Career interests of students in psychology specialties degrees: psychometric evidence and correlations with the RIASEC dimensions

In this study, we present the development of a vocational interest scale for university students studying psychology. Three dimensions were extracted through principal component analysis, namely, organizational, educational, and clinical psychology. A second study with confirmatory factor analysis replicated the same three factors obtained in the first study. We found significant positive correlations between clinical and educational psychology with the social dimension of Holland’s model. The enterprising dimension appeared to be significantly and positively correlated with the organizational psychology component. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Defending Constructivism in Science Education

After an impressive development throughout the last two decades, supported by a greatamount of research and innovation, science education seemed to be becoming a newscientific domain. This transformation of Science Education into a specific field of researchand knowledge is usually associated with the establishment of what has been called anemergent consensus about constructivist positions. However, some voices have begunto question these constructivist positions and therefore the idea of an advancementtowards a coherent body of knowledge in the field of science education. The goalof this work is to analyse some of the current criticisms of the so-called constructivistorientations and to study their implications for the development of science education asa coherent body of knowledge.     

Curricular change and educational quality / Cambio de plan y calidad educativa

There is no doubt that the teaching change generated by the adaptation of the former study programme to the EHEA has led to significant shifts regarding teaching loads and the organization of subjects. This paper assesses the students’ perception of the subject, the teacher and the teaching organization according to the study programme followed. For this purpose, 226 students have been assessed who have all received teaching in the same subject, with the same teacher and with the same contents, with the only variant being their study plan. An instrument developed ad hoc was applied, which comprises 18 items and assesses the students’ perceptions of the content and the perceived organization of the teaching. On the one hand, the results show the instrument to be an adequate scale that assesses teaching and organizational aspects linked to study plans in a valid and reliable way. On the other hand, it reveals that students following the new plan show more negative perceptions of organizational quality and aspects related to learning content. Moreover, these students’ marks tend to be lower compared to those achieved by students following the former plan.     

Near-peer teaching in an anatomy course with a low faculty-to-student ratio

Near-peer teaching is an educational format which utilizes tutors who are more advanced in a curriculum's content to supervise students' activities and to act as instructors in laboratory settings. This format is often used in anatomy laboratory courses. The goal of the present study is to describe the design and implementation of near-peer teaching in an anatomy course and to evaluate students' perceptions of the program. A total of 700 students were registered for this anatomy course which employed near-peer instructors. Of enrolled students, 558 (79.7%) agreed to participate in this study. In general, the practical section (e.g., the clinical hour, image-based anatomy session, and gross anatomy laboratory) of the course was viewed more favorably compared to the theory section (54.8%, n = 306), with dissection and prosection in the laboratory rated as the most valued experiences (34.9%, n = 195). Near-peer teaching is a viable option that satisfies the demands of modern curricula using small groups. This format stimulates learning within courses that have large numbers of students and low faculty-to-student ratios.     

Predicting shifts in generalization gradients with perceptrons

Perceptron models have been used extensively to model perceptual learning and the effects of discrimination training on generalization, as well as to explore natural classification mechanisms. Here, we assess the ability of existing models to account for the time course of generalization shifts that occur when individuals learn to distinguish sounds. A set of simulations demonstrates that commonly used single-layer and multilayer perceptron networks do not predict transitory shifts in generalization over the course of training but that such dynamics can be accounted for when the output functions of these networks are modified to mimic the properties of cortical tuning curves. The simulations further suggest that prudent selection of stimuli and training criteria can allow for more precise predictions of learning-related shifts in generalization gradients in behavioral experiments. In particular, the simulations predict that individuals will show maximal peak shift after different numbers of trials, that easier contrasts will lead to slower development of shifted peaks, and that whether generalization shifts persist or dissipate will depend on which stimulus dimensions individuals use to distinguish stimuli and how those dimensions are neurally encoded.