Does ratemyprofessor.com really rate my professor?

This article explores the usefulness and validity of self‐selected online student ratings of faculty. These ratings appear to be increasing in importance, particularly as students utilize them as guides in their choice of instructors. Validity is investigated by analyzing the pattern of relationships of online ratings for 399 randomly selected faculty. Analysis suggests that online ratings in their current form may be useful, even though possible abuses could limit validity in specific instances.     

Multicultural education: Raj's story using a curricular conceptual lens of the particular

In this study, we employ a curricular conceptual lens of the particular to explore the experience of multicultural education from the perspective of an immigrant student, Raj. Using a school-based narrative inquiry approach, we learn about Raj's experiences at the intersections of immigration and settlement, adaptation and assimilation, English-language acquisition, unemployment, poverty, family violence, and family relocation. We employ Dewey's [(1938). Experience and education. New York: Simon & Schuster] theory of experience, Connelly and Clandinin's [(1988). Teachers as curriculum planners: Narratives of experience. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia] understanding of curriculum as experience, and Schwab's [(1969). The practical: A language for curriculum. School Review, 78, 1–23] theory of the particular as theoretical frameworks upon which to examine and analyze interactions and events.     

Social functioning among college students diagnosed with ADHD and the mediating role of emotion regulation

Despite the many studies that have documented the association between symptoms of ADHD and social difficulties in children and adolescents, few have examined this phenomenon in college students. In addition, the underlying factors contributing to such social difficulties are still poorly understood. We hypothesised that college students with symptoms of ADHD, namely inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity, would continue to display social behavioural difficulties, and that emotion regulation would play a mediating role in that relationship. Ninety-nine 17–24-year-old college students filled out three questionnaires to assess Inattentive and Hyperactivity/Impulsivity Symptoms, Social Skills, and Emotion Regulation abilities. Analysis revealed that emotion regulation is a significant mediator between Inattentive Symptoms and Social Skills for female students. There was no significant correlation between ADHD symptoms and Social Skills for males. Female college students report social functioning difficulties associated with their inattentive and hyperactive symptoms, and impaired emotion regulation abilities mediate this relationship for inattentive symptoms only.     

Perseveration of associative strength in rabbit nictitating membrane response conditioning

The present experiment used a transfer-of-training procedure in rabbit nictitating membrane response (NMR) conditioning to determine whether a retention interval and/or extinction could reduce associative strength. The experimental design required that groups receive 0, 3, 15, 45, 150, or 240 CS-US pairings in Stage 1. Next, the groups were given, in succession, a 10-day retention interval and 480 CS-alone trials. In Stage 2, all groups obtained 240 CS-US pairings for NMR conditioning. Another group was also employed and received only the 240 CS-US pairings in Stage 2. The results indicated that 15 to 240 CS-US pairings in Stage 1 substantially enhanced NM CR performance in Stage 2 despite the interpolation of the retention interval and CS-alone trials. When 3 CS-US pairings had been given in Stage 1, no augmentation in the NM CR performance rate occurred in Stage 2. However, the 3 CS-US pairings were effective in prohibiting the 480 CS-alone trials from retarding subsequent NM CR performance. Without any pairings in Stage 1, the 480 CS-alone trials produced strong latent inhibition of NMR conditioning in Stage 2. The data were used to support the theoretical view that associative strength resulting from CS-US pairings is relatively permanent. Moreover, the findings were relevant for an evaluation of Pearce and Hall’s (1980) recent statements concerning CS associability and the relationship between excitatory and inhibitory processes.     

Developing educational goals: insights from a Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme

The rapid changes facing higher education are placing increased focus on the quality of the student experience, achieving learning outcomes, and employability expectations. As a result, academics in teaching roles are increasingly measured on performance via student evaluations amplifying attention on professional development initiatives for academics. One such initiative is the Peer Assisted Teaching Scheme currently in practice across many Australian universities. The critical component of the scheme is the establishment of teaching goals that provide focus and direction for the peer partnership. This study addresses two questions: (1) Around which aspects do academics set their goals for teaching improvement? and (2) How do academics’ goals align with the SMART goal-setting framework that is prescribed in the scheme? Findings from five Australian universities showed that goals align with a variety of educational areas yet many were underdeveloped, or misaligned with the proposed strategy. The implications of this are discussed and a framework for setting education goals for teaching improvement is developed.     

Attributions,affect, and behavior in abuse-risk mothers: a laboratory study

OBJECTIVE: There were two main aims: first, to assess parental attributions about child behavior in abuse-risk and nonclinic parents. Second, to assess how attributions predict affective and behavioral reactions to child behavior. METHOD: Internal-external attributions relating to the causes of child behavior were compared across mothers at-risk of child abuse (n = 40) and mothers who reported no significant parental or child conduct or behavior problems (n = 20). Mothers' attributions about the causes of the behavior of their own child and an unfamiliar child were recorded in response to the presentation of videotaped excerpts of the behavior. RESULTS: Results highlighted that compared with nonclinic mothers, abuse-risk mothers had a tendency to attribute positive child behavior to more external causes and negative child behavior to more internal causes. Differences were also found between parental cognitions about clearly positive, clearly naughty, and ambiguous child behavior. In the abuse-risk group, positive child behavior predicted coercive parenting when it elicited angry feelings in the mother; ambiguous and naughty child behavior led to coercive parenting through valence ratings of "deviant" and attributions of "internality." Analyses within the abuse-risk group showed that parental attributions are predictive of parental coerciveness for unfamiliar behavior. As behavior becomes more familiar, ratings of its valence and the affect it elicits override attributional activity. CONCLUSIONS: Parental attributions about the causes of child behavior differ according to the valence and familiarity of that behavior, and discriminate between parents at risk for child abuse. Further, attributions are predictive of the affective and behavioral responses the parent makes to the child's behavior for ambiguous or unfamiliar behavior. Evidence was found for the validity of using videotaped stimuli of the behavior of known and unknown children as a method of assessing parental attributions.     

Nonlinear Mixed-Effects Modeling Programs in R

In this software review, we provide a brief overview of four R functions to estimate nonlinear mixed-effects programs: nlme (linear and nonlinear mixed-effects model), nlmer (from the lme4 package, linear mixed-effects models using Eigen and S4), saemix (stochastic approximation expectation maximization), and brms (Bayesian regression models using Stan). We briefly describe the approaches used, provide a sample code, and highlight strengths and weaknesses of each.     

Technology infusion in K-12 classrooms: a retrospective look at three decades of challenges and advancements in research and practice

Educational technology research and development - Educational technology offers unique affordances as a learning tool and delivery system for enhancing and personalizing instruction. Over the past...     

Physician opinions about an anatomy core curriculum: A case for medical imaging and vertical integration

Pre‐clinical anatomy curricula must provide medical students with the knowledge needed in a variety of medical and surgical specialties. But do physicians within specialties agree about what anatomical knowledge is most important in their practices? And, what is the common core of anatomical knowledge deemed essential by physicians in different specialties? Answers to these questions would be useful in designing pre‐clinical anatomy courses. The primary aim of this study was to assess the importance of a human gross anatomy course by soliciting the opinions of physicians from a range of specialties. We surveyed 93 physicians to determine the importance of specific anatomical topics in their own practices. Their responses were analyzed to assess variation in intra‐ and inter‐departmental attitudes toward the importance of anatomy. Nearly all of the topics taught in the course were deemed important by the clinicians as a group, but respondents showed little agreement on the rank order of importance of anatomical topics. Overall, only medical imaging received high importance by nearly all respondents, and lower importance was attached to embryology and lymphatic anatomy. Our survey data, however, also suggested distinct hierarchies in the importance assigned to anatomical topics within specialties. Given that physicians view the importance of anatomy differently, we suggest that students revisit anatomy through a vertically integrated curriculum tailored to provide specialty‐specific anatomical training to advanced students based on their areas of clinical interest. Integration of medical imaging into pre‐clinical anatomy courses, already underway in many medical schools, is of high clinical relevance. Anat Sci Educ 7: 251–261. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Negotiating managerialism: professional recognition and teachers of sustainable development education

Policy strategies to reward teachers for field-specific expertise have become internationally widespread and have been criticized for being manifestations of neoliberal globalization. In Scotland, there is political commitment to such strategies, including one to award recognition to teachers for expertise in sustainable development education (SDE). This study examined 22 application forms for that award, conducted face-to-face discussions with 8 successful teacher applicants, and with two policy-making actors and analyzed the websites of relevant policy institutions. The study asked how the concept of ‘the professional teacher of SDE’ was negotiated through the policy. In both policy and teacher discourse, there was a struggle to reconcile the constructions of the teacher as an individualized generic manager and as committed to SDE as a networked, disciplinary field of endeavor. Managerialism is a neoliberal technology, so these tensions are interpreted as traces of neoliberal ideology. Moreover, their negotiation is interpreted as de- and re-bordering engagements with globalization. The critical potential of these interpretations is in the revealed incompleteness of the engagements, leaving teachers and policy-makers with scope to manage responses to neoliberal globalization in SDE.