Effects of conceptual knowledge and availability of information sources on law students’ legal reasoning

Due to the complexity of the legal domain, reasoning about law cases is a very complex skill. For novices in law school, legal reasoning is even more complex because they have not yet acquired the conceptual knowledge needed for distilling the relevant information from cases, determining applicable rules, and searching for rules and exceptions in external information sources such as lawbooks. This study investigated the role of conceptual knowledge in solving legal cases when no information sources can be used. Under such ‘unsupported’ circumstances, novice and advanced students performed less well than domain experts, but even experts’ performance was rather low. The second question addressed was whether novices even benefit from the availability of information sources (i.e., lawbook), because conceptual knowledge is prerequisite for effective use of such sources. Indeed availability of the lawbook positively affected performance only for advanced students but not for novice students. Implications for learning and instruction in the domain of law are discussed.     

Using Electroencephalography to Measure Cognitive Load

Application of physiological methods, in particular electroencephalography (EEG), offers new and promising approaches to educational psychology research. EEG is identified as a physiological index that can serve as an online, continuous measure of cognitive load detecting subtle fluctuations in instantaneous load, which can help explain effects of instructional interventions when measures of overall cognitive load fail to reflect such differences in cognitive processing. This paper presents a review of seminal literature on the use of continuous EEG to measure cognitive load and describes two case studies on learning from hypertext and multimedia that employed EEG methodology to collect and analyze cognitive load data.     

Play For All at Chicago Children's Museum: A History and Overview

In 2004, Chicago Children's Museum founded the Play For All initiative, which creates a community where play and learning connect for visitors of all abilities. The Play For All team discovered that families with children with disabilities were looking for an opportunity to explore and enjoy the museum without limitations and the fear of being judged. CCM also learned that being ADA compliant was not enough; being accessible and inclusive meant going above and beyond the ADA. Children's museums are a rare treat where almost everything should be interactive and ready to be played with. The Play For All team has made significant changes to the exhibits, staff training, and programming at Chicago Children's Museum by working with local families with disabilities and partner organizations. A culture shift has taken place within CCM. Play For All is now a top priority when decisions are being made.     

The role of importance and interest in the processing of text

In this review, text-based research on importance and interest is analyzed with several objectives in mind. First, the constructs of importance and interest are unidimensionally considered to show that various forms of each can operate within any text-learning environment. Second, research specifically addressing the interplay between these two factors is explored in relation to the goal of learning from text. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the research on importance and interest from a methodological standpoint and to delineate key findings that emerge from this body of research. Finally, based on the review of the literature, implications for future research and instructional practice are presented.     

Networks of Passing: Experiences of Undocumented Latin American Immigrants’ Identity Negotiation

Undocumented Latin American immigrants are one of the fastest-growing populations in the United States, and they are one of the most vulnerable. Due to constant fear of deportation, these immigrants have to communicatively “pass” for documented in a variety of situations, and they might be likely to use informal network ties (social capital) to do so. Through eight diverse focus group interviews of undocumented immigrants, this study explores how this population passes. Undocumented immigrants used talk, the body, or documents to pass either individually or through network members. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed.     

Does (Non‐)Meaningful Sensori‐Motor Engagement Promote Learning With Animated Physical Systems?

Previous research indicates that sensori‐motor experience with physical systems can have a positive effect on learning. However, it is not clear whether this effect is caused by mere bodily engagement or the intrinsically meaningful information that such interaction affords in performing the learning task. We investigated (N = 74), through the use of a Wii Balance Board, whether different forms of physical engagement that was either meaningfully, non‐meaningfully, or minimally related to the learning content would be beneficial (or detrimental) to learning about the workings of seesaws from instructional animations. The results were inconclusive, indicating that motoric competency on lever problem solving did not significantly differ between conditions, nor were response speed and transfer performance affected. These findings suggest that adult's implicit and explicit knowledge about physical systems is stable and not easily affected by (contradictory) sensori‐motor experiences. Implications for embodied learning are discussed.     

When parenting does not ‘come naturally’: providers’ perspectives on parenting education for incarcerated mothers and fathers

Learning to parent sensitively and safely can be challenging for adults with childhood abuse and neglect experiences. Such childhood experiences are prevalent among incarcerated parents whose ability to parent their own children is also limited by separation from them. Several prisons have developed programs to foster pro-social parenting skills among incarcerated mothers and fathers to assist them on release. This paper reports a qualitative research study that explored the factors affecting the delivery and outcomes of parenting programs in correctional facilities in New South Wales Australia from the perspective of individuals involved in developing and implementing the programs. Thematic analysis of 19 interviews identified two main themes: supporting parents’ learning in correctional settings and providers’ learning about parent education in correctional settings. Respondents reported the benefits of providing creative learning opportunities enabling parents to build on their strengths and to develop relationships. These factors contributed to changing prisoners’ attitudes and supporting them to consider alternative parenting approaches. The co-productive approach to parent education supported enhanced parenting knowledge among parents and greater insights among educators. Parenting education can be successfully delivered in correctional settings and can assist incarcerated parents to build on existing knowledge and adapt it to their own needs.