The reflective dimension in teacher education

The terms “reflection” and “reflective practitioner” are now common currency in articles about teacher education and teachers’ professional development, especially in British and North American research. In this chapter, the term “reflection” as it relates to teachers and teacher education will be problematized, drawing particularly on Schön's (Educating the reflective practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass) terms “reflection-in-action” and “reflection-on-action.” Differing definitions of reflection will be put forward, their inter-relationship explored, and how these relate to courses of initial teacher education in a variety of countries and cultural contexts. Questions about the value and purpose of reflection will also be raised, as well as to its practical relevance to teacher education.     

Attention performance in young adults with learning disabilities

Attention acts as the mind's “gatekeeper” by regulating and prioritizing the stimuli processed by the central nervous system. It is essential for cognitive performance, memory, and behavior, and we know that even slight deficiencies in attention compromise learning. Basic neuroscience research further indicates that attention consists of (fairly) independent subcomponents, which rely on distinct neural structures, and serve different functions in everyday behavior. Disturbances of brain function, such as those suggested to be related to learning disabilities, may lead to different patterns of attention performance (i.e., some attention systems may work sufficiently well, while others are substantially impaired). The present experiment describes a pilot study that aimed to characterize the extent and range of individual variations in attention performance in persons classified as learning disabled. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that attention is not uniformly impaired in these individuals. Rather, we expected some subcomponents to be more severely impaired than others, and substantial heterogeneity in the individual “deficit patterns.”The Test of Everyday Attention (TEA) was used to assess visual selective attention, attentional switching, sustained attention, and auditory–verbal working memory in students with nondyslexic learning disability (LD group) and matched controls. The group comparison revealed a significantly weaker performance in the LD group. Analysis of subtest-specific scaled scores further indicated great individual differences in the performance pattern. Thus, in each student with LD, we found normal performance in at least two subtests, while other subcomponents where severely impaired. The study supports the idea of differential attention deficits in the learning disabled, and suggests individual patterns of “strengths and weaknesses.” Taking the relationship of attention and learning into account, this finding is important with respect to the design of individual learning programs and the teaching techniques chosen for the acquisition of skills and knowledge.     

Memory Profile of Children with Nonverbal Learning Disability

The aim of this study was to compare visual and verbal memory in children with nonverbal learning disability (NLD) using the Children's Memory Scale and to identify the profile of strengths and weaknesses in visual memory abilities. Performance was significantly lower on measures of visual than verbal memory, indicating that children with NLD have deficits in visual memory despite adequate verbal memory. A unique pattern of performance emerged for the visual but not the verbal subtests. Performance on the Faces Immediate subtest was well below average, although other measures of visual memory were within the average range. Hence, it appears that children with NLD have a specific deficit on immediate memory for faces. This facial memory deficit may be linked to a deficit in right hemisphere functioning, which has already been implicated in facial processing and may also be linked with other disorders (e.g., autism spectrum disorder) in which similar facial processing deficits have been documented. More research is needed to further understand the visual memory profile of children with NLD and to inform instruction and remediation.     

OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT AND MINORITY STUDENTS IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES

The assessment of outcomes by community colleges was reviewed with special attention paid to the concerns of minority student populations. The definition of outcomes, the “what” of assessment, is discussed along with the process, or “how” of assessment. We provide theoretical perspectives along with examples of practice drawn from the review. The concerns of minority students with regard to assessment are highlighted, and recommendations for programming and further research are made.     

Visual Sequential Memory and Spelling Ability

Although good visual memory is frequently cited as an essential requirement for competent spelling, there is little empirical evidence to support this. In this paper visual sequential memory was studied in two separate controlled experiments which compared the test performances of 13‐year‐old poor spellers and controls. Test materials were carefully designed to obtain a measure of visual memory with minimal interference from verbal coding. With the variable of IQ controlled for, visual memory did not appear to differentiate between the groups unless mediated by verbal coding.     

Film and text: Order effects in recall and social inferences

This article compares film and text with regard to effects produced by the order in which conflicting information is presented. Film is more influential and better recalled than conflicting text information, regardless of the order in which media appear. Conflicting paragraphs produce a primacy effect, whereas analogous film segments produce no order effect. Results are interpreted in terms of differences between visual and verbal encoding and between episodic and semantic memory.     

Non‐Verbal Communication,Self‐esteem and Interpersonal Relations of LD and Non‐LD Students

Accurate perception and comprehension of verbal and non‐verbal communication is important in one's interpersonal environment; such understanding may affect not only the child's academic achievement but how he/she relates to and is perceived by others. In the present study learning disabled (LD) and non‐learning disabled (NLD) middle school students were evaluated on their ability to perceive and accurately comprehend non‐verbal communication; they also responded to an interpersonal relations scale and a self‐esteem inventory. LD children differed from regular class students both in reported self‐esteem and in the ability to perceive and comprehend “wordless” communication, but similarities were noted between the two groups in reported need for interpersonal relations.     

“鸠帮菜”老字号品牌视觉形象研究

“鸠帮菜”,作为芜湖的传统佳肴,正在没落中寻求发展。许多芜湖本地“鸠帮菜”老字号已经在传统菜品的基础上推出新型的菜品。然而很多芜湖本地人都不知何为“鸠帮菜”,一是因为“鸠帮菜”名词的推广力度太低;二是由于“鸠帮菜”老字号没有体现其特色的品牌视觉形象。文章主要分析了当前“鸠帮菜”老字号品牌视觉形象的现状,并运用平面设计手段对提升其品牌视觉形象做出建议,使芜湖本地地域文化内涵与“鸠帮菜”品牌相结合,推动“鸠帮菜”的发展。     

Phonological awareness: an investigation into the developmental role of vocabulary and short-term memory

This paper presents some evidence of how scores in measures of vocabulary, short-term memory and phonological awareness obtained from young children (aged five, six and seven years) were related. Further data from a small-scale longitudinal study are also presented. The results are consistent with previous suggestions that with regard to working memory, “less is more” in that a relatively small memory span and age-appropriate vocabulary appeared advantageous to the acquisition of phonological awareness.     

Modeling the dynamic hypotheses of Gf–Gc theory using longitudinal life-span data

This research uses longitudinal data from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and linear structural equation models (e.g., LISREL) in an evaluation of the structural, kinematic, and dynamic hypotheses of the “theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence.” In a first set of analyses we use linear dynamic models in a formal evaluation of the growth and declines of abilities through latent growth and linear dynamic models. Our first results indicate separate trends over age for different intellectual abilities including broad knowledge, spatial reasoning, perceptual speed, and immediate memory. In a second set of analyses we extend these multivariate dynamic structural equation models to explore the age-based leading and lagging indicators. These results indicate a complex system of relationships, with memory losses as an important leading indicator. In a third set of analyses we use confirmatory techniques to test specific aging hypotheses. These results indicate support for both the “general memory loss” hypothesis and the “general slowing” hypothesis, provide some support for the “investment theory” at the adult level, and also suggest a single “general” factor does not describe the complexity of cognitive aging. These result synthesize prior WAIS studies and provide methods for further research on the dynamics of the growth and decline of intellectual abilities across the adult life-span.     

School-based bullying experiences as reflected by adults with visual impairments

The purpose of this study was to describe the reflections of adults with visual impairments regarding bullying experiences during their school-based education. An interpretative phenomenological analysis research approach was used and 11 participants (aged 20–35 years; seven women, four men) participated in this study. The sources of data were semi-structured audiotaped telephone interviews and reflective field notes. Thematic development was undertaken utilizing a three-step analytical process guided by the research approach. Based on the data analysis, three interrelated themes were constructed: (a) “It would be when they knew there weren't teachers watching”: bullying experiences in unowned and unstructured spaces; (b) “Going through the motions”: feelings about verbal, social, and physical victimization; and (c) “They had their own insecurities”: understanding the bullies and bystanders. The emerged themes provide a unique insight into the way in which those with visual impairments experienced bullying in schools and the meaning they ascribed to those experiences.     

Disabled readers' processing of prose: Do any processes change because of intervention?

A multiple baseline design was implemented to address the questions, “Do qualitative changes in reported strategies occur during treatment and does strategy instruction concurrently influence a conceptually related task?” The dependent measure for the prose recall task was the number of idea units recalled, while the number of facts comprehended during silent reading sessions assessed transfer effects. “Thinking aloud protocols” were used to identify cognitive processes during prose recall. The results suggested that a qualitative shift in verbal strategy reports occurred across training sessions. The introduction of cognitive training (visual and verbal mapping of idea units) increased the recall of prose compared to the baseline conditions, although concurrent effects on reading comprehension tasks were minimal. It was assumed that unstable cognitive processes during prose recall, as well as nonequivalent mental processes between the two tasks, accounted for the poor transfer of training effects.     

Visual processing of verbal and nonverbal stimuli in adolescents with reading disabilities

This study investigated whether a group of children with reading disabilities (RD) were slower at processing visual information in general (compared to a group of children of comparable age and a group of children of comparable reading level), or whether their deficit was specific to the written word. Computerized backward masking and temporal integration tasks were used to assess the speed of visual information processing. Stimulus complexity (simple, complex) and type (verbal, nonverbal) were varied, creating a 2 x 2 matrix of stimulus conditions: simple nonverbal, complex nonverbal, simple verbal, and complex verbal. Adolescents with RD demonstrated difficulties in processing rapidly presented verbal and nonverbal visual stimuli, although the effect was magnified when they were processing verbal stimuli. Thus, the results of this study suggest that some youth with reading disabilities have visual temporal processing deficits that compound difficulties in processing verbal information during reading.     

Memory interval distribution effects in pigeons

Pigeons were trained with two concurrent delayed conditional discriminations that involved different distributions of memory intervals, namely 1 and 5 sec in the “short” and 5 and 10 sec in the “long” distribution. Memory for the initial stimulus was much better after 5 sec in the short distribution than in the long one. The memory functions between the intervals within each distribution were essentially flat. These findings were replicated in a second study that involved differential outcomes; this procedure enhanced memory generally within trials so that memory intervals of 1, 9, and 19 sec could be used, with 9 sec serving as the common memory interval. The findings are interpreted on the basis of the subject’s expectation of the likely duration of the upcoming memory interval and the associated delay of reinforcement.     

Epilepsy in Children with ASD: An Overview of Evaluation Procedures,Child Characteristics and Treatment Options

The rates of epilepsy among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are higher than that of the general population. The exact prevalence and aetiology of the comorbidity of autism and epilepsy are not well understood; however, the connection is well-documented. This common comorbidity makes the treatment of epilepsy increasingly complex for children with ASD. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the relevant literature for individuals with epilepsy with a particular focus on individuals with both ASD and epilepsy according to the following framework: (a) evaluation procedures, (b) child characteristics and outcomes and (c) treatment options. Thirty articles met specific inclusion criteria. Several treatment options for epilepsy in children with ASD were uncovered, including medications, vagus nerve stimulation and surgery. Still, more research is needed to identify comprehensive treatments that have been empirically proven to be successful for children with ASD.     

Student Visual Communication of Evolution

Despite growing recognition of the importance of visual representations to science education, previous research has given attention mostly to verbal modalities of evolution instruction. Visual aspects of classroom learning of evolution are yet to be systematically examined by science educators. The present study attends to this issue by exploring the types of evolutionary imagery deployed by secondary students. Our visual design analysis revealed that students resorted to two larger categories of images when visually communicating evolution: spatial metaphors (images that provided a spatio-temporal account of human evolution as a metaphorical “walk” across time and space) and symbolic representations (“icons of evolution” such as personal portraits of Charles Darwin that simply evoked evolutionary theory rather than metaphorically conveying its conceptual contents). It is argued that students need opportunities to collaboratively critique evolutionary imagery and to extend their visual perception of evolution beyond dominant images.     

THE EFFECT OF RACE OF EXAMINER ON THE MENTAL TEST SCORES OF WHITE AND BLACK PUPILS1

An entire elementary school system with 60% white and 40% black pupils was given several abiity tests group-administered by 12 white and eight black examiners (Es). The tests measured verbal and nonverbal IQ, perceptual-motor cognitive development, “speed and persistence” under neutral and motivating instructions, listening-attention, and short-term rote memory for numbers. With the exception of the “speed and persistence” test, on which white Es yielded significantly and consistently higher mean scores than black Es for both white and black pupils across grades one to six, the results for the various cognitive ability tests showed that the race of the E did not produce large or consistent effects in the testing of white and black pupils.     

Women,Citizenship, and the Social Studies

With work currently being undertaken on formulating Australia's first national curriculum, now seems an opportune time to review the current state of play with regard to how well inclusivity is being represented in the developing documentation. An accurate understanding of “what is” is often the first step in preparing for “what may be” on a much broader scale. Accordingly, this essay addresses three matters, and does so by way of engaging in interpretive documentary analysis. First, the notion of inclusivity in education per se is introduced, and the concept itself defined. Second, an examination is undertaken of how the various state jurisdictions currently interpret the notion of inclusivity. Third, consideration is given to the work presently being undertaken on inclusivity as it relates to the national curriculum.     

Visual Culture and Critical Pedagogy in “Terrorist Times”

Instant access to visual images and emotional accounts of terrorism have secured them a vivid place in our memory and reinforced the idea that “we” have been targeted and are under immediate threat. Fear and the sense of belonging to an innocent, victimized, and threatened group, under attack from irrational, malevolent, and uncontrollable “others”, is a significant feature of “terrorist times” in Western nations. These identities and feelings are reinforced though visual images and the circulation of recurrent statements, polemics, rationalities, and representations. This article explores a discourse analytic approach to critical pedagogy. Such an approach engages with multiple forms of visuality to explore the discourses though which identities and truths about ourselves and others are established, challenged, and resisted. Discourse analysis exposes how knowledges and understandings come to be taken up as history, politics, justice, and the “truth”, while a critical approach to pedagogy highlights the hegemonic role of ideology and discourses in furthering dominant interests and knowledges. One might expect the new literacies approach undertaken in “multiliteracies” to assist in this task, this article identifies several key limitations, including the focus on design-based pedagogy.     

Philosophy of education in the western world: Developmental trends during the last 25 years

The dominating tendency in educational philosophy of the past 25 years may — with regard to the English speaking countries and the Scandinavian countries which are given the main focus in this article — be phrased as “the rise and decline of analytic educational philosophy”. The account, therefore, falls naturally into three parts. The first decade of the period is characterized by the onrushing analytic educational philosophy's criticism of the traditional educational philosophy's “deductivism”. In the sixties analytic educational philosophy was flourishing. Analytic educational philosophy may be divided into three main phases, one inspired by logical empiricism, one mainly therapeutic (“piecemeal”) analytic and one transcendental-analytic. In the seventies analytic educational philosophy has been fiercely attacked, leaving no clear alternative in sight.