Representational modes of thinking employed by children aged thirteen and fourteen, and their relationship to performance in standardised tests of ability, measures of creativity and personality

This thesis proposes that despite many experimental studies of thinking, and the development of models of thinking, such as Bruner's (1966) enactive, iconic and symbolic developmental modes, the imagery and inner verbal strategies used by children need further investigation to establish a coherent, theoretical basis from which to create experimental curricula for direct improvement of those strategies. Five hundred and twenty-three first, second and third year comprehensive school children were tested on 'recall' imagery, using a modified Betts Imagery Test; and a test of dual-coding processes (Paivio, 1971, p.179), by the P/W Visual/Verbal Questionnaire, measuring 'applied imagery' and inner verbalising. Three lines of investigation were pursued: 1. An investigation a. of hypothetical representational strategy differences between boys and girls; and b. the extent to which strategies change with increasing age. 2. The second and third year children's use of representational processes, were taken separately and compared with performance measures of perception, field independence, creativity, self-sufficiency and self-concept. 3. The second and third year children were categorised into four dual-coding strategy groups: a. High Visual/High Verbal b. Low Visual/High Verbal c. High Visual/Low Verbal d. Low Visual/Low Verbal These groups were compared on the same performance measures. The main result indicates that: 1. A hierarchy of dual-coding strategy use can be identified that is significantly related (.01, Binomial Test) to success or failure in the performance measures: the High Visual/High Verbal group registering the highest scores, the Low Visual/High Verbal and High Visual/Low Verbal groups registering intermediate scores, and the Low Visual/Low Verbal group registering the lowest scores on the performance measures. Subsidiary results indicate that: 2. Boys' use of visual strategies declines, and of verbal strategies increases, with age; girls' recall imagery strategy increases with age. Educational implications from the main result are discussed, the establishment of experimental curricula proposed, and further research suggested.

The influence of learning styles, enrolment status and gender on academic performance of optometry undergraduates

Purpose: This cross-sectional study was designed to determine whether the academic performance of optometry undergraduates is influenced by enrolment status, learning style or gender. Methods: Three hundred and sixty undergraduates in all 3 years of the optometry degree course at Aston University during 2008–2009 were asked for their informed consent to participate in this study. Enrolment status was known from admissions records. An Index of Learning Styles (http://www4.nscu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Learning-Styles.html) determined learning style preference with respect to four different learning style axes; active-reflective, sensing-intuitive, visual-verbal and sequential-global. The influence of these factors on academic performance was investigated. Results: Two hundred and seventy students agreed to take part (75% of the cohort). 63% of the sample was female. There were 213 home non-graduates (entrants from the UK or European Union without a bachelor’s degree or higher), 14 home graduates (entrants from the UK or European Union with a bachelor’s degree or higher), 28 international non-graduates (entrants from outside the UK or European Union without a bachelor’s degree or higher) and 15 international graduates (entrants from outside the UK or European Union with a bachelor’s degree or higher). The majority of students were balanced learners (between 48% and 64% across four learning style axes). Any preferences were towards active, sensing, visual and sequential learning styles. Of the factors investigated in this study, learning styles were influenced by gender; females expressed a disproportionate preference for the reflective and visual learning styles. Academic performance was influenced by enrolment status; international graduates (95% confidence limits: 64–72%) outperformed all other student groups (home non graduates, 60–62%; international non graduates, 55–63%) apart from home graduates (57–69%). Conclusion: Our research has shown that the majority of optometry students have balanced learning styles and, from the factors studied, academic performance is only influenced by enrolment status. Although learning style questionnaires offer suggestions on how to improve learning efficacy, our findings indicate that current teaching methods do not need to be altered to suit varying learning style preferences as balanced learning styles can easily adapt to any teaching style (Learning Styles and Pedagogy in Post-16 Learning: A Systematic and Critical Review. London, UK: Learning and Skills Research Centre, 2004).

Attributions, cognitions, and coping styles:teleworkers' reactions to work-related problems

Based on the attributional reformulation of learned helplessness theory (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978) and Lazarus and Launier's (1978) primary-secondary appraisal theory of stress, the present study sought to examine teleworkers' reactions to their work-related problems. The role of attributions about the sources, and cognitions about the consesquences, of these problems in promoting positive adaptation was addressed. In particular, it was predicted that teleworkers who made optimistic attributions and cognitions would be more likely to employ problem-focused coping strategies and, as a result, report more positive psychological and job-related outcomes. Based on a survey sample of 192 teleworkers, the results indicated that a tendency to engage in self-blame was related to the use of emotion-focused coping strategies. In turn, there was evidence linking emotion-focused coping strategies to negative outcomes and problem-focused coping strategies to positive outcomes. The results are discussed in relation to attributional approaches to stress which highlight the importance of cognitions about the consequences of negative events. Finally, implications for the training of teleworkers are presented.

Using an experiential business game to stimulate sustainable thinking in marketing education

Recent years have seen a significant increase in the importance of environmental protection and sustainability to consumers, policy makers, and society in general. Reflecting this, most organizations are at least aware of this new agenda and wish to be seen as taking steps to improve behaviors in this regard. However, there appears to be a gap between this evolving agenda and the comparatively low level of knowledge that marketing managers actually have of the environmental impact of their own functional decisions. We suggest that this low knowledge level may be due, in part, to the marketplace focus of foundational marketing educational programs, and we attempt to show how broadening the horizons of marketing courses can help students (i.e., future managers) more deeply understand the environmental consequences of their actions. We demonstrate the use of a novel business game, based on the Life Cycle Assessment method, as the foundational cornerstone for the development of a broad understanding of the environmental impact of marketing decisions and actions for the entire life cycle of a product—from raw material extraction to ultimate disposal. The results of an empirical study show that this approach increases students’ appreciation for, and understanding of, these fundamental environmental sustainability concepts.

Organisational cultures and management styles in four African countries:a cross-cultural study

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Managing change in China:a study of Chinese organisational cultures and management styles

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Expanding the evidence within evidence-based healthcare:thinking about the context, acceptability and feasibility of interventions

Evidence-based medicine is crucial to contemporary healthcare. It is dependent on systematic review methodology modelled on an arguably inadequate hierarchy of evidence. There has been a significant increase in medical and health research using qualitative and mixed method designs. The perspective taken in this article is that we need to broaden our evidence base if we are to fully take account of issues of context, acceptability and feasibility in the development and implementation of healthcare interventions. One way of doing this is to use a range of methods that better fit the different aspects of intervention development and implementation. Methods for the systematic review of evidence, other than randomised-controlled trials, are available and there is a readiness to incorporate these other types of evidence into good-practice guidance, but we need a clear methodology to translate these advances in research into the world of policy.

Special Features of Musical Education in Distant Learning (Training of Intonation Thinking)

The problem of using modern technologies in distant learning of intonation thinking is described in this article. An importance of intonation learning for musician students and the possibilities, provided by World Wide Web and multimedia technologies are the main point of this article.

Broadening the evidence base and the mind when thinking about mixed methods research

On behalf of my coauthors, Dr Michael Larkin and Professor Paul Flowers, and I would like to thank Dr Pierre Pluye for his letter in response to our article.1 Dr Pluye supported our argument that a broader evidence base is needed in evidence-based healthcare. He provided the readers of this journal with important additional information which updates them on the progress in the area of mixed studies reviews and further detail about the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT).2 Since writing our …