Perceptions of mediated presence in an asynchronous online course: Interplay of communication behaviors and medium

This investigation of student perceptions of mediated presence in an online college class yielded two key findings. First, perceptions of the instructor's mediated presence were significantly higher than perceptions of the other students' presence. Second, students identified a set of communication behaviors that influenced their perceptions of whether other participants in the class were "real" or present: frequency of interaction, responsiveness, use of non-verbal communication channels, and participants' tone or communication style. Theoretical and pedagogical implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

The Initial Impact of the Anatomical Society Gross Anatomy Core Syllabus for Medicine in the United Kingdom: Student and Teacher Perspectives

“What do students studying medicine need to know” is an important question for curriculum planners, anatomy educators and students. The Core Regional Anatomy Syllabus (CRAS), published by the Anatomical Society in 2016, contains 156 learning outcomes (LOs) and has informed “what needs to be known.” This project explored how CRAS had impacted undergraduate anatomy and anatomists in the United Kingdom. A cross-sectional study was designed in two phases. Phase 1, involved a survey of students in clinical years (N = 164). Phase 2 included a survey of anatomist’s views (n = 50) and focus groups of anatomy educators (N = 16). The students’ perspective showed that specific regions of CRAS are deemed less relevant. These were also the body areas where students perceived their anatomical knowledge to be more deficient. Only 46% (n = 75) of students estimated that they knew over 50% (n = 78) of the LOs. Phase two revealed that all anatomists were aware of the syllabus and 48% (n = 24) had checked the CRAS against their own institutional LOs. Anatomists had shared CRAS with colleagues 64% (n = 32) and students at 34% (n = 17), respectively. Forty-six percent (n = 23) of anatomists reported having changed their teaching in some way because of CRAS. The focus groups generated four key themes: “support for CRAS,” “standardization and validation,” “professional identity,” and “limitations and leverage.” Overall CRAS has been well received and is establishing itself within the anatomical community as the new standard for anatomy teaching for medical students.     

Distributed retrieval practice promotes superior recall of anatomy information

Effortful retrieval produces greater long‐term recall of information when compared to studying (i.e., reading), as do learning sessions that are distributed (i.e., spaced apart) when compared to those that are massed together. Although the retrieval and distributed practice effects are well‐established in the cognitive science literature, no studies have examined their additive effect with regard to learning anatomy information. The aim of this study was to determine how the benefits of retrieval practice vary with massed versus distributed learning. Participants used the following strategies to learn sets of skeletal muscle anatomy: (1) studying on three different days over a seven day period (SSSS_7,2,0), (2) studying and retrieving on three different days over a seven day period (SRSR_7,2,0), (3) studying on two different days over a two day period (SSSSSS_2,0), (4) studying and retrieving on two separate days over a two day period (SRSRSR_2,0), and (5) studying and retrieving on one day (SRx6₀). All strategies consisted of 12 learning phases and lasted exactly 24 minutes. Muscle information retention was assessed via free recall and using repeated measures ANOVAs. A week after learning, the recall scores were 24.72 ± 3.12, 33.88 ± 3.48, 15.51 ± 2.48, 20.72 ± 2.94, and 12.86 ± 2.05 for the SSSS_7,2,0, SRSR_7,2,0, SSSSSS_2,0, STSTST_2,0, and SRx6₀ strategies, respectively. In conclusion, the distributed strategies produced significantly better recall than the massed strategies, the retrieval‐based strategies produced significantly better recall than the studying strategies, and the combination of distributed and retrieval practice generated the greatest recall of anatomy information. Anat Sci Educ 10: 339–347. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.     

A Pilot Study Examining Religious Organization Affiliation,Sexual Health Information Sources,and Sexual Behaviors Among College Students

We conducted an online survey to examine religiosity, sexual health knowledge, and behavior and sexual health information sources among undergraduate students affiliated with student religious organizations (n?=?45) and unaffiliated students (n?=?82). Analyses included Fisher’s exact tests, t-tests, and exact regression models. Students reporting religious affiliation considered religious sources to be believable (p?=?.004 for sexual health; p?p?=?.0042). Although religiously affiliated students reported fewer sexual partners in the past year (p?=?.020), their reported condom use was not significantly different from that of unaffiliated students. Future research should explore the focus and content of romantic relationship information provided by student religious organizations. Health practitioners and educators should consider strategies for collaborating with religious organizations to meet the information needs of these students.     

A Critical Examination Of The Effects Of Learning Management Systems On University Teaching And Learning

The rapid uptake of campus-wide Learning Management Systems (LMS) is changing the character of the on-campus learning experience. The trend towards LMS as an adjunct to traditional learning modes has been the subject of little research beyond technical analyses of alternative software systems. Drawing on Australian experience, this paper presents a broad, critical examination of the potential impact of these online systems on teaching and learning in universities. It discusses in particular the possible effects of LMS on teaching practices, on student engagement, on the nature of academic work and on the control over academic knowledge.     

Virtual(ly) Athletes: Where eSports Fit Within the Definition of “Sport”

Electronic sports, cybersports, gaming, competitive computer gaming, and virtual sports are all synonyms for the term eSports. Regardless of the term used, eSports is now becoming more accepted as a sport and gamers are being identified as athletes within society today. eSports has even infiltrated higher education in the form of an intercollegiate athletic sport, as two university athletic departments have made eSports an official varsity sport where scholarships are provided to collegiate eSports athletes. Thus, the intertwining of eSports and university athletics brings into question whether eSports should be considered sport by broader society. This article provides a brief history of eSports, a further developed definition of eSports, and a comparison of eSports to traditional philosophical and sociological definitions of sport. The purpose of this article is to provoke thought on the academically accepted definitions of sport and debate whether eSports should be considered a sport. Attention will be given to the following components of sport: play, organization, competition, skill, physicality, broad following, and institutionalization.     

New perspectives in gaze sensitivity research

Attending to where others are looking is thought to be of great adaptive benefit for animals when avoiding predators and interacting with group members. Many animals have been reported to respond to the gaze of others, by co-orienting their gaze with group members (gaze following) and/or responding fearfully to the gaze of predators or competitors (i.e., gaze aversion). Much of the literature has focused on the cognitive underpinnings of gaze sensitivity, namely whether animals have an understanding of the attention and visual perspectives in others. Yet there remain several unanswered questions regarding how animals learn to follow or avoid gaze and how experience may influence their behavioral responses. Many studies on the ontogeny of gaze sensitivity have shed light on how and when gaze abilities emerge and change across development, indicating the necessity to explore gaze sensitivity when animals are exposed to additional information from their environment as adults. Gaze aversion may be dependent upon experience and proximity to different predator types, other cues of predation risk, and the salience of gaze cues. Gaze following in the context of information transfer within social groups may also be dependent upon experience with group-members; therefore we propose novel means to explore the degree to which animals respond to gaze in a flexible manner, namely by inhibiting or enhancing gaze following responses. We hope this review will stimulate gaze sensitivity research to expand beyond the narrow scope of investigating underlying cognitive mechanisms, and to explore how gaze cues may function to communicate information other than attention.     

The Reflective Model of Triadic Supervision: Defining an Emerging Modality

Current Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Eduational Programs (CACREP; 2001) standards promote the use of triadic supervision by counselor educators and supervisors. However, conceptual models of triadic supervision do not presently exist in the supervision literature. This article describes the process and structure of 1 model of triadic supervision (D. M. Kleist & N. R. Hill, 2003). This model provides a vehicle for implementing triadic supervision in response to changes in the CACREP standards and adds to the literature on triadic supervision. Implications for counselor educators and supervisors, as well as future research, are conceptualized.     

Working memory and learning in children with developmental coordination disorder and specific language impairment

The authors compared 6- to 11-year-olds with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and those with specific language impairment (SLI) on measures of memory (verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory) and learning (reading and mathematics). Children with DCD with typical language skills were impaired in all four areas of memory function for their age level, and this pattern was also found to be characteristic of a larger DCD group with varied language abilities. SLI-group deficits in standard scores were observed for the verbal versions of the short-term and working memory tasks only. There were also differential links between memory and attainment between the two groups, with visuospatial working memory strongly related to numeracy in the SLI group and all of the memory measures correlated with at least one attainment measure in the DCD group. Reasons for why working memory contributes to learning in these two developmental groups are discussed.     

Growth goals and growth mindset from a methodological-synergistic perspective: lessons learned from a quantitative correlational research program

This review explores predictors and consequences of students’ growth goals and growth mindset in school with particular emphasis on how correlational statistical methods can be applied to illuminate key issues and implications. Study 1 used cross-sectional data and employed structural equation modelling (SEM) to investigate the role of growth goals in mediating the link between interpersonal relationships and academic engagement. Study 2 conducted multi-group path analysis to investigate the role of growth goals in the academic outcomes of two groups of students (ADHD and non-ADHD). Study 3 used longitudinal data and SEM to test a cross-lagged panel design to investigate reciprocal links between growth goals and growth mindset. Study 4 conducted multi-level SEM where the effects of a growth orientation on engagement and achievement were investigated at the student-level (level 1) and the classroom-level (level 2). Taking these four studies together, we aim to show how correlational data and multivariate correlational analyses have been effective in answering research questions in a way that have practical and theoretical implications for students’ academic growth. We also position this review as a substantive-methodological synergy – an approach recently recommended in response to concerns about the increasing polarization of substantive and methodological research and researchers.