The Psychology of Delivering a Psychological Service: Self‐organised learning as a model for consultation

The article describes how one Educational Psychology Service in the UK developed a service delivery based on self‐organised learning (SOL). This model is linked to the paradigms and discourses within which educational psychology and special educational needs work.

The work described here is dedicated to the memory of Brian Roberts, academic, close friend of Steve and a source of inspiration to both the authors.     

Caffeine use in a Super Rugby game and its relationship to post-game sleep

Objective: To examine the relationship between regular game-related caffeine consumption on sleep after an evening Super Rugby game. Methods: Twenty elite rugby union players wore a wrist-activity monitor to measure sleep for three days before, three days after and on the night of an evening Super Rugby game (19:00–21:00). Players ingested caffeine as they would normally (i.e. before and sometimes during a game) and saliva samples were collected before (17:00) and after (21:30) the game for caffeine concentration. Results: Compared to the nights leading up to the game, on the night of the game, players went to bed 3?h later (23:08?±?66?min vs 02:11?±?114?min; p?p?p?p?p?p?=?.06) on game night. Conclusion: Caffeine consumption before a Super Rugby game markedly increases post-game saliva caffeine levels. This may contribute to the observed 3.5?h delay in time at sleep onset and the 1.5?h reduction in sleep duration on the night of the game. This study highlights the need for a strategic approach to the use of caffeine within a Super Rugby team considering the potential effect on post-game sleep.     

Publisher–Society partnerships to further image accessibility and global inclusivity in the Humanities and Social Sciences: Comparing top-down and bottom-up approaches

• Collaboration between publishers and learned society partners can accelerate and amplify DEIA outcomes.
• 97 HSS titles have adopted alt-text publication workflows and this change has been welcomed by journal authors and editors.
• Efforts to promote global inclusivity do not always result in greater membership diversity, retention and growth.
• Top-down, publisher-led DEIA initiatives are effective when they are aligned strategically to pre-existing society initiatives.
• Bottom-up, member-led DEIA initiatives benefit from publisher support to mitigate financial and time-based barriers to active participation.
• To reliably track DEIA outcomes, publishers ought to adopt systematic data collection strategies through initiatives like C4 and the Joint Commitment.

     

How do socioeconomic attainment gaps in early mathematical ability arise?

Socioeconomic attainment gaps in mathematical ability are evident before children begin school, and widen over time. Little is known about why early attainment gaps emerge. Two cross-sectional correlational studies were conducted in 2018–2019 with socioeconomically diverse preschoolers, to explore four factors that might explain why attainment gaps arise: working memory, inhibitory control, verbal ability, and frequency of home mathematical activities (N = 304, 54% female; 84% White, 10% Asian, 1% black African, 1% Kurdish, 4% mixed ethnicity). Inhibitory control and verbal ability emerged as indirect factors in the relation between socioeconomic status and mathematical ability, but neither working memory nor home activities did. We discuss the implications this has for future research to understand, and work towards narrowing attainment gaps.     

Implementation Factors and Their Influence on Student Mathematics Outcomes

Assessing implementation allows for a better understanding of an intervention's effects and the mechanisms that influence its impact. Two main areas of implementation are (a) the quality with which an intervention is delivered and (b) instructors’ adherence to the programmed intervention. The current study used data from a kindergarten mathematics intervention program to (a) examine if and how treatment adherence was associated with implementation quality and (b) explore implementation measures’ relation to student mathematics outcomes. Results indicated high implementation scores across time for both adherence and quality. Neither treatment adherence nor implementation quality was found to relate to a general outcome measure of student mathematics achievement; however, both were similarly related to the curricular-aligned measure.     

Exploring how children with reading difficulties respond to instructional supports in literacy games and the role of prior knowledge

Digital literacy games can be beneficial for children with reading difficulties as a supplement to classroom instruction and an important feature of these games are the instructional supports, such as feedback. To be effective, feedback needs to build on prior instruction and match a learner's level of prior knowledge. However, there is limited research around the relationship between prior knowledge, instruction and feedback in the context of learning games. This paper presents an empirical study exploring the influence of prior knowledge on response to feedback, in two conditions: with or without instruction. Thirty-six primary children (age 8–11) with reading difficulties participated: each child was assessed for their prior knowledge of two suffix types—noun and adjective suffixes. They subsequently received additional instruction for one suffix type and then played two rounds of a literacy game—one round for each suffix type. Our analysis shows that prior knowledge predicted initial success rates and performance after a verbal hint differently, depending on whether instruction was provided. These results are discussed with regards to learning game feedback design and the impact on different types of knowledge involved in gameplay, as well as other game design elements that might support knowledge building during gameplay.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

• Instructional supports, such as elaborative feedback, are a key feature of learning games.
• To be effective, feedback needs to build on prior instruction and match a learner's level of prior knowledge.
• Prior knowledge is an important moderator to consider in the context of elaborative feedback.

What this paper adds

• Providing additional instruction (eg, pre-training) may act as a knowledge enhancer building on children's existing disciplinary expertise, whereas the inclusion of elaborative feedback (eg, a hint) could be seen as a knowledge equaliser enabling children regardless of their prior knowledge to use the pre-training within their gameplay.
• Highlights the importance of children's preferred learning strategies within the design of pre-training and feedback to ensure children are able to use the instructional support provided within the game.
• Possible implications for pre-training and feedback design within literacy games, as well as highlighting areas for further research.

Implications for practice and/or policy

• Pre-training for literacy games should highlight key features of the learning content and explicitly make connections with the target learning objective as well as elaborative feedback.
• Pre-training should be combined with different types of in-game feedback for different types of learners (eg, level of prior knowledge) or depending on the type of knowledge that designers want to build (eg, metalinguistic vs. epilinguistic).
• Modality, content and timing of the feedback should be considered carefully to match the specific needs of the intended target audience and the interaction between them given the primary goal of the game.

     

Childhood acquired brain injury: the knowledge and training needs of special educational needs coordinators

The aim of this study was to further explore Special Educational Need Co-ordinators' (SENCos) knowledge of childhood acquired brain injury (ABI) and if they have received training on how to effectively support children and young people (CYP) with an ABI in school. SENCos from Nottinghamshire were asked to complete a survey face-to-face or online. Data reported by Howe and Ball (Support for Learning, 32, 1, 85–100), was also used to allow comparisons between different counties in the UK for knowledge of childhood ABI. Results indicated that SENCos from Nottinghamshire hold numerous uncertainties about childhood ABI, although less uncertainties than SENCos from the West Midlands. A majority SENCos from Nottinghamshire had not received training about childhood ABI. Additional challenges in supporting CYP with an ABI were also identified. The findings show a clear need for more training on childhood ABI across UK schools. It is also apparent that obtaining funding for CYP with an ABI can be a challenge for SENCos. However, further research is needed to determine what these barriers to funding are.