Independent effects of stimulus and cycle duration in conditioning: The role of timing processes

Rats received delay conditioning procedures with a white-noise conditioned stimulus (CS), a food unconditioned stimulus (US), and head entries into the food cup as the conditioned response. The stimulus duration (S) and the interval between food deliveries (C) were varied between groups:S=15, 30, 60, and 120 sec;C=90, 180, and 360 sec. The stimulus/cycle duration ratio was negatively related to the asymptotic level of conditioning but had no effect on the rate of acquisition. Conditioning and timing of responses emerged together in training. Timing occurred during the CS-US interval (ISI) and the US-US interval (ITI), as evidenced by increasing response rate gradients that were steeper for shorter intervals. The effects of the stimulus/cycle ratio on conditioning were attributed to independent timing of theS andC durations. Serial-, parallel-, and single-process accounts of conditioning and timing are compared.     

A Capstone Course in the Information Systems Curriculum

To meet the demands of industry, the skill base necessary for information systems personnel has broadened in scope to encompass not only technical abilities but competence in team work, communication, and creativity, and an understanding of business functions. The traditional approach to information systems curricula, however, may not fully serve to address these areas in student development. This paper proposes the use of a capstone information systems course as a part of an information systems education to develop students’ abilities and skills needed in the integrative information systems/technology and business areas. It is argued that a properly designed and taught capstone course offers curriculum flexibility and can satisfy the requirements of stimulating the creative mind to integrate various interrelated concepts, and acquisition of practical knowledge.     

Planning in the Middle: Co-Planning Between General and Special Education

Professional development programs tailored to address co-teaching performance in Arkansas provided data for 3 cohorts of middle school co-taught teams. This study provides an analysis of middle school plans and provides recommendations as to how to more effectively meet the needs of co-taught teams. Using a content analysis approach, monthly lessons plans submitted by teams over a 3-year period were analyzed. The purpose of this analysis is to provide the field with considerations about what is and is not occurring in the written process related to co-teaching, specifically co-planning in middle schools. In total, 155 lesson plans were analyzed, which were further broken down into 755 days of plans. Findings indicate these teachers utilized a diversity of co-taught models, but 1 model (1 lead, 1 support) dominated their planning. Areas of concern focused on a lack of focus on behavior and utilization of technology for students with disabilities.     

How Much Do They Understand? Lectures,students and comprehension

A recent study into tertiary literacy (Reid, Kirkpatrick, & Mulligan, 1998) found that many students have problems with comprehension and note-taking in lectures and that students from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) reported particular difficulty. Despite the increase in the number of international students attending Australian universities over the past decade, it seems that many lecturers are still failing to accommodate the cultural and linguistic diversity of the classes they teach. The study reported here aimed to determine the nature and extent of problems experienced by NESB students in comprehending lectures and found significant gaps in understanding: slightly fewer than 1 in 10 NESB students was able to understand the content and intent of their lectures very well. More disturbingly, almost one-quarter of them had not understood much of the lectures at all. The paper offers some suggested strategies for change—for those who prepare students for university study, for the students themselves, and for the lecturers who teach them.