Developing and refining mental models in open-ended learning environments: A case study

This qualitative case study focused on the nature of science learning through open-ended problem solving. Twelve eighth graders were asked to find, frame, and resolve subproblems associated with structural failures resulting from earthquakes. Coded interviews, artifacts, and observations from the four-week study suggested students only partially derived accurate mental models about earthquake engineering problems. Recommendations for improving student problem understanding in open-ended environments include the explication of student hypotheses related to problems, and the continual testing of belief via analogical reasoning, research, communication, and tool use.     

A course projection and staffing plan used to facilitate a curriculum change

The curriculum change for which these projections were made included eliminating traditional distribution requirements in favor of interdisciplinary programs and increased student electives. The plan allowed study of the staffing needs and anticipated effects upon departmental offerings. The projections provided estimates of the number of students who would take each type of course and indicated that the new curriculum could be staffed by eliminating previously required introductory courses. Updated each year, the plan served as a guide for departmental offerings and for the hiring of new faculty. The projection methods employed would be helpful for schools anticipating curricular changes or as a general guide in planning faculty allocations from year to year.The planning, initial costs, and evaluation of the curriculum were supported in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the George Gund Foundation, and the U.S. Office of Education. Reprints and additional information about the curriculum and these projections can be obtained from the Office of Records and Research, Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio 44234. The authors wish to acknowledge the encouragement and assistance of Hiram President Elmer Jagow, former Dean Wendell Johnson, and current Dean Robert MacDowell. The cooperation of the Hiram faculty and students is also gratefully acknowledged.     

An evaluation of a group CBT programme for children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in a school age disability service

Research has shown that rates of clinical anxiety levels are higher among young people with an ASD than their typically developing peers. This study conducted an exploratory investigation into the impact of a specifically tailored CBT group programme on anxiety levels in young people with ASD. The 12 week CBT programme was delivered to 12 children with a diagnosis of ASD in a children’s disability team in Ireland. An embedded mixed methods design was utilised and inferences were drawn by collecting and analysing quantitative and qualitative data separately. Findings indicate CBT can be delivered successfully to a group of children with ASD. As is the nature of an embedded design, quantitative findings are reported as supportive evidence for the qualitative findings of this study. The positive preliminary findings suggest a rigorous, large scale evaluation is needed to determine the overall effectiveness of the programme with this population.     

Event-related Potentials in Year-Old Infants: Relations with Emotionality and Cortisol

Event-related po-potentials (ERPs) were recorded from year-old infants presented with sets of familiar faces presented frequently and infrequently, and a set of novel faces presented infrequently. The normative response of infants in this sample was a late positive slow wave to the Infrequent Familiar faces, and a return to baseline to the Frequent Familiar and Infrequent Novel faces (although there was a tendency for some infants to show a positive slow wave to the latter events). A factor score based on data from frontal and central leads that reflected this normative pattern was significantly associated with infant emotional behavior and cortisol. Infants scoring higher on the normative ERP factor were more distressed during separation, were reported by their parents to smile and laugh more, and had lower cortisol concentrations during ERP testing. These data were interpreted as reflecting the coordination of adaptive responding among different physiological and behavioral systems.     

Performance of students in grades six,nine, and twelve on five logical,spatial and formal tasks

Performance on five logical, spatial and formal tasks was used to make inferences about the reasoning structures of the subjects. The tasks used were: seriation matrix, tilt of a cone, location of a point in two and three dimensions, flexible rods and projection of shadows. Three research questions were asked: first, what is the general level of performance; second, are there grade level differences; and third, are there gender differences in task performance. The subjects were 101 middle and high school students chosen at random from the school population. Each task was given in an individual interview. Findings include grade level differences in performance and gender differences in performance on one of the tasks. Implications for classroom teachers were proposed.     

Using Deliberate Practice to Transform Learning Culture: Helping Students Put Real Skills in their OSCM Toolbox

Students select majors like supply chain management largely because they want to obtain a high‐paying job at graduation. They expect that after 4 or 5 years of studies, they will be ready to achieve early‐career success. Data, however, reveal that students often are not prepared. Recruiters are noticing. In various studies, employers say that a large majority of graduates are not workplace ready. We argue that this readiness gap results from a mismatch between academia's focus on knowledge transfer and employers’ expectations that new hires possess real competencies. To remedy this readiness gap, we redesigned our curriculum to adopt a deliberate practice pedagogy. What have we learned? Deliberate practice is hard work. Both faculty and students must learn and practice new behaviors. The good news: deliberate practice helps students acquire real expertise that recruiters value. This article makes the case for deliberate practice and outlines a proven path to transformation.     

Effects of Client Race‐Ethnicity on Perceptions of Counselor Trainees: Study 1 and Study 2

The authors investigated the impact that racial stereotypes have on counselor trainees' perceptions of the attributes and behaviors of ethnically diverse male clients. Two studies were conducted in which participants were counselor trainees (Study 1, N = 58; Study 2, N = 75) who received a case study in which a male student sought counseling for problems affecting his school work. No differences were revealed in Study 1. In Study 2, counselor perceptions of client attributes differed across client race–ethnicity. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for training counselors, particularly regarding multicultural courses and workshops.     

Effect of intersolution interval,chlordiazepoxide, and amphetamine on anticipatory contrast

Previous experiments have shown that the intake of a 0.15% saccharin solution is suppressed if saccharin access is followed by access to 32 % sucrose in brief daily pairings. The present experiments found that: (1) the degree of suppression was not altered when no time elapsed between presentation of the two solutions each day (15 sec had been the minimum in previous experiments and was used as the control in this experiment); (2) the degree of suppression was not altered by chlordiazepoxide (6, 12, or 20 mg/kg), although the drug had large appetite-stimulating effects; (3) suppression was not influenced by amphetamine (0.25 or 0.50 mg/kg); and (4) contrast could be established or eliminated, even after extended training, by manipulating the sequences of solutions presented (saccharin-saccharin or saccharin-sucrose). The results were interpreted in terms of a contrast effect based on the learned anticipation of a preferred substance. The chlordiazepoxide data suggest that this contrast is different from successive negative contrast, and the intersolution interval data suggest that the occurrence of contrast rather than a reinforcement effect is not due to a time gap between presentations of the two solutions.     

Circadian rhythms of tonic immobility in the rat: Evidence of an endogenous mechanism

Circadian rhythms of tonic immobility were found in male albino rats raised on a 12-h diurnal light cycle and tested at 6-h intervals. Durations of immobility were twice as long at 2000 h as at 1400 h. These differences persisted when rats were exposed to constant darkness for 10 days, but disappeared when rats were maintained in constant light for the same period. Since endogenous circadian rhythms of certain monoamine levels persist in constant darkness yet disappear under constant light, it is suggested that cycles of tonic immobility in rats are also endogenous. When the diurnal pattern of tonic immobility duration is compared to that of various neurohumors, immobility duration appears to parallel melatonin production and to be opposite in phase to the cycle of serotonin levels. Duration of immobility increased over trials, although the number of inductions required to produce immobility decreased. This suggests that instrumental conditioning may modify the immobility response to some extent.