Anticipatory appetitive behavior of adrenalectomized rats under circadian salt-access schedules

Salt-hungry rats fail to develop anticipatory wheel-running activity when maintained under schedules of limited daily access to salt, in marked contrast to the robust anticipatory activity seen under food-access schedules. This suggests that the circadian oscillator underlying food-anticipatory activity is specifically related to food access and does not readily generalize to other scheduled resources. However, an alternative hypothesis is that rats are capable of anticipating daily salt-access periods, but that this anticipation is not manifest in wheel-running activity. In the present study, we maintained adrenalectomized rats under schedules of limited daily access to salt in which all salt was obtained by leverpressing. The results indicate that rats are capable of anticipating daily salt access by reference to an endogenous circadian timing mechanism. However, this behavior differs in several respects from that seen under food-access schedules.     

Measuring active learning to predict course quality

This study investigated whether active learning within computer‐based training courses can be measured and whether it serves as a predictor of learner‐perceived course quality. A major corporation participated in this research, providing access to internal employee training courses, training representatives, and historical course evaluation data. Twenty sample courses were subdivided into 1,884 time‐based instructional events and categorized by eight design principles for learner engagement: attend, organize, recall, practice, interact, apply, explore, and absorb. This analysis produces a quantitative pattern for the cognitive activity a course encourages within the learner, summarized as the active learning index. A regression model, with the active learning index as a predictor variable for learner‐perceived course quality, resulted in a correlation coefficient of .83 (r²=.69) and a p‐value <.0001. These results suggest a framework for quantifying the active learning components in computer‐based training courses and guiding the work of instructional designers toward higher‐quality courses.     

A Rhythmic Musical Intervention for Poor Readers: A Comparison of Efficacy With a Letter‐Based Intervention

There is growing evidence that children with reading difficulties show impaired auditory rhythm perception and impairments in musical beat perception tasks. Rhythmic musical interventions with poorer readers may thus improve rhythmic entrainment and consequently improve reading and phonological skills. Here we compare the effects of a musical intervention for poor readers with a software intervention of known efficacy based on rhyme training and phoneme‐grapheme learning. The research question was whether the musical intervention would produce gains of comparable effect sizes to the phoneme‐grapheme intervention for children who were falling behind in reading development. Broadly, the two interventions had similar benefits for literacy, with large effect sizes.     

Towards a Language of Possibility: critical reflection and mentorship in initial teacher education

Abstract

This paper examines a programme which aimed at creating alternative school‐based experiences for postgraduate students following a 1‐year higher diploma of education course at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg. The programme was premised on the belief that critical reflection is necessary for educational transformation, and that teacher educators increasingly will be expected to raise the quality of teaching in schools. The background to the Mentor Programme is described and the underlying rationale is discussed. Whilst the evidence from the study reflects mentor satisfaction at the quality and range of teaching skills developed by students during the programme, the investigators express disappointment at their lack of success in attaining critical reflection by their students. Students generally did not look critically, as they had been encouraged to do, at the institutional or societal context of their teaching. The discussion identifies three possible reasons for this, but concludes that any approach to teacher education which does not encourage teachers to reflect critically on their own educational views and on the nature of education as it is realised in the institutional setting of schools will be inherently flawed.     

Mathematics anxiety,prior experience and confidence to teach mathematics among pre‐service education students

Poor performance in mathematics among students, at a variety of grade levels, has been attributed, in part, to mathematics anxiety (Bulmahn & Young, 1982 Bulmahn, BJ and Young, DM. (1982). On the transmission of mathematics anxiety. Arithmetic Teacher, 30(2): 55–57.  [Google Scholar]; Kelly & Tomhave, 1985 Kelly, WP and Tomhave, WK. (1985). A study of math anxiety/math avoidance in preservice elementary teachers. Arithmetic Teacher, 32(5): 51–53.  [Google Scholar]; Hadfield & McNeil, 1994 Hadfield, OD and McNeil, K. (1994). The relationship between Myers‐Briggs personality type and mathematics anxiety among preservice elementary teachers. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 21(1): 33–46.  [Google Scholar]). Some investigators have related this phenomenon to gender effects (Cooper & Robinson, 1989 Cooper, SE and Robinson, D. (1989). The influence of gender and anxiety on mathematics performance. Journal of College Student Development, 30: 459–461. [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) mathematics self‐concept and test anxiety (Bandalos et al., 1995 Bandalos, DL, Yates, K and Thorndike‐Christ, T. (1995). Effects of math self‐concept, perceived self‐efficacy, and attributions for failure and success on test anxiety. Journal of Educational Psychology, 87(4): 611–623.  [Google Scholar]), or poor test performance (Dew et al., 1984 Dew, KM, Galasi, JP and Galassi, MD. (1984). Math anxiety: relation with situational test anxiety, performance, physiological arousal, and math avoidance behaviour. Journal of Counselling Psychology, 31(4): 580–583.  [Google Scholar]; Hembree, 1990 Hembree, R. (1990). The nature, effects, and relief of mathematics anxiety. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 21(1): 33–46. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Others, most notably Fiore (1999 Fiore, G. (1999). Math‐abused students: are we prepared to teach them?. Mathematics Teacher, 92(5): 403–406.  [Google Scholar]) have attributed mathematics anxiety to what is referred to as math abuse or ‘any negative experience related to an individual’s doing mathematics’ (p. 403), particularly at the hands of adults such as parents and teachers. Limited research, however, was located that examined the relationship between pre‐service teacher education students’ experiences with formal mathematics instruction, and their future professional practice. Specifically, more needs to be known concerning the manner in which past experiences at school may have influenced both attitudes towards the subject as well as confidence in teaching it.     

Hunt the shadow not the substance: the rise of the career academic in construction education

Construction education is context-laden, navigating and reflecting the byzantine influences of period, place and person. Despite considerable rhetoric, in UK higher education and construction studies in particular the importance of contextualized teaching is being devalued. Over the past decade a growing number of new teaching staff to university lecturing has limited or no industrial experience of the construction sector. This paper explores the rise of the career academic in construction education and implications for teaching standards and student learning. Whilst career academics exhibit research skills and afford funding possibilities that universities find appealing, pedagogical studies suggest that experience-led, contextualized teaching offer students enhanced educational value. Policy-making and pedagogical strategies that continue to value research at the expense of teaching excellence coupled with recruitment of career academics as opposed to industry professionals present new challenges for construction education, teaching and student learning.     

Identifying costs of instructional technology in higher education

Abstract

The current advocacy for rapidly increasing the use of instructional technologies has not been accompanied by sufficient research on the costs of these modes of instruction. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the need for more comprehensive research on instructional technology costs and to provide a framework for examining these costs. First, to provide context, some current assumptions about the growing use of instructional technology are discussed. Then various categories of costs are described.     

The role of achievement goals in online test anxiety and help-seeking

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of achievement goals in online test anxiety and help-seeking while controlling for self-efficacy and potential demographic differences. A total of 150 online students participated in the survey. Separate hierarchical regression analysis results suggested the differential roles of achievement goals in online test anxiety and help-seeking. Avoidance goals were found to be predictive of online test anxiety, whereas only students with performance-avoidance goals unexpectedly reported more online help-seeking. Further, while self-efficacy predicted both test anxiety and help-seeking, undergraduate students reported more help-seeking than their graduate counterparts. Implications and future directions of the study are discussed.     

Using outdoor learning to augment social and emotional learning (SEL) skills in young people with social,emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD)

ABSTRACT

Under-developed social and emotional learning (SEL) skills limit educational progress and make it difficult for children and young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) to form effective relationships with peers and ADULTS. This paper focuses on an SEL intervention set within an outdoor learning context. The research was practitioner led and used an action research (AR) approach to implement and evaluate the SEL intervention. Research participants (aged 12–13 years) were recruited from a UK special school and were all considered to have SEBD. The paper provides evidence for the specific SEL skills that participation in outdoor learning can enhance. The evidence suggests that outdoor learning can be an effective approach for educators wishing to augment the SEL skills of young people with SEBD.