Distinct neuron populations for simple and compound calls in the primary auditory cortex of awake marmosets

Marmosets are highly social non-human primates that live in families. They exhibit rich vocalization, but the neural basis underlying this complex vocal communication is largely unknown. Here we report the existence of specific neuron populations in marmoset A1 that respond selectively to distinct simple or compound calls made by conspecific marmosets. These neurons were spatially dispersed within A1 but distinct from those responsive to pure tones. Call-selective responses were markedly diminished when individual domains of the call were deleted or the domain sequence was altered, indicating the importance of the global rather than local spectral-temporal properties of the sound. Compound call-selective responses also disappeared when the sequence of the two simple-call components was reversed or their interval was extended beyond 1 s. Light anesthesia largely abolished call-selective responses. Our findings demonstrate extensive inhibitory and facilitatory interactions among call-evoked responses, and provide the basis for further study of circuit mechanisms underlying vocal communication in awake non-human primates.     

An interview with Mingjie Zhang: phase separation in biological systems

Mingjie Zhang is a distinguished structural biologist whose research interest is the protein assemblies in cells, particularly those at the synapse, where two neurons meet and transmit nervous impulses from one to the other. In recent years, his group discovered the phenomenon of phase separation in both the pre- and post-synaptic sites of neurons and elucidated its regulation and physiological function. In this interview, NSR Executive Editor-in-Chief Mu-ming Poo talks with Prof. Zhang on the fast-developing research area of biological phase separation, as well as Zhang''s new role as the Founding Dean of the School of Life Sciences at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen.     

Science Teachers’ Professional Development and Changes in Science Practical Assessment Practices: What are the Issues?

This paper considers the circumstances under which science teachers can respond positively and productively to educational policy reforms in the area of science practical assessment. To understand what might be involved in linking science teachers’ assessment capacities and their professional development, we present illustrative data from recent research studies conducted in Singapore and Hong Kong showing contrasting approaches taken in the implementation of reforms in science practical assessment. In Singapore, teachers worked together to select, discuss, clarify and refine their practices as they made decisions about what to teach and assess. In Hong Kong, teachers took a critical stance towards the new policy and learnt from their own experiences in order to build their confidence. With the same policy initiative, one group of teachers focused more on the technicalities of complying with requirements imposed on them while in the other group had their professional consciousness of what they thought was best for their students provoked so that their practices would be transformed. In an attempt to draw lessons for other contexts in supporting the implementation of assessment policy reforms through professional development work, we identify and discuss a range of factors in science teachers’ professional development that arise once in situ professional development work has started. Overall, our intent in this article is to recast assessment reform as a driver or pivot in teachers’ professional development and learning. To do this it is necessary, we argue, to afford teachers’ experiences and the processes involved in learning from them greater emphasis in order to ensure the continuance of innovation in the assessment of laboratory-based work.     

游戏化网络课程的设计与应用研究

针对游戏进入中小学课堂教学出现的困难和障碍,提出了构建面向中小学生的基于游戏化学习的网络课程。分门别类地详细介绍了此类课程的设计理念和特点:一是基于游戏化学习的课程;二是面向中小学生的网络课程;三是大学和中小学共同开设课程,同时针对每种特点提出相应的设计策略。随后,开发了"农场狂想曲科学探究网络课程",并开展了准实验研究,探讨了游戏化网络课程的教学成效。     

Concentrating on affective feedforward in online tutoring

With considerable input from the student voice, the paper centres on a detailed account of the experiences of Western academic, tutoring Eastern students online to develop their critical thinking skills. From their online experiences together as tutor and students, the writers present a considered case for the main emphasis in facilitative online tutoring to be on building, and then building upon, congruent relationships and constructive feedforward. Initially, the Western tutor had followed as best he could the norms of a Confucian Heritage Culture, concentrating reactively on instructional feedback. He then took the considered risk of reverting to proactivity, following the advice of Rogers and Vygotsky and according to an explicit rationale. The ensuing changes in students' online discussions and their learning experiences were marked and were objectively analysed. The tutor and two of his students suggest that the nature of congruent tutor/student relationships, irrespective of culture, is more significant in effectively promoting development than the cognitive content that might feature in feedback in such interactions. For it seems possible from the reported experiences that learning dependent on technological links may benefit from meaningful tutor/student relationships. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teslTzgVBsc&feature=youtu.be     

Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Enhancing student‐teachers’ understanding of nature of science and scientific inquiry through a case study of the scientific research in severe acute respiratory syndrome

Interviews with key scientists involved in research on severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), together with analysis of media reports and documentaries produced during and after the SARS epidemic, revealed many interesting aspects of nature of science (NOS) and authentic scientific inquiry. This novel insight into practice in the rapidly growing field of molecular biology was used in the development of instructional materials for use in the pre‐service and in‐service teacher education programme at The University of Hong Kong. The elements of NOS and scientific inquiry identified in the scientific research on SARS were explicitly emphasized in our instructional materials. The contemporary real‐life context of SARS was found to be effective in promoting student‐teachers’ understanding of NOS and scientific inquiry, particularly in terms of: the realization of inseparable links between science and the social, cultural, and political environment; deeper understanding of how science and technology impact on each other; and a richer appreciation of the processes of authentic scientific inquiry and the humanistic character of scientists. The effectiveness is attributed to immediacy, relevance, and familiarity, making the abstract tangible, personal experience of science history, and the powerful affective impact of the interviews with scientists.     

Making Science Vivid: Using a historical episodes map

Many have argued that the inclusion of the history of science in science teaching might promote an understanding of the nature of science as well as the attitudes toward science. However, its inclusion in science teaching may not have the desired effect due to the limited coverage it receives in textbooks and the limited time available for teaching. A historical episodes map (HEM) is thus developed with four storylines and more than 20 events related to the history of science and is designed to fit in with regular teaching topics. A total of 329 students in Grade 7 were involved in the experimental group and the control group. The control group was taught using the textbook only, while the experimental group was also taught using the textbook plus HEM materials and associated discussion. The intervention of such teaching lasted for a month and a half. The findings reveal that the exposure of students to HEM materials did promote the students’ understanding of the nature of science as well as their attitudes toward science.     

Three views of fairness in a school-based assessment scheme of practical work in biology

This interpretive study of the implementation of a school-based assessment scheme of biology practical work in Hong Kong examines three teachers' struggles with the issue of fairness in relation to their classroom actions. Though the teachers' discourses were dominated by, and their classroom actions were pre-eminently influenced by, the notion of fairness, they did so in three qualitatively different ways: (1) fair in the sense of assessing students on a fair basis; (2) fair in the sense of not jeopardizing students' chances to learn the subject matter while they are being assessed; and (3) fair in the sense of not depriving students' of opportunities of receiving all-round education. The implication is that assessment innovation is a necessary, but not a sufficient, mechanism for changes within our educational system. The role of the teacher is challenged by the new assessment scheme?the co-existence of assessment and learning requires a significant change in the teacher's pedagogy. For teachers to implement the new programme their existing understanding and beliefs concerning assessment must be challenged and opportunities provided for them to come to terms with the philosophy of the new assessment scheme. Most importantly, the teachers themselves must undertake such a learning process.