Connecting inside out: Development of the social brain in infants and toddlers with a focus on myelination as a marker of brain maturation

Early childhood is a sensitive period for learning and social skill development. The maturation of cerebral regions underlying social processing lays the foundation for later social-emotional competence. This study explored myelin changes in social brain regions and their association with changes in parent-rated social-emotional development in a cohort of 129 children (64 females, 0–36 months, 77 White). Results reveal a steep increase in myelination throughout the social brain in the first 3 years of life that is significantly associated with social-emotional development scores. These findings add knowledge to the emerging picture of social brain development by describing neural underpinnings of human social behavior. They can contribute to identifying age-/stage-appropriate early life factors in this developmental domain.     

The Effectiveness of an Augmented Reality Head-Mounted Display in Learning Skull Anatomy at a Community College

Despite an increase in the use of technology in undergraduate anatomy education, and the rising popularity of online anatomy courses at community colleges in the United States, there have been no reports on the efficacy of augmented reality on anatomy education in this population. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that augmented reality is an effective and engaging tool for learning anatomy in community college students. Participants recruited from Cuyahoga Community College (Cleveland, OH) studied skull anatomy using either traditional tools (i.e., textbook and plastic skull model) or an augmented reality head-mounted display with an interactive virtual skull application. Comparison of knowledge before and following the study period revealed that augmented reality was an effective tool for learning skull anatomy: pre-quiz = 32.7% (± 25.2); mean (± SD), post-quiz = 61.8% (± 19.5); n = 15; t₍₂₈₎ = 3.53; P = 0.001. The traditional tools were equally effective: pre-quiz = 44.9 % (± 18.6), post-quiz = 67.9 % (± 17.3); n = 17; t₍₃₂₎ = 3.73; P = 0.0007. Students rated the augmented reality device as 9.6 (± 1.0); mean (± SD) when asked if it fit the statement “fun to use” on a semantic differential scale from 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent). In conclusion, this study found that augmented reality is an effective and engaging tool for the instruction of skull anatomy at a community college.     

Culture and country choice of international students: evidence from Ghana

ABSTRACT

This study seeks to examine the influence of the cultural elements on international students’ country choice. It also examines whether individual values moderate the influence of cultural elements on the country choice of international students. Drawing upon a sample size of 223, the data was analysed using structural equation modelling technique. Among the five cultural elements, education, language and social institutions were found to have a positive significant influence on the international student’s country choice. When moderated by individual values education was found to be the only key significant value to international students when selecting a country to further their education. The cultural elements should be given much attention by marketers, government and managers of academic institutions. An improvement in the standards of education in developing countries would attract more students from developed countries.     

Political Socialization of International Students: Public-Issue Discourse and Discussion on the College Campus

ABSTRACT

This study examined international students’ interests in public issues in the U.S. and motivational factors behind their discourse or avoidance of such issues. In-depth interviews with international students revealed that they discuss certain public issues in the U.S. to gain or exchange information and knowledge, because these issues are relevant to themselves and others, or due to the misconceptions that others have about their country. Moreover, international students tend to avoid certain public issues because of the level of their knowledge and lack of interest in such issues and in order to avoid dissonance caused by the public issues.     

Content Analysis of Google Alerts for Cultural Heritage Institutions

This article outlines evidence-based methods for cultural heritage institutions to look for news and mentions about their collections and services online. Google Alerts were created for repository names, websites, and finding aid websites for 66 institutions randomly selected from the Archive Grid database. Results were analyzed to determine Google Alerts' accuracy, what types of institutions would benefit most from using Google Alerts, what the content of the sources found by the alerts was, what types of publications returned the most results, and if Google Alerts could also identify image reuse. While Google Alerts' accuracy for returning usable results for analysis was not very high, the structure of alert e-mails makes discarding irrelevant results simple and quick. Mid- to large-sized museums and institutions staging frequent exhibits and events, as well as those with active collections, return the largest number of alerts. News publications and social media publish the most content related to cultural heritage institutions. Though the sample set was small, Google Alerts also was able to identify image reuse.     

Instructional design for single information literacy sessions

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe how the Understanding by Design instructional design framework can be applied to design high-quality single-session information literacy instruction. The author describes the Understanding by Design process in detail, noting modifications for single instructional session design with examples from the application of this instructional design process to design co-curricular instruction sessions for undergraduates.