the experience of studying in an overseas country detrimental to their wellbeing. Nevertheless, for those students who encounter difficulties or are at increased risk of health-compromising outcomes, we must ensure better delivery of health promotion education, and access to, and use of, available counselling and health services.

Developmental links of very early phonological and language skills to second grade reading outcomes: strong to accuracy but only minor to fluency

The authors examined second grade reading accuracy and fluency and their associations via letter knowledge to phonological and language predictors assessed at 3.5, 4.5, and 5.5 years in children in the Jyv?skyl? Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia. Structural equation modeling showed that a developmentally highly stable factor (early phonological and language processing [EPLP]) behind key dyslexia predictors (i.e., phonological awareness, short-term memory, rapid naming, vocabulary, and pseudoword repetition) could already be identified at 3.5 years. EPLP was significantly associated with reading and spelling accuracy and by age with letter knowledge. However, EPLP had only a minor link with reading fluency, which was additionally explained by early letter knowledge. The results show that reading accuracy is well predicted by early phonological and language skills. Variation in fluent reading skills is not well explained by early skills, suggesting factors other than phonological core skills. Future research is suggested to explore the factors behind the development of fast and accurate decoding skills.     

The roles of perceived teacher support, motivational climate, and psychological need satisfaction in students' physical education motivation

Research illustrates the positive roles of perceived competence, autonomy, and mastery climate and the negative role of performance climate in student motivation in physical education. Less research has examined perceptions of relationships within this setting (i.e., perceived teacher support and relatedness) and their role in student motivation. The purpose of this study was to test the mediating roles of perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness in the relationship between social contextual factors and motivation in physical education students (N = 508). Results from structural equation modeling showed that perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness partially mediated the relationship between perceived teacher support and self-determined motivation and that mastery climate related directly to self-determined motivation. The results highlight the importance of perceived teacher support, mastery climate, and relatedness to motivation in physical education.     

Metastasis and retroactive causality in incentive rhetoric

Our contemporary moment is characterized by the pervasiveness of economics in social life, and the extension of “incentives” into new areas represents this movement’s keystone. Originally a fairly narrow term from neoclassical economic theory, politicians, journalists, and cultural ?gures deploy “incentives” to explain all manner of activity: judicial rulings, gendered wage gaps, and even whether soccer players score penalty kicks. To address this, I elucidate the trope of metastasis – the rhetorical mechanism by which social life is “economized.” Metastasis entails a ?gurative displacement, wherein cause shifts from one place to another. More than simply a spread of narrow economic ideas into culture, incentive rhetoric metastasizes. It displaces alternative explanations onto neoclassical market axioms. Since its proponents insist that incentives are causal mechanisms, I introduce Jacques Lacan’s interpretation of Aristotle’s discourse on causality. Lacan rereads Aristotle’s “?nal cause” from a rhetorical perspective, and forwards the retroactive causality of the symbolic order. Incentive rhetoric exempli?es this concept, in which all outcomes are explained as having been caused by a prior, unseen market force. Incentive rhetorics promise a universal code that unlocks the mysteries of human behavior that reduces all context to discrete individual choices, thereby providing a discursive alibi for economic inequality.