Activity of Prefrontal Cortex in Teachers and Students during Teaching of an Insight Problem

Metacognitive functions are important for both teachers and students to facilitate teaching and learning. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a proven role in metacognition. As a pilot study, we evaluated the PFC activity of teachers and students using near‐infrared spectroscopy devices to explore the neural mechanism of PFC underlying metacognitive function during teaching and problem‐solving processes. In 14 student‐teacher pairs, participants in the teacher role gave hints via a tablet screen to facilitate solving of a tangram puzzle task by participants in the student role. The PFC activity of teachers increased after giving hints but not while planning hints. The PFC activity of students increased upon task solving after receiving hints. The PFC of teachers might play a metacognitive role in monitoring their own teaching results. The PFC activity of students might be related to the creativity process after gaining insights, as well as metacognitive process for monitoring their own behavior.     

王国维美学转型的历史考察

学界对王国维美学思想的研究已有很多 ,但多数研究者只将目光放在王国维身上 ,不能将王国维放在近代美学转型的大背景下加以关注 ,忽略了王国维前后的一些重要美学家。笔者认为 ,要清楚地揭示王国维美学在中国传统美学近代转型中的价值 ,稍前的常州词派诸家及同时的陈衍、梁启超等人的理论无疑应成为重要的参照系。本文即试图由此入手对王国维的美学转型做一简要的历史考察     

A U‐Shaped Relation Between Sitting Ability and Upright Face Processing in Infants

A growing body of research indicates connections exist between action, perception, and cognition in infants. In this study, associated changes between sitting ability and upright face processing were tested in 111 infants. Using the visual habituation “switch” task (C. H. Cashon & L. B. Cohen, 2004; L. B. Cohen & C. H. Cashon, 2001), holistic processing of faces was assessed in same‐aged non‐ and near sitters (22–25 weeks) and same‐aged new and expert sitters (27–32 weeks). U‐shaped relation was found between sitting stage and holistic face processing such that only nonsitters and expert sitters processed faces holistically. It is posited that the results are due to a reorganization of the upright face‐processing system resulting from infants' learning to sit independently and trying to incorporate the meaning of upright faces.     

The Perfect Marriage? – Language and Art Criticism in the Hong Kong Public Examination Context

Art education in Hong Kong has undergone various changes in response to educational reform. In art assessment, a major change in the Hong Kong New Senior Secondary (NSS) Curriculum is the inclusion of art criticism as a compulsory component of the new public examination. Assessing students’ abilities to interpret art in an art criticism public examination context is a critical issue in Hong Kong because the new senior secondary curriculum and assessment has brought attention to the role of written language in the art examination paper. This means the examination assesses not only students’ abilities to interpret art, but also their language abilities required to respond to art in written form. Since this new mode of assessment of art criticism has been published a number of issues have appeared. Recent studies show that teachers and students perceive this development negatively and they believe that the written format will assess students’ written language abilities rather than their critical abilities. These findings challenge the justification of the new art assessment policy and raise questions about the role of written language in responding to art. This article aims to raise the issue of the marriage between language and art criticism in the Hong Kong public examination context. It argues and examines the relationship of language to art interpretation, reasoning in the assessment, and issues in the public art criticism examination context. The issues addressed in this article provide opportunities for researchers and policy makers to reconsider and refine the new form of examination.     

College students' intentions to use e‐portfolios: From the perspectives of career‐commitment status and weblog‐publication behaviours

The growing popularity of a school‐wide e‐portfolio system in colleges and universities has raised concerns regarding whether students will use it or consider it important to have an e‐portfolio system, especially when its use is not required by their curriculum. This study investigated college students' intentions to use and the students' attitudes towards using an e‐portfolio system, and did so from the perspectives of career‐commitment status and weblog‐publication behaviours. The results indicate that career‐commitment status substantially influences college students' intentions and attitudes relative to using an e‐portfolio system. Also, overlap in the functions of weblogs and e‐portfolios (which allow people to use them interchangeably) does not directly result in higher or lower levels of intention to use an e‐portfolio system. A composite system providing career services, goal‐oriented self‐presentation and personality‐driven self‐expression is recommended.     

The relative age effect on physical fitness in preschool children

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to investigate the existence of a relative age effect (RAE) on physical fitness of preschoolers. Anthropometry and physical fitness were assessed in 3147 children (3–5 years old) using the PREFIT battery. Based on the birth year, participants were divided into 3year groups (3-, 4- and 5-years). Within each year group, 4quarter groups were created: quarter 1, preschoolers born from January to March; quarter 2, from April to June; quarter 3, from July to September; quarter 4, from October to December. The MANCOVA analysis revealed a main effect of year group (Wilks’ λ = 0.383; F_10,5996 = 369.64; p < 0.001, η_p ² = 0.381) and of quarter (Wilks’ λ = 0.874; F_15,8276.6 = 27.67; p < 0.001; η_p ² = 0.044) over the whole battery of tests. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report the existence of RAE at the preschool stage. In general, performance improved as the relative age increased (i.e., those born in quarter 1 performed better than those in the other quarters). Individualization strategies should be addressed within the same academic year not only in elementary or secondary years but also in preschoolers.     

Higher Education as a Platform for Cross‐Cultural Transition: the Case of the First Educated Bedouin Women in Israel

This article examines two groups of Bedouin women who studied in different cultural spaces. The first group, due to a lack of high schools in the Negev (during the 1970s), were obliged to leave the village to study and reside in boarding schools in the central and northern regions of Israel. These women returned to their society of origin after the completion of their academic studies. The second group went to Jewish universities in a town near their homes (Beersheba), attending daily and returning home each night to patriarchal control. The article examines the experience of these pioneers in higher education as a form of cultural transition and internal immigration, with an emphasis on the unique characteristics of each of the two groups. Going out to gain higher education is seen in Bedouin society as a form of immigration, and the first educated women therefore became a type of immigrant.     

Beyond educational attainment: The importance of skills and lifelong learning for social outcomes. Evidence for Europe from PIAAC

Empirical evidence suggests that educational attainment nurtures people's social outcomes and promotes active participation in society and stability. However, it is unclear to what extent other types of human capital also correlate with social outcomes. Hence, we explored the opportunity offered by the PIAAC survey through its provision of information on educational attainment, observed individual key skills proficiency, and participation in adult education and training (adult lifelong learning). We therefore studied the association between these human capital variables and social outcomes, and more specifically interpersonal trust and participation in volunteering activities. Results revealed that these social outcomes were affected not only by the formal qualification obtained, determined by the education variable, but also throughout the life‐cycle. Indeed, education and training when undertaken during adult life have a significant impact, especially on volunteering. The fact that the skill proficiency also plays a significant role is extremely relevant, as skills are more likely to change over the life‐cycle, either in a positive or negative way. Whilst the formal education received is constant after exiting the educational system, skills reflect competences more accurately: first, because those with the same level of education may have different skill levels because of differences in the quality of education or ability; second, because skills can vary over time. For example, they may increase with work experience or informal education, or decrease as a result of depreciation and ageing. These findings suggest that social outcomes are prone to be affected by many factors other than formal education, suggesting that policy makers can implement recommendations even after formal education has been completed.     

Adjustment scales for preschool intervention: Extending validity and relevance across multiple perspectives

A series of studies extended psychometric research on the Adjustment Scales for Preschool Intervention (ASPI). The ASPI is a multidimensional measure of preschool emotional and behavioral adjustment for use within formal early childhood educational programs. These studies used a multiple method, multisource approach to provide additional evidence for the reliability and validity of the ASPI. Findings documented inter‐rater reliability of the ASPI across key informants within early childhood educational programs—teachers and teacher assistants. Findings supported concurrent validity of the ASPI with direct observations of preschool classroom adjustment problems and the developmentally salient constructs of temperament and emotion regulation. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 41: 725–736, 2004.