Visual environment and delay affect cache retrieval accuracy in a food-storing rodent

Many scatter-hoarding species use spatial memory to relocate their food caches. Two factors can affect spatial memory: the availability of landmarks in the environment, and the latency between learning and recall. Using a 2 × 2 factorial design, we determined the effect of these factors on cache retrieval accuracy in Merriam’s kangaroo rats (Dipodomys merriami). Kangaroo rats cached seeds in an arena under conditions that varied by retrieval interval (1 or 10 days) and by number of landmarks (0 or 16 landmarks). After 1 day, they recovered equal proportions of caches in both landmark conditions. After 10 days, they recovered more caches in the 16-landmark condition than in the bare condition. This is the first study to show that landmarks are necessary for accurate cache recovery after long delays. This result is consistent with maze studies that have shown that landmarks reduce proactive interference and that delay increases proactive interference.     

FACTORS INFLUENCING ENGINEERING STUDENTS’ DECISIONS TO CHEAT BY TYPE OF ASSESSMENT

Academic dishonesty (cheating) has been prevalent on college campuses for decades, and the percentage of students reporting cheating varies by college major. This study, based on a survey of 643 undergraduate engineering majors at 11 institutions, used two parallel hierarchical multiple regression analyses to predict the frequency of cheating on exams and the frequency of cheating on homework based on eight blocks of independent variables: demographics, pre-college cheating behavior, co-curricular participation, plus five blocks organized around Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (moral obligation not to cheat, attitudes about cheating, evaluation of the costs and benefits of cheating, perceived social pressures to cheat or not to cheat, and perceived effectiveness of academic dishonesty policies). The final models significantly predict 36% of the variance in “frequency of cheating on exams” and 14% of the variance in “frequency of cheating on homework”. Students don’t see cheating as a single construct and their decisions to cheat or not to cheat are influenced differently depending on the type of assessment. Secondary findings are that a student’s conviction that cheating is wrong no matter what the circumstances is a strong deterrent to cheating across types of assessment and that a student who agrees that he/she would cheat in order to alleviate stressful situations is more likely to cheat on both exams and homework.     

Behavioral approach-inhibition in toddlers: prediction from infancy, positive and negative affective components, and relations with behavior problems

In this study, 126 children were observed at 6 months, 12 months, and 2 years. During infancy, latencies to reach for novel objects were measured. At 2 years, positive and negative affect, and behavioral approach-inhibition to low- and high-intensity situations were coded, and mothers assessed behavior problems. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a 3-dimension model of positivity, negativity, and behavioral approach-inhibition. Positivity was related to low- and high-intensity behavioral approach-inhibition, whereas negativity was linked only to low-intensity behavioral approach-inhibition. Shorter 12-month latencies to reach were predictive of low negativity, high positivity, and behavioral approach at 2 years. Positivity and negativity were correlated with externalizing and internalizing behaviors, respectively. Finally, cluster analysis identified an exuberant group high in externalizing and an inhibited group high in internalizing.     

Willingness toward organ and body donation among anatomy professors and students in Mexico

Most anatomists agree that cadaver dissection serves as a superior teaching tool in human anatomy education. However, attitudes toward body donation vary widely between different individuals. A questionnaire was developed to determine the attitudes toward body and organ donation among those who learn the most from cadavers: medical students, medical student teaching assistants, medical students involved in research, and anatomy professors. A cross‐sectional, prospective study was designed in which the questionnaire was distributed among first‐year human anatomy students before undertaking cadaver dissection at the beginning of the semester, and then again after a commemoration service at the end of the course. The questionnaire items included demographic data, as well as questions designed to characterize participants' attitudes regarding body/organ donation from strangers, family members, and whether participants would consider such practices with their own bodies. Out of a total of 517 students enrolled in the Human Anatomy course in the Medical School at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico during January to June 2016, 95% responded to the first (491) and second (490) surveys. Participants' opinions on their own organ donation was similar before and after exposure to cadaver dissection, with between 87% and 81% in favor of such practices, and only 3% against it, in both surveys. Participants' willingness to donate their own bodies, as well as those of family members, increased, while reluctance regarding such practices decreased by half (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.05). Professors had the highest rates of positive opinions regarding their own body donation (74.9%), with 18.8% undecided. Low opposition toward organ and body donation remains prevalent among both anatomists and physicians in training in Mexico. Anat Sci Educ 10: 589–597. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Conceptions of Science Teacher Mentoring and Mentoring Practice in an Alternative Certification Program

Conceptions of mentoring held by six mentors and six beginning science teachers in an alternative certification program were explored qualitatively by means of case studies and phenomenography. Interviews with the six mentors and six beginning teachers produced 379 statements that were grouped into six conceptual categories. The categories of apprenticeship, personal support, and colearning revealed the variation in how mentors and beginning teachers conceptualized school-based mentoring. The conceptions functioned as referents for their mentoring practice. Mentoring as apprenticeship was the dominant conception among both the beginning teachers and mentors. The findings of this study imply that conceptions of mentoring held by mentors and beginning science teachers should be considered when organizing the school-based component of alternative certification programs.     

Early Childhood Teachers’ Psychological Well-Being: Exploring Potential Predictors of Depression,Stress, and Emotional Exhaustion

Research Findings: Early childhood teachers’ psychological well-being influences the nurturing and learning classroom climate in early care and education as well as children’s development. However, less is known about predictors of teachers’ psychological well-being in preschool. The purpose of this study was to explore associations between potential predictors of teachers’ psychological well-being—such as professional background, teaching efficacy, and work environment—and teachers’ self-perceived depression, stress, and emotional exhaustion after controlling for individual demographics. A total of 1,129 teachers serving preschool-age children (3- and 4-year-olds) in the United States participated in the study. Teachers responded to a questionnaire asking about their background, work environment, and social-emotional attributes. Multiple regression analysis revealed that levels of teachers’ self-efficacy and work environments are generally associated with their psychological well-being above and beyond their personal and professional backgrounds. Practice or Policy: The results of this study suggest that it is important to help teachers build teaching competence and efficacy and to prepare them to handle stressors from work environments in order to reduce their psychological burden. In addition, we suggest that positive work climates need to be created for teachers and children at the program level.     

Teachers' use and children's preferences of rewards in elementary school

This study examined teacher reports of reward use and students' preferences for rewards across elementary school grades. Forty-eight urban elementary school teachers indicated which of four basic categories of rewards (edible, tangible, activity, and social rewards) they use in their classrooms and their evaluation of the effectiveness of these rewards for their age group of students. Ninety-eight second through fifth graders randomly selected to represent the students assigned to these teachers were individually administered a reward preference survey. Findings revealed high reward use by teachers. Children reported a wide variety of reward preferences, with no significant gender or age differences found. Additionally, there was no clear relationship between teacher use and children's preferences. Implications for intervention programming are discussed.     

My soul is a witness: Affirming pedagogies of the spirit

Utilizing a cultural ideology and an explicit discourse of spirituality, this paper seeks to answer three questions. First, what does spirituality mean for the ways in which African-American women educate and research? Second, how does the enactment and embodiment of a spiritually centered paradigm impact the learning of both teacher and student in the context of the classroom? Finally, what might such work imply in terms of theory and praxis, particularly in teacher education? Arising from a case study of an exemplar African-American female professor at a large Midwestern university, three narrative tales are shared which explicate the power and influence of a spiritual pedagogy in the lives of three African-American scholar/teachers and that challenge taken-for-granted assumptions of singularity in epistemology and representation in teaching and research.