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.     

An Engagement-Based Student Typology and Its Relationship to College Outcomes

Using data from the 2006 cohort of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, we developed a student typology based on student responses to survey items on the National Survey of Student Engagement. We then examined the utility of this typology in understanding direct-assessment learning outcomes, self-reported gains, grade-point average, and persistence from the first to second year of college. Results from linear and logistic regression models indicated there were relationships between student types and the various outcomes, and that an engagement-based student typology could help deepen our understanding of the college student experience and college outcomes.     

Examining the Relationship between Student Learning and Persistence

Using data from the 2006 cohort of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, we examined the relationships between three approaches to measuring student learning outcomes (direct-assessment learning gains, self-reported gains, and college grades) and student persistence from the first to second year. Results from a series of logistic regressions indicated that students’ grade-point averages had the largest explanatory power in student persistence, followed by self-reported gains. Direct-assessment learning gains had the least power in explaining persistence. The findings have implications for the national conversation on student success in college.     

Which features make illustrations in multimedia learning interesting?

How can illustrations motivate learners in multimedia learning? Which features make illustrations interesting? Beside the theoretical relevance of addressing these questions, these issues are practically relevant when instructional designers are to decide which features of illustrations can trigger situational interest irrespective of individual differences. We analysed ratings of illustrations with respect to four potentially interest-triggering features (concreteness, personal relevance, ease of comprehension and unexpected information) and to situational interest. A methodological contribution was to show how multilevel modelling can be applied to take individual differences into account in several respects. Situational interest was predicted by 957 ratings of the four features on an intra-individual level (level 1). Inter-individual differences were controlled by modelling individuals on level 2 (N?=?82 high-school students). Concreteness, personal relevance and ease of comprehension of illustrations are what mainly triggered situational interest. Nearly, 55% of the situational interest variance was explained by inter-individual preferences, thus, highlighting the usefulness of multilevel modelling to control for individual differences.     

Quantum Yang-Baxter equation and constant R-matrix over Grassmann algebra

INTRODUCTION The Yang-Baxter equation(Yang,1967;Baxter,1972)is one of the most valuable concepts in modern theoretical physics(Baxter,1982).The importance of detailed study of Yang-Baxter equation solutions is due to its key role in constant solution models of sta-tistics mechanics(Baxter,1972;1982)and field the-ory in lower dimensions(Yang,1967),conformal field theory(Di Francesco et al.,1997)and in quan-tum integrable systems(Faddeev et al.,1990).From the group-theoretical viewpoint…     

On the Impact of Learning Cycle Teaching on Austrian High School Students’ Emotions,Academic Self-Concept,Engagement, and Achievement

Research in Science Education - Over the past several decades, empirical support for inquiry-based forms of science teaching has accumulated. Critical voices, however, also exist, claiming that...