Education for the other: policy and provision for Muslim children in the UK and Swedish education systems

The European Convention on Human Rights has been signed by both the UK and Sweden as well as other European states, providing legal justification for accommodating the educational needs of religious minorities. This legal entitlement is explored in the paper, with particular reference to parental choice for schools based on an Islamic ethos. How the UK and Sweden have responded to accommodate the religious convictions of Muslim families is the focus of discussion, drawing on historical and policy backgrounds. The paper also draws on the theoretical work of Kumashiro and the concept of ‘Education for the Other’, examining the positioning of minority groups within the broad context of a multicultural society and the challenge of accommodating religious convictions in a climate of increasing support for cultural assimilation.     

Willingness toward organ and body donation among anatomy professors and students in Mexico

Most anatomists agree that cadaver dissection serves as a superior teaching tool in human anatomy education. However, attitudes toward body donation vary widely between different individuals. A questionnaire was developed to determine the attitudes toward body and organ donation among those who learn the most from cadavers: medical students, medical student teaching assistants, medical students involved in research, and anatomy professors. A cross‐sectional, prospective study was designed in which the questionnaire was distributed among first‐year human anatomy students before undertaking cadaver dissection at the beginning of the semester, and then again after a commemoration service at the end of the course. The questionnaire items included demographic data, as well as questions designed to characterize participants' attitudes regarding body/organ donation from strangers, family members, and whether participants would consider such practices with their own bodies. Out of a total of 517 students enrolled in the Human Anatomy course in the Medical School at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico during January to June 2016, 95% responded to the first (491) and second (490) surveys. Participants' opinions on their own organ donation was similar before and after exposure to cadaver dissection, with between 87% and 81% in favor of such practices, and only 3% against it, in both surveys. Participants' willingness to donate their own bodies, as well as those of family members, increased, while reluctance regarding such practices decreased by half (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.05). Professors had the highest rates of positive opinions regarding their own body donation (74.9%), with 18.8% undecided. Low opposition toward organ and body donation remains prevalent among both anatomists and physicians in training in Mexico. Anat Sci Educ 10: 589–597. © 2017 American Association of Anatomists.     

Frustration and sexual behavior in male rats

Frustration is an emotional state produced by the surprising omission in quantity and/or quality of an appetitive reinforcer. The aversive properties of stressors, such as electric shocks, produce responses similar to those elicited by a state of frustration. In this set of three experiments, we assessed the effects of water immersion (WIM, in Experiment 1)—that is, a physical stressor—and first (in Experiments 1 and 2) and second trials of a consummatory extinction (cE; i.e., a surprising reward omission; in Experiment 3) on the sexual behavior of male rats, as compared with nonstressed animals. The results showed a sexual deficit in the animals subjected to either WIM or cE, relative to control subjects, although these experimental conditions differed in the component of the male sexual response that was affected. The present results accord with the fear = frustration hypothesis, and with Amsel’s frustration theory.     

Detection of Misconceptions about Colour and an Experimentally Tested Proposal to Combat them

We study the misconceptions about colour that most people hold, determining the general phenomenological laws that govern them. Concept mapping was used to combat the misconceptions which were found in the application of a test specifically designed to determine these misconceptions, while avoiding the possible misleading inductions that could have arisen from the use of everyday language. In particular, care was taken to avoid the distorting effect that the use of the verb ‘to be’ applied to coloured objects could have on the responses. The misconceptions found were shown to have an internal consistency in the form of authentic mini-theories (implicit theories). We compared experimentally the results of two different teaching methods applied to combat these misconceptions. This study was conducted with 470 undergraduates of the University of Extremadura. We analysed the persistence over time of their learning made to overcome those misconceptions. The students were divided randomly into an experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG). To combat their misconceptions, EG were taught following a method based on the use of concept maps, and CG were taught following traditional teaching methods. The results of a pre-test and a post-test were compared for the two groups, finding statistically significant differences. The results allowed the principal working hypothesis to be accepted—concept maps are learning tools which foster conceptual change and allow misconceptions to be eradicated via meaningful learning maintained over time, i.e. EG acquired a relative long-lasting gain in learning that was superior to that acquired by CG.     

Curriculum and Society: Rethinking the Link

This article argues that the link between educational curricula and society as a whole has become critically uncertain. This crisis is linked to a number of factors related to the post-modern world view, including: the disappearance of grand utopian social visions of the kind that used to underpin educational policy; the lack of adequate theoretical tools; and the way in which academics are exposed to a multitude of different cultural norms. The author argues that this situation calls for a fundamental re-thinking of the link between curriculum and society, based on a more flexible and pluralistic approach.     

Enhancing Students’ Learning Process Through Self-Generated Tests

The use of new technologies in higher education has surprisingly emphasized students’ tendency to adopt a passive behavior in class. Participation and interaction of students are essential to improve academic results. This paper describes an educational experiment aimed at the promotion of students’ autonomous learning by requiring them to generate test type questions related to the contents of the course. The main idea is to make the student feel part of the evaluation process by including students’ questions in the evaluation exams. A set of applications running on our university online learning environment has been developed in order to provide both students and teachers with the necessary tools for a good interaction between them. Questions uploaded by students are visible to every enrolled student as well as to each involved teacher. In this way, we enhance critical analysis skills, by solving and finding possible mistakes in the questions sent by their fellows. The experiment was applied over 769 students from 12 different courses. Results show that the students who have actively participated in the experiment have obtained better academic performance.     

The use of augmented reality to improve the development of activities of daily living in students with ASD

Education and Information Technologies - In today's society, technology plays a fundamental role. More and more activities of daily life are being developed with the help of technology. One of...