This study tried to ascertain a possible relationship between the number of student moderators (1, 2, and 3), online interactions, and critical thinking of K-12 educators enrolled in an online course that was taught from a constructivist approach. The course topic was use of technology in special education. Social network analysis (SNA) and measures of critical thinking (Newman, Webb, & Cochrane, 1995) were used to research and assess if there was a difference in interaction and critical thinking between 1, 2, or 3 student moderators who facilitated a forum discussion of an assignment in an online course. The same course was repeated over three years. Each year either 1, 2, or 3 students moderated. The analysis indicated more discussion per non-moderating student with the three student moderated group. Using SNA we found that there was only one noticeable difference among the three groups which was in the value of network centralization. Using critical thinking measures the three student moderator group scored higher in five of the eight critical thinking categories. Variations in instructor presence in the online courses may have influenced these findings.

This mixed-methods research explored the moral motivations of undergraduates who identified as bystanders in a situation of potential sexual assault. In the quantitative analysis, we examined the difference between interveners and noninterveners with regard to their scores on the Moral Foundations Questionnaire-30 Item (MFQ-30), which considers five moral foundations from Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) of care/harm, fairness/cheating, loyalty/betrayal, authority/subversion, and sanctity/degradation, as well as measures of bystander attitudes (BAS-R) and rape-myth acceptance (IRMA, modified). Participants who failed to intervene had significantly higher scores on the loyalty/betrayal subscale of the MFQ-30, and showed a trend toward "conservative" values comprising the latter three MFT foundations. Intervening bystanders were also more likely to endorse bystander attitudes, and less likely to endorse rape-myth supporting beliefs. The qualitative analysis examined brief narratives in which participants described their bystander experience and reasoning in the moment. Analysis found a remarkable flexibility with which each moral foundation could be used to support either intervention or abstention. We argue that emphasizing conservative values (based on loyalty, purity, and/or authority) in addition to the typical liberal (justice-based and anti-harm) reasoning may bolster bystander interventions meant to reach all students.

A comprehensive approach to the prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD) warrants a synergy across multiple domains and procedures. Whereas the study of biological markers has mobilized major activity in the field, the development of cognitive markers is largely ignored, despite the unique advantages they may offer. Cognitive markers essentially assess the core clinical feature that biological markers intend to predict. In this respect, cognitive markers expand the foundation of preclinical diagnostics and disease staging in a manner that integrates both physiological and psychological factors. In addition, the cost-effective implementation of cognitive markers makes them remarkably conducive to community-wide screenings, and thereby a vital component of any global blueprint for prevention. Specifically, in the primary care setting, cognitive markers may provide effective gate keeping for more invasive, labor intensive, and expensive procedures. From this perspective, cognitive markers may provide the first step for identifying preclinical treatment recipients in general public. Moreover, the detection of preclinical decline via cognitive markers can increase awareness of AD risk and the motivation for making protective lifestyle changes. The behavioral approach might be expedient for prevention in light of the compelling evidence of lifestyle amelioration of AD risk. In an integrative view, incorporating cognitive markers to primary care may facilitate a synergetic development in preventive interventions that carries epidemiological significance. This paper addresses the theoretical, methodological, and pragmatic aspects of this prospect.

No abstract