Effects of reward amount and reward omission on short-term retention

A series of four experiments studied the retention of the response made on a just-preceding trial as a function of the presence, and amount, of food reward given on that trial. Rats were trained to alternate arm choices in a T-maze, and then were tested for alternation with 5- or 30-sec delays between runs. When the subjects had received prior experience with the reward amounts used in testing, larger rewards led to better retention than did small or no rewards. However, when reward omission first occurred during the test phase, it produced more alternation on the following trial than did reward presence. The results suggest that both reward amount and surprisingness determine short-term retention of responses paired with the rewards.     

Enhancing learning with ICT at primary level

This study looks at three primary schools which have been successful in integrating ICT into the teaching and learning process. It confirms that a range of organisational features are correlated with successful implementation (eg, a sound learning environment, headteacher commitment, good forward planning etc) and goes on to argue that staff commitment plays a pivotal role in the process. This commitment can, however, be compromised by technological change (in this case from CD-ROM and LAN-based learning to WAN and Web-based learning) if the process is not properly managed.     

Increasing the uptake of peer feedback in primary school writing: findings from an action research enquiry

This article reports on how an action research strategy was used to increase children's uptake of feedback during peer assessment in primary school writing. Several different strategies were used in the study that had been successful in increasing students’ uptake of peer feedback in contexts such as higher education. In order to evaluate how successful these actions were, several different data collection methods were drawn upon to triangulate findings including children's work, observations, informal interviews and mind mapping. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data generated. Findings are consistent with those from research in other settings which suggest that pupils make better use of feedback if: it is task-involving and useful; there is sufficient time given for them to act on it and discuss it with their peers; and they are asked to reflect on how it has been used to improve the quality of the assessed work.     

Revealing future research capacity from an analysis of a national database of discipline-coded Australian PhD thesis records

This article reports how statistical analyses of PhD thesis records can reveal future research capacities for disciplines beyond their primary fields. The previous research showed that most theses contributed to and/or used methodologies from more than one discipline. In Australia, there was a concern for declining mathematical teaching and research capacity. We decided to investigate the ‘hidden’ mathematics research capacity in PhDs outside of mathematics. Australian PhD records were re-coded with up to three fields. Records with mathematics as one of their codes were selected and analysed for their relationships to disciplines in their other codes. Triple-coding revealed ‘hidden’ mathematical research capacity that had previously been single-coded in another field had mathematics as one of their subsequent fields. Our findings have implications for policy and planning for mathematics in Australia, and multiple coding of PhD theses records enables analyses for other disciplines to be undertaken to show their research capacities.     

Volume contents

Volume Contents

Volume contents     

多媒体在远程教育中的运用

远程开放教育的实施离不开现代教育技术的应用。其中,教学媒体的选用起着重要的作用。一些当前在我国被人小看的教学媒体,如文字教材、录音带、录像带,在西方发达国家却大行其道,究其原因,无论多么高科技的教学媒体,如果没有跟与之掌握的技能相吻合,没有人享用,它的价值都必然大打折扣。     

Scientific conviction amidst scientific controversy in the transatlantic livestock and meat trade

A century before the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), Great Britain and North America grappled with pleuro-pneumonia - a disease in cattle that had equally maddening consequences. Towards the end of the 19th century, this condition was at the heart of a transatlantic trade dispute that lasted for decades and attracted the attention of livestock farmers, diplomats, shipping moguls, veterinarians, public health regulators and journalists the world over. Scientific controversy aggravated the situation when there were doubts about the scientific judgment of Privy Council veterinary officials, who were simultaneously conducting disease-diagnosis activities and pushing for tighter regulations at British ports. At this point, William Williams, principal of the New Veterinary College in Edinburgh, waded into this troubled arena. His strong convictions spawned a long-running disagreement with the British Government over the diagnoses of pleuro-pneumonia in cattle imported from the USA and Canada.     

The effects of labeling bias on prognostic outlook for children as a function of diagnostic label and profession

Labeling bias refers to expectations that others might have for a person given a particular label. This study investigated the effects of labeling bias on prognostic outlook for children as a function of diagnostic labels and professional group membership. School psychologists, regular and special education teachers, and introductory psychology students read a vignette that described an elementary-school-aged boy with behavior problems. The vignette was held constant for all participants, but one of four labels (conduct disordered, socially maladjusted, serious emotionally disturbed, no exceptionality) was varied at the end of the vignette. Respondents then estimated the child's likelihood of future success in interpersonal relationships, the likelihood of further behavioral difficulties, and overall adjustment of the child. There was a significant effect noted for diagnostic label across all professionals on the interpersonal relations variable; the serious emotionally disturbed label resulted in judgments of significantly poorer outlook than any other diagnostic label except socially maladjusted. There were no other significant labeling bias effects for the other dependent measures, but a main effect for diagnostic label on judgment of overall adjustment did approach significance. There were no significant effects noted for professional group membership. Professionals should consider the use of a label other than SED to minimize labeling bias effects on judgment of interpersonal adjustment in children with behavioral difficulties. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The relationship between metacognition and intelligence in normal adolescents: Some tentative but surprising findings

This study explored the relationship between metacognition and intelligence in a group of normal adolescents. The relationship has strong theoretical support in current conceptions of intelligence. For the purposes of this study metacognition was assessed across three different cognitive problem sets. Correlational analyses indicated a nonsignificant relationship between intelligence and metacognition. These results suggest that tests of metacognition and intelligence may tap unrelated aspects of cognition and that additional research will be required to understand the relationship between these two constructs.     

Effect of the look-up line on the gaze and head orientation of elite ice hockey players

Abstract

A “look-up line” (LUL) has been proposed for ice hockey, which is an orange 1?m (40′) warning line (WL) painted on the ice at the base of the boards. The LUL purports to provide an early warning to players to keep their head up prior to and as they are being checked. We determined if players looked up more on a rink with the LUL compared to a traditional Control rink. Elite offensive (O) and defensive (D) players competed 1 vs. 1, while wearing an eye tracker that recorded their quiet eye (QE) and fixation and tracking (F-T) and an electrogoniometer that measured head angle. External cameras recorded skate duration during four skate phases: P1 preparation, P2 decision-making, P3 cut to boards, P4 contact. The QE was the final fixation prior to contact between O and D as they skated towards and across the WL during P3 and P4. Skate phase durations (%) did not differ by rink or rink by position. More QE and F-T occurred on the WL on the LUL rink than on the Control. The expected increase in head angle on the LUL rink did not occur during P3 or P4. Post-hoc results also showed O and D skated further from the boards on the LUL rink, suggesting the players preferred to control the puck on white ice, rather than the orange colour of the LUL rink. More research is needed to determine if these results apply to the competitive setting.