Ultrasound and cadaveric prosections as methods for teaching cardiac anatomy: a comparative study

This study compared the efficacy of two cardiac anatomy teaching modalities, ultrasound imaging and cadaveric prosections, for learning cardiac gross anatomy. One hundred and eight first-year medical students participated. Two weeks prior to the teaching intervention, students completed a pretest to assess their prior knowledge and to ensure that groups were equally randomized. Students, divided into pre-existing teaching groups, were assigned to one of two conditions; "cadaver" or "ultrasound." Those in the cadaver group received teaching on the heart using prosections, whereas the ultrasound group received teaching using live ultrasound images of the heart. Immediately after teaching, students sat a post-test. Both teaching modalities increased students' test scores by similar amounts but no significant difference was found between the two conditions, suggesting that both prosections and ultrasound are equally effective methods for teaching gross anatomy of the heart. Our data support the inclusion of either cadaveric teaching or living anatomy using ultrasound within the undergraduate anatomy curriculum, and further work is needed to compare the additive effect of the two modalities.     

University access and after: explaining the social composition of degree programmes and the contrasting expectations of students

University expansion in higher education has been hierarchically differentiated. There is some concentration of certain social profiles in some degrees of study, so social composition between degrees can vary considerably. This article describes in terms of social composition 10 degrees of four public universities in the metropolitan area of Barcelona. We analyse 857 questionnaires filled in by mid-career students. From the perspective of agent’s decision on the choice of studies, we explore what were the factors that made them choose a concrete degree. We examine several variables that can indicate whether their expectations have been met or not. The results show that the factors predicted by the theory by which working-class (WC) students choose degrees—instrumental motivations and conditions that minimize the risk—are often met. In this regard, the recent structural reform related with the implementation of the European Higher Education Area that removes short-cycles degrees (3 years) could lead to a problem of access for WC students.     

Assessing Long-Term Effects of Inquiry-Based Learning: A Case Study from College Mathematics

As student-centered approaches to teaching and learning are more widely applied, researchers must assess the outcomes of these interventions across a range of courses and institutions. As an example of such assessment, this study examined the impact of inquiry-based learning (IBL) in college mathematics on undergraduates’ subsequent grades and course selection at two institutions. Insight is gained upon disaggregating results by course type (IBL vs. non-IBL), by gender, and by prior mathematics achievement level. In particular, the impact of IBL on previously low-achieving students’ grades is sizable and persistent. The authors offer some methodological advice to guide future such studies.     

Central and South America mass communication: Selected information sources

The current experiment employed a mixed design to assess word learning in 70 infants under the age of 2. Infants (4–24 months) were randomly assigned to watch 1 of 2 educational DVDs in their homes, 6 times over a 2-week period. The 2 DVDs were identical except that each contained 3 different low frequency words (e.g., lens). In addition, participants were randomly assigned to a mediation condition, where parents were told to watch with their child and call attention to the DVD and the words being taught; controls were instructed to allow their child to watch alone. The stimulus DVDs were designed to mimic a commercially available DVD such as Baby Einstein. Following the 2-week exposure period, participants were brought to the testing location and tested on all 6 words, both those that were included in the DVD they were exposed to and those that appeared in the other DVD. Results suggested that infants 17 months and older benefitted from repeat exposure to the DVD; whereas younger infants did not. In addition, mediation did not seem to aid in children's learning from the DVD; although not all parents in the mediation condition complied.     

Teaching Information Literacy Courses in The Context of Library and Information Science Education in Bulgaria: Challenges and Innovative Approaches

ABSTRACT

The article examines the application of innovative approaches in the information literacy training of library and information science students in Bulgaria. The change of the educational paradigm in the field is presented based on recent developments in one of the oldest Bulgarian institutions that prepares librarians and information specialists—the State University of Library Studies and Information Technologies. The active learning strategies suitable for information literacy skills development courses are studied by the use of three methods: “learning by doing,” “interaction in the learning group,” “learning by trial and error” within the practical training of students. The prospects for transforming information literacy instruction through the elaboration of digital educational games and a game-based learning model in the frame of the international project tiLIT are also outlined.     

New forms of organisation and R&D internationalisation among the world's 100 largest food and beverages multinationals

This paper explores the strategic internationalisation of Research and Development (R&D) activities of the world's 100 largest food and beverages (F&B) multinationals (MNEs) in 1996 and 2000 with a sample of nearly 8000 affiliates for each period. We develop a global innovation strategy (GIS) structure where we analyse the R&D internationalisation process of F&B MNEs. We argue that in a fully developed GIS model the sourcing of creative inputs does not come exclusively from a ‘central’ R&D laboratory, but other overseas R&D laboratories or technological affiliates can also undertake genuine knowledge creation activity from capitalising on the scientific heterogeneity fostered in individual host countries as well as distinctive demand conditions. Our results indicate the increasing importance of overseas technological affiliates in the application of a GIS in the leading F&B MNEs, which determine the degree of their technological internationalisation. Two variants of technological affiliates reflect two broad knowledge-related activities, i.e. adaptation and genuine forms of knowledge creation.     

Übereinstimmung,Variabilität und Reliabilität von Schülerurteilen zur Unterrichtsqualität auf Schulebene

Using student ratings to assess instructional quality of schools should fulfill three requirements: (1) an appropriate level of inter-rater agreement within schools, (2) systematic variance of student ratings between schools, (3) an adequate reliability level of aggregated student ratings. Using international PISA-data (2000–2012; 81 countries, over 55,300 schools, over 1.3 million 15-year olds) this study investigated how these requirements were met regarding indicators of instructional quality (classroom management, cognitive activation, individual learning support). We computed the interrater agreement index r_WG(J), as well as the intraclass correlations ICC(1) and ICC(2). Our results showed that (1) student ratings demonstrated a moderate or strong level of agreement for most indicators of instructional quality and (2) instructional quality assessed by students varied systematically between schools. Yet, (3) reliability of aggregated student ratings was not sufficient in many countries. We discuss these results regarding conventions to evaluate agreement, variability, and reliability of student ratings at the school level.     

Interactive effects of guilt and moral disengagement on bullying,defending and outsider behavior

We examined the moderating effect of guilt on the associations between moral disengagement and bullying, defending and outsider behaviors in a sample of 404 students (203 boys; M_age = 11.09 years; SD = 1.48). Bullying, defending and outsider behavior were assessed through peer nominations, whereas guilt and moral disengagement were assessed by self-reports. Results showed that moral disengagement was associated with high levels of bullying and low levels of defending. Guilt was negatively associated with bullying and positively with defending. A moderating effect for guilt was also found: increasing levels of moral disengagement contributed to more bullying and outsider behavior, and to less defending, among students with low levels of guilt. The current research broadens the extant literature, showing the combined effects of guilt and moral disengagement on bullying-related behaviors.     

The Home Literacy Environment Is a Correlate,but Perhaps Not a Cause,of Variations in Children’s Language and Literacy Development

The home literacy environment is a well-established predictor of children’s language and literacy development. We investigated whether formal, informal, and indirect measures of the home literacy environment predict children’s reading and language skills once maternal language abilities are taken into account. Data come from a longitudinal study of children at high risk of dyslexia (N = 251) followed from preschool years. Latent factors describing maternal language were significant predictors of storybook exposure but not of direct literacy instruction. Maternal language and phonological skills respectively predicted children’s language and reading/spelling skills. However, after accounting for variations in maternal language, storybook exposure was not a significant predictor of children’s outcomes. In contrast, direct literacy instruction remained a predictor of children’s reading/spelling skills. We argue that the relationship between early informal home literacy activities and children’s language and reading skills is largely accounted for by maternal skills and may reflect genetic influences.