The relationships between reading processes and English skills of deaf college students

This research project investigated the relationships between various working memory (WM) recoding processes and English language skills in a sample of 86 prelingually deaf college students from varied educational backgrounds. Part 1 reports the results of a short-term memory (STM) experiment and a Recoding Strategies questionnaire. The STM results suggested that, for most deaf students, neither the speech, sign, or visual codes are as efficient as the speech code of hearing persons for the purpose of maintaining English linguistic information in WM. However, the ability to use speech-based recoding processes was positively correlated with WM capacity, and the use of sign recoding was found to decrease as the ability to make efficient use of a speech recoding strategy increased. In addition, the questionnaire data suggested that neither the speech nor sign recoding systems provide the majority of students with a complete internal representation of English surface structure grammatical information in WM. There was no evidence that the use of sign language in education interfered with the ability to develop a speech recoding strategy, or that knowledge of American Sign Language (ASL) negatively influenced the acquisition of English skills. The overall pattern of results suggested that WM processes and recoding strategies may be influencing grammatical processes, and the acquisition of English skills, in distinctive ways.     

Hearing-impaired students' performance on tests of visual processing: relationships with reading performance

Performance of hearing-impaired students on selected tests of visual processing and the relationship between performance on those measures and on a test of reading comprehension were investigated. Seventy-seven subjects, all 7- and 8-year-olds, were tested using the MVPT, ITPA Sequential Memory Subtest, VADS, Jordan, VMI, Slingerland, and SAT-HI. Scores of the hearing-impaired subjects failed to match those of the hearing norm sample of the VADS test but no systematic differences were found on the other tests of visual processing. Performance IQ was strongly associated with both visual processing and reading scores. Significant portions of the variance in reading scores were explained by IQ and performance on tests of memory for visual stimuli. Visual tests without a memory component failed to explain significant portions of the variance in reading performance.     

SELF-REPORTED BELIEFS OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS REGARDING THEIR GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT: ETHNIC AND ENROLLMENT STATUS DIFFERENCES

This study examined whether community college students of differing ethnic backgrounds and enrollment status differed in their perceptions of their growth and development gains as a function of their college experience. The sample consisted of four ethnic groups intending to transfer to four-year institutions. Four gain scales were created to operationalize the student's perceptions of gains. The multivariate test for the interaction of ethnic group and enrollment status was nonsignificant; differences in perceived growth among ethnic groups did not depend on their enrollment status. Significant main effects were found in differences among ethnic groups and between full-time and part-time students.     

The reliability and validity of the cultural congruity and university environment scales with Chicana/o community college students

Following the calls for increased research on the educational experiences of Chicana/o community college students, and the development of culturally applicable measures for communities of color, this study examined the utility and the applicability of the Cultural Congruity Scale (CCS) and University Environment Scale (UES) for use with Chicana/o community college students. Applying a psychosociocultural framework, the reliability, construct, and criterion-related validity of the scales for use with a sample of 110 Chicana/o community college students was examined. Results demonstrated adequate reliability and construct validity, with indication of applicability of these scales for the study’s sample. Overall, the study challenges normative practices in educational research that students—despite their race/ethnicity, backgrounds, and histories—face similar educational experiences. Implications are discussed.     

Development,validation and application of a modified Arabic translation of the What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire

This article reports the development, translation, validation and application of a modified Arabic version of a modified form of the What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire. When parallel Arabic and English versions of this questionnaire were field tested with a sample of 763 college students in 82 classes, the WIHIC exhibited sound factorial validity and internal consistency reliability for both its actual and preferred forms, and the actual form differentiated between the perceptions of students in different classrooms. Comparison of students’ scores on actual and preferred forms of the questionnaires revealed that students preferred a more positive classroom environment on all scales.     

学业不良大学生视觉选择性注意特点分析

对591名大学生进行d2测验(选择性注意限时测验),探究学业不良大学生的视觉选择性注意的特点,并利用眼动技术进一步了解学业不良大学生在选择性注意过程中的表现。结果显示,学业不良大学生的选择性注意加工速度、选择性注意控制能力、选择性注意分心物抑制能力与学业优秀大学生相比,均有不同程度的差异。因此,学校及教师可以从改善学业不良大学生的抗干扰能力、审慎程度、速度与正确率的协调能力,来提高他们的学业成绩。     

Developmental dyslexia: exploring how much phonological and visual attention span disorders are linked to simultaneous auditory processing deficits

The simultaneous auditory processing skills of 17 dyslexic children and 17 skilled readers were measured using a dichotic listening task. Results showed that the dyslexic children exhibited difficulties reporting syllabic material when presented simultaneously. As a measure of simultaneous visual processing, visual attention span skills were assessed in the dyslexic children. We presented the dyslexic children with a phonological short-term memory task and a phonemic awareness task to quantify their phonological skills. Visual attention spans correlated positively with individual scores obtained on the dichotic listening task while phonological skills did not correlate with either dichotic scores or visual attention span measures. Moreover, all the dyslexic children with a dichotic listening deficit showed a simultaneous visual processing deficit, and a substantial number of dyslexic children exhibited phonological processing deficits whether or not they exhibited low dichotic listening scores. These findings suggest that processing simultaneous auditory stimuli may be impaired in dyslexic children regardless of phonological processing difficulties and be linked to similar problems in the visual modality.     

Hewitt多维完美主义量表在523名大学生中的试用与修订

目的：测试Hewitt多维完美主义量表在中国大学生中的信度、效度,对其进行本土化修订。方法：对523名大学生进行测试,运用探索性和验证性因素分析对量表进行检验,计算量表的内部一致性信度、重测信度等。结果：量表最后保留16个项目,可解释总方差的52．32％,各维度的项目载荷在0．43-0．76之间。验证性因素分析指标RMSEA、NFI、CFI、GFI分别为0．062、0．786、0．891、0．852。总量表与分量表的α系数和重测信度都在0．69以上。结论：修订后的HMPS具有较理想的信效度,较适合中国大学生使用.     

Pushing the Speed of Assistive Technologies for Reading

People who are practiced in using text‐to‐speech can drive listening speeds to surprisingly high limits. Here, we investigate the extent to which people who are otherwise untrained, with and without dyslexia, can increase their reading speed when forcibly accelerated visual or auditory presentations are used in isolation or in tandem. The experiment examined the reading speed and comprehension of 43 college students using three methods enabled by software on a handheld device: forcibly accelerated visual augmentation, auditory text‐to‐speech, and a combination of the two. We found that both typical and impaired readers attained the highest reading speed using the combined method, controlling for comprehension. Importantly, those with dyslexia using the combined methods reached the equivalent reading speed of typical readers using paper, visual, or auditory methods, with no loss in comprehension. Findings here suggest that in future evolutions—using technologies available today—parallel neurological pathways for language processing can be exploited to optimize reading for those impaired.     

大学生公共安全素质量表的编制

研究者通过访谈调查,编制出80个题目,在737名大学生中进行初测,通过项目鉴别度分析和探索性因素分析,保留了24个题目。24个题目包括安全体质、安全心理、安全技能和安全意识等四个因子,内部一致性系数均大于0.73。在571名大学生中进行了复测,该量表的内部一致性系数为0.88;从复测的大学生中随机抽取51人进行重测,重测信度在0.66~0.85之间。验证性因素分析验证了量表与构想模型拟合较好,具有很好的结构效度。最后,研究者进行了大学生公共安全素质量表的结构分析、信度和效度分析,并讨论了存在的问题。     

Restricted processing of simultaneously presented brightness and pattern stimuli in pigeons

Performance during simultaneous matching-to-sample was assessed in pigeons presented with element and compound visual samples. In Experiment 1, pigeons were trained with a symbolic matching procedure, in which different pairs of colored comparison cues presented on side keys were mapped onto a bright or dim houselight as one pair of sample stimuli and onto vertical and horizontal lines on the center key as a second pair of sample stimuli. They were then tested with houselight-line compound samples. It was found that matching accuracy for lines was significantly diminished with compound samples relative to element samples. Conversely, house-light intensities were matched as well with compound samples as with element samples. In Experiment 2, a similar effect was found with pigeons that had been trained to match only line samples. In Experiment 3, it was discovered that sample duration had no influence on the matching deficit found with lines following compound samples in birds either trained or not trained to match houselight intensities. These results, taken in combination with recent findings from experiments with auditory-visual compounds, suggest a restricted processing account of pigeon processing of simultaneously presented stimuli from different sources.     

A cross-age study of student understanding of the concept of diffusion

This study examined 7th-grade life science students, 10th-grade biology students, and college zoology students for understanding of the concept of diffusion. Responses from 100 students from each grade level were randomly selected for data analysis. Each student responded to a test packet consisting of a biographical questionnaire, two Piagetian-like developmental tasks, and a Concept Evaluation Statement (CES). The CESs were used to measure the students' understandings of the concept of diffusion. None of the 300 students across the three grade levels exhibited complete understanding of the diffusion concept. There was no appreciable difference among the grade levels in sound or partial understanding, misconceptions, or “no understanding.” An analysis of the misconceptions exhibited by the college sample showed that many of the misconceptions could be traced to a misapplication of scientific terminology.     

Chart Review Study of Prescription of Antipsychotic Medication in College Students Referred for Psychopharmacologic Evaluation

The present study involved detailed chart review for a sample of college students referred to a psychiatrist for pharmacologic evaluation to obtain information about clinical decisions to prescribe antipsychotic medication. Six colleges and universities referred 540 students to an off-campus consulting psychiatrist, and 40 of these students (7.4%) had been prescribed antipsychotic medication at some point in their treatment. Results indicated that approximately 33% of students who had been prescribed an atypical antipsychotic had a diagnosis consistent with FDA-approved use. In addition, roughly 33% of students who had been prescribed an atypical antipsychotic had diagnoses (e.g., eating or anxiety disorders) for which there is weak or little empirical evidence that these agents are effective. Another 33% of the sample presented with an uncertain or unusual combination of symptoms that were difficult to diagnose. Even though this study found that off-label use of atypical antipsychotics was common, only one such use seemed to deviate from accepted standards of care. The present findings are consistent with other research in showing that atypical antipsychotics often are used despite a lack sound evidence of their effectiveness. These findings are consistent with other research that atypical antipsychotics are overprescribed for young people despite limited evidence for their effectiveness, and demonstrate that this pattern may continue with college students.     

不同运动技能项群项目对塑造大学生健全人格的实证研究

研究显示,参与不同运动项目的大学生人格特质与对照常模存在显著性差异,不同运动技能项群项目间人格特质具有项群趋向性特征。高校应通过建立各种类型体育心理常模、不断完善心理监护测量工具、广泛拓展不同运动项目的心理教育功能、体育课程引入不同运动项群项目的副项配置、提高体育教师心理素质、开辟多元化教育途径等措施逐步实现体育运动塑造大学生健全人格的功能。     

言语行为理论在外语教学中的运用

言语行为理论是语用学研究的主要课题之一,是一种对语言的意义进行研究的理论,其在外语教学中的运用对学生语用能力的提高起着至关重要的作用。文章针对目前大学外语教学现状,从语用学的角度阐述了言语行为理论及其内涵。作者认为把言语行为理论应用于外语教学中,进行文化教学,培养学生的文化意识是提高大学生语用能力及交际能力的主要途径,从而强调了言语行为理论在外语教学,尤其是大学外语教学中所起的作用。     

哲学思维与大学英语演讲教学

大学生在英语演讲中出现思辨缺席症。基于此,以具体例子说明如何用思维操作模式帮助学生加强逻辑性思维训练,从而进一步明确拓展思维成为提高演讲能力的另一重要视角。     

Engaging students through new literacies: the good, bad and curriculum of visual essays

In this article, we share our experiences working with students to read and/or write visual essays, texts that rely more heavily on images with minimal print text. We explore how students consider elements of design as they create a visual essay, which entails new forms of semiotic processing of the combinations of the visual, audio, textual, gestural and spatial. In particular, we share a case study of how one adolescent engages with an alternative to the standard essay format when he is not restricted by the use of words alone, but is encouraged to tap into the affordances of digital media, expressing himself multimodally by using words, images and sound.     

碎片化学习视域下基于智能手机的大学生移动学习认知研究

远程教育中采用移动学习方式是顺势而为,基于智能手机的移动学习有助于学习者将一点一滴的碎片化时间利用起来,极大地提高学习者的学习效率,促进学习者对知识的主动建构,成为传统课堂教学的有效补充和优化,同时将手机作为直播机,亦可解决远程学习者无法亲临现场学习难题。本文以大学生为研究主体,运用编制的测量工具获取在校大学生利用智能手机进行移动学习数据,然后综合采用曼一惠特尼U检验、克鲁斯卡尔一沃利斯检验、单一样本t检验等方法,认知大学生对使用智能手机支持学习过程的观点、态度及其影响因素并提出有效解决策略,以期研究成果不仅能够有助于大学生有效开展移动学习而且还可为远程教育采用移动学习方式提供可行参考依据。     

Predicting College Performance of Homeschooled Versus Traditional Students

The prevalence of homeschooling in the United States is increasing. Yet little is known about how commonly used predictors of postsecondary academic performance (SAT, high school grade point average [HSGPA]) perform for homeschooled students. Postsecondary performance at 140 colleges and universities was analyzed comparing a sample of traditional students matched to a sample of 732 homeschooled students on four demographic variables, HSGPA, and SAT scores. The matched sample was drawn from 824,940 traditional students attending the same institutions as the homeschooled students, which permitted a very precise level of matching. This comparison did not show a difference in first‐year college GPA (FGPA) or retention between homeschooled and traditional students. SAT scores predicted FGPA and retention equally well for both groups, but HSGPA was a weaker predictor for the homeschooled group. These results suggest that, among college students, those who were homeschooled perform similarly to traditionally educated students matched on demographics and academic preparedness, but there are practical implications for college admissions in the use of HSGPA versus standardized test scores for homeschooled students.     

关于聋校的语音教学

发音、听话—看话、拼音等与语音有关的项目在聋校教学中占有非常重要的地位。这些教学的最主要目的是发展学生的口语交际能力。然而 ,经过这些语音教学 ,聋生实际获得了怎样的口语能力却是令人怀疑的。聋生通过学习能够以口语与人交际的极为少见。不过 ,聋校的语音教学对于书面语言和手语的运用还是具有重要的意义。如果我们把聋校语音教学的目的调整为促进书面语言和手语的运用 ,教学方式和时间安排也应该做相应的调整