Effects of a Supplemental Vocabulary Intervention on the Word Knowledge of Kindergarten Students At Risk for Language and Literacy Difficulties

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a vocabulary intervention designed to supplement research‐based classroom vocabulary instruction, implemented with students who may be at risk for language and learning difficulties. Participants included 43 kindergarten students who received research‐based classroom vocabulary instruction. Students with the 20 lowest scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test‐III administered at pretest received additional small‐group supplemental vocabulary intervention. Results of within‐subjects comparisons indicated that, overall, at‐risk students made greater gains in word knowledge on target words that received the supplemental intervention as compared to words that received only classroom‐based instruction. In addition, at‐risk students who received the supplemental intervention demonstrated word‐learning gains that approached those of their peers who received classroom instruction alone. Implications along with limitations of the current study and directions for future research are discussed.     

Big data governance of personal health information and challenges to contextual integrity

Pervasive digitization and aggregation of personal health information (PHI), along with artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced analytical techniques, hold promise of improved health and healthcare services. These advances also pose significant data governance challenges for ensuring value for individual, organizational, and societal stakeholders as well as individual privacy and autonomy. Through a case study of a controversial public-private partnership between Royal Free Trust, a National Health Service hospital system in the United Kingdom, and Alphabet’s AI venture DeepMind Health, we investigate how forms of data governance were adapted, as PHI data flowed into new use contexts, to address concerns of contextual integrity, which is violated when personal information collected in one use context moves to another use context with different norms of appropriateness.     

The Determinants of Web Use Within an Economics Principles Course

This article considers the determinants of student access of a specific course Web site from a Principles of Macroeconomics course. As they prepare for the course's in-class exams, students may choose either or both of two Web resource types, a dynamic resource (interactive multiple choice practice exams) or various static resources. The article addresses two related questions. First, we ask whether a given set of characteristics affects the access of these different Web site resources similarly. Second, we explore the influence of certain student characteristics on the student decision to access a given Web resource. In general terms, our findings suggest results that are consistent with existing studies of how students learn. Our results also suggest that a greater diversity of resources will, in fact, elicit wider use of one's course Web site.     

Dangerous Dualisms or Murky Monism? A Reply to Jim Garrison

Jim Garrison's recent criticisms of what he refers to as 'dangerous dualisms' in my theory of critical thinking are unsuccessful. They fail, in large part, because of misinterpretations of my view, but also because of Garrison's systematic reliance on problematic aspects of Dewey's terminology and philosophy.