Processing of an Audiobook in the Human Brain Is Shaped by Cultural Family Background

Perception of the same narrative can vary between individuals depending on a listener’s previous experiences. We studied whether and how cultural family background may shape the processing of an audiobook in the human brain. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 48 healthy volunteers from two different cultural family backgrounds listened to an audiobook depicting the intercultural social life of young adults with the respective cultural backgrounds. Shared cultural family background increased inter-subject correlation of hemodynamic activity in the left-hemispheric Heschl’s gyrus, insula, superior temporal gyrus, lingual gyrus and middle temporal gyrus, in the right-hemispheric lateral occipital and posterior cingulate cortices as well as in the bilateral middle temporal gyrus, middle occipital gyrus and precuneus. Thus, cultural family background is reflected in multiple areas of speech processing in the brain and may also modulate visual imagery. After neuroimaging, the participants listened to the narrative again and, after each passage, produced a list of words that had been on their minds when they heard the audiobook during neuroimaging. Cultural family background was reflected as semantic differences in these word lists as quantified by a word2vec-generated semantic model. Our findings may depict enhanced mutual understanding between persons who share similar cultural family backgrounds

Processing of an Audiobook in the Human Brain Is Shaped by Cultural Family Background

Perception of the same narrative can vary between individuals depending on a listener’s previous experiences. We studied whether and how cultural family background may shape the processing of an audiobook in the human brain. During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 48 healthy volunteers from two different cultural family backgrounds listened to an audiobook depicting the intercultural social life of young adults with the respective cultural backgrounds. Shared cultural family background increased inter-subject correlation of hemodynamic activity in the left-hemispheric Heschl’s gyrus, insula, superior temporal gyrus, lingual gyrus and middle temporal gyrus, in the right-hemispheric lateral occipital and posterior cingulate cortices as well as in the bilateral middle temporal gyrus, middle occipital gyrus and precuneus. Thus, cultural family background is reflected in multiple areas of speech processing in the brain and may also modulate visual imagery. After neuroimaging, the participants listened to the narrative again and, after each passage, produced a list of words that had been on their minds when they heard the audiobook during neuroimaging. Cultural family background was reflected as semantic differences in these word lists as quantified by a word2vec-generated semantic model. Our findings may depict enhanced mutual understanding between persons who share similar cultural family backgrounds

Grupparbeten : Hur använder lärare i kemi och teknik på högstadiet grupparbeten som undervisningsmetod idag?

Grupparbeten som undervisningsmetod har pendlat i popularitet i den svenska skolan de senaste årtiondena. Syftet med denna studie är att ta reda på vilka motiv kemi- och tekniklärare på högstadiet har för att använda sig av grupparbeten som undervisningsmetod, vad de lägger vikt vid när de planerar dessa arbeten, samt hur de hanterar de problem som uppstår. Detta har gjorts genom skriftliga intervjuer och enkäter samt genom att observera lärare som arbetar med grupparbeten i sina klassrum. De lärare som deltagit i intervjuer eller ställt upp på observationer är i huvudsak verksamma i Hallands län medan enkäterna har respondenter från stora delar av Sverige. Resultaten har tolkats med hjälp av tematisk analys och ger en bild av en lärarkår med stora kunskaper i hur grupparbeten kan inkluderas i sin undervisning. Det är emellertid få lärare som har en stor samlad kunskap, varför det förefaller finnas ett behov bland lärarna av att ”lära av varandra”.The popularity of using group work as a method of teaching has fluctuated in Sweden during the last decades. The purpose of this study is to find out what motivates middle school chemistry and engineering teachers to choose to use group work in their classrooms, how they plan these group works hand how the solve problems that arises. Data has been collected through written interviews, questionnaires and classroom observations. Teachers participating in interviews and classroom observations are mainly working in schools in Halland, in the southwestern part of Sweden, while respondents to the questionnaire originates from many different parts of the country. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the collected data and the results paints a picture of teachers with a good collective knowledge of group work as a method of teaching. However, there seems to be few individual teachers with a broader knowledge of the method, and therefore a need for teachers to “learn from each other”

Grupparbeten : Hur använder lärare i kemi och teknik på högstadiet grupparbeten som undervisningsmetod idag?

Grupparbeten som undervisningsmetod har pendlat i popularitet i den svenska skolan de senaste årtiondena. Syftet med denna studie är att ta reda på vilka motiv kemi- och tekniklärare på högstadiet har för att använda sig av grupparbeten som undervisningsmetod, vad de lägger vikt vid när de planerar dessa arbeten, samt hur de hanterar de problem som uppstår. Detta har gjorts genom skriftliga intervjuer och enkäter samt genom att observera lärare som arbetar med grupparbeten i sina klassrum. De lärare som deltagit i intervjuer eller ställt upp på observationer är i huvudsak verksamma i Hallands län medan enkäterna har respondenter från stora delar av Sverige. Resultaten har tolkats med hjälp av tematisk analys och ger en bild av en lärarkår med stora kunskaper i hur grupparbeten kan inkluderas i sin undervisning. Det är emellertid få lärare som har en stor samlad kunskap, varför det förefaller finnas ett behov bland lärarna av att ”lära av varandra”.The popularity of using group work as a method of teaching has fluctuated in Sweden during the last decades. The purpose of this study is to find out what motivates middle school chemistry and engineering teachers to choose to use group work in their classrooms, how they plan these group works hand how the solve problems that arises. Data has been collected through written interviews, questionnaires and classroom observations. Teachers participating in interviews and classroom observations are mainly working in schools in Halland, in the southwestern part of Sweden, while respondents to the questionnaire originates from many different parts of the country. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the collected data and the results paints a picture of teachers with a good collective knowledge of group work as a method of teaching. However, there seems to be few individual teachers with a broader knowledge of the method, and therefore a need for teachers to “learn from each other”