Coenzyme A independent acylation of phosphatidylethanolamine in isolated bovine rod cell outer segments

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this prospective randomized study was to compare the long-term instructional effectiveness of a computer-based radiology multimedia textbook (MMTB) with that of a traditional lecture. METHODS: Volunteer faculty/fellows and residents were randomly assigned to either a computer-based MMTB group or to a lecture group. The course content for each instructional group was the same. Pretests, posttests, and 1-year long-term retention tests were administered to both groups. The same 10 questions were on all tests. The resulting data were analyzed using analysis of variance procedures available on the Statistical Analysis System. RESULTS: A comparison of the long-term instructional effectiveness of an MMTB versus a lecture showed that the MMTB computer instructional method was at least comparable in spite of the initial short-term appearance of lecture superiority. CONCLUSION: These results suggest a promising future for MMTB and other forms of computer-based education in radiologic instruction for medical students and radiologists.     

Perceived control in the college classroom: Limitations in instructor expressiveness due to noncontingent feedback and lecture content.

Consistent with various control theories, recent evidence suggests that exposure to noncontingent outcomes interferes with instructional quality in the college classroom. The present study examined whether the density of negative noncontingent outcomes limits instructor expressiveness as an effective teaching behavior in different lecture content conditions. 361 undergraduates took an aptitude test that provided contingent feedback (CF) or low or medium noncontingent failure feedback (NCFF). Ss completed an attribution questionnaire and then observed a videotaped lecture low or high in content given by a low- or high-expressive instructor, after which Ss responded to a postlecture achievement test and an attribution questionnaire. Medium NCFF reduced Ss' perceived control and lowered their internal attribution locus for their aptitude performance, compared to low NCFF and CF. Postlecture results indicated that for high-content lectures, instructor expressiveness facilitated achievement and confidence in Ss who received CF and low NCFF but not in Ss who received medium NCFF. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extended mnemonic instruction with learning disabled students.

Divided 64 learning disabled (LD) 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-grade students into 24 instructional groups that were assigned at random to mnemonic and control conditions. Instructional groups were administered 3 daily lessons on dinosaurs in counterbalanced order. The lessons involved vocabulary on dinosaurs, attributes of dinosaurs, and reasons for dinosaur extinction. Mnemonic groups were taught the information using keyword and pegword techniques. Control instructional groups were taught the same information using the principles of direct instruction, including teacher-directed questioning, choral group responding, fast instructional pacing, and cumulative review. A test was given after each lesson on that lesson's content. On the 4th day, all Ss were given production and identification tests on the content of all 3 lessons. Results indicate that mnemonic groups outperformed control groups on the immediate and delayed tests. In addition, control Ss' responses revealed significantly more intralist intrusions than did those of mnemonic Ss. No meaningful trend across days of instruction was observed for either condition. Findings suggest that mnemonic instruction is a versatile and effective instructional technique for LD students. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences and preference for instructional methods.

Administered the Test Anxiety Questionnaire and the Omnibus Personality Inventory to 185 college students taking a psychology course in socialization. Ss were then asked to choose 1 of 3 instructional options: lecture, lecture with discussion, or independent study. Ss preferring each option differed on dimensions such as flexibility, autonomy, preference for abstract thinking, and several variables dealing with academic and personal experience. Other research dealing with individual differences and student behavior is discussed, and recommendations for practical application to the classroom are presented. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in memory awareness during learning: The acquisition of knowledge by psychology undergraduates.

First-year psychology students took multiple-choice examinations following each of 4 lecture courses and 3 laboratory research methods courses. One lecture course was later retested. Students indicated state of memory awareness accompanying each answer: recollective experience (remember), "just know" (know), feeling of familiarity (familiarity), or guess. On the lecture courses, higher performing students differed from other students because they had more remember responses. On research methods, higher performing students differed because they knew more, and in the delayed retest, higher performing students differed because they now knew rather than remembered more. These findings demonstrate a shift from remembering to knowing, dependent upon level attained, type of course, and retention interval, and suggest an underlying shift in knowledge representation from episodic to semantic memory. The authors discuss theoretical and educational implications of the findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Education: How and for what.

Discusses the irrelevance of the subject matter currently being taught, the inappropriateness of learning materials and student goals, and the inadequacy of curricula in meeting student needs. Societal changes have affected educational standards; schools should prepare students not only for occupational roles, but also for social and citizenship responsibilities and in the creative use of leisure time. This preparation should emphasize individual needs and interests. The modification of intelligence and aptitude tests to meet changing educational objectives is recommended. 3 requirements for effective instructional programs are presented: motivation, determinations of individual abilities and knowledge, and a specific statement of educational outcomes. The role of teachers and changes in their functions are considered. Areas of needed research are also presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning the control of variables strategy in higher and lower achieving classrooms: Contributions of explicit instruction and experimentation.

Students (n = 797) from 36 4th-grade classrooms were taught the control of variables strategy for designing experiments. In the instruct condition, classes were taught in an interactive lecture format. In the manipulate condition, students worked in groups to design and run experiments to determine the effects of four variables. In the both condition, classes received the interactive lecture and also designed and ran experiments. We assessed students' understanding using a written test of their ability to distinguish valid from invalid experimental comparisons. Performance on this test improved from the pretest to the immediate posttest in all conditions, and gains were maintained at a 5-month delay. For students from both higher and lower achieving schools, gains ordered as follows: both > instruct > manipulate. However, students from higher achieving schools showed greater gains in all conditions. Item analyses showed that the interactive lecture improved students' understanding of the need to control irrelevant variables, and experimentation improved students' understanding of the need to vary the focal variable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching multiplication facts to students with learning disabilities

Multiple baseline designs were used to examine the effects of an instructional package on accuracy of performance in solving multiplication facts by 3 students with learning disabilities. The instructional package included the following components: (a) a modified instructional sequence in which multiplication facts were grouped into the zeros, ones, doubles, fives, and nines categories, and those remaining; (b) identification of the category in which each fact belonged; (c) mnemonic strategies associated with solving facts in each category; and (d) steps to be completed for solving facts in each category. Results indicated that the instructional package produced substantial and immediate effects. After receiving instruction, a participant's accuracy was often 100%, and this was maintained throughout the evaluation even as other strategies were introduced. Comparable results occurred across students, demonstrating replication of the effects of the instructional package.     

Skinning vulvectomy for the treatment of vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia 2-3: a study of 21 cases

The authors compare innovative learning strategies in medical education today with the traditional educational methods of Jewish Talmudic study. These methods began to be developed in yeshivas (the highest Jewish educational institutions) in the third century BC and continue to be used in yeshivas today. The teaching in thousands of yeshivas of Talmudic study worldwide emphasizes student-centered, problem-based, small-group, and lifelong learning. Further, in the yeshivas rote memorization is discouraged; students are selected on the basis of merit rather than social status; and the teachers (particularly master teachers) are expected to act as role models for all aspects of living. Over the centuries, the yeshiva has been slightly modified and specialized, and the number of students has increased, but the institution has retained its basic instructional format. The authors briefly describe each aspect of Talmudic study and how it relates to current educational practices in medical schools. They argue that comparing these two educational institutions--the yeshiva and medical school--is valuable, in that the history of the yeshiva educational system, which has successfully produced generations of creative scholars, educators, and leaders, as well as an enormous body of literature, validates the innovative teaching approaches being used in medical schools today.     

Effects of specificity and position of written instructional objectives on learning from lecture.

Investigated the effects of specificity and position of written instructional objectives on learning from an audiotaped lecture using material from E. Z. Rothkopf and R. Kaplan (see record 1973-07952-001). Undergraduates (N = 160) received either specific or general objectives before or after the 4 sections of the lecture. A control group received no objectives. Vocabulary items used throughout the experiment served as the covariate in analysis. Results indicating a departure from previous findings on the use of objectives with written text show that the before position increased intentional learning more than the after position. Incidental learning was significantly higher than intentional learning for treatment groups combined and particularly for the after groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

7-Chloro-4-nitrobenzofurazan inactivates chloroplast H(2+)-ATPase by modification of different tyrosines, depending on the presence of ATP

The addition of 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzofurazan (NBD) to isolated CF1 at pH 7.5 leads to one tyrosine-bound NBD molecule per CF1 in one of the three beta-subunits, concomitantly with the inhibition of the ATPase activity. Addition of ADP prior to NBD-incubation protected the ATPase activity and reduced binding of NBD to beta-subunits. The addition of MgATP prior to modification did not result in protection against modification of the beta-subunit as well as preservation of activity. Cleavage of the NBD-labelled subunits with cyanogen bromide, followed by analysis of the labelled peptides, led to detection of a 14C-labelled peptide of 7 kDa in both cases (+/- ATP-preincubation). Sequence analysis of this peptide showed that in ATP-incubated CF1, tyr beta 328 was modified with NBD-Cl, whereas the ATP free sample contained no NBD bound to this tyrosine. Further digestion of the labelled peptide with protease V8 (Staphylococcus aureus) followed by sequence analysis of the radioactive labelled peptide, led to the detection of beta-tyr362 as the modified amino acid in case of ATP-free CF1. Both tyrosines are closely related to a proposed nucleotide binding region of beta.     

Paraumbilical vein in the cirrhotic patient: imaging with 3D CT angiography

This article provides a response to Stone's review and analysis of the scaffolding metaphor as it is applied to research applications for students with learning disabilities. We propose that, to advance the field of instructional research with students with learning disabilities, all available literature should be used when interpreting findings for instructional procedures for students with learning disabilities. Only when all of the intervention research literature in learning disabilities is examined can reliable conclusions be drawn regarding the efficacy of instructional procedures.     

The shame of American education.

Recent analyses of American schools and proposals for school reform have missed an essential point: Most current problems could be solved if students learned twice as much in the same time and with the same effort. It has been shown that they can do so (a) when the goals of education are clarified; (b) when each student is permitted to advance at his or her own pace; and (c) when the problem of motivation is solved with programmed instructional materials, so designed that students are very often right and learn at once that they are. The theories of human behavior most often taught in schools of education—particularly cognitive psychology—stand in the way of this solution to the problem of American education, but the proposal that schools of education simply be disbanded is a step in the wrong direction. Teachers need to be taught how to teach, and a technology is now available that will permit them to teach much more effectively. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Epistemology and Adolescents' Conceptions of Procedural Justice in School.

When evaluating instructional practices, adolescents (n = 128, ages 14-19) coordinated knowledge of epistemology, fairness, and motivation in their conceptions of procedural justice. Adolescents ranked the fairness and effectiveness of instructional practices differently for controversial and noncontroversial topics. They raised epistemological, moral, and motivational concerns in their justifications but coordinated these issues differently for each science topic. Using prototypical practices as a stimulus, adolescents described how students could practice the scientific method, remember current scientific positions, or invent their own theories and methods. The proportion of adolescents offering different conceptions for each science topic was significantly different from chance, but 50% relied on one conception to evaluate all instructional practices. Adolescents' conceptions reflected their standards for evaluating educational experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preparing for the WATERS Network: Engaging Middle-School Science Students in Environmental Engineering

An educational outreach program connecting middle-school students with the importance of water quality and the role of environmental engineers was designed, implemented, and assessed as part of the infrastructure preparation and future educational plan of the Water and Environmental Research Systems (WATERS) Network. The educational program included a set of laboratory protocols modified according to the time, space, safety, and teaching-level constraints of the middle-school classroom. Additionally, a CyberCollaboratory was specifically created to engage students with data interpretation, excite them about real-world engineering applications, and extend the learning from the individual to the entire classroom by connecting an entire classroom’s data and guiding them in drawing conclusions from a larger context. Through pretest and posttest assessments, it was shown that 50% of the students involved showed a marked improvement in scores and that the overall class average increased by 13%, illustrating that the outreach program as a whole effectively taught students about engineering and its relation to water quality, specifically pH and hardness. The program delineated here should serve as a model for future student interaction with the WATERS Network and should help the current planning committee for educational outreach make further strides forward in integrating the WATERS Network into classrooms nationwide.     

Toward the development of a system for instructional evaluation: Is there consensus regarding what constitutes effective teaching?

The judgment policies of faculty and students from 4 academic divisions were modeled using multiple regression to determine (a) what dimensions of teaching are considered most important, (b) whether faculty and students differ in their conceptions of effective teaching, and (c) whether the relative importance of the dimensions of teaching is seen as depending on the academic discipline being taught. 40 male faculty members and 40 male undergraduates rated profiles of 100 hypothetical instructors, which contained 7 quantified cues reflecting instructor performance on dimensions thought to be related to teaching effectiveness. The dimensions, in order of importance, were (a) amount of information imparted in the course (INFO), (b) arousal of student interest (AROU), (c) lecture and/or presentation style (LECT), (d) instructor's general knowledge of the field (KNOW), (e) intellectual demand of the course (DEMD), (f) general rapport with students (RAPR), and (g) clarity of course requirements and grading procedures (PROC). Findings suggest that a valid system of instructional evaluation should focus on INFO, AROU, LECT, and KNOW. Very few Ss varied the weight attached to the dimensions of teaching as a function of the area rate. Hierarchical grouping procedures were used to cluster raters according to policy homogeneity and 4 types of raters were identified. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of high school coursework and time on SAT scores.

Two studies were conducted to determine (1) whether differential educational experiences contribute to differential growth on Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and (2) whether such experiences must occur over a long rather than a short duration to have impact. Specific content knowledge in mathematics/science and verbal areas taught during a short time interval did not increase SAT-M and SAT-V scores even when the content was of the type required to solve SAT problems. Exposure to academically rigorous educational experiences over a long time period (5 yrs) did relate to the development of abilities measured by SAT. In addition, students who experienced very large gains on SAT over this 5-yr period, in comparison with students with small gains, were achieving better in a more rigorous program of high school courses in mathematics and science for the SAT-M and in verbal areas for the SAT-V. Results support the position that educational experiences over time influence SAT scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived control, Type A/B behavior, and quality of instruction.

Perceived control can impede achievement by interfering with instruction. College students who suffer temporary loss of control perform no better with an effective instructor than with an ineffective instructor. Type A students, however, may continue to benefit from effective instruction because of their intensified efforts to maintain control over academic outcomes when their control is threatened. Type A and B students received either contingent or noncontingent feedback on an aptitude test and then observed a half-hour lecture from either an unexpressive or expressive instructor. After the aptitude test they completed an attribution questionnaire, and after the lecture they took an achievement test and responded to a test-related questionnaire. Noncontingent feedback lowered both Type A and B students' perceived control and their internal attribution locus. It also reduced the effectiveness of instruction for Type B students but not for Type A students. Unlike those of Type B students, Type A students' self-perceptions were unaffected by instructional quality, which suggests a greater emphasis on self-directed, rather than other-directed, responsibility for achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A survey of high school psychology in Iowa.

Surveyed 116 teachers of high school psychology (PSY) in Iowa to determine their teaching activities, the characteristics of their courses, and their educational backgrounds. Most Ss taught one or more other courses in addition to PSY. 51% described their PSY courses as being a combination of PSY as an approach to understanding life and PSY as a science; 65% combined lecture and discussion teaching methods. Only 12% had majored in PSY in college, although 29% had taken 5–6 PSY courses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)