Insights fourth and fifth graders bring to multiplication and division with decimals

This study was designed to gain information about the understandings children in Israel and the United States have about multiplication and division of whole numbers that may be useful in building accurate understandings of these operations with decimals and the extent to which they hold conceptions about these operations that may interfere with their work with decimals. Data from interviews of the fourth and fifth graders indicate that students of this age already hold misconceptions such as multiplication always makes bigger. However they also hold conceptions that are prerequisite to understanding the area model of multiplication and the measurement model of division. These early conceptions might be used to build understanding of multiplication and division by decimals. Implications for the content and sequencing of instructional activities are presented.     

Discursive positioning of beginning teachers’ professional learning during induction: a critical literature review from 2004 to 2014

This study reports on findings from a critical literature review, from 2004 to 2014, in relation to the positioning of beginning teachers’ professional learning during induction. The study uses theoretical frameworks drawn from competing discourses: an instrumental standpoint based on performativity and a dialectical standpoint based on a transformative view of good teaching as an advanced specialised practice. A critical analysis was conducted, using a systematic literature review that yielded 14 peer-reviewed papers, to discursively position teachers’ professional learning and pinpoint questions for future study. Findings showed that while studies reported positive outcomes they were often atheoretical and framed within narrow chains of logic that neglected important strands, such as, teacher “knowledge-of-practice”. The study raises important questions not only about the positioning of beginning teachers’ professional learning but about meaningful professional learning for all teachers across the continuum of teacher education.     

Academic Twitter and professional learning: myths and realities

Social networking sites provide opportunities for informal and social learning of academic practices in higher education, yet not all academics engage in these spaces. This qualitative study suggests that while Twitter offers informal opportunities for academic development, inhibiting factors prevent staff from establishing their social presence and participating in conversations on academic Twitter. In a pervasively digital era, rethinking academic development practices is required to build digital capacity and digital identity of staff to support participation on social networking sites for academic learning and development.     

Depression and learning disabilities in children: a test of an hypothesis

Performance-Verbal IQ discrepancy scores are compared for 27 depressed and 15 nondepressed children all of whom experienced learning difficulties. Brumbach (1985) reported a significant association between depression and Performance IQ deficits for children with learning difficulties. In contrast to Brumbach's finding, no difference was observed in Performance IQ deficit between depressed and nondepressed children in the current study. Moreover, only 10% of depressed children showed such a deficit. This result differed significantly from Brumbach's findings (34%). Implications of these results are discussed within the context of nascent interest in the relationship between depression and learning disabilities.     

Toys and social interaction between infant peers

Claims that young infants fail to react in a social manner to one another and that toys preempt attention to peers were assessed by comparing the interactions observed between infant peers when they met in the presence of toys versus in their absence. 44 pairs of unacquainted infants (either 10--12 or 22--24 months of age) came with their mothers to an unfamiliar room. Without toys available in the room, infants of both ages more often contacted one another, smiled at and gestured to one another, and duplicated each other's actions. With toys, they showed and exchanged toys and spent more time synchronously manipulating similar play material. The results document that infants as young as 10 months of age are responsive to the person and behavior of an unfamiliar peer and that they are no less responsive than older infants to the social versus nonsocial aspects of a novel setting.     

Falling through the cracks: rehabilitation services for adults with learning disabilities.

The present study investigated the knowledge and perceptions of vocational rehabilitation (VR) of adults with learning disabilities (LD), as well as control variables which describe adults with LD and may have a bearing on access to VR services. This was accomplished by (1) determining the knowledge adults with LD had of their rights under federal rehabilitation regulations; (2) examining demographic control variables (e.g., sex, age, education level, hometown population, employment history, and income), which may have a bearing on the need for or access to VR services by adults with LD; and (3) examining experiences/perceptions of adults with LD regarding the VR application/eligibility process. A pretested questionnaire appeared in the January 1989 ACLD Newsbriefs. Findings indicate that while there was a group of respondents who were satisfied with the rehabilitation services they had received, there was also a large group of respondents who were either ineligible for rehabilitation services or dissatisfied with services they received. Generally, respondents' knowledge of VR was limited.     

A genetically sensitive investigation of the effects of the school environment and socio‐economic status on academic achievement in seven‐year‐olds

Although it is well established that school characteristics (SCH) and socio‐economic status (SES) are associated with academic achievement (ACH), these correlations are not necessarily causal. Because academic achievement shows substantial genetic influence, it is useful to embed such investigations in genetically sensitive designs in order to examine environmental influences more precisely by controlling genetic influence on ACH. In the first study of this kind for academic achievement, data were collected for 1,063 same‐sex pairs of seven‐year‐old MZ and DZ twins for teacher‐assessed ACH, UK statistics on SCH, and parent‐reported SES. Exclusive of genetic influence on school achievement, shared environment (environmental influences that make siblings similar) accounts for 12% of the variance in academic achievement. SCH accounts for 17% and SES accounts for 83% of this shared environmental variance. Exclusive of genetic and shared environmental influence including SCH and SES, nonshared environment (environmental influences that do not make siblings similar) accounts for 19% of the variance in academic achievement. The importance of nonshared environmental influences on academic achievement leads to the question of what these child‐specific experiences might be that are not shared by children in the same family, school, and classroom.     

Developing a Growth Mindset through outdoor personal development: can an intervention underpinned by psychology increase the impact of an outdoor learning course for young people?

This study considers the impact of using a series of Mindset interventions during a five-day outdoor personal development (OPD) course. Self-efficacy, resilience and Mindset were measured pre course, post course and one month post course. It was hypothesised that both experimental and control groups would increase their self-efficacy and resilience, and that the Mindset (experimental) group would significantly increase beyond the levels of the control group, who took part in the standard OPD course. It was also predicted that the Mindset group would move towards a Growth Mindset, whereas the control group would not show any change in Mindset. Hypotheses were tested using a randomised, quasi-experimental method. Separate mixed analyses of variance were carried out for each dependent variable, followed by planned comparisons and post-hoc tests using a Bonferroni correction. Results showed that both groups increased self-efficacy over time; however, there was no further significance for the experimental group. Resilience only increased significantly in the experimental group while the control group made no significant gain, and students in the experimental group moved significantly towards a Growth Mindset while the control group did not.