LATENT STRUCTURE OF MOTOR ABILITIES AND SKILLS OF DEAF CHILDREN

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Husnija Hasanbegović

2012-04-01

Full Text Available In this work surveys of latent motility abilities and skills of school children are shown. The sample for this survey was consisted of two subsamples. First one has consisted of deaf children N=29, and the second one has consisted hearing children of same age N=69. Subsamples of deaf is chosen according to model of applied sample, and subsample is chosen randomly, so two stages group sample N=90 has been created. After quantitative differences have been discovered between subsamples, hearing pupils have shown statistically better results at motility skills and techniques than deaf children and cumulative results have been subjected to inter correlation of variables. The target of using this method was determination of saturation of common variability through saturation of variables and their correlation by Ortoblique rotation for determination of latent information that are going to serve as practical guides at education and deaf children treatment, because of improvement of their motility abilities and skills according to hearing children. Three factors have been singled out as main preview of measurement on manifest variables. According to first review of measuring it has been established that at deaf children is needed to work on improving of physical abilities and mobility and then developed motility abilities and skills. Their information has been gained most probably by non system fluctuations as information about ability of balance maintaining which is most probably non dependable of motility abilities and skills as at deaf and hearing children too. According to this survey by entering the structure of measuring instrument it is possible to create programs for improving motility abilities and skills at deaf children.

Does Classmate Ability Influence Students' Social Skills?

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Gottfried, Michael A.

2015-01-01

Empirically, the link between classmate ability and individual-level student achievement has been established. And yet, within the scope of this body of literature, there is a dearth of studies examining if a relationship also persists between classmate ability and non-achievement outcomes--that is, social skills. This article fills this research…

Patterns of Word Reading Skill, Interest and Self-Concept of Ability

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Viljaranta, Jaana; Kiuru, Noona; Lerkkanen, Marja-Kristiina; Silinskas, Gintautas; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2017-01-01

The majority of previous research on academic skills, self-concept of ability and interest has deployed the variable-oriented approach and focused on self-concept, or ability, or interest only. This study examined the patterns and dynamics of pattern change in Finnish children's word reading skill, self-concept of ability and interest from…

Skills for the literacy process.

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Côrrea, Kelli Cristina do Prado; Machado, Maria Aparecida Miranda de Paula; Hage, Simone Rocha de Vasconcellos

2018-03-01

Examine a set of competencies in children beginning the process of literacy and find whether there is positive correlation with their level of writing. Study conducted with 70 six-year-old students enrolled in the first year of Elementary School in municipal schools. The children were submitted to the Initial Reading and Writing Competence Assessment Battery (BACLE) and the Diagnostic Probing Protocol for classification of their level of writing. Descriptive statistical analysis and the Spearman coefficient were used for correlation between instruments. The students presented satisfactory performance in the tasks of the BACLE. Regarding the writing hypothesis, most children presented syllabic level with sound value. Significant positive correlation was observed between body scheme/time-space orientation and language skills. The group of schoolchildren performed satisfactorily on tests that measure pre-reading and writing skills. The areas of body scheme/time-space orientation and language presented significant correlation with the level of writing hypothesis, indicating that children with higher scores in these areas present better levels of writing. Identification of the necessary competencies for learning of reading and writing can provide teachers and educational audiology professionals with conditions for evaluation and early intervention in certain abilities for the development of reading and writing.

Fine motor skills predict maths ability better than they predict reading ability in the early primary school years

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Nicola J. Pitchford

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Fine motor skills have long been recognised as an important foundation for development in other domains. However, more precise insights into the role of fine motor skills, and their relationships to other skills in mediating early educational achievements, are needed to support the development of optimal educational interventions. We explored concurrent relationships between two components of fine motor skills, Fine Motor Precision and Fine Motor Integration, and early reading and maths development in two studies with primary school children of low-to-mid socio-economic status in the U.K. Two key findings were revealed. First, despite being in the first two years of primary school education, significantly better performance was found in reading compared to maths across both studies. This may reflect the protective effects of recent national-level interventions to promote early literacy skills in young children in the U.K. that have not been similarly promoted for maths. Second, fine motor skills were a better predictor of early maths ability than they were of early reading ability. Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that fine motor skills did not significantly predict reading ability when verbal short-term memory was taken into account. In contrast, Fine Motor Integration remained a significant predictor of maths ability, even after the influence of non-verbal IQ had been accounted for. These results suggest that fine motor skills should have a pivotal role in educational interventions designed to support the development of early mathematical skills.

Fine Motor Skills Predict Maths Ability Better than They Predict Reading Ability in the Early Primary School Years

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Pitchford, Nicola J.; Papini, Chiara; Outhwaite, Laura A.; Gulliford, Anthea

2016-01-01

Fine motor skills have long been recognized as an important foundation for development in other domains. However, more precise insights into the role of fine motor skills, and their relationships to other skills in mediating early educational achievements, are needed to support the development of optimal educational interventions. We explored concurrent relationships between two components of fine motor skills, Fine Motor Precision and Fine Motor Integration, and early reading and maths development in two studies with primary school children of low-to-mid socio-economic status in the UK. Two key findings were revealed. First, despite being in the first 2 years of primary school education, significantly better performance was found in reading compared to maths across both studies. This may reflect the protective effects of recent national-level interventions to promote early literacy skills in young children in the UK that have not been similarly promoted for maths. Second, fine motor skills were a better predictor of early maths ability than they were of early reading ability. Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that fine motor skills did not significantly predict reading ability when verbal short-term memory was taken into account. In contrast, Fine Motor Integration remained a significant predictor of maths ability, even after the influence of non-verbal IQ had been accounted for. These results suggest that fine motor skills should have a pivotal role in educational interventions designed to support the development of early mathematical skills. PMID:27303342

Fine Motor Skills Predict Maths Ability Better than They Predict Reading Ability in the Early Primary School Years.

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Pitchford, Nicola J; Papini, Chiara; Outhwaite, Laura A; Gulliford, Anthea

2016-01-01

Fine motor skills have long been recognized as an important foundation for development in other domains. However, more precise insights into the role of fine motor skills, and their relationships to other skills in mediating early educational achievements, are needed to support the development of optimal educational interventions. We explored concurrent relationships between two components of fine motor skills, Fine Motor Precision and Fine Motor Integration, and early reading and maths development in two studies with primary school children of low-to-mid socio-economic status in the UK. Two key findings were revealed. First, despite being in the first 2 years of primary school education, significantly better performance was found in reading compared to maths across both studies. This may reflect the protective effects of recent national-level interventions to promote early literacy skills in young children in the UK that have not been similarly promoted for maths. Second, fine motor skills were a better predictor of early maths ability than they were of early reading ability. Hierarchical multiple regression revealed that fine motor skills did not significantly predict reading ability when verbal short-term memory was taken into account. In contrast, Fine Motor Integration remained a significant predictor of maths ability, even after the influence of non-verbal IQ had been accounted for. These results suggest that fine motor skills should have a pivotal role in educational interventions designed to support the development of early mathematical skills.

Mathematics ability and related skills in preschoolers born very preterm.

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Hasler, Holly M; Akshoomoff, Natacha

2017-12-12

Children born very preterm (VPT) are at risk for academic, behavioral, and/or emotional problems. Mathematics is a particular weakness and better understanding of the relationship between preterm birth and early mathematics ability is needed, particularly as early as possible to aid in early intervention. Preschoolers born VPT (n = 58) and those born full term (FT; n = 29) were administered a large battery of measures within 6 months of beginning kindergarten. A multiple-mediation model was utilized to characterize the difference in skills underlying mathematics ability between groups. Children born VPT performed significantly worse than FT-born children on a measure of mathematics ability as well as full-scale IQ, verbal skills, visual-motor integration, phonological awareness, phonological working memory, motor skills, and executive functioning. Mathematics was significantly correlated with verbal skills, visual-motor integration, phonological processing, and motor skills across both groups. When entered into the mediation model, verbal skills, visual-motor integration, and phonological awareness were significant mediators of the group differences. This analysis provides insights into the pre-academic skills that are weak in preschoolers born VPT and their relationship to mathematics. It is important to identify children who will have difficulties as early as possible, particularly for VPT children who are at higher risk for academic difficulties. Therefore, this model may be used in evaluating VPT children for emerging difficulties as well as an indicator that if other weaknesses are found, an assessment of mathematics should be conducted.

Improvement of metacognitive skills and students’ reasoning ability through problem-based learning

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Haryani, S.; Masfufah; Wijayati, N.; Kurniawan, C.

2018-03-01

The aim of this research is to know the influence of PBL application to the improvement of metacognitive skill and students’ reasoning ability on Constanta solubility product (Ksp). The research used mix method with concurrent triangulation strategy and pretest-posttest control group design. Metacognitive skills are known from the results of written tests and questionnaires with N-Gain analysis, t-test, whereas reasoning ability is known from observations and interviews with descriptive analysis. The results showed that the N-Gain effect of PBL on metacognitive skills is 0,59 with medium category and N-Gain value of PBL influence on reasoning ability is 0.71 with the high category. The steps in the PBL affect the metacognitive skills and can train learners to develop their reasoning skills in the solving problems.

Spatial abilities and technical skills performance in health care: a systematic review.

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Langlois, Jean; Bellemare, Christian; Toulouse, Josée; Wells, George A

2015-11-01

The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between spatial abilities and technical skills performance in health care in beginners and to compare this relationship with those in intermediate and autonomous learners. Search criteria included 'spatial abilities' and 'technical skills'. Keywords related to these criteria were defined. A literature search was conducted to 20 December, 2013 in Scopus (including MEDLINE) and in several databases on EBSCOhost platforms (CINAHL Plus with Full Text, ERIC, Education Source and PsycINFO). Citations were obtained and reviewed by two independent reviewers. Articles related to retained citations were reviewed and a final list of eligible articles was determined. Articles were assessed for quality using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network-50 assessment instrument. Data were extracted from articles in a systematic way. Correlations between spatial abilities test scores and technical skills performance were identified. A series of 8289 citations was obtained. Eighty articles were retained and fully reviewed, yielding 36 eligible articles. The systematic review found a tendency for spatial abilities to be negatively correlated with the duration of technical skills and positively correlated with the quality of technical skills performance in beginners and intermediate learners. Pooled correlations of studies were -0.46 (p = 0.03) and -0.38 (95% confidence interval [CI] -0.53 to -0.21) for duration and 0.33 (95% CI 0.20-0.44) and 0.41 (95% CI 0.26-0.54) for quality of technical skills performance in beginners and intermediate learners, respectively. However, correlations between spatial abilities test scores and technical skills performance were not statistically significant in autonomous learners. Spatial abilities are an important factor to consider in selecting and training individuals in technical skills in health care. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The skills related to the early reading acquisition in Spain and Peru.

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Sellés, Pilar; Ávila, Vicenta; Martínez, Tomás; Ysla, Liz

2018-01-01

This paper deals with the skills related to the early reading acquisition in two countries that share language. Traditionally on reading readiness research there is a great interest to find out what factors affect early reading ability, but differ from other academic skills that affect general school learnings. Furthermore, it is also known how the influence of pre-reading variables in two countries with the same language, affect the development of the reading. On the other hand, several studies have examined what skills are related to reading readiness (phonological awareness, alphabetic awareness, naming speed, linguistic skills, metalinguistic knowledge and basic cognitive processes), but there are no studies showing whether countries can also influence the development of these skills.Our main objective in this study was to establish whether there were differences in the degree of acquisition of these skills between Spanish (119 children) and Peruvian (128 children), five years old children assessed in their own countries and after controlling Economic, Social and Cultural Status (ESCS). The results show that there are significant differences in the degree of acquisition of these skills between these two samples. It's especially relevant, in these results, that the main predictor in a regression study was the country of origin, explaining a higher percentage of variance than other variables such as age differences, in months, or gender. These findings corroborate the results obtained in other studies with migrant population.

Music Abilities and Experiences as Predictors of Error-Detection Skill.

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Brand, Manny; Burnsed, Vernon

1981-01-01

This study examined the predictive validity of previous music abilities and experiences of skill in music error detection among undergraduate instrumental music education majors. Results indicated no statistically significant relationships which suggest that the ability to detect music errors may exist independently of other music abilities.…

An Examination of Prereading Exercises: Recommendations for Form and Instruction on the Comprehension of Written Instructional Material.

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Campbell, John Joseph

This study investigated the effects of prereading exercises on the comprehension of written instructional material. The subjects were 210 community college freshmen who were required to enroll in a developmental reading course. All of the subjects had scored below the eighth percentile on the national norms of the Davis Reading Test. The subjects…

Writing-Reading Relationships: Effectiveness of Writing Activities As Pre-Reading Tasks to Enhance L2 Inferential Reading Comprehension

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Thilina Indrajie Wickramaarachchi

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The study examines the interaction between reading and writing processes in general and more specifically the impact of pre-reading tasks incorporating writing tasks (referred to as “prw tasks” in helping the development of inferential reading comprehension. A sample of 70 first year ESL students of the University of Kelaniya were initially selected with one group (experimental group engaging in “prw tasks” while the other group (control group performing the tasks without a pre-reading component. The intervention was for 6 sessions (one hour in each session. At the end of each session, the performance of the two groups was measured and the test scores were analyzed using the data analysis package SPSS to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. The results indicated that the experimental group had significantly performed better than the control group which indicated the effectiveness of the prw tasks in improving reading comprehension.

Ability-versus skill-based assessment of emotional intelligence.

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Bradberry, Travis R; Su, Lac D

2006-01-01

Emotional intelligence has received an intense amount of attention in leadership circles during the last decade and continuing debate exists concerning the best method for measuring this construct. This study analyzed leader emotional intelligence scores, measured via skill and ability methodologies, against leader job performance. Two hundred twelve employees from three organizations participated in this study. Scores on the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal, a skill-based assessment, were positively, though not significantly, correlated with scores on the MSCEIT, an ability-based assessment of emotional intelligence. Scores on the MSCEIT did not have a significant relationship with job performance in this study, whereas, scores on the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal had a strong link to leader job performance. The four subcomponents of the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal were examined against job performance. Relationship management was a stronger predictor of leader job performance than the other three subcomponents. Social awareness was the single emotional intelligence skill that did not have a significant link to leader job performance. Factor analyses yielded a two-component model of emotional intelligence encompassing personal and social competence, rather than confirmation of a four-part taxonomy.

Abilities and skills as factors explaining the differences in women entrepreneurship

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Salvador Manzanera-Román

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This study takes part of the project Women and entrepreneurship from a competence perspective and aims to investigate the role of skills and abilities in explaining the women entrepreneurship. In this sense, it works on the idea that women entrepreneurs have specific competences, understood as the sum of skills and abilities, that characterize and determine the type of female entrepreneurship (typology, sector, size, innovation, creativity. Methodologically, it worked from a qualitative approach, supported by conducting semi-structured interviews of men and women from different socio-economic and business profiles. From an inductive and interpretive discursive analysis, it can be concluded that businessmen and businesswomen agree to grant several skills and abilities to women entrepreneurs, although there are significant differences between the perceptions of women and men, subsisting some gender stereotypes in defining the profile of women entrepreneurs.

THE EFFECT MODEL INQUIRY TRAINING MEDIA AND LOGICAL THINKING ABILITY TO STUDENT’S SCIENCE PROCESS SKILL

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Dahrim Pohan

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of the research is to analyz : student’s science process skill using inquiry training learning model is better than konvesional learning.Student’s science process skill who have logical thinking ability above average are better than under average,and the interaction between inquiry training media and logical thinking ability to increase student’s science process skill.The experiment was conducted in SMP 6 Medan as population and class VII-K and VII-J were chosen as sample through cluster random sampling.Science prosess skill used essay test and logical thinking used multiple choice as instrument.Result of the data was analyzed by using two ways ANAVA.Result show that : student’s science process skill using inquiry training learning model is better than konvesional learning,student’s science process skill who logical thinking ability above average are better than under average and the interaction between inquiry training learning model media and logical thinking ability to increase student’s science process skill.

The impact of development o f the special coordination abilities on the general skill ability for table tennis juniors under 12 years old

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Shawkat Gaber Radwan

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Indicates each of Muhama d Allawi (2002, Essam Abdul Khaliq (2003, and Walf Droge (2002 that the coordination abilities are closely related to the development of technical motor skills, and that pra ctitioner athletic activity which determines the quality of this abilities should be developed, where the player can not master the technical skills in the special activity in case lack of special coordination abilities for this activity. Both Manf red Must er (1986, Jürgen Schmicker (2000, Wolfgang and others (2000 and Wohlgefahrt, Karlheinz (2004 refers that the special coordination abilities for table tennis include each of: 1 - The motor adaptation and adjustment ability, 2 - The ability to differentiat e , 3 - reaction speed ability, 4 - orientation ability, 5 - balance ability, 6 - coupling ability, 7 - The ability to sense the rhythm. The aim of this study is design training program to development the special coordination abilities of table tennis and identi fies the impact of this program on the general skill ability for table tennis juniors under 12 years old. The researcher used the experimental method into two groups one experimental and the other control group the strength of each of them is 8 of table te nnis juniors in Ismailia city in Egypt. The duration of the program is three months, three training units a week the duration of each training unit is 90 minutes. The most important results of this study was the training program led to improvement the spec ial coordination abilities of table tennis for the experimental group, which led to high level of the general skill ability in table tennis for the experimental group more than the control group .

Adapting lessons of Slovene for the first year pupils who can read

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Grdadolnik, Špela

2016-01-01

Literacy is one of the basic abilities of people, which is reliving integrational of individuals in society through different point of view (Pečjak, 2010). However, achieving broadly developing literacy, especially reading literacy, is long-term process, which is proceeding from child’s birth to the end of his schooling systematically (Grosman, 2007). The child could develop pre-reading abilities and skills in preschool period at stimulative domestic environment and at kindergarten and conseq...

Acquisition of Dental Skills in Preclinical Technique Courses: Influence of Spatial and Manual Abilities

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Schwibbe, Anja; Kothe, Christian; Hampe, Wolfgang; Konradt, Udo

2016-01-01

Sixty years of research have not added up to a concordant evaluation of the influence of spatial and manual abilities on dental skill acquisition. We used Ackerman's theory of ability determinants of skill acquisition to explain the influence of spatial visualization and manual dexterity on the task performance of dental students in two…

Critical Reading Skills and Translation Ability of Thai EFL Students: Pragmatic, Syntactic, and Semantic Aspects

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Sriwantaneeyakul, Suttawan

2018-01-01

Translation ability requires many language skills to produce an accurate and complete text; however, one important skill, critical reading in the research, has been neglected. This research, therefore, employed the explanatory sequential mixed method to investigate the differences in Thai-English translation ability between students with a high…

Motor Skill Abilities in Toddlers with Autistic Disorder, Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified, and Atypical Development

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Matson, Johnny L.; Mahan, Sara; Fodstad, Jill C.; Hess, Julie A.; Neal, Daniene

2010-01-01

Motor skills were assessed in 397 toddlers, and it was demonstrated that atypically developing toddlers exhibited significantly greater motor skill abilities than toddlers with autistic disorder. No significant difference on gross or fine motor skill abilities were found between atypically developing toddlers and toddlers with pervasive…

Involving Young People in Polish and Lithuanian Social Enterprises by Fostering Entrepreneurial Skills and Abil-ities as Entrepreneurial Opportunity at University

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Jolita Greblikaite

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Objective: The paper aims to analyse theoretically and empirically the development of social entrepreneurship in Poland and Lithuania, emphasizing the development of appropriate skills and abilities gained at university as entrepreneurial opportunity. Research Design & Methods: The research undertaken for the purposes of the paper is based on a literature review and empirical research partly devoted to a situational analysis of social entrepreneurship in Poland, as well as a pilot survey of target groups pertaining to the entrepreneurial skills and abilities as entrepreneurial opportunity of Lithuanian and Polish students as potential social entrepreneurs. Findings: The main research findings imply that despite the existence of entrepreneurial opportunity as education at university, social entrepreneurship is increasingly important in Poland. Overall support is needed for the creation of social enterprises and attracting young people to them. Empirical research based on Lithuanian and Polish students’ perception of acquiring entrepreneurial skills and abilities at university can be entrepreneurial opportunity for social entrepreneurship. Implications & Recommendations: Implementing further research in the field, as empirical this research was just a pilot one. Research can be developed by taking into account more respondents in both countries. Contribution & Value Added: The study provides empirical evidence entrepreneurial skills and abilities gained/developed at university are a possible entrepreneurial opportunity for exploiting and creating social enterprises.

Pharmacy executive leadership issues and associated skills, knowledge, and abilities.

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Meadows, Andrew B; Maine, Lucinda L; Keyes, Elizabeth K; Pearson, Kathy; Finstuen, Kenn

2005-01-01

To identify challenges that current and future pharmacy executives are facing or will face in the future and to define what skills, knowledge, and abilities (SKAs) are required to successfully negotiate these challenges. Delphi method for executive decision making. Civilian pharmacy profession. 110 pharmacists who graduated from the GlaxoSmithKline Executive Management Program for Pharmacy Leaders. Two iterations of the Delphi method for executive decision making separated by an expert panel content analysis. Round 1--participants were asked to identify five major issues they believed to be of greatest importance to pharmacy leaders in the next 5-10 years and name specific SKAs that might be needed by future leaders to successfully deal with those issues. An expert panel reviewed the issues, classified issues into specific domains, and titled each domain. Round 2-participants rated the SKAs on a 7-point scale according to their individual assessment of importance in each domain. For Delphi rounds 1 and 2, response rates were 21.8% and 18.2%, respectively. More than 100 total issue statements were identified. The expert panel sorted the issues into five domains: management and development of the pharmacy workforce, pharmacy finance, total quality management of work-flow systems, influences on the practice of pharmacy, and professional pharmacy leadership. Five of the top 15 SKAs-and all four highest ranked items--came from the professional pharmacy leadership domain, including ability to see the big picture, ability to demonstrate the value of pharmacy services, ability to lead and manage in an ethical manner, and skills for influencing an organization's senior leadership. Through successful integration of communication skills, critical thinking, and problem solving techniques, future public-sector pharmacy executives will be better equipped to effectively position their organizations and the profession for the challenges that lie ahead.

Effects of Musical Aptitude, Academic Ability, Music Experience, and Motivation on Aural Skills.

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Harrison, Carole S.; And Others

1994-01-01

Reports on a study of 142 college music theory students on the influence of musical aptitude, academic ability, music experience, and motivation on the development of aural skills. Finds that musical aptitude had the largest effect on performance and motivation for music did not affect aural skills performance. (CFR)

Conservation Abilities, Visuospatial Skills, and Numerosity Processing Speed: Association With Math Achievement and Math Difficulties in Elementary School Children.

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Lambert, Katharina; Spinath, Birgit

The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations between elementary school children's mathematical achievement and their conservation abilities, visuospatial skills, and numerosity processing speed. We also assessed differences in these abilities between children with different types of learning problems. In Study 1 ( N = 229), we investigated second to fourth graders and in Study 2 ( N = 120), third and fourth graders. Analyses revealed significant contributions of numerosity processing speed and visuospatial skills to math achievement beyond IQ. Conservation abilities were predictive in Study 1 only. Children with math difficulties showed lower visuospatial skills and conservation abilities than children with typical achievement levels and children with reading and/or spelling difficulties, whereas children with combined difficulties explicitly showed low conservation abilities. These findings provide further evidence for the relations between children's math skills and their visuospatial skills, conservation abilities, and processing speed and contribute to the understanding of deficits that are specific to mathematical difficulties.

Using ICT to foster (pre)reading and writing skills in young children

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Voogt, Joke; McKenney, Susan

2008-01-01

This study examines how technology can support the development of emergent reading and writing skills in four- to five-year-old children. The research was conducted with PictoPal, an intervention which features a software package that uses images and text in three main activity areas: reading,

Predicting Early Reading Skills from Pre-Reading Measures of Dorsal Stream Functioning

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Kevan, Alison; Pammer, Kristen

2009-01-01

It is well documented that good reading skills may be dependent upon adequate dorsal stream processing. However, the degree to which dorsal stream deficits play a causal role in reading failure has not been established. This study used coherent motion and visual frequency doubling to examine whether dorsal stream sensitivity measured before the…

Evaluating a nursing communication skills training course: The relationships between self-rated ability, satisfaction, and actual performance.

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Mullan, Barbara A; Kothe, Emily J

2010-11-01

Effective communication is a vital component of nursing care, however, nurses often lack the skills to communicate with patients, carers and other health care professionals. Communication skills training programs are frequently used to develop these skills. However, there is a paucity of data on how best to evaluate such courses. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the relationship between student self rating of their own ability and their satisfaction with a nurse training course as compared with an objective measure of communication skills. 209 first year nursing students completed a communication skills program. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and associations between measures were investigated. Paired samples t-tests showed significant improvement in self-rated ability over the course of the program. Students generally were very satisfied with the course which was reflected in both qualitative and quantitative measures. However, neither self-rated ability nor satisfaction was significantly correlated with the objective measure of performance, but self-rated ability and satisfaction were highly correlated with one another. The importance of these findings is discussed and implications for nurse education are proposed. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigating Predictors of Spelling Ability for Adults with Low Literacy Skills

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Talwar, Amani; Cote, Nicole Gilbert; Binder, Katherine

2014-01-01

This study examined whether the spelling abilities of adults with low literacy skills could be predicted by their phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness. Sixty Adult Basic Education (ABE) students completed several literacy tasks. It was predicted that scores on phonological and orthographic tasks would explain variance in…

The Effect of Higher Order Thinking Skill Instruction on EFL Reading Ability

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Nava Nourdad

2018-05-01

Full Text Available This quantitative and quasi-experimental study dealt with the effect of the teaching higher order thinking (HOT on the reading comprehension ability of foreign language learners. Since reading ability plays a crucial role in learners’ education, it is language teachers’ mission to be aware of the useful and beneficial strategies to improve their students’ reading comprehension ability. Considering the fruitful results of applying HOT skills in education, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of their instruction on students’ reading comprehension ability. To achieve the objectives of the study, a group of 236 male and female university students majoring in various fields but all taking General English course was selected by convenience sampling. They were randomly assigned into two groups of control and experimental. PET test was applied to homogenize the participants of the two study groups. The study followed pre-test, treatment, post-test design. While the experimental group followed a nine-session treatment on strategies of HOT, the control group was instructed through conventional method determined by the course book. The results of independent samples t-test revealed the positive effect of teaching HOT skills on improving reading comprehension ability of adult EFL learners. Pedagogical implications of these findings for language learners, language teachers, course book developers, and educational policy makers are discussed.

The Role of Reading Skills on Reading Comprehension Ability of Turkish EFL Students

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Ebru Kaya

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Reading is a part of our daily lives. It is performed both for pleasure and information. Reading skills are important for the individuals since they foster comprehension in reading. If the students do not have knowledge of reading skills, they cannot be expected to be successful readers. Thus, they cannot achieve the level of comprehension required to pass exams in their own departments. For this reason, reading skills should be taught in universities for the students to be able to cope with comprehension problems. This case study aims to find out whether or not reading skills has a role on the reading comprehension ability of Turkish EFL students. This study is both a qualitative and a quantitative study which lasted for a duration of 14 weeks. Two groups were selected (experimental and control among prep classes at Kahramanmaraş Sütçü Imam University. Both groups were administered a pre-test and questionnaire at the beginning of the study to find out if they were aware of reading skills. In addition, 10 students were chosen randomly for interview. During the study, reading skills were infused into the curriculum through designing lesson plans in accordance with the language content and topics for level C students, as determined by the Common European Language Framework. The lessons required the students to use reading skills before, during, and post reading. At the end of the study, the same questionnaire was re-administered. The students were given the post-test and then interviewed. The quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. The obtained data revealed that the students enhanced their comprehension ability provided that they were taught to use reading skills.

Examining the relationship between critical-thinking skills and decision-making ability of emergency medicine students.

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Heidari, Mohammad; Ebrahimi, Parvin

2016-10-01

Critical-thinking ability would enable students to think creatively and make better decisions and makes them make a greater effort to concentrate on situations related to clinical matters and emergencies. This can bridge the gap between the clinical and theoretical training. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to examine the relationship between critical-thinking ability and decision-making skills of the students of Emergency Medicine. This descriptive and analytical research was conducted on all the students of medical emergency students ( n = 86) in Shahrekord, Iran. The demographic information questionnaire, the California Critical Thinking Skills Test, and a decision-making researcher-made questionnaire were used to collect data. The data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 using descriptive and analytical statistical tests and Pearson's correlation coefficient. The results of the present study indicate that the total mean score for the critical thinking was 8.32 ± 2.03 and for decision making 8.66 ± 1.89. There is a significant statistical relationship between the critical-thinking score and decision-making score ( P critical-thinking skills and decision-making ability are essential for medical emergency professional competence, the results of this study show that these skills are poor among the students.

Expatriate Assignments: Understanding the Skill, Ability, Personality, and Behavioral Requirements of Working Abroad

OpenAIRE

Shin, Shung J.; Morgeson, Frederick P.; Campion, Michael A.

2003-01-01

It is often assumed that adjustment to the local working environment is essential for expatriate assignments. As such, it is surprising there is little empirical research identifying how skill, ability, and personality requirements might differ between expatriate and domestic jobs and how cultural values are related to expatriate behaviors. In a large sample of professionals (N = 1,312) working in comparable jobs in 156 different countries, we found higher social and perceptual skill requirem...

Acquiring psychomotor skills in operative dentistry: do innate ability and motivation matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Suksudaj, N; Townsend, G C; Kaidonis, J; Lekkas, D; Winning, T A

2012-02-01

The acquisition of psychomotor skills is a key competence in the practice of dentistry, and innate abilities and motivation have been shown to influence motor performance. However, the explicit integration of these factors into the design of research projects about skill acquisition in dentistry has been limited. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive analysis of how dental students' abilities and motivation affected their performance in an operative task. A longitudinal study with two cohorts of dental students was conducted in laboratory classes forming part of an operative technique course. A range of standardised psychometric tests was used to assess different abilities before completing a cavity preparation on Frasaco teeth. This was followed immediately by completion of an Intrinsic Motivation Inventory. Low but statistically significant correlations (P<0.05) were found between dental performance and psychomotor ability (r=0.22), and also dental performance and motivation (r=0.19). A significant difference (P<0.05) was found in the grades obtained for the cavity preparation exercise in one cohort between students with higher levels of psychomotor ability compared with those with lower levels (Tracing scores) (P<0.05). No significant differences in grades obtained for the cavity preparation exercise were found between students with higher and lower levels of motivation. Both innate psychomotor ability and motivation showed only weak positive associations with dental performance on cavity preparation exercises. Our study suggests that student-related factors only provide limited information to explain differences in performance or to be useful as specific predictors of future performance by individuals. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Comparing levels of physical ability and basketball skills of girls in Prague and outsider of Prague

OpenAIRE

Tesaříková, Linda

2017-01-01

The diploma thesis comparing the level of physical abilities and basketball skills of girls in basketball and basketball outfits in Prague and abroad outlines a short history of both world and Czech basketball, the current organization of basketball in the Czech Republic, age specificities of children aged 11, stage of sports training in basketball, Ability. The practical part deals with the question of the level of motor skills of girls at the age of 11, the question of the level of basketba...

Calculation and word problem-solving skills in primary grades - Impact of cognitive abilities and longitudinal interrelations with task-persistent behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Jõgi, Anna-Liisa; Kikas, Eve

2016-06-01

Primary school math skills form a basis for academic success down the road. Different math skills have different antecedents and there is a reason to believe that more complex math tasks require better self-regulation. The study aimed to investigate longitudinal interrelations of calculation and problem-solving skills, and task-persistent behaviour in Grade 1 and Grade 3, and the effect of non-verbal intelligence, linguistic abilities, and executive functioning on math skills and task persistence. Participants were 864 students (52.3% boys) from 33 different schools in Estonia. Students were tested twice - at the end of Grade1 and at the end of Grade 3. Calculation and problem-solving skills, and teacher-rated task-persistent behaviour were measured at both time points. Non-verbal intelligence, linguistic abilities, and executive functioning were measured in Grade 1. Cross-lagged structural equation modelling indicated that calculation skills depend on previous math skills and linguistic abilities, while problem-solving skills require also non-verbal intelligence, executive functioning, and task persistence. Task-persistent behaviour in Grade 3 was predicted by previous problem-solving skills, linguistic abilities, and executive functioning. Gender and mother's educational level were added as covariates. The findings indicate that math skills and self-regulation are strongly related in primary grades and that solving complex tasks requires executive functioning and task persistence from children. Findings support the idea that instructional practices might benefit from supporting self-regulation in order to gain domain-specific, complex skill achievement. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Pre-Service Class Teacher' Ability in Solving Mathematical Problems and Skills in Solving Daily Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Aljaberi, Nahil M.; Gheith, Eman

2016-01-01

This study aims to investigate the ability of pre-service class teacher at University of Petrain solving mathematical problems using Polya's Techniques, their level of problem solving skills in daily-life issues. The study also investigates the correlation between their ability to solve mathematical problems and their level of problem solving…

RELATION BETWEEN LATENT SPECIFIC MOTOR ABILITIES AND SITUATION MOTOR SKILLS WITH VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS AGED FROM 16 TO 17

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Rabit Veseli

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The game of volleyball with its dynamic character is present in the world of the sport with permanent development and growing popularity and fans. Volleyball is part of a pollystructural complex sports activities. It is performed on a ground of a relatively small size (18 x 9 meters and is a kind of game that requires of players a high level of advanced motoric abilities (speed, strength, endurance, a fast rate of visual reaction, explosivity, as well as specific motoric skills (precision etc.. Scientific conclusion as well as the growing number of conducted researches in the very game, have a real contribution to its modern development and level of popularity. Situation-motoric skills make a significant dimension in the structure of volleyball game. The subject of the research is specific-motoric abilities and situation-motoric skills of 52 volleyball players aged from 16 to 17. The basic goal of the research is to establish the effect of specific-motoric abilities on situation-motoric skills of volleyball players in latent space. In order to assess the specific-motoric abilities 9 tests are used, and to assess the situation-motoric skills 3 precision tests are used. The results obtained from the 12 applied tests are worked out through the basic statistic parameters. Through component factor analysis 3 latent specific-motoric dimensions are isolated as well as one situation-motoric dimension. By regressive analysis there is established a low but statistically significant relation between the criterion and predictor latent dimensions. That confirms the dependence and relation between the specific-motoric abilities and situation-motoric skills. Researches in the fi eld of similar questions have been conducted by the following authors: Jurko et al., 2013 and Nešić, et al., 2011.

Profile of mathematical reasoning ability of 8th grade students seen from communicational ability, basic skills, connection, and logical thinking

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Sumarsih; Budiyono; Indriati, D.

2018-04-01

This research aims to understand the students’ weaknesses in mathematical reasoning ability in junior secondary school. A set of multiple choice tests were used to measure this ability involve components mathematical communication, basic skills, connection, and logical thinking. A total of 259 respondents were determined by stratified cluster random sampling. Data were analyzed using one-way Anova test with Fobs = 109.5760 and F = 3.0000. The results show that students’ ability from schools with high National Exam in mathematics category was the best and followed by medium and low category. Mathematical connection is the most difficult component performed by students. In addition, most students also have difficulty in expressing ideas and developing logical arguments.

Do writing and storytelling skill influence assessment of reflective ability in medical students' written reflections?

Science.gov (United States)

Aronson, Louise; Niehaus, Brian; DeVries, Charlie D; Siegel, Jennifer R; O'Sullivan, Patricia S

2010-10-01

Increasingly, students are asked to write reflections as part of their medical education, but some question the influence of other factors on the evaluation of these reflections. In this pilot study, the investigators determined whether scores from a validated rubric to measure reflective ability were affected by irrelevant variance resulting from writing or storytelling ability. Students in clerkships wrote reflections on professionalism. All were given identical prompts, with half receiving additional structured guidelines on reflection. Sixty reflections, 30 from each group, were randomly chosen and scored for reflection, writing, and storytelling by trained raters using validated rubrics. There was no correlation between reflection and either writing (r = 0.049, P = .35) or storytelling (r = 0.14, P = .13). The guidelines increased reflection, but not writing or storytelling scores. Reflection is a distinct construct unaffected by learners' writing or storytelling skills. These findings support reflective ability as a distinct skill.

Video gaming enhances psychomotor skills but not visuospatial and perceptual abilities in surgical trainees.

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Kennedy, A M; Boyle, E M; Traynor, O; Walsh, T; Hill, A D K

2011-01-01

There is considerable interest in the identification and assessment of underlying aptitudes or innate abilities that could potentially predict excellence in the technical aspects of operating. However, before the assessment of innate abilities is introduced for high-stakes assessment (such as competitive selection into surgical training programs), it is essential to determine that these abilities are stable and unchanging and are not influenced by other factors, such as the use of video games. The aim of this study was to investigate whether experience playing video games will predict psychomotor performance on a laparoscopic simulator or scores on tests of visuospatial and perceptual abilities, and to examine the correlation, if any, between these innate abilities. Institutional ethical approval was obtained. Thirty-eight undergraduate medical students with no previous surgical experience were recruited. All participants completed a self-reported questionnaire that asked them to detail their video game experience. They then underwent assessment of their psychomotor, visuospatial, and perceptual abilities using previously validated tests. The results were analyzed using independent samples t tests to compare means and linear regression curves for subsequent analysis. Students who played video games for at least 7 hours per week demonstrated significantly better psychomotor skills than students who did not play video games regularly. However, there was no difference on measures of visuospatial and perceptual abilities. There was no correlation between psychomotor tests and visuospatial or perceptual tests. Regular video gaming correlates positively with psychomotor ability, but it does not seem to influence visuospatial or perceptual ability. This study suggests that video game experience might be beneficial to a future career in surgery. It also suggests that relevant surgical skills may be gained usefully outside the operating room in activities that are not

Patterned-string tasks: relation between fine motor skills and visual-spatial abilities in parrots.

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Anastasia Krasheninnikova

Full Text Available String-pulling and patterned-string tasks are often used to analyse perceptual and cognitive abilities in animals. In addition, the paradigm can be used to test the interrelation between visual-spatial and motor performance. Two Australian parrot species, the galah (Eolophus roseicapilla and the cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus, forage on the ground, but only the galah uses its feet to manipulate food. I used a set of string pulling and patterned-string tasks to test whether usage of the feet during foraging is a prerequisite for solving the vertical string pulling problem. Indeed, the two species used techniques that clearly differed in the extent of beak-foot coordination but did not differ in terms of their success in solving the string pulling task. However, when the visual-spatial skills of the subjects were tested, the galahs outperformed the cockatiels. This supports the hypothesis that the fine motor skills needed for advanced beak-foot coordination may be interrelated with certain visual-spatial abilities needed for solving patterned-string tasks. This pattern was also found within each of the two species on the individual level: higher motor abilities positively correlated with performance in patterned-string tasks. This is the first evidence of an interrelation between visual-spatial and motor abilities in non-mammalian animals.

The importance of job autonomy, cognitive ability, and job-related skill for predicting role breadth and job performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgeson, Frederick P; Delaney-Klinger, Kelly; Hemingway, Monica A

2005-03-01

Role theory suggests and empirical research has found that there is considerable variation in how broadly individuals define their jobs. We investigated the theoretically meaningful yet infrequently studied relationships between incumbent job autonomy, cognitive ability, job-related skill, role breadth, and job performance. Using multiple data sources and multiple measurement occasions in a field setting, we found that job autonomy, cognitive ability, and job-related skill were positively related to role breadth, accounting for 23% of the variance in role breadth. In addition, role breadth was positively related to job performance and was found to mediate the relationship between job autonomy, cognitive ability, job-related skill, and job performance. These results add to our understanding of the factors that predict role breadth, as well as having implications for how job aspects and individual characteristics are translated into performance outcomes and the treatment of variability in incumbent reports of job tasks.

Critical Thinking Skills of an Eighth Grade Male Student with High Mathematical Ability in Solving Problem

Science.gov (United States)

Ismail

2018-01-01

This study aims to describe student’s critical thinking skill of grade VIII in solving mathematical problem. A qualitative research was conducted to a male student with high mathematical ability. Student’s critical thinking skill was obtained from a depth task-based interview. The result show that male student’s critical thinking skill of the student as follows. In understanding the problem, the student did categorization, significance decoding, and meaning clarification. In devising a plan he examined his ideas, detected his argument, analyzed his argument and evaluated his argument. During the implementation phase, the skill that appeared were analyzing of the argument and inference skill such as drawing conclusion, deliver alternative thinking, and problem solving skills. At last, in rechecking all the measures, they did self-correcting and self-examination.

An investigation of the impact of selected prereading activities on student content learning through laboratory activities

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Kass, Jesse (Shaya)

This study investigated whether two prereading activities impacted student learning from hands-on science activities. The study was based on constructivist learning theory. Based on the work of Piaget, it was hypothesized that students who activated prior knowledge would learn more from the activities. Based on the work of Vygotsky it was hypothesized that students who talk more and write more would learn more from the activity. The K-W-L chart and anticipation guide strategies were used with eighth grade students at Graves Middle School in Whittier, California before learning about levers and convection currents. D. M. Ogle (1986) created the three-column K-W-L chart to have students activate prior knowledge. In the first column, the students write what they already know about a subject, in the second column, the students write what they want to know about the subject, and the students complete the third column after learning about a subject by writing answers to the questions that they asked in the second column. Duffelmeyer (1994) created the anticipation guide based on Herber's (1978) reasoning guide. In the anticipation guide, the teacher creates three or four sentences that convey the major ideas of the topic and the students either agree or disagree with the statements. After learning about the topic, students revisit their answers and decide if they were correct or incorrect and they must defend their choices. This research used the Solomon (1947) four-square design and compared both the experimental groups to a control group that simply discussed the concepts before completing the activity. The research showed no significant difference between the control group and either of the treatment groups. The reasons for the lack of significant differences are considered. It was hypothesized that since the students were unfamiliar with the prereading activities and did not have much experience with using either writing-to-learn or talking-to-learn strategies, the

EFFECTS OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY LEARNING MODEL AND LOGICAL THINKING ABILITY OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS

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M. Akhyar Lubis

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to analyze whether the results of science process skills of students. Who are taught by the teaching model scientific inquiry better than conventional learning, to analyze whether the results of science process skills of students? Who can think logically high is better than the students who have the potential to think logically low, analyze whether there is an interaction between scientific inquiry learning model with logical thinking skills to students' science process skills. This research is a quasi-experimental design with the two-group pretest-posttest design. The study population is all students of class X SMA Negeri 4 Padangsidimpuan semester II academic year 2016/2017. The The research instrument consists of two types: science process skills instrument consists of 10 questions in essay form which has been declared valid and reliable, and the instrument ability to think logically in the form of multiple choice is entirely groundless and complements (combination. The resulting data, analyzed by using two path Anava. The results showed that science process skills of students who are taught by the teaching model scientific inquiry better than conventional learning. Science process skills of students who can think logically high are better than the students who can think logically low, and there is an interaction between learning model scientific inquiry and conventional learning with the ability to think logically to improve students' science process skills.

Una Aproximación al Procesamiento Fonológico de los Niños Prelectores: Conciencia Fonológica, Memoria Verbal a Corto Plazo y Denominación An Approach to the Phonological Processing in Prereading Spanish Children: Phonological Awareness, Verbal Short-Term Memory and Naming

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Lucía Herrera

2005-11-01

Full Text Available Este trabajo trata de profundizar en el conocimiento de las habilidades de memoria y conciencia fonológicas de los niños prelectores para determinar los factores tempranos que se relacionan con el aprendizaje de la lectura. Otro objetivo es analizar si las habilidades de conciencia fonológica, en particular las de segmentación silábica, se ven afectadas por factores relacionados con las características propias del sistema lingüístico español. Se utilizó una muestra de 95 niños de educación infantil a los que se midió su conocimiento de las letras y distintas habilidades fonológicas. Los resultados ponen de manifiesto que la tarea de segmentación silábica es la que mejor realizan los niños y que todas las pruebas fonológicas correlacionan con el conocimiento prelector. Por otra parte, las características fonológicas del lenguaje (tipo de palabra y de sílaba afectan a las habilidades de segmentación. En la discusión se considera el valor discriminatorio de las diferentes pruebas, su conexión con el conocimiento de las letras y se apunta la posibilidad de que las unidades intrasilábicas pertinentes al español sean distintas a las del inglés.The main goal of the present work is the understanding of the memory and phonological awareness skills of prereading children to determine the early factors that relate to reading acquisition. Another goal is to analyze whether phonological awareness skills, syllabic segmentation in particular, are affected by the specific characteristics of the Spanish language system. A sample of 95 kindergarten children was used. The children's knowledge of the letters and some phonological skills were measured. The results show that the highest scores were obtained in the syllabic segmentation task. Moreover, all the phonological tests correlate with the prereading knowledge of letters. We also find that the phonological characteristics of the language (i.e., word and syllabe types also affect

Semantic abilities in children with pragmatic language impairment: the case of picture naming skills

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ketelaars, M.P.; Hermans, S.I.A.; Cuperus, J.; Jansonius, K.; Verhoeven, L.

2011-01-01

Purpose: The semantic abilities of children with pragmatic language impairment (PLI) are subject to debate. The authors investigated picture naming and definition skills in 5-year-olds with PLI in comparison to typically developing children. Method: 84 children with PLI and 80 age-matched typically

The Relationship between Critical Thinking Abilities and Classroom Management Skills of High School Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Demirdag, Seyithan

2015-01-01

High school teachers experience difficulties while providing effective teaching approaches in their classrooms. Some of the difficulties are associated with the lack of classroom management skills and critical thinking abilities. This quantitative study includes non-random selection of the participants and aims to examine critical thinking…

Integration of interactive three-dimensional image post-processing software into undergraduate radiology education effectively improves diagnostic skills and visual-spatial ability

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Rengier, Fabian, E-mail: fabian.rengier@web.de [University Hospital Heidelberg, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Häfner, Matthias F. [University Hospital Heidelberg, Department of Radiation Oncology, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Unterhinninghofen, Roland [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Anthropomatics, Department of Informatics, Adenauerring 2, 76131 Karlsruhe (Germany); Nawrotzki, Ralph; Kirsch, Joachim [University of Heidelberg, Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Im Neuenheimer Feld 307, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Kauczor, Hans-Ulrich [University Hospital Heidelberg, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Giesel, Frederik L. [University of Heidelberg, Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Im Neuenheimer Feld 307, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); University Hospital Heidelberg, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany)

2013-08-15

Purpose: Integrating interactive three-dimensional post-processing software into undergraduate radiology teaching might be a promising approach to synergistically improve both visual-spatial ability and radiological skills, thereby reducing students’ deficiencies in image interpretation. The purpose of this study was to test our hypothesis that a hands-on radiology course for medical students using interactive three-dimensional image post-processing software improves radiological knowledge, diagnostic skills and visual-spatial ability. Materials and methods: A hands-on radiology course was developed using interactive three-dimensional image post-processing software. The course consisted of seven seminars held on a weekly basis. The 25 participating fourth- and fifth-year medical students learnt to systematically analyse cross-sectional imaging data and correlated the two-dimensional images with three-dimensional reconstructions. They were instructed by experienced radiologists and collegiate tutors. The improvement in radiological knowledge, diagnostic skills and visual-spatial ability was assessed immediately before and after the course by multiple-choice tests comprising 64 questions each. Wilcoxon signed rank test for paired samples was applied. Results: The total number of correctly answered questions improved from 36.9 ± 4.8 to 49.5 ± 5.4 (p < 0.001) which corresponded to a mean improvement of 12.6 (95% confidence interval 9.9–15.3) or 19.8%. Radiological knowledge improved by 36.0% (p < 0.001), diagnostic skills for cross-sectional imaging by 38.7% (p < 0.001), diagnostic skills for other imaging modalities – which were not included in the course – by 14.0% (p = 0.001), and visual-spatial ability by 11.3% (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The integration of interactive three-dimensional image post-processing software into undergraduate radiology education effectively improves radiological reasoning, diagnostic skills and visual-spatial ability, and thereby

Integration of interactive three-dimensional image post-processing software into undergraduate radiology education effectively improves diagnostic skills and visual-spatial ability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rengier, Fabian; Häfner, Matthias F.; Unterhinninghofen, Roland; Nawrotzki, Ralph; Kirsch, Joachim; Kauczor, Hans-Ulrich; Giesel, Frederik L.

2013-01-01

Purpose: Integrating interactive three-dimensional post-processing software into undergraduate radiology teaching might be a promising approach to synergistically improve both visual-spatial ability and radiological skills, thereby reducing students’ deficiencies in image interpretation. The purpose of this study was to test our hypothesis that a hands-on radiology course for medical students using interactive three-dimensional image post-processing software improves radiological knowledge, diagnostic skills and visual-spatial ability. Materials and methods: A hands-on radiology course was developed using interactive three-dimensional image post-processing software. The course consisted of seven seminars held on a weekly basis. The 25 participating fourth- and fifth-year medical students learnt to systematically analyse cross-sectional imaging data and correlated the two-dimensional images with three-dimensional reconstructions. They were instructed by experienced radiologists and collegiate tutors. The improvement in radiological knowledge, diagnostic skills and visual-spatial ability was assessed immediately before and after the course by multiple-choice tests comprising 64 questions each. Wilcoxon signed rank test for paired samples was applied. Results: The total number of correctly answered questions improved from 36.9 ± 4.8 to 49.5 ± 5.4 (p < 0.001) which corresponded to a mean improvement of 12.6 (95% confidence interval 9.9–15.3) or 19.8%. Radiological knowledge improved by 36.0% (p < 0.001), diagnostic skills for cross-sectional imaging by 38.7% (p < 0.001), diagnostic skills for other imaging modalities – which were not included in the course – by 14.0% (p = 0.001), and visual-spatial ability by 11.3% (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The integration of interactive three-dimensional image post-processing software into undergraduate radiology education effectively improves radiological reasoning, diagnostic skills and visual-spatial ability, and thereby

Experience, Spatial Abilities, and Chess Skill.

Science.gov (United States)

Horgan, Dianne D.; Morgan, David

A study examined chess expertise in 113 children in grades 1-12 who played competitive chess. Specific attention was given to the relationship between experience, as measured by number of games played, and skill, as measured by national chess ratings. For the top 15 players, emphasis was placed on relationships among chess skill, spatial…

IMPROVING THE STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION ABILITY THROUGH SQ3R STRATEGY

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Sabarun Sabarun

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The study is aimed at improving the students’ reading comprehension ability in reading English class using SQ3R strategy, which refers to a reading technique covering a five step system developed by Francis P Robinson. Each of the steps stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review. The study employed Classroom Action Research design. The subjects of the study were four of third semester students of the English Department of Palangka Raya State Islamic College of 2009/ 2010 academic year. The study was carried out in two cycles by following the four steps of action research: planning, implementing, observing, and reflecting. Each cycle consisted of one meeting focusing pre-reading, whilst reading and post reading. The data of the study are taken from the results of observation checklists, field notes, and the students’ reading score. The result of the study showed that SQ3R strategy could improve the students’ reading comprehension ability. It could be seen from the improvement of the students’ reading scores. The students were actively involved in reading class and they were highly motivated to attend the SQ3R reading class. Keywords: improving, SQ3R strategy, reading comprehension ability

The differentiated approach in forming swimming abilities and skills of students

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Nikolskiy A.U.

2010-09-01

Full Text Available It is considered the directions of organization and methods of conducting of lessons with students. In experiment took part students of the 17-20 years old. The criteria of forming of typological educational groups are presented on the initial stage of teaching swimming of students. The degree of connection of the hereditarily conditioned swimming coordinating inclination is certain with the indexes of formed swimming abilities and skills of students. It is well-proven that a process of capture motive habits is under unreserved influence of conservative heredity of individual.

The Relationship between Emotion Recognition Ability and Social Skills in Young Children with Autism

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Williams, Beth T.; Gray, Kylie M.

2013-01-01

This study assessed the relationship between emotion recognition ability and social skills in 42 young children with autistic disorder aged 4-7 years. The analyses revealed that accuracy in recognition of sadness, but not happiness, anger or fear, was associated with higher ratings on the Vineland-II Socialization domain, above and beyond the…

Integration of interactive three-dimensional image post-processing software into undergraduate radiology education effectively improves diagnostic skills and visual-spatial ability.

Science.gov (United States)

Rengier, Fabian; Häfner, Matthias F; Unterhinninghofen, Roland; Nawrotzki, Ralph; Kirsch, Joachim; Kauczor, Hans-Ulrich; Giesel, Frederik L

2013-08-01

Integrating interactive three-dimensional post-processing software into undergraduate radiology teaching might be a promising approach to synergistically improve both visual-spatial ability and radiological skills, thereby reducing students' deficiencies in image interpretation. The purpose of this study was to test our hypothesis that a hands-on radiology course for medical students using interactive three-dimensional image post-processing software improves radiological knowledge, diagnostic skills and visual-spatial ability. A hands-on radiology course was developed using interactive three-dimensional image post-processing software. The course consisted of seven seminars held on a weekly basis. The 25 participating fourth- and fifth-year medical students learnt to systematically analyse cross-sectional imaging data and correlated the two-dimensional images with three-dimensional reconstructions. They were instructed by experienced radiologists and collegiate tutors. The improvement in radiological knowledge, diagnostic skills and visual-spatial ability was assessed immediately before and after the course by multiple-choice tests comprising 64 questions each. Wilcoxon signed rank test for paired samples was applied. The total number of correctly answered questions improved from 36.9±4.8 to 49.5±5.4 (pability by 11.3% (psoftware into undergraduate radiology education effectively improves radiological reasoning, diagnostic skills and visual-spatial ability, and thereby even diagnostic skills for imaging modalities not included in the course. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Is the association between various emotion-regulation skills and mental health mediated by the ability to modify emotions? Results from two cross-sectional studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Berking, Matthias; Poppe, Christine; Luhmann, Maike; Wupperman, Peggilee; Jaggi, Verena; Seifritz, Erich

2012-09-01

In order to clarify mechanisms underlying the association between emotion regulation and psychopathology, we tested whether the ability to modify negative emotions mediates the associations of other emotion-regulation skills with psychopathological symptoms in two studies. The first study included 151 college students; the second included 121 psychiatric inpatients. Bootstrapping-enhanced mediation analyses were utilized to assess associations between self-reports of emotion-regulation skills and psychopathology, as well as potential mediation effects. In both samples, the ability to modify emotions completely mediated the association between symptoms and skills for most skills, but not for the skill of accepting/tolerating negative emotions. Major limitations include the use of a cross-sectional design as well as exclusive use of self-report data. The ability to modify negative emotions may be the common pathway by which many emotion-regulation skills exert their influence on mental health; however, the skill of accepting/tolerating negative emotions may be beneficial to mental health regardless of whether or not it facilitates modification of emotions. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Role of PS Ability and RC Skill in Predicting Growth Trajectories of Mathematics Achievement

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Vista, Alvin

2016-01-01

There are relatively few studies in Australia and South-East Asian region that combine investigating models of math growth trajectories with predictors such as reasoning ability and reading comprehension skills. Math achievement is one of the major components of overall academic achievement and it is important to determine what factors (especially…

Assessing the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities of Public Health Professionals in Big City Governmental Health Departments.

Science.gov (United States)

McGinty, Meghan D; Castrucci, Brian C; Rios, Debra M

2017-12-13

To identify essential knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) for and characterize gaps in KSAs of professionals working in large, urban health departments. A survey was disseminated to potentially eligible supervisors within 26 of 28 health departments in the largest, most urban jurisdictions in the country. A supervisor was eligible to participate if he or she supervised at least 1 staff member whose highest level of education was a master's degree. A total of 645 eligible supervisors participated in the workforce survey for a response rate of 27.1% and cooperation rate of 55.2%. Supervisors were asked to rate the importance of KSAs to their masters-level staffs' work and indicate their staffs' proficiency. Fifty-eight percent of supervisors reported supervising staff with a master of public health/master of science in public health degree. More than 30% of supervisors indicated that all of the 30 KSAs were essential. Four of the top 10 KSAs rated as essential by supervisors pertained to the ability to communicate. The top skills gaps perceived by supervisors were professional staffs' ability to apply quality improvement concepts to their work (38.0%), understanding of the political system (37.7%), and ability to anticipate changes (33.8%). Public health practitioners receive training in methods, theories, and evidence-based approaches, yet further investment in the workforce is necessary to advance population health. A focus should be placed developing strategic skills rather than advancing narrow specialties. Findings from this research can guide the creation and implementation of training curricula and professional development programs offered within local health departments or targeted to their staff, as well as satisfaction of accreditation requirements. By focusing on building strategic skills, we can ensure a public health workforce that is equipped with the KSAs necessary to practice Public Health 3.0 and leaders who are able to serve as their communities

Involving Young People in Polish and Lithuanian Social Enterprises by Fostering Entrepreneurial Skills and Abil-ities as Entrepreneurial Opportunity at University

OpenAIRE

Jolita Greblikaite; Włodzimierz Sroka; Neringa Gerulaitiene

2016-01-01

Objective: The paper aims to analyse theoretically and empirically the development of social entrepreneurship in Poland and Lithuania, emphasizing the development of appropriate skills and abilities gained at university as entrepreneurial opportunity. Research Design & Methods: The research undertaken for the purposes of the paper is based on a literature review and empirical research partly devoted to a situational analysis of social entrepreneurship in Poland, as well as a pilot survey ...

Prepharmacy predictors of success in pharmacy school: grade point averages, pharmacy college admissions test, communication abilities, and critical thinking skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, D D; Bond, C A

2001-07-01

Good admissions decisions are essential for identifying successful students and good practitioners. Various parameters have been shown to have predictive power for academic success. Previous academic performance, the Pharmacy College Admissions Test (PCAT), and specific prepharmacy courses have been suggested as academic performance indicators. However, critical thinking abilities have not been evaluated. We evaluated the connection between academic success and each of the following predictive parameters: the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) score, PCAT score, interview score, overall academic performance prior to admission at a pharmacy school, and performance in specific prepharmacy courses. We confirmed previous reports but demonstrated intriguing results in predicting practice-based skills. Critical thinking skills predict practice-based course success. Also, the CCTST and PCAT scores (Pearson correlation [pc] = 0.448, p critical thinking skills in pharmacy practice courses and clerkships. Further study is needed to confirm this finding and determine which PCAT components predict critical thinking abilities.

Conservation Abilities, Visuospatial Skills, and Numerosity Processing Speed: Association with Math Achievement and Math Difficulties in Elementary School Children

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, Katharina; Spinath, Birgit

2018-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the associations between elementary school children's mathematical achievement and their conservation abilities, visuospatial skills, and numerosity processing speed. We also assessed differences in these abilities between children with different types of learning problems. In Study 1 (N = 229), we…

Metacognitive skills and students' motivation toward chemical equilibrium problem solving ability: A correlational study on students of XI IPA SMAN 2 Banjarmasin

Science.gov (United States)

Muna, Khairiatul; Sanjaya, Rahmat Eko; Syahmani, Bakti, Iriani

2017-12-01

The demand for students to have metacognitive skills and problem solving ability can be seen in the core competencies of the 2013 curriculum. Metacognitive skills are the skills which affect students' success in solving problems depending on students' motivation. This explains the possibility of the relationship between metacognition and motivation in affecting students' achievement including problem solving. Due to the importance of metacognitive skills to solve problems and the possible relationship between metacognition and motivation, a study to find the relationship among the variables is necessary to conduct, particularly on chemistry problem solving. This one shot case study using quantitative method aimed to investigate the correlation between metacognitive skills and motivation toward problem solving ability focusing on chemical equilibrium. The research population was students of grade XI of majoring Science of Banjarmasin Public High Scool 2 (XI IPA SMAN 2 Banjarmasin) with the samples of 33 students obtained by using purposive sampling technique. The research data were collected using test and non-test and analyzed using multiple regression in SPSS 21. The results of this study showed that (1) the students' metacognitive skills and motivation correlated positively with coefficient of +0.450 to problem solving ability on chemical equilibrium: (2) inter-variables of students' motivation (self-efficacy, active learning strategies, science/chemistry learning value, performance goal, achievement goal, and learning environment stimulations) correlated positively to metacognitive skills with the correlation coefficients of +0.580, +0.537, +0.363, +0.241, +0.516, and +0.271, respectively. Based on the results, it is necessary for teachers to implement learning which develops students' metacognitive skills and motivation, such as learning with scientific approach. The implementation of the learning is also supposed to be complemented with the use of learning

Growth of reading skills in children with a history of specific language impairment: the role of autistic symptomatology and language-related abilities.

Science.gov (United States)

St Clair, Michelle C; Durkin, Kevin; Conti-Ramsden, Gina; Pickles, Andrew

2010-03-01

Individuals with a history of specific language impairment (SLI) often have subsequent problems with reading skills, but there have been some discrepant findings as to the developmental time course of these skills. This study investigates the developmental trajectories of reading skills over a 9-year time-span (from 7 to 16 years of age) in a large sample of individuals with a history of SLI. Relationships among reading skills, autistic symptomatology, and language-related abilities were also investigated. The results indicate that both reading accuracy and comprehension are deficient but that the development of these skills progresses in a consistently parallel fashion to what would be expected from a normative sample of same age peers. Language-related abilities were strongly associated with reading skills. Unlike individuals with SLI only, those with SLI and additional autistic symptomatology had adequate reading accuracy but did not differ from the individuals with SLI only in reading comprehension. They exhibited a significant gap between what they could read and what they could understand when reading. These findings provide strong evidence that individuals with SLI experience continued, long-term deficits in reading skills from childhood to adolescence.

Skill level, Cognitive Ability, Unemployment and Welfare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Birthe

2004-01-01

-biasedtechnological shocks increase unemployment, this may explain why themarket it-self cannot respond to this by making it sufficiently attractiveto acquire skills. Consequently, the trade-off in-between subsidizing educationand thereby reducing unemployment and optimizing welfare maybe eliminated. We analyse this issue...... in a simple educational model andnext in a search equilibrium model including a skill choice decision.Keywords: Education, subsidies, efficiency, unemployment.JEL codes: I20, J64....

Is there a relationship between ultrasound scanning ability (sonography) and visuospatial perception or psychomotor ability?

Science.gov (United States)

Hagen, Suzanne; Gallagher, Helen

2016-01-01

Background Competent sonography is thought to include a unique combination of skills not yet fully defined. This presents challenges when recruiting the correct people for training. Skills are thought to include visuospatial perception and psychomotor skills, but little is known about the relationship between these aptitudes and scanning ability. This feasibility study explored such relationships, to identify evaluation techniques which may improve selection and recruitment. Methods A sample of 30 experienced ultrasound practitioners and 30 trainees at commencement and on completion of training were administered eight tests. Results No significant relationships between experienced practitioners’ or trainees’ visuospatial abilities or psychomotor abilities and scanning abilities were found. Results demonstrated that two of the visuospatial perception tests were not influenced by training and therefore, may be measuring the innate skills of ultrasound practitioners. As ultrasound practitioners had not performed any of the tests previously, ranges of scores for each of the eight tests were established for this group. This included measures for psychomotor skills which added to the current body of knowledge for sonography. Conclusions Although no significant correlations were found between participants’ visuospatial perception or psychomotor abilities and scanning ability, performance on the Obstetric Structured Assessment Test (combining all the skills required) pre-training gave the best indication of post-training scanning performance. The Obstetric Structured Assessment Test may prove a useful tool for initial assessment of potential trainees but abilities will require further investigation. PMID:27847536

RELATIONS BETWEEN MOTORIC ABILITIES AND SPECIFIC MOTORIC BASKETBALL SKILLS IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dejan Milenković

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine the relation between motoric and specific motoric basketball skills in physical education classes for elementary school students. The sample was taken from a population of boys and girls in four elementary schools in Niš. Boys (66 and girls (58, have been students of elementary school, 10 years old and all of them have been attending regular physical education classes three times a week. For the assessment of motoric abilities, a set of 12 motoric tests was applied: Explosive strength: squat jump, squat jump arms swing and drop jump; Speed: 20m running from a low start, orbiting hand and orbiting leg; Coordination: jumping over the horizontal rope, envelope test and figure „8“ with bending; Accuracy: darts, shooting with the ball at horizontal target and stiletto. For the assessment of specific motoric basketball skills a set of six tests was applied: elevations precision of ball passing with two hands, horizontal precision of  ball passing with two hands, orbiting ball around the body, orbiting ball through the legs (figure „8“, dribble around a central circle of the basketball court and dribble two "small eights" around two adjacent circles of basketball court. In data processing canonical correlation and regression analysis were used. The results showed that motoric abilities significantly contributed to success of specific motoric tests performance both with boys and also with girls.

Self-Regulation Abilities and Spanish-Speaking Preschoolers' Vocabulary and Letter-Word Skills in Spanish and English

Science.gov (United States)

Palermo, Francisco; Mikulski, Ariana M.; Conejo, L. Diego

2017-01-01

Research Findings: This study examined the heterogeneity in Spanish-speaking children's (N = 117; M age = 53 months; SD = 5 months; 57% boys) vocabulary and letter-word skills in English and Spanish after one year of preschool and the extent to which early self-regulation abilities (i.e., executive function and effortful control) were associated…

Effects of case-based learning on communication skills, problem-solving ability, and learning motivation in nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Moon-Sook; Park, Hyung-Ran

2015-06-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of case-based learning on communication skills, problem-solving ability, and learning motivation in sophomore nursing students. In this prospective, quasi-experimental study, we compared the pretest and post-test scores of an experimental group and a nonequivalent, nonsynchronized control group. Both groups were selected using convenience sampling, and consisted of students enrolled in a health communication course in the fall semesters of 2011 (control group) and 2012 (experimental group) at a nursing college in Suwon, South Korea. The two courses covered the same material, but in 2011 the course was lecture-based, while in 2012, lectures were replaced by case-based learning comprising five authentic cases of patient-nurse communication. At post-test, the case-based learning group showed significantly greater communication skills, problem-solving ability, and learning motivation than the lecture-based learning group. This finding suggests that case-based learning is an effective learning and teaching method. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Effect of Ability Grouping in Reciprocal Teaching Technique of Collaborative Learning on Individual Achievements and Social Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Sumadi; Degeng, I Nyoman S.; Sulthon; Waras

2017-01-01

This research focused on effects of ability grouping in reciprocal teaching technique of collaborative learning on individual achievements dan social skills. The results research showed that (1) there are differences in individual achievement significantly between high group of homogeneous, middle group of homogeneous, low group of homogeneous,…

Early dynamics of white matter deficits in children developing dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanderauwera, Jolijn; Wouters, Jan; Vandermosten, Maaike; Ghesquière, Pol

2017-10-01

Neural anomalies have been demonstrated in dyslexia. Recent studies in pre-readers at risk for dyslexia and in pre-readers developing poor reading suggest that these anomalies might be a cause of their reading impairment. Our study goes one step further by exploring the neurodevelopmental trajectory of white matter anomalies in pre-readers with and without a familial risk for dyslexia (n=61) of whom a strictly selected sample develops dyslexia later on (n=15). We collected longitudinal diffusion MRI and behavioural data until grade 3. The results provide evidence that children with dyslexia exhibit pre-reading white matter anomalies in left and right long segment of the arcuate fasciculus (AF), with predictive power of the left segment above traditional cognitive measures and familial risk. Whereas white matter differences in the left AF seem most strongly related to the development of dyslexia, differences in the left IFOF and in the right AF seem driven by both familial risk and later reading ability. Moreover, differences in the left AF appeared to be dynamic. This study supports and expands recent insights into the neural basis of dyslexia, pointing towards pre-reading anomalies related to dyslexia, as well as underpinning the dynamic character of white matter. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Effects of working memory and reading acceleration training on improving working memory abilities and reading skills among third graders.

Science.gov (United States)

Nevo, Einat; Breznitz, Zvia

2014-01-01

Working memory (WM) plays a crucial role in supporting learning, including reading. This study investigated the influence of reading acceleration and WM training programs on improving reading skills and WM abilities. Ninety-seven children in third grade were divided into three study groups and one control group. The three study groups each received a different combination of two training programs: only reading acceleration, WM followed by reading acceleration, and reading acceleration followed by WM. All training programs significantly improved reading skills and WM abilities. Compared with the control group, the group trained with only the reading acceleration program improved word accuracy, whereas the groups trained with a combination of reading and WM programs improved word and pseudo-word fluency. The reading-acceleration-alone group and the WM-program-followed-by-reading-acceleration group improved phonological complex memory. We conclude that a training program that combines a long reading acceleration program and a short WM program is the most effective for improving the abilities most related to scholastic achievement.

Knowledge, skills, and abilities for key radiation protection positions at DOE facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

This document provides detailed qualification criteria for contractor key radiation protection personnel. Although federal key radiation protection positions are also identified, qualification standards for federal positions are provided in DOE O 360.1 and the DOE Technical Qualifications Program. Appendices B and D provide detailed listings for knowledge, skills, and abilities for contractor and DOE federal key radiation protection positions. This information may be used in developing position descriptions and individual development plans. Information provided in Appendix C may be useful in developing performance measures and assessing an individual's performance in his or her specific position. Additionally, Federal personnel may use this information to augment their Office/facility qualification standards under the Technical Qualifications Program

The Effects of a Social and Talent Development Intervention for High Ability Youth with Social Skill Difficulties

Science.gov (United States)

Foley-Nicpon, Megan; Assouline, Susan G.; Kivlighan, D. Martin; Fosenburg, Staci; Cederberg, Charles; Nanji, Michelle

2017-01-01

Contemporary models highlight the need to cultivate cognitive and psychosocial factors in developing domain-specific talent. This model was the basis for the current study where high ability youth with self-reported social difficulties (n = 28, 12 with a coexisting disability) participated in a social skills and talent development intervention…

Associations between skill perceptions and young children's actual fundamental movement skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Liong, Grace H E; Ridgers, Nicola D; Barnett, Lisa M

2015-04-01

Given that children with low movement skill competence engage in less physical activity, it is important to understand how children's perceptions relate to actual movement competence. This study examined relationships between (i) children's self-perception and objective assessments of their movement skills (object control and locomotor) and (ii) parents' perceptions of the children's movement skills and objective assessment. Children's skill perceptions were assessed using the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence for Young Children. Parent perceptions of their child's skills were assessed using a modified version of this instrument. The Test of Gross Motor Development-2nd edition assessed children's skills objectively. Participants were 136 Australian children (51% boys; M=6.5 yr., SD=1.1) and 133 parents. Regression analyses (by sex) examined the relationship between perceptions and children's scores for actual skilled performance. Boys' perceptions were associated with their actual object control ability. Parents accurately perceived boys' object control ability and girls' locomotor ability, but not the reverse. This suggests interventions aiming to improve children's movement skills could target parents and be designed to teach parents how to recognize good and poor skill performance in their children.

Employability and the UseMyAbility Online Tool: Raising Sports Students' Awareness to Inform the Development of Their Skills and Attributes

Science.gov (United States)

Breeze, Nick; Barber, Lerverne; Chapman, Val; Beaman-Evans, Charlotte; Beeching, Kelvin

2016-01-01

The collaborative project UseMyAbility (UMA) sought to reduce discrimination and enhance disabled graduates' employability through equipping them with the skills to match employability skills and attributes. An outcome from the project, completed in 2011, was a web-based tool which gave students advice on how to improve their employability.…

TAPS: an automated tool for identification of skills, knowledges, and abilities using natural language task description

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jorgensen, C.C.; Carter, R.J.

1986-01-01

A prototype, computer-based tool (TAPS) has been developed to aid training system developers in identifying skills, knowledges, and abilities (SKAs) during task analysis. TAPS uses concepts of flexible pattern matching to evaluate English descriptions of job behaviors and to recode them as SKA lists. This paper addresses the rationale for TAPS and describes its design including SKA definitions and task analysis logic. It also presents examples of TAPS's application

TAPS - An automated tool for identification of skills, knowledges, and abilities using natural language task description

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jorgensen, C.C.; Carter, R.J.

1986-01-01

A prototype, computer-based tool (TAPS) has been developed to aid training system developers in identifying skills, knowledges, and abilities (SKAs) during task analysis. TAPS uses concepts of flexible pattern matching to evaluate English descriptions of job behaviors and to recode them as SKA lists. This paper addresses the rationale for TAPS and describes its design including SKA definitions and task analysis logic. It also presents examples of TAPS's application

IMPROVING THE HARD SKILLS AND SOFT SKILLS OF MADRASAH TEACHERS FOR DEALING ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY (AEC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laely Mahmudah

2016-11-01

Full Text Available ASEAN Economic Community (AEC has been started rolling. Market competition, industry, and skilled workers, especially in the field of education are becoming increasingly stringent. Madrasah teachers as the front liners in the education process should improve the quality of human resources. Hard skills and soft skills of madrasah teachers must be improved to deal with the Asean Economic Community (AEC. Hard skills are academic skills that include pedagogic competence and professional competence. How to improve the hard skills is to meet the pedagogic competence (ability to manage learning students and professional competence (the ability to master the learning material is broad and deep. Soft skills is the ability to organize themselves (intrapersonal skills, such as creativity, motivation, and self-contained and the ability to interact with others (interpersonal skills, such as communication, team building and adaptation to maximize performance. Soft skills include personal competence and social competence. Madrasah teachers should be able to change the mindset of a passenger became good driver. Professional madrasah teachers are teachers who have the balanced hard skills and soft skills, which can compete healthily in AEC era.

The Associations among Motor Ability, Social-Communication Skills, and Participation in Daily Life Activities in Children with Low-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, Limor; Moran, Adva; Bart, Orit

2017-01-01

Decreased motor ability is a common feature in autism, leading to the proposal of a motor-social link in autism. The purpose of the study was to assess the contribution of motor abilities and social-communication skills to children's participation in daily activities, among children with low-functioning autism spectrum disorder (LFASD).…

Self-care and mobility skills in children with cerebral palsy, related to their manual ability and gross motor function classifications.

Science.gov (United States)

Öhrvall, Ann-Marie; Eliasson, Ann-Christin; Löwing, Kristina; Ödman, Pia; Krumlinde-Sundholm, Lena

2010-11-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the acquisition of self-care and mobility skills in children with cerebral palsy (CP) in relation to their manual ability and gross motor function. Data from the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) self-care and mobility functional skill scales, the Manual Ability Classification System (MACS), and the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) were collected from 195 children with CP (73 females, 122 males; mean age 8 y 1 mo; SD 3 y 11 mo; range 3-15 y); 51% had spastic bilateral CP, 36% spastic unilateral CP, 8% dyskinetic CP, and 3% ataxic CP. The percentage of children classified as MACS levels I to V was 28%, 34%, 17%, 7%, and 14% respectively, and classified as GMFCS levels I to V was 46%, 16%, 15%, 11%, and 12% respectively. Children classified as MACS and GMFCS levels I or II scored higher than children in MACS and GMFCS levels III to V on both the self-care and mobility domains of the PEDI, with significant differences between all classification levels (pskills (66%) and that GMFCS was the strongest predictor of mobility skills (76%). A strong correlation between age and self-care ability was found among children classified as MACS level I or II and between age and mobility among children classified as GMFCS level I. Many of these children achieved independence, but at a later age than typically developing children. Children at other MACS and GMFCS levels demonstrated minimal progress with age. Knowledge of a child's MACS and GMFCS level can be useful when discussing expectations of, and goals for, the development of functional skills. © The Authors. Journal compilation © Mac Keith Press 2010.

Narrative Ability of Children With Speech Sound Disorders and the Prediction of Later Literacy Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Wellman, Rachel L.; Lewis, Barbara A.; Freebairn, Lisa A.; Avrich, Allison A.; Hansen, Amy J.; Stein, Catherine M.

2012-01-01

Purpose The main purpose of this study was to examine how children with isolated speech sound disorders (SSDs; n = 20), children with combined SSDs and language impairment (LI; n = 20), and typically developing children (n = 20), ages 3;3 (years;months) to 6;6, differ in narrative ability. The second purpose was to determine if early narrative ability predicts school-age (8–12 years) literacy skills. Method This study employed a longitudinal cohort design. The children completed a narrative retelling task before their formal literacy instruction began. The narratives were analyzed and compared for group differences. Performance on these early narratives was then used to predict the children’s reading decoding, reading comprehension, and written language ability at school age. Results Significant group differences were found in children’s (a) ability to answer questions about the story, (b) use of story grammars, and (c) number of correct and irrelevant utterances. Regression analysis demonstrated that measures of story structure and accuracy were the best predictors of the decoding of real words, reading comprehension, and written language. Measures of syntax and lexical diversity were the best predictors of the decoding of nonsense words. Conclusion Combined SSDs and LI, and not isolated SSDs, impact a child’s narrative abilities. Narrative retelling is a useful task for predicting which children may be at risk for later literacy problems. PMID:21969531

TAPS: an automated tool for identification of skills, knowledges, and abilities using natural language task description

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jorgensen, C.C.; Carter, R.J.

1986-01-01

A prototype, computer-based tool (TAPS) has been developed to aid training system developers in identifying skills, knowledges, and abilities (SKAs) during task analysis. TAPS uses concepts of flexible pattern matching to evaluate English descriptions of job behaviors and to recode them as SKA lists. This paper addresses the rationale for TAPS and describes its design including SKA definitions and task analysis logic. It also presents examples of TAPS's application.

THE BASIC SPECIFICITY OF THE ABILITY OF VARIED ENGLISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUMS TO ENHANCE ENGLISH LEARNERS' CAPACITY TO DEVELOP NECESSARY SKILLS TO COMMUNICATE USING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

OpenAIRE

Michael Wayne Hendershot; Nutprapha K. Dennis; Suchada Chaiwiwattrakul; Ratirot Phiphitphakdee

2017-01-01

Inasmuch as the goal of teaching English to non-native English speakers should be focused on enhancing English learners’ ability to develop skills necessary for efficient and effective use of the English language in communication within their daily lives as well as within the context of educational, employment, governmental, and business related issues, the materials and resources used by the teacher to provide said English learners with enhanced ability to develop necessary skills for the us...

THE APPLICATION OF JIGSAW AND NUMBERED HEADS TOGETHER TECHNIQUES IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN SPEAKING SKILL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siti Aimah

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This research was aimed to investigate how the study of speaking was developed through Jigsaw and Numbered Heads Together techniques and find out the improvement of students’ ability in speaking. For this purpose, 14 students of the second semester students were taken in the academic year of 2012/2013. A classroom action research was conducted in which consisted of two cycles through the stages of planning, action, observation, and reflection. The speaking tests, the observation note, and the questionnaire were taken as the data. The result of this research showed the students’ ability in speaking improved significantly. They were more enthusiastic in joining the class. They could learn together with their team in understanding the material and conveying it to the others well. They were also dared to tell what they wanted to tell the others without any pressuring from anyone else. They tried to snatch away each others in conveying their idea based on the number mentioned by the lecturer. In some cases, they even argued their argumentation attractively. While from the questionnaire which was distributed showed that more than 75% students felt the application of Jigsaw and Numbered Heads Together techniques helped them easily in developing their ability in speaking skill. And more than 80% students agreed those techniques facilitated them on having the accountability in understanding and conveying the material that they had learnt easily to the others. Studying in a team proved that the students enjoyed more in joining the English class. So it is suggested that the English lecturers should use the types of cooperative learning in teaching language skills.

Pharmacy executives: leadership issues and associated skills, knowledge, and abilities in the U.S. Department of Defense.

Science.gov (United States)

Meadows, Andrew B; Finstuen, Kenn; Hudak, Ronald P

2003-01-01

To identify the issues or problems that current and aspiring U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) pharmacy executives will face in the future and to define the skills, knowledge, and abilities (SKAs) required to successfully address these issues. Delphi method for executive decision making. DoD. Ninety-three pharmacists serving in the military grades of lieutenant colonel/commander and colonel/captain, as well as pharmacists selected for promotion to those grades. iterations of the Delphi method for executive decision making separated by an expert panel content analysis. Round 1--participants identified five major issues believed to be of greatest importance to pharmacy executives and reported specific SKAs that might be needed to successfully manage those issues. An expert panel sorted these issues into meaningful domains, then provided an appropriate title for each domain. Round 2--on a 7-point scale, respondents rated the SKA items according to their assessment of how much a future DoD pharmacy executive would need each SKA. Response rates were 44.1% and 46.2% for Delphi rounds 1 and 2, respectively. The first round generated 62 unique issues facing pharmacy executives. The expert panel reviewed and sorted the issues into eight domains and selected an appropriate title for each domain. The domains identified by the panel were human resources, pharmacy operations/business practices, information management and technology, financial resources, formulary management, drug therapy management, pharmacy benefit management, and leadership. During round 2, 73.3% of the top 15 rated SKAs came from the drug therapy management, leadership, and formulary management domains. The three highest-rated SKAs were "ability to see the big picture," "ability to build strong relations with medical staffs," and "skills in both writing and verbal communication." The issues facing future DoD pharmacy executives will require them to expand their clinical abilities as well as their ability to

Workplace skills and the skills gaps related to employee critical thinking ability and science education curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, William A.

In recent years, business and industry have been vocal critics of education. Critics complain the American workforce, particularly young people, are deficient in workplace skills. A survey of 500 randomly selected Ohio businesses was used to determine opinions of respondents related to workplace skills gaps, rising skill levels, and level and type of critical thinking used on the job by all employees and entry-level employees. Four of 18 science outcomes promoted by the Ohio Department of Education had an application in business and these required critical-thinking skills to complete. These four formed the foundation in the survey because they provided a connection between thinking skills required on the Ohio 12 th Grade Proficiency Test and those required on the job. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to identify correlation between responses. The alpha level was p ≤ .05. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify significant (p ≤ .05) relationships between variables as represented by responses. In addition, one version of the Science Section of the Ohio 12th Grade Proficiency Test was analyzed for use of critical thinking using the SCAN's critical-thinking attributes as a standard. There were several findings related to workplace skills and critical thinking. Only 17.1% of respondents indicated dissatisfaction with the basic academic skill level of their employees. A majority (71.1%) of responding businesses perceived a lack of work ethic as more important than deficient academic skills. Only 17.1% of respondents reported the skill level of their entry-level employees was rising. Approximately 1/3 of responding businesses required no critical thinking at all from their entry-level employees. Small businesses were significantly more likely to require higher levels of critical thinking from their entry level employees than larger businesses. Employers who reported rising skill levels in entry-level employees required all of

Balance ability and athletic performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Hrysomallis, Con

2011-03-01

The relationship between balance ability and sport injury risk has been established in many cases, but the relationship between balance ability and athletic performance is less clear. This review compares the balance ability of athletes from different sports, determines if there is a difference in balance ability of athletes at different levels of competition within the same sport, determines the relationship of balance ability with performance measures and examines the influence of balance training on sport performance or motor skills. Based on the available data from cross-sectional studies, gymnasts tended to have the best balance ability, followed by soccer players, swimmers, active control subjects and then basketball players. Surprisingly, no studies were found that compared the balance ability of rifle shooters with other athletes. There were some sports, such as rifle shooting, soccer and golf, where elite athletes were found to have superior balance ability compared with their less proficient counterparts, but this was not found to be the case for alpine skiing, surfing and judo. Balance ability was shown to be significantly related to rifle shooting accuracy, archery shooting accuracy, ice hockey maximum skating speed and simulated luge start speed, but not for baseball pitching accuracy or snowboarding ranking points. Prospective studies have shown that the addition of a balance training component to the activities of recreationally active subjects or physical education students has resulted in improvements in vertical jump, agility, shuttle run and downhill slalom skiing. A proposed mechanism for the enhancement in motor skills from balance training is an increase in the rate of force development. There are limited data on the influence of balance training on motor skills of elite athletes. When the effectiveness of balance training was compared with resistance training, it was found that resistance training produced superior performance results for

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities for the Market Economy: An Investigation of Student Perceptions before and after China's WTO Entry

Science.gov (United States)

Stivers, Bonnie P.; Veliyath, Raj; Joyce, Teresa; Adams, Janet S.

2010-01-01

This exploratory study conducted in the People's Republic of China sought to determine the managerial knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are perceived as important for the Chinese market economy. Questionnaire responses were collected from 145 business students in 2001 (before China's WTO entry) and 141 business students in 2006 (after…

Communication skills in palliative surgery: skill and effort are key.

Science.gov (United States)

Miner, Thomas J

2011-04-01

Excellence as a surgeon requires not only the technical and intellectual ability to effectively take care of surgical disease but also an ability to respond to the needs and questions of patients. This article provides an overview of the importance of communication skills in optimal surgical palliation and offers suggestions for a multidisciplinary team approach, using the palliative triangle as the ideal model of communication and interpersonal skills. This article also discusses guidelines for advanced surgical decision making and outlines methods to improve communication skills. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DEVELOPING LINGUISTIC SKILLS AND ABILITIES IN EMP STUDENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nataša Milosavljević

2012-03-01

Full Text Available English for medical purposes falls within the category of discipline-specific language learning. It is characterized by specific linguistic features and requires specific study that is possible to carry out using specially designed programmes. Reading skill is one way of learning strategy of English for medical purposes. Most often, students use this skill in order to obtain information for some particular topic from the area of medical science, or because they need some sort of instruction in order to carry out certain task. Vocabulary acquisition plays a very important role in EMP teaching. It is achieved best through learning vocabulary in context, rather than in isolation. One of the most important questions in EMP teaching is related to what grammatical constructions should be analysed and emphasised. Some types of these activities would include, for example, asking students to find examples of one particular structure in the text or fill in the blanks with the missing forms such as tenses, passive forms, prepositions, etc. Speaking skill represents productive skill the aim of which is communication. In order for foreign language communication to be suucessful, a student should know linguistic and cultural features of native speakers and follow certain rules and conventions that are not easy to define. It is of crucial importance that during teaching process students develop strategies and techniques that will help them use linguistic structures fluently, apply language in different situations, take part in discussions, and use acquired vocabulary in accurate and precise way.

45 CFR 1308.14 - Eligibility criteria: Learning disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... expression, listening comprehension, pre-reading, pre-writing and pre-mathematics; or (3) The child shows... itself in imperfect ability to listen, think, speak or, for preschool age children, acquire the precursor...

Ineffective ADL skills in women with fibromyalgia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Von Bülow, Cecilie; Amris, Kirstine; la Cour, Karen

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Subgroups of women with fibromyalgia likely show different activity of daily living (ADL) skill deficits. Identifying ineffective ADL skills of significance in the 'typical' woman with fibromyalgia will promote the planning of targeted occupational therapy interventions aiming...... at improving ADL ability. OBJECTIVE: To identify frequently reported ADL skill deficits of significance in subgroups of women with fibromyalgia who have decreased ADL motor ability in combination with decreased or competent ADL process ability. METHOD: Women with fibromyalgia were evaluated with the Assessment...... of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS). If they demonstrated decreased ADL motor ability, the calibrated AMPS raters identified and reported ineffective ADL skills of significance. Descriptive comparisons were made between subgroups displaying either decreased or competent ADL process ability. RESULTS: Moves...

Testing a model of science process skills acquisition: An interaction with parents' education, preferred language, gender, science attitude, cognitive development, academic ability, and biology knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Germann, Paul J.

Path analysis techniques were used to test a hypothesized structural model of direct and indirect causal effects of student variables on science process skills. The model was tested twice using data collected at the beginning and end of the school year from 67 9th- and 10th-grade biology students who lived in a rural Franco-American community in New England. Each student variable was found to have significant effects, accounting for approximately 80% of the variance in science process skills achievement. Academic ability, biology knowledge, and language preference had significant direct effects. There were significant mediated effects by cognitive development, parents' education, and attitude toward science in school. The variables of cognitive development and academic ability had the greatest total effects on science process skills. Implications for practitioners and researchers are discussed.

Classroom Organization and Teacher Stress Predict Learning Motivation in Kindergarten Children

Science.gov (United States)

Pakarinen, Eija; Kiuru, Noona; Lerkkanen, Marja-Kristiina; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Siekkinen, Martti; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2010-01-01

This study examined the extent to which observed teaching practices and self-reported teacher stress predict children's learning motivation and phonological awareness in kindergarten. The pre-reading skills of 1,268 children were measured at the beginning of their kindergarten year. Their learning motivation and phonological awareness were…

Promoting Alphabet Knowledge Using Peer-Mediated Intervention: A Dynamic Duo for Early Literacy Development

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Kathleen I.; Kinley, Hannah L.; Cook, Angela

2017-01-01

One of early childhood teachers' first questions of parents with regard to school readiness is whether the child knows the ABCs (Hyson & Tomlinson, 2014). Crucial pre-reading and writing skills, such as oral language, phonological awareness, print awareness, and alphabet letter recognition, are important to children's cognitive development…

Fine Motor Skills Predict Maths Ability Better than They Predict Reading Ability in the Early Primary School Years

OpenAIRE

Pitchford, Nicola J.; Papini, Chiara; Outhwaite, Laura A.; Gulliford, Anthea

2016-01-01

Fine motor skills have long been recognised as an important foundation for development in other domains. However, more precise insights into the role of fine motor skills, and their relationships to other skills in mediating early educational achievements, are needed to support the development of optimal educational interventions. We explored concurrent relationships between two components of fine motor skills, Fine Motor Precision and Fine Motor Integration, and early reading and maths devel...

Patient safety: numerical skills and drug calculation abilities of nursing students and registered nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

McMullan, Miriam; Jones, Ray; Lea, Susan

2010-04-01

This paper is a report of a correlational study of the relations of age, status, experience and drug calculation ability to numerical ability of nursing students and Registered Nurses. Competent numerical and drug calculation skills are essential for nurses as mistakes can put patients' lives at risk. A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2006 in one United Kingdom university. Validated numerical and drug calculation tests were given to 229 second year nursing students and 44 Registered Nurses attending a non-medical prescribing programme. The numeracy test was failed by 55% of students and 45% of Registered Nurses, while 92% of students and 89% of nurses failed the drug calculation test. Independent of status or experience, older participants (> or = 35 years) were statistically significantly more able to perform numerical calculations. There was no statistically significant difference between nursing students and Registered Nurses in their overall drug calculation ability, but nurses were statistically significantly more able than students to perform basic numerical calculations and calculations for solids, oral liquids and injections. Both nursing students and Registered Nurses were statistically significantly more able to perform calculations for solids, liquid oral and injections than calculations for drug percentages, drip and infusion rates. To prevent deskilling, Registered Nurses should continue to practise and refresh all the different types of drug calculations as often as possible with regular (self)-testing of their ability. Time should be set aside in curricula for nursing students to learn how to perform basic numerical and drug calculations. This learning should be reinforced through regular practice and assessment.

Does the ability to express different emotions predict different indices of physical health? A skill-based study of physical symptoms and heart rate variability.

Science.gov (United States)

Tuck, Natalie L; Adams, Kathryn S; Consedine, Nathan S

2017-09-01

The outward expression of emotion has been frequently associated with better health outcomes, whereas suppressing emotion is thought to contribute to worse physical health. However, work has typically focused on trait expressive tendencies and the possibility that individual differences in the ability to express specific emotions may also be associated with health has not been widely tested. A cross-sectional study of community dwelling adults. One hundred and twenty-eight participants aged 18-88 years completed questionnaires assessing demographics and health status, before attending a testing session in which resting heart rate variability (HRV) was assessed. Participants then completed a performance-based test of expressive regulatory skill in which they were instructed to enhance and suppress their emotional expressions while they watched film clips validated to elicit amusement, sadness, and anger. Participants rated subjective emotional experience before and after each clip, and their degree of expressivity was scored using FACS-based Noldus FaceReader. Missing data resulted in a final sample size of 117. Linear regressions controlling for age, sex, diagnoses, and trait emotion revealed that greater ability to enhance sad expressions was associated with higher HRV while the ability to enhance expressions of joy was associated with lower symptom interference. In parallel models, the ability to flexibly regulate (both enhance and suppress) expressions of joy and sadness was also associated with lower symptom interference. Findings suggest that the ability to regulate expressions of both sadness and joy is associated with health indices even when controlling for trait affect and potential confounds. The present findings offer early evidence that individual differences in the ability to regulate the outward expression of emotion may be relevant to health and suggest that expressive regulatory skills offer a novel avenue for research and intervention. Statement

A comparative study of student-teacher cognitive abilities and skills on evaluation of academic achievement practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shirindokht habibzadeh

2013-06-01

Full Text Available During the past few years, there have been some changes on traditional training methodologies in the world, specially, in elementary schools. Many schools have decided to perform their assessments in elementary schools based on qualitative methods compared with traditional quantitative techniques. This paper performs an empirical investigation to find out whether the new evaluation technique has been able to improve student teacher’s cognitive abilities and skills on evaluation of academic achievement practices. These student-teacher people taught at elementary schools while they also were studying at university. There are two types of questionnaires: The first one measures cognitive capabilities in four categories including levels of learning and educational objectives, designing paper and pencil test, functional test design and analysis and interpretation of results. The second test is associated with measuring functional skills in the evaluation of academic progress. The information were analyzed based on t-student test as well as two-way analysis of variance. The result of t-statistics was significant only for the last item, analysis and interpretation. In addition, the results of ANOVA test have indicated that there were some differences on cognitive capabilities between two methods of assessments but gender did not make any meaningful difference on functional skills.

The Relations between Early Working Memory Abilities and Later Developing Reading Skills: A Longitudinal Study from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade

Science.gov (United States)

Nevo, Einat; Bar-Kochva, Irit

2015-01-01

This study investigated the relations of early working-memory abilities (phonological and visual-spatial short-term memory [STM] and complex memory and episodic buffer memory) and later developing reading skills. Sixty Hebrew-speaking children were followed from kindergarten through Grade 5. Working memory was tested in kindergarten and reading in…

An Anaylsis of Pretest and Post Test Scores of Head Start African American, Hispanic American and European American Students Engaged in an Intensive Emergent Literacy Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Baumgarten, Thomas L.; Minix, Quinella

The Texas Education Agency awarded twenty competitive grants to Head Start programs in the state. The focus of the grants was on emergent literacy and pre-reading skills. Teachers, mentors, and administrators underwent intensive training. To investigate whether children emerged from the grant programs ready to enter school reading, an outside…

Acquiring Psychomotor Skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Padelford, Harold E.

1984-01-01

The author discusses levels of psychomotor skill acquisition: perceiving, motivating, imitating, performing, adapting, and innovating. How these skills interact and how they affect the learner's ability to learn are examined. (CT)

Influence of Writing Ability and Computation Skill on Mathematics Writing

Science.gov (United States)

Powell, Sarah R.; Hebert, Michael A.

2016-01-01

Mathematics standards expect students to communicate about mathematics using oral and written methods, and some high-stakes assessments ask students to answer mathematics questions by writing. Assumptions about mathematics communication via writing include (a) students possess writing skill, (b) students can transfer this writing skill to…

Ambulatory Care Skills: Do Residents Feel Prepared?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denise Bonds

2002-10-01

Full Text Available Objective: To determine resident comfort and skill in performing ambulatory care skills. Methods: Descriptive survey of common ambulatory care skills administered to internal medicine faculty and residents at one academic medical center. Respondents were asked to rate their ability to perform 12 physical exam skills and 6 procedures, and their comfort in performing 7 types of counseling, and obtaining 6 types of patient history (4 point Likert scale for each. Self-rated ability or comfort was compared by gender, status (year of residency, faculty, and future predicted frequency of use of the skill. Results: Residents reported high ability levels for physical exam skills common to both the ambulatory and hospital setting. Fewer felt able to perform musculoskeletal, neurologic or eye exams easily alone. Procedures generally received low ability ratings. Similarly, residents’ comfort in performing common outpatient counseling was also low. More residents reported feeling very comfortable in obtaining history from patients. We found little variation by gender, year of training, or predicted frequency of use. Conclusion: Self-reported ability and comfort for many common ambulatory care skills is low. Further evaluation of this finding in other training programs is warranted.

Young children's non-numerical ordering ability at the start of formal education longitudinally predicts their symbolic number skills and academic achievement in maths.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Patrick A; Morsanyi, Kinga; McCormack, Teresa

2018-01-25

Ordinality is a fundamental feature of numbers and recent studies have highlighted the role that number ordering abilities play in mathematical development (e.g., Lyons et al., ), as well as mature mathematical performance (e.g., Lyons & Beilock, ). The current study tested the novel hypothesis that non-numerical ordering ability, as measured by the ordering of familiar sequences of events, also plays an important role in maths development. Ninety children were tested in their first school year and 87 were followed up at the end of their second school year, to test the hypothesis that ordinal processing, including the ordering of non-numerical materials, would be related to their maths skills both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The results confirmed this hypothesis. Ordinal processing measures were significantly related to maths both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, and children's non-numerical ordering ability in their first year of school (as measured by order judgements for everyday events and the parents' report of their child's everyday ordering ability) was the strongest longitudinal predictor of maths one year later, when compared to several measures that are traditionally considered to be important predictors of early maths development. Children's everyday ordering ability, as reported by parents, also significantly predicted growth in formal maths ability between Year 1 and Year 2, although this was not the case for the event ordering task. The present study provides strong evidence that domain-general ordering abilities play an important role in the development of children's maths skills at the beginning of formal education. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Managers' perceptions of radiographers' skills: current and future needs.

Science.gov (United States)

Akroyd, D; Wold, B

1996-01-01

As the healthcare delivery system changes, it is imperative to assess the skills of practitioners to ensure consistency between educational preparation and work place needs. The purpose of this study was to examine radiology managers' perception of selected workplace skills and new radiography graduates' ability to perform them. A random sample of 1,932 members of the American Healthcare Radiology Administrators (AHRA) received a questionnaire containing 35 skills categorized as basic, intermediate or advanced. Skills were ranked by the magnitude of the difference between managers' rating of importance of each skill and their rating of graduates' ability to perform that skill satisfactorily. In the basic skill area, the four top-ranked skills represented problem-solving ability or critical thinking. Of the five highest-ranked intermediate skills, the top three were patient care skills: venipuncture, taking vital signs and monitoring patient equipment. In the advanced skill area, six skills exhibited high values for the difference between importance and ability. Two of those related to patient care, three were non-technical and the sixth was the ability to perform CT in addition to basic radiography. Employers and educators should work together to seek educational methods that produce radiographers who are better prepared for the fast-changing workplace.

Personal skills and abilities in curriculum development planning for Project Oriented and Problem-Based Learning (POPBL)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moesby, Egon

2005-01-01

In this article, the author is giving examples on an approach to include the personal competences in the initial phase of the planning process for a change towards project organized and problem-based learning ? POPBL. A model is presented on how to have trainees recognize the necessity to include...... professional competences as well as personal competences in a new POPBL based curriculum. The article continues by giving an example of a possible method to be used in the developing of a curriculum where the personal skills and abilities are an active and equally valued as the development of the students...

Evidence for Multiple Rhythmic Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Tierney, Adam; Kraus, Nina

2015-01-01

Rhythms, or patterns in time, play a vital role in both speech and music. Proficiency in a number of rhythm skills has been linked to language ability, suggesting that certain rhythmic processes in music and language rely on overlapping resources. However, a lack of understanding about how rhythm skills relate to each other has impeded progress in understanding how language relies on rhythm processing. In particular, it is unknown whether all rhythm skills are linked together, forming a single broad rhythmic competence, or whether there are multiple dissociable rhythm skills. We hypothesized that beat tapping and rhythm memory/sequencing form two separate clusters of rhythm skills. This hypothesis was tested with a battery of two beat tapping and two rhythm memory tests. Here we show that tapping to a metronome and the ability to adjust to a changing tempo while tapping to a metronome are related skills. The ability to remember rhythms and to drum along to repeating rhythmic sequences are also related. However, we found no relationship between beat tapping skills and rhythm memory skills. Thus, beat tapping and rhythm memory are dissociable rhythmic aptitudes. This discovery may inform future research disambiguating how distinct rhythm competencies track with specific language functions. PMID:26376489

Evidence for Multiple Rhythmic Skills.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Tierney

Full Text Available Rhythms, or patterns in time, play a vital role in both speech and music. Proficiency in a number of rhythm skills has been linked to language ability, suggesting that certain rhythmic processes in music and language rely on overlapping resources. However, a lack of understanding about how rhythm skills relate to each other has impeded progress in understanding how language relies on rhythm processing. In particular, it is unknown whether all rhythm skills are linked together, forming a single broad rhythmic competence, or whether there are multiple dissociable rhythm skills. We hypothesized that beat tapping and rhythm memory/sequencing form two separate clusters of rhythm skills. This hypothesis was tested with a battery of two beat tapping and two rhythm memory tests. Here we show that tapping to a metronome and the ability to adjust to a changing tempo while tapping to a metronome are related skills. The ability to remember rhythms and to drum along to repeating rhythmic sequences are also related. However, we found no relationship between beat tapping skills and rhythm memory skills. Thus, beat tapping and rhythm memory are dissociable rhythmic aptitudes. This discovery may inform future research disambiguating how distinct rhythm competencies track with specific language functions.

The Enhancement of Junior High School Students' Abilities in Mathematical Problem Solving Using Soft Skill-based Metacognitive Learning

OpenAIRE

Murni, Atma; Sabandar, Jozua; S. Kusumah, Yaya; Kartasamita, Bana Goerbana

2013-01-01

The aim of this study is to know the differences of enhancement in mathematical problem solving ability (MPSA) between the students who received soft skill- based metacognitive learning (SSML) with the students who got conventional learning (CL). This research is a quasi experimental design with pretest-postest control group. The population in this study is the students of Junior High School in Pekanbaru city. The sample consist of 135 students, 68 of them are from the high-level...

The measurement of enhancement in mathematical abilities as a result of joint cognitive trainings in numerical and visual- spatial skills: A preliminary study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Agus, M; Mascia, M L; Fastame, M C; Melis, V; Pilloni, M C; Penna, M P

2015-01-01

A body of literature shows the significant role of visual-spatial skills played in the improvement of mathematical skills in the primary school. The main goal of the current study was to investigate the impact of a combined visuo-spatial and mathematical training on the improvement of mathematical skills in 146 second graders of several schools located in Italy. Participants were presented single pencil-and-paper visuo-spatial or mathematical trainings, computerised version of the above mentioned treatments, as well as a combined version of computer-assisted and pencil-and-paper visuo-spatial and mathematical trainings, respectively. Experimental groups were presented with training for 3 months, once a week. All children were treated collectively both in computer-assisted or pencil-and-paper modalities. At pre and post-test all our participants were presented with a battery of objective tests assessing numerical and visuo-spatial abilities. Our results suggest the positive effect of different types of training for the empowerment of visuo-spatial and numerical abilities. Specifically, the combination of computerised and pencil-and-paper versions of visuo-spatial and mathematical trainings are more effective than the single execution of the software or of the pencil-and-paper treatment

The measurement of enhancement in mathematical abilities as a result of joint cognitive trainings in numerical and visual- spatial skills: A preliminary study

Science.gov (United States)

Agus, M.; Mascia, M. L.; Fastame, M. C.; Melis, V.; Pilloni, M. C.; Penna, M. P.

2015-02-01

A body of literature shows the significant role of visual-spatial skills played in the improvement of mathematical skills in the primary school. The main goal of the current study was to investigate the impact of a combined visuo-spatial and mathematical training on the improvement of mathematical skills in 146 second graders of several schools located in Italy. Participants were presented single pencil-and-paper visuo-spatial or mathematical trainings, computerised version of the above mentioned treatments, as well as a combined version of computer-assisted and pencil-and-paper visuo-spatial and mathematical trainings, respectively. Experimental groups were presented with training for 3 months, once a week. All children were treated collectively both in computer-assisted or pencil-and-paper modalities. At pre and post-test all our participants were presented with a battery of objective tests assessing numerical and visuo-spatial abilities. Our results suggest the positive effect of different types of training for the empowerment of visuo-spatial and numerical abilities. Specifically, the combination of computerised and pencil-and-paper versions of visuo-spatial and mathematical trainings are more effective than the single execution of the software or of the pencil-and-paper treatment.

ANALYSIS OF STUDENT CREATIVE THINKING SKILLS IN SOLVING PROBLEM PATTERN NUMBERS WITH PARTITION TECHNIQUES BASED ON METACOGNITION SKILLS

OpenAIRE

Nila Herawati1, Dafik 2,3 & I Made Tirta4

2018-01-01

High-order thinking or Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS) is one of the most needed thinking skills in a person's life. Creative thinking is the highest level of thinking skills. Creative thinking skills in students have the characteristics of fluency (fluency), flexibility (flexibility), elaboration and originality (originality). Metacognition is the ability of one's thinking in using strategies to produce problem solving in their learning. This ability helps students get personal feedback a...

The role of skill in sport

OpenAIRE

Breivik, Gunnar

2016-01-01

Skill is obviously a central part of sports and should therefore be central in sport philosophic studies. My aim in this paper is to try to place skill in a wider context and thus give skill the place it deserves. I will do this by taking up four points. I first try to place the concept of skill in relation to concepts like ability and know how. I argue that ability is something one has as part of a natural endowment, but skill is something one must acquire. ‘Knowing how’ seems to a greater e...

Are there cross-cultural differences of ADL ability in children measured with the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS)?

Science.gov (United States)

Peny-Dahlstrand, Marie; Gosman-Hedström, Gunilla; Krumlinde-Sundholm, Lena

2012-01-01

In many studies of self-care assessments for children, cultural differences in age-norm values have been shown. No study has evaluated whether there are cross-cultural differences in ADL motor and/or process skills in children when measured with the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS). To investigate if there were systematic differences in ADL ability measured with the AMPS between children from the Nordic countries and North America and to evaluate the applicability of the existing international age-normative values for children from these two regions. Values from a total of 4 613 children, 3-15 years old, without known disabilities, from these geographical regions were compared with ANOVA. The difference in logits between each region and the mean values for each age group were calculated. No differences of relevance in age-related ADL ability measures between children from the two geographical regions were found, and the age-norm values are applicable to both regions. The AMPS may be considered free from cultural bias and useful in both clinical practice and research concerned with children in both the Nordic countries and North America.

THE EFFECT OF INQUIRY TRAINING MODEL USE THE MEDIA PHET AGAINST SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS AND LOGICAL THINKING SKILLS STUDENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fajrul Wahdi Ginting

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The Purpose of The study: science process skills and logical thinking ability of students who use inquiry learning model training using PhET media; science process skills and logical thinking ability of students who use conventional learning model; and the difference science process skills and logical thinking ability of students to use learning model Inquiry Training using PhET media and conventional learning models. This research is a quasi experimental. Sample selection is done by cluster random sampling are two classes of classes VIII-E and class VIII-B, where the class VIII-E is taught by inquiry training model using media PhET and VIII-B with conventional learning model. The instrument used consisted of tests science process skills such as essay tests and tests of the ability to think logically in the form of multiple-choice tests. The data were analyzed using t test. The results showed that physics science process skills use Inquiry Training models using PhET media is different and showed better results compared with conventional learning model, and logical thinking skills students use Inquiry Training model using PhET media is different and show better results compared with conventional learning, and there is a difference between the ability to think logically and science process skills of students who use Inquiry Training model using PhET media and conventional learning models.

Soft skills and dental education

OpenAIRE

Gonzalez, M. A. G.; Abu Kasim, N. H.; Naimie, Z.

2014-01-01

Soft skills and hard skills are essential in the practice of dentistry. While hard skills deal with technical proficiency, soft skills relate to a personal values and interpersonal skills that determine a person's ability to fit in a particular situation. These skills contribute to the success of organisations that deal face-to-face with clients. Effective soft skills benefit the dental practice. However, the teaching of soft skills remains a challenge to dental schools. This paper discusses ...

LETTERS AND COMMENTS: Comment on 'The effects of students' reasoning abilities on conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills in introductory mechanics'

Science.gov (United States)

Coletta, Vincent P.; Phillips, Jeffrey A.; Savinainen, Antti; Steinert, Jeffrey J.

2008-09-01

In a recent article, Ates and Cataloglu (2007 Eur. J. Phys. 28 1161-71), in analysing results for a course in introductory mechanics for prospective science teachers, found no statistically significant correlation between students' pre-instruction scores on the Lawson classroom test of scientific reasoning ability (CTSR) and post-instruction scores on the force concept inventory (FCI). As a possible explanation, the authors suggest that the FCI does not probe for skills required to determine reasoning abilities. Our previously published research directly contradicts the authors' finding. We summarize our research and present a likely explanation for their observation of no correlation.

Transferable skills of undergraduates of sciences and arts at Taibah ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Students showed great variation in skills abilities in the seven studied skills; they showed high ability for teamwork, communication, personal and development skills. Second-year students seemed more skilful than those of the first year. Women were highly skilled relative to men, the difference mostly being how wide the ...

Relation between paralinguistic skills and social skills in adults with mild and moderate intellectual disability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Đorđević Mirjana

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Facial expressions and prosodic acoustic characteristics jointly present paralinguistic features of communication. By analyzing literature, we observe that respondents with intellectual disabilities manifest emphasized difficulties in detecting emotions in tasks of facial and vocal expression. However, we do not know if there are data on how paralinguistic abilities correlate with social skills in adults with intellectual disabilities. This research was conducted in order to determine the relation between the ability of paralinguistic production and paralinguistic understanding, on one side, and social skills on the other side. The sample consisted of 44 adults of both genders with mild (N=22 and moderate intellectual disabilities (N=22, aged between 20 and 50 (M=32.41, SD=9.36. The Paralinguistic scale from the battery for the assessment of communication (The Assessment Battery for Communication, Abaco, Sacco et al., 2008 was used for the assessment of paralinguistic skills, and three subscales of Vineland adaptive behavior scale - teaching form (Sparrow, Cicchetti & Balla, 2006 were used for the assessment of social skills. The results show that the achievement on subscales of Playing and leisure time positively correlated with the ability to understand emotions in communication (r = 0.486, p < 0.05 in respondents with mild intellectual disability. Achievements on the subscales Skills of adapting had a moderate and positive correlation with the ability to understand emotions in communication (r=0.522, p<0.05 in subjects with mild intellectual disability. Statistically significant correlations between the examined variables were not observed in the group of respondents with moderate intellectual disability. We can conclude that in adults with mild intellectual disability the ability to understand emotional paralinguistic elements significantly correlates with the ability to organize social activities and to adapt behavior in social interactions.

Reading Instruction That Increases Thinking Abilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Cathy

1991-01-01

Analyzes the effects of eight reading and writing lessons designed to increase adolescent thinking ability. Finds that the lessons increased thinking abilities and scholastic achievement of middle school students. Notes that the lessons positively affect students' self-esteem and communication skills. (RS)

Math anxiety, self-efficacy, and ability in British undergraduate nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

McMullan, Miriam; Jones, Ray; Lea, Susan

2012-04-01

Nurses need to be able to make drug calculations competently. In this study, involving 229 second year British nursing students, we explored the influence of mathematics anxiety, self-efficacy, and numerical ability on drug calculation ability and determined which factors would best predict this skill. Strong significant relationships (p anxiety, self-efficacy, and ability. Students who failed the numerical and/or drug calculation ability tests were more anxious (p < .001) and less confident (p ≤ .002) in performing calculations than those who passed. Numerical ability made the strongest unique contribution in predicting drug calculation ability (beta = 0.50, p < .001) followed by drug calculation self-efficacy (beta = 0.16, p = .04). Early testing is recommended for basic numerical skills. Faculty are advised to refresh students' numerical skills before introducing drug calculations. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Remedial Instruction to Enhance Mathematical Ability of Dyscalculics

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, S. Praveen; Raja, B. William Dharma

2012-01-01

The ability to do arithmetic calculations is essential to school-based learning and skill development in an information rich society. Arithmetic is a basic academic skill that is needed for learning which includes the skills such as counting, calculating, reasoning etc. that are used for performing mathematical calculations. Unfortunately, many…

The effects of students' reasoning abilities on conceptual understandings and problem-solving skills in introductory mechanics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ates, S; Cataloglu, E

2007-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine if there are relationships among freshmen/first year students' reasoning abilities, conceptual understandings and problem-solving skills in introductory mechanics. The sample consisted of 165 freshmen science education prospective teachers (female = 86, male = 79; age range 17-21) who were enrolled in an introductory physics course. Data collection was done during the fall semesters in two successive years. At the beginning of each semester, the force concept inventory (FCI) and the classroom test of scientific reasoning (CTSR) were administered to assess students' initial understanding of basic concepts in mechanics and reasoning levels. After completing the course, the FCI and the mechanics baseline test (MBT) were administered. The results indicated that there was a significant difference in problem-solving skill test mean scores, as measured by the MBT, among concrete, formal and postformal reasoners. There were no significant differences in conceptual understanding levels of pre- and post-test mean scores, as measured by FCI, among the groups. The Benferroni post hoc comparison test revealed which set of reasoning levels showed significant difference for the MBT scores. No statistical difference between formal and postformal reasoners' mean scores was observed, while the mean scores between concrete and formal reasoners and concrete and postformal reasoners were statistically significantly different

Helpful Entry Level Skills Checklist--Revised Manual [and] Helpful Entry Level Skill Checklist--Revised Edition.

Science.gov (United States)

Child Development Centers of the Bluegrass, Lexington, KY.

The Helpful Entry Level Skills Checklist was designed to assist preschool teachers in selecting functional skills that children (including children with disabilities) may need to make a successful transition into the public schools. These skills, for the most part, deal with attending, compliance, ability to follow directions, turn taking, ability…

Selecting pilots with crew resource management skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Hedge, J W; Bruskiewicz, K T; Borman, W C; Hanson, M A; Logan, K K; Siem, F M

2000-10-01

For years, pilot selection has focused primarily on the identification of individuals with superior flying skills and abilities. More recently, the aviation community has become increasingly aware that successful completion of a flight or mission requires not only flying skills but the ability to work well in a crew situation. This project involved development and validation of a crew resource management (CRM) skills test for Air Force transport pilots. A significant relation was found between the CRM skills test and behavior-based ratings of aircraft commander CRM performance, and the implications of these findings for CRM-based selection and training are discussed.

Employability Skills: The Demands of the Workplace.

Science.gov (United States)

Leroux, Janice A.; Lafleur, Susan

1995-01-01

The Employability Skills Profile, critical work abilities identified by Canadian employers, was rated by 24 secondary teachers in Ontario. Personal management skills were rated most important, followed by academic and teamwork skills. Teaching of these skills was informal--absorbed through classroom policies and management practices. (SK)

Methods for Evaluation of Some Psychomotor Abilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dragan Krivokapić

2016-06-01

Full Text Available For estimation of psychomotor and sensor abilities different kinds of tests are used in the form of devices representing different technical devices which help examining sensomotor and psychomotor functions in certain conditions, as well as more complex motor abilities and skills that depend on CNS characteristics, vegetative nervous system and other functional systems and body states. These devices can be used for examining some parameters of psychomotor functions-such as speed of reaction through reactiometer or devices for examining sensor abilities-such as audiometer, ortoriter, color tests etc. In the scope of examining psychomotor skills and abilities, frequently used are different kinds of tests in the forms of devices serving for measuring ocultomotor coordination-such as Omega and Sinusoida, then Tumer`s device for measuring coordination and dissociation of hands` movements with visible control, O-Conor`s dexterimeter and Medeo`s dexterimeter-used for examining dexterity of fingers, Tremometer for examining hand stability and preciseness of movements, Minesota test for examining dexterity of hands and taping tests like “paper-pen” for examining speed and accuracy of simple movements. For examining more complex sensomotor abilities or different motor skills, special tests are used in the form of simulator, simulator and different technical devices, adjusted to specific sports situation. This category of tests includes different kinds of simulators and simulators used for examining certain aspects of sports activity.

49 CFR 383.113 - Required skills.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... signals, speed control for weather and traffic conditions, and ability to position the motor vehicle... vehicle control skills. All applicants for a CDL must possess and demonstrate basic motor vehicle control skills for each vehicle group which the driver operates or expects to operate. These skills should...

Construction of a Physician Skills Inventory

Science.gov (United States)

Richard, George V.; Zarconi, Joseph; Savickas, Mark L.

2012-01-01

The current study applied Holland's RIASEC typology to develop a "Physician Skills Inventory". We identified the transferable skills and abilities that are critical to effective performance in medicine and had 140 physicians in 25 different specialties rate the importance of those skills. Principal component analysis of their responses produced…

Knowledge and critical thinking skills increase clinical reasoning ability in urogenital disorders: a Universitas Sriwijaya Medical Faculty experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irfannuddin Irfannuddin

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Aim Clinical reasoning is one of the essential competencies for medical practitioners, so that it must be exercised by medical students. Studies on quantitative evidence of factors influencing clinical reasoning abilicy of students are limited. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of knowledge and other factors on the clinical reasoning abiliry ofthe students, which can serve as reference to establish methods for learning ctinical reasoning.Methods This is a cross-sectional study on fourth semester students enrolled in the Competency-based Curriculum of the Medical Faculty, University of Sriwijaya. Data on clinical reasoning abilily and risk factors during urogenital blockwere collected inApril 2008, when the students have just completed the btock. Clinical reasoning abiliry was tested using the Script Concordance test and the risk factors were evaluated based on formative tests, block summative assessments, and student characteristics. Data were analyzed by Cox regression.Results The prevalence of low clinical reasoning ability of the 132 students was 38.6%. The group with low basic knowledge was found to have 63% risk ol low clinical reasoning abiliry when compared to those with high basic knowledge (adjusted RR = 1.63; 95% conidence intewal (Ct: 1.10 -2.42. When compared to students with high critical thinking skitls, those with lory critical thinking skills had 2.3 time to be low clinical reasoning abitity (adjusted RR : 2.30; 95% CI: 1.55 - 3.41.Conclusion Students with low critical thinking skills or with inadequate knowledge had a higher risk of low clinical reasoning ability. (Med J Indones 2009; 18: 53-9Keywords: clinical reasoning, basic knowledge, critical thinking, competency-based curriculum

Students with Non-Proficient Information Seeking Skills Greatly Over-Estimate Their Abilities. A Review of: Gross, Melissa, and Don Latham.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Herron

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Objective – The objective of this study is an investigation of the relationship between students’ self-assessment of their information literacy skills and their actual skill level, as well as an analysis of whether library anxiety is related to information skill attainment. Design – Quantitative research design (Information Literacy Test (ILT, Library Anxiety Scale (LAS, pre and post surveys.Setting – Florida State University, United States.Subjects – Students, incoming freshmen.Methods – Information literacy skills were measured using the Information Literacy Test (ILT, presenting subjects with 65 multiple choice items designed around four of the five ACRL information literacy standards, in which students were expectedto: 1 determine the nature and extent of the information needed; 2 access needed information effectively and efficiently; 3 evaluate information and its sources critically and incorporates selected information into his/her knowledge base system; 4 understand many of the economic, legal and social issues surrounding the use of information and accesses and uses information ethically and legally. The ILT categorized participant scores as non-proficient(Main Results – The main aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that students who test non-proficient on an information literacy test tend to overestimate their competency to a higher degree than proficient and advanced students. In the pre- and post-surveys, the students were asked to estimate their performance onthe ILT in terms of the expected percentage of questions they would answer correctly, the number of questions they expected to answer correctly, and how their performance on the ILT would compare toothers taking the test (in percentage. The results of the study show that all students overestimate their abilities, both in terms of performance and relative performance, in the pre-survey. The estimated percentage correct answers for the whole group was 75%, but

Developing communication skills training in 5 educational programs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Annegrethe; Ringby, Betina

Understanding the ability to communicate with patients as a central clinical skill, the importance of developing communication teaching in healthcare educations is obvious. Following the establishment of a room specially equipped for training communication skills in 2010, implementation of commun......Understanding the ability to communicate with patients as a central clinical skill, the importance of developing communication teaching in healthcare educations is obvious. Following the establishment of a room specially equipped for training communication skills in 2010, implementation....... As a result of the combination of easy access to technical resources in the dedicated room and the opportunity to continuously develop the facilitation skills needed to train students, communication skills training has been integrated in the curriculum of all five healthcare educational programmes....

21st Century-Based Soft Skills: Spotlight on Non-Cognitive Skills in a Cognitive-Laden Dentistry Program

Science.gov (United States)

Quieng, Marjorie C.; Lim, Pearly P.; Lucas, Maria Rita D.

2015-01-01

Teaching and learning in the 21st century aims to produce students proficient in content knowledge, specific abilities, literacy, numeracy, and technology uses. From these 21st century skills, soft skills were delineated from these learning outcomes; and defined as intra- and interpersonal skills vital for personal development, social…

Hip Hop Dance Experience Linked to Sociocognitive Ability.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonny, Justin W; Lindberg, Jenna C; Pacampara, Marc C

2017-01-01

Expertise within gaming (e.g., chess, video games) and kinesthetic (e.g., sports, classical dance) activities has been found to be linked with specific cognitive skills. Some of these skills, working memory, mental rotation, problem solving, are linked to higher performance in science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM) disciplines. In the present study, we examined whether experience in a different activity, hip hop dance, is also linked to cognitive abilities connected with STEM skills as well as social cognition ability. Dancers who varied in hip hop and other dance style experience were presented with a set of computerized tasks that assessed working memory capacity, mental rotation speed, problem solving efficiency, and theory of mind. We found that, when controlling for demographic factors and other dance style experience, those with greater hip hop dance experience were faster at mentally rotating images of hands at greater angle disparities and there was a trend for greater accuracy at identifying positive emotions displayed by cropped images of human faces. We suggest that hip hop dance, similar to other more technical activities such as video gameplay, tap some specific cognitive abilities that underlie STEM skills. Furthermore, we suggest that hip hop dance experience can be used to reach populations who may not otherwise be interested in other kinesthetic or gaming activities and potentially enhance select sociocognitive skills.

Hip Hop Dance Experience Linked to Sociocognitive Ability.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Justin W Bonny

Full Text Available Expertise within gaming (e.g., chess, video games and kinesthetic (e.g., sports, classical dance activities has been found to be linked with specific cognitive skills. Some of these skills, working memory, mental rotation, problem solving, are linked to higher performance in science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM disciplines. In the present study, we examined whether experience in a different activity, hip hop dance, is also linked to cognitive abilities connected with STEM skills as well as social cognition ability. Dancers who varied in hip hop and other dance style experience were presented with a set of computerized tasks that assessed working memory capacity, mental rotation speed, problem solving efficiency, and theory of mind. We found that, when controlling for demographic factors and other dance style experience, those with greater hip hop dance experience were faster at mentally rotating images of hands at greater angle disparities and there was a trend for greater accuracy at identifying positive emotions displayed by cropped images of human faces. We suggest that hip hop dance, similar to other more technical activities such as video gameplay, tap some specific cognitive abilities that underlie STEM skills. Furthermore, we suggest that hip hop dance experience can be used to reach populations who may not otherwise be interested in other kinesthetic or gaming activities and potentially enhance select sociocognitive skills.

Risk approximation in decision making: approximative numeric abilities predict advantageous decisions under objective risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Mueller, Silke M; Schiebener, Johannes; Delazer, Margarete; Brand, Matthias

2018-01-22

Many decision situations in everyday life involve mathematical considerations. In decisions under objective risk, i.e., when explicit numeric information is available, executive functions and abilities to handle exact numbers and ratios are predictors of objectively advantageous choices. Although still debated, exact numeric abilities, e.g., normative calculation skills, are assumed to be related to approximate number processing skills. The current study investigates the effects of approximative numeric abilities on decision making under objective risk. Participants (N = 153) performed a paradigm measuring number-comparison, quantity-estimation, risk-estimation, and decision-making skills on the basis of rapid dot comparisons. Additionally, a risky decision-making task with exact numeric information was administered, as well as tasks measuring executive functions and exact numeric abilities, e.g., mental calculation and ratio processing skills, were conducted. Approximative numeric abilities significantly predicted advantageous decision making, even beyond the effects of executive functions and exact numeric skills. Especially being able to make accurate risk estimations seemed to contribute to superior choices. We recommend approximation skills and approximate number processing to be subject of future investigations on decision making under risk.

Student-Directed Video Validation of Psychomotor Skills Performance: A Strategy to Facilitate Deliberate Practice, Peer Review, and Team Skill Sets.

Science.gov (United States)

DeBourgh, Gregory A; Prion, Susan K

2017-03-22

Background Essential nursing skills for safe practice are not limited to technical skills, but include abilities for determining salience among clinical data within dynamic practice environments, demonstrating clinical judgment and reasoning, problem-solving abilities, and teamwork competence. Effective instructional methods are needed to prepare new nurses for entry-to-practice in contemporary healthcare settings. Method This mixed-methods descriptive study explored self-reported perceptions of a process to self-record videos for psychomotor skill performance evaluation in a convenience sample of 102 pre-licensure students. Results Students reported gains in confidence and skill acquisition using team skills to record individual videos of skill performance, and described the importance of teamwork, peer support, and deliberate practice. Conclusion Although time consuming, the production of student-directed video validations of psychomotor skill performance is an authentic task with meaningful accountabilities that is well-received by students as an effective, satisfying learner experience to increase confidence and competence in performing psychomotor skills.

Metabolic Pathways Visualization Skills Development by Undergraduate Students

Science.gov (United States)

dos Santos, Vanessa J. S. V.; Galembeck, Eduardo

2015-01-01

We have developed a metabolic pathways visualization skill test (MPVST) to gain greater insight into our students' abilities to comprehend the visual information presented in metabolic pathways diagrams. The test is able to discriminate students' visualization ability with respect to six specific visualization skills that we identified as key to…

The relationship between learning mathematics and general cognitive ability in primary school.

Science.gov (United States)

Cowan, Richard; Hurry, Jane; Midouhas, Emily

2018-06-01

Three relationships between learning mathematics and general cognitive ability have been hypothesized: The educational hypothesis that learning mathematics develops general cognitive skills, the psychometric hypothesis that differences in general cognitive ability cause differences in mathematical attainment, and the reciprocal influence hypothesis that developments in mathematical ability and general cognitive ability influence each other. These hypotheses are assessed with a sample of 948 children from the Twins Early Development Study who were assessed at 7, 9, and 10 years on mathematics, English, and general cognitive ability. A cross-lagged path analysis with mathematics and general cognitive ability measures supports the reciprocal influence hypothesis between 7 and 9 and between 9 and 10. A second analysis including English assessments only provides evidence of a reciprocal relationship between 7 and 9. Statement of Contribution What is already known on this subject? The correlations between mathematical attainment, literacy, and measures of general cognitive skills are well established. The role of literacy in developing general cognitive skills is emerging. What the present study adds? Mathematics contributes to the development of general cognitive skills. General cognitive ability contributes to mathematical development between 7 and 10. These findings support the hypothesis of reciprocal influence between mathematics and general cognitive ability, at least between 7 and 9. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Implications of Schema-based Pre-Reading Tasks in Facilitating ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The subjects of the study were 56 students taking the Reading. Skills (FLEn ... The available research on reading suggests that reading .... a whole. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND ..... Mixed Methods Approaches. (3rd ed.). ... A Concise.

Role of linguistic skills in fifth-grade mathematics.

Science.gov (United States)

Kleemans, Tijs; Segers, Eliane; Verhoeven, Ludo

2018-03-01

The current study investigated the direct and indirect relations between basic linguistic skills (i.e., phonological skills and grammatical ability) and advanced linguistic skills (i.e., academic vocabulary and verbal reasoning), on the one hand, and fifth-grade mathematics (i.e., arithmetic, geometry, and fractions), on the other, taking working memory and general intelligence into account and controlling for socioeconomic status, age, and gender. The results showed the basic linguistic representations of 167 fifth graders to be indirectly related to their geometric and fraction skills via arithmetic. Furthermore, advanced linguistic skills were found to be directly related to geometry and fractions after controlling for arithmetic. It can be concluded that linguistic skills directly and indirectly relate to mathematical ability in the upper grades of primary education, which highlights the importance of paying attention to such skills in the school curriculum. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The interdisciplinary nature of the skills needed by project managers

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Trevor Nesbit

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyse the additional skills that are transferrable across different sectors, that project managers require and that go beyond technical project management skills to enable them to be successful in what is becoming an increasingly interdisciplinary role.The conclusions highlight that the project management role requires a range of non- technical project management skills and characteristics to enable project management to be carried out successfully. These non- technical project management skills and characteristics include the ability to build relationships with stakeholders; possessing formal project management certification; understanding the creation and functioning of project teams; understanding the political environment that the project exists in; the ability to work in a team; possessing leadership and management skills; possessing interpersonal and communication skills and possessing a strategic orientation.The skills and characteristics that are perceived by the cross section of project managers as being the most important are possessing interpersonal and communication skills; possessing leadership and management skills; the ability to work in a team and the ability to build relationships with stakeholders. Interpersonal and communication skills along with the ability to work in a team are not included significantly in job advertisements for project managers, with the requirement to have them potentially being assumed and not needed to be stated.This research provides a basis for a further study involving in-depth interviews with project managers from the information technology sector with the aim of highlighting specific projects where these additional skills have been vital to the success of these projects.Issues surrounding the political environment of the project from the perspective of different genders; the importance interpersonal and communication skills along with team work for

Soft skills and dental education.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, M A G; Abu Kasim, N H; Naimie, Z

2013-05-01

Soft skills and hard skills are essential in the practice of dentistry. While hard skills deal with technical proficiency, soft skills relate to a personal values and interpersonal skills that determine a person's ability to fit in a particular situation. These skills contribute to the success of organisations that deal face-to-face with clients. Effective soft skills benefit the dental practice. However, the teaching of soft skills remains a challenge to dental schools. This paper discusses the different soft skills, how they are taught and assessed and the issues that need to be addressed in their teaching and assessment. The use of the module by the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya for development of soft skills for institutions of higher learning introduced by the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Investigation of Problem-Solving and Problem-Posing Abilities of Seventh-Grade Students

Science.gov (United States)

Arikan, Elif Esra; Ünal, Hasan

2015-01-01

This study aims to examine the effect of multiple problem-solving skills on the problem-posing abilities of gifted and non-gifted students and to assess whether the possession of such skills can predict giftedness or affect problem-posing abilities. Participants' metaphorical images of problem posing were also explored. Participants were 20 gifted…

An advanced communication skills course for fourth-year, post-clerkship students.

Science.gov (United States)

Towle, Angela; Hoffman, Joanne

2002-11-01

module includes pre-readings, video demonstrations (in sessions 4 and 5), practice with standardized patients (total of 14 scenarios) and structured feedback from SPs, students, and tutor. The themes of the sessions are "Dealing with Emotionally Challenging Patient Situations (informing about bad news), "Compliance and Patient Information," "Informed Consent and Shared Decision Making," and "Difficult Physician-Patient Encounters." Each module lasts two hours. The course was implemented for 120 students, facilitated by 14 tutors (seven to eight students per group). Student involvement in many different ways provided an important reality check and made us think about how to present the new course so that it was relevant and interesting to students. Attention to student input was a major contributor to the good evaluations given the course. Students rated the course highly: the relevance of the weekly themes was rated 4.21 on a five-point scale; the effectiveness of the SP interviews, 4.10; the effectiveness of the group discussion and feedback, 4.18; and overall course effectiveness in enhancing communication skills, 3.91. The tutors also rated the course highly, and the students rated the tutors highly. Minor changes will be made to the course next year based on the specific suggestions for improvement, which were identified.

Tertiary Students’ Entrepreneurial Ability of Entrepreneurship-Embedded Internship Program in Education Service Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun-Mei Chou

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The study aims to explore tertiary students’ entrepreneurial ability of entrepreneurship-embedded internship program in education service industry. To achieve this goal, the study uses interviews, and panel discussions to confirm entrepreneurial ability. In addition, the study utilizes transformation of knowledge and ability to select representative knowledge items and to confirm the entrepreneurial ability structure of entrepreneurship-embedded internship program in education service industry through panel discussions. Entrepreneurs in education service industry should have these ten categories, total 42 items, such as essential professional knowledge item; that is, entrepreneurial skills, education ability, marketing ability, computer ability, service ability, and management ability, in order to cultivate entrepreneurs’ abilities of education service industry effectively. Core entrepreneurial ability of education service industry entrepreneurs should include 13 items in total, including entrepreneurial skills, education ability, marketing ability and service ability and so on.

Evaluating a Skills Management System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Largier, A.

2013-01-01

In order to anticipate the large number of people due to retire in the next few years, and to optimize the workforce contribution, IRSN (Institute for radiation protection and nuclear safety) is setting up skill management. This poster presents the IRSN's skill management system. The skill management system is based on a 4 step approach: -) identifying and listing the necessary skills, -) assessing the skills available, -) defining and setting up solutions: training, recruitment, out-sourcing), and -) feedback about the efficiency of the system. It appears that it is important to take into account the way the organization considers individual ability in order to favour collective proficiency

Maternal ability to take care of children exposed to HIV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julyana Gomes Freitas

2013-07-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: to assess the ability of mothers to take care of children exposed to HIV, using the Assessment Scale of Care Skills for Children Exposed to HIV at Birth and to check the association between the scale dimensions and maternal characteristics. METHOD: this cross-sectional study involved 62 HIV+ mothers whose children of up to one year old had been exposed to the virus at birth. The Assessment Scale of Care Skills for Children Exposed to HIV at Birth consists of 52 items and five dimensions, indicating high, moderate or low care ability. RESULTS: 72.7% of the mothers appropriately offered zidovudine syrup; 86.0% were highly skilled to prepare and administer milk formula; 44.4% were moderately able to prepare and administer complementary feeding; 76.5% revealed high ability to administer prophylactic treatment against pneumonia and 95.3% demonstrated high abilities for clinical monitoring and immunization. Significant associations were found between some maternal variables and the scale dimensions. CONCLUSION: the scale permits the assessment of maternal care delivery to these children and the accomplishment of specific child health interventions.

The geometry ability of junior high school students in Karanganyar based on the Hoffer’s theory

Science.gov (United States)

Nurwijayanti, A.; Budiyono; Fitriana, L.

2018-03-01

Geometry ability is the aspect which underlay students to solve the geometry problems. However, some studies suggests the difficulty students when learning geometry. This leads to the ability of the geometri students difficult to develop. There are five the geometry ability based the Hoffer’s theory, namely visual, verbal, drawing, logical, and applied. These five aspects are basic geometry ability to be mastered by Junior High School students level. This study aimed to describe the students’ geometry ability according to the Hoffer’s theory. The participants of this study are six students from 9th grade in State Junior High School 1 Jaten at Karanganyar that consisted of three categories, namely higher ability, moderate ability, and lower ability students. The data collection methods used are geometry test and in-depth interview and than analyzed using triangulation. The result of the study showed that the ability of those three categories is different. Each of the students' geometry ability can be described as follows. (1) On visual skill, higher ability and moderate ability students could mention the elements of the geometrical shapes correctly based on its shapes obtained. However, lower ability students were unable to mention it specifically; (2) On verbal skill, moderate ability students were able to link the relationship among shapes based on the characteristics correctly, despite that the higher ability and lower ability seemed to have difficulty; (3) On drawing skill, higher ability students could construct the shapes based on the relationship among shapes well, but moderate ability and lower ability students continually faced difficulty; (4) On logical skill, both higher ability, and moderate ability students were able to determine the formula of a particular geometrical shape based on the relationship among the elements of the shape well, while the lower ability students were unable to; (5) On applied skill, higher ability, and moderate ability

Is Farm Management Skill Persistent?

OpenAIRE

Li, Xin; Paulson, Nicholas

2014-01-01

Farm management skills can affect farm managers' performance. In this article, farm management performance is analyzed based on yearly Illinois Farm Business Farm Management (FBFM) panel data across 6,760 farms from 1996 through 2011. Two out-of-sample measures of skill are used to analyze the ability of farm managers that consistently perform well over yearly and longer time horizons. Persistence tests show management skills are consistent and predictable. Results also suggest that the most ...

The Development of Early Numeracy Ability in Kindergartners with Limited Working Memory Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Toll, Sylke W. M.; Van Luit, Johannes E. H.

2013-01-01

Research has proven limited working memory skills to be a high risk factor for educational underachievement in mathematics across the primary school years. Less is known, however, about the performance of children with limited working memory skills in early numeracy tasks. The main purpose of the two studies reported in this article is to explore…

Counting on fine motor skills: links between preschool finger dexterity and numerical skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Ursula; Suggate, Sebastian P; Schmirl, Judith; Stoeger, Heidrun

2017-10-26

Finger counting is widely considered an important step in children's early mathematical development. Presumably, children's ability to move their fingers during early counting experiences to aid number representation depends in part on their early fine motor skills (FMS). Specifically, FMS should link to children's procedural counting skills through consistent repetition of finger-counting procedures. Accordingly, we hypothesized that (a) FMS are linked to early counting skills, and (b) greater FMS relate to conceptual counting knowledge (e.g., cardinality, abstraction, order irrelevance) via procedural counting skills (i.e., one-one correspondence and correctness of verbal counting). Preschool children (N = 177) were administered measures of procedural counting skills, conceptual counting knowledge, FMS, and general cognitive skills along with parent questionnaires on home mathematics and fine motor environment. FMS correlated with procedural counting skills and conceptual counting knowledge after controlling for cognitive skills, chronological age, home mathematics and FMS environments. Moreover, the relationship between FMS and conceptual counting knowledge was mediated by procedural counting skills. Findings suggest that FMS play a role in early counting and therewith conceptual counting knowledge. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

"I can do it": does confidence and perceived ability in learning new ICT skills predict pre-service health professionals' attitude towards engaging in e-healthcare?

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Mary K; Nguyen, Melanie; Lowe, Robyn; Nagarajan, Srivalli V; Lincoln, Michelle

2014-01-01

There are many factors affecting health professionals' willingness to engage in e-health. One of these factors is whether health professionals perceive themselves to be able to learn new skills, and have the confidence in mastering these new Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills. This study examined how health students' confidence and perceived ability for learning new ICT skills affect their attitude towards engaging in e-health. A survey was conducted to explore students' attitude towards using e-health and their perceived self-efficacy and confidence to learn new ICT skills. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between confidence and self-efficacy, and attitude towards engaging in e-health controlling for participants' age, gender, and prior IT learning experience. The three scales measuring attitude, confidence and self-efficacy showed good internal consistency with respective Cronbach's Alpha scores of 0.835, 0.761 and 0.762. Multiple regression analysis showed a significant relationship between confidence, self-efficacy and prior IT learning experiences with attitude towards e-health after adjusting for the effect of each other (F3,350=17.20,p<0.001). Self-efficacy and confidence in learning new ICT skills together with previous ICT training either at or outside their university studies are significant factors associated with students' attitude towards using e-health. Enhancing students' level of self-efficacy in learning new ICT skills may be the key to the success of implementation of e-health initiatives.

Hard evidence on soft skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Heckman, James J; Kautz, Tim

2012-08-01

This paper summarizes recent evidence on what achievement tests measure; how achievement tests relate to other measures of "cognitive ability" like IQ and grades; the important skills that achievement tests miss or mismeasure, and how much these skills matter in life. Achievement tests miss, or perhaps more accurately, do not adequately capture, soft skills -personality traits, goals, motivations, and preferences that are valued in the labor market, in school, and in many other domains. The larger message of this paper is that soft skills predict success in life, that they causally produce that success, and that programs that enhance soft skills have an important place in an effective portfolio of public policies.

Evaluating veterinary practitioner perceptions of communication skills and training.

Science.gov (United States)

McDermott, M P; Cobb, M A; Tischler, V A; Robbé, I J; Dean, R S

2017-03-25

A survey was conducted among veterinary practitioners in the UK and the USA in 2012/2013. Thematic analysis was used to identify underlying reasons behind answers to questions about the importance of communication skills and the desire to participate in postgraduate communication skills training. Lack of training among more experienced veterinary surgeons, incomplete preparation of younger practitioners and differences in ability to communicate all contribute to gaps in communication competency. Barriers to participating in further communication training include time, cost and doubts in the ability of training to provide value. To help enhance communication ability, communication skills should be assessed in veterinary school applicants, and communication skills training should be more thoroughly integrated into veterinary curricula. Continuing education/professional development in communication should be part of all postgraduate education and should be targeted to learning style preferences and communication needs and challenges through an entire career in practice. British Veterinary Association.

Efficacy of Polytechnic students’ Interpersonal Communication Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zaharatul Akmar Ahmad Zainuddin

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Every year polytechnics in Malaysia produce thousands of graduates in vocational areas, however, these graduates have to strive in a competitive job market against graduates from other tertiary institutions. This study aims to investigate polytechnic students efficacy on their communication skills. These skills are crucial in determining their chances for employment and would also enable them to perform effectively at workplace. Final semester students from Politeknik Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah (n=120 were asked to assess their own communication skills ability using the Communication Skills self-assessment questionnaire. Findings indicate that polytechnic students are quite confident in their ability to communicate effectively at workplace and job interviews. However, interviews with potential employers indicate differently. Implications of the study include a call for the evaluation of the English proficiency courses currently being implemented in Malaysian polytechnics.

Emergent name-writing abilities of preschool-age children with language impairment.

Science.gov (United States)

Cabell, Sonia Q; Justice, Laura M; Zucker, Tricia A; McGinty, Anita S

2009-01-01

The 2 studies reported in this manuscript collectively address 3 aims: (a) to characterize the name-writing abilities of preschool-age children with language impairment (LI), (b) to identify those emergent literacy skills that are concurrently associated with name-writing abilities, and (c) to compare the name-writing abilities of children with LI to those of their typical language (TL) peers. Fifty-nine preschool-age children with LI were administered a battery of emergent literacy and language assessments, including a task in which the children were asked to write their first names. A subset of these children (n=23) was then compared to a TL-matched sample to characterize performance differences. Results showed that the name-writing abilities of preschoolers with LI were associated with skills in alphabet knowledge and print concepts. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that only alphabet knowledge uniquely contributed to the variance in concurrent name-writing abilities. In the matched comparison, the TL group demonstrated significantly more advanced name-writing representations than the LI group. Children with LI lag significantly behind their TL peers in name-writing abilities. Speech-language pathologists are encouraged to address the print-related skills of children with LI within their clinical interventions.

Is adolescence a critical period for learning formal thinking skills? A case study investigating the development of formal thinking skills in a short-term inquiry-based intervention program

Science.gov (United States)

Towne, Forrest S.

Current domestic and international comparative studies of student achievement in science are demonstrating that the U.S. needs to improve science education if it wants to remain competitive in the global economy. One of the causes of the poor performance of U.S. science education is the lack of students who have developed the formal thinking skills that are necessary to obtain scientific literacy. Previous studies have demonstrated that formal thinking skills can be taught to adolescents, however only 25% of incoming college freshman have these necessary skills. There is some evidence that adolescence (girls aged 11-13, boys aged 12-14) is a critical period where students must learn formal thinking skills, similar to the critical period that exists for young children learning languages. It is not known whether it is more difficult for students to learn formal thinking skills either prior to or following adolescence. The purpose of this quantitative case study is to determine whether adolescence is a critical period for students to learn formal thinking skills. The study also investigates whether a formal thinking skills focused program can improve students' intelligence. In this study 32 students who had not developed any formal thinking skills, ranging in age from 10-16, underwent an intensive four-week, inquiry-based, formal thinking skill intervention program that focused on two formal thinking skills: (1) the ability to control and exclude variables; and (2) the ability to manipulate ratios and proportionalities. The students undergoing the training were matched with control students by age, gender, formal thinking skill ability, and intelligence. The control group attended their traditional science course during the intervention periods. The results of the study showed that the intervention program was successful in developing students' formal thinking skills. The pre-adolescents (males, age 10-11, females, age 10) were unable to learn formal thinking skills

A critical review of ICT skills for higher education learners

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Maneschijn, MM

2013-11-01

Full Text Available : information fluency, effective communication, and ethics and social impact. Each of these categories is then further divided into two sub-categories. Information fluency comprises the ability to search, select, evaluate, and organise information in a...:  effective communication skills (the ability to communicate information while ensuring that the meanings are transferred effectively, taking into account the media and the recipient), and  collaboration and virtual interaction skills (the ability...

Research of level of formed knowledge, abilities and skills on basket-ball for the students of faculty of physical education.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kovalenko J.A.

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The results of a zero control of students of faculty of physical education are presented. The estimation of theoretical knowledge's is conducted, abilities and skills on basket-ball for the students of a 1 course of directions of preparation «Physical education», «Health of man» and «Sport». It is set that the level of their formed at most students of different directions of preparation is insufficient. It is certain that by reason of such position, foremost, there is insufficient preparation and playing practice of students during teaching at general school. A diary is developed on basket-ball for student general schools.

The Relationship among Localization Skill, Existence Constancy and Object Permanence.

Science.gov (United States)

Townes-Rosenwein, Linda

Two component skills of object permanence were studied: existence constancy -- the infants' ability to expect that an object continues to exist after it is hidden, and localization skill -- infants' ability to search in the correct place for a hidden object. Contradictions within the literature may occur because of task lability caused by failure…

Size and modality effects in Braille learning: Implications for the blind child from pre-reading sighted children.

Science.gov (United States)

Barlow-Brown, Fiona; Barker, Christopher; Harris, Margaret

2018-06-17

Beginning readers are typically introduced to enlarged print, and the size of this print decreases as readers become more fluent. In comparison, beginning blind readers are expected to learn standard-sized Braille from the outset because past research suggests letter knowledge cannot be transferred across different sizes of Braille. The study aims to investigate whether learning Braille using an oversized pegboard leads to faster, transferable, letter learning and whether performance is mediated by either tactile or visual learning. Sixty-eight children participated in the study. All children were sighted pre-readers with no previous knowledge of Braille. The children came from two nursery schools with an average age of 47.8 months. Children were taught specific Braille letters using either an enlarged pegboard or standard Braille. Two other groups of children were taught using visually presented Braille characters in either an enlarged or standard size and a further control group mirrored the experience of blind children in receiving non-specific tactile training prior to being introduced to Braille. In all tactile conditions it was ensured that the children did not visually experience any Braille for the duration of the study. Results demonstrated that initially training children with large Braille tactually led to the best subsequent learning of standard Braille. Despite the fact that both initial visual and large tactual learning were significantly faster than learning standard Braille, when transferring letter knowledge to standard tactile Braille, previous tactile experience with the large pegboard offered the most efficient route. Braille letter knowledge can be transferred across size and modality particularly effectively with large tactile Braille. This has significant implications for the education of blind children. © 2018 The British Psychological Society.

Executive skills 21: a forecast of leadership skills and associated competencies required by naval hospital administrators into the 21st century.

Science.gov (United States)

Sentell, J W; Finstuen, K

1998-01-01

Those in the Naval Medical Department are experiencing an exciting time of bridled chaos and creative change. Many mid-career officers are uncertain of the leadership behaviors and skills that will be necessary for successful managerial careers. Changes in the method of health care delivery of this nation combined with the reengineering of the armed forces' world-wide mission has driven military medical leaders to expand their professional skills, knowledge, and abilities beyond the clinical sciences. This research identifies the most critical domains in the science of health care administration and differentiates and ranks job skill, knowledge, and ability requirements that will be necessary for successful health care management into the 21st century. Top Naval hospital executives responded to two iterations of a Delphi inquiry. These medical leaders identified 106 unique issues that were content-analyzed into nine domains by a neutral, expert panel. Domains, in order of ranked importance, were leadership, health care delivery systems, cost-finance, technology, accessibility, professional staff relations, marketing, quality-risk management, and ethics. In the second Delphi iteration, hospital executives reviewed domain results and rated identified job requirements on their required job importance. The top-10 rated skills, knowledge, and abilities are reported. Results indicated that although a business orientation is needed for organizational survival, an emphasis on person-oriented skills, knowledge, and abilities is required for future success as a health care administrator in the Naval health care system.

Using music activities to enhance the listening skills and language skills of Grade 1, English first additional language learners

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Hugo, Anna J.

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Music activities can be used to develop and enhance young learners’ listening abilities. Listening is a language skill which is a prerequisite for the development of other language skills and especially for the development of a person’s speaking abilities. It is also a prerequisite for the development of a person’s language abilities in a second language. In a research project involving a group of 70 English first additional language learners, two Grade 1 classes were selected. One class was the experimental group and the other class was the comparison group. Over a period of six months the experimental group received planned music activities daily. When the two groups were retested after six months, significant differences in the means between the experimental and the control groups were found. The experimental group significantly improved their listening skills in English as a second language (ESL. This has implications for teaching ESL learners in the Foundation Phase.

Motor skills, haptic perception and social abilities in children with mild speech disorders.

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Müürsepp, Iti; Aibast, Herje; Gapeyeva, Helena; Pääsuke, Mati

2012-02-01

The aim of the study was to evaluate motor skills, haptic object recognition and social interaction in 5-year-old children with mild specific expressive language impairment (expressive-SLI) and articulation disorder (AD) in comparison of age- and gender matched healthy children. Twenty nine children (23 boys and 6 girls) with expressive-SLI, 27 children (20 boys and 7 girls) with AD and 30 children (23 boys and 7 girls) with typically developing language as controls participated in our study. The children were examined for manual dexterity, ball skills, static and dynamic balance by M-ABC test, haptic object recognition and for social interaction by questionnaire completed by teachers. Children with mild expressive-SLI demonstrated significantly poorer results in all subtests of motor skills (psocial interaction (p0.05) in measured parameters between children with AD and controls. Children with expressive-SLI performed considerably poorer compared to AD group in balance subtest (psocial interaction are considerably more affected than in children with AD. Although motor difficulties in speech production are prevalent in AD, it is localised and does not involve children's general motor skills, haptic perception or social interaction. Copyright © 2011 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pictorial Visual Rotation Ability of Engineering Design Graphics Students

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Ernst, Jeremy Vaughn; Lane, Diarmaid; Clark, Aaron C.

2015-01-01

The ability to rotate visual mental images is a complex cognitive skill. It requires the building of graphical libraries of information through short or long term memory systems and the subsequent retrieval and manipulation of these towards a specified goal. The development of mental rotation skill is of critical importance within engineering…

Profile of student critical thinking ability on static fluid concept

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Sulasih; Suparmi, A.; Sarwanto

2017-11-01

Critical thinking ability is an important part of educational goals. It has higher complex processes, such as analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating, drawing conclusion and reflection. This study is aimed to know the critical thinking ability of students in learning static fluids of senior high school students. This research uses the descriptive method which its instruments based on the indicator of critical thinking ability developed according to Ennis. The population of this research is XIth grade science class Public Senior High School, SMA N 1, Sambungmacan, Sragen, Central Java. The static fluid teaching material is delivered using Problem Based Learning Model through class experiment. The results of this study shows that the average student of XIth science class have high critical thinking skills, particularly in the ability of providing simple explanation, build basic skill, and provide advanced explanation, but they do not have high enough in ability of drawing conclusion and strategic and tactical components of critical thinking ability in the study of static fluid teaching material. The average of students critical thinking ability is 72.94, with 27,94% of students are in a low category and 72,22% of students in the high category of critical thinking ability.

Life Skills – Key to Success

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Beena Johnson

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Life skills are the abilities for adaptive and positive behavior which enable the individuals to deal effectively with the challenges and stress of everyday life. Cognitive skills are used for analyzing information, personal skills help in self-management and inter-personal skills are needed for good communication and effective social interaction. These skills can be developed through scientific professional training. Life skills empower the adolescents to choose the best values and behaviors which are essential for positive health. Students who acquire life skills become better adjusted to the school environment and their academic performance will definitely improve. Their self esteem increases and they become capable of coping with the demands and challenges of daily life. Through repeated practicing, individuals can develop mastery over these skills. They learn to apply life skills in all problematic situations in real life and gain control over stressful situations easily.

Skill-specificity of language practice and transferability of language skills: The case of listening and speaking

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Majid Farshid

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The study of skill acquisition is of great importance in cognitive psychology. One aspect of skill acquisition research is whether practice in SLA is skill-specific or not. To date, research done has not led to either unanimous rejection or acceptance of the theory. This article is an attempt to examine this question in an EFL context where L2 learners have limited or no access to target language data outside the classroom. More specifically, it tries to see whether listening and speaking in an EFL context necessitate their own specific practice or not. Based on a post-test only design, 16 male, beginner Iranian EFL learners received input-based instruction for three months. When the instruction was over, both listening and speaking performances of the subjects were assessed. The result showed that the subjects had significantly improved their listening ability while their speaking ability had little or no improvement, indicating that different language skills in EFL contexts need specific practice. The findings not only confirm the skill-specificity of language practice, but also rejects VanPatten’s seminal claim that comprehension practice is enough to bring about development, not only in comprehension but also in production.

Fluid Ability (Gf and Complex Problem Solving (CPS

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Patrick Kyllonen

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Complex problem solving (CPS has emerged over the past several decades as an important construct in education and in the workforce. We examine the relationship between CPS and general fluid ability (Gf both conceptually and empirically. A review of definitions of the two factors, prototypical tasks, and the information processing analyses of performance on those tasks suggest considerable conceptual overlap. We review three definitions of CPS: a general definition emerging from the human problem solving literature; a more specialized definition from the “German School” emphasizing performance in many-variable microworlds, with high domain-knowledge requirements; and a third definition based on performance in Minimal Complex Systems (MCS, with fewer variables and reduced knowledge requirements. We find a correlation of 0.86 between expert ratings of the importance of CPS and Gf across 691 occupations in the O*NET database. We find evidence that employers value both Gf and CPS skills, but CPS skills more highly, even after controlling for the importance of domain knowledge. We suggest that this may be due to CPS requiring not just cognitive ability but additionally skill in applying that ability in domains. We suggest that a fruitful future direction is to explore the importance of domain knowledge in CPS.

Sport psychological skill levels and related psychosocial factors that ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Sport psychological skill levels and related psychosocial factors that distinguish ... players' perceived ability to be psychologically well prepared for competitions. ... reference to practical implications for future sport psychological skills training

Correlation of psychomotor findings and the ability to partially weight bear

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Partial weight bearing is thought to avoid excessive loading that may interfere with the healing process after surgery of the pelvis or the lower extremity. The object of this study was to investigate the relationship between the ability to partially weight bear and the patient's psychomotor skills and an additional evaluation of the possibility to predict this ability with a standardized psychomotor test. Methods 50 patients with a prescribed partial weight bearing at a target load of 15 kg following surgery were verbally instructed by a physical therapist. After the instruction and sufficient training with the physical therapist vertical ground reaction forces using matrix insoles were measured while walking with forearm crutches. Additionally, psychomotor skills were tested with the Motorische Leistungsserie (MLS). To test for correlations Spearman's Rank correlation was used. For further comparison of the two groups a Mann-Withney test was performed using Bonferroni correction. Results The patient's age and body weight significantly correlated with the ability to partially weight bear at a 15 kg target load. There were significant correlations between several subtests of the MLS and ground reaction forces measured while walking with crutches. Patients that were able to correctly perform partial weight bearing showed significant better psychomotor skills especially for those subtests where both hands had to be coordinated simultaneously. Conclusions The ability to partially weight bear is associated with psychomotor skills. The MLS seems to be a tool that helps predicting the ability to keep within the prescribed load limits. PMID:22330655

Correlation of psychomotor findings and the ability to partially weight bear

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Ruckstuhl Thomas

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Partial weight bearing is thought to avoid excessive loading that may interfere with the healing process after surgery of the pelvis or the lower extremity. The object of this study was to investigate the relationship between the ability to partially weight bear and the patient's psychomotor skills and an additional evaluation of the possibility to predict this ability with a standardized psychomotor test. Methods 50 patients with a prescribed partial weight bearing at a target load of 15 kg following surgery were verbally instructed by a physical therapist. After the instruction and sufficient training with the physical therapist vertical ground reaction forces using matrix insoles were measured while walking with forearm crutches. Additionally, psychomotor skills were tested with the Motorische Leistungsserie (MLS. To test for correlations Spearman's Rank correlation was used. For further comparison of the two groups a Mann-Withney test was performed using Bonferroni correction. Results The patient's age and body weight significantly correlated with the ability to partially weight bear at a 15 kg target load. There were significant correlations between several subtests of the MLS and ground reaction forces measured while walking with crutches. Patients that were able to correctly perform partial weight bearing showed significant better psychomotor skills especially for those subtests where both hands had to be coordinated simultaneously. Conclusions The ability to partially weight bear is associated with psychomotor skills. The MLS seems to be a tool that helps predicting the ability to keep within the prescribed load limits.

Re-Engineering Graduate Skills--A Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Nair, Chenicheri Sid; Patil, Arun; Mertova, Patricie

2009-01-01

Research on student-learning outcomes indicates that university graduates do not possess important skills required by employers, such as communication, decision-making, problem-solving, leadership, emotional intelligence, social ethics skills as well as the ability to work with people of different backgrounds. Today, engineering graduates are…

The Importance of Spatial Reasoning Skills in Undergraduate Geology Students and the Effect of Weekly Spatial Skill Trainings

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Gold, Anne; Pendergast, Philip; Stempien, Jennifer; Ormand, Carol

2016-04-01

Spatial reasoning is a key skill for student success in STEM disciplines in general and for students in geosciences in particular. However, spatial reasoning is neither explicitly trained, nor evenly distributed, among students and by gender. This uneven playing field allows some students to perform geoscience tasks easily while others struggle. A lack of spatial reasoning skills has been shown to be a barrier to success in the geosciences, and for STEM disciplines in general. Addressing spatial abilities early in the college experience might therefore be effective in retaining students, especially females, in STEM disciplines. We have developed and implemented a toolkit for testing and training undergraduate student spatial reasoning skills in the classroom. In the academic year 2014/15, we studied the distribution of spatial abilities in more than 700 undergraduate Geology students from 4 introductory and 2 upper level courses. Following random assignment, four treatment groups received weekly online training and intermittent hands-on trainings in spatial thinking while four control groups only participated in a pre- and a posttest of spatial thinking skills. In this presentation we summarize our results and describe the distribution of spatial skills in undergraduate students enrolled in geology courses. We first discuss the factors that best account for differences in baseline spatial ability levels, including general intelligence (using standardized test scores as a proxy), major, video gaming, and other childhood play experiences, which help to explain the gender gap observed in most research. We found a statistically significant improvement of spatial thinking still with large effect sizes for the students who received the weekly trainings. Self-report data further shows that students improve their spatial thinking skills and report that their improved spatial thinking skills increase their performance in geoscience courses. We conclude by discussing the

How Fine Motor Skills Influence the Assessment of High Abilities and Underachievement in Math

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Ziegler, Albert; Stoeger, Heidrun

2010-01-01

Previously, fine motor skills have been of little or no interest to giftedness research. New lines of thought have been advanced that imply that fine motor skills can be of significance in the identification of gifted persons as well as gifted underachievers. This would also have consequences for the diagnostic process underlying identification.…

Assessment of emotion processing skills in acquired brain injury using an ability-based test of emotional intelligence.

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Hall, Sarah E; Wrench, Joanne M; Wilson, Sarah J

2018-04-01

Social and emotional problems are commonly reported after moderate to severe acquired brain injury (ABI) and pose a significant barrier to rehabilitation. However, progress in assessment of emotional skills has been limited by a lack of validated measurement approaches. This study represents the first formal psychometric evaluation of the use of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) V2.0 as a tool for assessing skills in perceiving, using, understanding and managing emotions following ABI. The sample consisted of 82 participants aged 18-80 years in the postacute phase of recovery (2 months-7 years) after moderate to severe ABI. Participants completed the MSCEIT V2.0 and measures of cognition and mood. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were collated from participant interview and medical files. Results revealed deficits across all MSCEIT subscales (approximately 1 SD below the normative mean). Internal consistency was adequate at overall, area, and branch levels, and MSCEIT scores correlated in expected ways with key demographic, clinical, cognitive, and mood variables. MSCEIT performance was related to injury severity and clinician-rated functioning after ABI. Confirmatory factor analysis favored a 3-factor model of EI due to statistical redundancy of the Using Emotions branch. Overall, these findings suggest that the MSCEIT V2.0 is sensitive to emotion processing deficits after moderate to severe ABI, and can yield valid and reliable scores in an ABI sample. In terms of theoretical contributions, our findings support a domain-based, 3-factor approach for characterizing emotion-related abilities in brain-injured individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Moving the needle: a retrospective pre- and post-analysis of improving perceived abilities across 20 leadership skills.

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Fernandez, Claudia S P; Noble, Cheryl C; Jensen, Elizabeth; Steffen, David

2015-02-01

To assess the influence of intensive focused leadership training on self-evaluation of leadership skills among Maternal and Child Health (MCH) professionals enrolled in the Maternal and Child Health Public Health Leadership Institute (MCH PHLI). Senior-level MCH leaders (n = 54) participated in the first two cohorts of the MCH PHLI, a senior-level training program funded through the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. Participants were asked to complete a retrospective pre- and post-test rating inventory at program completion. Participants self-identified their skill level across 20 leadership skills that were the focus of the training program. These skills were derived from the MCH Leadership Competencies, 3.0 and literature reviews, and then divided into two domains: Core leadership skills and Organizational/Institutional leadership skills. Data were analyzed to determine whether participants perceived skill level increased by the end of their training year. A one-sided (upper) paired T Test and a Wilcoxen Signed Rank Sum Test were used to determine statistical significance. Increases in perceived skill levels were found to be statistically significant at the alpha = .01 level for all 20 target skills. The MCH PHLI model of intensive leadership development, incorporating a hybrid approach of onsite and distance-based learning, was broadly effective in building targeted leadership skills as perceived by participants.

Designing Kinect games to train motor skills for mixed ability players

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Greef, de K.J.F.; Spek, van der E.D.; Bekker, M.M.; Fedtke, S.; Bekker, T.; Schijven, M.; Gekker, A.; Schouten, B.

2013-01-01

Children who have special needs when it comes to motor skill development, for instance as a result of developmental coordination disorder or cerebral palsy, need to undergo long bouts of physical therapy. This can often be considered boring, to the detriment of the efficacy of the therapy. One way

Reasoning Ability and Academic Achievement among Secondary School Students in Trivandrum

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Rani, K. V.

2017-01-01

Reasoning ability is the 'problem solving skills' or 'analytical ability' or 'deductive and inductive reasoning'. Academic achievement is the total score one achieved at school, college, or university from class, laboratory, library, or field work. The objectives of the study were to explore the relationship between reasoning ability and academic…

Relationship between children's performance-based motor skills and child, parent, and teacher perceptions of children's motor abilities using self/informant-report questionnaires.

Science.gov (United States)

Lalor, Aislinn; Brown, Ted; Murdolo, Yuki

2016-04-01

Occupational therapists often assess the motor skill performance of children referred to them as part of the assessment process. This study investigated whether children's, parents' and teachers' perceptions of children's motor skills using valid and reliable self/informant-report questionnaires were associated with and predictive of children's actual motor performance, as measured by a standardised performance-based motor skill assessment. Fifty-five typically developing children (8-12 years of age), their parents and classroom teachers were recruited to participate in the study. The children completed the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ) and the Self-Perception Profile for Children. The parents completed the Developmental Profile III (DP-III) and the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire, whereas the teachers completed the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire and the Teacher's Rating Scale of Child's Actual Behavior. Children's motor performance composite scores were determined using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition (BOT-2). Spearman's rho correlation coefficients were calculated to identify if significant correlations existed and multiple linear regression was used to identify whether self/informant report data were significant predictors of children's motor skill performance. The child self-report scores had the largest number of significant correlations with the BOT-2 composites. Regression analysis found that the parent report DP-III Physical subscale was a significant predictor of the BOT-2 Manual Coordination composite and the child-report questionnaire PSDQ. Endurance subscale was a significant predictor of the BOT-2 Strength and Agility composite. The findings support the use of top-down assessment methods from a variety of sources when evaluating children's motor abilities. © 2016 Occupational Therapy Australia.

Music training for the development of reading skills.

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Tierney, Adam; Kraus, Nina

2013-01-01

The beneficial effects of musical training are not limited to enhancement of musical skills, but extend to language skills. Here, we review evidence that musical training can enhance reading ability. First, we discuss five subskills underlying reading acquisition-phonological awareness, speech-in-noise perception, rhythm perception, auditory working memory, and the ability to learn sound patterns-and show that each is linked to music experience. We link these five subskills through a unifying biological framework, positing that they share a reliance on auditory neural synchrony. After laying this theoretical groundwork for why musical training might be expected to enhance reading skills, we review the results of longitudinal studies providing evidence for a role for musical training in enhancing language abilities. Taken as a whole, these findings suggest that musical training can provide an effective developmental educational strategy for all children, including those with language learning impairments. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Developing thinking skill system for modelling creative thinking and critical thinking of vocational high school student

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Dewanto, W. K.; Agustianto, K.; Sari, B. E.

2018-01-01

Vocational students must have practical skills in accordance with the purpose of vocational school that creating the skilled graduates according to their field. Graduates of vocational education are required not just as users, but be able to create. Thus requiring critical and creative thinking skills to assist students in generating ideas, analyzing and creating a product of value. Based on this, then this research aims to develop a system to know the level of ability to think critically and creative students, that resulted students can do self-reflection in improving the ability to think critically and creatively as a supporter of practical ability. The system testing using Naïve Bayes Correlation shown an average accuracy of 93.617% in assessing the students’ critical and creative thinking ability. By using modeling with this system will be known level of students’ critical and creative thinking ability, then the output of the system is used to determine the type of innovation in the learning process to improve the critical and creative thinking skills to support the practical skills of students as skilled vocational students.

Teaching Reading Skills in the EFL Class. A Practical Approach

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Ovidiu Aniculaese

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Teaching reading first requires careful consideration regarding the choice of text that may yield the richest and most relevant exposure to language. Reading is most effective through a top-down approach and students must develop speed and efficiency by avoiding sub-vocalisation, focusing on key words and taking in clusters of meaning at one time. Pre-reading for gist speeds up understanding by discovery of the text’s structure and of the type of paragraph in question. Explanatory paraphrasing and context clues should be sought when difficult vocabulary is encountered. Correct answers to comprehension questions may come from an awareness of the range of distracters possible, the writer’s attitude and the focus of the question.

Strategic leadership: the essential skills.

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Schoemaker, Paul J H; Krupp, Steve; Howland, Samantha

2013-01-01

The more uncertain your environment, the greater the opportunity--if you have the leadership skills to capitalize on it. Research at the Wharton school and at the authors' consulting firm, involving more than 20,000 executives to date, has identified six skills that, when mastered and used in concert, allow leaders to think strategically and navigate the unknown effectively. They are the abilities to anticipate, challenge, interpret, decide, align, and learn. This article describes the six skills in detail and includes a self-assessment that will enable you to identify the ones that most need your attention. The authors have found that strength in one skill cannot easily compensate for a deficit in another. An adaptive strategic leader has learned to apply all six at once.

Individual differences in children's understanding of inversion and arithmetical skill.

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Gilmore, Camilla K; Bryant, Peter

2006-06-01

Background and aims. In order to develop arithmetic expertise, children must understand arithmetic principles, such as the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction, in addition to learning calculation skills. We report two experiments that investigate children's understanding of the principle of inversion and the relationship between their conceptual understanding and arithmetical skills. A group of 127 children from primary schools took part in the study. The children were from 2 age groups (6-7 and 8-9 years). Children's accuracy on inverse and control problems in a variety of presentation formats and in canonical and non-canonical forms was measured. Tests of general arithmetic ability were also administered. Children consistently performed better on inverse than control problems, which indicates that they could make use of the inverse principle. Presentation format affected performance: picture presentation allowed children to apply their conceptual understanding flexibly regardless of the problem type, while word problems restricted their ability to use their conceptual knowledge. Cluster analyses revealed three subgroups with different profiles of conceptual understanding and arithmetical skill. Children in the 'high ability' and 'low ability' groups showed conceptual understanding that was in-line with their arithmetical skill, whilst a 3rd group of children had more advanced conceptual understanding than arithmetical skill. The three subgroups may represent different points along a single developmental path or distinct developmental paths. The discovery of the existence of the three groups has important consequences for education. It demonstrates the importance of considering the pattern of individual children's conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills.

Evaluation of freshmen coordination abilities on practical training in gymnastics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I.A. Tereschenko

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Measured coordination abilities (baseline to the static and dynamic equilibrium of the body, the space-time orientation on the support and in unsupported position, proprioception sense, vestibular stability, vestibular sensitivity, coordination limbs symmetrical and asymmetrical. Coordination abilities were also measured under difficult conditions. The study involved 238 students aged 17 - 18 years. Registered a positive trend of improving performance motor tests, development of educational material. Students who specialize in difficult to coordinate sports had significantly better performance. Found that the content of the material work programs of sports and educational disciplines helps improve sensorimotor coordination tasks students. It is noted that the content of the training material is the basis for efficient formation of motor skills and motor skills development of gymnastic exercises. Recommended ways to increase sports and technical and professional skills of students.

EFFECT OF PROBLEM BASED LEARNING AND MODEL CRITICAL THINKING ABILITY TO PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS

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Unita S. Zuliani Nasution

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The purposes of this research were to analyze the different between physic resolving problem ability by using problem based learning model and direct instruction model, the different of physic resolving problem ability between the students that have critical thinking ability upper the average and the students that have critical thinking ability under the average, and the interaction of problem based learning model toward critical thinking ability and students’ physic resolving problem ability. This research was quasy experimental research that use critical thinking ability tests and physic resolving problem ability tests as the instruments. Result of the research showed that the students’ physic resolving problem ability by using problem based learning model was better than by using direct instruction model, students’ physic resolving problem ability and critical thinking ability upper the average showed better different and result than students’ critical thinking ability under the average, besides there was an interaction between problem based learning model and critical thinking ability in improving students’ physic resolving problem ability.

Analysis of Student’s Skills on the Concept Dynamic Electricity

Science.gov (United States)

Safrina, I.; Maknun, J.; Hasanah, L.

2017-09-01

Physics becomes one of the science lessons in schools that guide student to apply materials in everyday life and commnicating the results natural phenomena. This study intended to figure out understanding skill and argumentation skill on the concept dynamic electricity. This study was descriptive research of senior high school students in South Tangerang. Technique of collecting data was done by test method and interview. The understanding skill refers to indicators of conceptual understanding in the cognitive process of Bloom’s Taxonomy Revision, which contains the indicators were explaining, interpreting, summarizing, comparing, classifying, and inferring. While the argumentation skill refers to Toulmin’s Argumentation Pattern (TAP) which contains the components of claim, evidence, warrant, and backing. The result showed that ability of explaining was higher and ability of comparing was lower. The component of claim was higher and backing was lower. Based on the result, it can be conclude that understanding skill and argumentation skill still less. They have been teached to student with inovation learning method.

Do the physical and environment PETTLEP elements predict sport imagery ability?

Science.gov (United States)

Anuar, Nurwina; Williams, Sarah E; Cumming, Jennifer

2017-11-01

The present study aimed to examine whether physical and environment elements of PETTLEP imagery relate to the ability to image five types of sport imagery (i.e. skill, strategy, goal, affect and mastery). Two hundred and ninety participants (152 males, 148 females; M age  = 20.24 years, SD = 4.36) from various sports completed the Sport Imagery Ability Questionnaire (SIAQ), and a set of items designed specifically for the study to assess how frequently participants incorporate physical (e.g. 'I make small movements or gestures during the imagery') and environment (e.g. 'I image in the real training/competition environment') elements of PETTLEP imagery. Structural equation modelling tested a hypothesised model in which imagery priming (i.e. the best fitting physical and environment elements) significantly and positively predicted imagery ability of the different imagery types (skill, β = 0.38; strategy, β = 0.23; goal, β = 0.21; affect, β = 0.25; mastery, β = 0.22). The model was a good fit to the data: χ 2 (174) = 263.87, p environment elements is associated with better skill, strategy, goal, affect and mastery imagery ability. The findings extend models of imagery use by indicating that how athletes images may influence their imagery ability.

Improving visual skills: II-remote assessment via Internet.

Science.gov (United States)

Powers, Maureen K; Grisham, J David; Wurm, Janice K; Wurm, William C

2009-02-01

Even though poor readers often have poor visual skills, such as binocular coordination and oculomotor control, students' visual skills are rarely assessed. Computer assessments have the potential to assist in identifying students whose visual skills are deficient. This study compared assessments made by an Internet-based computer orthoptics program with those of an on-site vision therapist. Students (N = 41) in grades 1 through 8, reading at least 2 levels below grade, were assessed for visual skill dysfunction (including binocular fusion and tracking ability) by a vision therapist at their school in Wisconsin. The therapist determined whether the student had adequate visual skills based on clinical and behavioral observations. A "remote" investigator located in California determined the adequacy of accommodative facility, tracking, and vergence skills in the same students, based on quantitative progress through the modules of an Internet-based computer orthoptics training program during 3 assessment sessions. The on-site therapist made 33 referrals for possible visual skills training (80%). The remote investigator made 25 referrals (61%), all of which were consistent with referrals made by the on-site therapist; thus, no false-positives occurred when using the remote assessment technique. The 8 additional referrals by the therapist were attributed to the ability to observe student behavior during assessment. Remote assessment of visual skills via an Internet orthoptics program may provide a simple means to detect visual skill problems experienced by poor readers.

Evaluating first-year nursing students' ability to self-assess psychomotor skills using videotape.

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Wilda Ellen; Rush, Kathy; Wright, Marjorie

2009-01-01

Developing confidence in self-assessment is an important skill in becoming a self-regulated learner. This article describes the process undertaken by a group of educators of incorporating self-assessment in combination with psychomotor skill development with freshman students. Students were videotaped performing a wound-dressing change; the videotaping was immediately followed by a self-assessment of their performance using a faculty-generated checklist. Comparison of faculty and student ratings revealed the tendency for students to overrate their performance and identified discordance between students and faculty on several steps of the procedure. These evaluation findings are discussed and future directions explored.

Effectiveness of a training program in supervisors' ability to provide feedback on residents' communication skills

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Junod Perron, N.; Nendaz, M.; Louis-Simonet, M.; Sommer, J.; Gut, A.; Baroffio, A.; Dolmans, D.; Vleuten, C.P.M. van der

2013-01-01

Teaching communication skills (CS) to residents during clinical practice remains problematic. Direct observation followed by feedback is a powerful way to teach CS in clinical practice. However, little is known about the effect of training on feedback skills in this field. Controlled studies are

DEVELOPMENT OF CAREER MANAGEMENT SKILLS OF NEW PODOLOGISTS FOR WORK IN A MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mārīte Saulīte

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Because of the effects of globalization and because of the changes in social-political situation in world, the multicultural environment in Latvia is also changing. Latvia is becoming more and more attractive for foreign citizens from Europeand the same for citizens from elsewhere, that choose to settle here permanently or only for a period of time. That is a considerable challenge for education and healthcare. Workers in field of medicine, and also podology must guide their professional carreer development to the changing multicultural environment. That is why needs of young specialists are also changing , with knowledge, skills and competencies necessary in their profession, specialists must develop creativity and critical thinking, insight of values and culture, humanism and citizenship, decision-making and problem- solving skills as well as entrepreneurial abilities and communication skills. In the process of prepearing new podologists for work in a multicultural environment development of those personal attributes that are made of tact and diplomacy, as well as development of basic skill sets that include learning skill and skill to make compromises, career management skill set development as characterized by ability to collaborate , ability to notice changes in working environment and ability to give support become more important. The goal of this article is to describe, theoretically and empirically, the development of necessary carreer management skills for work in multicultural environment to new podologists

Executive Function Buffers the Association between Early Math and Later Academic Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew D. Ribner

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Extensive evidence has suggested that early academic skills are a robust indicator of later academic achievement; however, there is mixed evidence of the effectiveness of intervention on academic skills in early years to improve later outcomes. As such, it is clear there are other contributing factors to the development of academic skills. The present study tests the role of executive function (EF (a construct made up of skills complicit in the achievement of goal-directed tasks in predicting 5th grade math and reading ability above and beyond math and reading ability prior to school entry, and net of other cognitive covariates including processing speed, vocabulary, and IQ. Using a longitudinal dataset of N = 1292 participants representative of rural areas in two distinctive geographical parts of the United States, the present investigation finds EF at age 5 strongly predicts 5th grade academic skills, as do cognitive covariates. Additionally, investigation of an interaction between early math ability and EF reveals the magnitude of the association between early math and later math varies as a function of early EF, such that participants who have high levels of EF can “catch up” to peers who perform better on assessments of early math ability. These results suggest EF is pivotal to the development of academic skills throughout elementary school. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.

Exploring the Disconnect Between Information Literacy Skills and Self-Estimates of Ability in First-Year Community College Students. A Review of: Gross, M., & Latham, D. (2012. What’s skill got to do with it?: Information literacy skills and self-views of ability among first-year college students. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(3, 574-583.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heather Coates

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Objective – To explore the relationships between information literacy (IL test scores and self-estimated ability both prior to and after completing the test.Design – Information Literacy Test (ILT with pre- and post-test surveys of self-estimated ability.Setting – Two community colleges: a small institution in a rural area and a large institution in an urban area.Subjects – First-year community college students enrolled in entry-level English courses.Methods – The authors conducted a replication study of their earlier work using a larger sample from two community colleges. Information literacy (IL skills were assessed using the Information Literacy Test (ILT developed and validated by researchers at James Madison University. During the spring and fall semesters of 2009 and 2011, the authors administered in a single session the ILT, pre-, and post-test survey instruments to 580 participants. Participants self-selected via sign-up sheet. The first hundred students to sign up per enrollment period were scheduled. Participants received incentives for participation, with an additional incentive offered for scoring in the top 15%. Main Results – The majority of students at both schools (95% at school 1, 80% at school 2 scored in the below-proficient range on the ILT, a few scored in the proficient range (5% at school 1, 20% at school 2, but no students scored in the advanced range. The mean of the few scores in the proficient range was closer to the below-proficient range (≤65% than the advanced range (≥90%. For students at both schools, significant differences were found between their self-estimated and actual test score. While students at both schools adjusted their self-estimated scores downward after completing the ILT, post-test self-estimates remained significantly inflated in relation to their test performance. In particular, students scoring in the below-proficient range demonstrated a large and significant gap. The difference

Spatial Ability through Engineering Graphics Education

Science.gov (United States)

Marunic, Gordana; Glazar, Vladimir

2013-01-01

Spatial ability has been confirmed to be of particular importance for successful engineering graphics education and to be a component of human intelligence that can be improved through instruction and training. Consequently, the creation and communication by means of graphics demand careful development of spatial skills provided by the balanced…

Chinese EFL teachers' knowledge of basic language constructs and their self-perceived teaching abilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jing; Joshi, R Malatesha; Dixon, L Quentin; Huang, Liyan

2016-04-01

The present study examined the knowledge and skills of basic language constructs among elementary school teachers who were teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in China. Six hundred and thirty in-service teachers completed the adapted Reading Teacher Knowledge Survey. Survey results showed that English teachers' self-perceived ability to teach vocabulary was the highest and self-perceived ability to teach reading to struggling readers was the lowest. Morphological knowledge was positively correlated with teachers' self-perceived teaching abilities, and it contributed unique variance even after controlling for the effects of ultimate educational attainment and years of teaching. Findings suggest that elementary school EFL teachers in China, on average, were able to display implicit skills related to certain basic language constructs, but less able to demonstrate explicit knowledge of other skills, especially sub-lexical units (e.g., phonemic awareness and morphemes). The high self-perceived ability of teaching vocabulary and high scores on syllable counting reflected the focus on larger units in the English reading curriculum.

The Importance of Intrinsic Motivation for High and Low Ability Readers' Reading Comprehension Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Logan, Sarah; Medford, Emma; Hughes, Naomi

2011-01-01

The study examined how cognitive and motivational factors predicted reading skill and whether intrinsic reading motivation would explain significantly more variance in low ability readers' reading performance. One hundred and eleven children (aged 9-11) completed assessments of reading comprehension skill, verbal IQ, decoding skill and intrinsic…

SOME METHODOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF FORMING MOTOR SKILLS NECESSARY TO SIGHT-READING PIANO LESSONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ROMAN RUSLANA

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on one of the urgent problems of forming a pianist – the development of score reading skills, in parti­cular the development of motor skills required for this aptitude. Since this ability is not innate, the formation of score reading skills becomes one of the central problems of musical education. Sight-reading is a complex process, requiring the development of complex musical abilities: skills in piano technique, musical and auditory representations, internal hearing. The article pre­sents a series of exercises that can serve as a solid basis for the formation and development of score reading skills.

Contributions of Phonological Awareness, Phonological Short-Term Memory, and Rapid Automated Naming, toward Decoding Ability in Students with Mild Intellectual Disability

Science.gov (United States)

Soltani, Amanallah; Roslan, Samsilah

2013-01-01

Reading decoding ability is a fundamental skill to acquire word-specific orthographic information necessary for skilled reading. Decoding ability and its underlying phonological processing skills have been heavily investigated typically among developing students. However, the issue has rarely been noticed among students with intellectual…

Intellectual Skills and Competitive Strength: Is a Radical Change Necessary?

Science.gov (United States)

Koike, Kazuo

2002-01-01

Data from a study of Toyota production workshops show the most important worker intellectual skills are problem-solving know-how and ability to handle change. Introduction of information technology elevates the need for intellectual skills because of uncertainty. Development of skills for dealing with uncertainty and change in both blue- and…

Female and Male Interns and Their Mentors? Perception of Workforce Skill Development

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Cathy W.; Pinelli, Thomas E.; Brush, Kimberly M.

2013-01-01

Participants in this study were student interns and mentors taking part in the 2012, 10- week Langley Aerospace Research Student Scholars (LARSS) summer internship program in Hampton, Virginia. The study examined mentors and student interns' ratings of their preparedness in basic knowledge and skills. The study focused on three primary areas: 1) overall evaluation of knowledge and skills by mentors and interns; 2) male and female interns' perceptions of their own skills in these key areas; and 3) mentors' perceptions of their student interns' knowledge and skills in the same areas by gender. Overall mentors were more positive about their interns' improvement in 12 of 17 areas assessed than were the student interns. There were no significant gender differences in how mentors rated their male and female interns' abilities in these workforce skills, but there were four key areas where female interns rated their own abilities lower than did their male peers: analytical thinking, computational skills, computer skills and technical skills. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The relationship between keyboarding skills and self-regulated ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Erna Kinsey

record thoughts and ideas, communicate and solve problems (Zimmerman ... Keyboarding skill, as a motor skill, is defined as the ability of learners to key in information ... ly, the forethought phase, the performance or volitional control phase, and the ..... annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San ...

Brain stimulation, mathematical, and numerical training: Contribution of core and noncore skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Looi, C Y; Cohen Kadosh, R

2016-01-01

Mathematical abilities that are correlated with various life outcomes vary across individuals. One approach to improve mathematical abilities is by understanding the underlying cognitive functions. Theoretical and experimental evidence suggest that mathematical abilities are subserved by "core" and "noncore" skills. Core skills are commonly regarded as the "innate" capacity to attend to and process numerical information, while noncore skills are those that are important for mathematical cognition, but are not exclusive to the mathematical domain such as executive functions, spatial skills, and attention. In recent years, mathematical training has been combined with the application of noninvasive brain stimulation to further enhance training outcomes. However, the development of more strategic training paradigms is hindered by the lack of understanding on the contributory nature of core and noncore skills and their neural underpinnings. In the current review, we will examine the effects of brain stimulation with focus on transcranial electrical stimulation on core and noncore skills, and its impact on mathematical and numerical training. We will conclude with a discussion on the theoretical and experimental implications of these studies and directions for further research. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Business education and social skills to leadership competencies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Čukanović-Karavidić Marija

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Encouraged by the fact that the leadership has become sought and highly valued ability in this paper we want to show the importance of education in developing leadership competencies. The creative power of the leaders is in the knowledge-intellectual potential, which have become a key factor of productivity, competitiveness and economic success. Leadership is a process of selection, and then transform those choices into actions - creative thinking through the acquisition of knowledge, values and build social skills. Personality traits and abilities may be to some extent inherited, but only with the education and continuous learning is possible to develop the necessary competencies of a true leader. The paper proves that the structure of leadership competence consists of numerous knowledge, skills, social skills and personality traits which are unavoidable.

German National Proficiency Scales in Biology: Internal Structure, Relations to General Cognitive Abilities and Verbal Skills

Science.gov (United States)

KÖLLER, OLAF

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT National and international large‐scale assessments (LSA) have a major impact on educational systems, which raises fundamental questions about the validity of the measures regarding their internal structure and their relations to relevant covariates. Given its importance, research on the validity of instruments specifically developed for LSA is still sparse, especially in science and its subdomains biology, chemistry, and physics. However, policy decisions for the improvement of educational quality based on LSA can only be helpful if valid information on students’ achievement levels is provided. In the present study, the nature of the measurement instruments based on the German Educational Standards in Biology is examined. On the basis of data from 3,165 students in Grade 10, we present dimensional analyses and report the relationship between different subdimensions of biology literacy and cognitive covariates such as general cognitive abilities and verbal skills. A theory‐driven two‐dimensional model fitted the data best. Content knowledge and scientific inquiry, two subdimensions of biology literacy, are highly correlated and show differential correlational patterns to the covariates. We argue that the underlying structure of biology should be incorporated into curricula, teacher training and future assessments. PMID:27818532

Improving Critical Thinking Skills of College Students through RMS Model for Learning Basic Concepts in Science

Science.gov (United States)

Muhlisin, Ahmad; Susilo, Herawati; Amin, Mohamad; Rohman, Fatchur

2016-01-01

The purposes of this study were to: 1) Examine the effect of RMS learning model towards critical thinking skills. 2) Examine the effect of different academic abilities against critical thinking skills. 3) Examine the effect of the interaction between RMS learning model and different academic abilities against critical thinking skills. The research…

Communication Skills of Nursing Students : Focusing on the Relationship between Life Experience and Communication Skills

OpenAIRE

長家, 智子

2003-01-01

Guidelines of teaching communications to nursing students have been shown. However they are not fully mature to help to recognize each student's communication ability. Communication skills of nursing students in basic nursing education are very important.

STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN WRITING AN INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH OF ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

OpenAIRE

RINI ANITA

2016-01-01

Writing well is not just an option for young people – it is necessary. They need writing skill as one of predicator of academic success and a basic requirement for participation in civic life. Seeing writing skill as one of  important skill to be a well comprehended by young people, include students, writing appears as nightmare for struggling writers. Likewise, they often waste most of their time just for starting to write. This paper is intended to  find out the students’ ability in writing...

Perceptual Speed and Psychomotor Ability Predict Laparoscopic Skill Acquisition on a Simulator

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groenier, Marleen; Groenier, Klaas H.; Miedema, Heleen A. T.; Broeders, Ivo A. M. J.

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Performing minimally invasive surgery puts high demands on a surgeon's cognitive and psychomotor abilities. Assessment of these abilities can be used to predict a surgeon's learning curve, to create individualized training programs, and ultimately in selection programs for surgical

Mobility scooter driving ability in visually impaired individuals.

Science.gov (United States)

Cordes, Christina; Heutink, Joost; Brookhuis, Karel A; Brouwer, Wiebo H; Melis-Dankers, Bart J M

2018-06-01

To investigate how well visually impaired individuals can learn to use mobility scooters and which parts of the driving task deserve special attention. A mobility scooter driving skill test was developed to compare driving skills (e.g. reverse driving, turning) between 48 visually impaired (very low visual acuity = 14, low visual acuity = 10, peripheral field defects = 11, multiple visual impairments = 13) and 37 normal-sighted controls without any prior experience with mobility scooters. Performance on this test was rated on a three-point scale. Furthermore, the number of extra repetitions on the different elements were noted. Results showed that visually impaired participants were able to gain sufficient driving skills to be able to use mobility scooters. Participants with visual field defects combined with low visual acuity showed most problems learning different skills and needed more training. Reverse driving and stopping seemed to be most difficult. The present findings suggest that visually impaired individuals are able to learn to drive mobility scooters. Mobility scooter allocators should be aware that these individuals might need more training on certain elements of the driving task. Implications for rehabilitation Visual impairments do not necessarily lead to an inability to acquire mobility scooter driving skills. Individuals with peripheral field defects (especially in combination with reduced visual acuity) need more driving ability training compared to normal-sighted people - especially to accomplish reversing. Individual assessment of visually impaired people is recommended, since participants in this study showed a wide variation in ability to learn driving a mobility scooter.

Children's science learning: A core skills approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Tolmie, Andrew K; Ghazali, Zayba; Morris, Suzanne

2016-09-01

Research has identified the core skills that predict success during primary school in reading and arithmetic, and this knowledge increasingly informs teaching. However, there has been no comparable work that pinpoints the core skills that underlie success in science. The present paper attempts to redress this by examining candidate skills and considering what is known about the way in which they emerge, how they relate to each other and to other abilities, how they change with age, and how their growth may vary between topic areas. There is growing evidence that early-emerging tacit awareness of causal associations is initially separated from language-based causal knowledge, which is acquired in part from everyday conversation and shows inaccuracies not evident in tacit knowledge. Mapping of descriptive and explanatory language onto causal awareness appears therefore to be a key development, which promotes unified conceptual and procedural understanding. This account suggests that the core components of initial science learning are (1) accurate observation, (2) the ability to extract and reason explicitly about causal connections, and (3) knowledge of mechanisms that explain these connections. Observational ability is educationally inaccessible until integrated with verbal description and explanation, for instance, via collaborative group work tasks that require explicit reasoning with respect to joint observations. Descriptive ability and explanatory ability are further promoted by managed exposure to scientific vocabulary and use of scientific language. Scientific reasoning and hypothesis testing are later acquisitions that depend on this integration of systems and improved executive control. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Observation-based assessment of functional ability in patients with chronic widespread pain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Amris, Kirstine; Wæhrens, Eva Ejlersen; Jespersen, Anders

2011-01-01

Knowledge about functional ability, including activities of daily living (ADL), in patients with chronic widespread pain (CWP) and fibromyalgia (FMS) is largely based on self-report. The purpose of this study was to assess functional ability by using standardised, observation-based assessment...... of ADL performance and to examine the relationship between self-reported and observation-based measures of disability. A total of 257 women with CWP, 199 (77%) fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology tender point criteria for FMS, were evaluated with the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills...... (AMPS), an observation-based assessment providing linear measures of ADL motor and ADL process skill ability (unit: logits). A cutoff for effortless and independent ADL task performance is set at 2.0 for the motor scale and 1.0 for the process scale. A total of 248 (96.5%) had ability measures below...

Perceptual speed and psychomotor ability predict laparoscopic skill acquisition on a simulator

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groenier, Marleen; Groenier, Klaas H; Miedema, Helene A.T.; Broeders, Ivo Adriaan Maria Johannes

2015-01-01

Objective Performing minimally invasive surgery puts high demands on a surgeon’s cognitive and psychomotor abilities. Assessment of these abilities can be used to predict a surgeon’s learning curve, to create individualized training programs, and ultimately in selection programs for surgical

Making Students Eat Their Greens: Information Skills for Chemistry Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah George

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Employers are increasingly requiring a range of "soft" skills from chemistry graduates, including the ability to search for and critically evaluate information. This paper discusses the issues around encouraging chemistry students to engage with information skills and suggests curricular changes which may help to "drip-feed" information skills into degree programs.

The Level of motor Skills of the First Grade Pupils

OpenAIRE

HEJLOVÁ, Kateřina

2011-01-01

The thesis focuses on motor abilities of children from birth to the age of eight years. It outlines the development of gross motor skills, fine motor skills and micromotor skills, and methods how to help children develop these particular areas. The level of motor skills is determined by method of testing in first graders from Stonařov, Pavlov, Třešť and České Budějovice.

Why Ambiguity Detection Is a Predictor of Early Reading Skill

Science.gov (United States)

Wankoff, Lorain Szabo; Cairns, Helen Smith

2009-01-01

This study was designed to determine the contributions of metalinguistic skill and psycholinguistic processing ability to children's ability to detect the ambiguity of sentences and the relationship among all three factors to early reading ability. A total of 20 first graders and 20 second graders were given tasks testing the following abilities:…

The influence of spelling ability on handwriting production: children with and without dyslexia.

Science.gov (United States)

Sumner, Emma; Connelly, Vincent; Barnett, Anna L

2014-09-01

Current models of writing do not sufficiently address the complex relationship between the 2 transcription skills: spelling and handwriting. For children with dyslexia and beginning writers, it is conceivable that spelling ability will influence rate of handwriting production. Our aim in this study was to examine execution speed and temporal characteristics of handwriting when completing sentence-copying tasks that are free from composing demands and to determine the predictive value of spelling, pausing, and motor skill on handwriting production. Thirty-one children with dyslexia (Mage = 9 years 4 months) were compared with age-matched and spelling-ability matched children (Mage = 6 years 6 months). A digital writing tablet and Eye and Pen software were used to analyze handwriting. Children with dyslexia were able to execute handwriting at the same speed as the age-matched peers. However, they wrote less overall and paused more frequently while writing, especially within words. Combined spelling ability and within-word pausing accounted for over 76% of the variance in handwriting production of children with dyslexia, demonstrating that productivity relies on spelling capabilities. Motor skill did not significantly predict any additional variance in handwriting production. Reading ability predicted performance of the age-matched group, and pausing predicted performance for the spelling-ability group. The findings from the digital writing tablet highlight the interactive relationship between the transcription skills and how, if spelling is not fully automatized, it can constrain the rate of handwriting production. Practical implications are also addressed, emphasizing the need for more consideration to be given to what common handwriting tasks are assessing as a whole.

Can video games affect children's cognitive and non-cognitive skills?

OpenAIRE

Agne Suziedelyte

2012-01-01

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether there is a causal relationship between video game playing and children's cognitive and non-cognitive skills. According to the literature, video games have a potential to improve children's cognitive abilities. Video games may also positively a ect such non-cognitive skills as the ability to sustain attention and pro-social behavior. On the other hand, there are concerns that video games can teach children to behave aggressively. The Child Develo...

Writing abilities in intellectual disabilities: a comparison between Down and Williams syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Varuzza, Cristiana; De Rose, Paola; Vicari, Stefano; Menghini, Deny

2015-02-01

Writing is a complex task that requires the integration of multiple cognitive, linguistic, and motor abilities. Until now, only a few studies investigated writing abilities in individuals with Intellectual Disability (ID). The aim of the present exploratory study was to provide knowledge on the organization of writing in two populations with ID, Down syndrome (DS) and Williams syndrome (WS), trying to disentangle different components of the process. A battery tapping diverse writing demands as low-level transcription skills as well as high-level writing skills was proposed to 13 individuals with WS, 12 individuals with DS and 11 mental-age-matched typically developing (TD) children. Results showed that the two groups with genetic syndromes did not differ from TD in writing a list of objects placed in bedroom, in the number of errors in the text composition, in a text copying task and in kind of errors made. However, in a word dictation task, individuals with DS made more errors than individuals with WS and TD children. In a pseudoword dictation task, both individuals with DS and WS showed more errors than TD children. Our results showed good abilities in individuals with ID in different aspects of writing, involving not only low-level transcription skills but also high-level composition skills. Contrary to the pessimistic view, considering individuals with ID vulnerable for failure, our results indicate that the presence of ID does not prevent the achievement of writing skills. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Activities of daily living in children with hemiparesis: influence of cognitive abilities and motor competence.

Science.gov (United States)

Adler, Caroline; Rauchenzauner, Markus; Staudt, Martin; Berweck, Steffen

2014-12-01

The aim of the article is to investigate whether motor competence and cognitive abilities influence the quality of performance of activities of daily living (ADL) in children with hemiparesis. Patients and A total of 20 children with hemiparesis (age, 6-12 years; 11 congenital, 9 acquired during childhood) were studied. Motor competence was assessed with the Assisting Hand Assessment, cognitive abilities with the German version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IV, and the quality of ADL performance with the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS). The motor skills scale of the AMPS correlated with motor competence, and the process skills scale of the AMPS correlated with cognitive abilities. The quality of ADL performance is influenced not only by motor competence but also by the cognitive abilities of a hemiparetic child. This suggests that, in addition to motor-oriented training programs, an optimal therapy for hemiparetic children should also consider cognitive approaches. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

The contribution of spatial ability to mathematics achievement in middle childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilligan, Katie A; Flouri, Eirini; Farran, Emily K

2017-11-01

Strong spatial skills are associated with success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains. Although there is convincing evidence that spatial skills are a reliable predictor of mathematical achievement in preschool children and in university students, there is a lack of research exploring associations between spatial and mathematics achievement during the primary school years. To address this question, this study explored associations between mathematics and spatial skills in children aged 5 and 7years. The study sample included 12,099 children who participated in both Wave 3 (mean age=5; 02 [years; months]) and Wave 4 (mean age=7; 03) of the Millennium Cohort Study. Measures included a standardised assessment of mathematics and the Pattern Construction subscale of the British Ability Scales II to assess intrinsic-dynamic spatial skills. Spatial skills at 5 and 7years of age explained a significant 8.8% of the variation in mathematics achievement at 7years, above that explained by other predictors of mathematics, including gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and language skills. This percentage increased to 22.6% without adjustment for language skills. This study expands previous findings by using a large-scale longitudinal sample of primary school children, a population that has been largely omitted from previous research exploring associations between spatial ability and mathematics achievement. The finding that early and concurrent spatial skills contribute to mathematics achievement at 7years of age highlights the potential of spatial skills as a novel target in the design of mathematics interventions for children in this age range. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DEVELOPING FUTURE TEACHERS-PHILOLOGISTS’ COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS: PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL ASPECT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ellina Panasenko

2017-04-01

Full Text Available In the article contemporary scientists’ psychological and pedagogical researches on the issue of a personality’s communicative skills and pedagogue’s communicative abilities are analyzed; this issue is determined by the trends in humanitarian policy and new requirements for language education, which is defined as the main function of the language – being a means of communication, cognition, understanding, and public order – to form a socially active Ukrainian-speaking language identity. Based on the materials of psychological and pedagogical literary sources, the authors present the definition of the concepts “communicative abilities”, “communication”, “person’s communicative qualities”, “communicative knowledge”, “communicative skills”, “communication attainments”. It is reported that communication skills are the skills and attainments of communicating with people on whom their success depends. The teacher-philologists’ communicative abilities is a complex of individual psychological features that ensure the teacher’s ability to active and effective (optimal communication, transmission and adequate perception of information, organization of interaction with students, their parents and teachers, correct understanding of themselves and their behavior, as well as understanding partners and their behavior, are necessary conditions for the successful fulfilment of professional activities. The authors present a typology of communicative abilities. Scientists classify communicative abilities into: general and special; verbal and non-verbal; especially important and universally important; strategic and tactical. In the article the following main approaches to determining the person’s communicative abilities are revealed: a psychological approach, according to which communicative abilities are considered to be a system of person’s individual, psychological and physiological resources which provides optimal

Using Reflection to Assess Students Ability to Learn and Develop Leadership Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Olsen, Heather M.; Burk, Brooke

2014-01-01

Leadership skill development has been identified as an important element of future leisure service professionals academic preparation. Thus, the purpose of this paper was to utilize in-depth course reflection and service-learning to assess whether undergraduate students enrolled in a leadership course were meeting the leadership objectives set…

Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognitive Ability and Skills of Pediatrics Residents.

Science.gov (United States)

Storer, James S.; And Others

1989-01-01

The cognitive and skills performances of sleep-deprived pediatrics residents were measured by using questions like those on the pediatrics board certification examination and using tasks that required coordination and dexterity. Implications of findings are discussed in the context of the controversy over the structure and process of medical…

Assessing musical abilities objectively: construction and validation of the profile of music perception skills.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lily N C Law

Full Text Available A common approach for determining musical competence is to rely on information about individuals' extent of musical training, but relying on musicianship status fails to identify musically untrained individuals with musical skill, as well as those who, despite extensive musical training, may not be as skilled. To counteract this limitation, we developed a new test battery (Profile of Music Perception Skills; PROMS that measures perceptual musical skills across multiple domains: tonal (melody, pitch, qualitative (timbre, tuning, temporal (rhythm, rhythm-to-melody, accent, tempo, and dynamic (loudness. The PROMS has satisfactory psychometric properties for the composite score (internal consistency and test-retest r>.85 and fair to good coefficients for the individual subtests (.56 to.85. Convergent validity was established with the relevant dimensions of Gordon's Advanced Measures of Music Audiation and Musical Aptitude Profile (melody, rhythm, tempo, the Musical Ear Test (rhythm, and sample instrumental sounds (timbre. Criterion validity was evidenced by consistently sizeable and significant relationships between test performance and external musical proficiency indicators in all three studies (.38 to.62, p<.05 to p<.01. An absence of correlations between test scores and a nonmusical auditory discrimination task supports the battery's discriminant validity (-.05, ns. The interrelationships among the various subtests could be accounted for by two higher order factors, sequential and sensory music processing. A brief version of the full PROMS is introduced as a time-efficient approximation of the full version of the battery.

Investigating the Relationship between Internet Addiction and Strengthening Students' Social Skills

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Karimzadeh, Nazanin

2015-01-01

The present study is about "Investigating the relationship between internet addictions and strengthening students' social skill reinforcement." One of the social elements in all cultures is social skill or ability to communicate with others effectively. One of the factors that affect this skill is addiction to Internet which has recently…

Social conversational skills development in early implanted children.

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Guerzoni, Letizia; Murri, Alessandra; Fabrizi, Enrico; Nicastri, Maria; Mancini, Patrizia; Cuda, Domenico

2016-09-01

Social conversational skills are a salient aspect of early pragmatic development in young children. These skills include two different abilities, assertiveness and responsiveness. This study investigated the development of these abilities in early implanted children and their relationships with lexical development and some language-sensitive variables. Prospective, observational, nonrandomized study. Participants included 28 children with congenital profound sensorineural hearing loss. The mean age at device activation was 13.3 months (standard deviation [SD] ±4.2). The Social-Conversational Skills Rating Scale was used to evaluate assertiveness and responsiveness. The MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (Words and Sentences form) was used to analyze the lexical development. The device experience was 12 months for each child, and the mean age at testing was 25.9 months (SD ±4.6). Assertiveness and responsiveness scores were within the normal range of normal-hearing age-matched peers. Age at cochlear implant activation exerted a significant impact, with the highest scores associated to the youngest patients. The residual correlations between assertiveness and responsiveness with the lexical development were positive and strongly significant (r = 0.69 and 0.73, respectively). Preoperative hearing threshold demonstrated an associated significant coefficient on the assertiveness score. Age at diagnosis and maternal education level were not correlated with the social conversational skills. Early-implanted children developed social conversational skills that are similar to normal-hearing peers matched for age 1 year after device activation. Social conversational skills and lexical development were strongly correlated, but the present study design cannot specify the direction of this relationship. Children with better preoperative residual hearing exhibited better assertive ability. 4 Laryngoscope, 126:2098-2105, 2016. © 2015 The American Laryngological

Developing Leadership Skills in "Introduction to Engineering Courses" through Multi-Media Case Studies

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Sankar, Chetan S.; Kawulich, Barbara; Clayton, Howard; Raju, P. K.

2010-01-01

A literature review identifies a partial list of leadership skills to include developing higher-order cognitive skills, team working skills, positive attitude, and ability to transfer these skills to future environment. This paper discusses the results of research conducted on the use of multiple instructional methodologies in two different…

Process skills acquisition, cognitive growth, and attitude change of ninth grade students in a scientific literacy course

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Baker, Dale R.; Piburn, Michael

This is a report of the effects of a scientific literacy course on the skills, cognitive ability, and attitude of students in the first year of high school. Specifically, the research examines (1) whether it is possible to teach scientific skills, (2) whether a literacy curriculum affects attitude and cognitive ability, and (3) whether incoming student characteristics affect the development of attitude and cognitive abilities. Two hundred and fifty (126 male and 124 female) ninth grade students were enrolled in a specially designed literacy course which met for 3 hours and 20 minutes each week for 39 weeks. Students were pretested for logical, spatial, verbal, and mathematical ability, as well as for attitude toward self and science, and psychological type. The course was successful in teaching skills. In addition, there were significant increases in spatial, verbal, and quantitative ability. Increases in cognitive ability were predicted by logical ability, measurement skills, and academic self-concept. Attitudes declined as a result of participation in the course. Self concept and mastery were related to cognitive variables and motivation, mastery, and control were related to psychological type.

English for Specific Purposes: Podcasts for Listening Skills

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Galina Kavaliauskienė

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The most needed ability in everyday communication is skills of listening. Ability to follow a speaker in a foreign language and respond appropriately needs to be taught like all other language skills. A novel approach to perfecting listening skills has emerged due to audio publishing online. It is known as “podcasting” and has become very popular because it offers language learners extra listening practice both inside and outside the classroom. Moreover, podcasting as online communication technology is a new way to inspire learning: it provides an exciting way for students and educators to explore and discover educational content. However, the applicability of podcasting to teaching English needs researching.This paper addresses research into learners’ perceptions of online listening to podcasts, self-evaluation of one’s performance in individual listening practice and reflections on practical ways of improving skills of listening and developing listening competence. Some implications of research are suggested including a blended learning, i.e. combination of multiple approaches to learning by harmonizing online listening with classroom audition activities in teaching / learning English for Specific Purposes.

Training self-assessment and task-selection skills to foster self-regulated learning: Do trained skills transfer across domains?

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Raaijmakers, Steven F; Baars, Martine; Paas, Fred; van Merriënboer, Jeroen J G; van Gog, Tamara

2018-01-01

Students' ability to accurately self-assess their performance and select a suitable subsequent learning task in response is imperative for effective self-regulated learning. Video modeling examples have proven effective for training self-assessment and task-selection skills, and-importantly-such training fostered self-regulated learning outcomes. It is unclear, however, whether trained skills would transfer across domains. We investigated whether skills acquired from training with either a specific, algorithmic task-selection rule or a more general heuristic task-selection rule in biology would transfer to self-regulated learning in math. A manipulation check performed after the training confirmed that both algorithmic and heuristic training improved task-selection skills on the biology problems compared with the control condition. However, we found no evidence that students subsequently applied the acquired skills during self-regulated learning in math. Future research should investigate how to support transfer of task-selection skills across domains.

Assessing computer skills in Tanzanian medical students: an elective experience

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Melvin Rob

2004-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background One estimate suggests that by 2010 more than 30% of a physician's time will be spent using information technology tools. The aim of this study is to assess the information and communication technologies (ICT skills of medical students in Tanzania. We also report a pilot intervention of peer mentoring training in ICT by medical students from the UK tutoring students in Tanzania. Methods Design: Cross sectional study and pilot intervention study. Participants: Fourth year medical students (n = 92 attending Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Main outcome measures: Self-reported assessment of competence on ICT-related topics and ability to perform specific ICT tasks. Further information related to frequency of computer use (hours per week, years of computer use, reasons for use and access to computers. Skills at specific tasks were reassessed for 12 students following 4 to 6 hours of peer mentoring training. Results The highest levels of competence in generic ICT areas were for email, Internet and file management. For other skills such as word processing most respondents reported low levels of competence. The abilities to perform specific ICT skills were low – less than 60% of the participants were able to perform the core specific skills assessed. A period of approximately 5 hours of peer mentoring training produced an approximate doubling of competence scores for these skills. Conclusion Our study has found a low level of ability to use ICT facilities among medical students in a leading university in sub-Saharan Africa. A pilot scheme utilising UK elective students to tutor basic skills showed potential. Attention is required to develop interventions that can improve ICT skills, as well as computer access, in order to bridge the digital divide.

Social Networking Sites and Cognitive Abilities: Do They Make You Smarter?

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Alloway, Tracy Packiam; Horton, John; Alloway, Ross G.; Dawson, Clare

2013-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of social networking sites (SNS) on cognitive abilities and reported levels of social connectedness in adolescents. In order to provide a reliable measure of cognitive skills, standardized tests of verbal ability, working memory, and academic attainment were administered. Students also…

Skill Sets Required for Environmental Engineering and Where They Are Learned

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Reed, Kathaleen

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge, skills, abilities and traits environmental engineers need. Two questions were asked: what skills are considered important, and where are they learned? Dreyfus and Dreyfus' novice-to-expert model, which describes a progressive, five-step process of skill development that occurs over time…

Morphology, muscle capacity, skill, and maneuvering ability in hummingbirds.

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Dakin, Roslyn; Segre, Paolo S; Straw, Andrew D; Altshuler, Douglas L

2018-02-09

How does agility evolve? This question is challenging because natural movement has many degrees of freedom and can be influenced by multiple traits. We used computer vision to record thousands of translations, rotations, and turns from more than 200 hummingbirds from 25 species, revealing that distinct performance metrics are correlated and that species diverge in their maneuvering style. Our analysis demonstrates that the enhanced maneuverability of larger species is explained by their proportionately greater muscle capacity and lower wing loading. Fast acceleration maneuvers evolve by recruiting changes in muscle capacity, whereas fast rotations and sharp turns evolve by recruiting changes in wing morphology. Both species and individuals use turns that play to their strengths. These results demonstrate how both skill and biomechanical traits shape maneuvering behavior. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Age and gender differences in fundamental motor skills (original version in English

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Judith Jiménez Díaz

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Fundamental motor skills are the basis for participation in more advanced lifetime activities. Whereas considerable research has been reported on motor behavior of children, much less is known about performance in later years, especially adulthood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine age and gender differences on fundamental motor skills (FMS ability across three age groups: children (M = 9.37 yr., SD = 1.26, adolescents (M = 14.80 yr., SD = 2.04 and young-adults (M = 19.88 yr., SD = 2.72. Participants (n = 114 were assessed on five locomotor skills (run, gallop, slide, hop, and distance jump and five object control skills (bounce, catch, overhand throw, strike and kick using the Test for Fundamental Motor Skills, which is a process-oriented instrument. ANOVA results comparing gender and group revealed no significant interactions. Moreover, main effects for group were found for three individual skills: galloping –adolescents and young-adults performed better than children (p < .01–, throwing –children and adolescents performed better than young-adults (p < .01 –, and kicking –young-adults performed better than children and adolescents (p < .05–. Also, we found main effects for gender for total FMS ability (p < .01, locomotor subscale (p < .05 and object control subscale (p < .01, and for six individual motor skills: run (p < .05, jump (p < .05, throw (p < .01, kick (p < .01, bounce (p < .01 and strike (p < .01; males outperformed females for all the skills. However, in view of total FMS ability, locomotor skills and object control skills results suggest similar performance across ages. Therefore, it is important to enhance fundamental motor skills at all ages, as an option to help individuals engage in physical activities.

Video game training does not enhance cognitive ability: A comprehensive meta-analytic investigation.

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Sala, Giovanni; Tatlidil, K Semir; Gobet, Fernand

2018-02-01

As a result of considerable potential scientific and societal implications, the possibility of enhancing cognitive ability by training has been one of the most influential topics of cognitive psychology in the last two decades. However, substantial research into the psychology of expertise and a recent series of meta-analytic reviews have suggested that various types of cognitive training (e.g., working memory training) benefit performance only in the trained tasks. The lack of skill generalization from one domain to different ones-that is, far transfer-has been documented in various fields of research such as working memory training, music, brain training, and chess. Video game training is another activity that has been claimed by many researchers to foster a broad range of cognitive abilities such as visual processing, attention, spatial ability, and cognitive control. We tested these claims with three random-effects meta-analytic models. The first meta-analysis (k = 310) examined the correlation between video game skill and cognitive ability. The second meta-analysis (k = 315) dealt with the differences between video game players and nonplayers in cognitive ability. The third meta-analysis (k = 359) investigated the effects of video game training on participants' cognitive ability. Small or null overall effect sizes were found in all three models. These outcomes show that overall cognitive ability and video game skill are only weakly related. Importantly, we found no evidence of a causal relationship between playing video games and enhanced cognitive ability. Video game training thus represents no exception to the general difficulty of obtaining far transfer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Augmented reality to training spatial skills

OpenAIRE

Martin-Gutierrez, Jorge; Contero, Manuel; Alcañiz Raya, Mariano Luis

2015-01-01

La Laguna University has been offering courses for the development of spatial skills since 2004. Each year since that time spatial ability of engineering students has been measured before and after the courses to check progress after each training session. We have developed a spatial skills training course based on augmented reality and graphic engineering contents, and designed the AR_Dehaes tool, which is based on its own library the uses computer vision techniques for incorporating vis...

Active Listening Improve Your Ability to Listen and Lead

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(CCL), Center for Creative Leadership

2011-01-01

Active listening is a person's willingness and ability to hear and understand. At its core, active listening is a state of mind that involves paying full and careful attention to the other person, avoiding premature judgment, reflecting understanding, clarifying information, summarizing, and sharing. By learning and committing to the skills and behaviors of active listening, leaders can become more effective listeners and, over time, improve their ability to lead.

"Best practice" skills lab training vs. a "see one, do one" approach in undergraduate medical education: an RCT on students' long-term ability to perform procedural clinical skills.

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Anne Herrmann-Werner

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Benefits of skills lab training are widely accepted, but there is sparse research on its long-term effectiveness. We therefore conducted a prospective, randomised controlled-trial to investigate whether in a simulated setting students trained according to a "best practice" model (BPSL perform two skills of different complexity (nasogastral tube insertion, NGT; intravenous cannulation, IVC better than students trained with a traditional "see one, do one" teaching approach (TRAD, at follow-up of 3 or 6 months. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 94 first-year medical students were randomly assigned to one of four groups: BPSL training or TRAD teaching with follow-up at 3 (3M or 6 (6M months. BPSL included structured feedback, practice on manikins, and Peyton's "Four-Step-Approach", while TRAD was only based on the "see one - do one" principle. At follow-up, manikins were used to assess students' performance by two independent blinded video-assessors using binary checklists and a single-item global assessment scale. BPSL students scored significantly higher immediately after training (NGT: BPSL3M 94.8%±0.2 and BPSL6M 95.4%±0.3 percentage of maximal score ± SEM; TRAD3M 86.1%±0.5 and TRAD6M 84.7%±0.4. IVC: BPSL3M 86.4%±0.5 and BPSL6M 88.0%±0.5; TRAD3M 73.2%±0.7 and TRAD6M 72.5%±0.7 and lost significantly less of their performance ability at each follow-up (NGT: BPSL3M 86.3%±0.3 and TRAD3M 70.3%±0.6; BPSL6M 89.0%±0.3 and TRAD6M 65.4%±0.6; IVC: BPSL3M 79.5%±0.5 and TRAD3M 56.5%±0.5; BPSL6M 73.2%±0.4 and TRAD6M 51.5%±0.8. In addition, BPSL students were more often rated clinically competent at all assessment times. The superiority at assessment after training was higher for the more complex skill (IVC, whereas NGT with its lower complexity profited more with regard to long-term retention. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that within a simulated setting BPSL is significantly more effective than TRAD for skills of different

A prospective study evaluating cochlear implant management skills: development and validation of the Cochlear Implant Management Skills survey.

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Bennett, R J; Jayakody, D M P; Eikelboom, R H; Taljaard, D S; Atlas, M D

2016-02-01

To investigate the ability of cochlear implant (CI) recipients to physically handle and care for their hearing implant device(s) and to identify factors that may influence skills. To assess device management skills, a clinical survey was developed and validated on a clinical cohort of CI recipients. Survey development and validation. A prospective convenience cohort design study. Specialist hearing implant clinic. Forty-nine post-lingually deafened, adult CI recipients, at least 12 months postoperative. Survey test-retest reliability, interobserver reliability and responsiveness. Correlations between management skills and participant demographic, audiometric, clinical outcomes and device factors. The Cochlear Implant Management Skills survey was developed, demonstrating high test-retest reliability (0.878), interobserver reliability (0.972) and responsiveness to intervention (skills training) [t(20) = -3.913, P = 0.001]. Cochlear Implant Management Skills survey scores range from 54.69% to 100% (mean: 83.45%, sd: 12.47). No associations were found between handling skills and participant factors. This is the first study to demonstrate a range in cochlear implant device handling skills in CI recipients and offers clinicians and researchers a tool to systematically and objectively identify shortcomings in CI recipients' device handling skills. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Practicing a musical instrument in childhood is associated with enhanced verbal ability and nonverbal reasoning.

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Forgeard, Marie; Winner, Ellen; Norton, Andrea; Schlaug, Gottfried

2008-01-01

In this study we investigated the association between instrumental music training in childhood and outcomes closely related to music training as well as those more distantly related. Children who received at least three years (M = 4.6 years) of instrumental music training outperformed their control counterparts on two outcomes closely related to music (auditory discrimination abilities and fine motor skills) and on two outcomes distantly related to music (vocabulary and nonverbal reasoning skills). Duration of training also predicted these outcomes. Contrary to previous research, instrumental music training was not associated with heightened spatial skills, phonemic awareness, or mathematical abilities. While these results are correlational only, the strong predictive effect of training duration suggests that instrumental music training may enhance auditory discrimination, fine motor skills, vocabulary, and nonverbal reasoning. Alternative explanations for these results are discussed.

Heuristics and biases: interactions among numeracy, ability, and reflectiveness predict normative responding.

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Klaczynski, Paul A

2014-01-01

In Stanovich's (2009a, 2011) dual-process theory, analytic processing occurs in the algorithmic and reflective minds. Thinking dispositions, indexes of reflective mind functioning, are believed to regulate operations at the algorithmic level, indexed by general cognitive ability. General limitations at the algorithmic level impose constraints on, and affect the adequacy of, specific strategies and abilities (e.g., numeracy). In a study of 216 undergraduates, the hypothesis that thinking dispositions and general ability moderate the relationship between numeracy (understanding of mathematical concepts and attention to numerical information) and normative responses on probabilistic heuristics and biases (HB) problems was tested. Although all three individual difference measures predicted normative responses, the numeracy-normative response association depended on thinking dispositions and general ability. Specifically, numeracy directly affected normative responding only at relatively high levels of thinking dispositions and general ability. At low levels of thinking dispositions, neither general ability nor numeric skills related to normative responses. Discussion focuses on the consistency of these findings with the hypothesis that the implementation of specific skills is constrained by limitations at both the reflective level and the algorithmic level, methodological limitations that prohibit definitive conclusions, and alternative explanations.

Heuristics and Biases: Interactions among Numeracy, Ability, and Reflectiveness Predict Normative Responding

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Paul A Klaczynski

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In Stanovich's (2009a, 2011 dual-process theory, analytic processing occurs in the algorithmic and reflective minds. Thinking dispositions, indexes of reflective mind functioning, are believed to regulate operations at the algorithmic level, indexed by general cognitive ability. General limitations at the algorithmic level impose constraints on, and affect the adequacy of, specific strategies and abilities (e.g., numeracy. In a study of 216 undergraduates, the hypothesis that thinking dispositions and general ability moderate the relationship between numeracy (understanding of mathematical concepts and attention to numerical information and normative responses on probabilistic heuristics and biases problems was tested. Although all three individual difference measures predicted normative responses, the numeracy-normative response association depended on thinking dispositions and general ability. Specifically, numeracy directly affected normative responding only at relatively high levels of thinking dispositions and general ability. At low levels of thinking dispositions, neither general ability nor numeric skills related to normative responses. Discussion focuses on the consistency of these findings with the hypothesis that the implementation of specific skills is constrained by limitations at both the reflective level and the algorithmic level, methodological limitations that prohibit definitive conclusions, and alternative explanations.

A STUDY ON EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS OF MBA STUDENTS FROM THE MANAGEMENT INSTITUTES IN THE STATE OF KERALA

OpenAIRE

Bindhu Ann Thomas; Dr. K. V. Unninarayanan

2018-01-01

This study of employability skills among management students identifies various abilities of students including communication skills, problem solving skills , planning and organising skills , interpersonal skills, motivation skills, attitude skills , leadership skill, team work skills, decision making skills, computer skills, learning skills, and functional skills. This study identifies the mean score of each skill and overall employability skills possessed by managements students in the sta...

Measurement of Employability Skills on Teaching Factory Learning

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Subekti, S.; Ana, A.

2018-02-01

Vocational High Schools as one of the educational institutions that has the responsibility in preparing skilled labors has a challenge to improve the quality of human resources as a candidate for skilled labors, to compete and survive in a changing climate of work. BPS noted an increase in the number of non-worker population (BAK) in 2015-2017 on vocational graduates as many as 564,272 people. The ability to adapt and maintain jobs in a variety of conditions is called employability skills. This study purpose to measure the development of employability skills of communication skills, problem-solving skills and teamwork skills on the implementation of teaching factory learning in SMK Negeri 1 Cibadak, THPH Skills Program on bakery competency. This research uses mixed method, with concurrent triangulation mix methods research design. Data collection techniques used interviews and questionnaires. The result shows that there are increasing students’ employability skills in communication skills, problem solving skills, and teamwork skills in teaching factory learning. Principles of learning that apply learning by doing student centering and learning arrangements such as situations and conditions in the workplace have an impact on improving student employability skills.

The effects of imagery on problem-solving ability and autobiographical memory.

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Dennis, Ashley A; Astell, Arlene; Dritschel, Barbara

2012-12-01

Williams et al. (2006) found that increased imageability of cue words during an autobiographical memory task increased specificity of autobiographical memory (ABM) and improved subsequent social problem-solving (SPS). This study explored whether imagery during SPS improved SPS skill, perceived SPS ability, and the specificity of ABMs retrieved in the process of SPS in dysphoric students. Additionally, this study hypothesised that both memory specificity and perceived SPS ability would positively correlate with SPS skill. Dysphoric and non-dysphoric students solved hypothetical social problems on a modified version of the Means-End Problem-Solving task with a verbal or an imagery focus. Participants also completed a questionnaire about ABMs retrieved during SPS and rated their perceived effectiveness of their solutions. Contrary to Williams et al. (2006), the imagery focus did not improve SPS skill or influence perceived effectiveness. Additionally, in contrast to the hypothesis, the imagery group retrieved more overgeneral memories. Finally, ABM specificity did not correlate with SPS skill. However, dysphoric participants perceived specific memories to be significantly less helpful to SPS whereas non-dysphoric participants perceived specific memories to be helpful potentially supporting work on overgeneral ABM and functional avoidance. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of postgraduate training on communication skills teaching: a controlled study

OpenAIRE

Junod Perron, N.; Nendaz, M.; Louis-Simonet, M.; Sommer, J.; Gut, A.; Cerutti, B.; Vleuten, C.P.M. van der; Dolmans, D.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Observation of performance followed by feedback is the key to good teaching of communication skills in clinical practice. The fact that it occurs rarely is probably due to clinical supervisors' perceived lack of competence to identify communication skills and give effective feedback. We evaluated the impact of a faculty development programme on communication skills teaching on clinical supervisors' ability to identify residents' good and poor communication skills and to discuss th...

Developing engineering students' research and technology assessment abilities

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vries, de M.J.; Stroeken, J.H.M.

1996-01-01

This article describes research done among M. Eng. students in several faculties of the Eindhoven University of Technology into their abilities to integrate nontechnical (social) elements in the research that led to their M. Eng. theses. It was found that these students often lacked research skills

Understanding the modeling skill shift in engineering: the impact of self-efficacy, epistemology, and metacognition

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Yildirim, Tuba Pinar

A focus of engineering education is to prepare future engineers with problem solving, design and modeling skills. In engineering education, the former two skill areas have received copious attention making their way into the ABET criteria. Modeling, a representation containing the essential structure of an event in the real world, is a fundamental function of engineering, and an important academic skill that students develop during their undergraduate education. Yet the modeling process remains under-investigated, particularly in engineering, even though there is an increasing emphasis on modeling in engineering schools (Frey 2003). Research on modeling requires a deep understanding of multiple perspectives, that of cognition, affect, and knowledge expansion. In this dissertation, the relationship between engineering modeling skills and students' cognitive backgrounds including self-efficacy, epistemic beliefs and metacognition is investigated using model-eliciting activities (MEAs). Data were collected from sophomore students at two time periods, as well as senior engineering students. The impact of each cognitive construct on change in modeling skills was measured using a growth curve model at the sophomore level, and ordinary least squares regression at the senior level. Findings of this dissertation suggest that self-efficacy, through its direct and indirect (moderation or interaction term with time) impact, influences the growth of modeling abilities of an engineering student. When sophomore and senior modeling abilities are compared, the difference can be explained by varying self-efficacy levels. Epistemology influences modeling skill development such that the more sophisticated the student beliefs are, the higher the level of modeling ability students can attain, after controlling for the effects of conceptual learning, gender and GPA. This suggests that development of modeling ability may be constrained by the naivete of one's personal epistemology

Knowledge structures and the acquisition of a complex skill.

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Day, E A; Arthur, W; Gettman, D

2001-10-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the viability of knowledge structures as an operationalization of learning in the context of a task that required a high degree of skill. Over the course of 3 days, 86 men participated in 9 training sessions and learned a complex video game. At the end of acquisition, participants' knowledge structures were assessed. After a 4-day nonpractice interval, trainees completed tests of skill retention and skill transfer. Findings indicated that the similarity of trainees' knowledge structures to an expert structure was correlated with skill acquisition and was predictive of skill retention and skill transfer. However, the magnitude of these effects was dependent on the method used to derive the expert referent structure. Moreover, knowledge structures mediated the relationship between general cognitive ability and skill-based performance.

Career Skills Workshop: Achieving Your Goals Through Effective Communication

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

Physics students graduate with a huge array of transferrable skills, which are extremely useful to employers (particularly in the private sector, which is the largest employment base of physicists at all degree levels). However, the key to successfully connecting with these opportunities lies in how well graduates are able to communicate their skills and abilities to potential employers. The ability to communicate effectively is a key professional skill that serves scientists in many contexts, including interviewing for jobs, applying for grants, or speaking with law and policy makers. In this interactive workshop, Crystal Bailey (Careers Program Manager at APS) and Gregory Mack (Government Relations Specialist at APS) will lead activities to help attendees achieve their goals through better communication. Topics will include writing an effective resume, interviewing for jobs, and communicating to different audiences including Congress, among others. Light refreshments will be served.

Developing nurses' transformational leadership skills.

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Fischer, Shelly Ann

2017-08-16

Healthcare is a complex area with significant potential for service improvement despite the effects of increasing economic and social pressures on the quality and safety of patient care. As the largest group of healthcare professionals in direct contact with patients, nurses are well positioned to contribute to improvements in healthcare services and to the development of new policies. To influence healthcare improvements and policies effectively, nurses require leadership skills. Historically, it was thought that only nurses in management roles required leadership skills; however, the ability to influence change is a requirement at all levels of clinical practice. Transformational leadership competencies provide nurses with the skills to contribute to improvements in the quality and safety of patient care, while enhancing their career satisfaction. This article examines how nurses can apply transformational leadership to their practice. It also informs nurses how to conduct an initial self-assessment of their leadership skills and to formulate a transformational leadership development plan.

Engineering Play: Exploring Associations with Executive Function, Mathematical Ability, and Spatial Ability in Preschool

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Gold, Zachary Samuel

Engineering play is a new perspective on preschool education that views constructive play as an engineering design process that parallels the way engineers think and work when they develop engineered solutions to human problems (Bairaktarova, Evangelou, Bagiati, & Brophy, 2011). Early research from this perspective supports its use in framing play as a key learning context. However, no research to date has examined associations between engineering play and other factors linked with early school success, such as executive function, mathematical ability, and spatial ability. Additionally, more research is needed to further validate a new engineering play observational measure. This study had two main goals: (1) to gather early validity data on the engineering play measure as a potentially useful instrument for documenting the occurrence of children's engineering play behaviors in educational contexts, such as block play. This was done by testing the factor structure of the engineering play behaviors in this sample and their association with preschoolers' planning, a key aspect of the engineering design process; (2) to explore associations between preschoolers' engineering play and executive function, mathematical ability, and spatial ability. Participants included 110 preschoolers (62 girls; 48 boys; M = 58.47 months) from 10 classrooms in the Midwest United States coded for their frequency of engagement in each of the nine engineering play behaviors. A confirmatory factor analysis resulted in one engineering play factor including six of the engineering play behaviors. A series of marginal regression models revealed that the engineering play factor was significantly and positively associated with the spatial horizontal rotation transformation. However, engineering play was not significantly related to planning ability, executive function, informal mathematical abilities, or other spatial transformation skills. Follow-up analyses revealed significant positive

Making Students Eat Their Greens: Information Skills for Chemistry Students

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George, Sarah; Munshi, Tasnim

2016-01-01

Employers are increasingly requiring a range of "soft" skills from chemistry graduates, including the ability to search for and critically evaluate information. This paper discusses the issues around encouraging chemistry students to engage with information skills and suggests curricular changes which may help to "drip-feed"…

Attentional ability among survivors of leukaemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodgers, J; Horrocks, J; Britton, P G; Kernahan, J

1999-04-01

Attentional ability in 19 survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and 19 sibling controls was assessed using a neuropsychological model of attention. Analysis revealed that children who had received treatment for leukaemia exhibited significantly poorer performance on measures of the "focus encode" and "focus execute" elements of attention and on measures of the ability to respond to external cues and feedback. No significant differences in performance were found for measures of sustained attention and the ability to shift attention. These results indicate that children who have received treatment for leukaemia may experience highly specific attentional deficits that could have an impact on academic performance, particularly mathematical and reading skills. It is suggested that this underlying attentional deficit might be the source of the neuropsychological sequelae associated with the disease. Future attempts at remediation should incorporate activities specifically designed to ameliorate focusing difficulties.

Identification of green skills acquisition in Indonesian TVET curricula

Science.gov (United States)

Setiawan, Agus

2017-09-01

Recently, many countries have put the focus on green growth which specifically aims at achieving a resilient, low-carbon, and resource-efficient economy model that leads to higher quality of life. Environmental pollution and climate change are negatively affecting the sustainability of various economical activities across the world, with Indonesia being one of them. To mitigate the environmental problems, the existing economy should be shifted to a greener economy model which will create green jobs and greening the existing occupation in the industries. Green jobs require workers with green skills. Therefore, development of green skills in TVET institutions is urgently needed. By referencing the existing green skills frame work, green skills acquisition has not been clearly integrated into the existing Indonesian TVET curriculum. However, approach to integrate green skills into TVET curriculum can be carried out through the development of hard skills and soft skills in the domain of knowledge, abilities, and attitudes where green skills is an imparting of both hard skills and soft skills.

Verbal communication skills in typical language development: a case series.

Science.gov (United States)

Abe, Camila Mayumi; Bretanha, Andreza Carolina; Bozza, Amanda; Ferraro, Gyovanna Junya Klinke; Lopes-Herrera, Simone Aparecida

2013-01-01

The aim of the current study was to investigate verbal communication skills in children with typical language development and ages between 6 and 8 years. Participants were 10 children of both genders in this age range without language alterations. A 30-minute video of each child's interaction with an adult (father and/or mother) was recorded, fully transcribed, and analyzed by two trained researchers in order to determine reliability. The recordings were analyzed according to a protocol that categorizes verbal communicative abilities, including dialogic, regulatory, narrative-discursive, and non-interactive skills. The frequency of use of each category of verbal communicative ability was analyzed (in percentage) for each subject. All subjects used more dialogical and regulatory skills, followed by narrative-discursive and non-interactive skills. This suggests that children in this age range are committed to continue dialog, which shows that children with typical language development have more dialogic interactions during spontaneous interactions with a familiar adult.

A Tempest in A Ladle: The Debate about the Roles of General and Specific Abilities in Predicting Important Outcomes

OpenAIRE

Wendy Johnson

2018-01-01

The debate about the roles of general and specific abilities in predicting important outcomes is a tempest in a ladle because we cannot measure abilities without also measuring skills. Skills always develop through exposure, are specific rather than general, and are executed using different strategies by different people, thus tapping into varied specific abilities. Relative predictive validities of measurement formats depend on the purpose: the more general and long-term the purpose, the bet...

Developing Ill-Structured Problem-Solving Skills through Wilderness Education

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Collins, Rachel H.; Sibthorp, Jim; Gookin, John

2016-01-01

In a society that is becoming more dynamic, complex, and diverse, the ability to solve ill-structured problems (ISPs) has become an increasingly critical skill. Students who enter adult roles with the cognitive skills to address ISPs will be better able to assume roles in the emerging economies. Opportunities to develop and practice these skills…

An evidence-based evaluation of transferrable skills and job satisfaction for science PhDs.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melanie Sinche

Full Text Available PhD recipients acquire discipline-specific knowledge and a range of relevant skills during their training in the life sciences, physical sciences, computational sciences, social sciences, and engineering. Empirically testing the applicability of these skills to various careers held by graduates will help assess the value of current training models. This report details results of an Internet survey of science PhDs (n = 8099 who provided ratings for fifteen transferrable skills. Indeed, analyses indicated that doctoral training develops these transferrable skills, crucial to success in a wide range of careers including research-intensive (RI and non-research-intensive (NRI careers. Notably, the vast majority of skills were transferrable across both RI and NRI careers, with the exception of three skills that favored RI careers (creativity/innovative thinking, career planning and awareness skills, and ability to work with people outside the organization and three skills that favored NRI careers (time management, ability to learn quickly, ability to manage a project. High overall rankings suggested that graduate training imparted transferrable skills broadly. Nonetheless, we identified gaps between career skills needed and skills developed in PhD training that suggest potential areas for improvement in graduate training. Therefore, we suggest that a two-pronged approach is crucial to maximizing existing career opportunities for PhDs and developing a career-conscious training model: 1 encouraging trainees to recognize their existing individual skill sets, and 2 increasing resources and programmatic interventions at the institutional level to address skill gaps. Lastly, comparison of job satisfaction ratings between PhD-trained employees in both career categories indicated that those in NRI career paths were just as satisfied in their work as their RI counterparts. We conclude that PhD training prepares graduates for a broad range of satisfying careers

An evidence-based evaluation of transferrable skills and job satisfaction for science PhDs.

Science.gov (United States)

Sinche, Melanie; Layton, Rebekah L; Brandt, Patrick D; O'Connell, Anna B; Hall, Joshua D; Freeman, Ashalla M; Harrell, Jessica R; Cook, Jeanette Gowen; Brennwald, Patrick J

2017-01-01

PhD recipients acquire discipline-specific knowledge and a range of relevant skills during their training in the life sciences, physical sciences, computational sciences, social sciences, and engineering. Empirically testing the applicability of these skills to various careers held by graduates will help assess the value of current training models. This report details results of an Internet survey of science PhDs (n = 8099) who provided ratings for fifteen transferrable skills. Indeed, analyses indicated that doctoral training develops these transferrable skills, crucial to success in a wide range of careers including research-intensive (RI) and non-research-intensive (NRI) careers. Notably, the vast majority of skills were transferrable across both RI and NRI careers, with the exception of three skills that favored RI careers (creativity/innovative thinking, career planning and awareness skills, and ability to work with people outside the organization) and three skills that favored NRI careers (time management, ability to learn quickly, ability to manage a project). High overall rankings suggested that graduate training imparted transferrable skills broadly. Nonetheless, we identified gaps between career skills needed and skills developed in PhD training that suggest potential areas for improvement in graduate training. Therefore, we suggest that a two-pronged approach is crucial to maximizing existing career opportunities for PhDs and developing a career-conscious training model: 1) encouraging trainees to recognize their existing individual skill sets, and 2) increasing resources and programmatic interventions at the institutional level to address skill gaps. Lastly, comparison of job satisfaction ratings between PhD-trained employees in both career categories indicated that those in NRI career paths were just as satisfied in their work as their RI counterparts. We conclude that PhD training prepares graduates for a broad range of satisfying careers, potentially

Psychomotor skills training in pediatric airway endoscopy simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jabbour, Noel; Reihsen, Troy; Sweet, Robert M; Sidman, James D

2011-07-01

To develop a robust psychomotor skills curriculum to teach pediatric airway foreign body retrieval and to assess the effect of this curriculum on residents' confidence in and ability to perform the complete task in an infant airway mannequin. Instructional course. Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS). Surgical simulation laboratory. A half-day simulation-based course was developed to train otolaryngology residents in bronchoscopic foreign body retrieval. This complex psychomotor skill was deconstructed into subtasks. The following curricular learning objectives were presented and assessed: understanding of tracheobronchial anatomy, ability to adequately visualize the larynx with laryngoscopy, proficiency in rigid bronchoscopy, and familiarity with foreign body instrumentation. Residents were objectively evaluated on their ability to perform the complete task on a simulator before and after the course using an OSATS grading system. Confidence in successfully assembling the instruments and completing the task was assessed at these time periods. Seventeen otolaryngology residents completed the study. Confidence in assembling the instruments and in performing the complete task increased on average by 81% and 43%, respectively (P < .001). Using a 15-point OSATS grading system, the average score for the precourse was 7 and for the postcourse was 11.3 (P < .001). Simulation-based subtask training shows promise as an effective and reproducible method to teach the complex psychomotor task of airway foreign body retrieval. Completion of the curriculum led to a significant improvement in residents' confidence in and ability to perform bronchoscopic foreign body retrieval in an infant airway mannequin.

Improving reading and writing learning in underprivileged pluri-ethnic settings.

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Armand, Françoise; Lefrançois, Pascale; Baron, Agnès; Gomez, Maria-Cécilia; Nuckle, Sylvie

2004-09-01

Many studies carried out in first language contexts tend to demonstrate the positive effects of activity programmes aimed at (1) developing metaphonological abilities and (2) developing language skills through active story listening on learning to read and to spell by first-grade students. This study seeks to extend previous findings by (a) including children, the majority of whom have French as a second language, who attend plurilingual schools and have not been included in previous studies, and (b) providing training based on three essential principles shared by the two kinds of programmes: integrating activities into realistic literacy practice contexts; encouraging active student participation through tasks which very often require problem solving; and tackling, one after the other, different kinds of operations or strategies. Three groups of students were created out a pool of 202 children enrolled in nine first-grade classes in three underprivileged pluri-ethnic schools. The control group was composed of 46 students who received typical, first-grade methods for teaching reading and spelling. Experimental group 1 (DMPA), 91 students, received a training programme aimed at metaphonological abilities development. Experimental group 2 (DLS), 65 students, received a training intended to develop language skills through active story listening and production. The students from the three groups were evaluated at the beginning (metaphonological task I, pre-reading task) and at the end (metaphonological task II, word recognition task, text comprehension task, word spelling task) of their first year in elementary school. The programme for the development of metaphonological abilities enabled DMPA group students to obtain significantly higher scores than the control group on metaphonological task II and word recognition task. The DMPA group children also did significantly better than the control and the DLS groups on the word spelling task. However, the DLS group, who

Students’ Cognitive Abilities in Plant Anatomy Practical Work

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Setiono, S.; Rustaman, N. Y.; Rahmat, A.; Anggraeni, S.

2017-09-01

Cognitive abilities is fundamental for the students, as it is closely related to higher thinking skills such as the ability to think critically, creatively, and problem solving. This descriptive study aims to investigate the cognitive abilities of biology prospective teachers in the course of Plant Anatomy Practicum based on the cognitive process dimension and dimensions of knowledge the using the framework of Revision of Bloom taxonomy. A number of biology prospective teachers was involved in this study (n=42). The instrument used to collect data for students’ cognitive process mastery in the form of multiple choice with 5 options. Research finding shows that the average student’s cognitive ability is 68.10. The acquisition of knowledge mastery of cognitive ability is still under the criterion of mastery in the course of the Plant Anatomy Practicum (75). Validity and reliability of the instrument (0,71) and (0,81). It is necessary to design lecture programs both in the class and laboratory to develop student’ cognitive abilities.

Effectiveness of Mobile Learning on Athletic Training Psychomotor Skill Acquisition

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Davie, Emily; Martin, Malissa; Cuppett, Micki; Lebsack, Denise

2015-01-01

Context: Instruction of psychomotor skills is an important component of athletic training education. Accommodating the varied learning abilities and preferences of athletic training students can be challenging for an instructor initiating skill acquisition in a traditional face-to-face (F2F) environment. Video instruction available on mobile…

Gender Differences in Musical Aptitude, Rhythmic Ability and Motor Performance in Preschool Children

Science.gov (United States)

Pollatou, Elisana; Karadimou, Konstantina; Gerodimos, Vasilios

2005-01-01

Most of the preschool curricula involve integrated movement activities that combine music, rhythm and locomotor skills. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether there are any differences between boys and girls at the age of five concerning their musical aptitude, rhythmic ability and performance in gross motor skills. Ninety-five…

Theory of mind abilities in young siblings of children with autism.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaked, Michal; Gamliel, Ifat; Yirmiya, Nurit

2006-03-01

Deficits in theory of mind (ToM), evident in most individuals with autism, have been suggested as a core deficit of autism. ToM difficulties in young siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) compared to siblings of typically developing children (SIBS-TD) would place the former within the broad phenotype. We examined ToM's possible associations with measures of language, cognition, and daily living skills. Participants comprised 24 SIBS-A and 24 matched SIBSTD aged 4.6 years. They completed the false belief and the strange stories tasks. We also collected measures of verbal and cognitive ability and daily living skills. Non-significant differences emerged between the groups on both ToM tasks. Differences did emerge in within-group associations between ToM ability and receptive language. The conclusion is that SIBS-A show resilience in ToM abilities. Possibly, these deficits are not genetically transferred to siblings, at least as measured in laboratory-based ToM tasks.

Brain Plasticity Related to Psychomotor Skills in Catheter-based Interventions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paul, Katja; Cnossen, Fokeltje; Taatgen, Niels; Lanzer, Peter; Villringer, Arno

2016-01-01

A fascinating property of the brain is its ability to reorganise as a result of experience. Practice-related change has been shown in grey and white matter as a result of for example juggling training, but tasks that require many interrelated skills such as very fine motor skills, mental rotation

Evaluation of a mental skills training programme for high school ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... acquisition of new mental skills was a theme pervasive throughout their responses as was an increased ability to regulate their thoughts, feelings and behaviour more effectively. Implicit in all the responses was an increase in mindfulness of the mental aspects of their rugby game and the acquisition of these mental skills.

Improving University Students' Perception of Mathematics and Mathematics Ability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shelly L. Wismath

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Although mathematical and quantitative reasoning skills are an essential part of adult life in our society, many students arrive at post-secondary education without such skills. Taking a standard mathematics course such as calculus may do little to improve those skills. Using a modification of the Tapia & Marsh questionnaire, we surveyed 62 students taking a broad quantitative reasoning course designed to develop quantitative skills, with respect to two broad attitudinal areas: students’ perception of their own ability, confidence and anxiety, and their perception of the value of mathematics in their studies and their lives. Pre- to post-course comparisons were done by both paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Our results showed a significant increase in confidence and decrease in anxiety, while perception of the value of mathematics was already high and changed little by the end of the course.

Rhythm perception and production predict reading abilities in developmental dyslexia

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Elena eFlaugnacco

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Rhythm organizes events in time and plays a major role in music, but also in the phonology and prosody of a language. Interestingly, children with developmental dyslexia - a learning disability that affects reading acquisition despite normal intelligence and adequate education - have a poor rhythmic perception. It has been suggested that an accurate perception of rhythmical/metrical structure, that requires accurate perception of rise time, may be critical for phonological development and subsequent literacy. This hypothesis is mostly based on results showing a high degree of correlation between phonological awareness and metrical skills, using a very specific metrical task. We present new findings from the analysis of a sample of 48 children with a diagnosis of dyslexia, without comorbidities. These children were assessed with neuropsychological tests, as well as specifically-devised psychoacoustic and musical tasks mostly testing temporal abilities. Associations were tested by multivariate analyses including data mining strategies, correlations and most importantly logistic regressions to understand to what extent the different auditory and musical skills can be a robust predictor of reading and phonological skills. Results show a strong link between several temporal skills and phonological and reading abilities. These findings are discussed in the framework of the neuroscience literature comparing music and language processing, with a particular interest in the links between rhythm processing in music and language.

Joint attention and oromotor abilities in young children with and without autism spectrum disorder.

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Dalton, Jennifer C; Crais, Elizabeth R; Velleman, Shelley L

2017-09-01

This study examined the relationship between joint attention ability and oromotor imitation skill in three groups of young children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder using both nonverbal oral and verbal motor imitation tasks. Research questions addressed a) differences among joint attention and oromotor imitation abilities; b) the relationship between independently measured joint attention and oromotor imitation, both nonverbal oral and verbal motor; c) the relationships between joint attention and verbal motor imitation during interpersonal interaction; and d) the relationship between the sensory input demands (auditory, visual, and tactile) and oromotor imitation, both nonverbal oral and verbal motor. A descriptive, nonexperimental design was used to compare joint attention and oromotor skills of 10 preschool-aged children with ASD, with those of two control groups: 6 typically developing children (TD), and 6 children with suspected Childhood Apraxia of Speech (sCAS) or apraxic-like symptoms. All children had at least a 3.0 mean length utterance. Children with ASD had poorer joint attention skills overall than children with sCAS or typically developing children. Typically developing children demonstrated higher verbal motor imitation skills overall compared to children with sCAS. Correlational analyses revealed that nonverbal oral imitation and verbal motor imitation were positively related to joint attention abilities only in the children with ASD. Strong positive relationships between joint attention in a naturalistic context (e.g., shared story experience) and oromotor imitation skills, both nonverbal oral and verbal motor, were found only for children with ASD. These data suggest there is a strong positive relationship between joint attention skills and the ability to sequence nonverbal oral and verbal motor movements in children with ASD. The combined sensory input approach involving auditory, visual, and tactile modalities contributed to

The Impact of Diagnosing Skill Deficiencies and Assessment-Based Communication Training on Managerial Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Papa, Michael J.; Graham, Elizabeth E.

1991-01-01

Evaluates an organizational diagnosis program that assesses managerial communication skills and provides the frame for follow-up training programs. Finds that managers participating in follow-up communication skills training performed significantly higher on interpersonal skills, problem-solving ability, and productivity over three long-term…

Attitudes towards transferable skills in medical undergraduates.

Science.gov (United States)

Whittle, S R; Eaton, D G

2001-02-01

Changes to the style of medical teaching will place a greater responsibility on individual medical students to manage their own learning, highlighting the need for students to develop good so-called 'transferable' skills at an early stage in their undergraduate career. To assess the attitudes of first year undergraduates towards transferable skills, and investigate the gender difference in these attitudes. To assess the contribution of their first year course to skills development. First year students, enrolled on a traditional-style course. A questionnaire asking the students to consider: (a) the importance of named transferable skills for medicine; (b) their own ability in these areas; and (c) the influence of their first year course. All students, irrespective of gender, regarded transferable skills as very important to medicine, rating organizational skills and self-learning skills as most important. Overall, students have a high level of confidence in their own skills. Male students rated their overall level of skills more highly than women. In particular they rated their information handling, managing self-learning and technical skills more highly. Students feel that their first year course has enhanced their skills in most areas. Our results suggest that students will feel equipped to succeed in a learning system which places the onus on them to take responsibility for their own learning. They clearly believe that they have the necessary skills for independent learning. The study highlights the need to enhance students' self-evaluation skills.

Fundamental Movement Skills and Fundamental Games Skills Are Complementary Pairs and Should Be Taught in Complementary Ways at All Stages of Skill Development

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Wayne

2016-01-01

When observing skill and determining the competency of children and youth physical education teachers often focus on the coordination dynamics within the individual in the early years and then the individual's ability to play the game as they develop. But in these game contexts the focus is often still on the individuals' actions and not the…

Semantic interference in picture naming during dual-task performance does not vary with reading ability.

Science.gov (United States)

Piai, Vitória; Roelofs, Ardi; Roete, Ingeborg

2015-01-01

Previous dual-task studies examining the locus of semantic interference of distractor words in picture naming have obtained diverging results. In these studies, participants manually responded to tones and named pictures while ignoring distractor words (picture-word interference, PWI) with varying stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between tone and PWI stimulus. Whereas some studies observed no semantic interference at short SOAs, other studies observed effects of similar magnitude at short and long SOAs. The absence of semantic interference in some studies may perhaps be due to better reading skill of participants in these than in the other studies. According to such a reading-ability account, participants' reading skill should be predictive of the magnitude of their interference effect at short SOAs. To test this account, we conducted a dual-task study with tone discrimination and PWI tasks and measured participants' reading ability. The semantic interference effect was of similar magnitude at both short and long SOAs. Participants' reading ability was predictive of their naming speed but not of their semantic interference effect, contrary to the reading ability account. We conclude that the magnitude of semantic interference in picture naming during dual-task performance does not depend on reading skill.

The effectiveness of problem-based learning on students’ problem solving ability in vector analysis course

Science.gov (United States)

Mushlihuddin, R.; Nurafifah; Irvan

2018-01-01

The student’s low ability in mathematics problem solving proved to the less effective of a learning process in the classroom. Effective learning was a learning that affects student’s math skills, one of which is problem-solving abilities. Problem-solving capability consisted of several stages: understanding the problem, planning the settlement, solving the problem as planned, re-examining the procedure and the outcome. The purpose of this research was to know: (1) was there any influence of PBL model in improving ability Problem solving of student math in a subject of vector analysis?; (2) was the PBL model effective in improving students’ mathematical problem-solving skills in vector analysis courses? This research was a quasi-experiment research. The data analysis techniques performed from the test stages of data description, a prerequisite test is the normality test, and hypothesis test using the ANCOVA test and Gain test. The results showed that: (1) there was an influence of PBL model in improving students’ math problem-solving abilities in vector analysis courses; (2) the PBL model was effective in improving students’ problem-solving skills in vector analysis courses with a medium category.

Providing Feedback: Practical Skills and Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkany, David; Deitte, Lori

2017-06-01

Feedback is an essential component of education. It is designed to influence, reinforce, and change behaviors, concepts, and attitudes in learners. Although providing constructive feedback can be challenging, it is a learnable skill. The negative consequences of destructive feedback or lack of feedback all together are far-reaching. This article summarizes the components of constructive feedback and provides readers with tangible skills to enhance their ability to give effective feedback to learners and peers. Copyright © 2017 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Identification of Determinants of Sports Skill Level in Badminton Players Using the Multiple Regression Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaworski Janusz

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The aim of the study was to evaluate somatic and functional determinants of sports skill level in badminton players at three consecutive stages of training. Methods. The study examined 96 badminton players aged 11 to 19 years. The scope of the study included somatic characteristics, physical abilities and neurosensory abilities. Thirty nine variables were analysed in each athlete. Coefficients of multiple determination were used to evaluate the effect of structural and functional parameters on sports skill level in badminton players. Results. In the group of younger cadets, quality and effectiveness of playing were mostly determined by the level of physical abilities. In the group of cadets, the most important determinants were physical abilities, followed by somatic characteristics. In this group, coordination abilities were also important. In juniors, the most pronounced was a set of the variables that reflect physical abilities. Conclusions. Models of determination of sports skill level are most noticeable in the group of cadets. In all three groups of badminton players, the dominant effect on the quality of playing is due to a set of the variables that determine physical abilities.

The Empathizing-Systemizing Theory, Social Abilities, and Mathematical Achievement in Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Escovar, Emily; Rosenberg-Lee, Miriam; Uddin, Lucina Q; Menon, Vinod

2016-03-14

The Empathizing-Systemizing (E-S) theory describes a profile of traits that have been linked to autism spectrum disorders, and are thought to encompass a continuum that includes typically developing (TD) individuals. Although systemizing is hypothesized to be related to mathematical abilities, empirical support for this relationship is lacking. We examine the link between empathizing and systemizing tendencies and mathematical achievement in 112 TD children (57 girls) to elucidate how socio-cognitive constructs influence early development of mathematical skills. Assessment of mathematical achievement included standardized tests designed to examine calculation skills and conceptual mathematical reasoning. Empathizing and systemizing were assessed using the Combined Empathy Quotient-Child (EQ-C) and Systemizing Quotient-Child (SQ-C). Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that mathematical achievement was not related to systemizing or the discrepancy between systemizing and empathizing. Surprisingly, children with higher empathy demonstrated lower calculation skills. Further analysis using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) revealed that the relationship between EQ-C and mathematical achievement was mediated by social ability rather than autistic behaviors. Finally, social awareness was found to play a differential role in mediating the relationship between EQ-C and mathematical achievement in girls. These results identify empathy, and social skills more generally, as previously unknown predictors of mathematical achievement.

To what extent are medical interviewing skills teachable?

Science.gov (United States)

Kraan, H F; Crijnen, A A; de Vries, M W; Zuidweg, J; Imbos, T; Van der Vleuten, C P

1990-01-01

Growth patterns of medical interviewing skills during a 6-year undergraduate curriculum are assessed by studying 563 medical students taken from five year-groups, interviewing simulated patients. In a cross-sectional, quasi-experimental design their skills are rated by means of the Maastricht History-taking and Advice Checklist (MAAS), an observation instrument which measures five categories of interviewing skills pertaining to initial medical consultations. The findings suggest that the skills for 'history-taking', 'presenting solutions' and 'structuring of the interview' are effectively learned. These learning effects result from a continuous small group teaching program with expert and peer review of videotaped encounters with simulated patients. The teaching effects of this program seem less for the skills pertinent to the phase of 'exploring the reasons for encounter' and to the 'basic interviewing skills', because the students' growing medical knowledge and the increasing ability to solve medical problems exert a counteracting influence on the acquisition of these easily deteriorating skills. The results might be helpful to curriculum planners in order to make their programs for medical interviewing skills more effective.

Examining the Effectiveness of Naturalistic Social Skills Training in Developing Social Skills and Theory of Mind in Preschoolers with ASD.

Science.gov (United States)

Szumski, Grzegorz; Smogorzewska, Joanna; Grygiel, Paweł; Orlando, Ann-Marie

2017-11-20

We compared the effectiveness of two programs for developing social skills, 'Play Time/Social Time' (PT/ST) and 'I Can Problem Solve' (ICPS), in improving the social skills and theory of mind (ToM) of preschoolers with ASD. The experiment took place in a classroom setting. Fifty-two children attended and data were analyzed with latent growth curve models. Comparison with a control group indicated that both programs were effective in developing social skills. The PT/ST program was more effective than ICPS in developing interaction skills; both programs improved children's ability to cope with difficult social situations. The ICPS program was marginally effective in developing ToM when compared with PT/ST and control condition. These results are relevant to children with ASD and their teachers.

Teaching Communication Skills to Radiology Residents.

Science.gov (United States)

Itri, Jason N; Yacob, Sammy; Mithqal, Ayman

The transition of health care in the United States from volume to value requires a systems-based approach aligning clinical services across the continuum of care. The ability to communicate effectively and resolve conflict is a critical skill within the systems-based model. Recognizing the essential role of communication in medicine, the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education has designated interpersonal and communication skills a core competency for all residents regardless of specialty. Yet, communication skills are often developed through on-the-job training or not at all. Traditional educational curricula use a predominantly didactic approach without opportunities for trainees to observe, actively experiment, or reflect on what is learned as a part of the learning process. In this article, we describe a 1-day experiential communication skills workshop customized for radiology residents that consists of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and conflict management sessions designed to develop interpersonal, communication, and conflict management skills through group discussion, role-play, and simulation. The purpose of this educational initiative was to determine the perceived value of an experiential communication skills workshop designed for radiology trainees. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Theory of Mind and Emotion Recognition Skills in Children with Specific Language Impairment, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development: Group Differences and Connection to Knowledge of Grammatical Morphology, Word-Finding Abilities and Verbal Working Memory

Science.gov (United States)

Loukusa, Soile; Mäkinen, Leena; Kuusikko-Gauffin, Sanna; Ebeling, Hanna; Moilanen, Irma

2014-01-01

Background: Social perception skills, such as understanding the mind and emotions of others, affect children's communication abilities in real-life situations. In addition to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is increasing knowledge that children with specific language impairment (SLI) also demonstrate difficulties in their social…

Predictors of employer satisfaction: technical and non-technical skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Danielson, Jared A; Wu, Tsui-Feng; Fales-Williams, Amanda J; Kirk, Ryan A; Preast, Vanessa A

2012-01-01

Employers of 2007-2009 graduates from Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine were asked to respond to a survey regarding their overall satisfaction with their new employees as well as their new employees' preparation in several technical and non-technical skill areas. Seventy-five responses contained complete data and were used in the analysis. Four technical skill areas (data collection, data interpretation, planning, and taking action) and five non-technical skill areas (interpersonal skills, ability to deal with legal issues, business skills, making referrals, and problem solving) were identified. All of the skill area subscales listed above had appropriate reliability (Cronbach's alpha>0.70) and were positively and significantly correlated with overall employer satisfaction. Results of two simultaneous regression analyses indicated that of the four technical skill areas, taking action is the most salient predictor of employer satisfaction. Of the five non-technical skill areas, interpersonal skills, business skills, making referrals, and problem solving were the most important skills in predicting employer satisfaction. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that all technical skills explained 25% of the variation in employer satisfaction; non-technical skills explained an additional 42% of the variation in employer satisfaction.

Masked Speech Recognition and Reading Ability in School-Age Children: Is There a Relationship?

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Gabrielle; Lewis, Barbara; Benchek, Penelope; Buss, Emily; Calandruccio, Lauren

2018-01-01

Purpose: The relationship between reading (decoding) skills, phonological processing abilities, and masked speech recognition in typically developing children was explored. This experiment was designed to evaluate the relationship between phonological processing and decoding abilities and 2 aspects of masked speech recognition in typically…

Skill Learning and Skill Transfer Mediated by Cooperative Haptic Interaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Avila Mireles, Edwin Johnatan; Zenzeri, Jacopo; Squeri, Valentina; Morasso, Pietro; De Santis, Dalia

2017-07-01

It is known that physical coupling between two subjects may be advantageous in joint tasks. However, little is known about how two people mutually exchange information to exploit the coupling. Therefore, we adopted a reversed, novel perspective to the standard one that focuses on the ability of physically coupled subjects to adapt to cooperative contexts that require negotiating a common plan: we investigated how training in pairs on a novel task affects the development of motor skills of each of the interacting partners. The task involved reaching movements in an unstable dynamic environment using a bilateral non-linear elastic tool that could be used bimanually or dyadically. The main result is that training with an expert leads to the greatest performance in the joint task. However, the performance in the individual test is strongly affected by the initial skill level of the partner. Moreover, practicing with a peer rather than an expert appears to be more advantageous for a naive; and motor skills can be transferred to a bimanual context, after training with an expert, only if the non-expert subject had prior experience of the dynamics of the novel task.

Factors that determine development of the ability to draw

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Jorge Luis Dahik Cabrera

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In this investigation, the necessary factors are determined to structure a drawing representing an object, a brief description of the functions of the cerebral hemispheres, the theory of multiple bits of intelligence Gardner, capacities of representation and perception involved in the skill is reviewed and ability to draw. This work aims to be the beginning of a larger study, where they plan to measure the ability to draw in students, in order to experiment with alternative methodologies for teaching drawing.

A Job Announcement Analysis of Educational Technology Professional Positions: Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

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Kang, YoungJu; Ritzhaupt, Albert D.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this research was to identify the competencies of an educational technologist via a job announcement analysis. Four hundred job announcements were collected from a variety of online job databases over a 5-month period. Following a systematic process of collection, documentation, and analysis, we derived over 150 knowledge, skill,…

Effects of gross motor function and manual function levels on performance-based ADL motor skills of children with spastic cerebral palsy.

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Park, Myoung-Ok

2017-02-01

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to determine effects of Gross Motor Function Classification System and Manual Ability Classification System levels on performance-based motor skills of children with spastic cerebral palsy. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-three children with cerebral palsy were included. The Assessment of Motor and Process Skills was used to evaluate performance-based motor skills in daily life. Gross motor function was assessed using Gross Motor Function Classification Systems, and manual function was measured using the Manual Ability Classification System. [Results] Motor skills in daily activities were significantly different on Gross Motor Function Classification System level and Manual Ability Classification System level. According to the results of multiple regression analysis, children categorized as Gross Motor Function Classification System level III scored lower in terms of performance based motor skills than Gross Motor Function Classification System level I children. Also, when analyzed with respect to Manual Ability Classification System level, level II was lower than level I, and level III was lower than level II in terms of performance based motor skills. [Conclusion] The results of this study indicate that performance-based motor skills differ among children categorized based on Gross Motor Function Classification System and Manual Ability Classification System levels of cerebral palsy.

Evaluation of a Coaching Experiential Learning Project on OT Student Abilities and Perceptions

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Erin A. Phillips

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Innovative teaching methods to address emerging practice needs are critical components of effective occupational therapy education. Experiential learning strategies can enhance skill development and translation of knowledge into OT clinical practice. In addition, skills such as coaching may provide important links to health promotion practices. Thirty-two occupational therapy students took part in an experiential project to connect occupational engagement and health for a community of older adults. A pretest/posttest design was used to evaluate program outcomes in student perceived abilities, and narrative reflection papers provided postexperience qualitative information. The students improved in all 10 areas of abilities selfassessment with mean total scores from pretest (M = 42 improving significantly at posttest (M = 58. Themes from reflection papers indicated a positive response to experiential learning and a desire for more opportunities to prepare for clinical practice, including the use of interprofessional training. The students improved in their abilities to use coaching and health promotion strategies through the use of experiential learning methods. Outcomes suggest that experiential learning opportunities are an effective way to enhance student competencies in coaching, improve readiness for wellness programming, and increase student confidence in application of skills in future clinical practice.

Music Training Increases Phonological Awareness and Reading Skills in Developmental Dyslexia: A Randomized Control Trial.

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Elena Flaugnacco

Full Text Available There is some evidence for a role of music training in boosting phonological awareness, word segmentation, working memory, as well as reading abilities in children with typical development. Poor performance in tasks requiring temporal processing, rhythm perception and sensorimotor synchronization seems to be a crucial factor underlying dyslexia in children. Interestingly, children with dyslexia show deficits in temporal processing, both in language and in music. Within this framework, we test the hypothesis that music training, by improving temporal processing and rhythm abilities, improves phonological awareness and reading skills in children with dyslexia. The study is a prospective, multicenter, open randomized controlled trial, consisting of test, rehabilitation and re-test (ID NCT02316873. After rehabilitation, the music group (N = 24 performed better than the control group (N = 22 in tasks assessing rhythmic abilities, phonological awareness and reading skills. This is the first randomized control trial testing the effect of music training in enhancing phonological and reading abilities in children with dyslexia. The findings show that music training can modify reading and phonological abilities even when these skills are severely impaired. Through the enhancement of temporal processing and rhythmic skills, music might become an important tool in both remediation and early intervention programs.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02316873

Music Training Increases Phonological Awareness and Reading Skills in Developmental Dyslexia: A Randomized Control Trial.

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Flaugnacco, Elena; Lopez, Luisa; Terribili, Chiara; Montico, Marcella; Zoia, Stefania; Schön, Daniele

2015-01-01

There is some evidence for a role of music training in boosting phonological awareness, word segmentation, working memory, as well as reading abilities in children with typical development. Poor performance in tasks requiring temporal processing, rhythm perception and sensorimotor synchronization seems to be a crucial factor underlying dyslexia in children. Interestingly, children with dyslexia show deficits in temporal processing, both in language and in music. Within this framework, we test the hypothesis that music training, by improving temporal processing and rhythm abilities, improves phonological awareness and reading skills in children with dyslexia. The study is a prospective, multicenter, open randomized controlled trial, consisting of test, rehabilitation and re-test (ID NCT02316873). After rehabilitation, the music group (N = 24) performed better than the control group (N = 22) in tasks assessing rhythmic abilities, phonological awareness and reading skills. This is the first randomized control trial testing the effect of music training in enhancing phonological and reading abilities in children with dyslexia. The findings show that music training can modify reading and phonological abilities even when these skills are severely impaired. Through the enhancement of temporal processing and rhythmic skills, music might become an important tool in both remediation and early intervention programs.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02316873

Perceived versus actual condom skills among clients at sexually transmitted disease clinics.

OpenAIRE

Langer, L M; Zimmerman, R S; Cabral, R J

1994-01-01

The primary aim of this study was to investigate whether individual self-reports of perceived ability to use a condom correctly correlated with the actual ability to do so. Participants in the study were 3,059 clients of a sexually transmitted disease clinic. The findings revealed that the participants' perceived self-efficacy with regard to using a condom effectively was a poor indicator of their clinically demonstrated skills using a penile model as scored on the 6-point Condom Skills Index...

Effects of Gender Differences and Spatial Abilities within a Digital Pentominoes Game

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Yang, Jie Chi; Chen, Sherry Y.

2010-01-01

Spatial ability is a critical skill in geometric learning. Several studies investigate how to use digital games to improve spatial abilities. However, not every learner favors this kind of support. To this end, there is a need to examine how human factors affect learners' reactions to the use of a digital game to support geometric learning. In…

Emergency medicine resident crisis resource management ability: a simulation-based longitudinal study

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Samuel Clarke

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Simulation has been identified as a means of assessing resident physicians’ mastery of technical skills, but there is a lack of evidence for its utility in longitudinal assessments of residents’ non-technical clinical abilities. We evaluated the growth of crisis resource management (CRM skills in the simulation setting using a validated tool, the Ottawa Crisis Resource Management Global Rating Scale (Ottawa GRS. We hypothesized that the Ottawa GRS would reflect progressive growth of CRM ability throughout residency. Methods: Forty-five emergency medicine residents were tracked with annual simulation assessments between 2006 and 2011. We used mixed-methods repeated-measures regression analyses to evaluate elements of the Ottawa GRS by level of training to predict performance growth throughout a 3-year residency. Results: Ottawa GRS scores increased over time, and the domains of leadership, problem solving, and resource utilization, in particular, were predictive of overall performance. There was a significant gain in all Ottawa GRS components between postgraduate years 1 and 2, but no significant difference in GRS performance between years 2 and 3. Conclusions: In summary, CRM skills are progressive abilities, and simulation is a useful modality for tracking their development. Modification of this tool may be needed to assess advanced learners’ gains in performance.

Mass media and the development of pre-reading of preschool children

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GALATÍKOVÁ, Zuzana

2016-01-01

This thesis maps mass media, especially television broadcasting and electronic devices with connection to the Internet, in the lives of pre-school children, and investigates the relationship between mass media and development of initial reading skills. The theoretical part analyses existing literature relevant to pre-school child development elementary reading and mass media, while the empirical research makes an independent investigation into this phenomenon in society using questionnaires f...

The Role of Creative Coursework in Skill Development for University Seniors

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Angie Miller

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Previous research suggests that creativity training can be effective in academic settings and that teachers in particular can have an impact on creativity. Furthermore, creativity is one of many transferable skills in higher education that will benefit students when they enter the workforce. This study extends research on creativity training and transferable skills in higher education, using data from the Senior Transitions topical module of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE. Responses from over 48,000 seniors at 227 different U.S colleges and universities were used to explore curricular differences across disciplinary fields as well as how exposure to creative coursework can predict confidence in numerous skills and abilities. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis provided support for a measure of exposure to creative coursework, and an ANOVA suggested significant differences by major fields, with arts majors showing a distinct advantage. Results from ordinary least squares regression models found that even after controlling for several demographic and institutional characteristics, creative coursework is a significant positive predictor of confidence in several different skills and abilities that are important for adapting to traditional and non-traditional work settings, including creative thinking, critical thinking, entrepreneurial skills, and networking abilities. Potential reasons for these patterns of results are discussed. These findings can help to inform curricular and programming enhancements for college students across all major fields, helping to better prepare them for their futures in various workplace settings.

L2 Working Memory Capacity and L2 Reading Skill.

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Harrington, Mike; Sawyer, Mark

1992-01-01

Examines the sensitivity of second-language (L2) working memory (ability to store and process information simultaneously) to differences in reading skills among advanced L2 learners. Subjects with larger L2 working memory capacities scored higher on measures of L2 reading skills, but no correlation was found between reading and passive short-term…

The Contribution of General Cognitive Abilities and Approximate Number System to Early Mathematics

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Passolunghi, Maria Chiara; Cargnelutti, Elisa; Pastore, Massimiliano

2014-01-01

Background: Math learning is a complex process that entails a wide range of cognitive abilities to be fulfilled. There is sufficient evidence that both general and specific cognitive skills assume a fundamental role, despite the absence of shared consensus about the relative extent of their involvement. Moreover, regarding general abilities, there…

Effectiveness of a Training Program in Supervisors' Ability to Provide Feedback on Residents' Communication Skills

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Junod Perron, Noelle; Nendaz, Mathieu; Louis-Simonet, Martine; Sommer, Johanna; Gut, Anne; Baroffio, Anne; Dolmans, Diana; van der Vleuten, Cees

2013-01-01

Teaching communication skills (CS) to residents during clinical practice remains problematic. Direct observation followed by feedback is a powerful way to teach CS in clinical practice. However, little is known about the effect of training on feedback skills in this field. Controlled studies are scarce as well as studies that go beyond…

Reasoning Abilities and Potential Correlates Among Jordanian School Children.

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Almomani, Fidaa; Al-Momani, Murad O; Alsheyab, Nihayah; Al Mhdawi, Khader

2018-04-01

Objectives To investigate factors related to reasoning skills in 434 school children aged 5-9 years. Methods The Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised was used to assess reasoning skills. Demographic, work and family income data, information on child's daily behavior and school academic achievement were provided by the participating children's parents. Results Reasoning scores increased by 4.56 points with increasing subject's age, 1.71 points with increasing level of father's occupation, 1.86 points with each increase in the subject's GPA, 1.13 points with consumption of breakfast at home and 1.81 points when child slept more hours. Having a father who smoked and living in a rural area decreased scores in reasoning. Conclusions for Practice Screening of reasoning and associated factors is essential for a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the child's abilities and limitations. Understanding the child's reasoning abilities is critical for establishing intervention goals and planning therapeutic activities.

The role of cognitive flexibility in cognitive restructuring skill acquisition among older adults.

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Johnco, C; Wuthrich, V M; Rapee, R M

2013-08-01

Cognitive flexibility is one aspect of executive functioning that encompasses the ability to produce diverse ideas, consider response alternatives, and modify behaviors to manage changing circumstances. These processes are likely to be important for implementing cognitive restructuring. The present study investigated the impact of cognitive flexibility on older adults' ability to learn cognitive restructuring. Neuropsychological measures of cognitive flexibility were administered to 40 normal community-dwelling older adult volunteers and their ability to implement cognitive restructuring was coded and analyzed. Results indicated that the majority of participants showed good cognitive restructuring skill acquisition with brief training. The multiple regression analysis suggested that those with poorer cognitive flexibility on neuropsychological testing demonstrated poorer quality cognitive restructuring. In particular, perseverative thinking styles appear to negatively impact the ability to learn cognitive restructuring. Further research is needed to clarify whether older adults with poor cognitive flexibility can improve their cognitive restructuring skills with repetition over treatment or whether alternative skills should be considered. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reading-Related Causal Attributions for Success and Failure: Dynamic Links With Reading Skill.

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Frijters, Jan C; Tsujimoto, Kimberley C; Boada, Richard; Gottwald, Stephanie; Hill, Dina; Jacobson, Lisa A; Lovett, Maureen W; Mahone, E Mark; Willcutt, Erik G; Wolf, Maryanne; Bosson-Heenan, Joan; Gruen, Jeffrey R

2018-01-01

The present study investigated the relation among reading skills and attributions, naming speed, and phonological awareness across a wide range of reading skill. Participants were 1,105 school-age children and youths from two understudied populations: African Americans and Hispanic Americans. Individual assessments of children ranging in age from 8 to 15 years were conducted for reading outcomes, cognitive and linguistic predictors of reading, and attributions for success and failure in reading situations. Quantile regressions were formulated to estimate these relations across the full skill span of each outcome. Reading-related attributions predicted contextual word recognition, sight word and decoding fluency, and comprehension skills. Attributions to ability in success situations were positively related to each outcome across the full span. On three reading outcomes, this relation strengthened at higher skill levels. Attributions to effort in success situations were consistently and negatively related to all reading outcomes. The results provide evidence that the strength of the relation between reading and attributions varies according to reading skill levels, with the strongest evidence for ability-based attributions in situations of reading success.

TPACK Updated to Measure Pre-Service Teachers' Twenty-First Century Skills

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Valtonen, Teemu; Sointu, Erkko; Kukkonen, Jari; Kontkanen, Sini; Lambert, Matthew C.; Mäkitalo-Siegl, Kati

2017-01-01

Twenty-first century skills have attracted significant attention in recent years. Students of today and the future are expected to have the skills necessary for collaborating, problem solving, creative and innovative thinking, and the ability to take advantage of information and communication technology (ICT) applications. Teachers must be…

Surgical training in your hands: organising a skills course.

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Burnand, Henry; Mutimer, Jon

2012-12-01

The advent of simulated surgical skills courses has brought dynamic changes to the traditional approach to acquiring practical skills in surgery. Teaching is a core part of the surgical profession, and any trainee can be involved in the organisation of skills training courses. This paper outlines the importance of organising surgical skills courses for trainees, and provides a practical guide on how to do so within busy clinical environments. The paper examines how to plan a course, how to design the programme, and provides tips on faculty staff requirements, venue, finance and participants, with additional suggestions for assessment and evaluation. We recommend the organisation of skills courses to any trainee. By following key ground rules, the surgical trainee can enable the acquisition of advanced learning opportunities and the ability to demonstrate valuable organisational skills. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

Executive Functions and Social Skills in Survivors of Pediatric Brain Tumor

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Wolfe, Kelly R.; Walsh, Karin S.; Reynolds, Nina C.; Mitchell, Frances; Reddy, Alyssa T.; Paltin, Iris; Madan-Swain, Avi

2012-01-01

Medical advances have resulted in increased survival rates for children with brain tumors. Consequently, issues related to survivorship have become more critical. The use of multimodal treatment, in particular cranial radiation therapy, has been associated with subsequent cognitive decline. Specifically, deficits in executive functions have been reported in survivors of various types of pediatric brain tumor. Survivors are left with difficulties, particularly in self-monitoring, initiation, inhibition, and planning, to name a few. Another domain in which survivors of pediatric brain tumor have been reported to show difficulty is that of social skills. Parents, teachers, and survivors themselves have reported decreased social functioning following treatment. Deficits in executive functions and social skills are likely interrelated in this population, as executive skills are needed to navigate various aspects of social interaction; however, this has yet to be studied empirically. Twenty-four survivors of pediatric brain tumor were assessed using a computerized task of executive functions, as well as paper and pencil measures of social skills and real world executive skills. Social functioning was related to a specific aspect of executive functions, i.e., the survivors’ variability in response time, such that inconsistent responding was associated with better parent-report and survivor-report social skills, independent of intellectual abilities. Additionally, parent-reported real-world global executive abilities predicted parent-reported social skills. The implications of these findings for social skills interventions and future research are discussed. PMID:22420326

A Matter of Balance: Motor Control is Related to Children’s Spatial and Proportional Reasoning Skills

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Frick, Andrea; Möhring, Wenke

2016-01-01

Recent research has shown close links between spatial and mathematical thinking and between spatial abilities and motor skills. However, longitudinal research examining the relations between motor, spatial, and mathematical skills is rare, and the nature of these relations remains unclear. The present study thus investigated the relation between children’s motor control and their spatial and proportional reasoning. We measured 6-year-olds’ spatial scaling (i.e., the ability to reason about different-sized spaces), their mental transformation skills, and their ability to balance on one leg as an index for motor control. One year later (N = 126), we tested the same children’s understanding of proportions. We also assessed several control variables (verbal IQ and socio-economic status) as well as inhibitory control, visuo-spatial and verbal working memory. Stepwise hierarchical regressions showed that, after accounting for effects of control variables, children’s balance skills significantly increased the explained variance in their spatial performance and proportional reasoning. Our results suggest specific relations between balance skills and spatial as well as proportional reasoning skills that cannot be explained by general differences in executive functioning or intelligence. PMID:26793157

Parents’ Emotion-Related Beliefs, Behaviors, and Skills Predict Children's Recognition of Emotion

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Castro, Vanessa L.; Halberstadt, Amy G.; Lozada, Fantasy T.; Craig, Ashley B.

2015-01-01

Children who are able to recognize others’ emotions are successful in a variety of socioemotional domains, yet we know little about how school-aged children's abilities develop, particularly in the family context. We hypothesized that children develop emotion recognition skill as a function of parents’ own emotion-related beliefs, behaviors, and skills. We examined parents’ beliefs about the value of emotion and guidance of children's emotion, parents’ emotion labeling and teaching behaviors, and parents’ skill in recognizing children's emotions in relation to their school-aged children's emotion recognition skills. Sixty-nine parent-child dyads completed questionnaires, participated in dyadic laboratory tasks, and identified their own emotions and emotions felt by the other participant from videotaped segments. Regression analyses indicate that parents’ beliefs, behaviors, and skills together account for 37% of the variance in child emotion recognition ability, even after controlling for parent and child expressive clarity. The findings suggest the importance of the family milieu in the development of children's emotion recognition skill in middle childhood, and add to accumulating evidence suggesting important age-related shifts in the relation between parental emotion socialization and child emotional development. PMID:26005393

Super-recognition in development: A case study of an adolescent with extraordinary face recognition skills.

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Bennetts, Rachel J; Mole, Joseph; Bate, Sarah

2017-09-01

Face recognition abilities vary widely. While face recognition deficits have been reported in children, it is unclear whether superior face recognition skills can be encountered during development. This paper presents O.B., a 14-year-old female with extraordinary face recognition skills: a "super-recognizer" (SR). O.B. demonstrated exceptional face-processing skills across multiple tasks, with a level of performance that is comparable to adult SRs. Her superior abilities appear to be specific to face identity: She showed an exaggerated face inversion effect and her superior abilities did not extend to object processing or non-identity aspects of face recognition. Finally, an eye-movement task demonstrated that O.B. spent more time than controls examining the nose - a pattern previously reported in adult SRs. O.B. is therefore particularly skilled at extracting and using identity-specific facial cues, indicating that face and object recognition are dissociable during development, and that super recognition can be detected in adolescence.

Spatial Ability Differences in Athletes and Non-Athletes

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Jessica Cynthia

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Cognitive processes, specifically spatial abilities, are responsible for integration of daily activities. Many factors contribute to the plasticity of the brain which, furthermore, alter the spatial ability. Physical activity, which can be further grouped into sport and exercise, is a modifiable factor that enhances the cognitive processes through a divergent mechanism. This study aimed to gain further understanding on whether sport differs from exercise in altering spatial ability in athletes and non-athletes. Methods: This observational study compared the spatial ability score of athletes of Indonesia National Sport Comitte (Komite Olahraga Nasional Indonesia, KONI in West Java (n= 21 and non-athletes (n= 21. Sampling were performed using stratified random technique and data were collected between August and October 2015 which included spatial scores and demographic of subjects. Results: The difference in spatial scores between athletes and non-athletes were not significant (p=0.432. Conclusions: This study suggests an insignificant difference in spatial ability in athletes performing sport and non-athletes performing exercise. Hence, the cognitive component skills in sport experience do not alter the spatial ability.

The influence of spatial ability and experience on performance during spaceship rendezvous and docking.

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Du, Xiaoping; Zhang, Yijing; Tian, Yu; Huang, Weifen; Wu, Bin; Zhang, Jingyu

2015-01-01

Manual rendezvous and docking (manual RVD) is a challenging space task for astronauts. Previous research showed a correlation between spatial ability and manual RVD skills among participants at early stages of training, but paid less attention to experts. Therefore, this study tried to explore the role of spatial ability in manual RVD skills in two groups of trainees, one relatively inexperienced and the other experienced operators. Additionally, mental rotation has been proven essential in RVD and was tested in this study among 27 male participants, 15 novices, and 12 experts. The participants performed manual RVD tasks in a high fidelity simulator. Results showed that experience moderated the relation between mental rotation ability and manual RVD performance. On one hand, novices with high mental rotation ability tended to perform that RVD task more successfully; on the other hand, experts with high mental rotation ability showed not only no performance advantage in the final stage of the RVD task, but had certain disadvantages in their earlier processes. Both theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

The Influence of Spatial Ability and Experience on Spacecraft Rendezvous and Docking Operation Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoping eDu

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Manual rendezvous and docking (manual RVD is a challenging space task for astronauts. Previous research showed a correlation between spatial ability and manual RVD skills among participants at early stages of training, but paid less attention to experts. Therefore, this study tried to explore the role of spatial ability in manual RVD skills in two groups of trainees, one relatively inexperienced and the other experienced operators. Additionally, mental rotation has been proven essential in RVD and was tested in this study among 27 male participants, 15 novices and 12 experts. The participants performed manual RVD tasks in a high fidelity simulator. Results showed that experience moderated the relation between mental rotation ability and manual RVD performance. On one hand, novices with high mental rotation ability tended to perform that RVD task more successfully; on the other hand, experts with high mental rotation ability showed not only no performance advantage in the final stage of the RVD task, but had certain disadvantages in their earlier processes. Both theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

The influence of spatial ability and experience on performance during spaceship rendezvous and docking

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Xiaoping; Zhang, Yijing; Tian, Yu; Huang, Weifen; Wu, Bin; Zhang, Jingyu

2015-01-01

Manual rendezvous and docking (manual RVD) is a challenging space task for astronauts. Previous research showed a correlation between spatial ability and manual RVD skills among participants at early stages of training, but paid less attention to experts. Therefore, this study tried to explore the role of spatial ability in manual RVD skills in two groups of trainees, one relatively inexperienced and the other experienced operators. Additionally, mental rotation has been proven essential in RVD and was tested in this study among 27 male participants, 15 novices, and 12 experts. The participants performed manual RVD tasks in a high fidelity simulator. Results showed that experience moderated the relation between mental rotation ability and manual RVD performance. On one hand, novices with high mental rotation ability tended to perform that RVD task more successfully; on the other hand, experts with high mental rotation ability showed not only no performance advantage in the final stage of the RVD task, but had certain disadvantages in their earlier processes. Both theoretical and practical implications were discussed. PMID:26236252

Executive abilities in children with congenital visual impairment in mid-childhood.

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Bathelt, Joe; de Haan, Michelle; Salt, Alison; Dale, Naomi Jane

2018-02-01

The role of vision and vision deprivation in the development of executive function (EF) abilities in childhood is little understood; aspects of EF such as initiative, attention orienting, inhibition, planning and performance monitoring are often measured through visual tasks. Studying the development and integrity of EF abilities in children with congenital visual impairment (VI) may provide important insights into the development of EF and also its possible relationship with vision and non-visual senses. The current study investigates non-visual EF abilities in 18 school-age children of average verbal intelligence with VI of differing levels of severity arising from congenital disorders affecting the eye, retina, or anterior optic nerve. Standard auditory neuropsychological assessments of sustained and divided attention, phonemic, semantic and switching verbal fluency, verbal working memory, and ratings of everyday executive abilities by parents were undertaken. Executive skills were compared to age-matched typically-sighted (TS) typically-developing children and across levels of vision (mild to moderate VI [MVI] or severe to profound VI [SPVI]). The results do not indicate significant differences or deficits on direct assessments of verbal and auditory EF between the groups. However, parent ratings suggest difficulties with everyday executive abilities, with the greatest difficulties in those with SPVI. The findings are discussed as possibly reflecting increased demands of behavioral executive skills for children with VI in everyday situations despite auditory and verbal EF abilities in the typical range for their age. These findings have potential implications for clinical and educational practices.

Universal Skills and Competencies for Geoscientists

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Mosher, S.

2015-12-01

Geoscience students worldwide face a changing future workforce, but all geoscience work has universal cross-cutting skills and competencies that are critical for success. A recent Geoscience Employers Workshop, and employers' input on the "Future of Undergraduate Geoscience Education" survey, identified three major areas. Geoscience work requires spatial and temporal (3D & 4D) thinking, understanding that the Earth is a system of interacting parts and processes, and geoscience reasoning and synthesis. Thus, students need to be able to solve problems in the context of an open and dynamic system, recognizing that most geoscience problems have no clear, unambiguous answers. Students must learn to manage uncertainty, work by analogy and inference, and make predations with limited data. Being able to visualize and solve problems in 3D, incorporate the element of time, and understand scale is critical. Additionally students must learn how to tackle problems using real data, including understand the problems' context, identify appropriate questions to ask, and determine how to proceed. Geoscience work requires integration of quantitative, technical, and computational skills and the ability to be intellectually flexible in applying skills to new situations. Students need experience using high-level math and computational methods to solve geoscience problems, including probability and statistics to understand risk. Increasingly important is the ability to use "Big Data", GIS, visualization and modeling tools. Employers also agree a strong field component in geoscience education is important. Success as a geoscientist also requires non-technical skills. Because most work environments involve working on projects with a diverse team, students need experience with project management in team settings, including goal setting, conflict resolution, time management and being both leader and follower. Written and verbal scientific communication, as well as public speaking and

Advanced surgical skills for exposure in trauma: a new surgical skills cadaver course for surgery residents and fellows.

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Kuhls, Deborah A; Risucci, Donald A; Bowyer, Mark W; Luchette, Fred A

2013-02-01

Surgical education is changing owing to workforce and economic demands. Simulation and other technical teaching methods are used to acquire skills transferable to the operating room. Operative management of traumatic injuries has declined, making it difficult to acquire and maintain competence. The ASSET course was developed by the Committee on Trauma's Surgical Skills Committee to fill a surgical skills need in resident and fellow education. Using a human cadaver, standardized rapid exposure of vital structures in the extremities, neck, thorax, abdomen, retroperitoneum, and pelvis is taught. A retrospective analysis of 79 participants in four ASSET courses was performed. Operative experience data were collected, and self-efficacy questionnaires (SEQs) were administered before and after the course. Course evaluations and instructor evaluation data were analyzed. Student's and paired samples t tests as well as analysis of variance and Spearman ρ correlation coefficient analysis were performed using α at p ASSET course would teach new surgical techniques and that learner self-assessed ability would improve. Participants included 27 PGY-4, 20 PGY-5, 24 PGY-6 or PGY-7 and PGY-8 at other levels of training. Self-assessed confidence improved in all body regions (p knowledge rated at 4.8 and learning new techniques at 4.72. A standardized cadaver-based surgical exposures course offered to senior surgical residents adds new surgical skills and improves participant self-assessed ability to perform emergent surgical exposure of vital structures.

Spatial Skill Profile of Mathematics Pre-Service Teachers

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Putri, R. O. E.

2018-01-01

This study is aimed to investigate the spatial intelligence of mathematics pre-service teachers and find the best instructional strategy that facilitates this aspect. Data were collected from 35 mathematics pre-service teachers. The Purdue Spatial Visualization Test (PSVT) was used to identify the spatial skill of mathematics pre-service teachers. Statistical analysis indicate that more than 50% of the participants possessed spatial skill in intermediate level, whereas the other were in high and low level of spatial skill. The result also shows that there is a positive correlation between spatial skill and mathematics ability, especially in geometrical problem solving. High spatial skill students tend to have better mathematical performance compare to those in two other levels. Furthermore, qualitative analysis reveals that most students have difficulty in manipulating geometrical objects mentally. This problem mostly appears in intermediate and low-level spatial skill students. The observation revealed that 3-D geometrical figures is the best method that can overcome the mentally manipulation problem and develop the spatial visualization. Computer application can also be used to improve students’ spatial skill.

Test-retest reliability of the Battery for the Assessment of Auditory Sensorimotor and Timing Abilities (BAASTA)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bégel, Valentin; Verga, Laura; Benoit, Charles-Etienne; Kotz, Sonja A; Bella, Simone Dalla

2018-01-01

Perceptual and sensorimotor timing skills can be comprehensively assessed with the Battery for the Assessment of Auditory Sensorimotor and Timing Abilities (BAASTA). The battery has been used for testing rhythmic skills in healthy adults and patient populations (e.g., with Parkinson disease),

Specific mindfulness skills differentially predict creative performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baas, M.; Nevicka, B.; ten Velden, F.S.

2014-01-01

Past work has linked mindfulness to improved emotion regulation, interpersonal skills, and basic cognitive abilities, but is unclear about the relation between mindfulness and creativity. Studies examining effects of mindfulness on factors pertinent to creativity suggest a uniform and positive

Accuracy of young male drivers’ self-assessments of driving skill

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinussen, Laila Marianne; Møller, Mette; Prato, Carlo Giacomo

2017-01-01

Accurate self-assessment of skill is important because it creates an appropriate level of confidence and hence behaviour. Inaccurate self-assessment of driving ability has been linked to reckless driving and accidents. Inaccurate self-assessment of driving skills may be a contributing factor...... to the over-representation of young male drivers in accident statistics. Most previous research on self-assessment of driving skills did not compare self-reported skills to objectively measured driving skills, so the aims of this study were: (1) to test the accuracy of young male drivers’ self......-assessments of specific driving skills by comparing them with performance in a driving simulator; (2) to test whether self-assessment accuracy varied with driving skill, driving experience and sensation-seeking propensity. We found that young male drivers’ self-assessments were inconsistent with their driving performance...

Do Simulation-Based Skill Exercises and Post-Encounter Notes Add Additional Value to a Standardized Patient-Based Clinical Skills Examination?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael D. Prislin

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Standardized patient (SP clinical assessments have limited utility in assessing higher-level clinical competencies. This study explores the value of including simulation exercises and postencounter notes in an SP clinical skills examination. Methods. Two exercises involving cardiac auscultation and ophthalmic funduscopy simulations along with written post encounter notes were added to an SP-based performance examination. Descriptive analyses of students' performance and correlations with SP-based performance measures were obtained. Results. Students' abilities to detect abnormalities on physical exam were highly variable. There were no correlations between SP-based and simulation-derived measures of physical examination competency. Limited correlations were found between students' abilities to perform and document physical examinations and their formulation of appropriate differential diagnoses. Conclusions. Clinical simulation exercises add depth to SP-based assessments of performance. Evaluating the content of post encounter notes offers some insight into students' integrative abilities, and this appears to be improved by the addition of simulation-based post encounter skill exercises. However, further refinement of this methodology is needed.

Fundamental movement skills and self-concept of children who are overweight.

Science.gov (United States)

Poulsen, Anne A; Desha, Laura; Ziviani, Jenny; Griffiths, Lisa; Heaslop, Annabel; Khan, Asad; Leong, Gary M

2011-06-01

Differences in fundamental movement skills and self-perceptions of physical ability and physical appearance of overweight and non-overweight children were investigated. Overweight (n = 89, mean age = 8.75 ± 1.4 years, BMI z-score = 2.22, SD = 0.46, 46% male) and non-overweight (n = 27, mean age = 8.25 ± 1.5 years, BMI z-score = 0.03, SD = 0.73, 62.1% male) participants enrolled in the KOALA (Kinder Overweight Activity Lifestyle Actions) project were included. The overall objective of the KOALA project was to determine in a randomized controlled trial the effect of a Triple P (Positive Parenting Program), and a family 'Eat Well Be Active' Scouts Camp program on BMI in overweight children. Baseline between-group differences on measures of fundamental movement skills and self-concept perceptions were analyzed using independent samples t-tests. Relationships between BMI and these variables were investigated with multiple linear regression. Overweight children had lower scores on Bruninks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Performance-2 subtests (Bilateral Coordination, Upper Limb Coordination, Strength, Balance, and Running Speed and Agility), and Physical abilities self-concept than non-overweight children. Children who were overweight had significant fundamental movement skill difficulties, as well as having poorer Physical abilities self-concept perceptions compared to non-overweight children. The association between increasing BMI and poor performance of gross motor tasks has potential implications for physical activity participation. Future research is needed to determine if fundamental movement skill difficulties and low physical ability self-concept are predisposing factors for children who are overweight or associated outcomes.

The Relationship between Mathematical Problem-Solving Skills and Self-Regulated Learning through Homework Behaviours, Motivation, and Metacognition

Science.gov (United States)

Özcan, Zeynep Çigdem

2016-01-01

Studies highlight that using appropriate strategies during problem solving is important to improve problem-solving skills and draw attention to the fact that using these skills is an important part of students' self-regulated learning ability. Studies on this matter view the self-regulated learning ability as key to improving problem-solving…

The Elementary School Students’ Mathematical Problem Solving Based on Reading Abilities

Science.gov (United States)

Wulandari, R. D.; Lukito, A.; Khabibah, S.

2018-01-01

The aim of this research is to describe the third grade of elementary school students’ mathematical problem in solving skills based on their reading abilities. This research is a descriptive research with qualitative approach. This research was conducted at elementary school Kebraon II Surabaya in second semester of 2016-2017 academic years. The participants of this research consist of third grade students with different reading abilities that are independent level, instructional level and frustration level. The participants of this research were selected with purposive sampling technique. The data of this study were collected using reading the narration texts, the Ekwall and Shanker Informal Reading Inventory, problem solving task and interview guidelines. The collected data were evaluated using a descriptive analysis method. Once the study had been completed, it was concluded that problem solving skills varied according to reading abilities, student with independent level and instructional level can solve the problem and students with frustration level can’t solve the problem because they can’t interpret the problem well.

Youth survival: addressing the role of promoting the acquisition of the prosocial triad and other survival skills in youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Pratt, Helen D; Pratt, Brandy M; Sackett, Mila

2007-06-01

This article addresses the issue of teaching youth skills that will help them to maximize opportunities and positive consequences and minimize exposure to negative consequences in their lives. These skills will allow them to mature into mentally healthy, productive members of society. Essential skills that are critical to allow this maturational process include developing prosocial skills; the ability to recognize, discriminate the level of threat, and use strategies to avoid danger; and the ability to adapt to the changing demands of his or her environment.

Exploring the Relationship of College Freshmen Honors Students' Effort and Ability Attribution, Interest, and Implicit Theory of Intelligence with Perceived Ability

Science.gov (United States)

Siegle, Del; Da Via Rubenstein, Lisa; Pollard, Elizabeth; Romey, Elizabeth

2010-01-01

Although there are several explanations for why one succeeds or fails, effort and ability are the major causes that students report. The purpose of the present study was to measure the perceptions of 149 college freshmen enrolled in a university honors program about their skills in 15 talent areas. In addition, this study explored the relationship…

A Rubric for Assessing Students' Experimental Problem-Solving Ability

Science.gov (United States)

Shadle, Susan E.; Brown, Eric C.; Towns, Marcy H.; Warner, Don L.

2012-01-01

The ability to couple problem solving both to the understanding of chemical concepts and to laboratory practices is an essential skill for undergraduate chemistry programs to foster in our students. Therefore, chemistry programs must offer opportunities to answer real problems that require use of problem-solving processes used by practicing…

Planning ability improves in a yogic education system compared to a modern.

Science.gov (United States)

Rangan, R; Nagendra, H R; Bhat, G Ramachandra

2008-07-01

Planning skills play a key role in higher developmental processes. The Tower of London test not only measures planning skills, but also the ability to execute plans. Yoga practices aim to bring about higher development. Can a Yoga-based education system be shown to meet this challenge? This study was aimed at comparing a Modern Education System (MES) with the ancient Yoga-based system of education, the Gurukula Education System (GES), in developing planning skills. Forty-nine boys with ages ranging from 11 to 13 years were selected from each of two residential schools, one MES and the other GES, providing similar ambience and daily routines. The boys were matched for age and socio-economic status. The GES educational program is based around integrated yoga modules while the MES provides a conventional modern education program. Planning and executive abilities were assessed using the Tower of London test at the start and the end of an academic year. Within groups, the pre-post test differences were significant for both groups. However, the between-groups results showed improvement in the GES group compared to the MES group at a P education improve planning and execution skills in school boys, GES is more effective of the two systems.

Analysis Ability Professional Internal Auditor In The Three State-Owned Company In Bandung

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Ait Novatiani

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to analysis professional skills of internal auditors in the three state-owned companies in Bandung. The research method used descriptive method the sampling technique used in this research is non probability sampling that the saturation sampling data collection techniques used primary data and secondary data. Based on the research results it can be concluded that the ability of professional internal auditors in the three companies in Bandung good meaning that the company State Owned Enterprises SOEs already meet the ability components of professional internal auditors that their conformity with the standards of the profession knowledge and skills human relations and communication continuing education and professional rigor.

Evaluating veterinary practitioner perceptions of communication skills and training

OpenAIRE

McDermott, M.P.; Cobb, M.A.; Tischler, Victoria; Robbé, I.J.; Dean, R.S.

2017-01-01

A survey was conducted among veterinary practitioners in the UK and the USA in 2012/2013. Thematic analysis was used to identify underlying reasons behind answers to questions about the importance of communication skills and the desire to participate in postgraduate communication skills training. Lack of training among more experienced veterinary surgeons, incomplete preparation of younger practitioners and differences in ability to communicate all contribute to gaps in communication competen...

Observation-based assessment of functional ability in patients with chronic widespread pain: A cross-sectional study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Amris, Kirstine; Wæhrens, Eva Elisabet Ejlersen; Jespersen, Anders

2011-01-01

Knowledge about functional ability, including activities of daily living (ADL), in patients with chronic widespread pain (CWP) and fibromyalgia (FMS) is largely based on self-report. The purpose of this study was to assess functional ability by using standardised, observation-based assessment...... of ADL performance and to examine the relationship between self-reported and observation-based measures of disability. A total of 257 women with CWP, 199 (77%) fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology tender point criteria for FMS, were evaluated with the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills...... (AMPS), an observation-based assessment providing linear measures of ADL motor and ADL process skill ability (unit: logits). A cutoff for effortless and independent ADL task performance is set at 2.0 for the motor scale and 1.0 for the process scale. A total of 248 (96.5%) had ability measures below...

A protocol for a three-arm cluster randomized controlled superiority trial investigating the effects of two pedagogical methodologies in Swedish preschool settings on language and communication, executive functions, auditive selective attention, socioemotional skills and early maths skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerholm, Tove; Hörberg, Thomas; Tonér, Signe; Kallioinen, Petter; Frankenberg, Sofia; Kjällander, Susanne; Palmer, Anna; Taguchi, Hillevi Lenz

2018-06-19

During the preschool years, children develop abilities and skills in areas crucial for later success in life. These abilities include language, executive functions, attention, and socioemotional skills. The pedagogical methods used in preschools hold the potential to enhance these abilities, but our knowledge of which pedagogical practices aid which abilities, and for which children, is limited. The aim of this paper is to describe an intervention study designed to evaluate and compare two pedagogical methodologies in terms of their effect on the above-mentioned skills in Swedish preschool children. The study is a randomized control trial (RCT) where two pedagogical methodologies were tested to evaluate how they enhanced children's language, executive functions and attention, socioemotional skills, and early maths skills during an intensive 6-week intervention. Eighteen preschools including 28 units and 432 children were enrolled in a municipality close to Stockholm, Sweden. The children were between 4;0 and 6;0 years old and each preschool unit was randomly assigned to either of the interventions or to the control group. Background information on all children was collected via questionnaires completed by parents and preschools. Pre- and post-intervention testing consisted of a test battery including tests on language, executive functions, selective auditive attention, socioemotional skills and early maths skills. The interventions consisted of 6 weeks of intensive practice of either a socioemotional and material learning paradigm (SEMLA), for which group-based activities and interactional structures were the main focus, or an individual, digitally implemented attention and math training paradigm, which also included a set of self-regulation practices (DIL). All preschools were evaluated with the ECERS-3. If this intervention study shows evidence of a difference between group-based learning paradigms and individual training of specific skills in terms of

Video self-modeling in children with autism: a pilot study validating prerequisite skills and extending the utilization of VSM across skill sets.

Science.gov (United States)

Williamson, Robert L; Casey, Laura B; Robertson, Janna Siegel; Buggey, Tom

2013-01-01

Given the recent interest in the use of video self-modeling (VSM) to provide instruction within iPod apps and other pieces of handheld mobile assistive technologies, investigating appropriate prerequisite skills for effective use of this intervention is particularly timely and relevant. To provide additional information regarding the efficacy of VSM for students with autism and to provide insights into any possible prerequisite skills students may require for such efficacy, the authors investigated the use of VSM in increasing the instances of effective initiations of interpersonal greetings for three students with autism that exhibited different pre-intervention abilities. Results showed that only one of the three participants showed an increase in self-initiated greetings following the viewing of videos edited to show each participant self-modeling a greeting when entering his or her classroom. Due to the differences in initial skill sets between the three children, this finding supports anecdotally observed student prerequisite abilities mentioned in previous studies that may be required to effectively utilize video based teaching methods.

Developing the Students’ English Speaking Ability Through Impromptu Speaking Method.

Science.gov (United States)

Lumettu, A.; Runtuwene, T. L.

2018-01-01

Having multi -purposes, English mastery has becomea necessary for us.Of the four language skills, speaking skill should get the first priority in English teaching and speaking skills development cannot be separated from listening.One communicative way of developing speaking skill is impromptu speaking,a method sudden speaking which depends only on experience and insight by applying spontaneity or improvisation. It is delivered based on the need of the moment of speaking using simple language.This research aims to know (1). Why impromptu speaking is necessary in teaching speaking? (2). How can impromptu speaking develop the students’ speaking skills.The method of this research is qualitative method and the techniques of data collection are: observation,interview and documentation. The results of data analysis using Correlation shows a strong relation between the students’ speaking ability and impromptu speaking method (r = 0.80).The research show that by using impromptu speaking method, the students are trained to interact faster naturally and spontaneously and enrich their vocabulary and general science to support speaking development through interview, speech, presentation, discussion and storytelling.

Examination of the Teaching Skills for Reading Scientific Materials Needed by Science Teachers by Comparing In-Service and Prospective Science Teachers

OpenAIRE

山根, 嵩史; 中條, 和光

2016-01-01

We examined the teaching skills for reading scientific materials needed by science teachers. We compared the views of teaching skills for reading scientific materials of science teachers both in service and in training. The result of text mining for free description of the teaching skills of both groups showed that, whereas trainee teachers emphasized language ability as a teaching skill (for example, the ability to image the contents of a text), current teachers emphasized teaching the curri...

Skill qualifications in pediatric minimally invasive surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwanaka, Tadashi; Morikawa, Yasuhide; Yamataka, Atsuyuki; Nio, Masaki; Segawa, Osamu; Kawashima, Hiroshi; Sato, Masahito; Terakura, Hirotsugu; Take, Hiroshi; Hirose, Ryuichiro; Yagi, Makoto

2011-07-01

In 2006, The Japanese Society of Pediatric Endoscopic Surgeons devised a plan to develop a pediatric endoscopic surgical skill qualification (ESSQ) system. This system is controlled by The Japan Society for Endoscopic Surgery. The standard requirement for skills qualification is the ability of each applicant to complete common types of laparoscopic surgery. The main goal of the system is to decrease complications of laparoscopic surgery by evaluating the surgical skills of each applicant and subsequently certify surgeons with adequate skills to perform laparoscopic operations safely. A committee of pediatric ESSQ created a checklist to assess the applicant's laparoscopic surgical skills. Skills are assessed in a double-blinded fashion by evaluating an unedited video recording of a fundoplication for pediatric gastroesophageal reflux disease. The initial pediatric ESSQ system was started in 2008. In 2008 and 2009, respectively, 9 out of 17 (53%) and 6 out of 12 (50%) applicants were certified as expert pediatric laparoscopic surgeons. Our ultimate goal is to provide safe and appropriate pediatric minimally invasive procedures and to avoid severe complications. To prove the predictive validity of this system, a survey of the outcomes of operations performed by certified pediatric surgeons is required.

Singing Ability, Musical Self-Concept, and Future Music Participation

Science.gov (United States)

Demorest, Steven M.; Kelley, Jamey; Pfordresher, Peter Q.

2017-01-01

Research on adults who identify as "tone deaf" suggest that their poor musical self-concept is shaped by a view of themselves as nonsingers even when their perceptual skills and singing ability are not significantly worse than the general population. Many of these adults self-selected out of further participation as children but…

A Reconfigurable Simulation-Based Test System for Automatically Assessing Software Operating Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Jun-Ming; Lin, Huan-Yu

2015-01-01

In recent years, software operating skills, the ability in computer literacy to solve problems using specific software, has become much more important. A great deal of research has also proven that students' software operating skills can be efficiently improved by practicing customized virtual and simulated examinations. However, constructing…

A practice course to cultivate students' comprehensive ability of photoelectricity

Science.gov (United States)

Lv, Yong; Liu, Yang; Niu, Chunhui; Liu, Lishuang

2017-08-01

After the studying of many theoretical courses, it's important and urgent for the students from specialty of optoelectronic information science and engineering to cultivate their comprehensive ability of photoelectricity. We set up a comprehensive practice course named "Integrated Design of Optoelectronic Information System" (IDOIS) for the purpose that students can integrate their knowledge of optics, electronics and computer programming to design, install and debug an optoelectronic system with independent functions. Eight years of practice shows that this practice course can train students' ability of analysis, design/development and debugging of photoelectric system, improve their ability in document retrieval, design proposal and summary report writing, teamwork, innovation consciousness and skill.

Staff's perceptions of voluntary assertiveness skills training.

Science.gov (United States)

McVanel, Sarah; Morris, Beth

2010-01-01

Clinicians' ability to be assertive when unsure or concerned about procedures, treatment modalities, or patients' symptoms is key in reducing risk and preventing sentinel events. In this article, the authors provide a framework for generic, voluntary assertiveness communication skills workshops that any educator can implement.

Fostering critical thinking, reasoning, and argumentation skills through bioethics education.

Science.gov (United States)

Chowning, Jeanne Ting; Griswold, Joan Carlton; Kovarik, Dina N; Collins, Laura J

2012-01-01

Developing a position on a socio-scientific issue and defending it using a well-reasoned justification involves complex cognitive skills that are challenging to both teach and assess. Our work centers on instructional strategies for fostering critical thinking skills in high school students using bioethical case studies, decision-making frameworks, and structured analysis tools to scaffold student argumentation. In this study, we examined the effects of our teacher professional development and curricular materials on the ability of high school students to analyze a bioethical case study and develop a strong position. We focused on student ability to identify an ethical question, consider stakeholders and their values, incorporate relevant scientific facts and content, address ethical principles, and consider the strengths and weaknesses of alternate solutions. 431 students and 12 teachers participated in a research study using teacher cohorts for comparison purposes. The first cohort received professional development and used the curriculum with their students; the second did not receive professional development until after their participation in the study and did not use the curriculum. In order to assess the acquisition of higher-order justification skills, students were asked to analyze a case study and develop a well-reasoned written position. We evaluated statements using a scoring rubric and found highly significant differences (p<0.001) between students exposed to the curriculum strategies and those who were not. Students also showed highly significant gains (p<0.001) in self-reported interest in science content, ability to analyze socio-scientific issues, awareness of ethical issues, ability to listen to and discuss viewpoints different from their own, and understanding of the relationship between science and society. Our results demonstrate that incorporating ethical dilemmas into the classroom is one strategy for increasing student motivation and

Fostering Critical Thinking, Reasoning, and Argumentation Skills through Bioethics Education

Science.gov (United States)

Chowning, Jeanne Ting; Griswold, Joan Carlton; Kovarik, Dina N.; Collins, Laura J.

2012-01-01

Developing a position on a socio-scientific issue and defending it using a well-reasoned justification involves complex cognitive skills that are challenging to both teach and assess. Our work centers on instructional strategies for fostering critical thinking skills in high school students using bioethical case studies, decision-making frameworks, and structured analysis tools to scaffold student argumentation. In this study, we examined the effects of our teacher professional development and curricular materials on the ability of high school students to analyze a bioethical case study and develop a strong position. We focused on student ability to identify an ethical question, consider stakeholders and their values, incorporate relevant scientific facts and content, address ethical principles, and consider the strengths and weaknesses of alternate solutions. 431 students and 12 teachers participated in a research study using teacher cohorts for comparison purposes. The first cohort received professional development and used the curriculum with their students; the second did not receive professional development until after their participation in the study and did not use the curriculum. In order to assess the acquisition of higher-order justification skills, students were asked to analyze a case study and develop a well-reasoned written position. We evaluated statements using a scoring rubric and found highly significant differences (p<0.001) between students exposed to the curriculum strategies and those who were not. Students also showed highly significant gains (p<0.001) in self-reported interest in science content, ability to analyze socio-scientific issues, awareness of ethical issues, ability to listen to and discuss viewpoints different from their own, and understanding of the relationship between science and society. Our results demonstrate that incorporating ethical dilemmas into the classroom is one strategy for increasing student motivation and

Fostering critical thinking, reasoning, and argumentation skills through bioethics education.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeanne Ting Chowning

Full Text Available Developing a position on a socio-scientific issue and defending it using a well-reasoned justification involves complex cognitive skills that are challenging to both teach and assess. Our work centers on instructional strategies for fostering critical thinking skills in high school students using bioethical case studies, decision-making frameworks, and structured analysis tools to scaffold student argumentation. In this study, we examined the effects of our teacher professional development and curricular materials on the ability of high school students to analyze a bioethical case study and develop a strong position. We focused on student ability to identify an ethical question, consider stakeholders and their values, incorporate relevant scientific facts and content, address ethical principles, and consider the strengths and weaknesses of alternate solutions. 431 students and 12 teachers participated in a research study using teacher cohorts for comparison purposes. The first cohort received professional development and used the curriculum with their students; the second did not receive professional development until after their participation in the study and did not use the curriculum. In order to assess the acquisition of higher-order justification skills, students were asked to analyze a case study and develop a well-reasoned written position. We evaluated statements using a scoring rubric and found highly significant differences (p<0.001 between students exposed to the curriculum strategies and those who were not. Students also showed highly significant gains (p<0.001 in self-reported interest in science content, ability to analyze socio-scientific issues, awareness of ethical issues, ability to listen to and discuss viewpoints different from their own, and understanding of the relationship between science and society. Our results demonstrate that incorporating ethical dilemmas into the classroom is one strategy for increasing student

The Ability to Tap to a Beat Relates to Cognitive, Linguistic, and Perceptual Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Tierney, Adam T.; Kraus, Nina

2013-01-01

Reading-impaired children have difficulty tapping to a beat. Here we tested whether this relationship between reading ability and synchronized tapping holds in typically-developing adolescents. We also hypothesized that tapping relates to two other abilities. First, since auditory-motor synchronization requires monitoring of the relationship…

RELATION BETWEEN MOTORIC ABILITIES AND SPECIFIC MOTORIC ABILITIES WITH FOOTBALL PLAYERS FROM 14 TO 16 YEARS OLD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rabit Veseli

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Football is one of the most famous games that man has invented. It is a complex of collective organization and individual ingenuity. No doubt, top results in sport require a serious base of scientific researches and skills. Certainly, modern top results that have been achieved can be analyzed scientifically. It is exactly the scientific approach that is to establish the characteristics of basic importance to provide success in football. It is in favor of top football game to regularly conduct researches, which, as elements of special interest, would cover the basic motoric and specific motoric abilities with football players.The subject of the research is the motoric and specific motoric abilities with young football players aged from 14 to 16. The goal of the research is to establish how the explosive power influences the dribbling skills. The sample of respondents in the research consists of 39 school children at the age of 14 to 16, who play at FC ”Gjilani” and have attended the club for at least two years. They underwent three tests for assessing the explosive power: 1. Standing long jump; 2. 20-meter running and 3. Sargent test. Along with it, two tests for assessing the specific motorics: 1. Dribbling 20 metres with start from the place and 2. Dribbling 20 metres - fly start. The data obtained from the applied five tests is worked out with basic statistic parameters. The relation between motoric and specific motoric abilities is determined through linear regressive analyzes in manifest space. The results suggest that there is a positive and significant relation between the applied motoric and specific motoric abilities. This confirms the close relation between the explosive power and specific motorics of football players expressed through dribbling. Similar results are obtained in the researches of the following authors: Christou et all., 2006, Kraemer et al., 1998, and Young et al., 2001.

Identity Styles: Predictors of Reading and Writing Abilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zohre Mohamadi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available How the individual differences prime different learning process is well addressed in literature. But, what is missing from these analyses is how learners with different identity styles approach reading and writing skills and if different identity styles can predict differentiated language performance. The present study aims at investigating the relationship between identity styles, and reading/writing skills of Iranian intermediate female EFL learners. One the basis of the results of Nelson language proficiency test, 120 participants were selected to participate in this research. Participants' answers to Berzonsky's Identity Style Inventory (ISI3 and reading and writing parts of Preliminary English Test were analyzed. The results indicated that informational and normative identity styles were found to be positively correlated and diffuse-avoidant style was negatively correlated with reading and writing abilities whereas commitment identity didn't bear any significant relationships. The findings also indicated that informational style acted as the best predictor of these skills. Implications for language teachers are suggested.

The Effects of Musical Training on the Decoding Skills of German-Speaking Primary School Children

Science.gov (United States)

Rautenberg, Iris

2015-01-01

This paper outlines the results of a long-term study of 159 German-speaking primary school children. The correlations between musical skills (perception and differentiation of rhythmical and tonal/melodic patterns) and decoding skills, and the effects of musical training on word-level reading abilities were investigated. Cognitive skills and…

Cognitive abilities and superior decision making under risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward T. Cokely

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Individual differences in cognitive abilities and skills can predict normatively superior and logically consistent judgments and decisions. The current experiment investigates the processes that mediate individual differences in risky choices. We assessed working memory span, numeracy, and cognitive impulsivity and conducted a protocol analysis to trace variations in conscious deliberative processes. People higher in cognitive abilities made more choices consistent with expected values; however, expected-value choices rarely resulted from expected-value calculations. Instead, the cognitive ability and choice relationship was mediated by the number of simple considerations made during decision making --- e.g., transforming probabilities and considering the relative size of gains. Results imply that, even in simple lotteries, superior risky decisions associated with cognitive abilities and controlled cognition can reflect metacognitive dynamics and elaborative heuristic search processes, rather than normative calculations. Modes of cognitive control (e.g., dual process dynamics and implications for process models of risky decision-making (e.g., priority heuristic are discussed.

Spatial Reasoning: Improvement of Imagery and Abilities in Sophomore Organic Chemistry. Perspective to Enhance Student Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Hornbuckle, Susan F.; Gobin, Latanya; Thurman, Stephanie N.

2014-01-01

Spatial reasoning has become a demanded skill for students pursuing a science emphasis to compete with the dynamic growth of our professional society. The ability to reason spatially includes explorations in memory recollection and problem solving capabilities as well as critical thinking and reasoning skills. With these advancements, educational…

Geography literacy can develop Geography skills for high school students: is it true?

Science.gov (United States)

Utami, W. S.; Zain, I. M.; Sumarmi

2018-01-01

The most important issue related to education in Indonesia is the low quality of student learning and competence. The basic thing that is important to be studied is the demands of 21st-century skills that are difficult to fulfil with the low competence of student learning. Low competence of student learning demonstrated by low capacity of scientific literacy includes geography literacy. Geography skills of Indonesian students are also low. It is shown from the students’ ability to use maps to describe and to analyze is low. The purpose of this study is to determine the correlation between the literacy skills of geography to develop geography skills of high school students in Surabaya. Written and performance tests were given to the sample of 29 high school students. The results of the tests we analyzed based on Geography literacy and its correlation to Geography skills in terms of the ability to use the media, map, and analyze the phenomenon of the geosphere. The results showed that the students who have low literacy geography have difficulty in using map.

Calculation and Word Problem-Solving Skills in Primary Grades--Impact of Cognitive Abilities and Longitudinal Interrelations with Task-persistent Behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

Jõgi, Anna-Liisa; Kikas, Eve

2016-01-01

Background: Primary school math skills form a basis for academic success down the road. Different math skills have different antecedents and there is a reason to believe that more complex math tasks require better self-regulation. Aims: The study aimed to investigate longitudinal interrelations of calculation and problem-solving skills, and…

Investigation of Problem Solving Skills among 12th Grade Engineering Students

OpenAIRE

Shanta, Susheela

2017-01-01

US competitiveness in the 21st century global economy depends on a workforce that is science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) literate, and has knowledge and skills to tackle complex technological problems. In response to the need for a STEM literate workforce equipped with 21st century skills there is a push for K-12 educational reform. STEM literacy is the ability to use content knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering and math in solving human problems in a c...

How the Ability to Manage Change Affects Leadership Style

Science.gov (United States)

Pujol, Kelley

2012-01-01

This study addressed how the ability to manage change affects leadership style. The problem addressed in this project was the natural human tendency to resist change and how the inability to mange this tendency can interfere with the development of leadership skills. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate how an individual's change…

Music playschool enhances children's linguistic skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Linnavalli, Tanja; Putkinen, Vesa; Lipsanen, Jari; Huotilainen, Minna; Tervaniemi, Mari

2018-06-08

Several studies have suggested that intensive musical training enhances children's linguistic skills. Such training, however, is not available to all children. We studied in a community setting whether a low-cost, weekly music playschool provided to 5-6-year-old children in kindergartens could already affect their linguistic abilities. Children (N = 66) were tested four times over two school-years with Phoneme processing and Vocabulary subtests, along with tests for Perceptual reasoning skills and Inhibitory control. We compared the development of music playschool children to their peers either attending to similarly organized dance lessons or not attending to either activity. Music playschool significantly improved the development of children's phoneme processing and vocabulary skills. No such improvements on children's scores for non-verbal reasoning and inhibition were obtained. Our data suggest that even playful group music activities - if attended to for several years - have a positive effect on pre-schoolers' linguistic skills. Therefore we promote the concept of implementing regular music playschool lessons given by professional teachers in early childhood education.

The Single Item Literacy Screener: Evaluation of a brief instrument to identify limited reading ability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chew Lisa D

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Reading skills are important for accessing health information, using health care services, managing one's health and achieving desirable health outcomes. Our objective was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the Single Item Literacy Screener (SILS to identify limited reading ability, one component of health literacy, as measured by the S-TOFHLA. Methods Cross-sectional interview with 999 adults with diabetes residing in Vermont and bordering states. Participants were randomly recruited from Primary Care practices in the Vermont Diabetes Information System June 2003 – December 2004. The main outcome was limited reading ability. The primary predictor was the SILS. Results Of the 999 persons screened, 169 (17% had limited reading ability. The sensitivity of the SILS in detecting limited reading ability was 54% [95% CI: 47%, 61%] and the specificity was 83% [95% CI: 81%, 86%] with an area under the Receiver Operating Characteristics Curve (ROC of 0.73 [95% CI: 0.69, 0.78]. Seven hundred seventy (77% screened negative on the SILS and 692 of these subjects had adequate reading skills (negative predictive value = 0.90 [95% CI: 0.88, 0.92]. Of the 229 who scored positive on the SILS, 92 had limited reading ability (positive predictive value = 0.4 [95% CI: 0.34, 0.47]. Conclusion The SILS is a simple instrument designed to identify patients with limited reading ability who need help reading health-related materials. The SILS performs moderately well at ruling out limited reading ability in adults and allows providers to target additional assessment of health literacy skills to those most in need. Further study of the use of the SILS in clinical settings and with more diverse populations is warranted.

Teachers’ ability in using math learning media

Science.gov (United States)

Masniladevi; Prahmana, R. C. I.; Helsa, Y.; Dalais, M.

2017-12-01

The studies aim to enhance teachers’ knowledge and skill in making math instructional media, develop math instructional media, train and assist the use of instructional media in learning math in the classroom. The method used in the activities adopted the pattern of preventive implementation, planning stage, program implementation, observation and evaluation and reflection. The research results show that the evaluation of teachers’ ability is still in average category. The result required more intensive training.

Girls' Spatial Skills and Arithmetic Strategies in First Grade as Predictors of Fifth-Grade Analytical Math Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Casey, Beth M.; Lombardi, Caitlin McPherran; Pollock, Amanda; Fineman, Bonnie; Pezaris, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

This study investigated longitudinal pathways leading from early spatial skills in first-grade girls to their fifth-grade analytical math reasoning abilities (N = 138). First-grade assessments included spatial skills, verbal skills, addition/subtraction skills, and frequency of choice of a decomposition or retrieval strategy on the…

Polite, Instrumental, and Dual Liars: Relation to Children's Developing Social Skills and Cognitive Ability

Science.gov (United States)

Lavoie, Jennifer; Yachison, Sarah; Crossman, Angela; Talwar, Victoria

2017-01-01

Lying is an interpersonal exercise that requires the intentional creation of a false belief in another's mind. As such, children's development of lie-telling is related to their increasing understanding of others and may reflect the acquisition of basic social skills. Although certain types of lies may support social relationships, other types of…

Influence of Problem-Based Learning Model of Learning to the Mathematical Communication Ability of Students of Grade XI IPA SMAN 14 Padang

Science.gov (United States)

Nisa, I. M.

2018-04-01

The ability of mathematical communication is one of the goals of learning mathematics expected to be mastered by students. However, reality in the field found that the ability of mathematical communication the students of grade XI IPA SMA Negeri 14 Padang have not developed optimally. This is evident from the low test results of communication skills mathematically done. One of the factors that causes this happens is learning that has not been fully able to facilitate students to develop mathematical communication skills well. By therefore, to improve students' mathematical communication skills required a model in the learning activities. One of the models learning that can be used is Problem Based learning model Learning (PBL). The purpose of this study is to see whether the ability the students' mathematical communication using the PBL model better than the students' mathematical communication skills of the learning using conventional learning in Class XI IPA SMAN 14 Padang. This research type is quasi experiment with design Randomized Group Only Design. Population in this research that is student of class XI IPA SMAN 14 Padang with sample class XI IPA 3 and class XI IPA 4. Data retrieval is done by using communication skill test mathematically shaped essay. To test the hypothesis used U-Mann test Whitney. Based on the results of data analysis, it can be concluded that the ability mathematical communication of students whose learning apply more PBL model better than the students' mathematical communication skills of their learning apply conventional learning in class XI IPA SMA 14 Padang at α = 0.05. This indicates that the PBL learning model effect on students' mathematical communication ability.

TRAINING OF DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLS OF PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION THE SECURITY OFFICER OF THE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuliya Leonidovna Lampusova

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Training is a form of active learning that is aimed at developing knowledge, skills, and attitudes. To improve operational security officers of Internal Affairs Agencies activity, we have schemed out training for the development of communication skills. This paper presents the exercises focusing on the professional communication skills of employees of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Interior development. Eight exercises are described, the main objectives of them are: learning to navigate the feelings of the partner, the ability to change the position of the interlocutor, the formation of the ability to listen to the end and not to interrupt, developing the ability to talk, improving the communicative competence and the development of the ability to accurately convey information.

Retrospectively Assessed Early Motor and Current Pragmatic Language Skills in Autistic and Neurotypical Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevenson, Jennifer L; Lindley, Caitlin E; Murlo, Nicole

2017-08-01

Autistic individuals often struggle developmentally, even in areas that are not explicit diagnostic criteria, such as motor skills. This study explored the relation between early motor skills, assessed retrospectively, and current pragmatic language skills. Caregivers of neurotypical and autistic children, matched on gender and age, completed assessments of their child's early motor development and current language abilities. Early motor skills were correlated with later pragmatic language skills, and autistic children exhibited fewer motor skills than neurotypical children. In fact, motor skills were a better predictor of an autism spectrum diagnosis than were scores on a measure of current pragmatic language. These results highlight the important role of motor skills in autism spectrum disorders.

Executive Functions and Prosodic Abilities in Children With High-Functioning Autism

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Marisa G. Filipe

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Little is known about the relationship between prosodic abilities and executive function skills. As deficits in executive functions (EFs and prosodic impairments are characteristics of autism, we examined how EFs are related to prosodic performance in children with high-functioning autism (HFA. Fifteen children with HFA (M = 7.4 years; SD = 1.12, matched to 15 typically developing peers on age, gender, and non-verbal intelligence participated in the study. The Profiling Elements of Prosody in Speech-Communication (PEPS-C was used to assess prosodic performance. The Children’s Color Trails Test (CCTT-1, CCTT-2, and CCTT Interference Index was used as an indicator of executive control abilities. Our findings suggest no relation between prosodic abilities and visual search and processing speed (assessed by CCTT-1, but a significant link between prosodic skills and divided attention, working memory/sequencing, set-switching, and inhibition (assessed by CCTT-2 and CCTT Interference Index. These findings may be of clinical relevance since difficulties in EFs and prosodic deficits are characteristic of many neurodevelopmental disorders. Future studies are needed to further investigate the nature of the relationship between impaired prosody and executive (dysfunction.

A Cognitive Skill Classification Based On Multi Objective Optimization Using Learning Vector Quantization for Serious Games

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Moh. Aries Syufagi

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, serious games and game technology are poised to transform the way of educating and training students at all levels. However, pedagogical value in games do not help novice students learn, too many memorizing and reduce learning process due to no information of player’s ability. To asses the cognitive level of player ability, we propose a Cognitive Skill Game (CSG. CSG improves this cognitive concept to monitor how players interact with the game. This game employs Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ for optimizing the cognitive skill input classification of the player. CSG is using teacher’s data to obtain the neuron vector of cognitive skill pattern supervise. Three clusters multi objective target will be classified as; trial and error, carefully and, expert cognitive skill. In the game play experiments using 33 respondent players demonstrates that 61% of players have high trial and error cognitive skill, 21% have high carefully cognitive skill, and 18% have high expert cognitive skill. CSG may provide information to game engine when a player needs help or when wanting a formidable challenge. The game engine will provide the appropriate tasks according to players’ ability. CSG will help balance the emotions of players, so players do not get bored and frustrated. Players have a high interest to finish the game if the player is emotionally stable. Interests in the players strongly support the procedural learning in a serious game.

Measuring Problem Solving Skills in "Portal 2"

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Shute, Valerie J.; Wang, Lubin

2013-01-01

This paper examines possible improvement to problem solving skills as a function of playing the video game "Portal 2." Stealth assessment is used in the game to evaluate students' problem solving abilities--specifically basic and flexible rule application. The stealth assessment measures will be validated against commonly accepted…

Communication Skills among Surgical Trainees: Perceptions of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective Communication between the surgeon and the patient is a core clinical skill. The ability to communicate with patients and their family members is very important in the optimum care of the surgical patient. Few studies have assessed communication between surgical trainees and their patients in sub-Saharan Africa.

Agribusiness Firms in Alabama: Profiles and Perceptions of Skills and Experiences Needed for Careers in Agribusiness

OpenAIRE

Onianwa, Okwudili O.; Wheelock, Gerald; Mojica, Maribel N.; Singh, Surendra P.

2005-01-01

This study examines the profiles of agribusiness firms and the skills and experiences required for a career in Agribusiness field. Data for this study was generated through a mail survey administered to a total of 300 Agribusiness companies in Alabama. Results are generally consistent with previous studies and show that interpersonal skills, communication skills, ability to use general computer software, and business and economic skills are the most important skills for a successful career in...

The Improvement of Basic Support and Advance Clarification Skill with Problem Solving

OpenAIRE

Safira, Novi Ayu; Diawati, Chansyanah; Rosilawati, Ila

2013-01-01

The low-creative critical thinking skill of the student is because many schools use low-level abilities in learning. The use of problem solving model in the learning is one of the efforts for practice the critical thinking skill students. This research aimed to describe the problem solving model that are effective in improving the basic support and advance clarification skill. This research using a quasi-experimental methods with Non Equivalent Control Group Design. The sampling technique use...

Incorporation of peer learning in first MBBS curriculum to enhance metacognition skills

OpenAIRE

Manas Kanti Ray; Suranjana Ray

2012-01-01

Peer learning can be incorporated in the first MBBS curriculum along with didactic lectures and tutorials. Peer learning is when a student learns from another student who has been trained to explain the topic and discuss it. Peer learning improves domain-specific inquiry skills, supports self-directed learning, and improves metacognition skills. Metacognition is the ability to plan, reason, judge and regulate ways to approach learning a skill or concept. In the midst of curriculum reforms tha...

Evaluation of a Team Project Based Learning Module for Developing Employability Skills

OpenAIRE

Janice Whatley

2012-01-01

This paper presents a case study, in which a new module, aimed at enhancing students’ employ-ability skills, is evaluated. Employability skills for graduates from higher education are regarded as essential outcomes from their degree programmes, but it can be difficult to provide appropriate opportunities to develop these skills in the context of their studies. This paper describes a new module, called Live Projects, designed to provide project based learning on campus, but involv-ing local bu...

Engineering and design skills

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schrøder, Anne Lise

2006-01-01

In various branches of society there is focus on the need for design skills and innovation potential as a means of communicating and handling constant change. In this context, the traditional idea of the engineer as a poly-technician inventing solutions by understanding the laws of nature...... concept of diagrammatic reasoning to some extent incarnates the very method of engineering and design. On this background, it is argued how the work field and techniques of the engineer and the engineering scientist could be characterized in a broader creative context of learning and communication....... This leads to considering the fundamental skills of the engineering practice as basic abilities to see the structures and dynamics of the world, to model it, and to create new solutions concerning practical as well as theoretical matters. Finally, it is assumed that the essence of engineering “bildung...

Not lack of ability but more choice: individual and gender differences in choice of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ming-Te; Eccles, Jacquelynne S; Kenny, Sarah

2013-05-01

The pattern of gender differences in math and verbal ability may result in females having a wider choice of careers, in both science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and non-STEM fields, compared with males. The current study tested whether individuals with high math and high verbal ability in 12th grade were more or less likely to choose STEM occupations than those with high math and moderate verbal ability. The 1,490 subjects participated in two waves of a national longitudinal study; one wave was when the subjects were in 12th grade, and the other was when they were 33 years old. Results revealed that mathematically capable individuals who also had high verbal skills were less likely to pursue STEM careers than were individuals who had high math skills but moderate verbal skills. One notable finding was that the group with high math and high verbal ability included more females than males.

Factors affecting the social problem-solving ability of baccalaureate nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Lau, Ying

2014-01-01

The hospital environment is characterized by time pressure, uncertain information, conflicting goals, high stakes, stress, and dynamic conditions. These demands mean there is a need for nurses with social problem-solving skills. This study set out to (1) investigate the social problem-solving ability of Chinese baccalaureate nursing students in Macao and (2) identify the association between communication skill, clinical interaction, interpersonal dysfunction, and social problem-solving ability. All nursing students were recruited in one public institute through the census method. The research design was exploratory, cross-sectional, and quantitative. The study used the Chinese version of the Social Problem Solving Inventory short form (C-SPSI-R), Communication Ability Scale (CAS), Clinical Interactive Scale (CIS), and Interpersonal Dysfunction Checklist (IDC). Macao nursing students were more likely to use the two constructive or adaptive dimensions rather than the three dysfunctional dimensions of the C-SPSI-R to solve their problems. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that communication ability (ß=.305, pproblem-solving after controlling for covariates. Macao has had no problem-solving training in its educational curriculum; an effective problem-solving training should be implemented as part of the curriculum. With so many changes in healthcare today, nurses must be good social problem-solvers in order to deliver holistic care. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

MEMFASILITASI HIGHER ORDER TIHINKING SKILLS DALAM PERKULIAHAN BIOLOGI SEL MELALUI MODEL INTEGRASI ATRIBUT ASESMEN FORMATIF

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sigit Saptono

2017-10-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACTHigher order thinking skills are needed to understand the problem and the essence of the lecture material Biology Sel. Study design Research and Development aims to develop reasoning skills and analytic thinking biology student teachers through the application of learning models Integration Attributes Formative Assessment (IAAF. Some 61 students of Biology Education Semarang State University who is doing his third semester courses Cell Biology is the subject of research. Analytical reasoning and  thinking ability of students is measured through individual assignments, group assignments concept map creation and preparation of the Review articles, and 30 items about the shape of the selected response and constructed response questions, validated questions. The result showed that the ability of reasoning and analytical thinking of students can be expanded significantly, although the development of the ability of argumentation, one category of analytic thinking skills, they need serious attention.

The approximate number system and domain-general abilities as predictors of math ability in children with normal hearing and hearing loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Bull, Rebecca; Marschark, Marc; Nordmann, Emily; Sapere, Patricia; Skene, Wendy A

2018-06-01

Many children with hearing loss (CHL) show a delay in mathematical achievement compared to children with normal hearing (CNH). This study examined whether there are differences in acuity of the approximate number system (ANS) between CHL and CNH, and whether ANS acuity is related to math achievement. Working memory (WM), short-term memory (STM), and inhibition were considered as mediators of any relationship between ANS acuity and math achievement. Seventy-five CHL were compared with 75 age- and gender-matched CNH. ANS acuity, mathematical reasoning, WM, and STM of CHL were significantly poorer compared to CNH. Group differences in math ability were no longer significant when ANS acuity, WM, or STM was controlled. For CNH, WM and STM fully mediated the relationship of ANS acuity to math ability; for CHL, WM and STM only partially mediated this relationship. ANS acuity, WM, and STM are significant contributors to hearing status differences in math achievement, and to individual differences within the group of CHL. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Children with hearing loss often perform poorly on measures of math achievement, although there have been few studies focusing on basic numerical cognition in these children. In typically developing children, the approximate number system predicts math skills concurrently and longitudinally, although there have been some contradictory findings. Recent studies suggest that domain-general skills, such as inhibition, may account for the relationship found between the approximate number system and math achievement. What does this study adds? This is the first robust examination of the approximate number system in children with hearing loss, and the findings suggest poorer acuity of the approximate number system in these children compared to hearing children. The study addresses recent issues regarding the contradictory findings of the relationship of the approximate number system to math ability

The Development of Executive Function and Language Skills in the Early School Years

Science.gov (United States)

Gooch, Debbie; Thompson, Paul; Nash, Hannah M.; Snowling, Margaret J.; Hulme, Charles

2016-01-01

Background: The developmental relationships between executive functions (EF) and early language skills are unclear. This study explores the longitudinal relationships between children's early EF and language skills in a sample of children with a wide range of language abilities including children at risk of dyslexia. In addition, we investigated…

Greater ability to express positive emotion is associated with lower projected cardiovascular disease risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Tuck, Natalie L; Adams, Kathryn S; Pressman, Sarah D; Consedine, Nathan S

2017-12-01

Positive emotion is associated with lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, yet some mechanisms remain unclear. One potential pathway is via emotional competencies/skills. The present study tests whether the ability to facially express positive emotion is associated with CVD risk scores, while controlling for potential confounds and testing for sex moderation. Eighty-two men and women underwent blood draws before completing self-report assessments and a performance test of expressive skill. Positive expressions were scored for degree of 'happiness' using expression coding software. CVD risk scores were calculated using established algorithms based on biological, demographic, and behavioral risk factors. Linear regressions revealed a main effect for skill, with skill in expressing positive emotion associated with lower CVD risk scores. Analyses also revealed a sex-by-skill interaction whereby links between expressive skill and CVD risk scores were stronger among men. Objective tests of expressive skill have methodological advantages, appear to have links to physical health, and offer a novel avenue for research and intervention.

Assessing Topographical Orientation Skills in Cannabis Users

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Liana Palermo

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The long-term effects of cannabis on human cognition are still unclear, but, considering that cannabis is a widely used substance and, overall, its potential use in therapeutic interventions, it is important to evaluate them. We hypothesize that the discrepancies among studies could be attributed to the specific cognitive function investigated and that skills subserved by the hippocampus, such as the spatial orientation abilities and, specifically, the ability to form and use cognitive maps, should be more compromised than others. Indeed it has been showed that cannabis users have a reduced hippocampus and that the hippocampus is the brain region in which cannabis has the greatest effect since it contains the highest concentration of cannabinoid receptors. To test this hypothesis we asked 15 heavy cannabis users and 19 nonusers to perform a virtual navigational test, the CMT, that assesses the ability to form and use cognitive maps. We found that using cannabis has no effect on these hippocampus-dependent orientation skills. We discuss the implications of our findings and how they relate to evidence reported in the literature that the intervention of functional reorganization mechanisms in cannabis user allows them to cope with the cognitive demands of navigational tasks.

Short-term memory impairment and arithmetical ability.

Science.gov (United States)

Butterworth, B; Cipolotti, L; Warrington, E K

1996-02-01

We document the dissociation of preserved calculation skills in a patient with impaired auditory short-term memory. The patient (MRF) had a memory span of three digits. Furthermore, he showed rapid decrement in performance of single digits and letters with both auditory and visual presentation in the Brown-Peterson forgetting task. Analysis of his calculation skills revealed a normal ability to solve auditorily presented multidigit addition and subtraction problems such as 173 + 68 and to execute the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (Sampson, 1956, 1958; Gronwall, 1977). In addition, his performance on other tests, including arithmetic manipulation of natural numbers, decimals and fractions, approximation, magnitude, ratio, and percentage, appeared to be normal (Hitch, 1978b). It is argued that these findings require a revision of Baddeley and Hitch's (1974) concept of the function of working memory.

Are employment-interview skills a correlate of subtypes of schizophrenia?

Science.gov (United States)

Charisiou, J; Jackson, H J; Boyle, G J; Burgess, P; Minas, I H; Joshua, S D

1989-12-01

46 inpatients with a DSM-III diagnosis of schizophrenia were assessed in the week prior to discharge from hospital on measures of positive and negative symptoms and on 12 measures of employment interview skills (i.e., eye contact, facial gestures, body posture, verbal content, voice volume, length of speech, motivation, self-confidence, ability to communicate, manifest adjustment, manifest intelligence, over-all interview skill), and a global measure of employability. A cluster analysis based on the total positive and negative symptom scores produced two groups. The group with the lower mean negative symptom score exhibited better employment-interview skills and higher ratings on employability.

Literacy skills of children with low vision

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gompel, M.

2005-01-01

The main question of the studies reported in this thesis is how the reading and spelling skills of children with low vision compare to those of their sighted peers, and which factors determine the variation in reading and spelling ability in children with low vision. In the study reported in chapter

Creativity of secondary school students: entrepreneurial skills ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study adopted a quasi-experimental design using a pre-test, post-test control design in order to investigate the entrepreneurial skills and creative abilities of secondary school students in Physics. The study was carried out in Obio/Akpo Local Government Area of Rivers State of Nigeria, using purposive sampling ...

Driver style and driver skills – clustering drivers differing in their potential danger in traffic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinussen, Laila Marianne; Møller, Mette; Prato, Carlo Giacomo

The Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) and the Driver Skill Inventory (DSI) are two of the most frequently used measures of driving style and driving skill. The motivation behind the present study was to test drivers’ insight into their own driving ability based on a combined use of the DBQ......, annual mileage and accident involvement. 3908 drivers aged 18–84 participated in the survey. The results suggested that the drivers have good insight into their own driving ability, as the driving skill level mirrored the frequency of aberrant driving behaviors. K-means cluster analysis revealed four...... distinct clusters that differed in the frequency of aberrant driving behavior and driving skills, as well as individual characteristics and driving related factors such as annual mileage, accident frequency and number of tickets and fines. Thus, two sub-groups were identified as more unsafe than the two...

Teaching citizen science skills online: Implications for invasive species training programs

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, G.; Crall, A.; Laituri, M.; Graham, J.; Stohlgren, T.; Moore, J.C.; Kodrich, K.; Holfelder, K.A.

2010-01-01

Citizen science programs are emerging as an efficient way to increase data collection and help monitor invasive species. Effective invasive species monitoring requires rigid data quality assurances if expensive control efforts are to be guided by volunteer data. To achieve data quality, effective online training is needed to improve field skills and reach large numbers of remote sentinel volunteers critical to early detection and rapid response. The authors evaluated the effectiveness of online static and multimedia tutorials to teach citizen science volunteers (n = 54) how to identify invasive plants; establish monitoring plots; measure percent cover; and use Global Positioning System (GPS) units. Participants trained using static and multimedia tutorials provided less (p plant cover estimates between static (??10%) and multimedia (??13%) participants did not differ (p =.86 and.08, respectively) from those of professionals (??9%). Trained volunteers struggled with plot setup and GPS skills. Overall, the online approach used did not influence conferred field skills and abilities. Traditional or multimedia online training augmented with more rigorous, repeated, and hands-on, in-person training in specialized skills required for more difficult tasks will likely improve volunteer abilities, data quality, and overall program effectiveness. ?? Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Assessing and developing critical-thinking skills in the intensive care unit.

Science.gov (United States)

Swinny, Betsy

2010-01-01

A lot of resources are spent on the development of new staff in the intensive care unit (ICU). These resources are necessary because the environment in the ICU is complex and the patients are critically ill. Nurses need an advanced knowledge base, the ability to accurately define and change priorities rapidly, good communication and teamwork skills, and the ability to work in a stressful environment in order to succeed and give their patients quality care. Critical thinking helps the nurse to navigate the complex and stressful environment of the ICU. Critical thinking includes more than just nursing knowledge. It includes the ability to think through complex, multifaceted problems to anticipate needs, recognize potential and actual complications, and to expertly communicate with the team. A nurse who is able to think critically will give better patient care. Various strategies can be used to develop critical thinking in ICU nurses. Nurse leaders are encouraged to support the development of critical-thinking skills in less experienced staff with the goal of improving the nurse's ability to work in the ICU and improving patient outcomes.

Higher resting heart rate variability predicts skill in expressing some emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Tuck, Natalie L; Grant, Rosemary C I; Sollers, John J; Booth, Roger J; Consedine, Nathan S

2016-12-01

Vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) is a measure of cardiac vagal tone, and is widely viewed as a physiological index of the capacity to regulate emotions. However, studies have not directly tested whether vmHRV is associated with the ability to facially express emotions. In extending prior work, the current report tested links between resting vmHRV and the objectively assessed ability to facially express emotions, hypothesizing that higher vmHRV would predict greater expressive skill. Eighty healthy women completed self-reported measures, before attending a laboratory session in which vmHRV and the ability to express six emotions in the face were assessed. A repeated measures analysis of variance revealed a marginal main effect for vmHRV on skill overall; individuals with higher resting vmHRV were only better able to deliberately facially express anger and interest. Findings suggest that differences in resting vmHRV are associated with the objectively assessed ability to facially express some, but not all, emotions, with potential implications for health and well-being. © 2016 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Developing renal nurses' buttonhole cannulation skills using e-learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Blackman, Ian R; Mannix, Trudi; Sinclair, Peter M

2014-03-01

It has previously been shown that nurses can learn clinical nursing skills by e-learning (online), and that many variables will influence how well nurses adopt learned clinical skills using distance education. This study aimed to identify and measure the strength of those factors which would simultaneously influence registered nurses' (RNs') beliefs about their own learning about buttonhole cannulation, using e-learning. An online Likert style survey consisting of a list of statements related to knowledge and skill domains considered crucial in the area of buttonhole cannulation was distributed to 101 RNs before and after completing an e-learning programme. Participants were required to identify their current level of self-confidence in relationship to each of the statements. Measures of RNs' self-rated abilities to assess and implement buttonhole cannulation after completing a related e-learning program were tested using a Partial Least Squares Analysis (PLS-PATH) programme. The study's results strongly identify that the nurses' ability to meet both clinical and educational outcomes of the renal e-learning module can be predicted by six variables, none of which are directly related to the participants' demographic or clinical backgrounds. These findings support the use of e-learning to teach clinical skills to RNs, and demonstrate the value of Partial Least Squares Analysis in determining influential learning factors. © 2014 European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association.

Active Learning to Improve Presentation Skills: The Use of Pecha Kucha in Undergraduate Sales Management Classes

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, Robert E.; Derby, Joseph M.

2015-01-01

Recruiters seek candidates with certain business skills that are not developed in the typical lecture-based classroom. Instead, active-learning techniques have been shown to be effective in honing these skills. One skill that is particularly important in sales careers is the ability to make a powerful and effective presentation. To help students…

Pushing Typists Back on the Learning Curve: Memory Chunking in the Hierarchical Control of Skilled Typewriting

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaguchi, Motonori; Logan, Gordon D.

2016-01-01

Hierarchical control of skilled performance depends on the ability of higher level control to process several lower level units as a single chunk. The present study investigated the development of hierarchical control of skilled typewriting, focusing on the process of memory chunking. In the first 3 experiments, skilled typists typed words or…

Do pattern recognition skills transfer across sports? A preliminary analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Smeeton, Nicholas J; Ward, Paul; Williams, A Mark

2004-02-01

The ability to recognize patterns of play is fundamental to performance in team sports. While typically assumed to be domain-specific, pattern recognition skills may transfer from one sport to another if similarities exist in the perceptual features and their relations and/or the strategies used to encode and retrieve relevant information. A transfer paradigm was employed to compare skilled and less skilled soccer, field hockey and volleyball players' pattern recognition skills. Participants viewed structured and unstructured action sequences from each sport, half of which were randomly represented with clips not previously seen. The task was to identify previously viewed action sequences quickly and accurately. Transfer of pattern recognition skill was dependent on the participant's skill, sport practised, nature of the task and degree of structure. The skilled soccer and hockey players were quicker than the skilled volleyball players at recognizing structured soccer and hockey action sequences. Performance differences were not observed on the structured volleyball trials between the skilled soccer, field hockey and volleyball players. The skilled field hockey and soccer players were able to transfer perceptual information or strategies between their respective sports. The less skilled participants' results were less clear. Implications for domain-specific expertise, transfer and diversity across domains are discussed.

Relationship Between Visual Constructive Abilities and Activity of Daily Living in Home Dwelling Elderly Population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Negin Chehrehnegar

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Increasing life expectancy and decreasing birthrates have significantly contributed to an increased aging population throughout the world. This sudden change is a global phenomenon often resulting in biological changes that may have various consequences, such as reduced life power and coping skills in the elderly population. Cognitive deficits are one of the most severe impairments in the elderly people. Deficits in cognitive abilities, especially visual constructive skills, can have a considerable impact on the independency of the daily living skills of the elderly people. Self-care by individuals to maintain their life and wellbeing is a key element for their independency. The activity of daily living (ADL can support personal life independency, and is considered as a morbidity index. In the present cross-sectional study, we assessed the visual abilities and ADL in older subjects to determine whether cognitive impairment is associated with changes in self-care behavior. Methods & Materials: This study employed random sampling technique to select and recruit forty seven individuals aged between 60 to 80 years from Jahandidegan club in Shiraz, Iran. They were evaluated through "visual constructive ability" sub-scale from Loewenstein Occupational Therapy Cognitive Assessment (LOTCA battery and "Katz Index", which were used to assess their associated skill and ADL, respectively. Data was collected through observation and interviews. Data analysis was performed through Pearson's correlation test using SPSS. Results: The mean age of the participants (9 women and 38 men was 69.94±4.66 years. Lower scores in cognitive domains predicted functional decline in some scales. There was a significant correlation between visual constructive ability and eating; however, no significant correlation was found between this sub-scale with bathing, moving, toileting, and bowel control. Conclusion: In summary, a significant correlation was noted

Skill ontogeny among Tsimane forager-horticulturalists.

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Schniter, Eric; Gurven, Michael; Kaplan, Hillard S; Wilcox, Nathaniel T; Hooper, Paul L

2015-09-01

We investigate whether age profiles of Tsimane forager-horticulturalists' reported skill development are consistent with predictions derived from life history theory about the timing of productivity and reproduction. Previous studies of forager skill development have often focused on a few abilities (e.g. hunting), and neglected the broad range of skills and services typical of forager economies (e.g. childcare, craft production, music performance, story-telling). By systematically examining age patterns in reported acquisition, proficiency, and expertise across a broad range of activities including food production, childcare, and other services, we provide the most complete skill development study of a traditional subsistence society to date. Our results show that: (1) most essential skills are acquired prior to first reproduction, then developed further so that their productive returns meet the increasing demands of dependent offspring during adulthood; (2) as postreproductive adults age beyond earlier years of peak performance, they report developing additional conceptual and procedural proficiency, and despite greater physical frailty than younger adults, are consensually regarded as the most expert (especially in music and storytelling), consistent with their roles as providers and educators. We find that adults have accurate understandings of their skillsets and skill levels -an important awareness for social exchange, comparison, learning, and pedagogy. These findings extend our understanding of the evolved human life history by illustrating how changes in embodied capital and the needs of dependent offspring predict the development of complementary skills and services in a forager-horticulturalist economy. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Teaching and testing basic surgical skills without using patients

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Razavi M

2004-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Nowadays, clinical skills centers are important structural components of authentic universities in the world. These centers can be use for tuition of cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills. In this study we have designed a surgical course, consist of 19 theoretical knowledge (cognitive skills and 10 procedural skills. Purpose: teaching and testing the designed course. Methods: This study has been conducted on 678 medical students at clerkship stage. Pre and post-self assessment technique has been used to assess learning progress. A multivariate statistical comparison were adapted for Judgments of learning achievement, Hotelling’s T-square has been used to ascertain the differences between pre and post tests score. For measuring the reliability of the test items. Cronbach's Alpha has been used to measure the reliability of test item. Results: The reliability of the test was 0.84 for cognitive skills and 0.92 for procedural skills. The two tailed test for comparing each pairs of score of 19 cognitive items showed a significant statistical difference between 13 items (P=0.000. For procedural skills the differences between the mean score of 9 items were significant (P=0.000. These results indicate learning achievements by students. Conclusion: This study suggests that, the ability of trainees in both cognitive and psychomotor skills can be improved by tuition of basic surgical skills in skill Lab. (without use of patients. Key words: BASIC SURGICAL SKILLS, CSC, (CLINICAL SKILLS CENTER PRE AND POST SELF-ASSESSMENT

A Cognitive Skill Classification Based on Multi Objective Optimization Using Learning Vector Quantization for Serious Games

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Moh. Aries Syufagi

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, serious games and game technology are poised to transform the way of educating and training students at all levels. However, pedagogical value in games do not help novice students learn, too many memorizing and reduce learning process due to no information of player’s ability. To asses the cognitive level of player ability, we propose a Cognitive Skill Game (CSG. CSG improves this cognitive concept to monitor how players interact with the game. This game employs Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ for optimizing the cognitive skill input classification of the player. CSG is using teacher’s data to obtain the neuron vector of cognitive skill pattern supervise. Three clusters multi objective XE "multi objective"  target will be classified as; trial and error, carefully and, expert cognitive skill. In the game play experiments employ 33 respondent players demonstrates that 61% of players have high trial and error, 21% have high carefully, and 18% have high expert cognitive skill. CSG may provide information to game engine when a player needs help or when wanting a formidable challenge. The game engine will provide the appropriate tasks according to players’ ability. CSG will help balance the emotions of players, so players do not get bored and frustrated. 

Information literacy skills of undergraduate medical radiation students

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Shanahan, Madeleine C. [Medical Radiations, School of Medical Sciences, RMIT University, PO Box 71, Bundoora, Victoria (Australia)]. E-mail: mshanahan@rmit.edu.au

2007-08-15

Undergraduate education is undergoing a shift away from the traditional transmission of a fixed body of knowledge to a learning approach where the emphasis is on supporting learners to learn. Central to this change is recognition that undergraduate education programmes should aim to develop independent learners who become effective lifelong learning practitioners. Successful independent learning as an undergraduate student or as a lifelong learner requires the learner to have well developed information literacy skills. An Online Electronic Information Skills (OEIS) intervention was designed to develop the information literacy skills in a cohort of second year undergraduate radiography students. An evaluation focused on learning outcomes was used to provide evidence of development of information literacy within the undergraduate course. The evaluation clearly demonstrated substantial skill development in students' ability to access scholarly information in their discipline area. The reported continued use of database searching by this cohort of students seven months after the OEIS intervention provides evidence that they are continuing to access and use scholarly information, information literacy skills necessary for their future work context.

Information literacy skills of undergraduate medical radiation students

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shanahan, Madeleine C.

2007-01-01

Undergraduate education is undergoing a shift away from the traditional transmission of a fixed body of knowledge to a learning approach where the emphasis is on supporting learners to learn. Central to this change is recognition that undergraduate education programmes should aim to develop independent learners who become effective lifelong learning practitioners. Successful independent learning as an undergraduate student or as a lifelong learner requires the learner to have well developed information literacy skills. An Online Electronic Information Skills (OEIS) intervention was designed to develop the information literacy skills in a cohort of second year undergraduate radiography students. An evaluation focused on learning outcomes was used to provide evidence of development of information literacy within the undergraduate course. The evaluation clearly demonstrated substantial skill development in students' ability to access scholarly information in their discipline area. The reported continued use of database searching by this cohort of students seven months after the OEIS intervention provides evidence that they are continuing to access and use scholarly information, information literacy skills necessary for their future work context

Gender and Acquisition of science process skills among junior

African Journals Online (AJOL)

PROF. BARTH EKWEME

students acquired the basic Science Process Skills measured but at a very low and little ... the UBE scheme should be actively involved in classroom activities, and that activity-based methods of ... that the ability to make good observation.

Communication Skills and Learning in Impaired Individuals

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Eliöz, Murat

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to compare the communication skills of individuals with different disabilities with athletes and sedentary people and to examine their learning abilities which influence the development of communication. A total of 159 male subjects 31 sedentary, 30 visually impaired, 27 hearing impaired, 40 physically impaired and 31…

Relationship of candidate communication and organization skills to oral certification examination scores.

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Houston, James E; Smith, Everett V

2008-12-01

This study investigated the relationship between candidate's proficiency in communication/organization and ability measures derived from judges' oral examination ratings on a medical specialty certification examination. Judges who rated candidates on the oral examination also provided a separate rating for candidates' communication/organization skills. ANOVA was used to examine differences among levels of communication/organizational skills with respect to candidates' ability measures on the oral examination. There was a statistically significant increase in oral examination measures for candidates with higher levels of communication/organization skills. This supports the hypothesis that candidates who were more proficient in organizing and presenting their responses were more likely to have better performance on the oral examination. Given communication and oral examination ratings were provided by the same judges, future research should investigate whether these preliminary findings generalize to situations in which communication ratings are obtained from independent ratings during and outside the oral examination.

Sensorimotor abilities predict on-field performance in professional baseball.

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Burris, Kyle; Vittetoe, Kelly; Ramger, Benjamin; Suresh, Sunith; Tokdar, Surya T; Reiter, Jerome P; Appelbaum, L Gregory

2018-01-08

Baseball players must be able to see and react in an instant, yet it is hotly debated whether superior performance is associated with superior sensorimotor abilities. In this study, we compare sensorimotor abilities, measured through 8 psychomotor tasks comprising the Nike Sensory Station assessment battery, and game statistics in a sample of 252 professional baseball players to evaluate the links between sensorimotor skills and on-field performance. For this purpose, we develop a series of Bayesian hierarchical latent variable models enabling us to compare statistics across professional baseball leagues. Within this framework, we find that sensorimotor abilities are significant predictors of on-base percentage, walk rate and strikeout rate, accounting for age, position, and league. We find no such relationship for either slugging percentage or fielder-independent pitching. The pattern of results suggests performance contributions from both visual-sensory and visual-motor abilities and indicates that sensorimotor screenings may be useful for player scouting.

How Do Trading Firms Upgrade Skills and Technology: A Theoretical Model

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Mojca Lindic

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the mechanisms of skill upgrading in trading firms by developing a theoretical model that relates the individual’s incentives for acquiring higher skills to the profit-maximizing behaviour of trading firms. The model shows that only the high ability individuals have incentives for acquiring higher skills, as long as they are compensated with higher wages after entering employment. Furthermore, high-productive firms have incentives for investing in higher technology, to employ high-skilled labour, and to engage in international trade. The decisions for technology dress-up and skill upgrading coincide with firm’s decisions to start importing and exporting as the latter requires higher technology and high-skilled labour. Contributions of the paper are twofold: gaining new insights by combining fragments of models on individual’s and firm’s behaviours, and broadening the content of the Melitz (2003 model by introducing importers and controlling for skilled and unskilled labour.

The Influence of Cognitive Abilities on Mathematical Problem Solving Performance

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Bahar, Abdulkadir

2013-01-01

Problem solving has been a core theme in education for several decades. Educators and policy makers agree on the importance of the role of problem solving skills for school and real life success. A primary purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of cognitive abilities on mathematical problem solving performance of students. The…

Work-related social skills: Definitions and interventions in public vocational rehabilitation.

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Phillips, Brian N; Kaseroff, Ashley A; Fleming, Allison R; Huck, Garrett E

2014-11-01

Social skills play an important role in employment. This study provides a qualitative analysis of salient work related social skills and interventions for addressing social skills in public vocational rehabilitation (VR). A modified consensual qualitative research (CQR) approach was taken to understand the elements and influence of work related social skills in public VR. Thirty-five counselors, supervisors, and administrators participated in semistructured interviews to provide their perspectives of work related social skills and the interventions they use for addressing these skills. Multiple aspects of work-related social skills were described as being important for VR consumer success. The most common work related social skills across all participants were nonverbal communication and the ability to connect with others. Primary social interventions included informal social skills training (SST), systems collaboration, and creating an appropriate job match. Public rehabilitation agency staff, constantly faced with addressing work related social skills, possess many insights about salient skills and interventions that can benefit future research and practice. Agencies currently address social skills deficits by providing interventions to both person and environment. The research provides directions for future research related to identification of social skills and interventions to address related deficits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

The Development of Fine Motor Skills and its Relation to Cognitive Development in Young Children

OpenAIRE

Geng, Da; Zhang, Xingli; Shi, Jiannong

2015-01-01

Fine motor skills refer to any movement where an individual uses the small muscles or muscle areas of the hands and fingers; these movements serve to development of muscle while also improving the cognitive recognition of the object. Automatic fine motor skills can save limited attention resources for advanced cognition tasks as required by an individual; in the development of fine motor skills and cognition, the two abilities interact, some motor skills are the prerequisite for some cognitio...

A Comparison between Linguistic Skills and Socio-Communicative Abilities in Williams Syndrome

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Alfieri, P.; Menghini, D.; Marotta, L.; De Peppo, L.; Ravà, L.; Salvaguardia, F.; Varuzza, C.; Vicari, S.

2017-01-01

Background: Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) show a disharmonic linguistic profile with a clear pattern of strengths and weaknesses. Despite their sociable nature, atypical socio-communicative abilities and deficits in communication and relationship with others have been found. Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether…

Audiovisual interpretative skills: between textual culture and formalized literacy

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Estefanía Jiménez, Ph. D.

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the results of a study on the process of acquiring interpretative skills to decode audiovisual texts among adolescents and youth. Based on the conception of such competence as the ability to understand the meanings connoted beneath the literal discourses of audiovisual texts, this study compared two variables: the acquisition of such skills from the personal and social experience in the consumption of audiovisual products (which is affected by age difference, and, on the second hand, the differences marked by the existence of formalized processes of media literacy. Based on focus groups of young students, the research assesses the existing academic debate about these processes of acquiring skills to interpret audiovisual materials.

Comparing the Spelling and Reading Abilities of Students with Cochlear Implants and Students with Typical Hearing

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Apel, Kenn; Masterson, Julie J.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students with and without hearing loss (HL) differed in their spelling abilities and, specifically, in the underlying linguistic awareness skills that support spelling ability. Furthermore, we examined whether there were differences between the two groups in the relationship between reading and…

KINERJA DOSEN DALAM MENINGKATKAN KEMAMPUAN AKADEMIK (HARD SKILL DAN PENGUASAAN KETERAMPILAN (SOFT SKILL PADA MAHASISWA PKK FKIP UNSYIAH

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Zahraini Zahraini

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The performance of the lecturers is important factor in order to ensure the quality management of a college. The lecturers performance at PKK study program FKIP Unsyiahis truly play role in producing students not only work in government with satisfying academic grade (hard skill but also students must be able to create their own work field by possessing skill (soft skills to take over the world work. This study aims at knowing the ability, motivation, disciplines, responsibility, and supporting factors on the lecturers performance in improving academic competence and skill acquisition of the students at PKK, FKIP Unsyiah. This study used a qualitative approach through data collecting techniques i.e. documentation, observations , and interviews. The subjects of the research were the dean, deputy dean of academic affairs, the chairman of the PKK department, lecturers, laboratory chairman, and students. This study shows that 1 The ability of the lecturers in carrying out teaching can be seen through arrangement of the lecturing material, lecturing implementation, and evaluation. 2 Motivation in conducting lectures , that the PKK lecturers of FKIP Unsyiah have conducted real efforts to reach the decided aim, but few lecturers less motivated the students optimally, lack of guiding of the lecturers or their seniors as well as program chairman, action less than optimal motivation lecturer , received guidance from lecturers more senior or chief Prodi . 3 The lecturers discipline is reflected through factual time in implementing the lecture, obeying the obtain rules and conducting continuously. Lecturer’s discipline reflected by timeliness in implementing the course, follow the rules, and do it continuously. 4 The lecturer’s responsibility and commitment in implementing the lecturer can be seen through guiding the students in accordance with the main duty and its function. 5 Improving performance in academic competence and skill acquisition are

Medical students' agenda-setting abilities during medical interviews.

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Roh, HyeRin; Park, Kyung Hye; Jeon, Young-Jee; Park, Seung Guk; Lee, Jungsun

2015-06-01

Identifying patients' agendas is important; however, the extent of Korean medical students' agenda-setting abilities is unknown. The study aim was to investigate the patterns of Korean medical students' agenda solicitation. A total of 94 third-year medical students participated. One scenario involving a female patient with abdominal pain was created. Students were video-recorded as they interviewed the patient. To analyze whether students identify patients' reasons for visiting, a checklist was developed based on a modified version of the Calgary-Cambridge Guide to the Medical Interview: Communication Process checklist. The duration of the patient's initial statement of concerns was measured in seconds. The total number of patient concerns expressed before interruption and the types of interruption effected by the medical students were determined. The medical students did not explore the patients' concerns and did not negotiate an agenda. Interruption of the patient's opening statement occurred in 4.62±2.20 seconds. The most common type of initial interruption was a recompleter (79.8%). Closed-ended questions were the most common question type in the second and third interruptions. Agenda setting should be emphasized in the communication skills curriculum of medical students. The Korean Clinical Skills Exam must assess medical students' ability to set an agenda.

Improving English Speaking Ability Through Classroom Discussion

OpenAIRE

Afrizal, M

2015-01-01

Speaking is one of important parts in teaching language because it includes one of four basic language skills. Nevertheless, in MA NU BANAT Kudus, the writer found that most of students there still get the difficulties in studying speaking. It may be caused by the method used in teaching English, especially speaking. Classroom Discussion is a method that can be applied in teaching English, especially to improve the ability of speaking. In this method, hopefully, the students get a big opportu...

Infant Statistical-Learning Ability Is Related to Real-Time Language Processing

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