Considerations for designing practice for deaf readers

Low reading comprehension persists among deaf readers, and recent research indicates that low automaticity in recognizing words and parsing sentence patterns is a significant source of the difficulty. When a learner does manage to gain an insight about some aspect of printed English, there may be limited impact on comprehension until the new knowledge can be applied fluently because the multiple cognitive demands of reading call for completing basic linguistic operations with a minimum of conscious effort. The research literature agrees that the route to improved automaticity is effective practice, and, thus, practice is also a likely route to increased comprehension. This article presents considerations to guide the design of practice for deaf readers. Certain of these notions are relatively applied in nature and may shape practice activities directly, for example, the discussion of research-based guidelines for tailoring the sequence and composition of practice items. Other parts of the discussion, such as those related to word recognition, are more theoretical than directive, and they imply research hypotheses that can and should be tested empirically. A principal point of this article is that without appreciable improvements in practice, the reading of many deaf students will remain largely unimproved.     

Recovery from the overexpectation effect: Contrasting performance-focused and acquisition-focused models of retrospective revaluation

In four Pavlovian conditioned lick-suppression experiments, rats had two conditioned stimuli (CSs X and A) independently paired with footshock, followed by pairings of a compound of A and X with the footshock. On subsequent tests with CS X, less conditioned suppression was observed than in control subjects that lacked the compound AX→footshock trials. Thisoverexpectation effect was reversed through posttraining extinction of CS A, a result consistent with both performance- and acquisition-focused models of retrospective revaluation. However, only performance-focused models could account for how posttraining increases or decreases in the A-footshock temporal interval attenuate the overexpectation effect.     

Implementing dynamicity in research designs for collaborative digital writing

This paper implements a dynamic (i.e. temporal and local) research design for collaborative digital writing (CDW) in writing assignments in higher education. This research design builds on my paper “Temporality revisited: Dynamicity issues in collaborative digital writing research”, published in this journal (Engerer 2020). The design identifies current state-of-the-art approaches to digital writing and introduces 1) the components of text (the process and products of writing and learning communication), 2) external variables such as learning orientations and group composition, 3) an intermediate layer of time management that is related to organizing the assignment, and 4) the sphere of knowledge construction. The main modification, however, is the addition of four features specifically connected to time-related aspects: 5) micro-analysis, 6) dynamicity, 7) writer relevance and 8) source status. This dynamized research design is applied in a study of writing assignments carried out by the author with students of information science in the spring term of 2016. It is demonstrated how the temporal organization of a CDW process can be visualized and how central concepts such as Task structure, Reference structure and Final target structure are construed, operationalized and dynamically related to each other. Furthermore, a real-time analysis of sequential concept building is provided. The discussion shows that the study integrates all the above elements 1)-8) of a dynamic research design for CDW, although to different degrees. The study presented here can provide a general background for designing research in CDW and can inspire CDW researchers to capture in their research designs the dynamic, time-related features in CDW.

     

Photoresists for microlithography

Photoresist technology, which is used for micro-patterning exploits changes in properties of polymeric materials, such as their solubility or volatility, upon photo-irradiation. This process has greatly benefitted from the knowledge base of organic chemistry and photo-induced organic transformations. The role of chemistry in the development of photoresists is described in this article.     

Teacher cognitive functioning as a factor in observed variety and level of classroom teaching behavior

A review of the literature suggests a relationship between life-long development of formal reasoning schema and performance in professional education careers. The study investigated implications of cognitive development of preservice teachers as it relates to their classroom teaching performance. Ninety-one seniors involved in a field-oriented teacher education program were given classroom responsibilities which included teaching a science unit. Formal thinking abilities were assessed using two types of developmental level tasks, performance on traditional type Piagetian tasks and recognition of formal thought approaches in solving educational tasks. Professional behaviors were assessed using observational ratings of classroom instructional and planning activities. Subjects assessed as formal operational, 30% of sample, using Piagetian performance tasks, had significantly higher facility in performing model classroom teaching behaviors than transitional or concrete subjects. Higher recognition ability of formal thought approaches to teaching was not related to facility in performing classroom teaching when compared to performance on Piagetian tasks. The relationship held up in seven of eight broad teaching behavior categories observed in classroom instruction. The results supported a general portrait of teaching behavior specifically related to teachers of differing cognitive functional levels. Implications for professional training programs are discussed.     

Collaborative Counseling: A Conceptual Framework and Approach for Counselors of Adults in Life Transitions

The emerging field of adult counseling generally refers to the applications of adult development and life transitions literature in counseling. To date, numerous definitions that apply a particular theoretical perspective to clients within an established counseling approach have characterized practice. In contrast, collaborative counseling is a term that defines an inclusive theoretical framework and distinct counseling approach. The phenomenology of counselors is defined in terms of three perspectives: (a) developmental—for conceptualizing adult experience and counseling; (b) collaborative—for characterizing counselor-client roles, interactions, and processes; and (c) idiographic—for conceptualizing applicability of theory and interventions to individuals. From these perspectives a specialized practice is derived that emphasizes transitional status assessment, adult processes, counseling outcomes in meaning and behavior, as well as multiple contexts and modalities for delivery of service. The implications for curriculum and training provide the basis for defining a specialization in adult counseling.     

The limited value of planning in education: Getting back to the basics isn't all about curriculum

In these times of tight budgets and political intoleance for taxation, public schools, particularly urban public schools, will continually have to look for ways in which to spend less while dealing with ever-increasing societal problems. While the ability of schools to improve the overal “product” with less resources is highly suspect, this article addresses one way in which spending less might actually improve school perfomance. The best planners in the best schools should be the administration, techers, students, parents, and the comminitu at large, and not outside esxperts hired to improve a school's “comprehensive” or “strategic” plan. By forcing the segments of the public that have the largest stake in the educational outcomes of schools to work together to plan for the future, schools will improve the efficacy of their staffs, their students, and allow parents the self-satisfaction of playing an important role in their children's education. An improtant side effect of such a method may be an increasing awareness by the public of the difficulties that schools face, and perhaps a better understanding of the important need for higher expenditures. His research interests include professionalism, collective bargaining, and educational reform. His articles have appeared inPeople and Education, and a recent article has been aceepted for publication in theJournal of Collective Negotiations in the Public Sector.     

Law enforcement officers as investigators and therapists in child sexual abuse: A training model

Law enforcement officers, often the first professionals to come in contact with a victim of child sexual abuse, can either increase or decrease the traumatic impact on the child and the family at the time of disclosure. The model for a training program for police officers in handling cases of child sexual abuse outlined in this paper is divided into three sections. The first part is directed towards theoretical issues involved in this problem, including an explanation of the history and background of sexual abuse of children by adults and of the difference in the dynamics of extra- and intrafamilial sexual abuse. The second part consists of a detailed explanation of different types of sex offenses and of standard physical examinations of sexual abuse victims. Graded slides of physical trauma geared towards wound identification are paired with relaxation exercises. The third section focuses on special considerations when interviewing sexually abused children. The difference between interviewing and interrogation, specific questioning techniques, and the use of videotape is explained. Each part of this training procedure is followed by a question and answer period and small group discussions for the purpose of encouraging disclosure and better understanding of the officers' personal reactions to cases of child sexual abuse.