Self-punitive avoidance behavior in the mouse

Mice were trained to avoid shock by leaving a startbox and traversing a straight alley. During the first extinction phase (Phase I), two groups were given 30 regular extinction (RE) trials, while another two received punished extinction (PE) trials in the center of the alley. During the last 50 extinction trials (Phase II), conditions were reversed for one of the two groups receiving the same treatment in Phase I. This resulted in two nonshifted groups (RE-RE and PE-PE) and two shifted groups (RE-PE and PE-RE). PE treatment led to higher running speed in both phases and reversed an extinction trend. Furthermore, punishment-induced facilitation was greater for the group receiving PE following RE than for the group receiving PE immediately after avoidance training.

     

To click or not to click: investigating conflict detection and sourcing in a multiple document hypertext environment

This study investigated whether accessing conflicting claims in other documents by means of hyperlinks embedded within currently read documents may facilitate conflict detection and source-content integration. Norwegian undergraduates (n?=?85) read multiple conflicting documents on a controversial health-related issue, with half of the conflicting claims across documents hyperlinked and the other half not. Moreover, half of the participants were told that they would get more information by clicking on the links (weak prompting condition) while the other half were additionally told that clicking on the links was necessary to get a more complete understanding of the issue (strong prompting condition). Results indicated that the extent to which participants accessed conflicting claims in other documents via the hyperlinks was positively related to their detection of cross-document conflicts as well as their integration of source-content information. A mediational analysis indicated that conflict detection mediated the effect of accessing conflicting claims via the hyperlinks on source-content integration. No relationship was found between the prompting condition and participants’ selection of the hyperlinks. The theoretical significance as well as the practical value of our findings are discussed.

     

Developing Counseling Students' Multicultural Competence Through the Multicultural Action Project

The Multicultural Action Project (MAP) is a cultural immersion project that requires counseling students to engage with diverse cultural communities on 3 levels: observation, information seeking, and action. To ascertain if participating in MAP improved the multicultural competence of graduate counseling students, the authors conducted an evaluation in which narrative analysis was used to examine the experiences of 3 graduate counseling students who participated in MAP. Through their narratives, the participants reported increased knowledge, awareness, and skills. The importance of sustained contact and interpersonal relationships in improving student learning outcomes is discussed and recommendations are provided.     

Toward Interdisciplinary Learning: Development and Validation of an Assessment for Interdisciplinary Understanding of Global Carbon Cycling

Research in Science Education - This study developed and validated an assessment that measures interdisciplinary understanding using the topic of carbon cycling, the Interdisciplinary Science...     

Socioeconomic Disparities in Language Input Are Associated With Children's Language-Related Brain Structure and Reading Skills

The mechanisms underlying socioeconomic disparities in children's reading skills are not well understood. This study examined associations among socioeconomic background, home linguistic input, brain structure, and reading skills in 5-to-9-year-old children (N = 94). Naturalistic home audio recordings and high-resolution, T1-weighted MRI scans were acquired. Children who experienced more adult–child conversational turns or adult words had greater left perisylvian cortical surface area. Language input mediated the association between parental education and left perisylvian cortical surface area. Language input was indirectly associated with children's reading skills via left perisylvian surface area. Left perisylvian surface area mediated the association between parental education and children's reading skills. Language experience may thus partially explain socioeconomic disparities in language-supporting brain structure and in turn reading skills.     

The impact of exercise training on the lipid peroxidation metabolomic profile and respiratory infection risk in older adults

Aging is associated with oxidative stress that may increase susceptibility to respiratory infections (RIs). We aimed to assess the impact of exercise training on the risk of RIs in older adults and on a targeted metabolomic profile of stress oxidative lipid peroxidation-related metabolites. Methods: In an 8-month clinical trial, 38 participants over 60 years of age were allocated to an exercise group (EG), in which participants underwent 90-min training sessions three times/week(n?=?20), or a control group (CG), in which participants maintained daily physical activities(n?=?18). Daily respiratory symptoms and RIs number and severity were collected. Serum by-products were assessed by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry with time of flight analyzer. Serum metabolomic profiling comprised 76 metabolites (alcohols, aldehydes, alkanes, and ketones). Principal components analysis and ANOVA-simultaneous component analysis were used to evaluate the metabolomic profile change. Results: The odds ratio of RIs for the EG was 2.0 CI 95% [0.2;25]. The incidence of RIs was 47% [23;70] in the EG vs. 44%[12;77] in the CG. The metabolomic profiling showed that alkanes and aldehydes classes differed between the EG and the CG before and after intervention. A calibration model showed a relation between the metabolites from four main classes (ketones, alcohols, alkanes and aldehydes) and the prediction of the number of RIs. Conclusion: Moderate exercise training, in older adults, compared with no exercise in controls, did not show a difference in the risk of RIs. A pattern of lipid peroxidation was associated with the number of RIs.     

Developing a hypothetical multi‐dimensional learning progression for the nature of matter

We describe efforts toward the development of a hypothetical learning progression (HLP) for the growth of grade 7–14 students' models of the structure, behavior and properties of matter, as it relates to nanoscale science and engineering (NSE). This multi‐dimensional HLP, based on empirical research and standards documents, describes how students need to incorporate and connect ideas within and across their models of atomic structure, the electrical forces that govern interactions at the nano‐, molecular, and atomic scales, and information in the Periodic Table to explain a broad range of phenomena. We developed a progression from empirical data that characterizes how students currently develop their knowledge as part of the development and refinement of the HLP. We find that most students are currently at low levels in the progression, and do not perceive the connections across strands in the progression that are important for conceptual understanding. We suggest potential instructional strategies that may help students build organized and integrated knowledge structures to consolidate their understanding, ready them for new ideas in science, and help them construct understanding of emerging disciplines such as NSE, as well as traditional science disciplines. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47:687–715, 2010     

A model of equitable and sustainable redistribution of knowledge

Education is one of the pillars in which a Welfare State is effectively based on in order to achieve an equitable distribution of wealth. In contemporary society, knowledge and education are among the most appreciated goods, and everyone should have the right to acquire them, without distinction of gender, race, age, health or religion. From our experience of over 15 years at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya we can claim that virtual learning makes access to education easier for certain population strata, whereas otherwise, they would be excluded from such a right. A very significant group of students to consider are women with family burdens who, thanks to this kind of education, are able to gain access to higher education for the first time in their lives and at their maturity ages. Another significant group is students with disabilities, for whom virtual education makes it possible to get training in fields for which it would be more difficult to get in the case of the non-virtual university. Geographic factors are also relevant, since virtual education has provided rural areas and other places with poor infrastructures with a chance to gain access to higher education. This brings with it a redistribution of wealth among territories, and also among different social strata with fewer resources and limitations to commute long distances to higher education institutions. Another issue that needs pointing out is virtual communication. As it is asynchronic, it can lead to a high degree of reflection. All these elements enable us to have a virtual discussion about cultural and linguistic issues which have huge educational value.