The effectiveness of blended online learning courses at the community college level

Whether through the use of online-only or hybrid/blended formats, colleges and universities across the country are increasingly utilizing online platforms as a medium for the delivery of instruction. At the same time, we know little about how student learning outcomes are related to students’ engagement with online instructional formats. In particular, few studies have evaluated online learning in community colleges, and fewer yet have employed an experimental or quasi-experimental design to do so. In this research, we use propensity score matching to compare learning gains between community college students enrolled in blended courses, (courses that combine online instructional delivery with traditional classroom-based instruction) with gains experienced by students receiving only classroom-based instruction. Among students enrolled in blended courses, we also consider which aspects of student use of online instructional materials are most strongly associated with student learning. While some evidence has suggested significantly poorer outcomes for community college students enrolled in online-only courses, our results suggest that students enrolled in blended courses perform similarly, if not better, relative to students in a traditional instructional setting. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Old friends, new friends: predictors of children's perspective on their friends at school

Predictors of 5-year-old kindergartners' insights into their friends, and their accounts of liking and conflict with their friends were investigated, with a focus on both the children's and their friends' social understanding during the preschool period, and the quality of their preschool friendships. Seventy children initially studied at 4 years utilizing social cognition tasks and observations of dyadic play with their friends were followed over the transition to school; at school they were interviewed about their friendships and their social understanding was assessed. One group had remained close to their preschool friends, whereas a second group had formed new friendships. Social understanding, language abilities, and prosocial characteristics of both the children and preschool friends, their successful communication and shared pretend play experiences during the preschool period, and their mothers' educational level were related to their perspectives on their current school friends. Liking of current friends was linked to relationship history and maternal educational level for both those with old and with new friends, whereas insight was related to assessments of social cognition.     

Who has a Problem,the Student or the Teacher? Differences in Teachers' Beliefs About Their Work with At‐risk and Integrated Exceptional Students

In this study, teachers' assumptions and beliefs are explored about the needs of at‐risk and exceptional students, and about their roles and responsibilities in meeting such needs. Teachers appear to hold consistent and coherent belief systems which differ along an ordinal scale. At one end, ‘restorative’ beliefs assume that problems reside largely within the pupil, and therefore the teacher's duty is to refer the pupil for confirmatory assessment as soon as possible. At the other ‘preventive’ end, teachers assume that the environment, including instruction, plays a part in a student's problems. The teacher therefore attempts prereferral interventions, and requests assessment to identify instructional alternatives. This study provides evidence for the validity of the restorative‐preventive construct, reporting the results of both quantitative and qualitative analyses of interviews with 27 regular class elementary teachers. Teachers' ratings on the construct correlated significantly with their self‐ratings of teaching efficacy (Gibson & Dembo, 1984). Teachers with preventive beliefs had higher self‐efficacy scores than those with a restorative profile. Further, teachers with restorative beliefs rated the withdrawal of problem pupils from the classroom as a more desirable resource service than preventive teachers, who preferred in‐class consultative support.     

Development of the ability to use recall to guide action, as indicated by infants' performance on AB

25 infants were tested every 2 weeks on the AB Object Permanence Task devised by Piaget, from the age when they first reached for a hidden object until they were 12 months. The delay between hiding and retrieval necessary to produce the AB error increased continuously throughout this period at an average rate of 2 sec/month, from under 2 sec at 7 1/2 months to over 10 sec by 12 months. All children displayed the AB error repeatedly over the months of testing. Large between-children differences in delay needed for the AB error were found at each age. Girls tolerated longer delays than boys. The characteristic pattern to the AB error did not vary over age or sex. Range of delay producing the AB error in any child was small. Errors disappeared when delays were reduced by 2-3 sec, and reaching became random or severely perseverative when delays were increased 2-3 sec above the level producing AB error. AB provides an index of the ability to carry out an intention based on stored information despite a conflicting habitual tendency.     

Supporting Teacher Learning and Informed Practice in Writing through Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning

This paper concerns teacher learning. It describes the impact on teacher knowledge and reported practice of working with diagnostic assessment tools for writing. These tools were specifically designed with a dual purpose: to provide diagnostic information about students to guide teaching for enhanced learning outcomes and also to develop teacher understanding about features of, and developmental progressions in, writing. We describe the features of the tools which facilitate teacher learning. Then we present three small‐scale studies conducted during and after development of the tools to explore their impact. Discussion focuses on teachers' reports of their learning about writing and how working with the assessment tools impacted a range of teaching practices.     

Portrait of the student as a young writer: some student survey findings about attitudes to writing and self‐efficacy as writers

This New Zealand‐based article reports on an analysis of data gathered over two years from upper primary school students on their attitudes to writing and writing instruction and their beliefs about their self‐efficacy as developing writers. Responses from 449 students in five diverse schools are included. Through an online survey administered at the beginning and end of each of the two years, students responded to a range of mostly closed questions. Conclusions (including student comments) were made about students' likes, dislikes and preferences as developing writers. Levels of association between their attitudes and gender and between their attitudes and proficiency levels were explored. Conclusions were also made about how student attitudes affect teacher practice.     

‘You know what you've done right and what you've done wrong and what you need to improve on’: New Zealand students' perspectives on feedback

This study was designed to explore children's understanding of formative assessment and its effects on their learning, in order to establish what learners perceive as important to help them improve their learning. The study found that children have a good understanding of the concepts of feedback, and can articulate clearly the elements most useful for helping them to improve their learning. A key finding of the study was that although there is consistency about the factors involved in good assessment, there is variation in the type of feedback seen as effective in demonstrating those factors. Issues relating to possible gender differences in the reception of feedback, and in what is perceived as helpful, emerged during the study. Recommendations for future research include the need to explore these, followed by the identification of implications for classroom use if a gender‐based link relating to formative assessment is found.