Cognitive functioning in learning-disabled and nonlearning-disabled secondary level students

A study was conducted to compare on a number of specialized cognitive procedures the performance of high school students designated as learning disabled (LD) with the performance of nonlearning-disabled students experiencing learning difficulties (nonLD). Both groups were then compared with a control group of typical learners. Results indicate that when taken as a group LD and nonLD students differed significantly from a control group of typical learners on 6 of 16 variables. LD students differed from nonLD students with learning difficulties on 5 of 16 variables. The performance of LD and nonLD students with learning difficulties indicates patterns of cognitive functioning that differ from those of typical learners. The possibility of the development of compensatory cognitive styles in LD and nonLD students and their implications are discussed.     

Infusion of Multicultural Issues in Curricula: A Student Perspective

To explore perceptions of the impact of a multicultural infusion project, current and former university students described classroom incidents that had strengthened their understanding of multiculturalism. They discussed why these incidents increased their multicultural awareness and how their interactions with others were changed. Participants described 155 incidents. These were sorted into 18 categories of pedagogical techniques and classroom composition or dynamics that promoted multicultural awareness. Former students reported that addressing multicultural issues in courses had a long-term impact on knowledge, attitudes, and professional skills. However, such benefits were not specific to classes that had been targeted for curriculum revision.     

Student teacher challenges: using the cognitive load theory as an explanatory lens

Cognitive load theory (CLT) can explain the challenges faced by student teachers. This study, guided by the CLT, included 26 pre-service teachers. Participants completed a cognitive load self-report questionnaire and were interviewed at two points during their student teaching. Results revealed that student teachers decreased mental effort related to monitoring their students’ level of attention, meeting needs of diverse learners, and managing internal and external distractions. Qualitative analysis revealed: (1) student teachers became aware of limited cognitive resources; (2) lesson planning imposes cognitive load during student teaching; and (3) cognitive overload limits the ability to make modifications during teaching.     

The “Hand-off” as a Flawed Approach to Disseminating Innovation: Lessons from Chemistry

Drawing on studies of active learning methods in an undergraduate chemistry course at a research institution, we first present two case studies exploring the change processes and outcomes of the faculty member who designed the course and the one who adapted it. We then explore the nature of the problems experienced during the adaptation process. We conclude with recommendations for successfully diffusing innovations: adapting faculty members should choose innovations that genuinely interest them and are aligned with their goals, should experiment with innovations in a gradual way, and should receive support throughout the process.     

Our Language: (Re)Imagining Communities in Ukrainian Language Classrooms

Drawing upon video recordings from two fifth-grade Ukrainian classrooms and interviews with children four years later, this paper examines these classrooms as sites for socializing learners into an imagined community of Ukrainian speakers, the extent to which children took up identities as members of this community, and the potential effect of this identification on willingness to learn and use Ukrainian. Microanalysis of classroom interaction illustrates how teachers drew upon prevailing discourses of language and nation in ways that both presupposed and sought to create children’s membership in an imagined national community whose core practices included affiliation with Ukrainian as “our language.” However, interview data reveal that while children readily aligned with this imagined community and voiced its language ideologies, they positioned themselves as peripheral members or alternatively reimagined an alternative, multilingual Ukrainian community.