Active learning: A small group histology laboratory exercise in a whole class setting utilizing virtual slides and peer education

Histology laboratory instruction is moving away from the sole use of the traditional combination of light microscopes and glass slides in favor of virtual microscopy and virtual slides. At the same time, medical curricula are changing so as to reduce scheduled time for basic science instruction as well as focusing on student‐centered learning approaches such as small group active learning and peer‐instruction. It is important that medical schools resist the temptation to respond to this conjunction of events by turning histology into a self‐study activity. This article describes a lymphoid histology laboratory exercise, occurring in a specially equipped Learning Studio housing an entire medical class that utilizes virtual slides in the context of small group active learning and peer instruction. Anat Sci Educ © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

Individual differences in achievement goals: A longitudinal study of cognitive, emotional, and achievement outcomes

Within achievement goal theory debate remains regarding the adaptiveness of certain combinations of goals. Assuming a multiple-goals perspective, we used cluster analysis to classify 1002 undergraduate students according to their mastery and performance-approach goals. Four clusters emerged, representing different goal combinations: high mastery/performance (i.e., multiple goals), dominant mastery, dominant performance, and low mastery/performance (i.e., low motivation). In a longitudinal analysis over one academic year, the clusters were compared on cognitive appraisals (expected achievement, perceived success), achievement-related emotions (enjoyment, boredom, anxiety), and objective measures of academic achievement (final grade in Introductory Psychology, GPA). The low-motivation cluster demonstrated the least adaptive profile across all outcomes. The multiple-goals, mastery, and performance clusters showed equivalent levels of achievement; however, students in the performance cluster were more psychologically and emotionally vulnerable than the multiple-goals and mastery clusters. Our discussion focuses on the immediate and potentially long-term implications of specific goal combinations for students and educators, with particular attention to understanding the cognitive and emotional vulnerabilities of students in the performance cluster which appear despite satisfactory achievement levels.     

我记得当年你这么高

当我四岁时,我把父母的胡桃木梳妆台上咬上牙印。他们没有看到我做这件事,但一次被发现了,他们并没有责备我。相反,40年来母亲充满深情地将牙印上的灰尘擦去。当我长大后,我问她为什么她从不将梳妆台的表面整修一下,她说,“我只是不想这样做。”直到我自己有了孩子我才能够完全理解这种情感。回忆孩子小时候的事情是人生最开心的事情之一。我的长子阿利屋夏如今20岁了,在外面上大学,但他少年时代的生活印记在我们房子里外到处都是。当他长大以后,我完成了使他长到门框边框的职责。偶尔我让他在靠着门框站立,测量他的身高,然后让他蹲到我们当…     

The Nature–Nurture Question: Teachers’ perceptions of how genes and the environment influence educationally relevant behaviour

Despite a substantial body of research suggesting genetic influence on educationally relevant behavioural traits, it is not clear how the nature–nurture question is perceived by teachers. In order to answer this question, we surveyed 667 UK primary school teachers, and for comparison also surveyed 1,340 parents about their perceptions of genetic and environmental influence on personality, intelligence, behaviour problems, learning difficulties, and mental illness. For these five domains of behaviour, the percentages of teachers who reported that genetics were at least as important as environment were .87, .94, .43, .94, and .91, respectively. Results for parents were similar (.92, .93, .54, .86, and .89). We also found that 80% of teachers reported no coverage of genetics during teacher training.     

An Entity Theory of Intelligence Predicts Higher Cortisol Levels When High School Grades Are Declining

Grades often decline during the high school transition, creating stress. The present research integrates the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat with the implicit theories model to understand who shows maladaptive stress responses. A diary study measured declines in grades in the first few months of high school: salivary cortisol (N = 360 students, N = 3,045 observations) and daily stress appraisals (N = 499 students, N = 3,854 observations). Students who reported an entity theory of intelligence (i.e., the belief that intelligence is fixed) showed higher cortisol when grades were declining. Moreover, daily academic stressors showed a different lingering effect on the next day's cortisol for those with different implicit theories. Findings support a process model through which beliefs affect biological stress responses during difficult adolescent transitions.     

Beginning literacy: links among teacher knowledge, teacher practice, and student learning

Although the importance of phonological awareness has been discussed widely in the research literature, the concept is not well understood by many classroom teachers. In the study described here, we worked with groups of kindergarten and first-grade teachers (the experimental group) during a 2-week summer institute and throughout the school year. We shared with them research about learning disabilities and effective instruction, stressing the importance of explicit instruction in phonological and orthographic awareness. We followed the experimental group and a control group into their classrooms for a year, assessing teachers' classroom practices and their students' (n = 779) learning. The study yielded three major findings: We can deepen teachers' own knowledge of the role of phonological and orthographic information in literacy instruction; teachers can use that knowledge to change classroom practice; and changes in teacher knowledge and classroom practice can improve student learning.     

Educational psychology at the university of Wisconsin

A 44 item questionnaire and free response instrument was given to 280 students selected from two different kinds of introductory educational psychology courses: (a) A “module”; approach involving selection of 3 five‐week modules from a list of such courses; and (b) A specially prepared composite learning and development course covering 1 semester. Analysis of the results lead to the following conclusions: (1) “In theory”; students preferred the module approach; (2) “In practice”; students preferred the composite 1 semester course; (3) The outstanding variable contributing to students’ assessment of relevancy, and teaching procedures, was the instructor. The implication of these findings for innovations in teaching students is discussed.     

Is a cerebellar deficit the underlying cause of reading disabilities?

This study investigated whether children with dyslexia differed in their performance on reading, phonological, rapid naming, motor, and cerebellar-related tasks and automaticity measures compared to reading age (RA)-matched and chronological age (CA)-matched control groups. Participants were 51 children attending mainstream English elementary schools in Quebec. All participants completed measures of IQ, word and nonword reading fluency, elision, nonword decoding, rapid naming, bead threading, peg moving, toe tapping, postural stability, and muscle tone. Results from both group contrasts and analyses at the individual case level did not provide support for claims of motor–cerebellar involvement in either typical or atypical reading acquisition. Results were more consistent with a phonological core process account of both typical reading and reading difficulty. Phonological deficits for children with dyslexia compared to RA-matched controls were, however, only evident in group contrasts. Findings thus also have important implications for identifying at-risk readers among their same-aged peers.