Predicting academic achievement by class‐level emotions and perceived homeroom teachers’ emotional support

Using a multilevel approach, this study examined the role of classroom emotional climate on students' academic achievement. Positive and negative emotions and homeroom teachers' support were used to assess the classroom emotional climate on the individual and class levels. To our knowledge, no study to date has investigated these specific aspects of the classroom emotional climate in relation to students' GPA. Data were collected from 73 classrooms in grades 7‐12 (N = 1,641, students; 53% female) across three schools in Israel. Findings revealed that aggregated levels of both positive affect and perceived homeroom teacher support were positively tied to GPA and that aggregated levels of negative affect were negatively tied to GPA. The final model included gender, teacher support, individual and class emotions and explained 14% of within‐class GPA. A central implication of this study is the relevance of having an emotionally supportive homeroom teacher for students' academic achievement.     

Beyond teaching practice: Exploring individual determinants of student performance on a research skills module

The purpose of this study was to identify the extent to which intrinsic student factors such as cognitive learning style, learning strategies, motivation and statistics anxiety, as well as certain demographic factors, predict performance on a research design and analysis course (RDAIIA) in the Department of Psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, with a view to developing future interventions for improving student performance. Using a sample of eighty students, it was established that the factors most predictive of RDA performance were secondary school performance (p < 0.0001) and age (p = 0.0106). Excluding demographic factors, self-efficacy (p < 0.0001), help-seeking (p = 0.0531) and a reflective learning style (p = 0.0071) were also found to be predictive. Performance also differed between students who had completed Mathematics on the higher grade in secondary school and those who had completed standard grade (p = 0.016). These findings present both possible directions and substantial challenges for future performance-intervention strategies.     

Systems,transfer, and fields: Evaluating a new approach to energy instruction

Energy is a central concept in science in every discipline and also an essential player in many of the issues facing people everywhere on the globe. However, studies have shown that by the end of K-12 schooling, most students do not reach the level of understanding required to be able to use energy to make sense of a wide range of phenomena. Many researchers have questioned whether the conceptual foundations of traditional approaches to energy instruction may be responsible for students' difficulties. In response to these concerns, we developed and tested a novel approach to middle school physical science energy instruction that was informed by the recommendations of the Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012a) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (NGSS Lead States, 2013). This new approach differs substantially from more traditional approaches to energy instruction in that it does not require energy forms and it emphasizes connections between energy, systems, and fields that mediate interaction-at-a-distance. We investigated student learning during this novel approach and contrasted it with student learning within a comparable unit based on a more traditional approach to energy instruction. Our findings indicate that students who learned in the new approach outperformed students who learned in the traditional approach in every quantitative and qualitative aspect considered in this study, irrespective of their prior knowledge of energy. They developed more parsimonious knowledge networks in relation to energy that focused primarily around the concept of energy transfer. This study warrants further investigation into the value of this new approach to energy instruction in both middle and high school.     

Computed tomography‐enhanced anatomy course using enterprise visualization

Rapid changes in medical knowledge are forcing continuous adaptation of the basic science courses in medical schools. This article discusses a three‐year experience developing a new Computed Tomography (CT)‐based anatomy curriculum at the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, including describing the motivations and reasoning for the new curriculum, the CT‐based learning system itself, practical examples of visual dissections, and student assessments of the new curriculum. At the heart of this new curriculum is the emphasis on studying anatomy by navigating inside the bodies of various living individuals utilizing a CT viewer. To assess the students’ experience with the new CT‐based learning method, an anonymous questionnaire was administered at the end of the course for three consecutive academic years: 2008/2009, 2009/2010, 2010/2011. Based upon the results, modifications were made to the curriculum in the summers of 2009 and 2010. Results showed that: (1) during these three years the number of students extensively using the CT system quadrupled (from 11% to 46%); (2) students' satisfaction from radiologists involvement increased by 150%; and (3) student appreciation of the CT‐based learning method significantly increased (from 13% to 68%). It was concluded that discouraging results (mainly negative feedback from students) during the first years and a priori opposition from the teaching staff should not weaken efforts to develop new teaching methods in the field of anatomy. Incorporating a new curriculum requires time and patience. Student and staff satisfaction, along with utilization of the new system, will increase with the improvement of impeding factors. Anat Sci Educ 6: 332–341. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

History of the Infinitely Small and the Infinitely Large in Calculus

The infinitely small and the infinitely large are essential in calculus. They have appeared throughout its history in various guises: infinitesimals, indivisibles, differentials, evanescent quantities, moments, infinitely large and infinitely small magnitudes, infinite sums, power series, limits, and hyperreal numbers. And they have been fundamental at both the technical and conceptual levels – as underlying tools of the subject and as its foundational underpinnings. We will consider examples of these aspects of the infinitely small and large as they unfolded in the history of calculus from the 17^th through the 20^th centuries. We will also present `didactic observations' at relevant places in the historical account. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Flavor preferences conditioned with starch in rats

Rats were trained to associate artificial cherry or grape flavors with 1% starch suspensions. Conditioning was assessed by offering the rats a choice of the cherry versus grape flavors without starch. Conditioned preferences were moderately strong and persistent; 3 days of conditioning produced a preference that did not fully extinguish within 18 days. Food deprivation substantially increased intake of 1% starch suspension, However, the degree of preference conditioned was not influenced by the availability of food during the conditioning period; the rats that had been food deprived during training acquired as strong a preference as did those fed freely during training. The degree of preference obtained was similar in the rats given reinforcing and nonreinforcing fluids simultaneously or sequentially. Starch conditioned a slightly stronger preference than did the same concentration of glucose, even though these substances contain the same amount of calories. A statistically significant, but weak, preference was conditioned by 0.5%, but not by 0.25%, starch. It is proposed that the flavor of starch, independent of its calories, is reinforcing to rats.     

Counselor Education on Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Issues: Comparing Information and Attitude Exploration

The authors compared the effects of information‐based and attitude‐based interventions on counselor trainees' knowledge about and attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients. Analyses of variance indicated that providing information yielded higher knowledge levels than did not providing information and that the exploration of attitudes led to reporting more negative attitudes than did not exploring attitudes. The implications of the findings for counselor education and future research are discussed.