Anatomy Dissection Course Improves the Initially Lower Levels of Visual-Spatial Abilities of Medical Undergraduates

Visual-spatial abilities are considered a successful predictor in anatomy learning. Previous research suggest that visual-spatial abilities can be trained, and the magnitude of improvement can be affected by initial levels of spatial skills. This case-control study aimed to evaluate (1) the impact of an extra-curricular anatomy dissection course on visual-spatial abilities of medical undergraduates and (2) the magnitude of improvement in students with initially lower levels of visual-spatial abilities, and (3) whether the choice for the course was related to visual-spatial abilities. Course participants (n = 45) and controls (n = 65) were first and second-year medical undergraduates who performed a Mental Rotations Test (MRT) before and 10 weeks after the course. At baseline, there was no significant difference in MRT scores between course participants and controls. At the end of the course, participants achieved a greater improvement than controls (first-year: ∆6.0 ± 4.1 vs. ∆4.9 ± 3.2; ANCOVA, P = 0.019, Cohen's d = 0.41; second-year: ∆6.5 ± 3.3 vs. ∆6.1 ± 4.0; P = 0.03, Cohen's d = 0.11). Individuals with initially lower scores on the MRT pretest showed the largest improvement (∆8.4 ± 2.3 vs. ∆6.8 ± 2.8; P = 0.011, Cohen's d = 0.61). In summary, (1) an anatomy dissection course improved visual-spatial abilities of medical undergraduates; (2) a substantial improvement was observed in individuals with initially lower scores on the visual-spatial abilities test indicating a different trajectory of improvement; (3) students' preferences for attending extracurricular anatomy dissection course was not driven by visual-spatial abilities.     

Response to fluency-oriented intervention of Dutch poor readers

Dysfluency is the major characteristic of dyslexia in languages with a relatively shallow orthography, particularly when unfamiliar words have to be processed. The present study investigated to what extent slow identification of unfamiliar words can be speeded up and whether the expected variation in response-to-intervention can be related to differences in the phonological recoding skills in order to gain insight in the core deficits of dyslexia. The intervention involved four months of continued individual practice of fluency after maximal accuracy was achieved. Response-to-intervention was made operational in terms of individual learning curves, derived from multilevel analysis with repeated measures of response times, number of trials and accuracy as dependent variables. Increasing fluency was indicated by response times getting shorter. An unselected group of poor grade 2 readers who received the intervention in addition to regular classroom practice improved their reading compared to a matched control group who received no additional training. As expected, there were substantial individual differences between students in terms of response-to-intervention (RTI). Good and poor treatment responders progressed comparably when the training was done in the relatively easy training condition with closed word sets of four letter words with one consonant cluster, repeating the overlapping cluster + vowel. Increasing the difficulty level of the training condition to word sets overlapping in consonant cluster only, resulted in substantial individual differences in all three dependent variables. In fact, the poor responders did not improve any more whereas the poor responders continued to do so. This particular characteristic of each student's individual learning curve appeared to be highly predictive of the overall response-to-intervention or intervention outcome. The contribution of this finding to the understanding of dyslexia is discussed in terms of RTI.     

Educational technology on a turning point: curriculum implementation in Flanders and challenges for schools

In this essay, we state that establishing technology curricula by national governments causes a shift in the policy actions of educational technology support: from a technical rationale with a main focus on funding and resources to a pedagogical rationale with a main focus on student competencies. We illustrate our point of view by describing the formal educational technology curriculum recently administered by the government in Flanders. This curriculum is written in terms of attainment targets and has clear implications on the nature of educational technology which is no longer dependent on teachers’ individual efforts or willingness, but is becoming compulsory at the school level. Furthermore, we present two levers that facilitate the integration process of educational technology in general and the realization of technology curricula in particular. Technology coordinators should act more as curriculum managers and change agents, and schools should jointly establish a technology policy plan.

Science Teacher Learning of MBL-Supported Student-Centered Science Education in the Context of Secondary Education in Tanzania

Science teachers from secondary schools in Tanzania were offered an in-service arrangement to prepare them for the integration of technology in a student-centered approach to science teaching. The in-service arrangement consisted of workshops in which educative curriculum materials were used to prepare teachers for student-centered education and for the use and application of Microcomputer Based Laboratories (MBL)—a specific technology application for facilitating experiments in science education. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to study whether the in-service arrangement impacted teacher learning. Teacher learning was determined by three indicators: (1) the ability to conduct MBL-supported student centered science lessons, (2) teachers’ reflection on those lessons and (3) students’ perceptions of the classroom environment. The results of the research indicate that the teachers’ were able to integrate MBL in their science lessons at an acceptable level and that they were able to create a classroom environment which was appreciated by their students as more investigative and open-ended.     

Improving digital skills for the use of online public information and services

There are recent indications regarding the use of online public services that force the government to focus on the more refined conceptualizations digital divide research has produced. This paper addresses one of the factors that appears to be important in several conceptualizations of how to approach the digital divide; the differential possession of so-called digital skills. The problem of being short of skills becomes urgent when governments suppose that citizens are able to complete about every task on the Internet. Operational definitions for operational, formal, information and strategic skills are used to measure the Internet skills of the Dutch population at large, by giving 109 subjects nine government related assignments to be accomplished on the Internet. Subjects were recruited following a two step approach; randomly select a sample from the book/list of fixed telephony subscribers, followed by drawing a selective quota sample for the strata of gender, age and educational level. The results indicate that on average 80% of the operational skill Internet tasks, 72% of formal Internet skills tasks, 62% of the information Internet skills tasks and 22% of strategic Internet skills tasks assigned have been successfully completed. The Dutch government's expectation that every citizen with an Internet connection is able to complete the assignments following tasks the government thinks every Internet user can perform, clearly is not justified. The article provides two types of policy recommendations to change this state of affairs. Recommendations for improving government websites and for improving the skill levels of Dutch citizens are suggested.     

Evidence of the relative age effect in football in Australia

Abstract The birth date distributions of elite male and female footballers in Australia, from junior youth (age 14 and upwards) to senior (professional) players, were examined. A statistically significant relative age effect was found among junior male players, reducing in effect with increasing age. An inter-year relative age effect that became apparent among the players at national level in the Under-17 and Under-20 age groups, due to the timing of the respective World Cups for those age groups, was also identified. It is conjectured that this might lead to players born in certain years having a curtailed pathway in the elite game, leading to drop-out among this very elite group. In the case of women elite players, no significant relative age effect was found among youth players, possibly due to less fierce competition for places, although a significant effect was found to exist at senior elite level.