Improving the Memory Sections of the Standardized Assessment of Concussion Using Item Analysis

The purpose of the study was to improve the immediate and delayed memory sections of the Standardized Assessment of Concussion (SAC) by identifying a list of more psychometrically sound items (words). A total of 200 participants with no history of concussion in the previous six months (aged 19.60 ± 2.20 years; N?=?93 men, N?=?107 women) volunteered to participate in this study. An observation research design was used. Participants were tested once with a verbal interview that took approximately five minutes to complete. Classic item analysis including three parts: (1) Item difficulty, (2) item discrimination, and (3) item determination was used to assess the psychometric properties of the new items on the alternative word list for the SAC test. Overall, 80.0% of the items in the immediate memory section were acceptable. In the delayed memory section, 90.0% of the items were acceptable. The mean total SAC scores were 17.96 ± 2.45 (of a possible 30). The majority of new items have acceptable psychometric properties that would improve the validity of baseline SAC score for the assessment of the effects from concussions.     

Game-based practice versus traditional practice in computer-based writing strategy training: effects on motivation and achievement

Achieving sustained student engagement with practice in computer-based writing strategy training can be a challenge. One potential solution is to foster engagement by embedding practice in educational games; yet there is currently little research comparing the effectiveness of game-based practice versus more traditional forms of practice. In this study, the ARCS model (Keller, Perform Instr 26(8):1–7, 1987b) was used to investigate the motivational characteristics of different practice conditions. To this end, 175 students were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: game-based, question-based, model-based, and writing-based practice. All students first learned strategies to write an essay introduction. Subsequently, students practiced using the strategies in the four different conditions. Game-based practice was expected to positively affect ARCS-related motivation toward practice. Results showed that students perceived game-based practice as significantly more interesting and engaging than question-based practice. However, although game-based practice was perceived more positively, only model-based and question-based practice demonstrated a beneficial impact on students’ ability to implement the writing strategies. These results underline the necessity of interconnecting motivational and instructional design when developing practice methods for computer-based writing strategy training.     

‘We’re so lucky’: meeting challenges to deliver benefits to children in immigration detention

Under pressure from crowded immigration detention centres and an election commitment to remove children from detention, in 2010 the Australian government opened a low security immigration detention facility for families and children in the Adelaide Hills. Children from this alternative place of detention (APOD) attend nine local schools. However, many local residents feared their enrolment would create conflict, reduce educational outcomes for local students, and overburden teachers and school resources. To answer these concerns we conducted an ethnography of the schools and interviewed school teachers, principals, parents, the education managers in the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) and the Department of Education and Children’s Services (DECS). This paper reports our findings on the impacts of the new arrivals on school finances, teacher time and resources, the local children, and the broader Hills community. As did previous quantitative studies, we found no negative effects. Rather, the new arrivals created a newly enriched learning environment and social experiences. The schools also played an integral role in changing the initially hostile community attitudes towards asylum seekers. Our qualitative research approach allowed us to explore factors that created this outcome. We found that the absence of negative impacts was the result of the funding for specialised support staff, the social justice orientation of the school’s leaders and staff, and a school-wide commitment to values of inclusivity and diversity. This research provides further empirical evidence on the impacts of immigration on education, increases our understanding of the factors that mediate these impacts, and provides a useful case study for schools that teach asylum seeker children.     

Moral rationality and intuition: An exploration of relationships between the Defining Issues Test and the Moral Foundations Questionnaire

Explorations of relationships between Haidt’s Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ) and indices of moral decision-making assessed by the Defining Issues Test have been limited to correlational analyses. This study used Harm, Fairness, Ingroup, Authority and Purity to predict overall moral judgment and individual Defining Issues Test-2 (DIT-2) schema scores using responses from 222 undergraduates. Relationships were not confirmed between the separate foundations and the DIT-2 indices. Using the MFQ moral judgment items only, confirmatory factor analyses confirmed higher order constructs called Individualizing and Binding foundations. Structural models using these higher order factors fitted the data well, and findings indicated that the Binding foundations significantly positively predicted Maintaining Norms and negatively predicted both overall moral judgment (N2) and the Postconventional Schema. Neither Individualizing nor Binding foundations significantly predicted Personal Interest. While moral judgments assessed by DIT-2 may not be evoking the MFQ foundations, findings here suggest the MFQ may not be a suitable measure for capturing more advanced moral functioning.     

Genetic Moderation of Intervention Efficacy: Dopaminergic Genes,The Incredible Years,and Externalizing Behavior in Children

This study investigated whether children scoring higher on a polygenic plasticity index based on five dopaminergic genes (DRD4, DRD2, DAT1, MAOA, and COMT) benefited the most from the Incredible Years (IY) parent program. Data were used from a randomized controlled trial including 341 Dutch families with 4‐ to 8‐year‐old children (55.7% boys) showing moderate to high levels of problem behavior. IY proved to be most effective in decreasing parent‐reported (but not observed) externalizing behavior in boys (but not girls) carrying more rather than fewer dopaminergic plasticity alleles; this Gene × Intervention effect was most pronounced in the case of boys whose parents’ manifested the most positive change in parenting in response to the intervention. These results proved robust across a variety of sampling specifications (e.g., intention to treat, ethnicity).     

Managing academic personnel flow at universities∗∗

Abstract

Universities experience increasing difficulty in staffing their academic positions. Attracting and retaining highly qualified employees is a general problem that has received much attention in recent HRM literature. But several authors have claimed that the academic career has lost much of its attractiveness. This paper presents seven levers that universities may use to enhance their recruitment and retention power on a difficult job market. Suggestions are made based on experience from innovative organisations, both universities and business organisations. Special attention is given to the creation of multiple and flexible career paths within academia. We contend that a successful application of these suggestions will require major cultural and institutional change at universities.     

Direct and Indirect Effects of Parenting on the Academic Functioning of Young Homeless Children

Research Findings: Effects of parenting quality on the academic functioning of young homeless children were examined using data from 58 children ages 4 to 7 and their parents during their stay at an emergency homeless shelter. Parenting quality, child executive function, child intellectual functioning, and risk status were assessed in the shelter, and teacher reports of academic functioning were obtained when the children began kindergarten or 1st grade. As hypothesized, parenting quality was associated with children's academic success, and this effect was mediated by executive function skills in the child. Parenting quality also had a moderating effect on risk, consistent with a protective role of high-quality parenting among children with higher risk levels. Concomitantly, children with higher risk and lower parenting quality appeared to be more vulnerable to academic problems. Practice or Policy: In homeless families, parenting may play an especially important role in academic success through multiple pathways, including the development of executive function skills in their children. Policies and practices to support parents and foster the executive function skills of young children in homeless families may be important strategies to promote child academic success. Implications for intervention efforts with homeless parents and children are discussed.     

The effect of curricular reform on gross anatomy laboratory examination performance: An institutional analysis

Many medical schools have undergone curricular reform recently. With these reforms, time spent teaching anatomy has been reduced, and there has been a general shift to a pass/fail grading system. At Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM), a new curriculum was implemented in fall 2016. The year-long human gross anatomy course taught in 2015 was condensed into an integrated, semester-long course starting in 2016. Additionally, the grading scale shifted to pass/fail. This study examined first-year medical student performance on anatomy practical laboratory examinations—specifically, among lower-order (pure identification) questions and higher-order (function, innervation) questions. Participants included medical students from a pre-curricular reform cohort (year 2015, 34 students) and two post-curricular reform cohorts (years 2016, 30 students and 2017, 33 students). A Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA test was used to determine differences of these questions among the three cohorts. Additionally, 40 of the same lower-order questions that were asked on gross anatomy laboratory examinations from medical student cohort year 2015 and year 2016 were further analyzed using an independent samples t-test. Results demonstrated that the pre-curricular reform cohort scored significantly higher on both lower-order (median = 81, p < 0.001) and higher-order questions (median = 82.5, p < 0.05) than both post-curricular reform cohorts. Additionally, when reviewing the selected 40 similar questions, it was found that the pre-curricular reform cohort averaged significantly higher (82.1 ± 16.1) than the post-curricular reform cohort from 2016 (69.3 ± 21.8, p = 0.004). This study provides evidence about the impact of curricular reform on medical student anatomical knowledge.