A historical review of visualization in human cognition

This paper presents a historical overview of visualization as a cognitive strategy in human creativity, discovery, and problem-solving. Visualization strategies, such as mental imagery, pervade historical accounts of scientific discovery and invention. A selected number of historical examples are presented and discussed on topics such as physics, aviation, and the science of chaos. Everyday examples are also discussed to show the value of visualization in cognition for all people. Several counter examples are also discussed showing that visualization can also lead to erroneous conclusions. Many educational implications are discussed, such as reconsidering the dominant role and value schools place on verbal, abstract thinking. These issues are also considered in light of emerging computer-based technologies, such as virtual reality.     

Adolescents at risk for violence

Interpersonal violence among youth is a growing problem in many communities and schools across the nation. The causes of violence are multiple and complex. This paper examines the extent and nature of interpersonal violence among youth as well as the individual and societal factors which contribute to youth violence. Adolescents are disproportionately represented as both victims and perpetrators of fatal and nonfatal assaultive violence. Homicide rates among young men in the United States are vastly greater than those of other Western industrialized nations. Persons age 12–24 years face the highest risk of nonfatal violent victimization of any segment of our society. Arrest rates for homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault peak among adolescents and young adults. Further, arrest rates for murder and other violent crimes have increased substantially among this age group since the mid-1980s. Effective prevention programs will require combinations of interventions aimed at multiple factors and delivered through many channels.     

Exploring the real-world decision-making of novice and experienced teachers

For the past two decades, those involved in teacher training have encouraged teachers to incorporate evidence from research into a process of critical reflection to improve the quality of their decisions. Using research as part of a deliberative reflective process has been thought to enable teachers to learn from their practice. However, teachers’ decision-making has proven highly impervious to external influence. Teachers often resist reflective models that attempt to take their thinking to deeper, critical levels and are unlikely to use empirical evidence to inform their decisions. Given these conditions, this study seeks further insight into teachers’ pedagogical decision-making amidst the complex dynamics of ‘real-world’ educational contexts. Based on a systematic review of over three decades of decision research, a questionnaire was developed to investigate the decision process of 80 pre- and in-service teachers working in the post-compulsory sector. Data were analysed to uncover how these teachers made sense of the range of information that came into play when deciding how to resolve a pedagogical issue and the sources they used to inform their decision-making. If those involved in pre- and in-service teacher training could build upon teachers’ intrinsic decision processes, they could potentially support greater decision effectiveness.     

Effects of color in filmed behavior sequences on description and elaboration by liberian schoolboys

Scanlon (1967,1970) found significant color effects when he content analyzed and compared written accounts about achromatic and chromatic versions of the same television programs. The present study which replicated many aspects of Scanlon’s studies but used more rigorous and systematic procedures, confirms Scanlon’s idea as a useful one but does not support Scanlon’s findings. It appears that for some simple cognitive tasks, a chromatic presentation seems to elicit more verbal responses than an achromatic version.     

Recent Changes in the Requirement and Content of Required Health and Physical Education for Men in Land Grant Colleges and Universities

Abstract

In this study, tabulations were made of the number and types of specialized recreation education courses offered by institutions in the- State of California. Thirty-six institutions are offering specialized recreation courses; 17 provide a major in recreation, eight, a minor, and 13 offer specialized courses in recreation but have no major or minor field of study. A detailed chart contains the names and frequency range of the courses. Courses offered by California institutions were compared with and were found to agree with certain characteristics described from data assembled in a nation-wide study of 30 institutions.     

Working on What Works: enhancing relationships in the classroom and improving teacher confidence

Working on What Works (WOWW) is a solution-oriented classroom management intervention. Following an outline of Berg and Shilts’ WOWW programme in the United States, this paper reviews and evaluates WOWW, which has been implemented as a classroom intervention strategy in a Scottish local authority since 2007. Qualitative analysis of the comments of children and teachers from 12 classes suggests that WOWW may be an effective classroom management intervention that helps teachers to feel more confident and also produces tangible improvements in the way children work and behave. Children also report positive differences in how they perceive their class and teacher.     

Exploring Secondary Students' Knowledge and Misconceptions about Influenza: Development,validation, and implementation of a multiple-choice influenza knowledge scale

Understanding infectious diseases such as influenza is an important element of health literacy. We present a fully validated knowledge instrument called the Assessment of Knowledge of Influenza (AKI) and use it to evaluate knowledge of influenza, with a focus on misconceptions, in Midwestern United States high-school students. A two-phase validation process was used. In phase 1, an initial factor structure was calculated based on 205 students of grades 9–12 at a rural school. In phase 2, one- and two-dimensional factor structures were analyzed from the perspectives of classical test theory and the Rasch model using structural equation modeling and principal components analysis (PCA) on Rasch residuals, respectively. Rasch knowledge measures were calculated for 410 students from 6 school districts in the Midwest, and misconceptions were verified through the χ ² test. Eight items measured knowledge of flu transmission, and seven measured knowledge of flu management. While alpha reliability measures for the subscales were acceptable, Rasch person reliability measures and PCA on residuals advocated for a single-factor scale. Four misconceptions were found, which have not been previously documented in high-school students. The AKI is the first validated influenza knowledge assessment, and can be used by schools and health agencies to provide a quantitative measure of impact of interventions aimed at increasing understanding of influenza. This study also adds significantly to the literature on misconceptions about influenza in high-school students, a necessary step toward strategic development of educational interventions for these students.