Adventure education as aesthetic experience

This study is an investigation of what happens to participants during their adventure education (AE) experiences and the meanings they ascribe to those experiences. These topics were explored through the qualitative framework of educational connoisseurship and criticism at three sites: a backpacking expedition, a challenge course and a multi-activity adventure programme. Through 183 hours of observation and 74 interviews with 41 participants, the qualities of AE as aesthetic experience were revealed. This conception of AE experience is characterised through sensory encounters, full attention and aesthetic paradox. Findings are supported with the voices of participants, and the significance of this conception of AE experience is discussed.     

Simultaneous temporal and spatial processing

Rats searched for food that was contingent on time and place in an open field. One location was active at a time, the active location moved in a clockwise direction after each reward, and each location was repeated several times on each daily session. When a location was active, the first response after a fixed interval produced food. The intervals associated with each of the four locations were consistently 60, 30, 30, and 60 sec. For independent groups, inspecting an inactive location had no consequence (n = 7) or reduced the amount of food delivered at the active location (n = 6). The rates of inspecting active and inactive locations increased before the associated intervals elapsed, with preferential responding at the active locations. Rates of anticipation at active locations failed to superimpose when plotted as a function of proportional time. Simultaneous temporal and spatial processing contributed to the failure of proportional timing.     

Might progress assessments hinder equitable progress? Evidence from England

Prior research has highlighted the importance of educational achievement throughout school in predicting subsequent progression to higher education in England. However, progress assessments may not only demonstrate students’ prior academic achievement but also influence their future achievement. I compare students who have received different grades on one such assessment, despite performing almost identically, to see whether grade labels influence their progress to post-compulsory education. Further, I investigate whether any impact differs according to socio-economic status. Results indicate that grade labels received in eighth grade influence students’ performance in school-leaving exams and enrollment in post-compulsory schooling. For lower socio-economic students, this impact is higher than for other students and extends to university enrollment.     

Goal‐Directed Correlates and Neurobiological Underpinnings of Adolescent Identity: A Multimethod Multisample Longitudinal Approach

This multimethod multisample longitudinal study examined how neurological substrates associated with goal directedness and information seeking are related to adolescents’ identity. Self‐reported data on goal‐directedness were collected across three biannual waves in Study 1. Identity was measured one wave later. Study 1 design and measurements were repeated in Study 2 and extended with structural brain data (nucleus accumbens [NAcc] and prefrontal cortex gray matter volume [PFC]), collected across three biannual waves. Study 1 included 497 adolescents (M_{age T1} = 13.03 years) and Study 2 included 131 adolescents (M_{age T1} = 14.69 years). Using latent growth curve models, goal directedness, NAcc, and PFC volume predicted a stronger identity one wave later. These findings provide crucial new insights in the underlying neurobiological architecture of identity.     

Relationship of reading fluency assessment data with state accountability test scores: A longitudinal comparison of grade levels

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 mandated statewide accountability testing and focused the accountability conversation on reading. Therefore, the current study examined the relationship between curriculum‐based measurement for reading (R‐CBM) and state accountability test scores, potential grade differences in relationship magnitude, and differences in relationship magnitude among R‐CBM and Maze as they compare to state test scores. Data for 5,472 students in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 8 were correlated and resulted in corrected coefficients that ranged from .51 (eighth graders) to .71 (third graders) for R‐CBM and .49 (eighth graders) to .54 (seventh graders) for Maze. The coefficients between R‐CBM and state test scores were significantly larger for third and fifth graders than those for eighth graders. No significant differences in magnitude were found between the correlation coefficients for state test scores to R‐CBM and to Maze among seventh or eighth graders. Potential implications and suggestions for future research are included. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 527–535, 2006.     

Mutual alignment comparison facilitates abstraction and transfer of a complex scientific concept

Learning about a scientific concept often occurs in the context of unfamiliar examples. Mutual alignment analogy – a type of analogical comparison in which the analogues are only partially understood – has been shown to facilitate learning from unfamiliar examples . In the present study, we examined the role of mutual alignment analogy in the abstraction and transfer of a complex scientific concept from examples presented in expository texts. Our results provide evidence that (a) promoting comparison between two examples and (b) orienting the learner toward relational commonalities result in greater abstraction and transfer. These findings suggest that mutual alignment analogy is an effective means of promoting abstraction and transfer of complex scientific concepts, and may thus be used in the classroom to promote learning from unfamiliar examples.