The effect of dynamic assessment based instruction on Children’s Learning

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that dynamic assessment based instruction increases children’s learning by using a quasi-experimental research design in Korea. In this study, dynamic assessment is defined as a measurement method of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) as well as the qualitative and quantitative diagnostic information for individual children. In addition, dynamic assessment based instruction is defined as a teaching method using the diagnostic information types in order to increase children’s learning. In this study, 59 children between the ages of 4 and 5 participated. Three types of number concept achievement tests (pre-test, parallel test, and post-test) for each age group were developed and the content validity, face validity, and split-half reliability were examined. After conducting the pre-test, the children of each age group were divided into an experimental group and a control group. Dynamic assessment based instruction regarding number concepts was undertaken only with the experimental group for 4 weeks. Both groups took a post-test after completing the 4 weeks of classes. The ANCOVA technique wa ls used for data analysis. The result of this study shows that dynamic assessment based instruction has a significant effect on children’s learning of number concepts (in the case of 4-year-old children, F = 12.34, p<0.01; 5-year-old children, F = 20.03, P<0.01). Therefore, dynamic assessment based instruction should be used widely for children’s cognitive learning.     

英语阅读元认知训练的实验研究

以208名非英语专业大一学生为实验对象,分析了课堂上元认知训练对学生英语阅读所产生的可能效果.实验进行了前测、后测、问卷调查和访谈.结果表明,元认知训练能显著提高学生的英语阅读能力,并能促进学生更主动地把元认知知识应用于阅读,提高他们自主学习的能力;问卷调查和访谈显示了学生对训练总体持认同态度,但还存在分歧.本文指出了这次实验的教学启示.     

What animated illustrations conditions can improve technical document comprehension in young students? Format, signaling and control of the presentation

We study the comprehension of a multimedia technical document about gear functioning by young pupils. The research is focused on the effect of three factors on the construction of a mental model: illustration format (animated versus static) signaling cues (presence versus absence) learner-control of information delivery (three rhythms of presentation: speed, slow and self-controlled). The experimental procedure, conducted with 123 children, follows three phases: pre-test, individual passation of the lesson, comprehension test, delayed post-test. The goal of the pre-test is the evaluation of prior knowledge about gears, but also the control of spatial and verbal working memory aptitude and reading performance. The results show an effect of the animated format, of signaling cues and of the rhythm on the immediate comprehension test and delayed test. For the immediate comprehension test, these effects are different according to the kind of comprehension question (recall, transfer, explanation). These effects are maintained at the delayed post-test, for the self-controlled condition and for the pupils with low prior knowledge. The factor information delivery rhythm shows an effect for the delayed post-test. Our observation device of the behaviour of the child during the lesson was specially designed to explore the reading strategies between the medias.     

英语阅读元认知训练的实验研究

以208名非英语专业大一学生为实验对象,分析了课堂上元认知训练对学生英语阅读所产生的可能效果。实验进行了前测、后测、问卷调查和访谈。结果表明：元认知训练能显著提高学生的英语阅读能力,并能促进学生更主动地把元认知知识应用于阅读,提高自主学习的能力;问卷调查和访谈显示了学生对训练总体持认同态度,但还存在分歧。通过实验得到了一定的教学启示。     

Cognitive styles,dynamic geometry and measurement performance

This paper reports the outcomes of an empirical study undertaken to investigate the effect of students’ cognitive styles on achievement in measurement tasks in a dynamic geometry learning environment, and to explore the ability of dynamic geometry learning in accommodating different cognitive styles and enhancing students’ learning. A total of 49 6th grade students were tested using the VICS and the extended CSA-WA tests (Peterson, Verbal imagery cognitive styles and extended cognitive style analysis-wholistic analytic test—Administration guide. New Zealand: Peterson, 2005) for cognitive styles. The same students were also administered a pre-test and a post-test involving 20 measurement tasks. All students were taught a unit in measurement (area of triangles and parallelograms) with the use of dynamic geometry, after a pre-test. As expected, the dynamic geometry software seems to accommodate different cognitive styles and enhances students’ learning. However, contrary to expectations, verbalisers and wholist/verbalisers gained more in their measurement achievement in the environment of dynamic geometry than students who had a tendency towards other cognitive styles. The results are discussed in terms of the nature of the measurement tasks administered to the students.     

Students’ assessment preferences, perceptions of assessment and their relationships to study results

The purposes of this study are to gain more insight into students’ actual preferences and perceptions of assessment, into the effects of these on their performances when different assessment formats are used, and into the different cognitive process levels assessed. Data were obtained from two sources. The first was the scores on the assessment of learning outcomes, consisting of open ended and multiple choice questions measuring the students’ abilities to recall information, to understand concepts and principles, and to apply knowledge in new situations. The second was the adapted Assessment Preferences Inventory (API) which measured students’ preferences as a pre-test and perceptions as a post-test. Results show that, when participating in a New Learning Environment (NLE), students prefer traditional written assessment and questions which are as closed as possible, assessing a mix of cognitive processes. Some relationships, but not all the expected ones, were found between students’ preferences and their assessment scores. No relationships were found between students’ perceptions of assessment and their assessment scores. Additionally, only forty percent of the students had perceptions of the levels of the cognitive processes assessed that matched those measured by the assessments. Several explanations are discussed.     

Digital Games, Gender and Learning in Engineering: Do Females Benefit as Much as Males?

The aim of this paper was to explore whether there is a gender difference in the beneficial effects of Racing Academy, which is a video game used to support undergraduate students learning of Mechanical Engineering. One hundred and thirty-eight undergraduate students (15 females and 123 males) participated in the study. The students completed a pre-test a week before they started using Racing Academy. The pre-test consisted of a test of students’ knowledge of engineering, and a measure of students’ motivation towards studying engineering. A week after using Racing Academy the students completed a post-test which was identical to the pre-test, except it also included a measure of how frequently they used Racing Academy and how motivating the students found playing Racing Academy. We found that after playing Racing Academy the students learnt more about engineering and there was no gender difference in the beneficial effect of Racing Academy, however there is some evidence that, female students found Racing Academy more motivating than male students. The implications for the use and design of video games for supporting learning for both males and females are discussed.     

Preparing novice teachers to develop basic reading and spelling skills in children

This study examined the word-structure knowledge of novice teachers and the progress of children tutored by a subgroup of the teachers. Teachers’ word-structure knowledge was assessed using three tasks: graphophonemic segmentation, classification of pseudowords by syllable type, and classification of real words as phonetically regular or irregular. Tutored children were assessed on several measures of basic reading and spelling skills. Novice teachers who received word-structure instruction outperformed a comparison group of teachers in word-structure knowledge at post-test. Tutored children improved significantly from pre-test to post-test on all assessments. Teachers’ post-test knowledge on the graphophonemic segmentation and irregular words tasks correlated significantly with tutored children’s progress in decoding phonetically regular words; error analyses indicated links between teachers’ patterns of word-structure knowledge and children’s patterns of decoding progress. The study suggests that word-structure knowledge is important to effective teaching of word decoding and underscores the need to include this information in teacher preparation.     

Do vocabulary,syntactic awareness,and reading comprehension in second language facilitate the development of each other in young children?

This study explored whether children's second language (L2) vocabulary, syntactic awareness, and reading comprehension contributed to the growth of each other. A total of 184 Chinese primary school children (91 girls) aged 8–10 years old in Hong Kong participated in the pre-test of this study. Among them, 88 were in Grade 3 and 96 were in Grade 4. One year later, 178 of these children also participated in the post-test. These children learned English as an L2 at school. They completed a series of English language tasks. The results from a cross-lagged panel model show that vocabulary predicted the growth of syntactic awareness and reading comprehension. Syntactic awareness predicted the growth of vocabulary and reading comprehension. Reading comprehension facilitated the growth of vocabulary, and it also predicted the growth of syntactic awareness in Grade 4 students but not in Grade 3 students. Implications for teaching children an L2 are discussed.     

Problem-Based Learning in 9th Grade Chemistry Class: ‘Intermolecular Forces’

This research study aims to examine the effectiveness of a problem-based learning (PBL) on 9th grade students’ understanding of intermolecular forces (dipole–dipole forces, London dispersion forces and hydrogen bonding). The student’s alternate conceptions about intermolecular bonding and their beliefs about PBL were also measured. Seventy-eight 9th grade students were stratified by cognitive levels and then randomly assigned to experimental (PBL, 40 students) and control (lecture-style teaching, 38 students) groups. Following a preparatory lesson where activation and remediation of existing knowledge occur, a pre-test was given, and no significant difference was found between the two groups of students (p > .05). After the instruction was completed, a post-test and also a questionnaire related to the quality of the problem, the teacher’s role and group functioning were administered. Results from the post-test of both groups (p < .05) and questionnaire showed that PBL is affective on students’ achievement, remedying formation of alternate conceptions and also social skills.     

College Students’ Conceptions of Stem Cells, Stem Cell Research, and Cloning

In this study, we examined 96 undergraduate non-science majors’ conceptions of stem cells, stem cell research, and cloning. This study was performed at a large, Midwest, research extensive university. Participants in the study were asked to answer 23 questions relating to stem cells, stem cell research, and cloning in an on-line assessment before and after instruction. Two goals of the instruction were to: (1) help students construct accurate scientific ideas, and (2) enhance their reasoning about socioscientific issues. The course structure included interactive lectures, case discussions, hands-on activities, and independent projects. Overall, students’ understandings of stem cells, stem cell research, and cloning increased from pre-test to post-test. For example, on the post-test, students gained knowledge concerning the age of an organism related to the type of stem cell it possesses. However, we found that some incorrect ideas that were evident on the pre-test persisted after instruction. For example, before and after instruction several students maintained the idea that stem cells can currently be used to produce organs.     

The influence of concept mapping on achievement,self-regulation,and self-efficacy in students of English as a second language

This study investigated the effectiveness of concept mapping used as a learning strategy with students in English as a Second Language classrooms. Seventy-nine ESL students participated in the study. Variables of interest were students’ achievement when learning from English-language text, students’ reported use of self-regulation strategies (self-monitoring and knowledge acquisition strategies), and students’ self-efficacy for learning from English-language text. A randomized pre-test–post-test control group design was employed. The findings showed a statistically significant interaction of time, method of instruction, and level of English proficiency for self-monitoring, self-efficacy, and achievement. For all four outcome variables, the concept mapping group showed significantly greater gains from pre-test to post-test than the individual study group. The findings have implications for both practice and research.     

Effects of multimedia annotations on incidental vocabulary learning and reading comprehension of advanced learners of english as a foreign language

The study investigates immediate and delayed effects of different hypermedia glosses on incidental vocabulary learning and reading comprehension of advanced foreign language learners. Sixty-nine freshman TEFL students studying at a Turkish university were randomly assigned to three types of annotations: (a) definitions of words, (b) definitions coupled with associated pictures, and (c) definitions coupled with associated short videos. Subjects were asked to read an annotated text with the intention of comprehension. The data were collected through a vocabulary pre-test, a vocabulary post-test, a delayed vocabulary test as well as a reading comprehension test. In order to measure incidental vocabulary learning, subjects were not told that they were going to be given vocabulary tests. Results showed that the groups that had access to definitions along with both types of visuals had significantly higher vocabulary scores on both immediate and delayed post-tests than the definition only group. However, no differences were observed on the reading comprehension test. Finally, the qualitative data revealed that hypermedia reading had positive impact on participants’ attitudes towards foreign language reading and vocabulary learning.

Learning strategies. A training programme

We elaborated and applied a training programme to teach learning strategies to students in continuing adult education courses in Valencia (Spain) throughout an academic year. We worked with one control group and with one experimental group. These groups were equivalent in terms of pre-test assessments and there was not any significant difference of means either in learning strategies or in marks in Spanish and Maths. We found significant difference of means in the post-test, after the training programme, in learning strategies, and also an important difference in marks. Experimental students improved their learning strategies significantly along with their marks in Spanish and Maths, whereas control students didn’t improve either their learning strategies or their marks. So we obtained generalization and transference of results. We think that these results are important and that they confirm the effectiveness of the methods of the educational intervention which we used. This intervention is placed in the field of learning to learn.     

Learning to read: a professional learning journey

This article reports on a study that investigated a professional development initiative in Australia to address a decline in reading comprehension scores in the middle and upper years of Primary school. It describes the professional learning journey of a middle primary teacher and his literacy coach over a period of 12 months as they worked to improve the teacher’s knowledge and skills to explicitly teach reading comprehension. A series of classroom observations and interviews at the beginning, middle and end of the school year were analysed for the kinds of reading skills taught and the nature of the instruction. The data suggest that there were significant changes in the teacher’s pedagogical repertoires and practices and an observed improvement in the student’s understandings of different comprehension knowledge, skills and strategies.     

Using a Think-Aloud with Diverse Students: Three Primary Grade Students Experience Chrysanthemum

Many struggling readers, students with English as a second language, and children with disabilities do not engage in the strategies that good readers use when reading for understanding. Reading comprehension depends upon the students’ ability to successfully use strategies to monitor and control their own comprehension. Teachers need to help students develop skills that will aid in reading comprehension. The think-aloud is one strategy that can help struggling readers improve fluency and comprehension. One of the most important components to determine the success of the think-aloud is the teacher’s ability to model and facilitate the think-aloud procedure. The teacher needs to have a basic understanding of what is meant to be accomplished using this method. This article profiles how three teachers model and facilitate a think-aloud with three struggling readers.     

Improving the comprehension of disabled readers

Students with learning disabilities (LD) often have difficulty comprehending what they read. Although reading comprehension problems frequently are associated with inadequate word recognition, students also have difficulties related to comprehension itself—a passive approach to the reading task, insensitivity to text structure, and poor metacognitive skills. The reading and language arts curricula that have emerged from today’s constructivist paradigm can pose problems for these students. Whereas the new curricula emphasize personal interpretations of text and relatively unstructured teaching strategies, students with LD do well with explicit, highly structured instruction. This paper introduces an instructional program designed to teach students with serious learning disabilities how to identify a story theme, and how to relate it to their own real-life experiences. The program focused on understanding a text as a whole, and integrating text meaning with concepts and experiences that are personally meaningful, goals shared by a constructivist approach. At the same time, the program incorporates the explicit, structured instruction that these students also need. A study to evaluate the program’s effectiveness is described, as are current efforts to refine the program to promote transfer of comprehension strategies.     

Question Posing, Inquiry, and Modeling Skills of Chemistry Students in the Case-Based Computerized Laboratory Environment

A new learning unit in chemistry, Case-based Computerized Laboratories (CCL) and Computerized Molecular Modeling (CMM) was developed at the Technion. The CCL and CMM curriculum integrates computerized desktop experiments and molecular modeling with an emphasis on scientific inquiry and case studies. Our research aimed at investigating the effect of the CCL and CMM learning environment on students’ higher-order thinking skills of question posing, inquiry, and modeling. The experimental group included 614 honors 12th grade chemistry students from high schools in Israel who studied according to this learning unit. The comparison group consisted of 155 12th grade chemistry honors students who studied other chemistry programs. Pre- and post-tests questionnaires were used to assess students’ higher-order thinking skills. Students’ responses were analyzed using content analysis rubrics and their statistical analysis. Our findings indicated that the scores of the experimental group students improved significantly in question posing, inquiry and modeling skills from the pre-test to the post-test. The net gain scores of the experimental group students were significantly higher than those of their comparison peers in all three examined skills. In modeling skills, experimental group students significantly improved their achievements in making the transfer from 3D models to structural formulae, but only about half of them were able to transfer from formulae to 3D models. By presenting a case-based chemistry assessment tool and content analysis of students’ responses in this paper, we enable teachers and educators to analyze their students’ higher-order thinking skills both qualitatively and quantitatively.     

Assessing comprehension during reading with the Reading Strategy Assessment Tool (RSAT)

Comprehension emerges as the results of inference and strategic processes that support the construction of a coherent mental model for a text. However, the vast majority of comprehension skills tests adopt a format that does not afford an assessment of these processes as they operate during reading. This study assessed the viability of the Reading Strategy Assessment Tool (RSAT), which is an automated computer-based reading assessment designed to measure readers’ comprehension and spontaneous use of reading strategies while reading texts. In the tool, readers comprehend passages one sentence at a time, and are asked either an indirect (“What are your thoughts regarding your understanding of the sentence in the context of the passage?”) or direct (e.g., why X?) question after reading each pre-selected target sentence. The answers to the indirect questions are analyzed on the extent that they contain words associated with comprehension processes. The answers to direct questions are coded for the number of content words in common with an ideal answer, which is intended to be an assessment of emerging comprehension. In the study, the RSAT approach was shown to predict measures of comprehension comparable to standardized tests. The RSAT variables were also shown to correlate with human ratings. The results of this study constitute a “proof of concept” and demonstrate that it is possible to develop a comprehension skills assessment tool that assesses both comprehension and comprehension strategies.     

How do general knowledge and reading strategies ability relate to reading comprehension of high school students at different educational levels?

The study examines the relationship between general knowledge, skills in applying reading strategies, and reading comprehension for ninth‐grade students at varying educational levels: academic, semi‐academic, vocational and learning disabilities. Two hundred and five students received a battery of tests evaluating their general knowledge, skills in applying four reading strategies (summary, self‐questioning, clarification and prediction), and two reading comprehension tests. The findings revealed differential contributions of general knowledge and strategy application to reading comprehension. Compared with the academic students, semi‐academics have deficient strategic skills. Vocational students, in addition to deficient strategic skills, have poor general knowledge, which further impedes their reading comprehension. The deficiency of students with learning disabilities goes beyond these two components. These results led us to recommend different foci of comprehension intervention for each group.