Go-no go avoidance discriminations in rats with simple “go” and compound “no go” signals: Stimulus modality and stimulus intensity

Four groups of 16 rats were trained in a go-no go discrimination with symmetrical negative reinforcement (active-passive avoidance task). A 2 by 2 design was used with stimulus combinations as one factor [light-go, noise/light-no go, (L⁺ NL^?) vs noise-go, light/noise-no go (N⁺ LN^?)] and noise intensity as the other factor (90 dB, high, vs 70 dB, low). The two N⁺ LN^? groups learned both active and passive avoidance responses much more rapidly than the L⁺ NL^? groups. In later phases of training, high noise intensity facilitated passive avoidance in the L⁺ NL^? condition and exerted a slight effect in the opposite direction in the other condition. While the differences in active avoidance learning were the same as in previous work on light and noise CSs, the interactions between stimuli of different modalities appeared to be more important than stimulus modality or stimulus intensity per se in determining rate of passive avoidance learning.     

Tier 3 specialized writing instruction for students with dyslexia

Two instructional experiments used randomized, controlled designs to evaluate the effectiveness of writing instruction for students with carefully diagnosed dyslexia, which is both an oral reading and writing disorder, characterized by impaired word decoding, reading, and spelling. In Study 1 (4th to 6th grade sample and 7th to 9th grade sample), students were randomly assigned to orthographic or morphological spelling treatment but all students were taught strategies for planning, writing, and reviewing/revising narrative and expository texts. Both treatments resulted in improvement on three measures of spelling and one measure of composition. Morphological treatment resulted in better improvement in spelling pseudowords, whereas orthographic treatment resulted in better improvement in rate of reading pseudowords. In Study 2 (4th to 6th grade sample), students were randomly assigned to explicit language treatment (phonological working memory + phonological-orthographic spelling + science report writing training) or nonverbal problem solving treatment (virtual reality-based computer simulation, drawing maps, and building clay models). Both treatments used science content material and resulted in significant improvement in spelling and reading pseudowords (accuracy and rate). The surprising finding was that hands-on, engaging science problem solving led to more improvement in phonological working memory than did specialized phonological instruction. Only when spelling instruction emphasized orthography or morphology (Study 1) did real word spelling improve. Preparation of this chapter was supported by Grant Nos. HD25858 and P50 33812 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). In Study 1 teaching assistants included Sylvia Abbott, Marci Anderson-Youngstrom, Belle Chennault, Kate Eschen, Noelia Garcia, Sandra Hiramatsu, Lynn Junell, Julia Kim, Stephanie King, Shin-Ju (Cindy) Lin, Rebecca Metzger, Heather Murphy, Jennifer Norton, Sue Palewicz, Rebecca Pirie, and Suzanna West. Also on the assessment team were Sylvia Abbott, Belle Chenault, Kate Eschen, and Rebecca Pirie. Certified teachers Diana Hoffer and Christina Johnson implemented the composition lessons written by the first author. In Study 2, teaching assistants included Nicole Alston-Abel, Leah Altemeier, Wade Altom, Marci Anderson-Youngstrom, Annie Boyd, Nicole Garcia, Laura Gould, Marta Holsinger, Yen-Ling Lee, Shin-Ju (Cindy) Lin, Laurie McCarthy, Heather Murphy, Hema O’Shea, Michelle Proux, Kristine Tardiff, and Kari Terjeson. Janine Jones supervised the assessment team. Margaret McShane and Doug Stock served as administrative assistants.     

Can agricultural research and extension be used to challenge the processes of exclusion and marginalisation?

Purpose: This paper examines if and how agricultural researchers and extension officers can see, understand and change processes that exclude some people and influence marginalisation.

Design and methodology: We used participatory action research (PAR) in a programme building sustainable farming practices for nutrition and income in Solomon Islands as our case study. Two qualitative PAR data streams were analysed: (i) documentation of community activities over three years including action planning, learning activities, training workshops, focus group discussions, key informant and informal interviews and (ii) documentation of the research teams’ own learning and reflection sessions.

Findings: Agricultural research and learning activities facilitated through PAR can help researchers and extension officers see, understand and challenge processes that cause social exclusion and marginalisation and lead to inequitable access to agricultural opportunities. A combination of (i) starting with a collective vision; (ii) facilitating systematic reflection exercises; and (iii) having locally tuned facilitators creating safe spaces; makes processes of social exclusion tangible, discussable and ultimately actionable, illustrating the potential of the research and extension processes to facilitate social change in real time.

Theoretical Implications: The paper makes a contribution to the growing body of theory and literature on innovation systems and people-centred approaches to agricultural development, by highlighting the facilitation challenges and opportunities that can create more learning focused and power-aware agricultural programming.

Practical Implications: Our approach, examined in this paper, can improve implementation of policies such as the Solomon Islands Agriculture and Livestock Sector Policy (2015–2019), which aims for active participation of women and youth in agricultural development.

Originality: Using a PAR approach to discover how agricultural research and extension activities can help transform the processes that cause social exclusion and create disadvantage and marginalisation.     

Russian National Electronic Children's Library

ABSTRACT

The Russian State Children's Library (RGDB) is the largest children's library in the world and has been serving as a cultural and educational center for more than 45 years. Important aspects of RGDB's activities are the development of electronic resources and setting up the library site for distant users. The National Electronic Children's Library in Russia is a specialized digital collection of publications about children and for children. This article focuses on these aspects and the future steps of the project.     

Determinants of the half-turn with the ball in sub-elite youth soccer players

We explored the biomechanics of the 180° change-of-direction with the ball (half-turn) in soccer. We aimed at identifying movement strategies which enhance the players’ half-turning performance, by characterising technique kinematics and understanding the structure of biomechanical and anthropometrics variables. Ten Under-13 sub-elite male players were recorded with an optoelectronic motion analyser while performing a 5-m straight dribbling followed by a half-turn with the sole. Joints kinematics differences between faster and slower trials were found in support-side hip rotation, driving-side hip adduction, trunk flexion and rotation, and arms abduction. To unveil the data-set structure, a principal component (PC) analysis and a stepwise linear discriminant analysis were performed using 30 biomechanical parameters and four anthropometric variables for each trial. Seven retained PCs explained 79% of the overall variability, featuring combinations of original variables that help in understanding the factors facilitating fast half-turns: keeping short steps, minimising lateral and forward body movements, and centre-of-mass lowering, even with ample lower limbs ranges of motion (RoM); abducting the upper limbs while limiting trunk flexion and pelvic inclination RoM. Balance and task-constrained exercises may be proposed to improve this technique. Moreover, a quantitative knowledge of the movement structure could give coaches objective insights to better instruct young players.     

Distance Education for Primary and Secondary Teacher Training in Turkey

This paper describes two teacher training programmes offered through Anadolu University's Open Education Faculty (OEF). The first programme, which began in 1985‐1986, is a pre‐bachelor certificate for 130,000 primary school teachers. The second programme, started in 1990, offers a university degree to 54,000 secondary school teachers. Pedagogy, course materials, delivery systems and evaluation are discussed for both programmes.     

Visualizing Academic Librarians: An Arts-informed Inquiry

This research was undertaken by five librarians from Deakin University Library Australia as part of a professional development project. The objective was to collect qualitative data on the perceptions of librarians by academics and library colleagues from Deakin University. The ways in which academics perceive librarians, as well as how other library staff perceive librarians, are relatively under-explored areas. This study investigates the topic through an analysis of drawing and other visual representations, based on a study design that applied a visual, arts-based methodological approach. Participants were invited to focus groups where they were provided with a variety of craft materials, asked to create a visual representation of liaison librarians, then discuss their artifact. The data consists of twenty-eight artifacts, which were content analyzed, and semi-structured interview recordings, which were transcribed and analyzed for themes. Participants expressed liaison librarians positively, as helpers and connectors, as a gateway to knowledge, with complex and varied roles, as trusted sources, and as relationship builders. By drawing attention to these themes, the participants highlighted that liaison librarians are invaluable to Deakin University.     

Deconstructing the Divergence: Unravelling the 2013‐2015 reforms in GCSE English Language and Literature

Since 2013, GCSE English Language and Literature courses in England have experienced changes to assessment and curriculum that have ushered them in a supposedly new direction, both under the umbrella of wider GCSE reforms. This divergence has included the abolition of controlled assessment and the concurrent resurgence of academic courses being assessed only by examination. Alongside these changes have been wider reforms to the GCSE system in its totality, with a switch from the typical A* to G grading system to a new 9 to 1 structure. This article is a consideration of these changes and some other caveats of the reform documents released between 2013 and 2015. I am posing this inquiry from my perspective as an English teacher and a poststructuralist, using deconstruction to scrutinise the language in some of the reform documents. Governmental agenda of the reform is explored, demonstrating an archaism to the ‘new’ direction of the GCSE and the hierarchizing of the academic elite in the oppositions presented.