Boundaries of Semantic Distraction: Dominance and Lexicality Act at Retrieval

Three experiments investigated memory for semantic information with the goal of determining boundary conditions for the manifestation of semantic auditory distraction. Irrelevant speech disrupted the free recall of semantic category-exemplars to an equal degree regardless of whether the speech coincided with presentation or test phases of the task (Experiment 1) and occurred regardless of whether it comprised random words or coherent sentences (Experiment 2). The effects of background speech were greater when the irrelevant speech was semantically related to the to-be-remembered material, but only when the irrelevant words were high in output dominance (Experiment 3). The implications of these findings in relation to the processing of task material and the processing of background speech is discussed

Impact of COVID-19 on 1-Year Survival Outcomes in Hepatocellular Carcinoma:A Multicenter Cohort Study

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe disruption of healthcare services worldwide and interrupted patients' access to essential services. During the first lockdown, many healthcare services were shut to all but emergencies. In this study, we aimed to determine the immediate and long-term indirect impact of COVID-19 health services utilisation on hepatocellular cancer (HCC) outcomes.MethodsA prospective cohort study was conducted from 1 March 2020 until 30 June 2020, correlating to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients were enrolled from tertiary hospitals in the UK and Germany with dedicated HCC management services. All patients with current or past HCC who were discussed at a multidisciplinary meeting (MDM) were identified. Any delay to treatment (DTT) and the effect on survival at one year were reported.ResultsThe median time to receipt of therapy following MDM discussion was 49 days. Patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages-A/B disease were more likely to experience DTT. Significant delays across all treatments for HCC were observed, but delay was most marked for those undergoing curative therapies. Even though severe delays were observed in curative HCC treatments, this did not translate into reduced survival in patients.ConclusionInterruption of routine healthcare services because of the COVID-19 pandemic caused severe delays in HCC treatment. However, DTT did not translate to reduced survival. Longer follow is important given the delay in therapy in those receiving curative therapy

New directions for lifelong learning using network technologies

Please refer only to original source: Koper, R., Tattersall, C. (2004). New directions for lifelong learning using network technologies. British Journal of Educational Technology, 35 (6), 689-700.The requirements placed on learning technologies to support lifelong learning differ considerably from those placed on technologies to support particular fragments of a learning lifetime. The time scales involved in lifelong learning, together with its multi-institutional and episodic nature are not reflected in today’s mainstream learning technologies and their associated architectures. The article presents an integrated model and architecture to serve as the basis for the realization of networked learning technologies serving the specific needs and characteristics of lifelong learners. The integrative model is called a “Learning Network” (LN) and its requirements and architecture are explored, together with the ways in which its application can help in reducing barriers to lifelong learning

The effect of questioning on concept learning within a hypertext system

Abstract Two studies report upon the effect of asking learners to answer questions when learning in a hypertext environment, even when no immediate feedback is given to learners about the appropriateness of their responses. Such questions may be useful as a means to induce responses that can be used to monitor learning, but here the hypothesis was investigated that their inclusion would also improve learning directly. In the first study, 80 student teachers answered embedded multiple-choice questions that encouraged analysis of examples. Concept learning achieved using this environment was significantly reduced when compared with an environment requiring no such responses. In the second study, a cohort of 68 students were asked to summarise the information illustrated by the examples. Here, learning was significantly improved as compared with the no-response condition

Conceptions of learning factors in postgraduate health sciences master students: a comparative study with nonhealth science students and between genders

Background: The students’ conceptions of learning in postgraduate health science master studies are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to compare the factors influencing conceptions of learning in health sciences and non-health sciences students enrolled in postgraduate master programs in order to obtain information that may be useful for students and for future postgraduate programs. Methods: A modified version of the Learning Inventory Conception Questionnaire (COLI) was used to compare students’ conception learning factors in 131 students at the beginning of their postgraduate studies in health sciences, experimental sciences, arts and humanities and social sciences. Results: The present study demonstrates that a set of factors may influence conception of learning of health sciences postgraduate students, with learning as gaining information, remembering, using, and understanding information, awareness of duty and social commitment being the most relevant. For these students, learning as a personal change, a process not bound by time or place or even as acquisition of professional competences, are less relevant. According to our results, this profile is not affected by gender differences. Conclusions: Our results show that the overall conceptions of learning differ among students of health sciences and non-health sciences (experimental sciences, arts and humanities and social sciences) master postgraduate programs. These finding are potentially useful to foster the learning process of HS students, because if they are metacognitively aware of their own conception or learning, they will be much better equipped to self-regulate their learning behavior in a postgraduate master program in health sciences.Supported by CTS-115 (Tissue Engineering Group of the University of Granada). The funding body did not took part in the design of the study and collection, analysis and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript

Californian Science Students' Perceptions of their Classoom Learning Environments.

This study utilised the What Is Happening In this Class (WIHIC) questionnaire to examine factors that influence Californian student perceptions of their learning environment. Data were collected from 665 USA middle school science students in 11 Californian schools. Several background variables were included in the study to investigate their effects on students’ perceptions, such as student and teacher gender, student ethnic background and socio-economic status (SES), and student age. Class and school variables, such as class ethnic composition, class size and school socioeconomic status were also collected. A hierarchical analysis of variance was conducted to investigate separate and joint effects of these variables. Results from this study indicate that some scales of the WIHIC are more inclined to measure personal or idiosyncratic features of student perceptions of their learning environment whereas other scales contain more variance at the class level. Also, it was found that different variables affect different scale scores. A variable that consistently affected students' perceptions, regardless of the element of interest in the learning environment was student gender. Generally speaking girls perceived their learning environment more positively than did boys

Rich pictures : Researching the role of peer interaction for pupils using the Internet

Electronic information resources, including the Internet, provide young people with opportunities to interact with each other and with vast quantities of information. Research has indicated that learning and cognitive development are intricately linked to opportunities to process and interact with relevant information and the medium used to deliver this information may well have an impact on these opportunities. This research aimed to inform policymaking and contribute to locally situated, and global, knowledge. In order to achieve these aims a constructivist approach, focusing on sixteen, in-depth, holistic case studies was used to produce ‘rich pictures’. These rich pictures revealed a variety of ways in which access to the Internet can provide valuable learning opportunities in relation to cognitive, affective and social variables. Peer interaction in the electronic environment plays a significant part in contributing to cognitive development, this paper concentrates on that interaction and discusses ways in which it can impact positively on learning opportunities for young people

Teaching of Energy Issues: A debate proposal for a GLobal Reorientation

The growing awareness of serious difficulties in the learning of energy issues has produced a great deal of research, most of which is focused on specific conceptual aspects. In our opinion, the difficulties pointed out in the literature are interrelated and connected to other aspects (conceptual as well as procedural and axiological), which are not sufficiently taken into account in previous research. This paper aims to carry out a global analysis in order to avoid the more limited approaches that deal only with individual aspects. From this global analysis we have outlined 24 propositions that are put forward for debate to lay the foundations for a profound reorientation of the teaching of energy topics in upper high school courses, in order to facilitate a better scientific understanding of these topics, avoid many students' misconceptions and enhance awareness of the current situation of planetary emergency