University students’ strategies and criteria during self-assessment: instructor’s feedback,rubrics, and year level effects

European Journal of Psychology of Education - This study explores the effects of feedback type, feedback occasion, and year level on student self-assessments in higher education. In total, 126...     

Evaluating the feasibility of remotely administered curriculum-based measurement for students with autism: A pilot study

Students with autism may struggle to develop the academic skills necessary for success in school and beyond. Understanding and improving academic skills performance requires appropriate measurement approaches. One such option that has been minimally studied with students with autism is curriculum-based measurement (CBM). Coinciding with the need to study different approaches to academic skills measurement for students with autism was the global pandemic which forced a shift to remote service delivery with little warning. While some autistic students struggled with this shift, others thrived, raising questions about how to further support students with autism in virtual formats. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of using remotely administered CBM for autistic students by studying both the practicality and acceptability of this approach. Five students with autism (Grades 2–5) participated in this pilot study, completing reading, math, and writing CBMs at three time points. Student behavior and assessor fidelity were collected to examine practicality; assessor ratings of usability provided insight regarding the acceptability of the approach. Results indicated that remotely administered CBM is feasible for some students with autism: all participants completed the study tasks with minimal behavioral difficulties, and assessor ratings of acceptability were high.     

Advances in the identification and measurement of Intellectual Capital and future developments in the Intellectual Capital research agenda: experience of the Intellectus Model and proposal of a synthetic index

Knowledge Management Research & Practice - Nowadays knowledge has become a key asset for firms in order to build a sustainable competitive advantage. The environment changes quickly and...     

Inducing chemotactic and haptotactic cues in microfluidic devices for three-dimensional in vitro assays

Microfluidic devices allow for the production of physiologically relevant cellular microenvironments by including biomimetic hydrogels and generating controlled chemical gradients. During transport, the biomolecules interact in distinct ways with the fibrillar networks: as purely diffusive factors in the soluble fluid or bound to the matrix proteins. These two main mechanisms may regulate distinct cell responses in order to guide their directional migration: caused by the substrate-bound chemoattractant gradient (haptotaxis) or by the gradient established within the soluble fluid (chemotaxis). In this work 3D diffusion experiments, in combination with ELISA assays, are performed using microfluidic platforms in order to quantify the distribution of PDGF-BB and TGF-β₁ across collagen and fibrin gels. Furthermore, to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamental processes, the experiments are reproduced by computer simulations based on a reaction-diffusion transport model. This model yields an accurate prediction of the experimental results, confirming that diffusion and binding phenomena are established within the microdevice.     

Instrument adaptation in cross-cultural studies of students’ mathematics-related beliefs: learning from healthcare research

Much comparative research into education-related beliefs has exploited questionnaires developed in one culture for use in another. This has been particularly the case in mathematics education, the focus of this paper. In so doing, researchers have tended to assume that translation alone is sufficient to warrant a reliable and valid instrument for cross-cultural research, prompting concerns that a number of necessary equivalences are unlikely to have been addressed. In this paper, we consider the nature of these equivalences before examining the literature of a different field, healthcare research, to synthesise an approach to instrument adaptation that is pragmatic but rigorous. Finally, we demonstrate how this pragmatic approach, incorporating extensive cognitive interviews, enabled us to adapt and refine a mathematics-related beliefs questionnaire, developed in Flanders, for use with students aged 14–15 in England and Spain. Analyses indicate that the instrument so developed is multidimensional, reliable and cross-culturally valid. Some implications are discussed.     

Granite desalination using electromigration. Influence of type of granite and saline contaminant

We describe the results of electromigration desalination of two soluble salt-contaminated Galician granites. The efficacy of electromigration, which had not been previously applied to granite, was assessed for two types of granite contaminated with a 20% NaCl solution and seawater. Desalination effectiveness was evaluated as follows: (1) analysis of anode and cathode ion content during testing; (2) analysis of ions at different distances from the electrodes after testing; (3) pH assessment of the stone surfaces; and (4) evaluation of colour changes. Results were very satisfactory; by the end of testing, chloride was reduced by almost 100% in both the NaCl and seawater contaminated samples. Sulfate reduction was also significant, despite this ion's lower mobility. The granite pH values remained close to neutral and colour changes were minimal. The difference in effectiveness of the process for the two types of stone was associated with their dissimilar pore structure.     

Teachers’ and Their Pupils’ Performance on Plant Nutrition: a Comparative Case

Research in Science Education - The research compares teachers’ and their pupils’ performance on plant nutrition. The misconceptions of 89 primary school children from one state school...     

A Textbook Analysis to Uncover the Hidden Contributors of Science and Mathematics

Science & Education - Science and mathematics are universal endeavors. However, the historical perspective of science and mathematics has been westernized across the curriculum in the USA....     

Comparison of Haptic and Biometric Properties,Bacterial Load,and Student Perception of Fixative Solutions: Formaldehyde Versus Chilean Conservative Fixative Solution with and without Formaldehyde in Pig Kidneys

One of the most widely used solutions to fix and preserve organic tissues is formaldehyde, despite reservations regarding its toxicity and the fact that formaldehyde-embalmed bodies lose their original characteristics. Anatomy laboratories have been replacing formaldehyde with solutions that retain the characteristics of fresh tissue. For this purpose, alternative solutions with a very low concentration of formaldehyde or without any formaldehyde have been analyzed. The objective of this study was to compare biometry, coloration, haptic properties, and bacterial load on animal specimens (pig kidneys) embalmed with formaldehyde, and with Chilean Conservative Fixative Solution with and without formaldehyde (formaldehyde chCFS and formaldehyde-free chCFS). Also, the perception of health and biological science students toward specimens treated with different solutions was assessed. The results indicated that there were no significant differences in specimens’ retraction, or bacterial load. Students showed a preference for organs embalmed in formaldehyde chCFS and formaldehyde-free chCFS; indicating that with these treatments they could better visualize structures and that the prosections had greater flexibility and the colors were more similar to those of fresh tissue. Additionally, students recommended the material embalmed in formaldehyde chCFS and formaldehyde-free chCFS for anatomy learning. In contrast, students indicated that formaldehyde-fixation negatively affected their practical experience. In conclusion, embalming with formaldehyde chCFS or formaldehyde-free chCFS provides an advantageous practical experience over the use of formaldehyde and may be an alternative to replace the use of formaldehyde in anatomy laboratories.     

Improved Social Communication Abilities and Reduced Autism Severity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Highly Sensitive Mothers

SYNOPSIS

Objective . To explore whether maternal sensitivity is associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) severity in children with and without ASD. Design . The samples consisted of 25 Mexican dyads of children with ASD (aged 3.1-6.9 years) and their mothers (aged 20-47 years) and 24 Mexican dyads of children without ASD (aged 3.4-6.7 years) and their mothers (aged 24-45 years). Maternal sensitivity and ASD severity symptoms were scored from 2-h videos of mother-child daily interactions. Results . A between-group comparison showed a trend toward less severe ASD in children with highly sensitive mothers, specifically in the Nonverbal Communication subdomain. Conclusions . Greater maternal sensitivity is associated with improved social ability in children with ASD.