Transition of students with autistic spectrum disorders from primary to post‐primary school: a framework for success

The purpose of this research was to investigate best practice in relation to the planning, process and strategies that support the transition of students with ASD from primary to post‐primary school. A questionnaire survey was sent to graduates of a postgraduate Certificate/Diploma in SEN (ASD) in Ireland who were working in primary and post‐primary schools. Findings included strong oral communication between schools, transition programmes in many post‐primary schools, a variety of generic and ASD specific strategies in both primary and post‐primary schools and a large number of personnel involved in the transition process. Analysis of findings and current literature enabled the researchers to propose a framework that the Department of Education and Skills, support agencies and schools may use to examine practice in order to enhance the transition programmes based on students' needs, the profile of the school and its community.     

Facebook for supervision? Research education shaped by the structural properties of a social media space

This study analyses the use of a group space on the social networking site Facebook as a way to facilitate research supervision for teams of learners. Borrowing Lee’s framework for research supervision, the goal was to understand how supervision and learning was achieved in, and shaped by, the properties of a social networking space. For this purpose, the discourse between supervisor and learners was analysed along with the structural properties afforded by the space. Using the empirical findings and further literature, a conceptual framework was developed that illustrates the ways in which functional supervision, enculturation, emancipation, critical thinking and relationship development are achieved and formed by the interplay of the technological, functional, multimodal and the wider sociocultural, political and sociolinguistic structures associated with social media space.     

Undergraduate students' ability to revise text effectively: relationships with topic knowledge and working memory

In order to communicate understanding, students are often required to produce texts which present an explicit, coherent argument. This study examined the extent to which individual differences in undergraduates' topic knowledge and working memory skills were related to their ability to revise texts to better fulfil these goals. Forty-seven students revised texts containing three types of error: language, structure and argument. Topic knowledge was indexed by multiple choice test performance. Verbal short-term and working memory were measured using forward and backward digit recall and reading span. Rates of identification, diagnosis and correction of errors were generally poor. Contrary to expectations neither topic knowledge nor verbal working memory was associated with text revision although significant associations were identified with verbal short-term memory. When revising texts students may focus on the surface features of the text rather than addressing issues of structure and argument. Possible accounts of this tendency are considered.