Insights from Educational Psychology Part 12: Interventions and Collaborations

ABSTRACT

Educational interventions are manipulations implemented to change students’ thoughts, emotions, or behaviors. Brief, easily implemented interventions have been shown to have long-lasting positive effects if they cause students to change recursive psychological processes. Successful interventions require a deep understanding of both theories of psychological processes and specific contexts. One size cannot fit all, and seemingly minor variations in an intervention can result in unexpected effects. Collaboration with faculty and others who support student learning can benefit all parties involved.     

Road cycle TT performance: Relationship to the power-duration model and association with FTP

Purpose: To determine the accuracy of critical power (CP) and W? (the curvature constant of the power-duration relationship) derived from self-paced time-trial (TT) prediction trials using mobile power meters to predict 16.1-km road cycling TT performance. This study also aimed to assess the agreement between functional threshold power (FTP) and CP.

Methods: Twelve competitive male cyclists completed an incremental test to exhaustion, a FTP test and 4–5 self-paced TT bouts on a stationary bike within the lab, and a 16.1 km road TT, using mobile power meters.

Results: CP and W? derived from the power-duration relationship closely predicted TT performance. The 16.1-km road TT completion time (26.7 ± 2.2 min) was not significantly different from and was significantly correlated with the predicted time-to-completion (27.5 ± 3.3 min, r = 0.89, P < 0.01). CP and FTP were not significantly different (275 ± 40 W vs. 278 ± 42 W, P > 0.05); however, the limits of agreement between CP and FTP were 30 to -36 W.

Discussion: The findings of this study indicate that CP and W? determined using mobile power meters during maximal, self-paced TT prediction trials can be used to accurately predict 16.1-km cycling performance, supporting the application of the CP and W? for performance prediction. However, the limits of agreement were too large to consider FTP and CP interchangeable.     

“What Is Said Here”: Reflections on an Informal Community for Black Men at an Historically White Institution

Ray Black describes the need for a community for black male undergraduates, the benefits to its student members, and the responsibilities of its elders.     

Helping students to become capable learners

The main aim of this article is to argue that the need for teachers and their schools to prepare their students for life beyond their school-days must be met by requiring teachers themselves to both achieve this aim and produce the evidence of their students’ capability as learners. In so doing, they must change their classroom teaching from a focus on transmission of content knowledge to the active involvement of students in open-ended and collaborative learning. Achievement of this aim requires that some specific features of pedagogy be implemented in classrooms. In order to do this, teachers will have to develop the linked skills of design of activities, of guidance of students’ progress, of the adaptation of the design through teacher-student and student-student interaction, and of making assessments at the many stages of implementation and as a final summation of achievement. So a secondary aim of this article is to review the evidence for work which has studied the development of these skills with and by teachers.     

Temporal processing,attention, and learning disorders

In a large sample (N = 439) of literacy impaired and unimpaired elementary school children the predictions of the temporal processing theory of dyslexia were tested while controlling for (sub)clininal attentional deficits. Visual and Auditory Temporal Order Judgement were administered as well as three subtests of a standardized attention test. The correlation between visual and auditory TOJ was only moderate, challenging the assumption of a general, cross-modal temporal processing deficit. Regression analyses revealed attention as a significant predictor of children's TOJ performance. Once attentional differences were accounted for, temporal processing made a significant but small contribution (3% of variance explained) to reading (but not spelling), but also to arithmetic achievement, indicating that the prediction is not specific to literacy skills. Phonology and Rapid Automatized Naming explained considerable variance even when introduced after TOJ, contradicting the assumption that the verbal deficits in dyslexia result from temporal processing problems. Multiple case studies of 40 children with serious deficits in temporal processing revealed no consistent group pattern. Problems in temporal processing do not necessarily lead to literacy impairment but might be a marker of minor deviances in brain development.     

Constructing a patient education system: A performance technology project

The purpose of the patient education system described here was to distribute patient education material to and within medical practices managed by a small medical practice management company. The belief was that patient education opportunities improved health care outcomes and increased patient participation in health care decisions and compliance with health care plans. This tool reinforced medical practices' commitment to having patients participate actively in their treatment, differentiated them from other practices, and contributed to the generation of new patients.     

The Development of Social Cognition: Preschoolers' Use of Mental State Talk in Peer Conflicts

Research Findings: This research examines preschoolers' use of mental state terms in naturally occurring peer conflicts in the classroom to determine how children use mental state terms for organizing their social interactions. Analyses focus on the types, frequencies, and social interactive functions of mental state terms. Utterances (N = 166) with mental state terms from 124 conflict episodes were analyzed. Children used a number of different mental state terms, want and need being the most frequently used, to index their own and their interlocutors' desires for subtle interactive purposes. Want was paired most often with bids for action, objects, inclusion in a play area, or clarification of another child's mental state. Need was most often used when directing the other child's action or attention, to justify, clarify, or insist on their own action or previous request. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest that children's peer conflicts constitute a rich setting for the active construction of social relationships through the use of utterances with mental state language. This emphasis on peer interactions has the potential to inform new ways of supporting children's self–other development as a foundation for academic success.     

Mental health and subjective well-being of staff in a secondary school for adolescents with severe and profound multiple learning difficulties

The main purpose of this study was to explore the mental health and subjective well-being of staff working with adolescents with severe and profound multiple learning difficulties. The participants were 19 teachers and 25 teaching assistants working in an inner London, local authority, specialist day provision. A demographic questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the Positive Affect Scale, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale were used as data collection tools. The inferential statistical tools used were t-tests and correlational analyses. The study brought to light a high number of borderline and abnormal anxiety scores among all staff. The study also found a significant difference in the resilience scores of teachers and teaching assistants, with teaching assistants scoring higher on the resilience scale. The results, alongside findings from previous research, call for better mental health support for teachers and staff working in the field of special educational needs and disabilities. The study highlights the emotional toll on educators, and the need for mitigation strategies that promote good mental health outcomes for both teachers and students.