What do faculties specializing in brain and neural sciences think about, and how do they approach, brain-friendly teaching-learning in Iran?

Objective: to investigate the perspectives and experiences of the faculties specializing in brain and neural sciences regarding brain-friendly teaching-learning in Iran. Methods: 17 faculties from 5 universities were selected by purposive sampling (2018). In-depth semi-structured interviews with directed content analysis were used. Results: 31 sub-subcategories, 10 subcategories, and 4 categories were formed according to the “General teaching model”. “Mentorship” was a newly added category. Conclusions: A neuro-educational approach that consider the roles of the learner’s brain uniqueness, executive function facilitation, and the valence system are important to learning. Such learning can be facilitated through cognitive load considerations, repetition, deep questioning, visualization, feedback, and reflection. The contextualized, problem-oriented, social, multi-sensory, experiential, spaced learning, and brain-friendly evaluation must be considered. Mentorship is important for coaching and emotional facilitation

Multimodality in the Science Classroom: A Focus on Multimedia Representations and How Students Learn

The element of active student engagement is one crucial facet to effective pedagogy. The use of technology and other media in the classroom has been researched but the impact of its efficacy is still in question. The fusion of technology into students’ social lives is undeniably on the rise and this mode along with other complementary media has the potential to positively impact both student engagement and learning, as exposed here through the vehicle of science instruction

Understanding the Cranial Nerves: Evaluation of a Self-Paced Online Module in Optometric Education

Among the faculty of Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tennessee, it is perceived that optometry students often enter their clinical assignments with poor clinical judgment. To address this, Understanding the Cranial Nerves--an online-self paced instructional intervention of approximately two hours\u27 duration--was developed. In it, the content is presented in a clinical context, in order to foster development of clinical thinking and factual recall. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of this intervention upon first-year optometry students\u27 clinical thinking and content knowledge. Improvements in these subjects were measured using identical pre-/post-tests, and analyzed with Student\u27s t-tests (n= 66). Both factual recall [t (65) = 15.984, p \u3c .001] and clinical thinking [t(65) = 16.115, p\u3c .001] improved significantly. The study\u27s secondary purpose is to understand students\u27 perceptions of the intervention. These were measured immediately after completion with an attitude survey, which was designed to measure perceptions of the content, aesthetics, and usability. For the 19 Likert-type items on this instrument, the frequency distributions of the repsponses were compared to an expected distribution using Pearson\u27s chi-squared goodness-of-fit tests (n = 61). Significant responses included higher distributions on three course content items [X2 (4) = 14.705, p = .005; X2 (4) = 22.641, p \u3c .001; X2 (4) =23.308, p \u3c .001], and lower distributions on five usability items [X2 (4) = 39.975, p \u3c .001; X2 (4) = 42.476, p \u3c.001; X2 (4) = 60.476, p \u3c .001; X2 (4) = 41.619, p \u3c .001; X2 (4) = 35.105, p \u3c .001]. A cursory analysis of the remaining two free-response items showed general satisfaction with the intervention content but frustration with its usability (n = 25). Semi-structured interviews given several months after completion of the intervention yielded similar results (n = 8). Altogetherm the study suggests that self-paced, online content like Understanding the Cranial Nerves can be useful for improving factual recall and clinical thinking in optometric education. The lack of a control group and short duration of the study call its generalizability into question. Usability concerns must be addressed if the intervention is to be implemented

Specialised Languages and Multimedia. Linguistic and Cross-cultural Issues

none2noThis book collects academic works focusing on scientific and technical discourse and on the ways in which this type of discourse appears in or is shaped by multimedia products. The originality of this book is to be seen in the variety of approaches used and of the specialised languages investigated in relation to multimodal and multimedia genres. Contributions will particularly focus on new multimodal or multimedia forms of specialised discourse (in institutional, academic, technical, scientific, social or popular settings), linguistic features of specialised discourse in multimodal or multimedia genres, the popularisation of specialised knowledge in multimodal or multimedia genres, the impact of multimodality and multimediality on the construction of scientific and technical discourse, the impact of multimodality/multimediality in the practice and teaching of language, the impact of multimodality/multimediality in the practice and teaching of translation, new multimedia modes of knowledge dissemination, the translation/adaptation of scientific discourse in multimedia products. This volume contributes to the theory and practice of multimodal studies and translation, with a specific focus on specialized discourse.Rivista di Classe A - Volume specialeopenManca E., Bianchi F.Manca, E.; Bianchi, F

From corporeality to virtual reality: theorizing literacy, bodies, and technology in the emerging media of virtual, augmented, and mixed realities

This dissertation explores the relationships between literacy, technology, and bodies in the emerging media of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR). In response to the recent, rapid emergence of new media forms, questions arise as to how and why we should prepare to compose in new digital media. To interrogate the newness accorded to new media composing, I historicize the literacy practices demanded by new media by examining digital texts, such as video games and software applications, alongside analogous “antiquated” media, such as dioramas and museum exhibits. Comparative textual analysis of analogous digital and non-digital VR, AR, and MR texts reveals new media and “antiquated” media utilize common characteristics of dimensionality, layering, and absence/presence, respectively. The establishment of shared traits demonstrates how media operate on a continuum of mutually held textual practices; despite their distinctive forms, new media texts do not represent either a hierarchical or linear progression of maturing development. Such an understanding aids composing in new VR, AR, and MR media by enabling composers to make fuller use of prior knowledge in a rapidly evolving new media environment, a finding significant both for educators and communicators. As these technologies mature, we will continue to compose both traditional and new forms of texts. As such, we need literacy theory that attends to both the traditional and the new and also is comprehensive enough to encompass future acts of composing in media yet to emerge

Building cognitive bridges in mathematics: Exploring the role of screencasting in scaffolding flexible learning and engagement

Conceptual learning in mathematics can be made more accessible with mathscasts, which are dynamic, digitally recorded playbacks of worked examples and mathematical problem-solving on a computer screen, accompanied by audio narration. Mathscasts aim to enable students to develop deeper understanding of key foundational concepts in order to equip them to undertake degrees in Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Previous research has indicated the success of maths screencasts to provide explanations of complex concepts and reinforcement of concepts previously learnt. The project presented here extends current research by demonstrating the value of visual, interactive screencasts for learning of mathematics, and investigates students’ perceptions. A survey of student use of screencasts identifies learners’ usage patterns, the significance of offering mathematics support via mathscasts in flexible mode, and students’ integration of mathscasts into their study strategies. The results show positive implications for the integration of multimodal learning resources in STEM environments

How do postgraduate surgeons-in-training learn through workplace-based assessments?

Workplace-based assessments (WBAs) are a central part of the education and supervision of postgraduate surgeons-in-training in the UK. This thesis explores what these surgeons-in-training experience, and learn, as they take part in a WBA. Existing research has viewed the WBA as an instance of assessment of a learner’s practice, focusing predominantly on their standardised outcomes and users’ perceptions of them. There is little research using direct observation of the WBA in-situ, thus limiting our understanding of how they ‘get done’ and how they are incorporated into practical routines. Therefore, there is no empirical basis for predicting the learning potential of WBAs, for justifying their outcomes or for explaining user perceptions of them. This study explores this research gap. Adopting a constructivist perspective, this research integrates ideas from sociocultural learning theory, workplace learning theories, and Goffman’s notion of social performance to better understand how surgeons-in-training learn through WBAs. I frame WBAs as social processes, woven into the fabric of everyday working practice. Data were generated through audiovisual recording and observation of clinical activities, the WBA proformas that learners completed, and interviews with each learner. My data analysis drew out how learners actively construct WBA documents as self-presentations. Learners select, omit, and mould different learning narratives that have themselves been constructed through each learner’s interaction with their dynamic learning milieu, as they participate in WBAs according to a set of tacit principles. Findings illustrate the highly individual, personalised ways that WBAs unfold. While WBAs are officially a standardised tool for objective assessment of learner performances, this work shows that the WBA is a unique, highly subjective representation of a learner’s understanding of their working world

Bodies of Seeing: A video ethnography of academic x-ray image interpretation training and professional vision in undergraduate radiology and radiography education

This thesis reports on a UK-based video ethnography of academic x-ray image interpretation training across two undergraduate courses in radiology and radiography. By studying the teaching and learning practices of the classroom, I initially explore the professional vision of x-ray image interpretation and how its relation to normal radiographic anatomy founds the practice of being ‘critical’. This criticality accomplishes a faculty of perceptual norms that is coded and organised and also, therefore, of a specific radiological vision. Professionals’ commitment to the cognitivist rhetoric of ‘looking at’/‘pattern recognition’ builds this critical perception, a perception that deepens in organisation when professionals endorse a ‘systematic approach’ that mediates matter-of-fact thoroughness and offers a helpful critical commentary towards the image. In what follows, I explore how x-ray image interpretation is constituted in case presentations. During training, x-ray images are treated with suspicion and as misleading and are aligned with a commitment to discursive contexts of ‘missed abnormality’, ‘interpretive risk’, and ‘technical error’. The image is subsequently constructed as ambiguous and that what is shown cannot be taken at face value. This interconnects with reenacting ideals around ‘seeing clearly’ that are explained through the teaching practices and material world of the academic setting and how, if misinterpretation is established, the ambiguity of the image is reduced by embodied gestures and technoscientific knowledge. By making this correction, the ambiguous image is reenacted and the misinterpretation of image content is explained. To conclude, I highlight how the professional vision of academic x-ray image interpretation prepares students for the workplace, shapes the classificatory interpretation of ab(normal) anatomy, manages ambiguity through embodied expectations and bodily norms, and cultivates body-machine relations

SCREENCAST AND ITS EFFECT ON IMPROVING LEARNERS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND MOTIVATION IN PHYSICS

Screencasts are multimedia-based learning which involves multimodal sensory, such as eyes and ears. These are increasingly used as schools transition to blended learning mode. This study aims to describe the screencast and its effect on improving learners’ academic achievement and motivation in Physics. This quasi-experimental research determined learners’ academic achievement and level of motivation before and after treatment to screencasts focusing on heat, temperature, and electricity. The study was done in a large public secondary school in a highly urbanized city in the central Philippines. Academic achievement was measured through a constructed test while the level of motivation was evaluated using Keller’s Instructional Materials Motivation Survey. Results showed that screencasts improved the learners’ academic achievement and increased their level of motivation. The use of screencast has a good impact on changing learners' knowledge and skills and is an effective online learning media. Findings also obtained a p-value of 0.00 which showed that there is a significant difference in the learner’s academic achievement before and after treatment to screencast. This study discovered that learning using screencasts is engaging to the learners. The screencast provided the learners with the opportunity to learn at their pace and brought them better learning experiences