Working memory and mathematics: A review of developmental,individual difference,and cognitive approaches

Working memory refers to a mental workspace, involved in controlling, regulating, and actively maintaining relevant information to accomplish complex cognitive tasks (e.g. mathematical processing). Despite the potential relevance of a relation between working memory and math for understanding developmental and individual differences in mathematical skills, the nature of this relationship is not well-understood. This paper reviews four approaches that address the relation of working memory and math: 1) dual task studies establishing the role of working memory during on-line math performance; 2) individual difference studies examining working memory in children with math difficulties; 3) studies of working memory as a predictor of mathematical outcomes; and 4) longitudinal studies of working memory and math. The goal of this review is to evaluate current information on the nature of the relationship between working memory and math provided by these four approaches, and to present some of the outstanding questions for future research.     

The National Survey of Student Engagement: A university-level analysis

The National Survey of Student Engagement has been administered to freshmen and seniors at colleges and universities across the USA and Canada, since the spring of 2000, to gather information about the nature and the quality of their education. After each administration, participating schools are provided with an institutional report, including results for five benchmarks of effective educational practice. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of these benchmark scores at a particular university. The results of a confirmatory factor analysis suggest that the benchmarks are not valid indicators of students’ perceptions at this school. Discussion regarding uses of national data collections for individual institutions is provided.

     

Children and traumatic events: Therapeutic techniques for psychologists working in the schools

It is clear that exposure to traumatic events is not uncommon in childhood and adolescence, and psychologists working in schools should have some training in meeting the needs of this segment of the population. One intervention that has been empirically supported in the trauma field is Trauma‐Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF‐CBT). This article seeks to provide an overview of research on the efficacy of TF‐CBT with children and adolescents who have experienced trauma with a primary focus on psychologists working in the schools. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The impact of information skills training on independent literature searching activity and requests for mediated literature searches

Background: Most NHS library services routinely offer both mediated searches and information skills training sessions to their users. We analyse the impact of these two services on the amount of literature searching demonstrated by users of hospital‐ based library services in the north‐west of England. Methods: Data for (1) mediated literature searches, (2) number of library users attending information skills training sessions, (3) amount of library staff time devoted to information skills training, and (4) number of Athens‐authenticated log‐ins to databases were obtained from statistical returns for 2007, and analysed for significant correlations. Results: There was evidence of quite strong correlations between the two measures of training activity and the number of mediated literature searches performed by library staff. There was weaker evidence of correlation between training activity and total literature searching activity. Discussion: Attending training sessions may make some library users aware of the difficulty of complex literature searches and actually reduce their confidence to perform their own complex searches independently. The relationships between information skills training, mediated literature searches, and independent literature searching activity remain complex.     

A Comparison of Experimental and Observational Approaches to Assessing the Effects of Time Constraints in a Medical Licensing Examination

Test administrators are appropriately concerned about the potential for time constraints to impact the validity of score interpretations; psychometric efforts to evaluate the impact of speededness date back more than half a century. The widespread move to computerized test delivery has led to the development of new approaches to evaluating how examinees use testing time and to new metrics designed to provide evidence about the extent to which time limits impact performance. Much of the existing research is based on these types of observational metrics; relatively few studies use randomized experiments to evaluate the impact time limits on scores. Of those studies that do report on randomized experiments, none directly compare the experimental results to evidence from observational metrics to evaluate the extent to which these metrics are able to sensitively identify conditions in which time constraints actually impact scores. The present study provides such evidence based on data from a medical licensing examination. The results indicate that these observational metrics are useful but provide an imprecise evaluation of the impact of time constraints on test performance.     

Financing education: why should tax justice be part of the solution?

This forum seeks to problematise issues related to the lack of resources to adequately finance public education systems. It explores potential solutions based on increased domestic resource mobilisation through progressive taxation in order to meet the growing financing gap needed to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4. While many governments in poor countries are already demonstrating a strong commitment to funding education, the papers will argue that they could raise more money by broadening their tax base – for example, by reducing the prevalence of harmful tax incentives or tackling tax avoidance. Steven Klees’s contribution examines the proposals made by the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity as well as the potential for global taxation mechanisms to be used to finance the education and other SDGs. David Archer argues that SDG4 requires a rebuilding of confidence in the capacity of governments to finance good-quality public education through progressive taxation. Finally, Maria Ron Balsera’s contribution uses Pakistan, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda as case studies to analyse the effect of the inadequate financing of education and to explore sustainable and equitable solutions.     

A reflective account of the VET FEE-HELP initiative as a driver of ethical dilemmas for vocational education teachers in Australia

This paper reviews the nature and implementation of the Australian VET FEE-HELP (VFH) policy initiative: a scheme introduced in 2008 to extend income-contingent loans to the vocational education and training (VET) sector in Australia. We argue that the implementation of the scheme has been seriously flawed, leading to a range of counter-educational and unethical practices on the part of some VET providers. An ongoing research project into the impact of the changing contemporary cultural context of VET on the creation of moral dilemmas facing VET teachers in their work has identified four dilemmas that were seen by teachers to be significantly driven by the VFH scheme. Those dilemmas arose from (1) unethical student recruitment and enrolment practices, (2) overlooking traditional educational standards, (3) constraining teacher responsiveness and (4) manipulating learning assessment. The identifying teachers saw themselves as being professionally unprepared to handle such moral dilemmas, leading to discomfort and inappropriate handling of the dilemmas.     

Evaluating anticipatory grief as a moderator of life and marital satisfaction for spousal caregivers of individuals with dementia

It is important to understand the role that anticipatory grief may have in moderating the interaction between relationship quality and marital and life satisfaction to help improve the awareness among professionals when identifying challenges individuals may experience while providing care to their romantic partner. This awareness may then lead to new ways of providing education or intervention to caregivers that may result in higher quality of care to individuals with dementia. The purpose of this study was to provide increasing awareness by evaluating the moderating role of anticipatory grief between perceptions of the relationship and marriage and life satisfaction. The sample of this study consisted of 90 spousal caregivers of individuals with dementia. Multiple regression was used and it was found that attachment and perceived closeness significantly predict satisfaction with life and marriage. Tests of moderation did not demonstrate that anticipatory grief served as a moderator for marital satisfaction or life satisfaction. The findings from the study provide information related to informing and structuring interventions and psychoeducation activities for spousal caregivers.     

Reproducibility, accuracy and concordance of Accutrend Plus for measuring circulating lipid concentration in adults

Introduction

The determination of lipid biomarkers by capillary sampling may be useful in the screening, diagnosis and/or personal management of hyperlipidemia and cardiovascular risk. It remains unclear whether the use of the Accutrend^® Plus system is appropriate. This study aimed to assess its reproducibility, accuracy and concordance for blood lipid profiling in adults.

Materials and methods:

Fasting capillary total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) concentration on Accutrend^® Plus were compared with their venous analogues obtained by a laboratory reference method in sixty-one adults (27 men and 34 women, aged 33.0 years). Supplementary capillary sampling was performed at two consecutive days taking into account macro-nutrient intake.

Results:

The day-to-day reproducibility of the Accutrend^® Plus system proved to be high for TC (ICC = 0.85, P < 0.001), but moderate for TG (ICC = 0.68, P < 0.001). Strong correlations (r ≥ 0.80, P < 0.001) with the reference method were found for TC and TG. Mean difference (limits of agreement) were: 0.26 mmol/L (−0.95, 1.47) for TC, and −0.16 mmol/L (−1.29, 0.98) for TG. The concordance for subject classification according to the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) guidelines was significant (P < 0.001), with substantial agreement for TC (κ_w = 0.67), and moderate agreement for TG (κ_w = 0.50).

Conclusions:

Day-to-day reproducibility of the Accutrend^® Plus device for TC and TG is not optimal and lacks accuracy when compared to the reference laboratory method. The concordance between both methods for classifying subjects according to the NCEP is inadequate. Accutrend^® Plus device should not be interchangeably used as a substitution for the standard laboratory methods in the diagnosis of hyperlipidemia.