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Neuropsychological case-studies suggested that dates and encyclopedic numbers may be processed differently than unknown numbers. However, this issue was seldom investigated in healthy participants. Therefore, it is unclear whether known dates are read like words (as lexical items), or like numbers (each position strictly defines digits' values in a base-10 system). Here, we compared dates to unknown numbers in an experiment using a paradigm from the word recognition literature. We assessed the wordsuperiority effect by testing experts (students/ teachers in History) with dates. A 4-characters stimulus (xxxx; letters or numbers, half known/unknown) was presented centrally, masked, and followed by 2 characters above and below the mask, at position 2 (xXxx) or 3 (xxXx) in an alternative-forced-choice recognition task. Both accuracy and reaction times were better for dates than unknown numbers, similarly to the results obtained with words by comparison to non-words. However, this effect was modulated by position in the string. These results show a "date-superiority effect" revealing that dates are processed differently than unknown numbers, and suggest that similar orthographical mechanisms might be used to process dates and words.

The COVID-19 pandemic-related social distancing practices that colleges implemented in Spring 2020 disrupted the typical mechanisms of propinquity (physical proximity) and homophily (shared characteristics) that physical institutions rely on to help students build and maintain relationships critical to learning and wellbeing. To explore how social distancing shaped students' academic and social networks and associated educational outcomes, we conceptualized it as a "network shock" and collected unique ego network data in April 2020. For participating students, maintaining interactions with the same set of individuals before and after social distancing was related to more positive outcomes across a range of self-reported wellbeing and learning indicators. On average, students experienced a loss of frequent academic contacts, while they maintained or replaced social interactions in their interpersonal networks after social distancing. Our investigation of the ways students experienced changes in their social and academic networks after a loss of physical proximity points to the role of interpersonal interaction network continuity for fostering wellbeing and learning in times of disruption, as well as the potential need for support in maintaining or rebuilding academic networks.

Research shows elevated gender variance among autistic people and more autistic traits among gender diverse people, each of which is related to mental health concerns. Little work has explored broad features of these presentations in a non-clinical sample. College students (n = 174) ages 18-22 years completed questionnaires assessing the broader autism phenotype (BAP), autistic features, nonconformity to gender norms, and internalizing symptoms. Those with more BAP features or autistic communication reported more nonconformity to gender norms. Higher levels of internalizing symptoms were related to more gender nonconformity, BAP, and autistic features. Gender nonconformity marginally moderated the effect of BAP on depression but not anxiety. The BAP, autistic features, and gender nonconformity are important in understanding mental well-being.

Sketchnoting is a design methodology that involves communicating concepts visually. This active learning tool has shown potential for influencing student learning but its applications have been limited. Adopting the principles of research related to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and employing Mayer's cognitive theory of multimedia learning, our interdisciplinary team from industrial design, biology, and education incorporated this pedagogical tool in an undergraduate upper-level ecology course and assessed its effectiveness. We found that students' perceptions of the value of using tools such as sketchnoting did not significantly change after being introduced to the tool, but over two-thirds of students found the tool valuable and would recommend it to other students. The percentages of students who used the tool never or seldom, remained similar over the semester, but a much higher percentage of students increased their use of sketchnoting. We found that there were differences in how students utilized sketchnoting for learning. Students reported the importance of using sketchnoting for communicating. Because drawings are critical ways to communicate science, teaching visual representation techniques such as sketchnoting can improve science students'ability to identify and solve problems; subsequently improving their long-term success. Additional research exploring why and how this approach could be integrated within college coursework and how it can support learning in science is needed. Framed as an example of SoTL work, our efforts also highlight the iterative nature of these projects and the importance for researchers and faculty members to embrace the multiple roles of teacher and learner.

Three physical model systems have been developed to help students deconstruct the visualization needed when learning symmetry and group theory. The systems provide students with physical and visual frames of reference to facilitate the complex visualization involved in symmetry concepts. The permanent reflection plane demonstration presents an explicit example of a reflection plane and provides visual indicators that students use to support or invalidate the presence of a reflection plane. The 3-D coordinate axis system provides an environment that allows students to envision symmetry operations beyond the basic geometry of bonds in a relevant molecular context while the proper rotation axis system is designed to provide a physical frame of reference to showcase multiple symmetry elements that students must identify in a molecular model. The 3-D coordinate axis and the proper rotation axis systems allow students to incorporate their own molecular modeling kits. All three model systems have corresponding worksheets designed after a modeling framework that takes into consideration three basic principles in "viewing" visualization as a problem solving tool: deconstruction, comparisons, and reuse of strategies. (Contains 1 table and 4 figures.)

The work of a committee of college institutional researchers to create a professional code of ethics is chronicled, and the code's structure is described briefly. Issues encountered in and assumptions underlying the effort are discussed, including the rationale for such a code, definition of technical standards, terminology, and scope. (MSE)

Executing surveys is one of the most common activities of institutional research and one of the least served in institutional research literature. Survey research as practiced in institutional research faces special technical problems and challenges not embraced in much of the general-survey research literature. (Author/MLW)