Interactive Training Model: Enhancing Beginning Counseling Student Development

The authors propose the Interactive Training Model (ITM), a full classroom role play experience, as a method for helping student counselors develop essential interviewing and counseling skills and self‐awareness as required by the 2009 Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs Standards. This pre‐post, quasiexperimental study involving 45 master's‐level students indicated that those who participated in the ITM made greater gains in supervisee development compared with those who participated in a traditional peer feedback model. Narrative student feedback regarding the use of ITM in an essential skills course is presented, and implications for counselor education are discussed.     

真人秀《T台新面孔》:揭秘模特行业的台前幕后

正【阅读难度:】如果你对高端时尚感兴趣,而且也厌倦了《全美超模大赛》和《天桥风云》这样时尚选秀节目的老套与一成不变,美国Oxygen电视台出品的《T台新面孔》一定是你的菜!除了超强的超模导师阵容,独特的节目赛制也会让你眼前一亮!已经看腻了选手间的争斗戏码?导师间的明争暗斗更是火花四溅,高潮迭起!说了这么多,你一定被这部最in的真人秀吊足了胃口。没看过的同学请自动恶补——《T台新面孔》绝对是你了解模特行业台前幕后的绝佳范本!     

An Experimental Evaluation of Guided Reading and Explicit Interventions for Primary-Grade Students At-Risk for Reading Difficulties

Abstract

Considerable research evidence supports the provision of explicit instruction for students at risk for reading difficulties; however, one of the most widely implemented approaches to early reading instruction is Guided Reading (GR; Fountas & Pinnel, 1996), which deemphasizes explicit instruction and practice of reading skills in favor of extended time reading text. This study evaluated the two approaches in the context of supplemental intervention for at-risk readers at the end of Grade 1. Students (n = 218) were randomly assigned to receive GR intervention, explicit intervention (EX), or typical school instruction (TSI). Both intervention groups performed significantly better than TSI on untimed word identification. Significant effects favored EX over TSI on phonemic decoding and one measure of comprehension. Outcomes for the intervention groups did not differ significantly from each other; however, an analysis of the added value of providing each intervention relative to expected growth with typical instruction indicated that EX is more likely to substantially accelerate student progress in phonemic decoding, text reading fluency, and reading comprehension than GR. Implications for selection of Tier 2 interventions within a response-to-intervention format are discussed.     

Psychometric reevaluation of the scientific attitude inventory‐revised (SAI‐II)

The central purposes of this study were to review the development and evolution of the Scientific Attitude Inventory (SAI) and then reevaluate the psychometric properties of the revised form of the SAI, the Scientific Attitude Inventory II (SAI‐II). The SAI‐II was administered to a convenience sample of 543 middle and high school students from five teachers in four schools in four school districts in San Antonio, Texas, at the beginning of the 2004–2005 school year. Confirmatory factor analysis on the full data set failed to support the existence of a 12‐factor structure (as proposed by the scale developers) or a one‐factor structure. The data were then randomly divided into exploratory [exploratory factor analysis (EFA)] validation and confirmatory [confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)] cross‐validation sets. Exploratory and confirmatory models yielded a three‐factor solution that did not fit the data well [χ² (321) = 646, p < .001; RMSEA = .061 (.90 CI = .054–.068); and CFI = .81]. The three factors were labeled “Science is About Understanding and Explaining” (13 items), “Science is Rigid” (6 items), and “I Want to Be a Scientist” (8 items). The α‐coefficients for these three factors ranged from 0.59 to 0.85. Whether these identified subscales are valid will require independent investigation. In this sample, and consistent with prior publications, the SAI‐II in its current form did not have satisfactory psychometric properties and cannot be recommended for further use. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 600–616, 2008     

Toward an Expanded Concept of Rhetorical Delivery: The Uses of Reports in Public Policy Debates

Preparing students for civic engagement requires new knowledge about the uses of documents for advocacy and social change. Substantial social change results from repeated rather than from single rhetorical acts. Reconsideration of the rhetorical canon of delivery suggests expanding the concept beyond its present connection to publication (visual design, medium) to a rhetorical situation comprehensively defined. Delivery may take place over time and embrace a web of activities including field work, updates, and interconnections with other publications.     

The Role of an AC Network Calculator in the Electrical Engineering Curriculum at the Pennsylvania State University

Changes are being made in the content of presentday electrical engineering curriculums which require a fresh, modern outlook with regard to techniques pertaining to problem assignments and laboratory projects. Course content is being upgraded and broadened in the direction of a fundamental analytical approach. The recent revision of the electrical engineering curriculum at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, includes liberal use of an ac network calculator in all electrical engineering options, which are outlined in this paper. The uniqueness of the ac network calculator at the University is that it is used exclusively for educational purposes, especially in the Department of Electrical Engineering. This paper discusses the "when, where, and how" of the utilization of this facility in the electrical engineering curriculum.     

‘My work is bleeding’: exploring students’ emotional responses to first-year assignment feedback

This paper explores the emotional responses that assignment feedback can provoke in first-year undergraduates. The literature on the link between emotions and learning is well established, but surprisingly research on the relationship between emotions and feedback is still relatively scarce. This article aims to make an additional contribution to this emerging field. Semi-structured interviews with 24 first-year undergraduate students from the Humanities and Social Sciences department in a post-1992 institution were conducted. The interview narratives identified how the emotional impact of feedback was related to: prior experiences of education, the significance participants attached to the feedback received on their first assignment and how their interpretations of feedback comments were linked to beliefs about themselves as learners. The implications of these experiences on student ‘belonging’ and learning are discussed. The underlying themes that emerged from the findings are the polarised emotions of anxiety and confidence. Based on the findings, the paper concludes by making recommendations for reconceptualising feedback on first-year assignments. It suggests that a holistic assessment approach, which incorporates timely feedback indicating if students are ‘on the right lines’ with low-stakes assignments, is a practice that may both reduce anxiety and increase confidence to support students.