The effects of reading practice with compressed speech on reading rate and listening comprehension

Conclusions Reading practice with accompanying compressed speech as a pacer resulted in a significantly greater increase in reading rate without an accompanying loss in comprehension for the experimental group when compared with the control group. Scores on the delayed posttest seemed to indicate that the increase in reading rate was more than temporary. The significant increase in reading rate was accomplished with only 10 practice sessions. The number of sessions in earlier studies using pacers ranged from 16 (Marvel, 1959) to 50 (Wilson & Leavell, 1956). The present study suggests that a smaller number of sessions using compressed speech as a pacer can be effective in increasing reading rate. Since there was no significant difference between gain scores for the experimental and control groups for listening, this study provided no evidence to support the use of practice with compressed speech to improve listening ability. It might be noted however that the training sessions consisted of reading short storieswhile listening to the compressed speech. Thus, subjects did not receive practice in which listening to compressed speech was the sole activity. It is perhaps for this reason that the experimental group did not improve more in listening than did the control group. This article is based in part on Thameśs masteŕs thesis which was completed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.     

Impaired visual attention in children with dyslexia

Reading involves the correct and rapid identification of visual stimuli with letters and words. The processing of visual stimuli depends not only on the integrity of the peripheral and central visual system but also on the attentional systems involved. In the present study, a cue-target visual attention task was administered to a population-based sample of 25 children with dyslexia from 10 to 12 years of age. A control group matched for group size, age, and gender was obtained from the same general population. A two-stage screening process involved a spelling task of regular words followed by a battery of five single-word reading tasks. The cue-target task involved both a computer-controlled stimulus presentation and a computer-controlled measurement of reaction time. The data were analyzed by visual field, cue condition (valid, invalid, and no cue), and cue-target interval (CTI). The results showed a general pattern of slower responses in the dyslexia group compared to the control group. The dyslexia group also had longer reaction times in the short CTI condition (covert shift of attention) and in the long CTI condition (overt shift of attention). The findings may reflect a general attentional deficit to visual stimuli in dyslexia, possibly related to problems with the recruitment of necessary cognitive resources for the performance of complex reaction time tasks and for fluent reading.     

Flipping Online Analytics Classes: Achieving Parity with Their Face‐To‐Face Counterparts

We show how the principles of flipped learning that have been successfully applied to analytics classes taught face‐to‐face (F2F) at the undergraduate and graduate levels were emulated in corresponding online classes. Student satisfaction in the online flipped analytics classes was compared to student satisfaction in the F2F flipped analytics classes. Data were collected between the Spring 2016 and Fall 2018 semesters and involved two instructors with a sample of 726 students. The results of an independent samples t‐test showed that there was no significant difference in satisfaction between the online and F2F offerings. A binary logistics regression analysis on the data revealed that whether the flipped course was taught F2F or online had no significant effect on students recommending the course to their peers. The results suggest that flipped learning is transferrable to online analytics courses and yields student satisfaction at par with equivalent F2F flipped courses.     

A Note on Measuring the Economic Impact of Institutions of Higher Education

Universities and other institutions of higher education are frequently asked to justify, in economic terms, the allocation of state monies toward their programs. These institutions have often responded by conducting economic impact studies. The traditional approach to economic impact views increases in expenditures by a university as a means to create new jobs within the state and to expand the state's economic base. Recent studies have employed a new approach that also accounts for increases in the state's skill base as part of the economic impact. Although the skill-base approach yields favorable results for higher education, recent applications of the technique fail to consider fully the effects of migration on a university's economic impact and, thus, substantially overestimate the impact. Researchers are well advised to avoid the skill-base approach and to utilize the traditional economic-base approach, which produces more reliable estimates of local economic impact. Moreover, states and universities are cautioned not to place the debate over education financing exclusively in the realm of economic impact, since there are other reasons to provide publicly funded higher education.     

Science education research and cognitive science

Cognitive science has the potential for offering explanatory models for many of the findings of empirical research in science education. In this paper, I use recent editions of international journals of science education to produce a categorisation of types of science education research, and what possible contributions each might make to cognitive science or the potential of results from cognitive science for enriching the science education research accounts. In a short, final section, the relationship of our own cognitive work to cognitive science is explored.     

Are educators ready for reform—A response to the critics

In this rejoinder, we respond to the reactions provided by Thomas Andre, Donald Beggs, Robert Brown, Susan Hegland, Kenneth Henson, Theodore Kowalski, Richard Lathrop, Phyllis Maslow, Royce Ronning, James Schnurr, John Sikula, and John Surber. In addition, we present findings based on data collected from three additional national samples; The National School Board Association (NSBA), the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), as well as teachers who were in the NASSP sample. Finally, we draw conclusions from our data-collection efforts and from reactions given by the scholars listed above to make suggestions about which kinds of reforms educators are ready to implement.     

Girls,boys and conceptual physics: An evaluation of a senior secondary physics course

This paper reports an evaluation of the physics course at Dickson College (ACT) looking at students' high school experience, their expectations before beginning and their impressions and feelings during the course. In general, students seem to have a fairly negative approach to physics, enrolling for a variety of often vague utilitarian reasons but with little expectation of enjoyment or interest. These opinions were most prevalent in girls who tend to find the content difficult and the course as a whole uninteresting. There is also a significant difference between girls and boys in their response to different types of assessment items. In an attempt to enhance the level of interest and enjoyment in students we have been phasing in a more ‘conceptual’ approach to the teaching of physics. Specializations: senior Physics, Chemistry and Biology.