Influence of study approaches and course design on academic success in the undergraduate anatomy laboratory

Many pre‐health professional programs require completion of an undergraduate anatomy course with a laboratory component, yet grades in these courses are often low. Many students perceive anatomy as a more challenging subject than other coursework, and the resulting anxiety surrounding this perception may be a significant contributor to poor performance. Well‐planned and deliberate guidance from instructors, as well as thoughtful course design, may be necessary to assist students in finding the best approach to studying for anatomy. This article assesses which study habits are associated with course success and whether course design influences study habits. Surveys (n = 1,274) were administered to students enrolled in three undergraduate human anatomy laboratory courses with varying levels of cooperative learning and structured guidance. The surveys collected information on potential predictors of performance, including student demographics, educational background, self‐assessment ability, and study methods (e.g., flashcards, textbooks, diagrams). Compared to low performers, high performers perceive studying in laboratory, asking the instructor questions, quizzing alone, and quizzing others as more effective for learning. Additionally, students co‐enrolled in a flipped, active lecture anatomy course achieve higher grades and find active learning activities (e.g., quizzing alone and in groups) more helpful for their learning in the laboratory. These results strengthen previous research suggesting that student performance is more greatly enhanced by an active classroom environment that practices successful study strategies rather than one that simply encourages students to employ such strategies inside and outside the classroom. Anat Sci Educ 11: 496–509. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.     

The influence of instruction modality on brain activation in teenagers with nonverbal learning disabilities: two case histories

Teenagers with nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD) have difficulty with fine-motor coordination, which may relate to the novelty of the task or the lack of "self-talk" to mediate action. In this study, we required two teenagers with NLD and two control group teenagers to touch the thumb of each hand firmly and accurately to the fingertips of the same hand, in an order specified by verbal or tactile instruction. Brain activity patterns (measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging) suggest that unlike control participants, the NLD participants used internalized speech to facilitate the novel task only when instructions were verbal. NLD participants also showed activity in a more widely distributed network of neural structures. These findings provide preliminary evidence for remediation strategies that encourage internal speech.     

Sport science integration: An evolutionary synthesis

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to point out one way of integrating the supposedly incommensurate disciplines investigated in sports science. General, common principles can be found among apparently unrelated disciplines when the focus is put on the dynamics of sports-related phenomena. Dynamical systems approaches that have recently changed research in biological and social sciences among others, offer key concepts to create a common pluricontextual language in sport science. This common language, far from being homogenising, offers key synthesis between diverse fields, respecting and enabling the theoretical and experimental pluralism. It forms a softly integrated sports science characterised by a basic dynamic explanatory backbone as well as context-dependent theoretical flexibility. After defining the dynamic integration in living systems, unable to be captured by structural static approaches, we show the commonalities between the diversity of processes existing on different levels and time scales in biological and social entities. We justify our interpretation by drawing on some recent scientific contributions that use the same general principles and concepts, and diverse methods and techniques of data analysis, to study different types of phenomena in diverse disciplines. We show how the introduction of the dynamic framework in sport science has started to blur the boundaries between physiology, biomechanics, psychology, phenomenology and sociology. The advantages and difficulties of sport science integration and its consequences in research are also discussed.     

Fidelity of implementation: bringing written curriculum materials into the equation

Fidelity of curriculum implementation (FOI) is an important area of research because of the critical role it plays in understanding how and why curriculum materials work and how they can be improved. This analysis explores written features within the Math Trailblazers curriculum that may influence the ways teachers implement mathematics curriculum materials. In particular, we examine FOI data from prior research in order to identify features within the materials themselves that may influence why teachers adhere to the intended curriculum to varying degrees. This paper reports on our analysis of examining five whole number lessons previously analysed for level of FOI alongside an analysis scale of written curriculum features. Our purpose in this analysis is to examine features of the written curriculum that potentially mediate teachers’ implementation of the materials in line with the intended curriculum. In doing so, our analysis further emphasises the critical role teachers play in curriculum implementation, and thus may provide some insight for curriculum developers as they consider ways in which to design the written curriculum that increase the likelihood that teachers will adhere to the intended curriculum.