An Empirical Assessment of Interdisciplinarity: Perspectives from Graduate Students and Program Administrators

Interdisciplinarity is heralded as a relatively new educational and research paradigm that can effectively address complex problems at disciplinary boundaries. Yet little is known about the extent to which interdisciplinarity has penetrated higher education, nor about how students and program administrators view its usefulness. Through a case study of one field, urban planning, we assessed the extent to which graduate students and program administrators understand and support interdisciplinarity in the departments. We also assessed the extent to which specific factors might affect levels of support. Our survey results suggest differing attitudes between students and administrators and diverse opinions as to whether interdisciplinarity provides a practicable approach to addressing societal challenges. We offer a model for fostering interdisciplinarity and developing empirical evaluations of programs.     

Optimal presentation of graphic organizers and text: A case for large bites?

In three experiments, we investigated the optimal presentation of graphic organizers (GOs) and text by having undergraduates read a chapter-length text in its entirety, a few pages at a time, or a few sentences at a time, before or after viewing seven GOs in their entirety (large bites), one at a time (small bites), or one cell at a time (animated). Large bites were better than small bites for learning concept relations and applying that knowledge, and for recalling macropropositions when the GOs were presented before text. Animated GOs offered no advantages over the large-bites GOs at first presentation and considerably extended total study time. Presenting several GOs first, followed by the entire text, appears to be optimal in directing students’ attention to across-chapter relations in text.     

Influence of substrate pore size distribution,poultice type,and application technique on the desalination of medium-porous stones

This paper studies the influence of poultice type and application techniques on the desalination efficiency of two limestone substrates having similar porosities (22–25%) but different pore size distributions: microporous Bateig Novelda and macro porous Tosca Rocafort stones. Three poultice types are compared: pure sepiolite (fine porous), sepiolite and aggregate (medium porous), and pure cellulose powder (coarse porous). Four application techniques are studied: (i) direct application on the stone, (ii) pre-wetting before poultice application, (iii) Japanese paper before application, and (iv) pre-wetting?+?Japanese paper before application. Samples were taken from poultices on the one hand, and from substrates at different depths on the other hand. Their content in soluble salts was estimated by ionic conductivity measurements. After three application runs, the best result for both substrates is achieved with the combined application of coarse- and fine-porous poultices (FPs) (desalination depth: 4.5/6?cm for macro/micro-porous substrates). The FP is also able to extract salts properly, but the desalination depth achieved is less important (3?cm). A direct poultice application without pre-wetting nor Japanese paper is to be preferred for both stone types.     

Teaching About National Socialism and the Holocaust: Narrative Approaches to Holocaust Education

The article outlines a deficit in Holocaust education: The motives of the perpetrators and bystanders are often not dealt with. In order to explore these motives, interviews with former Nazis were conducted and evaluated in the Geschichte und Erinnerung (History and Memory) research project; two of the findings are presented here. Subsequently the question of how these findings can be applied in school teaching about National Socialism and the Holocaust is discussed. The author recommends teachers not to expose students to whole narrations of former Nazis, but to use brief excerpts from those narrations in order to develop an analysis of the Nazis’ motives. Ultimately, teaching about the topic of National Socialism and the Holocaust should be integrated with students’ own narrations, with their knowledge of the topic based on family stories, family secrets, and other sources.     

Interactive anatomical and surgical live stream lectures improve students' academic performance in applied clinical anatomy

Tuebingen's Sectio Chirurgica (TSC) is an innovative, interactive, multimedia, and transdisciplinary teaching method designed to complement dissection courses. The Tuebingen's Sectio Chirurgica (TSC) allows clinical anatomy to be taught via interactive live stream surgeries moderated by an anatomist. This method aims to provide an application‐oriented approach to teaching anatomy that offers students a deeper learning experience. A cohort study was devised to determine whether students who participated in the TSC were better able to solve clinical application questions than students who did not participate. A total of 365 students participated in the dissection course during the winter term of the 2012/2013 academic year. The final examination contained 40 standard multiple‐choice (S‐MC) and 20 clinically‐applied multiple‐choice (CA‐MC) items. The CA‐MC items referred to clinical cases but could be answered solely using anatomical knowledge. Students who regularly participated in the TSC answered the CA‐MC questions significantly better than the control group (75% and 65%, respectively; P < 0.05, Mann‐Whitney U test). The groups exhibited no differences on the S‐MC questions (85% and 82.5%, respectively; P > 0.05). The CA‐MC questions had a slightly higher level of difficulty than the S‐MC questions (0.725 and 0.801, respectively; P = 0.083). The discriminatory power of the items was comparable (S‐MC median Pearson correlations: 0.321; CA‐MC: 0.283). The TSC successfully teaches the clinical application of anatomical knowledge. Students who attended the TSC in addition to the dissection course were able to answer CA‐MC questions significantly better than students who did not attend the TSC. Thus, attending the TSC in addition to the dissection course supported students' clinical learning goals. Anat Sci Educ 10: 46–52. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.     

Epilogue

International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education -     

Revisiting the Role of Worries in Explaining the Link Between Test Anxiety and Test Performance

Educational Psychology Review - The inverse relationship between test anxiety and test performance is commonly explained by test-anxious students’ tendency to worry about a test and the...     

Machine learning for people detection in guidance functionality of enabling health applications by means of cascaded SVM classifiers

Electronic assistance devices for visually impaired people often require pedestrian detection functionality. Due to the fact that these devices have only low computational processing capabilities, it is necessary to use realtime algorithms that meet these requirements.We thus propose application of a cascaded support vector machine (SVM) classifier with linear and combined cascading of SVMs based on histogram of oriented gradients (HOGs) and Fisher score preselection. Proposed algorithms are evaluated on the basis of the INRIA database and compared to the state of the art procedure with HOG-features in combination with a standard SVM.     

Muscle morphology of the vastus lateralis is strongly related to ergometer performance,sprint capacity and endurance capacity in Olympic rowers

Rowers need to combine high sprint and endurance capacities. Muscle morphology largely explains muscle power generating capacity, however, little is known on how muscle morphology relates to rowing performance measures. The aim was to determine how muscle morphology of the vastus lateralis relates to rowing ergometer performance, sprint and endurance capacity of Olympic rowers. Eighteen rowers (12♂, 6♀, who competed at 2016 Olympics) performed an incremental rowing test to obtain maximal oxygen consumption, reflecting endurance capacity. Sprint capacity was assessed by Wingate cycling peak power. M. vastus lateralis morphology (volume, physiological cross-sectional area, fascicle length and pennation angle) was derived from 3-dimensional ultrasound imaging. Thirteen rowers (7♂, 6♀) completed a 2000-m rowing ergometer time trial. Muscle volume largely explained variance in 2000-m rowing performance (R² = 0.85), maximal oxygen consumption (R² = 0.65), and Wingate peak power (R² = 0.82). When normalized for differences in body size, maximal oxygen consumption and Wingate peak power were negatively related in males (r = ?0.94). Fascicle length, not physiological cross-sectional area, attributed to normalized peak power. In conclusion, vastus lateralis volume largely explains variance in rowing ergometer performance, sprint and endurance capacity. For a high normalized sprint capacity, athletes may benefit from long fascicles rather than a large physiological cross-sectional area.     

Weblogs for organizational knowledge sharing and creation: a comparative case study

The use of weblogs as an information and communication technology for knowledge sharing and creation is a novel social and organizational phenomenon. In this paper, we identify and explain contingency factors that influence the successful use of weblogs for knowledge sharing and creation. We start from the assumption that successful knowledge management requires the motivation of people to engage in knowledge-related communication. Based on a comparison of two antithetic cases, we identify and discuss four contingency factors that directly influence the motivational impact of weblogs on organizational knowledge sharing and creation.