Developmental aspects of reading motivation and reading achievement among second grade low achievers and typical readers

This investigation examined developmental aspects of 155 second‐graders' intrinsic reading motivation and reading achievement at the beginning and end of a school year. Reading motivation remained at the same level through the school year, while reading achievement was significantly higher at the end of it than at the beginning. According to word reading skills, low reading achievers (n = 63) and typical readers (n = 92) evinced significant differences in reading motivation. The former scored lower in overall reading motivation and self‐concept as a reader, as well as in reading achievement. Throughout the school year, low reading achievers showed a decline in overall motivation, self‐concept as a reader and literacy outloud, and did not improve in reading comprehension achievement. Reading motivation in typical readers remained high and steady during the school year. Implications of the results are discussed in relation to previous studies.     

Oral reading fluency,reading motivation and reading comprehension among second graders

The relationships between oral reading fluency, reading motivation and reading comprehension were examined at the beginning and the end of second grade among 121 Hebrew speaking students. The contribution of oral reading fluency and three sub-factors of motivation—self-concept as a reader, value attached to reading and literacy outloud (social interactions about literacy)—at the beginning of the school year to reading comprehension at the end of the year was also examined. Results indicate that all oral reading fluency measures and all motivational sub-factors were significantly correlated with reading comprehension at the end of second grade. In addition, positive change in self-concept as a reader along the school year was related to improvement in reading achievement. Finally, text rate and self-concept as a reader at the beginning of second grade together predicted 28% of the variance in reading comprehension at the end of second grade. The results support the notion that the cognitive approach to reading cannot explain all the variance in reading comprehension and emphasize the necessity of including motivational factors in the language arts curriculum in the early stages of reading acquisition.

     

Vicious Cycles of Identifying and Mathematizing: A Case Study of the Development of Mathematical Failure

This study uses a new communicational lens that conceptualizes the activity of learning mathematics as interplay between mathematizing and identifying in order to study how the emotional, social, and cognitive aspects of learning mathematics interact with one another. The proposed framework is used to analyze the case of Idit, a girl who started out as a high achiever in 7th-grade math and ended up failing that same subject in 9th grade, complaining of severe “mathematics anxiety.” This article traces the narratives endorsed by Idit’s parents and teacher, which form the background for the development of her ritual participation in mathematical discourse. Next it attempts to link Idit’s ritual participation in a course I taught with her eventual failure in mathematics. The mechanism behind this failure is conceptualized as a vicious cycle that thrives on the basis of a ritualistic discourse motivated mainly by grades and other instrumental motives for learning mathematics. The analysis of this case gives rise to a model of how mathematical identities of failure may develop hand in hand with the failure to learn new mathematical skills.     

The relations of early phonological awareness,rapid‐naming and speed of processing with the development of spelling and reading: a longitudinal examination

Phonological awareness has been found to be strongly related to spelling. Findings on the relations between rapid‐naming and spelling are less consistent and have been suggested to be shared with speed of processing. This study set out to examine these relations in spelling and reading of Hebrew. Children attending the regular educational system were followed longitudinally (N = 70): phonological awareness, rapid‐naming and speed of processing were tested in kindergarten and in grade 1, and spelling and reading were tested in grade 2. Kindergarten and grade 1 rapid‐naming predicted spelling and word reading, and grade 1 phonological awareness predicted spelling, word reading and decoding. Speed of processing was an insignificant predictor. The findings extend the role of phonological awareness in spelling to an orthography with partial phonological representations and concurrently suggest weak relations. The results further suggest a link between rapid‐naming and orthographic knowledge, which may not be explained by shared variance with speed of processing.     

Physiological Differences Between Heat Tolerant and Heat Intolerant Young Healthy Women

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Heat intolerance (HI) is determined in the Israel Defense Force according to a heat tolerance test (HTT) before returning to duty after an exertional heat stroke (EHS) event. Recently, increased numbers of female combatants resulted in an increased number of EHS cases among women and a higher percentage of heat intolerance (HI) individuals. We aimed to evaluate the differences between tolerance to heat among women performing an HTT in relation to their menstrual cycle phase. Method: Thirty-three female participants were sorted into two groups: HI and heat tolerant (HT) according to two HTTs performed during both the luteal and follicular phases of the menstrual cycle or while consuming and during a break from consuming contraceptives. Results: HT women had an 18% higher maximal oxygen uptake (p < .005, 95% CI [2.6,9.8]) and 1.2% lower skin temperature in the HTT at the during and follicular phases (p < .01, 95% CI [0.12,0.77]) and 1.7% lower at the off and luteal phases (p < .001, 95% CI [0.34,0.92]). The mean sweat rate was 14% lower among the HI group only at the HTT at the during and follicular phases (p < .05, 95% CI (3,88)]). Conclusion: We found that HT can be predicted using aerobic capacity and core body temperature. Moreover, during the luteal phase, women presented altered thermoregulation that decreased the probability of being HT. This emphasizes the importance of considering the HT/HI criteria in the HTT for women, according to their aerobic ability and menstrual-cycle phase.     

Being a parent's eyes and ears: emotional literacy and empathy of children whose parents have a sensory disability

Children of parents with sensory disability may feel that their experience helped nurture their sense of empathy. The study was designed to examine the connection between parents’ sensory disability (visual disability to blindness and hearing disability to deafness) and the empathy and emotional literacy of their non‐sensory‐disabled children. Participants were 77 children aged 7–17 – 37 children of parents with a sensory disability and 40 children of parents with no such disability. Questionnaires to check empathy and emotional literacy were accompanied by a demographic questionnaire. Findings revealed that levels of empathy and emotional awareness of others (a measure of emotional literacy) were higher among children of parents with a sensory disability than among children of parents without a disability. The results expand the literature on that subject and shed light on the important issues of empathy and emotional literacy in families with disability.     

Enhancing motivation to read and reading abilities in first grade

Abstract

This study examined changes in reading motivation and reading achievement among Hebrew-speaking first graders following an intervention program designed to increase intrinsic reading motivation. The program was delivered by the class teacher and focused on choosing relevant reading materials, providing choices for reading and encouraging social collaboration. Twenty-nine children in the intervention group (IG) were compared with 29 children in the control group (CG) who followed the official reading instruction program. During the year, the IG improved their reading motivation, while the CG declined in self-concept as a reader. Reading achievement improved more in the IG than in the CG. These findings suggest that a reading motivation program should be embedded in the regular reading acquisition curriculum to enhance children's reading motivation and improve their reading skills. Special attention should be paid to prevent a decline in young children's motivation as it may predict their future involvement in reading.     

Design patterns for teaching in academic settings in future learning spaces

A Future Learning Space (FLS) is a dynamic and a technology-rich learning environment that enables teaching and learning using innovative pedagogical methods. However, introducing innovation and technology into any educational setting, whether in K-12 schools or higher education institutions, is known to be challenging. This paper introduces design patterns (DPs) for teaching in FLS. The patterns emerged from creative teaching in a college of education, which was preceded by mentoring for some of the lecturers. The patterns involve hybridity, including both formal and informal social structures and a combination of physical and digital tools mediating individuals’ interactions with peers. Based on a process of mining patterns, we extracted four DPs for teaching in academic FLS. The patterns, which encapsulate threads of hybridity, are: convergent groups; teaching in an interactive orchestrated learning space; presentation fair; and Think-Join-Share. These patterns can be used as learning design scaffolds in a social constructivist approach in which pedagogy, technology and space interact.