The National Diffusion Network: A career education bonus

Bill Guise is Assistant Director, Washington National Diffusion Network Facilitator Office.     

Assessing Multiliteracies and the New Basics

This paper addresses the skills and characteristics required of successful learners, workers and citizens in the knowledge economy. The authors trace the shifting commercial, technological and cultural conditions characteristic of this economy, and highlight the key qualities now required for individual success. Effective learners will increasingly need to be autonomous and self-directed, flexible, collaborative, of open sensibility, broadly knowledgeable, and able to work productively with linguistic and cultural diversity. While still prevalent, it is held that standardised testing and a 'back to basics' approach to curriculum are unable to promote and measure effectively these skills and sensibilities. Instead, a broader and more creative approach to curriculum and assessment is recommended. A 'new basics' is argued for at the level of curriculum, with correlative assessment techniques such as analysis of portfolios, performance, projects and group work.     

Taste preferences as a function of food deprivation during original taste exposure

It has been reported previously that rats prefer a flavor they consumed under high deprivation to a flavor they consumed under low deprivation (Revusky, 1967). Here it was found that this preference occurs only if nutritive solutions are used and the flavors are given preceding and following eating. If flavors are given separately from the daily feeding, rats prefer the flavor given under low deprivation, whether or not a nutritive solution is used (Experiment 3). If flavors are given before and after the daily feeding, rats prefer the flavor they had under high deprivation (before feeding) more if sucrose solutions are used than if saccharin solutions are used and more on a high-deprivation test than on a low-deprivation test (Experiments 1 and 2). It was concluded that the “incentive value” of consumption is not necessarily higher under high deprivation than under low deprivation. The preference for the low-deprivation flavor obtained here may reflect a greater proportional rewarding effect of consumption under low deprivation or may reflect an aversion to the flavor consumed under high deprivation. Perhaps a small taste of flavor under high deprivation initiates responses of digestion that are unsatisfied and thus aversive, and the more so the higher the deprivation level.     

Shock intensity and warning signal effects on several measures of operant avoidance acquisition

Acquisition of both signaled and unsignaled operant avoidance learning was studied in 64 rats as a function of shock intensity, with three different warning signals used in the signaled procedure. In both signaled and unsignaled avoidance, overall response rate was a progressively increasing function of shock intensity. This was due to both an absolute and relative increase in the frequency of responses at shorter interresponse times with increasing shock intensity. Presence of an effective warning signal in the interval immediately preceding shock increased the probability of an avoidance response in this interval, decreased overall response rate, and reduced shock frequency. A buzzer signal proved most effective, followed by tone and light. However, once a warning signal occurred, the probability of an avoidance response to the signal was virtually independent of shock intensity. Also, an index of avoidance efficiency proved to be inversely related to shock intensity.     

Emotional Dimensions of Watching Zoo Animals: An Experience Sampling Study Building on Insights from Psychology

Abstract There is little research about how visitors to zoos and aquariums respond emotionally to the animals they experience. The research that does exist has seldom been informed by current psychological literature on affect, which examines the nature and roles of sentiments, moods, emotions, and affective traits. Emotion is multidimensional: it focuses on a person's core goals; directs attention and interest; arouses the body for action; and integrates social group and cultural factors. It is thus a central component of meaning‐making. This article provides an overview of the literature on emotion as it applies to human emotional responses to animals. Informed by this literature, this paper presents results from a research study conducted at a zoo. Subjects (279 adults) were each electronically paged once while viewing one of three zoo animals (snake, okapi, or gorilla). Subjects completed scales on 17 specific emotions, seven items measuring evaluation and arousal, and other scales and responses to the animal. Four patterns of emotions emerged, ranging from “equal opportunity” emotions to “highly selective” emotions. The variables that were most important in influencing emotions were not demographic ones, but the kind of animal, subject's emotionality, relation to the animal, and other items predicted by emotion theory. Implications for biophilia, conservation, and the study of emotional responses to animals are discussed.     

Altered movement patterns but not muscle recruitment in moderately trained triathletes during running after cycling

Previous studies have shown that cycling can directly influence neuromuscular control during subsequent running in some highly trained triathletes, despite these triathletes' years of practice of the cycle-run transition. The aim of this study was to determine whether cycling has the same direct influence on neuromuscular control during running in moderately trained triathletes. Fifteen moderately trained triathletes participated. Kinematics of the pelvis and lower limbs and recruitment of 11 leg and thigh muscles were compared between a control run (no prior exercise) and a 30 min run that was preceded by a 15 min cycle (transition run). Muscle recruitment was different between control and transition runs in only one of 15 triathletes (<7%). Changes in joint position (mean difference of 3°) were evident in five triathletes, which persisted beyond 5 min of running in one triathlete. Our findings suggest that some moderately trained triathletes have difficulty reproducing their pre-cycling movement patterns for running initially after cycling, but cycling appears to have little influence on running muscle recruitment in moderately trained triathletes.     

On Fitting a Multivariate Two-Part Latent Growth Model

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of the number of targets specified on the quality of exploratory factor analysis solutions with a complex underlying structure and incomplete substantive measurement theory. Three Monte Carlo studies were performed based on the ratio of the number of observed variables to the number of underlying factors. Within each study, communality, sample size, and the number of targets were manipulated. Outcomes included a measure of congruence and a measure of variability with regard to the rotated pattern matrix. The magnitude of the main effect for the influence of the number of targets on congruence and variability ranged from moderate to large. The magnitude of the interaction between the number of targets and level of communality ranged from small to moderate with regard to congruence and variability. Consistent with theoretical expectations, the minimum number of targets to specify to be reasonably assured of obtaining an accurate solution varied across study conditions.     

Evidence‐based early reading practices within a Response to Intervention system

Many students who experience reading failure are inappropriately placed in special education. A promising response to reducing reading failure and the overidentification of students for special education is Response to Intervention (RTI), a comprehensive early detection and prevention system that allows teachers to identify and support struggling readers early, before they fail. A key component of RTI is the implementation of evidence‐based reading practices within a multitiered framework. School psychologists are increasingly being asked to lead or be members of RTI building teams. As such, they can play an important role in assuring that evidence‐based practices in reading are implemented with integrity. The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for judging the extent to which early reading instruction within a multitier RTI system is evidence based. Key evidence‐based practices related to the content, design, and delivery of early reading instruction are described. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.