Effects of a Computer-Based Early Reading Program on the Early Reading and Oral Language Skills of At-Risk Preschool Children

This study examined the effects of a computer-based early reading program (Headsprout Early Reading) on the oral language and early reading skills of at-risk preschool children. In a pretest–posttest control group design, 62 children were randomly assigned to receive supplemental instruction with Headsprout Early Reading (experimental group) or Millie's Math House (control group) for 30 min each school day for 8 weeks. Children using Headsprout Early Reading made greater gains in early reading skills as measured by the Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA-3), F(1, 59) = 39.35, p < 0.01, and in oral language skills as measured by the Test of Language Development-Primary (TOLD-P:3), F(1, 59) = 37.03, p < 0.01. Effect sizes were large for the gains in both measures (TERA-3, η² = 0.24; TOLD-P:3, η² = 0.17). Teachers' responses to an open-ended interview indicated that the program was perceived as a desirable instructional aid. Educational considerations for preventing future reading difficulties and issues about implementation integrity are discussed.     

Literacy Growth in the Academic Year Versus Summer From Preschool Through Second Grade: Differential Effects of Schooling Across Four Skills

Differences in literacy growth over the summer versus the school year were examined to isolate how schooling affects children's literacy development from preschool through second grade across four literacy skills. Children (n = 383) were tested individually twice each year for up to 4 years on measures of phonological awareness, decoding, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. Growth curve analyses indicated that schooling effects were greatest for decoding skills and reading comprehension, were medium in size for phonological awareness, and were less evident for vocabulary. Except for vocabulary, relatively small amounts of growth were observed for preschoolers, followed by a period of rapid growth for kindergarteners and first graders, which slowed again for second graders. Findings demonstrate the differential effect of schooling on four separate literacy skills during the crucial school transition period.     

Coming to know within ‘healthy uncertainty’: an autoethnography of engagement and transformation in undergraduate education

This article is an autoenthnographic account of the yearlong journey of two undergraduates and their instructor when the traditional classroom structures associated with the banking concept of education were altered in an upper division class and follow-on research experiences. These changes focused on foregrounding students' experiences of the uncertainties inherent in the process of coming to know. Scaffolding this process within a context of ‘healthy uncertainty’ is described. Within this context, student engagement deepened allowing for generalization of knowledge and transformative personal experiences as the links between school and everyday life became more transparent.     

The pedagogical balancing act: teaching reflection in higher education

Despite the common use of the term reflection in higher education assessment tasks, learners are not often taught how to communicate their disciplinary knowledge through reflection. This paper argues that students can and should be taught how to reflect in deep and transformative ways. It highlights the reflexive pedagogical balancing act of attending to different levels of reflection as a way to stimulate focused, thoughtful and reasoned reflections that show evidence of new ways of thinking and doing. The paper uses data from a current project to illustrate the effects of focusing on particular levels of reflection in the pedagogical strategies used, and argues that while the goal of academic or professional reflection is generally to move students to the highest level of reflection to transform their learning/practice, unless higher education teachers attend to every level of reflection, there are specific, observable gaps in the reflections that students produce.     

A conceptual change staff development programme: Effects as perceived by the participants

Abstract

Hong Kong society is composed predominantly of people of Chinese ethnic origin and is characterized by a mix of traditional Chinese culture and Western culture, the latter arising in part from 155 years of British colonial rule. While some would argue that, by virtue of their international connections and British origins, Hong Kong universities do not differ in significant ways from their counterparts in Western countries, this paper pursues the counter‐argument that academic life in Hong Kong strongly reflects traditional Chinese culture (albeit in a modified form) and that this is turn influences not only the culture of teaching and learning but the possibilities for effective faculty development. It is by recognizing and valuing, rather than denying, unique local characteristics, that the universities can achieve the kind of excellence in education that Hong Kong society so clearly values. In evaluating the likely success of initiatives to enhance teaching effectiveness there is a need to consider those special aspects of Chinese culture which appear to underlie the context of university teaching and learning.     

Does equal access mean treat the same? From theory to practice in the classroom of English as an Additional Language learner in Ireland – towards a transformative agenda

While a substantial body of research exists on First- and Second-Language Acquisition (SLA), research on the language acquisition process that a language minority student goes through when they are acquiring a second language has been largely unexplored. Pedagogical practices that espouse language learning theories facilitate both the language development and integration of the language minority child into the classroom. This paper will look at various linguistic variables within the field of SLA which are of particular relevance to the language acquisition process of such students in an Irish context. By embedding these linguistic factors into pedagogical practices, educators can engage with a transformative framework which will not only aid their linguistic and cognitive development, but will also empower the students by developing their critical language skills and facilitate their ability to access the mainstream curriculum.     

Training Parents as Effective Literacy Tutors: Increasing the Procedural Integrity of Tutoring

We trained parents to tutor their child through implementing a repeated reading procedure designed to increase oral reading fluency. Our study was conducted over a two-week winter break at the homes of the parent and child. Baseline data for each child were collected using curriculum-based measurement (CBM) to determine an instructional reading level prior to the tutoring session. Following baseline, we trained parents as tutors to implement all aspects of the reading procedure including administering, scoring, and recording data. All sessions were audio recorded to assist with the data collection, scoring, treatment integrity, and interobserver agreement (IOA). According to results from our study, parent tutors were able to accurately score the reading probes and implement the repeated reading procedure with a high level of treatment fidelity following the training. In addition, parents were satisfied with the tutoring experience and the reading fluency for all children increased at the completion of the tutoring sessions.     

Constitution

An ecological theory of health communication is offered that addresses how communications about health interdependently work together to influence health and/or health‐related behaviors. To explain how a multitude of variables work together in a synergistic manner, the present work borrows heavily from chaos theory. The use of chaos theory concepts represents a significant paradigm shift from previous, more reductionist, health communication perspectives. The present work (a) provides a definition of health communication, (b) offers an overall health communication framework, (c) introduces relevant chaos theory concepts into the health communication literature, and (d) illustrates how chaos theory concepts can be applied to the field of health communication in order to explain health‐related behavior. Specific operationalization procedures are suggested to test the theoretical ideas outlined.     

Innovation as a social bubble: The example of the Human Genome Project

In this paper we present a detailed synthesis of the development of the Human Genome Project (HGP) from the mid 1980s through 2000, in order to test our hypothesis of “social bubbles”, which claims that strong social interactions between enthusiastic supporters weave a network of reinforcing feedbacks that lead to widespread endorsement and extraordinary commitment by those involved, beyond what would be rationalized by a standard cost-benefit analysis in the presence of extraordinary uncertainties and risks. The HGP was initiated as a public project funded by government agencies, starting at a moderate pace. The progressive introduction of different actors and the development of various interests catalyzed the project, which eventually became eminent both in the public and private sectors. The competition between the public and the private sector played greatly in favor of both: the financial burden as well as the horizon of the public project were significantly reduced, the private project(s) gained from the hype of the public project, yet had to play an active and collaborative role in order to remain in the game. This is at the core of the social bubble hypothesis. To further our argument, we present quantitative analysis of the development of the biotech sector within the financial stock market. Lastly, we point to the fact that the hypes fueling the bubble during its growth have not been followed by real tangible outcomes over the short expected time horizons. Indeed, at the time of writing (May, 2011), the consensus of the scientific community is that it will take decades to exploit the fruits of the HGP.