The Magellan project: Developing global citizens through independent study abroad

Washington & Jefferson College undergraduate Magellan Scholars explore the world on their own. Tori Haring‐Smith describes this unique program and explains why it offers so much more than a traditional study abroad experience.     

Making Meaning Together: Buddy Reading in a First Grade Classroom

This study uses a Vygotskian approach and a socio-cultural lens, as well as the Transactional Reading Theory to investigate how social interactions and literary transactions can combine through buddy reading to empower young readers and promote literacy in a first grade classroom. The research focuses on how literary transaction and social interaction work together to facilitate emergent and early readers in a ‘partner/buddy’ reading approach. The research question asked whether or not ‘partner/buddy’ reading can promote literacy through social interaction, and yielded three major themes, including the use of reading strategies to scaffold learning, making connections with and to the text in order to construct meaning, and using play as a type of social interaction and motivational method. The findings suggest that buddy reading as a classroom tool can effectively promote literacy and learning in a cooperative setting.     

Temporal trends in the sit-ups performance of 9,939,289 children and adolescents between 1964 and 2017

ABSTRACT

We estimated international/national temporal trends in sit-ups performance for children and adolescents, and examined relationships between national trends in sit-ups performance and national trends in health-related/sociodemographic indicators. Data were obtained by systematically searching studies reporting on temporal trends in sit-ups performance for apparently healthy 9–17 year-olds, and by examining nationally representative fitness datasets. Trends at the country-sex-age level were estimated by sample-weighted regression models relating the testing year to mean sit-ups performance. International/national trends were estimated by a post-stratified population-weighting procedure. Pearson’s correlations quantified relationships between national trends in sit-ups performance and national trends in health-related/sociodemographic indicators. A total of 9,939,289 children and adolescents from 31 countries/special administrative regions between 1964 and 2017 collectively showed a large improvement of 38.4% (95% CI: 36.8 to 40.0) or 7.1% per decade (95% CI: 6.8 to 7.4). Large international improvements were experienced by all age and sex groups, with the rate of improvement slowing from 1964 to 2000, stabilizing near zero until 2010, before declining. Trends differed between countries, with national trends in vigorous physical activity a strong, positive correlate of national trends in sit-ups performance. More sit-ups data are needed from low- and middle-income countries to better monitor trends in muscular fitness.     

A meta-analysis of the RTI literature for children at risk for reading disabilities

This article synthesizes the literature comparing at-risk children designated as responders and low responders to interventions in reading. The central question addressed in this review is whether individual differences in reading-related skills at pretest predict responders at posttest across a variety of interventions and sets of criteria for determining responding and low responding. A total of 13 studies met criteria for the meta-analysis, yielding 107 weighted effect sizes (ESs) at posttest (M = .76, SE = .03, 95% confidence interval [CI] =.71, .81) and 108 weighted ESs at pretest (M = 1.02, SE = .03, CI = 1.02, 1.13). The results showed that the magnitude of ES between responders and low responders increased from pretest to posttest on measures of reading (e.g., real word identification = 1.06 vs. 1.53, word attack = 1.10 vs. 1.28, and passage comprehension, 0.45 vs. 1.43). Hierarchical linear modeling indicated that overall posttest ESs were significantly moderated by pretest scores as well as the type of measure administered, whereas no significant moderating effects were found for number of weeks of intervention, length of sessions, number of sessions, type of intervention (one-to-one vs. small group instruction), and criteria for defining responders (cutoff, scores, discrepancy, benchmark). Overall, the synthesis suggested that regardless of type of treatment and identification criteria, response-to-intervention (RTI) conditions were not effective in mitigating learner characteristics related to pretest conditions.     

Effects of Pretend Imagery on Learning Dance in Preschool Children

Play is important in child development and learning. The intent of this study was to assess the effects of play, using physical movement and pretend imagery, on learning dance. Four preschool dance classes, encompassing 32 children ages 3–6, were randomly divided into pretend imagery groups and traditional teaching groups. The classes were videotaped over 3 weeks and rated for speed of learning new motor skills, future recall of the skills, attentiveness to the task, and enjoyment during the task. As hypothesized, results found that children in the pretend imagery group had significantly better visual fixation on the instructor, engagement in and enjoyment during the task, and needed less prompting and time to recall and a shorter amount of time to learn the skill than children in the traditional teaching group. There is little research in this area of learning and play, but the results of this study suggest more is warranted.