Conditioning in garter snakes: Aversion to palatable prey induced by delayed illness

Gaiter snakes (Thomnophis sirtalis) accustomed to a fish diet were injected with either saline or lithium chloride 30 min following the ingestion of earthworms. On subsequent tests at 4-day intervals, the LiCl-injected snakes showed significantly increased attack latencies to worms, which were often refused, but not to fish. Behavioral observation of feeding and concurrent tests with surface substance extracts of worm and fish indicate that chemosensory mediation is involved.     

A Comparison of Special,General and Support Teachers’ Controllability and Stability Attributions for Children’s Difficulties in Learning

The study aimed to explore teachers’ attributions for learner difficulties in their schoolwork. In order to explore their attributions of controllability and stability, three groups of teachers, general mainstream class teachers (N = 39), mainstream learning support teachers (N = 35), and special school teachers (N = 25) were asked to rate vignettes about children’s difficulties. The results showed that the two groups of teachers working in the mainstream settings viewed learners with identified support needs as having less control over their performance than those with no specific support needs, while special school teachers viewed both learner groups similarly. Similar findings were found for teacher attributions of controllability in high‐ and low‐ability learners. Stability attributions across all conditions showed that special school teachers viewed children’s difficulties as more amenable to change than did the two groups of mainstream teachers. The implications of these findings for inclusion in mainstream schools are discussed.     

Factors Influencing Postsecondary STEM Students’ Views of the Public Communication of an Emergent Technology: a Cross-National Study from Five Universities

Recent efforts in the science education community have highlighted the need to integrate research and theory from science communication research into more general science education scholarship. These synthesized research perspectives are relatively novel but serve an important need to better understand the impacts that the advent of rapidly emerging technologies will have on a new generation of scientists and engineers including their formal communication with engaged citizenry. This cross-national study examined postsecondary science and engineering students’ (n?=?254 from five countries: Austria, Finland, France, Israel, and USA) perspectives on the role of science communication in their own formal science and engineering education. More broadly, we examined participants’ understanding of their perceived responsibilities of communicating science and engineering to the general public when an issue contains complex social and ethical implications (SEI). The study is contextualized in the emergent technology of nanotechnology for which SEI are of particular concern and for which the general public often perceives conflicting risks and benefits. Findings indicate that student participants’ hold similar views on the need for their own training in communication as future scientists and engineers. When asked about the role that ethics and risk perception plays in research, development, and public communication of nanotechnology, participants demonstrate similar trajectories of perspectives that are, however, often anchored in very different levels of beginning concern. Results are discussed in the context of considerations for science communication training within formal science education curricula globally.     

Information and Digital Literacies in a Kindergarten Classroom: An I-LEARN Case Study

This case study, part of a larger qualitative research project, involved 24 kindergarteners and their teacher in the design, development, and evaluation of a research project built around the I-LEARN model (Neuman, Learning in information-rich environments: I-LEARN and the construction of knowledge in the 21st Century. Springer, New York, 2011b). I-LEARN is a six-step learning model (Identify, Locate, Evaluate, Apply, Reflect and kNow) designed to guide research for twenty first-century learning. The objectives of the study were both to improve the digital and information literacies of the participants and to validate the I-LEARN model for use in an early childhood classroom. The findings have implications for information literacy, digital literacy, and developmentally appropriate practices.     

University Teachers' Conceptions of Memorising in Learning Science

This paper describes what a sample of university teachers in science conceive to be the role of memorising and the relationship between memorising and understanding in their disciplines. Sixteen, purposively selected university teachers were interviewed in depth. The university teachers were from three disciplines--mathematics, physiology and physics. Analysis of the data was undertaken from a phenomenographic perspective (Marton, 1988) and indicates a set of conceptions of memorising including memorising as rote learning for reproduction, as facilitating learning--a way to progress--and as a key component of the learning process. Opposing views of the relationship between memorising and understanding were expressed; these were viewed either as unrelated processes or as dynamically interwoven.     

Exploring variations in teachers' work,lives and their effects on pupils: key findings and implications from a longitudinal mixed‐method study

This article outlines the research design of a large‐scale, longitudinal research study in England intended to describe and explore variations in teachers' work, lives and their effects on pupils' educational outcomes. The study, funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and incorporated into the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) as an ‘Associate Project’, used an innovative mixed‐methods research design to create case studies of 300 teachers in Years 2, 6 and 9. The research was conducted over three consecutive academic years and collected a wide range of data through interviews, questionnaire surveys of teachers' and pupils' views and assessment data on pupils' attainments in English and mathematics. The text summarises the main findings from the research in relation to four interconnected themes of the study: Professional Life Phases; Professional Identity; Relative Effectiveness; and Resilience and Commitment. The influence of school context, in terms of level of social disadvantage of pupil intake, is also investigated. Key findings and their implications for policy and practice are highlighted.     

Providing a flexible, learner-centred programme: Challenges for educators

This paper presents a case study of the implementation of a flexible learner-centred programme of study which blends face-to-face and online learning. The programme was developed to be flexible in terms of content and study strategies, whilst remaining within more rigid organisational structures and processes. This paper outlines the programme and presents the model developed for flexible content delivery. The programme has been delivered simultaneously by five tutors to six groups of learners. Tutors drew on varying personal experiences of flexible and online learning and this paper also presents the results of an investigation to explore their experiences of facilitation. The findings provide a unique insight into the implications of such a programme for educators. Data were gathered using methods to promote and structure reflections on practice. Issues of relevance for others considering the development of flexible learner-centred programmes of study are presented.     

Dielectrophoretic discrimination of bovine red blood cell starvation age by buffer selection and membrane cross-linking

We report an interesting buffer electric relaxation time tuning technique, coupled with a glutaraldehyde cross-linking cell fixation reaction, which allows for sensitive dielectrophoretic analysis and discrimination of bovine red blood cell (bRBC) starvation age. The buffer composition is selected such that two easily accessible dielectrophoretic crossover frequencies (cof) exist. Low concentration glutaraldehyde fixation was observed to produce a threefold decrease in the higher cof with a comparable increase in the lower cof also witnessed. More importantly, increased glutaraldehyde fixation concentration significantly increased the higher cof by a factor found to be sensitive to the bRBC starvation age.     

Backstroke start performance: the impact of using the Omega OBL2 backstroke ledge

FINA recently approved the backstroke ledge (Omega OBL2) to improve backstroke start performance in competition, but its performance has not been thoroughly evaluated. The purpose of this study was to compare the mechanics of starts performed with and without the OBL2. Ten high-level backstroke swimmers performed three starts with, and three starts without, the OBL2. A wall-mounted force plate measured the lower limb horizontal impulse, vertical impulse, take-off velocity and take-off angle. Entry distance, time to 10 m and start of hip and knee extension were recorded using video cameras. Starts performed with the OBL2 had a 0.13 s lower time to 10 m, 2.5% less variability in time to 10 m and 0.14 m greater head entry distance. The OBL2 provides a performance advantage by allowing an increased head entry distance rather than larger horizontal impulse on the wall. This may be due to the swimmers assuming different body positions during the start manoeuvre. Additional studies are needed to evaluate factors that contribute to improved performance when using the OBL2. Swimmers should train with the OBL2 and use it in competition to ensure optimal start performance.