Reading information about a scientific phenomenon on webpages varying for reliability: an eye-movement analysis

Students search the Web frequently for many purposes, one of which is to search information for academic assignments. Given the huge amount of easily accessible online information, they are required to develop new reading skills and become more able to effectively evaluate the reliability of web sources. This study investigates the distribution of their visual attention while reading webpages using eye-tracking methodology. The aim was to examine whether information received differential attention depending on the reliability of the source and whether the individual characteristics of topic-specific prior knowledge and epistemic beliefs moderated their visual behavior during reading. Factual knowledge after reading was also examined. Forty-nine university students read four webpages providing verbal and graphical information about the universal validity of the central dogma of molecular biology, which varied for reliability. Indices of first-pass and second-pass reading or inspection were used to trace the processing of information within each page. Findings revealed that readers made an implicit source evaluation as they spent a longer time inspecting the pictures about the more and less familiar information within the most reliable source during the immediate, more automatic, processing. In addition, topic-specific epistemic beliefs moderated this processing as readers with more availing convictions about knowledge attended more the information provided in pages that required more discernment. Moreover, readers increased their factual knowledge of the topic after reading. Educational implications are outlined.     

Energy turnover during 24 hours and 6 days of adventure racing

Abstract

Energy turnover was assessed in two conditions of mixed ultra-endurance exercise. In Study 1, energy expenditure and intake were measured in nine males in a laboratory over 24 h. In Study 2, energy expenditure was assessed in six males during an 800-km Adventure race (mean race time 152.5 h). Individual correlations between heart rate and oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O₂) were established during pre-tests when kayaking, cycling, and running. During exercise, energy expenditure was estimated from continuous heart rate recordings. Heart rate and [Vdot]O₂ were measured regularly during fixed cycling work rates to correct energy expenditure for drift in oxygen pulse. Mean energy expenditure was 18,050 ± 2,390 kcal (750 ± 100 kcal · h^?1) and 80,000 ± 18,000 kcal (500 ± 100 kcal · h^?1) in Study 1 and Study 2 respectively, which is higher than previously reported. Energy intake in Study 1 was 8,450 ± 1,160 kcal, resulting in an energy deficit of 9,590 ± 770 kcal. Body mass decreased in Study 1 (?2.3 ± 0.8 kg) but was unchanged in Study 2. Fat mass decreased in Study 2 (?2.3 ± 1.5 kg). In Study 1, muscle glycogen content decreased by only 60%. Adventure racing requires a high energy expenditure, with large inter-individual variation. A large energy deficit is caused by inadequate energy intake, possibly due to suppressed appetite and gastrointestinal problems. The oxygen pulse, comparing start to 12 h of exercise and beyond, increased by 10% and 5% in Study 1 and Study 2 respectively. Hence, estimations of energy expenditure from heart rate recordings should be corrected according to this drift.     

Curating Queer Heritage: Queer Knowledge and Museum Practice

Abstract Important work in the last decades within the museum studies field has laid bare the implicit nationalist, evolutionist, and patriarchal narratives of the traditional museum. So far, though, only a few writers have discussed the museum’s role in supporting “heteronormative” narratives that consolidate heterosexuality as a norm within social and cultural life. This article is a critical discussion of methodological aspects of a queer perspective in interpreting, exhibiting, and organizing museum collections. Two shows with LGBT / queer perspective that were exhibited in Stockholm, Sweden during EuroPride 2008 are the focus of this article’s analysis. They consist of the photo exhibition Show Yourself! at the Nordic Museum, and Queer: Desire, Power, and Identity at the National Museum of Fine Arts. The author himself was the curator of the latter exhibition. This article offers personal reflections on the methodological challenges of translating an abstract queer perspective into museum practice in order to envision online and on‐site museum encounters that can mobilize various kinds of pluralistic passions.     

The Enemy of Music: Modeling the Behavior of a Cultural Industry in Crisis

The purpose of this explorative study is to contribute to the understanding of current music industry dynamics. The situation is undeniably quite dramatic: Since the turn of the millennium, the global music industry has declined by $US 6.2 billion in value—a fall of 16.3% in constant dollar terms. IFPI, the trade organization representing the international recording industry, identifies a number of exogenous factors as the main drivers of the downturn. This article suggests that other factors, in addition to those identified by IFPI, may have contributed to the current difficulties. A model is presented which indicates that business strategies which were designed to cope with the challenging business environment have reduced product diversity, damaged profitability, and contributed to the problem they were intended to solve.     

Making connections: the logical structuring of hypertext documents

The results from an experiment analysing hypertextual semantic linking is reported. In the study participants are asked to describe logical relationships between related, semi-related and unrelated paragraphs of text. It is concluded that existence and themes of relationships are (as expected) fairly consistently recognised, however, specific relationships do not readily fall into natural predicate like statements. Purely thematic relationships, or a palette of available relationships might be the more practical approach. Further work on dynamic linking in hypertext documents is also reported. Dynamic linking eliminates some of the problems associated with a mismatch between the mental models of authors and readers and allows the readers to construct their own hypertexts from linear documents. This approach offers useful data on logical connectivity in hypertext documents but also represents an alternative to conventional hypertext authoring and reading.     

National survey of reading comprehension in Finland

As a part of an extensive project for the evaluation of the Finnish comprehensive school, a recently developed reading comprehension measure; a hierarchy‐rating test, and a more conventional multiple‐choice task were used to assess reading comprehension skills in population‐based samples of 2,891 sixth‐graders (12–13 years old) and 1,953 (15–16 years old) ninth‐graders. The hierarchy‐rating task was constructed within the theoretical framework proposed by W. Kintsch and van Dijk (1978). It was designed to examine the cognitively high‐level text processing, or macroprocessing, of expository passages. The multiple‐choice task and the hierarchy‐rating task showed only a moderate intercorrelation. Girls outperformed boys regardless of the comprehension measure. Performance on both measures, but particularly on hierarchy‐rating, correlated with school achievement (r=0.44 and 0.53 respectively, p<0.001). In general, the results are in agreement with previous research. The paper also discusses the educational implications of the survey.     

Students' Choice of Post-Compulsory Science: In search of schools that compensate for the socio-economic background of their students

It is commonly argued that socio-economic inequalities can explain many of the differences in achievement and participation in science education that have been reported among countries and among schools within a country. We addressed this issue by examining (a) the relationship between variables associated with socio-economic background and application frequencies to the Swedish Natural Science Programme (NSP) in upper secondary school and (b) whether there are lower secondary schools in Sweden that seem to compensate for these variables. Data from Statistics Sweden (SCB) covering the whole population of 106,483 ninth-grade students were used to calculate the probability for each student to apply to the NSP. Our results indicate that the variables, such as parental educational level and grades, have explanatory power, but with varying effect for different subpopulations of students. For example, grades in mathematics have a greater impact than grades in science for females' choice of the NSP. The opposite holds for male students. Out of 1,342 schools, 158 deviated significantly from predicted, that is, the students in these schools applied to the NSP in greater or lesser extent than expected. The number of deviating schools is greater than predicted by pure random variation. This suggests that variables of socio-economic background are only a partial explanation of the application frequencies, and that the deviation needs to be investigated further. Our findings suggest that in order to understand why schools deviate positively and so compensate for the socio-economic background of their students, we need to study their practices more closely.     

An Eye-Tracking Study of Learning From Science Text With Concrete and Abstract Illustrations

This study investigated the online process of reading and the offline learning from an illustrated science text. The authors examined the effects of using a concrete or abstract picture to illustrate a text and adopted eye-tracking methodology to trace text and picture processing. They randomly assigned 59 eleventh-grade students to 3 reading conditions: (a) text only; (b) text with a concrete illustration; and (c) text with an abstract illustration in a pretest, immediate, and delayed posttest design. Results showed that the text illustrated by either the concrete or the abstract picture led to better learning than did the text alone. Eye-fixation data revealed that the abstract illustration promoted more efficient processing of the text. Analyses of the gaze shifts between the 2 types of external representation indicated that the readers of the text with the abstract illustration made a greater effort to integrate verbal and pictorial information. Furthermore, relations between online and offline measures emerged.     

Concepts before coding: non-programming interactives to advance learning of introductory programming concepts in middle school

ABSTRACT

Background and Context: Learners struggle with conceptual understanding of introductory programming concepts such as variables, expressions, and loops.

Objective: We examine whether and how designed activities for conceptual exploration support preliminary engagement with and learning of foundational and often hard-to-grasp programming concepts for students in grades 6–8.

Method: Drawing on principles from dynamic mathematics, we developed a suite of non-programming digital and unplugged activities embedded in a curriculum before students engage in Scratch block-based programming. We conducted empirical research in three middle school classrooms in diverse urban US schools and examined student performance through mixed qualitative and quantitative methods.

Findings: Learning gains were significant and not predicted by grade, gender or prior academic preparation. Free-choice projects of students showed statistically greater (correct) use of key concepts compared to those not in the study.

Implications: Our work demonstrates the promise of novel approaches such as interactive non-programming activities for deeper understanding of programming concepts.     

Lecture attendance is a pivotal factor for improving prospective teachers’ academic performance in Teaching and Learning Mathematics

The value and importance of lectures in higher education is part of a modern education discourse worldwide. This study aims to estimate the importance of lectures for prospective teachers of kindergarten, preschool and early primary school. We analysed academic achievements of prospective teachers who had either mandatorily or voluntarily attended lectures in the subject of teaching and learning mathematics. Students’ examination grades in a maths course with mandatory or voluntary lecture attendance were analysed with a logistic model testing the association between lecture attendance requirement and grades. We show that mandatory lecture attendance (1) more than double the odds of students receiving a pass grade when their situated and tacit knowledge was examined and (2) quadrupled the odds of students achieving the highest grade (pass with distinction) when both their understanding of elementary mathematics and their situated and tacit knowledge of teaching and learning mathematics were examined. Our study provides evidence for a significant positive role of lecture attendance for students acquiring skills in Teaching and Learning Mathematics. While attending lectures students receive situated tacit knowledge of the subject which is otherwise difficult, if not impossible, for them to obtain in a different way. The observed improvement may have an additional positive effect in being a step towards overcoming a maths anxiety, which is otherwise relatively common among prospective teachers.