Using digital images of the zebra finch song system as a tool to teach organizational effects of steroid hormones: a free downloadable module

Zebra finch song behavior is sexually dimorphic: males sing and females do not. The neural system underlying this behavior is sexually dimorphic, and this sex difference is easy to quantify. During development, the zebra finch song system can be altered by steroid hormones, specifically estradiol, which actually masculinizes it. Because of the ease of quantification and experimental manipulation, the zebra finch song system has great potential for use in undergraduate labs. Unfortunately, the underlying costs prohibit use of this system in undergraduate labs. Further, the time required to perform a developmental study renders such undertakings unrealistic within a single academic term. We have overcome these barriers by creating digital tools, including an image library of song nuclei from zebra finch brains. Students using this library replicate and extend a published experiment examining the dose of estradiol required to masculinize the female zebra finch brain. We have used this library for several terms, and students not only obtain significant experimental results but also make gains in understanding content, experimental controls, and inferential statistics (analysis of variance and post hoc tests). We have provided free access to these digital tools at the following website: http://mdcune.psych.ucla.edu/modules/birdsong.     

Students' privacy concerns in learning analytics: Model development

Understanding students' privacy concerns is an essential first step toward effective privacy-enhancing practices in learning analytics (LA). In this study, we develop and validate a model to explore the students' privacy concerns (SPICE) regarding LA practice in higher education. The SPICE model considers privacy concerns as a central construct between two antecedents—perceived privacy risk and perceived privacy control, and two outcomes—trusting beliefs and non-self-disclosure behaviours. To validate the model, data through an online survey were collected, and 132 students from three Swedish universities participated in the study. Partial least square results show that the model accounts for high variance in privacy concerns, trusting beliefs, and non-self-disclosure behaviours. They also illustrate that students' perceived privacy risk is a firm predictor of their privacy concerns. The students' privacy concerns and perceived privacy risk were found to affect their non-self-disclosure behaviours. Finally, the results show that the students' perceptions of privacy control and privacy risks determine their trusting beliefs. The study results contribute to understand the relationships between students' privacy concerns, trust and non-self-disclosure behaviours in the LA context. A set of relevant implications for LA systems' design and privacy-enhancing practices' development in higher education is offered.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Addressing students' privacy is critical for large-scale learning analytics (LA) implementation.
• Understanding students' privacy concerns is an essential first step to developing effective privacy-enhancing practices in LA.
• Several conceptual, not empirically validated frameworks focus on ethics and privacy in LA.

What this paper adds

• The paper offers a validated model to explore the nature of students' privacy concerns in LA in higher education.
• It provides an enhanced theoretical understanding of the relationship between privacy concerns, trust and self-disclosure behaviour in the LA context of higher education.
• It offers a set of relevant implications for LA researchers and practitioners.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• Students' perceptions of privacy risks and privacy control are antecedents of students' privacy concerns, trust in the higher education institution and the willingness to share personal information.
• Enhancing students' perceptions of privacy control and reducing perceptions of privacy risks are essential for LA adoption and success.
• Contextual factors that may influence students' privacy concerns should be considered.

     

Teaching Prospect Theory with the Deal or No Deal Game Show

Recent evidence indicates that decision makers are more sensitive to potential losses than gains. Loss aversion psychology has led behavioural economists to look beyond expected utility by developing prospect theory. We demonstrate this theory using the Deal or No Deal game show.     

The Effects of Autonomy on Motivation and Performancein the College Classroom

The goals of this study were to extend the literature about classroom autonomy in several ways. First, since previous research on autonomy has tended to focus on younger learners, we examined whether the positive effects of autonomy on motivation and performance would be replicated in a college sample. Second, we tested to see whether the well-established links between intrinsic motivation and autonomy would also be found using motivational constructs that play key roles in learning (specifically, task value, self-efficacy, and test anxiety). Third, we sought to trace the effect of autonomy on changes in student motivation over the course of a semester. Finally, we examined the role of autonomy on course performance. We found that experiences of classroom autonomy in the college classroom were more closely related to motivational factors than to performance. While the immediate experience of autonomy may not be directly facilitative of high course grades, autonomy does seem to foster intrinsic goal orientation, task value, and self-efficacy, all of which are critical components of “continuing motivation.” The data presented here lend further support for the benefits of fostering autonomy within academic settings.     

An optimal learning environment for Rosemary

This article discusses the special education placement and instruction of language-minority children identified as mildly disabled, personified by "Rosemary," in the context of a curriculum guide recently developed in California. The Optimal Learning Environment (OLE) Curriculum Guide: A Resource for Teachers of Spanish-Speaking Children in Learning Handicapped Programs. The guide was written in response to the growing number of such children and to the lack of direction given to special educators in meeting the educational needs of this population. The instructional principles in the guide are based on research with language-minority students and on those with learning disabilities. The guide incorporates existing, promising materials and techniques for use with language-minority populations.     

Discursive negotiations of Kenyan LGBTI identities: Cautions in cultural humility

This study identifies and analyzes sites of discursive negotiation regarding sexual and gender minority identities in Kenya. A demonizing master narrative of homosexuality is constructed through cultural myths prevalent in Kenyan media yet challenged by claims of innate identity through strategic essentialism and glocalized naming practices. Using participant observation and creative focus group methodologies with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, and intersex community members and journalists in Nairobi, Kenya this research project demonstrates the necessity of cultural humility while addressing contemporary absences in the study of queer identities in intercultural scholarship and communication research within African contexts.     

Exploring urban print environments: a comparative study across San Antonio and Santiago and implications for early childhood literacy practices

In this study, we compared the types of texts found in two metropolitan areas (Santiago, Chile, and San Antonio, TX, USA) as a way of documenting the sponsorship of literacy within these two communities. We found (roughly) equal number of texts across the sites but interesting patterns within each. San Antonio's texts were primarily sponsored by industry and the military and Santiago's texts by political and religious sponsors. Similarly, there were statistically significant differences in the types of texts across neighbourhoods based on how well they were historically resourced. Our findings have implications for teaching early literacy through environmental print.