Active engagement in a web-based tutorial to prevent obesity grounded in Fuzzy-Trace Theory predicts higher knowledge and gist comprehension.

PubMed

Brust-Renck, Priscila G; Reyna, Valerie F; Wilhelms, Evan A; Wolfe, Christopher R; Widmer, Colin L; Cedillos-Whynott, Elizabeth M; Morant, A Kate

2017-08-01

We used Sharable Knowledge Objects (SKOs) to create an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) grounded in Fuzzy-Trace Theory to teach women about obesity prevention: GistFit, getting the gist of healthy eating and exercise. The theory predicts that reliance on gist mental representations (as opposed to verbatim) is more effective in reducing health risks and improving decision making. Technical information was translated into decision-relevant gist representations and gist principles (i.e., healthy values). The SKO was hypothesized to facilitate extracting these gist representations and principles by engaging women in dialogue, "understanding" their responses, and replying appropriately to prompt additional engagement. Participants were randomly assigned to either the obesity prevention tutorial (GistFit) or a control tutorial containing different content using the same technology. Participants were administered assessments of knowledge about nutrition and exercise, gist comprehension, gist principles, behavioral intentions and self-reported behavior. An analysis of engagement in tutorial dialogues and responses to multiple-choice questions to check understanding throughout the tutorial revealed significant correlations between these conversations and scores on subsequent knowledge tests and gist comprehension. Knowledge and comprehension measures correlated with healthier behavior and greater intentions to perform healthy behavior. Differences between GistFit and control tutorials were greater for participants who engaged more fully. Thus, results are consistent with the hypothesis that active engagement with a new gist-based ITS, rather than a passive memorization of verbatim details, was associated with an array of known psychosocial mediators of preventive health decisions, such as knowledge acquisition, and gist comprehension.

Integration of World Knowledge and Temporary Information about Changes in an Object's Environmental Location during Different Stages of Sentence Comprehension

PubMed Central

Chen, Xuqian; Yang, Wei; Ma, Lijun; Li, Jiaxin

2018-01-01

Recent findings have shown that information about changes in an object's environmental location in the context of discourse is stored in working memory during sentence comprehension. However, in these studies, changes in the object's location were always consistent with world knowledge (e.g., in “The writer picked up the pen from the floor and moved it to the desk,” the floor and the desk are both common locations for a pen). How do people accomplish comprehension when the object-location information in working memory is inconsistent with world knowledge (e.g., a pen being moved from the floor to the bathtub)? In two visual world experiments, with a “look-and-listen” task, we used eye-tracking data to investigate comprehension of sentences that described location changes under different conditions of appropriateness (i.e., the object and its location were typically vs. unusually coexistent, based on world knowledge) and antecedent context (i.e., contextual information that did vs. did not temporarily normalize unusual coexistence between object and location). Results showed that listeners' retrieval of the critical location was affected by both world knowledge and working memory, and the effect of world knowledge was reduced when the antecedent context normalized unusual coexistence of object and location. More importantly, activation of world knowledge and working memory seemed to change during the comprehension process. These results are important because they demonstrate that interference between world knowledge and information in working memory, appears to be activated dynamically during sentence comprehension. PMID:29520249

Integration of World Knowledge and Temporary Information about Changes in an Object's Environmental Location during Different Stages of Sentence Comprehension.

PubMed

Chen, Xuqian; Yang, Wei; Ma, Lijun; Li, Jiaxin

2018-01-01

Recent findings have shown that information about changes in an object's environmental location in the context of discourse is stored in working memory during sentence comprehension. However, in these studies, changes in the object's location were always consistent with world knowledge (e.g., in "The writer picked up the pen from the floor and moved it to the desk," the floor and the desk are both common locations for a pen). How do people accomplish comprehension when the object-location information in working memory is inconsistent with world knowledge (e.g., a pen being moved from the floor to the bathtub)? In two visual world experiments, with a "look-and-listen" task, we used eye-tracking data to investigate comprehension of sentences that described location changes under different conditions of appropriateness (i.e., the object and its location were typically vs. unusually coexistent, based on world knowledge) and antecedent context (i.e., contextual information that did vs. did not temporarily normalize unusual coexistence between object and location). Results showed that listeners' retrieval of the critical location was affected by both world knowledge and working memory, and the effect of world knowledge was reduced when the antecedent context normalized unusual coexistence of object and location. More importantly, activation of world knowledge and working memory seemed to change during the comprehension process. These results are important because they demonstrate that interference between world knowledge and information in working memory, appears to be activated dynamically during sentence comprehension.

The contribution of phonological knowledge, memory, and language background to reading comprehension in deaf populations

PubMed Central

Hirshorn, Elizabeth A.; Dye, Matthew W. G.; Hauser, Peter; Supalla, Ted R.; Bavelier, Daphne

2015-01-01

While reading is challenging for many deaf individuals, some become proficient readers. Little is known about the component processes that support reading comprehension in these individuals. Speech-based phonological knowledge is one of the strongest predictors of reading comprehension in hearing individuals, yet its role in deaf readers is controversial. This could reflect the highly varied language backgrounds among deaf readers as well as the difficulty of disentangling the relative contribution of phonological versus orthographic knowledge of spoken language, in our case ‘English,’ in this population. Here we assessed the impact of language experience on reading comprehension in deaf readers by recruiting oral deaf individuals, who use spoken English as their primary mode of communication, and deaf native signers of American Sign Language. First, to address the contribution of spoken English phonological knowledge in deaf readers, we present novel tasks that evaluate phonological versus orthographic knowledge. Second, the impact of this knowledge, as well as memory measures that rely differentially on phonological (serial recall) and semantic (free recall) processing, on reading comprehension was evaluated. The best predictor of reading comprehension differed as a function of language experience, with free recall being a better predictor in deaf native signers than in oral deaf. In contrast, the measures of English phonological knowledge, independent of orthographic knowledge, best predicted reading comprehension in oral deaf individuals. These results suggest successful reading strategies differ across deaf readers as a function of their language experience, and highlight a possible alternative route to literacy in deaf native signers. Highlights: 1. Deaf individuals vary in their orthographic and phonological knowledge of English as a function of their language experience. 2. Reading comprehension was best predicted by different factors in oral deaf and deaf native signers. 3. Free recall memory (primacy effect) better predicted reading comprehension in deaf native signers as compared to oral deaf or hearing individuals. 4. Language experience should be taken into account when considering cognitive processes that mediate reading in deaf individuals. PMID:26379566

An Adaptive Approach to Managing Knowledge Development in a Project-Based Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tilchin, Oleg; Kittany, Mohamed

2016-01-01

In this paper we propose an adaptive approach to managing the development of students' knowledge in the comprehensive project-based learning (PBL) environment. Subject study is realized by two-stage PBL. It shapes adaptive knowledge management (KM) process and promotes the correct balance between personalized and collaborative learning. The…

Does the Component Processes Task Assess Text-Based Inferences Important for Reading Comprehension? A Path Analysis in Primary School Children

PubMed Central

Wassenburg, Stephanie I.; de Koning, Björn B.; de Vries, Meinou H.; van der Schoot, Menno

2016-01-01

Using a component processes task (CPT) that differentiates between higher-level cognitive processes of reading comprehension provides important advantages over commonly used general reading comprehension assessments. The present study contributes to further development of the CPT by evaluating the relative contributions of its components (text memory, text inferencing, and knowledge integration) and working memory to general reading comprehension within a single study using path analyses. Participants were 173 third- and fourth-grade children. As hypothesized, knowledge integration was the only component of the CPT that directly contributed to reading comprehension, indicating that the text-inferencing component did not assess inferential processes related to reading comprehension. Working memory was a significant predictor of reading comprehension over and above the component processes. Future research should focus on finding ways to ensure that the text-inferencing component taps into processes important for reading comprehension. PMID:27378989

Proverb Comprehension as a Function of Reading Proficiency in Preadolescents.

PubMed

Nippold, Marilyn A; Allen, Melissa M; Kirsch, Dixon I

2001-04-01

Proverb comprehension through reading was examined in 42 preadolescents (mean age=12:2 [years:months]) attending a rural public middle school. The study was designed to learn about individual differences with respect to reading, word knowledge, and analogical reasoning skills. The 42 students were assigned to subgroups of proficient and less proficient readers based on their scores on a school-administered achievement test. Reading tasks were presented to examine their comprehension of unfamiliar concrete (e.g., every bird must hatch its own eggs) and abstract (e.g., gratitude is a heavy burden) proverbs, and their knowledge of nouns contained in the expressions. A nonverbal analogical reasoning task also was administered. Proverb comprehension was found to be associated with reading proficiency, word knowledge, and analogical reasoning. Although all students were considered by their school to be typical achievers, they demonstrated wide individual differences in their ability to interpret unfamiliar concrete and abstract proverbs. Proficient readers outperformed less proficient readers on comprehension of both types of proverbs, knowledge of abstract nouns contained in proverbs, and analogical reasoning. They did not differ, however, on knowledge of concrete nouns, with both subgroups having mastered those words. Educational Implications: The results support the view that reading is an important language modality in older children, significantly related to their understanding of words and figurative expressions. Implications for instruction in proverb comprehension as part of a language arts curriculum are offered for speech-language pathologists working collaboratively with classroom teachers. These guidelines reflect the view that multiple factors (i.e., reading, word knowledge, analogical reasoning) promote proverb comprehension in youth.

Assessing children's inference generation: what do tests of reading comprehension measure?

PubMed

Bowyer-Crane, Claudine; Snowling, Margaret J

2005-06-01

Previous research suggests that children with specific comprehension difficulties have problems with the generation of inferences. This raises important questions as to whether poor comprehenders have poor comprehension skills generally, or whether their problems are confined to specific inference types. The main aims of the study were (a) using two commonly used tests of reading comprehension to classify the questions requiring the generation of inferences, and (b) to investigate the relative performance of skilled and less-skilled comprehenders on questions tapping different inference types. The performance of 10 poor comprehenders (mean age 110.06 months) was compared with the performance of 10 normal readers (mean age 112.78 months) on two tests of reading comprehension. A qualitative analysis of the NARA II (form 1) and the WORD comprehension subtest was carried out. Participants were then administered the NARA II, WORD comprehension subtest and a test of non-word reading. The NARA II was heavily reliant on the generation of knowledge-based inferences, while the WORD comprehension subtest was biased towards the retention of literal information. Children identified by the NARA II as having comprehension difficulties performed in the normal range on the WORD comprehension subtests. Further, children with comprehension difficulties performed poorly on questions requiring the generation of knowledge-based and elaborative inferences. However, they were able to answer questions requiring attention to literal information or use of cohesive devices at a level comparable to normal readers. Different reading tests tap different types of inferencing skills. Lessskilled comprehenders have particular difficulty applying real-world knowledge to a text during reading, and this has implications for the formulation of effective intervention strategies.

Integrating Multiple On-line Knowledge Bases for Disease-Lab Test Relation Extraction.

PubMed

Zhang, Yaoyun; Soysal, Ergin; Moon, Sungrim; Wang, Jingqi; Tao, Cui; Xu, Hua

2015-01-01

A computable knowledge base containing relations between diseases and lab tests would be a great resource for many biomedical informatics applications. This paper describes our initial step towards establishing a comprehensive knowledge base of disease and lab tests relations utilizing three public on-line resources. LabTestsOnline, MedlinePlus and Wikipedia are integrated to create a freely available, computable disease-lab test knowledgebase. Disease and lab test concepts are identified using MetaMap and relations between diseases and lab tests are determined based on source-specific rules. Experimental results demonstrate a high precision for relation extraction, with Wikipedia achieving the highest precision of 87%. Combining the three sources reached a recall of 51.40%, when compared with a subset of disease-lab test relations extracted from a reference book. Moreover, we found additional disease-lab test relations from on-line resources, indicating they are complementary to existing reference books for building a comprehensive disease and lab test relation knowledge base.

Validation and Comprehension of Text Information: Two Sides of the Same Coin

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richter, Tobias

2015-01-01

In psychological research, the comprehension of linguistic information and the knowledge-based assessment of its validity are often regarded as two separate stages of information processing. Recent findings in psycholinguistics and text comprehension research call this two-stage model into question. In particular, validation can affect…

Comprehension and retrieval of failure cases in airborne observatories

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alvarado, Sergio J.; Mock, Kenrick J.

1995-01-01

This paper describes research dealing with the computational problem of analyzing and repairing failures of electronic and mechanical systems of telescopes in NASA's airborne observatories, such as KAO (Kuiper Airborne Observatory) and SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy). The research has resulted in the development of an experimental system that acquires knowledge of failure analysis from input text, and answers questions regarding failure detection and correction. The system's design builds upon previous work on text comprehension and question answering, including: knowledge representation for conceptual analysis of failure descriptions, strategies for mapping natural language into conceptual representations, case-based reasoning strategies for memory organization and indexing, and strategies for memory search and retrieval. These techniques have been combined into a model that accounts for: (a) how to build a knowledge base of system failures and repair procedures from descriptions that appear in telescope-operators' logbooks and FMEA (failure modes and effects analysis) manuals; and (b) how to use that knowledge base to search and retrieve answers to questions about causes and effects of failures, as well as diagnosis and repair procedures. This model has been implemented in FANSYS (Failure ANalysis SYStem), a prototype text comprehension and question answering program for failure analysis.

Comprehension and retrieval of failure cases in airborne observatories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alvarado, Sergio J.; Mock, Kenrick J.

1995-05-01

This paper describes research dealing with the computational problem of analyzing and repairing failures of electronic and mechanical systems of telescopes in NASA's airborne observatories, such as KAO (Kuiper Airborne Observatory) and SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy). The research has resulted in the development of an experimental system that acquires knowledge of failure analysis from input text, and answers questions regarding failure detection and correction. The system's design builds upon previous work on text comprehension and question answering, including: knowledge representation for conceptual analysis of failure descriptions, strategies for mapping natural language into conceptual representations, case-based reasoning strategies for memory organization and indexing, and strategies for memory search and retrieval. These techniques have been combined into a model that accounts for: (a) how to build a knowledge base of system failures and repair procedures from descriptions that appear in telescope-operators' logbooks and FMEA (failure modes and effects analysis) manuals; and (b) how to use that knowledge base to search and retrieve answers to questions about causes and effects of failures, as well as diagnosis and repair procedures. This model has been implemented in FANSYS (Failure ANalysis SYStem), a prototype text comprehension and question answering program for failure analysis.

Knowledge Integration in Public Health: A Rapid Review Using Systems Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riley, Barbara; Norman, Cameron D.; Best, Allan

2012-01-01

There are tradeoffs in knowledge synthesis--for example, between comprehensiveness and timeliness, between generalisability and policy relevance. The tradeoffs are particularly challenging for public health. A growing international community is grappling with building more relevant and useful knowledge bases, to facilitate use of this knowledge in…

Contribution of Morphological Awareness and Lexical Inferencing Ability to L2 Vocabulary Knowledge and Reading Comprehension among Advanced EFL Learners: Testing Direct and Indirect Effects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Dongbo; Koda, Keiko

2012-01-01

Within the Structural Equation Modeling framework, this study tested the direct and indirect effects of morphological awareness and lexical inferencing ability on L2 vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension among advanced Chinese EFL readers in a university in China. Using both regular z-test and the bootstrapping (data-based resampling)…

RC-MAPS: Bridging the Comprehension Gap in EAP Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sterzik, Angela Meyer; Fraser, Carol

2012-01-01

In academic environments, reading is assigned not simply to transmit information; students are required to take the information, and based on the task set by the instructor, assess, analyze, and critique it on the basis of personal experiences, prior knowledge, and other readings (Grabe, 2009). Thus text-based comprehension (Kintsch, 1998) alone…

Reading for meaning: The foundational knowledge every teacher of science should have

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patterson, Alexis; Roman, Diego; Friend, Michelle; Osborne, Jonathan; Donovan, Brian

2018-02-01

Reading is fundamental to science and not an adjunct to its practice. In other words, understanding the meaning of the various forms of written discourse employed in the creation, discussion, and communication of scientific knowledge is inherent to how science works. The language used in science, however, sets up a barrier, that in order to be overcome requires all students to have a clear understanding of the features of the multimodal informational texts employed in science and the strategies they can use to decode the scientific concepts communicated in informational texts. We argue that all teachers of science must develop a functional understanding of reading comprehension as part of their professional knowledge and skill. After describing our rationale for including knowledge about reading as a professional knowledge base every teacher of science should have, we outline the knowledge about language teachers must develop, the knowledge about the challenges that reading comprehension of science texts poses for students, and the knowledge about instructional strategies science teachers should know to support their students' reading comprehension of science texts. Implications regarding the essential role that knowledge about reading should play in the preparation of science teachers are also discussed here.

Exploring ESL/EFL Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge on Reading Strategy Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xu, Wei

2015-01-01

Any instructional practice must be derived from a teacher's knowledge base for teaching, which can be acquired by training, study, or practice. While much attention has been paid to teachers' practical content knowledge in real educational settings, comprehensive syntheses of expert knowledge on a particular teaching task for a specific group of…

Monitoring Knowledge Base (MKB)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Monitoring Knowledge Base (MKB) is a compilation of emissions measurement and monitoring techniques associated with air pollution control devices, industrial process descriptions, and permitting techniques, including flexible permit development. Using MKB, one can gain a comprehensive understanding of emissions sources, control devices, and monitoring techniques, enabling one to determine appropriate permit terms and conditions.

Performance in Mathematical Problem Solving as a Function of Comprehension and Arithmetic Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Voyer, Dominic

2011-01-01

Many factors influence a student's performance in word (or textbook) problem solving in class. Among them is the comprehension process the pupils construct during their attempt to solve the problem. The comprehension process may include some less formal representations, based on pupils' real-world knowledge, which support the construction of a…

Going beyond the lesson: Self-generating new factual knowledge in the classroom

PubMed Central

Esposito, Alena G.; Bauer, Patricia J.

2016-01-01

For children to build a knowledge base, they must integrate and extend knowledge acquired across separate episodes of new learning. Children’s performance was assessed in a task requiring them to self-generate new factual knowledge from the integration of novel facts presented through separate lessons in the classroom. Whether self-generation performance predicted academic outcomes in reading comprehension and mathematics was also examined. The 278 participating children were in grades K-3 (mean age 7.7 years; range 5.5–10.3 years). Children self-generated new factual knowledge through integration in the classroom; age-related increases were observed. Self-generation performance predicted both reading comprehension and mathematics academic outcomes, even when controlling for caregiver education. PMID:27728784

Implementation of a Text-Based Content Intervention in Secondary Social Studies Classes.

PubMed

Wanzek, Jeanne; Vaughn, Sharon

2016-12-01

We describe teacher fidelity (adherence to the components of the treatment as specified by the research team) based on a series of studies of a multicomponent intervention, Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content Through Text (PACT), with middle and high school social studies teachers and their students. Findings reveal that even with highly specified materials and implementing practices that are aligned with effective reading comprehension and content instruction, teachers' fidelity was consistently low for some components and high for others. Teachers demonstrated consistently high implementation fidelity and quality for the instructional components of building background knowledge (comprehension canopy) and teaching key content vocabulary (essential words), whereas we recorded consistently lower fidelity and quality of implementation for the instructional components of critical reading and knowledge application. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Predictors of nutrition information comprehension in adulthood.

PubMed

Miller, Lisa M Soederberg; Gibson, Tanja N; Applegate, Elizabeth A

2010-07-01

The goal of the present study was to examine relationships among several predictors of nutrition comprehension. We were particularly interested in exploring whether nutrition knowledge or motivation moderated the effects of attention on comprehension across a wide age range of adults. Ninety-three participants, ages 18-80, completed measures of nutrition knowledge and motivation and then read nutrition information (from which attention allocation was derived) and answered comprehension questions. In general, predictor variables were highly intercorrelated. However, knowledge, but not motivation, had direct effects on comprehension accuracy. In contrast, motivation influenced attention, which in turn influenced accuracy. Results also showed that comprehension accuracy decreased-and knowledge increased-with age. When knowledge was statistically controlled, age declines in comprehension increased. Knowledge is an important predictor of nutrition information comprehension and its role increases in later life. Motivation is also important; however, its effects on comprehension differ from knowledge. Health educators and clinicians should consider cognitive skills such as knowledge as well as motivation and age of patients when deciding how to best convey health information. The increased role of knowledge among older adults suggests that lifelong educational efforts may have important payoffs in later life. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predictors of Nutrition Information Comprehension in Adulthood

PubMed Central

Miller, Lisa M. Soederberg; Gibson, Tanja N.; Applegate, Elizabeth A.

2009-01-01

Objective The goal of the present study was to examine relationships among several predictors of nutrition comprehension. We were particularly interested in exploring whether nutrition knowledge or motivation moderated the effects of attention on comprehension across a wide age range of adults. Methods Ninety-three participants, ages 18 to 80, completed measures of nutrition knowledge and motivation and then read nutrition information (from which attention allocation was derived) and answered comprehension questions. Results In general, predictor variables were highly intercorrelated. However, knowledge, but not motivation, had direct effects on comprehension accuracy. In contrast, motivation influenced attention, which in turn influenced accuracy. Results also showed that comprehension accuracy decreased- and knowledge increased -with age. When knowledge was statistically controlled, age declines in comprehension increased. Conclusion Knowledge is an important predictor of nutrition information comprehension and its role increases in later life. Motivation is also important; however, its effects on comprehension differ from knowledge. Practice Implications Health educators and clinicians should consider cognitive skills such as knowledge as well as motivation and age of patients when deciding how to best convey health information. The increased role of knowledge among older adults suggests that lifelong educational efforts may have important payoffs in later life. PMID:19854605

Supporting students' learning in the domain of computer science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gasparinatou, Alexandra; Grigoriadou, Maria

2011-03-01

Previous studies have shown that students with low knowledge understand and learn better from more cohesive texts, whereas high-knowledge students have been shown to learn better from texts of lower cohesion. This study examines whether high-knowledge readers in computer science benefit from a text of low cohesion. Undergraduate students (n = 65) read one of four versions of a text concerning Local Network Topologies, orthogonally varying local and global cohesion. Participants' comprehension was examined through free-recall measure, text-based, bridging-inference, elaborative-inference, problem-solving questions and a sorting task. The results indicated that high-knowledge readers benefited from the low-cohesion text. The interaction of text cohesion and knowledge was reliable for the sorting activity, for elaborative-inference and for problem-solving questions. Although high-knowledge readers performed better in text-based and in bridging-inference questions with the low-cohesion text, the interaction of text cohesion and knowledge was not reliable. The results suggest a more complex view of when and for whom textual cohesion affects comprehension and consequently learning in computer science.

Developmental, Component-Based Model of Reading Fluency: An Investigation of Predictors of Word-Reading Fluency, Text-Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension.

PubMed

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2015-01-01

The primary goal was to expand our understanding of text reading fluency (efficiency or automaticity)-how its relation to other constructs (e.g., word reading fluency and reading comprehension) changes over time and how it is different from word reading fluency and reading comprehension. We examined (1) developmentally changing relations among word reading fluency, listening comprehension, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension; (2) the relation of reading comprehension to text reading fluency; (3) unique emergent literacy predictors (i.e., phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, morphological awareness, letter name knowledge, vocabulary) of text reading fluency vs. word reading fluency; and (4) unique language and cognitive predictors (e.g., vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, theory of mind) of text reading fluency vs. reading comprehension. These questions were addressed using longitudinal data (two timepoints; Mean age = 5;24 & 6;08) from Korean-speaking children ( N = 143). Results showed that listening comprehension was related to text reading fluency at time 2, but not at time 1. At both times text reading fluency was related to reading comprehension, and reading comprehension was related to text reading fluency over and above word reading fluency and listening comprehension. Orthographic awareness was related to text reading fluency over and above other emergent literacy skills and word reading fluency. Vocabulary and grammatical knowledge were independently related to text reading fluency and reading comprehension whereas theory of mind was related to reading comprehension, but not text reading fluency. These results reveal developmental nature of relations and mechanism of text reading fluency in reading development.

Developmental, Component-Based Model of Reading Fluency: An Investigation of Predictors of Word-Reading Fluency, Text-Reading Fluency, and Reading Comprehension

PubMed Central

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2015-01-01

The primary goal was to expand our understanding of text reading fluency (efficiency or automaticity)—how its relation to other constructs (e.g., word reading fluency and reading comprehension) changes over time and how it is different from word reading fluency and reading comprehension. We examined (1) developmentally changing relations among word reading fluency, listening comprehension, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension; (2) the relation of reading comprehension to text reading fluency; (3) unique emergent literacy predictors (i.e., phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, morphological awareness, letter name knowledge, vocabulary) of text reading fluency vs. word reading fluency; and (4) unique language and cognitive predictors (e.g., vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, theory of mind) of text reading fluency vs. reading comprehension. These questions were addressed using longitudinal data (two timepoints; Mean age = 5;24 & 6;08) from Korean-speaking children (N = 143). Results showed that listening comprehension was related to text reading fluency at time 2, but not at time 1. At both times text reading fluency was related to reading comprehension, and reading comprehension was related to text reading fluency over and above word reading fluency and listening comprehension. Orthographic awareness was related to text reading fluency over and above other emergent literacy skills and word reading fluency. Vocabulary and grammatical knowledge were independently related to text reading fluency and reading comprehension whereas theory of mind was related to reading comprehension, but not text reading fluency. These results reveal developmental nature of relations and mechanism of text reading fluency in reading development. PMID:26435550

The Study on Collaborative Manufacturing Platform Based on Agent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiao-yan; Qu, Zheng-geng

To fulfill the trends of knowledge-intensive in collaborative manufacturing development, we have described multi agent architecture supporting knowledge-based platform of collaborative manufacturing development platform. In virtue of wrapper service and communication capacity agents provided, the proposed architecture facilitates organization and collaboration of multi-disciplinary individuals and tools. By effectively supporting the formal representation, capture, retrieval and reuse of manufacturing knowledge, the generalized knowledge repository based on ontology library enable engineers to meaningfully exchange information and pass knowledge across boundaries. Intelligent agent technology increases traditional KBE systems efficiency and interoperability and provides comprehensive design environments for engineers.

Refinement of an Instrument to Assess Readiness for Knowledge Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

knowledge from an Aristotlean view of the five types of knowledge: scientific, skills-based, experiential, intuition and theoretical knowledge of...al., 1999). Other researchers have explored the creation of new knowledge in organizations and a number of theories exist that seek to describe how...Holt, Bartczak, Clark, & Trent, 2004; Prusak, 2001), I am not aware of any comprehensive effort that integrates the fundamental theories of

Knowledge Translation to Advance Evidence-Based Health Policy in Thailand

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ti, Lianlian; Hayashi, Kanna; Ti, Lianping; Kaplan, Karyn; Suwannawong, Paisan; Kerr, Thomas

2017-01-01

Significant gaps between scientific evidence and policy have resulted in growing interest in the role that knowledge translation (KT) can play in informing evidence-based policy. The Mitsampan Community Research Project, in consultation with the local community of people who inject drugs, developed a comprehensive KT strategy that aimed to…

Elementary Teachers' Comprehension of Flooding through Inquiry-Based Professional Development and Use of Self-Regulation Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Elizabeth B.; van der Hoeven Kraft, Katrien J.; Watts, Nievita Bueno; Baker, Dale R.; Wilson, Meredith J.; Lang, Michael

2011-01-01

This study focuses on elementary teachers' comprehension of flooding before and after inquiry-based professional development (PD). There was an improvement in teachers' understanding toward a normative view from pre- to post-test (n = 17, mean gain = 4.3, SD = 3.27). Several misunderstandings and a general lack of knowledge about flooding emerged…

Let the Rewriter Beware.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Charrow, Veda R.

Translating legal and bureaucratic language into plain, comprehensible English is not amenable to simple rules and procedures. Rewriting comprehensibly requires specialized knowledge about language and an awareness of a number of misconceptions and pitfalls. This paper discusses what not to do in rewriting, based upon rewritten documents presently…

A Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Based Instructional Design Model: A Third Version Implementation Study in a Technology Integration Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Chia-Jung; Kim, ChanMin

2017-01-01

This paper presents the third version of a technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) based instructional design model that incorporates the distinctive, transformative, and integrative views of TPACK into a comprehensive actionable framework. Strategies of relating TPACK domains to real-life learning experiences, role-playing, and…

Comprehensive Regional Resource Assessments and Multipurpose Uses of Forest Inventory and Analysis Data, 1976 to 2001: A Review

Treesearch

Victor A. Rudis

2003-01-01

Reported is a compilation of over 1,400 literature citations and a review of selected subjects that constitute an integrated knowledge base for comprehensive forest resource assessments with regional, field sample-based forest inventory data. The focus of the report is on nontraditional and novel technical uses tied to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service...

A comprehensive model for executing knowledge management audits in organizations: a systematic review.

PubMed

Shahmoradi, Leila; Ahmadi, Maryam; Sadoughi, Farahnaz; Piri, Zakieh; Gohari, Mahmood Reza

2015-01-01

A knowledge management audit (KMA) is the first phase in knowledge management implementation. Incomplete or incomprehensive execution of the KMA has caused many knowledge management programs to fail. A study was undertaken to investigate how KMAs are performed systematically in organizations and present a comprehensive model for performing KMAs based on a systematic review. Studies were identified by searching electronic databases such as Emerald, LISA, and the Cochrane library and e-journals such as the Oxford Journal and hand searching of printed journals, theses, and books in the Tehran University of Medical Sciences digital library. The sources used in this study consisted of studies available through the digital library of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences that were published between 2000 and 2013, including both Persian- and English-language sources, as well as articles explaining the steps involved in performing a KMA. A comprehensive model for KMAs is presented in this study. To successfully execute a KMA, it is necessary to perform the appropriate preliminary activities in relation to the knowledge management infrastructure, determine the knowledge management situation, and analyze and use the available data on this situation.

Age-related differences in warning symbol comprehension and training effectiveness: effects of familiarity, complexity, and comprehensibility.

PubMed

Lesch, M F; Horrey, W J; Wogalter, M S; Powell, W R

2011-10-01

Age-related changes in selective attention, inhibitory efficiency, and the ability to form new associations suggest that older adults may have greater difficulty with more complex and less comprehensible symbols. We examined comprehension of symbols varying in terms of ratings of familiarity, complexity, and comprehensibility, by younger (aged 18-35) and older (aged 55-70) adults. It was found that older adults have greater difficulty than younger adults in comprehending warning symbols and that accident scenario training improves comprehension. Regression analyses indicated that familiarity and comprehensibility were important in determining performance on the pre-training comprehension test by both younger and older adults. However, training eliminated the effects of stimulus characteristics for younger adults, while older adults' comprehension continued to be significantly influenced by comprehensibility. We suggest that symbol design incorporates cues to knowledge to facilitate the linkage between new knowledge (i.e. the warning symbol) and relevant knowledge in long-term memory. Statement of Relevance: Symbol characteristics play an important role in age-related differences in warning symbol comprehension. To optimise comprehension by older adults, symbols should have a clear relationship with areal-world referent. Alternatively, symbol design could incorporate cues to knowledge to facilitate the linkage between new knowledge and relevant knowledge in long-term memory.

Measuring organizational readiness for knowledge translation in chronic care.

PubMed

Gagnon, Marie-Pierre; Labarthe, Jenni; Légaré, France; Ouimet, Mathieu; Estabrooks, Carole A; Roch, Geneviève; Ghandour, El Kebir; Grimshaw, Jeremy

2011-07-13

Knowledge translation (KT) is an imperative in order to implement research-based and contextualized practices that can answer the numerous challenges of complex health problems. The Chronic Care Model (CCM) provides a conceptual framework to guide the implementation process in chronic care. Yet, organizations aiming to improve chronic care require an adequate level of organizational readiness (OR) for KT. Available instruments on organizational readiness for change (ORC) have shown limited validity, and are not tailored or adapted to specific phases of the knowledge-to-action (KTA) process. We aim to develop an evidence-based, comprehensive, and valid instrument to measure OR for KT in healthcare. The OR for KT instrument will be based on core concepts retrieved from existing literature and validated by a Delphi study. We will specifically test the instrument in chronic care that is of an increasing importance for the health system. Phase one: We will conduct a systematic review of the theories and instruments assessing ORC in healthcare. The retained theoretical information will be synthesized in a conceptual map. A bibliography and database of ORC instruments will be prepared after appraisal of their psychometric properties according to the standards for educational and psychological testing. An online Delphi study will be carried out among decision makers and knowledge users across Canada to assess the importance of these concepts and measures at different steps in the KTA process in chronic care.Phase two: A final OR for KT instrument will be developed and validated both in French and in English and tested in chronic disease management to measure OR for KT regarding the adoption of comprehensive, patient-centered, and system-based CCMs. This study provides a comprehensive synthesis of current knowledge on explanatory models and instruments assessing OR for KT. Moreover, this project aims to create more consensus on the theoretical underpinnings and the instrumentation of OR for KT in chronic care. The final product--a comprehensive and valid OR for KT instrument--will provide the chronic care settings with an instrument to assess their readiness to implement evidence-based chronic care.

Measuring organizational readiness for knowledge translation in chronic care

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Knowledge translation (KT) is an imperative in order to implement research-based and contextualized practices that can answer the numerous challenges of complex health problems. The Chronic Care Model (CCM) provides a conceptual framework to guide the implementation process in chronic care. Yet, organizations aiming to improve chronic care require an adequate level of organizational readiness (OR) for KT. Available instruments on organizational readiness for change (ORC) have shown limited validity, and are not tailored or adapted to specific phases of the knowledge-to-action (KTA) process. We aim to develop an evidence-based, comprehensive, and valid instrument to measure OR for KT in healthcare. The OR for KT instrument will be based on core concepts retrieved from existing literature and validated by a Delphi study. We will specifically test the instrument in chronic care that is of an increasing importance for the health system. Methods Phase one: We will conduct a systematic review of the theories and instruments assessing ORC in healthcare. The retained theoretical information will be synthesized in a conceptual map. A bibliography and database of ORC instruments will be prepared after appraisal of their psychometric properties according to the standards for educational and psychological testing. An online Delphi study will be carried out among decision makers and knowledge users across Canada to assess the importance of these concepts and measures at different steps in the KTA process in chronic care. Phase two: A final OR for KT instrument will be developed and validated both in French and in English and tested in chronic disease management to measure OR for KT regarding the adoption of comprehensive, patient-centered, and system-based CCMs. Discussion This study provides a comprehensive synthesis of current knowledge on explanatory models and instruments assessing OR for KT. Moreover, this project aims to create more consensus on the theoretical underpinnings and the instrumentation of OR for KT in chronic care. The final product--a comprehensive and valid OR for KT instrument--will provide the chronic care settings with an instrument to assess their readiness to implement evidence-based chronic care. PMID:21752264

Cognitive Demand Differences in Causal Inferences: Characters' Plans Are More Difficult to Comprehend than Physical Causation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shears, Connie; Miller, Vanessa; Ball, Megan; Hawkins, Amanda; Griggs, Janna; Varner, Andria

2007-01-01

Readers may draw knowledge-based inferences to connect sentences in text differently depending on the knowledge domain being accessed. Most prior research has focused on the direction of the causal explanation (predictive vs. backward) without regard to the knowledge domain drawn on to support comprehension. We suggest that less cognitive effort…

Students' Metacomprehension Knowledge: Components That Predict Comprehension Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zabrucky, Karen M.; Moore, DeWayne; Agler, Lin-Miao Lin; Cummings, Andrea M.

2015-01-01

In the present study, we assessed students' metacomprehension knowledge and examined the components of knowledge most related to comprehension of expository texts. We used the Revised Metacomprehension Scale (RMCS) to investigate the relations between students' metacomprehension knowledge and comprehension performance. Students who evaluated and…

Knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding voluntary blood donation among adult residents of Harar town, Eastern Ethiopia: a community-based study

PubMed Central

Urgesa, Kedir; Hassen, Nejat; Seyoum, Ayichew

2017-01-01

Background The availability of safe blood and blood products is a critical factor in improving health care. In Ethiopia, lack of voluntary blood donors is a major challenge. This could be due to low community knowledge, unfavorable attitude, and poor donation practice regarding voluntary blood donation. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess community knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding voluntary blood donation among adults in Harar town, Ethiopia. Materials and methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from July 1 to July 31, 2015. A total of 845 adults were randomly selected and interviewed using a pretested, structured questionnaire. Six trained data collectors conducted a face-to-face interview. Data were entered into EpiData Version 3 and analyzed using STATA Version 11. Results Comprehensive knowledge of the study participants toward voluntary blood donation was 43.5%. Multivariable logistic regression demonstrated that male sex (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.69, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.19–2.39), age (31–45 years; AOR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.34–0.74) and >45 years (AOR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.38–0.95), and higher education (AOR = 15.34, 95% CI: 5.01–46.91) were significantly associated with comprehensive knowledge about voluntary blood donation. A total of 278 (32.9%) study participants had positive attitude toward voluntary blood donation. College graduates (AOR = 13.05, 95% CI: 4.12–41.29) were significantly associated with positive attitude toward voluntary blood donation. Only 191 (22.6%) subjects had ever donated blood. However, the proportion of study participants who donated blood voluntarily with good knowledge about voluntary blood donation was significantly lower than the study participants who donated blood voluntarily with low knowledge (X2 = 6.1746, P = 0.013). Conclusion This study showed an inauspicious attitude toward blood donation and poor blood donation practices. Subjects with good comprehensive knowledge about voluntary blood donation were less likely to donate blood voluntarily compared to those with lower comprehensive knowledge about voluntary blood donation. PMID:28243159

Knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding voluntary blood donation among adult residents of Harar town, Eastern Ethiopia: a community-based study.

PubMed

Urgesa, Kedir; Hassen, Nejat; Seyoum, Ayichew

2017-01-01

The availability of safe blood and blood products is a critical factor in improving health care. In Ethiopia, lack of voluntary blood donors is a major challenge. This could be due to low community knowledge, unfavorable attitude, and poor donation practice regarding voluntary blood donation. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess community knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding voluntary blood donation among adults in Harar town, Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from July 1 to July 31, 2015. A total of 845 adults were randomly selected and interviewed using a pretested, structured questionnaire. Six trained data collectors conducted a face-to-face interview. Data were entered into EpiData Version 3 and analyzed using STATA Version 11. Comprehensive knowledge of the study participants toward voluntary blood donation was 43.5%. Multivariable logistic regression demonstrated that male sex (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.69, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.19-2.39), age (31-45 years; AOR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.34-0.74) and >45 years (AOR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.38-0.95), and higher education (AOR = 15.34, 95% CI: 5.01-46.91) were significantly associated with comprehensive knowledge about voluntary blood donation. A total of 278 (32.9%) study participants had positive attitude toward voluntary blood donation. College graduates (AOR = 13.05, 95% CI: 4.12-41.29) were significantly associated with positive attitude toward voluntary blood donation. Only 191 (22.6%) subjects had ever donated blood. However, the proportion of study participants who donated blood voluntarily with good knowledge about voluntary blood donation was significantly lower than the study participants who donated blood voluntarily with low knowledge ( X 2 = 6.1746, P = 0.013). This study showed an inauspicious attitude toward blood donation and poor blood donation practices. Subjects with good comprehensive knowledge about voluntary blood donation were less likely to donate blood voluntarily compared to those with lower comprehensive knowledge about voluntary blood donation.

Defining the requisite knowledge for providers of in-service professional development for K--12 teachers of science: Refining the construct

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tucker, Deborah L.

Purpose. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to refine, using a Delphi study process, the four categories of the theoretical model of the comprehensive knowledge base required by providers of professional development for K-12 teachers of science generated from a review of the literature. Methodology. This grounded theory study used data collected through a modified Delphi technique and interviews to refine and validate the literature-based knowledge base required by providers of professional development for K-12 teachers of science. Twenty-three participants, experts in the fields of science education, how people learn, instructional and assessment strategies, and learning contexts, responded to the study's questions. Findings. By "densifying" the four categories of the knowledge base, this study determined the causal conditions (the science subject matter knowledge), the intervening conditions (how people learn), the strategies (the effective instructional and assessment strategies), and the context (the context and culture of formal learning environments) surrounding the science professional development process. Eight sections were added to the literature-based knowledge base; the final model comprised of forty-nine sections. The average length of the operational definitions increased nearly threefold and the number of citations per operational definition increased more than twofold. Conclusions. A four-category comprehensive model that can serve as the foundation for the knowledge base required by science professional developers now exists. Subject matter knowledge includes science concepts, inquiry, the nature of science, and scientific habits of mind; how people learn includes the principles of learning, active learning, andragogy, variations in learners, neuroscience and cognitive science, and change theory; effective instructional and assessment strategies include constructivist learning and inquiry-based teaching, differentiation of instruction, making knowledge and thinking accessible to learners, automatic and fluent retrieval of nonscience-specific skills, and science assessment and assessment strategies, science-specific instructional strategies, and safety within a learning environment; and, contextual knowledge includes curriculum selection and implementation strategies and knowledge of building program coherence. Recommendations. Further research on the use of which specific instructional strategies identified in the refined knowledge base have positive, significant effect sizes for adult learners is recommended.

Activation of Background Knowledge for Inference Making: Effects on Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elbro, Carsten; Buch-Iversen, Ida

2013-01-01

Failure to "activate" relevant, existing background knowledge may be a cause of poor reading comprehension. This failure may cause particular problems with inferences that depend heavily on prior knowledge. Conversely, teaching how to use background knowledge in the context of gap-filling inferences could improve reading comprehension in…

DiseaseConnect: a comprehensive web server for mechanism-based disease–disease connections

PubMed Central

Liu, Chun-Chi; Tseng, Yu-Ting; Li, Wenyuan; Wu, Chia-Yu; Mayzus, Ilya; Rzhetsky, Andrey; Sun, Fengzhu; Waterman, Michael; Chen, Jeremy J. W.; Chaudhary, Preet M.; Loscalzo, Joseph; Crandall, Edward; Zhou, Xianghong Jasmine

2014-01-01

The DiseaseConnect (http://disease-connect.org) is a web server for analysis and visualization of a comprehensive knowledge on mechanism-based disease connectivity. The traditional disease classification system groups diseases with similar clinical symptoms and phenotypic traits. Thus, diseases with entirely different pathologies could be grouped together, leading to a similar treatment design. Such problems could be avoided if diseases were classified based on their molecular mechanisms. Connecting diseases with similar pathological mechanisms could inspire novel strategies on the effective repositioning of existing drugs and therapies. Although there have been several studies attempting to generate disease connectivity networks, they have not yet utilized the enormous and rapidly growing public repositories of disease-related omics data and literature, two primary resources capable of providing insights into disease connections at an unprecedented level of detail. Our DiseaseConnect, the first public web server, integrates comprehensive omics and literature data, including a large amount of gene expression data, Genome-Wide Association Studies catalog, and text-mined knowledge, to discover disease–disease connectivity via common molecular mechanisms. Moreover, the clinical comorbidity data and a comprehensive compilation of known drug–disease relationships are additionally utilized for advancing the understanding of the disease landscape and for facilitating the mechanism-based development of new drug treatments. PMID:24895436

Effectiveness of a comprehensive integrated module using interactive lectures and workshops in understanding and knowledge retention about infant feeding practice in fifth year medical students: a quasi-experimental study.

PubMed

Sjarif, Damayanti Rusli; Yuliarti, Klara; Wahyuni, Luh Karunia; Wiguna, Tjhin; Prawitasari, Titis; Devaera, Yoga; Triyuniati, Henni Wahyu; Afriansyah, Andika

2016-08-18

Sixty percent of the 10.9 million under-5 deaths every year are related to malnutrition. More than two thirds of malnutrition is caused by inappropriate infant feeding practice. Only 35 % of mothers worldwide provide 4 months of exclusive breast-feeding, while complementary feeding is often untimely, nutritionally inadequate, hygienically poor, and improperly delivered. The existing pediatric nutrition module in our institution does not include proper delivery of food that involves oral-motor skills and feeding behavior. To scale up the knowledge and skill of medical students regarding evidence-based infant feeding practice, we designed a new module composed of comprehensive and integrated lectures with additional multidisciplinary lectures on oral-motor skill development and feeding behavior. A quasi-experimental study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the new module compared to the previous module. Fifth year medical students of Universitas Indonesia were divided into intervention and control groups. The control group received lectures and a paper-based workshop. The intervention group received comprehensive and integrated interactive lectures with additional multidisciplinary lectures on oral-motor skill development and behavioral approaches to feeding problems. A hands-on workshop using real cases shown on recorded video and role-play sessions was also presented to the intervention group. A pre-/post-test, 3-month retention test, and Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) were performed to evaluate understanding, knowledge retention, and counseling skills. A linear mixed effect model with a random intercept analysis for pre-test, post-test, and retention test scores showed significant higher result for intervention group compared to control group (p < 0.001). Comprehensive knowledge and counselling skills were better in the intervention group than in the control group as shown by the OSCE score (68.6 vs 59.3, p < 0.001). Our comprehensive integrated infant feeding practice module, which incorporates multidisciplinary learning processes and an interactive hands-on workshop with a role-play session yields better knowledge understanding and counseling skills compared with the existing module. Comprehensive knowledge and good counseling skills of medical students as future doctors are a pre-requisite to provide effective education to parents to support successful infant feeding practices.

Multi-viewpoint clustering analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mehrotra, Mala; Wild, Chris

1993-01-01

In this paper, we address the feasibility of partitioning rule-based systems into a number of meaningful units to enhance the comprehensibility, maintainability and reliability of expert systems software. Preliminary results have shown that no single structuring principle or abstraction hierarchy is sufficient to understand complex knowledge bases. We therefore propose the Multi View Point - Clustering Analysis (MVP-CA) methodology to provide multiple views of the same expert system. We present the results of using this approach to partition a deployed knowledge-based system that navigates the Space Shuttle's entry. We also discuss the impact of this approach on verification and validation of knowledge-based systems.

Automatic acquisition of domain and procedural knowledge

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferber, H. J.; Ali, M.

1988-01-01

The design concept and performance of AKAS, an automated knowledge-acquisition system for the development of expert systems, are discussed. AKAS was developed using the FLES knowledge base for the electrical system of the B-737 aircraft and employs a 'learn by being told' strategy. The system comprises four basic modules, a system administration module, a natural-language concept-comprehension module, a knowledge-classification/extraction module, and a knowledge-incorporation module; details of the module architectures are explored.

Reading Comprehension to 1970: Its Theoretical and Empirical Bases, and Its Implementation in Secondary Professional Textbooks, Instructional Materials, and Tests.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harker, William John

This study was designed: (1) to determine current concepts of reading comprehension deriving from experimental investigations and theoretical statements, and (2) to establish whether these concepts are represented consistently in current secondary professional reading textbooks, instructional materials, and published tests. Current knowledge of…

Knowledge-Based Inferences across the Hemispheres: Domain Makes a Difference

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shears, Connie; Hawkins, Amanda; Varner, Andria; Lewis, Lindsey; Heatley, Jennifer; Twachtmann, Lisa

2008-01-01

Language comprehension occurs when the left-hemisphere (LH) and the right-hemisphere (RH) share information derived from discourse [Beeman, M. J., Bowden, E. M., & Gernsbacher, M. A. (2000). Right and left hemisphere cooperation for drawing predictive and coherence inferences during normal story comprehension. "Brain and Language, 71", 310-336].…

Developmental Relations Between Vocabulary Knowledge and Reading Comprehension: A Latent Change Score Modeling Study

PubMed Central

Quinn, Jamie M.; Wagner, Richard K.; Petscher, Yaacov; Lopez, Danielle

2014-01-01

The present study followed a sample of first grade students (N = 316, mean age = 7.05 at first test) through fourth grade to evaluate dynamic developmental relations between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. Using latent change score modeling, competing models were fit to the repeated measurements of vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension to test for the presence of leading and lagging influences. Univariate models indicated growth in vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension was determined by two parts: constant yearly change and change proportional to the previous level of the variable. Bivariate models indicated previous levels of vocabulary knowledge acted as leading indicators of reading comprehension growth, but the reverse relation was not found. Implications for theories of developmental relations between vocabulary and reading comprehension are discussed. PMID:25201552

Conceptual Coherence, Comprehension, and Vocabulary Acquisition: A Knowledge Effect?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cervetti, Gina N.; Wright, Tanya S.; Hwang, HyeJin

2016-01-01

Previous research has documented the role of readers' existing topic knowledge in supporting students' comprehension of text; yet, we know less about how to build students' knowledge in order to support comprehension and vocabulary learning. In the current study, we test the hypothesis that knowledge can be built and leveraged simultaneously in…

Using diagrams versus text for spaced restudy: Effects on learning in 10th grade biology classes.

PubMed

Bergey, Bradley W; Cromley, Jennifer G; Kirchgessner, Mandy L; Newcombe, Nora S

2015-03-01

Spaced restudy has been typically tested with written learning materials, but restudy with visual representations in actual classrooms is under-researched. We compared the effects of two spaced restudy interventions: A Diagram-Based Restudy (DBR) warm-up condition and a business-as-usual Text-Based Restudy (TBR) warm-up condition. One hundred and twenty-eight consented high school students in 15 classes. Students completed daily warm-ups over a 4-week period. Students were randomly assigned to conditions within classrooms. Warm-ups were independently completed at the start of class meetings and consisted of questions about content covered 1-10 days prior to each warm-up. Students received feedback on their answers each week. A series of ANOVAs and ANCOVAs was conducted. Results showed equal and significant growth from pre- to post-test for both conditions (d = .31-.67) on three outcomes: Biology knowledge, biology diagram comprehension (near transfer), and geology diagram comprehension (far transfer). ANCOVA results suggested that the magnitude of this increase was linked to the number of questions attempted during the intervention. For the DBR condition only, there were interactions with content knowledge on diagram comprehension gain scores and interactions with spatial scores on biology knowledge gain scores. Students with lower biology knowledge and lower Paper Folding Test scores were disadvantaged in the DBR condition, whereas the TBR condition was equitable across all levels of knowledge and spatial ability. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

The California spotted owl: current state of knowledge

Treesearch

R.J. Gutiérrez; Patricia N. Manley; Peter A. Stine

2017-01-01

This conservation assessment represents a comprehensive review by scientists of the current scientific knowledge about the ecology, habitat use, population dynamics, and current threats to the viability of the California spotted owl (Strix occidentalis). It is based primarily on peer-reviewed published information with an emphasis on new scientific...

Did you have an impact? A theory-based method for planning and evaluating knowledge-transfer and exchange activities in occupational health and safety.

PubMed

Kramer, Desré M; Wells, Richard P; Carlan, Nicolette; Aversa, Theresa; Bigelow, Philip P; Dixon, Shane M; McMillan, Keith

2013-01-01

Few evaluation tools are available to assess knowledge-transfer and exchange interventions. The objective of this paper is to develop and demonstrate a theory-based knowledge-transfer and exchange method of evaluation (KEME) that synthesizes 3 theoretical frameworks: the promoting action on research implementation of health services (PARiHS) model, the transtheoretical model of change, and a model of knowledge use. It proposes a new term, keme, to mean a unit of evidence-based transferable knowledge. The usefulness of the evaluation method is demonstrated with 4 occupational health and safety knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE) implementation case studies that are based upon the analysis of over 50 pre-existing interviews. The usefulness of the evaluation model has enabled us to better understand stakeholder feedback, frame our interpretation, and perform a more comprehensive evaluation of the knowledge use outcomes of our KTE efforts.

Effects of Dimensions of Word Knowledge and Their Accessibility on Different Levels of Reading Comprehension in Adolescent EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Yunjeong

2017-01-01

Researchers have investigated that different dimensions of word knowledge (breadth versus depth) may play distinct roles in second language (L2) reading comprehension. Yet, little research has addressed how learners' efficiency of accessing those dimensions of knowledge functions in their comprehension (i.e., the issue of knowledge availability…

Scripts or Components? A Comparative Study of Basic Emotion Knowledge in Roma and Non-Roma Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giménez-Dasí, Marta; Quintanilla, Laura; Lucas-Molina, Beatriz

2018-01-01

The basic aspects of emotional comprehension seem to be acquired around the age of 5. However, it is not clear whether children's emotion knowledge is based on facial expression, organized in scripts, or determined by sociocultural context. This study aims to shed some light on these subjects by assessing knowledge of basic emotions in 4- and…

Text Signals Influence Second Language Expository Text Comprehension: Knowledge Structure Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Kyung; Clariana, Roy B.

2017-01-01

This quasi-experimental investigation describes the influence of text signals on second language expository science text comprehension. In two course sections, mixed proficiency Korean English language learners (n = 88) read one of two print-based English expository text passage versions. Participants in one section (n = 44) were given a version…

Research Review: Reading Comprehension in Developmental Disorders of Language and Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ricketts, Jessie

2011-01-01

Background: Deficits in reading airment (SLI), Down syndrome (DS) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Methods: In this review (based on a search of the ISI Web of Knowledge database to 2011), the Simple View of Reading is used as a framework for considering reading comprehension in these groups. Conclusions: There is substantial evidence for…

The Interplay between Text-Based Vocabulary Size and Reading Comprehension of Turkish EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Güngör, Fatih; Yayli, Demet

2016-01-01

Reading is an indispensable skill for learners who desire success throughout their academic lives, and vocabulary knowledge is a sine qua non companion of reading comprehension. Despite being inextricably related entities, very little has been written about the necessary vocabulary coverage to understand an expository text and its equivalent in…

Linguistic Knowledge, Fluency and Meta-Cognitive Knowledge as Components of Reading Comprehension in Adolescent Low Achievers: Differences between Monolinguals and Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trapman, Mirjam; van Gelderen, Amos; van Steensel, Roel; van Schooten, Erik; Hulstijn, Jan

2014-01-01

In this study we investigate the role of linguistic knowledge, fluency and meta-cognitive knowledge in Dutch reading comprehension of monolingual and bilingual adolescent academic low achievers in the Netherlands. Results show that these components are substantially associated with reading comprehension. However, their role appears to be different…

Pragmatic skills predict online counterfactual comprehension: Evidence from the N400.

PubMed

Kulakova, Eugenia; Nieuwland, Mante S

2016-10-01

Counterfactual thought allows people to consider alternative worlds they know to be false. Communicating these thoughts through language poses a social-communicative challenge because listeners typically expect a speaker to produce true utterances, but counterfactuals per definition convey information that is false. Listeners must therefore incorporate overt linguistic cues (subjunctive mood, such as in If I loved you then) in a rapid way to infer the intended counterfactual meaning. The present EEG study focused on the comprehension of such counterfactual antecedents and investigated if pragmatic ability-the ability to apply knowledge of the social-communicative use of language in daily life-predicts the online generation of counterfactual worlds. This yielded two novel findings: (1) Words that are consistent with factual knowledge incur a semantic processing cost, as reflected in larger N400 amplitude, in counterfactual antecedents compared to hypothetical antecedents (If sweets were/are made of sugar). We take this to suggest that counterfactuality is quickly incorporated during language comprehension and reduces online expectations based on factual knowledge. (2) Individual scores on the Autism Quotient Communication subscale modulated this effect, suggesting that individuals who are better at understanding the communicative intentions of other people are more likely to reduce knowledge-based expectations in counterfactuals. These results are the first demonstration of the real-time pragmatic processes involved in creating possible worlds.

Epilogue: Reading Comprehension Is Not a Single Ability-Implications for Assessment and Instruction.

PubMed

Kamhi, Alan G; Catts, Hugh W

2017-04-20

In this epilogue, we review the 4 response articles and highlight the implications of a multidimensional view of reading for the assessment and instruction of reading comprehension. We reiterate the problems with standardized tests of reading comprehension and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of recently developed authentic tests of reading comprehension. In the "Instruction" section, we review the benefits and limitations of strategy instruction and highlight suggestions from the response articles to improve content and language knowledge. We argue that the only compelling reason to administer a standardized test of reading comprehension is when these tests are necessary to qualify students for special education services. Instruction should be focused on content knowledge, language knowledge, and specific task and learning requirements. This instruction may entail the use of comprehension strategies, particularly those that are specific to the task and focus on integrating new knowledge with prior knowledge.

The role of character-based knowledge in online narrative comprehension: evidence from eye movements and ERPs.

PubMed

Filik, Ruth; Leuthold, Hartmut

2013-04-19

Little is known about the on-line evaluation of information relating to well-known story characters during text comprehension. For example, it is not clear in how much detail readers represent character-based information, and the time course over which this information is utilized during on-line language comprehension. We describe an event-related potential (ERP) study (Experiment 1) and an eye-tracking study (Experiment 2) investigating whether, and when, readers utilize their prior knowledge of a character in processing event information. Participants read materials in which an event was described that either did or did not fit with the character's typical behavior. ERPs elicited by the critical word revealed an N400 effect when the action described did not fit with the character's typical behavior. Results from early eye movement measures supported these findings, and later measures suggested that such violations were more easily accommodated for well-known fictional characters than real-world characters. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Domain-Specific Knowledge and General Skills in Reading Comprehension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuhara-Kojima, Keiko; Hatano, Giyoo

A study examined whether the reading comprehension of students with rich domain-specific knowledge will be better than that of students without it and whether assessed general skills will be correlated significantly with reading comprehension performance for students without specific knowledge, but negligible for the students with much specific…

Manipulating Google's Knowledge Graph Box to Counter Biased Information Processing During an Online Search on Vaccination: Application of a Technological Debiasing Strategy.

PubMed

Ludolph, Ramona; Allam, Ahmed; Schulz, Peter J

2016-06-02

One of people's major motives for going online is the search for health-related information. Most consumers start their search with a general search engine but are unaware of the fact that its sorting and ranking criteria do not mirror information quality. This misconception can lead to distorted search outcomes, especially when the information processing is characterized by heuristic principles and resulting cognitive biases instead of a systematic elaboration. As vaccination opponents are vocal on the Web, the chance of encountering their non‒evidence-based views on immunization is high. Therefore, biased information processing in this context can cause subsequent impaired judgment and decision making. A technological debiasing strategy could counter this by changing people's search environment. This study aims at testing a technological debiasing strategy to reduce the negative effects of biased information processing when using a general search engine on people's vaccination-related knowledge and attitudes. This strategy is to manipulate the content of Google's knowledge graph box, which is integrated in the search interface and provides basic information about the search topic. A full 3x2 factorial, posttest-only design was employed with availability of basic factual information (comprehensible vs hardly comprehensible vs not present) as the first factor and a warning message as the second factor of experimental manipulation. Outcome variables were the evaluation of the knowledge graph box, vaccination-related knowledge, as well as beliefs and attitudes toward vaccination, as represented by three latent variables emerged from an exploratory factor analysis. Two-way analysis of variance revealed a significant main effect of availability of basic information in the knowledge graph box on participants' vaccination knowledge scores (F2,273=4.86, P=.01), skepticism/fear of vaccination side effects (F2,273=3.5, P=.03), and perceived information quality (F2,273=3.73, P=.02). More specifically, respondents receiving comprehensible information appeared to be more knowledgeable, less skeptical of vaccination, and more critical of information quality compared to participants exposed to hardly comprehensible information. Although, there was no significant interaction effect between the availability of information and the presence of the warning, there was a dominant pattern in which the presence of the warning appeared to have a positive influence on the group receiving comprehensible information while the opposite was true for the groups exposed to hardly comprehensible information and no information at all. Participants evaluated the knowledge graph box as moderately to highly useful, with no significant differences among the experimental groups. Overall, the results suggest that comprehensible information in the knowledge graph box positively affects participants' vaccination-related knowledge and attitudes. A small change in the content retrieval procedure currently used by Google could already make a valuable difference in the pursuit of an unbiased online information search. Further research is needed to gain insights into the knowledge graph box's entire potential.

Developing Content Knowledge in Struggling Readers: Differential Effects of Strategy Instruction for Younger and Older Elementary Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elleman, Amy M.; Olinghouse, Natalie G.; Gilbert, Jennifer K.; Spencer, Jane Lawrence; Compton, Donald L.

2017-01-01

This study compared the effects of 2 strategy-based comprehension treatments intended to promote vocabulary and content knowledge for elementary students at risk for developing reading difficulties (N = 105) with a traditional content approach. The study examined the effectiveness of strategy versus nonstrategy instruction on reading…

Promoting Access: The Role of Organization and Awareness Factors. Elementary Subjects Center Series No. 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prawat, Richard S.

This review presents a framework that accommodates static and dynamic approaches to comprehension of students' transfer of knowledge and skill. The review focuses on three sets of variables considered fundamental to students' ability to access intellectual resources in potentially relevant situations: knowledge bases, strategies, and dispositions.…

Students' inductive reasoning skills and the relevance of prior knowledge: an exploratory study with a computer-based training course on the topic of acne vulgaris.

PubMed

Horn-Ritzinger, Sabine; Bernhardt, Johannes; Horn, Michael; Smolle, Josef

2011-04-01

The importance of inductive instruction in medical education is increasingly growing. Little is known about the relevance of prior knowledge regarding students' inductive reasoning abilities. The purpose is to evaluate this inductive teaching method as a means of fostering higher levels of learning and to explore how individual differences in prior knowledge (high [HPK] vs. low [LPK]) contribute to students' inductive reasoning skills. Twenty-six LPK and 18 HPK students could train twice with an interactive computer-based training object to discover the underlying concept before doing the final comprehension check. Students had a median of 76.9% of correct answers in the first, 90.9% in the second training, and answered 92% of the final assessment questions correctly. More important, 86% of all students succeeded with inductive learning, among them 83% of the HPK students and 89% of the LPK students. Prior knowledge did not predict performance on overall comprehension. This inductive instructional strategy fostered students' deep approaches to learning in a time-effective way.

Beyond Comprehension Strategy Instruction: What's Next?

PubMed

Elleman, Amy M; Compton, Donald L

2017-04-20

In this article, we respond to Catts and Kamhi's (2017) argument that reading comprehension is not a single ability. We provide a brief review of the impact of strategy instruction, the importance of knowledge in reading comprehension, and possible avenues for future research and practice. We agree with Catts and Kamhi's argument that reading comprehension is a complex endeavor and that current recommended practices do not reflect the complexity of the construct. Knowledge building, despite its important role in comprehension, has been relegated to a back seat in reading comprehension instruction. In the final section of the article, we outline possible avenues for research and practice (e.g., generative language instruction, dialogic approaches to knowledge building, analogical reasoning and disciplinary literacy, the use of graphics and media, inference instruction) for improving reading-comprehension outcomes. Reading comprehension is a complex ability, and comprehension instruction should reflect this complexity. If we want to have an impact on long-term growth in reading comprehension, we will need to expand our current repertoire of instructional methods to include approaches that support the acquisition and integration of knowledge across a variety of texts and topics.

Effectiveness of objectivist online instruction on graduate learners' knowledge and competence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maryannakis, Artemios

Online courses currently offered by aeronautical institutions are unstructured conversions of traditional courses into Web-based courses that lack the learning theory and instructional design principles framework, thus lacking the efficiency and effectiveness in dealing with the academic demands required to prepare aviation/aerospace professionals for the challenges of the technologically driven twenty-first century. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two versions of an aeronautical online graduate course on research methods knowledge and competence: a comprehensive objectivist design and an unstructured design. Quantitative, causal comparative, quasi-experimental methodology was utilized. Using criteria derived from literature, criteria were established for the development and eventual online delivery of a comprehensive objectivist instructional design on graduate research methods learning. Results revealed that the comprehensive objectivist design was significantly more effective than its unstructured counterpart on graduate learners' competence in research methods, but found no significant difference in knowledge. It was recommended that aeronautical institutions (a) create programs with critical thinking and problem solving embedded in their curriculum for enhancing learner competence, and (b) thoroughly train every online instructor in the development and use of comprehensive online instruction.

A computational modeling of semantic knowledge in reading comprehension: Integrating the landscape model with latent semantic analysis.

PubMed

Yeari, Menahem; van den Broek, Paul

2016-09-01

It is a well-accepted view that the prior semantic (general) knowledge that readers possess plays a central role in reading comprehension. Nevertheless, computational models of reading comprehension have not integrated the simulation of semantic knowledge and online comprehension processes under a unified mathematical algorithm. The present article introduces a computational model that integrates the landscape model of comprehension processes with latent semantic analysis representation of semantic knowledge. In three sets of simulations of previous behavioral findings, the integrated model successfully simulated the activation and attenuation of predictive and bridging inferences during reading, as well as centrality estimations and recall of textual information after reading. Analyses of the computational results revealed new theoretical insights regarding the underlying mechanisms of the various comprehension phenomena.

People Use their Knowledge of Common Events to Understand Language, and Do So as Quickly as Possible

PubMed Central

McRae, Ken; Matsuki, Kazunaga

2011-01-01

People possess a great deal of knowledge about how the world works, and it is undoubtedly true that adults use this knowledge when understanding and producing language. However, psycholinguistic theories differ regarding whether this extra-linguistic pragmatic knowledge can be activated and used immediately, or only after a delay. The authors present research that investigates whether people immediately use their generalized knowledge of common events when understanding language. This research demonstrates that (i) individual isolated words immediately activate event-based knowledge; (ii) combinations of words in sentences immediately constrain people’s event-based expectations for concepts that are upcoming in language; (iii) syntax modulates people’s expectations for ensuing concepts; and (iv) event-based knowledge can produce expectations for ensuing syntactic structures. It is concluded that theories of sentence comprehension must allow for the rapid dynamic interplay among these sources of information. PMID:22125574

Toward a comprehensive areal model of earthquake-induced landslides

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miles, S.B.; Keefer, D.K.

2009-01-01

This paper provides a review of regional-scale modeling of earthquake-induced landslide hazard with respect to the needs for disaster risk reduction and sustainable development. Based on this review, it sets out important research themes and suggests computing with words (CW), a methodology that includes fuzzy logic systems, as a fruitful modeling methodology for addressing many of these research themes. A range of research, reviewed here, has been conducted applying CW to various aspects of earthquake-induced landslide hazard zonation, but none facilitate comprehensive modeling of all types of earthquake-induced landslides. A new comprehensive areal model of earthquake-induced landslides (CAMEL) is introduced here that was developed using fuzzy logic systems. CAMEL provides an integrated framework for modeling all types of earthquake-induced landslides using geographic information systems. CAMEL is designed to facilitate quantitative and qualitative representation of terrain conditions and knowledge about these conditions on the likely areal concentration of each landslide type. CAMEL is highly modifiable and adaptable; new knowledge can be easily added, while existing knowledge can be changed to better match local knowledge and conditions. As such, CAMEL should not be viewed as a complete alternative to other earthquake-induced landslide models. CAMEL provides an open framework for incorporating other models, such as Newmark's displacement method, together with previously incompatible empirical and local knowledge. ?? 2009 ASCE.

Distributed, cooperating knowledge-based systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Truszkowski, Walt

1991-01-01

Some current research in the development and application of distributed, cooperating knowledge-based systems technology is addressed. The focus of the current research is the spacecraft ground operations environment. The underlying hypothesis is that, because of the increasing size, complexity, and cost of planned systems, conventional procedural approaches to the architecture of automated systems will give way to a more comprehensive knowledge-based approach. A hallmark of these future systems will be the integration of multiple knowledge-based agents which understand the operational goals of the system and cooperate with each other and the humans in the loop to attain the goals. The current work includes the development of a reference model for knowledge-base management, the development of a formal model of cooperating knowledge-based agents, the use of testbed for prototyping and evaluating various knowledge-based concepts, and beginning work on the establishment of an object-oriented model of an intelligent end-to-end (spacecraft to user) system. An introductory discussion of these activities is presented, the major concepts and principles being investigated are highlighted, and their potential use in other application domains is indicated.

Teaching Genetics with Multimedia Results in Better Acquisition of Knowledge and Improvement in Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Starbek, P.; Erjavec, M. Starcic; Peklaj, C.

2010-01-01

The main goal of this study was to explore whether the use of multimedia in genetics instruction contributes more to students' knowledge and comprehension than other instructional modes. We were also concerned with the influence of different instructional modes on the retention of knowledge and comprehension. In a quasi-experimental design, four…

The Role of Knowledge Base and Declarative Metamemory in the Acquisition of a Reading Strategy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaultney, Jane F.; Hack-Weiner, Nancy

A study examined whether previous knowledge facilitates the acquisition of a reading comprehension strategy by children who are poor readers. Subjects, 54 fourth- and fifth-grade boys in Palm Beach County, Florida, who were poor readers and baseball experts, were trained in the use of a reading strategy (asking "why" questions), with…

Knowledge Management in Consultancies and High-Tech Companies: A Social Systems Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kasper, Helmut; Muhlbacher, Jurgen; Muller, Barbara

2008-01-01

In dealing with Knowledge Management (KM) literature, we have to diagnose three essential points: first, we have detected a lack of comprehensive theoretical models based on "grand theories", secondly, we have discovered an overemphasis of "good" values, like openness and trust, that help organisations to learn. And thirdly, we have to recognise…

Integration of Pedagogical and Technological Knowledge in Forming Meta-Competencies of a Modern Worker

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sopegina, Vera T.; Chapaev, Nikolay K.; Simonova, Marina V.

2016-01-01

The relevance of the problem under study is based on the society, economy and job market's demand for workers who possess meta-competencies: comprehensive knowledge, free and critical thinking, readiness for using personal approach in work and establishing the strategy of professional and personal development, as well as capacity for…

Intercultural Communication Competence through Experiential Learning: The Importance of Student-Initiated Strategies and Dialogic Encounters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Josephine Ann

2007-01-01

Approaches to intercultural communication competence (ICC) generally argue the need for objective knowledge about another culture as well as knowledge about and the ability to achieve appropriate behaviors of that target culture. Most of these approaches continue to base themselves on a conception of culture as comprehensive but static.…

A New Measure for Assessing the Contributions of Higher Level Processes to Language Comprehension Performance in Preschoolers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hannon, Brenda; Frias, Sarah

2012-01-01

The present study reports the development of a theoretically motivated measure that provides estimates of a preschooler's ability to recall auditory text, to make text-based inferences, to access knowledge from long-term memory, and to integrate this accessed knowledge with new information from auditory text. This new preschooler component…

Comprehension of Discourse Markers and Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khatib, Mohamad

2011-01-01

According to many research findings, the presence of discourse markers (DMs) enhances readers' comprehension of the texts they read. However, there is a paucity of research on the relationship between knowledge of DMs and reading comprehension (RC) and the present study explores the relationship between them. Knowledge of DMs is measured through…

Reading Comprehension Requires Knowledge--of Words and the World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsch, E. D., Jr.

2003-01-01

The "fourth grade slump" in reading comprehension still exists. Among poor children, low comprehension ruins their chances for academic success. Among all children, comprehension scores are stagnant. Research indicates that key to both problems is systematically building children's vocabulary, fluency, and domain knowledge. To improve reading,…

Efficacy of a Web-based Intelligent Tutoring System for Communicating Genetic Risk of Breast Cancer: A Fuzzy-Trace Theory Approach

PubMed Central

Wolfe, Christopher R.; Reyna, Valerie F.; Widmer, Colin L.; Cedillos, Elizabeth M.; Fisher, Christopher R.; Brust-Renck, Priscila G.; Weil, Audrey M.

2014-01-01

Background Many healthy women consider genetic testing for breast cancer risk, yet BRCA testing issues are complex. Objective Determining whether an intelligent tutor, BRCA Gist, grounded in fuzzy-trace theory (FTT), increases gist comprehension and knowledge about genetic testing for breast cancer risk, improving decision-making. Design In two experiments, 410 healthy undergraduate women were randomly assigned to one of three groups: an online module using a web-based tutoring system (BRCA Gist) that uses artificial intelligence technology, a second group read highly similar content from the NCI web site, and a third completed an unrelated tutorial. Intervention BRCA Gist applied fuzzy trace theory and was designed to help participants develop gist comprehension of topics relevant to decisions about BRCA genetic testing, including how breast cancer spreads, inherited genetic mutations, and base rates. Measures We measured content knowledge, gist comprehension of decision-relevant information, interest in testing, and genetic risk and testing judgments. Results Control knowledge scores ranged from 54% to 56%, NCI improved significantly to 65% and 70%, and BRCA Gist improved significantly more to 75% and 77%, p<.0001. BRCA Gist scored higher on gist comprehension than NCI and control, p<.0001. Control genetic risk-assessment mean was 48% correct; BRCA Gist (61%), and NCI (56%) were significantly higher, p<.0001. BRCA Gist participants recommended less testing for women without risk factors (not good candidates), (24% and 19%) than controls (50%, both experiments) and NCI, (32%) Experiment 2, p<.0001. BRCA Gist testing interest was lower than controls, p<.0001. Limitations BRCA Gist has not been tested with older women from diverse groups. Conclusions Intelligent tutors, such as BRCA Gist, are scalable, cost effective ways of helping people understand complex issues, improving decision-making. PMID:24829276

Simulating Retail Banking for Banking Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Supramaniam, Mahadevan; Shanmugam, Bala

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation flow and development of retail bank management simulation based training system which could provide a comprehensive knowledge about the operations and management of banks for the banking students. The prototype of a Retail banking simulation based training system was developed based on…

Competency-Based Preservice Construction Trades Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Illinois State Office of Education, Springfield. Div. of Adult Vocational and Technical Education.

This curriculum guide consists of a comprehensive list of competency-based performance objectives dealing with selected skill and knowledge competencies considered basic to the preparation of teacher-educators in residential building construction. Thirteen units of instruction subclassified into forty-one teaching sections are included with…

A Systematic Review of Postgraduate Teaching in Evidence-Based Medicine and Critical Appraisal.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coomarasamy, Aravinthan; Taylor, Rod; Khan, Khalid S.

2003-01-01

Examines the effectiveness of evidence-based medicine and critical appraisal teaching at the postgraduate level. Conducts a comprehensive search and identifies 17 studies. Shows a significant improvement in knowledge but not in attitude, skills, or behavior. (Author/KHR)

Reading and reading instruction for children from low-income and non-English-speaking households.

PubMed

Lesaux, Nonie K

2012-01-01

Although most young children seem to master reading skills in the early grades of elementary school, many struggle with texts as they move through middle school and high school. Why do children who seem to be proficient readers in third grade have trouble comprehending texts in later grades? To answer this question, Nonie Lesaux describes what is known about reading development and instruction, homing in on research conducted with children from low-income and non-English-speaking homes. Using key insights from this research base, she offers two explanations. The first is that reading is a dynamic and multifaceted process that requires continued development if students are to keep pace with the increasing demands of school texts and tasks. The second lies in the role of reading assessment and instruction in U.S. schools. Lesaux draws a distinction between the "skills-based competencies" that readers need to sound out and recognize words and the "knowledge-based competencies" that include the conceptual and vocabulary knowledge necessary to comprehend a text's meaning. Although U.S. schools have made considerable progress in teaching skills-based reading competencies that are the focus of the early grades, most have made much less progress in teaching the knowledge-based competencies students need to support reading comprehension in middle and high school. These knowledge-based competencies are key sources of lasting individual differences in reading outcomes, particularly among children growing up in low-income and non-English-speaking households. Augmenting literacy rates, Lesaux explains, will require considerable shifts in the way reading is assessed and taught in elementary and secondary schools. First, schools must conduct comprehensive reading assessments that discern learners' (potential) sources of reading difficulties--in both skills-based and knowledge-based competencies. Second, educators must implement instructional approaches that offer promise for teaching the conceptual and knowledge-based reading competencies that are critical for academic success, particularly for academically vulnerable populations.

Dental caries is correlated with knowledge of comprehensive food education in Japanese university students.

PubMed

Ekuni, Daisuke; Tomofuji, Takaaki; Mizutani, Shinsuke; Furuta, Michiko; Irie, Koichiro; Azuma, Tetsuji; Kojima, Azusa; Iwasaki, Yoshiaki; Morita, Manabu

2013-01-01

In Japan, the "Food Education Basic Law" (The Basic Law on Shokuiku, food education) was enacted in 2005. The comprehensive food education programs, namely Shokuiku, aim to improve dietary practices to reduce lifestyle-related diseases. Dental caries is one of the diseases associated with inappropriate dietary habits. Thus, food education may influence the prevalence of dental caries. However, there are no data regarding the association between public based-food education and dental caries. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between knowledge about comprehensive food education (Shokuiku) and dental caries experience in Japanese university students. A total of 2,184 students (1,240 men, 944 women), aged 18-20 years, were examined. They had attended the Shokuiku program while in junior/senior high school. The numbers of teeth present, and decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) (dental caries experience) were recorded. Additional information was collected via a questionnaire regarding knowledge about food education, dietary habits and oral health behavior. Of the students, 315 men (20.7%) and 345 women (52.8%) reported that they know and can explain the meaning and content of the word "Shokuiku". After adjusting for potential confounding factors, subjects who did not have knowledge about Shokuiku had higher adjusted odds ratio (OR) for dental caries experience (DMFT >0) than those who had (adjusted OR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.02-1.48; p<0.05). These observations revealed that having knowledge about comprehensive food education in university students correlates with low prevalence of dental caries.

Drug knowledge bases and their applications in biomedical informatics research.

PubMed

Zhu, Yongjun; Elemento, Olivier; Pathak, Jyotishman; Wang, Fei

2018-01-03

Recent advances in biomedical research have generated a large volume of drug-related data. To effectively handle this flood of data, many initiatives have been taken to help researchers make good use of them. As the results of these initiatives, many drug knowledge bases have been constructed. They range from simple ones with specific focuses to comprehensive ones that contain information on almost every aspect of a drug. These curated drug knowledge bases have made significant contributions to the development of efficient and effective health information technologies for better health-care service delivery. Understanding and comparing existing drug knowledge bases and how they are applied in various biomedical studies will help us recognize the state of the art and design better knowledge bases in the future. In addition, researchers can get insights on novel applications of the drug knowledge bases through a review of successful use cases. In this study, we provide a review of existing popular drug knowledge bases and their applications in drug-related studies. We discuss challenges in constructing and using drug knowledge bases as well as future research directions toward a better ecosystem of drug knowledge bases. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Early & Often: Designing a Comprehensive System of Financial Aid Information. A Report of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, 2008

2008-01-01

Students and parents need ample time and accurate information to prepare for the financial burden of a college education--those who lack this knowledge base face a significant access barrier to higher education. This problem can be countered by the delivery of comprehensive, integrated financial aid information, an approach identified by the…

Tutoring Mathematical Word Problems Using Solution Trees: Text Comprehension, Situation Comprehension, and Mathematization in Solving Story Problems. Research Report No. 8.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reusser, Kurt; And Others

The main concern of this paper is on the psychological processes of how students understand and solve mathematical word problems, and on how this knowledge can be applied to computer-based tutoring. It is argued that only a better understanding of the psychological requirements for understanding and solving those problems will lead to…

Comparing School-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programming: Mixed Outcomes in an At-Risk State.

PubMed

Oman, Roy F; Merritt, Breanca T; Fluhr, Janene; Williams, Jean M

2015-12-01

The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of a national comprehensive teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) intervention to a national abstinence-only TPP intervention on middle school students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to teen sexual behaviors in a state with high teen birth rates. Pre- and post-intervention data were collected annually (2005-2010) from seventh-grade students to evaluate school-based TPP programs that implemented a comprehensive (N = 3244) or abstinence-only (N = 3172) intervention. Chi-square and t tests, logistic regressions, and hierarchical multiple regressions examined relationships between sexuality-related behavioral intentions, knowledge, and attitudes. Students in both interventions reported significant (p < .05) improvements post-intervention. Youth in the comprehensive TPP intervention were more likely (p < .05) to have significantly improved their attitudes (odds ratios [ORs] = 1.35, 1.83, 1.23) and behavior regarding abstinence decisions in the past 3 months (OR = 1.39). The interventions' improvements in attitudes were more explanatory for behavioral intentions for students in the abstinence-only intervention than for students in the comprehensive TPP intervention. The mixed results suggest the comprehensive TPP intervention was only slightly more effective than the abstinence intervention, but that changing student attitudes and perceptions may be a key component of more effective TPP interventions. © 2015, American School Health Association.

Comprehending Comprehension: Selected Possibilities for Clinical Practice Within a Multidimensional Model.

PubMed

Wallach, Geraldine P; Ocampo, Alaine

2017-04-20

In this discussion as part of a response to Catts and Kamhi's "Prologue: Reading Comprehension Is Not a Single Activity" (2017), the authors provide selected examples from 4th-, 5th-, and 6th-grade texts to demonstrate, in agreement with Catts and Kamhi, that reading comprehension is a multifaceted and complex ability. The authors were asked to provide readers with evidence-based practices that lend support to applications of a multidimensional model of comprehension. We present examples from the reading comprehension literature that support the notion that reading is a complex set of abilities that include a reader's ability, especially background knowledge; the type of text the reader is being asked to comprehend; and the task or technique used in assessment or intervention paradigms. An intervention session from 6th grade serves to demonstrate how background knowledge, a text's demands, and tasks may come together in the real world as clinicians and educators aim to help students comprehend complex material. The authors agree with the conceptual framework proposed by Catts and Kamhi that clinicians and educators should consider the multidimensional nature of reading comprehension (an interaction of reader, text, and task) when creating assessment and intervention programs. The authors might depart slightly by considering, more closely, those reading comprehension strategies that might facilitate comprehension across texts and tasks with an understanding of students' individual needs at different points in time.

Manipulating Google’s Knowledge Graph Box to Counter Biased Information Processing During an Online Search on Vaccination: Application of a Technological Debiasing Strategy

PubMed Central

Allam, Ahmed; Schulz, Peter J

2016-01-01

Background One of people’s major motives for going online is the search for health-related information. Most consumers start their search with a general search engine but are unaware of the fact that its sorting and ranking criteria do not mirror information quality. This misconception can lead to distorted search outcomes, especially when the information processing is characterized by heuristic principles and resulting cognitive biases instead of a systematic elaboration. As vaccination opponents are vocal on the Web, the chance of encountering their non‒evidence-based views on immunization is high. Therefore, biased information processing in this context can cause subsequent impaired judgment and decision making. A technological debiasing strategy could counter this by changing people’s search environment. Objective This study aims at testing a technological debiasing strategy to reduce the negative effects of biased information processing when using a general search engine on people’s vaccination-related knowledge and attitudes. This strategy is to manipulate the content of Google’s knowledge graph box, which is integrated in the search interface and provides basic information about the search topic. Methods A full 3x2 factorial, posttest-only design was employed with availability of basic factual information (comprehensible vs hardly comprehensible vs not present) as the first factor and a warning message as the second factor of experimental manipulation. Outcome variables were the evaluation of the knowledge graph box, vaccination-related knowledge, as well as beliefs and attitudes toward vaccination, as represented by three latent variables emerged from an exploratory factor analysis. Results Two-way analysis of variance revealed a significant main effect of availability of basic information in the knowledge graph box on participants’ vaccination knowledge scores (F2,273=4.86, P=.01), skepticism/fear of vaccination side effects (F2,273=3.5, P=.03), and perceived information quality (F2,273=3.73, P=.02). More specifically, respondents receiving comprehensible information appeared to be more knowledgeable, less skeptical of vaccination, and more critical of information quality compared to participants exposed to hardly comprehensible information. Although, there was no significant interaction effect between the availability of information and the presence of the warning, there was a dominant pattern in which the presence of the warning appeared to have a positive influence on the group receiving comprehensible information while the opposite was true for the groups exposed to hardly comprehensible information and no information at all. Participants evaluated the knowledge graph box as moderately to highly useful, with no significant differences among the experimental groups. Conclusion Overall, the results suggest that comprehensible information in the knowledge graph box positively affects participants’ vaccination-related knowledge and attitudes. A small change in the content retrieval procedure currently used by Google could already make a valuable difference in the pursuit of an unbiased online information search. Further research is needed to gain insights into the knowledge graph box’s entire potential. PMID:27255736

Elicitation of neurological knowledge with argument-based machine learning.

PubMed

Groznik, Vida; Guid, Matej; Sadikov, Aleksander; Možina, Martin; Georgiev, Dejan; Kragelj, Veronika; Ribarič, Samo; Pirtošek, Zvezdan; Bratko, Ivan

2013-02-01

The paper describes the use of expert's knowledge in practice and the efficiency of a recently developed technique called argument-based machine learning (ABML) in the knowledge elicitation process. We are developing a neurological decision support system to help the neurologists differentiate between three types of tremors: Parkinsonian, essential, and mixed tremor (comorbidity). The system is intended to act as a second opinion for the neurologists, and most importantly to help them reduce the number of patients in the "gray area" that require a very costly further examination (DaTSCAN). We strive to elicit comprehensible and medically meaningful knowledge in such a way that it does not come at the cost of diagnostic accuracy. To alleviate the difficult problem of knowledge elicitation from data and domain experts, we used ABML. ABML guides the expert to explain critical special cases which cannot be handled automatically by machine learning. This very efficiently reduces the expert's workload, and combines expert's knowledge with learning data. 122 patients were enrolled into the study. The classification accuracy of the final model was 91%. Equally important, the initial and the final models were also evaluated for their comprehensibility by the neurologists. All 13 rules of the final model were deemed as appropriate to be able to support its decisions with good explanations. The paper demonstrates ABML's advantage in combining machine learning and expert knowledge. The accuracy of the system is very high with respect to the current state-of-the-art in clinical practice, and the system's knowledge base is assessed to be very consistent from a medical point of view. This opens up the possibility to use the system also as a teaching tool. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Knowledge-based machine indexing from natural language text: Knowledge base design, development, and maintenance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Genuardi, Michael T.

1993-01-01

One strategy for machine-aided indexing (MAI) is to provide a concept-level analysis of the textual elements of documents or document abstracts. In such systems, natural-language phrases are analyzed in order to identify and classify concepts related to a particular subject domain. The overall performance of these MAI systems is largely dependent on the quality and comprehensiveness of their knowledge bases. These knowledge bases function to (1) define the relations between a controlled indexing vocabulary and natural language expressions; (2) provide a simple mechanism for disambiguation and the determination of relevancy; and (3) allow the extension of concept-hierarchical structure to all elements of the knowledge file. After a brief description of the NASA Machine-Aided Indexing system, concerns related to the development and maintenance of MAI knowledge bases are discussed. Particular emphasis is given to statistically-based text analysis tools designed to aid the knowledge base developer. One such tool, the Knowledge Base Building (KBB) program, presents the domain expert with a well-filtered list of synonyms and conceptually-related phrases for each thesaurus concept. Another tool, the Knowledge Base Maintenance (KBM) program, functions to identify areas of the knowledge base affected by changes in the conceptual domain (for example, the addition of a new thesaurus term). An alternate use of the KBM as an aid in thesaurus construction is also discussed.

[Problem based learning: achievement of educational goals in the information and comprehension sub-categories of Bloom cognitive domain].

PubMed

Montecinos, P; Rodewald, A M

1994-06-01

The aim this work was to assess and compare the achievements of medical students, subjected to problem based learning methodology. The information and comprehension categories of Bloom were tested in 17 medical students in four different occasions during the physiopathology course, using a multiple choice knowledge test. There was a significant improvement in the number of correct answers towards the end of the course. It is concluded that these medical students obtained adequate learning achievements in the information subcategory of Bloom using problem based learning methodology, during the physiopathology course.

Do Knowledge Arrangements Affect Student Reading Comprehension of Genetics?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Jen-Yi; Tung, Yu-Neng; Hwang, Bi-Chi; Lin, Chen-Yung; Che-Di, Lee; Chang, Yung-Ta

2014-01-01

Various sequences for teaching genetics have been proposed. Three seventh-grade biology textbooks in Taiwan share similar key knowledge assemblages but have different knowledge arrangements. To investigate the influence of knowledge arrangements on student understanding of genetics, we compared students' reading comprehension of the three texts…

Knowledge Discovery from Posts in Online Health Communities Using Unified Medical Language System.

PubMed

Chen, Donghua; Zhang, Runtong; Liu, Kecheng; Hou, Lei

2018-06-19

Patient-reported posts in Online Health Communities (OHCs) contain various valuable information that can help establish knowledge-based online support for online patients. However, utilizing these reports to improve online patient services in the absence of appropriate medical and healthcare expert knowledge is difficult. Thus, we propose a comprehensive knowledge discovery method that is based on the Unified Medical Language System for the analysis of narrative posts in OHCs. First, we propose a domain-knowledge support framework for OHCs to provide a basis for post analysis. Second, we develop a Knowledge-Involved Topic Modeling (KI-TM) method to extract and expand explicit knowledge within the text. We propose four metrics, namely, explicit knowledge rate, latent knowledge rate, knowledge correlation rate, and perplexity, for the evaluation of the KI-TM method. Our experimental results indicate that our proposed method outperforms existing methods in terms of providing knowledge support. Our method enhances knowledge support for online patients and can help develop intelligent OHCs in the future.

Automated quantitative assessment of proteins' biological function in protein knowledge bases.

PubMed

Mayr, Gabriele; Lepperdinger, Günter; Lackner, Peter

2008-01-01

Primary protein sequence data are archived in databases together with information regarding corresponding biological functions. In this respect, UniProt/Swiss-Prot is currently the most comprehensive collection and it is routinely cross-examined when trying to unravel the biological role of hypothetical proteins. Bioscientists frequently extract single entries and further evaluate those on a subjective basis. In lieu of a standardized procedure for scoring the existing knowledge regarding individual proteins, we here report about a computer-assisted method, which we applied to score the present knowledge about any given Swiss-Prot entry. Applying this quantitative score allows the comparison of proteins with respect to their sequence yet highlights the comprehension of functional data. pfs analysis may be also applied for quality control of individual entries or for database management in order to rank entry listings.

A bilateral integrative health-care knowledge service mechanism based on 'MedGrid'.

PubMed

Liu, Chao; Jiang, Zuhua; Zhen, Lu; Su, Hai

2008-04-01

Current health-care organizations are encountering impression of paucity of medical knowledge. This paper classifies medical knowledge with new scopes. The discovery of health-care 'knowledge flow' initiates a bilateral integrative health-care knowledge service, and we make medical knowledge 'flow' around and gain comprehensive effectiveness through six operations (such as knowledge refreshing...). Seizing the active demand of Chinese health-care revolution, this paper presents 'MedGrid', which is a platform with medical ontology and knowledge contents service. Each level and detailed contents are described on MedGrid info-structure. Moreover, a new diagnosis and treatment mechanism are formed by technically connecting with electronic health-care records (EHRs).

The Rating System of the Rural School Pupils' Assessment of the Republic of Kazakhstan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bibigul, Almurzayeva; Orynkul, Shunkeyeva; Lyudmila, Karavanova; Aelita, Sagiyeva

2015-01-01

Currently, comprehensive school teachers of the Republic of Kazakhstan pay special attention to assessment system of pupils' knowledge based on personally oriented approach. In work "A black box: what there inside? An assessment of knowledge of pupils as a way of increase of efficiency of teaching and educational process" P. Blek and D.…

Meeting the Demands of Science Reforms: A Comprehensive Professional Development for Practicing Middle School Teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pringle, Rose M.; Mesa, Jennifer; Hayes, Lynda

2018-03-01

Preparing teachers to teach science consistent with current reforms in science education is a daunting enterprise given a lack of high-quality science professional development (PD) adaptable across various contexts (Wilson 2013). This study examines the impact of a comprehensive professional development program on middle school teachers' disciplinary content knowledge and instructional practices. In this mixed methods investigation, data sources included classroom observations, content knowledge assessments, surveys, and a range of interviews. The teachers in the program showed significant improvements in their disciplinary content knowledge and demonstrated through their enactment of a reform-based curriculum, a range of ability levels to translate their knowledge into instructional practices consistent with the principles espoused in the PD. We conclude that programs that attend to elements of effective PD identified in the literature can positively impact middle school science teachers' enactment of reform-based science teaching. Our findings extend these elements to include the strategic engagement of school and district leadership and the provision of a safe learning space for teachers to collectively engage in reciprocal learning and critical practice. This study has worldwide implications for designing PD for science teachers and for extending our understanding of the impact of each element.

The Effects of Transferred Vocabulary Knowledge on the Development of L2 Reading Proficiency.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koda, Keiko

1989-01-01

Examination of the effects of transferred vocabulary knowledge on college students' (N=24) acquisition of Japanese linguistic knowledge, verbal processing skills, and reading comprehension indicated that vocabulary knowledge was most highly correlated with reading comprehension. This initial advantage magnified its effects over time as task…

Validation of highly reliable, real-time knowledge-based systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Sally C.

1988-01-01

Knowledge-based systems have the potential to greatly increase the capabilities of future aircraft and spacecraft and to significantly reduce support manpower needed for the space station and other space missions. However, a credible validation methodology must be developed before knowledge-based systems can be used for life- or mission-critical applications. Experience with conventional software has shown that the use of good software engineering techniques and static analysis tools can greatly reduce the time needed for testing and simulation of a system. Since exhaustive testing is infeasible, reliability must be built into the software during the design and implementation phases. Unfortunately, many of the software engineering techniques and tools used for conventional software are of little use in the development of knowledge-based systems. Therefore, research at Langley is focused on developing a set of guidelines, methods, and prototype validation tools for building highly reliable, knowledge-based systems. The use of a comprehensive methodology for building highly reliable, knowledge-based systems should significantly decrease the time needed for testing and simulation. A proven record of delivering reliable systems at the beginning of the highly visible testing and simulation phases is crucial to the acceptance of knowledge-based systems in critical applications.

Beyond rules: The next generation of expert systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ferguson, Jay C.; Wagner, Robert E.

1987-01-01

The PARAGON Representation, Management, and Manipulation system is introduced. The concepts of knowledge representation, knowledge management, and knowledge manipulation are combined in a comprehensive system for solving real world problems requiring high levels of expertise in a real time environment. In most applications the complexity of the problem and the representation used to describe the domain knowledge tend to obscure the information from which solutions are derived. This inhibits the acquisition of domain knowledge verification/validation, places severe constraints on the ability to extend and maintain a knowledge base while making generic problem solving strategies difficult to develop. A unique hybrid system was developed to overcome these traditional limitations.

Using Purposefully Created Stories to Teach Academic Vocabulary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Changnam; Roberts, Carly; Coffey, Debra

2017-01-01

Students' knowledge of vocabulary affects their reading comprehension. Despite abundant research findings in vocabulary learning, practical instructional methods for use in schools are typically underdeveloped. This article proposes a research-based method for teaching the meanings of base academic vocabulary (i.e., Tier 2) words. The method…

Direct and mediated effects of language and cognitive skills on comprehension of oral narrative texts (listening comprehension) for children.

PubMed

Kim, Young-Suk Grace

2016-01-01

We investigated component language and cognitive skills of oral language comprehension of narrative texts (i.e., listening comprehension). Using the construction-integration model of text comprehension as an overarching theoretical framework, we examined direct and mediated relations of foundational cognitive skills (working memory and attention), foundational language skills (vocabulary and grammatical knowledge), and higher-order cognitive skills (inference, theory of mind, and comprehension monitoring) to listening comprehension. A total of 201 first grade children in South Korea participated in the study. Structural equation modeling results showed that listening comprehension is directly predicted by working memory, grammatical knowledge, inference, and theory of mind and is indirectly predicted by attention, vocabulary, and comprehension monitoring. The total effects were .46 for working memory, .07 for attention, .30 for vocabulary, .49 for grammatical knowledge, .31 for inference, .52 for theory of mind, and .18 for comprehension monitoring. These results suggest that multiple language and cognitive skills make contributions to listening comprehension, and their contributions are both direct and indirect. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The fallopian canal: a comprehensive review and proposal of a new classification.

PubMed

Mortazavi, M M; Latif, B; Verma, K; Adeeb, N; Deep, A; Griessenauer, C J; Tubbs, R S; Fukushima, T

2014-03-01

The facial nerve follows a complex course through the skull base. Understanding its anatomy is crucial during standard skull base approaches and resection of certain skull base tumors closely related to the nerve, especially, tumors at the cerebellopontine angle. Herein, we review the fallopian canal and its implications in surgical approaches to the skull base. Furthermore, we suggest a new classification. Based on the anatomy and literature, we propose that the meatal segment of the facial nerve be included as a component of the fallopian canal. A comprehensive knowledge of the course of the facial nerve is important to those who treat patients with pathology of or near this cranial nerve.

Ethnicity and HIV risk behaviour, testing and knowledge in Guatemala.

PubMed

Taylor, Tory M; Hembling, John; Bertrand, Jane T

2015-01-01

To describe levels of risky sexual behaviour, HIV testing and HIV knowledge among men and women in Guatemala by ethnic group and to identify adjusted associations between ethnicity and these outcomes. Data on 16,205 women aged 15-49 and 6822 men aged 15-59 from the 2008-2009 Encuesta Nacional de Salud Materno Infantil were used to describe ethnic group differences in sexual behaviour, HIV knowledge and testing. We then controlled for age, education, wealth and other socio-demographic factors in a multivariate logistic regression model to examine the effects of ethnicity on outcomes related to age at sexual debut, number of lifetime sex partners, comprehensive HIV knowledge, HIV testing and lifetime sex worker patronage (men only). The data show low levels of risky sexual behaviour and low levels of HIV knowledge among indigenous women and men, compared to other respondents. Controlling for demographic factors, indigenous women were more likely than other women never to have been tested for HIV and to lack comprehensive HIV knowledge. They were less likely to report early sexual debut and three or more lifetime sexual partners. Indigenous men were more likely than other men to lack comprehensive HIV knowledge and demonstrated lower odds of early sexual debut, 10 or more lifetime sexual partners and sex worker patronage. The Mayan indigenous population in Guatemala, while broadly socially vulnerable, does not appear to be at elevated risk for HIV based on this analysis of selected risk factors. Nonetheless, low rates of HIV knowledge and testing may be cause for concern. Programmes working in indigenous communities should focus on HIV education and reducing barriers to testing. Further research into the factors that underlie ethnic self-identity and perceived ethnicity could help clarify the relative significance of these measures for HIV risk and other health outcomes.

A Quantile Regression Approach to Understanding the Relations Between Morphological Awareness, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension in Adult Basic Education Students

PubMed Central

Tighe, Elizabeth L.; Schatschneider, Christopher

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the joint and unique contributions of morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge at five reading comprehension levels in Adult Basic Education (ABE) students. We introduce the statistical technique of multiple quantile regression, which enabled us to assess the predictive utility of morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge at multiple points (quantiles) along the continuous distribution of reading comprehension. To demonstrate the efficacy of our multiple quantile regression analysis, we compared and contrasted our results with a traditional multiple regression analytic approach. Our results indicated that morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge accounted for a large portion of the variance (82-95%) in reading comprehension skills across all quantiles. Morphological awareness exhibited the greatest unique predictive ability at lower levels of reading comprehension whereas vocabulary knowledge exhibited the greatest unique predictive ability at higher levels of reading comprehension. These results indicate the utility of using multiple quantile regression to assess trajectories of component skills across multiple levels of reading comprehension. The implications of our findings for ABE programs are discussed. PMID:25351773

Effect of a School-Based Intervention on Nutritional Knowledge and Habits of Low-Socioeconomic School Children in Israel: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Kaufman-Shriqui, Vered; Fraser, Drora; Friger, Michael; Geva, Dikla; Bilenko, Natalya; Vardi, Hillel; Elhadad, Naama; Mor, Karen; Feine, Zvi; Shahar, Danit R

2016-04-21

Early social and economic deprivation, associated with poor nutrition and physical inactivity, may lead to adverse health trajectories. A cluster-randomized controlled-trial examining the effect of a school-based comprehensive intervention on nutrition knowledge, eating habits, and behaviors among low socioeconomic status (LSES) school-aged children was performed. LSES school-aged children (4-7 years) and their mothers were recruited from 11 schools, located in one town. The intervention was implemented on three levels: children, mothers, and teachers. The intervention (IArm) included nutrition classes for children, mothers, and teachers and physical activity (PA) classes for children; the control (CArm) received PA only. Interventions were conducted by professional personnel, who were trained during in a two-day session to deliver the specific program in schools. Family data were obtained by parental interviews. Food knowledge observations, packed lunch records, and anthropometric measurements were obtained in school at baseline, six months, and at the end of the school year. Of 258 children enrolled, 220 (87.6%) completed the six-month program. Only children in the IArm improved their nutrition knowledge and eating-habits and increased food variety and fruit and vegetable consumption, quality score of packed lunches (p < 0.001 for all), habitual water drinking increased (p = 0.02), and decreased sweet-drink consumption (p = 0.05). A school-based comprehensive nutrition intervention targeting LSES population improved eating habits, nutritional knowledge, and healthier packed lunches.

Application of competency-based education in laparoscopic training.

PubMed

Xue, Dongbo; Bo, Hong; Zhang, Weihui; Zhao, Song; Meng, Xianzhi; Zhang, Donghua

2015-01-01

To induce competency-based education/developing a curriculum in the training of postgraduate students in laparoscopic surgery. This study selected postgraduate students before the implementation of competency-based education (n = 16) or after the implementation of competency-based education (n = 17). On the basis of the 5 competencies of patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, and professionalism, the research team created a developing a curriculum chart and specific improvement measures that were implemented in the competency-based education group. On the basis of the developing a curriculum chart, the assessment of the 5 comprehensive competencies using the 360° assessment method indicated that the competency-based education group's competencies were significantly improved compared with those of the traditional group (P < .05). The improvement in the comprehensive assessment was also significant compared with the traditional group (P < .05). The implementation of competency-based education/developing a curriculum teaching helps to improve the comprehensive competencies of postgraduate students and enables them to become qualified clinicians equipped to meet society's needs.

Multisyllabic Word Reading as a Moderator of Morphological Awareness and Reading Comprehension

PubMed Central

Gilbert, Jennifer K.; Goodwin, Amanda P.; Compton, Donald L.; Kearns, Devin M.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the relation between morphological awareness on reading comprehension is moderated by multisyllabic word reading ability in fifth grade students (N = 169, 53.7% female, 65.2% minority status, 69.2% free/reduced lunch status), oversampled for poor reading skill, when controlling for general knowledge and vocabulary. Based on the lexical quality hypothesis (Perfetti, 2007), it was expected that morphological awareness would have a stronger effect on comprehension for children with poor word reading skills, suggesting possible use of morphological awareness for word identification support. Results indicated that neither morphological awareness nor word reading was uniquely associated with reading comprehension when both were included in the model along with vocabulary and general knowledge. Instead, the interaction between word reading and morphological awareness explained significant additional variance in reading comprehension. By probing this interaction, it was determined that the effect of morphological awareness on reading comprehension was significant for the 39% of the sample that had more difficulty reading multisyllabic words), but not for students at the higher end of the multisyllabic word reading continuum. We conclude from these results that the relation between morphological awareness and reading comprehension is moderated by multisyllabic word reading ability, providing support for the lexical quality hypothesis (Perfetti, 2007). Although we have only correlational data, we suggest tentative instructional practices for improving the reading skill of upper elementary struggling readers. PMID:24219914

Using texts in science education: cognitive processes and knowledge representation.

PubMed

van den Broek, Paul

2010-04-23

Texts form a powerful tool in teaching concepts and principles in science. How do readers extract information from a text, and what are the limitations in this process? Central to comprehension of and learning from a text is the construction of a coherent mental representation that integrates the textual information and relevant background knowledge. This representation engenders learning if it expands the reader's existing knowledge base or if it corrects misconceptions in this knowledge base. The Landscape Model captures the reading process and the influences of reader characteristics (such as working-memory capacity, reading goal, prior knowledge, and inferential skills) and text characteristics (such as content/structure of presented information, processing demands, and textual cues). The model suggests factors that can optimize--or jeopardize--learning science from text.

Pre-Existing Background Knowledge Influences Socioeconomic Differences in Preschoolers' Word Learning and Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaefer, Tanya; Neuman, Susan B.; Pinkham, Ashley M.

2015-01-01

The goal of the current study is to explore the influence of knowledge on socioeconomic discrepancies in word learning and comprehension. After establishing socioeconomic differences in background knowledge (Study 1), the authors presented children with a storybook that incorporates this knowledge (Study 2). Results indicated that middle-income…

Modeling the Relations Among Morphological Awareness Dimensions, Vocabulary Knowledge, and Reading Comprehension in Adult Basic Education Students

PubMed Central

Tighe, Elizabeth L.; Schatschneider, Christopher

2016-01-01

This study extended the findings of Tighe and Schatschneider (2015) by investigating the predictive utility of separate dimensions of morphological awareness as well as vocabulary knowledge to reading comprehension in adult basic education (ABE) students. We competed two- and three-factor structural equation models of reading comprehension. A three-factor model of real word morphological awareness, pseudoword morphological awareness, and vocabulary knowledge emerged as the best fit and accounted for 79% of the reading comprehension variance. The results indicated that the constructs contributed jointly to reading comprehension; however, vocabulary knowledge was the only potentially unique predictor (p = 0.052), accounting for an additional 5.6% of the variance. This study demonstrates the feasibility of applying a latent variable modeling approach to examine individual differences in the reading comprehension skills of ABE students. Further, this study replicates the findings of Tighe and Schatschneider (2015) on the importance of differentiating among dimensions of morphological awareness in this population. PMID:26869981

Modeling the Relations Among Morphological Awareness Dimensions, Vocabulary Knowledge, and Reading Comprehension in Adult Basic Education Students.

PubMed

Tighe, Elizabeth L; Schatschneider, Christopher

2016-01-01

This study extended the findings of Tighe and Schatschneider (2015) by investigating the predictive utility of separate dimensions of morphological awareness as well as vocabulary knowledge to reading comprehension in adult basic education (ABE) students. We competed two- and three-factor structural equation models of reading comprehension. A three-factor model of real word morphological awareness, pseudoword morphological awareness, and vocabulary knowledge emerged as the best fit and accounted for 79% of the reading comprehension variance. The results indicated that the constructs contributed jointly to reading comprehension; however, vocabulary knowledge was the only potentially unique predictor (p = 0.052), accounting for an additional 5.6% of the variance. This study demonstrates the feasibility of applying a latent variable modeling approach to examine individual differences in the reading comprehension skills of ABE students. Further, this study replicates the findings of Tighe and Schatschneider (2015) on the importance of differentiating among dimensions of morphological awareness in this population.

Integrating movement in academic classrooms: understanding, applying and advancing the knowledge base.

PubMed

Webster, C A; Russ, L; Vazou, S; Goh, T L; Erwin, H

2015-08-01

In the context of comprehensive and coordinated approaches to school health, academic classrooms have gained attention as a promising setting for increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary time among children. The aims of this paper are to review the rationale and knowledge base related to movement integration in academic classrooms, consider the practical applications of current knowledge to interventions and teacher education, and suggest directions for future research. Specifically, this paper (i) situates movement integration amid policy and research related to children's health and the school as a health-promoting environment; (ii) highlights the benefits of movement integration; (iii) summarizes movement integration programs and interventions; (iv) examines factors associated with classroom teachers' movement integration; (v) offers strategies for translating research to practice and (vi) forwards recommendations for future inquiry related to the effectiveness and sustainability of efforts to integrate movement into classroom routines. This paper provides a comprehensive resource for developing state-of-the-art initiatives to maximize children's movement in academic classrooms as a key strategy for important goals in both education and public health. © 2015 World Obesity.

Pediatric skin care: what do nurses really know?

PubMed

Drake, Jennifer; Redfern, Wendi S; Sherburne, Eileen; Nugent, Melodee L; Simpson, Pippa

2012-10-01

The purpose of this study was to explore pediatric nurses' knowledge of pressure ulcer prevention, investigate their beliefs and practices, and identify the barriers and facilitators to providing evidence-based pressure ulcer preventive practices. An exploratory, descriptive, and cross-sectional survey was taken of registered nurses in a freestanding children's hospital. Nurses have adequate knowledge of general pressure ulcer prevention; however, they struggle with individualization. Further, analysis revealed that nursing knowledge did not always correlate with nursing practice. Nurses require education on individualized interventions and access to user-friendly, interactive, and comprehensive resources, including unit-based champions and order sets. © 2012, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A computational model for simulating text comprehension.

PubMed

Lemaire, Benoît; Denhière, Guy; Bellissens, Cédrick; Jhean-Larose, Sandra

2006-11-01

In the present article, we outline the architecture of a computer program for simulating the process by which humans comprehend texts. The program is based on psycholinguistic theories about human memory and text comprehension processes, such as the construction-integration model (Kintsch, 1998), the latent semantic analysis theory of knowledge representation (Landauer & Dumais, 1997), and the predication algorithms (Kintsch, 2001; Lemaire & Bianco, 2003), and it is intended to help psycholinguists investigate the way humans comprehend texts.

MVP-CA Methodology for the Expert System Advocate's Advisor (ESAA)

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-11-01

The Multi-Viewpoint Clustering Analysis (MVP-CA) tool is a semi-automated tool to provide a valuable aid for comprehension, verification, validation, maintenance, integration, and evolution of complex knowledge-based software systems. In this report,...

A Content Analysis of General Chemistry Laboratory Manuals for Evidence of Higher-Order Cognitive Tasks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domin, Daniel S.

1999-01-01

The science laboratory instructional environment is ideal for fostering the development of problem-solving, manipulative, and higher-order thinking skills: the skills needed by today's learner to compete in an ever increasing technology-based society. This paper reports the results of a content analysis of ten general chemistry laboratory manuals. Three experiments from each manual were examined for evidence of higher-order cognitive activities. Analysis was based upon the six major cognitive categories of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The results of this study show that the overwhelming majority of general chemistry laboratory manuals provide tasks that require the use of only the lower-order cognitive skills: knowledge, comprehension, and application. Two of the laboratory manuals were disparate in having activities that utilized higher-order cognition. I describe the instructional strategies used within these manuals to foster higher-order cognitive development.

How Word Decoding, Vocabulary and Prior Topic Knowledge Predict Reading Comprehension. A Study of Language-Minority Students in Norwegian Fifth Grade Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rydland, Veslemoy; Aukrust, Vibeke Grover; Fulland, Helene

2012-01-01

This study examined the contribution of word decoding, first-language (L1) and second-language (L2) vocabulary and prior topic knowledge to L2 reading comprehension. For measuring reading comprehension we employed two different reading tasks: Woodcock Passage Comprehension and a researcher-developed content-area reading assignment (the Global…

Support for comprehensive reuse

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Basili, V. R.; Rombach, H. D.

1991-01-01

Reuse of products, processes, and other knowledge will be the key to enable the software industry to achieve the dramatic improvement in productivity and quality required to satisfy the anticipated growing demands. Although experience shows that certain kinds of reuse can be successful, general success has been elusive. A software life-cycle technology which allows comprehensive reuse of all kinds of software-related experience could provide the means to achieving the desired order-of-magnitude improvements. A comprehensive framework of models, model-based characterization schemes, and support mechanisms for better understanding, evaluating, planning, and supporting all aspects of reuse are introduced.

The Relation of Morphological Awareness and Syntactic Awareness to Adults' Reading Comprehension: Is Vocabulary Knowledge a Mediating Variable?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guo, Ying; Roehrig, Alysia D.; Williams, Rihana S.

2011-01-01

The authors' goal was to examine the structural relationships among vocabulary knowledge, morphological awareness, syntactic awareness, and reading comprehension in English-speaking adults. Structural equation analysis of data collected from 151 participants revealed that morphological awareness affected reading comprehension directly. Syntactic…

Examining Listening Previewing as a Classwide Strategy to Promote Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawkins, Renee O.; Musti-Rao, Shobana; Hale, Andrea D.; McGuire, Shannon; Hailley, Jennifer

2010-01-01

Classwide instructional strategies to improve not only reading fluency but also comprehension and vocabulary knowledge are essential for student reading success. The current study examined the immediate effects of two classwide listening previewing strategies on reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. Twenty-one, fourth-grade general…

Improving Content Knowledge and Comprehension for English Language Learners: Findings from a Randomized Control Trial

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaughn, Sharon; Martinez, Leticia R.; Wanzek, Jeanne; Roberts, Greg; Swanson, Elizabeth; Fall, Anna-Mária

2017-01-01

Supporting the reading comprehension and content knowledge acquisition of English language learners (ELs) requires instructional practices that continue beyond developing the foundational skills of reading. In particular, the challenges ELs face highlight the importance of teaching reading comprehension practices in the middle grades through…

Comprehensible knowledge model creation for cancer treatment decision making.

PubMed

Afzal, Muhammad; Hussain, Maqbool; Ali Khan, Wajahat; Ali, Taqdir; Lee, Sungyoung; Huh, Eui-Nam; Farooq Ahmad, Hafiz; Jamshed, Arif; Iqbal, Hassan; Irfan, Muhammad; Abbas Hydari, Manzar

2017-03-01

A wealth of clinical data exists in clinical documents in the form of electronic health records (EHRs). This data can be used for developing knowledge-based recommendation systems that can assist clinicians in clinical decision making and education. One of the big hurdles in developing such systems is the lack of automated mechanisms for knowledge acquisition to enable and educate clinicians in informed decision making. An automated knowledge acquisition methodology with a comprehensible knowledge model for cancer treatment (CKM-CT) is proposed. With the CKM-CT, clinical data are acquired automatically from documents. Quality of data is ensured by correcting errors and transforming various formats into a standard data format. Data preprocessing involves dimensionality reduction and missing value imputation. Predictive algorithm selection is performed on the basis of the ranking score of the weighted sum model. The knowledge builder prepares knowledge for knowledge-based services: clinical decisions and education support. Data is acquired from 13,788 head and neck cancer (HNC) documents for 3447 patients, including 1526 patients of the oral cavity site. In the data quality task, 160 staging values are corrected. In the preprocessing task, 20 attributes and 106 records are eliminated from the dataset. The Classification and Regression Trees (CRT) algorithm is selected and provides 69.0% classification accuracy in predicting HNC treatment plans, consisting of 11 decision paths that yield 11 decision rules. Our proposed methodology, CKM-CT, is helpful to find hidden knowledge in clinical documents. In CKM-CT, the prediction models are developed to assist and educate clinicians for informed decision making. The proposed methodology is generalizable to apply to data of other domains such as breast cancer with a similar objective to assist clinicians in decision making and education. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The impact of a comprehensive course in advanced minimal access surgery on surgeon practice

PubMed Central

Birch MD, Daniel W.; MD, Cliff Sample; MD, Rohit Gupta

2007-01-01

Introduction Practising surgeons need an effective means for learning new skills and procedures in advanced minimal access surgery (MASA). Currently, available educational methods include traditional continuing medical education symposia (1-day courses), instructional videos, mentoring, or comprehensive courses that combine lectures, skills laboratories and live surgery. The impact of comprehensive courses in advanced MASA on surgeons' knowledge, skills and practice has not been clearly established. Methods We completed a survey of all physicians who attended comprehensive courses in advanced gastrointestinal MASA held at the Centre for Minimal Access Surgery (CMAS) in Hamilton, Ont. Results Of 158 course attendees, we received 65 responses (response rate 41%). Fifty-sex men and 9 women responded, with a mean age of 44.9 years and a mean practice duration of 12.3 years. Eighty-seven percent of respondents were community-based surgeons. As a result of attending CMAS courses, respondents felt they experienced a substantial improvement in the knowledge and skills required to complete MASA. After a comprehensive course at CMAS, most respondents reported that they had introduced MASA procedures into their practice. The mean overall impact of a course on a surgeon's practice (with respect to patient referrals, procedural armamentarium and personal satisfaction) was rated by respondents at 3.92 (standard deviation [SD] 0.71; Likert scale 1–5, 1=negative, 5=positive). Conclusions A comprehensive course in advanced MASA has a positive impact on attendees' knowledge and skills. Ultimately, surgeons attending MASA courses will begin to introduce new MASA procedures into surgical practice. These courses have a distinct role in the teaching of MASA to surgeons in practice. PMID:17391609

Knowledge representation and management enabling intelligent interoperability - principles and standards.

PubMed

Blobel, Bernd

2013-01-01

Based on the paradigm changes for health, health services and underlying technologies as well as the need for at best comprehensive and increasingly automated interoperability, the paper addresses the challenge of knowledge representation and management for medical decision support. After introducing related definitions, a system-theoretical, architecture-centric approach to decision support systems (DSSs) and appropriate ways for representing them using systems of ontologies is given. Finally, existing and emerging knowledge representation and management standards are presented. The paper focuses on the knowledge representation and management part of DSSs, excluding the reasoning part from consideration.

Generalized event knowledge activation during online sentence comprehension

PubMed Central

Metusalem, Ross; Kutas, Marta; Urbach, Thomas P.; Hare, Mary; McRae, Ken; Elman, Jeffrey L.

2012-01-01

Recent research has demonstrated that knowledge of real-world eventsplays an important role inguiding online language comprehension. The present study addresses the scope of event knowledge activation during the course of comprehension, specifically investigating whether activation is limited to those knowledge elements that align with the local linguistic context.The present study addresses this issue by analyzing event-related brain potentials (ERPs) recorded as participants read brief scenariosdescribing typical real-world events. Experiment 1 demonstratesthat a contextually anomalous word elicits a reduced N400 if it is generally related to the described event, even when controlling for the degree of association of this word with individual words in the preceding context and with the expected continuation. Experiment 2 shows that this effect disappears when the discourse context is removed.These findings demonstrate that during the course of incremental comprehension, comprehenders activate general knowledge about the described event, even at points at which this knowledge would constitute an anomalous continuation of the linguistic stream. Generalized event knowledge activationcontributes to mental representations of described events, is immediately available to influence language processing, and likely drives linguistic expectancy generation. PMID:22711976

Children's Comprehension of Object Relative Sentences: It's Extant Language Knowledge That Matters, Not Domain-General Working Memory.

PubMed

Rusli, Yazmin Ahmad; Montgomery, James W

2017-10-17

The aim of this study was to determine whether extant language (lexical) knowledge or domain-general working memory is the better predictor of comprehension of object relative sentences for children with typical development. We hypothesized that extant language knowledge, not domain-general working memory, is the better predictor. Fifty-three children (ages 9-11 years) completed a word-level verbal working-memory task, indexing extant language (lexical) knowledge; an analog nonverbal working-memory task, representing domain-general working memory; and a hybrid sentence comprehension task incorporating elements of both agent selection and cross-modal picture-priming paradigms. Images of the agent and patient were displayed at the syntactic gap in the object relative sentences, and the children were asked to select the agent of the sentence. Results of general linear modeling revealed that extant language knowledge accounted for a unique 21.3% of variance in the children's object relative sentence comprehension over and above age (8.3%). Domain-general working memory accounted for a nonsignificant 1.6% of variance. We interpret the results to suggest that extant language knowledge and not domain-general working memory is a critically important contributor to children's object relative sentence comprehension. Results support a connectionist view of the association between working memory and object relative sentence comprehension. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5404573.

A dynamic developmental link between verbal comprehension-knowledge (Gc) and reading comprehension: verbal comprehension-knowledge drives positive change in reading comprehension.

PubMed

Reynolds, Matthew R; Turek, Joshua J

2012-12-01

Intelligence and general academic achievement have a well-established relation, but the interrelated development of the two constructs over time is less well-known. In this study, the dynamic developmental relation between verbal comprehension-knowledge (Gc) and reading comprehension was examined by applying bivariate dual change score models (McArdle, 2009) to longitudinal data collected from children aged 9 through 15 who were part of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD). A unidirectional dynamic link was found in which higher levels of prior Gc led to increased positive change in reading comprehension scores. This unidirectional link was not altered by including intelligence measured at 24-months, SES, sex, basic reading, and reading volume as time-invariant covariates. Gc is a leading indicator of reading comprehension and should be considered when developing and monitoring long-term reading comprehension interventions for children. Copyright © 2012 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Quantile Regression Approach to Understanding the Relations Among Morphological Awareness, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension in Adult Basic Education Students.

PubMed

Tighe, Elizabeth L; Schatschneider, Christopher

2016-07-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the joint and unique contributions of morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge at five reading comprehension levels in adult basic education (ABE) students. We introduce the statistical technique of multiple quantile regression, which enabled us to assess the predictive utility of morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge at multiple points (quantiles) along the continuous distribution of reading comprehension. To demonstrate the efficacy of our multiple quantile regression analysis, we compared and contrasted our results with a traditional multiple regression analytic approach. Our results indicated that morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge accounted for a large portion of the variance (82%-95%) in reading comprehension skills across all quantiles. Morphological awareness exhibited the greatest unique predictive ability at lower levels of reading comprehension whereas vocabulary knowledge exhibited the greatest unique predictive ability at higher levels of reading comprehension. These results indicate the utility of using multiple quantile regression to assess trajectories of component skills across multiple levels of reading comprehension. The implications of our findings for ABE programs are discussed. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2014.

Cognitive assessment and health education in children from two different cultures.

PubMed

Sivaramakrishnan, M; Arocha, J F; Patel, V L

1998-09-01

This paper presents research aimed at investigating high level comprehension and problem solving processes in children in two different countries, India and Colombia. To this end, we use a series of health-related cognitive tasks as assessment tools. In one study, we also examine children's performance on these cognitive tasks, in relation to their nutritional status and parasitic load. The ages of the children tested ranged from 2 through 14 years. The tasks were designed to assess comprehension of sequences, organization of concepts, understanding of health routines (hygiene practices) and evaluation of hypothesis and evidence. The results show that children approach the different tasks with a baggage of beliefs and local knowledge of the world which determines their reasoning process, their comprehension and their problems solving. The results are discussed in terms of cognitive assessment approaches, as applied to classroom instruction. Given that children construct their understanding of reality based on what they already know and that education does not take this into account, we recommend that assessment tools should be devised that can tap prior knowledge and understanding, such that this can be analyzed and understood in relation to knowledge taught in the classroom. Current educational assessment fails in such an endeavor.

Educating Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Research-Based Principles and Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zager, Dianne, Ed.; Wehmeyer, Michael L., Ed.; Simpson, Richard L., Ed.

2011-01-01

Similar to a handbook in its comprehensive description of the theory and research supporting current practices in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders, this interdisciplinary text shows how the existing knowledge base can be used to explore promising new possibilities related to the field's many unanswered questions. This book is appropriate…

The substantative knowledge base for travel and tourism: a systems model

Treesearch

David S. Solan

1992-01-01

Strategies for education and professional preparation in travel and tourism have generally been based in traditional tourism-related disciplines providing somewhat narrow perspectives of the tourism phenomenon. The need exists for models that provide comprehensive, holistic perspectives of travel and tourism. This paper presents one such systems model showing that...

Child and Adolescent Suicidal Behavior: School-Based Prevention, Assessment, and Intervention. Practical Intervention in the Schools Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, David N.

2011-01-01

Meeting a crucial need, this book distills the best current knowledge on child and adolescent suicide prevention into comprehensive guidelines for school-based practitioners. The author draws on extensive research and clinical experience to provide best-practice recommendations for developing schoolwide prevention programs, conducting risk…

Word Knowledge in a Theory of Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Perfetti, Charles; Stafura, Joseph

2014-01-01

We reintroduce a wide-angle view of reading comprehension, the Reading Systems Framework, which places word knowledge in the center of the picture, taking into account the progress made in comprehension research and theory. Within this framework, word-to-text integration processes can serve as a model for the study of local comprehension…

Vocabulary and Syntactic Knowledge Factors in 5th Grade Students' Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mokhtari, Kouider; Niederhauser, Dale S.

2013-01-01

In this study, we examined 5th grade students' levels of vocabulary knowledge and syntactic awareness relative to their reading comprehension performance. The aim was to explore the contributions of vocabulary and syntactic awareness as potential sources of reading comprehension difficulty for these readers. Overall, we found that both vocabulary…

First- and Second-Grade Urban Students' Path to Comprehension Strategy Use: A Practitioner's Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pilonieta, Paola

2017-01-01

This study seeks to explain what first- and second-grade African American, urban students who participated in an explicit comprehension strategy instruction (ECSI) program learned about comprehension strategies and how this knowledge supports self-regulated strategy use. The study was also designed to compare these students' knowledge with those…

Efficacy of a web-based intelligent tutoring system for communicating genetic risk of breast cancer: a fuzzy-trace theory approach.

PubMed

Wolfe, Christopher R; Reyna, Valerie F; Widmer, Colin L; Cedillos, Elizabeth M; Fisher, Christopher R; Brust-Renck, Priscila G; Weil, Audrey M

2015-01-01

. Many healthy women consider genetic testing for breast cancer risk, yet BRCA testing issues are complex. . To determine whether an intelligent tutor, BRCA Gist, grounded in fuzzy-trace theory (FTT), increases gist comprehension and knowledge about genetic testing for breast cancer risk, improving decision making. . In 2 experiments, 410 healthy undergraduate women were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: an online module using a Web-based tutoring system (BRCA Gist) that uses artificial intelligence technology, a second group read highly similar content from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Web site, and a third that completed an unrelated tutorial. . BRCA Gist applied FTT and was designed to help participants develop gist comprehension of topics relevant to decisions about BRCA genetic testing, including how breast cancer spreads, inherited genetic mutations, and base rates. . We measured content knowledge, gist comprehension of decision-relevant information, interest in testing, and genetic risk and testing judgments. . Control knowledge scores ranged from 54% to 56%, NCI improved significantly to 65% and 70%, and BRCA Gist improved significantly more to 75% and 77%, P < 0.0001. BRCA Gist scored higher on gist comprehension than NCI and control, P < 0.0001. Control genetic risk-assessment mean was 48% correct; BRCA Gist (61%) and NCI (56%) were significantly higher, P < 0.0001. BRCA Gist participants recommended less testing for women without risk factors (not good candidates; 24% and 19%) than controls (50%, both experiments) and NCI (32%), experiment 2, P < 0.0001. BRCA Gist testing interest was lower than in controls, P < 0.0001. . BRCA Gist has not been tested with older women from diverse groups. . Intelligent tutors, such as BRCA Gist, are scalable, cost-effective ways of helping people understand complex issues, improving decision making. © The Author(s) 2014.

Reading comprehension skills of young adults with childhood diagnoses of dyslexia.

PubMed

Ransby, Marilyn J; Swanson, H Lee

2003-01-01

This study explores the contribution of cognitive processes to comprehension skills in adults who suffered from childhood developmental dyslexia (CD). The performance of adults with CD (ages 17 to 23), chronological age-matched (CA) adults, and reading level-matched (RL) children was compared on measures of phonological processing, naming speed, working memory (WM), general knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension. The results showed that adults with CD scored lower on measures of phonological processing, naming speed, WM, general knowledge, and vocabulary when compared to CA readers but were comparable to RL children on the majority of process measures. Phonological processing, naming speed, vocabulary, general knowledge, and listening comprehension contributed independent variance to reading comprehension accuracy, whereas WM, intelligence, phonological processing, and listening comprehension contributed independent variance to comprehension fluency. Adults with CD scored lower than CA adults and higher than RL children on measures of lexical processing, WM, and listening comprehension when word recognition and intelligence were partialed from the analysis. In summary, constraints in phonological processing and naming speed mediate only some of the influence of high-order processes on reading comprehension. Furthermore, adults with CD experience difficulties in WM, listening comprehension, and vocabulary independently of their word recognition problems and intellectual ability.

Language and cognitive predictors of text comprehension: evidence from multivariate analysis.

PubMed

Kim, Young-Suk

2015-01-01

Using data from children in South Korea (N = 145, Mage = 6.08), it was determined how low-level language and cognitive skills (vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, and working memory) and high-level cognitive skills (comprehension monitoring and theory of mind [ToM]) are related to listening comprehension and whether listening comprehension and word reading mediate the relations of language and cognitive skills to reading comprehension. Low-level skills predicted comprehension monitoring and ToM, which in turn predicted listening comprehension. Vocabulary and syntactic knowledge were also directly related to listening comprehension, whereas working memory was indirectly related via comprehension monitoring and ToM. Listening comprehension and word reading completely mediated the relations of language and cognitive skills to reading comprehension. © 2014 The Author. Child Development © 2014 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Comprehension of presuppositions in school-age Cantonese-speaking children with and without autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Cheung, Candice Chi-Hang; Politzer-Ahles, Stephen; Hwang, Heeju; Chui, Ronald Lung Yat; Leung, Man Tak; Tang, Tempo Po Yi

2017-01-01

While an enormous amount of research has been done on the deficient conversation skills in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), little is known about their performance on presuppositions, a domain of knowledge that is crucial for successful communication. This study investigated the comprehension of four types of presupposition, namely existential, factive, lexical and structural presuppositions, in school-age Cantonese-speaking children with and without ASD. A group of children with ASD (n = 21), mean age 8.8, was compared with a group of typically developing children (n = 106). Knowledge of presuppositions was evaluated based on children's ability to judge whether a given utterance was a correct presupposition of a preceding utterance. Children with ASD were found to show a deficit in the comprehension of presuppositions, even after controlling for differences in general language ability and non-verbal intelligence. The relative difficulty of the four types of presupposition did not differ between the two groups of children. The present findings provide new empirical evidence that children with ASD have a deficit in the comprehension of presuppositions. Future research should explore whether the deficit in the comprehension of presuppositions is related to the development of theory of mind skills in children with ASD.

Knowledge Operation Capability Evaluation Model and Strategic Orientation of Supply Chain: Exploratory Research Based on View of Ecology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Wen-Yong; Song, Ze-Qian

The competitiveness of Supply Chain (SC) correlates intimately with its knowledge operation (KO). In order to realize better assessment value, this paper constructed an evaluation framework on knowledge operation of SC and a detailed index system. According to theory of ecology, expounded the evaluation orientation and future research direction from view of comprehensiveness and adaptability. Additionally, a case about Toyota recall-gate was analyzed. Through research, it provides two dimensions of results evaluating orientation which may help enterprise make right decision upon SC.

A protein relational database and protein family knowledge bases to facilitate structure-based design analyses.

PubMed

Mobilio, Dominick; Walker, Gary; Brooijmans, Natasja; Nilakantan, Ramaswamy; Denny, R Aldrin; Dejoannis, Jason; Feyfant, Eric; Kowticwar, Rupesh K; Mankala, Jyoti; Palli, Satish; Punyamantula, Sairam; Tatipally, Maneesh; John, Reji K; Humblet, Christine

2010-08-01

The Protein Data Bank is the most comprehensive source of experimental macromolecular structures. It can, however, be difficult at times to locate relevant structures with the Protein Data Bank search interface. This is particularly true when searching for complexes containing specific interactions between protein and ligand atoms. Moreover, searching within a family of proteins can be tedious. For example, one cannot search for some conserved residue as residue numbers vary across structures. We describe herein three databases, Protein Relational Database, Kinase Knowledge Base, and Matrix Metalloproteinase Knowledge Base, containing protein structures from the Protein Data Bank. In Protein Relational Database, atom-atom distances between protein and ligand have been precalculated allowing for millisecond retrieval based on atom identity and distance constraints. Ring centroids, centroid-centroid and centroid-atom distances and angles have also been included permitting queries for pi-stacking interactions and other structural motifs involving rings. Other geometric features can be searched through the inclusion of residue pair and triplet distances. In Kinase Knowledge Base and Matrix Metalloproteinase Knowledge Base, the catalytic domains have been aligned into common residue numbering schemes. Thus, by searching across Protein Relational Database and Kinase Knowledge Base, one can easily retrieve structures wherein, for example, a ligand of interest is making contact with the gatekeeper residue.

Formalization and Interaction: Toward a Comprehensive History of Technology-Related Knowledge in Early Modern Europe.

PubMed

Popplow, Marcus

2015-12-01

Recent critical approaches to what has conventionally been described as "scientific" and "technical" knowledge in early modern Europe have provided a wealth of new insights. So far, the various analytical concepts suggested by these studies have not yet been comprehensively discussed. The present essay argues that such comprehensive approaches might prove of special value for long-term and cross-cultural reflections on technology-related knowledge. As heuristic tools, the notions of "formalization" and "interaction" are proposed as part of alternative narratives to those highlighting the emergence of "science" as the most relevant development for technology-related knowledge in early modern Europe.

Relations among Personal Initiative and the Development of Reading Strategy Knowledge and Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warner, Greta J.; Fay, Doris; Spörer, Nadine

2017-01-01

Reading comprehension is a self-regulated activity that depends on the proactive effort of the reader. Therefore, the authors studied the effects of personal initiative (PI) on the development of reading comprehension, mediated by reading strategy knowledge. Structural equation modelling was applied to a longitudinal study with two data waves…

How Adolescents Comprehend Unfamiliar Proverbs: The Role of Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nippold, Marilyn A.; Allen, Melissa M.; Kirsch, Dixon I.

2000-01-01

Relationships between word knowledge and proverb comprehension was examined in 150 typically achieving adolescents (ages 12, 15, and 18). Word knowledge was associated with proverb comprehension in all groups, particularly in the case of abstract proverbs. Results support a model of proverb comprehension in adolescents that includes bottom-up in…

From Words to Text: Inference Making Mediates the Role of Vocabulary in Children's Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daugaard, Hanne Trebbien; Cain, Kate; Elbro, Carsten

2017-01-01

We examined the relationship between inference making, vocabulary knowledge, and verbal working memory on children's reading comprehension in 62 6th graders (aged 12). The effect of vocabulary knowledge on reading comprehension was predicted to be partly mediated by inference making for two reasons: Inference making often taps the semantic…

Application of Competency-Based Education in Laparoscopic Training

PubMed Central

Xue, Dongbo; Bo, Hong; Zhao, Song; Meng, Xianzhi

2015-01-01

Background and Objectives: To induce competency-based education/developing a curriculum in the training of postgraduate students in laparoscopic surgery. Methods: This study selected postgraduate students before the implementation of competency-based education (n = 16) or after the implementation of competency-based education (n = 17). On the basis of the 5 competencies of patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, and professionalism, the research team created a developing a curriculum chart and specific improvement measures that were implemented in the competency-based education group. Results: On the basis of the developing a curriculum chart, the assessment of the 5 comprehensive competencies using the 360° assessment method indicated that the competency-based education group's competencies were significantly improved compared with those of the traditional group (P < .05). The improvement in the comprehensive assessment was also significant compared with the traditional group (P < .05). Conclusion: The implementation of competency-based education/developing a curriculum teaching helps to improve the comprehensive competencies of postgraduate students and enables them to become qualified clinicians equipped to meet society's needs. PMID:25901105

Evaluating the Role of Polysemous Word Knowledge in Reading Comprehension among Bilingual Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Logan, J. Kenneth; Kieffer, Michael J.

2017-01-01

This study reports on the development of an assessment to measure bilingual adolescents' knowledge of polysemous vocabulary and explores the contribution of polysemous word knowledge to reading comprehension among those students. Spanish-English bilingual students in seventh grade (n = 107) completed a battery of standardized reading and language…

Roles of General versus Second Language (L2) Knowledge in L2 Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guo, Ying; Roehrig, Alysia D.

2011-01-01

We examined the roles of metacognitive awareness of reading strategies, syntactic awareness in English, and English vocabulary knowledge in the English reading comprehension of Chinese-speaking university students (n = 278). Results suggested a two-factor model of a General Reading Knowledge factor (metacognitive awareness employed during the…

The Role of Receptive Vocabulary Knowledge in Advanced EFL Listening Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atas, Ufuk

2018-01-01

This paper presents an empirical study that investigates the role of vocabulary knowledge in listening comprehension with 33 advanced Turkish learners of English as a foreign language. The Vocabulary Levels Test (Schmitt, Schmitt & Clapham, 2001) is used to measure the vocabulary knowledge of the participants and a standardized listening test…

Undergraduate Nursing Students' Understandings of Mental Health: A Review of the Literature.

PubMed

Barry, Sinead; Ward, Louise

2017-02-01

The purpose of this literature review was to identify research and current literature surrounding nursing students' understandings of mental health. The aim is to share findings from an extensive international and national literature review exploring undergraduate nurse education specific to mental health content. Data were collected utilising a comprehensive search of electronic databases including CINAHL (EBSCO), MEDLINE, and PsycINFO 1987-(Ovid) from 2008 to 2016. The initial search terms were altered to include undergraduate, mental health, nursing, education, experience, and knowledge. Three content themes emerged which included: 1. Undergraduate nursing students' knowledge has been considered compromised due to concerns relating to the variation and inconsistencies within the comprehensive nursing curriculums representation of mental health, 2. Undergraduate nursing students knowledge of mental health is thought to be compromised due to the quality of mental health theoretical and experiential learning opportunities, and 3. Research indicates that nursing students' knowledge of mental health was influenced by their experience of undertaking mental health content. Based on these findings greater consideration of students' understandings of mental health is required.

Knowledge-based and model-based hybrid methodology for comprehensive waste minimization in electroplating plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Keqin

1999-11-01

The electroplating industry of over 10,000 planting plants nationwide is one of the major waste generators in the industry. Large quantities of wastewater, spent solvents, spent process solutions, and sludge are the major wastes generated daily in plants, which costs the industry tremendously for waste treatment and disposal and hinders the further development of the industry. It becomes, therefore, an urgent need for the industry to identify technically most effective and economically most attractive methodologies and technologies to minimize the waste, while the production competitiveness can be still maintained. This dissertation aims at developing a novel WM methodology using artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, and fundamental knowledge in chemical engineering, and an intelligent decision support tool. The WM methodology consists of two parts: the heuristic knowledge-based qualitative WM decision analysis and support methodology and fundamental knowledge-based quantitative process analysis methodology for waste reduction. In the former, a large number of WM strategies are represented as fuzzy rules. This becomes the main part of the knowledge base in the decision support tool, WMEP-Advisor. In the latter, various first-principles-based process dynamic models are developed. These models can characterize all three major types of operations in an electroplating plant, i.e., cleaning, rinsing, and plating. This development allows us to perform a thorough process analysis on bath efficiency, chemical consumption, wastewater generation, sludge generation, etc. Additional models are developed for quantifying drag-out and evaporation that are critical for waste reduction. The models are validated through numerous industrial experiments in a typical plating line of an industrial partner. The unique contribution of this research is that it is the first time for the electroplating industry to (i) use systematically available WM strategies, (ii) know quantitatively and accurately what is going on in each tank, and (iii) identify all WM opportunities through process improvement. This work has formed a solid foundation for the further development of powerful WM technologies for comprehensive WM in the following decade.

Improving reading in the primary grades.

PubMed

Duke, Nell K; Block, Meghan K

2012-01-01

Almost fifteen years have passed since the publication of the National Research Council's seminal report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, which provided research-based recommendations on what could be done to better position students in prekindergarten through third grade for success in grade four and above. This article by Nell Duke and Meghan Block first examines whether specific key recommendations from the report have been implemented in U.S. classrooms. They find that recommendations regarding increased access to kindergarten and greater attention to and improvement of students' word-reading skills have been widely adopted. Others have not. Vocabulary and comprehension, long neglected in the primary grades, still appear to be neglected. Contrary to the report's recommendations, attention to building conceptual and content knowledge in science and social studies has actually decreased in the past fifteen years. In other words, the easier-to-master skills are being attended to, but the broader domains of accomplishment that constitute preparation for comprehension and learning in the later grades--vocabulary knowledge, comprehension strategy use, and conceptual and content knowledge--are being neglected. Near stagnation in fourth-grade students' comprehension achievement is thus unsurprising. The authors then turn to research and reviews of research on improving primary-grade reading published since 1998, when Preventing Reading Difficulties was issued. They discuss several instructional approaches identified as effective in improving word-reading skill, vocabulary and conceptual knowledge, comprehension strategies, and reading outside of school; they discuss advances in interventions for struggling readers, and in whole-school literacy reform. Duke and Block then identify three key obstacles that have prevented widespread adoption of these best practices in teaching reading. The first obstacle is a short-term orientation toward instruction and instructional reform that perpetuates a focus on the easier-to-learn reading skills at the expense of vocabulary, conceptual and content knowledge, and reading comprehension strategies. The second is a lack of expertise among many educators in how to effectively teach these harder-to-master reading skills, and the third is the limited time available in the school day and year to meet unprecedented expectations for children's learning. Policy makers, the education community, and parents must attend to these three challenges if they wish to see meaningful improvements in the reading skills of American children.

Training of Healthcare Personnel to Improve Performance of Community-Based Antenatal Care Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohnishi, Mayumi; Nakamura, Keiko; Takano, Takehito

2007-01-01

Background: The present study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of a training course designed to improve the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of healthcare personnel to allow them to provide a comprehensive community-based antenatal care (ANC) program in rural Paraguay. Methods: Sixty-eight of 110 healthcare personnel in the Caazapa…

On-Line Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management: Using Learning Outcome Statements To Design Projects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pettijohn, James B.; Ragan, Gay A.; Ragan, Kent P.

2003-01-01

Describes an Internet-based project to familiarize students with online investment analysis and stock portfolio management. Outlines a process for writing learning outcomes that address three levels of cognition: knowledge/comprehension, application/analysis, and synthesis/evaluation. (SK)

Development of a Comprehensive Heart Disease Knowledge Questionnaire

PubMed Central

Bergman, Hannah E.; Reeve, Bryce B.; Moser, Richard P.; Scholl, Sarah; Klein, William M. P.

2011-01-01

Background Heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women in the United States, yet a comprehensive and evidence-based heart disease knowledge assessment is currently not available. Purpose This paper describes the 2 phase development of a novel heart disease knowledge questionnaire. Methods After review and critique of the existing literature, a questionnaire addressing 5 central domains of heart disease knowledge was constructed. In Phase I, 606 undergraduates completed a 82-item questionnaire. In Phase II, 248 undergraduates completed a revised 74-item questionnaire. In both phases, item clarity and difficulty were evaluated, along with the overall factor structure of the scale. Results Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to reduce the scale to 30 items with fit statistics, CFI = .82, TLI = .88, and RMSEA = .03. Scores were correlated moderately positively with an existing scale and weakly positively with a measure of health literacy, thereby establishing both convergent and divergent validity. Discussion The finalized 30-item questionnaire is a concise, yet discriminating instrument that reliably measures participants' heart disease knowledge levels. Translation to Health Education Practice Health professionals can use this scale to assess their patients' heart disease knowledge so that they can create a tailored program to help their patients reduce their heart disease risk. PMID:21720571

Pharmaceutical knowledge governance: a human rights perspective.

PubMed

Lemmens, Trudo

2013-01-01

Industry control over the production and distribution of pharmaceutical safety and efficacy data has become a serious public health and health care funding concern. Various recent scandals, several involving the use of flawed representations of scientific data in the most influential medical journals, highlight the urgency of enhancing pharmaceutical knowledge governance. This paper analyzes why this is a human rights concern and what difference a human rights analysis can make. The paper first identifies the challenges associated with the current knowledge deficit. It then discusses, based on an analysis of case law, how various human rights associated interests can be invoked to support the claim that states have an obligation to actively contribute to independent knowledge governance, for example through ensuring clinical trials transparency. The paper further discusses a conceptual use of human rights, as a methodology which requires a comprehensive analysis of the different interwoven historical, economic, cultural, and social factors that contribute to the problem. Such an analysis reveals that historically grown drug regulations have, in fact, contributed directly to industry control over pharmaceutical knowledge production. This type of finding should inform needed reforms of drug regulation. The paper ends with a recommendation for a comprehensive global response to the problem of pharmaceutical knowledge governance. © 2013 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

FL/SL Reading Comprehension Knowledge and Attitudes of Post-graduate Students at the University of Exeter, UK

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahmed, Abdelhamid Mohamed Abdelhamid

2007-01-01

Background: There is limited research on the FL/SL reading comprehension of Non-native speakers of English at the post-graduate level at university. Purpose: This study investigated the knowledge of and the attitude towards FL/SL reading comprehension through (1) the effect of (a) post-graduate specialization, and (b) nationality, (2) the…

Inter-level Scaffolding and Sequences of Representational Activities in Teaching a Chemical System with Graphical Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Na; Black, John B.

2016-10-01

Chemistry knowledge can be represented at macro-, micro- and symbolic levels, and learning a chemistry topic requires students to engage in multiple representational activities. This study focused on scaffolding for inter-level connection-making in learning chemistry knowledge with graphical simulations. We also tested whether different sequences of representational activities produced different student learning outcomes in learning a chemistry topic. A sample of 129 seventh graders participated in this study. In a simulation-based environment, participants completed three representational activities to learn several ideal gas law concepts. We conducted a 2 × 3 factorial design experiment. We compared two scaffolding conditions: (1) the inter- level scaffolding condition in which participants received inter-level questions and experienced the dynamic link function in the simulation-based environment and (2) the intra- level scaffolding condition in which participants received intra-level questions and did not experience the dynamic link function. We also compared three different sequences of representational activities: macro-symbolic-micro, micro-symbolic-macro and symbolic-micro-macro. For the scaffolding variable, we found that the inter- level scaffolding condition produced significantly better performance in both knowledge comprehension and application, compared to the intra- level scaffolding condition. For the sequence variable, we found that the macro-symbolic-micro sequence produced significantly better knowledge comprehension performance than the other two sequences; however, it did not benefit knowledge application performance. There was a trend that the treatment group who experienced inter- level scaffolding and the micro-symbolic-macro sequence achieved the best knowledge application performance.

Ethnicity and HIV risk behaviour, testing and knowledge in Guatemala

PubMed Central

Taylor, Tory M.; Hembling, John; Bertrand, Jane T.

2015-01-01

Objectives. To describe levels of risky sexual behaviour, HIV testing and HIV knowledge among men and women in Guatemala by ethnic group and to identify adjusted associations between ethnicity and these outcomes. Design. Data on 16,205 women aged 15–49 and 6822 men aged 15–59 from the 2008–2009 Encuesta Nacional de Salud Materno Infantil were used to describe ethnic group differences in sexual behaviour, HIV knowledge and testing. We then controlled for age, education, wealth and other socio-demographic factors in a multivariate logistic regression model to examine the effects of ethnicity on outcomes related to age at sexual debut, number of lifetime sex partners, comprehensive HIV knowledge, HIV testing and lifetime sex worker patronage (men only). Results. The data show low levels of risky sexual behaviour and low levels of HIV knowledge among indigenous women and men, compared to other respondents. Controlling for demographic factors, indigenous women were more likely than other women never to have been tested for HIV and to lack comprehensive HIV knowledge. They were less likely to report early sexual debut and three or more lifetime sexual partners. Indigenous men were more likely than other men to lack comprehensive HIV knowledge and demonstrated lower odds of early sexual debut, 10 or more lifetime sexual partners and sex worker patronage. Conclusions. The Mayan indigenous population in Guatemala, while broadly socially vulnerable, does not appear to be at elevated risk for HIV based on this analysis of selected risk factors. Nonetheless, low rates of HIV knowledge and testing may be cause for concern. Programmes working in indigenous communities should focus on HIV education and reducing barriers to testing. Further research into the factors that underlie ethnic self-identity and perceived ethnicity could help clarify the relative significance of these measures for HIV risk and other health outcomes. PMID:24834462

Vocabulary Knowledge and Morphological Awareness in Chinese as a Heritage Language (CHL) Reading Comprehension Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Haomin; Koda, Keiko

2018-01-01

This study explored the role of vocabulary knowledge and morphological awareness in reading comprehension ability of Chinese as a heritage language (CHL) learners. One hundred ninety five CHL students participated in this study and completed a series of measures including two sets of vocabulary knowledge (one consisting of items pertaining to…

You don't have to believe everything you read: background knowledge permits fast and efficient validation of information.

PubMed

Richter, Tobias; Schroeder, Sascha; Wöhrmann, Britta

2009-03-01

In social cognition, knowledge-based validation of information is usually regarded as relying on strategic and resource-demanding processes. Research on language comprehension, in contrast, suggests that validation processes are involved in the construction of a referential representation of the communicated information. This view implies that individuals can use their knowledge to validate incoming information in a routine and efficient manner. Consistent with this idea, Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that individuals are able to reject false assertions efficiently when they have validity-relevant beliefs. Validation processes were carried out routinely even when individuals were put under additional cognitive load during comprehension. Experiment 3 demonstrated that the rejection of false information occurs automatically and interferes with affirmative responses in a nonsemantic task (epistemic Stroop effect). Experiment 4 also revealed complementary interference effects of true information with negative responses in a nonsemantic task. These results suggest the existence of fast and efficient validation processes that protect mental representations from being contaminated by false and inaccurate information.

Language Comprehension and the Acquisition of Knowledge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freedle, Roy O., Ed.; Carroll, John B., Ed.

Thirteen papers given by language specialists are presented. These analyze special linguistic (semantic) problems that occur when interconnected strings of sentences constitute data base; they also analyze special psychological problems (of memory, inference, and motivation) that occur when human subjects are exposed to discourse materials in…

School based sex education and HIV prevention in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Fonner, Virginia A; Armstrong, Kevin S; Kennedy, Caitlin E; O'Reilly, Kevin R; Sweat, Michael D

2014-01-01

School-based sex education is a cornerstone of HIV prevention for adolescents who continue to bear a disproportionally high HIV burden globally. We systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed the existing evidence for school-based sex education interventions in low- and middle-income countries to determine the efficacy of these interventions in changing HIV-related knowledge and risk behaviors. We searched five electronic databases, PubMed, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL, and Sociological Abstracts, for eligible articles. We also conducted hand-searching of key journals and secondary reference searching of included articles to identify potential studies. Intervention effects were synthesized through random effects meta-analysis for five outcomes: HIV knowledge, self-efficacy, sexual debut, condom use, and number of sexual partners. Of 6191 unique citations initially identified, 64 studies in 63 articles were included in the review. Nine interventions either focused exclusively on abstinence (abstinence-only) or emphasized abstinence (abstinence-plus), whereas the remaining 55 interventions provided comprehensive sex education. Thirty-three studies were able to be meta-analyzed across five HIV-related outcomes. Results from meta-analysis demonstrate that school-based sex education is an effective strategy for reducing HIV-related risk. Students who received school-based sex education interventions had significantly greater HIV knowledge (Hedges g = 0.63, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.49-0.78, p<0.001), self-efficacy related to refusing sex or condom use (Hedges g = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.14-0.36, p<0.001), condom use (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.18-1.52, p<0.001), fewer sexual partners (OR = 0.75, 95% CI:0.67-0.84, p<0.001) and less initiation of first sex during follow-up (OR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.54-0.83, p<0.001). The paucity of abstinence-only or abstinence-plus interventions identified during the review made comparisons between the predominant comprehensive and less common abstinence-focused programs difficult. Comprehensive school-based sex education interventions adapted from effective programs and those involving a range of school-based and community-based components had the largest impact on changing HIV-related behaviors.

Comparing comprehension measured by multiple-choice and open-ended questions.

PubMed

Ozuru, Yasuhiro; Briner, Stephen; Kurby, Christopher A; McNamara, Danielle S

2013-09-01

This study compared the nature of text comprehension as measured by multiple-choice format and open-ended format questions. Participants read a short text while explaining preselected sentences. After reading the text, participants answered open-ended and multiple-choice versions of the same questions based on their memory of the text content. The results indicated that performance on open-ended questions was correlated with the quality of self-explanations, but performance on multiple-choice questions was correlated with the level of prior knowledge related to the text. These results suggest that open-ended and multiple-choice format questions measure different aspects of comprehension processes. The results are discussed in terms of dual process theories of text comprehension. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved

Functional Abstraction as a Method to Discover Knowledge in Gene Ontologies

PubMed Central

Ultsch, Alfred; Lötsch, Jörn

2014-01-01

Computational analyses of functions of gene sets obtained in microarray analyses or by topical database searches are increasingly important in biology. To understand their functions, the sets are usually mapped to Gene Ontology knowledge bases by means of over-representation analysis (ORA). Its result represents the specific knowledge of the functionality of the gene set. However, the specific ontology typically consists of many terms and relationships, hindering the understanding of the ‘main story’. We developed a methodology to identify a comprehensibly small number of GO terms as “headlines” of the specific ontology allowing to understand all central aspects of the roles of the involved genes. The Functional Abstraction method finds a set of headlines that is specific enough to cover all details of a specific ontology and is abstract enough for human comprehension. This method exceeds the classical approaches at ORA abstraction and by focusing on information rather than decorrelation of GO terms, it directly targets human comprehension. Functional abstraction provides, with a maximum of certainty, information value, coverage and conciseness, a representation of the biological functions in a gene set plays a role. This is the necessary means to interpret complex Gene Ontology results thus strengthening the role of functional genomics in biomarker and drug discovery. PMID:24587272

The effects of activating prior topic and metacognitive knowledge on text comprehension scores.

PubMed

Kostons, Danny; van der Werf, Greetje

2015-09-01

Research on prior knowledge activation has consistently shown that activating learners' prior knowledge has beneficial effects on learning. If learners activate their prior knowledge, this activated knowledge serves as a framework for establishing relationships between the knowledge they already possess and new information provided to them. Thus far, prior knowledge activation has dealt primarily with topic knowledge in specific domains. Students, however, likely also possess at least some metacognitive knowledge useful in those domains, which, when activated, should aid in the deployment of helpful strategies during reading. In this study, we investigated the effects of both prior topic knowledge activation (PTKA) and prior metacognitive knowledge activation (PMKA) on text comprehension scores. Eighty-eight students in primary education were randomly distributed amongst the conditions of the 2 × 2 (PTKA yes/no × PMKA yes/no) designed experiment. Results show that activating prior metacognitive knowledge had a beneficial effect on text comprehension, whereas activating prior topic knowledge, after correcting for the amount of prior knowledge, did not. Most studies deal with explicit instruction of metacognitive knowledge, but our results show that this may not be necessary, specifically in the case of students who already have some metacognitive knowledge. However, existing metacognitive knowledge needs to be activated in order for students to make better use of this knowledge. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Homeland security challenges in nursing practice.

PubMed

Boatright, Connie; McGlown, K Joanne

2005-09-01

Nurses need a comprehensive knowledge of doctrine, laws, regulations,programs, and processes that build the operational framework for health care preparedness. Key components of this knowledge base reside in the areas of: evolution of homeland security: laws and mandates affecting health care and compliance and regulatory issues for health care organizations. This article addresses primary components in both of these areas, after first assessing the status of nursing's involvement (in homeland security), as portrayed in the professional literature.

Improving reading comprehension in reading and listening settings: the effect of two training programmes focusing on metacognition and working memory.

PubMed

Carretti, Barbara; Caldarola, Nadia; Tencati, Chiara; Cornoldi, Cesare

2014-06-01

Metacognition and working memory (WM) have been found associated with success in reading comprehension, but no studies have examined their combined effect on the training of reading comprehension. Another open question concerns the role of listening comprehension: In particular, it is not clear whether training to improve reading comprehension must necessarily be based on processing written material or whether, as suggested in a recent study by Clarke et al. (2010, Psychol. Sci., 21, 1106), a programme based on verbal language could also be effective. The study examined the feasibility of improving text comprehension in school children by comparing the efficacy of two training programmes, both involving metacognition and WM, but one based on listening comprehension, the other on reading comprehension. The study involved a sample of 159 pupils attending eight classes in the fourth and fifth grades (age range 9-11 years). The listening and reading programmes focused on the same abilities/processes strictly related to text comprehension, and particularly metacognitive knowledge and control, WM (per se and in terms of integrating information in a text). The training programmes were implemented by school teachers as part of the class's normal school activities, under the supervision of experts. Their efficacy was compared with the results obtained in an active control group that completed standard text comprehension activities. Our results showed that both the training programmes focusing on specific text comprehension skills were effective in improving the children's achievement, but training in reading comprehension generated greater gains than the listening comprehension programme. Our study suggests that activities focusing specifically on metacognition and WM could foster text comprehension, but the potential benefit is influenced by the training modality, that is, the Reading group obtained greater and longer-lasting improvements than the Active control or Listening groups. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Semantic and Syntactic Interference in Sentence Comprehension: A Comparison of Working Memory Models

PubMed Central

Tan, Yingying; Martin, Randi C.; Van Dyke, Julie A.

2017-01-01

This study investigated the nature of the underlying working memory system supporting sentence processing through examining individual differences in sensitivity to retrieval interference effects during sentence comprehension. Interference effects occur when readers incorrectly retrieve sentence constituents which are similar to those required during integrative processes. We examined interference arising from a partial match between distracting constituents and syntactic and semantic cues, and related these interference effects to performance on working memory, short-term memory (STM), vocabulary, and executive function tasks. For online sentence comprehension, as measured by self-paced reading, the magnitude of individuals' syntactic interference effects was predicted by general WM capacity and the relation remained significant when partialling out vocabulary, indicating that the effects were not due to verbal knowledge. For offline sentence comprehension, as measured by responses to comprehension questions, both general WM capacity and vocabulary knowledge interacted with semantic interference for comprehension accuracy, suggesting that both general WM capacity and the quality of semantic representations played a role in determining how well interference was resolved offline. For comprehension question reaction times, a measure of semantic STM capacity interacted with semantic but not syntactic interference. However, a measure of phonological capacity (digit span) and a general measure of resistance to response interference (Stroop effect) did not predict individuals' interference resolution abilities in either online or offline sentence comprehension. The results are discussed in relation to the multiple capacities account of working memory (e.g., Martin and Romani, 1994; Martin and He, 2004), and the cue-based retrieval parsing approach (e.g., Lewis et al., 2006; Van Dyke et al., 2014). While neither approach was fully supported, a possible means of reconciling the two approaches and directions for future research are proposed. PMID:28261133

Is an Illustration Always Worth Ten Thousand Words? Effects of Prior Knowledge, Learning Style and Multimedia Illustrations on Text Comprehension.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ollerenshaw, Alison; Aidman, Eugene; Kidd, Garry

1997-01-01

This study examined comprehension in four groups of undergraduates under text only, multimedia, and two diagram conditions of text supplementation. Results indicated that effects of text supplementation are mediated by prior knowledge and learning style: multimedia appears more beneficial to surface learners with little prior knowledge and makes…

Developmental Relations between Vocabulary Knowledge and Reading Comprehension: A Latent Change Score Modeling Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quinn, Jamie M.; Wagner, Richard K.; Petscher, Yaacov; Lopez, Danielle

2015-01-01

The present study followed a sample of first-grade (N = 316, M[subscript age] = 7.05 at first test) through fourth-grade students to evaluate dynamic developmental relations between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. Using latent change score modeling, competing models were fit to the repeated measurements of vocabulary knowledge and…

The Extent of Comprehension and Knowledge with Respect to Digital Citizenship among Middle Eastern and US Students at UNC

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alqahtani, Abdullah; Alqahtani, Fatimah; Alqurashi, Mohammed

2017-01-01

Digital technologies have revolutionized the way people acquire information and gain new knowledge. With a click or touch on the screen, anybody who is online can sail in the digital world and accomplish many things. As such, the optimal use of information and communication technology involves user comprehension, knowledge, and awareness of…

Comparative Studies on the Roles of Linguistic Knowledge and Sentence Processing Speed in L2 Listening and Reading Comprehension in an EFL Tertiary Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oh, Eunjou

2016-01-01

The present study investigated the relative contributions of vocabulary knowledge, grammar knowledge, and processing speed to second language listening and reading comprehension. Seventy-five Korean university students participated in the study. Results showed the three tested components had a significant portion of shared variance in explaining…

Introducing the Big Knowledge to Use (BK2U) challenge

PubMed Central

Perl, Yehoshua; Geller, James; Halper, Michael; Ochs, Christopher; Zheng, Ling; Kapusnik-Uner, Joan

2016-01-01

The purpose of the Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative is to develop methods for discovering new knowledge from large amounts of data. However, if the resulting knowledge is so large that it resists comprehension, referred to here as Big Knowledge (BK), how can it be used properly and creatively? We call this secondary challenge, Big Knowledge to Use (BK2U). Without a high-level mental representation of the kinds of knowledge in a BK knowledgebase, effective or innovative use of the knowledge may be limited. We describe summarization and visualization techniques that capture the big picture of a BK knowledgebase, possibly created from Big Data. In this research, we distinguish between assertion BK and rule-based BK and demonstrate the usefulness of summarization and visualization techniques of assertion BK for clinical phenotyping. As an example, we illustrate how a summary of many intracranial bleeding concepts can improve phenotyping, compared to the traditional approach. We also demonstrate the usefulness of summarization and visualization techniques of rule-based BK for drug–drug interaction discovery. PMID:27750400

Automatic Invocation Linking for Collaborative Web-Based Corpora

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gardner, James; Krowne, Aaron; Xiong, Li

Collaborative online encyclopedias or knowledge bases such as Wikipedia and PlanetMath are becoming increasingly popular because of their open access, comprehensive and interlinked content, rapid and continual updates, and community interactivity. To understand a particular concept in these knowledge bases, a reader needs to learn about related and underlying concepts. In this chapter, we introduce the problem of invocation linking for collaborative encyclopedia or knowledge bases, review the state of the art for invocation linking including the popular linking system of Wikipedia, discuss the problems and challenges of automatic linking, and present the NNexus approach, an abstraction and generalization of the automatic linking system used by PlanetMath.org. The chapter emphasizes both research problems and practical design issues through discussion of real world scenarios and hence is suitable for both researchers in web intelligence and practitioners looking to adopt the techniques. Below is a brief outline of the chapter.

Evidence-based interventions for reading and language difficulties: creating a virtuous circle.

PubMed

Snowling, Margaret J; Hulme, Charles

2011-03-01

BACKGROUND. Children may experience two very different forms of reading problem: decoding difficulties (dyslexia) and reading comprehension difficulties. Decoding difficulties appear to be caused by problems with phonological (speech sound) processing. Reading comprehension difficulties in contrast appear to be caused by problems with 'higher level' language difficulties including problems with semantics (including deficient knowledge of word meanings) and grammar (knowledge of morphology and syntax). AIMS. We review evidence concerning the nature, causes of, and treatments for children's reading difficulties. We argue that any well-founded educational intervention must be based on a sound theory of the causes of a particular form of learning difficulty, which in turn must be based on an understanding of how a given skill is learned by typically developing children. Such theoretically motivated interventions should in turn be evaluated in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to establish whether they are effective, and for whom. RESULTS. There is now considerable evidence showing that phonologically based interventions are effective in ameliorating children's word level decoding difficulties, and a smaller evidence base showing that reading and oral language (OL) comprehension difficulties can be ameliorated by suitable interventions to boost vocabulary and broader OL skills. CONCLUSIONS. The process of developing theories about the origins of children's educational difficulties and evaluating theoretically motivated treatments in RCTs, produces a 'virtuous circle' whereby theory informs practice, and the evaluation of effective interventions in turn feeds back to inform and refine theories about the nature and causes of children's reading and language difficulties. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

Competing Activation during Fantasy Text Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Creer, Sarah D.; Cook, Anne E.; O'Brien, Edward J.

2018-01-01

During comprehension, readers' general world knowledge and contextual information compete for influence during integration and validation. Fantasy narratives, in which general world knowledge often conflicts with fantastical events, provide a setting to examine this competition. Experiment 1 showed that with sufficient elaboration, contextual…

Ideas for Medical Education: The Quarterly Profile Examination.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arnold, Louise; Willoughby, T. Lee

1990-01-01

The school of medicine of the University of Missouri--Kansas City developed the Quarterly Profile Examination, a schoolwide, longitudinal comprehensive examination of knowledge acquisition and retention, to satisfy internal and external requirements for assessment. The system is seen as effective in fostering problem-based and independent learning…

Teaching Reading Sourcebook, Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Honig, Bill; Diamond, Linda; Gutlohn, Linda

2008-01-01

The "Teaching Reading Sourcebook, Second Edition" is a comprehensive reference about reading instruction. Organized according to the elements of explicit instruction (what? why? when? and how?), the "Sourcebook" includes both a research-informed knowledge base and practical sample lesson models. It teaches the key elements of an effective reading…

Preventing Pollution from Biofuels Through A Knowledge Based Approach to Composition and Transport

EPA Science Inventory

The US has been subject to unexpected and costly fuel-related contamination problems. The composition, properties and behavior of fuels in the environment is problematic because they are composed of hundreds of compounds of varying chemical types. Consequently a comprehensive two...

WWC Review of the Report “Improving Reading Comprehension and Social Studies Knowledge in Middle School.” What Works Clearinghouse Single Study Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2013

2013-01-01

The study reviewed in this paper examined the effects of the instructional practice “Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content Through Text” (“PACT”), an approach that aims to improve social studies content knowledge and reading comprehension. This study took place in two middle schools in a near-urban district in Texas. Study authors…

A randomized trial of pictorial versus prose-based medication information pamphlets.

PubMed

Thompson, Andrew E; Goldszmidt, Mark A; Schwartz, Alan J; Bashook, Philip G

2010-03-01

The goal of this study was to compare prose and pictorial-based information pamphlets about the medication methotrexate in the domains of free recall, cued recall, comprehension and utility. A single blind, randomized trial of picture versus prose-based information pamphlets including 100 participants aged 18-65 years of age, who had not completed high school, could read English, and had no prior knowledge about methotrexate. Superiority of pamphlet type was assessed using immediate free recall, cued recall and comprehension. There were no differences between picture and prose pamphlets in free recall, cued recall, and comprehension either immediately or after a 1-week interval. Immediate free recall of important information was 17-26%; free recall fell even lower to 7-16% after 1 week. The pictorial pamphlet was preferred over the prose-based pamphlet. This study found no benefit in free recall, cued recall, or comprehension through the addition of pictograms to a simple prose-based medication pamphlet. In order for them to be effective in clinical practice, even simple medication information pamphlets that have been assessed for patients' ability to comprehend them cannot be used as the sole means for conveying important medication-related information to patients. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comprehensive knowledge and uptake of cervical cancer screening is low among women living with HIV/AIDS in Northwest Ethiopia.

PubMed

Erku, Daniel Asfaw; Netere, Adeladlew Kassie; Mersha, Amanual Getnet; Abebe, Sileshi Ayele; Mekuria, Abebe Basazn; Belachew, Sewunet Admasu

2017-01-01

In Ethiopia, cervical cancer is ranked as the second most common type of cancer in women and it is about 8 times more common in HIV infected women. However, data on knowledge of HIV infected women regarding cervical cancer and acceptability of screening is scarce in Ethiopia. Hence, the present study was aimed at assessing the level of knowledge of about cervical cancer and uptake of screening among HIV infected women in Gondar, northwest Ethiopia. A cross sectional, questionnaire based survey was conducted on 302 HIV infected women attending the outpatient clinic of University of Gondar referral and teaching hospital from March 1 to 30, 2017. Descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were also performed to examine factors associated with uptake of cervical cancer screening service. Overall, only 64 (21.2%) of respondent were knowledgeable about cervical cancer and screening and only 71 (23.5%) of respondents were ever screened in their life time. Age between 21 and 29 years old (AOR = 2.78, 95% CI = 1.71-7.29), perceived susceptibility to develop cervical cancer (AOR =2.85, 95% CI = 1.89-6.16) and comprehensive knowledge of cervical cancer (AOR = 3.02, 95% CI = 2.31-7.15) were found to be strong predictors of cervical cancer screening service uptake. The knowledge and uptake of cervical cancer screening among HIV infected women was found to be very poor. Taking into consideration the heightened importance of comprehensive knowledge in boosting up the number of participants towards cervical cancer screening services, different stakeholders working on cancer and HIV/AIDS should provide a customized health promotion intervention and awareness creation to HIV-infected women, along with improving accessibility of cervical cancer screening services in rural areas.

New horizons in the implementation and research of comprehensive geriatric assessment: knowing, doing and the 'know-do' gap.

PubMed

Gladman, John R F; Conroy, Simon Paul; Ranhoff, Anette Hylen; Gordon, Adam Lee

2016-03-01

In this paper, we outline the relationship between the need to put existing applied health research knowledge into practice (the 'know-do gap') and the need to improve the evidence base (the 'know gap') with respect to the healthcare process used for older people with frailty known as comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA). We explore the reasons for the know-do gap and the principles of how these barriers to implementation might be overcome. We explore how these principles should affect the conduct of applied health research to close the know gap. We propose that impaired flow of knowledge is an important contributory factor in the failure to implement evidence-based practice in CGA; this could be addressed through specific knowledge mobilisation techniques. We describe that implementation failures are also produced by an inadequate evidence base that requires the co-production of research, addressing not only effectiveness but also the feasibility and acceptability of new services, the educational needs of practitioners, the organisational requirements of services, and the contribution made by policy. Only by tackling these issues in concert and appropriate proportion, will the know and know-do gaps for CGA be closed. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Reading Comprehension Level and Development in Native and Language Minority Adolescent Low Achievers: Roles of Linguistic and Metacognitive Knowledge and Fluency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trapman, Mirjam; van Gelderen, Amos; van Schooten, Erik; Hulstijn, Jan

2017-01-01

In a longitudinal design, we measured 50 low-achieving adolescents' reading comprehension development from Grades 7 to 9. There were 24 native Dutch and 26 language minority students. In addition, we assessed the roles of (a) linguistic knowledge, (b) metacognitive knowledge, and (c) reading fluency in predicting both the level and growth of…

Children's Comprehension of Object Relative Sentences: It's Extant Language Knowledge That Matters, Not Domain-General Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rusli, Yazmin Ahmad; Montgomery, James W.

2017-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether extant language (lexical) knowledge or domain-general working memory is the better predictor of comprehension of object relative sentences for children with typical development. We hypothesized that extant language knowledge, not domain-general working memory, is the better predictor. Method:…

BioTCM-SE: a semantic search engine for the information retrieval of modern biology and traditional Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Chen, Xi; Chen, Huajun; Bi, Xuan; Gu, Peiqin; Chen, Jiaoyan; Wu, Zhaohui

2014-01-01

Understanding the functional mechanisms of the complex biological system as a whole is drawing more and more attention in global health care management. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), essentially different from Western Medicine (WM), is gaining increasing attention due to its emphasis on individual wellness and natural herbal medicine, which satisfies the goal of integrative medicine. However, with the explosive growth of biomedical data on the Web, biomedical researchers are now confronted with the problem of large-scale data analysis and data query. Besides that, biomedical data also has a wide coverage which usually comes from multiple heterogeneous data sources and has different taxonomies, making it hard to integrate and query the big biomedical data. Embedded with domain knowledge from different disciplines all regarding human biological systems, the heterogeneous data repositories are implicitly connected by human expert knowledge. Traditional search engines cannot provide accurate and comprehensive search results for the semantically associated knowledge since they only support keywords-based searches. In this paper, we present BioTCM-SE, a semantic search engine for the information retrieval of modern biology and TCM, which provides biologists with a comprehensive and accurate associated knowledge query platform to greatly facilitate the implicit knowledge discovery between WM and TCM.

BioTCM-SE: A Semantic Search Engine for the Information Retrieval of Modern Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine

PubMed Central

Chen, Xi; Chen, Huajun; Bi, Xuan; Gu, Peiqin; Chen, Jiaoyan; Wu, Zhaohui

2014-01-01

Understanding the functional mechanisms of the complex biological system as a whole is drawing more and more attention in global health care management. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), essentially different from Western Medicine (WM), is gaining increasing attention due to its emphasis on individual wellness and natural herbal medicine, which satisfies the goal of integrative medicine. However, with the explosive growth of biomedical data on the Web, biomedical researchers are now confronted with the problem of large-scale data analysis and data query. Besides that, biomedical data also has a wide coverage which usually comes from multiple heterogeneous data sources and has different taxonomies, making it hard to integrate and query the big biomedical data. Embedded with domain knowledge from different disciplines all regarding human biological systems, the heterogeneous data repositories are implicitly connected by human expert knowledge. Traditional search engines cannot provide accurate and comprehensive search results for the semantically associated knowledge since they only support keywords-based searches. In this paper, we present BioTCM-SE, a semantic search engine for the information retrieval of modern biology and TCM, which provides biologists with a comprehensive and accurate associated knowledge query platform to greatly facilitate the implicit knowledge discovery between WM and TCM. PMID:24772189

Arterial supply of the upper cranial nerves: a comprehensive review.

PubMed

Hendrix, Philipp; Griessenauer, Christoph J; Foreman, Paul; Shoja, Mohammadali M; Loukas, Marios; Tubbs, R Shane

2014-11-01

The arterial supply to the upper cranial nerves is derived from a complex network of branches derived from the anterior and posterior cerebral circulations. We performed a comprehensive literature review of the arterial supply of the upper cranial nerves with an emphasis on clinical considerations. Arteries coursing in close proximity to the cranial nerves regularly give rise to small vessels that supply the nerve. Knowledge of the arteries supplying the cranial nerves is of particular importance during surgical approaches to the skull base. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Study of Life Education for College Freshmen in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Jianfeng; Li, Xuefei

2016-01-01

Based on student-centred teaching strategy, the complete higher education should include the knowledge acquisition and the comprehensive development of college students. Life education is able to help college freshmen to establish an attitude towards respecting life, to cultivate lofty ideals and to stimulate learning motivation. In China, to…

Handbook of Research on Electronic Surveys and Measurements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reynolds, Rodney, Ed.; Woods, Robert, Ed.; Baker, Jason, Ed.

2007-01-01

The "Handbook of Research on Electronic Surveys and Measurements" is the comprehensive reference source for innovative knowledge on electronic surveys. This commanding handbook of research provides complete coverage of the challenges associated with the use of the Internet to develop online surveys, administer Web-based instruments, and conduct…

Handbook of Reading Research. Volume III.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kamil, Michael L., Ed.; Mosenthal, Peter B., Ed.; Pearson, P. David, Ed.; Barr, Rebecca, Ed.

A comprehensive overview of important contemporary issues in the field of reading research, this book presents 47 essays that examine literacy through a variety of lenses--some permitting microscopic views and others panoramic views. Essays in the book cover current methodology as well as cumulative research-based knowledge. Essays in Part I…

Nontraditional Texts and the Struggling/Reluctant Reader

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fingon, Joan C.

2012-01-01

This article highlights the Wimpy Kid diary book series by Jeff Kenney and discusses how educators can increase their knowledge base and take advantage of integrating such highly visual and nontraditional texts within the reading and language arts curriculum to enhance students' vocabulary development and reading comprehension. The article…

Integrating Levels of Critical Thinking into Writing Assignments for Introductory Psychology Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willis, A. Sandra

Short analytical writing exercises were designed to develop critical thinking and writing skills; stimulate creative thinking and writing; promote learning of psychological concepts; and to assess student knowledge. Design of these assignments was based on Bloom's taxonomy of multiple levels of critical thinking: recall, comprehension,…

Familia Adelante: A Multi-Risk Prevention Intervention for Latino Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cervantes, Richard; Goldbach, Jeremy; Santos, Susana M.

2011-01-01

A comprehensive approach for providing behavioral health services to youth is becoming increasingly emphasized. Latino youth are at increased risk for substance abuse, mental health concerns, unsafe sexual practices and HIV, and these outcomes have been empirically connected to individual, family and community-based stress. Despite this knowledge,…

Southern Pine Beetle II

Treesearch

R. N. Coulson; Kier Klepzig

2011-01-01

The knowledge base for the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) has increased dramatically since the last comprehensive and interpretative summary (Thatcher and others 1980). This insect continues to be a significant pest affecting the forest environment of the Southern US and adjoining states and it is also the subject of...

Review 2000: The Challenge of Knowledge and Know-How.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Science and Technology Policy Council of Finland, Helsinki.

The public sector in Finland faces tasks and challenges in promoting science, technology, and innovations in conditions of global change. Sustainable economic, social, and cultural development will continue to demand comprehensive development of the innovation system based on solid cooperation between the public and private sectors in the country.…

Evaluating the Efficacy of Remediation for Struggling Readers in High School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lovett, Maureen W.; Lacerenza, Lea; De Palma, Maria; Frijters, Jan C.

2012-01-01

Preliminary efficacy data are reported for a research-based reading intervention designed for struggling readers in high school. PHAST PACES teaches (a) word identification strategies, (b) knowledge of text structures, and (c) reading comprehension strategies. In a quasi-experimental design, 268 intervention and 83 waiting list control students…

Handbook of Preschool Mental Health Development, Disorders, and Treatment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luby, Joan, L. Ed.

2006-01-01

This important volume comprehensively explores the development of psychiatric disorders in 2- to 6-year-olds, detailing how the growing empirical knowledge base may lead to improved interventions for young children and their families. Leading contributors examine advances in the conceptualization and diagnosis of early-onset disruptive disorders,…

Schema-Based Text Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ensar, Ferhat

2015-01-01

Schema is one of the most common terms used for classifying and constructing knowledge. Therefore, a schema is a pre-planned set of concepts. It usually contains social information and is used to represent chain of events, perceptions, situations, relationships and even objects. For example, Kant initially defines the idea of schema as some…

Training Inference Making Skills Using a Situation Model Approach Improves Reading Comprehension

PubMed Central

Bos, Lisanne T.; De Koning, Bjorn B.; Wassenburg, Stephanie I.; van der Schoot, Menno

2016-01-01

This study aimed to enhance third and fourth graders’ text comprehension at the situation model level. Therefore, we tested a reading strategy training developed to target inference making skills, which are widely considered to be pivotal to situation model construction. The training was grounded in contemporary literature on situation model-based inference making and addressed the source (text-based versus knowledge-based), type (necessary versus unnecessary for (re-)establishing coherence), and depth of an inference (making single lexical inferences versus combining multiple lexical inferences), as well as the type of searching strategy (forward versus backward). Results indicated that, compared to a control group (n = 51), children who followed the experimental training (n = 67) improved their inference making skills supportive to situation model construction. Importantly, our training also resulted in increased levels of general reading comprehension and motivation. In sum, this study showed that a ‘level of text representation’-approach can provide a useful framework to teach inference making skills to third and fourth graders. PMID:26913014

Affective Variables and Japanese L2 Reading Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kondo-Brown, Kimi

2006-01-01

This study investigates how 17 affective factors are related to Japanese second language (L2) reading comprehension and "kanji" knowledge test scores of 43 university students in advanced Japanese courses. Major findings are that: a) reading comprehension ability and "kanji" knowledge have direct associations with…

Individual Differences in Reprocessing of Text.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haenggi, Dieter; Perfetti, Charles A.

1992-01-01

Decoding, working memory, and domain-specific prior knowledge were studied as predictors of comprehension for 48 university undergraduate students after rewriting notes, rereading notes, or rereading a text. Working memory was most important for comprehension of text-implicit information, whereas knowledge was relatively more important for…

Educating preschoolers about sun safety.

PubMed Central

Loescher, L J; Emerson, J; Taylor, A; Christensen, D H; McKinney, M

1995-01-01

OBJECTIVES. This feasibility study examined whether a sun safety curriculum designed for and administered to preschoolers affects their cognition (knowledge, comprehension, application) regarding sun safety. METHODS. Twelve classes of 4- to 5-year-olds were recruited from local preschools and randomly assigned to an intervention group or a control group. The intervention group received an investigator-developed sun safety curriculum; the control group did not. Children in both groups were tested at the beginning of the study about their cognition related to sun safety. They then received posttests 2 and 7 weeks following the pretest. RESULTS. The curriculum had a significant effect on the knowledge (P = .01) and comprehension (P = .006) components of cognition. The application component of cognition was not significantly changed by the curriculum. CONCLUSIONS. A structured curriculum was found to be an efficacious means of enhancing knowledge and comprehension of sun safety in preschool children. At the preoperational developmental stage, however, children may not be able to apply such knowledge and comprehension. PMID:7604917

Formal ontologies in biomedical knowledge representation.

PubMed

Schulz, S; Jansen, L

2013-01-01

Medical decision support and other intelligent applications in the life sciences depend on increasing amounts of digital information. Knowledge bases as well as formal ontologies are being used to organize biomedical knowledge and data. However, these two kinds of artefacts are not always clearly distinguished. Whereas the popular RDF(S) standard provides an intuitive triple-based representation, it is semantically weak. Description logics based ontology languages like OWL-DL carry a clear-cut semantics, but they are computationally expensive, and they are often misinterpreted to encode all kinds of statements, including those which are not ontological. We distinguish four kinds of statements needed to comprehensively represent domain knowledge: universal statements, terminological statements, statements about particulars and contingent statements. We argue that the task of formal ontologies is solely to represent universal statements, while the non-ontological kinds of statements can nevertheless be connected with ontological representations. To illustrate these four types of representations, we use a running example from parasitology. We finally formulate recommendations for semantically adequate ontologies that can efficiently be used as a stable framework for more context-dependent biomedical knowledge representation and reasoning applications like clinical decision support systems.

Rape: psychopathology, theory and treatment.

PubMed

Gannon, Theresa A; Collie, Rachael M; Ward, Tony; Thakker, Jo

2008-07-01

Whether treatment programs are effective at rehabilitating rapists is yet to be determined empirically. From a scientist-practitioner perspective, treatment should be based on an empirical understanding of rape and rapists, and evidence-based knowledge of treatment outcome with rapists. In this paper we comprehensively review the characteristics of rapists, etiological features implicated in the commission of rape, and relevant treatment outcome research. We pay particular attention to contemporary knowledge about the core vulnerabilities and features required to understand and treat rapists effectively, and, where possible, highlight similarities and differences between rapists, child molesters and non-sexual violent offenders. We use an epistemological framework to (a) critique the various etiological accounts of rape available and (b) help guide professionals' use of such knowledge in both treatment design and evaluation. Gaps in the understanding of rapists' characteristics and etiological features are highlighted, as are discrepancies between current knowledge and treatment approaches. We conclude by highlighting areas for future research and practice innovation.

Research review: reading comprehension in developmental disorders of language and communication.

PubMed

Ricketts, Jessie

2011-11-01

Deficits in reading airment (SLI), Down syndrome (DS) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). In this review (based on a search of the ISI Web of Knowledge database to 2011), the Simple View of Reading is used as a framework for considering reading comprehension in these groups. There is substantial evidence for reading comprehension impairments in SLI and growing evidence that weaknesses in this domain are common in DS and ASD. Further, in these groups reading comprehension is typically more impaired than word recognition. However, there is also evidence that some children and adolescents with DS, ASD and a history of SLI develop reading comprehension and word recognition skills at or above the age appropriate level. This review of the literature indicates that factors including word recognition, oral language, nonverbal ability and working memory may explain reading comprehension difficulties in SLI, DS and ASD. In addition, it highlights methodological issues, implications of poor reading comprehension and fruitful areas for future research. © 2011 The Author. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2011 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Beyond word recognition: understanding pediatric oral health literacy.

PubMed

Richman, Julia Anne; Huebner, Colleen E; Leggott, Penelope J; Mouradian, Wendy E; Mancl, Lloyd A

2011-01-01

Parental oral health literacy is proposed to be an indicator of children's oral health. The purpose of this study was to test if word recognition, commonly used to assess health literacy, is an adequate measure of pediatric oral health literacy. This study evaluated 3 aspects of oral health literacy and parent-reported child oral health. A 3-part pediatric oral health literacy inventory was created to assess parents' word recognition, vocabulary knowledge, and comprehension of 35 terms used in pediatric dentistry. The inventory was administered to 45 English-speaking parents of children enrolled in Head Start. Parents' ability to read dental terms was not associated with vocabulary knowledge (r=0.29, P<.06) or comprehension (r=0.28, P>.06) of the terms. Vocabulary knowledge was strongly associated with comprehension (r=0.80, P<.001). Parent-reported child oral health status was not associated with word recognition, vocabulary knowledge, or comprehension; however parents reporting either excellent or fair/poor ratings had higher scores on all components of the inventory. Word recognition is an inadequate indicator of comprehension of pediatric oral health concepts; pediatric oral health literacy is a multifaceted construct. Parents with adequate reading ability may have difficulty understanding oral health information.

Effects of the Scientific Argumentation Based Learning Process on Teaching the Unit of Cell Division and Inheritance to Eighth Grade Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Balci, Ceyda; Yenice, Nilgun

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to analyse the effects of scientific argumentation based learning process on the eighth grade students' achievement in the unit of "cell division and inheritance". It also deals with the effects of this process on their comprehension about the nature of scientific knowledge, their willingness to take part in…

Upland Farmers' Comprehension of Pictorial Messages on Environmental Protection.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gravoso, R. S.; Stuart, T. H.

2000-01-01

A study to explore Filipino farmers' comprehension of pictorial messages on environmental protection found that educational attainment, visual exposure, and knowledge of environmental protection positively influenced visual comprehension. Color did not necessarily improve comprehension. (Contains 24 references.) (JOW)

Mind wandering during film comprehension: The role of prior knowledge and situational interest.

PubMed

Kopp, Kristopher; Mills, Caitlin; D'Mello, Sidney

2016-06-01

This study assessed the occurrence and factors that influence mind wandering (MW) in the domain of film comprehension. The cascading model of inattention assumes that a stronger mental representation (i.e., a situation model) during comprehension results in less MW. Accordingly, a suppression hypothesis suggests that MW would decrease as a function of having the knowledge of the plot of a film prior to viewing, because the prior-knowledge would help to strengthen the situation model during comprehension. Furthermore, an interest-moderation hypothesis would predict that the suppression effect of prior-knowledge would only emerge when there was interest in viewing the film. In the current experiment, 108 participants either read a short story that depicted the plot (i.e., prior-knowledge condition) or read an unrelated story of equal length (control condition) prior to viewing the short film (32.5 minutes) entitled The Red Balloon. Participants self-reported their interest in viewing the film immediately before the film was presented. MW was tracked using a self-report method targeting instances of MW with metacognitive awareness. Participants in the prior-knowledge condition reported less MW compared with the control condition, thereby supporting the suppression hypothesis. MW also decreased over the duration of the film, but only for those with prior-knowledge of the film. Finally, prior-knowledge effects on MW were only observed when interest was average or high, but not when interest was low.

Effectively engaging stakeholders and the public in developing violence prevention messages.

PubMed

Boyko, Jennifer A; Wathen, C Nadine; Kothari, Anita

2017-05-11

Preventing family violence requires that stakeholders and the broader public be involved in developing evidence-based violence prevention strategies. However, gaps exist in between what we know (knowledge), what we do (action), and the structures supporting practice (policy). We discuss the broad challenge of mobilizing knowledge-for-action in family violence, with a primary focus on the issue of how stakeholders and the public can be effectively engaged when developing and communicating evidence-based violence prevention messages. We suggest that a comprehensive approach to stakeholder and public engagement in developing violence prevention messages includes: 1) clear and consistent messaging; 2) identifying and using, as appropriate, lessons from campaigns that show evidence of reducing specific types of violence; and 3) evidence-informed approaches for communicating to specific groups. Components of a comprehensive approach must take into account the available research evidence, implementation feasibility, and the context-specific nature of family violence. While strategies exist for engaging stakeholders and the public in messaging about family violence prevention, knowledge mobilization must be informed by evidence, dialogue with stakeholders, and proactive media strategies. This paper will be of interest to public health practitioners or others involved in planning and implementing violence prevention programs because it highlights what is known about the issue, potential solutions, and implementation considerations.

Advances in knowledge-based software engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Truszkowski, Walt

1991-01-01

The underlying hypothesis of this work is that a rigorous and comprehensive software reuse methodology can bring about a more effective and efficient utilization of constrained resources in the development of large-scale software systems by both government and industry. It is also believed that correct use of this type of software engineering methodology can significantly contribute to the higher levels of reliability that will be required of future operational systems. An overview and discussion of current research in the development and application of two systems that support a rigorous reuse paradigm are presented: the Knowledge-Based Software Engineering Environment (KBSEE) and the Knowledge Acquisition fo the Preservation of Tradeoffs and Underlying Rationales (KAPTUR) systems. Emphasis is on a presentation of operational scenarios which highlight the major functional capabilities of the two systems.

Executive Function, Self-Regulated Learning, and Reading Comprehension: A Training Study.

PubMed

Cirino, Paul T; Miciak, Jeremy; Gerst, Elyssa; Barnes, Marcia A; Vaughn, Sharon; Child, Amanda; Huston-Warren, Emily

The goal of this study was to evaluate the extent to which training that emphasizes the process of executive function (EF) and self-regulated learning (SRL) would result in increased reading comprehension; we also evaluated interrelationships of EF, SRL, and reading. We report an experiment ( N = 75 fourth graders) that contrasted two researcher-implemented conditions (text-based reading [TB] and text-based reading plus executive function [TB+EF]) to a control. We also evaluated relationships among measures of SRL, EF, and reading. Both the TB and TB+EF groups outperformed the control group for proximal text comprehension (where the topic was similar to that covered in training) and background knowledge related to it, but the two researcher-led groups performed similarly. There were no significant differences for less proximal text, and again similar performance for both TB and TB+EF. Correlations among measures were weak in general, although the pattern was similar to that found in the extant literature. The findings speak to the difficulty in separating these components from those of strong instruction more generally. The relationships of these constructs to reading comprehension will likely be enhanced by more sensitive measurement of EF and reading comprehension, particularly where tied to active treatment components.

Authoritative knowledge, evidence-based medicine, and behavioral pediatrics.

PubMed

Kennell, J H

1999-12-01

Evidence-based medicine is the conscientious and judicious use of current best knowledge in making decisions about the care of individual patients, often from well-designed, randomized, controlled trials. Authoritative medicine is the traditional approach to learning and practicing medicine, but no one authority has comprehensive scientific knowledge. Archie Cochrane proposed that every medical specialty should compile a list of all of the randomized, controlled trials within its field to be available for those who wish to know what treatments are effective. This was done first for obstetrics by a group collecting and critically analyzing all of the randomized trials and then indicating procedures every mother should have and those that no mother should have. Support during labor was used as an example. Similar groups are now active in almost all specialties, with information available on the Internet in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Developmental-behavioral pediatrics should be part of this movement to evidence-based medicine.

Common IED exploitation target set ontology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russomanno, David J.; Qualls, Joseph; Wowczuk, Zenovy; Franken, Paul; Robinson, William

2010-04-01

The Common IED Exploitation Target Set (CIEDETS) ontology provides a comprehensive semantic data model for capturing knowledge about sensors, platforms, missions, environments, and other aspects of systems under test. The ontology also includes representative IEDs; modeled as explosives, camouflage, concealment objects, and other background objects, which comprise an overall threat scene. The ontology is represented using the Web Ontology Language and the SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language, which ensures portability of the acquired knowledge base across applications. The resulting knowledge base is a component of the CIEDETS application, which is intended to support the end user sensor test and evaluation community. CIEDETS associates a system under test to a subset of cataloged threats based on the probability that the system will detect the threat. The associations between systems under test, threats, and the detection probabilities are established based on a hybrid reasoning strategy, which applies a combination of heuristics and simplified modeling techniques. Besides supporting the CIEDETS application, which is focused on efficient and consistent system testing, the ontology can be leveraged in a myriad of other applications, including serving as a knowledge source for mission planning tools.

Toward a comprehensive strategy for effective practitioner-scientist partnerships and larger-scale community health and well-being.

PubMed

Spoth, Richard L; Greenberg, Mark T

2005-06-01

This article articulates joint priorities for the fields of prevention science and community psychology. These priorities are intended to address issues raised by the frequent observation of natural tensions between community practitioners and scientists. The first priority is to expand the knowledge base on practitioner-scientist partnerships, particularly on factors associated with positive outcomes within communities. To further articulate this priority, the paper first discusses the rapid growth in community-based partnerships and the emergent research on them. Next described is an illustrative research project on a partnership model that links state university extension and public school delivery systems. The article then turns to the second, related priority of future capacity-building for diffusion of effective partnership-based interventions to achieve larger-scale health and well-being across communities. It outlines two salient tasks: clarification of a conceptual framework and the formulation of a comprehensive capacity-building strategy for diffusion. The comprehensive strategy would require careful attention to the expansion of networks of effective partnerships, partnership-based research agendas, and requisite policy-making.

Towards Semantic e-Science for Traditional Chinese Medicine

PubMed Central

Chen, Huajun; Mao, Yuxin; Zheng, Xiaoqing; Cui, Meng; Feng, Yi; Deng, Shuiguang; Yin, Aining; Zhou, Chunying; Tang, Jinming; Jiang, Xiaohong; Wu, Zhaohui

2007-01-01

Background Recent advances in Web and information technologies with the increasing decentralization of organizational structures have resulted in massive amounts of information resources and domain-specific services in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The massive volume and diversity of information and services available have made it difficult to achieve seamless and interoperable e-Science for knowledge-intensive disciplines like TCM. Therefore, information integration and service coordination are two major challenges in e-Science for TCM. We still lack sophisticated approaches to integrate scientific data and services for TCM e-Science. Results We present a comprehensive approach to build dynamic and extendable e-Science applications for knowledge-intensive disciplines like TCM based on semantic and knowledge-based techniques. The semantic e-Science infrastructure for TCM supports large-scale database integration and service coordination in a virtual organization. We use domain ontologies to integrate TCM database resources and services in a semantic cyberspace and deliver a semantically superior experience including browsing, searching, querying and knowledge discovering to users. We have developed a collection of semantic-based toolkits to facilitate TCM scientists and researchers in information sharing and collaborative research. Conclusion Semantic and knowledge-based techniques are suitable to knowledge-intensive disciplines like TCM. It's possible to build on-demand e-Science system for TCM based on existing semantic and knowledge-based techniques. The presented approach in the paper integrates heterogeneous distributed TCM databases and services, and provides scientists with semantically superior experience to support collaborative research in TCM discipline. PMID:17493289

The Role of Accessibility of Semantic Word Knowledge in Monolingual and Bilingual Fifth-Grade Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cremer, M.; Schoonen, R.

2013-01-01

The influences of word decoding, availability, and accessibility of semantic word knowledge on reading comprehension were investigated for monolingual "("n = 65) and bilingual children ("n" = 70). Despite equal decoding abilities, monolingual children outperformed bilingual children with regard to reading comprehension and…

Influences of Prerequisite Knowledge on Inferencing in Literature.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stander, Aaron C.

New information about reading comprehension (specifically schema theory) was applied to the teaching of literature in a study involving 33 high school students enrolled in two American literature classes. In particular, the study examined the ways in which knowledge of background information about a work could influence students' comprehension of…

Linking Parser Development to Acquisition of Syntactic Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Omaki, Akira; Lidz, Jeffrey

2015-01-01

Traditionally, acquisition of syntactic knowledge and the development of sentence comprehension behaviors have been treated as separate disciplines. This article reviews a growing body of work on the development of incremental sentence comprehension mechanisms and discusses how a better understanding of the developing parser can shed light on two…

Knowledge Activation, Integration, and Validation during Narrative Text Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Anne E.; O'Brien, Edward J.

2014-01-01

Previous text comprehension studies using the contradiction paradigm primarily tested assumptions of the activation mechanism involved in reading. However, the nature of the contradiction in such studies relied on validation of information in readers' general world knowledge. We directly tested this validation process by varying the strength of…

Genomics as knowledge enterprise: Implementing an electronic research habitat at the Biopolis Experimental Therapeutics Center.

PubMed

Mitchell, Wayne; Breen, Colin; Entzeroth, Michael

2008-03-01

The Experimental Therapeutics Center (ETC) has been established at Biopolis to advance translational research by bridging the gap between discovery science and commercialization. We describe the Electronic Research Habitat at ETC, a comprehensive hardware and software infrastructure designed to effectively manage terabyte data flows and storage, increase back office efficiency, enhance the scientific work experience, and satisfy rigorous regulatory and legal requirements. Our habitat design is secure, scalable and robust, and it strives to embody the core values of the knowledge-based workplace, thus contributing to the strategic goal of building a "knowledge economy" in the context of Singapore's on-going biotechnology initiative.

Modeling technology innovation: how science, engineering, and industry methods can combine to generate beneficial socioeconomic impacts.

PubMed

Stone, Vathsala I; Lane, Joseph P

2012-05-16

Government-sponsored science, technology, and innovation (STI) programs support the socioeconomic aspects of public policies, in addition to expanding the knowledge base. For example, beneficial healthcare services and devices are expected to result from investments in research and development (R&D) programs, which assume a causal link to commercial innovation. Such programs are increasingly held accountable for evidence of impact-that is, innovative goods and services resulting from R&D activity. However, the absence of comprehensive models and metrics skews evidence gathering toward bibliometrics about research outputs (published discoveries), with less focus on transfer metrics about development outputs (patented prototypes) and almost none on econometrics related to production outputs (commercial innovations). This disparity is particularly problematic for the expressed intent of such programs, as most measurable socioeconomic benefits result from the last category of outputs. This paper proposes a conceptual framework integrating all three knowledge-generating methods into a logic model, useful for planning, obtaining, and measuring the intended beneficial impacts through the implementation of knowledge in practice. Additionally, the integration of the Context-Input-Process-Product (CIPP) model of evaluation proactively builds relevance into STI policies and programs while sustaining rigor. The resulting logic model framework explicitly traces the progress of knowledge from inputs, following it through the three knowledge-generating processes and their respective knowledge outputs (discovery, invention, innovation), as it generates the intended socio-beneficial impacts. It is a hybrid model for generating technology-based innovations, where best practices in new product development merge with a widely accepted knowledge-translation approach. Given the emphasis on evidence-based practice in the medical and health fields and "bench to bedside" expectations for knowledge transfer, sponsors and grantees alike should find the model useful for planning, implementing, and evaluating innovation processes. High-cost/high-risk industries like healthcare require the market deployment of technology-based innovations to improve domestic society in a global economy. An appropriate balance of relevance and rigor in research, development, and production is crucial to optimize the return on public investment in such programs. The technology-innovation process needs a comprehensive operational model to effectively allocate public funds and thereby deliberately and systematically accomplish socioeconomic benefits.

Modeling technology innovation: How science, engineering, and industry methods can combine to generate beneficial socioeconomic impacts

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Government-sponsored science, technology, and innovation (STI) programs support the socioeconomic aspects of public policies, in addition to expanding the knowledge base. For example, beneficial healthcare services and devices are expected to result from investments in research and development (R&D) programs, which assume a causal link to commercial innovation. Such programs are increasingly held accountable for evidence of impact—that is, innovative goods and services resulting from R&D activity. However, the absence of comprehensive models and metrics skews evidence gathering toward bibliometrics about research outputs (published discoveries), with less focus on transfer metrics about development outputs (patented prototypes) and almost none on econometrics related to production outputs (commercial innovations). This disparity is particularly problematic for the expressed intent of such programs, as most measurable socioeconomic benefits result from the last category of outputs. Methods This paper proposes a conceptual framework integrating all three knowledge-generating methods into a logic model, useful for planning, obtaining, and measuring the intended beneficial impacts through the implementation of knowledge in practice. Additionally, the integration of the Context-Input-Process-Product (CIPP) model of evaluation proactively builds relevance into STI policies and programs while sustaining rigor. Results The resulting logic model framework explicitly traces the progress of knowledge from inputs, following it through the three knowledge-generating processes and their respective knowledge outputs (discovery, invention, innovation), as it generates the intended socio-beneficial impacts. It is a hybrid model for generating technology-based innovations, where best practices in new product development merge with a widely accepted knowledge-translation approach. Given the emphasis on evidence-based practice in the medical and health fields and “bench to bedside” expectations for knowledge transfer, sponsors and grantees alike should find the model useful for planning, implementing, and evaluating innovation processes. Conclusions High-cost/high-risk industries like healthcare require the market deployment of technology-based innovations to improve domestic society in a global economy. An appropriate balance of relevance and rigor in research, development, and production is crucial to optimize the return on public investment in such programs. The technology-innovation process needs a comprehensive operational model to effectively allocate public funds and thereby deliberately and systematically accomplish socioeconomic benefits. PMID:22591638

Evaluation of the effectiveness of a WHO-5A model based comprehensive tobacco control program among migrant workers in Guangdong, China: a pilot study.

PubMed

Chai, Wenxin; Zou, Guanyang; Shi, Jingrong; Chen, Wen; Gong, Xiao; Wei, Xiaolin; Ling, Li

2018-02-27

As a vulnerable population in China, migrant workers have a higher smoking rate than the general population. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a WHO-5A based comprehensive tobacco control program in workplaces aggregated with migrants. Using a controlled before and after design, four purposely selected manufacturing factories were assigned to either intervention or control groups. Participants in the intervention arm received adapted 5A group counseling regularly supported by social-media and traditional health education approaches. The primary outcome was the change of smoking rate based on salivary cotinine concentration at three-month follow-up as compared to the control arm. Secondary outcomes were changes in smoking-related knowledge and attitudes assessed using questionnaires. Difference-in-differences approach (DID) and generalized estimating equations (GEE) models were used to conduct the effectiveness analysis. 149 and 166 workers were enrolled in the intervention and control arm respectively. The multiple imputed and adjusted GEE models demonstrated that, compared to those in the control arm, participants in the intervention arm had nearly 2.4 times odds of improving smoking-related knowledge (OR = 2.40, 95% CI = 1.32-4.36, P = 0.02) and three times the odds of improving smoking-related attitude (OR = 3.07, 95% CI = 1.28-7.41, P = 0.03). However, no significant difference was found regarding the change of smoking rate between the two arms (P > 0.05). The regression analysis showed that attendance at the 5A group counseling sections was an important determinant of stopping smoking or improving smoking-related knowledge and attitudes in the intervention group. This WHO-5A comprehensive intervention was effective in improving migrant workers' knowledge of smoking and anti-smoking attitudes. A large-scale, long-term trial is recommended to determine the effectiveness of this intervention. ChiCTR-OPC-17011637 at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. Retrospectively registered on 12th June 2017.

On the Use of Framed Knowledge in Language Comprehension.

DTIC Science & Technology

1978-09-01

knowledge In order to understand a certain stereotyped situation . We must , in other words , harmonize this idea with the opposite one of inodularhy. I...AD A Qb2 680 YAL E UNIV NEW HAVEN CONN DEPT OF cosPute. SCIENCE Fe’S 3/7 UNCLASSIFIED ON THE USE oc FRAMED KNOWLEDGE IN LANGUAGE COIflCHENSION.ftJ...DO JO? ~Jp~QDUC! L1GT3LY. ~~~~~~~~VERI# C) C.) w _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ON THE USE OF FRAMED KNOWLEDGE IN LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION Running t i t le

Using the Delphi questionnaire technique to create a reading comprehension resource guide for middle school science teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wegner, Molly F.

As students begin middle school, they are expected to possess and apply a wide array of nonfiction reading strategies if they are to comprehend new concepts from nonfiction texts. Although strategies and resource guides for fiction reading are available, an effective nonfiction reading comprehension resource guide tailored to middle school science teachers is lacking. The conceptual framework guiding this study is based on schema theory that supports the use of prior knowledge as a foundation for learning. The purpose of this project study was to address this local problem by providing middle school science teachers with a user-friendly resource for nonfiction reading comprehension strategies in a science context. The research question examined nonfiction reading comprehension strategies that could supplement middle school science teachers' instructional practices to increase student comprehension in science, as reflected on the results of state standardized tests. This project study consulted science and language arts teachers using a Delphi questionnaire technique to achieve a consensus through multiple iterations of questionnaires. Science teachers identified 7 areas of concern as students read nonfiction texts, and language arts teachers suggested effective reading comprehension strategies to address these areas. Based on the consensus of reading comprehension strategies and review of literature, a resource guide for middle school science teachers was created. By improving reading comprehension in content areas, teachers may not only increase student learning, but also underscore the importance of literacy relating to life-long learning through future occupations, academic endeavors, and society as well.

Case-based medical informatics

PubMed Central

Pantazi, Stefan V; Arocha, José F; Moehr, Jochen R

2004-01-01

Background The "applied" nature distinguishes applied sciences from theoretical sciences. To emphasize this distinction, we begin with a general, meta-level overview of the scientific endeavor. We introduce the knowledge spectrum and four interconnected modalities of knowledge. In addition to the traditional differentiation between implicit and explicit knowledge we outline the concepts of general and individual knowledge. We connect general knowledge with the "frame problem," a fundamental issue of artificial intelligence, and individual knowledge with another important paradigm of artificial intelligence, case-based reasoning, a method of individual knowledge processing that aims at solving new problems based on the solutions to similar past problems. We outline the fundamental differences between Medical Informatics and theoretical sciences and propose that Medical Informatics research should advance individual knowledge processing (case-based reasoning) and that natural language processing research is an important step towards this goal that may have ethical implications for patient-centered health medicine. Discussion We focus on fundamental aspects of decision-making, which connect human expertise with individual knowledge processing. We continue with a knowledge spectrum perspective on biomedical knowledge and conclude that case-based reasoning is the paradigm that can advance towards personalized healthcare and that can enable the education of patients and providers. We center the discussion on formal methods of knowledge representation around the frame problem. We propose a context-dependent view on the notion of "meaning" and advocate the need for case-based reasoning research and natural language processing. In the context of memory based knowledge processing, pattern recognition, comparison and analogy-making, we conclude that while humans seem to naturally support the case-based reasoning paradigm (memory of past experiences of problem-solving and powerful case matching mechanisms), technical solutions are challenging. Finally, we discuss the major challenges for a technical solution: case record comprehensiveness, organization of information on similarity principles, development of pattern recognition and solving ethical issues. Summary Medical Informatics is an applied science that should be committed to advancing patient-centered medicine through individual knowledge processing. Case-based reasoning is the technical solution that enables a continuous individual knowledge processing and could be applied providing that challenges and ethical issues arising are addressed appropriately. PMID:15533257

The Catalonian Expert Patient Programme for Chagas Disease: An Approach to Comprehensive Care Involving Affected Individuals.

PubMed

Claveria Guiu, Isabel; Caro Mendivelso, Johanna; Ouaarab Essadek, Hakima; González Mestre, Maria Asunción; Albajar-Viñas, Pedro; Gómez I Prat, Jordi

2017-02-01

The Catalonian Expert Patient Programme on Chagas disease is a initiative, which is part of the Chronic Disease Programme. It aims to boost responsibility of patients for their own health and to promote self-care. The programme is based on nine sessions conducted by an expert patient. Evaluation was focusing in: habits and lifestyle/self-care, knowledge of disease, perception of health, self-esteem, participant satisfaction, and compliance with medical follow-up visits. Eighteen participants initiated the programme and 15 completed it. The participants were Bolivians. The 66.7 % of them had been diagnosed with chagas disease in Spain. The 100 % mentioned that they would participate in this activity again and would recommend it to family and friends. The knowledge about disease improve after sessions. The method used in the programme could serve as a key strategy in the field of comprehensive care for individuals with this disease.

eVoc Strategies: 10 Ways to Use Technology to Build Vocabulary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalton, Bridget; Grisham, Dana L.

2011-01-01

Vocabulary knowledge is key to comprehension and expression. For students in the intermediate grades, the need for breadth and depth of vocabulary accelerates as they encounter more challenging academic texts in print and on the Internet. Drawing on research-based principles of vocabulary instruction and multimedia learning, this article presents…

Topics for Educational Policymakers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Texas Association of School Boards, Austin.

The primary responsibility of school board members has always been the development of the policies that govern the school district. If these policies are to properly address the actual needs of the school district they must be based on an accurate and comprehensive knowledge of the issue confronting the district. This handbook is designed first to…

The Development of a Visual-Perceptual Chemistry Specific (VPCS) Assessment Tool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oliver-Hoyo, Maria; Sloan, Caroline

2014-01-01

The development of the Visual-Perceptual Chemistry Specific (VPCS) assessment tool is based on items that align to eight visual-perceptual skills considered as needed by chemistry students. This tool includes a comprehensive range of visual operations and presents items within a chemistry context without requiring content knowledge to solve…

A Task-Based Language Teaching Approach to Developing Metacognitive Strategies for Listening Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chou, Mu-Hsuan

2017-01-01

In second (L2) or foreign language (FL) learning, learning strategies help learners perform tasks, solve specific problems, and compensate for learning deficits. Of the strategy types, metacognitive strategies manage and regulate the construction of L2 or FL knowledge. Although learning strategies are frequently taught via teacher demonstration,…

A Comprehensive Officer Sabbatical Program: Rethinking the Military Officer Career Path

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-04-09

attractive in the civilian world. However, retaining junior officers is more than just a calculus based upon raw numbers. The Army needs to keep...personal knowledge obtained on Anton Myrer Army Leader Day at U.S. Army War College on October 15, 2008 during discussions with Army Senior Leadership

Cheminformatics and Data Mining Approaches for Exploring the Alternatives Testing Landscsape: Case Studies in ToxCast and Skin Sensitization (BOSC CSS)

EPA Science Inventory

Cheminformatics approaches and structure-based rules are being used to evaluate and explore the ToxCast chemical landscape and associated high-throughput screening (HTS) data. We have shown that the library provides comprehensive coverage of the knowledge domains and target inven...

Exploring Children's Literature: Teaching the Language and Reading of Fiction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gamble, Nikki; Yates, Sally

This book, a comprehensive guide to the range of genres and characteristic features of English-language fiction written for children, is based on the belief that deep subject knowledge of language and literature provides a foundation for effective teaching and learning. The book helps readers to develop their understanding of literature within…

Optimizing an Immersion ESL Curriculum Using Analytic Hierarchy Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tang, Hui-Wen Vivian

2011-01-01

The main purpose of this study is to fill a substantial knowledge gap regarding reaching a uniform group decision in English curriculum design and planning. A comprehensive content-based course criterion model extracted from existing literature and expert opinions was developed. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was used to identify the relative…

Childhood Trauma Remembered: A Report on the Current Scientific Knowledge Base and Its Applications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roth, Susan, Ed.; Friedman, Matthew J., Ed.

1998-01-01

Complex issues are involved in the controversy about memories of childhood sexual abuse. Questions of childhood trauma, traumatic memory, the memory process, clinical issues, and forensic implications are reviewed. This article is condensed and modified from a more comprehensive document prepared by and available from the International Society for…

Pedagogical Design Capacity and Underlying Knowledge Base of Curriculum Materials Use of a Hong Kong English Teacher

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chong, Ivan

2016-01-01

Using "pedagogical design capacity" ("PDC") as the conceptual framework, this single-case study examines how an English teacher in Hong Kong perceives and mobilizes curriculum materials to teach reading comprehension to secondary one students in two stages of implementation. Relying on data collected from semi-structured…

Pictorial Playground-Based Physical Activity Assessment Instrument: Uses and Applications of the ADL-PP

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sinclair, Christina; Babkes Stellino, Megan

2017-01-01

Comprehensive school physical activity programs (CSPAPs) are designed to support children in getting 60 minutes of daily physical activity, as well as meet SHAPE America's goal of developing physically literate individuals who have the knowledge, skills and confidence to be physically active for a lifetime. The Activities for Daily…

Developing a Web-Based Mechanism for Assessing Teacher Science Content Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byers, Al; Koba, Susan; Sherman, Greg; Scheppke, Joan; Bolus, Roger

2011-01-01

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) recently launched a comprehensive electronic professional development (e-PD) online portal, the NSTA Learning Center. This support site for educators currently includes over 6,000 e-PD resources and opportunities available on-demand, as well as various tools designed to help educators maximize the…

Read-Alouds in Calca, Peru: A Bilingual Indigenous Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neugebauer, Sabina Rak; Currie-Rubin, Rachel

2009-01-01

A read-aloud program focused on vocabulary and comprehension skills for children bilingual in Quechua and Spanish was evaluated for efficacy. The authors present a study with classrooms of first-grade students, suggesting that specific read-aloud strategies that target the use of background knowledge in a discussion-based format can be a…

CA State Profile. California: California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Center on Education Policy, 2010

2010-01-01

This paper provides information about California High School Exit Examination, a comprehensive standards-based exam. The purpose of the exam is to: (1) Determine prospective high school graduates' knowledge and skill levels relative to those needed for entry-level employment; (2) Determine prospective high school graduates' mastery of the state…

Comprehensive Analysis of Semantic Web Reasoners and Tools: A Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khamparia, Aditya; Pandey, Babita

2017-01-01

Ontologies are emerging as best representation techniques for knowledge based context domains. The continuing need for interoperation, collaboration and effective information retrieval has lead to the creation of semantic web with the help of tools and reasoners which manages personalized information. The future of semantic web lies in an ontology…

Teaching Energy Using an Integrated Science Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poggi, Valeria; Miceli, Cristina; Testa, Italo

2017-01-01

Despite its relevance to all scientific domains, the debate surrounding the teaching of energy is still open. The main point remains the problems students have in understanding some aspects of the energy concept and in applying their knowledge to the comprehension of natural phenomena. In this paper, we present a research-based interdisciplinary…

Three Studies of Service-Learning as an Approach to Movement Integration in Elementary Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Michael, Robert D., Jr.

2017-01-01

This dissertation consists of three studies that examine service-learning (SL) as an approach to incorporating movement integration (MI) in elementary classrooms as part of a comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP). All three studies attempt to advance the knowledge base about using partnership approaches to supporting school based…

Project Facilitate: An Inservice Education Program for Educators and Parents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Worthington, Lou Anne; Wortham, Joycelyn Foy; Smith, Cynthia Ruth Blocker; Patterson, David

1997-01-01

Describes "Project Facilitate," an inservice education program that provides educators and parents with a comprehensive overview of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). The program involves the use of four self-instructional content manuals: AD/HD general knowledge base, legal issues and AD/HD, assessment of children with AD/HD, and…

The Role of Elaboration in the Comprehension and Retention of Prose: A Critical Review.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reder, Lynne M.

1980-01-01

Recent research in the area of prose comprehension is reviewed, including factors that affect amount of recall, representations of text structures, and use of world knowledge to aid comprehension. The need for more information processing models of comprehension is emphasized. Elaboration is considered important for comprehension and retention.…

A Knowledge-Based Arrangement of Prototypical Neural Representation Prior to Experience Contributes to Selectivity in Upcoming Knowledge Acquisition.

PubMed

Kurashige, Hiroki; Yamashita, Yuichi; Hanakawa, Takashi; Honda, Manabu

2018-01-01

Knowledge acquisition is a process in which one actively selects a piece of information from the environment and assimilates it with prior knowledge. However, little is known about the neural mechanism underlying selectivity in knowledge acquisition. Here we executed a 2-day human experiment to investigate the involvement of characteristic spontaneous activity resembling a so-called "preplay" in selectivity in sentence comprehension, an instance of knowledge acquisition. On day 1, we presented 10 sentences (prior sentences) that were difficult to understand on their own. On the following day, we first measured the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Then, we administered a sentence comprehension task using 20 new sentences (posterior sentences). The posterior sentences were also difficult to understand on their own, but some could be associated with prior sentences to facilitate their understanding. Next, we measured the posterior sentence-induced fMRI to identify the neural representation. From the resting-state fMRI, we extracted the appearances of activity patterns similar to the neural representations for posterior sentences. Importantly, the resting-state fMRI was measured before giving the posterior sentences, and thus such appearances could be considered as preplay-like or prototypical neural representations. We compared the intensities of such appearances with the understanding of posterior sentences. This gave a positive correlation between these two variables, but only if posterior sentences were associated with prior sentences. Additional analysis showed the contribution of the entorhinal cortex, rather than the hippocampus, to the correlation. The present study suggests that prior knowledge-based arrangement of neural activity before an experience contributes to the active selection of information to be learned. Such arrangement prior to an experience resembles preplay activity observed in the rodent brain. In terms of knowledge acquisition, the present study leads to a new view of the brain (or more precisely of the brain's knowledge) as an autopoietic system in which the brain (or knowledge) selects what it should learn by itself, arranges preplay-like activity as a position for the new information in advance, and actively reorganizes itself.

A Knowledge-Based Arrangement of Prototypical Neural Representation Prior to Experience Contributes to Selectivity in Upcoming Knowledge Acquisition

PubMed Central

Kurashige, Hiroki; Yamashita, Yuichi; Hanakawa, Takashi; Honda, Manabu

2018-01-01

Knowledge acquisition is a process in which one actively selects a piece of information from the environment and assimilates it with prior knowledge. However, little is known about the neural mechanism underlying selectivity in knowledge acquisition. Here we executed a 2-day human experiment to investigate the involvement of characteristic spontaneous activity resembling a so-called “preplay” in selectivity in sentence comprehension, an instance of knowledge acquisition. On day 1, we presented 10 sentences (prior sentences) that were difficult to understand on their own. On the following day, we first measured the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Then, we administered a sentence comprehension task using 20 new sentences (posterior sentences). The posterior sentences were also difficult to understand on their own, but some could be associated with prior sentences to facilitate their understanding. Next, we measured the posterior sentence-induced fMRI to identify the neural representation. From the resting-state fMRI, we extracted the appearances of activity patterns similar to the neural representations for posterior sentences. Importantly, the resting-state fMRI was measured before giving the posterior sentences, and thus such appearances could be considered as preplay-like or prototypical neural representations. We compared the intensities of such appearances with the understanding of posterior sentences. This gave a positive correlation between these two variables, but only if posterior sentences were associated with prior sentences. Additional analysis showed the contribution of the entorhinal cortex, rather than the hippocampus, to the correlation. The present study suggests that prior knowledge-based arrangement of neural activity before an experience contributes to the active selection of information to be learned. Such arrangement prior to an experience resembles preplay activity observed in the rodent brain. In terms of knowledge acquisition, the present study leads to a new view of the brain (or more precisely of the brain’s knowledge) as an autopoietic system in which the brain (or knowledge) selects what it should learn by itself, arranges preplay-like activity as a position for the new information in advance, and actively reorganizes itself. PMID:29662446

Linking medical records to an expert system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Naeymi-Rad, Frank; Trace, David; Desouzaalmeida, Fabio

1991-01-01

This presentation will be done using the IMR-Entry (Intelligent Medical Record Entry) system. IMR-Entry is a software program developed as a front-end to our diagnostic consultant software MEDAS (Medical Emergency Decision Assistance System). MEDAS (the Medical Emergency Diagnostic Assistance System) is a diagnostic consultant system using a multimembership Bayesian design for its inference engine and relational database technology for its knowledge base maintenance. Research on MEDAS began at the University of Southern California and the Institute of Critical Care in the mid 1970's with support from NASA and NSF. The MEDAS project moved to Chicago in 1982; its current progress is due to collaboration between Illinois Institute of Technology, The Chicago Medical School, Lake Forest College and NASA at KSC. Since the purpose of an expert system is to derive a hypothesis, its communication vocabulary is limited to features used by its knowledge base. The development of a comprehensive problem based medical record entry system which could handshake with an expert system while creating an electronic medical record at the same time was studied. IMR-E is a computer based patient record that serves as a front end to the expert system MEDAS. IMR-E is a graphically oriented comprehensive medical record. The programs major components are demonstrated.

Navigation and Comprehension of Digital Expository Texts: Hypertext Structure, Previous Domain Knowledge, and Working Memory Capacity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burin, Debora I.; Barreyro, Juan P.; Saux, Gastón; Irrazábal, Natalia C.

2015-01-01

Introduction: In contemporary information societies, reading digital text has become pervasive. One of the most distinctive features of digital texts is their internal connections via hyperlinks, resulting in non-linear hypertexts. Hypertext structure and previous knowledge affect navigation and comprehension of digital expository texts. From the…

Examining the Relative Contributions of Content Knowledge and Strategic Processing to Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aukerman, Maren; Brown, Rachel; Mokhtari, Kouider; Valencia, Sheila; Palincsar, Annemarie

2015-01-01

The essays below were prepared following the LRA session organized by Janice Almasi entitled, "Examining the relative contributions of content knowledge and strategic processing to comprehension." What unites these essays are the personal and historical stances that each writer has taken; in addition, the essays are rich with…

Using the DASH Method to Measure Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shieh, Wenyuh; Freiermuth, Mark R.

2010-01-01

Vocabulary knowledge has been recognized by researchers as a critical component of reading comprehension, not only as a means to facilitate first language acquisition but also as an integral element in the learning of English as a second or foreign language. To reduce the effect of insufficient vocabulary knowledge during reading, a compensatory…

Building Background Knowledge To Improve Reading Comprehension through Use of Technology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferguson, Iyla

This study describes a program designed to increase student background knowledge in order to improve reading comprehension. The targeted first grade class is located in a Midwest, middle class, metropolitan community. More than half of the school's population is identified as low-income. Evidence for the existence of the problem was obtained…

Schema Theory: Teaching U.S. History to Beginning Amnesty Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chervenick, Ellen Cecelia

In order to study for citizenship tests, amnesty students need to be able to read U.S. history material, although they usually have no background knowledge for it. According to schema theory, background knowledge is important for reading comprehension. Research has shown significant improvement in the reading comprehension of intermediate level…

Enrichment assessment of multiple virtual screening strategies for Toll-like receptor 8 agonists based on a maximal unbiased benchmarking data set.

PubMed

Pei, Fen; Jin, Hongwei; Zhou, Xin; Xia, Jie; Sun, Lidan; Liu, Zhenming; Zhang, Liangren

2015-11-01

Toll-like receptor 8 agonists, which activate adaptive immune responses by inducing robust production of T-helper 1-polarizing cytokines, are promising candidates for vaccine adjuvants. As the binding site of toll-like receptor 8 is large and highly flexible, virtual screening by individual method has inevitable limitations; thus, a comprehensive comparison of different methods may provide insights into seeking effective strategy for the discovery of novel toll-like receptor 8 agonists. In this study, the performance of knowledge-based pharmacophore, shape-based 3D screening, and combined strategies was assessed against a maximum unbiased benchmarking data set containing 13 actives and 1302 decoys specialized for toll-like receptor 8 agonists. Prior structure-activity relationship knowledge was involved in knowledge-based pharmacophore generation, and a set of antagonists was innovatively used to verify the selectivity of the selected knowledge-based pharmacophore. The benchmarking data set was generated from our recently developed 'mubd-decoymaker' protocol. The enrichment assessment demonstrated a considerable performance through our selected three-layer virtual screening strategy: knowledge-based pharmacophore (Phar1) screening, shape-based 3D similarity search (Q4_combo), and then a Gold docking screening. This virtual screening strategy could be further employed to perform large-scale database screening and to discover novel toll-like receptor 8 agonists. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

School Based Sex Education and HIV Prevention in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Fonner, Virginia A.; Armstrong, Kevin S.; Kennedy, Caitlin E.; O'Reilly, Kevin R.; Sweat, Michael D.

2014-01-01

Objectives School-based sex education is a cornerstone of HIV prevention for adolescents who continue to bear a disproportionally high HIV burden globally. We systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed the existing evidence for school-based sex education interventions in low- and middle-income countries to determine the efficacy of these interventions in changing HIV-related knowledge and risk behaviors. Methods We searched five electronic databases, PubMed, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL, and Sociological Abstracts, for eligible articles. We also conducted hand-searching of key journals and secondary reference searching of included articles to identify potential studies. Intervention effects were synthesized through random effects meta-analysis for five outcomes: HIV knowledge, self-efficacy, sexual debut, condom use, and number of sexual partners. Results Of 6191 unique citations initially identified, 64 studies in 63 articles were included in the review. Nine interventions either focused exclusively on abstinence (abstinence-only) or emphasized abstinence (abstinence-plus), whereas the remaining 55 interventions provided comprehensive sex education. Thirty-three studies were able to be meta-analyzed across five HIV-related outcomes. Results from meta-analysis demonstrate that school-based sex education is an effective strategy for reducing HIV-related risk. Students who received school-based sex education interventions had significantly greater HIV knowledge (Hedges g = 0.63, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.49–0.78, p<0.001), self-efficacy related to refusing sex or condom use (Hedges g = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.14–0.36, p<0.001), condom use (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.18–1.52, p<0.001), fewer sexual partners (OR = 0.75, 95% CI:0.67–0.84, p<0.001) and less initiation of first sex during follow-up (OR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.54–0.83, p<0.001). Conclusions The paucity of abstinence-only or abstinence-plus interventions identified during the review made comparisons between the predominant comprehensive and less common abstinence-focused programs difficult. Comprehensive school-based sex education interventions adapted from effective programs and those involving a range of school-based and community-based components had the largest impact on changing HIV-related behaviors. PMID:24594648

Knowledge-driven computational modeling in Alzheimer's disease research: Current state and future trends.

PubMed

Geerts, Hugo; Hofmann-Apitius, Martin; Anastasio, Thomas J

2017-11-01

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) follow a slowly progressing dysfunctional trajectory, with a large presymptomatic component and many comorbidities. Using preclinical models and large-scale omics studies ranging from genetics to imaging, a large number of processes that might be involved in AD pathology at different stages and levels have been identified. The sheer number of putative hypotheses makes it almost impossible to estimate their contribution to the clinical outcome and to develop a comprehensive view on the pathological processes driving the clinical phenotype. Traditionally, bioinformatics approaches have provided correlations and associations between processes and phenotypes. Focusing on causality, a new breed of advanced and more quantitative modeling approaches that use formalized domain expertise offer new opportunities to integrate these different modalities and outline possible paths toward new therapeutic interventions. This article reviews three different computational approaches and their possible complementarities. Process algebras, implemented using declarative programming languages such as Maude, facilitate simulation and analysis of complicated biological processes on a comprehensive but coarse-grained level. A model-driven Integration of Data and Knowledge, based on the OpenBEL platform and using reverse causative reasoning and network jump analysis, can generate mechanistic knowledge and a new, mechanism-based taxonomy of disease. Finally, Quantitative Systems Pharmacology is based on formalized implementation of domain expertise in a more fine-grained, mechanism-driven, quantitative, and predictive humanized computer model. We propose a strategy to combine the strengths of these individual approaches for developing powerful modeling methodologies that can provide actionable knowledge for rational development of preventive and therapeutic interventions. Development of these computational approaches is likely to be required for further progress in understanding and treating AD. Copyright © 2017 the Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improvement in nutrition-related knowledge and behaviour of urban Asian Indian school children: findings from the 'Medical education for children/Adolescents for Realistic prevention of obesity and diabetes and for healthy aGeing' ( MARG) intervention study.

PubMed

Shah, Priyali; Misra, Anoop; Gupta, Nidhi; Hazra, Daya Kishore; Gupta, Rajeev; Seth, Payal; Agarwal, Anand; Gupta, Arun Kumar; Jain, Arvind; Kulshreshta, Atul; Hazra, Nandita; Khanna, Padmamalika; Gangwar, Prasann Kumar; Bansal, Sunil; Tallikoti, Pooja; Mohan, Indu; Bhargava, Rooma; Sharma, Rekha; Gulati, Seema; Bharadwaj, Swati; Pandey, Ravindra Mohan; Goel, Kashish

2010-08-01

Increasing prevalence of childhood obesity calls for comprehensive and cost-effective educative measures in developing countries such as India. School-based educative programmes greatly influence children's behaviour towards healthy living. We aimed to evaluate the impact of a school-based health and nutritional education programme on knowledge and behaviour of urban Asian Indian school children. Benchmark assessment of parents and teachers was also done. We educated 40 196 children (aged 8-18 years), 25 000 parents and 1500 teachers about health, nutrition, physical activity, non-communicable diseases and healthy cooking practices in three cities of North India. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to assess randomly selected 3128 children, 2241 parents and 841 teachers before intervention and 2329 children after intervention. Low baseline knowledge and behaviour scores were reported in 75-94 % government and 48-78 % private school children, across all age groups. A small proportion of government school children gave correct answers about protein (14-17 %), carbohydrates (25-27 %) and saturated fats (18-32 %). Private school children, parents and teachers performed significantly better than government school subjects (P < 0.05). Following the intervention, scores improved in all children irrespective of the type of school (P < 0.001). A significantly higher improvement was observed in younger children (aged 8-11 years) as compared with those aged 12-18 years, in females compared with males and in government schools compared with private schools (P < 0.05 for all). Major gaps exist in health and nutrition-related knowledge and behaviour of urban Asian Indian children, parents and teachers. This successful and comprehensive educative intervention could be incorporated in future school-based health and nutritional education programmes.

Do school-based health centers improve adolescents' access to health care, health status, and risk-taking behavior?

PubMed

Kisker, E E; Brown, R S

1996-05-01

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the School-Based Adolescent Health Care Program, which provided comprehensive health-related services in 24 school-based health centers. The outcomes evaluation compared a cohort of students attending 19 participating schools and a national sample of urban youths, using logit models to control for observed differences between the two groups of youths. Outcome measures included self-reports concerning health center utilization, use of other health care providers, knowledge of key health facts, substance use, sexual activity, contraceptive use, pregnancies and births, and health status. The health centers increased students' access to health care and improved their health knowledge. However, the estimated impacts on health status and risky behaviors were inconsistent, and most were small and not statistically significant. School-based health centers can increase students' health knowledge and access to health-related services, but more intensive or different services are needed if they are to significantly reduce risk-taking behaviors.

NEIBank: Genomics and bioinformatics resources for vision research

PubMed Central

Peterson, Katherine; Gao, James; Buchoff, Patee; Jaworski, Cynthia; Bowes-Rickman, Catherine; Ebright, Jessica N.; Hauser, Michael A.; Hoover, David

2008-01-01

NEIBank is an integrated resource for genomics and bioinformatics in vision research. It includes expressed sequence tag (EST) data and sequence-verified cDNA clones for multiple eye tissues of several species, web-based access to human eye-specific SAGE data through EyeSAGE, and comprehensive, annotated databases of known human eye disease genes and candidate disease gene loci. All expression- and disease-related data are integrated in EyeBrowse, an eye-centric genome browser. NEIBank provides a comprehensive overview of current knowledge of the transcriptional repertoires of eye tissues and their relation to pathology. PMID:18648525

[Does action semantic knowledge influence mental simulation in sentence comprehension?].

PubMed

Mochizuki, Masaya; Naito, Katsuo

2012-04-01

This research investigated whether action semantic knowledge influences mental simulation during sentence comprehension. In Experiment 1, we confirmed that the words of face-related objects include the perceptual knowledge about the actions that bring the object to the face. In Experiment 2, we used an acceptability judgment task and a word-picture verification task to compare the perceptual information that is activated by the comprehension of sentences describing an action using face-related objects near the face (near-sentence) or far from the face (far-sentence). Results showed that participants took a longer time to judge the acceptability of the far-sentence than the near-sentence. Verification times were significantly faster when the actions in the pictures matched the action described in the sentences than when they were mismatched. These findings suggest that action semantic knowledge influences sentence processing, and that perceptual information corresponding to the content of the sentence is activated regardless of the action semantic knowledge at the end of the sentence processing.

Ambiguity in knowledge transfer: The role of theory-practice gap.

PubMed

Cheraghi, Mohammad Ali; Salsali, Mahvash; Safari, Mahmoud

2010-01-01

In spite of much literature written about the theory-practice gap in the international nursing journals, there is evidence that indicates this subject has not been probed comprehensively since nursing education was transferred to universities in Iran. In the recent years, the public and the government have criticized Iranian nurses because of poor quality of patient care. Although this subject has been lamented by some researchers, there is no comprehensive work on how this gap resulted. In the process of a larger study on "nursing knowledge translation to practice", of one PhD thesis, this process was explored. Using grounded theory analysis, indepth interviews were undertaken with a purposive sample of 29 nurses, with different levels of experience, from the school of nursing in Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2006 from January to August. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Three main themes emerging from this study included clinical behavior structure, paradoxical knowledge and practice, and divergent nursing organization. It seems that nursing education with some praxis and paradoxes in the realm of nursing knowledge and practice, along with divergent organizational structure have decreased nurses' ability in applying their professional knowledge and skills in order to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Moreover, in spite of increased academic input into nursing education, clinical behaviors of both education and practice settings was perceived as "traditional routine-based".

Students' perceptions of vertical and horizontal integration in a discipline-based dental school.

PubMed

Postma, T C; White, J G

2017-05-01

Integration is a key concern in discipline-based undergraduate dental curricula. Therefore, this study compared feedback on integration from students who participated in different instructional designs in a Comprehensive Patient Care course. The study was conducted at the University of Pretoria (2009-2011). Third-year cohorts (Cohorts A, B and C) participated in pre-clinical case-based learning, whilst fourth-year cohorts (Cohorts D and E) received didactic teaching in Comprehensive Patient Care. Cohorts A, D and E practised clinical Comprehensive Patient Care in a discipline-based clinic. Cohort B conducted their Comprehensive Patient Care patient examinations in a dedicated facility supervised by dedicated faculty responsible to teach integration. Students had to indicate on visual analogue scales whether the way they were taught at the school helped them to integrate knowledge from the same (horizontal integration) and preceding (vertical integration) year of study. The end-points of the scales were defined as 'definitely' and 'not at all'. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to measure the differences between cohorts according to the year of study. Third-year case-based learning cohorts rated the horizontal integration close to 80/100 and vertical integration ranging from 64 to 71/100. In year four, Cohort B rated vertical and horizontal integration 9-15% higher (ANOVA, P < 0.05) than Cohorts A and D. In year five, Cohort A rated vertical and horizontal integration 11-18% higher (ANOVA, P < 0.05) than Cohorts D and E. Pre-clinical case-based learning and Comprehensive Patient Care supervised by dedicated faculty were associated with more favourable perceptions about integration in the discipline-based undergraduate dental curriculum. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Time-Variable Phenomena in the Jovian System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Belton, Michael J. S. (Editor); West, Robert A. (Editor); Rahe, Jurgen (Editor); Pereyda, Margarita

1989-01-01

The current state of knowledge of dynamic processes in the Jovian system is assessed and summaries are provided of both theoretical and observational foundations upon which future research might be based. There are three sections: satellite phenomena and rings; magnetospheric phenomena, Io's torus, and aurorae; and atmospheric phenomena. Each chapter discusses time dependent theoretical framework for understanding and interpreting what is observed; others describe the evidence and nature of observed changes or their absence. A few chapters provide historical perspective and attempt to present a comprehensive synthesis of the current state of knowledge.

Developmental and benign movement disorders in childhood.

PubMed

Bonnet, Cecilia; Roubertie, Agathe; Doummar, Diane; Bahi-Buisson, Nadia; Cochen de Cock, Valérie; Roze, Emmanuel

2010-07-30

Developmental and benign movement disorders are a group of movement disorders with onset in the neonatal period, infancy, or childhood. They are characterized by the absence of associated neurological manifestations and by their favorable outcome, although developmental abnormalities can be occasionally observed. Knowledge of the clinical, neurophysiological, and pathogenetic aspects of these disorders is poor. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature and our practical experience, this article summarizes current knowledge in this area. We pay special attention to the recognition and management of these movement disorders in children. (c) 2010 Movement Disorder Society.

Enriching semantic knowledge bases for opinion mining in big data applications.

PubMed

Weichselbraun, A; Gindl, S; Scharl, A

2014-10-01

This paper presents a novel method for contextualizing and enriching large semantic knowledge bases for opinion mining with a focus on Web intelligence platforms and other high-throughput big data applications. The method is not only applicable to traditional sentiment lexicons, but also to more comprehensive, multi-dimensional affective resources such as SenticNet. It comprises the following steps: (i) identify ambiguous sentiment terms, (ii) provide context information extracted from a domain-specific training corpus, and (iii) ground this contextual information to structured background knowledge sources such as ConceptNet and WordNet. A quantitative evaluation shows a significant improvement when using an enriched version of SenticNet for polarity classification. Crowdsourced gold standard data in conjunction with a qualitative evaluation sheds light on the strengths and weaknesses of the concept grounding, and on the quality of the enrichment process.

Individual differences in the strength of taxonomic versus thematic relations

PubMed Central

Mirman, Daniel; Graziano, Kristen M.

2011-01-01

Knowledge about word and object meanings can be organized taxonomically (fruits, mammals, etc.) based on shared features, or thematically (eating breakfast, taking a dog for a walk, etc.) based on participation in events or scenarios. An eye-tracking study showed that both kinds of knowledge are activated during comprehension of a single spoken word, even when the listener is not required to perform any active task. The results further revealed that an individual’s relative activation of taxonomic relations compared to thematic relations predicts that individual’s tendency to favor taxonomic over thematic relations when asked to choose between them in a similarity judgment task. These results argue that individuals differ in the relative strengths of their taxonomic and thematic semantic knowledge and suggest that meaning information is organized in two parallel, complementary semantic systems. PMID:22201413

Preventing Suicide: A Neglected Social Work Research Agenda

PubMed Central

Joe, Sean; Niedermeier, Danielle

2009-01-01

Summary Social workers encounter suicidal clients; however, little is known about social work’s empirical knowledge base for suicide assessment and treatment. In the first comprehensive study of social work’s contribution to the suicide literature, the authors conducted systematic electronic and manual searches for suicide research published in peer-reviewed journals by social work investigators for the period 1980–2006, with the purpose of ascertaining the state of clinical knowledge related to suicide risk factors and effective treatments. These findings reveal that despite recent increases to the study of suicide by social work researchers, they have contributed limited evidenced-based knowledge in the last twenty-six years on the treatment or prevention of suicide or suicide-related behaviours. The article outlines the risk factors for suicide and discusses the implications for clinical social work practice and research. PMID:19924271

Finding gene regulatory network candidates using the gene expression knowledge base.

PubMed

Venkatesan, Aravind; Tripathi, Sushil; Sanz de Galdeano, Alejandro; Blondé, Ward; Lægreid, Astrid; Mironov, Vladimir; Kuiper, Martin

2014-12-10

Network-based approaches for the analysis of large-scale genomics data have become well established. Biological networks provide a knowledge scaffold against which the patterns and dynamics of 'omics' data can be interpreted. The background information required for the construction of such networks is often dispersed across a multitude of knowledge bases in a variety of formats. The seamless integration of this information is one of the main challenges in bioinformatics. The Semantic Web offers powerful technologies for the assembly of integrated knowledge bases that are computationally comprehensible, thereby providing a potentially powerful resource for constructing biological networks and network-based analysis. We have developed the Gene eXpression Knowledge Base (GeXKB), a semantic web technology based resource that contains integrated knowledge about gene expression regulation. To affirm the utility of GeXKB we demonstrate how this resource can be exploited for the identification of candidate regulatory network proteins. We present four use cases that were designed from a biological perspective in order to find candidate members relevant for the gastrin hormone signaling network model. We show how a combination of specific query definitions and additional selection criteria derived from gene expression data and prior knowledge concerning candidate proteins can be used to retrieve a set of proteins that constitute valid candidates for regulatory network extensions. Semantic web technologies provide the means for processing and integrating various heterogeneous information sources. The GeXKB offers biologists such an integrated knowledge resource, allowing them to address complex biological questions pertaining to gene expression. This work illustrates how GeXKB can be used in combination with gene expression results and literature information to identify new potential candidates that may be considered for extending a gene regulatory network.

Reading Comprehension Performance of Adolescents with Learning Disabilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snider, Vicki E.

1989-01-01

The study found that instructing 13 learning-disabled junior high students in the necessary prior knowledge (information and vocabulary concepts) led to superior reading comprehension performance. Textually explicit text structure also improved reading comprehension. (DB)

Knowledge-based public health situation awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mirhaji, Parsa; Zhang, Jiajie; Srinivasan, Arunkumar; Richesson, Rachel L.; Smith, Jack W.

2004-09-01

There have been numerous efforts to create comprehensive databases from multiple sources to monitor the dynamics of public health and most specifically to detect the potential threats of bioterrorism before widespread dissemination. But there are not many evidences for the assertion that these systems are timely and dependable, or can reliably identify man made from natural incident. One must evaluate the value of so called 'syndromic surveillance systems' along with the costs involved in design, development, implementation and maintenance of such systems and the costs involved in investigation of the inevitable false alarms1. In this article we will introduce a new perspective to the problem domain with a shift in paradigm from 'surveillance' toward 'awareness'. As we conceptualize a rather different approach to tackle the problem, we will introduce a different methodology in application of information science, computer science, cognitive science and human-computer interaction concepts in design and development of so called 'public health situation awareness systems'. We will share some of our design and implementation concepts for the prototype system that is under development in the Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Informatics Research, in the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. The system is based on a knowledgebase containing ontologies with different layers of abstraction, from multiple domains, that provide the context for information integration, knowledge discovery, interactive data mining, information visualization, information sharing and communications. The modular design of the knowledgebase and its knowledge representation formalism enables incremental evolution of the system from a partial system to a comprehensive knowledgebase of 'public health situation awareness' as it acquires new knowledge through interactions with domain experts or automatic discovery of new knowledge.

The Effects of an Integrated Reading Comprehension Strategy: A Culturally Responsive Teaching Approach for Fifth-Grade Students' Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bui, Yvonne N.; Fagan, Yvette M.

2013-01-01

The study evaluated the effects of the Integrated Reading Comprehension Strategy on two levels. The Integrated Reading Comprehension Strategy integrated story grammar instruction and story maps, prior knowledge and prediction method, and word webs through a culturally responsive teaching framework; the Integrated Reading Comprehension Strategy…

Understanding Genetic Breast Cancer Risk: Processing Loci of the BRCA Gist Intelligent Tutoring System

PubMed Central

Wolfe, Christopher R.; Reyna, Valerie F.; Widmer, Colin L.; Cedillos-Whynott, Elizabeth M.; Brust-Renck, Priscila G; Weil, Audrey M.; Hu, Xiangen

2016-01-01

The BRCA Gist Intelligent Tutoring System helps women understand and make decisions about genetic testing for breast cancer risk. BRCA Gist is guided by Fuzzy-Trace Theory, (FTT) and built using AutoTutor Lite. It responds differently to participants depending on what they say. Seven tutorial dialogues requiring explanation and argumentation are guided by three FTT concepts: forming gist explanations in one’s own words, emphasizing decision-relevant information, and deliberating the consequences of decision alternatives. Participants were randomly assigned to BRCA Gist, a control, or impoverished BRCA Gist conditions removing gist explanation dialogues, argumentation dialogues, or FTT images. All BRCA Gist conditions performed significantly better than controls on knowledge, comprehension, and risk assessment. Significant differences in knowledge, comprehension, and fine-grained dialogue analyses demonstrate the efficacy of gist explanation dialogues. FTT images significantly increased knowledge. Providing more elements in arguments against testing correlated with increased knowledge and comprehension. PMID:28008216

Understanding Genetic Breast Cancer Risk: Processing Loci of the BRCA Gist Intelligent Tutoring System.

PubMed

Wolfe, Christopher R; Reyna, Valerie F; Widmer, Colin L; Cedillos-Whynott, Elizabeth M; Brust-Renck, Priscila G; Weil, Audrey M; Hu, Xiangen

2016-07-01

The BRCA Gist Intelligent Tutoring System helps women understand and make decisions about genetic testing for breast cancer risk. BRCA Gist is guided by Fuzzy-Trace Theory, (FTT) and built using AutoTutor Lite. It responds differently to participants depending on what they say. Seven tutorial dialogues requiring explanation and argumentation are guided by three FTT concepts: forming gist explanations in one's own words, emphasizing decision-relevant information, and deliberating the consequences of decision alternatives. Participants were randomly assigned to BRCA Gist , a control, or impoverished BRCA Gist conditions removing gist explanation dialogues, argumentation dialogues, or FTT images. All BRCA Gist conditions performed significantly better than controls on knowledge, comprehension, and risk assessment. Significant differences in knowledge, comprehension, and fine-grained dialogue analyses demonstrate the efficacy of gist explanation dialogues. FTT images significantly increased knowledge. Providing more elements in arguments against testing correlated with increased knowledge and comprehension.

Bye-bye mummy - Word comprehension in 9-month-old infants.

PubMed

Syrnyk, Corinne; Meints, Kerstin

2017-06-01

From the little research that exists on the onset of word learning in infants under the age of 1 year, the evidence suggests an idiosyncratic comprehensive vocabulary is developing. To further this field, we tested 49 nine-month-old infants by pre-assessing their vocabularies using a UK version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Developmental Inventory. Intermodal preferential looking (IPL) was then used to examine word comprehension including: (a) words parents reported as understood, (b) words infants are expected to understand according to age-related frequency data, and (c) words parents had reported infants not to understand. Assuming parents are good assessors of their infant's early word knowledge, we expected a naming effect with IPL in condition (a), but not condition (c). As language research uses standard samples of words, we expected a discernible naming effect in condition (b). Results show clear IPL evidence of word comprehension for those words that parents reported their infants to understand (condition a). This agreement between methods demonstrates the usefulness of parental communicative developmental inventory in conjunction with IPL to assess infant's individual word knowledge. No naming effects were found for condition (c) and the lack of naming effects in (b) shows that pre-established word lists may not give a sufficiently clear picture of infant's true vocabulary - an important insight for researchers and practitioners alike. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Most word comprehension research is mainly based on older infants (12, 15, or 18 months of age to 2-3 years and older). Some evidence of word comprehension for common and novel nouns in 6- to 10-month-olds. Existing evidence uses either only specific word groups or nouns combined with specific training and/or repetition procedures. What does this study add? Nine-month-olds display word knowledge independent of context and without repetitions of words. First words encompass not only nouns, but a range of other word classes. Parents are good at indicating which words their infants do and do not understand. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Improving Reading Comprehension and Social Studies Knowledge among Middle School Students with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Swanson, Elizabeth; Wanzek, Jeanne; Vaughn, Sharon; Roberts, Greg; Fall, Ana-Mari

2015-01-01

This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a content knowledge and reading comprehension treatment implemented by eighth-grade general education social studies teachers among students with disabilities included in the classes. Data on students with disabilities across 2 years of study were combined for the analysis presented here. Students in…

The Influence of Religion-Specific Background Knowledge on the Listening Comprehension of Adult Second-Language Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markham, Paul; Latham, Michael

1987-01-01

Assesses the influence of religious-specific background knowledge on adult ESL listening comprehension. Sixteen Moslems, 20 Christians, and 28 religion-neutral students listened to two passages, one on prayer rituals of Islam and one on those of Christianity. Students better recalled and understood the passage related to their respective religious…

Understanding Depth of Vocabulary Online with Bilingual and Monolingual Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Proctor, C. Patrick; Uccelli, Paola; Dalton, Bridget; Snow, Catherine E.

2009-01-01

The sheer quantity of words known (breadth) is strongly predictive of reading comprehension, yet little is understood about how quality of word knowledge (depth) affects comprehension. A group of 35 bilingual and monolingual 5th-grade students worked on developing depth of knowledge of 8 words, culminating in an activity in which the students…

The Contribution of Knowledge about Anaphors, Organisational Signals and Refutations to Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

García, J. Ricardo; Bustos, Andrea; Sánchez, Emilio

2015-01-01

Expository texts contain rhetorical devices that help readers to connect text ideas (within a text and with prior knowledge) and to monitor reading. Rhetorical competence addresses readers' skill in detecting, understanding and using these devices. We examined the contribution of rhetorical competence to reading comprehension on two groups of 11-…

Word Knowledge and Comprehension Effects of an Academic Vocabulary Intervention for Middle School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKeown, Margaret G.; Crosson, Amy C.; Moore, Debra W.; Beck, Isabel L.

2018-01-01

This article presents findings from an intervention across sixth and seventh grades to teach academic words to middle school students. The goals included investigating a progression of outcomes from word knowledge to comprehension and investigating the processes students use in establishing word meaning. Participants in Year 1 were two sixth-grade…

The Explicit/Implicit Knowledge Distinction and Working Memory: Implications for Second-Language Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ercetin, Gulcan; Alptekin, Cem

2013-01-01

Following an extensive overview of the subject, this study explores the relationships between second-language (L2) explicit/implicit knowledge sources, embedded in the declarative/procedural memory systems, and L2 working memory (WM) capacity. It further examines the relationships between L2 reading comprehension and L2 WM capacity as well as…

Assessing the Depth and Breadth of Vocabulary Knowledge with Listening Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teng, Feng

2014-01-01

This study was inspired by Qian (1999) and Staehr (2009) and researched 88 Chinese learners who had already passed the College English Test 4 (CET). These learners volunteered to participate in the study regarding the depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge and its relationship with listening comprehension, which was assessed by analyzing the…

An In-Depth Investigation into the Relationship between Vocabulary Knowledge and Academic Listening Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teng, Feng

2016-01-01

The present study was conducted in the context of learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) with the purpose of assessing the roles of breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge in academic listening comprehension. The Vocabulary Size Test (VST, Nation & Beglar, 2007) and the Word Associates Test (WAT, Read, 2004) were administered to…

The interface between spoken and written language: developmental disorders.

PubMed

Hulme, Charles; Snowling, Margaret J

2014-01-01

We review current knowledge about reading development and the origins of difficulties in learning to read. We distinguish between the processes involved in learning to decode print, and the processes involved in reading for meaning (reading comprehension). At a cognitive level, difficulties in learning to read appear to be predominantly caused by deficits in underlying oral language skills. The development of decoding skills appears to depend critically upon phonological language skills, and variations in phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge and rapid automatized naming each appear to be causally related to problems in learning to read. Reading comprehension difficulties in contrast appear to be critically dependent on a range of oral language comprehension skills (including vocabulary knowledge and grammatical, morphological and pragmatic skills).

International consensus statement on allergy and rhinology: allergic rhinitis-executive summary.

PubMed

Wise, Sarah K; Lin, Sandra Y; Toskala, Elina

2018-02-01

The available allergic rhinitis (AR) literature continues to grow. Critical evaluation and understanding of this literature is important to appropriately utilize this knowledge in the care of AR patients. The International Consensus statement on Allergy and Rhinology: Allergic Rhinitis (ICAR:AR) has been produced as a multidisciplinary international effort. This Executive Summary highlights and summarizes the findings of the comprehensive ICAR:AR document. The ICAR:AR document was produced using previously described methodology. Specific topics were developed relating to AR. Each topic was assigned a literature review, evidence-based review (EBR), or evidence-based review with recommendations (EBRR) format as dictated by available evidence and purpose within the ICAR:AR document. Following iterative reviews of each topic, the ICAR:AR document was synthesized and reviewed by all authors for consensus. Over 100 individual topics related to AR diagnosis, pathophysiology, epidemiology, disease burden, risk factors, allergy testing modalities, treatment, and other conditions/comorbidities associated with AR were addressed in the comprehensive ICAR:AR document. Herein, the Executive Summary provides a synopsis of these findings. In the ICAR:AR critical review of the literature, several strengths were identified. In addition, significant knowledge gaps exist in the AR literature where current practice is not based on the best quality evidence; these should be seen as opportunities for additional research. The ICAR:AR document evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the AR literature. This Executive Summary condenses these findings into a short summary. The reader is also encouraged to consult the comprehensive ICAR:AR document for a thorough description of this work. © 2018 ARS-AAOA, LLC.

Software-engineering challenges of building and deploying reusable problem solvers.

PubMed

O'Connor, Martin J; Nyulas, Csongor; Tu, Samson; Buckeridge, David L; Okhmatovskaia, Anna; Musen, Mark A

2009-11-01

Problem solving methods (PSMs) are software components that represent and encode reusable algorithms. They can be combined with representations of domain knowledge to produce intelligent application systems. A goal of research on PSMs is to provide principled methods and tools for composing and reusing algorithms in knowledge-based systems. The ultimate objective is to produce libraries of methods that can be easily adapted for use in these systems. Despite the intuitive appeal of PSMs as conceptual building blocks, in practice, these goals are largely unmet. There are no widely available tools for building applications using PSMs and no public libraries of PSMs available for reuse. This paper analyzes some of the reasons for the lack of widespread adoptions of PSM techniques and illustrate our analysis by describing our experiences developing a complex, high-throughput software system based on PSM principles. We conclude that many fundamental principles in PSM research are useful for building knowledge-based systems. In particular, the task-method decomposition process, which provides a means for structuring knowledge-based tasks, is a powerful abstraction for building systems of analytic methods. However, despite the power of PSMs in the conceptual modeling of knowledge-based systems, software engineering challenges have been seriously underestimated. The complexity of integrating control knowledge modeled by developers using PSMs with the domain knowledge that they model using ontologies creates a barrier to widespread use of PSM-based systems. Nevertheless, the surge of recent interest in ontologies has led to the production of comprehensive domain ontologies and of robust ontology-authoring tools. These developments present new opportunities to leverage the PSM approach.

Software-engineering challenges of building and deploying reusable problem solvers

PubMed Central

O’CONNOR, MARTIN J.; NYULAS, CSONGOR; TU, SAMSON; BUCKERIDGE, DAVID L.; OKHMATOVSKAIA, ANNA; MUSEN, MARK A.

2012-01-01

Problem solving methods (PSMs) are software components that represent and encode reusable algorithms. They can be combined with representations of domain knowledge to produce intelligent application systems. A goal of research on PSMs is to provide principled methods and tools for composing and reusing algorithms in knowledge-based systems. The ultimate objective is to produce libraries of methods that can be easily adapted for use in these systems. Despite the intuitive appeal of PSMs as conceptual building blocks, in practice, these goals are largely unmet. There are no widely available tools for building applications using PSMs and no public libraries of PSMs available for reuse. This paper analyzes some of the reasons for the lack of widespread adoptions of PSM techniques and illustrate our analysis by describing our experiences developing a complex, high-throughput software system based on PSM principles. We conclude that many fundamental principles in PSM research are useful for building knowledge-based systems. In particular, the task–method decomposition process, which provides a means for structuring knowledge-based tasks, is a powerful abstraction for building systems of analytic methods. However, despite the power of PSMs in the conceptual modeling of knowledge-based systems, software engineering challenges have been seriously underestimated. The complexity of integrating control knowledge modeled by developers using PSMs with the domain knowledge that they model using ontologies creates a barrier to widespread use of PSM-based systems. Nevertheless, the surge of recent interest in ontologies has led to the production of comprehensive domain ontologies and of robust ontology-authoring tools. These developments present new opportunities to leverage the PSM approach. PMID:23565031

Developing VISO: Vaccine Information Statement Ontology for patient education.

PubMed

Amith, Muhammad; Gong, Yang; Cunningham, Rachel; Boom, Julie; Tao, Cui

2015-01-01

To construct a comprehensive vaccine information ontology that can support personal health information applications using patient-consumer lexicon, and lead to outcomes that can improve patient education. The authors composed the Vaccine Information Statement Ontology (VISO) using the web ontology language (OWL). We started with 6 Vaccine Information Statement (VIS) documents collected from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. Important and relevant selections from the documents were recorded, and knowledge triples were derived. Based on the collection of knowledge triples, the meta-level formalization of the vaccine information domain was developed. Relevant instances and their relationships were created to represent vaccine domain knowledge. The initial iteration of the VISO was realized, based on the 6 Vaccine Information Statements and coded into OWL2 with Protégé. The ontology consisted of 132 concepts (classes and subclasses) with 33 types of relationships between the concepts. The total number of instances from classes totaled at 460, along with 429 knowledge triples in total. Semiotic-based metric scoring was applied to evaluate quality of the ontology.

Correlates of women's knowledge of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and its prevention in Tanzania: a population-based study.

PubMed

Haile, Zelalem T; Teweldeberhan, Asli K; Chertok, Ilana R A

2016-01-01

Studies that explored women's knowledge on mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV and its prevention (PMTCT) in the general population are currently lacking. This paper examined factors associated with having adequate knowledge of MTCT of HIV and PMTCT among a nationally representative sample of women in Tanzania. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis including 10,299 women from the 2011-2012 Tanzania HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey. The outcome of interest was the presence of adequate knowledge on MTCT and PMTCT of HIV. We used multivariable logistic regression to identify factors associated with having adequate knowledge on MTCT and PMTCT of HIV. Results revealed that the overall prevalence of having adequate knowledge on MTCT and PMTCT of HIV was low (46%). We found a statistically significant difference in the proportions of having adequate knowledge between HIV-negative and HIV-positive women (45% vs. 56%; p < .0001), although knowledge of the transplacental route of transmission did not differ by HIV serostatus. Overall, having adequate knowledge on MTCT and PMTCT of HIV was positively associated with experiencing at least one pregnancy, having some education, having higher household wealth, residing in urban area, being exposed to HIV education, having tested for HIV, knowing a place to get HIV test, and having comprehensive knowledge on HIV and AIDS. Among HIV-seropositive women, experiencing at least one pregnancy and having comprehensive knowledge on HIV and AIDS were strongly associated with having adequate knowledge on MTCT and PMTCT of HIV (Adjusted odds ratio: aOR 2.78, 95% CI 1.21, 6.37 and aOR 1.71, 95% CI 1.15, 2.73, respectively). Further efforts are needed to enhance HIV/AIDS education among women of childbearing age and strengthen PMTCT services in Tanzania.

Systematic reviews, systematic error and the acquisition of clinical knowledge

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Since its inception, evidence-based medicine and its application through systematic reviews, has been widely accepted. However, it has also been strongly criticised and resisted by some academic groups and clinicians. One of the main criticisms of evidence-based medicine is that it appears to claim to have unique access to absolute scientific truth and thus devalues and replaces other types of knowledge sources. Discussion The various types of clinical knowledge sources are categorised on the basis of Kant's categories of knowledge acquisition, as being either 'analytic' or 'synthetic'. It is shown that these categories do not act in opposition but rather, depend upon each other. The unity of analysis and synthesis in knowledge acquisition is demonstrated during the process of systematic reviewing of clinical trials. Systematic reviews constitute comprehensive synthesis of clinical knowledge but depend upon plausible, analytical hypothesis development for the trials reviewed. The dangers of systematic error regarding the internal validity of acquired knowledge are highlighted on the basis of empirical evidence. It has been shown that the systematic review process reduces systematic error, thus ensuring high internal validity. It is argued that this process does not exclude other types of knowledge sources. Instead, amongst these other types it functions as an integrated element during the acquisition of clinical knowledge. Conclusions The acquisition of clinical knowledge is based on interaction between analysis and synthesis. Systematic reviews provide the highest form of synthetic knowledge acquisition in terms of achieving internal validity of results. In that capacity it informs the analytic knowledge of the clinician but does not replace it. PMID:20537172

Teaching and Learning in the Era of the Common Core: An Introduction to the Project and the Nine Research Papers in the "Students at the Center" Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jobs for the Future, 2012

2012-01-01

Despite the wide interest in and need for student-centered approaches to learning, educators have scant access to a comprehensive accounting of the key components of it. To build the knowledge base for the emerging field of student-centered learning, Jobs for the Future, a national nonprofit based in Boston, commissioned papers from nine teams of…

University and Secondary School Students' Misconceptions about the Concept of "Aromaticity" in Organic Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Topal, Giray; Oral, Behcet; Ozden. Mustafa

2007-01-01

Aromaticity concept is given incorrect or incomplete to the student in secondary education and knowledge based on this basic concept has been caused to another misconception in future. How are the achievement levels relating to the comprehension of various characteristics of aromatic compounds for the first and third grade students attending…

[National Laboratory on Early Childhood Education Program; Program Plans and Budget Request, Fiscal 1970 - Program Project Resumes 1969-70.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

1969

This volume explains the purposes and programs of the National Laboratory on Early Childhood Education. Its overriding objective is to broaden the base of knowledge concerning educational intervention and to develop comprehensive early childhood educational models. A brief discussion deals with the problems, strategies, and capacities of the…

Early Childhood Workshops That Work! The Essential Guide to Successful Training and Workshops.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexander, Nancy P.

Noting that good training results from the instructor's skill, knowledge, and ability to plan a session based on what participants need and want, this book is a comprehensive guide that illustrates how to design, organize, conduct, and evaluate early childhood workshops and training seminars. The book includes sections on troubleshooting problem…

Extending E-Book with Contextual Knowledge Recommender for Reading Support on a Web-Based Learning System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Gwo-Dong; Wei, Fu-Hsiang; Wang, Chin-Yeh; Lee, Jih-Hsien

2007-01-01

Reading content of the Web is increasingly popular. When students read the same material, each student has a unique comprehension of the text and requires individual support from appropriate references. Most references in typical web learning systems are unorganized. Students are often required to disrupt their reading to locate references. This…

Guiding Biliteracy Development: Appropriating Cross-Linguistic and Conceptual Knowledge to Sustain Second-Language Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soto Huerta, Mary Esther

2012-01-01

To examine the second-language reading development of 45 fourth-grade Latino bilinguals, a sequential mixed methods study was conducted in two phases (Creswell, 2009). The quantitative data collected in the first phase generated an index of the group's reading performance based on two grade-level assessments, a state-mandated standardized reading…

Comparing School-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programming: Mixed Outcomes in an At-Risk State

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oman, Roy F.; Merritt, Breanca T.; Fluhr, Janene; Williams, Jean M.

2015-01-01

Background: The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of a national comprehensive teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) intervention to a national abstinence-only TPP intervention on middle school students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to teen sexual behaviors in a state with high teen birth rates. Methods: Pre- and…

Converging Higher Education Systems in a Global Setting: The Example of France and India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pilkington, Marc

2014-01-01

We present a comparative survey between the French and Indian higher education systems. In spite of their respective idiosyncratic features, we show that the two countries have both evolved comprehensively toward a knowledge-based society, in order to ensure the prosperity of their citizens. Secondly, we single out a threefold convergence between…

Effects of video-based, online education on behavioral and knowledge outcomes in sunscreen use: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Armstrong, April W; Idriss, Nayla Z; Kim, Randie H

2011-05-01

To compare online video and pamphlet education at improving patient comprehension and adherence to sunscreen use, and to assess patient satisfaction with the two educational approaches. In a randomized controlled trial, 94 participants received either online, video-based education or pamphlet-based education that described the importance and proper use of sunscreen. Sun protective knowledge and sunscreen application behaviors were assessed at baseline and 12 weeks after group-specific intervention. Participants in both groups had similar levels of baseline sunscreen knowledge. Post-study analysis revealed significantly greater improvement in the knowledge scores from video group members compared to the pamphlet group (p=0.003). More importantly, video group participants reported greater sunscreen adherence (p<0.001). Finally, the video group rated their education vehicle more useful and appealing than the pamphlet group (p<0.001), and video group participants referred to the video more frequently (p=0.018). Video-based learning is a more effective educational tool for teaching sun protective knowledge and encouraging sunscreen use than written materials. More effective patient educational methods to encourage sun protection activities, such as regular sunscreen use, have the potential to increase awareness and foster positive, preventative health behaviors against skin cancers. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Can Croatia Join Europe as Competitive Knowledge-based Society by 2010?

PubMed Central

Petrovečki, Mladen; Paar, Vladimir; Primorac, Dragan

2006-01-01

The 21st century has brought important changes in the paradigms of economic development, one of them being a shift toward recognizing knowledge and information as the most important factors of today. The European Union (EU) has been working hard to become the most competitive knowledge-based society in the world, and Croatia, an EU candidate country, has been faced with a similar task. To establish itself as one of the best knowledge-based country in the Eastern European region over the next four years, Croatia realized it has to create an education and science system correspondent with European standards and sensitive to labor market needs. For that purpose, the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports (MSES) has created and started implementing a complex strategy, consisting of the following key components: the reform of education system in accordance with the Bologna Declaration; stimulation of scientific production by supporting national and international research projects; reversing the “brain drain” into “brain gain” and strengthening the links between science and technology; and informatization of the whole education and science system. In this comprehensive report, we describe the implementation of these measures, whose coordination with the EU goals presents a challenge, as well as an opportunity for Croatia to become a knowledge-based society by 2010. PMID:17167853

Executive Function, Self-Regulated Learning, and Reading Comprehension: A Training Study

PubMed Central

Cirino, Paul T.; Miciak, Jeremy; Gerst, Elyssa; Barnes, Marcia A.; Vaughn, Sharon; Child, Amanda; Huston-Warren, Emily

2016-01-01

The goal of this study was to evaluate the extent to which training that emphasizes the process of executive function (EF) and self-regulated learning (SRL) would result in increased reading comprehension; we also evaluated interrelationships of EF, SRL, and reading. We report an experiment (N = 75 fourth graders) that contrasted two researcher-implemented conditions (text-based reading [TB] and text-based reading plus executive function [TB+EF]) to a control. We also evaluated relationships among measures of SRL, EF, and reading. Both the TB and TB+EF groups outperformed the control group for proximal text comprehension (where the topic was similar to that covered in training) and background knowledge related to it, but the two researcher-led groups performed similarly. There were no significant differences for less proximal text, and again similar performance for both TB and TB+EF. Correlations among measures were weak in general, although the pattern was similar to that found in the extant literature. The findings speak to the difficulty in separating these components from those of strong instruction more generally. The relationships of these constructs to reading comprehension will likely be enhanced by more sensitive measurement of EF and reading comprehension, particularly where tied to active treatment components. PMID:26746314

Knowledge-based simulation using object-oriented programming

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sidoran, Karen M.

1993-01-01

Simulations have become a powerful mechanism for understanding and modeling complex phenomena. Their results have had substantial impact on a broad range of decisions in the military, government, and industry. Because of this, new techniques are continually being explored and developed to make them even more useful, understandable, extendable, and efficient. One such area of research is the application of the knowledge-based methods of artificial intelligence (AI) to the computer simulation field. The goal of knowledge-based simulation is to facilitate building simulations of greatly increased power and comprehensibility by making use of deeper knowledge about the behavior of the simulated world. One technique for representing and manipulating knowledge that has been enhanced by the AI community is object-oriented programming. Using this technique, the entities of a discrete-event simulation can be viewed as objects in an object-oriented formulation. Knowledge can be factual (i.e., attributes of an entity) or behavioral (i.e., how the entity is to behave in certain circumstances). Rome Laboratory's Advanced Simulation Environment (RASE) was developed as a research vehicle to provide an enhanced simulation development environment for building more intelligent, interactive, flexible, and realistic simulations. This capability will support current and future battle management research and provide a test of the object-oriented paradigm for use in large scale military applications.

Inferential comprehension of 3-6 year olds within the context of story grammar: a scoping review.

PubMed

Filiatrault-Veilleux, Paméla; Bouchard, Caroline; Trudeau, Natacha; Desmarais, Chantal

2015-01-01

The ability to make inferences plays a crucial role in reading comprehension and the educational success of school-aged children. However, it starts to unfold much earlier than school entry and literacy. Given that it is likely to be targeted in speech language therapy, it would be useful for clinicians to have access to information about a developmental sequence of inferential comprehension. Yet, at this time, there is no clear proposition of the way in which this ability develops in young children prior to school entry. To reduce the knowledge gap with regards to inferential comprehension in young children by conducting a scoping review of the literature. The two objectives of this research are: (1) to describe typically developing children's comprehension of causal inferences targeting elements of story grammar, with the goal of proposing milestones in the development of this ability; and (2) to highlight key elements of the methodology used to gather this information in a paediatric population. A total of 16 studies from six databases that met the inclusion criteria were qualitatively analysed in the context of a scoping review. This methodological approach was used to identify common themes and gaps in the knowledge base to achieve the intended objectives. Results permit the description of key elements in the development of six types of causal inference targeting elements of story grammar in children between 3 and 6 years old. Results also demonstrate the various methods used to assess this ability in young children and highlight particularly interesting procedures for use with this younger population. These findings point to the need for additional studies to understand this ability better and to develop strategies to stimulate an evidence-based developmental sequence in children from an early age. © 2015 The Authors. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

MMKG: An approach to generate metallic materials knowledge graph based on DBpedia and Wikipedia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiaoming; Liu, Xin; Li, Xin; Pan, Dongyu

2017-02-01

The research and development of metallic materials are playing an important role in today's society, and in the meanwhile lots of metallic materials knowledge is generated and available on the Web (e.g., Wikipedia) for materials experts. However, due to the diversity and complexity of metallic materials knowledge, the knowledge utilization may encounter much inconvenience. The idea of knowledge graph (e.g., DBpedia) provides a good way to organize the knowledge into a comprehensive entity network. Therefore, the motivation of our work is to generate a metallic materials knowledge graph (MMKG) using available knowledge on the Web. In this paper, an approach is proposed to build MMKG based on DBpedia and Wikipedia. First, we use an algorithm based on directly linked sub-graph semantic distance (DLSSD) to preliminarily extract metallic materials entities from DBpedia according to some predefined seed entities; then based on the results of the preliminary extraction, we use an algorithm, which considers both semantic distance and string similarity (SDSS), to achieve the further extraction. Second, due to the absence of materials properties in DBpedia, we use an ontology-based method to extract properties knowledge from the HTML tables of corresponding Wikipedia Web pages for enriching MMKG. Materials ontology is used to locate materials properties tables as well as to identify the structure of the tables. The proposed approach is evaluated by precision, recall, F1 and time performance, and meanwhile the appropriate thresholds for the algorithms in our approach are determined through experiments. The experimental results show that our approach returns expected performance. A tool prototype is also designed to facilitate the process of building the MMKG as well as to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach.

An E-Learning Module to Improve Nongenetic Health Professionals' Assessment of Colorectal Cancer Genetic Risk: Feasibility Study.

PubMed

Douma, Kirsten Freya Lea; Aalfs, Cora M; Dekker, Evelien; Tanis, Pieter J; Smets, Ellen M

2017-12-18

Nongenetic health providers may lack the relevant knowledge, experience, and communication skills to adequately detect familial colorectal cancer (CRC), despite a positive attitude toward the assessment of history of cancer in a family. Specific training may enable them to more optimally refer patients to genetic counseling. The aim of this study was to develop an e-learning module for gastroenterologists and surgeons (in training) aimed at improving attitudes, knowledge, and comprehension of communication skills, and to assess the feasibility of the e-learning module for continued medical education of these specialists. A focus group helped to inform the development of a training framework. The e-learning module was then developed, followed by a feasibility test among a group of surgeons-in-training (3rd- and 4th-year residents) and then among gastroenterologists, using pre- and posttest questionnaires. A total of 124 surgeons-in-training and 14 gastroenterologists participated. The e-learning was positively received (7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10). Between pre- and posttest, attitude increased significantly on 6 out of the 10 items. Mean test score showed that knowledge and comprehension of communication skills improved significantly from 49% to 72% correct at pretest to 67% to 87% correct at posttest. This study shows the feasibility of a problem-based e-learning module to help surgeons-in-training and gastroenterologists in recognizing a hereditary predisposition in patients with CRC. The e-learning led to improvements in attitude toward the assessment of cancer family history, knowledge on criteria for referral to genetic counseling for CRC, and comprehension of communication skills. ©Kirsten Freya Lea Douma, Cora M Aalfs, Evelien Dekker, Pieter J Tanis, Ellen M Smets. Originally published in JMIR Medical Education (http://mededu.jmir.org), 18.12.2017.

An E-Learning Module to Improve Nongenetic Health Professionals’ Assessment of Colorectal Cancer Genetic Risk: Feasibility Study

PubMed Central

Aalfs, Cora M; Dekker, Evelien; Tanis, Pieter J; Smets, Ellen M

2017-01-01

Background Nongenetic health providers may lack the relevant knowledge, experience, and communication skills to adequately detect familial colorectal cancer (CRC), despite a positive attitude toward the assessment of history of cancer in a family. Specific training may enable them to more optimally refer patients to genetic counseling. Objective The aim of this study was to develop an e-learning module for gastroenterologists and surgeons (in training) aimed at improving attitudes, knowledge, and comprehension of communication skills, and to assess the feasibility of the e-learning module for continued medical education of these specialists. Methods A focus group helped to inform the development of a training framework. The e-learning module was then developed, followed by a feasibility test among a group of surgeons-in-training (3rd- and 4th-year residents) and then among gastroenterologists, using pre- and posttest questionnaires. Results A total of 124 surgeons-in-training and 14 gastroenterologists participated. The e-learning was positively received (7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10). Between pre- and posttest, attitude increased significantly on 6 out of the 10 items. Mean test score showed that knowledge and comprehension of communication skills improved significantly from 49% to 72% correct at pretest to 67% to 87% correct at posttest. Conclusions This study shows the feasibility of a problem-based e-learning module to help surgeons-in-training and gastroenterologists in recognizing a hereditary predisposition in patients with CRC. The e-learning led to improvements in attitude toward the assessment of cancer family history, knowledge on criteria for referral to genetic counseling for CRC, and comprehension of communication skills. PMID:29254907

Comprehension of Fish Consumption Guidelines Among Older Male Anglers in Wisconsin.

PubMed

Christensen, Krista Y; Raymond, Michelle R; Thompson, Brooke A; Schrank, Candy S; Williams, Meghan C W; Anderson, Henry A

2016-02-01

Although awareness of Wisconsin's fish consumption guidelines is high among older male anglers, little is known about comprehension of guideline content, and many anglers have levels of contaminants high enough to be associated with adverse health outcomes. The Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes Restoration Initiative supported evaluation and revision of Wisconsin's fish consumption guideline program, using a web based survey of male Wisconsin anglers over the age of 50. A total of 3740 men completed the online survey; the median age of respondents was 62 years, and nearly all had lived and fished in Wisconsin for over 10 years. Comprehension of guideline content was relatively high, although two knowledge gaps were identified, one relating to mercury exposures and fish preparation, and the other to polychlorinated biphenyl content of certain fish species. The fishing regulations booklet distributed with annual fishing licenses and warning signs posted at fishing locations were commonly reported sources of guideline information in Wisconsin. Residents of coastal counties and consumers of Great Lakes fish were more likely to report guideline knowledge and behavior changes reflective of guideline knowledge, when compared to inland residents and those not consuming Great Lakes fish, respectively. In general, Wisconsin's consumption guidelines do not appear to discourage men from eating the fish they catch; rather, the most common behavioral changes included modifying the species eaten or the water body source of their meals. Continued efforts to educate anglers about the risks and benefits of fish consumption are needed.

Hemispheric Asymmetry in Event Knowledge Activation During Incremental Language Comprehension: A Visual Half-Field ERP Study

PubMed Central

Metusalem, Ross; Kutas, Marta; Urbach, Thomas P.; Elman, Jeffrey L.

2016-01-01

During incremental language comprehension, the brain activates knowledge of described events, including knowledge elements that constitute semantic anomalies in their linguistic context. The present study investigates hemispheric asymmetries in this process, with the aim of advancing our understanding of the neural basis and functional properties of event knowledge activation during incremental comprehension. In a visual half-field event-related brain potential (ERP) experiment, participants read brief discourses in which the third sentence contained a word that was either highly expected, semantically anomalous but related to the described event, or semantically anomalous but unrelated to the described event. For both visual fields of target word presentation, semantically anomalous words elicited N400 ERP components of greater amplitude than did expected words. Crucially, event-related anomalous words elicited a reduced N400 relative to event-unrelated anomalous words only with left visual field/right hemisphere presentation. This result suggests that right hemisphere processes are critical to the activation of event knowledge elements that violate the linguistic context, and in doing so informs existing theories of hemispheric asymmetries in semantic processing during language comprehension. Additionally, this finding coincides with past research suggesting a crucial role for the right hemisphere in elaborative inference generation, raises interesting questions regarding hemispheric coordination in generating event-specific linguistic expectancies, and more generally highlights the possibility of functional dissociation between event knowledge activation for the generation of elaborative inferences and for linguistic expectancies. PMID:26878980

Hemispheric asymmetry in event knowledge activation during incremental language comprehension: A visual half-field ERP study.

PubMed

Metusalem, Ross; Kutas, Marta; Urbach, Thomas P; Elman, Jeffrey L

2016-04-01

During incremental language comprehension, the brain activates knowledge of described events, including knowledge elements that constitute semantic anomalies in their linguistic context. The present study investigates hemispheric asymmetries in this process, with the aim of advancing our understanding of the neural basis and functional properties of event knowledge activation during incremental comprehension. In a visual half-field event-related brain potential (ERP) experiment, participants read brief discourses in which the third sentence contained a word that was either highly expected, semantically anomalous but related to the described event (Event-Related), or semantically anomalous but unrelated to the described event (Event-Unrelated). For both visual fields of target word presentation, semantically anomalous words elicited N400 ERP components of greater amplitude than did expected words. Crucially, Event-Related anomalous words elicited a reduced N400 relative to Event-Unrelated anomalous words only with left visual field/right hemisphere presentation. This result suggests that right hemisphere processes are critical to the activation of event knowledge elements that violate the linguistic context, and in doing so informs existing theories of hemispheric asymmetries in semantic processing during language comprehension. Additionally, this finding coincides with past research suggesting a crucial role for the right hemisphere in elaborative inference generation, raises interesting questions regarding hemispheric coordination in generating event-specific linguistic expectancies, and more generally highlights the possibility of functional dissociation of event knowledge activation for the generation of elaborative inferences and for linguistic expectancies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Promoting the Comprehension of Teachers and Students Using Young Adult Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Shannon C.; Buskist, Connie

2011-01-01

Adolescents who struggle with reading most often encounter problems with comprehension, rather than the ability to read words. Comprehension is a dynamic process that requires the reader to use multiple strategies as meaning is constructed. To improve the reading comprehension of their students, teachers must be knowledgeable about what…

Early Prediction of Reading Comprehension within the Simple View Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Catts, Hugh W.; Herrera, Sarah; Nielsen, Diane Corcoran; Bridges, Mindy Sittner

2015-01-01

The simple view of reading proposes that reading comprehension is the product of word reading and language comprehension. In this study, we used the simple view framework to examine the early prediction of reading comprehension abilities. Using multiple measures for all constructs, we assessed word reading precursors (i.e., letter knowledge,…

Comprehension Challenges in the Fourth Grade: The Roles of Text Cohesion, Text Genre, and Readers' Prior Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McNamara, Danielle S.; Ozuru, Yasuhiro; Floyd, Randy G.

2011-01-01

We examined young readers' comprehension as a function of text genre (narrative, science), text cohesion (high, low), and readers' abilities (reading decoding skills and world knowledge). The overarching purpose of this study was to contribute to our understanding of the "fourth grade slump". Children in grade 4 read four texts,…

BOLD Response to Motion Verbs in Left Posterior Middle Temporal Gyrus during Story Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallentin, Mikkel; Nielsen, Andreas Hojlund; Vuust, Peter; Dohn, Anders; Roepstorff, Andreas; Lund, Torben Ellegaard

2011-01-01

A primary focus within neuroimaging research on language comprehension is on the distribution of semantic knowledge in the brain. Studies have shown that the left posterior middle temporal gyrus (LPMT), a region just anterior to area MT/V5, is important for the processing of complex action knowledge. It has also been found that motion verbs cause…

Investigating the Effect of Contextual Clues on the Processing of Unfamiliar Words in Second Language Listening Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cai, Wei; Lee, Benny P. H.

2010-01-01

This study examines the effect of contextual clues on the use of strategies (inferencing and ignoring) and knowledge sources (semantics, morphology, world knowledge, and others) for processing unfamiliar words in listening comprehension. Three types of words were investigated: words with local co-text clues, global co-text clues and extra-textual…

Improving Reading Comprehension Strategies Using Student Produced CD's Combined with More Traditional Activities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goss, Gail

Readers possess vast amounts of knowledge gained from their prior experiences and exposures. The more they are helped to use that knowledge for connecting new ideas to known subjects as they read, the better their comprehension will be. Discussions before reading have been a traditional way to activate students' schema for stories, but a new…

Communicating environmental exposure results and health information in a community-based participatory research study.

PubMed

Claudio, Luz; Gilmore, Jalisa; Roy, Mohana; Brenner, Barbara

2018-06-25

Communicating results to participants is a fundamental component of community-based participatory research (CBPR). However, in environmental exposure studies this is not always practiced, partly due to ethical concerns of communicating results that have unknown clinical significance. Growing Up Healthy was a community-based participatory research study that sought to understand the relationship between environmental exposures to phthalates and early puberty in young girls. After in-depth consultation with a Community Advisory Board, study investigators provided group summary results of phthalate exposures and related health information to the parents of study participants. Parents' comprehension and knowledge of the health information provided was then assessed through questionnaires. After receiving the information from the research team, responders were able to correctly answer comprehension questions about phthalate exposures in their community, were able to identify ways to reduce exposure to phthalates, and indicated plans to do so. Questionnaires revealed that parents wanted more information on phthalates, and that children's environmental health was an important concern. We conclude that effective communication of exposure results of unknown clinical significance to participants in environmental health studies can be achieved by providing group summary results and actionable health information. Results suggest that there was an improvement in knowledge of environmental health and in risk reduction behaviors in our study population.

Hippocampome.org: a knowledge base of neuron types in the rodent hippocampus.

PubMed

Wheeler, Diek W; White, Charise M; Rees, Christopher L; Komendantov, Alexander O; Hamilton, David J; Ascoli, Giorgio A

2015-09-24

Hippocampome.org is a comprehensive knowledge base of neuron types in the rodent hippocampal formation (dentate gyrus, CA3, CA2, CA1, subiculum, and entorhinal cortex). Although the hippocampal literature is remarkably information-rich, neuron properties are often reported with incompletely defined and notoriously inconsistent terminology, creating a formidable challenge for data integration. Our extensive literature mining and data reconciliation identified 122 neuron types based on neurotransmitter, axonal and dendritic patterns, synaptic specificity, electrophysiology, and molecular biomarkers. All ∼3700 annotated properties are individually supported by specific evidence (∼14,000 pieces) in peer-reviewed publications. Systematic analysis of this unprecedented amount of machine-readable information reveals novel correlations among neuron types and properties, the potential connectivity of the full hippocampal circuitry, and outstanding knowledge gaps. User-friendly browsing and online querying of Hippocampome.org may aid design and interpretation of both experiments and simulations. This powerful, simple, and extensible neuron classification endeavor is unique in its detail, utility, and completeness.

The Clinical Delivery of Pharmacogenetic Testing Services: A Proposed Partnership between Genetic Counselors and Pharmacists

PubMed Central

Mills, Rachel; Haga, Susanne B.

2013-01-01

One of the basic questions in the early uses of pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing revolves around the clinical delivery of testing. Because multiple health professionals may play a role in the delivery of PGx testing, various clinical delivery models have begun to be studied. We propose that a partnership between genetic counselors and pharmacists can assist clinicians in the delivery of comprehensive PGx services. Based on their expert knowledge of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, pharmacists can facilitate the appropriate application of PGx test results to adjust medication use as warranted and act as a liaison to the healthcare team recommending changes in medication based on test results and patient input. Genetic counselors are well-trained in genetics as well as risk communication and counseling methodology, but have limited knowledge of pharmaceuticals. The complementary knowledge and skill set supports the partnership between genetic counselors and pharmacists to provide effective PGx testing services. PMID:23746189

Knowledge, Belief, and Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Tiago Alfredo S.; El-Hani, Charbel N.; da Silva-Filho, Waldomiro José

2016-10-01

This article intends to show that the defense of "understanding" as one of the major goals of science education can be grounded on an anti-reductionist perspective on testimony as a source of knowledge. To do so, we critically revisit the discussion between Harvey Siegel and Alvin Goldman about the goals of science education, especially where it involves arguments based on the epistemology of testimony. Subsequently, we come back to a discussion between Charbel N. El-Hani and Eduardo Mortimer, on the one hand, and Michael Hoffmann, on the other, striving to strengthen the claim that rather than students' belief change, understanding should have epistemic priority as a goal of science education. Based on these two lines of discussion, we conclude that the reliance on testimony as a source of knowledge is necessary to the development of a more large and comprehensive scientific understanding by science students.

Enriching semantic knowledge bases for opinion mining in big data applications

PubMed Central

Weichselbraun, A.; Gindl, S.; Scharl, A.

2014-01-01

This paper presents a novel method for contextualizing and enriching large semantic knowledge bases for opinion mining with a focus on Web intelligence platforms and other high-throughput big data applications. The method is not only applicable to traditional sentiment lexicons, but also to more comprehensive, multi-dimensional affective resources such as SenticNet. It comprises the following steps: (i) identify ambiguous sentiment terms, (ii) provide context information extracted from a domain-specific training corpus, and (iii) ground this contextual information to structured background knowledge sources such as ConceptNet and WordNet. A quantitative evaluation shows a significant improvement when using an enriched version of SenticNet for polarity classification. Crowdsourced gold standard data in conjunction with a qualitative evaluation sheds light on the strengths and weaknesses of the concept grounding, and on the quality of the enrichment process. PMID:25431524

Nature of Science, Scientific Inquiry, and Socio-Scientific Issues Arising from Genetics: A Pathway to Developing a Scientifically Literate Citizenry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lederman, Norman G.; Antink, Allison; Bartos, Stephen

2014-02-01

The primary focus of this article is to illustrate how teachers can use contemporary socio-scientific issues to teach students about nature of scientific knowledge as well as address the science subject matter embedded in the issues. The article provides an initial discussion about the various aspects of nature of scientific knowledge that are addressed. It is important to remember that the aspects of nature of scientific knowledge are not considered to be a comprehensive list, but rather a set of important ideas for adolescent students to learn about scientific knowledge. These ideas have been advocated as important for secondary students by numerous reform documents internationally. Then, several examples are used to illustrate how genetically based socio-scientific issues can be used by teachers to improve students' understandings of the discussed aspects of nature of scientific knowledge.

Development of a comprehensive model for stakeholder management in mental healthcare.

PubMed

Bierbooms, Joyce; Van Oers, Hans; Rijkers, Jeroen; Bongers, Inge

2016-06-20

Purpose - Stakeholder management is not yet incorporated into the standard practice of most healthcare providers. The purpose of this paper is to assess the applicability of a comprehensive model for stakeholder management in mental healthcare organization for more evidence-based (stakeholder) management. Design/methodology/approach - The assessment was performed in two research parts: the steps described in the model were executed in a single case study at a mental healthcare organization in the Netherlands; and a process and effect evaluation was done to find the supporting and impeding factors with regard to the applicability of the model. Interviews were held with managers and directors to evaluate the effectiveness of the model with a view to stakeholder management. Findings - The stakeholder analysis resulted in the identification of eight stakeholder groups. Different expectations were identified for each of these groups. The analysis on performance gaps revealed that stakeholders generally find the collaboration with a mental healthcare provider "sufficient." Finally a prioritization showed that five stakeholder groups were seen as "definite" stakeholders by the organization. Practical implications - The assessment of the model showed that it generated useful knowledge for more evidence-based (stakeholder) management. Adaptation of the model is needed to increase its feasibility in practice. Originality/value - Provided that the model is properly adapted for the specific field, the analysis can provide more knowledge on stakeholders and can help integrate stakeholder management as a comprehensive process in policy planning.

A bio-psycho-social model of violence related to mental health problems.

PubMed

Steinert, Tilman; Whittington, Richard

2013-01-01

Psychiatry is characterised by bio-psycho-social approaches and therapies. Thus there should be an interest in comprehensive theoretical models for didactic purposes. A narrative synthesis of key themes in the current literature on psychiatric aspects of violence was conducted with the aim of integrating biological, psychological and sociological ideas in this area. Two didactical models are proposed for 1) individual disposition and for 2) acting in specific situations, each including available evidence-based knowledge. The proposed models may be helpful for a comprehensive understanding of all relevant influencing factors in violent mentally ill people and for didactical purposes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of a Social Marketing Campaign to Support Mexico City's Comprehensive Smoke-Free Law

PubMed Central

Huang, Liling; Pérez-Hernández, Rosaura; Niederdeppe, Jeff; Arillo-Santillán, Edna; Alday, Jorge

2011-01-01

Objectives. We aimed to assess the level of awareness and impact of a social marketing campaign to promote Mexico City's 2008 comprehensive smoke-free law. Methods. Four months after the smoke-free law was implemented but before the campaign launch, we collected data from a population-based, random sample of 961 inhabitants of Mexico City. We analyzed data from 786 respondents who completed follow-up at the end of the campaign to determine campaign exposure and the association between campaign exposure and changes in campaign-targeted knowledge and attitudes. Results. Recall of any of the 5 campaign materials was 69%, with a uniform distribution of exposure to 1, 2, and 3 or more campaign materials (25%, 25%, and 19%, respectively). Exposure to a greater number of campaign materials was associated in a monotonic relation with campaign-targeted knowledge of ammonia and arsenic in cigarette smoke. In models assessing support for, perceived benefits of, and perceived right to smoke-free places, campaign exposure accounted for a positive change in half of the indicators within each of these domains. Conclusions. Social marketing campaigns can reinforce knowledge and attitudes that favor smoke-free laws, thereby helping to establish smoke-free norms. PMID:21164097

Evaluation of a social marketing campaign to support Mexico City's comprehensive smoke-free law.

PubMed

Thrasher, James F; Huang, Liling; Pérez-Hernández, Rosaura; Niederdeppe, Jeff; Arillo-Santillán, Edna; Alday, Jorge

2011-02-01

We aimed to assess the level of awareness and impact of a social marketing campaign to promote Mexico City's 2008 comprehensive smoke-free law. Four months after the smoke-free law was implemented but before the campaign launch, we collected data from a population-based, random sample of 961 inhabitants of Mexico City. We analyzed data from 786 respondents who completed follow-up at the end of the campaign to determine campaign exposure and the association between campaign exposure and changes in campaign-targeted knowledge and attitudes. Recall of any of the 5 campaign materials was 69%, with a uniform distribution of exposure to 1, 2, and 3 or more campaign materials (25%, 25%, and 19%, respectively). Exposure to a greater number of campaign materials was associated in a monotonic relation with campaign-targeted knowledge of ammonia and arsenic in cigarette smoke. In models assessing support for, perceived benefits of, and perceived right to smoke-free places, campaign exposure accounted for a positive change in half of the indicators within each of these domains. Social marketing campaigns can reinforce knowledge and attitudes that favor smoke-free laws, thereby helping to establish smoke-free norms.

Business as Usual: An Assessment of Donald Rumsfeld’s Transformation Vision and Transformation’s Prospects for the Future

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

capabilities: • Goal 1: Protecting critical bases and defeating chemical, biological, rad and nuclear weapons. • Goal 2: Projecting and sustaining ...bases is the supply side of the equation, whereas projecting and sustaining forces is the equation’s consumption side. The product of this equation...dominance through comprehensive knowledge, focused execution, and coordinated sustainment shared cross fully netted maritime, joint, and combined forces.123

Knowledge Creation in Nursing Education

PubMed Central

Hassanian, Zahra Marzieh; Ahanchian, Mohammad Reza; Ahmadi, Suleiman; Gholizadeh, Rezvan Hossein; Karimi-Moonaghi, Hossein

2015-01-01

In today’s society, knowledge is recognized as a valuable social asset and the educational system is in search of a new strategy that allows them to construct their knowledge and experience. The purpose of this study was to explore the process of knowledge creation in nursing education. In the present study, the grounded theory approach was used. This method provides a comprehensive approach to collecting, organizing, and analyzing data. Data were obtained through 17 semi-structured interviews with nursing faculties and nursing students. Purposeful and theoretical sampling was conducted. Based on the method of Strauss and Corbin, the data were analyzed using fragmented, deep, and constant-comparative methods. The main categories included striving for growth and reduction of ambiguity, use of knowledge resources, dynamism of mind and social factors, converting knowledge, and creating knowledge. Knowledge was converted through mind processes, individual and group reflection, praxis and research, and resulted in the creation of nursing knowledge. Discrete nursing knowledge is gained through disconformity research in order to gain more individual advantages. The consequence of this analysis was gaining new knowledge. Knowledge management must be included in the mission and strategic planning of nursing education, and it should be planned through operational planning in order to create applicable knowledge. PMID:25716383

Comprehension Tools for Teachers: Reading for Understanding from Prekindergarten through Fourth Grade

PubMed Central

Connor, Carol McDonald; Phillips, Beth M.; Kaschak, Michael; Apel, Kenn; Kim, Young-Suk; Al Otaiba, Stephanie; Crowe, Elizabeth C.; Thomas-Tate, Shurita; Johnson, Lakeisha Cooper; Lonigan, Christopher J.

2015-01-01

This paper describes the theoretical framework, as well as the development and testing of the intervention, Comprehension Tools for Teachers (CTT), which is composed of eight component interventions targeting malleable language and reading comprehension skills that emerging research indicates contribute to proficient reading for understanding for prekindergarteners through fourth graders. Component interventions target processes considered largely automatic as well as more reflective processes, with interacting and reciprocal effects. Specifically, we present component interventions targeting cognitive, linguistic, and text-specific processes, including morphological awareness, syntax, mental-state verbs, comprehension monitoring, narrative and expository text structure, enacted comprehension, academic knowledge, and reading to learn from informational text. Our aim was to develop a tool set composed of intensive meaningful individualized small group interventions. We improved feasibility in regular classrooms through the use of design-based iterative research methods including careful lesson planning, targeted scripting, pre- and postintervention proximal assessments, and technology. In addition to the overall framework, we discuss seven of the component interventions and general results of design and efficacy studies. PMID:26500420

Predictive Power of Attention and Reading Readiness Variables on Auditory Reasoning and Processing Skills of Six-Year-Old Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erbay, Filiz

2013-01-01

The aim of present research was to describe the relation of six-year-old children's attention and reading readiness skills (general knowledge, word comprehension, sentences, and matching) with their auditory reasoning and processing skills. This was a quantitative study based on scanning model. Research sampling consisted of 204 kindergarten…

Adaptation of Educational Text to an Open Interactive Learning System: A Case Study for ReTuDiS

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samarakou, M.; Fylladitakis, E. D.; Tsaganou, G.; Gelegenis, J.; Karolidis, D.; Prentakis, P.

2013-01-01

Theoretical education is mainly based on university text-books, which usually include texts not structured according to any theory of text comprehension. Structuring a text is a demanding process. Text should be organized and structured in order to include descriptions on micro and macro-level representation of the knowledge domain. Since this is…

Evaluation of a Coordinated School-Based Obesity Prevention Program in a Hispanic Community: Choosing Healthy and Active Lifestyles for Kids/healthy Schools Healthy Families

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger-Jenkins, Evelyn; Rausch, John; Okah, Ebiere; Tsao, Daisy; Nieto, Andres; Lyda, Elizabeth; Meyer, Dodi; McCord, Mary

2014-01-01

Background: Obesity is a public health concern that disproportionately affects underserved and minority communities. Purpose: To evaluate whether a comprehensive obesity prevention program that targets children and school staff in an underserved Hispanic community affects obesity related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among both students and…

How to Use the Science of Snow to Engage Middle School Students in an Interdisciplinary Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lange, Catherine; Huff, Kenneth L.; Silverman, Scott; Wallace, Karen

2012-01-01

In this interdisciplinary and field-based activity, grade 5 to 9 students engage in a comprehensive scientific study of snow. Through a series of in-class and out-of-class structured interdisciplinary and team-teaching lesson progressions, students will collect data to be able to analyze and apply knowledge about weather, the physical properties…

Tularosa Basin Play Fairway Analysis: Methodology Flow Charts

DOE Data Explorer

Adam Brandt

2015-11-15

These images show the comprehensive methodology used for creation of a Play Fairway Analysis to explore the geothermal resource potential of the Tularosa Basin, New Mexico. The deterministic methodology was originated by the petroleum industry, but was custom-modified to function as a knowledge-based geothermal exploration tool. The stochastic PFA flow chart uses weights of evidence, and is data-driven.

Integrative Review of the Literature on Adults with Limited Education and Skills and the Implications for Human Resource Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamilton, David W.; Torraco, Richard J.

2013-01-01

Adults with limited education and skills--those who lack the education and skills needed for full participation in U.S. culture and economy--are increasing in numbers. However, the knowledge base addressing this population and their educational needs is fragmented across the literature of several disciplines. A comprehensive review and critique of…

Palliative Care: Delivering Comprehensive Oncology Nursing Care.

PubMed

Dahlin, Constance

2015-11-01

To describe palliative care as part of comprehensive oncology nursing care. A review of the palliative care, oncology, and nursing literature over the past 10 years. Palliative care is mandated as part of comprehensive cancer care. A cancer diagnosis often results in distress in the physical, psychosocial, spiritual, and emotional domains of care. Oncology nurses are essential in providing palliative care from diagnosis to death to patients with cancer. They address the myriad aspects of cancer. With palliative care skills and knowledge, oncology nurses can provide quality cancer care. There are many opportunities in which oncology nurses can promote palliative care. Oncology nurses must obtain knowledge and skills in primary palliative care to provide comprehensive cancer care. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

EOS-AM precision pointing verification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Throckmorton, A.; Braknis, E.; Bolek, J.

1993-01-01

The Earth Observing System (EOS) AM mission requires tight pointing knowledge to meet scientific objectives, in a spacecraft with low frequency flexible appendage modes. As the spacecraft controller reacts to various disturbance sources and as the inherent appendage modes are excited by this control action, verification of precision pointing knowledge becomes particularly challenging for the EOS-AM mission. As presently conceived, this verification includes a complementary set of multi-disciplinary analyses, hardware tests and real-time computer in the loop simulations, followed by collection and analysis of hardware test and flight data and supported by a comprehensive data base repository for validated program values.

Boundary conditions for developing a safety concept for an exothermal reaction.

PubMed

Hauptmanns, Ulrich

2007-09-05

Kinetic calculations for an example exothermal chemical process, the production of TCB, are carried out. They address both parameter uncertainties and random failures of the cooling system. In this way, they enable one to establish comprehensive boundary conditions for a safety system in terms of unavailability, the quantities of the undesired by-product (TCDD) produced and the times available before a required intervention, if a pre-determined quantity of TCDD is tolerated. It is shown that accounting for stochastic effects and uncertainties derived from insufficient knowledge provides a broader and more realistic knowledge base for devising a viable safety concept.

The Role of "Effort after Meaning" and "Click of Comprehension" in Recall of Sentences. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bransford, John D.; Franks, Jeffrey J.

This report discusses research and theory that explore relationships between comprehension and knowledge acquisition. Studies are reported that indicate the lack of a one-to-one correspondence between initial comprehension activities and abilities to remember. It is noted that the value of comprehensive activities depends on how people must later…

Satellite Contamination and Materials Outgassing Knowledge base

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Minor, Jody L.; Kauffman, William J. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Satellite contamination continues to be a design problem that engineers must take into account when developing new satellites. To help with this issue, NASA's Space Environments and Effects (SEE) Program funded the development of the Satellite Contamination and Materials Outgassing Knowledge base. This engineering tool brings together in one location information about the outgassing properties of aerospace materials based upon ground-testing data, the effects of outgassing that has been observed during flight and measurements of the contamination environment by on-orbit instruments. The knowledge base contains information using the ASTM Standard E- 1559 and also consolidates data from missions using quartz-crystal microbalances (QCM's). The data contained in the knowledge base was shared with NASA by government agencies and industry in the US and international space agencies as well. The term 'knowledgebase' was used because so much information and capability was brought together in one comprehensive engineering design tool. It is the SEE Program's intent to continually add additional material contamination data as it becomes available - creating a dynamic tool whose value to the user is ever increasing. The SEE Program firmly believes that NASA, and ultimately the entire contamination user community, will greatly benefit from this new engineering tool and highly encourages the community to not only use the tool but add data to it as well.

Reading in the Disciplines: The Challenges of Adolescent Literacy. Final Report from Carnegie Corporation of New York's Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Carol D.; Spratley, Anika

2010-01-01

Adolescents may struggle with text for a number of reasons, including problems with a) vocabulary knowledge, b) general knowledge of topics and text structures, c) knowing of what to do when comprehension breaks down, or d) proficiency in monitoring their own reading comprehension. Most recent literacy initiatives target younger readers and…

Reputation-based collaborative network biology.

PubMed

Binder, Jean; Boue, Stephanie; Di Fabio, Anselmo; Fields, R Brett; Hayes, William; Hoeng, Julia; Park, Jennifer S; Peitsch, Manuel C

2015-01-01

A pilot reputation-based collaborative network biology platform, Bionet, was developed for use in the sbv IMPROVER Network Verification Challenge to verify and enhance previously developed networks describing key aspects of lung biology. Bionet was successful in capturing a more comprehensive view of the biology associated with each network using the collective intelligence and knowledge of the crowd. One key learning point from the pilot was that using a standardized biological knowledge representation language such as BEL is critical to the success of a collaborative network biology platform. Overall, Bionet demonstrated that this approach to collaborative network biology is highly viable. Improving this platform for de novo creation of biological networks and network curation with the suggested enhancements for scalability will serve both academic and industry systems biology communities.

An exploratory study into students' conceptual understanding of acid/base principles associated with chemical buffer systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacGowan, Catherine Elizabeth

The overall objective of this research project was to provide an insight into students' conceptual understanding of acid/base principles as it relates to the comprehension and correct application of scientific concepts during a problem-solving activity. The difficulties experienced learning science and in developing appropriate problem-solving strategies most likely are predetermined by students' existing conceptual and procedural knowledge constructs; with the assimilation of newly acquired knowledge hindering or aiding the learning process. Learning chemistry requires a restructuring of content knowledge which will allow the individual to assemble and to integrate his/her own perception of science with instructional knowledge. The epistemology of constructivism, the theoretical grounding for this research project, recognizes the student's role as an active participant in the learning process. The study's design was exploratory in nature and descriptive in design. The problem-solving activity, the preparation of a chemical buffer solution at pH of 9, was selected and modified to reflect and meet the study's objective. Qualitative research methods (i.e., think aloud protocols, retrospective interviews, survey questionnaires such as the Scale of Intellectual Development (SID), and archival data sources) were used in the collection and assessment of data. Given its constructivist grounding, simplicity, and interpretative view of knowledge acquisition and learning of collegiate aged individuals, the Perry Intellectual and Ethical Development Model (1970) was chosen as the applied model for evaluation student cognition. The study's participants were twelve traditional college age students from a small, private liberal arts college. All participants volunteered for the project and had completed or were completing a general college chemistry course at the time of the project. Upon analysis of the data the following observations and results were noted: (1) students' overall comprehension level of key acid/base principles was at the misconception/miscued level of understanding; (2) the level of a student's conceptual knowledge effected their problem-solving performance and influenced their use of problem-solving tactics; (3) students casual use of the terms "acid" and/or "base" played a significant role in the misuse and misunderstanding of the principles of acid/base chemistry; (4) as assessed from their think aloud protocols and described by the Perry Scheme positions of intellect the study's participants' overall level of cognition were ranked as dualistic/relativistic thinkers; and (5) the SID questionnaire survey rankings did not seem to assess or reflect the participants' cognitive ability to learn or correctly use acid/base concepts as they preformed the study's problem-solving activity--the preparation of buffer solution having a pH of 9.

Morphological Awareness in Literacy Acquisition of Chinese Second Graders: A Path Analysis.

PubMed

Zhang, Haomin

2016-02-01

The present study tested a path diagram regarding the contribution of morphological awareness (MA) to early literacy acquisition among Chinese-speaking second graders ([Formula: see text]). Three facets of MA were addressed, namely derivational awareness, compound awareness and compound structure awareness. The model aimed to test a theory of causal order among measures of MA and literacy outcomes. Drawing upon multivariate path analysis, direct and indirect effects of MA were analyzed to identify their role in literacy performance among young children. Results revealed that all three facets of MA made significant contributions to lexical inference ability. In addition, compound awareness showed a unique and significant contribution to vocabulary knowledge. It was also observed that lexical inference ability had a mediating effect predictive of both vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. Moreover, vocabulary knowledge mediated the effect of MA on reading comprehension. However, no significant contribution of MA to reading comprehension was found after controlling for lexical inference ability and vocabulary knowledge.

Pregnancy, sex and hormonal factors in multiple sclerosis

PubMed Central

Miller, David H; Fazekas, Franz; Montalban, Xavier; Reingold, Stephen C; Trojano, Maria

2014-01-01

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is influenced by pregnancy, sex and hormonal factors. Objectives: A comprehensive understanding of the role of pregnancy, sex and hormonal factors can provide insights into disease mechanisms, and new therapeutic developments and can provide improved patient care and treatment. Methods: Based on an international conference of experts and a comprehensive PubMed search for publications on these areas in MS, we provide a review of what is known about the impact of these factors on disease demographics, etiology, pathophysiology and clinical course and outcomes. Results and conclusions: Recommendations are provided for counseling and management of people with MS before conception, during pregnancy and after delivery. The use of disease-modifying and symptomatic therapies in pregnancy is problematic and such treatments are normally discontinued. Available knowledge about the impact of treatment on the mother, fetus and newborn is discussed. Recommendations for future research to fill knowledge gaps and clarify inconsistencies in available data are made. PMID:24446387

Results of a Comprehension Test in Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Debrenti, Edith

2013-01-01

In higher education the main subjects build on the knowledge acquired in high school. Research shows that students entering universities have acquired basic knowledge to different extents. It is very important to be able to apply mathematical knowledge directly. Students often treat practical knowledge separately from theoretical knowledge. They…

Cross-National Gender Gaps in Political Knowledge

PubMed Central

Fortin-Rittberger, Jessica

2016-01-01

Although the majority of studies on political knowledge document lingering gender-based differences in advanced industrial democracies, most contributors have drawn such conclusions from a single or a handful of countries, using limited batteries of political information items. Exploiting a pooled data set of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems encompassing 106 post-election surveys in forty-seven countries between 1996 and 2011, this article demonstrates that survey instrument–related factors, such as question format and content, as well as the overall difficulty of questions, are more consequential in shaping the size of gender gaps in political knowledge than institutional factors, such as electoral rules or opportunity structures. The research design of this article draws from almost three hundred different items measuring factual political knowledge using the broadest country coverage and most comprehensive approach to measurement to date. PMID:27524874

Charting the future course of rural health and remote health in Australia: Why we need theory.

PubMed

Bourke, Lisa; Humphreys, John S; Wakerman, John; Taylor, Judy

2010-04-01

This paper argues that rural and remote health is in need of theoretical development. Based on the authors' discussions, reflections and critical analyses of literature, this paper proposes key reasons why rural and remote health warrants the development of theoretical frameworks. The paper cites five reasons why theory is needed: (i) theory provides an approach for how a topic is studied; (ii) theory articulates key assumptions in knowledge development; (iii) theory systematises knowledge, enabling it to be transferable; (iv) theory provides predictability; and (v) theory enables comprehensive understanding. This paper concludes with a call for theoretical development in both rural and remote health to expand its knowledge and be more relevant to improving health care for rural Australians.

Assessment of preclinical problem-based learning versus lecture-based learning.

PubMed

Login, G R; Ransil, B J; Meyer, M; Truong, N T; Donoff, R B; McArdle, P J

1997-06-01

Academic performance on a standardized oral comprehensive exam (OCE) was compared for students taught basic science in a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum and a lecture-based learning (LBL) curriculum. The OCE was administered to the graduating classes of 1991-1994 (n approximately 20/class) six months after completion of their basic science courses. The OCE contained six components including: Organization and Thoroughness, Diagnosis, Primary Treatment Plan, Alternate Treatment Plan, Science and Medical Knowledge, and Dental Knowledge. Six to eight examiners graded each of the students by using a standardized scoring system and by subjective comments. The class of 1991 was taught by LBL, classes of 1993 and 1994 by PBL, and the class of 1992 by an incomplete PBL teaching method. Mean OCE scores were not significantly different between classes; however, the Science and Medical Knowledge component score was significantly better for the class of 1994 than for 1991 (p < 0.05). There was a non-significant 40 percent increase (p = 0.07) in honors and a 269 percent (p < 0.001) increase in cumulative positive examiner comments between 1991 and 1994.

Neural mechanisms of discourse comprehension: a human lesion study

PubMed Central

Colom, Roberto; Grafman, Jordan

2014-01-01

Discourse comprehension is a hallmark of human social behaviour and refers to the act of interpreting a written or spoken message by constructing mental representations that integrate incoming language with prior knowledge and experience. Here, we report a human lesion study (n = 145) that investigates the neural mechanisms underlying discourse comprehension (measured by the Discourse Comprehension Test) and systematically examine its relation to a broad range of psychological factors, including psychometric intelligence (measured by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale), emotional intelligence (measured by the Mayer, Salovey, Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test), and personality traits (measured by the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory). Scores obtained from these factors were submitted to voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping to elucidate their neural substrates. Stepwise regression analyses revealed that working memory and extraversion reliably predict individual differences in discourse comprehension: higher working memory scores and lower extraversion levels predict better discourse comprehension performance. Lesion mapping results indicated that these convergent variables depend on a shared network of frontal and parietal regions, including white matter association tracts that bind these areas into a coordinated system. The observed findings motivate an integrative framework for understanding the neural foundations of discourse comprehension, suggesting that core elements of discourse processing emerge from a distributed network of brain regions that support specific competencies for executive and social function. PMID:24293267

Use of Evidence-Based Practices and Resources Among Comprehensive Cancer Control Programs.

PubMed

Steele, C Brooke; Rose, John M; Chovnick, Gary; Townsend, Julie S; Stockmyer, Chrisandra K; Fonseka, Jamila; Richardson, Lisa C

2015-01-01

While efforts to promote use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for cancer control have increased, questions remain whether this will result in widespread adoption of EBPs (eg, Guide to Community Preventive Services interventions) by comprehensive cancer control (CCC) programs. To examine use of EBPs among CCC programs to develop cancer control plans and select interventions. Conducted Web-based surveys of and telephone interviews with CCC program staff between March and July 2012. CCC programs funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (NCCCP). Sixty-one CCC program directors. 1) Use of and knowledge/attitudes about EBPs and related resources and 2) EBP-related technical assistance needs. Seventy-five percent of eligible program directors reported use of EBPs to a moderate or great extent to address program objectives. Benefits of using EBPS included their effectiveness has been proven, they are an efficient use of resources, and they lend credibility to an intervention. Challenges to using EBPs included resource limitations, lack of culturally appropriate interventions, and limited skills adapting EBPs for local use. Most respondents had heard of and used Web sites for The Guide to Community Preventive Services (95% and 91%, respectively) and Cancer Control P.L.A.N.E.T. (98% and 75%, respectively). Training needs included how to adapt an EBP and its materials for cultural appropriateness (state 78%, tribe 86%, territory 80%) and how to maintain the fidelity of an EBP (state 75%, tribe 86%, territory 60%). While awareness, knowledge, and use of EBPs and related resources are high, respondents identified numerous challenges and training needs. The findings from this study may be used to enhance technical assistance provided to NCCCP grantees related to selecting and implementing EBPs.

Use of Evidence-Based Practices and Resources Among Comprehensive Cancer Control Programs

PubMed Central

Steele, C. Brooke; Rose, John M.; Chovnick, Gary; Townsend, Julie S.; Stockmyer, Chrisandra K.; Fonseka, Jamila; Richardson, Lisa C.

2015-01-01

Context While efforts to promote use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) for cancer control have increased, questions remain whether this will result in widespread adoption of EBPs (eg, Guide to Community Preventive Services interventions) by comprehensive cancer control (CCC) programs. Objective To examine use of EBPs among CCC programs to develop cancer control plans and select interventions. Design Conducted Web-based surveys of and telephone interviews with CCC program staff between March and July 2012. Setting CCC programs funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (NCCCP). Participants Sixty-one CCC program directors. Main Outcome Measures 1) Use of and knowledge/attitudes about EBPs and related resources and 2) EBP-related technical assistance needs. Results Seventy-five percent of eligible program directors reported use of EBPs to a moderate or great extent to address program objectives. Benefits of using EBPS included their effectiveness has been proven, they are an efficient use of resources, and they lend credibility to an intervention. Challenges to using EBPs included resource limitations, lack of culturally appropriate interventions, and limited skills adapting EBPs for local use. Most respondents had heard of and used Web sites for The Guide to Community Preventive Services (95% and 91%, respectively) and Cancer Control P.L.A.N.E.T. (98% and 75%, respectively). Training needs included how to adapt an EBP and its materials for cultural appropriateness (state 78%, tribe 86%, territory 80%) and how to maintain the fidelity of an EBP (state 75%, tribe 86%, territory 60%). Conclusions While awareness, knowledge, and use of EBPs and related resources are high, respondents identified numerous challenges and training needs. The findings from this study may be used to enhance technical assistance provided to NCCCP grantees related to selecting and implementing EBPs. PMID:24402431

Simulation-based medical education: time for a pedagogical shift.

PubMed

Kalaniti, Kaarthigeyan; Campbell, Douglas M

2015-01-01

The purpose of medical education at all levels is to prepare physicians with the knowledge and comprehensive skills, required to deliver safe and effective patient care. The traditional 'apprentice' learning model in medical education is undergoing a pedagogical shift to a 'simulation-based' learning model. Experiential learning, deliberate practice and the ability to provide immediate feedback are the primary advantages of simulation-based medical education. It is an effective way to develop new skills, identify knowledge gaps, reduce medical errors, and maintain infrequently used clinical skills even among experienced clinical teams, with the overall goal of improving patient care. Although simulation cannot replace clinical exposure as a form of experiential learning, it promotes learning without compromising patient safety. This new paradigm shift is revolutionizing medical education in the Western world. It is time that the developing countries embrace this new pedagogical shift.

Introducing the Big Knowledge to Use (BK2U) challenge.

PubMed

Perl, Yehoshua; Geller, James; Halper, Michael; Ochs, Christopher; Zheng, Ling; Kapusnik-Uner, Joan

2017-01-01

The purpose of the Big Data to Knowledge initiative is to develop methods for discovering new knowledge from large amounts of data. However, if the resulting knowledge is so large that it resists comprehension, referred to here as Big Knowledge (BK), how can it be used properly and creatively? We call this secondary challenge, Big Knowledge to Use. Without a high-level mental representation of the kinds of knowledge in a BK knowledgebase, effective or innovative use of the knowledge may be limited. We describe summarization and visualization techniques that capture the big picture of a BK knowledgebase, possibly created from Big Data. In this research, we distinguish between assertion BK and rule-based BK (rule BK) and demonstrate the usefulness of summarization and visualization techniques of assertion BK for clinical phenotyping. As an example, we illustrate how a summary of many intracranial bleeding concepts can improve phenotyping, compared to the traditional approach. We also demonstrate the usefulness of summarization and visualization techniques of rule BK for drug-drug interaction discovery. © 2016 New York Academy of Sciences.

Mind the (knowledge) gap: the effect of a communication instrument on emergency department patients' comprehension of and satisfaction with care.

PubMed

Simmons, Stefanie; Sharp, Brian; Fowler, Jennifer; Fowkes, Hope; Paz-Arabo, Patricia; Dilt-Skaggs, Mary Kate; Singal, Bonita; Carter, Thomas

2015-02-01

We developed a communication instrument to be used in the Emergency Department (ED) and hypothesized that use of this guide would increase patient comprehension of and satisfaction with care. This multi-site trial enrolled 643 patients in treatment and control groups. Comprehension of care was assessed by chart review and satisfaction measured via validated survey. Use of the instrument was not associated with improvements in patient knowledge about their care, with a mean of 4.6 (95% CI: 4.8-5.8) comprehension defects in the control group and 4.4 (95% CI: 3.9-4.9) in the treatment group. There was no significant effect on patient satisfaction 76.4% versus 76.9%, p=0.34. Elderly patients in both groups were found to have 1.1 (p<0.01) more knowledge gaps than younger patients. Patients frequently misunderstand medical care in the ED. Comprehension decreases with increasing age. An isolated communication instrument does not improve satisfaction with or understanding of the care received. Providing a structured place for providers and patients to record details of care does not seem to improve satisfaction with or comprehension of care. Interventions that focus on communication skills and face time with patients may prove more effective. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Second Language Listening Comprehension: A Schema-Theoretic Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Donna Reseigh

1989-01-01

Enormous potential exists for the transfer of listening comprehension theory to second language listening research. The need for such research is highlighted through an exploration of recurring themes in the literature on background knowledge and through application of these themes to second language listening comprehension. (CB)

Proverb Comprehension as a Function of Reading Proficiency in Preadolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nippold, Marilyn A.; Allen, Melissa M.; Kirsch, Dixon I.

2001-01-01

Proverb comprehension through reading was examined in 42 preadolescent students, 24 of whom were identified as "proficient readers," and 18 as "less proficient readers." Comprehension on both unfamiliar concrete and abstract proverbs was associated with reading proficiency, word knowledge, and analogical reasoning. (Contains references.)…

The neural correlates of strategic reading comprehension: cognitive control and discourse comprehension.

PubMed

Moss, Jarrod; Schunn, Christian D; Schneider, Walter; McNamara, Danielle S; Vanlehn, Kurt

2011-09-15

Neuroimaging studies of text comprehension conducted thus far have shed little light on the brain mechanisms underlying strategic learning from text. Thus, the present study was designed to answer the question of what brain areas are active during performance of complex reading strategies. Reading comprehension strategies are designed to improve a reader's comprehension of a text. For example, self-explanation is a complex reading strategy that enhances existing comprehension processes. It was hypothesized that reading strategies would involve areas of the brain that are normally involved in reading comprehension along with areas that are involved in strategic control processes because the readers are intentionally using a complex reading strategy. Subjects were asked to reread, paraphrase, and self-explain three different texts in a block design fMRI study. Activation was found in both executive control and comprehension areas, and furthermore, learning from text was associated with activation in the anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC). The authors speculate that the aPFC may play a role in coordinating the internal and external modes of thought that are necessary for integrating new knowledge from texts with prior knowledge. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[The discussion of the infiltrative model of chemical knowledge stepping into genetics teaching in agricultural institute or university].

PubMed

Zou, Ping; Luo, Pei-Gao

2010-05-01

Chemistry is an important group of basic courses, while genetics is one of the important major-basic courses in curriculum of many majors in agricultural institutes or universities. In order to establish the linkage between the major course and the basic course, the ability of application of the chemical knowledge previously learned in understanding genetic knowledge in genetics teaching is worthy of discussion for genetics teachers. In this paper, the authors advocate to apply some chemical knowledge previously learned to understand genetic knowledge in genetics teaching with infiltrative model, which could help students learn and understand genetic knowledge more deeply. Analysis of the intrinsic logistic relationship among the knowledge of different courses and construction of the integral knowledge network are useful for students to improve their analytic, comprehensive and logistic abilities. By this way, we could explore a new teaching model to develop the talents with new ideas and comprehensive competence in agricultural fields.

The Development of Antonym Knowledge in American Sign Language (ASL) and Its Relationship to Reading Comprehension in English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Novogrodsky, Rama; Caldwell-Harris, Catherine; Fish, Sarah; Hoffmeister, Robert J.

2014-01-01

It is unknown if the developmental path of antonym knowledge in deaf children increases continuously with age and correlates with reading comprehension, as it does in hearing children. In the current study we tested 564 students aged 4-18 on a receptive multiple-choice American Sign Language (ASL) antonym test. A subgroup of 138 students aged 7-18…

Influence of Prior Knowledge and Interest on Fourth- and Fifth-Grade Passage Comprehension on the Qualitative Reading Inventory-4

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clark, Mary Kristen; Kamhi, Alan G.

2014-01-01

Purpose: In 2 experiments, we examined the influence of prior knowledge and interest on 4th- and 5th-grade students' passage comprehension scores on the Qualitative Reading Inventory-4 (QRI-4) and 2 experimenter constructed passages. Method: In Experiment 1, 4th- and 5th-grade students were administered 4 Level 4 passages or 4 Level 5…

The comprehensive health care orientation process indicators explain hospital organisation's attractiveness: a Bayesian analysis of newly hired nurse and physician survey data.

PubMed

Peltokoski, Jaana; Vehviläinen-Julkunen, Katri; Pitkäaho, Taina; Mikkonen, Santtu; Miettinen, Merja

2015-10-01

To examine the relationship of a comprehensive health care orientation process with a hospital's attractiveness. Little is known about indicators of the employee orientation process that most likely explain a hospital organisation's attractiveness. Empirical data collected from registered nurses (n = 145) and physicians (n = 37) working in two specialised hospital districts. A Naive Bayes Classification was applied to examine the comprehensive orientation process indicators that predict hospital's attractiveness. The model was composed of five orientation process indicators: the contribution of the orientation process to nurses' and physicians' intention to stay; the defined responsibilities of the orientation process; interaction between newcomer and colleagues; responsibilities that are adapted for tasks; and newcomers' baseline knowledge assessment that should be done before the orientation phase. The Naive Bayes Classification was used to explore employee orientation process and related indicators. The model constructed provides insight that can be used in designing and implementing the orientation process to promote the hospital organisation's attractiveness. Managers should focus on developing fluently organised orientation practices based on the indicators that predict the hospital's attractiveness. For the purpose of personalised orientation, employees' baseline knowledge and competence level should be assessed before the orientation phase. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Irony comprehension: social conceptual knowledge and emotional response.

PubMed

Akimoto, Yoritaka; Sugiura, Motoaki; Yomogida, Yukihito; Miyauchi, Carlos Makoto; Miyazawa, Shiho; Kawashima, Ryuta

2014-04-01

Verbal irony conveys various emotional messages, from criticism to humor, that differ from the meaning of the actual words. To understand irony, we need conceptual knowledge of irony in addition to an understanding of context. We investigated the neural mechanism of irony comprehension, focusing on two overlooked issues: conceptual knowledge and emotional response. We studied 35 healthy subjects who underwent functional MRI. During the scan, the subject examined first-person-view stories describing verbal interactions, some of which included irony directed toward the subject. After MRI, the subject viewed the stories again and rated the degree of irony, humor, and negative emotion evoked by the statements. We identified several key findings about irony comprehension: (1) the right anterior superior temporal gyrus may be responsible for representing social conceptual knowledge of irony, (2) activation in the medial prefrontal cortex and the right anterior inferior temporal gyrus might underlie the understanding of context, (3) modulation of activity in the right amygdala, hippocampus, and parahippocampal gyrus is associated with the degree of irony perceived, and (4) modulation of activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex varies with the degree of humor perceived. Our results clarified the differential contributions of the neural loci of irony comprehension, enriching our understanding of pragmatic language communication from a social behavior point of view. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A roadmap for knowledge exchange and mobilization research in conservation and natural resource management.

PubMed

Nguyen, Vivian M; Young, Nathan; Cooke, Steven J

2017-08-01

Scholars across all disciplines have long been interested in how knowledge moves within and beyond their community of peers. Rapid environmental changes and calls for sustainable management practices mean the best knowledge possible is needed to inform decisions, policies, and practices to protect biodiversity and sustainably manage vulnerable natural resources. Although the conservation literature on knowledge exchange (KE) and knowledge mobilization (KM) has grown in recent years, much of it is based on context-specific case studies. This presents a challenge for learning cumulative lessons from KE and KM research and thus effectively using knowledge in conservation and natural resources management. Although continued research on the gap between knowledge and action is valuable, overarching conceptual frameworks are now needed to enable summaries and comparisons across diverse KE-KM research. We propose a knowledge-action framework that provides a conceptual roadmap for future research and practice in KE/KM with the aim of synthesizing lessons learned from contextual case studies and guiding the development and testing of hypotheses in this domain. Our knowledge-action framework has 3 elements that occur at multiple levels and scales: knowledge production (e.g., academia and government), knowledge mediation (e.g., knowledge networks, actors, relational dimension, and contextual dimension), and knowledge-based action (e.g., instrumental, symbolic, and conceptual). The framework integrates concepts from the sociology of science in particular, and serves as a guide to further comprehensive understanding of knowledge exchange and mobilization in conservation and sustainable natural resource management. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Knowledge-Based Environmental Context Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pukite, P. R.; Challou, D. J.

2017-12-01

As we move from the oil-age to an energy infrastructure based on renewables, the need arises for new educational tools to support the analysis of geophysical phenomena and their behavior and properties. Our objective is to present models of these phenomena to make them amenable for incorporation into more comprehensive analysis contexts. Starting at the level of a college-level computer science course, the intent is to keep the models tractable and therefore practical for student use. Based on research performed via an open-source investigation managed by DARPA and funded by the Department of Interior [1], we have adapted a variety of physics-based environmental models for a computer-science curriculum. The original research described a semantic web architecture based on patterns and logical archetypal building-blocks (see figure) well suited for a comprehensive environmental modeling framework. The patterns span a range of features that cover specific land, atmospheric and aquatic domains intended for engineering modeling within a virtual environment. The modeling engine contained within the server relied on knowledge-based inferencing capable of supporting formal terminology (through NASA JPL's Semantic Web for Earth and Environmental Technology (SWEET) ontology and a domain-specific language) and levels of abstraction via integrated reasoning modules. One of the key goals of the research was to simplify models that were ordinarily computationally intensive to keep them lightweight enough for interactive or virtual environment contexts. The breadth of the elements incorporated is well-suited for learning as the trend toward ontologies and applying semantic information is vital for advancing an open knowledge infrastructure. As examples of modeling, we have covered such geophysics topics as fossil-fuel depletion, wind statistics, tidal analysis, and terrain modeling, among others. Techniques from the world of computer science will be necessary to promote efficient use of our renewable natural resources. [1] C2M2L (Component, Context, and Manufacturing Model Library) Final Report, https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.4956.3604

Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation and Incremental Sentence Comprehension: Computational Dependencies during Language Learning as Revealed by Neuronal Oscillations

PubMed Central

Cross, Zachariah R.; Kohler, Mark J.; Schlesewsky, Matthias; Gaskell, M. G.; Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Ina

2018-01-01

We hypothesize a beneficial influence of sleep on the consolidation of the combinatorial mechanisms underlying incremental sentence comprehension. These predictions are grounded in recent work examining the effect of sleep on the consolidation of linguistic information, which demonstrate that sleep-dependent neurophysiological activity consolidates the meaning of novel words and simple grammatical rules. However, the sleep-dependent consolidation of sentence-level combinatorics has not been studied to date. Here, we propose that dissociable aspects of sleep neurophysiology consolidate two different types of combinatory mechanisms in human language: sequence-based (order-sensitive) and dependency-based (order-insensitive) combinatorics. The distinction between the two types of combinatorics is motivated both by cross-linguistic considerations and the neurobiological underpinnings of human language. Unifying this perspective with principles of sleep-dependent memory consolidation, we posit that a function of sleep is to optimize the consolidation of sequence-based knowledge (the when) and the establishment of semantic schemas of unordered items (the what) that underpin cross-linguistic variations in sentence comprehension. This hypothesis builds on the proposal that sleep is involved in the construction of predictive codes, a unified principle of brain function that supports incremental sentence comprehension. Finally, we discuss neurophysiological measures (EEG/MEG) that could be used to test these claims, such as the quantification of neuronal oscillations, which reflect basic mechanisms of information processing in the brain. PMID:29445333

Effectiveness of false correction strategy on science reading comprehension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghent, Cynthia Anne

False-correction reading strategy theoretically prompted college students to activate their prior knowledge when provided false statements linked to a portion of their biology textbook. This strategy is based in elaborative interrogation theory, which suggests that prompting readers to answer interrogatives about text students are reading increases their comprehension of that text. These interrogatives always asked "why" statements pulled from a text, one sentence in length, were "true." True statements in this study based on a text were converted by the experimenter into false statements, one sentence in length. Students were requested to rewrite each statement (n=12) on average every 200 words in a text as they were reading, converting each false statement into a true statement. These students outperformed other students requested to reread the same biology text twice (an established placebo-control strategy). These students, in turn, outperformed still other students reading an unrelated control text taken from the same textbook used only to establish a prior knowledge baseline for all students included in this study. Students participating in this study were enrolled students in an undergraduate introductory general biology course designed for non-majors. A three-group, posttest-only, randomized experimental control-group design was used to prevent pretest activation of students' prior knowledge thus increasing chances of producing evidence of false-correction effectiveness and to begin augmenting potential generalizability to science classrooms. Students' (n=357) general biology knowledge, verbal ability, and attempts to use the false correction strategy were collected and analyzed. Eight of the participants were interviewed by the researcher in a first attempt in this domain to collect data on participants' points of view about the strategy. The results of this study are not yet recommended for use in authentic school settings as further research is indicated.

Determining the effectiveness of an Elder Abuse Nurse Examiner Curriculum: A pilot study.

PubMed

Du Mont, Janice; Kosa, Daisy; Yang, Rebecca; Solomon, Shirley; Macdonald, Sheila

2017-08-01

To pilot and evaluate a novel Elder Abuse Nurse Examiner Curriculum and its associated training materials for their efficacy in improving Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE)s' knowledge of elder abuse and competence in delivering care to abused older adults. Pilot training was held with 18 SANEs from across Ontario, Canada. A 52-item pre- and post-training questionnaire was administered that assessed participants' self-reported knowledge and perceived skills-based competence related to elder abuse care. A curriculum training evaluation survey was also delivered following the training. Qualitative non-participant observational data were collected throughout the training. There were statistically significant improvements in self-reported knowledge and perceived skills-based competence from pre-training to post-training for all content domains of the curriculum: older adults and abuse (p<0.0001), documentation, legislative, and legal issues (p<0.0001); interview with the older adult, caregiver, and other relevant contacts (p<0.0001); assessment (p=0.0018); medical and forensic examination (p<0.0001); case summary, discharge plan, and follow-up care (p<0.0001). The post-training evaluation survey demonstrated satisfaction among participants across all components of the curriculum and its delivery, particularly with reference to the comprehensiveness of the curriculum, and the clarity and appropriateness of the training materials. The Elder Abuse Nurse Examiner Curriculum and associated training materials were efficacious in improving SANEs' self-reported knowledge of and perceived competence in delivering elder abuse care. Future steps will further evaluate these materials as a component of a pilot of a larger comprehensive Elder Abuse Intervention at multiple sites across Ontario. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Autism Stigma and Knowledge Questionnaire (ASK-Q)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrison, Ashley J.; Bradshaw, Laine P.; Naqvi, Nilofer C.; Paff, Madison L.; Campbell, Jonathan M.

2017-01-01

ASD knowledge deficits contribute to disparities in the timing and quality of ASD services. To address the limitations with existing measures of ASD knowledge, we developed and examined the Autism Stigma and Knowledge Questionnaire (ASK-Q), which comprehensively assesses multiple subdomains of ASD knowledge while maintaining strong psychometric…

Neural correlates of language comprehension in autism spectrum disorders: when language conflicts with world knowledge.

PubMed

Tesink, Cathelijne M J Y; Buitelaar, Jan K; Petersson, Karl Magnus; van der Gaag, Rutger Jan; Teunisse, Jan-Pieter; Hagoort, Peter

2011-04-01

In individuals with ASD, difficulties with language comprehension are most evident when higher-level semantic-pragmatic language processing is required, for instance when context has to be used to interpret the meaning of an utterance. Until now, it is unclear at what level of processing and for what type of context these difficulties in language comprehension occur. Therefore, in the current fMRI study, we investigated the neural correlates of the integration of contextual information during auditory language comprehension in 24 adults with ASD and 24 matched control participants. Different levels of context processing were manipulated by using spoken sentences that were correct or contained either a semantic or world knowledge anomaly. Our findings demonstrated significant differences between the groups in inferior frontal cortex that were only present for sentences with a world knowledge anomaly. Relative to the ASD group, the control group showed significantly increased activation in left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) for sentences with a world knowledge anomaly compared to correct sentences. This effect possibly indicates reduced integrative capacities of the ASD group. Furthermore, world knowledge anomalies elicited significantly stronger activation in right inferior frontal gyrus (RIFG) in the control group compared to the ASD group. This additional RIFG activation probably reflects revision of the situation model after new, conflicting information. The lack of recruitment of RIFG is possibly related to difficulties with exception handling in the ASD group. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Individual Variation in Children's Reading Comprehension across Digital Text Types

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fesel, Sabine S.; Segers, Eliane; Verhoeven, Ludo

2018-01-01

The present study examined children's digital text comprehension of digital text types linear digital text vs hypertext, with or without graphical navigable overviews. We investigated to what extent individual variation in children's comprehension could be explained by lexical quality (word reading efficiency and vocabulary knowledge), cognitive…

The Effects of Pre-Learning Vocabulary on Reading Comprehension and Writing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Webb, Stuart A.

2009-01-01

This study investigates the effects of pre-learning vocabulary on reading comprehension and writing. Japanese students studying English as a foreign language (EFL) learned word pairs receptively and productively; four tests were used to measure reading comprehension, writing, and receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge. The findings suggest…

English Learner and Non-English Learner Students with Disabilities: Content Acquisition and Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wanzek, Jeanne; Swanson, Elizabeth; Vaughn, Sharon; Roberts, Greg; Fall, Anna-Mária

2016-01-01

This study investigated the effects of Promoting Adolescent Comprehension Through Text (PACT), a content knowledge and comprehension treatment for English learner and non--English learner students with disabilities who were provided instruction in general education social studies classrooms. Eighth-grade students with disabilities in the treatment…

Developmental Relations between Reading Comprehension and Reading Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Muijselaar, Marloes M. L.; Swart, Nicole M.; Steenbeek-Planting, Esther G.; Droop, Mienke; Verhoeven, Ludo; de Jong, Peter F.

2017-01-01

We examined the developmental relations between knowledge of reading strategies and reading comprehension in a longitudinal study of 312 Dutch children from the beginning of fourth grade to the end of fifth grade. Measures for reading comprehension, reading strategies, reading fluency, vocabulary, and working memory were administered. A structural…

Describing Comprehension: Teachers' Observations of Students' Reading Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vander Does, Susan Lubow

2012-01-01

Teachers' observations of student performance in reading are abundant and insightful but often remain internal and unarticulated. As a result, such observations are an underutilized and undervalued source of data. Given the gaps in knowledge about students' reading comprehension that exist in formal assessments, the frequent calls for teachers'…

Feeling Abstinent? Feeling Comprehensive? Touching the Affects of Sexuality Curricula

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lesko, Nancy

2010-01-01

This interpretive study draws on interdisciplinary scholarship on affect and knowledge to ask: toward what feelings do abstinence-only and comprehensive sexuality education curricula direct us? A methodology that is attuned to double exposures is discussed, and one abstinence-only sexuality education curriculum and one comprehensive sexuality…

Comprehension and Learning from Refutation and Expository Texts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diakidoy, Irene-Anna N.; Mouskounti, Thalia; Ioannides, Christos

2011-01-01

The study compared the effects of a refutation text on comprehension and learning outcomes to those of a standard expository text. Undergraduate students with varying amounts of accurate and inaccurate prior knowledge read and recalled a refutation or an expository text about energy. Comprehension measures included the amount of text information…

Assessment of HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes and behaviours among students in higher education in Tanzania.

PubMed

Mkumbo, Kitila

2013-01-01

There is a paucity of studies that have systematically and comprehensively investigated the knowledge level, attitudes and the pattern of sexual behaviours related to HIV and AIDS in higher education settings in sub-Saharan Africa in general and Tanzania in particular. This study attempted to fill a void in knowledge. A cross-sectional descriptive design was used, employing a self-administered questionnaire as the main data collection tool. More than 400 higher education students completed a questionnaire assessing their knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to HIV and AIDS. About three quarters of respondents demonstrated comprehensive knowledge about HIV and AIDS, and the majority of respondents expressed positive attitudes towards people living with HIV and AIDS. Despite demonstrating high knowledge level about HIV and AIDS, the results show that sexual behaviours among students in higher education are characteristically risky, and do not significantly differ from youth in the general population.

A Comparative Analysis of the Impact of Cooperative versus Textbook-Based Individual Prereading Activities on the Reading Comprehension of Students of Spanish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osa-Melero, Lucia

2012-01-01

Reading texts with historical and sociopolitical content in a foreign language is often a challenge for second language students. The obstacles encountered by students should be of concern to language instructors. Lack of background knowledge frequently causes the reader to abandon the reading activity with a sense of disappointment and…

Health Optimizing Physical Education (HOPE): A New Curriculum for School Programs--Part 2: Teacher Knowledge and Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Metzler, Michael W.; McKenzie, Thomas L.; van der Mars, Hans; Barrett-Williams, Shannon L.; Ellis, Rebecca

2013-01-01

Part 1 of this article, which appeared in the April 2013 of JOPERD, presented the theoretical foundation and evidence-based needs for a main-theme curriculum model called Health Optimizing Physical Education (HOPE) for schools. It also described eight strands that could be used to plan, implement, and assess this version of a comprehensive school…

Early & Often: Designing a Comprehensive System of Financial Aid Information. Abridged Report of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, 2008

2008-01-01

Students and parents need ample time and accurate information to prepare for the financial burden of a college education--those who lack this knowledge base face a significant access barrier to higher education. The early intervention community is calling for a method of delivering age-appropriate information in a timely manner as one means of…

Initial Teacher Education for School Health Promotion in Austria: Does It Support the Implementation of the Health-Promoting School Approach?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flaschberger, Edith

2013-01-01

Purpose: School health promotion is said to be most effective when implemented through a comprehensive, settings-based, whole-school approach. The purpose of this paper is to address the current lack of knowledge about the current state of teacher education for health promotion and its potential to further the development of settings-based…

Cognition and Health Literacy in Older Adults’ Recall of Self-Care Information

PubMed Central

Madison, Anna; Gao, Xuefei; Graumlich, James F.; Conner-Garcia, Thembi; Murray, Michael D.; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A. L.; Morrow, Daniel G.

2017-01-01

Abstract Purpose of the Study: Health literacy is associated with health outcomes presumably because it influences the understanding of information needed for self-care. However, little is known about the language comprehension mechanisms that underpin health literacy. Design and Methods: We explored the relationship between a commonly used measure of health literacy (Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults [STOFHLA]) and comprehension of health information among 145 older adults. Results: Results showed that performance on the STOFHLA was associated with recall of health information. Consistent with the Process-Knowledge Model of Health Literacy, mediation analysis showed that both processing capacity and knowledge mediated the association between health literacy and recall of health information. In addition, knowledge moderated the effects of processing capacity limits, such that processing capacity was less likely to be associated with recall for older adults with higher levels of knowledge. Implications: These findings suggest that knowledge contributes to health literacy and can compensate for deficits in processing capacity to support comprehension of health information among older adults. The implications of these findings for improving patient education materials for older adults with inadequate health literacy are discussed. PMID:26209450

Activating Event Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hare, Mary; Jones, Michael; Thomson, Caroline; Kelly, Sarah; McRae, Ken

2009-01-01

An increasing number of results in sentence and discourse processing demonstrate that comprehension relies on rich pragmatic knowledge about real-world events, and that incoming words incrementally activate such knowledge. If so, then even outside of any larger context, nouns should activate knowledge of the generalized events that they denote or…

Comprehensive Oncologic Emergencies Research Network (CONCERN)

Cancer.gov

The Comprehensive Oncologic Emergencies Research Network (CONCERN) was established in March 2015 with the goal to accelerate knowledge generation, synthesis and translation of oncologic emergency medicine research through multi-center collaborations.

Systematic analysis of signaling pathways using an integrative environment.

PubMed

Visvanathan, Mahesh; Breit, Marc; Pfeifer, Bernhard; Baumgartner, Christian; Modre-Osprian, Robert; Tilg, Bernhard

2007-01-01

Understanding the biological processes of signaling pathways as a whole system requires an integrative software environment that has comprehensive capabilities. The environment should include tools for pathway design, visualization, simulation and a knowledge base concerning signaling pathways as one. In this paper we introduce a new integrative environment for the systematic analysis of signaling pathways. This system includes environments for pathway design, visualization, simulation and a knowledge base that combines biological and modeling information concerning signaling pathways that provides the basic understanding of the biological system, its structure and functioning. The system is designed with a client-server architecture. It contains a pathway designing environment and a simulation environment as upper layers with a relational knowledge base as the underlying layer. The TNFa-mediated NF-kB signal trans-duction pathway model was designed and tested using our integrative framework. It was also useful to define the structure of the knowledge base. Sensitivity analysis of this specific pathway was performed providing simulation data. Then the model was extended showing promising initial results. The proposed system offers a holistic view of pathways containing biological and modeling data. It will help us to perform biological interpretation of the simulation results and thus contribute to a better understanding of the biological system for drug identification.

Incorporating personalized gene sequence variants, molecular genetics knowledge, and health knowledge into an EHR prototype based on the Continuity of Care Record standard.

PubMed

Jing, Xia; Kay, Stephen; Marley, Thomas; Hardiker, Nicholas R; Cimino, James J

2012-02-01

The current volume and complexity of genetic tests, and the molecular genetics knowledge and health knowledge related to interpretation of the results of those tests, are rapidly outstripping the ability of individual clinicians to recall, understand and convey to their patients information relevant to their care. The tailoring of molecular genetics knowledge and health knowledge in clinical settings is important both for the provision of personalized medicine and to reduce clinician information overload. In this paper we describe the incorporation, customization and demonstration of molecular genetic data (mainly sequence variants), molecular genetics knowledge and health knowledge into a standards-based electronic health record (EHR) prototype developed specifically for this study. We extended the CCR (Continuity of Care Record), an existing EHR standard for representing clinical data, to include molecular genetic data. An EHR prototype was built based on the extended CCR and designed to display relevant molecular genetics knowledge and health knowledge from an existing knowledge base for cystic fibrosis (OntoKBCF). We reconstructed test records from published case reports and represented them in the CCR schema. We then used the EHR to dynamically filter molecular genetics knowledge and health knowledge from OntoKBCF using molecular genetic data and clinical data from the test cases. The molecular genetic data were successfully incorporated in the CCR by creating a category of laboratory results called "Molecular Genetics" and specifying a particular class of test ("Gene Mutation Test") in this category. Unlike other laboratory tests reported in the CCR, results of tests in this class required additional attributes ("Molecular Structure" and "Molecular Position") to support interpretation by clinicians. These results, along with clinical data (age, sex, ethnicity, diagnostic procedures, and therapies) were used by the EHR to filter and present molecular genetics knowledge and health knowledge from OntoKBCF. This research shows a feasible model for delivering patient sequence variants and presenting tailored molecular genetics knowledge and health knowledge via a standards-based EHR system prototype. EHR standards can be extended to include the necessary patient data (as we have demonstrated in the case of the CCR), while knowledge can be obtained from external knowledge bases that are created and maintained independently from the EHR. This approach can form the basis for a personalized medicine framework, a more comprehensive standards-based EHR system and a potential platform for advancing translational research by both disseminating results and providing opportunities for new insights into phenotype-genotype relationships. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A survey of Existing V&V, UQ and M&S Data and Knowledge Bases in Support of the Nuclear Energy - Knowledge base for Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NE-KAMS)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hyung Lee; Rich Johnson, Ph.D.; Kimberlyn C. Moussesau

2011-12-01

The Nuclear Energy - Knowledge base for Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NE-KAMS) is being developed at the Idaho National Laboratory in conjunction with Bettis Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Utah State University and others. The objective of this consortium is to establish a comprehensive knowledge base to provide Verification and Validation (V&V) and Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) and other resources for advanced modeling and simulation (M&S) in nuclear reactor design and analysis. NE-KAMS will become a valuable resource for the nuclear industry, the national laboratories, the U.S. NRC and the public to help ensure themore » safe operation of existing and future nuclear reactors. A survey and evaluation of the state-of-the-art of existing V&V and M&S databases, including the Department of Energy and commercial databases, has been performed to ensure that the NE-KAMS effort will not be duplicating existing resources and capabilities and to assess the scope of the effort required to develop and implement NE-KAMS. The survey and evaluation have indeed highlighted the unique set of value-added functionality and services that NE-KAMS will provide to its users. Additionally, the survey has helped develop a better understanding of the architecture and functionality of these data and knowledge bases that can be used to leverage the development of NE-KAMS.« less

ADEpedia: a scalable and standardized knowledge base of Adverse Drug Events using semantic web technology.

PubMed

Jiang, Guoqian; Solbrig, Harold R; Chute, Christopher G

2011-01-01

A source of semantically coded Adverse Drug Event (ADE) data can be useful for identifying common phenotypes related to ADEs. We proposed a comprehensive framework for building a standardized ADE knowledge base (called ADEpedia) through combining ontology-based approach with semantic web technology. The framework comprises four primary modules: 1) an XML2RDF transformation module; 2) a data normalization module based on NCBO Open Biomedical Annotator; 3) a RDF store based persistence module; and 4) a front-end module based on a Semantic Wiki for the review and curation. A prototype is successfully implemented to demonstrate the capability of the system to integrate multiple drug data and ontology resources and open web services for the ADE data standardization. A preliminary evaluation is performed to demonstrate the usefulness of the system, including the performance of the NCBO annotator. In conclusion, the semantic web technology provides a highly scalable framework for ADE data source integration and standard query service.

Language skills and nonverbal cognitive processes associated with reading comprehension in deaf children.

PubMed

Daza, María Teresa; Phillips-Silver, Jessica; Ruiz-Cuadra, María del Mar; López-López, Francisco

2014-12-01

The main aim of this study was to examine the relationship between language skills (vocabulary knowledge and phonological awareness), nonverbal cognitive processes (attention, memory and executive functions) and reading comprehension in deaf children. Participants were thirty prelingually deaf children (10.7 ± 1.6 years old; 18 boys, 12 girls), who were classified as either good readers or poor readers by their scores on two reading comprehension tasks. The children were administered a rhyme judgment task and seven computerized neuropsychological tasks specifically designed and adapted for deaf children to evaluate vocabulary knowledge, attention, memory and executive functions in deaf children. A correlational approach was also used to assess the association between variables. Although the two groups did not show differences in phonological awareness, good readers showed better vocabulary and performed significantly better than poor readers on attention, memory and executive functions measures. Significant correlations were found between better scores in reading comprehension and better scores on tasks of vocabulary and non-verbal cognitive processes. The results suggest that in deaf children, vocabulary knowledge and nonverbal cognitive processes such as selective attention, visuo-spatial memory, abstract reasoning and sequential processing may be especially relevant for the development of reading comprehension. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of induced joy on literacy in children: does the nature of the task make a difference?

PubMed

Tornare, Elise; Cuisinier, Frédérique; Czajkowski, Nikolai O; Pons, Francisco

2017-04-01

This research examined whether induced joy influences fifth graders' performance in literacy tasks. Children were asked to recall a joyful experience, used as a joy induction, before completing either a grammar (Study 1) or textual comprehension task (Study 2). The grammar task involved understanding at the surface level and retrieval of appropriate declarative and procedural knowledge, but limited elaboration unlike the textual comprehension task, which tackled inference generation. By differentiating tasks based on depth of processing required for completion we aimed at testing the validity of two concurrent hypotheses: that of a facilitating effect and that of a detrimental effect of induced joy. Compared to controls, joy induced children showed better performance on the grammar task - specifically children with lower language ability. No differences across groups emerged as a function of joy induction on the text comprehension task. Results are discussed with respect to emotion effects on cognition.

Development and Implementation of a Food Safety Knowledge Instrument

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Byrd-Bredbenner, Carol; Wheatley, Virginia; Schaffner, Donald; Bruhn, Christine; Blalock, Lydia; Maurer, Jaclyn

2007-01-01

Little is known about the food safety knowledge of young adults. In addition, few knowledge questionnaires and no comprehensive, criterion-referenced measure that assesses the full range of food safety knowledge could be identified. Without appropriate, valid, and reliable measures and baseline data, it is difficult to develop and implement…

The Effects of Vocabulary Knowledge and Dictionary Use on EFL Reading Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shen, Zhifa

2013-01-01

The present study mainly investigated the effects of vocabulary knowledge and dictionary use on EFL reading performance. The results show that scores on vocabulary size, specific vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension are highly and positively correlated. Scores on specific vocabulary knowledge are more closely correlated with reading…

Quantification, Prediction, and the Online Impact of Sentence Truth-Value: Evidence From Event-Related Potentials

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Do negative quantifiers like “few” reduce people’s ability to rapidly evaluate incoming language with respect to world knowledge? Previous research has addressed this question by examining whether online measures of quantifier comprehension match the “final” interpretation reflected in verification judgments. However, these studies confounded quantifier valence with its impact on the unfolding expectations for upcoming words, yielding mixed results. In the current event-related potentials study, participants read negative and positive quantifier sentences matched on cloze probability and on truth-value (e.g., “Most/Few gardeners plant their flowers during the spring/winter for best results”). Regardless of whether participants explicitly verified the sentences or not, true-positive quantifier sentences elicited reduced N400s compared with false-positive quantifier sentences, reflecting the facilitated semantic retrieval of words that render a sentence true. No such facilitation was seen in negative quantifier sentences. However, mixed-effects model analyses (with cloze value and truth-value as continuous predictors) revealed that decreasing cloze values were associated with an interaction pattern between truth-value and quantifier, whereas increasing cloze values were associated with more similar truth-value effects regardless of quantifier. Quantifier sentences are thus understood neither always in 2 sequential stages, nor always in a partial-incremental fashion, nor always in a maximally incremental fashion. Instead, and in accordance with prediction-based views of sentence comprehension, quantifier sentence comprehension depends on incorporation of quantifier meaning into an online, knowledge-based prediction for upcoming words. Fully incremental quantifier interpretation occurs when quantifiers are incorporated into sufficiently strong online predictions for upcoming words. PMID:26375784

Knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDS among students of a technical institution.

PubMed

Gupta, Prem Prakash; Verma, Rohit Kumar; Tripathi, Poonam; Gupta, Shruti; Pandey, Awanish Kumar

2015-08-01

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a major health problem worldwide. The number of infected people is increasing daily. Knowledge and awareness toward prevention and control of the disease is necessary among both educated and illiterate people. This study is aimed at assessing the knowledge and awareness about human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS among undergraduate students studying in a technical institute in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among youths aged 15-30 years studying in a technical institution in Gorakhpur. Data were collected using a semistructured questionnaire developed with the help of existing literature, from 250 participants (students). The main source of information was the television; knowledge about the difference between HIV/AIDS was satisfactory. The findings showed that the knowledge about modes of prevention (blood checkup, needle/syringe sterilization) was satisfactory. There were several misconceptions about the modes of transmission of the disease, such as through mosquito bites, eating/drinking, and kissing. The knowledge of the study population was satisfactory, and there is a need for innovation and comprehensive education to impart better knowledge and understanding about HIV/AIDS.

CoReCG: a comprehensive database of genes associated with colon-rectal cancer

PubMed Central

Agarwal, Rahul; Kumar, Binayak; Jayadev, Msk; Raghav, Dhwani; Singh, Ashutosh

2016-01-01

Cancer of large intestine is commonly referred as colorectal cancer, which is also the third most frequently prevailing neoplasm across the globe. Though, much of work is being carried out to understand the mechanism of carcinogenesis and advancement of this disease but, fewer studies has been performed to collate the scattered information of alterations in tumorigenic cells like genes, mutations, expression changes, epigenetic alteration or post translation modification, genetic heterogeneity. Earlier findings were mostly focused on understanding etiology of colorectal carcinogenesis but less emphasis were given for the comprehensive review of the existing findings of individual studies which can provide better diagnostics based on the suggested markers in discrete studies. Colon Rectal Cancer Gene Database (CoReCG), contains 2056 colon-rectal cancer genes information involved in distinct colorectal cancer stages sourced from published literature with an effective knowledge based information retrieval system. Additionally, interactive web interface enriched with various browsing sections, augmented with advance search facility for querying the database is provided for user friendly browsing, online tools for sequence similarity searches and knowledge based schema ensures a researcher friendly information retrieval mechanism. Colorectal cancer gene database (CoReCG) is expected to be a single point source for identification of colorectal cancer-related genes, thereby helping with the improvement of classification, diagnosis and treatment of human cancers. Database URL: lms.snu.edu.in/corecg PMID:27114494

Community Intelligence in Knowledge Curation: An Application to Managing Scientific Nomenclature

PubMed Central

Zou, Dong; Li, Ang; Liu, Guocheng; Chen, Fei; Wu, Jiayan; Xiao, Jingfa; Wang, Xumin; Yu, Jun; Zhang, Zhang

2013-01-01

Harnessing community intelligence in knowledge curation bears significant promise in dealing with communication and education in the flood of scientific knowledge. As knowledge is accumulated at ever-faster rates, scientific nomenclature, a particular kind of knowledge, is concurrently generated in all kinds of fields. Since nomenclature is a system of terms used to name things in a particular discipline, accurate translation of scientific nomenclature in different languages is of critical importance, not only for communications and collaborations with English-speaking people, but also for knowledge dissemination among people in the non-English-speaking world, particularly young students and researchers. However, it lacks of accuracy and standardization when translating scientific nomenclature from English to other languages, especially for those languages that do not belong to the same language family as English. To address this issue, here we propose for the first time the application of community intelligence in scientific nomenclature management, namely, harnessing collective intelligence for translation of scientific nomenclature from English to other languages. As community intelligence applied to knowledge curation is primarily aided by wiki and Chinese is the native language for about one-fifth of the world’s population, we put the proposed application into practice, by developing a wiki-based English-to-Chinese Scientific Nomenclature Dictionary (ESND; http://esnd.big.ac.cn). ESND is a wiki-based, publicly editable and open-content platform, exploiting the whole power of the scientific community in collectively and collaboratively managing scientific nomenclature. Based on community curation, ESND is capable of achieving accurate, standard, and comprehensive scientific nomenclature, demonstrating a valuable application of community intelligence in knowledge curation. PMID:23451119

Community intelligence in knowledge curation: an application to managing scientific nomenclature.

PubMed

Dai, Lin; Xu, Chao; Tian, Ming; Sang, Jian; Zou, Dong; Li, Ang; Liu, Guocheng; Chen, Fei; Wu, Jiayan; Xiao, Jingfa; Wang, Xumin; Yu, Jun; Zhang, Zhang

2013-01-01

Harnessing community intelligence in knowledge curation bears significant promise in dealing with communication and education in the flood of scientific knowledge. As knowledge is accumulated at ever-faster rates, scientific nomenclature, a particular kind of knowledge, is concurrently generated in all kinds of fields. Since nomenclature is a system of terms used to name things in a particular discipline, accurate translation of scientific nomenclature in different languages is of critical importance, not only for communications and collaborations with English-speaking people, but also for knowledge dissemination among people in the non-English-speaking world, particularly young students and researchers. However, it lacks of accuracy and standardization when translating scientific nomenclature from English to other languages, especially for those languages that do not belong to the same language family as English. To address this issue, here we propose for the first time the application of community intelligence in scientific nomenclature management, namely, harnessing collective intelligence for translation of scientific nomenclature from English to other languages. As community intelligence applied to knowledge curation is primarily aided by wiki and Chinese is the native language for about one-fifth of the world's population, we put the proposed application into practice, by developing a wiki-based English-to-Chinese Scientific Nomenclature Dictionary (ESND; http://esnd.big.ac.cn). ESND is a wiki-based, publicly editable and open-content platform, exploiting the whole power of the scientific community in collectively and collaboratively managing scientific nomenclature. Based on community curation, ESND is capable of achieving accurate, standard, and comprehensive scientific nomenclature, demonstrating a valuable application of community intelligence in knowledge curation.

The Study and Design of Adaptive Learning System Based on Fuzzy Set Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Bing; Zhong, Shaochun; Zheng, Tianyang; Liu, Zhiyong

Adaptive learning is an effective way to improve the learning outcomes, that is, the selection of learning content and presentation should be adapted to each learner's learning context, learning levels and learning ability. Adaptive Learning System (ALS) can provide effective support for adaptive learning. This paper proposes a new ALS based on fuzzy set theory. It can effectively estimate the learner's knowledge level by test according to learner's target. Then take the factors of learner's cognitive ability and preference into consideration to achieve self-organization and push plan of knowledge. This paper focuses on the design and implementation of domain model and user model in ALS. Experiments confirmed that the system providing adaptive content can effectively help learners to memory the content and improve their comprehension.

The BonaRes Centre - A virtual institute for soil research in the context of a sustainable bio-economy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wollschläger, Ute; Helming, Katharina; Heinrich, Uwe; Bartke, Stephan; Kögel-Knabner, Ingrid; Russell, David; Eberhardt, Einar; Vogel, Hans-Jörg

2016-04-01

Fertile soils are central resources for the production of biomass and provision of food and energy. A growing world population and latest climate targets lead to an increasing demand for both, food and bio-energy, which require preserving and improving the long-term productivity of soils as a bio-economic resource. At the same time, other soil functions and ecosystem services need to be maintained. To render soil management sustainable, we need to establish a scientific knowledge base about complex soil system processes that allows for the development of model tools to quantitatively predict the impact of a multitude of management measures on soil functions. This, finally, will allow for the provision of site-specific options for sustainable soil management. To face this challenge, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research recently launched the funding program "Soil as a Natural Resource for the Bio-Economy - BonaRes". In a joint effort, ten collaborative projects and the coordinating BonaRes Centre are engaged to close existing knowledge gaps for a profound and systemic understanding of soil functions and their sensitivity to soil management. This presentation provides an overview of the concept of the BonaRes Centre which is responsible for i) setting up a comprehensive data base for soil-related information, ii) the development of model tools aiming to estimate the impact of different management measures on soil functions, and iii) establishing a web-based portal providing decision support tools for a sustainable soil management. A specific focus of the presentation will be laid on the so-called "knowledge-portal" providing the infrastructure for a community effort towards a comprehensive meta-analysis on soil functions as a basis for future model developments.

Treatment Effects for Older Struggling Readers: An Application of Moderated Mediation.

PubMed

Roberts, Greg; Fletcher, Jack M; Stuebing, Karla K; Barth, Amy E; Vaughn, Sharon

2013-02-01

This study used multigroup structural equations to evaluate the possibility that a theory-driven, evidence-based, yearlong reading program for sixth-grade struggling readers moderates the interrelationships among elements of the simple model of reading (i.e., listening comprehension, word reading, and reading comprehension; Hoover & Gough, 1990). Our specific interest was in the relation of theory, program, and evaluation. Our motivating assumptions were that 1) a well-designed, theory-based program affects performance in predictable ways and that 2) treatment effects may be present even when group differences in posttest means are not robust. The analysis sample comprised 327 students, 113 in the business-as-usual condition and 214 in treatment. We pretested students in the fall of sixth grade and collected posttest data in the fall of seventh grade. There were 217 cases in the posttest sample, 47 comparison students and 170 treatment students at posttest. The findings support the possibility that treated sixth-grade students improved in response to an intensive, yearlong intervention, when conceptualizing change in terms of predictable interrelationships of important underlying skills, rather than in terms of group mean differences at posttest. Specifically, the results suggest that verbal knowledge is less proximal to the reading comprehension of students who have become proficient in the use of text processing and reading comprehension strategies.

Treatment Effects for Older Struggling Readers: An Application of Moderated Mediation

PubMed Central

Roberts, Greg; Fletcher, Jack M.; Stuebing, Karla K.; Barth, Amy E.; Vaughn, Sharon

2012-01-01

This study used multigroup structural equations to evaluate the possibility that a theory-driven, evidence-based, yearlong reading program for sixth-grade struggling readers moderates the interrelationships among elements of the simple model of reading (i.e., listening comprehension, word reading, and reading comprehension; Hoover & Gough, 1990). Our specific interest was in the relation of theory, program, and evaluation. Our motivating assumptions were that 1) a well-designed, theory-based program affects performance in predictable ways and that 2) treatment effects may be present even when group differences in posttest means are not robust. The analysis sample comprised 327 students, 113 in the business-as-usual condition and 214 in treatment. We pretested students in the fall of sixth grade and collected posttest data in the fall of seventh grade. There were 217 cases in the posttest sample, 47 comparison students and 170 treatment students at posttest. The findings support the possibility that treated sixth-grade students improved in response to an intensive, yearlong intervention, when conceptualizing change in terms of predictable interrelationships of important underlying skills, rather than in terms of group mean differences at posttest. Specifically, the results suggest that verbal knowledge is less proximal to the reading comprehension of students who have become proficient in the use of text processing and reading comprehension strategies. PMID:23472048

Instructional Implications of Listening Comprehension Research. Reading Education Report No. 39.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pearson, P. David; Fielding, Linda

While listening comprehension is perhaps the most ignored area of the language arts, a review of the literature suggests that it is deserving of more classroom instructional time. Involving the simultaneous orchestration of skills in phonology, syntax, semantics, and knowledge of text structure, listening comprehension seems to be controlled by…

Graphic Novel Comprehension among Learners with Differential Cognitive Styles and Reading Abilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wong, Simpson W. L.; Miao, Hoyee; Cheng, Rebecca Wing-yi; Yip, Michael Chi Wing

2017-01-01

Learners with poor reading skills are less able to acquire knowledge through text. Graphic novels may enhance reading comprehension skills owing to fewer words, more pictures, and an engaging storyline. This study considered the reading skills of 188 Chinese-English bilingual undergraduates, comparing their reading comprehension performance after…

The Relationship between Cognate Awareness and English Comprehension among Spanish-English Bilingual Fourth Grade Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Proctor, C. Patrick; Mo, Elaine

2009-01-01

This study was designed to investigate the effect of English reading comprehension on cognate knowledge among a sample of Spanish-speaking bilinguals alongside their monolingual English-speaking counterparts. In order to understand this developmental relationship, the effects of English reading comprehension were controlled in regression analyses,…

Pharmaceutical pictograms: a model for development and testing for comprehension and utility.

PubMed

Montagne, Michael

2013-01-01

With concerns about the medication literacy skills of patients comes the need to develop various types of information materials that will enhance understanding and drug use. To review pictogram development projects and to propose a model for pharmaceutical pictogram development and testing for comprehension and use. Previous efforts in developing specific types of pictograms in engineering and safety as well as in health care and pharmacy are collected and summarized in terms of level of comprehension and recall. The impact of pictogram-enhanced medication information materials on knowledge acquisition, information retention, and adherence is assessed. Pictograms are a key component in re-designing medication information to improve comprehension, recall, and adherence. Many types of pictograms still produce low levels of comprehension and the impact of pictograms on medication knowledge is inconsistent. Prior training through patient counseling on the intended meaning and use of pictograms greatly increases their effectiveness. A model for the development and testing of pictograms and pictogram sequences for comprehension and use in medication information is presented and discussed. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Cognition Account of Differences between Children's Comprehension and Production of Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rice, Mabel

1984-01-01

Suggests that there are no sharp distinctions among children's linguistic comprehension, production, and knowledge. Instead, all performance and understanding are embedded in a fluctuating, interrelated thought system. (PD)

Hippocampome.org: a knowledge base of neuron types in the rodent hippocampus

PubMed Central

Wheeler, Diek W; White, Charise M; Rees, Christopher L; Komendantov, Alexander O; Hamilton, David J; Ascoli, Giorgio A

2015-01-01

Hippocampome.org is a comprehensive knowledge base of neuron types in the rodent hippocampal formation (dentate gyrus, CA3, CA2, CA1, subiculum, and entorhinal cortex). Although the hippocampal literature is remarkably information-rich, neuron properties are often reported with incompletely defined and notoriously inconsistent terminology, creating a formidable challenge for data integration. Our extensive literature mining and data reconciliation identified 122 neuron types based on neurotransmitter, axonal and dendritic patterns, synaptic specificity, electrophysiology, and molecular biomarkers. All ∼3700 annotated properties are individually supported by specific evidence (∼14,000 pieces) in peer-reviewed publications. Systematic analysis of this unprecedented amount of machine-readable information reveals novel correlations among neuron types and properties, the potential connectivity of the full hippocampal circuitry, and outstanding knowledge gaps. User-friendly browsing and online querying of Hippocampome.org may aid design and interpretation of both experiments and simulations. This powerful, simple, and extensible neuron classification endeavor is unique in its detail, utility, and completeness. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09960.001 PMID:26402459

Reply to David Kemmerer's "a critique of Mark D. Allen's 'the preservation of verb subcategory knowledge in a spoken language comprehension deficit'".

PubMed

Allen, Mark D; Owens, Tyler E

2008-07-01

Allen [Allen, M. D. (2005). The preservation of verb subcategory knowledge in a spoken language comprehension deficit. Brain and Language, 95, 255-264] presents evidence from a single patient, WBN, to motivate a theory of lexical processing and representation in which syntactic information may be encoded and retrieved independently of semantic information. In his critique, Kemmerer argues that because Allen depended entirely on preposition-based verb subcategory violations to test WBN's knowledge of correct argument structure, his results, at best, address a "strawman" theory. This argument rests on the assumption that preposition subcategory options are superficial syntactic phenomena which are not represented by argument structure proper. We demonstrate that preposition subcategory is in fact treated as semantically determined argument structure in the theories that Allen evaluated, and thus far from irrelevant. In further discussion of grammatically relevant versus irrelevant semantic features, Kemmerer offers a review of his own studies. However, due to an important design shortcoming in these experiments, we remain unconvinced. Reemphasizing the fact the Allen (2005) never claimed to rule out all semantic contributions to syntax, we propose an improvement in Kemmerer's approach that might provide more satisfactory evidence on the distinction between the kinds of relevant versus irrelevant features his studies have addressed.

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 6: Aerospace knowledge diffusion in the academic community: A report of phase 3 activities of the NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pinelli, Thomas E.; Kennedy, John M.

1990-01-01

Descriptive and analytical data regarding the flow of aerospace-based scientific and technical information (STI) in the academic community are presented. An overview is provided of the Federal Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project, illustrating a five-year program on aerospace knowledge diffusion. Preliminary results are presented of the project's research concerning the information-seeking habits, practices, and attitudes of U.S. aerospace engineering and science students and faculty. The type and amount of education and training in the use of information sources are examined. The use and importance ascribed to various information products by U.S. aerospace faculty and students including computer and other information technology is assessed. An evaluation of NASA technical reports is presented and it is concluded that NASA technical reports are rated high in terms of quality and comprehensiveness, citing Engineering Index and IAA as the most frequently used materials by faculty and students.

The Social N400 effect: how the presence of other listeners affects language comprehension.

PubMed

Rueschemeyer, Shirley-Ann; Gardner, Tom; Stoner, Cat

2015-02-01

During conversation, it is necessary to keep track of what others can and cannot understand. Previous research has focused largely on understanding the time course along which knowledge about interlocutors influences language comprehension/production rather than the cognitive process by which interlocutors take each other's perspective. In addition, most work has looked at the effects of knowledge about a speaker on a listener's comprehension, and not on the possible effects of other listeners on a participant's comprehension process. In the current study, we introduce a novel joint comprehension paradigm that addresses the cognitive processes underlying perspective taking during language comprehension. Specifically, we show that participants who understand a language stimulus, but are simultaneously aware that someone sitting next to them does not understand the same stimulus, show an electrophysiological marker of semantic integration difficulty (i.e., an N400-effect). Crucially, in a second group of participants, we demonstrate that presenting exactly the same sentences to the participant alone (i.e. without a co-listener) results in no N400-effect. Our results suggest that (1) information about co-listeners as well as the speaker affect language comprehension, and (2) the cognitive process by which we understand what others comprehend mirrors our own language comprehension processes.

Examining the Relationships of Component Reading Skills to Reading Comprehension in Struggling Adult Readers: A Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Tighe, Elizabeth L; Schatschneider, Christopher

2016-07-01

The current study employed a meta-analytic approach to investigate the relative importance of component reading skills to reading comprehension in struggling adult readers. A total of 10 component skills were consistently identified across 16 independent studies and 2,707 participants. Random effects models generated 76 predictor-reading comprehension effect sizes among the 10 constructs. The results indicated that six of the component skills exhibited strong relationships with reading comprehension (average rs ≥ .50): morphological awareness, language comprehension, fluency, oral vocabulary knowledge, real word decoding, and working memory. Three of the component skills yielded moderate relationships with reading comprehension (average rs ≥ .30 and < .50): pseudoword decoding, orthographic knowledge, and phonological awareness. Rapid automatized naming (RAN) was the only component skill that was weakly related to reading comprehension (r = .15). Morphological awareness was a significantly stronger correlate of reading comprehension than phonological awareness and RAN. This study provides the first attempt at a systematic synthesis of the recent research investigating the reading skills of adults with low literacy skills, a historically understudied population. Directions for future research, the relation of our results to the children's literature, and the implications for researchers and adult basic education programs are discussed. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2014.

Examining the Relationships of Component Reading Skills to Reading Comprehension in Struggling Adult Readers: A Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Tighe, Elizabeth L.; Schatschneider, Christopher

2015-01-01

The current study employed a meta-analytic approach to investigate the relative importance of component reading skills to reading comprehension in struggling adult readers. A total of 10 component skills were consistently identified across 16 independent studies and 2,707 participants. Random effects models generated 76 predictor-reading comprehension effect sizes among the 10 constructs. The results indicated that six of the component skills exhibited strong relationships with reading comprehension (average rs ≥ .50): morphological awareness, language comprehension, fluency, oral vocabulary knowledge, real word decoding, and working memory. Three of the component skills yielded moderate relationships with reading comprehension (average rs ≥ .30 and < .50): pseudoword decoding, orthographic knowledge, and phonological awareness. Rapid automatized naming (RAN) was the only component skill that was weakly related to reading comprehension (r = .15). Morphological awareness was a significantly stronger correlate of reading comprehension than phonological awareness and RAN. This study provides the first attempt at a systematic synthesis of the recent research investigating the reading skills of adults with low literacy skills, a historically under-studied population. Directions for future research, the relation of our results to the children’s literature, and the implications for researchers and Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs are discussed. PMID:25350926

[Effect of comprehensive control in demonstration plots of parasitic diseases in Guizhou Province].

PubMed

Ai-Ya, Zhu; An-Mei, Li; Guang-Chu, Lin; Jian-Jun, Xu; Liang-Xian, Sun

2011-10-01

To evaluate the effect of comprehensive control in demonstration plots of parasitic diseases in Guizhou Province. The data of parasitic disease control in demonstration plots from 2006 to 2009 were collected and analyzed, including deworming, water and latrines renovation, health education, survey on infections in crowd, etc. After 3 years comprehensive control, the infection rates of soil-transmitted nematodes among people reduced from 30.25% to 8.37%, with the reduction rate of 72.32%. The infection rates of Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm and Trichuris trichiura reduced from 26.88%, 2.86% and 4.13% to 7.43%, 0.09% and 1.13%, respectively. The awareness rate of health knowledge among residents increased from 44.18% to 93.64%, with an increasing rate of 111.94%. The coverage rate of non-hazardous sanitary latrines was 81.29%. The beneficial rate of the water renovation reached 96.31%. The comprehensive control strategies mainly based on health education and infectious source control correspond to the reality of rural parasitic disease control nowadays. The comprehensive control model integrating government leadership, department cooperation and social concern is useful for parasitic disease control and should be popularized.

Strategies for adding adaptive learning mechanisms to rule-based diagnostic expert systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stclair, D. C.; Sabharwal, C. L.; Bond, W. E.; Hacke, Keith

1988-01-01

Rule-based diagnostic expert systems can be used to perform many of the diagnostic chores necessary in today's complex space systems. These expert systems typically take a set of symptoms as input and produce diagnostic advice as output. The primary objective of such expert systems is to provide accurate and comprehensive advice which can be used to help return the space system in question to nominal operation. The development and maintenance of diagnostic expert systems is time and labor intensive since the services of both knowledge engineer(s) and domain expert(s) are required. The use of adaptive learning mechanisms to increment evaluate and refine rules promises to reduce both time and labor costs associated with such systems. This paper describes the basic adaptive learning mechanisms of strengthening, weakening, generalization, discrimination, and discovery. Next basic strategies are discussed for adding these learning mechanisms to rule-based diagnostic expert systems. These strategies support the incremental evaluation and refinement of rules in the knowledge base by comparing the set of advice given by the expert system (A) with the correct diagnosis (C). Techniques are described for selecting those rules in the in the knowledge base which should participate in adaptive learning. The strategies presented may be used with a wide variety of learning algorithms. Further, these strategies are applicable to a large number of rule-based diagnostic expert systems. They may be used to provide either immediate or deferred updating of the knowledge base.

Cognitive Attributes of Adequate and Inadequate Responders to Reading Intervention in Middle School

PubMed Central

Miciak, Jeremy; Stuebing, Karla K.; Vaughn, Sharon; Roberts, Greg; Barth, Amy Elizabeth; Fletcher, Jack M.

2016-01-01

No studies have investigated the cognitive attributes of middle school students who are adequate and inadequate responders to Tier 2 reading intervention. We compared students in Grades 6 and 7 representing groups of adequate responders (n = 77) and inadequate responders who fell below criteria in (a) comprehension (n = 54); (b) fluency (n = 45); and (c) decoding, fluency, and comprehension (DFC; n = 45). These students received measures of phonological awareness, listening comprehension, rapid naming, processing speed, verbal knowledge, and nonverbal reasoning. Multivariate comparisons showed a significant Group-by-Task interaction: the comprehension-impaired group demonstrated primary difficulties with verbal knowledge and listening comprehension, the DFC group with phonological awareness, and the fluency-impaired group with phonological awareness and rapid naming. A series of regression models investigating whether responder status explained unique variation in cognitive skills yielded largely null results consistent with a continuum of severity associated with level of reading impairment, with no evidence for qualitative differences in the cognitive attributes of adequate and inadequate responders. PMID:28579668

Cognitive Attributes of Adequate and Inadequate Responders to Reading Intervention in Middle School.

PubMed

Miciak, Jeremy; Stuebing, Karla K; Vaughn, Sharon; Roberts, Greg; Barth, Amy Elizabeth; Fletcher, Jack M

2014-12-01

No studies have investigated the cognitive attributes of middle school students who are adequate and inadequate responders to Tier 2 reading intervention. We compared students in Grades 6 and 7 representing groups of adequate responders ( n = 77) and inadequate responders who fell below criteria in (a) comprehension ( n = 54); (b) fluency ( n = 45); and (c) decoding, fluency, and comprehension (DFC; n = 45). These students received measures of phonological awareness, listening comprehension, rapid naming, processing speed, verbal knowledge, and nonverbal reasoning. Multivariate comparisons showed a significant Group-by-Task interaction: the comprehension-impaired group demonstrated primary difficulties with verbal knowledge and listening comprehension, the DFC group with phonological awareness, and the fluency-impaired group with phonological awareness and rapid naming. A series of regression models investigating whether responder status explained unique variation in cognitive skills yielded largely null results consistent with a continuum of severity associated with level of reading impairment, with no evidence for qualitative differences in the cognitive attributes of adequate and inadequate responders.

Modulation of cortical activity during comprehension of familiar and unfamiliar text topics in speed reading and speed listening

PubMed Central

Buchweitz, Augusto; Mason, Robert A.; Meschyan, Gayane; Keller, Timothy A.; Just, Marcel Adam

2014-01-01

Brain activation associated with normal and speeded comprehension of expository texts on familiar and unfamiliar topics was investigated in reading and listening. The goal was to determine how brain activation and the comprehension processes it reflects are modulated by comprehension speed and topic familiarity. Passages on more familiar topics differentially activated a set of areas in the anterior temporal lobe and medial frontal gyrus, areas often associated with text-level integration processes, which we interpret to reflect integration of previous knowledge with the passage content. Passages presented at the faster presentation resulted in more activation of a network of frontal areas associated with strategic and working-memory processes (as well as visual or auditory sensory-related regions), which we interpret to reflect maintenance of local coherence among briefly available passage segments. The implications of this research is to demonstrate how the brain system for text comprehension adapts to varying perceptual and knowledge conditions. PMID:25463816

Modulation of cortical activity during comprehension of familiar and unfamiliar text topics in speed reading and speed listening.

PubMed

Buchweitz, Augusto; Mason, Robert A; Meschyan, Gayane; Keller, Timothy A; Just, Marcel Adam

2014-12-01

Brain activation associated with normal and speeded comprehension of expository texts on familiar and unfamiliar topics was investigated in reading and listening. The goal was to determine how brain activation and the comprehension processes it reflects are modulated by comprehension speed and topic familiarity. Passages on more familiar topics differentially activated a set of areas in the anterior temporal lobe and medial frontal gyrus, areas often associated with text-level integration processes, which we interpret to reflect integration of previous knowledge with the passage content. Passages presented at the faster presentation resulted in more activation of a network of frontal areas associated with strategic and working-memory processes (as well as visual or auditory sensory-related regions), which we interpret to reflect maintenance of local coherence among briefly available passage segments. The implications of this research is that the brain system for text comprehension adapts to varying perceptual and knowledge conditions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Expert system and process optimization techniques for real-time monitoring and control of plasma processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Jie; Qian, Zhaogang; Irani, Keki B.; Etemad, Hossein; Elta, Michael E.

1991-03-01

To meet the ever-increasing demand of the rapidly-growing semiconductor manufacturing industry it is critical to have a comprehensive methodology integrating techniques for process optimization real-time monitoring and adaptive process control. To this end we have accomplished an integrated knowledge-based approach combining latest expert system technology machine learning method and traditional statistical process control (SPC) techniques. This knowledge-based approach is advantageous in that it makes it possible for the task of process optimization and adaptive control to be performed consistently and predictably. Furthermore this approach can be used to construct high-level and qualitative description of processes and thus make the process behavior easy to monitor predict and control. Two software packages RIST (Rule Induction and Statistical Testing) and KARSM (Knowledge Acquisition from Response Surface Methodology) have been developed and incorporated with two commercially available packages G2 (real-time expert system) and ULTRAMAX (a tool for sequential process optimization).

The neuron classification problem

PubMed Central

Bota, Mihail; Swanson, Larry W.

2007-01-01

A systematic account of neuron cell types is a basic prerequisite for determining the vertebrate nervous system global wiring diagram. With comprehensive lineage and phylogenetic information unavailable, a general ontology based on structure-function taxonomy is proposed and implemented in a knowledge management system, and a prototype analysis of select regions (including retina, cerebellum, and hypothalamus) presented. The supporting Brain Architecture Knowledge Management System (BAMS) Neuron ontology is online and its user interface allows queries about terms and their definitions, classification criteria based on the original literature and “Petilla Convention” guidelines, hierarchies, and relations—with annotations documenting each ontology entry. Combined with three BAMS modules for neural regions, connections between regions and neuron types, and molecules, the Neuron ontology provides a general framework for physical descriptions and computational modeling of neural systems. The knowledge management system interacts with other web resources, is accessible in both XML and RDF/OWL, is extendible to the whole body, and awaits large-scale data population requiring community participation for timely implementation. PMID:17582506

Developing a comprehensive definition of sustainability.

PubMed

Moore, Julia E; Mascarenhas, Alekhya; Bain, Julie; Straus, Sharon E

2017-09-02

Understanding sustainability is one of the significant implementation science challenges. One of the big challenges in researching sustainability is the lack of consistent definitions in the literature. Most implementation studies do not present a definition of sustainability, even when assessing sustainability. The aim of the current study was to systematically develop a comprehensive definition of sustainability based on definitions already used in the literature. We searched for knowledge syntheses of sustainability and abstracted sustainability definitions from the articles identified through any relevant systematic and scoping reviews. The constructs in the abstracted sustainability definitions were mapped to an existing definition. The comprehensive definition of sustainability was revised to include emerging constructs. We identified four knowledge syntheses of sustainability, which identified 209 original articles. Of the 209 articles, 24 (11.5%) included a definition of sustainability. These definitions were mapped to three constructs from an existing definition, and nine new constructs emerged. We reviewed all constructs and created a revised definition: (1) after a defined period of time, (2) a program, clinical intervention, and/or implementation strategies continue to be delivered and/or (3) individual behavior change (i.e., clinician, patient) is maintained; (4) the program and individual behavior change may evolve or adapt while (5) continuing to produce benefits for individuals/systems. All 24 definitions were remapped to the comprehensive definition (percent agreement among three coders was 94%). Of the 24 definitions, 17 described the continued delivery of a program (70.8%), 17 mentioned continued outcomes (70.8%), 13 mentioned time (54.2%), 8 addressed the individual maintenance of a behavior change (33.3%), and 6 described the evolution or adaptation (25.0%). We drew from over 200 studies to identify 24 existing definitions of sustainability. Based on these definitions, we identified five key sustainability constructs, which can be used as the basis for future research on sustainability. Our next step is to identify sustainability frameworks and develop a meta-framework using a concept mapping approach to consolidate the factors and considerations across sustainability frameworks.

Swift Trust: Implications for Whole of Government/Comprehensive Approach (WoG/CA) Missions

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

departments who have no history together must quickly coalesce into an effective team, often in response to a crisis or a top governmental priority...efficient and effective performance (Dirks, 1999). Assumed to be particularly important during a crisis (Webb, 1996); trust in such situations works...to keep authority decentralized, lines of communication open and behavior flexible (Mishra, 1996). 2.1 Knowledge- and category-based trust As

A four-tier problem-solving scaffold to teach pain management in dental school.

PubMed

Ivanoff, Chris S; Hottel, Timothy L

2013-06-01

Pain constitutes a major reason patients pursue dental treatment. This article presents a novel curriculum to provide dental students comprehensive training in the management of pain. The curriculum's four-tier scaffold combines traditional and problem-based learning to improve students' diagnostic, pharmacotherapeutic, and assessment skills to optimize decision making when treating pain. Tier 1 provides underpinning knowledge of pain mechanisms with traditional and contextualized instruction by integrating clinical correlations and studying worked cases that stimulate clinical thinking. Tier 2 develops critical decision making skills through self-directed learning and actively solving problem-based cases. Tier 3 exposes students to management approaches taken in allied health fields and cultivates interdisciplinary communication skills. Tier 4 provides a "knowledge and experience synthesis" by rotating students through community pain clinics to practice their assessment skills. This combined teaching approach aims to increase critical thinking and problem-solving skills to assist dental graduates in better management of pain throughout their careers. Dental curricula that have moved to comprehensive care/private practice models are well-suited for this educational approach. The goal of this article is to encourage dental schools to integrate pain management into their curricula, to develop pain management curriculum resources for dental students, and to provide leadership for change in pain management education.

How Well Do Customers of Direct-to-Consumer Personal Genomic Testing Services Comprehend Genetic Test Results? Findings from the Impact of Personal Genomics Study.

PubMed

Ostergren, Jenny E; Gornick, Michele C; Carere, Deanna Alexis; Kalia, Sarah S; Uhlmann, Wendy R; Ruffin, Mack T; Mountain, Joanna L; Green, Robert C; Roberts, J Scott

2015-01-01

To assess customer comprehension of health-related personal genomic testing (PGT) results. We presented sample reports of genetic results and examined responses to comprehension questions in 1,030 PGT customers (mean age: 46.7 years; 59.9% female; 79.0% college graduates; 14.9% non-White; 4.7% of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity). Sample reports presented a genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease and type 2 diabetes, carrier screening summary results for >30 conditions, results for phenylketonuria and cystic fibrosis, and drug response results for a statin drug. Logistic regression was used to identify correlates of participant comprehension. Participants exhibited high overall comprehension (mean score: 79.1% correct). The highest comprehension (range: 81.1-97.4% correct) was observed in the statin drug response and carrier screening summary results, and lower comprehension (range: 63.6-74.8% correct) on specific carrier screening results. Higher levels of numeracy, genetic knowledge, and education were significantly associated with greater comprehension. Older age (≥ 60 years) was associated with lower comprehension scores. Most customers accurately interpreted the health implications of PGT results; however, comprehension varied by demographic characteristics, numeracy and genetic knowledge, and types and format of the genetic information presented. Results suggest a need to tailor the presentation of PGT results by test type and customer characteristics. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

How Well Do Customers of Direct-to-Consumer Personal Genomic Testing Services Comprehend Genetic Test Results? Findings from the Impact of Personal Genomics Study

PubMed Central

Ostergren, Jenny E.; Gornick, Michele C.; Carere, Deanna Alexis; Kalia, Sarah S.; Uhlmann, Wendy R.; Ruffin, Mack T.; Mountain, Joanna L.; Green, Robert C.; Roberts, J. Scott

2016-01-01

Aim To assess customer comprehension of health-related personal genomic testing (PGT) results. Methods We presented sample reports of genetic results and examined responses to comprehension questions in 1,030 PGT customers (mean age: 46.7 years; 59.9% female; 79.0% college graduates; 14.9% non-White; 4.7% of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity). Sample reports presented a genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes, carrier screening summary results for >30 conditions, results for phenylketonuria and cystic fibrosis, and drug response results for a statin drug. Logistic regression was used to identify correlates of participant comprehension. Results Participants exhibited high overall comprehension (mean score: 79.1% correct). The highest comprehension (range: 81.1–97.4% correct) was observed in the statin drug response and carrier screening summary results, and lower comprehension (range: 63.6–74.8% correct) on specific carrier screening results. Higher levels of numeracy, genetic knowledge, and education were significantly associated with greater comprehension. Older age (≥ 60 years) was associated with lower comprehension scores. Conclusions Most customers accurately interpreted the health implications of PGT results; however, comprehension varied by demographic characteristics, numeracy and genetic knowledge, and types and format of the genetic information presented. Results suggest a need to tailor the presentation of PGT results by test type and customer characteristics. PMID:26087778

Teaching and Learning Morphology: A Reflection on Generative Vocabulary Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Templeton, Shane

2012-01-01

Students' knowledge of morphology can play a critical role in vocabulary development, and by extension, reading comprehension and writing. This reflection describes the nature of this knowledge and how it may be developed through the examination of generative vocabulary knowledge and the role of the spelling system in developing this knowledge. In…

Relationships between Teachers' Metacognitive Knowledge and Students' Metacognitive Knowledge and Reading Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soodla, Piret; Jõgi, Anna-Liisa; Kikas, Eve

2017-01-01

The study examined the relationships between teachers' metacognitive knowledge of reading strategies and their students' metacognitive knowledge and reading comprehension. The study was carried out among language art teachers (N = 34) and their students (N = 534) in the last year of primary school (ninth grade) in Estonia. Multilevel modeling was…

Tracking Real-Time Neural Activation of Conceptual Knowledge Using Single-Trial Event-Related Potentials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amsel, Ben D.

2011-01-01

Empirically derived semantic feature norms categorized into different types of knowledge (e.g., visual, functional, auditory) can be summed to create number-of-feature counts per knowledge type. Initial evidence suggests several such knowledge types may be recruited during language comprehension. The present study provides a more detailed…

The innervation of the scalp: A comprehensive review including anatomy, pathology, and neurosurgical correlates

PubMed Central

Kemp, William J.; Tubbs, R. Shane; Cohen-Gadol, Aaron A.

2011-01-01

Background: Neurosurgical intervention involving the scalp may cause neuralgia or other pain syndromes. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of scalp innervation may be helpful in prevention of pain potentially induced by surgery. Methods: Using standard search engines, a review of the literature regarding the anatomy of the nerves that innervate the scalp was performed with attention given to anatomic landmarks. Results: This paper provides a comprehensive review of the anatomy, embryology, pathology, and neurosurgical application of the knowledge of the innervation of the scalp. Conclusions: Knowledge of the nerves that supply the scalp is important to the neurosurgeon who hopes to maximize patient recovery and minimize post-procedural complications. PMID:22276233

GGDonto ontology as a knowledge-base for genetic diseases and disorders of glycan metabolism and their causative genes.

PubMed

Solovieva, Elena; Shikanai, Toshihide; Fujita, Noriaki; Narimatsu, Hisashi

2018-04-18

Inherited mutations in glyco-related genes can affect the biosynthesis and degradation of glycans and result in severe genetic diseases and disorders. The Glyco-Disease Genes Database (GDGDB), which provides information about these diseases and disorders as well as their causative genes, has been developed by the Research Center for Medical Glycoscience (RCMG) and released in April 2010. GDGDB currently provides information on about 80 genetic diseases and disorders caused by single-gene mutations in glyco-related genes. Many biomedical resources provide information about genetic disorders and genes involved in their pathogenesis, but resources focused on genetic disorders known to be related to glycan metabolism are lacking. With the aim of providing more comprehensive knowledge on genetic diseases and disorders of glycan biosynthesis and degradation, we enriched the content of the GDGDB database and improved the methods for data representation. We developed the Genetic Glyco-Diseases Ontology (GGDonto) and a RDF/SPARQL-based user interface using Semantic Web technologies. In particular, we represented the GGDonto content using Semantic Web languages, such as RDF, RDFS, SKOS, and OWL, and created an interactive user interface based on SPARQL queries. This user interface provides features to browse the hierarchy of the ontology, view detailed information on diseases and related genes, and find relevant background information. Moreover, it provides the ability to filter and search information by faceted and keyword searches. Focused on the molecular etiology, pathogenesis, and clinical manifestations of genetic diseases and disorders of glycan metabolism and developed as a knowledge-base for this scientific field, GGDonto provides comprehensive information on various topics, including links to aid the integration with other scientific resources. The availability and accessibility of this knowledge will help users better understand how genetic defects impact the metabolism of glycans as well as how this impaired metabolism affects various biological functions and human health. In this way, GGDonto will be useful in fields related to glycoscience, including cell biology, biotechnology, and biomedical, and pharmaceutical research.

A Collaborative Team Teaching Model for a MSW Capstone Course.

PubMed

Moore, Rebecca M; Darby, Kathleen H; Blake, Michelle E

2016-01-01

This exploratory study was embedded in a formative process for the purposes of improving content delivery to an evidence-based practice class, and improving students' performance on a comprehensive exam. A learning and teaching model was utilized by faculty from a three-university collaborative graduate social work program to examine the extent to which course texts and assignments explicitly supported the process, application, and evaluation of evidence-based practices. The model was grounded in a collaborative culture, allowing each faculty to share their collective skills and knowledge across a range of practice settings as they revised the course curriculum. As a result, faculty found they had created a unique community that allowed a wider context for learning and professional development that translated into the classroom. Students enrolled in the revised course across all three universities showed improvement on the comprehensive exam. When faculty themselves invest in collaborative learning and teaching, students benefit.

Comprehensive Quantitative Analysis on Privacy Leak Behavior

PubMed Central

Fan, Lejun; Wang, Yuanzhuo; Jin, Xiaolong; Li, Jingyuan; Cheng, Xueqi; Jin, Shuyuan

2013-01-01

Privacy information is prone to be leaked by illegal software providers with various motivations. Privacy leak behavior has thus become an important research issue of cyber security. However, existing approaches can only qualitatively analyze privacy leak behavior of software applications. No quantitative approach, to the best of our knowledge, has been developed in the open literature. To fill this gap, in this paper we propose for the first time four quantitative metrics, namely, possibility, severity, crypticity, and manipulability, for privacy leak behavior analysis based on Privacy Petri Net (PPN). In order to compare the privacy leak behavior among different software, we further propose a comprehensive metric, namely, overall leak degree, based on these four metrics. Finally, we validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach using real-world software applications. The experimental results demonstrate that our approach can quantitatively analyze the privacy leak behaviors of various software types and reveal their characteristics from different aspects. PMID:24066046

Comprehensive quantitative analysis on privacy leak behavior.

PubMed

Fan, Lejun; Wang, Yuanzhuo; Jin, Xiaolong; Li, Jingyuan; Cheng, Xueqi; Jin, Shuyuan

2013-01-01

Privacy information is prone to be leaked by illegal software providers with various motivations. Privacy leak behavior has thus become an important research issue of cyber security. However, existing approaches can only qualitatively analyze privacy leak behavior of software applications. No quantitative approach, to the best of our knowledge, has been developed in the open literature. To fill this gap, in this paper we propose for the first time four quantitative metrics, namely, possibility, severity, crypticity, and manipulability, for privacy leak behavior analysis based on Privacy Petri Net (PPN). In order to compare the privacy leak behavior among different software, we further propose a comprehensive metric, namely, overall leak degree, based on these four metrics. Finally, we validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach using real-world software applications. The experimental results demonstrate that our approach can quantitatively analyze the privacy leak behaviors of various software types and reveal their characteristics from different aspects.

Model-based reasoning for system and software engineering: The Knowledge From Pictures (KFP) environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailin, Sydney; Paterra, Frank; Henderson, Scott; Truszkowski, Walt

1993-01-01

This paper presents a discussion of current work in the area of graphical modeling and model-based reasoning being undertaken by the Automation Technology Section, Code 522.3, at Goddard. The work was initially motivated by the growing realization that the knowledge acquisition process was a major bottleneck in the generation of fault detection, isolation, and repair (FDIR) systems for application in automated Mission Operations. As with most research activities this work started out with a simple objective: to develop a proof-of-concept system demonstrating that a draft rule-base for a FDIR system could be automatically realized by reasoning from a graphical representation of the system to be monitored. This work was called Knowledge From Pictures (KFP) (Truszkowski et. al. 1992). As the work has successfully progressed the KFP tool has become an environment populated by a set of tools that support a more comprehensive approach to model-based reasoning. This paper continues by giving an overview of the graphical modeling objectives of the work, describing the three tools that now populate the KFP environment, briefly presenting a discussion of related work in the field, and by indicating future directions for the KFP environment.

Embedding Open-domain Common-sense Knowledge from Text

PubMed Central

Goodwin, Travis; Harabagiu, Sanda

2017-01-01

Our ability to understand language often relies on common-sense knowledge – background information the speaker can assume is known by the reader. Similarly, our comprehension of the language used in complex domains relies on access to domain-specific knowledge. Capturing common-sense and domain-specific knowledge can be achieved by taking advantage of recent advances in open information extraction (IE) techniques and, more importantly, of knowledge embeddings, which are multi-dimensional representations of concepts and relations. Building a knowledge graph for representing common-sense knowledge in which concepts discerned from noun phrases are cast as vertices and lexicalized relations are cast as edges leads to learning the embeddings of common-sense knowledge accounting for semantic compositionality as well as implied knowledge. Common-sense knowledge is acquired from a vast collection of blogs and books as well as from WordNet. Similarly, medical knowledge is learned from two large sets of electronic health records. The evaluation results of these two forms of knowledge are promising: the same knowledge acquisition methodology based on learning knowledge embeddings works well both for common-sense knowledge and for medical knowledge Interestingly, the common-sense knowledge that we have acquired was evaluated as being less neutral than than the medical knowledge, as it often reflected the opinion of the knowledge utterer. In addition, the acquired medical knowledge was evaluated as more plausible than the common-sense knowledge, reflecting the complexity of acquiring common-sense knowledge due to the pragmatics and economicity of language. PMID:28649676

Cognition and Health Literacy in Older Adults' Recall of Self-Care Information.

PubMed

Chin, Jessie; Madison, Anna; Gao, Xuefei; Graumlich, James F; Conner-Garcia, Thembi; Murray, Michael D; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A L; Morrow, Daniel G

2017-04-01

Health literacy is associated with health outcomes presumably because it influences the understanding of information needed for self-care. However, little is known about the language comprehension mechanisms that underpin health literacy. We explored the relationship between a commonly used measure of health literacy (Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults [STOFHLA]) and comprehension of health information among 145 older adults. Results showed that performance on the STOFHLA was associated with recall of health information. Consistent with the Process-Knowledge Model of Health Literacy, mediation analysis showed that both processing capacity and knowledge mediated the association between health literacy and recall of health information. In addition, knowledge moderated the effects of processing capacity limits, such that processing capacity was less likely to be associated with recall for older adults with higher levels of knowledge. These findings suggest that knowledge contributes to health literacy and can compensate for deficits in processing capacity to support comprehension of health information among older adults. The implications of these findings for improving patient education materials for older adults with inadequate health literacy are discussed. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The effect of comprehensive sexual education program on sexual health knowledge and sexual attitude among college students in Southwest China.

PubMed

Chi, Xinli; Hawk, Skyler T; Winter, Sam; Meeus, Wim

2015-03-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a comprehensive sexual education program for college students in Southwest China (a) improved sexual health knowledge in reproduction, contraception, condom use, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV; (b) increased accepting attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual individuals; and (c) altered participants' attitudes toward premarital sex and monogamy. The program used diverse teaching methods, providing 6 sessions over a period of 9 weeks about sexual health knowledge and sexual attitudes to college students (age 18-26 years) in Southwest China. Sexual health knowledge and sexual attitudes of 80 comprehensive sexual education class students (education group) and 92 general mental health education class students (control group) were measured at baseline, the end of course (posttest), and 3 weeks after the end of course (follow-up). There were significant effects of the program on (a) sexual health knowledge, including reproductive health, contraception, condom use, and HIV/AIDS and (b) positive attitudes toward sexual minorities, although these changes may require further reinforcement. In contrast, the program did not alter students' attitudes about premarital sex or monogamy. The results are discussed in terms of recommendations of sex education in China and future directions for research. © 2013 APJPH.

Probing Factors Influencing Students' Graph Comprehension Regarding Four Operations in Kinematics Graphs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phage, Itumeleng B.; Lemmer, Miriam; Hitge, Mariette

2017-01-01

Students' graph comprehension may be affected by the background of the students who are the readers or interpreters of the graph, their knowledge of the context in which the graph is set, and the inferential processes required by the graph operation. This research study investigated these aspects of graph comprehension for 152 first year…

Academic Language as a Predictor Of Reading Comprehension in Monolingual Spanish-Speaking Readers: Evidence from Chilean Early Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meneses, Alejandra; Uccelli, Paola; Santelices, María Verónica; Ruiz, Marcela; Acevedo, Daniela; Figueroa, Javiera

2018-01-01

Although literacy achievement has improved in Chile, adolescents' underperformance in reading comprehension is still a serious concern. In English, core academic-language skills (CALS) have been found to significantly predict reading comprehension, even controlling for academic vocabulary knowledge. CALS are high-utility language skills that…

Acquisition of Prosodic Focus Marking by English, French, and German Three-, Four-, Five- and Six-Year-Olds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Szendroi, Kriszta; Bernard, Carline; Berger, Frauke; Gervain, Judit; Hohle, Barbara

2018-01-01

Previous research on young children's knowledge of prosodic focus marking has revealed an apparent paradox, with comprehension appearing to lag behind production. Comprehension of prosodic focus is difficult to study experimentally due to its subtle and ambiguous contribution to pragmatic meaning. We designed a novel comprehension task, which…

Digging beneath the Surface Behavioral and Neural Indices of Lexical Access during Idiom Comprehension in Aphasia: A Multi-Modal Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brumm, Kathleen Patricia

2011-01-01

This project examines spoken language comprehension in Broca's aphasia, a non-fluent language disorder acquired subsequent to stroke. Broca's aphasics demonstrate impaired comprehension for complex sentence constructions. To account for this deficit, one current processing theory claims that Broca's patients retain intrinsic linguistic knowledge,…

Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading: Comprehension & Vocabulary. Teacher's Handbook. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Australian Council for Educational Research, Hawthorn.

The teacher handbook for Progressive Achievement Tests (PATs) in Reading presents an overall description of these survey tests in reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge for school years 3 to 9. There are two alternative forms of each test: (1) the Reading Comprehension tests are designed to measure two major aspects of reading skills…

Does Rhetorical Competence Moderate the Effect of Rhetorical Devices on the Comprehension of Expository Texts beyond General Comprehension Skills?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sánchez, Emilio; García, J. Ricardo; Bustos, Andrea

2017-01-01

Many studies have demonstrated the facilitating role of rhetorical devices in text comprehension, but there are also studies where rhetorical devices have not shown such effect. The present study sets out to explore whether readers' knowledge of rhetorical devices (that is, rhetorical competence) moderates their effectiveness beyond general…

Differential Competencies Contributing to Children's Comprehension of Narrative and Expository Texts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Best, Rachel M.; Floyd, Randy G.; Mcnamara, Danielle S.

2008-01-01

This study examined the influences of reading decoding skills and world knowledge on third graders' comprehension of narrative and expository texts. Children read a narrative text and an expository text. Comprehension of each text was assessed with a free recall prompt, three cued recall prompts, and 12 multiple-choice questions. Tests from the…

Language and Cognitive Predictors of Text Comprehension: Evidence from Multivariate Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Young-Suk

2015-01-01

Using data from children in South Korea (N = 145, M[subscript age] = 6.08), it was determined how low-level language and cognitive skills (vocabulary, syntactic knowledge, and working memory) and high-level cognitive skills (comprehension monitoring and theory of mind [ToM]) are related to listening comprehension and whether listening…

Evaluating the Impact of a Multistrategy Inference Intervention for Middle-Grade Struggling Readers

PubMed Central

Elleman, Amy

2017-01-01

Purpose We examined the effectiveness of a multistrategy inference intervention designed to increase inference making and reading comprehension for middle-grade struggling readers. Method A total of 66 middle-grade struggling readers were randomized to treatment (n = 33) and comparison (n = 33) conditions. Students in the treatment group received explicit instruction in 4 inference strategies (i.e., clarification using text clues; activating and using prior knowledge; understanding character perspectives and author's purpose; answering inferential questions). In addition, narrative and informational texts were carefully chosen and sequenced to build requisite background knowledge to form inferences. Intervention was delivered in small groups of 3 students for 10 days of instruction. Results One-way analysis of covariance models on outcome measures with the respective pretest scores as a covariate revealed significant gains on a proximal measure of Egyptian-content knowledge (g = 1.37) and on a standardized measure of reading comprehension—i.e., Wechsler Individual Achievement Test–Third Edition Reading Comprehension (g = 0.46). Conclusion The moderate effect on a standardized measure of reading comprehension provides preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of this multistrategy inference intervention in improving reading comprehension of middle-grade struggling readers. PMID:27776201

What Are the Effects of Teaching Evidence-Based Health Care (EBHC)? Overview of Systematic Reviews

PubMed Central

Young, Taryn; Rohwer, Anke; Volmink, Jimmy; Clarke, Mike

2014-01-01

Background An evidence-based approach to health care is recognized internationally as a key competency for healthcare practitioners. This overview systematically evaluated and organized evidence from systematic reviews on teaching evidence-based health care (EBHC). Methods/Findings We searched for systematic reviews evaluating interventions for teaching EBHC to health professionals compared to no intervention or different strategies. Outcomes covered EBHC knowledge, skills, attitudes, practices and health outcomes. Comprehensive searches were conducted in April 2013. Two reviewers independently selected eligible reviews, extracted data and evaluated methodological quality. We included 16 systematic reviews, published between 1993 and 2013. There was considerable overlap across reviews. We found that 171 source studies included in the reviews related to 81 separate studies, of which 37 are in more than one review. Studies used various methodologies to evaluate educational interventions of varying content, format and duration in undergraduates, interns, residents and practicing health professionals. The evidence in the reviews showed that multifaceted, clinically integrated interventions, with assessment, led to improvements in knowledge, skills and attitudes. Interventions improved critical appraisal skills and integration of results into decisions, and improved knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviour amongst practicing health professionals. Considering single interventions, EBHC knowledge and attitude were similar for lecture-based versus online teaching. Journal clubs appeared to increase clinical epidemiology and biostatistics knowledge and reading behavior, but not appraisal skills. EBHC courses improved appraisal skills and knowledge. Amongst practicing health professionals, interactive online courses with guided critical appraisal showed significant increase in knowledge and appraisal skills. A short workshop using problem-based approaches, compared to no intervention, increased knowledge but not appraisal skills. Conclusions EBHC teaching and learning strategies should focus on implementing multifaceted, clinically integrated approaches with assessment. Future rigorous research should evaluate minimum components for multifaceted interventions, assessment of medium to long-term outcomes, and implementation of these interventions. PMID:24489771

Competent Psychopharmacology

PubMed Central

Gardner, David M

2014-01-01

There is little doubt that undergraduate and post-graduate training of physicians, pharmacists, and nurses is insufficient to prepare them to use psychotropics safely and effectively, especially in the context of their expanded off-label uses. Therefore, the development of competencies in psychotropic prescribing needs to be approached as a long-term, practice-based learning commitment. Proposed are the abilities and knowledge components necessary for safe and effective use of psychotropics. Typical challenges in prescribing for chronic and recurrent illnesses include highly variable responses and tolerability, drug interactions, and adverse effects that can be serious, irreversible, and even fatal. Prescribing psychotropics is further complicated by negative public and professional reports and growing patient concerns about the quality of care, and questions about the efficacy, safety, and addictive risks of psychotropics. Increased efforts are needed to enhance clinical training and knowledge in psychopharmacology among trainees and practising clinicians, with more comprehensive and sustained attention to the assessment of individual patients, and greater reliance on patient education and collaboration. Improved competence in psychotropic prescribing should lead to more informed, thoughtful, and better-targeted applications as one component of more comprehensive clinical care. PMID:25161064

Nurses' perceptions of evidence-based practice: a quantitative study at a teaching hospital in Iran.

PubMed

Shafiei, Ebrahim; Baratimarnani, Ahmad; Goharinezhad, Salime; Kalhor, Rohollah; Azmal, Mohammad

2014-01-01

Evidence-based practice (EBP) provides nurses a method to use critically appraised and scientifically proven evidence for delivering quality health care and the best decision that leads to quality outcomes. The purpose of this study was to measure the practice, attitude and knowledge/skill of evidence-based practice of nurses in a teaching hospital in Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2011.The study sample was composed of 195 nurses who were working at the Fatemeh Zahra Hospital affiliated to Bushehr University of Medical Sciences (BPUMS). The survey instrument was a questionnaire based on Upton and Upton study. This tool measures Nurses' perceptions in the three sub-scales of practice, attitude and knowledge/skill of evidence-based practice. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to analyze the data. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to examine the relationship between subscales. The overall mean score of the evidence-based practice in this study was 4.48±1.26 from 7, and the three subscales of practice, attitude and knowledge/skill in evidence-based practice were, 4.58±1.24, 4.57±1.35 and 4.39±1.20, respectively. There was a strong relationship between knowledge and performance subscale (r=0.73,p<0.01). Findings of the study indicate that more training and education are required for evidence-based nursing. Successful implementation of evidence-based nursing depends on organizational plans and empowerment programs in hospitals. Hence, hospital managers should formulate a comprehensive strategy for improving EBP.

Illuminate Knowledge Elements in Geoscience Literature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, X.; Zheng, J. G.; Wang, H.; Fox, P. A.

2015-12-01

There are numerous dark data hidden in geoscience literature. Efficient retrieval and reuse of those data will greatly benefit geoscience researches of nowadays. Among the works of data rescue, a topic of interest is illuminating the knowledge framework, i.e. entities and relationships, embedded in documents. Entity recognition and linking have received extensive attention in news and social media analysis, as well as in bioinformatics. In the domain of geoscience, however, such works are limited. We will present our work on how to use knowledge bases on the Web, such as ontologies and vocabularies, to facilitate entity recognition and linking in geoscience literature. The work deploys an un-supervised collective inference approach [1] to link entity mentions in unstructured texts to a knowledge base, which leverages the meaningful information and structures in ontologies and vocabularies for similarity computation and entity ranking. Our work is still in the initial stage towards the detection of knowledge frameworks in literature, and we have been collecting geoscience ontologies and vocabularies in order to build a comprehensive geoscience knowledge base [2]. We hope the work will initiate new ideas and collaborations on dark data rescue, as well as on the synthesis of data and knowledge from geoscience literature. References: 1. Zheng, J., Howsmon, D., Zhang, B., Hahn, J., McGuinness, D.L., Hendler, J., and Ji, H. 2014. Entity linking for biomedical literature. In Proceedings of ACM 8th International Workshop on Data and Text Mining in Bioinformatics, Shanghai, China. 2. Ma, X. Zheng, J., 2015. Linking geoscience entity mentions to the Web of Data. ESIP 2015 Summer Meeting, Pacific Grove, CA.

A systematic review of randomised controlled trials examining the effectiveness of breast and cervical cancer screening interventions for ethnic minority women.

PubMed

Chan, Dorothy N S; So, Winnie K W

2015-10-01

To examine the effect that breast and/or cervical cancer screening programmes for ethnic minority women have on their knowledge of and beliefs about breast or cervical cancer and screening, and on their screening intentions and uptake rates. Recommendations are also made for the format and content of such programmes, based on existing evidence. A comprehensive literature search was carried out both manually and by means of five electronic databases. The findings are summarised and synthesised in narrative fashion. The ten RCTs included here were conducted among ethnic minority women in the United States or Canada, where breast or cervical cancer screening programmes have led to improvements in screening intentions, knowledge of cervical cancer and pap test uptake. The Breast Cancer Screening Belief Scale and self-reporting were the methods commonly used to measure outcomes. The shared characteristics of both countries' programmes were that they were theory- and language-based, the instruction took place in a community setting, the materials were culturally relevant, the content highlighted key messages about breast or cervical cancer and screening measures, and there were multiple intervention strategies. Breast or cervical cancer screening programmes in Western countries have demonstrated improvements in knowledge of the disease, screening intentions and pap test uptake, although evidence on the effectiveness of the interventions has been limited. The common characteristics of programmes are identified, but a comprehensive model is still needed to link these characteristics with other factors and mediators influencing outcomes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The use of music to enhance reading skills of second grade students and students with reading disabilities.

PubMed

Register, Dena; Darrow, Alice-Ann; Standley, Jayne; Swedberg, Olivia

2007-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to determine the efficacy of using music as a remedial strategy to enhance the reading skills of second-grade students and students who have been identified as having a specific learning disability (SLD) in reading. First, an intensive short-term music curriculum was designed to target reading comprehension and vocabulary skills at the second grade level. The curriculum was then implemented in classrooms at two public schools in the Southeast. Reading skills were evaluated pre and post curriculum intervention via the vocabulary and reading comprehension subtests of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test for second grade. Analysis of pre/posttest data revealed that students with a specific disability in reading improved significantly from pre to post on all three subtests: word decoding (p = .04), word knowledge (p = .01), reading comprehension (p = .01), and test total (p = .01). Paired t-tests revealed that for 2nd grade students, both treatment and control classes improved significantly from pre to post on the subtests word decoding, word knowledge, and test total. While both classes made gains from pre to post on the subtest, reading comprehension, neither improved significantly. Analysis of Covariance revealed that the treatment class made greater gains pre to post than the control class on all 3 subtests (Including reading comprehension), and significantly greater gains on the subtest, word knowledge (p = .01).

Ontological analysis of SNOMED CT.

PubMed

Héja, Gergely; Surján, György; Varga, Péter

2008-10-27

SNOMED CT is the most comprehensive medical terminology. However, its use for intelligent services based on formal reasoning is questionable. The analysis of the structure of SNOMED CT is based on the formal top-level ontology DOLCE. The analysis revealed several ontological and knowledge-engineering errors, the most important are errors in the hierarchy (mostly from an ontological point of view, but also regarding medical aspects) and the mixing of subsumption relations with other types (mostly 'part of'). The found errors impede formal reasoning. The paper presents a possible way to correct these problems.

Cognitive Attributes, Attention, and Self-Efficacy of Adequate and Inadequate Responders in a Fourth Grade Reading Intervention

PubMed Central

Cho, Eunsoo; Roberts, Garrett J.; Capin, Philip; Roberts, Greg; Miciak, Jeremy; Vaughn, Sharon

2015-01-01

We examined cognitive attributes, attention, and self-efficacy of fourth grade struggling readers who were identified as adequate responders (n = 27), inadequate responders with comprehension only deficits (n = 46), and inadequate responders with comprehension and word reading deficits (n = 52) after receiving a multicomponent reading intervention. We also included typical readers (n = 40). These four groups were compared on measures of nonverbal reasoning, working memory, verbal knowledge, listening comprehension, phonological awareness, and rapid naming as well as on teacher ratings of attention problems and self-reported self-efficacy. The two inadequate responder groups demonstrated difficulties primarily with verbal knowledge and listening comprehension compared to typical readers and adequate responders. Phonological awareness and rapid naming differentiated the two inadequate responder groups. In addition, both inadequate responder groups showed more attention problems and low self-efficacy compared to typical readers. PMID:26997755

E-learning and nursing assessment skills and knowledge - An integrative review.

PubMed

McDonald, Ewan W; Boulton, Jessica L; Davis, Jacqueline L

2018-07-01

This review examines the current evidence on the effectiveness of digital technologies or e-based learning for enhancing the skills and knowledge of nursing students in nursing assessment. This integrative review identifies themes emerging from e-learning and 'nursing assessment' literature. Literature reviews have been undertaken in relation to digital learning and nursing education, including clinical skills, clinical case studies and the nurse-educator role. Whilst perceptions of digital learning are well covered, a gap in knowledge persists for understanding the effectiveness of e-learning on nursing assessment skills and knowledge. This is important as comprehensive assessment skills and knowledge are a key competency for newly qualified nurses. The MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source electronic databases were searched for the period 2006 to 2016. Hand searching in bibliographies was also undertaken. Selection criteria for this review included: FINDINGS: Twenty articles met the selection criteria for this review, and five major themes for e-based learning were identified (a) students become self-evaluators; (b) blend and scaffold learning; (c) measurement of clinical reasoning; (d) mobile technology and Facebook are effective; and (e) training and preparation is vital. Although e-based learning programs provide a flexible teaching method, evidence suggests e-based learning alone does not exceed face-to-face patient simulation. This is particularly the case where nursing assessment learning is not scaffolded. This review demonstrates that e-based learning and traditional teaching methods used in conjunction with each other create a superior learning style. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Community based promotion on VCT acceptance among rural migrants in Shanghai, China.

PubMed

Zhang, Tiejun; Tian, Xiuhong; Ma, Fuchang; Yang, Ying; Yu, Feng; Zhao, Yanping; Gao, Meiyang; Ding, Yingying; Jiang, Qingwu; He, Na

2013-01-01

Voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) plays an important integral role in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, VCT service has not been effectively utilized among rural migrants, a high risk group in China. In this study, we developed a community based intervention to examine if community mobilization with comprehensive VCT is more effective than current HIV preventions with routine VCT service in promoting VCT acceptability among rural migrants in Shanghai, China. A comprehensive intervention with community mobilization and comprehensive VCT services including community-based VCT and mobile VCT was implemented during 2007-2009. Three communities in Minhang District of Shanghai were randomly selected and were designed to receive community mobilization and comprehensive VCT, traditional VCT and none intervention, respectively. After 24 months intervention, effects were evaluated by comparing outcome indicators between the baseline (2,690 participants) and follow-up surveys (1,850 participants). A substantial increase in VCT acceptance was observed among community mobilization group (94.9% vs. 88.5%, P<0.001), whereas the reverse effect was seen in the traditional VCT group (86.1% vs. 94.6%, P<0.001) and control group (69.0% vs. 91.7%, P<0.001). Rural migrants from community mobilization group were more likely to accept VCT (OR = 2.91, 95% CI 1.69-4.97). Rural migrants from community mobilization group also showed significant increase in HIV/AIDS knowledge, positive attitude towards HIV positive individuals and condom use. Community mobilization with comprehensive VCT has significant impact on promotion of VCT acceptance and utilization among rural migrants in Shanghai. These findings provide evidence to support community mobilization as a suitable strategy for VCT promotion among rural migrants in Shanghai, China.

Michigan Citizens' Knowledge and Perceptions about Groundwater.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suvedi, Murari; Krueger, David; Shrestha, Anil; Bettinghouse, Dixie

2000-01-01

Assesses the knowledge and perceptions of Michigan residents about groundwater in order to develop a comprehensive educational program and provide baseline information to document the program's impact over time. (Author/CCM)

A Decision Fusion Framework for Treatment Recommendation Systems.

PubMed

Mei, Jing; Liu, Haifeng; Li, Xiang; Xie, Guotong; Yu, Yiqin

2015-01-01

Treatment recommendation is a nontrivial task--it requires not only domain knowledge from evidence-based medicine, but also data insights from descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analysis. A single treatment recommendation system is usually trained or modeled with a limited (size or quality) source. This paper proposes a decision fusion framework, combining both knowledge-driven and data-driven decision engines for treatment recommendation. End users (e.g. using the clinician workstation or mobile apps) could have a comprehensive view of various engines' opinions, as well as the final decision after fusion. For implementation, we leverage several well-known fusion algorithms, such as decision templates and meta classifiers (of logistic and SVM, etc.). Using an outcome-driven evaluation metric, we compare the fusion engine with base engines, and our experimental results show that decision fusion is a promising way towards a more valuable treatment recommendation.

How Knowledge Powers Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lemov, Doug

2017-01-01

Recent research shows that reading comprehension relies heavily on prior knowledge. Far more than generic "reading skills" like drawing inferences, making predictions, and knowing the function of subheads, how well students learn from a nonfiction text depends on their background knowledge of the text's subject matter. And in a cyclical…

The effect of teaching method on long-term knowledge retention.

PubMed

Beers, Geri W; Bowden, Susan

2005-11-01

Choosing a teaching strategy that results in knowledge retention on the part of learners can be challenging for educators. Studies on problem-based learning (PBL) have supported its effectiveness, compared to other, more traditional strategies. The results of a previous study comparing the effect of lecture versus PBL on objective test scores indicated there was no significant difference in scores. To measure long-term knowledge retention, the same groups were evaluated 1 year after instruction. The posttest administered in the original study was repeated, and the scores from a comprehensive adult health examination and the endocrine subsection were analyzed. At an alpha level of 0.05, a statistically significant difference was found in the scores on two of the measures. The scores of the PBL group were significantly higher on the endocrine section of the examination and the repeat posttest.

GAMES II Project: a general architecture for medical knowledge-based systems.

PubMed

Bruno, F; Kindler, H; Leaning, M; Moustakis, V; Scherrer, J R; Schreiber, G; Stefanelli, M

1994-10-01

GAMES II aims at developing a comprehensive and commercially viable methodology to avoid problems ordinarily occurring in KBS development. GAMES II methodology proposes to design a KBS starting from an epistemological model of medical reasoning (the Select and Test Model). The design is viewed as a process of adding symbol level information to the epistemological model. The architectural framework provided by GAMES II integrates the use of different formalisms and techniques providing a large set of tools. The user can select the most suitable one for representing a piece of knowledge after a careful analysis of its epistemological characteristics. Special attention is devoted to the tools dealing with knowledge acquisition (both manual and automatic). A panel of practicing physicians are assessing the medical value of such a framework and its related tools by using it in a practical application.

Negotiating new literacies in science: An examination of at-risk and average-achieving ninth-grade readers' online reading comprehension strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sevensma, Kara

In today's digital world the Internet is becoming an increasingly predominant resource for science information, rapidly eclipsing the traditional science textbook in content area classrooms (Lawless & Schrader, 2008). The shift challenges researchers, educators, administrators, and policy makers to reconsider what it means to read and comprehend online science information. The research on digital literacy is still in its infancy and little is known about the strategies and processes students use when reading science content on the Internet. Even less is known about how at-risk readers comprehend digital science content. Therefore, this study addresses three research questions: (1) What strategies and processes do at-risk and average-achieving readers use as they locate information and generate meaning from science websites? (2) What navigational profiles emerge as at-risk and average-achieving readers construct traversals (unique online paths of information) they locate information and generate meaning from science websites? (3) What individual characteristics influenced students' strategies as they locate information and generate meaning from science websites? Participants were six ninth-grade students in general education biology classrooms. Three were average-achieving readers and three were at-risk readers based on assessments of reading comprehension in traditional print-based texts. The students engaged in a three-day research project about the rainforest biome, locating information online, taking notes, and constructing an information brochure about the rainforest for peers. Data measures prior to and during the research included an Internet use survey, verbal protocols, screen captures of online activity, oral reading fluency assessments, and prior knowledge and topic engagement surveys. Quantitative descriptive and univariate analyses as well as qualitative abductive coding were employed over multiple phases to analyze the data. First, the results suggest that students employed a variety of online reading comprehension strategies in complex and dynamic ways. Among the many strategies revealed, the group of self-regulatory strategies (planning, predicting, monitoring, and evaluating) played a significant role, influencing students' use of all other strategies for locating and generating meaning from science websites. Second, the results also suggested that patterns of strategy use could be examined as unique navigational profiles. Rather than remaining fixed, the navigational profiles of each student altered in response to tasks and research methods. Importantly, all at-risk readers revealed more effective navigational profiles on Day 3 when they were forced by design of the task to attend to project goals and employ more self-regulatory strategies. Third, the results revealed that traditional reading comprehension strategies and prior knowledge of the rainforest also influenced online reading comprehension. Specifically, the at-risk readers with the lowest reading comprehension, oral reading fluency, and prior knowledge scores were more likely than the average-achieving readers to encounter issues in online texts that resulted in constructing ineffective traversals, or online reading paths, and spending significant time investing in online reading that was irrelevant to the research project. Ultimately, this study advanced the understanding about online reading comprehension for average-achieving and at-risk readers in science classrooms, contributing to a gap in the research, suggesting implications for practice, and promoting future research questions.

Improving text comprehension strategies in upper primary school children: a design experiment.

PubMed

De Corte, E; Verschaffel, L; Van De Ven, A

2001-12-01

With respect to the acquisition of competence in reading, new standards for primary education stress more than before the importance of learning and teaching cognitive and metacognitive strategies that facilitate text comprehension. Therefore, there is a need to design a research-based instructional approach to strategic reading comprehension. The design experiment aimed at developing, implementing and evaluating a research-based, but also practically applicable learning environment for enhancing skilled strategy use in upper primary school children when reading a text. Four text comprehension strategies (activating prior knowledge, clarifying difficult words, making a schematic representation of the text, and formulating the main idea) and a metacognitive strategy (regulating one's own reading process) were trained through a variety of highly interactive instructional techniques, namely modelling, whole class discussion, and small group work in the format of reciprocal teaching. Participants in the study were four experimental 5th grade classes (79 children) and eight comparable control classes (149 pupils). The effects of the learning environment were measured using a pretest-post-test-retention design. Multilevel hierarchical linear regression models were used to analyse the quantitative data of a Reading Strategy Test, a standardised Reading Comprehension Test, a Reading Attitude Scale, a Transfer Test and an interview about strategy use during reading. The data of the Reading Strategy Test, the Transfer Test and the interviews about strategy use showed that the experimental group out-performed the control group in terms of the strategy adoption and application during text reading. Whilst the experimental group also scored higher on the Reading Comprehension Test than the control group, the difference was not significant. This design experiment shows that it is possible to foster pupils' use and transfer of strategic reading comprehension skills in regular classrooms by immersing them in a powerful learning environment. But this intervention does not automatically result in improvement of performance on a standardised reading comprehension test.

Using Smartphones to Supplement Classroom Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bromley, Karen

2013-01-01

Supplementing classroom reading with smartphones can develop better vocabulary knowledge, comprehension, technology skills, and writing. This article connects smartphones to reading complex, informational text and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The author suggests that smartphones motivate, scaffold comprehension, and invite…

A Framework for Understanding Physics Students' Computational Modeling Practices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lunk, Brandon Robert

With the growing push to include computational modeling in the physics classroom, we are faced with the need to better understand students' computational modeling practices. While existing research on programming comprehension explores how novices and experts generate programming algorithms, little of this discusses how domain content knowledge, and physics knowledge in particular, can influence students' programming practices. In an effort to better understand this issue, I have developed a framework for modeling these practices based on a resource stance towards student knowledge. A resource framework models knowledge as the activation of vast networks of elements called "resources." Much like neurons in the brain, resources that become active can trigger cascading events of activation throughout the broader network. This model emphasizes the connectivity between knowledge elements and provides a description of students' knowledge base. Together with resources resources, the concepts of "epistemic games" and "frames" provide a means for addressing the interaction between content knowledge and practices. Although this framework has generally been limited to describing conceptual and mathematical understanding, it also provides a means for addressing students' programming practices. In this dissertation, I will demonstrate this facet of a resource framework as well as fill in an important missing piece: a set of epistemic games that can describe students' computational modeling strategies. The development of this theoretical framework emerged from the analysis of video data of students generating computational models during the laboratory component of a Matter & Interactions: Modern Mechanics course. Student participants across two semesters were recorded as they worked in groups to fix pre-written computational models that were initially missing key lines of code. Analysis of this video data showed that the students' programming practices were highly influenced by their existing physics content knowledge, particularly their knowledge of analytic procedures. While this existing knowledge was often applied in inappropriate circumstances, the students were still able to display a considerable amount of understanding of the physics content and of analytic solution procedures. These observations could not be adequately accommodated by the existing literature of programming comprehension. In extending the resource framework to the task of computational modeling, I model students' practices in terms of three important elements. First, a knowledge base includes re- sources for understanding physics, math, and programming structures. Second, a mechanism for monitoring and control describes students' expectations as being directed towards numerical, analytic, qualitative or rote solution approaches and which can be influenced by the problem representation. Third, a set of solution approaches---many of which were identified in this study---describe what aspects of the knowledge base students use and how they use that knowledge to enact their expectations. This framework allows us as researchers to track student discussions and pinpoint the source of difficulties. This work opens up many avenues of potential research. First, this framework gives researchers a vocabulary for extending Resource Theory to other domains of instruction, such as modeling how physics students use graphs. Second, this framework can be used as the basis for modeling expert physicists' programming practices. Important instructional implications also follow from this research. Namely, as we broaden the use of computational modeling in the physics classroom, our instructional practices should focus on helping students understand the step-by-step nature of programming in contrast to the already salient analytic procedures.

miRNet - dissecting miRNA-target interactions and functional associations through network-based visual analysis

PubMed Central

Fan, Yannan; Siklenka, Keith; Arora, Simran K.; Ribeiro, Paula; Kimmins, Sarah; Xia, Jianguo

2016-01-01

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can regulate nearly all biological processes and their dysregulation is implicated in various complex diseases and pathological conditions. Recent years have seen a growing number of functional studies of miRNAs using high-throughput experimental technologies, which have produced a large amount of high-quality data regarding miRNA target genes and their interactions with small molecules, long non-coding RNAs, epigenetic modifiers, disease associations, etc. These rich sets of information have enabled the creation of comprehensive networks linking miRNAs with various biologically important entities to shed light on their collective functions and regulatory mechanisms. Here, we introduce miRNet, an easy-to-use web-based tool that offers statistical, visual and network-based approaches to help researchers understand miRNAs functions and regulatory mechanisms. The key features of miRNet include: (i) a comprehensive knowledge base integrating high-quality miRNA-target interaction data from 11 databases; (ii) support for differential expression analysis of data from microarray, RNA-seq and quantitative PCR; (iii) implementation of a flexible interface for data filtering, refinement and customization during network creation; (iv) a powerful fully featured network visualization system coupled with enrichment analysis. miRNet offers a comprehensive tool suite to enable statistical analysis and functional interpretation of various data generated from current miRNA studies. miRNet is freely available at http://www.mirnet.ca. PMID:27105848

Decreasing Cognitive Load for Novice EFL Learners: Effects of Question and Descriptive Advance Organizers in Facilitating EFL Learners' Comprehension of an Animation-Based Content Lesson

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lin, Huifen; Chen, Tsuiping

2006-01-01

Cognitive load can be defined as the amount of mental effort that performing a specific task imposes on a learner's cognitive system. It can be measured by the number of new concepts embedded in a learning task. English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners, with their limited English proficiency and minimal entry knowledge of a subject matter,…

Knowledge and skills of the lamaze certified childbirth educator: results of a job task analysis.

PubMed

Budin, Wendy C; Gross, Leon; Lothian, Judith A; Mendelson, Jeanne

2014-01-01

Content validity of certification examinations is demonstrated over time with comprehensive job analyses conducted and analyzed by experts, with data gathered from stakeholders. In November 2011, the Lamaze International Certification Council conducted a job analysis update of the 2002 job analysis survey. This article presents the background, methodology, and findings of the job analysis. Changes in the test blueprint based on these findings are presented.

Lexical Competence and Reading Comprehension: A Pilot Study with Heritage Language Learners of Spanish

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Velásquez, Edna

2016-01-01

The basic questions that guide this study are: (a) what percentage of vocabulary from a passage would a Spanish learner need to know to demonstrate "adequate" (a score of 70 out of 100) comprehension of it? And, (b) what type of curve would best describe the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension? Fifty-three…

The Effects of Morphemic Vocabulary Instruction on Prefix Vocabulary and Sentence Comprehension for Middle School Students with Learning Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Shannon Harris; Lignugaris-Kraft, Benjamin; Forbush, David E.

2016-01-01

A limited vocabulary is a substantial obstacle to success in reading comprehension (Graves, 2004). A morphemic approach to vocabulary instruction may be an effective method for increasing student outcomes in both word knowledge and reading comprehension (Kuo & Anderson, 2006; Reed, 2008). The purpose of this research was to examine the effects…