A Test of the Control Value Theory of Achievement Emotions in an Instructional Communication Context

This dissertation tested the control-value theory of achievement emotions (CVTAE) in an instructional communication context. Based on the assumptions of CVTAE, the researcher predicted that when instructors were clearer, students would feel more confident in their abilities to perform well in their class and, in turn, experience positive achievement emotions (i.e., enjoyment and hope), ultimately becoming be more intrinsically motivated to learn. If instructors were less clear, however, students would experience decreased motivation to learn through negative appraisals of performance efficacy and negative achievement emotions (i.e., boredom, anxiety, and hopelessness). Additionally, the researcher hypothesized that when instructors made the course content relevant to students’ interests, they would experience increased motivation through positive appraisals of task value and, in turn, positive emotions. However, when instructors were not relevant, they would experience declines in motivation to learn through negative appraisals of task value and negative emotions. Finally, based on the assumption that students\u27 differences in achievement goals should impact appraisals of control and value, the researcher hypothesized that mastery orientation would moderate these processes proposed in CVTAE. Additionally, one research question was advanced to test the moderating effects of content relevance on the serial processes proposed in the control value theory. A survey was given to undergraduate students to test these hypotheses and research questions. Participants in the project were 299 undergraduate students who answered questions about their instructor’s clarity, content relevance, control appraisals (operationalized by performance efficacy), value appraisals (operationalized by task value), student achievement emotions (i.e., enjoyment, hope, boredom, anxiety, and hopelessness), mastery orientation, and intrinsic motivation to learn. The hypotheses and research questions were tested using ordinary least squares path analysis. The serial multiple mediation analyses revealed that when instructors are clear and make content relevant, students are more motivated to learn because of positive appraisals of performance efficacy and task value, promoting enjoyment and hope. Additionally, instructor clarity and relevance predicted motivation through positive appraisals of control and value and reduced boredom. The results also revealed that instructor clarity and content relevance indirectly predicted motivation through enjoyment, hope, and boredom, regardless of control and value appraisals. Anxiety and hopelessness, however, did not serve as mediators. Additionally, mastery orientation and content relevance did not moderate the processes proposed in CVTAE. Finally, the study’s findings, practical implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed

Learning to Analyze and Critically Evaluate Ideas, Arguments, and Points of View

By encouraging our students to adopt a critical framework, we prepare them not only to engage in scholarly conversation and debate in our disciplines, but also to be engaged citizens in a democratic society

An economic analysis of options for utilising additional land on a high rainfall Gippsland dairy farm

A range of options for utilising additional land on a dairy farm in the high rainfall area of Gippsland were analysed. The aim was to determine if additional land may assist the owners/operators in maintaining or increasing profit in the medium term (5-10 years). Historical trends have been towards fewer, larger, more intensive enterprises, and this project studies the value of additional land in continuing or altering this trend. A case study farm and spreadsheet modelling approach was used to examine these issues. Five different uses for additional land were identified by an expert steering committee, and were compared to the base farm system over a 10-year development period. The results suggest that expanding the milking area by purchasing additional land without a significant increase in herd size (2A) increased annual operating profit by approximately $70,000/year without increasing variability when compared to the base farm system. This was the only option examined to earn a high enough internal rate of return on additional capital investment to justify the investment without capital gains. Additional milking area with a substantial increase in stocking rate (2C) significantly reduced annual operating profit (by approximately$70,000/year) and notably increased the variability of these returns. The purchase of an outblock for conserved fodder production improved profitability, but would require some capital gains to be an attractive option on profit measures alone. The most appropriate changes to dairy farm businesses in response to changes in the operating environment will vary from farm to farm. The analysis indicated that simple following previous industry trends may not be appropriate on many farms. Optimising the amount of home grown feed and efficiently using purchased supplements are important, particularly if the milk produced is subject to the fluctuations of an export milk price.Farm Management,

Visuomotor Origins of Covert Spatial Attention

AbstractCovert spatial attention produces biases in perceptual performance and neural processing of behaviorally relevant stimuli in the absence of overt orienting movements. The neural mechanism that gives rise to these effects is poorly understood. This paper surveys past evidence of a relationship between oculomotor control and visual spatial attention and more recent evidence of a causal link between the control of saccadic eye movements by frontal cortex and covert visual selection. Both suggest that the mechanism of covert spatial attention emerges as a consequence of the reciprocal interactions between neural circuits primarily involved in specifying the visual properties of potential targets and those involved in specifying the movements needed to fixate them

Understanding the Potential of CO2 Utilisation

CO2 utilisation processes can convert CO2 into commercially viable products such as fine chemicals, polymers, fertilisers, minerals and fuels via a range of chemical and biological pathways. Carbon is ubiquitous within the chemical and construction industry however sustainability issues arise with fossil sources. CO2 has potential to be a sustainable and circular source of carbon if certain barriers are overcome. Assessment of the potential of CO2 utilisation is complex and must address the three pillars of sustainability – environment, economics and society. Herewith, each aspect is discussed and elucidated. A framework to encourage the integration of environmental and economic assessment is presented to tackle the challenge of conflicting conclusions from individual assessments. This is further developed in to a triple helix approach by the addition of social impact assessment. This approach enhances effective decision making for development and deployment by enabling tradeoffs between environmental, economic and social impacts to be explored. The challenges and opportunities of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered. Barriers to the general success of SMEs are identified in the fields of policy/regulation, life cycle analysis studies, financial knowledge, and external links. Communication of CO2 utilisation technologies is investigated as it is known public awareness of CO2 utilisation is low and is key to successful deployment. Guidelines for communication and the first CO2 utilisation App presented. Significant increases in knowledge of CO2-derived products were observed after use of the App. Within the focus groups the App was highly rated for learning, ease of use, learning and enjoyment, confirming it as fit for purpose as a tool to communicate CO2 utilisation opportunities. CO2 utilisation has many facets which are interwoven and require unlocking for its potential to be realised. This works seeks to expound these facets to increase understanding in unlocking that potential

Subject-generated internal imagery coupled with relaxation as a treatment for chronic pain

The chronic pain experience is a multifaceted phenomenon involving sensory, cognitive, affective, motivational and behavioral dimensions. There has been no single consistently successful method of pain control and multiple treatment approaches are frequently utilized by the chronic pain sufferer. The treatment approach investigated in this experiment used a relaxation technique coupled with visualization. Thirty-two chronic pain subjects with various diagnoses were divided into four groups using a quasi-random design. Two groups received training in a relaxation technique for eight weeks, and two groups started with relaxation and then were also given a visualization procedure for the final four weeks. Assessments using the McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control, the Profile of Mood States, and the West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory were done before treatment, at the mid-point, and at the end of treatment. The results showed no consistent differences between treatment groups and failed to indicate any clear-cut advantages for either relaxation or visualization in controlling chronic pain. There was no consistent reduction in pain or pain behaviors over the course of the experiment regardless of situation

@YakovGolyadkin

This is an archive of the Twitter feed @YakovGolyadkin, which tweeted Dostoevsky's novel The Double from its protagonist's perspective in November 2015

Resolving ecological feedbacks on the ocean carbon sink in Earth system models

The Earth's oceans are one of the largest sinks in the Earth system for anthropogenic CO2 emissions, acting as a negative feedback on climate change. Earth system models project that climate change will lead to a weakening ocean carbon uptake rate as warm water holds less dissolved CO2 and as biological productivity declines. However, most Earth system models do not incorporate the impact of warming on bacterial remineralisation and rely on simplified representations of plankton ecology that do not resolve the potential impact of climate change on ecosystem structure or elemental stoichiometry. Here, we use a recently developed extension of the cGEnIE (carbon-centric Grid Enabled Integrated Earth system model), ecoGEnIE, featuring a trait-based scheme for plankton ecology (ECOGEM), and also incorporate cGEnIE's temperature-dependent remineralisation (TDR) scheme. This enables evaluation of the impact of both ecological dynamics and temperature-dependent remineralisation on particulate organic carbon (POC) export in response to climate change. We find that including TDR increases cumulative POC export relative to default runs due to increased nutrient recycling (+∼1.3 %), whereas ECOGEM decreases cumulative POC export by enabling a shift to smaller plankton classes (−∼0.9 %). However, interactions with carbonate chemistry cause opposite sign responses for the carbon sink in both cases: TDR leads to a smaller sink relative to default runs (−∼1.0 %), whereas ECOGEM leads to a larger sink (+∼0.2 %). Combining TDR and ECOGEM results in a net strengthening of POC export (+∼0.1 %) and a net reduction in carbon sink (−∼0.7 %) relative to default. These results illustrate the degree to which ecological dynamics and biodiversity modulate the strength of the biological pump, and demonstrate that Earth system models need to incorporate ecological complexity in order to resolve non-linear climate–biosphere feedbacks