Broad Range Of Abilities Research Articles

Flexible in Curriculum to Meet the Objectives of the Program of the Institution

The curriculum planning must be adaptable to the particular needs of an educational institution. It must also be responsive to social and technological changes and meet learner’s needs arising from that change process. In particular, it must encourage effective use of new technologies as tools of learning. While students must have a large amount of flexibility in choosing their individual curricula, certain subjects, skills, and capacities should be learned by all students to become good, successful, innovative, adaptable, and productive human beings in today’s rapidly changing world.Curriculum flexibility means adopting different designs for learning to help make learning more meaningful for 21st-century learners. Some practices in education have become outmoded, and learning experiences should be redesigned to be more relevant to student interests, abilities, and cultures. An additional challenge is that with a more diverse population of students who have a broad range of abilities, innovations must be linked to curriculum goals as well as being challenging and differentiated to provide for an array of learning experiences.

The Alignment of Accounting Curriculum with Market Requirements: The Iraqi Case

This research investigates at how Iraqi university accounting courses connect to industry demands in an effort to raise the standard and relevance of accounting education. The study used a survey with a questionnaire that was distributed to teachers, graduates, employers, and professionals in the accounting area in Iraq. The study looks at the most recent accounting curriculum, demographic data, relevance ratings for accounting courses, and assessments of essential work skills. The study showed a wide range of demographics, including notable responses from academics (58%), and employers (51%). Results show areas of convergence and divergence in the perceived importance of specific accounting courses, which may indicate gaps between theoretical ideas and practical implementations. Crucial skills and non-accounting courses share some shared aims and small differences as well. The report highlights how important it is to align Iraq's accounting curriculum with business needs. The proposals include systematic curriculum assessments, more industry-academia collaboration, continual professional development for educators, and an emphasis on a broader range of abilities. In response to shifting market needs, the paper makes evidence-based suggestions for enhancing accounting education in Iraq.

Helping or Hindering: Inclusive Design of Automated Task Prompting for Workers with Cognitive Disabilities

Of the ∼8.8 million working-age adults with cognitive disabilities in the United States, only 28.6% are employed, contributing to a poverty rate (26.1%) for people with cognitive disabilities (PwCDs) that is more than twice that for people without disabilities. PwCDs who are employed are often still marginalized via reduced hours and pay, largely due to their more limited capability to perform work efficiently and independently. As evidence, warehouse and shelf stocking jobs that serve as employment for a significant percentage of PwCDs, often require frequent intervention from a job coach in the workplace, impacting the pay and self-esteem of these workers. This study's objective was to remove barriers to employment for PwCD through inclusive design of technology supports in warehouse and similar settings. Specifically, a nonlinear context-aware prompting system (NCAPS) was developed, iteratively refined, and tested. In a pilot crossover study, subjects with cognitive disabilities participated in simulated work sessions, picking orders in a small warehouse environment using the NCAPS and industry standard paper tickets. Their performance was assessed in terms of errors and productivity, and their insights and perspectives were gathered. The resulting NCAPS prevented or corrected all errors for all but one participant. It also increased productivity for participants with the poorest baseline (paper ticket) performance, but decreased productivity for those with high baseline performance. No significant difference was observed in system usability scale (SUS) scores between methods. Topics emerging from user input highlighted the need for technological supports for PwCD to be simple and flexible in operation, and reliable to maintain user trust. By prioritizing robustness and intuitiveness, flexible technology supports can be developed to empower workers with a broad range of abilities, including those with temporary and situational impairments. Such tools would reduce barriers to employment, including stigma, discrimination, and other barriers to equity.

Forecasting emergent risks in advanced AI systems: an analysis of a future road transport management system

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being increasingly implemented within road transport systems worldwide. Next generation of AI, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is imminent, and is anticipated to be more powerful than current AI. AGI systems will have a broad range of abilities and be able to perform multiple cognitive tasks akin to humans that will likely produce many expected benefits, but also potential risks. This study applied the EAST Broken Links approach to forecast the functioning of an AGI system tasked with managing a road transport system and identify potential risks. In total, 363 risks were identified that could have adverse impacts on the stated goals of safety, efficiency, environmental sustainability, and economic performance of the road system. Further, risks beyond the stated goals were identified; removal from human control, mismanaging public relations, and self-preservation. A diverse set of systemic controls will be required when designing, implementing, and operating future advanced technologies. Practitioner summary: This study demonstrated the utility of HFE methods for formally considering risks associated with the design, implementation, and operation of future technologies. This study has implications for AGI research, design, and development to ensure safe and ethical AGI implementation.

Linking metaphor comprehension with analogical reasoning: Evidence from typical development and autism spectrum disorder.

We examined the relationship between metaphor comprehension and verbal analogical reasoning in young adults who were either typically developing (TD) or diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The ASD sample was highly educated and high in verbal ability, and closely matched to a subset of TD participants on age, gender, educational background, and verbal ability. Additional TD participants with a broader range of abilities were also tested. Each participant solved sets of verbal analogies and metaphors in verification formats, allowing measurement of both accuracy and reaction times. Measures of individual differences in vocabulary, verbal working memory, and autistic traits were also obtained. Accuracy for both the verbal analogy and the metaphor task was very similar across the ASD and matched TD groups. However, reaction times on both tasks were longer for the ASD group. Additionally, stronger correlations between verbal analogical reasoning and working memory capacity in the ASD group indicated that processing verbal analogies was more effortful for them. In the case of both groups, accuracy on the metaphor and analogy tasks was correlated. A mediation analysis revealed that after controlling for working memory capacity, the inter-task correlation could be accounted for by the mediating variable of vocabulary knowledge, suggesting that the primary common mechanisms linking the two tasks involve language skills.

Children's academic attainment is linked to the global organization of the white matter connectome.

Literacy and numeracy are important skills that are typically learned during childhood, a time that coincides with considerable shifts in large‐scale brain organization. However, most studies emphasize focal brain contributions to literacy and numeracy development by employing case‐control designs and voxel‐by‐voxel statistical comparisons. This approach has been valuable, but may underestimate the contribution of overall brain network organization. The current study includes children (N = 133 children; 86 male; mean age = 9.42, SD = 1.715; age range = 5.92–13.75y) with a broad range of abilities, and uses whole‐brain structural connectomics based on diffusion‐weighted MRI data. The results indicate that academic attainment is associated with differences in structural brain organization, something not seen when focusing on the integrity of specific regions. Furthermore, simulated disruption of highly‐connected brain regions known as hubs suggests that the role of these regions for maintaining the architecture of the network may be more important than specific aspects of processing. Our findings indicate that distributed brain systems contribute to the etiology of difficulties with academic learning, which cannot be captured using a more traditional voxel‐wise statistical approach.

Sometimes More Is Better, and Sometimes Less Is Better: Task Complexity Moderates the Response Time Accuracy Correlation

This study addresses the relationship between item response time and item accuracy (i.e., the response time accuracy correlation, RTAC) in figural matrices tests. The dual processing account of response time effects predicts negative RTACs in tasks that allow for relatively automatic processing and positive RTACs in tasks that require controlled processing. Contrary to these predictions, several studies found negative RTACs for reasoning tests. Nevertheless, it was demonstrated that the RTAC is moderated by task complexity (i.e., the interaction between person ability and item difficulty) and that under conditions of high complexity (i.e., low ability and high difficulty) the RTAC was even slightly positive. The goal of this study was to demonstrate that with respect to task complexity the direction of the RTAC (positive vs. negative) can change substantially even within a single task paradigm (i.e., figural matrices). These predictions were tested using a figural matrices test that employs a constructed response format and has a broad range of item difficulties in a sample with a broad range of ability. Confirming predictions, strongly negative RTACs were observed when task complexity was low (i.e., fast responses tended to be correct). With increasing task complexity, the RTAC flipped to be strongly positive (i.e., slow responses tended to be correct). This flip occurred earlier for people with lower ability, and later for people with higher ability. Cognitive load of the items is suggested as an explanation for this phenomenon.

Feasibility and effectiveness of a cognitive remediation programme with original computerised cognitive training and group intervention for schizophrenia: a multicentre randomised trial

ABSTRACTDevising new methods to improve neurocognitive impairment through cognitive remediation is an important research goal. We developed an original computer programme termed the Japanese Cognitive Rehabilitation Programme for Schizophrenia (JCORES) that provides cognitive practice across a broad range of abilities. The current study examined for the first time whether a cognitive remediation programme, including both computerised cognitive training using JCORES and group intervention such as enhancing meta-cognition and teaching strategies, is more effective than treatment as usual for improving neurocognitive and social functioning. Sixty-two outpatients with schizophrenia were randomised to either a cognitive remediation group or a control group. Participants engaged in two computerised cognitive training sessions and one group meeting per week for 12 weeks. The average number of total sessions attended (computerised cognitive practice + group intervention) was 32.3 (89.7%). The cognitive remediation group showed significantly more improvements in verbal memory, composite score of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia, Japanese version (BACS-J), and general psychopathology on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) than the control group. These findings demonstrate that a cognitive remediation programme is feasible in Japan and is a more effective way to improve neurocognitive functioning and psychiatric symptoms.

Levels of automation: effects of individual differences on wheelchair control performance and user acceptance

This paper presents an evaluation of the levels of automation. It draws on a prototype of an electrically powered wheelchair as an example of an ordinary automation device operated by less trained users with a broad range of abilities. A study is described during which 21 participants drove through a standardised course three times. Each time, another level of automation was active. As criteria, joint human-automation performance and user acceptance were measured. As predictors, fine motor abilities were assessed and task complexity was recorded. The analyses showed that higher levels of automation achieved lower user acceptance ratings. In contrast, higher levels of automation fostered better performance especially when less able participants steered the wheelchair and when the routes were more complex.

Ten Trends in Capability Planning for Defence and Security

Capability-based planning has become the gold standard for defence planning. It is increasingly understood as encompassing a broad range of abilities beyond just military materiel and personnel, evolving into a much wider range of factors. It has also helped NATO defence planners adapt forces to requirements rather than fit ends to means. But there is still more to be done to improve defence planning, not least understanding the challenge posed by ‘black swans’ and guarding against presentism.

Mathematics for Maths Anxious Tertiary Students: Integrating the cognitive and affective domains using interactive multimedia

Today, commencing university students come from a diversity of backgrounds and have a broad range of abilities and attitudes. It is well known that attitudes towards mathematics, especially mathematics anxiety, can affect students’ performance to the extent that mathematics is often seen as a barrier to success by many. This paper reports on the design, development and evaluation of an interactive multimedia resource designed to explicitly address students’ beliefs and attitudes towards mathematics by following five characters as they progress through the highs and low of studying a preparatory mathematics course. The resource was built within two theoretical frameworks, one related to effective numeracy teaching (Marr and Helme 1991) and the other related to effective educational technology development (Laurillard 2002). Further, it uses a number of multimedia alternatives (video, audio, animations, diarying, interactive examples and self assessment) to encourage students to feel part of a group, to reflect on their feelings and beliefs about mathematics, to expose students to authentic problem solving and generally build confidence through practice and self-assessment. Evaluation of the resource indicated that it encouraged students to value their own mathematical ability and helped to build confidence, while developing mathematical problem solving skills. The evaluation clearly demonstrated that it is possible to address the affective domain through multimedia initiatives and that this can complement the current focus on computer mediated communication as the primary method of addressing affective goals within the online environment.

Abstract 724: Selective β2-adrenergic receptor agonists inhibit the proliferation of 1321N1 astrocytoma cells

Abstract Selective β2-adrenergic receptor agonists inhibit the proliferation of 1321N1 astrocytoma cells Lawrence Toll1, Lucita Jimenez1, Willma Polgar1, Carol Green1, Jason Gow1, Kathleen O'Loughlin1, Michel Bernier2, Irving W. Wainer2 1 SRI International, Menlo Park, CA 2 Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Aging, Baltimore, MD We have reported the synthesis of fenoterol analogs and the characterization of these compounds as selective β2-adrenergic receptor (β2-AR) agonists, which have a broad range of abilities to stimulate cAMP accumulation in β2-AR transfected HEK cells, EC50cAMP. We now report the effect of a series of these compounds on the growth of 1321N1 astrocytoma cells (Table). In the 1321N1 cells, β2-AR stimulation by fenoterol analogs potently inhibited [3H]-thymidine incorporation with IC50 values that correlated with the EC50cAMP values. The effects were blocked by the β2-AR antagonist propranolol and mimicked by the adenylate cyclase activator forskolin. (R,R)-Fenoterol induced G1 arrest with an associated decrease in the proportion of cells in G2 and S phase and modulated the levels of proteins involved in cell division. The results indicate that selective β2-AR agonists may exert unanticipated antitumor effects against neural-derived neoplasms that express the β2-AR.Table.Functional activities of fenoterol analogs. Stimulation of cAMP accumulation was determined in intact HEK cells transfected with the β2-AR. Fenoterol analogs do not inhibit mitogenesis in HEK cells. Inhibition of [3H]-thymidine incorporation was conducted in 1321N1 cells in which the β2-AR is natively expressed. Results expressed as mean ± SD, n = 4.CompoundStimulation of cAMP AccumulationMitogenesis Inhibition EC50 (nM)% StimulationIC50 (nM)Isoproterenol0.20 ± 0.091000.05 ± 0.01(R,R)-fenoterol0.30 ± 0.09123.30 ± 8.790.14 ± 0.07(R,R)-4-methoxyfenoterol0.30 ± 0.23135.70 ± 11.030.17 ± 0.02(R,R)-ethylfenoterol2.80 ± 0.90125.40 ± 5.741.44 ± 0.27(R,R)-1-naphthylfenoterol12.5 ± 3.50129.20± 23.61.57 ± 0.34(R,R)-2-naphthylfenoterol0.40 ± 0.1290.30 ± 9.811.91 ± 0.57(R,R)-4-methoxy-1-naphthyl fenoterol3.90 ± 1.80105.90 ± 11.063.98 ± 0.28 Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 724.

Social cognition in children with Down's syndrome: challenges to research and theory building

Characterising how socio-cognitive abilities develop has been crucial to understanding the wider development of typically developing children. It is equally central to understanding developmental pathways in children with intellectual disabilities such as Down's syndrome. While the process of acquisition of socio-cognitive abilities in typical development and in autism has received considerable attention, socio-cognitive development in Down's syndrome has received far less scrutiny. Initial work in the 1970s and 1980s provided important insights into the emergence of socio-cognitive abilities in the children's early years, and recently there has been a marked revival of interest in this area, with research focusing both on a broader range of abilities and on a wider age range. This annotation reviews some of these more recent findings, identifies outstanding gaps in current understanding, and stresses the importance of the development of theory in advancing research and knowledge in this field. Barriers to theory building are discussed and the potential utility of adopting a transactional approach to theory building illustrated with reference to a model of early socio-cognitive development in Down's syndrome. The need for a more extensive model of social cognition is emphasised, as is the need for larger-scale, finer-grained, longitudinal work which recognises the within-individual and within-group variability which characterises this population. The value of drawing on new technologies and of adapting innovative research paradigms from other areas of typical and atypical child psychology is also highlighted.

The Universal Design for Play Tool: Establishing Validity and Reliability

The Universal Design for Play (UDP) Tool is an instrument designed to evaluate the presence of universal design (UD) features in toys. This study evaluated its psychometric properties, including content validity, construct validity, and test-retest reliability. The UDP tool was designed to assist in selecting toys most appropriate for children with a range of abilities and interests, including those with disabilities. Development of the UDP tool began as a panel of early childhood, disability, and design experts reviewed the seven principles of UD and employed these principles to guide the development of a list of related toy features. Four focus groups, comprised of toy designers, toy buyers (persons who by toys for multiple users, such as daycare providers, therapists, teachers, etc.), and parents of children with and without disabilities were conducted. Information regarding tool content, presentation, and potential use was gathered. A draft of the UDP tool included a grouping of the most salient features found in toys successfully used by children with a range of interests and abilities. A national field test involving 123 parent and professional participants was conducted. Of the group, 85 participated in reliability testing. The results indicated strong content validity, construct validity, and test-retest reliability. These results support the use of the UDP tool to identify toys for children with a range of interests and abilities. In addition, the use of the UDP tool can assist toy designers as they attempt to include the needs of children with a broader range of abilities when creating toys.

Assessing practical intelligence in business school admissions: A supplement to the graduate management admissions test

The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is the most widely used measure of managerial potential in MBA admissions. GMAT scores, although predictive of grades in business school, leave much of the variance in graduate school performance unexplained. The GMAT also produces disparities in test scores between groups, generating the potential for adverse impact in the admissions process. We sought to compensate for these limitations by adding measures of practical intelligence to the admissions process in an MBA program. We developed two approaches to measuring practical intelligence, one knowledge-based and the other skill-based. We administered the resulting measures to two samples of incoming MBA students (total N = 792). Across the two studies, we found that scores on both measures predicted success inside and outside the classroom and provided small, yet significant, increments beyond GMAT scores and undergraduate GPA in the prediction of variance in MBA performance. We further found that these measures exhibited less disparity across gender and racial/ethnic groups than did the GMAT. These findings, although preliminary, suggest the potential value of considering a broader range of abilities in admissions testing.

Theory-Based University Admissions Testing for a New Millennium

This article describes two projects based on Robert J. Sternberg's theory of successful intelligence and designed to provide theory-based testing for university admissions. The first, Rainbow Project, provided a supplementary test of analytical, practical, and creative skills to augment the SAT in predicting college performance. The Rainbow Project measures enhanced predictive validity for college grade point average (GPA) relative to high school GPA and the SAT (an acronym that originally stood for Scholastic Aptitude Test but that now stands for nothing in particular) and decreased ethnic-group disparities in test scores. The second, the University of Michigan Business School Project, provided supplementary tests of practical skills to augment the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) in predicting business school performance. Scores on two types of measures of practical skills predicted performance inside and outside the classroom and explained variance in performance beyond GMAT scores and undergraduate GPA. The measures tended to exhibit less disparity across gender and racial or ethnic groups than did the GMAT. The findings from the two projects demonstrate the potential value of including a broader range of abilities in admissions testing.

Indymedia and The New Net News

Indymedia and The New Net News

A new test of memory for multiple sclerosis I: format development and stimuli design.

Memory tests were often developed for healthy populations. The accuracy of these measures is reduced when administered to patients with neurological diseases, who may experience physical and/or cognitive symptoms. Also, methodological factors, for example, spanning the ability spectrum, and content/format artefacts, may contribute to a decline in test precision. The aim of this study was to develop a new test of memory, which addresses these issues. The new memory test comprises assessments of recall, paired association, and recognition, at a Task Familiarisation stage and two difficulty levels, for both the verbal and spatial modalities. It was administered to 85 healthy individuals and 100 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). All patients were able to attempt each task of the new assessment and there was no influence of visual integrity or manual dexterity on memory test performance, supporting the applicability of the tasks to patients with multiple sclerosis. Both the standardisation and validation samples demonstrated a wide range of scores on each section of the new test suggesting that the measure spanned an acceptably broad range of abilities. It seems probable, therefore, that the new assessment offers a more exact measure of verbal and spatial recall, paired association, and recognition memory.

Eggs and chips

Soft electronics brings the technology of embedded micro-control within the reach of students with a broad range of abilities. Following on from the Spring '97 article “Pic and mix” for pupils, this article provides an insight to this new development and outlines some introductory project ideas for design and technology with the 14–16 age range.

A PASS 3 evaluation of community residences in Wales.

PASS 3 was used to evaluate 14 residential services for people with mental retardation. Residents had a broad range of abilities. Size of residences ranged from one to seven residents. PASS scores were generally associated with both resident's ability level and smaller size of living unit. Overall, the residences were shown to be well-located and reasonably home-like. However, residence personnel tended to lack organized means and competencies to promote resident development and experience. Administrative practices were also weak. Attention must be given to factors other than residence size, location, building characteristics, and staffing parameters when services are commissioned and when service contracts are specified and reviewed.