A simple e-mail mechanism to enhance reflection, independence, and communication in young researchers

Providing undergraduates with mentored research experiences is a critical component of contemporary undergraduate science education. Although the benefits of undergraduate research experiences are apparent, the methods for mentoring young scientists as they first begin navigating the research lab environment are reinvented in labs all over the world. Students come to research labs with varied skills, motivations, needs, and dispositions, placing each student and mentor in a unique relationship. How can we help students become aware of their own intellectual progress? How can we encourage our students to take initial steps toward independent investigation? When do we need to let setbacks happen? We have developed a simple mechanism to address these common problems. Each week, students in our labs answer a series of five questions by e-mail that improve lab communication and help students develop into mature scientists without taxing an instructor's already busy schedule. Our observations, experiences, and student feedback indicate that this approach is a useful mechanism to help faculty who mentor young scientists in the research lab.     

"What does this mean?" How Web-based consumer health information fails to support information seeking in the pursuit of informed consent for screening test decisions.

PURPOSE: The authors analyzed online consumer health information related to screening tests to see how well this information meets known standards for supporting the understanding of test uncertainty. SETTING/SUBJECTS: MedlinePlus documents regarding maternal serum screening (6), prostate-specific antigen testing (6), and screening mammography (6) were analyzed. METHODOLOGY: The content of the documents was analyzed. RESULTS: This study showed that most sites conscientiously report that tests are less than 100% accurate, but few provide important details about the level of uncertainty associated with test results. In particular, few resources give information about the predictive value of screening tests and have little mention of the fact that predictive value is influenced by the a priori likelihood of having the condition. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: These results suggest that online consumer health information does not adequately support decisions about medical screening. We suggest a potential solution to the problem: metadata harvesting coupled with optimized presentation techniques to format personalized information about screening tests. Using these techniques, the empowerment of personal choice in matters of health decisions could become the de facto standard.     

Dialectical constraints to the discursive practices of a high school physics community

The study investigates how the discursive practices in a physics class were constrained by social forces associated with the larger context in which teaching and learning were situated. The teacher understood teacing and learning in terms of constructivism, believed that students should have more autonomy in the classroom, and structured activities to involve students actively in the learning process. However, despite his efforts to enact the curriculum in a manner that was consistent with constructivism, the emphasis still was on goals such as learning to use formulas to perform calculations and memorizing facts. In addition to constructivism, belief sets that shaped the enacted curriculum related to time being scarce, content coverage being a primary concern, and students needing to be prepared for examinations. A characteristic of the classroom community was a relative imbalance between the voices of science and common sense. Even though the teacher was concerned with students making sense of physics, examples are provided of students accepting the viability of scientific claims despite contradictions with their common sense notions. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34: 491–507, 1997.     

Walking football as sustainable exercise for older adults – A pilot investigation

The health benefits of playing football and the importance of exercise and social contact for healthy ageing are well established, but few older adults in the UK take enough exercise. Football is popular, flexible in format and draws players into engrossing, effortful and social exercise, but the physical demands of play at full speed may make it unsustainable for some older adults. Restricted to walking pace, will play still be engaging? Will health benefits be retained? Will physical demands remain manageable? This pilot study aims to investigate: (1) the experience of older adults playing walking football every week, is it sustainable and rewarding, (2) the intensity and locomotor pattern of walking football, (3) the scale and nature of walking football health benefits and (4) possible cognitive benefits of playing walking football through measures of processing speed, selective and divided attention and updating and inhibition components of executive function. ‘Walking football’ and ‘waiting list’ groups were compared before and after 12 weeks of one-hour per week football. Walking football was found to be engaging, sustainable for older adults and moderately intensive; however, selective health and cognitive benefits were not found from this brief intervention.

Highlights

• Walking football is a lower impact but authentic form of football that enables older players to extend their active participation.

• Walking football is enjoyable and moderately demanding and may be a sustainable form of exercise for older adults.

• Health and cognitive benefits to playing walking football were not found.

     

Classroom Learning Environments and Students' Approaches to Learning

Four hundred and eighty-four students from two metropolitan secondary schools completed the Learning Process Questionnaire, the Individualised Classroom Environment Questionnaire and the Learner Self Concept scale. Relationships between perceptions of the classroom learning environment, approaches to learning and self concept as a learner were investigated. Gender and level of schooling (junior high versus senior high) differences were examined. Results showed Deep Approaches to learning were significantly related to classroom learning environments which were perceived to be highly personalised and to be encouraging active participation in the learning process and the use of investigative skills in learning activities. High learner self concept was positively associated with Deep Approaches to learning and with classrooms perceived as high in Personalisation. It was negatively associated with Surface Approaches to learning. Differences in perceptions of learning environments and approaches to learning in relation to gender and level of schooling were small. The implications of these findings are discussed and strategies for facilitating Deep Approaches to learning are referred to. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.