Concept mapping: An aid to teaching and learning: AMEE Guide No. 157.

Concept maps are graphic representations that learners draw to depict their understanding of the meaning of a set of concepts. Concept maps can be a useful learning strategy in medical education. The purpose of this guide is to provide an understanding of the theoretical basis and instructional use of concept mapping in health professions education. The guide describes the key elements of a concept map and underscores the critical components of the implementation process, from the introduction of the activity to the use of different mapping techniques, based on purpose and context. This guide also examines the learning opportunities offered by collaborative concept mapping, including co-construction of knowledge, and provides suggestions for the use of concept mapping as an assessment for learning. Implications for the use of concept mapping as a tool for remediation are mentioned. Finally, the guide describes some of the challenges related to the implementation of this strategy.

Relating a picture and 1000 words: Self-derivation through integration within and across presentation formats.

To build knowledge, separate yet related learning episodes can be integrated with one another and then used to derive new knowledge. Separate episodes are often experienced through different formats, such as text passages and graphic representations. Accordingly, in the present research, we tested integration of learning episodes provided through different presentation formats with children in the laboratory (Experiment 1; n = 24; M = 8.36 years) and in classrooms (Experiment 2; n = 85; M = 9.34 years and Experiment 3; n = 154; M = 10.67 years). Children in the laboratory were successful in both same-format and different-format conditions. Children in the classroom were also successful in both conditions, but in Exp. 2 showed a cost to integration across two different presentation formats compared to the same-format condition. In Exp. 3, greater support for encoding the graphic information was added and performance no longer showed a cost between conditions.

The Development of Spatial Representation Through Teaching Block-Building in Kindergartners.

This study investigated the effects of the teaching block-building intervention on overall spatial representation and its three sub-forms, namely linguistic, graphic and model representations, in kindergartners. Eighty-four children (39 girls and 45 boys), aged 5-6 years old, were randomly selected and equally divided into two groups, i.e., experimental group and control group. The experimental group received the intervention of teaching block-building for 14 weeks (45 min each time, once a week), while children in the control group freely played with blocks for the equivalent time. Children's spatial representation performances were measured in both pre- and post-tests by the Experimental Tasks of Spatial Representation for Children. The results showed that: (1) teaching block-building could promote not only the overall spatial representation but also all three sub-forms of spatial representations; (2) there was no gender differences regarding the effect of teaching block-building on neither the overall nor three sub-forms of spatial representations; (3) after the intervention, the diversity of children's choices regarding the use of sub-forms spatial representations was also promoted in the experimental group. In summary, these results contributed to a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the effects of teaching block-building on spatial representation among children in kindergartens.

Implementing a Graphic Organizer Active Learning Exercise with an Interactive Lesson Template.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a systematic approach to active learning using a lesson template with a graphic organizer activity. INNOVATION: The authors describe a tool that can be used to incorporate a graphic organizer activity into a traditional lecture class to promote active learning. This interactive template offers a step-by-step process to plan and implement a graphic organizer activity. The graphic organizer was used in a contact dermatitis lecture as part of a Nonprescription Medicines course for first year pharmacy students. CRITICAL ANALYSIS: A survey of students immediately after the activity identified that students agreed they were interested in the activity, were engaged with the activity, and perceived an understanding of the course material. An instructor reflection revealed that students were excited and identified some instructor challenges to executing the activity. NEXT STEPS: Instructors interested in using graphic organizers in lectures can refer to this approach for guidance. In addition to a graphic organizer, the structure of this template can be applied to different active learning activities, thus creating consistency in delivering active learning.

Computational prediction of therapeutic peptides based on graph index.

As therapeutic peptides have been taken into consideration in disease therapy in recent years, many biologists spent time and labor to verify various functional peptides from a large number of peptide sequences. In order to reduce the workload and increase the efficiency of identification of functional proteins, we propose a sequence-based model, q-FP (functional peptide prediction based on the q-Wiener Index), capable of recognizing potentially functional proteins. We extract three types of features by mixing graphic representation and statistical indices based on the q-Wiener index and physicochemical properties of amino acids. Our support-vector-machine-based model achieves an accuracy of 96.71%, 93.34%, 98.40%, and 91.40% for anticancer, virulent, and allergenic proteins datasets, respectively, by using 5-fold cross validation.

Qualitatively Coherent Representation Makes Decision-Making Easier with Binary-Colored Multi-Attribute Tables: An Eye-Tracking Study.

We aimed to identify the ways in which coloring cells affected decision-making in the context of binary-colored multi-attribute tables, using eye movement data. In our black-white attribute tables, the value of attributes was limited to two (with a certain threshold for each attribute) and each cell of the table was colored either black or white on the white background. We compared the two natural ways of systematic color assignment: "quantitatively coherent" ways and "qualitatively coherent" ways (namely, the ways in which the black-white distinction represented the quantitative amount distinction, and the ways in which the black-white distinction represented the quality distinction). The former consists of the following two types: (Type 1) "larger is black," where the larger value-level was represented by black, and "smaller is white," and (Type 2) "smaller is black." The latter consisted of the following two types: (Type 3) "better is black," and (Type 4) "worse is black." We obtained the following two findings. [Result 1] The qualitatively coherent black-white tables (Types 3 and 4) made decision-making easier than the quantitatively coherent ones (Types 1 and 2). [Result 2] Among the two qualitatively coherent types, the "black is better" tables (Type 3) made decision making easier; in fact, the participants focused on the more important (black) cells in the case of "black is better" tables (Type 3) while they did not focus enough on the more important (white) ones in the case of the "white is better" tables (Type 4). We also examined some measures of eye movement patterns and showed that these measures supported our hypotheses. The data showed differences in the eye movement patterns between the first and second halves of each trial, which indicated the phased or combined decision strategies taken by the participants.

Desórdenes de la modulación sensorial y dibujo de la figura humana / Sensory modulation disorder and human figure drawing

El propósito de éste trabajo es examinar las características del dibujo de la figura humana (DFH) en niños con desórdenes en la modulación sensorial (DMS), establecer si hay diferencias significativas respecto a los niños de desarrollo típico e identificar en que dimensiones se observan estas diferencias: cuantitativas (diferente número de partes) cualitativas (claras desproporciones, agregados u omisiones) o ambas. Para ello se administró el DFH a veintiún niños de 4.9 a 5.8 años de edad, que obtuvieron un resultado de dos desviaciones estándar por debajo de la norma en el Perfil Sensorial Forma Corta (versión en español) de McIntosh, Miller, Syu & Dunn (1999), de escuelas de gestión pública o privada de la ciudad autónoma de Buenos Aires y provincia de Buenos Aires, y se compararon con veintiún niños de similar edad y escolaridad, que obtuvieron un resultado dentro del rango típico en este instrumento. El Perfil Sensorial fue usado como herramienta para discriminar los niños con y sin DMS. Mientras que los DFH se analizaron usando el Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP 1982,1988) sub-test de la figura humana. Los resultados obtenidos confirman la hipótesis planteada. Los niños con DMS realizaron un DFH con un menor número de partes (p = <0.0005) e indicadores cualitativos indeseables. La relevancia del proyecto es indicar al DFH como una herramientas de observación estructurada del niño, dentro del marco holístico propio del quehacer clínico del terapista ocupacional. Y contribuir al conocimiento del impacto de los DMS en el desempeño ocupacional del niño.

The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics of human figure drawing (HFD) in children with sensory modulation disorders (SMD) establishing whether there are significant differences relative to typically developing children, and to identify in which dimensions those differences are observed: quantitative (different number of parts) qualitative (clear disproportions, aggregates or omission) or both. For that a HFD was administered to twenty one children between the ages of 4.9 and 5.8 years of age, from public or private schools of the Autonomus city of Buenos Aires and the province of Buenos Aires, who obtained a score of two standard deviation below the norm in the Sensory Profile Short Form (Spanish version) of McIntosh, Miller, Syu & Dunn (1999) and were compared with twenty one children of similar age and education who received a score within the typical range on this test instrument.The Sensory Profile was used as a tool to discriminate children with and without SMD.While the HFD were analyzed using the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP, 1982, 1988) sub-test of the Humane Figure. The results obtained, confirmed the stated hypothesis. The children with SMD produced a HFD with less number of parts (p= <0.0005) and undesirable qualitative features. The relevance of this project is to indicate that HFD could be a tool for the structured observation of the child used by occupational therapist within the context of their holistic framework. And contribute to the knowledge of the impact of SMD in the occupational performance of the child.

Knowing how to look predicts the ability to draw realistically.

Some young children are able to create stunningly realistic drawings resembling those of adult artists. What perceptual abilities underlie this talent? This study examined two candidate skills on which adult artists excel: the ability to segment a complex form mentally (measured by the Block Design Task) and the ability to see hidden forms (measured by the Group Embedded Figures Test). Sixty-seven 6- to 13-year-olds with a wide range of drawing abilities completed these tasks as well as an IQ test and an observational drawing task. While children who scored high on drawing realism outperformed those who scored low in drawing realism on both perceptual tasks, only detection of embedded figures predicted drawing realism. This occurred independently of age, gender, years of training, and verbal and non-verbal IQ. There are certainly many contributors to this complex ability, but one component appears to be the tendency to see things more as they really are and thereby recognize the continuous contour of an object despite interference from other overlapping objects.

Violências e sorrisos: da capacidade infantil de resilência em meio precário / Violences and smiles: capacity of child resilience in a precarious environment

Entre clivagem e assimilação do conceito de resiliência, como se inscreve uma eventual situação traumática na história do sujeito e, consequentemente, sua capacidade de sobrevivência? Este trabalho tem como objetivo refletir sobre a noção de resiliência no caso de crianças que vivem cotidianamente uma realidade social e familiar precária, e, às vezes, violenta. Partindo da expressão escrita e da representação gráfica, tenta-se mostrar a fragilidade do limite entre o agressor e o agredido.

Between splitting and assimilation of the concept of resilience, how do subjects respond to potential traumatic situations, and, as a consequence, how is their capacity for survival affected? This research proposes a reflection on the concept of resilience, applied to the case of children living under difficult - and often violent - family and social circumstances. Through the use of written expression and graphic representation, we want to demonstrate the line between aggressor and victim.