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.     

Conceptualising global competence: situating cosmopolitan student identities within internationalising South Korean Universities

ABSTRACT

Universities have increasingly pursued ‘world-class status’ and have prioritized internationalisation efforts. South Korean universities have accordingly invested billions of dollars in attracting foreign students and faculty, increasing English-medium instruction courses, and teaching curriculum related to global competence. This article applies a theory of cosmopolitanism to understand the relationship between global competence and student identity within internationalising South Korean universities. I argue that cosmopolitanism manifests in student identities at such universities in articulations that are contested and variegated. My findings suggest that cosmopolitanism demonstrates theoretical potential to conceptualise global competence in ways that overcome its critiques as Western-centric and elitist.     

Evaluating strategic periodisation in team sport

The planned peaking for matches or events of perceived greatest priority or difficulty throughout a competitive season is commonplace in high-level team sports. Despite this prevalence in the field, little research exists on the practice. This study aimed to provide a framework for strategic periodisation which team sport organisations can use to evaluate the efficacy of such plans. Data relating to factors potentially influencing the difficulty of matches were obtained for games played in the 2014 Australian Football League season. These included the match location, opposition rank, between-match break and team “form”. Binary logistic regression models were developed to determine the level of association between these factors and match outcome (win/loss). Models were constructed using “fixed” factors available to clubs prior to commencement of the season, and then also “dynamic” factors obtained at monthly intervals throughout the in-season period. The influence of playing away from home on match difficulty became stronger as the season progressed, whilst the opposition rank from the preceding season was the strongest indicator of difficulty across all models. The approaches demonstrated in this paper can be used practically to evaluate both the long- and short-term efficacy of strategic periodisation plans in team sports as well as inform and influence coach programming.     

Learning science in an alternative context: The effects on a selected group of young science educators

The Ontario Science Centre is a popular alternative learning environment for science and technology. Using semi-structured interviews, the research underpinning this paper investigates the experiences and effects of working as a Host or exhibit interpreter at the Science Centre. It examines how the Hosts benefit from the program in terms of their knowledge about and attitudes toward science and technology. What is distinctive about learning in this context, and its implications for science and technology education in schools, are discussed. The dominant aspects of learning for the respondents tended to be inspirational and attitudinal, as well as cognitive. The comments of the respondents indicate that in order to encourage learning in science and technology, science education needs to focus on more than a narrow concern with curriculum content.     

TPACK design scaffolds for supporting teacher pedagogical change

Many empirical studies show that teachers have difficulty designing technology-integrated lessons for student-centered learning. Supporting teachers to change their pedagogical practice is a challenge faced in teacher professional development for technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK). This study describes how teachers’ conceptions of pedagogical change can be supported through the use of different kinds of TPACK design scaffolds—a meaningful learning rubric, lesson design heuristics and TPACK Activity Types. The impact of these design scaffolds on the TPACK confidence and lesson design confidence of 47 teachers and instructors who were attending a graduate course in educational technology were assessed through pre and post course surveys. Expert ratings of technology-integrated lesson plans designed at the beginning and end of the course were also used to determine the extent of pedagogical change enacted. It was found that these design scaffolds had positive effects on teachers’ TPACK confidence and were useful for helping the teachers to articulate pedagogical change in their lesson designs. Participants’ feedback for improving the TPACK design scaffolds as well as guidelines for using these to support pedagogical change through TPACK professional development programmes are discussed.

     

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.     

Music across the curriculum: More than just circle time

Most educators will agree that music has an important place in a high-quality program for young children. Singing or listening to music are pleasurable activities, and the affective benefits of music are obvious to anyone who has ever sung a child to sleep. What teachers may not realize, however, is how music may be incorporated into other areas of the curriculum. Joyce Ury Dumtschin has taught in day care centers in Illinois and Ohio and is presently a freelance writer and musician.     

Virtual Professional Learning Communities: Teachers’ Perceptions of Virtual Versus Face-to-Face Professional Development

Research suggests that professional development that engages teachers in instructional inquiry over an extended time through collaborative professional learning communities (PLCs) is effective in improving instruction and student achievement. Still, most professional development is offered as short-duration workshops that are not effective in changing practice. Barriers to the implementation of PLCs include lack of shared meeting time and a shortage of teachers who share the same subject areas or common goals and interests. Convening teachers from multiple districts can alleviate this problem, but teachers are reluctant to travel for meetings due to time and cost restraints. Video-conferencing software offers a solution to these barriers while serving to foster the sense of community needed for PLCs to be effective. The researchers describe the use of Virtual PLCs in which two groups of teachers met monthly for one school year to collaboratively analyze evidence collected as part of their teacher inquiry plans. With help from a facilitator, these groups developed a relationship similar to other groups meeting face-to-face as part of the same professional development program. Analysis of the reflections of teacher-participants and facilitators revealed that teachers prefer face-to-face meetings, but that the virtual and face-to-face meetings provided teachers with similar social interactions in the PLC experience. The findings suggest that teachers perceive videoconferencing as an effective tool for facilitating PLCs when distance and time are practical barriers to face-to-face meetings. Practical considerations for developing and facilitating virtual PLCs are also discussed.     

A longitudinal study of two groups of children with early reading problems

The word lists of the Standard Reading Inventory were administered to five successive classes of beginning third graders in a single school. Those students scoring at the two lowest levels, preprimer and primer, all of whom had received consistent individualized reading instruction, were interviewed and tested individually when they were in junior or senior high school. The preprimer group continued to show serious disability at follow-up, with a mean retardation of 4.5 years in reading and 5.9 years in spelling, and continued to require help from learning-disabilities teachers. The primer group, only 1–2 years retarded in reading and spelling, were coping academically with little special help.