Parents' views on changing communication after cochlear implantation

We sent questionnaires to families of all 288 children who had received cochlear implants at one center in the United Kingdom at least 5 years previously. Thus, it was a large, unselected group. We received 142 replies and 119 indicated that the child and family had changed their communication approach following cochlear implantation. In 113 cases the change was toward spoken language and in 6 cases the change was toward signed communication. Parents were asked to respond to statements about communication with their deaf child, and their responses indicated that parents wanted the most effective means of communication and one that their child would find most useful in the future. Findings that emerged from parents' comments indicated that the change toward greater use of spoken language was child-led and driven by increased audition. Parents also valued the contribution of signed communication.     

Impact of interdisciplinary learning on the development of engineering students’ skills

ABSTRACT

This paper intends to present an interdisciplinary project carried out in a School of Engineering, and to refer to its effects in the development of students’ skills. This project’s main goal was to present students with an intellectually demanding challenge which implied overcoming the disciplinary barriers thus integrating knowledge to solve the problems they were challenged with. After the project had been concluded, a study was carried out using a qualitative methodology by conducting two focus groups (n?=?16). The main goal of this procedure was to get a better perception of (1) how students understood the project; (2) what kind of skills students considered to have developed throughout the project, and (3) the importance they have attributed to this kind of project. The results demonstrate that students are aware of the relevance of the project not only for their education process but also for the development of their skills. The results of the study also reveal that the students involved in the project have been capable of identifying the specific skills that the project work had intended to address and develop.     

Making Difference Matter: Teaching and Learning in Desegregated Classrooms

In this ethnographic study, we look closely at everyday classroom interactions in order to examine the complex process of creating equitable classroom communities in racially and socioeconomically diverse schools. We use the lens of relational difference (Abu El-Haj, 2006) to examine how students negotiate social boundaries within their new school; how students and teachers use small group work to co-construct expectations of academic ability; and how teachers communicate and students navigate the social significance of differentiated instruction and assessment. We find that assumptions that some students are more competent than others permeate the classroom, and these perceptions of ability are frequently tied to students' race and socioeconomic status. We provide suggestions for teachers and teacher educators who wish to challenge these unspoken classroom norms.     

Reasoning beyond history: examining students’ strategy use when completing a multiple text task addressing a controversial topic in education

Reading and Writing - Given prior work identifying sourcing, corroboration, and contextualization as key strategies needed to learn from multiple texts, this study examines students’ multiple...     

Gender Differences in Pupil Attitudes to the National Curriculum Foundation Subjects of English,Mathematics, Science and Technology in Key Stage 3 in South Wales

The attitudes of pupils in South Wales to mathematics, English, science and technology were tested using a Likert‐type attitude scale. Pupils were selected from National Curriculum Key Stage 3, specifically Year 9 (age 13‐14 years). Schools were selected by their position in the 1992 National League tables produced by the Welsh Office, the schools being placed into one of four bands. The number of schools involved was 34 and the number of pupils 4263. This represents 15.3% of the total population of school children of age 13‐14 years in the region (Welsh Office, 1993). The results show gender differences in attitudes to English, mathematics, science and technology and some between school differences. The results are subjected to a factor analysis and are discussed in relation to groups of statements reflecting key aspects of each subject scale.     

Body composition analysis of inter-county Gaelic athletic association players measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry

Gaelic Football and Hurling are two sporting codes within the Gaelic Athletic Association. The purpose of this study was to report the body composition phenotype of inter-county Gaelic athletic association players, comparing groups by code and field position. 190 senior, male, outfield inter-county players (144 hurlers and 46 Gaelic footballers) were recruited. Stature and body mass was measured, estimates of three components of body composition, i.e. lean mass, fat mass and bone mineral content was obtained by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and normative data for Gaelic athletic association athletes by code and position was compared. Other than in the midfield, there was limited difference in body composition between codes or playing position. Stature-corrected indices nullified any existing group differences between midfielders for both codes. Further comparisons with a non-athletic control group (n = 431) showed no difference for body mass index (BMI); however, the athletic group has a lower fat mass index, with a greater lean mass in accounting for the matched BMI between groups. In addition to providing previously unknown normative data for the Gaelic athletic association athlete, a proportional and independent tissue evaluation of body composition is given.     

The development of a system for supporting the lifelong learner

Given the rapidly changing skills needs of ‘post‐industrial economies’, lifelong learning forms an integral part of government policy within the UK and abroad. However, like the UK, most economies are faced with the problem of how to reach those sections of the community that have traditionally not embraced learning and educational opportunities. In this paper, the development and evaluation of a system designed to address this problem is described. The Lifelong Learning in London for All (L4All) project has investigated the concept of ‘trails’ as a way of organising lifelong learning opportunities. The L4All pilot system combines a set of web services to provide the functionality needed to support this central idea. The development process was outlined, and the findings of an empirical study were used to confirm proof of concept.     

Cognitive Affective Engagement Model of Multiple Source Use

This article introduces the cognitive affective engagement model (CAEM) of multiple source use. The CAEM is presented as a way of unifying cognitive and behaviorally focused models of multiple text engagement with research on the role of affective factors (e.g., interest) in text processing. The CAEM proposes that students' engagement with multiple texts may be explained by the default stance toward task completion they adopt. Students' default stances are defined according to two dimensions: their level of affective engagement with the topic of the task and their habits with regard to text evaluation. Default stances are used to explain a host of multiple text use behaviors, such as text selection, duration of text access, and document information access, and performance outcomes, including text recall and integration. Directions for future research on the CAEM are proposed.