A UK and Ireland survey of educational psychologists’ intervention practices for students with autism spectrum disorder

Although evidence-based interventions (EBIs) for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been identified in recent systematic literature reviews, the extent to which the practice of educational psychologists (EPs) in the UK and Ireland is informed by these is unknown. This study presents the results of a questionnaire that surveyed 146 EP practitioners in the UK and Ireland about their use of 31 EBIs for ASD. This survey also explored the factors that influence EP practitioners’ decision-making when planning interventions for students with ASD. Of the 31 EBIs, EP practitioners were most often involved with implementing visual supports, social stories, reinforcement, modelling, antecedent-based interventions, prompting, and social skills training. The most salient factors that influenced EP practitioners’ decision-making when planning interventions for students with ASD included the student’s individual needs and factors related to the school context. Implications for EP practice are discussed in addition to the limitations of this study.     

Classcraft: from gamification to ludicization of classroom management

In this article, we discuss the concept of gamification, based on a literature review and preliminary feedback from teachers using Classcraft, a role-playing game supported by a digital platform and a mobile application that were developed to answer high school teachers’ classroom management needs. Our results come from two experiments in France and Quebec and also from an online survey that was made available on the Classcraft platform. These results promote a model of gamification that consists of considering the experience of the students, rather than the game itself, and they confirm that a game is consubstantial to its player. Therefore, we argue for the use of the term “ludicization” to emphasize that transforming a situation into a game does not consist of using elements that have a game-like aspect, but rather of a non-essentialistic vision of play, generating a metaphor around the situation to build a reflexive space where the nature and meaning of interactions are modified.     

How have target pupil,peer and school level outcomes related to peer-mediated interventions for pupils with ASD been evaluated?

There is an increasing interest in the role of peers in facilitating the social interaction skills of pupils with autism spectrum disorder through peer-mediated interventions (PMI). Several reviews provide promising evidence for the effectiveness of this approach; however, there has been limited consideration of the range of outcome foci and methods used to evaluate PMI. The purpose of the current review is to provide an overview of methods used to evaluate the impact of PMI and illuminate key examples of innovative practice. Database and web searches were conducted between July and August 2015 to identify PMI studies published between 2000 and 2015. Ten studies met criteria for inclusion. The review found that although measuring the outcome of PMI at the level of target pupils has been a focus, less attention has been given to exploring the experiences of participants; the impact on peers and the extent to which PMI can truly be implemented within an educational context. Implications for future methods of evaluating PMI are discussed.     

Working toward integrated practice: Understanding the interaction among formative assessment strategies

The purpose of this study was to directly observe and investigate the factors that support or hinder the implementation of an integrated approach to formative assessment and to understand how the implementation of formative assessment strategies interact. The authors present findings from a collective case study that included the observation of six teachers (three mathematics and three English language arts) who were purposefully sampled from a large, public, suburban high school in the northeast United States. The analysis of the case studies resulted in the identification of different patterns in teachers’ formative assessment practice. These patterns illustrate how the complex interaction between formative assessment practices can either support or hinder the implementation of an integrated approach to formative assessment and suggests classroom observations as a potential mechanism for identifying challenges and informing just-in-time professional development.     

Factors Most Likely to Contribute to Positive Course Evaluations

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which students differentially rated ten factors likely to affect their ratings on overall course evaluations. Students (N = 148) in several sections of an undergraduate educational psychology course indicated their preferences among several designated factors. We found remarkable similarity in the ratings across a variety of subgroups (i.e., high vs. low grades, high vs. low test scores, upper vs. lower classmen, and gender). Good grade emerged as the most highly rated factor for every subgroup, whereas high course standards fell among the less-favored factors.     

Comparing action gestures and classifier verbs of motion: evidence from Australian Sign Language, Taiwan Sign Language, and nonsigners' gestures without speech

Recent research into signed languages indicates that signs may share some properties with gesture, especially in the use of space in classifier constructions. A prediction of this proposal is that there will be similarities in the representation of motion events by sign-naive gesturers and by native signers of unrelated signed languages. This prediction is tested for deaf native signers of Australian Sign Language (Auslan), deaf signers of Taiwan Sign Language (TSL), and hearing nonsigners using the Verbs of Motion Production task from the Test Battery for American Sign Language (ASL) Morphology and Syntax. Results indicate that differences between the responses of nonsigners, Auslan signers, and TSL signers and the expected ASL responses are greatest with handshape units; movement and location units appear to be very similar. Although not definitive, these data are consistent with the claim that classifier constructions are blends of linguistic and gestural elements.     

Femoral indicator injection for transpulmonary thermodilution using the EV1000/VolumeView®: do the same criteria apply as for the PiCCO®?

Objective

Comparison of global end-diastolic volume index (GEDVI) obtained by femoral and jugular transpulmonary thermodilution (TPTD) indicator injections using the EV1000/VolumnView® device (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, USA).

Methods

In an 87-year-old woman with hypovolemic shock and equipped with both jugular and femoral vein access and monitored with the EV1000/VolumeView® device, we recorded 10 datasets, each comprising duplicate TPTD via femoral access and duplicate TPTD (20 ml cold saline) via jugular access.

Results

Mean femoral GEDVI ((674.6±52.3) ml/m²) was significantly higher than jugular GEDVI ((552.3±69.7) ml/m²), with P=0.003. Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated a bias of (+122±61) ml/m², limits of agreement of ?16 and +260 ml/m², and a percentage error of 22%. Use of the correction-formula recently suggested for the PiCCO® device significantly reduced bias and percentage error. Similarly, mean values of parameters derived from GEDVI such as pulmonary vascular permeability index (PVPI; 1.244±0.101 vs. 1.522±0.139; P<0.001) and global ejection fraction (GEF; (24.7±1.6)% vs. (28.1±1.8)%; P<0.001) were significantly different in the case of femoral compared to jugular indicator injection. Furthermore, the mean cardiac index derived from femoral indicator injection ((4.50±0.36) L/(min·m²)) was significantly higher (P=0.02) than that derived from jugular indicator injection ((4.12±0.44) L/(min·m²)), resulting in a bias of (+0.38±0.37) L/(min·m²) and a percentage error of 19.4%.

Conclusions

Femoral access for indicator injection results in markedly altered values provided by the EV1000/VolumeView®, particularly for GEDVI, PVPI, and GEF.

     

Cross-Cultural Validation of Four Positive Psychology Assessments for Use with a Ghanaian Population

This study reports the evaluation of four positive psychology assessments for use in clinical, education, and research settings with individuals in Ghana, Africa. The analyses attempted to identify validity evidence for internal structure and relationships with related variables for the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SLS; Diener et al. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75, 1985), General Mattering Scale (GMS; Marcus 1991), Short Grit Scale (GS; Duckworth and Quinn Journal of Personality Assessment, 9, 166–174, 2009), and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS; Smith et al. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15, 194–200, 2008). The data yielded from 657 Ghanaian participants indicated factor structures ranging from a strong model fit (SLS and GMS) to an acceptable fit following modifications to factor structure (GS and BRS), while evidence based on relationships to related variables was convincing. Implications for use of these assessments and for future research are discussed.     

THE CHANGING SOCIAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF NURSING STUDENTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES

This study had two major aims: 1) to establish a reliable data base on the social and demographic origins of nursing students in New South Wales universities since the introduction of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and the change from diploma to degree level programs; and 2) to compare the social and demographic origins of nursing students in higher education programs in 1995 with the data base established by Wright in New South Wales in 1986 to detect changes over time. Comparison of data from the 1986 group (N=447) and the 1995 group (N=512) revealed that there was a no significant difference between the two cohorts on the socio‐economic variable. There was, however, a significant difference in the SES variable between the 1986 and 1995 sample for the female group. From a household perspective, there was a significant difference in the number of siblings, and income received by the mother between the 1986 and 1995 cohorts. In addition, no support was found for the assertion that country students would be disadvantaged with the move to higher education programs. It was also found that almost 79.3% of the 1995 group chose to delay their HECS payment until they entered the workforce.