A retrospective look at replacing face‐to‐face embryology instruction with online lectures in a human anatomy course

Embryology is integrated into the Clinically Oriented Anatomy course at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine. Before 2008, the same instructor presented embryology in 13 face‐to‐face lectures distributed by organ systems throughout the course. For the 2008 and 2009 offerings of the course, a hybrid embryology instruction model with four face‐to‐face classes that supplemented online recorded lectures was used. One instructor delivered the lectures face‐to‐face in 2007 and by online videos in 2008–2009, while a second instructor provided the supplemental face‐to‐face classes in 2008–2009. The same embryology learning objectives and selected examination questions were used for each of the three years. This allowed direct comparison of learning outcomes, as measured by examination performance, for students receiving only face‐to‐face embryology instruction versus the hybrid approach. Comparison of the face‐to‐face lectures to the hybrid approach showed no difference in overall class performance on embryology questions that were used all three years. Moreover, there was no differential effect of the delivery method on the examination scores for bottom quartile students. Students completed an end‐of‐course survey to assess their opinions. They rated the two forms of delivery similarly on a six‐point Likert scale and reported that face‐to‐face lectures have the advantage of allowing them to interact with the instructor, whereas online lectures could be paused, replayed, and viewed at any time. These experiences suggest the need for well‐designed prospective studies to determine whether online lectures can be used to enhance the efficacy of embryology instruction. Anat Sci Educ 7: 234–241. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Learning sorting algorithms through visualization construction

Recent increased interest in computational thinking poses an important question to researchers: What are the best ways to teach fundamental computing concepts to students? Visualization is suggested as one way of supporting student learning. This mixed-method study aimed to (i) examine the effect of instruction in which students constructed visualizations on students’ programming achievement and students’ attitudes toward computer programming, and (ii) explore how this kind of instruction supports students’ learning according to their self-reported experiences in the course. The study was conducted with 58 pre-service teachers who were enrolled in their second programming class. They expect to teach information technology and computing-related courses at the primary and secondary levels. An embedded experimental model was utilized as a research design. Students in the experimental group were given instruction that required students to construct visualizations related to sorting, whereas students in the control group viewed pre-made visualizations. After the instructional intervention, eight students from each group were selected for semi-structured interviews. The results showed that the intervention based on visualization construction resulted in significantly better acquisition of sorting concepts. However, there was no significant difference between the groups with respect to students’ attitudes toward computer programming. Qualitative data analysis indicated that students in the experimental group constructed necessary abstractions through their engagement in visualization construction activities. The authors of this study argue that the students’ active engagement in the visualization construction activities explains only one side of students’ success. The other side can be explained through the instructional approach, constructionism in this case, used to design instruction. The conclusions and implications of this study can be used by researchers and instructors dealing with computational thinking.     

Effects of model-centered instruction on effectiveness, efficiency, and engagement with ill-structured problem solving

The goals of this study were to investigate the timing and the mechanism by which two types of model-centered instruction (MCI)—expert modeling (EM) and self-guided modeling (SGM)—might be made increasingly effective, efficient, and engaging for learners with different levels of expertise. The 62 pre-service and in-service evaluators who participated in the study were randomly assigned to one of these two types of MCI. The participants in the EM group were provided with the conceptual models used by experts to solve ethical conflicts within program evaluation. The participants in SGM group received no guidance in developing their own mental models. Regarding instructional effectiveness measures, there were no significant differences between the two types of MCI. However, inexperienced learners in the EM group invested less instructional effort and time than did those in the SGM group. In addition, inexperienced learners in the EM group also exhibited more engagement than did those in the SGM group. Therefore, EM is likely to be the more appropriate instructional design for inexperienced learners. Expert modeling required experienced learners to invest more mental effort, because if the conceptual model of the expert was redundant, it required them to integrate the previous schema with resulting overload of their working memory. Regardless of the types of MCI employed, the inexperienced participants showed significantly higher levels of attention and satisfaction than did the experienced participants.     

Fathers’ roles in the process of talent development

In the process of children’s talent development, fathers have been largely ignored compared to mothers who are mostly identified as the initial and primary influence for their children. Though modern fathers are becoming more engaged in childrearing and interacting more with their children and changes in family systems lead to new challenges and demands for defining parental roles today, fathers are still predominately portrayed as the principal breadwinners of families. Literature including both empirical and anecdotal data has documented positive and promising outcomes of paternal involvement for children’s talent development though fathers’ roles are not always differentiated from mothers’ roles and little research studied fathers and gifted children, exclusively. This paper includes a comprehensive review of fathers’ contributions to children’s talent development and discussion about issues and suggestions for research involving fathers and talent development.     

Modeling Self-Regulation as a Process Usinga Multiple Time-Scale Multiphase Latent Basis Growth Model

Measurement burst designs, wherein individuals are measured intensively during multiple periods (i.e., bursts), have created new opportunities for studying change at multiple time scales. This article develops a model that might be useful in situations where the functional form of short-term change is unknown, might consist of multiple phases, and might change over the long term. Specifically, we combine measurement of intraindividual entropy, a latent basis growth model, a multiphase growth model, and a growth model with covariates into a unified framework that could help accommodate the complexity of patterns that emerge in multiple time-scale categorical data streams. Empirical data from a longitudinal study of young children’s behavior during laboratory tasks designed to induce frustration are used to illustrate the utility of the proposed model for simultaneously describing intratask (short-term) change in self-regulation and developmental (long-term) shifts in intratask change.     

The etiology of giftedness

Many theories of giftedness either explicitly or implicitly acknowledge the role of genetic influences; yet, empirical work has not been able to establish the impact that genes have specifically on gifted behavior. In contrast, a great deal of research has been targeted at understanding the etiology of individual differences in general and specific cognitive abilities across the entire range of ability and to a lesser extent, high cognitive ability. This paper attempts to outline what we know and what we don't know about the etiology of giftedness as operationally defined as high g. We review studies selected to represent a variety of approaches that each address a different question about genetics and giftedness. These studies include quantitative genetic research which estimate heritability, shared and nonshared family environment – at the high and low ends of intelligence – as well as the heritability of group differences for general cognitive ability and specific cognitive abilities. We discuss the molecular genetic methods and mechanisms contributing to cognitive ability and suggest how epigenetic factors may operate. Quantitative and molecular genetic studies that include endophenotypes representing intelligence at a level closer to the genotype, are also included. This last group of studies represent a relatively new area of work that builds on and extends the extensive groundwork established by classic quantitative genetic studies of behavior.