Reported Gains in Student Learning: Do Academic Disciplines Make a Difference?

This study examined differences in students' college experiences and learning outcomes using Biglan's typology of pure and applied disciplines. It was expected that students in applied disciplines would have more positive perceptions of the college environment, be more involved, and report greater gains in learning and intellectual development than students in pure disciplines. An analysis of data from one university identified significant differences in the college experiences and learning outcomes of students in pure and applied disciplines; however, differences in reported learning seemed to be related to disciplinary content, rather than Biglan's pure and applied topology.     

播客在高等教育中的应用(英文)

播客已经成为高等教育领域一种流行的教学形式,然而,目前关于播客有效性的经验研究却很少。本研究的目的在于考查,对于高校学生来说,播客是否是一种有效的学习工具。研究关注教学播客所呈现内容的类型,以及这些播客所使用的教学方法。此外,我们还调查了学生所认为的有效的教学播客的特征,以及他们认为应该将播客用于哪些内容。我们分析了内容分析的结果,以及对学生的问卷调查结果,了解到教学播客作为高等教育学习工具的有效性,并明确了播客的未来研究方向。     

Information about human sexuality: sources,satisfaction, and perceived knowledge among college students

This study explored how 333 undergraduate and graduate students attending a large university in the southeastern USA learned about sex, their satisfaction with how they learned about sex, and their self-perceived knowledge before and after taking a human sexuality course. An anonymous, voluntary survey was administered to students in the first and last sessions of human sexuality classes each semester from fall 2004 until spring 2006. Standardized measures included how students learned about sex, satisfaction with ways they learned about sex, barriers to parent–child discussions, and self-perceived knowledge about sex. Although 67% of students indicated parents should be instrumental in sex education, only 15% indicated parents as a primary source. Thirty-seven percent reported some level of dissatisfaction with how they learned about sex. Self-perceived knowledge increased significantly following the course. College courses addressing sexuality as integral to human development should complement college programming that focuses on risk reduction for sexually transmitted diseases/infections, sexual assault, and unintended pregnancy.     

Knowledge and attitudes of secondary school teachers regarding sexual health education in England

Objective To assess the sexual health knowledge of teachers who contribute to secondary school sexual health education in order to determine whether teachers are adequately prepared to implement present government education and public health policies.

Design Results were obtained from a questionnaire as part of a two‐phase intervention study.

Setting Nineteen mixed‐sex, state secondary schools in central England.

Participants One hundred and fifty‐five teachers (94 female, 61 male) participated.

Main outcome measures The questionnaires were distributed to teachers to assess their knowledge of sexual health, contraception and sexually transmitted infections. In addition, teachers' attitudes on the subject of sex and relationships education were evaluated.

Results The results suggest that teachers have insufficient sexual health knowledge to effectively teach sexually transmitted infections or emergency contraception, although their general sexual health knowledge was good. Therefore, at present teachers do not have adequate specialist knowledge in sexual health to contribute to current recommendations for sex and relationships education in secondary schools. There were no statistically significant differences in the results regarding location of school, area of residence, gender or age of the participant.

Conclusions Many teachers are being expected to contribute to secondary school sexual health education programmes at a time when they do not have sufficient knowledge to provide young people with adequate sexual health education and when they do not feel prepared to teach, and in many cases would prefer not to teach, these programmes.     

Student‐Centered and Dynamic Interfaces that Enrich Technical Learning for Online Science Learners: A Review of the Literature

Communicating complex scientific and technical information presents a challenge for food science educators. The most efficient learning occurs when all senses are engaged, one reason that many educators believe that scientific principles are best taught with hands‐on laboratory experiences. Today there are many challenges to the continuation of these “wet labs” including the cost of building the labs as well as equipment, materials, and personnel to run them. Many current e‐learning technologies are based on 2‐dimensional delivery systems, and are often inadequate to provide a substitute for a laboratory exercise. However, recent advances in technology have evolved to more closely reflect the kinds of learning experiences that students typically have in a laboratory class. This review describes the role of these emerging technologies as teaching tools for educators, with the clear understanding that similar concepts can be utilized by management of technical teams in the work place.     

A Comparison of the Degree of Student Satisfaction using a Simulation or a Traditional Wet Lab to Teach Physical Properties of Ice

It is often difficult to offer food chemistry students traditional, hands‐on laboratory experiences due to lack of funds for equipment, insufficient laboratory space, or the nature of distance education. A traditional wet laboratory exercise was developed to demonstrate the effects of the physical properties of ice formation when making high‐quality sorbets, varying the amounts of sugar, water, and stabilizer. This wet lab was compared to a simulated, detective‐based crime scene investigation (CSI) of why a famous food scientist's sorbet had become a “stiff.” Forty‐six food chemistry students were randomly assigned to groups, completing either the traditional wet lab or the simulated lab 1st before completing the 2nd type of laboratory. While there were preferences for one lab over another, there were no differences in the learning outcomes between the 2 laboratory formats. Students who preferred the simulated lab felt they could move at their own pace and were able to stop and review the simulation to understand the concepts more clearly. Traditional wet lab proponents liked working in groups and having immediate access to instructors. From the initial evaluation it appears that simulations could be used as replacements for hands‐on laboratory experiences or could serve as effective introductions to laboratory principles and concepts, resulting in increased student learning.     

Magnetic fields in the sun

The observed properties of solar magnetic fields are reviewed, with particular reference to the complexities imposed on the field by motions of the highly conducting gas. Turbulent interactions between gas and field lead to heating or cooling of the gas according as the field energy density is less or greater than the maximum kinetic energy density in the convection zone. The field strength above which cooling sets in is 700 G.A weak solar dipole field may be primeval, but dynamo action is also important in generating new flux. The dynamo is probably not confined to the convection zone, but extends throughout most of the volume of the sun. Planetary tides appear to play a role in driving the dynamo.     

A Conceptual Model for Teacher Education

Recent critiques of the discourse or beliefs and practices of physical education have focused on the restrictive ideological assumptions of the subject. However, these critiques in turn have been criticized for rehearsing once more the gap between theory and practice. Drawing on theoretical models external to physical education, a form of discourse analysis is proposed to link critical perspectives and practical concerns in an account of effective teaching and learning in physical education.     

Families that read: A time‐diary analysis of young people's and parents' reading

Parents can play an important role in assisting their children to learn to read, and can act as good role models in promoting reading behaviour. While there has been a raft of research on the impact of parents as teachers, there has been little empirical analysis on the impact of parents in modelling reading. Addressing this gap in the literature with time‐diary data, this paper presents a study of the association between parents' and young people's reading in the United Kingdom. The paper finds a strong association between parents' and young people's reading concentrated in households where parents are observed to read for more than 30 minutes per day. In addition, mothers' reading is associated primarily with girls' reading (especially in lone‐mother households), while fathers' reading is strongly associated with boys' reading. Some implications for campaigns to encourage young people's reading through increased parental reading are discussed.