“We are Just as Confused and Lost as She is”: The Primacy of the Graphic Novel Form in Exploring Conversations Around Deafness

Cece Bell’s (El Deafo, Amulet, New York, 2014) is a middle childhood graphic novel memoir that explores the author’s experiences of losing her hearing and growing up with a severe hearing loss. As a graphic novel, the story is able to avoid a medicalized view of disability by combining image and text, a format that allows readers, those with hearing and those without, to step inside the narrative and deeply consider Bell’s experiences. The narrative elements typically found in graphic novel autobiography create a communal reading experience, which does not allow readers to forget who the book is about. After an analysis of the primacy of these narrative graphic novel elements in telling a story about a disability, this article shares the reading experiences of university students in exploring this story, during which students used both the image and text to help them confront misconceptions they had about deafness, broadening their understandings and experiences around disability.     

Improvement in National Test arithmetic scores at Key Stage 1: Grade inflation or better achievement?

The aim of the National Numeracy Strategy is to raise standards in numeracy. Strong evidence for its success has, however, been lacking: most of the available data come from performance on National Test assessments administered in schools or from Ofsted reports, and is vulnerable to suggestions of bias. An opportunistic analysis of data from a population cohort study extending over three school years compares school‐based scores at school entry and at age 7–8 with clinic‐based scores on similar tests. The results show a small but statistically significant rise between 1998 and 1999 and between 1998 and 2000 in scores on both KS1 arithmetic SATs taken in schools and the arithmetic component of the WISC test taken in an independent research clinic. This is evidence for a real rise in generalised arithmetic ability over this period which may be attributable to the children's experience of the National Numeracy Strategy.     

Laminated microfluidic system for small sample protein analysis

We describe a technology based on lamination that allows for the production of highly integrated 3D devices suitable for performing a wide variety of microfluidic assays. This approach uses a suite of microfluidic coupons (“microfloupons”) that are intended to be stacked as needed to produce an assay of interest. Microfloupons may be manufactured in paper, plastic, gels, or other materials, in advance, by different manufacturers, then assembled by the assay designer as needed. To demonstrate this approach, we designed, assembled, and characterized a microfloupon device that performs sodium-dodecyl-sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis on a small sample of protein. This device allowed for the manipulation and transport of small amounts of protein sample, tight injection into a thin polyacrylamide gel, electrophoretic separation of the proteins into bands, and subsequent removal of the gel from the device for imaging and further analysis. The microfloupons are rugged enough to handle and can be easily aligned and laminated, allowing for a variety of different assays to be designed and configured by selecting appropriate microfloupons. This approach provides a convenient way to perform assays that have multiple steps, relieving the need to design highly sophisticated devices that incorporate all functions in a single unit, while still achieving the benefits of small sample size, automation, and high speed operation.     

Treating the regular class child in the mainstreaming process: Increasing social cognitive development

Regular class children who tease their mainstreamed peers can and do create problems for the implementation of mainstreaming. A solution to this problem is offered from the cognitive developmental school of thought through a discussion of recent theory and educational research in this area. It is shown that both moral judgment and interpersonal conceptions (two cognitive developmental domains) seem to be related to adequate social adjustment. Recent empirical studies have demonstrated success in raising children's level of reasoning in these areas. Direct applications of these recent findings to the mainstreaming problem are discussed.     

Correction to: Interaction rituals,emotions, and early childhood science: digital microscopes and collective joy in a multilingual classroom

Cultural Studies of Science Education -     

Strengths and Weaknesses of Non-enhanced and Contrast-enhanced Cadaver Computed Tomography Scans in the Teaching of Gross Anatomy in an Integrated Curriculum

Cadaver-specific postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) has become an integral part in anatomy teaching at several universities. Recently, the feasibility of contrast-enhanced (CE)-PMCT has been demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to identify particular strengths and weaknesses of both non-enhanced and contrast-enhanced PMCT compared to conventional cadaver dissection. First, the students’ perception of the learning effectiveness of the three different modalities have been assessed using a 34-item survey (five-point Likert scale) covering all anatomy course modules. Results were compared using the nonparametric Friedman Test. Second, the most frequent artifacts in cadaver CT scans, were systematically analyzed in 122 PMCT and 31 CE-PMCT data sets to quantify method-related limitations and characteristics. Perfusion quality was assessed in 57 vascular segments (38 arterial and 19 venous). The survey was answered by n = 257/320 (80.3%) students. Increased learning benefits of PMCT/ CE-PMCT compared to cadaver dissection were found in osteology (2/3 categories, P < 0.001), head and neck (2/5 categories, P < 0.01), and brain anatomy (3/3 categories, P < 0.01). Contrast-enhanced-PMCT was perceived particularly useful in learning vascular anatomy (10/10 categories, P < 0.01). Cadaver dissection received significantly higher scores compared to PMCT and CE-PMCT in all categories of the abdomen and thorax (7/7 categories, P < 0.001), as well as the majority of muscular anatomy (5/6 categories, P < 0.001). Frequent postmortem artifacts (total n = 28, native-phase n = 21, contrast injection-related n = 7) were identified and assessed. The results of this work contribute to the understanding of the value of integrating cadaver-specific PMCT in anatomy teaching.     

Learning theories for artificial intelligence promoting learning processes

This paper discusses a three-level model that synthesizes and unifies existing learning theories to model the roles of artificial intelligence (AI) in promoting learning processes. The model, drawn from developmental psychology, computational biology, instructional design, cognitive science, complexity and sociocultural theory, includes a causal learning mechanism that explains how learning occurs and works across micro, meso and macro levels. The model also explains how information gained through learning is aggregated, or brought together, as well as dissipated, or released and used within and across the levels. Fourteen roles for AI in education are proposed, aligned with the model's features: four roles at the individual or micro level, four roles at the meso level of teams and knowledge communities and six roles at the macro level of cultural historical activity. Implications for research and practice, evaluation criteria and a discussion of limitations are included. Armed with the proposed model, AI developers can focus their work with learning designers, researchers and practitioners to leverage the proposed roles to improve individual learning, team performance and building knowledge communities.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Numerous learning theories exist with significant cross-over of concepts, duplication and redundancy in terms and structure that offer partial explanations of learning.
• Frameworks concerning learning have been offered from several disciplines such as psychology, biology and computer science but have rarely been integrated or unified.
• Rethinking learning theory for the age of artificial intelligence (AI) is needed to incorporate computational resources and capabilities into both theory and educational practices.

What this paper adds

• A three-level theory (ie, micro, meso and macro) of learning that synthesizes and unifies existing theories is proposed to enhance computational modelling and further develop the roles of AI in education.
• A causal model of learning is defined, drawing from developmental psychology, computational biology, instructional design, cognitive science and sociocultural theory, which explains how learning occurs and works across the levels.
• The model explains how information gained through learning is aggregated, or brought together, as well as dissipated, or released and used within and across the levels.
• Fourteen roles for AI in education are aligned with the model's features: four roles at the individual or micro level, four roles at the meso level of teams and knowledge communities and six roles at the macro level of cultural historical activity.

Implications for practice and policy

• Researchers may benefit from referring to the new theory to situate their work as part of a larger context of the evolution and complexity of individual and organizational learning and learning systems.
• Mechanisms newly discovered and explained by future researchers may be better understood as contributions to a common framework unifying the scientific understanding of learning theory.

     

Math Performance and Academic Anxiety Forms,from Sociodemographic to Cognitive Aspects: a Meta-analysis on 906,311 Participants

Educational Psychology Review - The relationship between anxiety and mathematics has often been investigated in the literature. Different forms of anxiety have been evaluated, with math anxiety...