Attitudes of Australian chiropractic students toward whole body donation: A cross‐sectional study

Cadavers play an important role in anatomy education. In Australia, bodies for anatomy education are acquired only through donations. To gain insight into educational dynamics in an anatomy laboratory as well as to facilitate body donation programs and thanksgiving ceremonies, it is important to understand students' attitudes toward body donation. In this cross‐sectional study, the attitudes of Macquarie University's first, second, and fifth year chiropractic students toward body donation were investigated. Macquarie University chiropractic students have a four semester long anatomy program, which includes cadaver‐based instruction on prosected specimens. A questionnaire was used to record respondents' demographics and attitudes toward body donation: personal, by a relative, and by a stranger. It was found that ethnicity and religion affect attitudes toward body donation, with Australian students being more willing to donate a stranger's body and atheists and agnostics being more willing to donate in general. Furthermore, willingness to donate one's own or a family member's body decreases as year of study increases, suggesting a possible negative impact of exposure to cadavers in the anatomy laboratory. This was only true, however, after controlling for age. Thus, the impact of viewing and handling prosected specimens, which is the norm in anatomy classes in Australia, may not be as strong as dissecting cadavers. It is suggested that anatomists and educators prepare students for cadaver‐based instruction as well as exhibit sensitivity to cultural differences in how students approach working with cadavers, when informing different communities about body donation programs and in devising thanksgiving ceremonies. Anat Sci Educ 7: 117–123. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

Understanding video as a tool for teacher education: investigating instructional strategies to promote reflection

There is a general consensus among researchers and teacher educators that classroom video can be a valuable tool for pre-service teacher education. Media such as video are not, however, in themselves effective. They have to be embedded in an instructional program to be useful. Yet, little empirical research examines how specific instructional approaches might effectively exploit the potential of video in teacher education. In this study we explored the use of two video-based university courses, one representing a cognitive instructional strategy integrating video, the other representing a situative strategy. Using data from learning journals we analyzed the effects of the two strategies on pre-service teachers’ (N = 28) ability to reflect on classroom video. We found that the two strategies have distinct impacts on the kinds of reflection patterns that are fostered. Our findings suggest that the learning goal and purpose at hand should determine which instructional strategy should be employed when embedding classroom video into teacher education courses.     

Attributional beliefs of Singapore students: relations to self-construal,competence and achievement goals

This study investigates attributional beliefs of Singapore secondary students in their English study and how they can be predicted by self-construal, competence and achievement goals. A total of 1,496 students were administered surveys on seven attributions, independent and interdependent self-construals, previous achievement, self-efficacy, mastery approach and avoidance goals and performance approach and avoidance goals. We found that Singapore students attributed academic success mainly to internal regulation (effort, interest and study skills), followed by teachers’ help, ability, parents’ help and tuition classes. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that three predictors (self-construal, competence and achievement goals) explained 4.2–12.3% of the variances in students’ attributional beliefs. In particular, students with interdependent self-construal, high competence or mastery goals tended to attribute academic success to internal regulation (effort, interest and study skills) and support from teachers and parents. Students with low competence, high mastery avoidance goals or high performance goals were more likely to value tuition classes, and those with high performance avoidance goals also tended to ascribe academic success to ability and parent’s help. The findings are discussed in relation to the culture of Singapore.     

Comparative education research framed by neo-institutional theory: a review of diverse approaches and conflicting assumptions

The rise in globalisation studies in comparative education places neo-institutional theory at the centre of many debates among comparative education researchers. However, uncertainty about how to interpret neo-institutional theory still persists among educational comparativists. With this uncertainty comes misinterpretation of its principles, variations and explanatory power. Two problematic misconceptions prevail: (1) the belief that the ‘world culture’ strand is the only version of neo-institutional theory applicable to comparative education research; and (2) the assumption that the global homogenisation of society, culture and schooling is a goal of researchers applying neo-institutional theory to comparative education phenomena. This article addresses these misconceptions, elucidating neo-institutional theory and its applicability to comparative education research. Our findings suggest that neo-institutional frameworks for comparative education research are useful, but that complementary approaches and methods are also necessary.     

A roadmap for forming successful interdisciplinary education research collaborations: a reflective approach

Current literature about interdisciplinary education research is focused on three points: conceptual definitions of interdisciplinarity, the need for interdisciplinary research to tackle the advent of problem-based research and the positive curriculum outcomes to be gained from interdisciplinary research. While this research is important, it does not always include an account of the often complex and politicised interactions that might affect the outcomes of interdisciplinary research groups. This paper provides one possible ‘roadmap’ for successful interdisciplinary collaboration. It is based on a reflective case study of the authors’ own formation of an interdisciplinary research group and the practical resolutions to both the theoretical and the practical issues involved in achieving interdisciplinarity in education research.     

The Impact of Persistent Pain on Working Memory and Learning

The study reviewed the evidence that persistent pain has the capacity to interrupt and consume working memory resources. It was argued that individuals with persistent pain essentially operate within a compromised neurocognitive paradigm of limited working memory resources that impairs task performance. Using cognitive load theory as a theoretical framework, the study investigated if multimedia materials could be used to support individuals with persistent pain. A 2?×?2 design was used where the first factor was the pain status of the participant (absence vs. presence for more than 6 months), and the second was instructional strategy (written + illustrations vs. written). Fifty-eight full-time teachers from two schools in New South Wales (Australia) were randomly assigned to an instructional strategy to learn about lightning formation. Participants that identified as experiencing pain for 6 or more months demonstrated clinically low levels of pain, but nevertheless performed significantly worse than pain-free participants on retention and transfer tests. For both pain and pain-free participants, there was a significant benefit in learning from multimedia instruction compared to a written text only strategy.     

Negotiating accountability during student teaching: the influence of an inquiry-based student teaching seminar

Drawing on the work of Russian literary critic, Mikhail Bakhtin, this article explores how an inquiry-based social studies student teaching seminar helped three preservice teachers negotiate the pressures of standards-based reforms during student teaching. The author first examines how initial perceptions of standardization and high-stakes testing corroded images of powerful teaching and created an ex post facto relationship with teaching social studies. The author then explores how an inquiry-based seminar mitigated these initial impressions by (1) suspending the authority of accountability; (2) creating contact through collaborative inquiry; and (3) refracting practice.     

Teachers’ self-concept and valuing of learning: relations with teaching approaches and beliefs about students

One’s self-concept and value perceptions can significantly influence one’s behaviours and beliefs. Australian teachers from urban and rural areas of the state of New South Wales were asked to respond to survey items on two predictors (teacher self-concept, valuing of learning) and three outcomes. Confirmatory factor analysis established the five latent factors. Structural equation modelling found significant paths from teacher self-concept to both student-centred and teacher-centred approaches but not beliefs about student ability. The positive path from valuing of learning to student-centred teaching was statistically significant but the path to teacher-centred teaching was not. The significant path from valuing of learning to beliefs about student ability was negative indicating that teachers who value student learning were less likely to believe in ability constraints. Therefore, teacher preparation programmes should enhance self-concept simultaneously with teaching skills and values and facilitate an advocacy for students’ learning.     

Auswirkungen einer Intervention auf die Auseinandersetzung und Arbeit mit Bildungsstandards bei Mathematik-Lehrkräften

The introduction of educational standards in Germany forced teachers to change their perspective in order to achieve competence-oriented teaching. The initial representative surveys throughout Germany indicated that a short time after the introduction of the educational standards, teachers in various school forms were still very slow to implement the idea of competence-oriented teaching in their everyday school life. This article presents the effects of a newly developed intervention programme in which mathematics teachers familiarised themselves with educational standards for the first time. The teacher data and the performance data of the pupils of the schools participating in the project are compared in a longitudinal study with the data of schools which were not included in the intervention programme. The results indicate that after the intervention programme has run for one year, mathematics teachers in the project schools are more competence-oriented in their teaching and reflect more intensively on the concept of the educational standards than mathematics teachers in the comparison schools.     

Validity and Reliability of Proximity Detection with Bluetooth-Enabled Accelerometers among Adults

ABSTRACT

Introduction: This study examined the concurrent validity and inter-pair reliability of the proximity detection function on Bluetooth-enabled accelerometers across manufacturer-specified ranges. If valid, this method could be used for objectively measuring shared physical activity participation. Method: Thirty-six dyads aged 21.6 (2.1) years wore two sets of Bluetooth-enabled accelerometers initialized as beacons and receivers to compare accelerometer-measured proximity detection to direct observation under 11 different controlled and free-living conditions. Results: The proportion of minutes in which proximity was detected differed across conditions (p < .001), with the highest proportions in the controlled conditions (.77–1.0). Among the free-living conditions, the different room (.73 ± .20) condition had the highest proximity detection proportions. There were no differences in the proximity detection across accelerometer pairs (p = .265). Conclusion: Proximity detection with Bluetooth-enabled accelerometers was reliable and had the highest detection rates under the controlled treadmill walking conditions. Despite limitations, using Bluetooth-enabled accelerometers is a promising approach for measuring shared physical activity.