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An important touchstone of distance education has been to contribute to the development of individual learners whatever their life circumstances. The first half of the article provides an overview of this contribution and of the understanding and awareness that has been developed about distance learners in their individual learning contexts. The overview is based around five themes: access to education, adjustment to new learning environments, individual development, knowledge and awareness of learners in context, and the importance of understanding the learner's perspective of distance education. In the latter part of the article it is argued that the way ahead for distance education requires attention to more than technological approaches to learning, and that the field is well placed to provide an informed critique of current trends and developments, to focus on the student experience, and to contribute to learner development and practitioner development.

This research note outlines a project designed to investigate the role of training institutions in providing effective training and development programmes for managers. The investigation is being carried out in the light of recent criticisms levelled against the nature of formal learning environments prevalent in most institutional settings. The traditional role of trainers and developers as the providers of knowledge and skills for the development of competent managers runs contrary to recent findings, which suggest that managers learn more effectively in informal settings, rather than the formal settings evident in many development programmes. The idea that explicitly extracted competencies are the target every manager should aim for to improve their effectiveness is also challenged because competencies alone are no longer regarded as a sufficient criterion for success. Recent research has attached greater importance to the need to help managers see knowledge as a social phenomenon, and one factor that might distinguish successful managers from others is tacit knowledge. A major focus of this study is to explore the possibility that the level and content of tacit knowledge acquired by managers may be influenced by their individual learning styles, and the degree to which their dominant styles are matched with the context of their work environment.

College student-athletes balance the demands of both sport and school in the context of higher education; high levels of motivation are necessary for success in both spaces. Studies have evaluated learning styles and academic motivational outcomes in college student athletes but there is a need to explore how motivation impacts both academic and athletic success. The present study examined the relationship academic, student athletic, and career athletic motivation had with learning styles and major (STEM vs. non-STEM) using Self-Determination Theory as the theoretical lens. College Division I, II, III, and Club college athletes took the Grasha-Reichmann Student Learning Style Scale and Student Athletes Motivation toward Sports and Academics Questionnaire. Learning styles were grouped into intrinsic (independent, participant, and collaborative) and extrinsic (dependent, avoidant, and competitive) styles. There were positive relationships between intrinsic learning style and both student athletic (r(147) = .19, p = .02) and academic (r(147) = .30, p < .001) motivation. Extrinsic learning style was positively correlated with career athletic (r(147) = .27, p = .001) and student athletic (r(147) = .16, p < .05) motivation but negatively corelated with academic motivation (r(147) = -.17, p = .03). Athletes in STEM majors (M = 3.88, SD = 0.36) had significantly higher academic motivation than non-STEM majors (M = 3.66, SD = 0.40), t(182) = 3.85, p < .001. Athletes in non-STEM majors (M = 4.00, SD = 0.88) had significantly higher career athletic motivation than STEM majors (M = 3.56, SD = 0.91), t(182) = -3.29, p = .001. Findings suggest being more independent, participant, and collaborative in class is related to motivation both in school and in student athletic endeavors. Athletes pursuing a STEM major may show higher academic motivation than athletes pursuing non-STEM majors. Encouraging student-athlete learning autonomy via education/intervention could improve intrinsic motivation in sport and classes, though further exploration of these factors is necessary to fully understand their relationship in college student-athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the nature and temporal change of conceptual contributions in marketing scholarship with two complementary studies. First, based on a computer-aided text analysis of 5,922 articles published in the four major marketing journals between 1990 and 2021, the authors analyze how conceptual contributions have changed over time using the MacInnis (2011) framework. Results indicate that over the past three decades, theorizing efforts have strongly favored "envisioning" and "explicating" at the expense of "relating" and "debating," with this imbalance increasing over time. Second, the authors draw on 48 in-depth interviews with editors, department heads, and authors to validate these patterns and uncover the underlying mechanisms. The findings indicate that a prevalent thought style has developed in the field—defined by the research ideals of novelty, clarity, and quantification—that shapes the collective view of how marketing scholars, in their roles as authors, reviewers, and mentors, can make a valuable contribution to marketing scholarship. This thought style favors envisioning and explicating contributions and disfavors relating and debating contributions. Jointly, the two studies point to several rebalancing options that can reinvigorate relating and debating contributions while preserving the current strengths of the marketing field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extant research shows that individual cognitive style affects whether employees benefit most from a brokering or a dense network. But do people build the network structure in which they perform best? We address this question by advancing a novel two-stage explanatory model that explicitly disentangles the network formation process from its performance effects. We hypothesize that "adaptors" (i.e., individuals inclined to focus on implementable solutions through commonly accepted and well-defined approaches) perform best when their network spans structural holes. Yet, these same individuals systematically forego opportunities to build relations across structural holes. By contrast, "innovators" (i.e., individuals inclined to focus on envisioning creative solutions that break away with established approaches) draw no or even negative performance returns from structural holes. Nevertheless, their inclination is to build ever-new bridging relations. We test and find support for this counterintuitive hypothesis through a randomized longitudinal field experiment enabling us to disentangle empirically both stages of our theorized process model. Our findings help illuminate why people may build networks that hurt their performance, shed a new light on the role of individual cognitive style in shaping network advantage, and bear concrete implications for organizations aiming to leverage networks to enhance employees' performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The education system has sought ways to deliver quality education using different means and platforms. This study dives into the various experiences of students in hybrid learning. This study focuses on students' experiences with hybrid learning, including the difficulties they overcame, the adjustments they had to make, the lessons they learned from engaging in this type of learning that combines in-person and online classes, as well as their perceptions of their learning environment and general well-being as learners. The researchers aim to elucidate the challenges they have encountered and surpassed, and the obstacles they have adapted to achieve success during hybrid learning, which is still a rather fresh form of learning for most students and teachers alike. The study not only aims to assist in marking hybrid learning as a feasible and effective mode of learning, but also wishes to relay the difficulties students have faced and overcome, and the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the two primary modes of learning we have discussed. The researchers employed qualitative research techniques and the phenomenological approach in conducting this study. The researchers utilized purposive sampling and interviewed 10 students from NU Fairview to gather the data and understand the actual experiences of students, their preferences, their perceptions, and the things they have done during the transition to hybrid learning due to uncontrollable events like a pandemic. In the study, thematic analysis was used by the researchers to examine the interview-based data. Through this process, we were able to focus on four key themes: "Accepting the Hybrid Shift," "Hybrid Hurdles," "Beyond the Screen," and "Finding Balance." These themes covered the essence of the students' experiences, difficulties encountered as well as obstacles surmounted, perspectives, adaptations in adjustments, as well as comparisons and insights related to hybrid learning. The findings of this study satisfy and justify the research by illuminating hybrid learning's characteristics informing educators and educational institutions on how to enhance student experiences and maximize learning outcomes in this style of hybrid learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Phylogenetics is one of the main methodologies to understand cross-cutting principles of evolution, such as common ancestry and speciation. Phylogenetic trees, however, are reportedly challenging to teach and learn. Furthermore, phylogenetics teaching methods traditionally rely solely on visual information, creating inaccessibility for people with visual impairment. Sensory learning style models advocate for tailoring teaching to individual preferred sensory learning style. However, recent research suggests that optimal learning, independently of preferred learning style, depends on the types of transmitted information and learning tasks. The lack of empirically-supported education into the effectiveness of teaching phylogenetics through alternative sensory modalities potentially hinders learning. The aim of this study was to determine whether phylogenetic trees could be better understood if presented in kinaesthetic or multisensory teaching modalities. Results: Participants (N = 52) self-assessed personal learning style and were randomly assigned to: visual, kinaesthetic or multisensory learning conditions. Phylogeny reading performance was better for both kinaesthetic and multisensory teaching conditions, compared to the visual teaching condition. There was no main effect and no interaction effect of personal learning style. Conclusions: This study establishes a baseline for further research by suggesting that easy-to-implement kinaesthetic teaching modalities might support phylogenetic tree learning and reading. This has practical implications for evolution education and accessibility for students with visual impairment, underscoring the need to shift from vision-centric teaching paradigms towards evidence-based instructional strategies that accommodate sensory diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Methods Results Discussion Clinical electives are a compulsory part of many medical courses, enabling students to gain exposure to foreign health systems. The COVID‐19 pandemic led to a surge in the development in virtual elective programmes, for which there had been a sparse evidence base. This is the first systematic review assessing the implementation, advantages and disadvantages of virtual elective programmes for medical students.The systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Databases were searched, capturing results from the past 10 years for original evaluations of electives where medical students engaged in a fully virtual programme with another institution, with no restrictions on location. Descriptive, quantitative and qualitative data were extracted by two independent reviewers.Fourteen articles were included for review. All the articles were published between 2020 and 2023. All studies were conducted in the United States of America. The average length of the virtual electives in the studies was 3 weeks, and a variety of teaching formats including virtual clinics, seminars and one‐on‐one meetings were implemented. Logistical considerations and challenges in delivering virtual electives included the variability in students' learning styles, reduction in patient interactions and technological challenges.Most included studies derived that these virtual electives would play a role in the future, possibly replacing in‐person electives. Positive attributes of virtual electives included increasing diversity of social backgrounds, high student satisfaction and interest and reducing harms to the environment. However, further research is required to thoroughly evaluate the efficacy of virtual electives in medical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Depression is often characterized by a persistent sense of failure. Cognitive theories of depression suggest that depressed individuals may exhibit a maladaptive cognitive style, characterized by increased self-focus following personal failure. The validity of this proposition, however, is yet to be fully examined. This study aimed to identify the relation between symptoms in major depressive disorder and increased self-focus in failure situations. Methods: This clinical study involved a cohort of 30 patients diagnosed with and treated for depression. We used an eye-tracking paradigm to observe and analyze gaze direction – indicative of either self-focus or self-avoidance – after remembering a significant failure event. Results: Contrary to the maladaptive cognitive style hypothesis, a majority of the depressed participants demonstrated an inclination towards self-avoidance following failure. Nevertheless, approximately 30% of the patient group – those with the highest scores of guilt, punishment, and self-blame – displayed a self-focused attentional bias post-failure. Conclusions: The presence of a maladaptive self-focusing style may be confined to severely depressed patients with high levels of guilt, punishment, and self-blame. These findings could have substantial clinical implications, as attention bias modification interventions could be particularly beneficial for this subgroup of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undergraduate courses in immunology are content‐heavy and combined with a new, complex vocabulary, can be an overwhelming subject for students. In‐class active learning approaches have been found to improve understanding of difficult concepts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines; however, many undergraduate courses maintain a high dependence on lecture‐style teaching because of time constraints, content demands and student resistance. We designed an online, out‐of‐class activity, the “Life and Death of a T cell”, to complement a lecture on a complex immunological concept, T‐cell development. Inspired by the “Choose Your Own Adventure” children's books, a fictional narrative was created in which students assume the role of a cell with a dream of becoming a helper T cell. Decision‐making scenarios then prompt students to draw on their knowledge from the lecture to successfully navigate the steps of T‐cell development. The activity was built on two platforms, Google Forms and H5P (HTML 5 Package), both of which are readily accessible and allow the inclusion of branching logic and the creation of a decision tree–based activity. An anonymous survey revealed that students found this interactive approach enjoyable, and their perceived understanding of the content significantly increased. Students appreciated the inclusion of a novel learning resource, with requests for similar activities to be developed for other immunological concepts. In conclusion, we developed a narrative‐based, decision‐making activity to complement a lecture on T‐cell development. As an out‐of‐class activity, this style of learning approach can potentially capitalize on the benefits of active learning, while also overcoming barriers of student resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AI has profoundly impacted the lives of students by transforming various aspects of their education and daily activities. AI can be a very useful learning tool in a variety of contexts. Students can access learning materials tailored to their needs and learning styles, resulting in more effective learning. AI also speeds up evaluation and scoring. However, there are also issues to contend with, such as the dangers of relying on technology, problems with data privacy, and the possibility of a decline in social interaction. This article discusses the impact of AI on college students and its implications for the future of higher education. The rapid development of technology has made the emergence of the millennial era where technology has become the need of every individual, especially youth and women in the millennial era who are faced with technological advancements, so it is required to always sort out every information obtained, in order to prevent the occurrence of bad impacts because access between the worlds is easy to obtain so that it can be a weapon for irresponsible people to attack an area from the next generation. The purpose of this study is to find out the various impacts of technological developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Intentions are central to entrepreneurial thinking and thus entrepreneurial action yet we have not explored the different pathways of how intent evolves. How does an easily assessed measure of cognitive style influence how entrepreneurs develop their intentions? Design/methodology/approach: We examine how cognitive style interacts with entrepreneurial intentions testing the model separately with subjects scoring as Intuitives or Analytics on cognitive style, plus nationality and gender as covariates with entrepreneurial intensity as a prospective moderator, using 528 university students from Norway, Russia and Finland. Findings: Cognitive style does moderate the intentions model. For intuitives, country influenced social norms and entrepreneurial intensity proved a moderator. For analytics, neither perceived desirability, country, nor entrepreneurial intensity were significant. Research limitations/implications: We will replicate these findings in different samples, especially non-WEIRD settings. It will also be useful to test alternate measures of cognitive style and other likely moderators. Practical implications: We offer diagnostics for educators and ecosystem actors given that our findings suggest intriguing differences in the entrepreneurial mindset. Social implications: Understanding multiple pathways exist to entrepreneurial intent and thus action helps policymakers and entrepreneurial champions better able to help nurture entrepreneurs and thus entrepreneurship in their communities. Originality/value: Cognitive style has dramatic effects on the specification of the formal intentions model arguing for multiple pathways to entrepreneurial intent. For example, two entrepreneurs might arrive at the same intention but through very different processes because they differ in cognitive style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the global population of older adults rises, refining educational strategies to meet their specific cognitive needs becomes essential. This review explores how neuroscience can enhance mathematics education for older adults, focusing on cognitive changes such as declines in memory and processing speed. We analyzed literature from 2013 to 2023, drawing from various electronic databases including MEDLINE (via PubMed), PsycINFO, Scielo, and Google Scholar, and identified nine relevant studies. These studies emphasize the importance of targeted teaching methods and adaptive technologies. They reveal that while older adults maintain strong foundational numerical skills, effective learning hinges on practical applications and user-friendly technology. Key gaps include the need for longitudinal studies and challenges in implementing interventions across diverse socio-economic contexts. Integrating neuroscience with educational practices is crucial, with adaptive teaching and accessible technology being central. Future research should address the long-term impact of these interventions, their adaptability across different socio-economic backgrounds, and the interplay of cognitive changes, cultural factors, and individual learning styles to develop effective and scalable educational strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four studies explore the role of perceptual fluency in attenuating bullshit receptivity, or the tendency for individuals to rate otherwise meaningless statements as "profound". Across four studies, we presented participants with a sample of pseudoprofound bullshit statements in either a fluent or disfluent font and found that overall, disfluency attenuated bullshit receptivity while also finding little evidence that this effect was moderated by cognitive thinking style. In all studies, we measured participants' cognitive reflection, need for cognition, faith in intuition, and superstitious beliefs. Superstition strongly predicted bullshit receptivity regardless of fluency. Inconclusive results were found for the remaining scales. Potential links for the role of perceptual disfluency in promoting analytic thinking are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated students' overall perceptions of assignments in an active learning class based on their learning style, course engagement, understanding of content, industry relevance, collaborative learning, and value of the assignments. A total of six terms were surveyed, with a total of 250 participants. Students agreed that the assignments helped them learn industry terminology, increased their skill sets, were engaging, and prepared them for entering the job market. Group assignments aided in understanding content in more depth and developing critical thinking skills and problem-solving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching language has challenges for many reasons, including learners' backgrounds, learning styles, motivation, and socio-economic status. However, EFL students can benefit from differentiation across the learning continuum to a large extent. This study investigated Afghan EFL learners' perceptions of differentiated instruction and the factors that contributed to catering to their needs. This study revolved around five main elements of differentiated instruction: learning environment, content, process, product, and assessment. In this study, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to 102 EFL students at Herat University, Afghanistan, to record their perceptions of differentiated instruction in their classes. Three teachers of the English department at the same university were also interviewed to understand their experiences implementing differentiated instruction and identify their tensions. Data from the survey and interviews highlight that while DI requires significant teacher commitment and time, properly designed classes catering to learner specifics can enhance efficiency and be reused in future heterogeneous settings. The study's results suggested that it is practical to implement differentiated instruction in mixed-level, large, heterogeneous classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vaccine hesitancy (the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate) poses a significant threat to public health worldwide, with declining vaccination coverage resulting in the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases (e.g., measles) in recent years. Despite efforts to combat vaccine hesitancy through information-based campaigns and other interventions, vaccine-hesitant attitudes persist. Given that such interventions likely expose individuals to information that conflicts with their own viewpoints about vaccination, cognitive flexibility – the ability to adapt one's thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, or behavior in response to changing information or environmental demands – may play a role in vaccine hesitancy. Methods: The current study investigated the relationship between cognitive flexibility and attitudes towards vaccination in a sample of New Zealand residents (N = 601). Cognitive flexibility was measured using perseverative responses in the Wisconsin Card-Sorting Task, and vaccination attitudes were measured using an adapted version of the Multidimensional Vaccine Hesitancy Scale (MVHS). Linear regression was used with MVHS scores as the dependent variable and cognitive flexibility and sociodemographic variables (age, gender, ethnicity, education level, religion) as predictors. Results: Cognitive flexibility predicted personal barriers to vaccination (e.g.," vaccines go against my personal beliefs"), with participants with lower levels of cognitive flexibility reporting greater personal barriers. In contrast, there was no significant relationship between cognitive flexibility and external barriers to vaccination (e.g., "vaccines cost too much"). Additionally, religious participants reported overall higher levels of vaccine hesitancy than non-religious participants. Conclusions: These findings join others demonstrating that individual differences in cognitive style are associated with attitudes towards vaccination, and tentatively suggest that interventions aiming to reduce vaccine hesitancy may be more effective if combined with techniques to increase cognitive flexibility. To be sure, future work is needed to test the causal relationship between cognitive flexibility and attitudes towards vaccination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data augmentation is commonly utilized to increase the size and diversity of training sets for deep learning tasks. In this study, we propose a novel application of an existing image generation approach in the domain of realistic eye images that leverages data collected from 40 subjects. This hybrid method combines the benefits of precise control over the image content provided by 3D rendering, while introducing the previously lacking photorealism and diversity into synthetic images through neural style transfer. We prove its general efficacy as a data augmentation tool for appearance-based gaze estimation when generated data are mixed with a sparse train set of real images. It improved the results for 39 out of 40 subjects, with an 11.22 % mean and a 19.75 % maximum decrease in gaze estimation error, achieving similar metrics for train and held-out subjects. We release our data repository of eye images with gaze labels used in this work for public access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent theoretical cognitive model posits that three cognitive constructs—intolerance of uncertainty, lack of predictive processing, and dichotomous thinking—may interact with anxiety in autistic individuals. However, the interrelationships among these constructs remain unclear. We investigated this relationship in a non-clinical population using five questionnaires (Autism Spectrum Quotient, Glasgow Sensory Questionnaire, Short Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale, Penn State Worry Questionnaire, and Dichotomous Thinking Inventory) and conducted a path analysis. Data were collected from 405 adults (aged 20–22 years) in Experiment 1 and 628 (aged 20–49 years) in Experiment 2. In both experiments, autistic traits were significantly associated with both anxiety and dichotomous thinking, mediated by intolerance of uncertainty. Autistic traits were linked to intolerance of uncertainty, mediated by atypical sensory processing. Furthermore, autistic traits were directly associated with anxiety. No direct association was observed between anxiety and dichotomous thinking. Our results confirm the validity of Stark's cognitive model in a non-clinical population. These findings provide new insights into anxiety and dichotomous thinking and shed light on the cognitive styles of autistic individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High levels of online activity have been linked with lower critical engagement and cognitive ability as well as lapses in attention and memory. This study examines whether individual differences in cognitive styles and abilities relating to the theoretical framework of distributed cognition predict social media behaviour. In this online study, 784 MTurk participants (55% male) completed measures of social media use, online friendships, need for cognition, dissociative tendencies, and vocabulary. They also answered questions about online news-related information sharing (with and without reading the article). Multiple regression and relative weights analysis show that higher dissociative tendencies and lower verbal ability predict social media use, online friendships and information sharing behaviour. Dissociation was the most important predictor, particularly for sharing news-related information without first reading it, with moderate to large effects. Perceptions of information accuracy and source trustworthiness were identified as key factors in driving information sharing behaviour. Our research has important implications for today's technological society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Learning in the academic setting is influenced by the dynamic interaction between students and teachers. Recognizing and adapting to diverse learning styles is essential for improving instruction, gaining knowledge, and drawing informed conclusions. Therefore, this study investigated learning styles and their effects on students' academic achievement. Methods: In a cross-sectional study in Iran's Mazandaran province, 238 nursing students were surveyed between October and December 2021 using random sampling. The questionnaire included socio-demographic data, Kolb's Experiential Learning Model, and students' academic performance (EPT). Statistical analysis with SPSS version 22 involved descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, chi-square tests, and linear regression with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results: The mean age of the nursing students was 20.95 ± 1.71 years. The most common student learning styles were convergent (75.2%) and accommodator (12.2%). According to the results, convergent (148.62 ± 16.28) and accommodator learning styles (147.72 ± 8.79) with the highest average played a role in students' academic achievement. The mean score of EPT was 147. 13 ± 15.48 (out of 240). A significant difference between the academic performance and different dimensions of learning style was found (p = 0.002). Conclusion: Findings indicated that adopting a convergent and accommodator learning style can affect students' academic achievement. Therefore, learning environments appropriate to this style, such as simulation and laboratory activities, are suggested to emphasize practical work and make students think an scrutinize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled a swift transformation in higher-education methodologies, particularly in the domain of course modality. This study highlights the potential for artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve decision-making in advanced engineering education. We focus on the potential for large existing datasets to align institutional decisions with student and faculty preferences in the face of rapid changes in instructional approaches prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. To ascertain the preferences of students and instructors regarding class modalities across various courses, we utilized the Cognitive Process-Embedded Systems and e-learning conceptual framework. This framework effectively delineates the task execution process within the scope of technology-enhanced learning environments for both students and instructors. This study was conducted in seven Iranian universities and their STEM departments, examining their preferences for different learning styles. After analyzing the variables by different feature selection methods, we used three ML methods—decision trees, support vector machines, and random forest—for comparative analysis. The results demonstrated the high performance of the RF model in predicting curriculum style preferences, making it a powerful decision-making tool in the evolving post-COVID-19 educational landscape. This study not only demonstrates the effectiveness of ML in predicting educational preferences but also contributes to understanding the role of self-regulated learning in educational policy and decision-making in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precisely identifying interior decoration styles holds substantial significance in directing interior decoration practices. Nevertheless, constructing accurate models for the automatic classification of interior decoration styles remains challenging due to the scarcity of expert annotations. To address this problem, we propose a novel pseudo-label-guided contrastive mutual learning framework (PCML) for semi-supervised interior decoration style classification by harnessing large amounts of unlabeled data. Specifically, PCML introduces two distinct subnetworks and selectively utilizes the diversified pseudo-labels generated by each for mutual supervision, thereby mitigating the issue of confirmation bias. For labeled images, the inconsistent pseudo-labels generated by the two subnetworks are employed to identify images that are prone to misclassification. We then devise an inconsistency-aware relearning (ICR) regularization model to perform a review training process. For unlabeled images, we introduce a class-aware contrastive learning (CCL) regularization to learn their discriminative feature representations using the corresponding pseudo-labels. Since the use of distinct subnetworks reduces the risk of both models producing identical erroneous pseudo-labels, CCL can reduce the possibility of noise data sampling to enhance the effectiveness of contrastive learning. The performance of PCML is evaluated on five interior decoration style image datasets. For the average AUC, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, precision, and F1 scores, PCML obtains improvements of 1.67%, 1.72%, 3.65%, 1.0%, 4.61%, and 4.66% in comparison with the state-of-the-art method, demonstrating the superiority of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Typically developing toddlers extract patterns from their input to add words to their spoken lexicons, yet some evidence suggests that late talkers leverage the statistical regularities of the ambient language differently than do peers. Using the extended statistical learning account, we sought to compare lexical-level statistical features of spoken vocabularies between late talkers and two typically developing comparison groups. Method: MacArthur-Bates Communicative Developmental Inventories American English Words and Sentences (N = 1,636) were extracted from Wordbank, a database of CDIs. Inventories were divided into three groups: (a) a late talker group (n = 202); (b) a typically developing age-matched group (n = 1,238); and (c) a younger, typically developing group (n = 196) matched to the late talkers on expressive language. Neighborhood density and word frequency were calculated for each word produced by each participant and standardized to z scores. Mixed-effects models were used to evaluate group differences. Results: The late talker and younger, language-matched groups' spoken vocabularies consist, on standardized average, of words from denser phonological neighborhoods and words higher in frequency of occurrence in parent-child speech, compared to older, typically developing toddlers. Conclusions: These findings provide support for the extended statistical learning account. Late talkers appear to generally be extracting and using similar patterns from their language input as do younger toddlers with similar levels of expressive vocabulary. This suggests that late talkers may be following a delayed, not deviant, trajectory of expressive language growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Objective: Mentorship is essential for medical undergraduates' professional and personal development to enhance soft skills, knowledge, and academic performance. The present study analyzed the mentee's feedback about the program. Material & Methods: The present cross-sectional (retrospective) study, approved by the ethics committee, was conducted between January and March 2022. One hundred fifty feedback forms (open and closed-ended questions) of 2016-2019 MBBS students (at the end of one and a half years of implementation) were analyzed. Data were represented as mean ± SD and median. Qualitative data was coded and analyzed descriptively. Results: 58% and 50.66% of mentees agreed on easy approachability and communication with mentors. 52.67 % agreed strongly, and 52% agreed that mentors listened actively to their problems and provided constructive feedback. 68.67% agreed and 56.67% agreed strongly that important lessons about personal, college, and career life were learned. 78.66% agreed that research motivation was provided. 71, 33%, and 60% agreed that mentoring helped improve academics and develop a conceptual learning style. 70% and 51.33% agreed that mentors helped them solve medical life problems and develop skills (communication, interpersonal, and humane values). 46.66% agreed that mentors encouraged them to participate in sports or extracurricular activities. 52% agreed strongly that their mentors had a professional attitude, 47.33% agreed mentors were beneficial to them, and 46.67% agreed strongly to recommend their mentors for future professional and personal development activities. Open-ended analysis showed that, in decreasing order, the most beneficial developmental activities performed with their mentors were problem-solving (40.56%), guidance, counseling (34.26%), and soft skill development (13.85%). Menttes considered time constraints a hurdle and suggested scheduled, regular meetings and the use of social media for the program's effectiveness. Conclusion: Regular feedback, evaluation, and perceptions of mentees are vital for the mentorship program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Objective: A learning style refers to an individual's own approach to perceiving, processing, and retaining novel information. Modifying instructional approaches to align with students' individual learning preferences enhances their learning. The current study was carried out to investigate the learning style preferences of students studying basic medical sciences at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Material & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from September 23, 2022, to February 10, 2023, on 230 students who were selected by the available sampling method. The data collection tool was a two-part questionnaire including demographic factors and the Kolb Learning Styles Scale (version 3.1). Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, chisquare test, and one-way analysis of variance using SPSS-24. Results: The students had an average age of 20.35 ± 1.85 years, with 53.9% men and 46.1% females. Dominant learning styles comprised 37.4% assimilating and 33.9% converging, comprising 71.3% of participants. Diverging and accommodating accounted for 21.7% and 7%, respectively, of the remaining subjects. No statistically significant difference was identified between dominant learning styles and demographic characteristics (p < 0.05). Conclusion: People with a preference for assimilating and converging learning styles show less interest in subjects that require communication with others. Therefore, it is necessary to improve students' interpersonal skills by using various educational strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A revised looming vulnerability model is described that updates the original conceptual model and synthesizes new findings and evidence. The revised model extends the notion of dynamic threat by describing the role of cognitive-perceptual distortions. Moreover, it suggests that dynamic threat perceptions, particularly that threats are approaching, serve as warning signals that lower the threshold for appraising threat, influencing negative emotional responses (primarily but not only anxiety and fear), cognitive-affective processing, behavior, and maladaptive coping. Individual differences in "looming cognitive style" can lead to transdiagnostic vulnerability to anxiety (and less so, to depression), maladaptive defensive reactions, cognitive-affective (experiential) avoidance, and stress generation. Methods: This article reviews the conceptualization proposed by the revised looming vulnerability model, and comprehensively reviews its scientific foundation, and current supporting evidence that has accrued for the model across diverse research domains. Results: The revised conceptualization of the looming vulnerability model is amply supported by the accumulated research, which highlights the importance of dynamic stimuli for attention, memory, emotional, and neurological response. Likewise, the looming cognitive style is supported by a substantial number of studies, linking it to cognitive vulnerability to anxiety, biased threat processing, maladaptive coping and cognitive-affective avoidance, and developmental antecedents. Conclusions: The review of evidence supports the revised looming vulnerability model's tenets about the importance of dynamic stimulusi features, which previous models have neglected, and of the looming cognitive style, which is proposed as a distinct cognitive vulnerability Clinical implications and future research directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of videos with educational purposes on social media offers unprecedented opportunities for informal learning in virtual space. Yet, research on learner engagement with educational videos in informal learning on social media has been scarce, despite its central role in learning. This study addresses this research gap. Specifically, we investigate how signalling mechanisms (signals and anchors) affect cognitive engagement. We sample YouTube educational videos and analyse the effects of signals and anchors on cognitive engagement on Reddit. Our analyses show that different signals and anchors affect cognitive engagement differently. Textual signals positively associate with cognitive engagement, while visual signals do not. Mathematical models are negatively related to cognitive engagement, and physical models are not correlated with cognitive engagement significantly. Our findings provide valuable empirical knowledge on cognitive engagement with educational videos on social media. This study enriches the understanding of signalling mechanisms and extends the literature on educational videos and multimedia learning. It is also beneficial for video designers and developers to optimise cognitive engagement with the appropriate use of signals and anchors and make online experiences more engaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study looks into how flipped classrooms affect college students with different kinds of learning styles, attitudes, and academic performance. The purpose of the study is to provide empirical support for the effectiveness of the flipped classroom model in accommodating a variety of learning styles. Survey questionnaires and midterm grades of students were used as instruments for data analysis on 85 participants in a state university in the Philippines. Statistical tools such as frequency counts, percentages, mean, standard deviation, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Kendall's tau-b were employed for a comprehensive analysis. The data analysis revealed that a majority of respondents identified as auditory learners, expressing agreement with the flipped classroom model and demonstrating excellent performance within this learning environment. Significantly, the positive attitude and excellent performance exhibited no significant differences across various learning styles. Clear evidence emerged indicating that a positive attitude toward the flipped classroom correlated with exceptional academic achievements. Consequently, the study implies that the flipped classroom proves effective in catering to diverse learning styles while maintaining students' excellent academic performance. Furthermore, it could be concluded that their positive attitude in a flipped classroom model have boosted their academic performance in general. Understanding the connection between students' attitudes toward particular pedagogical approaches and their academic performance offers important insights that can greatly enhance the processes of teaching and learning, resulting in better educational outcomes fostering a positive learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Opuntia Brava is the property of Universidad de Ciencias Pedagogicas de Las Tunas, Centro de Documentacion e Informacion Pedagogica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This research presents a pioneering approach in virtual control systems, focusing on developing a highly intuitive Graphical User Interface (GUI) for real-time PID control of LED brightness using Arduino IDE. By embracing a robust pedagogical framework, the study meticulously outlines specific learning objectives that adhere to the SMART criteria, ensuring precise educational outcomes. The key to this research is the tailored design of the GUI, which considers diverse audience needs, prior knowledge, and learning styles. The interfaces are meticulously crafted for optimal user experience, ensuring seamless navigation and engagement. Interactive elements, encompassing simulations, virtual experiments, problem-solving scenarios, and quizzes, foster active participation and hands-on learning. Multimedia elements, such as text, images, videos, animations, and audio, are thoughtfully integrated to cater to varied learning preferences. This paper underscores the critical role of collaborative learning facilitated through discussion forums, chat functionalities, and collaborative virtual environments. The study emphasizes continuous improvement through regular assessments and detailed user feedback analysis. Notably, the research highlights the significant educational impact of the designed GUI. By offering a practical platform where students can dynamically adjust PID parameters and observe immediate effects on LED brightness, the GUI enhances the learning experience in classroom settings. This approach equips students with a tangible understanding of complex PID principles, preparing them for real-world applications. In summary, this research showcases the creation of engaging, practical virtual control system tools, fostering profound and meaningful learning experiences for users within educational contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this review paper we investigated the effect of note taking activity in learning process as an educational tool and the impacts of taking notes on cognitive prospective. We also tried to summarize traditional note taking tasks, activity, and styles and the implications of the individual factors of note taking. Finally, we summarized here the importance of traditional notes activities and the common features of produced notes. The article discusses the importance of traditional note-taking, its use methods and techniques. Traditional note-taking is linked to cognitive and learning theories. Individual note-taking and its effect on the concentration process are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics is the property of Xiangya Medical Periodical Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The present study aims to explore the influence of field cognitive style on the false memory of Chinese characters. Based on the related literature, this paper used Cognitive Style Figure Test (CSFT) to investigate the field cognitive style of college student and test the differences of field cognitive style in demographic variables. Using the DRM paradigm, with Chinese characters lists as experimental material. This study was to inspect whether Chinese semantic/tonetic association has any effect on false memory, and whether there is any interaction between field cognitive style and Chinese character component on it. The results showed that: (a) there were significant differences between male and female in the recognition rate of symbol types, with the recognition rate of tonetic symbol type characters being generally higher than that of semantic symbol type; (b) Chinese semantic/tonetic associations had an effect on false memory and gender has a significant difference in the recognition of critical-lures; (c) field cognitive style had no statistically significant difference in recognition rate on character component type and characters type (old characters, filler characters, and critical-lures); (d) individuals with different field cognitive styles differed significantly in the rate of misrecognition of critical-lures for semantic symbols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Drawing on experiential learning theory (ELT), this study (1) explores students' perceived benefits of experiencing different learning styles through an audit simulation (AS) assignment and (2) analyses its role in enhancing students' performance at a Middle East and North Africa (MENA) university. The study compares students' performance across two different periods, 2019 and 2022, with 46 and 48 participants, respectively, independently completing a questionnaire of six open‐ended questions paired with follow‐up feedback, the instructor's observations and the analyses of students' grades. Our study findings indicate that the AS assignment enabled students to effectively experience different learning styles at different times during the AS learning process. They visualised an authentic AS experience by critically analysing and practically evaluating AS documents while showing strong preferences for initiating new experiences. It also reveals an improvement in students' grades after the AS implementation. Our study has theoretical implications relating to cognitive and constructivist learning, learning transfer and ethics awareness, as well as practical implications in audit education, skill development, teamwork, professional development, auditors' evaluation and curriculum assessment in other disciplines than auditing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The pandemic brought by COVID-19 in March 2020 shook the entire world, compelling everyone to remain indoors. Most B-Schools were unprepared for such a situation and did not have the resources to carry out the teaching and learning activities. B-schools then adopted online and hybrid modes of learning to impart education to their students. The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting the quality of education along with lessons learnt and lessons to be left behind, using qualitative method. Design/methodology/approach: The factors affecting the quality of education were drawn from the literature, and 18 faculty members were interviewed. The study uses a descriptive method, where interviews were conducted, and each interview was recorded, with an explicit permission of respective faculty member and coded and categorized to identify themes. Findings: The significant contribution of this study is that it highlights? Through the learnings and experiences of the pandemic? What will work in the future for business schools. The use of online teaching-learning sessions and softwares, namely, Turnitin and Grammarly will not fade away. Faculty will use various engagement tools such as quizzes and simulations to improve the learning and quality of education in the post-pandemic era. Various interactive and online tools emerged during the pandemic which allowed faculty to use diagrams and infographics in their teaching, and this helped the faculty to cater to students with different learning styles. Originality/value: This study will provide B-Schools, faculties and leaders an input for improving the quality of online education. The present study provides an empirical contribution to the factors affecting online education and its quality, by highlighting the perspective of faculty members with the help of qualitative study. These factors make a clear and strong indication that education in the future will be partly online, wherein a lot of e-learning resources will be used by faculty to impart quality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) aim to assess medical students' clinical skills rather than just their theoretical knowledge. We propose a study between the learning style of second-cycle medical students and their performance in OSCEs. Methods: During their internship at our hospital, students were invited to complete the LSQ-Fa, a questionnaire designed to identify their preferences among 4 learning styles: active, reflective, theoretical, and pragmatic. In parallel, an evaluation of their clinical skills was conducted through OSCEs. We then performed an analysis to establish a correlation between learning styles and OSCE performance, to better understand how learning preferences influence academic outcomes. Results: Between April 2021 and January 2023, 55 students were evaluated by OSCEs and had completed the LSQ-Fa. The average OSCE score was 14.8/20. The theoretical learning style was predominant in 47.3% of students, followed by active (27.3%), reflective (14.6%), and pragmatic (5.4%), with 3 cases of mixed active and theoretical styles (5.4%). No significant correlation was observed between learning style and OSCE performance (p = 0.28), although students with a pragmatic style recorded a slightly higher average. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of considering diverse learning styles in the design of medical education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fashion style is expressed through the way clothing and accessories are put together, as well as the silhouettes, textiles, colors, and shape details of each fashion item. The challenge of style classification lies in the wide visual variation within the same style and the existence of visually similar styles. Fashion experts categorize fashion styles not only by global appearance but also by the attributes of individual items and their combinations. We propose an item-region-based fashion style classification network (IRSN) that effectively classifies fashion styles by analyzing item-level features and their combinations. IRSN extracts item features using item region pooling (IRP), analyzes them separately, and aggregates them using gated feature fusion (GFF). In addition, IRSN applies a dual-backbone architecture that combines a domain-specific feature extractor and a general feature extractor pretrained with a large general image-text dataset. In the experiment, we evaluated IRSN variants based on six widely used backbones, including EfficientNet, ConvNeXt, and SwinTransformer. The IRSN models outperformed their baseline models by an average of 8.9% and a maximum of 16.7% on the FashionStyle14 dataset, and by an average of 9.4% and a maximum of 17.0% on the ShowniqV3 dataset. The visualization results support that the IRSN models are more effective than the baseline models in capturing differences between similar style classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flipped teaching has become a continuous trend since COVID – 19 pandemic when online learning was popular more than ever. Following this model of teaching, teachers are required to record videos on the subjects that they are teaching before sharing them with students. This study aims at exploring both EFL teachers’ and students’ attitude towards the employment of flipped teaching at higher education level. The participants were 10 teachers and 10 students majoring in English Language Teaching and English Language at a university in Viet Nam. To collect data, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The results show that while teachers’ preparation and students’ engagement, interaction, critical thinking, and relevant learning style are amongst the positive attitudes, less motivation, more pressure, distraction, and lack of responsibility are considered as the negative feelings on flipped teaching. Suggestions for further studies are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning styles are a topic of interest in educational research about how individuals acquire and process information in offline or online learning. Identification of learning styles in the online learning environment is challenging. The existing approaches for the identification of learning styles are limited. This study aims to review the many learning styles characterized by various classification approaches toward the automatic prediction of learning styles from learning management system (LMS) datasets. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to select and analyze the most pertinent and significant papers for automatically predicting learning styles. Fifty-two research papers were published between 2015-2023. This research divides analysis into five categories: the classification of learning style models, the collection of the collected dataset, learning styles based on the curriculum, research objectives related to learning styles, and the comprehensive analysis of learning styles. This study found that learning style research encompasses diverse theories, models, and algorithms to understand individual learning preferences. Statistical analysis, explicit data collection, and the Felder-Silverman model are prevalent in research, highlighting the significance of algorithm improvement for optimizing learning processes, particularly in computer science. The categorization and understanding of various methods offer valuable insights for enhancing learning experiences in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present large-scale quantitative study investigated the predictive effects of learning strategies and styles on Chinese undergraduate students' English achievement and their mediating effects on each other's relation to English achievement. A total of 439 students from different universities answered the 30-item Perceptual Learning Style Preference Questionnaire and 50-item Strategy Inventory for Language Learning as well as a background questionnaire. Analyses of the data revealed the following major findings: (a) Learning strategies were significantly positively related to learning styles, (b) both learning strategies and styles were significantly positively related to and predicted students' English achievement, and (c) learning strategies significantly mediated the relation between learning styles and English achievement. These findings clearly highlight the importance of learning strategies and styles in second/foreign language learning. Based on these findings, some implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the popularization of informal learning styles in universities, building overheads in hot and humid regions of China has become one of the main spaces for informal learning among college students in the region due to their improved thermal environmental conditions relative to outdoor spaces. However, the effects of thermal environmental changes on students' learning performance on the overhead floors are not yet clear. Therefore, we recruited volunteers to conduct several tests, including the Stroop test, the Go/No-go test, the 2-back test, and the 3-back test, in the overhead space of a building in September and October. This was followed by a questionnaire survey, which yielded a total of 500 samples. Learning performance was quantified as a total of accuracy, response time, and final performance metrics. The results show that in hot and humid regions of China, the thermal perception of college students in the overhead was mainly related to Ta and Tmrt, and the relationship with Va was not significant; the maximum acceptable physiological equivalent temperature of college students in the overhead space was 30.3 °C; the change in the thermal environment had an effect on the learning performance of the four tests, and under neutral to slightly warm temperature (22.1–31.2 °C physiological equivalent temperature), the learning performance of the perceptually oriented and short-term memory task types increased by 2.5% and 1.1%, and the relationship between thermal environment and learning performance was not significant when the short-term memory task became more difficult. Attention-oriented learning had a relationship between the spatial thermal environment and learning performance in overhead spaces in hot and humid regions and suggests a basis for future overhead retrofitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focused on examining the various coaching styles employed by the selected five (5) cooperating teachers towards pre-service teachers in Holy Trinity College of General Santos City, specifically the elementary department. Coaching styles were the different approaches and methods that the cooperating teacher used to support and guide pre-service teachers during their practicum or pre-service teaching. Thematic Analysis was utilized as the methodology to identify and analyze major themes derived from the collected data. This involved a detailed examination of the coaching styles and methods used by cooperating teachers to support and guide pre-service teachers in their professional development. The findings show that the primary coaching style employed by cooperating teachers is instructional coaching, as reported by the majority of participants. Additionally, several participants mentioned the use of democratic coaching and vision coaching. These results underscore the diverse coaching styles utilized by cooperating teachers. Moreover, this study also highlights the impact of coaching styles utilized by cooperating teachers on pre-service teachers. Becomes open-minded under instructional coaching was cited by the participants as the most observed impact of coaching styles. This is followed by becomes independent in teaching under the democratic coaching style. Next is, becomes realistic which is under vision coaching. And lastly, becomes confident in teaching, which is also under the democratic coaching style. We recommend using both surveys and interviews to understand how these styles affect the learning and development of pre-service teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This was a research and development (R&D) which aims to develop adaptive educational hypermedia system (AEHS) learning media. The use of AEHS based on learning style in supporting the online learning process is considered very effective for use by engineering students because it can be accessed via mobile devices which can make it easier for students to learn and has an effect on increasing learning outcomes, this is supported by several inputs from experts through expert learning design tests, learning instrument experts, learning media experts and learning outcome measurement experts with the assessment results included in the very good category. The participants in this study were informatics engineering students, totaling 100 students. Small group tests were conducted for participants and obtained a gain score of 0.735 included in the 'high' category. The pretest and posttest have been carried out and the results show that the average posttest score is greater than the pretest value. A comparison between the use of AEHS developed with web-based learning was carried out and it can be concluded that the use of AEHS based on learning styles further improves student learning outcomes in informatics engineering compared to web-based learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The podcast is a tool that economic educators can employ in the classroom as an alternative approach to convey content. Using a unique quasi-experimental approach in four undergraduate economics classes, we measure student perceptions of podcast use and the effectiveness of the podcast as a pedagogical tool in the economics curriculum. This experiment controls for demographic characteristics, educational background, learning styles, instructor fixed effects, and class fixed effects while measuring the impact of podcast use on student learning outcomes. We find that exam scores of students assigned podcasts to supplement their learning were statistically no different than those of students assigned printed news articles to supplement their learning. However, in terms of perception, students believed they were learning more from podcasts than news articles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]