Neuropsychological correlates of vocabulary, reading, and working memory in deaf children with cochlear implants

The performance of deaf children with cochlear implants was assessed using measures standardized on hearing children. To investigate nonverbal cognitive and sensorimotor processes associated with postimplant variability, five selected sensorimotor and visuospatial subtests from A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment (NEPSY) were compared with standardized vocabulary, reading, and digit span measures. Participants were 26 deaf children, ages 6-14 years, who received a cochlear implant between ages 1 and 6 years; duration of implant use ranged from 3 to 11 years. Results indicated significant correlations between standard scores on the Design Copying subtest of the NEPSY and standard scores on vocabulary comprehension, reading, and digit span measures. The results contribute to our understanding of the benefits of cochlear implantation and cognitive processes that may support postimplant language and academic functioning.     

Do Biologists’ Conceptions of Science as a Social Epistemology Align with Critical Contextual Empiricism?

From literature on understandings of the “nature of science” (NOS), we know that sometimes scientists and others that participate in teaching and mentoring in the sciences lack an informed view of the philosophical underpinnings of their discipline. In this study, we ask whether biologists who are also teachers or mentors for college students agree with the tenets of critical contextual empiricism (CCE), a social epistemology of science that foregrounds the importance of a diversity of voices in knowledge-producing communities. We used a Q-sort methodology to examine beliefs about social knowledge construction that are related to teaching science inclusively. Overall, we found that biologists-teachers held viewpoints somewhat consistent with the tenets of Critical Contextual Empiricism. Although participants shared many beliefs in common, we found two significantly different groups of participants that were characterized under the themes “knowledge is constructed by people” and “the truth is out there.” Overall, although participants believed a diversity of cognitive resources aids scientific communities, they failed to recognize the more nuanced ways certain social interactions might impact objective knowledge production. For one group, outside of a belief that collaboration in science is valuable, other social influences on science were assumed to be negative. For a second group, the search for universal truth and the separation of rational and social aspects was critical for scientific objectivity. We use the results of our Q-sort to identify areas for professional development focused on inclusive science teaching and to recommend the explicit teaching of CCE to science educators.

     

A study of learning and motivation in a new media enriched environment for middle school science

This study examines middle school students’ learning and motivation as they engaged in a new media enriched problem-based learning (PBL) environment for middle school science. Using a mixed-method design with both quantitative and qualitative data, we investigated the effect of a new media environment on sixth graders’ science learning, their motivation, and the relationship between students’ motivation and their science learning. The analysis of the results showed that: Students significantly increased their science knowledge from pretest to posttest after using the PBL program, they were motivated and enjoyed the experience, and a significant positive relationship was found between students’ motivation scores and their science knowledge posttest scores. Findings were discussed within the research framework.     

STEM in England: meanings and motivations in the policy arena

STEM, an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, is widely used in science education. There is confusion, however, as to its provenance and meaning which is potentially problematic. This study examines the purpose of STEM practice in education in England and asks if there are differences in perceptions of STEM between science and mathematics educator stakeholders. The study’s contribution to the literature is its unusual focus on those who were responsible for making and enacting national STEM policy. A two-phase qualitative approach was followed comprising an analysis of government documentation together with semi-structured interviews with key contributors to the science and mathematics education discourse. Findings suggest that there is a disconnect between the interpretations of the science and mathematics educators with a danger-advantage dichotomy to participation in STEM being perceived by the mathematics educators. Early aims of the STEM agenda, including increasing diversity, gave way to a focus on numbers of post-16 physics and mathematics students. We conclude that if the term STEM is to continue to be used then there is a need for greater clarity about what it represents in educational terms and a wider debate about its compatibility with the aims of science education for all.     

Evaluation research in distance education

Although research supports the use of telecommunications in distance education, the more important question 'how best to use telecommunications in a given situation' has largely eluded researchers. This is due to the failure to link questions generated by the problems of practice with the theoretical constructs contributing to the understanding of the phenomena of distance education. The debate has occurred on two levels, the first relating to research design issues and the second to the conceptualisation of researchable questions. The authors address both levels from the vantage point of third generation telecommunications technologies. They offer a model for linking research and evaluation in distance education.     

Valuing and utilizing traditional ecological knowledge: tensions in the context of education and the environment

The paper discusses the ‘value‐through‐utility’ argument as a key ingredient of environmental educators' interests in traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), and examines some of the epistemological and philosophical tensions it generates in employing TEK within the context of learning with sustainability in mind. In an earlier article (Reid et al., 2002 Reid A Teamey K Dillon J (2002) Traditional ecological knowledge for learning with sustainability in mind Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy 18 (1) 27 http://trumpeter.athabascau.ca/content/v18.1/  [Google Scholar]), we argued that it is important to recognize that it is outsiders rather than insiders who usually conceptualize TEK. In this paper, we develop this point further, exploring the theorization and practice of TEK‐based environmental education in the context of discourses about sustainability and environmental education.     

Timing of interfering events in one-trial serial overshadowing of a taste aversion

This set of experiments examined the question of when a stimulus would be most effective in overshadowing the acquisition of long-delay taste aversion learning. In Experiment 1 rats drank sucrose, the target solution, followed by a hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution before lithium injection some time later; HCl was presented either early or late in the interval. The late condition produced greater overshadowing than the early condition. The importance of the HCl-injection interval was confirmed by Experiment 2, in which the sucrose-injection interval was varied. Experiment 3 found that even placement in a different context – an event that normally produces little overshadowing of a CTA – produced one-trial overshadowing of a sucrose aversion as long as the context was novel and exposure to it occurred immediately before lithium injection. No current theoretical account of one-trial overshadowing predicts that a late event produces more overshadowing than an early event. This result can, however, be accommodated within a modified version of the Rescorla-Wagner model.     

Revisiting the Narrative about Least Restrictive Environment in Physical Education

ABSTRACT

Since 1975, the implementation of the Least Restrictive Environment, a federal mandate of Public Law 94–142, has been historically challenging for physical educators and adapted physical educators. Confusion and misinterpretation of the law’s intent, as well as competing ideologies, have perpetuated failed Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) practice in the United States. The purpose of this essay is to revisit the conversation about LRE in PE and to provide direction for higher education’s role in addressing the issues. In doing so, a detailed historical context of the LRE is provided, followed by a discussion of the issues associated with the law that have emerged in the literature. Finally, future research directions to address these contemporary issues are presented to the readers.     

The Slovene Model of Sports Classes in Grammar Schools: Psychological and Educational Point of View

A follow-up comparative study of intellectual abilities, personality traits, achievement motivation, general knowledge and educational achievement in math and English was conducted on a 16-17 year old group of sports-youth attending sports classes in grammar school and on the same age group of non-sports-youth attending regular classes. Initially 62 pairs of subjects participated and 54 pairs remained in the study two years later. The study focused on: (a) the differences between the groups with regard to the above-stated dependent variables; (b) the differences within each of the groups within a two-year period. The obtained results point to the conclusion that a suitable combination of flexible organization of academic work and intensive competitive-sports practicing does not have a negative impact either on intellectual and personality development nor on the educational achievements of the sports-youth when compared to their non-sports counterparts. Résumé Une étude comparative longitudinale des compétences intellectuelles, des traits de personnalité, de la motivation pour la réussite, des connaissances générales et des résultats scolaires a été conduite en mathématiques et en anglais chez des élèves de 16-17 ans qui suivent au lycée des classes sportives et chez des élèves du même âge qui suivent une scolarité dans des classes non sportives. Au début il y avait 62 paires d'élèves qui participaient à l'étude; deux ans plus tard il ne restait que 54 paires. L'étude porte sur : (a) les différences entre les deux groupes selon les variables dépendantes indiquées ci-dessus ; (b) les différences intra-groupe sur une période de deux ans. Les résultats obtenus montrent qu'un bon équilibre entre une organisation souple du travail scolaire et une pratique sportive intensive de compétition n'a pas d'effet négatif sur le développement intellectuel et personnel des élèves sportifs, ni sur leurs résultats scolaires lorsqu'on compare ceux-ci à leurs homologues non sportifs. (Traduction: Michel Caillot, Education et Apprentissages, Université René Descartes, Paris)     

Mind the Gap: Appropriate Evolutionary Perspectives Toward the Integration of the Sciences and Humanities

Although Darwinism has gained a foothold in the social sciences, in the humanities, with a few exceptions, it is still largely rejected—not, as some would claim, because humanists are all radical poststructuralists who deny that material reality exists, but rather because, with notable exceptions, Darwinists who work within the humanities have adopted a trenchant “us against them,” in-group/out-group mentality that has done a good deal more harm than good. In order for evolution to be effectively taught as part of a humanistic approach to literature and art, a more productive, truly “two way” approach is necessary, and must do more than impose the scientific method on the humanities. When this kind of imposition occurs, the humanities are treated only as subject matter, thereby discounting historical and interpretive research that is invaluable to scientists and claims they might make in these areas. This paper claims that for evolution to function as a paradigm with true explanatory power across disciplines, scientifically oriented evolutionists need training in humanistic methodologies just as much as humanistically oriented evolutionists need training in the scientific method. Evolution, in this context, becomes not the paradigm that can explain everything from a scientific point of view but rather the beginnings of a conversation about lower and upper level questions, and how these questions might inform and enrich each other’s research.