Developing an audiovisual notebook as a self‐learning tool in histology: Perceptions of teachers and students

Videos can be used as didactic tools for self‐learning under several circumstances, including those cases in which students are responsible for the development of this resource as an audiovisual notebook. We compared students' and teachers' perceptions regarding the main features that an audiovisual notebook should include. Four questionnaires with items about information, images, text and music, and filmmaking were used to investigate students' (n = 115) and teachers' perceptions (n = 28) regarding the development of a video focused on a histological technique. The results show that both students and teachers significantly prioritize informative components, images and filmmaking more than text and music. The scores were significantly higher for teachers than for students for all four components analyzed. The highest scores were given to items related to practical and medically oriented elements, and the lowest values were given to theoretical and complementary elements. For most items, there were no differences between genders. A strong positive correlation was found between the scores given to each item by teachers and students. These results show that both students' and teachers' perceptions tend to coincide for most items, and suggest that audiovisual notebooks developed by students would emphasize the same items as those perceived by teachers to be the most relevant. Further, these findings suggest that the use of video as an audiovisual learning notebook would not only preserve the curricular objectives but would also offer the advantages of self‐learning processes. Anat Sci Educ 7: 209–218. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Hacia la enseñanza de lenguas basada en tareas

Se exponen en este artículo los principios que deben regir la programación de tareas en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras y se ofrecen vías para su implementación.     

Manpower needs in rural school psychology

The majority of unserved and underserved handicapped children live in rural America (Sher, 1978). One obstacle to serving these children is a lack of qualified staff (Helge, 1981). The turnover rates for rural and urban school psychologists in Virginia were determined for the years 1977–78 through 1979–80: the rate for rurai school psychologists is four times the rate for urban school psychologists (p<.001). Rural school psychologists who terminated employment and rural school psychologists who remained were surveyed on selected background variables in 1981. School psychologists who remained were much more likely than those who left to have been raised in a nonurban community. Implications for training programs are discussed.     

Adolescent academic achievement: A model of social support and grit

Grit has been defined as passionate perseverance toward long-term challenging goals and it is associated with various positive outcomes for youth, including academic achievement. However, less is known about these associations for the two facets of grit (i.e., perseverance of effort, consistency of interest) and few studies have examined the link between grit and perceived social support. The present study examined the group-level demographic differences (i.e., gender, grade, socioeconomic status, and special education status) of grit in a high school sample (N = 1,077). In addition, direct associations between grit and perceived social support from multiple sources (i.e., teacher, classmate, parent) were examined, as well as a potential enhancing effect of social support as a moderator of the relation between grit and academic achievement. Results indicated positive associations among grit and its facets with social support from parents and classmates. Furthermore, the positive relation between grit and achievement was stronger for students reporting high social support from teachers, but not other sources (i.e., classmates, parents). Practical and theoretical implications for promoting student success are discussed.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Enteromorpha compressa (L.) Greville</Emphasis> an edible green alga as a source of antiallergic principle (S)

Enteromorpha compressa a marine green algal species grows extensively in North coastal Andhra Pradesh. Besides its nutritional importance it has also been identified as source of anti-anaphylactic compound(s).E. compressa extracts alleviated the IgE levels raised against ovalbumin and other allergens in mice. Further,Enteromorpha extract also significantly down regulated the serum IgE levels in different murine models irrespective of their genetic background. The results obtained in this study suggest thatE. compressa extract has compound(s), which inhibit IgE immune response and may have potential in curing various types of allergies.     

Falling in love and staying in love with science: ongoing informal science experiences support fascination for all children

ABSTRACT

Ages 10–14 mark a period in which children develop a strong sense of whether science is ‘for them,’ a time that typically coincides with the start of middle school in the United States and their first exposure to more rigorous science classes and testing. Experiences with science in and out of school can shape children's motivation to choose science careers or participate in voluntary science classes later on, for better or worse. We explore the hypothesis that children who engage in more informal educational science experiences at the start of this period are more likely than their peers to obtain and maintain interest, curiosity, and mastery goals in science (together forming a construct called fascination). We measured 983 children's fascination with science at the beginning and middle of sixth grade. We found that the children who participated in informal science during this time were more likely to maintain or have greater fascination than at the start. These findings held while also controlling for many potentially confounding covariates and are robust across subgroups by gender and race/ethnicity. Further, the effects are largest for those children whose family generally supports their learning.