Computer-based compensation of adult reading disabilities

We studied the use of computer readers, and especially their speech synthesis component, as a compensatory tool for adults with dyslexia. We first explored the enhancement of reading skills in a group of college students and working adults. Their unaided reading was very slow, and most participants in the study could sustain reading for only short periods. Although their timed comprehension was poor, their untimed comprehension was above average. The computer reader enhanced the reading rate and comprehension of most participants and enabled them to sustain reading longer. The difference between aided and unaided reading rate was inversely proportional to the unaided rate. Slower readers experienced greater enhancement than faster ones. The enhancement of comprehension was also inversely proportional to unaided scores, and good predictions of the enhancement were obtained from multiple regression models that included scores from specific standard tests of auditory and visual cognitive abilities. We also explored the use of computer readers in the workplace and show through case studies that their use can have important positive effects on individual careers and self-confidence when specific conditions exist. Finally, we investigated the use of computer readers to supplement an adult remediation program. The readers allowed and motivated the students to read more and, as a result, to progress more rapidly. Support for this study was provided by Xerox, the Luke B. Hancock Foundation, and the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation.     

Practices of effective writing teachers

This study analyses the practices of nine New Zealand teachers of upper primary and middle-school students (N = 210) whose classes had consistently shown gains in writing far greater than normative expectations. Data from observations of three writing lessons and related interviews with each teacher, plus interviews with three focus students after each lesson, were considered in relation to learner gains in writing. To analyse these data, a content analysis matrix was constructed from selected writing research literature, yielding eight dimensions of effective practice: expectations; learning goals; learning tasks; direct instruction; responding to learners; motivation and challenge; organisation and management; and self-regulation. Instructional moves associated with each were defined. There was a significant association between three dimensions (learning tasks, direct instruction and self-regulation) and learner gains. Analysis also indicated that these effective teachers of writing employed an interconnected range of instructional moves in a strategic and flexible way. Instructional actions and activities are particularly effective if regarded as purposeful by learners and if they include meaningful opportunities for learner involvement. The findings detail strategies for generating higher than anticipated gains by learners.     

Context characteristics and their effects on students’ situational interest in chemistry

ABSTRACT

Many studies in science education acknowledge the positive effects of context-based learning on students’ interest and attitudes. However, little is known about the design criteria of contextual situations generating these effects and how facets of students’ situational interest are affected while learning in a contextualised setting. This paper ties in with this initial situation and reports results of two projects analysing the influence of context characteristics on students’ situational interest, referring to contexts as task parameters in the first project and as learning activities in the second. In the first project, everyday related and unique contexts are compared, and the effects of different contextual topics on student learning are investigated. Particularly, regarding the feeling- and value-related valence of situational interest, the results of different studies will be compared and interpreted. The second project investigated structures of interest related to activities along an adapted version of the ‘RIASEC’-model for different content areas and age groups. The chosen contents were embedded in personal as well as societal and professional context settings. Finally, we summarise the relevance of the different models, results and instruments to better understand different notions of interest and outline implications for further studies about teaching that improves student learning.     

Inhibitory Control in Young Children and Its Role in Emerging Internalization

We examined inhibitory control as a quality of temperament that contributes to internalization. Children were assessed twice, at 26–41 months ( N = 103) and at 43–56 months ( N = 99), on repeated occasions, in multiple observational contexts and using parental reports. Comprehensive behavioral batteries incorporating multiple tasks were designed to measure inhibitory control at toddler and preschool age. They had good internal consistencies, corresponded with maternal ratings, and were developmentally sensitive. Individual children's performance was significantly correlated across both assessments, indicating stable individual differences. Girls surpassed boys at both ages. Children's internalization was observed while they were alone with prohibited objects, with a mundane chore, playing games that occasioned cheating, being induced to violate standards of conduct, and assessed using maternal reports. Inhibitory control was significantly associated with internalization, both contemporaneously and as a predictor in the longitudinal sense. The implications for considering children's temperament as a significant, yet often neglected contributor to developing internalization are discussed.     

Cognitive, academic, and attitudinal predictors of the grade point averages of college students with learning disabilities

This study examined cognitive, academic, and attitudinal predictors of college grade point average (GPA) among college students with learning disabilities (LD). The study population included 84 youth who attended a large private university in the midwestern United States. Measures of cognitive and academic functioning, along with a self-report measure of study habits and study attitudes, were used to predict college GPA. The results indicated that Full Scale IQ and one factor on the self-reported study habits scale accounted for a significant amount of variance in students' college GPA. These findings suggest that variables other than traditional cognitive and academic skills are important for determining the performance of youth with LD during college. The implications of these findings for future research efforts and practice are discussed.     

Publication Rates of Molecular Versus Non-Molecular Biologists: A Case Study of Seven Primarily Undergraduate Institutions

At many primarily undergraduate institutions, biology faculty members mentor student research collaborators. If publication is required for tenure and promotion, this research is expected to result in periodic publications; and publication rates are a common metric used to assess faculty productivity. However, we have uncovered a highly significant difference in the time required to publish articles based on biological sub-discipline. It takes, on average, twice as long for molecular biologists to publish articles than scholars from other sub-disciplines in biology. We believe that this analysis can be used to assess whether this phenomenon generalizes to other disciplines and/or other categories of institutions.     

Brokers on the boundary: Academy-industry liaison in Canadian universities

As scientific research has taken on increasingeconomic significance so research managementhas become a priority for universities and theState. Over the last two decades,Industry-Liaison Offices have become anestablished part of the infrastructure ofCanadian universities. The managers of theseoffices are the quintessential boundary workerswho are charged with translating academicscience into intellectual property. Someuniversities operate with an `internal' modelwhere the office is fully integrated into theuniversity's structure. Other universitiesoperate with an `external' model where theoffice operates outside the university eitheras a non-profit or a for-profit corporation.This article traces the institutionalization ofthese offices and commercialization in Canadianuniversities. Using documentary analysis andinterviews we document the key issues for thesemanagers in four `case' study universities, asthey attempt to commercialize universityresearch. We describe how these managers`capture the benefits' of discoveries generatedby researchers – the process of identifying,protecting, and exploiting intellectualproperty. Finally, we identify four majorthemes: intellectual property policy; cultureconflict; boundary work; and the public good. We end by raising the question about what islost when `capital' is allowed to enteruniversity culture in such a direct manner.     

Toward implementing distributed scaffolding: Helping students learn science from design

In this article, we present two studies that helped us understand the kinds of support that students need to learn science successfully from design activities. Both were enacted in the context of an approach to learning science from design called learning by design (LBD). In our first study, we designed and integrated a paper‐and‐pencil scaffolding tool, the design diary, into an LBD unit to support students' design‐related activities. We learned two important lessons from the first study. First, we refined our understanding of the processes involved in designing and the ways we might present those processes to students. Second, and more important, we observed that in the dynamic, complex environment of the classroom, not all of the scaffolding could be provided with any one tool or agent. We found that students need multiple forms of support and multiple learning opportunities to learn science successfully from design activities. In our next study, we provided additional support through an organized system of tools and agents. Our analysis of data from the second study leads us to believe that supporting multiple students in a classroom requires us to rethink the notion of scaffolding as it applied to groups of learners in a classroom. We put forth the notion of distributed scaffolding as an approach to supporting hands‐on inquiry learning in a classroom. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 185–217, 2005