Interstimulus interval and viewing time effects in monkey list memory

Two rhesus monkeys were tested in 6- and 10-item list memory tasks for performance changes as a function of the exposure duration of the list stimuli and the interstimulus interval (ISI) between successive list stimuli. Accuracy increased with longer item exposure duration and tended to decrease with longer ISI duration. Humans, by contrast, typically show increases in accuracy with ISI, a result taken as evidence of rehearsal. The decrease in accuracy for monkeys suggests that they were not using rehearsal processes in these list memory experiments. Further tests in which choice accuracy with predictable ISIs was compared with choice accuracy with unpredictable ISIs also yielded no evidence of rehearsal by the monkeys. This apparent absence of rehearsal mechanisms in monkeys, in situations also shown to support human rehearsal, is discussed as a potential difference in the visual working memory processes of the two species.     

The truth,but not yet: avoiding naïve skepticism via explicit communication of metadisciplinary aims

ABSTRACT

Introductory students regularly endorse naïve skepticism – unsupported or uncritical doubt about the existence and universality of truth – for a variety of reasons. Though some of the reasons for students’ skepticism can be traced back to the student – for example, a desire to avoid engaging with controversial material or a desire to avoid offense – naïve skepticism is also the result of how introductory courses are taught, deemphasizing truth to promote students’ abilities to develop basic disciplinary skills. While this strategy has a number of pedagogical benefits, it prevents students in early stages of intellectual development from understanding truth as a threshold concept. I argue that we can make progress against naïve skepticism by clearly discussing how metadisciplinary aims differ at the disciplinary and course levels in a way that is meaningful, reinforced, and accessible.     

Examining environmental learning experiences at an earth education summer camp

Many barriers restrict children’s access to nature resulting in negative consequences, including a lack of opportunities to learn and engage with the natural environment. Fortunately, environmental education programs offer participants an opportunity to counteract these challenges. While the benefits of environmental education as measured by pre-determined outcomes are well documented, research focused on participants’ perceptions and preferences related to their environmental learning experiences continues to be under-represented in the literature. Using a pre-/post-test survey approach, this study aimed to explore how an earth education summer camp, Sunship Earth ^TM, contributed to participants environmental learning experiences. Results suggest that Sunship Earth ^TM provides children with various EL opportunities that help to increase their understanding of some ecological concepts. Results also suggest that this learning experience may have helped to broaden participants’ understanding of environmental issues and actions, as well as enhance feelings of care, interest, and responsibility towards the environment.     

A Facilitator's guide to career transition workshops for educators

Conclusions The teaching profession is in a state of flux which will continue until changes in salaries, security, and class size are adjusted and overall attractiveness of the profession increases. The CPPC is committed to offering the Career Alternatives for Educators workshop and encourages other career centers to do so. Assisting educators in choosing to remain in teaching, or to enter another field, may help to reduce teacher burnout, enhance teacher job satisfaction, and increase their effectiveness in the classroom. In addition, the workshop provides educators with a better understanding of their University system, increases their awareness and attention to the career development process, and provides better understanding of career opportunities. Career Centers' involvement in this is particularly logical given the role which educators play in their daily interaction with potential university students as teachers or parents. For a variety of reasons, an Alternative for Educators workshop is an important outreach effort for Career Centers, and is a rewarding role for them to play.     

Peer Teachers With Autism Teaching 3D Modeling

ABSTRACT

Few autism programmes address the needs of adolescents and young adults, and those that do are unlikely to include individuals with autism in the design and evaluation of the programme. This study involved nine youth with autism (ages 16–25) in the development and evaluation of a peer teaching programme where they taught three-dimensional modelling to other students with autism spectrum disorder. The methodology was participant-oriented research where the students with autism were co-designers and programme evaluators in the research. This approach highlighted their unique strengths and abilities and shifted the power such that they were leaders and not simply the recipients of knowledge from instructors. Four themes emerged through the qualitative analysis of the students’ perceptions of the peer teaching programme: 1) the meaning of peer teaching, 2) motivations for peer teaching, 3) challenges and 4) coping with the challenges of the role.     

The justification of compulsory religious education: a response to Professor White

Though religion continues to enjoy a global significance for humankind, any justification of the compulsory status of religious education must be made on the basis of reason rather than public consensus. We live in a pluralistic world in which contrasting world views, grounded in radically conflicting ontological assumptions, vie for our attention. This situation demands a critical religious education capable of enabling all pupils to achieve appropriate levels of religious literacy.     

A bricolage exploration in genkan space: tengu and adjunct TEFL in the Japanese university context

This paper reports on research focusing on a group of adjunct teachers of English employed in Japanese universities. Grounded in interpretive epistemology foregrounding constructionist traditions, this research employed bricolage as way of inquiring into, then representing, these teacher’s experiences utilising multi-perspectival, multi-theoretical and multi-methodological approaches. Employing elements of Turnerian liminality and blending these with Japanese cultural mythology, this paper explores participants’ experience, knowledge and identity. Through interviews and focus groups, participants (n = 43) gave voice to their lived world in Japanese universities locating their ‘place’ as simultaneously inside and outside the boundaries of mainstream Japanese society and universities. As ‘liminal personas’, participants likened themselves to a ‘necessary evil’ in the context of internationalising the curriculum. Thus, their condition is understood to be both ambiguous and paradoxical. The Japanese university is likened to genkan (a common architectural feature in Japanese houses resembling an entrance hall or transitional space between inside and outside worlds) space and employing Japanese mythology, it is argued these teachers share features attributed to Tengu (Tengu are goblin-like monsters in Japanese mythology with long noses and bright red faces who traditionally act in mischievous, disruptive ways).