Foreign language learning difficulties in Italian children: are they associated with other learning difficulties?

A group of seventh- and eighth-grade Italian students with low achievement (LA) in learning English as a foreign language (FL) was selected and compared to a group with high achievement (HA) in FL learning. The two groups were matched for age and nonverbal intelligence. Two experiments were conducted to examine the participants' verbal and nonverbal learning skills, such as native language reading accuracy, speed and comprehension, calculation, and attention and self-regulation. Both experiments showed that the LA group seemed at risk for reading comprehension difficulties, but its reading speed and accuracy were within the average range according to Italian norms. The results also excluded the possibility that FL learning difficulties of LA participants could be associated with a deficit in calculation. Furthermore, according to teachers' ratings, children with LA appeared at risk for attention-deficit disorder (ADD). The pattern of learning difficulties of seventh- and eighth-grade participants with LA appeared to be not completely comparable with that of high school students at risk of FL learning difficulties as described in the literature.     

Gifted students with learning disabilities: who are they?

More than 20 years ago, psychologists first described gifted students with learning disabilities (LD). In the past decade, several sets of identification criteria have been proposed for this population. Many of the suggested assessment practices are unsupported by research in psychoeducational assessment, and some have been directly contradicted by recent research. We argue that an uncritical acceptance of the concept of concomitant giftedness and LD has led to unsound identification procedures and to interventions that are not targeted properly. Specific recommendations for future research and implications for current clinical practice are discussed.     

Treatment outcomes for students with learning disabilities: how important are internal and external validity?

This study analyzed the magnitude of experimental intervention outcomes as a function of violations in internal and external validity for studies that included students with learning disabilities. The results indicated that treatment outcomes were significantly affected by the following violations: teacher effects, establishing criterion levels of instructional performance, reliance on experimental measures, using different measures between pretest and posttest, using a sample heterogenous in age, and using incorrect units of analysis. Furthermore, the underreporting of information related to ethnicity, locale of the study, psychometric data, and teacher applications positively inflated the magnitude of treatment outcomes. A weighted hierarchical regression analysis revealed that composite scores of the aforementioned high-risk variables accounted for 16% of the total variance in effect size. The implications for interpreting intervention research to practice are discussed.     

Visual‐perceptual difficulties and the impact on children's learning: are teachers missing the page?

This article attempts to bring to the fore of educational practice the importance of considering the visual‐perceptual condition of Meares–Irlen syndrome (MIS) when identifying students who have prolonged reading difficulties. Dyslexia is a frequently used term which can be used to label children who have specific difficulties with reading and/or spelling but this article discusses the problems that this may cause students who have a reading difficulty caused by a visual processing difficulty, as the working definitions of dyslexia do not, generally, consider this aspect as a factor, especially when remediation interventions are put forward. This article discusses the possibility that teachers and school psychologists may not be fully aware of MIS and therefore not able to recognise it. Moreover, if this condition is not adequately picked up at the important transition times in school then this could harm the student's self‐esteem and affect his or her motivation to succeed in school. The authors argue that the irony of MIS being potentially undetected by teachers and other school professionals is that it is relatively straightforward to identify, and in many cases, to correct.     

Computer science students’ use of the internet for academic purposes: difficulties and learning processes

ABSTRACT

Higher-education students now have more alternatives for searching for information than previous generations had. The Internet is a vast ocean of information sources, albeit with diverse reliability and quality. In Web 2.0 platforms, any participant can be a content creator. This reality is challenging for both the instructors and the students. We conducted interviews with 12 Computer Science students and 8 instructors from two universities to (a) identify the difficulties students encounter, if at all, (b) identify the learning processes that students undergo, if at all, when using the Internet for their CS studies, in particular, programming tasks; and (c) elicit instructors’ perceptions of students’ use of the Internet. Both students and instructors agreed that although using the Internet is not trivial, direct teaching of this skill is unnecessary. Instructors differed in their attitudes towards students’ use of the internet. We found that in the first year the students’ use of the Internet and their difficulties are similar to reports in the empirical literature, and echo the instructors’ concerns. However, after extensive experience, students undergo a learning process, and their ability to navigate the myriad sources, as well as to search, manage, and effectively evaluate Internet sources improves. Students mentioned their improved abilities to code as a means to effectively evaluate information sources.     

Motivating the learning of part-time taught-postgraduate students through pedagogy and curriculum design: are there differences in undergraduate teaching?

Interviews were conducted with 29 part-time taught postgraduate (TPg) students to determine forms of teaching and curriculum which motivated their learning. The study was conducted in an open exploratory manner to investigate the aspects of pedagogy or curriculum design which particularly motivated the TPg students which were in any way distinct from typical undergraduate teaching. As most of the TPg students were mature professionals working in a field connected to the course they had enrolled in, they were able to identify relevant knowledge, skills and abilities which ought to be included in the content or curriculum. This distinguishes them from typical undergraduate students. The TPg students appreciated in-class discussion so that they could share experiences and expertise. The interviewees preferred assessment tasks that related to their professional practice. Teaching and learning for TPg students should recognise the expertise of the students and draw upon it as a valuable learning resource.     

Collaborative learning and positive experiences: does letting students choose their own groups matter?

This study used self‐determination theory as a framework to examine the relationship between choice regarding group membership and student motivation within classrooms that use collaborative learning as an instructional tool. Data were collected from over 500 students across seven classrooms from a large university in the Midwestern United States. In three of the seven classrooms, students were allowed to choose with whom they worked; in the remaining four classes the professor formed the groups. Using hierarchical linear modelling, the choice condition was a positive and significant predictor of students’ intrinsic motivation and classroom community, even when accounting for autonomy support and class size. The practical implications of affording choice during collaborative learning are discussed.     

Walking the walk: Rasch analysis of an exploratory survey of secondary teachers’ attitudes and understanding of students with learning difficulties

Abstract

This paper describes the use of low stakes Rasch analysis to examine the findings of a 2004 survey focused on secondary teachers’ attitudes and understanding of students with learning difficulties. The responses of 280 secondary teachers from across Queensland have been interpreted in complementary ways. Two sets of quantitative data were subjected to analysis using the Rasch model for rating scale data (Andrich, 1988; Bond & Fox, 2001). Attitudinal data was collected by Liken scale responses while data obtained from statements about student characteristics was analysed for understanding. These results were linked to demographic indicators and to qualitative data of selected teacher groups. This exploratory study revealed a uniformity of teacher attitude and understanding regardless of demographic indicator. This has significant implications for teacher educators, pedagogy, school organisation and culture as well as for the large numbers of students with learning difficulties enrolled in secondary schools.     

Podcasting in higher education: What are the implications for teaching and learning?

A podcast is any digital media file, or series of files, distributed over the Internet for playback on portable media players and personal computers. This study explored the attitudes, perceptions, and use of podcasting as reported by instructors and students at a large American Midwestern university. The results of two online surveys were examined, focusing specifically on items related to teaching and learning. Findings suggest that students use podcast materials largely for reviewing concepts and issues raised in lectures that they have previously attended. While instructors and students agree that podcasts help students learn, students are less sure about whether podcasts improve instructors' teaching. The authors argue that podcasts can help instructors change face-to-face instruction from traditional didactic lectures to more constructivist learning practices.     

Aspirations of and realities for Hong Kong students: is the “formal” transition system effective?

School to work transition is an important aspect of lifelong learning that has increased in significance as the knowledge-based economy takes off in developed countries. Rapid structural economic changes, the importance of innovation, and a shorter lifecycle of products require education systems to adjust to the needs of economies and individuals. Educational reforms in many countries aim to improve school students’ readiness for their important move to post-school life. Countries organize different pathways for students following secondary school level that are designed to meet both students’ demands and the needs of economies. This article explores Hong Kong students’ aspirations and realities. Although the majority of students plan to complete the final year of high school and 91.5% planned to undertake the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) to be eligible for higher education, in reality a significant number of school leavers do not perform well and should undertake training for employment. In addition, many students who are eligible for tertiary education cannot be admitted to government sponsored universities due to the limited number of places. This article begins with a consideration of students’ aspirations, and then outlines the realities of transition and current issues. It concludes with some suggested policy measures that could improve equity during this school to work transition period.     

Technology use and learning characteristics of students in higher education: Do generational differences exist?

As digital technologies form an inextricable part of young people's everyday lives, some commentators claim that the current generation of learners think and learn differently from their predecessors. This study investigated the validity of this claim by surveying 799 undergraduate and 81 postgraduate students at a large research‐intensive university in New Zealand to document their use of digital technologies on university and social activities and comparing three age groups of students (under 20, 20–30 and over 30) to see whether there were any differences in their learning characteristics. The findings of the study showed that while students spent a large amount of time on digital technologies, the range of digital technologies they used was rather limited. There were also no practical generational differences in the technology use pattern and learning characteristics found in this study. The results of this study suggest that generation is not a determining factor in students' use of digital technologies for learning nor has generation had a radical impact on learning characteristics of higher education students.     

When are powerful learning environments effective? The role of learner activities and of students’ conceptions of educational technology

The goal of this chapter is to outline a theoretical and empirical perspective on how learners’ conceptions of educational technology might influence their learning activities and thereby determine the power of computer-based learning environments. Starting with an introduction to the concept of powerful learning environments we outline how recent developments in information and communication technologies might be used to implement these environments technologically. In the next step we refer to several exemplary empirical studies to argue that the power of computer-based learning environments will largely depend on very detailed aspects of the learning activities within these environments. In order to design these environments so that they elicit effective learning activities, it is necessary to analyze the factors that determine learners’ goals and their choices of processing strategies. The focus of this paper is on one of these factors, namely on learners’ instructional conceptions with regard to educational technology and its use in instruction. Up to now, there has been nearly no research conducted within the educational community addressing the issue of how this particular type of instructional conceptions determine learning activities. Therefore, we review several relevant findings from neighboring fields like epistemological beliefs, attitude research, human computer interaction, or cognitive modeling. We use this review to demonstrate that there are numerous findings outside the educational technology community that deserve much more resonance in this community than they currently receive.     

Self-concept of students in higher education: are there differences by faculty and gender?

Many studies examine student self-concept during compulsory schooling but few have explored the self-concept of students in higher educational settings. The current study examined self-concept by faculty and gender among higher education students in New Zealand. Participants were 929 undergraduate students from a large New Zealand university. The results showed some differences in verbal and maths self-concept by faculty. Generally, students in faculties teaching subjects more reliant on maths skills had higher maths self-concept than those in faculties where facility in verbal skills was important. The opposite results were found for verbal self-concept. No overall gender differences were found for general, academic, verbal and maths self-concept although a statistically significant difference was found for problem-solving self-concept. This finding suggests students’ choice of faculty may be based on perceptions of their skills and capabilities in the various fields, irrespective of gender.     

An educational game for learning human immunology: What do students learn and how do they perceive?

The scientific concepts of human immunology are inherently complicated and extremely difficult to understand. Hence, this study reports on the development of an educational game entitled Humunology and examines the impact of using Humunology for learning how the body's defense system works. A total of 132 middle school students participated in this study and a quasi‐experimental approach with a two‐group pretest/posttest research design was used. A knowledge assessment including 19 items was developed, and a questionnaire instrument with seven dimensions, which focuses mainly on perceptions toward the use of Humunology, and the help‐seeking behaviors of the students, was employed. The results show that students who learned by playing Humunology significantly outperformed those who learned by using web‐based content on items that examined their understanding of procedural knowledge and higher level of cognitive process. Students in the experimental group also had a significantly higher level of satisfaction than their counterparts. In terms of predicting a student's learning achievement on the posttest, the three positive variables were the results of the pretest, perceived ease of use, peer learning and help‐seeking behaviors. The only negative one was perceived playfulness. The implications and suggestions for further research derived from these findings are discussed.     

Out-of-class communication: are students and faculty interested and engaged? (A study at a Russian university)

The study looks into the problem of student–faculty communication. It addresses the issue of claimed scarcity of such interaction that exists despite the recognized benefits it can bring to students and instructors. It is suggested that examination and comparison of the participants’ interest and actual engagement in out-of-class communication (OCC) may shed light on this. Two populations from a university in Russia: 148 students and 35 instructors, were analyzed to measure their overall interest and engagement in OCC. The paper also addressed the question whether the studied populations are interested and engage in the same types of OCC. The results demonstrate that the reported overall interest in OCC was higher than the actual engagement in it among both groups of the respondents. Besides, students and faculty chose different types of OCC as most interest evincing and most frequently practiced. The research outcomes may help the parties concerned (scholars, teaching staff, educational managers and students) enhance understanding of the nature of OCC and its specifics and consider ways of harmonizing it in the best interests of all stakeholders.

     

How are students’ emotions related to the accuracy of cognitive and metacognitive processes during learning with an intelligent tutoring system?

The goal of this study was to investigate 65 students' evidence scores of emotions while they engaged in cognitive and metacognitive self-regulated learning processes as they learned about the circulatory system with MetaTutor, a hypermedia-based intelligent tutoring system. We coded for the accuracy of detecting students’ cognitive and metacognitive processes, and examined how the computed scores related to mean evidence scores of emotions and overall learning. Results indicated that mean evidence score of surprise negatively predicted the accuracy of making a metacognitive judgment, and mean evidence score of frustration positively predicted the accuracy of taking notes, a cognitive learning strategy. These results have implications for understanding the beneficial role of negative emotions during learning with advanced learning technologies. Future directions include providing students with feedback about the benefits of both positive and negative emotions during learning and how to regulate specific emotions to ensure the most effective learning experience with advanced learning technologies.