Paul F-Brandwein 2004 Lecture: Regarding the Ecology of Science Education: Connections to Environmental and Distance Education

Paul F-Brandwein was a visionary who looked at education broadly. He left us with an insightful view of the ecology of education in which he identified three ecological systems: school–family–community, postsecondary, and cultural. The first part of this lecture, by Dean B. Bennett, examines Brandwein's ideas related to environmental education and explores the relationship of environmental education with science teaching in the K-12 school–family–community ecosystem. Focusing particularly on the middle-secondary level, evidence suggests that the goals of environmental education, since their emergence in the late 1960s, are today strongly evident in science curricula, instructional resources, educational assessment, and teacher education. But the author points out that more must be done and provides some fundamental suggestions. The second part of the lecture, by Sheila K. Bennett, examines the role of distance education in the teaching of science in the postsecondary ecosystem and addresses its value as a viable tool in promoting scientific literacy. The lecture focuses on a successful statewide, interdisciplinary laboratory science course delivered by interactive television, the Internet, and computer network. Now in its ninth year, the course reflects Brandwein's thinking about effective classroom teaching and is based on national standards for scientific literacy.     

University staff mental health literacy,stigma and their experience of students with mental health problems

Despite high rates of mental disorders in university students, very few seek professional help. University teaching staff are well placed to connect students with mental health care. However, little is known about university staff attitudes to and knowledge about mental health problems, or whether these factors influence their experience with and assistance of students with these problems. A total of 224 teaching staff members at the Australian National University, Canberra completed an anonymous online survey via an email link (16.4% response rate from N ~ 1370). Measures included demographic and professional information, experiences with student mental health, knowledge of depression (literacy) and attitudes to depression (stigma). Strength of stigmatising attitude did not predict whether a teaching staff member would approach a student to assist with mental health problems. Teaching staff with higher levels of depression literacy (OR = 1.14, p = 0.007) were more likely to feel sufficiently informed to help students with mental health problems. Ensuring staff complete mental health literacy training and have adequate skills to respond appropriately to students with mental health problems may help in connecting young people to appropriate care in a university context.     

Social transmission of information about multiflavored foods

We fed demonstrator rats diets made by adding three, four, or five different flavorants to powdered Purina Rat Chow. We then allowed each of these demonstrator rats to interact with a naive observer rat for 30 min. We found that (1) observers exhibited enhanced preferences for many of the individual flavorants in the multiflavored diets that their respective demonstrators had eaten and (2) the probability of an observer exhibiting enhanced preference for an individual flavorant in its demonstrator’s diet decreased as the number of flavorants in that diet increased. In Experiment 2, the individual members of pairs of subjects were each fed one of two different four-flavored diets. The subjects in each pair interacted for 30 min, then each chose between two single-flavored diets. One of these single-flavored diets contained a flavorant in the four-flavored food that a subject had itself eaten; the other single-flavored diet contained a flavorant in the four-flavored diet that a subject’s partner had eaten. The subjects showed enhanced preferences for six of eight flavorants in the four-flavored diets that their respective partners had eaten.     

The relative contributions of the Cattell‐Horn‐Carroll cognitive abilities in explaining writing achievement during childhood and adolescence

This study examined the relative contributions of measures of Cattell‐Horn‐Carroll (CHC) cognitive abilities in explaining writing achievement. Drawing from samples that covered the age range of 7 to 18 years, simultaneous multiple regression was used to regress scores from the Woodcock‐Johnson III (WJ III; Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001) that represent CHC broad and narrow abilities onto the WJ III Basic Writing Skills and Written Expression cluster scores. At most age levels, Comprehension‐Knowledge demonstrated moderate to strong effects on both writing clusters, Processing Speed demonstrated moderate effects on Basic Writing Skills and moderate to strong effects on Written Expression, and Short‐Term Memory demonstrated moderate effects. At the youngest age levels, Long‐Term Retrieval demonstrated moderate to strong effects on Basic Writing Skills and moderate effects on Written Expression. Auditory Processing, and Phonemic Awareness demonstrated moderate effects on only Written Expression at the youngest age levels and at some of the oldest age levels. Fluid Reasoning demonstrated moderate effects on both writing clusters only during some of the oldest age levels. Visual‐Spatial Thinking primarily demonstrated negligible effects. The results provide insights into the cognitive abilities most important for understanding the writing skills of children during the school‐age years. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Behavioral profiles of children with epilepsy: Parent and teacher reports of emotional,behavioral, and educational concerns on the BASC‐2

The Behavior Assessment Scale for Children – Second Edition (BASC‐2) was administered to 108 parents and 37 teachers of children with epilepsy (mean age of 10.6 years; 51% female, 49% male). Results demonstrated high mean scores on the Atypicality, Attention Problems, Withdrawal, and Adaptive Skills scales and a high percentage of At‐Risk or Clinically Significant scores on the majority of scales. Ratings were correlated with level of functioning, age of onset, and number of antiepileptic medications. In addition, children with poor seizure control had higher ratings on the Depression, Somatization, and Withdrawal scales, and children with temporal lobe seizures had higher scores on the Depression scale. These results confirm a high rate of behavioral concerns in children with epilepsy. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Adding an expert to the team: The expert flight plan critic*

This paper reports the development of a practical tool that provides expert feedback to students following an extended simulation exercise in cross‐country flight planning. In contrast to development for laboratory settings, the development of an expert instructional product for everyday use posed some interesting challenges, including dealing with a larger content scope, less ideal and controllable content structure, greater emphasis on the completeness and continuity of the student experience, and more stringent limits on time and money. Moreover, the transition from laboratory to real world caused the developers to think more critically of the principles of instruction embodied in the product and to place less emphasis on computer tool and technique questions. The product, which will be used in the context of routine ab initio pilot training, is described in terms of how these problems were solved and what lessons were learned that can be applied to the development of future instructional systems involving expertise.     

Learning in Stereo: The Relationship Between Spatial Ability and 3D Digital Anatomy Models

Three-dimensional (3D) digital anatomical models show potential to demonstrate complex anatomical relationships; however, the literature is inconsistent as to whether they are effective in improving the anatomy performance, particularly for students with low spatial visualization ability (Vz). This study investigated the educational effectiveness of a 3D stereoscopic model of the pelvis, and the relationship between learning with 3D models and Vz. It was hypothesized that participants learning with a 3D pelvis model would outperform participants learning with a two-dimensional (2D) visualization or cadaveric specimen on a spatial anatomy test, particularly when comparing those with low Vz. Participants (n = 64) were stratified into three experimental groups, who each attended a learning session with either a 3D stereoscopic model (n = 21), 2D visualization (n = 21), or cadaveric specimen (n = 22) of the pelvis. Medical and pre-medical student participants completed a multiple-choice pre-test and post-test during their respective learning session, and a long-term retention (LTR) test 2 months later. Results showed no difference in anatomy test improvement or LTR performance between the experimental groups. A simple linear regression analysis showed that within the 3D group, participants with high Vz tended to retain more than those with low Vz on the LTR test (R² = 0.31, P = 0.01). The low Vz participants may be cognitively overloaded by the complex spatial cues from the 3D stereoscopic model. Results of this study should inform resource selection and curriculum design for health professional students, with attention to the impact of Vz on learning.     

Childhood acquired brain injury: the knowledge and training needs of special educational needs coordinators

The aim of this study was to further explore Special Educational Need Co-ordinators' (SENCos) knowledge of childhood acquired brain injury (ABI) and if they have received training on how to effectively support children and young people (CYP) with an ABI in school. SENCos from Nottinghamshire were asked to complete a survey face-to-face or online. Data reported by Howe and Ball (Support for Learning, 32, 1, 85–100), was also used to allow comparisons between different counties in the UK for knowledge of childhood ABI. Results indicated that SENCos from Nottinghamshire hold numerous uncertainties about childhood ABI, although less uncertainties than SENCos from the West Midlands. A majority SENCos from Nottinghamshire had not received training about childhood ABI. Additional challenges in supporting CYP with an ABI were also identified. The findings show a clear need for more training on childhood ABI across UK schools. It is also apparent that obtaining funding for CYP with an ABI can be a challenge for SENCos. However, further research is needed to determine what these barriers to funding are.