Young Travellers and the Children's Fund: some practical notes on an experimental image-based research project

The paper reflects on how photography was used during a small piece of mixed methods qualitative research with some young Travellers and their families. The context for the study was 'Every Child Matters' and the accompanying push aimed to include groups considered as marginalised, such as young Travellers, in mainstream educational provision, as well as to listen to children and involve them in decision-making about service provision and its evaluation. Photography was used experimentally as a kind of participatory methodology to engage young Travellers in the formative evaluation of a Children's Fund project that aimed to increase their participation in formal and informal learning activities. The account discusses some of the outcomes of using the image-based methodology, as well as some of the limitations and dilemmas that emerged.     

Effects of a two-phase reading intervention on three orthographic-phonological code connections

According to the Multiple Connections Model, children bring to the task of learning to read varying degrees of skill in three orthographic coding procedures for written words (whole words, single letters, and letter clusters) and in three phonological coding procedures for spoken words (phonetic or name codes, phonemes, and syllables) and thus in ability to form connections between corresponding orthographic and phonological codes: whole word-phonetic/semantic code, letter-phoneme, and letter cluster-syllable/subsyllable. In Phase I of this intervention study only orthographic and phonological coding were remediated. In Phase II explicit teaching in reading was provided that emphasized the multiple orthographic-phonological connections above. Overall the group improved from about one standard deviation below the mean to approximately the mean standard score for grade in reading real words (whole word and subword connections) and in reading nonwords (subword connections only) after an average of 28.7 sessions of about 40 minutes each. Overall 70% of the individuals showed significant gains in reading real words and 90% of the individuals showed significant gains in reading nonwords. The intervention was most effective in creating whole word-phonetic/semantic connections and least effective in creating letter-phoneme connections. These results demonstrate that theory-driven intervention during a critical developmental period in reading acquisition may prevent more serious reading disabilities.     

“They Were There for People Who Needed Them”: Student Attitudes Toward the Use of Trigger Warnings in Victimology Classrooms

Over the last five years, vigorous debate has been waged about the purpose, use, and impact of trigger warnings in courses offered at institutions of higher education. This debate has been largely uninformed by research findings. This study fills this gap using quantitative and qualitative data collected via surveys in a large undergraduate victimology course to explore student attitudes toward trigger warnings. Findings revealed considerable, but nuanced support for trigger warning use in victimology courses. Support does not appear to differ between crime victims and non-victims; support is higher among females than males. These findings underscore that universal decisions mandating or advocating for or against the use of trigger warnings are premature. Further study is needed with a diverse range of samples to gain a fuller picture of student attitudes about trigger warnings as well as to assess any impact of trigger warnings use on student behavior and learning.     

Development and Implementation of the Inaugural Anatomy Education Research Institute (AERI 2017)

Education research is increasingly being recognized as a legitimate route for faculty development in universities. However, many anatomy faculty lack the appropriate training and access to experienced mentors who can help them develop their own education research projects. Inspired by the American Physiological Society’s Institute for Teaching and Learning, the coauthors proposed and developed the inaugural Anatomy Education Research Institute (AERI 2017). Funded by an American Association of Anatomists Innovations grant, the five-day institute was held in Bloomington, Indiana in July 2017. The coauthors spent two years preparing the conference schedule, inviting speakers who could discuss education research topics and mentor applicants, reviewing applications, developing assessment instruments for the institute, and hosting the institute. A total of 62 registered participants (applicants and invited speakers) attended AERI 2017. Through a series of presentations and workshops, participants were introduced to many aspects of education research and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, including developing rigorous education research questions, determining appropriate methods to assess these questions, and searching the education research literature. Each day also included regular time devoted to work on their own education research project with help from more experienced mentors. Throughout the conference, participants were encouraged to post information on Twitter, using the hashtag #AERI2017. Participants had strong positive impressions of the conference and strongly requested future AERI conferences be held. Follow-up analyses will assess the institute in alignment with Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation Model, though preliminary evaluation indicates AERI 2017 met the original aims of the proposal.     

Effect of a pedometer-based intervention on daily step counts of community-dwelling older adults

This study investigated the effect of a 12-week pedometer-based intervention on daily step counts of 147 older adults randomly assigned to an intervention or wait-list control group (M age = 72.9 years, SD = 8.8). The intervention group significantly increased their daily step counts after 12 weeks (M=639, SD=2239) and continued to significantly increase during a 12-week maintenance period (M=680, SD=1721). The control group exhibited no change during the control period (M = -393, SD=2050) but had a significant increase in daily step counts (M=1580, SD=2305) when enrolled in the intervention. The pedometer-based intervention was effective in increasing participants' daily step counts.     

新《义务教育法》的突破与创新

有效解决我国义务教育改革发展面临的重大问题是修订1986年《义务教育法》的根本动因。新《义务教育法》在义务教育法的立法目的、义务教育的基本性质、经费投入、政府责任、学校安全、教育公平与均衡发展、教师队伍、法律责任等方面都有一些新的、重大的突破。这部《义务教育法》是我国义务教育立法和义务教育发展进程中的一个新的里程碑。