María Isabel Hernández

Asymptomatic cervicocerebral atherosclerosis, intracranial vascular resistance and cognition: The AsIA-Neuropsychology Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Carotid atherosclerosis has emerged as a relevant contributor to cognitive impairment and dementia whereas the role of intracranial stenosis and vascular resistance in cognition remains unknown. This study aims to assess the association of asymptomatic cervicocerebral atherosclerosis and intracranial vascular resistance with cognitive performance in a large dementia-free population. METHODS The Barcelona-AsIA (Asymptomatic Intracranial Atherosclerosis) Neuropsychology Study included 747 Caucasian subjects older than 50 with a moderate-high vascular risk (assessed by REGICOR score) and without history of neither symptomatic vascular disease nor dementia. Extracranial and transcranial color-coded duplex ultrasound examination was performed to assess carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), presence of carotid plaques (ECAD group), intracranial stenosis (ICAD group), and middle cerebral artery pulsatility index (MCA-PI) as a measure of intracranial vascular resistance. Neuropsychological assessment included tests in three cognitive domains: visuospatial skills and speed, verbal memory and verbal fluency. RESULTS In univariate analyses, carotid IMT, ECAD and MCA-PI were associated with lower performance in almost all cognitive domains, and ICAD was associated with poor performance in some visuospatial and verbal cognitive tests. After adjustment for age, sex, vascular risk score, years of education and depressive symptoms, ECAD remained associated with poor performance in the three cognitive domains and elevated MCA-PI with worse performance in visuospatial skills and speed. CONCLUSIONS Carotid plaques and increased intracranial vascular resistance are independently associated with low cognitive functioning in Caucasian stroke and dementia-free subjects. We failed to find an independent association of intracranial large vessel stenosis with cognitive performance.

Teaching acoustic properties of materials in secondary school: testing sound insulators

Teaching the acoustic properties of materials is a good way to teach physics concepts, extending them into the technological arena related to materials science. This article describes an innovative approach for teaching sound and acoustics in combination with sound insulating materials in secondary school (15–16-year-old students). Concerning the subject matter to be taught, a review of specialized literature on architectural acoustics and acoustic properties of materials is presented. A teaching/learning sequence on the acoustic properties of materials using a modelling and enquiry approach is introduced. A central experiment to test the capacity of sound attenuation of materials and to determine whether they behave as sound reflectors or sound absorbers is discussed in detail.

On the Transfer of Teaching-Learning Materials from One Educational Setting to Another

We report on an effort to exchange educational materials developed by working groups of science education researchers and teachers in two different educational systems. The two teaching-learning sequences, one on Acoustic and the other on Electromagnetic Properties of Materials were designed, developed and refined through classroom implementation at the local level. After the modules were exchanged, each working group undertook an effort to adapt and implement the received materials in the new setting and to monitor the changes made. The analysis of the collected data reveals the types of adaptations that were deemed necessary for acceptable transfer of the materials by each group. Our analysis also reveals those features of this collaborative effort that facilitate the process of transfer of teaching-learning sequences in new settings. Our main finding is that adaptation is unavoidable in any process of transfer of innovative instructional materials. A good way to attain a workable balance between specification and flexibility of knowledge to be transferred is to develop specified teaching-learning sequences accompanied by a set of core aspects that must be agreed by the members of the host context with the explicit intent to avoid drastic mutations. This process has been facilitated by researcher-teacher collaboration to manage the degree and nature of the adaptations. We discuss the educational implications of our findings with respect to requirements for promoting usability of educational innovations in different contexts.

The Process of Iterative Development of a Teaching/Learning Sequence on Acoustic Properties of Materials

This chapter describes a case study of the process of design, implementation and refinement of an innovative teaching/learning sequence (TLS) aimed at tenth graders (15- to 16-year-old students) that deals with sound attenuation using different materials. The theoretical framework used to guide the design of the sequence structure, the selection of contents and the pedagogical approach are described. This chapter also reports the development of the teaching/learning sequence, carried out throughout two cycles of field testing to gradually improve the efficacy of the sequence in promoting better performance in students. Throughout this iterative development, we identified the problematic aspects of the sequence during its classroom implementation and analyzed the types of changes introduced to overcome students’ and teachers’ difficulties using the sequence and the critical reasons for those changes.

Scratch as a computational modelling tool for teaching physics

The Scratch online authoring tool, which features a simple programming language that has been adapted to primary and secondary students, is being used more and more in schools as it offers students and teachers the opportunity to use a tool to build scientific models and evaluate their behaviour, just as can be done with computational modelling programs. In this article, we briefly discuss why Scratch could be a useful tool for computational modelling in the primary or secondary physics classroom, and we present practical examples of how it can be used to build a model.

Science and Language Experience Narratives of Pre-Service Primary Teachers Learning to Teach Science in Multilingual Contexts

The command of at least three languages is considered one of the most important basic educational competences in Europe. In response to this demand, new teaching approaches have been promoted, such as Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). A CLIL approach to science education implies the need of teachers capable of teaching both science and foreign language. This is a study on a specific group of pre-service primary teachers who are enrolled in an English-mediated primary education degree in Catalonia. The aim is to characterize and compare pre-service primary teachers’ science and language experiences enacted in their science and language experience narratives (SN and LN) that might have shaped their beliefs, practices, and expectations about science and languages teaching. A content analysis is performed on these narratives grounded on a two dimensional space narrative structure defining the Fields of Experience. The results indicate that SN are mostly rooted in school contexts, and associated to learning difficulties. This is in strong contrast with LN which appear to be anchored in a wide variety of contexts, for purposes that go beyond school, and associated to progressive and positive learning trajectories. The question for science teacher education lies in how to help pre-service primary teachers make connections between both life trajectories and how to increase experiences of a social nature emphasizing the presence, value and utility of science, and science education.