Effects of academic dishonesty on dimensions of spiritual well-being and satisfaction: a comparative study of secondary school and university students

Recent research has shown an increase in academic dishonesty in different educational systems and levels, and negative effects on the academic institution, society and the students themselves. In order to describe the differential perception of academic dishonesty by Spanish secondary school and university students, and to study its consequences on psychological well-being, comparisons between two groups of students from secondary education and university were carried out, using measures of the perception and execution by others of dishonest behaviour, as well as psychological well-being and satisfaction with life and learning. University students revealed greater laxity of conscience, considering dishonest behaviour to be less serious and more common than secondary school students, and indulging in more dishonest behaviour themselves. They also showed greater spiritual, personal, community and environmental well-being, and greater satisfaction with learning. However, transcendental spiritual well-being was greater in the group of secondary education students. Academic dishonesty was associated with satisfaction with learning in both groups, and with satisfaction with life in secondary education. Its link with measures of spiritual well-being was greater in the group of secondary education students, being linked to transcendental well-being only in the group of university students. No gender differences were observed in any of the variables.     

Telematics Applied to the Training of Teachers: a survey via video‐conferencing across Europe

In January 1996 the European Union funded three projects within the Telematics Programme DG XIII_c to focus on Telematics in Teacher Training. One project with the same title, T3, will apply telematics within teacher training for over 4000 teachers in seven European countries over three years. Part of the work within 1996 performed a needs analysis for multimedia communications across the partner teacher training institutions in seven European countries using enhanced desk top video conferencing.

Teacher educators were informed of case studies already developed in the UK and aspects were demonstrated to them. Their views on the transferability of such activities to their courses and countries are documented in this paper. This research took place using the medium of enhanced desk top video conferencing. This application of Telematics is seen as an extension of the common practice of interviewing by telephone, permitting more information to be shared between teacher trainers in the seven teacher training institutions. The research showed that all countries would use the Telematic applications described and many were able to contribute complementary cases of their own.     

Prospective biology teachers’ understanding of the nature of science through an analysis of the historical case of Semmelweis and childbed fever

Cultural Studies of Science Education - This article presents a qualitative study of the understanding of various epistemic and non-epistemic aspects of the nature of science (NOS), based on...     

We Feel, Therefore We Learn: The Relevance of Affective and Social Neuroscience to Education

ABSTRACT— Recent advances in neuroscience are highlighting connections between emotion, social functioning, and decision making that have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the role of affect in education. In particular, the neurobiological evidence suggests that the aspects of cognition that we recruit most heavily in schools, namely learning, attention, memory, decision making, and social functioning, are both profoundly affected by and subsumed within the processes of emotion; we call these aspects emotional thought . Moreover, the evidence from brain-damaged patients suggests the hypothesis that emotion-related processes are required for skills and knowledge to be transferred from the structured school environment to real-world decision making because they provide an emotional rudder to guide judgment and action. Taken together, the evidence we present sketches an account of the neurobiological underpinnings of morality, creativity, and culture, all topics of critical importance to education. Our hope is that a better understanding of the neurobiological relationships between these constructs will provide a new basis for innovation in the design of learning environments.     

The effects of using graphing calculators to enhance college students' performance in precalculus

This study extended through three academic semesters and involved 710 subjects. It compared the performance of college students taught precalculus using a graphing calculator and a textbook written to be used with a graphing utility, to the performance of students using the traditional approach, a regular textbook, and a scientific calculator. On a comprehensive common final exam, students who were taught precalculus using the graphing calculator had significantly higher scores than those taught by traditional methods.PosthumousPreliminary partial results of this experiment were presented at the Fourth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics, Portland, Oregon, November 15–17,1991.     

Processes Involving Perceived Instructional Support,Task Value,and Engagement in Graduate Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations among perceived instructional support (provision of relevance and involvement), subjective task value beliefs (utility, attainment, and intrinsic value), and engagement (behavioral and emotional) over the course of a semester for graduate students enrolled in an introductory research methods course in a college of education (N = 217). Structural equation modeling (SEM) results suggested that each source of perceived support exerted unique influence on students' beliefs about utility value, intrinsic value, and attainment value of their research methods coursework. In turn, midsemester value beliefs predicted semester-end student reports of behavioral and cognitive engagement. Direct and indirect effects between perceived provisions of support and engagement were inconsistent. This study supports the notion that different patterns of predictors and outcomes may occur for different aspects of value beliefs and that multiple sources of instructional support are important for supporting student motivation for adult learners.     

Professional Learning Community Assessment-Revised (PLCA-R) questionnaire: translation and validation in Spanish context

Learning Environments Research - The analysis of professional community is a good indicator of the degree of professional and institutional development of a school. The Professional Learning...     

``Weighing' the Earth: a Newtonian Test and the Origin of an Anachronism

The measure G, the universal gravitational constant, is attributed to Henry Cavendish. Nevertheless, the intention of the English physicist was to measure the density of the earth, which at that time was necessary in order to decide between different theories about the composition of this planet. G was measured much later. In this article I will try to explain how Cavendish accomplished the famous experiment and what his results were. Likewise, I will consider the problems that can arise in the scientific training of students from maintaining anachronisms such as this.     

An assessment of the sources of the reversal error through classic and new variables

We present two empirical studies with 241 and 211 pre-service teachers that evaluate the explanatory power of word order matching and static comparison as models for the reversal error. We used tasks consisting of generating an algebraic equation representing a comparison given in a verbal statement. We introduce the types of magnitude involved in the statement as variables of analysis, something that was not previously tackled in previous works. Our results show that there are no statistical differences in the production of reversal errors depending on the information included in the name used to designate the variable, and that there are statistical differences depending on the syntactic configuration as well as the type of magnitude involved in the statement. The interpretation of these results indicates that both word order matching and static comparison have some potential as explanatory models for the reversal error, and that neither one of them, alone, is enough to completely explain the phenomenon.