Learning from the Professions: Examining How,Why, and When Engineers Read and Write

With the advent of the Next Generation Science Standards in engineering (NGSS, 2013), teachers of multiple subject areas are being asked to do more than ever before—not only to teach engineering content in the K-12 classroom but also to engage students in authentic disciplinary reading and writing as part of content learning. These standards sound good, but they beg several questions; namely, what do we know about how, why, and when do engineers read and write as they do their work every day? What do teachers charged with engineering education know about the daily practices of engineers, let alone the literacy practices? In short, little is known about the literacy practices of engineers in the course of their daily work. This article draws on participant observation, interviews, and document analysis of one research engineering laboratory to illustrate the literacy practices of one group of engineers and begins to draw implications from this work for teacher practice in achieving the NGSS engineering education standards.     

Factors affecting rats’ location during conditioned suppression training

If freezing underlies barpress conditioned suppression, then it seems odd that auditory cues paired with shock evoke more freezing than do visual cues, yet evoke similar suppression. Bevins and Ayres (1992) found that auditory and visual cues also evoked similar withdrawal from the bar and dipper areas and suggested that such withdrawal could explain the similar suppression. Seeking to understand that withdrawal, we found evidence in the present study that it was due either to adventitious punishment or to place-aversion learning. The cue for shock seemed to set the occasion for such learning. For example, we found that, as training progressed, rats’ tendency to leave the bar area during the cue first increased, then decreased, then increased again, reflecting, presumably, shock occurrence first inside, then outside, then inside the bar area again. Despite these changes in the rats’ location, barpress suppression remained stable, implying that leaving the bar area, though sufficient for barpress suppression, is unnecessary.     

后现代视野中的高等教育

后现代已经走向式微 ,但后现代的精神气质却发生着久远的影响。“后现代”是在对“现代化”的批判和否定基础上发展起来的。后现代主义的理论景观包括 :否定和怀疑的理论本性、非中心化的解构策略、多元化的思维风格、富有建设性的创造精神、寄予关爱的全球视野。后现代观照下的高等教育有如下特点 :打破叙事范式 ,奉行实用的知识观 ;反对理性教育 ,追求多元的目的观 ;活化静态课程 ,倡导对话的教学观 ;立足本土文化 ,面向全球的发展观。     

Integration of reinforcement effects over time

Two accounts of how density of reinforcement affects steady-state performance on probabilistic schedules were compared: the real-time linear operator (RTLO) model and a temporal control model (in which response strength is determined by reinforcement probability as a function of postreinforcement time). In Experiment 1, the probability of reinforcement repeatedly cycled between extinction and a random-ratio 10 schedule. Response-rate gain and phase did not change with period of the cycle as predicted by the RTLO model, nor did either model predict the differences in response rate following reinforcement at different points in the cycle. In Experiment 2, the probability of reinforcement was elevated immediately following a reinforcement but fell after a few seconds. Previous reinforcements had no effect upon responding. An extension of the temporal control model, the cumulative impulse model, allowed for the summing of response strength over successive reinforcements and was consistent with the data of both experiments.     

Stimulant medication and reading performance: follow-up on sustained dose in ADHD boys with and without conduct disorders.

The study examined the sustained effects of methylphenidate on reading performance in a sample of 42 boys, aged 8 to 11, with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Two subgroups were formed based on the presence or absence of co-occurring conduct disorders. Subjects were selected on the basis of their positive response to methylphenidate as determined in a series of original medication trials (Forness, Cantwell, Swanson, Hanna, & Youpa, 1991). For the purpose of this study, subjects were placed on their optimal dose of medication for a 6-week period and then tested on measures of oral reading and reading comprehension equivalent to those used in the original trials, retested after a week without medication (placebo), then tested again the following week after return to medication. Only the subgroup with conduct disorders responded, and this response was limited to reading comprehension improvement in only those subjects who also demonstrated improvement in oral reading on original trials. No response differences were found between subjects with or without learning disabilities.     

PPBS in higher education planning and management: Part I,an overview

Higher education in the United States and elsewhere is beset by crises: crises of public confidence, questions of continuing relevance, doubts about continuing the emphasis on doctoral instruction, and a very real financial crisis. In response, governing boards and governmental agencies are devoting increasing attention to the management of higher education. Part of this response has been a heightened interest in formal planning-programming-budgeting-systems (PPBS); in fact, several states have legislated the adoption of PPBS for higher educational planning and decision making. Similar interest has been evidenced in other countries. Therefore, it is an appropriate time to reconsider the nature and role of PPBS and its potential impact on higher education. This paper describes the salient characteristics of PPBS and traces the development of PPBS and related analytical techniques in governmental agencies and institutions of higher education. A second paper will illustrate both the concepts and the implementation of PPBS by a detailed exposition of the University of California's experience with PPBS. Finally, in a third paper we suggest an alternative view of policy analysis for educational planning which is a departure from traditional PPBS. We conclude with general observations and specific recommendations to educational managers seeking to improve their resource allocation procedures.     

Power,Perceptions, and Relationships: A Model of Co-Teaching in Higher Education

Co-teaching has historically been used in K–12 education to provide students with disabilities access to general curriculum; therefore, much of the co-teaching literature has focused on the K–12 population. Research on collegiate co-teaching has been more limited and largely focused on the advantages and disadvantages of co-teaching, omitting important factors that affect relationships between partners. This qualitative study involved seven interviews of co-teachers of graduate and undergraduate classes in order to better understand interactions between college-level co-teaching dyads. Data analysis revealed themes of power and authority structures, dynamics of co-teaching relationships, and co-teachers' perceptions related to advantages of co-teaching, disadvantages of co-teaching, and student experiences. The researchers developed the Circular Model of Collegiate Co-Teaching, an original model to explain how these themes and subthemes are interrelated and affect each other. Specific best practices and new insights for collegiate co-teaching practice are discussed.