Classroom Laboratory Research Articles

Relationship between social loafing and the self-concept

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between social loafing behaviour, self-concept and perceived organisational politics (POP). The impact of POP and self-concept upon social loafing behaviour has been the fundamental focus of the paper.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from four companies (n = 262) that combined the responses of subordinates and supervisors. The consequent impact of self-concept factors and POP on social loafing behaviour was analysed through correlations; multiple regressions and mediation were tested using Barren–Kenny and Hayes Bootstrap methods.FindingsA positively significant connection among self-concept, social loafing and POP has been found in this study. The findings show that POP significantly mediates the relationship between social loafing and self-concept.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides evidence of the positive relationship among POP, social loafing behaviour and self-concept. Such knowledge derived may facilitate the scientific task allocation process, feedback system, team orientation, individual differences and job choice aspects, and thus help in the essential understanding of withdrawal work behaviour and perceived organisational support variables.Practical implicationsProductivity and employee satisfaction are major concerns for all organisations. This research paper provides insight to the organisations and supervisors about individual loafing attitude, self-concept and organisational politics and suggests to overcome their impact and improvement in productivity and employee satisfaction.Originality/valueThis is a pioneer paper in the sense that previously there has been no attempt to determine the relationship between POP and social loafing behaviour. Past research has mostly been conducted in the laboratory settings or classroom contexts. The longitudinal data used in this study remove prior research drawbacks and enlighten the unexplored relationships.

Students Are Rarely Independent: When, Why, and How to Use Random Effects in Discipline-Based Education Research.

Discipline-based education researchers have a natural laboratory—classrooms, programs, colleges, and universities. Studies that administer treatments to multiple sections, in multiple years, or at multiple institutions are particularly compelling for two reasons: first, the sample sizes increase, and second, the implementation of the treatments can be intentionally designed and carefully monitored, potentially negating the need for additional control variables. However, when studies are implemented in this way, the observations on students are not completely independent; rather, students are clustered in sections, terms, years, or other factors. Here, I demonstrate why this clustering can be problematic in regression analysis. Fortunately, nonindependence of sampling can often be accounted for with random effects in multilevel regression models. Using several examples, including an extended example with R code, this paper illustrates why and how to implement random effects in multilevel modeling. It also provides resources to promote implementation of analyses that control for the nonindependence inherent in many quasi-random sampling designs.

Optimization of Methylphenidate Extended-Release Chewable Tablet Dose in Children with ADHD: Open-Label Dose Optimization in a Laboratory Classroom Study.

Objective: To examine methylphenidate extended-release chewable tablets (MPH ERCT) dose patterns, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptom scores, and safety during the 6-week, open-label (OL) dose-optimization period of a phase 3, laboratory classroom study.Methods: Boys and girls (6–12 years) diagnosed with ADHD were enrolled. MPH ERCT was initiated at 20 mg/day; participants were titrated in 10–20 mg/day increments weekly based on efficacy and tolerability (maximum dose, 60 mg/day). Dose-optimization period efficacy assessments included the ADHD Rating Scale (ADHD-RS-IV), analyzed by week in a post hoc analysis using a mixed-effects model for repeated measures with final optimized dose (20, 30/40, or 50/60 mg), visit, final optimized dose and visit interaction, and baseline score as terms. Adverse events (AEs) and concomitant medications were collected throughout the study.Results: Mean MPH ERCT daily dose increased weekly from 29.4 mg/day after the first dose adjustment at week 1 (n = 90) to 42.8 mg/day after the final adjustment at week 5 (n = 86). Final optimized MPH ERCT dose ranged from 20 to 60 mg/day. Mean final optimized MPH ERCT dose ranged from 40.0 mg/day in 6–8 year-old participants to 44.8 mg/day for 11–12 year-old participants. There was a progressive decrease in mean (standard deviation) ADHD-RS-IV total score from 40.1 (8.72) at baseline to 12.4 (7.88) at OL week 5, with similar improvement patterns for hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattentiveness subscale scores. Participants optimized to MPH ERCT 50/60 mg/day had a significantly higher mean (standard error) ADHD-RS-IV score at baseline compared with participants optimized to MPH ERCT 20 mg/day (42.4 [1.34] vs. 35.1 [2.55]; p = 0.013). Treatment-emergent AEs were reported by 65/90 (72.2%) participants in the dose-optimization period.Conclusions: Dose-optimization period results describing relationships between change in ADHD symptom scores and final optimized MPH ERCT dose will be valuable for clinicians optimizing MPH ERCT dose.

Promoting Collaborative Classrooms: The Impacts of Interdependent Cooperative Learning on Undergraduate Interactions and Achievement.

Collaboration is an important career skill and vital to student understanding of the social aspects of science, but less is known about relationships among collaborative-learning strategies, classroom climate, and student learning. We sought to increase the collaborative character of introductory undergraduate laboratory classrooms by analyzing a 9-week intervention in 10 classrooms (n = 251) that participated in cooperative-learning modules (promoting interdependence via a modified jigsaw technique). Students in an additional 10 classrooms (n = 232) completed the same material in an unstructured format representative of common educational practice. Results showed that, when between-class variance was controlled for, intervention students did not score higher on weekly quizzes, but science interest and prior science experience had a reduced relationship to quiz performance in intervention classrooms. Also, intervention classrooms showed increased collaborative engagement at both whole-class and individual levels (24 students at three time points), but the intervention was only one of several factors found to account for late-intervention classroom collaborative engagement (prosocial behavior and discussion practices). Taken together, findings suggest that integrating interdependence-based tasks may foster collaborative engagement at both small-group and whole-classroom levels, but by itself may not be enough to promote increased student achievement.

Efficacy and Safety of Amphetamine Extended-Release Oral Suspension in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Objectives: To determine the efficacy and safety of amphetamine extended-release oral suspension (AMPH EROS) in the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a dose-optimized, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study.Methods: Boys and girls aged 6 to 12 years diagnosed with ADHD were enrolled. During a 5-week, open-label, dose-optimization phase, patients began treatment with 2.5 or 5 mg/day of AMPH EROS; doses were titrated until an optimal dose (maximum 20 mg/day) was reached. During the double-blind phase, patients were randomized to receive treatment with either their optimized dose (10–20 mg/day) of AMPH EROS or placebo for 1 week. Efficacy was assessed in a laboratory classroom setting on the final day of double-blind treatment using the Swanson, Kotkin, Agler, M-Flynn, and Pelham (SKAMP) Rating Scale and Permanent Product Measure of Performance (PERMP) test. Safety was assessed measuring adverse events (AEs) and vital signs.Results: The study was completed by 99 patients. The primary efficacy endpoint (change from predose SKAMP-Combined score at 4 hours postdose) and secondary endpoints (change from predose SKAMP-Combined scores at 1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 13 hours postdose) were statistically significantly improved with AMPH EROS treatment versus placebo at all time points. Onset of treatment effect was present by 1 hour postdosing, the first time point measured, and duration of efficacy lasted 13 hours postdosing. PERMP data mirrored the SKAMP-Combined score data. AEs (>5%) reported during dose optimization were decreased appetite, insomnia, affect lability, upper abdominal pain, mood swings, and headache.Conclusion: AMPH EROS was effective in reducing symptoms of ADHD and had a rapid onset and extended duration of effect. Reported AEs were consistent with those of other extended-release amphetamine products.

Reflections on Neuroscience in Teacher Education

ABSTRACTThe majority of teacher preparation programs do not address neuroscience in their curricula. This is curious, as learning occurs in the brain in context and teachers fundamentally foster and facilitate learning. On the one hand, merging neuroscience knowledge into teacher training programs is fraught with challenges, such as reconciling how scientific evidence is viewed and used in education, overcoming neuromyths, acknowledging the lack of direct connection between laboratory findings and classroom practices, and coordinating across different levels of analysis in neuroscience and educational practice. On the other hand, there are marked benefits to such a merger, such as deepening pedagogical content knowledge from multiple perspectives; understanding neuroplasticity and its educational implications; recognizing the power of the environment to affect neurobiology, learning, and development; and contributing to engaged, reflective practice and informed inquiry in teaching. Particularly in terms of learning equity for students and the development of a learning education culture in teacher education programs, the benefits of including neuroscience knowledge in teacher training would seem to outweigh the challenges.

Teaching the Use of Automated Pipettes to Undergrads through Direct Visualization of Data: A Quantitative Chemical Analysis Lab Focusing on Technique, Skill, and Accuracy in Solution Chemistry

The correct use of automated pipettes in undergraduate labs has been demonstrated with an activity primarily for second semester chemistry and biology majors. This lab involves the use of automated pipettes for transferring a specific amount of dye mixtures to a cotton bandanna. The data from this lab comprise a color wheel on a bandanna that displays the amount of dye transferred based on the volume set on the automated pipette by the student. This allows for the students to see their mistakes and does not allow them to restart. Student learning outcomes include the ability to choose the correct automated pipette for the volume needed; to set the correct volume on an automated pipette; to properly draw up the solution; and to use proper dispensing technique. Pre‐surveys assessing students' confidences in accurately using automated pipettes show that the average freshman student (60% of those surveyed) has not used automated pipettes in high school but has used them in their first semester chemistry course. The majority of those students also have confidence in their ability to choose the correct automated pipette; to draw up the liquid, and to dispense it properly. There was less confidence in setting the correct volume on the automated pipette. The results show that some students still have difficulties in setting volumes on automated pipettes correctly and in dispensing the liquid. However, the post survey suggests that setting the correct volume on the automated pipette was the most learned skill from performing the lab (26% to 88% increase in confidence by the students). After performing the lab, 96% of the class was confident in their ability to use automated pipettes. The learning outcomes were met along with the unintentional learning outcome of following directions. Automated pipettes are increasingly being utilized in our labs at our institution for both classroom lab activities and research lab activities. The ability to use automated pipettes accurately and precisely is a vital skill for chemistry, biochemistry, and biology majors with the increased use of this instrument in scientific jobs and in research. The use of these pipettes is a learned skill and it should not be assumed that students know how to correctly utilize them. Feedback from students supports this conclusion.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Analyzing the Knowing‐Doing Gap of Pedagogy Implementation by Near‐Peer Pre‐Professional Anatomy Lab Teachers

Training pre‐professional Teaching Assistants (TA's) in the art of pedagogy is a first step toward mastery of the ACGME Core Competencies of Patient Care, and Interpersonal and Communication Skills. The Knowing‐Doing Gap (KDG) of implementing training into practice is a common problem in the field of medical education. We wanted to identify the specific factors that contributed to the KDG for near‐peer pre‐professional Gross Anatomy TA's toward implementing new teaching strategies. A 6‐week pedagogy training program was implemented in which Anatomy Lecture TA's instructed peer Lab TA's on a variety of teaching strategies applicable for any of the three different lab classroom formats: Didactic Lab (DL), Open Lab (OL), unsupervised Free Lab (FL). The goal of the program was to improve the teaching skills of the Lab TA's and identify barriers to pedagogy implementation. Following the completion of the training program, we asked lab TA's to complete an IRB approved reflection through Qualtrics that assessed their implementation of teaching strategies. Questions included both Likert and free response formats. Likert data were expressed as percentage of respondents. Free response data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach, beginning with constructing a word cloud to reveal the most frequent words used in responses that informed subsequent detailed thematic qualitative analysis. Of our 63 Lab TA's, 46 responded (73%) to the survey. We analyzed the use of six teaching strategies. Flipped classroom style and facilitating justification reasoning were used most frequently in DL (17.2%, 48.78%). Peer teaching and gamification were used most frequently in OL (24%, 18.4%). Second order questions and case‐study methods were used most frequently in FL (48.75%, 20.73%). Lab TA's reported that gamification was the most difficult to implement. Across pedagogies, inadequate time to implement, student under‐preparation and/or disinterest in the pedagogical technique as a help for learning the material, were the principal factors that contributed to the KDG in the Anatomy Lab. Future studies will examine methods to overcome barriers toward implementing novel pedagogical techniques.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Course/Faculty Assessment (CFA): a Student Team Approach to Course and Faculty Assessment

At SUNY Downstate, something different has been implemented—the Course/Faculty Assessment program (CFA). The CFA is a student team assessment program which evaluates both courses and associated faculty instructors. The goal of the CFA is to examine the curriculum as experienced by students. In other words, the CFA gets at what the learning experience is like for those doing the learning. Participants are asked to take ethnographic notes, recording anything noteworthy as they attend classroom sessions and labs. This process sets the CFA program apart from many conventional assessments in that students write down their concerns in situ, as they go through their day, rather than relying on recall at the end of the course and then group members meet to discuss their findings throughout the course. More than 80% of student recommendations have been put in place. This high number indicates that students comments are on-point and students make excellent recommendations. Futher, schools are listening and those meaningful suggestions are put into practice. The Course/Faculty Assessment Program has successfully created a culture of assessment. Faculty and administrators are more than simply receptive to student views, they eagerly await their comments. The CFA has changed the way data is gathered and how it is used. It has changed our students, faculty, and administrators.

Staphylococcus and MRSA Prevalence in Physical Therapist Education Programs: Are Students at Risk?

Introduction. Staphylococcus skin infections including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are a major health concern in clinical and nonclinical settings where skin-to-skin and skin-to-surface contacts are frequent. This type of contact is inherent in entry-level physical therapy education laboratory classrooms, putting students at risk for exposure to harmful bacteria. With only one previous study examining the prevalence of Staphylococcus at a single program, the purpose of this study was to expand the study across multiple academic centers to further explore the presence of Staphylococcus and exposure risk in our laboratory classrooms. Methods. Four entry-level physical therapist education programs participated in the study. Swab samples were collected from plinths located in laboratory classrooms at each of the four academic sites and processed according to the previously documented protocol at each of the four academic sites. Results. Of the 333 total samples, 47 (14.1%) tested positive for S. aureus, 2 samples were positive for MRSA (0.06%). Although all four programs reported their laboratory classrooms were “multiuse,” the classrooms with the highest utilization had the highest prevalence of S. aureus. Discussion and Conclusion. Close quarters and frequent skin-to-skin and skin-to-surface contacts in physical therapist education increases student exposure risk to harmful bacteria. This risk increases in multiuse or high utilization laboratory classrooms. Education programs must develop and implement strong laboratory classroom disinfection protocols to protect students, faculty, and staff as well as the patients, family, and community members they may encounter. This simple environmental scan further highlights the need for additional multifacility screening regarding the prevalence of harmful bacteria in laboratory classrooms and close examination of cleaning protocols.

A Simple and Effective Method for Extracting Potential Mutagens from Sediment Samples in the Classroom Laboratory Setting.

We describe a simple and effective method for the extraction of potential mutagens from sediment samples. This method is straightforward and does not require expensive laboratory equipment, thus enabling instructors to analyze the presence of mutagenic substances in a conventional classroom setting. Additionally, we found that students felt encouraged to add the Ames test to the list of analyses they traditionally employ with sediment samples. This link between the environment and the Ames test provided an authentic learning context for students, bridging the gap between the "real-world" and the classroom laboratory, and thus making the educational experience more engaging and meaningful.

Students’ Understanding and Perceptions of Assigned Team Roles in a Classroom Laboratory Environment

Using a cooperative learning framework in a quantitative reasoning laboratory course, students were assigned to static teams of four in which they adopted roles that rotated regularly. The roles included: team leader, protocol manager, data recorder, and researcher. Using a mixed-methods approach, we investigated students' perceptions of the team roles and specifically addressed students' understanding of the roles, students' beliefs in their ability to enact the roles, and whether working with assigned team roles supported the teams to work effectively and cohesively. Although students expressed confidence in their understanding of the team roles, their understanding differed from the initial descriptions. This suggests that students' understanding of team roles may be influenced by a variety of factors, including their experiences within their teams. Students also reported that some roles appeared to lack a purpose, implying that for roles to be successful, they must have a clear purpose. Finally, the fact that many students reported ignoring the team roles suggests that students do not perceive roles as a requirement for team productivity and cohesion. On the basis of these findings, we provide recommendations for instructors wishing to establish a classroom group laboratory environment.

Time measurements with a mobile device using sound

Data collection is a fundamental skill in science education, one that students generally practice in a controlled setting using equipment only available in the classroom laboratory. However, using smartphones with their built-in sensors and often free apps, many fundamental experiments can be performed outside the laboratory. Taking advantage of these tools often require creative approaches to data collection and exploring alternative strategies for experimental procedures. As examples, we present several experiments using smartphones and apps that record and analyze sound to measure a variety of physical properties.

Students’ perceptions of common practices, including some academically dishonest practices, in the undergraduate general chemistry classroom laboratory

In this study 635 general chemistry I and general chemistry II students completed a 40-item Likert-scale survey on their opinions of various practices, including some academically dishonest practices, that might occur in the general chemistry laboratory. The practices surveyed were focused on areas including preparation before coming to the laboratory, getting help with the pre-lab assignments, various decisions made by the teaching assistant or laboratory instructor, getting help with the calculations and questions required by the laboratory report, and various methods of obtaining data in the laboratory. An exploratory factor analysis of the results was conducted to identify the underlying factors in the survey, and the scores of the general chemistry I and general chemistry II students along these factors were compared. The findings were generally consistent with results in the literature, but also provided implications for students’ enculturation into chemistry and science as they progressed through their general chemistry coursework.

The Neuro Clinic: A Pilot Model to Facilitate Student Clinical Development through In-Class Patient Experiences while Meeting Community Need

Purpose: To detail the implementation and assessment of a pilot model the Neuro Clinic. This is one component of a Patient Experience Model (PEM) of embedded progressive in-class patient experiences (IcPE) in a Doctor of Physical Therapy program. The Patient Experience Model, an innovative model of experiential learning, was developed to bridge the gap between didactic coursework and clinical education, facilitate progressive patient experiences and assess developing student professional and skill competence. Methods: The Neuro Clinic was held in laboratory classroom space for six weekly sessions with consistent student: patient triads. Overwhelming patient interest indicated a need in our community for such services. With faculty and clinician oversight, second year doctor of physical therapy students conducted an initial examination, developed a plan of care and administrated goal directed activities and exercises that they documented for a medical record. Surveys were conducted with the patient volunteers, the students and the supervising clinicians. Results: All student documentation and final patient surveys indicated functional and physical improvement. Patient volunteer survey responses consistently indicated the experience met and exceeded expectations. Student survey responses for self-assessment and Clinic logistics, supervision and feedback were positive and detailed. Conclusion: The Neuro Clinic implementation gave students a way to advance tangible clinical skills and intangible social and professional skills, faculty the means to guide students while bridging the gap between didactic education and clinical application, and addressed community need. This pilot model may be useful to other healthcare programs in their quest to enhance student learning in a way that also benefits multiple constituencies. The Neuro Clinic required minimal resources and was a very positive experience for patients, students and faculty/clinicians. While advancing student development, it fulfilled a service mission congruent to the University.

Learning Outcomes in a Laboratory Environment vs. Classroom for Statistics Instruction: An Alternative Approach Using Statistical Software

The role of any statistics course is to increase the understanding and comprehension of statistical concepts and those goals can be achieved via both theoretical instruction and statistical software training. However, many introductory courses either forego advanced software usage, or leave its use to the student as a peripheral activity. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was instructional value in replacing classroom time with laboratory time dedicated to statistical software usage. The first approach used classroom lecture presentations, while the second replaced one classroom period per week with statistical software laboratories. It was hypothesized that replacing classroom time with software based laboratories would increase the level of statistics knowledge as compared to an otherwise identical class with no lab based component. Both pre-course and end-of course surveys were used, as well as identical examination questions. Comparisons within a time point, and longitudinal performance over the course were both evaluated. Survey results indicated that students would recommend lab based instruction significantly more than a primarily lecture based instruction (32% more, p=.020). Additionally, the performance improvement over the course of the semester was significantly higher for those students participating in laboratories (19.2% increase, p=.011). These findings indicate that sacrificing classroom time for a laboratory period improves the educational experience in an introductory statistics course and may help with the understanding and retention of difficult topics.

Conditional cooperators: student prosocial dispositions and their perceptions of the classroom social environment

A common problem in education is getting students to cooperate effectively in groups during learning. Because interdisciplinary research has established that cooperation is sensitive to specific contextual factors such as reciprocity, friendship and benefit, similar factors could be shaping student interactions in contemporary classroom environments. The present article reports an initial investigation of this idea by examining how student perceptions of their classroom environment relate to their willingness to expend energy and resources on classmates (through helping). This was accomplished through the structural equation modeling of survey data collected from 845 undergraduate life sciences students from 41 laboratory classrooms at a research-intensive university. Characteristics of the classroom social environment previously associated with benefits in other contexts also predicted (reciprocity β = 0.576; friendship β = 0.156) the educational benefit that students perceive as coming from their classmates. This perceived benefit in turn was highly associated (β = 0.605) with student willingness to expend resources on classmates (i.e. their prosocial disposition). Also both reciprocity (β = 0.298) and perceived benefit (β = 0.403) concurrently predict a student’s support for enforcing cooperation in the classroom. Potential insights into the contribution of classroom social environment to student dispositions towards cooperation are discussed.

6.15 Dasotraline Efficacy Throughout the Day in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Results of a Phase Three, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study in a Laboratory Classroom Setting

6.15 Dasotraline Efficacy Throughout the Day in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Results of a Phase Three, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study in a Laboratory Classroom Setting

A Classroom Simulation Activity to Visualize Energy and Matter Transformation in Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis

Undergraduate introductory biology students at the university level often struggle to trace movement of matter and energy through catabolic and anabolic processes in biological systems. A sequential guided simulation of cellular respiration and photosynthesis provides students an opportunity to actively model and visualize matter transformation and energy accumulation and degradation through the movement of molecular and energy “game pieces.” The activity was designed to help students generate a simplified outline of these two highly complex processes, while reinforcing the principles of conservation of matter and energy. My students participated in this activity during peer-led review sessions in an undergraduate, introductory, majors biology course (ca.150 students in 18 SI sessions over two semesters), but instructors could also easily adapt it for use in small lecture or laboratory classrooms, introductory cell biology, physiology, and ecology courses, or with high school students.

Structured affordances in the use of open-ended tasks to facilitate collaborative problem solving

Contemporary curriculum demands the development of both problem solving skills and negotiative skills required for collaborative group work. Tasks are required that create the best possible conditions for students to develop both of these skill sets. Open-ended tasks have been shown to provide these conditions, but they also require the teacher to relinquish some level of control over student activity, since the open-endedness of the tasks provides students with the opportunity to realize their intentions rather than just the teacher’s. It is necessary to investigate the nature of the affordances created by the use of open-ended tasks in order to anticipate how they might best be used for both instruction and learning. What is needed is a structured way to identify the affordances offered by open-ended tasks. This paper reports a study conducted in a laboratory classroom equipped to record classroom social interactions in great detail using advanced video technology. The reported analysis addresses the following question: What are the foci of the students’ social interactions during collaborative problem solving while attempting open-ended mathematical tasks? Analysis was carried out in relation to each type of data generated: written response, transcripts and videos. Our research has identified structures to represent these affordances so that teachers can both anticipate them and draw on them in monitoring and facilitating student collaborative problem solving. The structured identification of affordances in relation to (a) written product and (b) negotiative focus provides teachers with two frameworks by which to scaffold student collaborative work while attempting open-ended tasks.