Rethinking strategy instruction: direct reading strategy instruction versus computer‐based guided practice

There are many established reading strategy training programmes, which explicitly teach strategic and meta‐cognitive knowledge to improve reading comprehension. Although instruction in strategy knowledge leads to improvements in meta‐cognitive skills, the effects do not always transfer to reading comprehension. Therefore, to investigate preconditions for knowledge transfer, two different strategy training programmes were implemented in nine classes of Grade 6 students (N = 148) over the course of one school year. One programme involved teacher‐directed instruction of declarative meta‐cognitive knowledge (Reading Detectives; Rühl & Souvignier, 2006). The other aimed at improving executive meta‐cognition by guided practice: students worked with a computer program based on latent semantic analysis (LSA) (conText) and received immediate feedback on written summaries. Although both groups improved their strategy knowledge to the same extent, the conText group showed a greater improvement in reading comprehension. These fndings suggest that guided practice, which is characterised by intensive practice and individualised corrective feedback, is superior to explicitly teaching strategy knowledge.     

Forthcoming events

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation ‐ patterns and techniques D.E. Voss, M.K. Ionta and B.J. Myers. Harper and Row, Philadelphia, 1985 xxvi + 370 pp, £29.95, ISBN 0 06 142595 8

Science of Stretching M.J. Alter, Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois, 1988 xii + 243 pp, $26.00, ISBN 0 87322 090 0     

Book reviews

William J. Baker and James A. Rog (eds.), Sports and the Humanities: A Symposium (University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 1983), Pp.126. $8.95.

William J. Baker, Sports in the Western World. (Totowa, N.J., Rowan and Littlefield, 1982), Pp.viii + 360. $19.95 (hardback).

J. Bale, Sport and Place: A Geography of Sport in England, Scotland and Wales. (London, C. Hurst; Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press, 1982). Pp.187 £9.50.

J. A. Mangan, Athleticism in the Victorian and Edwardian Public School: the Emergence and Consolidation of an Educational Ideology. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1981). Pp.368. £28.

Beryl Furlong, Carnegie 1933–1983: College and School. (University of Liverpool, 1983). Pp.40. NP.

Gerald Redmond, The Sporting Scots of Nineteenth‐Century Canada. (London and Toronto, Associated University Presses, 1982). Pp.347. £16.50 (hardback).

Steven Tischler, Footballers and Businessmen (New York, Holmes and Meier, 1981). Pp.154.     

Effects of social networks on the quality of life in an elder and middle-aged deaf community sample

This article endeavors to investigate the role of social networks in contributing to the quality of life of an elder and middle-aged Deaf population. In particular, it poses the question of whether a certain network composition (deaf and hearing network persons) provides positive resources to improve quality of life and attempts to identify moderating and mediating connections between social networks and quality of life. Based on the data collected in a survey of 107 members of the Deaf community aged 45-81 years, it was possible to ascertain the fact that a larger social network is significantly associated with a higher quality of life, but the size of the deaf network is principally decisive. The hypothesis that a bicultural network composition would have a particular positive effect on the quality of life could not be confirmed. Findings revealed that the effect of deaf network size on the quality of life is mediated by personal resources concerning self-efficacy and communication skills. Moreover, evidence was sound for the functional equivalence of social and personal resources, which suggests that potential negative effects of reduced personal resources on the quality of life could possibly be compensated by a larger deaf network and vice versa.     

Understanding the rise of e-participation in non-democracies: Domestic and international factors

While it has often been suggested that information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide an important means of increasing citizen participation (which is at the core of democratic government), few commentators have expected non-democracies to create online environments in which citizens can take an active part in political processes. In recent years, however, some non-democracies have begun to outperform countries with long-standing democratic traditions in terms of e-participation development. According to the 2010 United Nations (UN) e-government survey, Bahrain outranks France, Kazakhstan beats Sweden and Malaysia ranks higher than Germany. This article sets out to understand the recent rise of e-participation initiatives in non-democracies. Drawing on comparative longitudinal data from the UN e-government surveys, we tested the assertion that international drivers of change are competing with the dominant focus on domestic factors, especially in the non-democratic world, and are influencing the patterns of reform. The empirical analysis demonstrated important differences between the drivers of change in democratic and non-democratic countries and found economic globalization to be the strongest predictor of e-participation initiatives in non-democratic countries. In conclusion, we argue that economic globalization alters the context of e-participation and necessitates a re-examination of many of its premises and tenets.     

Persistent Reusable Java Virtual Machine unter z/OS und Linux

Zusammenfassung Die Nutzung von Java zur Entwicklung von Anwendungen für Hochleistungstransaktionssysteme stellt besondere Anforderungen an die Isolation und das Leistungsverhalten in der transaktionalen Ausführung. In dem vorliegenden Beitrag wird eine neuartige Technologie beschrieben, die verbesserte Isolationseigenschaften und eine erhebliche Leistungssteigerung erm?glicht. Die Persistent Reusable Java Virtual Machine erweitert eine normale Java Virtual Machine um gemeinsam genutzte Klassen und um eine Reset-Funktionalit?t, die eine serielle Wiederverwendbarkeit erm?glicht. In einer Benchmark-Untersuchung unter z/OS wurde hiermit ein Performance-Gewinn um einen Faktor 325 im Vergleich mit einer normalen JVM erreicht. Für das Erstellen von Transaktionsanwendungen unter dem Betriebssystem z/OS sind Enterprise Java Beans damit eine ernstzunehmende Alternative zu bisherigen Programmiermodellen.

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The use of Java for the development of new applications in high-end transaction systems generates special isolation and performance requirements. A new technology offering improved isolation and a significant performance improvement is discussed in this article. The Persistent Reusable Java Virtual Machine extends a regular Java Virtual Machine by adding the facility to share classes and by providing a reset functionality, which permits serial reuse of the JVM. A z/OS benchmark demonstrated a performance improvement by a factor of 325, compared to a regular JVM. Thus the use of Enterprise Java Beans has to be considered as a serious alternative when developing new transactional applications under the z/OS operating system.

     

Improving students' reading comprehension skills: Effects of strategy instruction and reciprocal teaching

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of three different forms of strategy instruction on 210 elementary-school students' reading comprehension. Students were assigned to any one of three intervention conditions or to a traditional instruction condition (control condition). Training students were taught four reading strategies (summarizing, questioning, clarifying, predicting) and practiced these strategies in small groups (reciprocal teaching), pairs, or instructor-guided small groups. At both the post- and follow-up test the intervention students attained higher scores on an experimenter-developed task of reading comprehension and strategy use than the control students who received traditional instruction. Furthermore, students who practiced reciprocal teaching in small groups outperformed students in instructor-guided and traditional instruction groups on a standardized reading comprehension test.     

Fostering the reading comprehension of secondary school students through peer-assisted learning: Effects on strategy knowledge, strategy use, and task performance

Based on the work of Fuchs and Fuchs [Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (2001). Peer-assisted learning strategies in reading: Extensions for Kindergarten, first grade and high school. Remedial & Special Education, 22, 15–21], this study examined the effects of a peer-assisted learning strategies (PALS) program on the reading comprehension of 7th-grade students. In a pretest–posttest (active) control group design, eight intact classes consisting of 186 students were assigned either to a PALS condition or to a traditional instruction condition (TI). In 17 lessons, students were instructed by their regular teachers in the understanding of age-appropriate reading material. Treatment success was assessed with both performance-related (reading comprehension) and strategy-related (declarative and procedural strategy knowledge) test tasks. At posttest, PALS students (a) scored higher on experimenter-constructed and standardized comprehension tests, (b) achieved higher scores on declarative and procedural measures of summarizing strategies, and (c) improved to a greater extent in their understanding of self-regulated reading activities than TI students.