How infants use vision for grasping objects

The role of vision was examined as infants prepared to grasp horizontally and vertically oriented rods. Hand orientation was measured prior to contact to determine if infants differentially oriented their hands relative to the object's orientation. Infants reached for rods under different lighting conditions. Three experiments are reported in which (1) sight of the hand was removed (N = 12), (2) sight of the object was removed near the end of the reach (N = 40, including 10 adults), and (3) sight of the object was removed prior to reach onset (N = 9). Infants differentially oriented their hand to a similar extent regardless of lighting condition and similar to control conditions in which they could see the rod and hand throughout the reach. In preparation for reaching, infants may use the current sight of the object's orientation, or the memory of it, to orient the hand for grasping; sight of the hand had no effect on hand orientation.     

Teaching and learning in microsystems engineering

Whereas research in MicroSystems Technology (MST) has grown rapidly over the last twenty years, the education of engineers at postgraduate level is still in its infancy. The number of dedicated MST research institutions, companies and university laboratories worldwide has grown at a dramatic rate and all require trained individuals who can be immediately operational in the workplace. With the possible exceptions of Germany and Switzerland, the authors of this article believe that the training requirements for such scientists, engineers and technicians have not been satisfactorily addressed as yet. Realising the need for adequate training in MST, the British funding agency for research in science and engineering, the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) awarded a substantial grant to Heriot-Watt University in order to set up a Masters Training Package (MTP). The context of this grant, the syllabus developed for this Master of Science as well as its implementation are presented in this article. Advantages and drawbacks of block-based delivery of the course are presented from a pedagogical point of view for the different categories of students (full-time students, part-time students and company delegates).     

Stimulant medication and reading performance: follow-up on sustained dose in ADHD boys with and without conduct disorders.

The study examined the sustained effects of methylphenidate on reading performance in a sample of 42 boys, aged 8 to 11, with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Two subgroups were formed based on the presence or absence of co-occurring conduct disorders. Subjects were selected on the basis of their positive response to methylphenidate as determined in a series of original medication trials (Forness, Cantwell, Swanson, Hanna, & Youpa, 1991). For the purpose of this study, subjects were placed on their optimal dose of medication for a 6-week period and then tested on measures of oral reading and reading comprehension equivalent to those used in the original trials, retested after a week without medication (placebo), then tested again the following week after return to medication. Only the subgroup with conduct disorders responded, and this response was limited to reading comprehension improvement in only those subjects who also demonstrated improvement in oral reading on original trials. No response differences were found between subjects with or without learning disabilities.     

Reporting child abuse: pediatricians' experiences with the child protection system

OBJECTIVE: To explore pediatricians' reluctance to adhere to a legal mandate to report suspected child abuse and to compare their perspectives with those described in other jurisdictions in studies informed by different theories and employing diverse methodologies. METHOD: An anonymous survey questionnaire was distributed to all pediatricians with admitting privileges to B.C. Children's Hospital which has a specialized Child Protection Services Unit. Physicians were asked about their own prior reporting experience and the influence of that experience upon future reporting decisions. They were also asked why they think other physicians might be reluctant to report (N = 26). RESULTS: While respondents were generally positive about their experience in filing a report to Child Protective Services, they were less positive about the dearth of feedback they received and they were undecided as to whether there was a positive outcome to their report. Their perceptions of the reasons colleagues might fail to report emphasized dissatisfaction with CPS, concern with loss of relationship with the child's parents, and a desire to avoid court proceedings. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians' noncompliance or at least dissatisfaction with their child abuse reporting mandate is an international problem that can not be addressed by institutional protocols alone. Confusions about the limitations on confidentiality and information sharing might be better addressed through more shared training and opportunities for collaboration than by legal mandates and institutional protocols alone. Organizational theory and exchange theory might inform future research about the conditions under which collaboration is enhanced in the service of protecting children.     

Considerations for designing practice for deaf readers

Low reading comprehension persists among deaf readers, and recent research indicates that low automaticity in recognizing words and parsing sentence patterns is a significant source of the difficulty. When a learner does manage to gain an insight about some aspect of printed English, there may be limited impact on comprehension until the new knowledge can be applied fluently because the multiple cognitive demands of reading call for completing basic linguistic operations with a minimum of conscious effort. The research literature agrees that the route to improved automaticity is effective practice, and, thus, practice is also a likely route to increased comprehension. This article presents considerations to guide the design of practice for deaf readers. Certain of these notions are relatively applied in nature and may shape practice activities directly, for example, the discussion of research-based guidelines for tailoring the sequence and composition of practice items. Other parts of the discussion, such as those related to word recognition, are more theoretical than directive, and they imply research hypotheses that can and should be tested empirically. A principal point of this article is that without appreciable improvements in practice, the reading of many deaf students will remain largely unimproved.     

Recovery from the overexpectation effect: Contrasting performance-focused and acquisition-focused models of retrospective revaluation

In four Pavlovian conditioned lick-suppression experiments, rats had two conditioned stimuli (CSs X and A) independently paired with footshock, followed by pairings of a compound of A and X with the footshock. On subsequent tests with CS X, less conditioned suppression was observed than in control subjects that lacked the compound AX→footshock trials. Thisoverexpectation effect was reversed through posttraining extinction of CS A, a result consistent with both performance- and acquisition-focused models of retrospective revaluation. However, only performance-focused models could account for how posttraining increases or decreases in the A-footshock temporal interval attenuate the overexpectation effect.     

Validation of a self-perceived media competence instrument for pre-service teachers / Validación de un instrumento de autopercepción de competencia mediática para docentes en formación

Abstract

Key to guaranteeing the fundamental human rights of freedom of expression and information is the development of media competence, particularly in schools. Training teachers in the area of media competence is particularly important for developing these skills in the broader citizenry. In order to provide educators and educational policymakers with a useful diagnostic tool, we have designed a self-perception questionnaire. The questionnaire was applied to a sample of Peruvian education students (N = 501). On the one hand, the results confirm the construct’s coherence, validity and instrumental reliability. On the other hand, they allow us to propose a theoretically based update to the way in which this construct is interpreted and applied, confirming the multidimensionality of media competence. Finally, we use this empirical evidence to discuss the integral, transversal and ecological status of media competence.     

Implementing dynamicity in research designs for collaborative digital writing

This paper implements a dynamic (i.e. temporal and local) research design for collaborative digital writing (CDW) in writing assignments in higher education. This research design builds on my paper “Temporality revisited: Dynamicity issues in collaborative digital writing research”, published in this journal (Engerer 2020). The design identifies current state-of-the-art approaches to digital writing and introduces 1) the components of text (the process and products of writing and learning communication), 2) external variables such as learning orientations and group composition, 3) an intermediate layer of time management that is related to organizing the assignment, and 4) the sphere of knowledge construction. The main modification, however, is the addition of four features specifically connected to time-related aspects: 5) micro-analysis, 6) dynamicity, 7) writer relevance and 8) source status. This dynamized research design is applied in a study of writing assignments carried out by the author with students of information science in the spring term of 2016. It is demonstrated how the temporal organization of a CDW process can be visualized and how central concepts such as Task structure, Reference structure and Final target structure are construed, operationalized and dynamically related to each other. Furthermore, a real-time analysis of sequential concept building is provided. The discussion shows that the study integrates all the above elements 1)-8) of a dynamic research design for CDW, although to different degrees. The study presented here can provide a general background for designing research in CDW and can inspire CDW researchers to capture in their research designs the dynamic, time-related features in CDW.

     

Impact of degree program satisfaction on the persistence of college students

Many theories on college retention recognize the significance of student satisfaction as a positive factor in students’ persistence. Yet, there are few theories that address the relationship of degree program satisfaction to study behaviour and dropout. This paper explores the impact of degree program satisfaction on academic accomplishment and dropout. The impact of degree program satisfaction was studied within a multitheoretical framework. The results of the study show that student accomplishment not only depends on differences in academic ability but also on degree program satisfaction. Decreased degree program satisfaction appears to diminish both study motivation and study behaviour. The authors discuss some implications for current educational practice.