Connectionism and learning to read: Steps towards a psychologically plausible model

We consider the prospects and need for a psychologically plausible connectionist model of the development of word recognition skills. We present an outline of the Seidenberg and McClelland (1989) distributed, developmental model of word recognition and naming. We emphasize certain incompatibilities between this model and the assumptions underlying it and psychological evidence from studies of children learning to read. In particular, we emphasize the importance of phonological skills as precursors and facilitators of learning to read. We argue that it may be possible to develop a connectionist model of the development of word recognition skills which, by having a built in knowledge of phonology, will be more consistent with evidence from studies of both normal and dyslexic children.     

Developmental Outcomes for Children at High Risk of Dyslexia and Children With Developmental Language Disorder

We followed children at family risk of dyslexia and children with preschool language difficulties from age 3½, comparing them with controls (N = 234). At age 8, children were classified as having dyslexia or Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and compared at earlier time points with controls. Children with dyslexia have specific difficulties with phonology and emergent reading skills in the preschool period, whereas children with DLD, with or without dyslexia, show a wider range of impairments including significant problems with executive and motor tasks. For children with both dyslexia and DLD, difficulties with phonology are generally more severe than those observed in children with dyslexia or DLD alone. Findings confirm that poor phonology is the major cognitive risk factor for dyslexia.     

Forced Disruption of Anatomy Education in Australia and New Zealand: An Acute Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic

Australian and New Zealand universities commenced a new academic year in February/March 2020 largely with “business as usual.” The subsequent Covid-19 pandemic imposed unexpected disruptions to anatomical educational practice. Rapid change occurred due to government-imposed physical distancing regulations from March 2020 that increasingly restricted anatomy laboratory teaching practices. Anatomy educators in both these countries were mobilized to adjust their teaching approaches. This study on anatomy education disruption at pandemic onset within Australia and New Zealand adopts a social constructivist lens. The research question was “What are the perceived disruptions and changes made to anatomy education in Australia and New Zealand during the initial period of the Covid-19 pandemic, as reflected on by anatomy educators?.” Thematic analysis to elucidate “the what and why” of anatomy education was applied to these reflections. About 18 anatomy academics from ten institutions participated in this exercise. The analysis revealed loss of integrated “hands-on” experiences, and impacts on workload, traditional roles, students, pedagogy, and anatomists' personal educational philosophies. The key opportunities recognized for anatomy education included: enabling synchronous teaching across remote sites, expanding offerings into the remote learning space, and embracing new pedagogies. In managing anatomy education's transition in response to the pandemic, six critical elements were identified: community care, clear communications, clarified expectations, constructive alignment, community of practice, ability to compromise, and adapt and continuity planning. There is no doubt that anatomy education has stepped into a yet unknown future in the island countries of Australia and New Zealand.     

Closing a Virtuous Circle: Reciprocal Influences Between Theory and Practice in Studies of Reading Intervention

Abstract

The authors reflect on findings from three studies of different approaches to reading intervention (Al Otaiba et al., Denton et al., and Miller et al., all found in this issue). It is argued that the science of interventions for reading disorders is advanced and that these and other related studies provide a strong evidence base for guiding educational policy in this area. Reading interventions need to be based on theories of reading development and reading difficulty. Current causal models of reading development arguably have focused almost exclusively on the cognitive processes underlying reading development and how best to remediate deficiencies in such processes. Such models are typically silent on broader influences (motivational, attentional, and socio-cultural) on learning, however. It is concluded that future theories will need to be broadened in order to develop more effective interventions for children with a variety of reading and language learning difficulties.     

The Role of Children's Phonological and Semantic Knowledge in Learning to Read Words

The effect of phonology and semantics on word learning in 5- and 6-year-old children was explored. In Experiment 1, children learned to read words varying in spelling-sound consistency and imageability. Consistency affected performance on early trials, whereas imageability affected performance on later trials. Individual differences among children in phonemic awareness on the trained words were related to learning, and knowledge of a word's meaning predicted how well it was learned. In Experiment 2, phonological and semantic knowledge of nonwords was manipulated prior to word learning. Familiarization with a word's pronunciation facilitated word learning, but there was no additional benefit from being taught to associate a meaning with a nonword.

     

Predicting the Growth of Early Spelling Skills: Are There Heterogeneous Developmental Trajectories?

We examined the growth of spelling skills in a large sample of Norwegian children (N = 228) over the first 3 years in school. The roles of phoneme awareness, letter knowledge, rapid automatized naming (RAN), visual–verbal paired-associate learning, and verbal short-term memory as predictors of later spelling skills were examined. Phoneme awareness and letter knowledge together with nonalphanumeric RAN and verbal short-term memory were independent longitudinal predictors of both word and nonword spelling. In addition growth mixture modeling suggested that individual variations in the growth of word spelling were best characterized as variations around a single trajectory, whereas growth in nonword spelling was better characterized as variations around two distinct trajectories. The results are related to current theories about the cognitive and linguistic foundations of spelling.     

New professionalism in austere times: the employment experiences of early career teachers in Scotland

International concern to raise educational standards and improve teacher quality has directed attention to the need to sustain career-long professional learning. Teacher induction and early professional learning (during years 2–6) have been associated with patterns of attrition and improved pupil outcomes. As the economic crisis impacts on public sector employment, the rhetoric of professionalism stands in contrast to the employment experiences of many recently qualified teachers. This article draws on interviews with 20 early career teachers in Scotland who achieved full registration from 2006. Work histories drawn from this small-scale study challenge the implicit assumptions of staged models of teacher development and draw attention to the increasing fragmentation and casualisation of experience in the teacher labour market.     

Research and teacher education in the UK: Building capacity

The need for capacity-building in teacher education in the UK has been raised as a serious issue by a number of commentators. Tensions about the place of research in teacher education have persisted for many decades, but following changes to the core funding mechanisms in the UK, the maintenance of education research bases within many universities has become increasingly tenuous. This paper provides an analytical account of an initiative conducted by the Teacher Education Group (TEG) to build research capacity in teacher education. With reference to a review of the national contexts for research in the UK and research on teacher educators, the article argues that, in order to build research capacity initiatives we need to provide motivation and new types of networking opportunities for researchers, as well as developing their expertise. In developing this argument, the article also explore the relationships between national policy changes, institutional research cultures and individual habitus and agency in research capacity-building. The paper also describes a new initiative in England, the Teacher Education Research Network (TERN).     

Effectiveness of information skills training and mediated searching: qualitative results from the EMPIRIC project

OBJECTIVES: To explore library staff and health professionals' views on the effectiveness of information skills training and librarian mediated searching as methods of providing information for patient care. This is the second article describing the Effective Methods of Providing InfoRmation for patIent Care (EMPIRIC) project. The first paper, in a previous issue of this journal (Brettle et al. The costs and effectiveness of information skills training and mediated searching: quantitative results for the EMPIRIC project. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2006, 23, 239-247) describes the quantitative results. METHODS: A questionnaire survey to library staff and health professionals in the North West. Data was collected on perceptions of services, satisfaction and service usage. Statistical data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and qualitative data using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Both information skills training and mediated searches are perceived by library staff and health professionals to be effective. There is strong support for mediated searches carried out on behalf of the health professional and information skills training to enable them to carry out their own searches. The results provide insights into the effectiveness of the services and the factors that make them effective. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence and stakeholders views support the provision of both information skills training and mediated search services. Both services are valued by users who see them as complementary methods of obtaining information depending on their needs at different times.