Adjusting the Religious Autobiography Course for the Postmodern Classroom

Religious autobiography as an introductory course is popular yet problematic. Often, it lacks methodological breadth and functions to ensconce Western notions of subjectivity which elide difference, locatedness, and the reality of multiple or shifting identifications. These problems can be addressed by incorporating into the course a community‐based learning exercise in which each student is paired with a local senior citizen, conducts a series of interviews with the elder, and then writes an (auto‐)biography based on the interviews. Students are thus given a real‐life situation in which to test the applicability of theories and definitions of religion, as well as a relationship to a subject whose locatedness and relatively unprivileged “I” allow for the problematization of autobiography as a genre as well as an appreciation for the contextual nature of religiosity. This exercise transforms the religious autobiography course into a pedagogically fruitful, intellectually defensible, and institutionally savvy introductory course.     

A metaphoric evaluation: students' self‐appraisal at the end of the course year

This article focuses on an exercise to facilitate students' self‐evaluation at the end of a course year. It describes an externalizing technique using objects as metaphors . Although developed in the context of a foundation level course, it is equally relevant for evaluating learning at any stage.     

Transformations: The World Religions Survey through an Adjunct Feminist Lens

This essay describes a transformation in my experience as an adjunct teaching underprepared students from one of shame toward a desire to assert the value of this work. Insights from my feminist theological training helped me to affirm the importance of encouraging transformative learning in teaching the academically marginalized and prompted my analysis of student writing in an introductory World Religions course, in order to determine whether or not the course was a site of transformative learning. I argue that despite many contextual limitations, the movement toward deepening self‐awareness and increasing openness to religious diversity seen in student writing demonstrates that transformative learning began in this course, and that is valuable for students' lives whether or not they are academically successful.     

The stresses of learning counselling: Six recent graduates comment on their personal experience of learning counselling and what can be done to reduce associated harm

This paper presents research that examines the negative and stressful aspects of learning counselling and methods for harm reduction. Using an in-depth semi-structured interviewing approach, six people who recently graduated from a UK university counselling programme have commented on their negative experiences of learning counselling and what helped or would have helped to reduce the harmful effects. This research has produced information which indicates that counselling trainees experience significant disruptions in their relationships with their family and friends; that a sizeable number of trainees report feelings of depression and or stress; and that counselling trainers have not addressed these issues effectively. The study concludes with a suggestion that an extra training component could be built into existing training frameworks that focus on the process of 'becoming a counsellor'.     

Simulating Culture Shock in Counselor Trainees: An Experiential Exercise for Cross-Cultural Training

The authors describe a bipartite learning exercise designed to increase counselor trainees' sensitivity to cultural differences. The exercise emphasizes extending traditional, cognitive-focused multicultural training to include actual interactions with culturally diverse persons. A 2- month follow-up evaluation indicated that trainees viewed the learning exercise as valuable. Suggestions are made for infusing similar experientially based exercises into diverse counseling courses.     

Assistance with learning competence and decision-making in schools and further education

721 first-year university students were asked about the amount of help they had received or might have received at their pre-tertiary institutions in developing their learning competence and in course/university/career decision-making. Over all items, nearly 30% felt they had been helped minimally, 40-45% slightly to moderately, and nearly 30% moderately to very much. They felt they had been helped most with learning competence concerns, less with their career and educational decision-making, and least of all with handling distracting personal worries. There were no significant differences by sex or by type of institution previously attended. The correlation between perceived amount of help and A-level scores was not significant. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the possible contribution of learning competence to attainment and the need for realistic educational and career decision-making.     

A Constructivist Pedagogue's Personal Narrative of Integrating Faith with Learning: Epistemological and Pedagogical Challenges

This article offers a personal narrative about integrating the Christian faith into the process of teaching and learning. The author begins by describing his understanding of pedagogy that framed his beliefs about teaching in higher-education environments. Understanding the author's beliefs provides a context for his experiences in integrating faith with learning. Specifically, the author offers three tensions of faith integration and describes how pedagogy helped him overcome these tensions.     

A single bout of aerobic exercise modulates motor learning performance and cortical excitability in humans

BackgroundEvidence indicates beneficial effects of aerobic exercise on motor learning performance, which might be caused by the impact of aerobic exercise on cortical excitability. It is thus suggested that physiological effects of aerobic exercise on cortical excitability determine the effects of aerobic exercise on motor learning. Nevertheless, respective results usually come from independent studies, and a prove of the causal relationship between neurophysiological and motor learning effects is still missing. This study aims to explore the impact of a single bout of aerobic exercise on brain physiology and motor learning, and the association between these phenomena in humansMethodThe study was conducted in a cross-over design. In twenty healthy subjects, cortical excitability and motor learning were assessed before and after a single bout of aerobic exercise or a control interventionResultsThe results show that aerobic exercise improved motor sequence learning and enhanced cortical excitability in humans. Furthermore, a correlation between the exercise-dependent alteration of cortical excitability (short intracortical inhibition, which is determined primarily by the GABAergic system) and improvement of motor learning has been foundDiscussionThe study found motor learning performance-improving effects of aerobic exercise, and these results might be explained by an exercised-caused alteration of cortical excitability, especially a reduction of GABA activity.     

Reconstructing Christian Ethics: Exploring Constructivist Practices for Teaching Christian Ethics in the Masters of Divinity Curriculum

This article reflects on an effort to incorporate constructivist pedagogies (learner‐centered, inquiry‐guided, problem‐based models of teaching) into an introductory class on Christian Ethics in an M.Div. curriculum. Although some students preferred more traditional pedagogies, the majority found that constructivist pedagogies better accommodated different life experiences, diverse learning styles, and other features of the M.Div. curriculum. Further, a qualitative assessment of one student exercise indicates that constructivist pedagogies have benefits over traditional pedagogies. Specifically, students' work on a learning‐group research project displayed creativity, depth, and breadth not found in individual research papers. Nonetheless, lukewarm student feedback also demonstrated the need to consider wider factors when attempting such innovations.     

A reflection on learning crafts as a practice for self-development

This paper represents a reflection on craft as a process that stimulates self-development. Central to this approach is the perception of craft, not as a means of production, but as an exercise of relating to the world. The paper suggests that through the dialogue between the mind, body and environment craft practitioners experience a particular form of connection with the world that reshapes their perceptual and conceptual understanding of it. Rather than following an ego-driven tendency to control, a craftsperson is exposed to modes of ‘knowing’ and ‘being’ that embrace the inherent uncertainty of a complex world. The learning experience of a novice (lead author) demonstrates such a course of development in this paper. In particular, the liminal space that needs to be created for the dialogue between the self and the non-self is explored. This personal narrative is woven together with the experience of craft masters within different social contexts and value systems (from traditional to modern to postmodern) and their views on the process of being and becoming a craftsperson.     

Effectiveness of a Community-Based Advocacy and Learning Program for Hmong Refugees

The effectiveness of a community-based advocacy and learning intervention for Hmong refugees was assessed using a comprehensive, multi-method strategy, which included a within-group longitudinal design with four data collection points and in-depth qualitative recruitment and post-intervention interviews. The intervention's impact on five aspects of refugee well-being was examined: Participants' psychological well-being, quality of life, access to resources, English proficiency, and knowledge for the U.S. citizenship exam. Twenty-eight Hmong adults and 27 undergraduate students participated together in the intervention, which had two major components: (1) Learning Circles, which involved cultural exchange and one-on-one learning opportunities for Hmong adults, and (2) an advocacy component that involved undergraduates advocating for and transferring advocacy skills to Hmong families to increase their access to resources in their communities. Undergraduate paraprofessionals and Hmong participants worked together for 6–8 hr per week for 6 months. Growth trajectory analysis revealed promising quantitative findings. Participants' quality of life, satisfaction with resources, English proficiency, and knowledge for the U.S. citizenship test increased and their levels of distress decreased over the course of the intervention. Mediating analyses suggested that participants' increased quality of life could be explained by their improved satisfaction with resources. Qualitative data helped to support and explain the quantitative data, as well as providing insight into other outcomes and processes of the intervention. Policy, practice, and research implications are discussed.     

Statistical Learning Is Not Affected by a Prior Bout of Physical Exercise

This study examined the effect of a prior bout of exercise on implicit cognition. Specifically, we examined whether a prior bout of moderate intensity exercise affected performance on a statistical learning task in healthy adults. A total of 42 participants were allocated to one of three conditions—a control group, a group that exercised for 15 min prior to the statistical learning task, and a group that exercised for 30 min prior to the statistical learning task. The participants in the exercise groups cycled at 60% of their respective O₂max. Each group demonstrated significant statistical learning, with similar levels of learning among the three groups. Contrary to previous research that has shown that a prior bout of exercise can affect performance on explicit cognitive tasks, the results of the current study suggest that the physiological stress induced by moderate‐intensity exercise does not affect implicit cognition as measured by statistical learning.     

Effects of Simulated Learning and Facilitated Debriefing on Student Understanding of Mental Illness

Occupational therapy educators have studied various methods regarding student attitudes towards people with disabling conditions. Among the methods that have been studied is simulated learning. This paper describes the effects of a simulated learning exercise and facilitated debriefing on occupational therapy student understanding of mental illness. Results indicate that students had significant change relative to understanding that mental illnesses are brain diseases that respond to treatment (p < .01) on the post-test. Themes derived from qualitative data revealed that students believed that the learning experience increased their understanding, empathy, and insight into daily life with a mental illness.     

Student-Inspired Activities for the Teaching and Learning of Engineering Ethics

Ethics teaching in engineering can be problematic because of student perceptions of its subjective, ambiguous and philosophical content. The use of discipline-specific case studies has helped to address such perceptions, as has practical decision making and problem solving approaches based on some ethical frameworks. However, a need exists for a wider range of creative methods in ethics education to help complement the variety of activities and learning experiences within the engineering curriculum. In this work, a novel approach is presented in which first-year undergraduate students are responsible for proposing ethics education activities of relevance to their peers and discipline area. The students are prepared for the task through a short introduction on engineering ethics, whereby generic frameworks for moral and professional conduct are discussed, and discipline and student-relevance contexts provided. The approach has been used in four departments of engineering at Imperial College London, and has led to the generation of many creative ideas for wider student engagement in ethics awareness, reflection and understanding. The paper presents information on the premise of the introductory sessions for supporting the design task, and an evaluation of the student experience of the course and task work. Examples of proposals are given to demonstrate the value of such an approach to teachers, and ultimately to the learning experiences of the students themselves.     

Exploring the Spiritual/Religious Dimension of Patients: A Timely Opportunity for Personal and Professional Reflection for Graduating Medical Students

Teaching about spirituality in medical school training is lacking. Spirituality is a dimension of humanity that can put experiences of health and illness into a meaningful context. Medical students might benefit from understanding how spirituality is an important element in learning to care for patients. Spirituality also provides a context for medical students to explore their own motivations for doctoring. This article describes a longitudinal senior elective course at the end of their medical school training to delve into matters of religion/spirituality surrounding patient care. The authors pose their own perspectives on what both students and faculty gained from the experience.     

Medical Men, Women of Letters, and Treatments for Eighteenth-Century Hysteria

This paper explores evolving treatments for hysteria in the eighteenth century by examining a selection of works by both physician-writers and educated literary women. The treatments I identify—which range from aggressive bloodlettings, diets, and beatings, to exercise, fresh air, and writing cures—reveal a unique culture of therapy in which female sufferers and doctors exert an influence on one another's notions of what constitutes appropriate management of women's mental illness. A scrutiny of this exchange of ideas suggests that female patients were not simply oppressed and silenced by male practitioners; rather, their collective voice, intellect, and expertise helped to form progressive treatments for eighteenth-century hysteria.     

Alterations in the thickness of motor cortical subregions after motor-skill learning and exercise

Behavioral manipulations such as housing in an enriched environment have been shown to increase brain weight and visual cortical thickness. The present study was designed to test whether skill learning or repetitive movements can alter the thickness of the motor cortex. One group of 6-mo-old Long-Evans female rats learned motor skills on an obstacle course that increased in difficulty over training and required balance and coordination. A second group ran voluntarily in exercise wheels attached to their home cage but had little opportunity for skill learning. The third group was handled daily but received no opportunity for learning or exercise. Each condition lasted 26–29 d. The skill-learning and exercise conditions had greater heart weight, and the exercise condition had greater adrenal gland weights than controls. The thickness of the motor cortex was measured in four coronal planes between −2.33 mm to −0.3 mm from bregma. Regions of interest that corresponded to published maps of forelimb and hind-limb representations were analyzed together. Rats in the skill-learning condition had significantly thicker medial cortical areas in the two anterior planes (−0.8 and −0.3 mm from bregma). These regions correspond to previously mapped hind-limb representations. The exercise group had greater thickness of the medial region at −0.8 mm from bregma. Cortical thickness in all conditions varied significantly along the medial to lateral axis. For both treatments, the effects were restricted to medial and anterior regions of interest rather than posterior or lateral regions of interest. The results indicate that robust exercise, in addition to skill learning, is capable of altering the thickness of the motor cortex, but that the effects are restricted rather than distributed within the regions studied.     

High impact running improves learning

Regular physical exercise improves cognitive functions and lowers the risk for age-related cognitive decline. Since little is known about the nature and the timing of the underlying mechanisms, we probed whether exercise also has immediate beneficial effects on cognition. Learning performance was assessed directly after high impact anaerobic sprints, low impact aerobic running, or a period of rest in 27 healthy subjects in a randomized cross-over design. Dependent variables comprised learning speed as well as immediate (1 week) and long-term (>8 months) overall success in acquiring a novel vocabulary. Peripheral levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and catecholamines (dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine) were assessed prior to and after the interventions as well as after learning. We found that vocabulary learning was 20 percent faster after intense physical exercise as compared to the other two conditions. This condition also elicited the strongest increases in BDNF and catecholamine levels. More sustained BDNF levels during learning after intense exercise were related to better short-term learning success, whereas absolute dopamine and epinephrine levels were related to better intermediate (dopamine) and long-term (epinephrine) retentions of the novel vocabulary. Thus, BDNF and two of the catecholamines seem to be mediators by which physical exercise improves learning.     

Pedagogy for teaching and learning cooperatively on the Web: a Web-based pharmacology course.

The Internet is becoming a preferred place to find information. Millions of people go online in the search of health and medical information. Likewise, the demand for Web-based courses grows. This article presents the development, utilization and evaluation of a web-based pharmacology course for nursing students. The course was developed based on 150 commonly used drugs. There were 110 year 1 nursing students took part in the course. After attending six hours face to face lecture of pharmacology over three weeks, students were invited to complete a questionnaire (pre-test) about learning pharmacology. The course materials were then uploaded to a WebCT for student's self-directed learning and attempts to pass two scheduled online quizzes. At the end of the semester, students were given the same questionnaire (post-test). There were a significant increase in the understanding compared with memorizing the subject content, the development of problem solving ability in learning pharmacology and becoming an independent learner (p ,0.05). Online quizzes yielded satisfactory results. In the focused group interview, students appreciated the time flexibility and convenience associated with web-based learning, also, they had made good suggestions in enhancing web-based learning. Web-based approach is promising for teaching and learning pharmacology for nurses and other health-care professionals.