Increased Implementation of Emergent Literacy Screening in Pre-Kindergarten

The recent emphasis on universal prekindergarten programs, coupled with ongoing concern about children’s’ early literacy development in the first years of school, carry significant implications for how preschool educators program for literacy and assess literacy growth. We discuss the evolving role of literacy development in expanded preschool, examine key features of literacy assessments with particular attention to the content that might be assessed in preschool, and provide as an example one preschool literacy assessment tool that is in widespread use in the United States. We discuss the policy and practice implications of the growing emphasis on literacy assessment in preschoolers.     

Explorable three‐dimensional digital model of the female pelvis,pelvic contents,and perineum for anatomical education

The anatomy of the pelvis is complex, multilayered, and its three‐dimensional organization is conceptually difficult for students to grasp. The aim of this project was to create an explorable and projectable stereoscopic, three‐dimensional (3D) model of the female pelvis and pelvic contents for anatomical education. The model was created using cryosection images obtained from the Visible Human Project, in conjunction with a general‐purpose three‐dimensional segmentation and surface‐rendering program. Anatomical areas of interest were identified and labeled on consecutive images. Each 2D slice was reassembled, forming a three‐dimensional model. The model includes the pelvic girdle, organs of the pelvic cavity, surrounding musculature, the perineum, neurovascular structures, and the peritoneum. Each structure can be controlled separately (e.g. added, subtracted, made transparent) to reveal organization and/or relationships between structures. The model can be manipulated and/or projected stereoscopically to visualize structures and relationships from different angles with excellent spatial perception. Because of its ease of use and versatility, we expect this model may provide a powerful teaching tool for learning in the classroom or in the laboratory. Anat Sci Educ. © 2010 American Association of Anatomists.     

Do digital natives differ by computer self-efficacy and experience? An empirical study

This study serves to validate a Chinese translation of the Digital Native Assessment Scale (C-DNAS) and assess if significant differences exist between a sample of students and teachers from a culture different than the one used in the development of the DNAS. Participants were 402 university students from one province in Mainland China. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the C-DNAS possessed a stable factorial structure and was a valid measure among Chinese-speaking participants in Mainland China. Tests of measurement invariance revealed score equivalence among the students for each of the four factors of the C-DNAS: grew up with technology; comfortable with multitasking; reliant on graphics for communication; and thrive on instant gratifications and rewards, by computer self-efficacy and experience. Finally, tests of latent mean differences revealed significant differences in each of the four factors by computer experience but not by computer self-efficacy. Implications for research are discussed.     

Anatomy integration blueprint: A fourth‐year musculoskeletal anatomy elective model

Current undergraduate medical school curricular trends focus on both vertical integration of clinical knowledge into the traditionally basic science‐dedicated curricula and increasing basic science education in the clinical years. This latter type of integration is more difficult and less reported on than the former. Here, we present an outline of a course wherein the primary learning and teaching objective is to integrate basic science anatomy knowledge with clinical education. The course was developed through collaboration by a multi‐specialist course development team (composed of both basic scientists and physicians) and was founded in current adult learning theories. The course was designed to be widely applicable to multiple future specialties, using current published reports regarding the topics and clinical care areas relying heavily on anatomical knowledge regardless of specialist focus. To this end, the course focuses on the role of anatomy in the diagnosis and treatment of frequently encountered musculoskeletal conditions. Our iterative implementation and action research approach to this course development has yielded a curricular template for anatomy integration into clinical years. Key components for successful implementation of these types of courses, including content topic sequence, the faculty development team, learning approaches, and hidden curricula, were developed. We also report preliminary feedback from course stakeholders and lessons learned through the process. The purpose of this report is to enhance the current literature regarding basic science integration in the clinical years of medical school. Anat Sci Educ 7: 379–388. © 2014 American Association of Anatomists.     

Can Examinees Use a Review Option to Obtain Positively Biased Ability Estimates on a Computerized Adaptive Test?

Part of the controversy about allowing examinees to review and change answers to previous items on computerized adaptive tests (CATs) centers on a strategy for obtaining positively biased ability estimates attributed to Wainer (1993) in which examinees intentionally answer items incorrectly before review and to the best of their abilities upon review. Our results, based on both simulated and live testing data, showed that there were instances in which the Wainer strategy yielded inflated ability estimates as well as instances in which it yielded deflated ability estimates. The success of the strategy in inflating ability estimates depended on the ability estimation method used (maximum likelihood versus Bayesian), the examinee's true ability level, the standard error of the ability estimate, the examinee's ability to implement the strategy, and the type of decision made from the ability estimate. We discuss approaches to dealing with the Wainer strategy in operational CAT settings.     

Distribution of Practice in Motor Skill Acquisition: Different Effects for Discrete and Continuous Tasks

Abstract

Research on the benefits of distributed practice for the acquisition and retention of motor skills has a long history. The majority of this research has involved skill acquisition of continuous tasks. However, there is some evidence to suggest that distribution of practice effects are quite different for discrete tasks than for continuous tasks. In the present study, we used a single task, formed discrete and continuous versions of the task, and examined how acquisition and retention were affected by the length of inter-trial interval. The basic task was a movement timing task that involved either one timing estimate per trial (the “discrete” version) or twenty successive estimates per trial (the “continuous” version). Separate groups of subjects learned one version of the task under either distributed (25 s inter-trial intervals) or massed (0.5 s inter-trial intervals) practice conditions. Both massed and distributed retention trials were performed on the same version of the task according to a double transfer design. The results confirmed the apparent disparity: Acquisition and retention were facilitated by distributed practice on the continuous task, but by massed practice on the discrete task. These results were discussed in terms of the role of the inter-trial interval in discrete and continuous tasks.     

Inter-participant variability in daily physical activity and sedentary time among male youth sport footballers: independent associations with indicators of adiposity and cardiorespiratory fitness

Participation in youth sport is assumed to promote and contribute towards more physically active lifestyles among children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine inter-participant variability in objectively measured habitual physical activity (PA) behaviours and sedentary time among youth sport participants and their implications for health. One-hundred-and-eighteen male youth sport footballers (Mean ± s = 11.72 ± 1.60) wore a GT3X accelerometer for 7 days. Average daily PA [min · day^?1, in light (LPA), moderate (MPA), vigorous (VPA) and combined moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA)] and sedentary time were calculated. Participants’ body mass index adjusted for age and sex (BMI–standard deviation score), per cent body fat (BF%), waist circumference and cardiorespiratory fitness were assessed. Results revealed that variability in daily PA behaviours and sedentary time (min · day^?1) was associated with BMI–standard deviation score [VPA (?), MVPA (?)], BF% [sedentary time (+), VPA (?), MVPA (?)], waist circumference [sedentary time (+), LPA (?)] and cardiorespiratory fitness [sedentary time (?), MPA (+), VPA (+), MVPA (+)]. Whilst sedentary time and MVPA were not related to health outcomes independent of one another, associations with markers of adiposity and cardiorespiratory fitness were stronger for sedentary time. Sedentary time was also significantly positively related to waist circumference independent of VPA. Results demonstrate inter-participant variability in habitual PA and sedentary time among youth sport participants which holds implications for their health. Thus, promoting PA and, in particular, reducing sedentary time may contribute towards the prevention of adverse health consequences associated with a physically inactive lifestyle for children and adolescents active in the youth sport context.