A BRiTE Journey: 2013–2019

Resilience is widely acknowledged as important for teacher success, yet how to assist pre-service teachers build the skills and strategies for professional resilience is a question often asked by teacher educators. This chapter overviews the design, development and features of a series of five online learning modules designed to support pre-service teacher resilience. The BRiTE modules were informed by an analysis of the literature and content created to address the key themes. Five modules were developed: Building resilience, Relationships, Wellbeing, Taking initiative and Emotions. Each module was designed to be interactive and personalised, enabling users to build their personal toolkit to support their resilience. Since their launch in 2015, the modules have been widely used by pre-service teachers, teachers and a range of stakeholders with over 14,000 registered users at the beginning of 2020. Potential for future use in supporting teacher resilience is discussed

Bacterial Gut Symbionts Contribute to Seed Digestion in an Omnivorous Beetle

Obligate bacterial symbionts alter the diets of host animals in numerous ways, but the ecological roles of facultative bacterial residents that colonize insect guts remain unclear. Carabid beetles are a common group of beneficial insects appreciated for their ability to consume insect prey and seeds, but the contributions of microbes to diet diversification in this and similar groups of facultative granivores are largely unknown.Using 16S rRNA gene clone libraries and terminal restriction fragment (tRF) length polymorphism analyses of these genes, we examined the bacterial communities within the guts of facultatively granivorous, adult Harpalus pensylvanicus (Carabidae), fed one of five dietary treatments: 1) an untreated Field population, 2) Seeds with antibiotics (seeds were from Chenopodium album), 3) Seeds without antibiotics, 4) Prey with antibiotics (prey were Acheta domesticus eggs), and 5) Prey without antibiotics. The number of seeds and prey consumed by each beetle were recorded following treatment. Harpalus pensylvanicus possessed a fairly simple gut community of approximately 3-4 bacterial operational taxonomic units (OTU) per beetle that were affiliated with the Gammaproteobacteria, Bacilli, Alphaproteobacteria, and Mollicutes. Bacterial communities of the host varied among the diet and antibiotic treatments. The field population and beetles fed seeds without antibiotics had the closest matching bacterial communities, and the communities in the beetles fed antibiotics were more closely related to each other than to those of the beetles that did not receive antibiotics. Antibiotics reduced and altered the bacterial communities found in the beetle guts. Moreover, beetles fed antibiotics ate fewer seeds, and those beetles that harbored the bacterium Enterococcus faecalis consumed more seeds on average than those lacking this symbiont.We conclude that the relationships between the bacterium E. faecalis and this factultative granivore's ability to consume seeds merit further investigation, and that facultative associations with symbiotic bacteria have important implications for the nutritional ecology of their hosts

Contributions of phonological and verbal working memory to language development in adolescents with fragile X syndrome

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability. Although language delays are frequently observed in FXS, neither the longitudinal course of language development nor its cognitive predictors are well understood. The present study investigated whether phonological and working memory skills are predictive of growth in vocabulary and syntax in individuals with FXS during adolescence. Forty-four individuals with FXS (mean age = 12.61 years) completed assessments of phonological memory (nonword repetition and forward digit recall), verbal working memory (backward digit recall), vocabulary, syntax, and nonverbal cognition. Vocabulary and syntax skills were reassessed at a 2-year follow-up. In a series of analyses that controlled for nonverbal cognitive ability and severity of autism symptoms, the relative contributions of phonological and working memory to language change over time were investigated. These relationships were examined separately for boys and girls. In boys with FXS, phonological memory significantly predicted gains in vocabulary and syntax skills. Further, verbal working memory was uniquely associated with vocabulary gains among boys. In girls with FXS, phonological and working memory skills showed no relationship with language change across the 2-year time period. Our findings indicate that, for adolescent boys with FXS, acquisition of vocabulary and syntax may be constrained by the ability to maintain and manipulate phonological representations online. Implications for the identification and treatment of language disorders in this population are discussed. The present study is the first to identify specific cognitive mechanisms contributing to language growth over time in individuals with FXS

Best practice for motor imagery: a systematic literature review on motor imagery training elements in five different disciplines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The literature suggests a beneficial effect of motor imagery (MI) if combined with physical practice, but detailed descriptions of MI training session (MITS) elements and temporal parameters are lacking. The aim of this review was to identify the characteristics of a successful MITS and compare these for different disciplines, MI session types, task focus, age, gender and MI modification during intervention.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An extended systematic literature search using 24 databases was performed for five disciplines: Education, Medicine, Music, Psychology and Sports. References that described an MI intervention that focused on motor skills, performance or strength improvement were included. Information describing 17 MITS elements was extracted based on the PETTLEP (physical, environment, timing, task, learning, emotion, perspective) approach. Seven elements describing the MITS temporal parameters were calculated: study duration, intervention duration, MITS duration, total MITS count, MITS per week, MI trials per MITS and total MI training time.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both independent reviewers found 96% congruity, which was tested on a random sample of 20% of all references. After selection, 133 studies reporting 141 MI interventions were included. The locations of the MITS and position of the participants during MI were task-specific. Participants received acoustic detailed MI instructions, which were mostly standardised and live. During MI practice, participants kept their eyes closed. MI training was performed from an internal perspective with a kinaesthetic mode. Changes in MI content, duration and dosage were reported in 31 MI interventions. Familiarisation sessions before the start of the MI intervention were mentioned in 17 reports. MI interventions focused with decreasing relevance on motor-, cognitive- and strength-focused tasks. Average study intervention lasted 34 days, with participants practicing MI on average three times per week for 17 minutes, with 34 MI trials. Average total MI time was 178 minutes including 13 MITS. Reporting rate varied between 25.5% and 95.5%.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>MITS elements of successful interventions were individual, supervised and non-directed sessions, added after physical practice. Successful design characteristics were dominant in the Psychology literature, in interventions focusing on motor and strength-related tasks, in interventions with participants aged 20 to 29 years old, and in MI interventions including participants of both genders. Systematic searching of the MI literature was constrained by the lack of a defined MeSH term.</p

Language development after cochlear implantation: an epigenetic model

Growing evidence supports the notion that dynamic gene expression, subject to epigenetic control, organizes multiple influences to enable a child to learn to listen and to talk. Here, we review neurobiological and genetic influences on spoken language development in the context of results of a longitudinal trial of cochlear implantation of young children with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss in the Childhood Development after Cochlear Implantation study. We specifically examine the results of cochlear implantation in participants who were congenitally deaf (N = 116). Prior to intervention, these participants were subject to naturally imposed constraints in sensory (acoustic–phonologic) inputs during critical phases of development when spoken language skills are typically achieved rapidly. Their candidacy for a cochlear implant was prompted by delays (n = 20) or an essential absence of spoken language acquisition (n = 96). Observations thus present an opportunity to evaluate the impact of factors that influence the emergence of spoken language, particularly in the context of hearing restoration in sensitive periods for language acquisition. Outcomes demonstrate considerable variation in spoken language learning, although significant advantages exist for the congenitally deaf children implanted prior to 18 months of age. While age at implantation carries high predictive value in forecasting performance on measures of spoken language, several factors show significant association, particularly those related to parent–child interactions. Importantly, the significance of environmental variables in their predictive value for language development varies with age at implantation. These observations are considered in the context of an epigenetic model in which dynamic genomic expression can modulate aspects of auditory learning, offering insights into factors that can influence a child’s acquisition of spoken language after cochlear implantation. Increased understanding of these interactions could lead to targeted interventions that interact with the epigenome to influence language outcomes with intervention, particularly in periods in which development is subject to time-sensitive experience

“I felt like I was missing out on something”: An evaluation of using remote technology in the classroom

As technology develops in Higher Education (HE), distance learning has adopted many different guises and supports many different needs (Keane 2013). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of Double Robotics on a Doctoral (level 8) postgraduate course at a HE institution. The aim of this project was to generate an understanding of student and tutor experiences more generally, while examining the feasibility and impact of Double Robotics within a doctoral programme more specifically. Data were collected through a series of focus group interviews with the student and tutors over the course of a single semester (10-weeks). The data were subject to an inductive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2006, 2013). The findings of the study shed light on the interactive pitfalls of the technology and contribute to understanding the experiences of distance learners’ engagement. Four key themes were identified: quality of technology, classroom familiarity, tutor facilitation and user isolation. The significance of this study lies not only in assessing the feasibility of Double Robotics but, specifically, shedding light on the nuanced understanding tutors require to enrol and engage distance learners remotely. Most notable, the ‘isolation’ of the learner points to a heightened awareness of context that can help tutors develop robust and durable environments, which embrace both traditional classroom settings and facilitate the addition of distance learners. Building upon Tucker (2013), technological advancements in the classroom must be carefully designed to appreciate the context of the learning environment, the teacher, and the pedagogic experiences of the learners

Supporting the Production of Graphic Symbol Combinations by Children with Limited Speech: A Comparison of Two AAC systems

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy with which the use of a speech generating device (Apple iPadTM with GoTalk NowTM application) versus a communication board promoted the production of two-symbols combinations (agentaction and attribute-entity combinations) by children limited speech within a shared story reading context. Four children between the ages of 6;8 (years; months) and 11;4 with severe motor speech disorders and a variety of developmental disabilities participated in the study. An adapted alternating treatment design was used. All four participants showed increased production of two-symbol combinations in both intervention conditions. The Wilcoxon ranked pairs test did not show differences between the conditions for any participant. The results suggest that symbol combination skills can effectively be taught using either AAC system. A preference assessment indicated that all participants preferred to use the speech generating device during shared story reading.National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa and the Research Development Programme from the University of Pretoria.http://link.springer.com/journal/108822017-02-14hb201