Student Performance in Research Methods Classes: Assessing the Predictive Validity of the DRAMA Scale

A recent study appearing in this journal argued that student anxiety concerning research methods classes in criminology and criminal justice is characterized by three separate but related concepts: Disinterest, Relevance Argumentation, and Math Anxiety (DRAMA). The current study extends the previous work by presenting a modified version of the DRAMA scale and assessing its ability to predict student performance among a sample of students enrolled in an introductory research methods class at a university located in the southeastern United States. In support of the main hypothesis, the composite DRAMA scale was a significant, negative predictor of student grades. Subsequent analysis indicated that the effect of DRAMA was largely the result of the Math Anxiety subscale.     

Predicting Robust Learning With the Visual Form of the Moment-by-Moment Learning Curve

We present a new method for analyzing a student's learning over time for a specific skill: analysis of the graph of the student's moment-by-moment learning over time. Moment-by-moment learning is calculated using a data-mined model that assesses the probability that a student learned a skill or concept at a specific time during learning (Baker, Goldstein, & Heffernan, 2010 Baker, R. S. J. d., Goldstein, A. B. and Heffernan, N. T. 2010. “Detecting the moment of learning”. In Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems 25–34. In V. Aleven, J. Kay, & J. Mostow (Eds.),pp.Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 2011). Two coders labeled data from students who used an intelligent tutoring system for college genetics. They coded in terms of 7 forms that the moment-by-moment learning curve can take. These labels are correlated to test data on the robustness of students’ learning. We find that different visual forms are correlated with very different learning outcomes. This work suggests that analysis of moment-by-moment learning curves may be able to shed light on the implications of students’ different patterns of learning over time.     

A Framing Primer for Community College Leaders

The purpose of this article is to be a tool for community college leaders, as well as campus members, to positively and effectively utilize framing on their campuses. The fictional case of Maggie Pascal at Midwestern Community College illustrates the process of framing the change of a new partnership with Wind Energy Corporation to internal stakeholders on campus. This case illustrates the importance of understanding context and frames before the action of framing can be activated. A leader can then decide which type of framing to utilize (i.e., step-by-step, vision, or connective) and which language tools will be most effective in framing. The ways a practitioner operationalizes framing is through symbolism, talking, walking, and writing (Eddy, 2010a). This idea of framing is an important skill leaders can proactively develop to support their campuses through change processes to enhance the likelihood for a successful change outcome. Also, this may benefit other campus members who may have the opportunity to frame meaning for others or to be involved in making sense of a leader’s framing.     

Pedagogy in the multimodal classroom: an analysis of the challenges and opportunities for teachers

Contemporary commentary notes that students are frequently ahead of their teachers in their ability to manipulate and be creative with the internet, digital programs, and mobile technology. In this context it is important to ask, ‘What knowledge do teachers need to teach in the contemporary context where texts are elaborately multimodal, constructed not just of print but of image, sound, and movement?’ This paper proposes some signposts to assist teachers with navigating in this environment. Using teachers’ and researchers’ reflections on practices in a diverse range of settings, both primary and secondary, the analysis explicates the challenges that teachers face in this multimodal context and elucidates some ways they can effectively operate within it. In particular, it argues that it is teachers’ expertise as analysts and critics of texts that needs to guide their planning and teaching in this ‘new’ text world.     

邻家男孩已长大,乖乖“B宝”也变坏?

成长从来都不是件容易的事,特别是娱乐圈。这一次是"万人迷"——贾斯汀·比伯。自从将标志性的厚刘海换成一头凌乱短发开始,"B宝"便开始像脱缰的野马般"离经背道"起来:飙车、和狗仔队吵架、派对闻事、演唱会迟到、拒绝粉丝拥抱……种种顽劣行径,让媒体不禁揣测他是不是就要步小甜甜布兰妮和林赛罗翰后尘了。     

Microscopy and literature

This article draws attention to literary works which have been influenced by microscopy, or in which microscopy has played a significant role. The work of writers including Jonathan Swift, Voltaire, George Eliot, H. G. Wells and D. H. Lawrence is discussed. In many cases these authors had direct experience of operating microscopes and viewing the wonders of the microscopic world. However, with the increasing separation of the two cultures, recent examples of microscopy in literature are rare.     

When multi-functional landscape meets Critical Zone science: advancing multi-disciplinary research for sustainable human well-being

Environmental degradation has become one of the major obstacles to sustainable development and human well-being internationally. Scientific efforts are being made to understand the mechanism of environmental degradation and sustainability. Critical Zone (CZ) science and research on the multi-functional landscape are emerging fields in Earth science that can contribute to such scientific efforts. This paper reviews the progress, similarities and current status of these two scientific research fields, and identifies a number of opportunities for their synergistic integration through functional and multi-functional approaches, process-based monitoring, mechanistic analyses and dynamic modeling, global long-term and networked monitoring and systematic modeling supported by scaling and deep coupling. These approaches proposed in this paper have the potential to support sustainable human well-being by strengthening a functional orientation that consolidates multi-functional landscape research and CZ science. This is a key challenge for sustainable development and human well-being in the twenty-first century.     

Neoliberal values & queer/disability in Margarita with a Straw

ABSTRACT

Margarita with a Straw is an Indian movie about a queer/disabled woman exploring her sexuality. The article uses textual analysis with a discursive formation approach to analyze how the protagonist’s queer/disabled identity is constituted vis-à-vis intimate partnerships alongside the promotion of neoliberal values. One relationship with an able-bodied white man takes place within a caregiving dynamic that challenges her independence. The other relationship with a disabled South Asian woman creates an interdependence that bifurcates their identities as disabled-and-queer. The article argues that the promotion of neoliberal values in the context of queer/disability is about independence from dependence on sociopolitical systems.