Optimierung einer videobasierten Lerngelegenheit im Problem Based Learning Format durch Cognitive Tools. Eine Interventionsstudie mit Lehramtsstudierenden

The following study aims to explore whether a video- and problem-based learning (PBL) environment can be improved using cognitive tools. Our hypothesis is that direct instructions in a PBL setting enhance pre-service teachers’ learning outcomes in classroom management. To answer this research question, we implemented a pre-post-design within which we assigned 237 master students to two learning environments: Classic problem-based learning (PBL), where students acquired central theoretical concepts and empirical findings on dealing with disruptions in groups (n = 113) or instructed problem-based learning (I-PBL), where students received extensive theoretical instructions (n = 124) during the first two seminar sessions. In the framework of a longitudinal self-report assessment we found that (1) teacher self-efficacy in the subscales “student engagement”, “instruction” and “classroom management competencies” increased in students of both groups. The highest increase was found in classroom management competencies. (2) In the evaluation with an objective measure students participating in the I?PBL group showed greater knowledge than students in the PBL group (multiple-choice test), and (3) regarding motivational processes students in the PBL group reported a higher degree of identification than students in the I?PBL group.     

Intimate partner violence among female caregivers of children reported for child maltreatment

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and correlates of intimate partner violence among female caregivers of children reported to child protective services. METHOD: Data were derived from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, a national probability study of children investigated for child abuse and neglect in the United States. Caregivers were interviewed about demographic characteristics, mental health, substance use, and physical violence by a partner. RESULTS: The lifetime and past year prevalence of intimate partner violence was 44.8 and 29.0%, respectively. Caregiver major depression and history of prior reports of child maltreatment were strongly associated with violence against women. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the need for effective screening and identification of intimate partner violence in families in which child maltreatment has occurred.     

Reading skill components and impairments in middle school struggling readers

This study investigated how measures of decoding, fluency, and comprehension in middle school students overlap with one another, whether the pattern of overlap differs between struggling and typical readers, and the relative frequency of different types of reading difficulties. The 1,748 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students were oversampled for struggling readers (n = 1,025) on the basis of the state reading comprehension proficiency measure. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses showed partial invariance among struggling and typical readers (with differential loadings for fluency and for comprehension), and strict invariance for decoding and a combined fluency/comprehension factor. Among these struggling readers, most (85 %) also had weaknesses on nationally standardized measures, particularly in comprehension; however, most of these also had difficulties in decoding or fluency. These results show that the number of students with a specific comprehension problem is lower than recent consensus reports estimate and that the relation of different reading components varies according to struggling versus proficient readers.     

Study of clinical features of amyloid angiopathy hemorrhage and hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage

Objective: The purpose of this study was to differentiate between cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) and hypertension (HTN) based on hemorrhage pattern interpretation. Methods: From June 1994 to Oct., 2000, 83 patients admitted to our service with acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) were investigated retrospectively; 41 patients with histologically proven diagnosis of cerebral amyloid angiography and 42 patients with clear history of hypertension were investigated. Results: Patients with a CAA-related ICH were significantly older than patients with a HTN-related ICH (74.0years vs 66.5 years, P＜0.05). There was a significantly higher number ofhematomas≥30 ml in CAA (85.3%) when compared with HTN (59.5%). No basal ganglional hemorrhage was seen in CAA, but in 40.5% in HTN. In CAA-related ICH, subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) was seen in 26 patients (63.4%) compared to only 11 patients (26.2%) in HTN-related ICH.Intraventricular hemorrhage was seen in 24.4% in CAA, and in 26.2% in HTN. Typical features of CAA-related ICH included lobar distribution affecting mainly the lobar superficial areas, lobulated appearance, rupture into the subarachnoid space, and secondary IVH from the lobar hemorrhage. More specifically, multiplicity of hemorrhage, bilaterality, and repeated episodes also strongly suggest the diagnosis of CAA. Multiple hemorrhages, defined as 2 or more separate hematomas in multiple lobes, accounted for 17.1% in CAA-related ICH. Conclusion: There are certain features in CAA on CT and MRI and in clinical settings. To some extent, these features may contribute to distinguishing CAA from HTN related ICH.     

Effects of intensive reading intervention for eighth-grade students with persistently inadequate response to intervention

The authors report the effects of a yearlong, very small-group, intensive reading intervention for eighth-grade students with serious reading difficulties who had demonstrated low response to intervention (RTI) in both Grades 6 and 7. At the beginning of Grade 6, a cohort of students identified as having reading difficulties were randomized to treatment or comparison conditions. Treatment group students received researcher-provided reading intervention in Grade 6, which continued in Grade 7 for those with low response to intervention; comparison students received no researcher-provided intervention. Participants in the Grade 8 study were members of the original treatment (N = 28) and comparison (N = 13) conditions who had failed to pass a state-mandated reading comprehension test in both Grades 6 and 7. In Grade 8, treatment group students received a 50-minute, daily, individualized, intensive reading intervention in groups of two to four students per teacher. The results showed that students in the treatment condition demonstrated significantly higher scores than comparison students on standardized measures of comprehension (effect size = 1.20) and word identification (effect size = 0.49), although most continued to lack grade-level proficiency in reading despite 3 years of intervention. Findings from this study provide a rationale for intensive intervention for middle school students with severe reading difficulties.     

Introverts,Extroverts, and Achievement in a Distance Learning Environment

Although difficulties that characterize distance learning (DL) clearly have differential effects on different learners, links between barrier research and individual differences remain relatively unexplored. This study examined the relationship between cognitive style, based on Jung's (1971) theory, and achievement levels among 77 university students in a videoconference-based learning environment. Clarifying this relationship enables educators to identify in advance students who may require additional instructional support in a DL context. Understanding student-related variables that affect learning also enables faculty to adapt instructions to meet the diverse needs of different students instead of adopting a “one-size-fits-all” approach to designing DL environments.     

Spatial Visualization of Human Anatomy through Art Using Technical Drawing Exercises

Spatial visualization, the ability to mentally rotate three-dimensional (3D) images, plays a significant role in anatomy education. This study examines the impact of technical drawing exercises on the improvement of spatial visualization and anatomy education in a Neuroscience course. First-year medical students (n = 84) were randomly allocated into a control group (n = 41) or art-training group (n = 43). Variables including self-reported artistic drawing ability, previous technical drawing experience, or previous anatomy laboratory exposure were gathered. Participants who self-identified as artistic individuals were equally distributed between the two groups. Students in the art-training group attended four 1-hour sessions to solve technical drawing worksheets. All participants completed two Mental Rotations Tests (MRT), which were used to assess spatial visualization. Data were also collected from two neuroscience written examinations and an anatomical “tag test” practical examination. Participants in the art-training and control groups improved on the MRT. The mean of written examination two was significantly higher (P = 0.007) in the art-training group (12.95) than the control group (11.48), and higher (P = 0.027) in those without technical drawing experience (12.44) than those with (11.00). The mean of the anatomical practical was significantly higher (P = 0.010) in those without artistic ability (46.24) than those with (42.00). These results suggest that completing technical drawing worksheets may aid in solving anatomy-based written examination questions on complex brain regions, but further research is needed to determine its implication on anatomy practical scores. These results propose a simple method of improving spatial visualization in anatomy education.     

The component skills underlying reading fluency in adolescent readers: a latent variable analysis

This study investigated the component skills underlying reading fluency in a heterogeneous sample of 527 eighth grade students. Based on a hypothetical measurement model and successive testing of nested models, structural equation modeling revealed that naming speed, decoding, and language were uniquely associated with reading fluency. These findings suggest that the ability to access and retrieve phonological information from long-term storage is the most important factor in explaining individual differences in reading fluency among adolescent readers. The ability to process meaning and decode novel words was smaller but reliable contributors to reading fluency in adolescent readers.     

The Relation of Knowledge-Text Integration Processes and Reading Comprehension in 7th- to 12th-Grade Students

The integration of knowledge during reading was tested in 1,109 secondary school students. Reading times for the second sentence in a pair (Jane’s headache went away) were compared in conditions where the first sentence was either causally or temporally related to the first sentence (Jane took an aspirin vs. Jane looked for an aspirin). Mixed-effects explanatory item response models revealed that at higher comprehension levels, sentences were read more quickly in the causal condition. There were no condition-related reading time differences at lower comprehension levels. This interaction held with comprehension- and inference-related factors (working memory, word and world knowledge, and word reading efficiency) in the models. Less skilled comprehenders have difficulty in knowledge-text integration processes that facilitate sentence processing during reading.