Training phonological awareness: a study to evaluate the effects of a program of metalinguistic games in kindergarten

A phonological awareness program was evaluated in a small-scale study using thirty eight children from three intact kindergarten classes at an American school on the outskirts of London. The average age of the children was five years four months. There was one experimental class and two control classes. The experimental class received a Danish training program of metalinguistic games and exercises. One control class used a kindergarten reading and writing program called Success in Kindergarten Reading and Writing which incorporates phonological awareness skills, but in an informal way. The other control class followed the normal kindergarten program. The results showed that the children in the experimental group and the Success in Kindergarten group had significantly greater gains in reading and spelling measures given at the end of the year. They also did better on six of the metalinguistic tests, with the experimental group showing significantly greater gains in all the tests of phoneme awareness than the other two groups. The implications of a formal versus informal phonological awareness training program are discussed.     

A comparison of the mathematical performance of mature students and traditional students over a 10-year period

Every student who enrols in a degree programme involving service mathematics in the University of Limerick in Ireland is given a mathematics diagnostic test. The diagnostic test was developed due to mathematics lecturers’ anxiety regarding students’ mathematical competency levels. Students receive the 40 question paper-based test in their first service mathematics lecture without prior notification. Initial analysis of students’ work revealed that many students were having difficulties with basic algebra and arithmetic in particular [Gill, O. 2006. “What Counts as Service Mathematics? An Investigation into the ‘Mathematics Problem’ in Ireland.” PhD diss., University of Limerick]. Further research highlighted the significant decline in diagnostic test performance and the changing profile of service mathematics students between 1998 and 2008 [Faulkner, Fiona, Ailish Hannigan, and Olivia Gill. 2010. “Trends in the Mathematical Competency of University Entrants in Ireland by Leaving Certificate Mathematics Grade.” Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications 29 (2): 76–93]. One of the most notable changes to the student profile over time was the increase in mature students (non-standard students) entering service mathematics programmes. Although non-standard students had a lower mean performance in the diagnostic test, they were found to have a higher mean performance in some cases in service mathematics compared to standard students. This paper explores some of the possible reasons for such findings.     

Analysing the correlation between secondary mathematics curriculum change and trends in beginning undergraduates’ performance of basic mathematical skills in Ireland

The phenomenon in which students enter university under-prepared for the mathematical demands of their undergraduate courses, regularly referred to as the ‘Maths Problem’, has been widely reported in Ireland, UK, Australia, and the US. This issue has been of particular concern in Ireland recently, with beginning undergraduates’ performance of basic mathematical skills showing signs of significant decline in recent years. New mathematics curricula, commonly referred to as ‘Project Maths’, were gradually introduced into the Irish secondary school education system from 2010 onwards. These new curricula aim to place greater emphasis on student understanding of mathematical concepts, use of contexts, and applications of mathematics. This study analyses, through mathematics diagnostic test data gathered between 2008 and 2014, the change in the basic mathematical skills of beginning undergraduates over the time period in which the new mathematics curricula were introduced to secondary education in Ireland. It was found that students’ basic mathematical skills have declined over the time period during which the new mathematics curricula were introduced. Significant declines in beginning undergraduates’ performance of basic mathematical skills were observed during the period 2008–2014, particularly among students who have achieved Higher Level C grades and Higher Level D grades.     

Institutional Diversity in Higher Education: a Cross-National and Longitudinal Analysis

This paper contributes to the debate on institutional diversity in higher education systems by looking at the phenomenon from a comparative (cross‐national) and longitudinal perspective. Despite the attention to diversity in policy debates, surprisingly, only a limited amount of studies address methodological issues. In addition, the number of empirical studies on institutional diversity is low as well. Data on various Western higher education systems are used to illustrate developments in systems' diversity. Furthermore, these data are put in the context of current national (and supranational) policy debates, particularly the role of governments and markets, on maintaining or increasing diversity.     

How research informs educational technology decision-making in higher education: the role of external research versus internal research

Educational technology research and development - Research use in educational decision-making has been encouraged and well documented at the K-12 education level in the United States but not in...     

Judging quality in peer research: a comparison of adult- and peer-led focus groups in a Kenyan context

Peer research has been recognized as an important strategy. As with other qualitative approaches, one issue that is often raised is how do we judge the quality of such methods? This paper argues that one of the ways we can do this is by comparing the data collected through participatory methods with that collected with other research strategies within the same research context. This was done through a qualitative study which investigated student's attitudes towards ethnicity and politics in two secondary schools in Kenya. A research design was developed using focus-group discussions where half of the focus groups were led by an adult researcher and the other half by a student researcher. The paper will compare the data collected from these two kinds of focus groups using the framework method in order to illustrate that peer research produces high-quality data comparable to that collected using other means. Moreover, the paper will use reflections from the process to show that one other way that we can judge the quality of peer research is through the benefits that accrue not only to the peer researchers such as skills development but also to the adult researchers, for example greater reflexivity.     

A Cognitive-behavioural Measure of Student Goal Setting in a Tertiary Educational Context

This study investigated the psychometric properties of a newly developed measure, the Student Goals and Behaviour Questionnaire (SGBQ). The SGBQ is a unique measure in that it assesses both students' goal setting attitudes and behaviour within a tertiary education context. In other words, the SGBQ measures students' actual, rather than preferred academic goals. To date, no such instrument exists in the psychological and educational literature. The SGBQ, a modified version of Locke & Latham's (1990) Goal Setting Questionnaire (MGSQ), and Wood & Locke's (1987) measure of academic self-efficacy (ASEQ) were administered to 100 first-year Psychology students. With regard to construct validity, predicted moderate levels of convergence were found between the SGBQ factors, and MGSQ and ASEQ. It was also found that the SGBQ had predictive validity with respect to subsequent academic performance. Furthermore, a number of demographic characteristics, such as course of study and age were found to be associated with goal setting attitudes and behaviour. The SGBQ would seem to have some promise as an instrument for the assessment and monitoring of student goal setting.     

The relationship between parental psychiatric disorder and child physical and sexual abuse: findings from the Ontario Health Supplement

OBJECTIVE: The study's goal was to examine the relationship between a history of parental psychiatric disorder and a history of child abuse in a general population sample of Ontario residents. METHOD: A representative community sample of 8548 respondents who participated in the Ontario Mental Health Supplement (OHSUP) were interviewed about parental psychiatric history and completed a self-report measure of childhood physical and sexual abuse. RESULTS: The lifetime prevalence of either parent with a psychiatric disorder was as follows: 14.1% for depression, 3.7% for manic depression, 2.4% for schizophrenia, 2.4% for antisocial behavior, and 17.3% for any parental psychiatric disorder. Respondents reporting a parental history of depression, mania, or schizophrenia had a two to threefold increase in the rates of physical, sexual, or any abuse. Parental history of antisocial disorder increased the risk of exposure to physical abuse (adjusted odds ratios [OR 6.1] and any abuse [OR 7.5]). There was no statistically significant difference between parental psychiatric disorder and childhood physical or sexual abuse by gender of the respondent. There was a trend for increasing risk associated with father only, mother only, and both parents having any psychiatric disorder. CONCLUSIONS: The elevated risk for physical and sexual abuse among respondents reporting a parental history of psychiatric illness highlights the need to examine the mechanism for this association. Such information is important in developing approaches to assist families where the risk of child maltreatment is increased.     

Learning approaches,study time and academic performance

This study investigated the relationship between learning approach, time spent studying and grades awarded. A class of mechanical engineering students (N=34; male) were asked to keep an hour-by-hour study diary for one week. The Biggs' Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) provided measures of these students' approach to study tasks. Use of a surface approach to learning was found to be positively correlated with both high attendance in class and greater hours of independent study time. The former is explained by the surface learner's need for the lecturer to define the course; the latter by the inefficiency of a surface approach. Poor grades in spite of long study hours mirror an inefficient surface approach. This finding suggests the need for individual study counselling. Case studies show that the use of a deep approach does not result in good grades unless accompanied by sufficient work. The diary method in conjunction with the SPQ appears to be a promising method for researching workload, study times and other related variables.