Contextual cues and memory retrieval in rats: Alleviation of forgetting by a pretest exposure to background stimuli

With a relatively complex maze, reliable forgetting is clearly seen when the training-test interval is 25 days. This forgetting is evidenced by the longer time taken to run the maze and in an increase in the number of errors from the last training trial to the first test trial. In this case, forgetting is a lapse, not a loss, since performance attains the last training trial level at a subsequent test. Furthermore, a reminder which does not in itself contain sufficient information to facilitate performance of a naive animal, significantly improves maze performance of animals which have “forgotten,” even on the first retention test. With the use of additional control groups, it is shown that there must be a memory lapse before contextual cues can be demonstrated to be effective in facilitating memory retrieval.     

Juridification of examination systems: extending state level authority over teacher assessments through regrading of national tests

Since 2009, the Swedish Government uses an ‘audit’ agency – the Swedish Schools Inspectorate – to monitor and assess the accuracy with which teachers grade student responses on national tests. This study explores the introduction and subsequent establishment of the Inspectorate’s regrading programme as an example of political management of the tensions between competition and equity inherent in neoliberal regulatory regimes. The programme is considered a case for examining contemporary policies and discourses on fairness and government actions undertaken to resolve issues of unfair assessment and safeguard students’ rights. Work of Carol Bacchi forms part of the theoretical background for the investigation of problem representations around and within the programme. The article demonstrates how discursive practices in the fields of government, audit and media have worked to frame teachers’ assessments as incorrect, unfair and as jeopardizing the credibility of the grading system, thus justifying increased central control and authority over teacher assessments. As such, the regrading programme contributed to increased mistrust in teacher professionalism. A legal discourse is identified, and we argue the examination system is being juridified where the abundance of control over knowledge risks turning into a deficit of that same knowledge.     

Environmental literacy of youth movement members – is environmentalism a component of their social activism?

Youth-movements in Israel are non-formal organizations that educate for social and political involvement and provide a broad platform for youth involvement in the community. This study explored the question: does the social activism of adolescents who both elect for membership in youth movements and a leadership role of instructing younger members also reflect itself in environmentalism? In a survey of 1496 young instructors drawn from 15 official youth movements, findings on environmental literacy variables show youth are only generally knowledgeable about environmental problems; express ‘technical-optimism’ which leads them to limited concern for the environment; show limited recognition of the importance of environmental education, and show limited acknowledgment of the necessity for changes in personal consumerism. Findings also show that environmental issues are not on their mind since they are not a conversation topic with peers or family. Nonetheless, these youth also demonstrate strong self-efficacy to effect change; view themselves as role models for younger members; and express willingness to include environmentally-supportive activities within regular youth movement activities. Their valuing of nature also provides a foundation for building other environmental values. Further analysis shows how these findings can contribute theoretical and practical tools for incorporating sustainability within the youth movement framework, and help realize their potential for promoting sustainability in society.     

From school to higher education in Australia

This paper addresses the question of why young people go on from school to higher education in Australia. A person-situation interactionist theory to explain decisions taken in the matter is developed, and in the light of this theory a model to predict entry to higher education is advanced. The model is tested using data from separate studies in two Australian States, Victoria and Queensland. Results of bivariate and logistic regression analyses are generally consistent with expectations from the model. Certain interactive effects of variables in the model upon entry to higher education are reported.     

Reinforcement and the organization of behavior in golden hamsters: Sunflower seed and nest paper reinforcers

Undeprived hamsters received nest paper or sunflower seeds in their home cages, free or contingent on one of three activities. The pattern of effects of reinforcement was the same as that reported previously with food for hungry hamsters in an open field: Open rearing and scrabbling quickly increased in rate when reinforced with paper or seeds, but face washing showed little or no increase. Certain interrelations found previously between noncontingent effects of reinforcers, deprivation effects, and contingent effects were absent and therefore are not essential to the differences among these three behaviors during reinforcement. The hamsters could learn to interrupt fact washing to collect either paper or seeds, but even then they did not increase their time face washing to high levels. Raising the operant level of face washing by spraying the animals with water did not improve instrumental performance. Face washing could be classified as an involuntary activity, but this term does not provide a full account of its special properties, such as shortened bouts, during reinforcement and punishment.     

Examining the Etiology of Reading Disability as Conceptualized by the Hybrid Model

A fairly recent definition of reading disability (RD) is that in the form of a hybrid model. The model views RD as a latent construct that is manifested through various observable unexpected impairments in reading-related skills and through inadequate response to intervention. The current report evaluated this new conceptualization of RD from an etiological perspective. The sample consisted of 2,737 twin pairs in 1st through 4th grade (M_age = 8.52) from the Florida Twin Project on Reading. Using twin analyses, results showed that a substantial proportion of genetic variance, a small proportion of shared environmental, and a small proportion of nonshared environmental variance was attributed to the RD factor. Findings suggest that the etiological architecture of RD closely mirrors the structure of the hybrid model of RD.     

The role of schemes in designing computerized environments

Schemes are said to underly cognitive processes, including problem solving in Mathematics. An attempt to test the impact of schemes in solving 2-step word-problems was made in an instructional study where two computerized environments were compared. In the S.P.A. (Schemes for Problem Analysis) software, the user works with schemes in order to analyze and solve the problems. When using S.P.A., the solver has to fill in the data in a scheme which is presented graphically. From the scheme the operation is derived in a deterministic manner, and the user (solver) can then calculate the solution. A feedback mechanism follows. In the A.P. (Algebraic Proposer) software the user fills in a table with the data given in the word-problem and then has to find out which operation to use in order to find the solution. The effectiveness of S.P.A. vs. A.P. was empirically examined in an instructional experiment which studied two sixth grade classes during a four month period. The results of the experiment concluded that, in solving easy word problems, both of the two software systems were equally helpful. In harder word-problems, however, those who learned with the S.P.A. experienced more success than those who had learned with A.P. It was also found that S.P.A. was more instrumental in helping low achieving students cope with hard word-problems.     

An Investigation of the Effectiveness of an Evaluation Instrument Designed for Use with Modular Masters Courses in a Range of International Contexts

In a previous paper the construction of an instrument designed to be of use in the evaluation of modular Masters courses for teachers and administrators in international schools was described. Initial impressions of the efficacy of the instrument were encouraging, and its use was extended in a number of ways within the scheme of continuing professional development organised through the Centre for the study of Education in an International Context at the University of Bath. In particular, the evaluation model was extended to three different modules taught in an increased number of Study Centre locations, by different tutors, to groups of different sizes and composition. Under such a range of conditions the question arises of parity of quality in the delivery of the modules, and the usefulness of the evaluation instrument in contributing to an assessment of the quality of teaching and learning was explored. This paper describes the results of an investigation undertaken to test the robustness of the instrument with respect to both the increased range of dimensions involved and the level of detail possible. The outcomes confirm initial impressions of the overall value of the instrument in assessing general levels of satisfaction expressed by participants with respect to a variety of course features, but also indicate the ways in which it could be employed as a tool to evaluate the relative contributions to overall success made by a set of components concerned with the content of the modules, the teaching arrangements, support for participants and the relevance of the modules to the educational work of those taking part.     

Improvements in equity in the participation of young people in higher education in Australia during the 1980s

This paper addresses the question of the extent to which there were improvements in equity in the patterns of participation of young people in higher education in Australia during the 1980s. Data from theYouth in Transition longitudinal surveys of Australian youth are used to assess the effectiveness of the Labor Government's equity initiatives since 1983 in this area. The conclusion is that participation by young people in higher education in Australia did generally become more equitable under Labor during the 1980s, though differences in higher education participation rates persisted between certain sub-groups of the population.