Learning to apply numbers to nature

Working within the framework of a Wittgensteinian view of number, I exp the learning of English speaking and Yoruba speaking children as they work towards mean ful use of number names. I find that English speaking children and Yoruba speaking child appropriate different types of concepts in their development towards number use. The conc differ because the types of material objects that English speakers and Yoruba speakers tal differ. It seems that monolingual Yoruba speaking village children might be slower in apprc ating concepts associated with number use in Yoruba than their bilingual compatriots monolingual English speaking children, and that the bilingual children's learning is enhance their bilingualism.     

Science identity development: how multimodal composition mediates student role-taking as scientist in a media-rich learning environment

Educational technology research and development - Science identity has been widely discussed in recent years; however, research on its development in multimodal composing environments, especially...     

First Principles of Attitudinal Change: a Review of Principles,Methods and Strategies

Knowing how to effectively design attitudinal change instruction for various learning settings is essential for instructional designers. However, the research on instructional design for attitudinal change instruction has been relatively dispersed and lacks cohesion, despite its increasing importance. The purposes of this paper are to 1) reignite the scholarly conversation on designing attitudinal change instruction, and 2) provide directions for future research. Using Merrill’s first principles of instruction as a guide and framework, we review the existing research to identify and discuss the principles for designing attitudinal change instruction.     

Facilitating attitudinal learning in an animal behaviour and welfare MOOC

This case study examines the design and facilitation of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) that focused on attitudinal learning about the topic of animal behaviour and welfare. Findings showed that a team of instructors worked together collaboratively towards realising learning goals and found the experience rewarding. While learners had mixed perceptions of gains in cognitive, affective and behavioural learning, they reported high satisfaction with lecture videos and instructor course participation. Implications for the instructional design of MOOCs and attitudinal learning are discussed based on these findings, including a discussion of MOOCs as a unique platform for attitudinal learning, and recommendations for their successful use. The recommendations include the importance of creating a collaborative instructor team, establishing high instructor presence, using interactive and collaborative learning activities, and receiving support from platform providers and institutions.     

Developing Reading,Spelling and Phonemic Awareness Skills in Primary School Children

Phonemic awareness is beginning to become rather a buzz term in discussions about methods of teaching reading and there is widespread agreement that children need to develop this awareness in order to read effectively. It is not yet clear exactly how they should be taught this awareness and Rhona Johnston and Joyce Watson here describe their research into this issue.     

The Role of a Caring-Based Intervention in a Physical Activity Setting

This preliminary study examined the effect of a caring-based versus a traditionally-focused physical activity intervention on underserved adolescents’ perceptions of the caring climate, the motivational climate, empathetic concern, enjoyment, and future anticipated participation. Multiethnic youth (N = 353) aged 9 to 17 involved in two National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) sites participated in the study. The Caring Group (n = 90) participated in a program infused with themes of caring while the Traditional Group (n = 263) followed prototypical NYSP training, practices, and procedures. Self report assessments were gathered after 5 weeks in either setting. After accounting for demographic differences findings revealed that the Caring Group perceived significantly higher levels of a caring climate, empathetic concern, future expected participation, and lower levels of perceptions of an ego-involving motivational climate. The relevance of these findings with respect to the optimal development of youth is discussed. Dr. Maria Newton is a faculty member in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Utah. She is interested in optimizing the impact of physical activity on the psychosocial and social-emotional development of underserved youth. She teaches courses in sport psychology, motivation, and character development. Dr. Doris Watson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sports Education Leadership at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Dr. Lori Gano-Overway is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science at Bridgewater College. Dr. May Fry is affiliated with Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences, The University of Kansas, Lawrence. Dr. Mi-Sook Kim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at San Francisco State University and Dr. Michelle Magyar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at CSU-Long Beach. Bio and teaching/research interests available upon request.     

Accelerating the development of reading,spelling and phonemic awareness skills in initial readers

In Experiment 1, it was found that 5-year-oldnew school entrants taught by a syntheticphonics method had better reading, spelling andphonemic awareness than two groups taughtanalytic phonics. The synthetic phonicschildren were the only ones that could read byanalogy, and they also showed better reading ofirregular words and nonwords. For one analyticphonics group the programme was supplemented byphonological awareness training; this led togains in phonemic awareness but not reading orspelling compared with the other analyticphonics group. The synthetic phonics programmewas taught to the analytic phonics groups aftertheir initial programmes had been completed andpost-tested. The group that had hadphonological awareness training did not performbetter than the other two groups when tested 15months later; this was also the case when thesame comparison was made for the the subset ofchildren that had started school with weakphonological awareness skill. Speed of letterlearning was controlled for in Experiment 2; itwas found that the synthetic phonics groupstill read and spelt better than the analyticphonics group. It was concluded that syntheticphonics was more effective than analyticphonics, and that with the former approach itwas not necessary to carry out supplementarytraining in phonological awareness.     

Pedagogy before Technology: Re-thinking the Relationship between ICT and Teaching

This paper addresses a conundrum: despite the ubiquity of technology in the business world, no clear role has emerged in education. After many years of national policies and investment in Information Technologies in the UK and elsewhere, technology is still an imposed and novel 'outsider' in the pedagogy of schools. This paper charts a series of experiences and failures in the UK, and highlights the unresolved dichotomy of purpose about why Information and Communication Technology (ICT) should be used in education. Understanding the problematic of using Information Technologies demands a consideration of some more fundamental educational issues. ICT is often perceived as a catalyst for change, change in teaching style, change in learning approaches, and change in access to information. Yet the rhetoric for change has been too associated with the symbolic function of technology in society, which sits uncomfortably with teachers' professional judgements. So educational computing, it would appear, has yet to find its own voice. This paper explores this notion.