A mixed design reveals that glucose moieties facilitate extinction of a conditioned taste aversion in rats

Separate groups of water-deprived rats had four trials with 15-min access to 0.0073 M saccharin, 0.3 M alanine, 0.3 M glucose, 0.1 M maltose, 0.3 M fructose, 0.06 M sucrose, or 0.03 M Polycose. Trials 1–3 were followed by injections of either 0.15 M LiCl (1.33 ml/100 g b.w., i.p.) or saline; Trial 4 (Test) was CS only. Extinction included either 48-h access to water alone or to the appropriate CS, both followed by a 24-h, two-bottle choice of CS and water. This 3-day cycle was repeated five to six times. All rats acquired comparable conditioned taste aversions (CTAs), but extinction rates varied with the test and the taste CS. No CTA extinguished during the two-bottle choices following 2 water days. During one-bottle CS exposure, all CTAs extinguished, but the aversion continued longer in the probe two-bottle tests. Intake of glucose moieties recovered rapidly, often in two cycles; the other CSs took four to six cycles. Thus, CTA extinction varies with the nature of the taste CS.     

What Would Dewey Say? Channeling Dewey on the Issue of Specificity of Epistemic Beliefs: A Response to Muis, Bendixen, and Haerle (2006)

In this response to Muis et al. (2006), I draw on the writings of Dewey to explore three critical questions. The first question is what is gained or what is lost when the study of epistemology moves from philosophy to psychology and eventually to educational practice? The second asks whether the primary question under examination should be if students’ beliefs about knowledge or knowing differ by domains or why they may differ? Finally, what are the implications of the generality or specificity of students’ epistemic beliefs for educational practice?     

Models of Learning Support in Victorian Universities: Issues and Implications

In recent years changes in policy, the spate of amalgamations of tertiary institutions, changes in secondary education and the move in institutions toward intemationalisation, have led to a diversification of student populations in Australian universities. One response to these changes has been the expansion of the provision of student learning support within universities. This study examined the models of such support in Victorian universities. The location of support units, sources of funding, communication between different units at the same institution and staff conditions were identified as core issues in how learning support is delivered. A suggested model for delivery of learning support is proposed.     

Poverty, Social Support, and Parental Behavior

The associations among poverty, measures of social support, and parents' reports of punitive and unsupportive behaviors were examined using the National Survey of Families and Households. Analyses revealed a significant interaction between perceived social support and household income: perceived social support was negatively associated with parents' reports of punitive behavior, but mainly when income was low. The amount of help received from others was negatively associated with parents' reports of unsupportive behavior. The study suggests that some forms of social support lower levels of problematic behavior among all parents, whereas other forms of social support are particularly beneficial to parents living in poverty.     

Creating Learning Prisms with an Interdisciplinary Case Study Workshop

With increasing specialization, most academic disciplines have become highly compartmentalized. Numerous organizations in higher education strongly encourage interdisciplinary collaboration at the faculty and student level. The purposes of this article are (a) to provide a conceptual framework for explaining how and why an interdisciplinary case study method is a catalyst for the development of students and faculty; (b) to document the conception, planning, organizing, and results of an interdisciplinary case study workshop; and (c) to provide recommendations to encouragechange others who might want to apply this model to their own interdisciplinary efforts.All authors are at Towson University Sharon B. Buchbinder, R.N., PhD, is associate professor of health science. She received her PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Special interests are physician job satisfaction and turnover, patient compliance, learning styles and teamwork among undergraduates. Patricia M. Alt, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is professor of health science. Special interests are state level policies on aging and human subjects protection, the impact of baby boomer aging on public services, responsible conduct of research training and typologies of institutional review boards. Karen Eskow, PhD, University of Maryland is associate professor of occupational therapy and occupational sciences and director of the Family Studies Program. Special interests are family professional relationships, family quality of life, and families with adolescents. William Forbes, PhD, University of Maryland is associate professor of Kinesiology and director of the Wellness Center. Special interests are developing quality programming to assist older adults in improving their fitness and wellness, racquetball, squash, downhill skiing, and billiards. Eva Hester, PhD, University of Maryland is associate professor of communication science and disorders and special assistant to the dean, College of Health Professions. Special interests are speech language-disorders in children and adults. Miriam Struck, O.T., doctoral student, University of Maryland is currently occupational therapist, Physical Disabilities Program, with the Montgomery County Public Schools. Special interests are disability, transitioning from school to work, and instructional methods. Dianne Taylor, R.N., Ed.D., University of Maryland is associate professor, nursing. Special interests are psychiatric nursing and critical incident stress management.     

Interest Assessment and the Content Area Literacy Environment: Challenges for Research and Practice

Through our exploration of the assessment of interest, we highlight 5 issues that emerge in the effort to assess interest in content area literacy environments. First, we compare how interest is defined and generally how it has been assessed. Second, we focus more specifically on the assessment of text-based interest, and consider its assessment in less explored realms of the content area classroom that include hypertext and discussions. Third, we investigate how interest develops as students progress through their educational careers and how it is maintained over time. Fourth, we explore how assessing interest involves examining other student factors that are closely related to interest such as knowledge, importance, and strategic processing. Finally, we offer thoughts regarding directions educators can take in assessing interest within the complex literacy environment of today's content area classroom.     

Learning design and learning analytics in mobile and ubiquitous learning: A systematic review

Mobile and Ubiquitous Learning (m/u-learning) are finding an increasing adoption in education. They are often distinguished by hybrid learning environments that encompass elements of formal and informal learning, in activities that happen in distributed settings (indoors and outdoors), across physical and virtual spaces. Despite their purported benefits, these environments imply additional complexity in the design, monitoring and evaluation of learning activities. The research literature on learning design (LD) and learning analytics (LA) has started to deal with these issues. This paper presents a systematic literature review of LD and LA, in m/u-learning. Apart from providing an overview of the current research in the field, this review elicits elements of common ground between both communities, as shown by the similar learning contexts and complementary research contributions, and based on the research gaps, proposes to: address m/u-learning beyond higher education settings, reinforce the connection between physical and virtual learning spaces, and more systematically align LD and LA processes.     

Los retos de la educación bilingüe en inglés y español en las escuelas públicas de Nueva York: objetivos, modelos y currículos

The challenges of bilingual education in English and Spanish in public schools of New York: Objectives, models and curricula – The first section of this article describes the conceptual differences between educational objectives, educational model (context and structures) and curriculum (units of study or sequential study guides). The second section analyses how these three concepts were put into practice in five bilingual elementary schools serving immigrant students in New York City. The educational objectives reflect the leadership and work expectations which the principal establishes within the school and with the community. The educational model is translated into a clear language allocation policy that is reached by consensus between the principal and the teachers. The curriculum adaptations reflect the context and culture of the students, but without neglecting the educational objectives. The development of academic language (the language based on academic texts) is an element that attracts vast interest in American schools, but is ignored in many bilingual ones. The development of academic language occupies a central role in the curriculum of these five schools. This is, to a great extent, the result of the limited exposure to literacy that many students have had outside of the school environment. The final section of this article describes how these schools disregard the antagonism towards immigrants and bilingual education that is currently characteristic of the United States and focus on the quality of their programmes.