Generalization of serial learning in the pigeon

Sequence learning in pigeons was studied in asimultaneous chaining paradigm: all stimuli and the opportunity to respond to each stimulus were available simultaneously. In contrast to the traditionalsuccessive chaining paradigm, a simultaneous chaining paradigm provides no differential feedback following each response (except the last). Subjects were first trained to perform on sequences of two (AB), then three (ABC), and then four colors (ABCD). Performance greatly exceeded that predicted by models of random choice. Generalization to novel arrays of three and four colors was complete. After training with a four-color sequence, the subjects were tested with subsequences consisting of all possible combinations of two and three of the four training colors (e.g., BD, AD, BC, ACD, BCD, etc.). The successful completion of these subsequences showed that the organization of the original sequence did not entail overt pecks to successive elements of that sequence. That subjects can respond accurately on nonadjacent subsets is not readily explained by a chaining theory, or by any theory that assumes that responding to element n provides a cue for responding to element n+1.     

The professionalisation of teaching: teacher training and education reform in Austria, 1867–1914

This article examines Austria’s efforts to reform teacher education during the period of the Dual Monarchy, 1867–1914. It offers insight into the role of teachers in Austrian society and how this role changed over time. It demonstrates that, during this period, teaching became an institutionalised and professionalised occupation. This process of professionalisation brought teachers firmly under state control, leading to conflict between teachers and the Austrian educational bureaucracy. This process also led to the development of a robust network of teachers’ associations to represent the interest of Austrian teachers and to contribute to their professional development. This article utilises documents from the Austrian educational bureaucracy, printed curriculum and pedagogical journals to illustrate that Austrian teacher training reforms offer crucial insight into the development of public education in the late nineteenth century.     

Familiar Object Salience Affects Novel Word Learning

Children use the presence of familiar objects with known names to identify the correct referents of novel words. In natural environments, objects vary widely in salience. The presence of familiar objects may sometimes hinder rather than help word learning. To test this hypothesis, 3-year-olds (N = 36) were shown novel objects paired with familiar objects that varied in their visual salience. When the novel objects were labeled, children were slower and less accurate at fixating them in the presence of highly salient familiar objects than in the presence of less salient familiar objects. They were also less successful in retaining these word-referent pairings. While familiar objects may facilitate novel word learning in ambiguous situations, the properties of familiar objects matter.     

A Typology of State Financial Aid Grant Programs Using Latent Class Analysis

Research in Higher Education - State financial aid grant programs are commonly categorized as either need-based, merit-based, or both, but their initial eligibility requirements include many more...     

An improved method for computing Hankel transform

The purpose of this paper is to compute the Hankel transform F_n(y) of order n of a function f(x) and its inverse transform using rationalized Haar wavelets. The integrand is replaced by its wavelet decomposition. Thus representing F_n(y) as a Fourier-Bessel series with coefficients depending strongly on the local behavior of the function , thereby getting an efficient algorithm for their numerical evaluation. Numerical evaluations of test functions with known analytical Hankel transforms illustrate the proposed algorithm.     

Bandpass sorting of heterogeneous cells using a single surface acoustic wave transducer pair

Separation and sorting of biological entities (viruses, bacteria, and cells) is a critical step in any microfluidic lab-on-a-chip device. Acoustofluidics platforms have demonstrated their ability to use physical characteristics of cells to perform label-free separation. Bandpass-type sorting methods of medium-sized entities from a mixture have been presented using acoustic techniques; however, they require multiple transducers, lack support for various target populations, can be sensitive to flow variations, or have not been verified for continuous flow sorting of biological cells. To our knowledge, this paper presents the first acoustic bandpass method that overcomes all these limitations and presents an inherently reconfigurable technique with a single transducer pair for stable continuous flow sorting of blood cells. The sorting method is first demonstrated for polystyrene particles of sizes 6, 10, and 14.5 μm in diameter with measured purity and efficiency coefficients above 75 ± 6% and 85 ± 9%, respectively. The sorting strategy was further validated in the separation of red blood cells from white blood cells and 1 μm polystyrene particles with 78 ± 8% efficiency and 74 ± 6% purity, respectively, at a flow rate of at least 1 μl/min, enabling to process finger prick blood samples within minutes.     

Size-dependent trajectories of DNA macromolecules due to insulative dielectrophoresis in submicrometer-deep fluidic channels

In this paper, we demonstrate for the first time that insulative dielectrophoresis can induce size-dependent trajectories of DNA macromolecules. We experimentally use λ (48.5 kbp) and T4GT7 (165.6 kbp) DNA molecules flowing continuously around a sharp corner inside fluidic channels with a depth of 0.4 μm. Numerical simulation of the electrokinetic force distribution inside the channels is in qualitative agreement with our experimentally observed trajectories. We discuss a possible physical mechanism for the DNA polarization and dielectrophoresis inside confining channels, based on the observed dielectrophoresis responses due to different DNA sizes and various electric fields applied between the inlet and the outlet. The proposed physical mechanism indicates that further extensive investigations, both theoretically and experimentally, would be very useful to better elucidate the forces involved at DNA dielectrophoresis. When applied for size-based sorting of DNA molecules, our sorting method offers two major advantages compared to earlier attempts with insulative dielectrophoresis: Its continuous operation allows for high-throughput analysis, and it only requires electric field strengths as low as ∼10 V∕cm.     

The influence of formal and informal formative pre‐service experiences on teacher self‐efficacy

Formal pre‐service training has been shown to be effective in building teacher self‐efficacy beliefs. However, the impact of other, less formal, ‘teacher‐like’ pre‐service experiences on the formation of efficacy beliefs has not previously been investigated. This study examines the associations between both formal and informal formative pre‐service experiences and teacher self‐efficacy. In addition, the effect of years of teaching experience on these associations was investigated. Three hundred fifteen teachers of general and Judaic studies in Jewish day schools in the USA responded to a survey about their formal pre‐service experiences; informal experiences as youth advisors, camp counsellors and childcare supervisors; and two measures of teacher self‐efficacy. Formal pre‐service training and positive student‐teaching experiences, as well as each of the three informal experiences, were found to be associated with positive teacher self‐efficacy. Interestingly, formal and informal pre‐service experiences appear to be associated with different aspects of teacher self‐efficacy. Formal teacher training was most strongly associated with efficacy for instructional practices, while the positive informal experiences were most strongly associated with efficacy for student engagement. The potential impact of both formal and informal experiences did not appear to fade over time. On the contrary, for those variables where an interaction with years of teaching was detected, it was the efficacy beliefs of the most senior teachers that were most related to their pre‐service experiences. These findings have important implications for the practice of both teacher trainers and those charged with recruiting and supporting teachers.     

Opposite Sides of the Same Coin? Exploring the Connections between School Absenteeism and Student Mobility

ABSTRACT

Mobile students and absent students are important subsets of at-risk students in schools and districts nationwide. As such, student mobility and school absenteeism are two challenges in K-12 education with significant policy and equity implications. Although both issues are at the nexus of schooling and society and there is an apparent overlap in the attributes of these student subgroups, school absenteeism and student mobility are often discussed in separate conversations. This article connects the two disparate literatures in hopes of forging stronger ties that may benefit policymakers, researchers, educators, and students. The limited empirical evidence is mixed but suggests that school absenteeism and student mobility are correlated and absenteeism plays a small mediating role in the relationship between student mobility and student outcomes. The reasons underlying student mobility and student absenteeism are interrelated but not all reasons are common. The overlapping causes of student mobility and chronic absenteeism indicate that economic and social circumstances are important underlying factors. In particular, poverty is a key shared reason for missing or switching schools. Although both phenomena contribute to disparities in educational opportunities, experiences, and outcomes, this study posits that changing schools and missing school provide instructive examples of how inequality in society may be reproduced in districts and schools. Recommendations to address both phenomena and directions for future research are discussed.