Motivational engagement and video gaming: a mixed methods study

A mixed methods design was used to identify factors associated with motivational engagement in video gaming. Self-report instruments were administered to 189 video game players to assess goal orientations, affect, need for cognition, and perceptions of engagement and flow. Simultaneously, a sub-set of 25 participants were interviewed and results analyzed to identify patterns that influenced their propensity for gaming. Regression results revealed motivational engagement for gaming was related to gender, hours of play, task orientation, and socialization. Players indicated that gaming was socially captivating, fun, challenging but relaxing, and precipitated positive affect and cognition even when unsuccessful results were achieved. The negative consequences normally associated with task failure were not reported by participants to take place during gaming. We concluded transfer of motivational engagement in gaming for entertainment to educational contexts was unlikely to occur.     

Co-inheritance of HbD Iran/Beta Thalassemia IVS1–5 (G?>?C) Trait in a Punjabi Lady with Diabetes

The present report describes the molecular study of HbD ^Iran (beta) 22 Glu → Gln associated with β-Thalassemia IVS1–5 (G > C) found in India, and the first case in which mutation has been identified using mass spectrometry. Given the apparent ethnic origin and the mobility of the variant hemoglobin at alkaline pH, hemoglobin D-Punjab would be suspected, but HPLC excluded this possibility. Further characterization of hemoglobinopathy was made by using nondenaturing gel electrophoresis and matrix assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry and IVS1–5 being validated by reverse dot blot hybridization followed by sequencing of the β-globin gene.     

Qualitative Media Measures: Newspaper Experiences

We seek to understand the experience of reading a newspaper. Qualitative and quantitative research methods identify 44 distinct dimensions of the newspaper reading experience. Using statistical models, these experiences are compared across a random sample of 101 daily U.S. newspapers to examine the extent that the experiences vary both across newspapers and among readers of a specific newspaper. Also, hierarchical linear models are used to study the association between readership and each of the 44 experiences. This shows which experiences have the strongest associations with readership and whether the strength of association varies across newspapers. By measuring experiences, media management can improve both content and advertising, ultimately increasing readership.     

Teachers' work in reading literacy across the curriculum in the senior phase of learning

Teaching students to read is one of the main aims of education systems around the world. For a significant number of adolescents, however, formal schooling has failed to deliver adequate reading proficiency. This article reports on a study of teachers' responses to a reading intervention programme for adolescents implemented in a senior secondary college in Australia in 2006. It engages with the question: in what ways does the reading intervention affect senior secondary teachers' knowledge of reading literacy and their motivation to provide reading literacy support to students in content area subjects? Data were collected from 20 semi-structured interviews with 15 teachers over a six-month period. The findings suggest that, despite the success of the intervention for the students, in this particular senior school context the teachers were largely resistant to expectations that they engage with the process of teaching reading in all senior phases of learning curriculum areas.     

T-antigen (Gal β3 GaINAc α-) containing glycoproteins of human reace

Desialation of cell surface glycoconjugates due to bacterial or viral infection can expose epitopes like T-antigenic structure which can also occur during oncological transformations. Human platelet plasma membrane glycoproteins were isolated by jacalin affinity chromatography. Potential T-antigen containing glycoproteins which were not reported before could be identified on the Western blot using peanut agglutinin—horse radish peroxidase (PNA-HRP) after neuraminidase treatment. Alpha-galactosyl epitopes recognized by anti-gal were found to be absent in human platelet plasma membrane glycoproteins. Under the experimental conditions employed, the Gp IIbα was identified most rich in T-antigenic structures. Probable role of exposed T-antigenic structures and α-galactosyl epitopes in pathological conditions is discussed. The identity of major glycoprotein bands was confirmed by differential lectin-binding studies with Concanavalin A on the Western blot. The higher binding affinity of jacalin for T-antigenic structures when compared to PNA enabled the isolation and detection of the antigen containing platelet surface glycoproteins which were not reported before.     

The effects of taste extinction on ingestional potentiation in weanling rats

Four experiments investigated taste potentiation in weanling rats. In Experiment 1, the animals that drank a conditioning compound of denatonium and saccharin consumed significantly less on the test than controls that drank only saccharin during conditioning. This enhanced saccharin aversion was decremented by postconditioning extinction to denatonium in Experiment 2, and no generalization of saccharin aversions to the denatonium was observed in Experiment 3. Extinction of either saccharin or denatonium aversions after compound conditioning was shown in Experiment 4 to result in substantial decrements in aversions to the compound. The relationship of these outcomes to a multiple-association account of potentiation and to the role of discrimination processes in ingestional learning is discussed.     

Vocational English

Social studies education suffers from a distorted rendering of purpose and mission. Rather than pragmatically employ the social sciences to furnish the material for inquiry into normative and moral issues, social studies classrooms too often focus on declarative, disconnected, atomized, and meaningless content. The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has responded to this problem with suggestions for Powerful Social Studies Teaching and Learning (PSST&;L) to ensure meaningful, active, value-based, challenging, and integrative learning experiences. Yet, unless teachers consciously and deliberately coordinate learning experiences within the course and its units, the goals of PSST&;L may very well be neglected. In response to this problem, this article seeks to advance the idea of Powerful Social Studies Unit Design (PSSUD), which positions teachers to work as curricularists in order to negotiate the hazards of textbooks and standards and design macrocurricula in issued-centered, project-based, thematic, and reverse-chronological ways to ultimately reclaim the social studies and citizenship education from the tyranny of the social sciences.     

Using Second Life to enhance classroom management practice in teacher education

The following article discusses an educational simulation created within Second Life (SL) in order to assist pre‐service teachers (PSTs) in gaining more experience managing student behavior. The article discusses the development, implementation, and assessment of the simulation as well as student data on the feasibility of the approach in comparison to other methods of learning classroom management. It includes discussion of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) methods to infuse the simulation with random student behavior, much as it would arise in the classroom. Results indicated that the students found the simulation to be a useful learning experience and put them in situations that forced them to think on their feet. Recommendations for future work with the simulation and for others considering the use of SL for educational purposes are discussed.

Der Gebrauch von Second Life zur Verbesserung von Unterrichtsmanagement in der Lehrerbildung

Im folgenden Beitrag wird über eine im Second Life (SL) erstellte Ausbildungssimulation zur Unterstützung von auszubildenden Lehrern (PSTs) beim Erwerb von Kompetenzen beim Steuern von Schülerverhalten berichtet. Der Artikel beschreibt die Entwicklung, die Einführung und Bewertung der Simulation ebenso wie die Studentendaten bei der Umsetzung der Annäherung im Vergleich zu anderen Methoden des, lernenden Klassenzimmer "…Managements”. Es schließt Diskussionen über die Nutzung von Methoden künstlicher Intelligenz (KI) zur Einführung der Simulation mit zufälligem Schülerverhalten in der Art, wie es im Unterricht entstehen könnte, ein. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Studenten die Simulation als nützliche Lernerfahrung ansahen und und die sie auch in Situationen benutzen, in denen sie zu grundsätzlichen Überlegungen aufgefordert waren. Empfehlungen für zukünftige Arbeit mit Simulationen und für andere Überlegungen des Gebrauchs von Second Life für pädagogische Zwecke werden angestellt.

L’utilisation de Second Life pour renforcer la pratique de la gestion de classe dans la formation des enseignants

L’article qui suit fait le bilan d’une simulation éducative crée au sein de Second Life (SL) dans le but d’aider les enseignants en formation (PSTs) à acquérir davantage d’expérience de la gestion des conduites d’élèves. Cet article examine le développement, la mise en place et l’évaluation de la simulation ainsi que les données provenant des étudiants sur la viabilité de ce mode d’approche par comparaison avec les autres méthodes d’étude de la gestion de classe. On y inclut une discussion sur l’usage des méthodes d’intelligence artificielle (IA) pour intégrer la stimulation avec le comportement aléatoire des élèves tel qu’il peut se produire en situation de classe. Les résultats ont indiqué que les enseignants en formation ont trouvé que la simulation était une expérience d’apprentissage utile et qu’elle les plaçait dans une situation qui les forçait à penser debout sur leurs pieds. On présente des recommandations en vue de travaux futurs avec la simulation et d’autres portant sur l’usage possible de Second Life à des fins éducatives.

El uso de Second Life para mejorar las prácticas de la gestión de aulas en la formación de los profesores

El artículo abajo trata de una simulación educativa creada dentro de Second Life (SL) para ayudar a los futuros profesores (PSTs) a adquirir más experiencia en el manejo de la conducta de los alumnos. El artículo examina el desarrollo, la puesta en práctica y la evaluación de la simulación además de los datos procedentes de los alumnos acerca de la factibilidad de este abordaje en comparación con otros métodos de estudio de la gestión de aulas. Se incluye también un estudio del uso de los métodos de (IA) inteligencia artificial para dotar la simulación de conductas estudiantiles aleatorias, parecidas a lo que ocurre en aulas reales. Los resultados han mostrado que los futuros profesores opinan que la simulación fue una experiencia de aprendizaje útil, poniendoles en situaciones que les obligaban a pensar « de pie ». Se hace también recomendaciones para otros trabajos, unos con la simulación y otros sobre los usos posibles de Second Life con fines educativos.