Reading interventions for struggling readers in the upper elementary grades: a synthesis of 20 years of research

A synthesis of the extant research on reading interventions for students with reading difficulties and disabilities in fourth and fifth grade (ages 9–11) is presented. Thirteen studies with treatment/comparison study designs and eleven single group or single subject studies were located and synthesized. Findings from the 24 studies revealed high effects for comprehension interventions on researcher-developed comprehension measures. Word recognition interventions yielded small to moderate effects on a range of reading outcomes. Few studies were located implementing vocabulary and multi-component interventions.     

Increasing Diversity in Science and Health Professions: A 21-Year Longitudinal Study Documenting College and Career Success

Despite decades of precollege science education programs, African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans remain critically underrepresented in science and health professions. This report describes college and career outcomes among graduates of the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program (SMYSP), a 5-week summer residential program for low-income high school students among whom 97% have been followed for up to 21 years. Approximately 24 students are selected annually, with participation limited to low-income students who have faced substantial personal hardships. Undergraduate and medical students provide key program leadership and training. The curriculum is based on science inquiry education and includes hospital internships, anatomy practicums, research projects, faculty lectures, college admissions/standardized test preparation, and long-term college and career guidance. A total of 476 high school students participated between 1988 and 2008, with 61% from underrepresented ethnic minority groups. Overall, 78% of African American, 81% of Latino, and 82% of Native American participants have earned a 4-year college degree (among those admitted to college, and excluding those currently attending college). In contrast, among 25–34-year old California adults, 16% of African Americans, 8% of Latinos, and 10% of Native Americans earn a 4-year college degree. Among SMYSP’s 4-year college graduates, 47% are attending or have completed medical or graduate school, and 43% are working as or training to become health professionals. SMYSP offers a model that expands inquiry-based science education beyond the classroom, and recognizes the role of universities as “high school interventionists” to help diversify health professions.     

More like real life-Motivational methods of teaching in upper secondary school

Motivational methods of teaching are topical subjects and much discussed issues regarding schools and education. The first question of our study covers student motivation and students＇ perception of their own schools＇ teaching methods. The second question reflects on how upper secondary school teachers perceive their roles as teachers, their thoughts on acquirement of knowledge and how learning takes place. The third question treats the subject of how school and education is organized. The upper secondary school the authors chose for the case study is a school that recruits students on a national basis and is directed towards the education of fire and rescue service personnel. The programme follows the national science curriculum and gives qualification for further studies at most universities. The school started in the autumn of 1998 and is known for being successful at working with student involvement, responsibility and subject integration. The study which was conducted during the autumn of 2007 included 32 students from two of the learning groups from the same year and started on the day of introduction of a new theme and finished with their presentation of results. The authors made observations, interviewed and through questionnaires studied how students comprehended the schools＇ working methods. We also interviewed their teachers and headmaster. The theoretic standpoint is Activity Theory （Chaiklin, S. ＆ Lave, J. 1996; Knutagard, H., 2002; Vygotsky, L. S., 1986）. The conclusions are that the students are encuitured into a school＇s activities that are similar to what students perceive as that of real life. It gives meaning and motivation to learning and makes it meaningful. They identify their own responsibility and cooperative learning as the most important parts. The teachers＇ own learning process and planning work is parallel to the work forms applicable to the students. They are all interdependent of each other since all the work areas are thematic. The school can be seen as an activity system where members interplay and communication develops a common culture.     

Web site credibility: Why do people believe what they believe?

This research investigates university students’ determinations of credibility of information on Web sites, confidence in their determinations, and perceptions of Web site authors’ vested interests. In Study 1, university-level computer science and education students selected Web sites determined to be credible and Web sites that exemplified misrepresentations. Categorization of Web site credibility determinations indicated that the most frequently provided reasons associated with high credibility included information focus or relevance, educational focus, and name recognition. Reasons for knowing a Web site’s content is wrong included lack of corroboration with other information, information focus and bias. Vested interests associated with commercial Web sites were regarded with distrust and vested interests of educational Web sites were not. In Study 2, credibility determinations of university students enrolled in computer science courses were examined for 3 provided Web sites dealing with the same computer science topic. Reasons for determining Web site inaccuracy included own expertise, information corroboration, information design and bias. As in Study 1, commercial vested interests were negatively regarded in contrast to educational interests. Instructional implications and suggestions for further research are discussed. Preliminary results from Study 1 were presented as a poster entitled “Users’ Confidence Levels and Strategies for Determining Web Site Veracity” (Iding et al. 2002a) and appeared in associated proceedings for The WWW 2002: The Eleventh International World Wide Web Conference, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Preliminary results from Study 2 were presented as a paper entitled, “Judging the Veracity of Web Sites” (Crosby et al. 2002) and appeared in associated proceedings for the International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE 2002) in Auckland, New Zealand.     

So young and already victims of stereotype threat: Socio-economic status and performance of 6 to 9 years old children on Raven’s progressive matrices

The aim of this study was to verify whether children from low socio-economic status (SES) are victims of stereotype threat. Children in first grade (6 to 7 years old) and third grade (8 to 9 years old) performed Raven’s progressive matrices, an intellectual ability test commonly used by psychologists. The test was presented either with the (evaluative) instructions recommended by Raven et al. (1998) or with non evaluative instructions. Children’s SES and beliefs concerning differences of abilities at school as a function of SES were also assessed. The results indicated that, as early as first grade, participants believed that children from high SES are better at school than children from low SES. Furthermore, low SES participants’ performance on the Raven’s matrices was lower in the evaluative condition than in the non evaluative condition. The experimental instructions did not affect high SES participants’ performance. The discussion explores implications of these results in the use of standardized tests to assess the intellectual abilities of low SES children.     

运用“概念图”评价工科学生的跨学科知识集成——以“绿色工程”课程的跟踪研究为案例

概念图作为一项评测学生跨学科知识集成的工具开始受到工程教育学界的重视.概念图能够呈现学生对多学科概念和概念间的复杂联系的理解.本文通过对"绿色工程"设计课程的为期一年的跟踪研究证明了概念图方法尤其适合评测学生跨学科知识的学习性进步.本研究探讨了在跨学科评定环境中使用概念图出现的问题以及解决问题的建议.     

Developmentally Effective Experiences for Promoting Self-Authorship

ABSTRACT—Many national studies have identified types of experiences that are associated with enhancing college students' learning. This study contributes to the small but growing body of research on transformative educational experiences that assist and enable college students to develop ways of understanding and being in the world that help them adapt and respond to life's complexities and prepare for future civic, occupational, and family roles. The focus of this exploratory study is on those experiences that had a positive impact on college students' development toward self-authorship ( Baxter Magolda, 2001 ; Kegan, 1994 ). Using interview data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, we analyzed 300 selected experiences from 174 students. We found that students' approaches to interpreting and understanding their experiences was the major student characteristic that affected their learning (the effect of the experience). We then mapped these findings onto a sequenced developmental curriculum designed to promote self-authorship.     

What do business models do?: Innovation devices in technology entrepreneurship

Building on a case study of an entrepreneurial venture, we investigate the role played by business models in the innovation process. Rather than debating their accuracy and efficiency, we adopt a pragmatic approach to business models — we examine them as market devices, focusing on their materiality, use and dynamics. Taking into account the variety of its forms, which range from corporate presentations to business plans, we show that the business model is a narrative and calculative device that allows entrepreneurs to explore a market and plays a performative role by contributing to the construction of the techno-economic network of an innovation.     

Voices of Experience: Renewing Higher Education with Alumni Studies

This paper presents an alumni researchstudy as a model for assessing how well highereducation prepares graduates for changing professionaland labour market realities. Results revealed that,while alumni valued the innovative curriculum, theyrecommended increased focus on functional skills; morebalance between team work and individual work; andexpansion of the programme's area of specialisation. Policy recommendations advocated strengthening theemphasis on functional skills; intensifying the rigourof technical and financial coursessemi; linking thefaculty as mentors to students for career developmentsemi;and expanding the school's reputation for excellencein finance as well as in entrepreneurship.