Using invention to change how students tackle problems

Invention activities challenge students to tackle problems that superficially appear unrelated to the course material but illustrate underlying fundamental concepts that are fundamental to material that will be presented. During our invention activities in a first-year biology class, students were presented with problems that are parallel to those that living cells must solve, in weekly sessions over a 13-wk term. We compared students who participated in the invention activities sessions with students who participated in sessions of structured problem solving and with students who did not participate in either activity. When faced with developing a solution to a challenging and unfamiliar biology problem, invention activity students were much quicker to engage with the problem and routinely provided multiple reasonable hypotheses. In contrast the other students were significantly slower in beginning to work on the problem and routinely produced relatively few ideas. We suggest that the invention activities develop a highly valuable skill that operates at the initial stages of problem solving.     

Shelf-ready: A cost-benefit analysis

Brigham Young University's Harold B. Lee Library conducted a time-task cost study to compare the cost and processing time of shelf-ready books to non-shelf-ready books to determine if it could better use its human resources and if it should expand the use of shelf-ready to include its approval books. The results showed that shelf-ready was, on average, 5.7% cheaper, took 47% less processing time, and arrived on the shelves 33 sooner than books processed in-house. Based on the results of the study, the library moved its approval books to the shelf-ready program and was able to reallocate catalogers tasks.     

Factors influencing technology planning in developing countries: A literature review

This article is a literature review concerning the factors that play an important role in the development of educational technology plans in the educational system of developing countries (DCs). Largely, the technology plans are influenced by factors that emanates from within the country (internal) and those outside of their borders (external). Internal factors include the high prices and low effectiveness of services provided by technology-related multinational corporations in DCs, the philosophical perspectives and priorities of organizations, foundations and development agencies promoting the implementation of ICTs in DCs, pilot programs without sustainability, uncoordinated pilot projects, selling of refurbished computers for use at a large scale, and dominance of the English language in the software. External factors include international summits and conferences, global partnerships and establishment of international organizations, and technology-related multinational corporations. To this end, this article is intended to stimulate reflections on the different factors that play an important role in the development and implementation of educational technology plans in Dcs.     

Using computer-assisted instruction to enhance achievement of English language learners

Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) in English-Language environments offer practice time, motivates students, enhance student learning, increase authentic materials that students can study, and has the potential to encourage teamwork between students. The findings from this particular study suggested that students who used computer assisted program had a greater chance of closing achievement gap and meeting NCLB requirements than those students who did not use computer-assisted instruction. Additionally, the students that used computer-assisted classroom instruction gained scores in reading and math. Based on these findings, teachers, school administrators, and other educational stakeholder should explore strategies for technology integration to close the achievement gap.     

Conceptualizing the Counseling Training Environment Using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory

While learning environment research has been growing in popularity over the past few decades, little attention has been given towards the learning environment of graduate students, and virtually no attention has been given specifically towards graduate counseling and related programs such as professional counseling, clinical and counseling psychology, and marriage and family therapy. In this paper we propose using Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1992) ecological theory as a model to conceptualize the training environment of such counselor preparation programs. Through the application of Bronfenbrenner’s theory, counselor educators and counseling trainees can better understand the systemic nature of the training environment that they create and where they train. Implications and recommendations for future research are provided to further advance the knowledge and awareness of the counseling training environment.     

The Neuroscience of PowerPointTM

Many concepts have been published relevant to improving the design of PowerPoint^TM (PP) presentations for didactic purposes, including the redundancy, modality, and signaling principles of multimedia learning. In this article, we review the recent neuroimaging findings that have emerged elucidating the neural structures involved in many of these concepts. First, we explore the research suggesting that the brain utilizes similar structures to process written text and oral speech leading to neural competition and impaired performance during dual linguistic text/audition tasks (redundancy principle). Next, we examine research that demonstrates that the brain processes visual images in a manner different from and parallel to oral speech leading to improved performance during dual nonlinguistic visual/audition tasks (modality principle). Finally, we look at how the brain responds to contextual and direct attention cues (signaling principle). We link this research to PP design and suggest a number of concrete ways to implement these findings to improve the didactic strength of slide‐show presentations.     

Counselor educators using self as instrument in antiracist teaching

In this autoethnography inquiry, seven counselor educators from diverse intersectionalities discuss how they leverage their selfhood to promote antiracist counselor education. Based on two cycles of pattern coding, the authors identified themes of perceiving, experiencing, creating, and facilitating. Implications for future research and practice are offered.     

Can changes in midsole bending stiffness of shoes affect the onset of joint work redistribution during a prolonged run?

Purpose:This study aimed to investigate if changing the midsole bending stiffness of athletic footwear can affect the onset of lower limb joint work redistribution during a prolonged run.Methods:Fifteen trained male runners(10-km time of <44 min) performed 10-km runs at 90% of their individual speed at lactate threshold(i.e.,when change in lactate exceeded 1 mmol/L during an incremental running test) in a control and stiff shoe condition on 2 occasions.Lower limb joint kinematics and kinetics...     

The undergraduate that could: Crafting a collaborative student training program

Since the mid-nineteenth century, student worker programs have been an integral component of academic libraries, and the evolution of the profession has put more students, even undergraduates, into positions with greater responsibility, raising questions about the level of expertise of which undergraduate students are capable. The authors address these questions through the lens of the collaborative redevelopment of two distinct library student worker programs at a small liberal arts college. Included is a discussion of successes and challenges, as well as a consideration of the benefits of a “cross-library” support system in developing such a program.     

Preschoolers Use Emotion in Speech to Learn New Words

Two experiments examined 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds' use of vocal affect to learn new words. In Experiment 1 (n = 48), children were presented with two unfamiliar objects, first in their original state and then in an altered state (broken or enhanced). An instruction produced with negative, neutral, or positive affect, directed children to find the referent of a novel word. During the novel noun, eye gaze measures indicated that both 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds were more likely to consider an object congruent with vocal affect cues. In Experiment 2, 5‐year‐olds (n = 15) were asked to extend and generalize their initial mapping to new exemplars. Here, 5‐year‐olds generalized these newly mapped labels but only when presented with negative vocal affect.