Embodying emotions: making transactions explicit in science learning contexts

In this Forum paper we synthesize some of the main ideas from three papers: Auli Orlander and Per-Olof Wickman’s (Cult Stud Sci 6, 2011), Bodily experiences in secondary school biology, Roger Sages’ (Cult Stud Sci Educ 6, 2011), About Descartes: Uses and misuses, and Steve Alsop’s (Cult Stud Sci Educ 6, 2011), The body bites back! These papers challenged us to identify how emotions functioned as elements of bodily experiences in classroom transactions and why science teachers often are not responsive to students’ emoting. We also explored how teachers making use of curriculum and companion meanings could support the construction of learning environments that more productively support students’ science learning.     

Redesigning a large-enrollment introductory biology course

Using an action research model, biology faculty examined, implemented, and evaluated learner-centered instructional strategies to reach the goal of increasing the level of student achievement in the introductory biology course BIO 181: Unity of Life I, which was characterized by both high enrollments and a high DFW rate. Outcomes included the creation and implementation of an assessment tool for biology content knowledge and attitudes, development and implementation of a common syllabus, modification of the course to include learner-centered instructional strategies, and the collection and analysis of data to evaluate the success of the modifications. The redesigned course resulted in greater student success, as measured by grades (reduced %DFW and increased %AB) as well as by achievement in the course assessment tool. In addition, the redesigned course led to increased student satisfaction and greater consistency among different sections. These findings have important implications for both students and institutions, as the significantly lower DFW rate means that fewer students have to retake the course.     

Evaluation of machine-aided indexing†

The Defense Documentation Center (DDC), a field activity of the Defense Supply Agency, implemented an automated indexing procedure in October 1973. This Machine-Aided Indexing (MAI) System [1] had been under development since 1969. The following is a report of several comparisons designed to measure the retrieval effectiveness of MAI and manual indexing procedures under normal operational conditions.Several definitions are required in order to clarify the MAI process as it pertains to these investigations. The MAI routines scan unedited text in the form of titles and abstracts. The output of these routines is called Candidate Index Terms. These word strings are matched by computer against an internal file of manually screened and cross-referenced terms called a Natural Language Data Base (NLDB). The NLDB differs from a standard thesaurus in that there is no related term category. Word strings which match the NLDB are accepted as valid MAI output. The mismatches are manually screened for suitability. Those accepted are added to the NLDB. If now, the original set of Candidate Index Terms is matched against the updated NLDB, the matched output is unedited MAI. If both the unedited matches and mismatches are further structured in accession order and sent to technical analysts for review, the output of that process is called edited MAI.The tests were designed to (a) compare unedited MAI with manual indexing, holding the indexing language and the retrieval technique constant; (b) compare edited MAI with unedited MAI, holding both the indexing and the retrieval technique constant; and (c) compare two different retrieval techniques, called simple and complex, while holding the indexing constant.     

Cross-Modal Transfer of Shape is Difficult to Demonstrate in One-Month-Olds

We tested 1-month-olds for cross-modal transfer of shape between touch and vision using a procedure described by Meltzoff and Borton, but including controls for side bias and stimulus preference. In Experiment 1 (N = 48), infants' looking times to smooth and nubby visual stimuli were not influenced by previous oral exposure to one of the shapes during the preceding 90 s, except for an effect on the first test trial in one group; this effect could have been due to limited cross-modal transfer, to Type 1 error, or to side bias, possibly interacting with a small stimulus preference. The failure of that effect to replicate in a group (N = 16) with less side bias (Experiment 2) suggests that it was not due to cross-modal transfer. Experiment 3 (N = 32), an exact replication of Meltzoff and Borton's experiment, also failed to yield evidence of cross-modal transfer. Overall, there is not good evidence that 1-month-olds can transfer information about these shapes from touch to vision. Future studies exploring the ability to transfer information about other shapes will be easier to interpret if they include controls for side bias and stimulus preference.     

Rating the Quality of Trials in Systematic Reviews of Physical Therapy Interventions

Physical therapists seeking to use evidence to guide their practice may have limited time to read research reports. One way to reduce the time required to identify and read about the research that is relevant to a particular clinical question is to read a systematic review that summarizes multiple studies. This paper explains the process that is used to conduct systematic reviews, which includes the establishment of a protocol, comprehensive searching, appraisal of the quality of the included studies, data extraction and metaanalysis, and consideration of the clinical and research implications of the findings. We also consider how the reader of a systematic review can determine whether the review is likely to provide an unbiased (believable) estimate of the treatment effect. A systematic review of randomized trials of a cardiopulmonary physical therapy intervention is used as an example. The issue of appraisal of quality is then discussed further, with a demonstration of how one validated tool for quality appraisal–the PEDro scale–can be used to evaluate a randomized trial in cardiopulmonary physical therapy.Key Words: systematic review, physical therapy     

The Development of Invented Spelling

Ninety-three children were tested on a variety of reading-related skills, including Tangel and Blachman's (1992) invented spelling measure, four times over 1.5 years. Results revealed that this measure of invented spelling was 1) stable, 2) highly associated with traditional phonological awareness tasks, and 3) substantially predictive of standardized spelling and word and nonword decoding tests over time. A measure of orthographic processing, as well as phonological processing, was significantly associated with time 4 invented spelling, suggesting that both orthographic and phonological processes are involved in invented spelling. These results indicate that this measure of invented spelling may be an optimal diagnostic tool for researchers and educators interested in predicting subsequent reading ability/disability in early development. Invented spelling administered in early kindergarten may be an even better predictor of subsequent decoding skills than are traditional phonological awareness tasks, for American school children.     

Women in Action: a community development project in Amazonas

This article is a report of a Community Development Project currently being run by the Centre for Studies and Development in Environmental Education (CEDEA), at the National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The Centre was inaugurated 3 years ago as part of an attempt to change the Institute's direction, from that of carrying out research for the scientific community to one that integrates research with sustainable development and social needs. CEDEA's team members embarked on a participatory community project, INPA and Society, that was developed with a community near the Institute. This is an urban community with economic, social, cultural and environmental problems that the project aims to approach. INPA and Society is divided into several projects, one of which is Women in Action. This is a report about the challenges that Women in Action has produced for both the Institute and the Centre. It also discusses the results that are being achieved, while commenting on the difficulties that have been confronted and how these could possibly be avoided by other groups.     

Needs Assessment: Perspectives from the Literature

Careful analysis of an organization's needs is the first step in developing programs for improving performance that are relevant to the organization and to the individuals who use the programs. The purpose of this article is to examine the perspectives of needs assessment that are described in the performance technology and human resource development literature. The first section of the article focuses on the terms used to describe the process of analyzing needs. The perspectives embodied in the definitions and conceptualizations of the terms need, needs assessment, needs analysis, front end analysis, and performance analysis are examined. The second section of the article focuses on various models of needs assessment. It presents different views about where the needs assessment process starts, where it ends, and what results are produced.