A conceptual guide to natural history museum visitors' understanding of evolution

Museum visitors are an ideal population for assessing the persistence of the conceptual barriers that make it difficult to grasp Darwinian evolutionary theory. In comparison with other members of the public, they are more likely to be interested in natural history, have higher education levels, and be exposed to the relevant content. If museum visitors do not grasp evolutionary principles, it seems unlikely that other members of the general public would do so. In the current study, 32 systematically selected visitors to three Midwest museums of natural history provided detailed open‐ended explanations of biological change in seven diverse organisms. They were not told that these were evolutionary problems. Responses were coded as: informed naturalistic reasoning, featuring some understanding of key evolutionary concepts, novice naturalistic reasoning, featuring intuitive explanations that are also present in childhood, and creationist reasoning, featuring supernatural explanations. All visitors were mixed reasoners, using one or more of these patterns in different permutations across the seven organisms: 72% used a combination of informed naturalistic reasoning and novice naturalistic reasoning, while a further 28% added creationist reasoning to this mix. Correlational analyses indicated that for many visitors these reasoning patterns were coherent rather than fragmented. The theoretical model presented in this article contributes to an analysis of the developmental and cultural factors associated with these patterns. This could help educators working in diverse educational settings understand how to move visitors and students toward more informed reasoning patterns. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47:326–353, 2010     

Instructional Videos for Supporting Older Adults Who Use Interactive Systems

The study reported in this paper investigated the usefulness of different instructions for guiding inexperienced older adults through interactive systems. It was designed to compare different media in relation to their social as well as their motivational impact on the elderly during the learning process. Precisely, the video was compared with textual help and the impact of model age (young versus old) on knowledge acquisition was explored. As a research object, a simulated ticket-vending machine was used. Results show that video-supported knowledge acquisition is better than text, but in relation to model age, no significant differences were found.     

“Totally different standards”: consumer orientation in study abroad contexts

The paper takes an interest in consumer behavior in international higher education (HE). It takes qualitative narratives of international student experience as a point of departure for a discussion of the degree to which students conceive of their experience in consumer terms when they evaluate their stays abroad. Intentionally, the group of informants consists of culturally diverse subjects (Danish and Chinese students). While the size of the sample does not allow for any wide-ranging conclusions on the connection between cultural background and adoption of consumer identity, it enables the researchers to evaluate whether cultural background seems to pertain to the propensity of students to think and act in a consumer-oriented manner in their experience of the different material and academic standards they were faced with in their study abroad environment. Based on an interest in the role of the student in the era of academic capitalism, the study investigates whether the fact that universities increasingly operate on market and market-like conditions influences students’ way of conceiving of their study abroad experience. To what extent do students perceive themselves as consumers investing in services and products?     

Exercise promotes IL-6 release from legs in older men with minor response to unilateral immobilization

Physical inactivity is a major contributor to low-grade systemic inflammation. Most of the studies characterizing interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) release from exercising legs have been done in young, healthy men, but studies on inactivity in older people are lacking. The impact of 14 days of one-leg immobilization (IM) on IL-6 and TNF-α release during exercise in comparison to the contralateral control (CON) leg was investigated. Fifteen healthy men (age 68.1?±?1.1?year (mean?±?SEM); BMI 27.0?±?0.4 kg·m²; VO₂max 33.3?±?1.6 ml·kg^?1·min^?1) performed 45?min of two-leg dynamic knee extensor exercise at 19.5?±?0.9 W. Arterial and femoral venous blood samples from the CON and the IM legs were collected every 15?min during exercise, and thigh blood flow was measured with ultrasound Doppler. Arterial plasma IL-6 concentration increased with exercise (rest vs. 45?min, main effect p?p?p?=?.085, effect size 0.28) higher in the IM leg compared to the CON leg (288 (95% CI: 213–373) vs. 220 (95% CI: 152–299) pg·min^?1, respectively). There was no release of TNF-α in either leg and arterial concentrations remained unchanged during exercise (p?>?.05). In conclusion, exercise induces more pronounced IL-6 secretion in healthy older men. Two weeks of unilateral immobilization on the other hand had only a minor influence on IL-6 release. Neither immobilization nor exercise had an effect on TNF-α release across the working legs in older men.     

Didactic dissonance: teacher roles in computer gaming situations in kindergartens

In computer gaming situations in kindergartens, the pre-school teacher’s function can be viewed in a continuum. At one extreme is the teacher who takes an intervening role and at the other extreme is the teacher who chooses to restrict herself/himself to an organising or distal role. This study shows that both the intervening position and the organising or distal role are challenging. An alternative role is an intermediate position in which the teacher is a contributor and encouraging bystander. The term didactic dissonance is suggested to capture the challenges and tensions in didactic situations where teacher and child participate with conflicting roles and expectations. Didactic dissonance may help educators reflect on teacher roles in didactic contexts.     

Lost in Transition? Student food consumption

Findings from transition studies as well as studies of student food show that the transition from living at home to independent living influences student food consumption and that food consumption might be problematic during this period. Furthermore, both students’ enactment of being in transition and the food habits and practices they bring with them from home may differ profoundly. Drawing on qualitative interviews and focus groups with 55 students, the paper explores student food consumption during this transition. Whereas some students come across as novices, virtually starting from scratch, several others are well-versed in the domain of cooking. Furthermore, in the present study, the students are not starting out their cooking careers in a vacuum, but entangled in their parental food practices. The students, who experience the least problems in regard to ‘habitualisation’ of ‘proper’ food consumption are those, who are experienced cooks from home. Nonetheless, the students do not automatically extend the practices and habits, with which they were brought up, unchanged, but instead, actively develop new habits, often with a clear feeling of being in transit. Transition is thus not an objective fact, but instead the individual student’s enactment and perception of his/her life and changes herein make formation of habits and practices meaningful. However, the extent to which students successfully take on the role as self-catering depends on both the student’s competencies and skills acquired prior to independent living, living situation and, most importantly, the student’s ability to habitualise grocery shopping and cooking.