Images in mirrors: Recollections,alternative explanations and modes of cognitive functioning

Students' conceptions of how objects are seen directly, and in mirrors, were explored in an analysis of their written and drawn responses to common visual phenomena depicted in cartoons with brief text. Students in Grades K-10 (n=214) completed a questionnaire and some were interviewed. Evidence was sought to support an hypothesis for increasingly sophisticated responses related to the concepts of sight, light, reflection and image. The developmental model used in this analysis was the updated SOLO Taxonomy (Biggs & Collis, 1991; Collis & Biggs 1991). It appears from the results that different modes of functioning can interfere to produce factually incorrect recollections of experience particularly in the age group 7 to 13 years approximately. Also, this is associated with the common spurious conception that mirrors have a lateral inversion property. Explanations involving light were extremely rare and its role related to the production of an image ‘in the mirror’ but not to the perception of an image in the eyes. Specializations: science education, students' understandings of phenomena in science. Specializations: cognitive development, evaluation, mathematics and science education. Specializations: mathematics education, students' understanding of chance and data concepts.     

Reading with vocabulary intervention: evaluation of an instruction for children with poor response to reading intervention

Interventions combining phonically based reading instruction with phonological training are generally effective for children with reading (decoding) difficulties. However, a minority of children respond poorly to such interventions. This study explored the characteristics of children who showed poor response to reading intervention and aimed to improve their literacy and language skills via a new theoretically motivated intervention. Twelve 8‐year‐old treatment poor responders with severe and persisting reading difficulties participated. A 9‐week reading intervention incorporating reading, phonological and vocabulary training was implemented. Before the intervention began the children showed almost no progress over 6 months of regular classroom education, on measures of oral language and literacy. Over the intervention period improvements were made on measures of reading, phonological awareness and language skills, which were maintained 6 months later. Although the intervention was effective, it should be noted that most children remained poor readers and require ongoing remediation.     

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A review of the research of Ference Marton and the Goteborg Group: A phenomenological research perspective on learning

This article reviews the work of Ference Marton and his group of researchers at the University of Goteborg in Sweden. It describes and explains research into: what students learn; how students approach studying; the relationship between approach to study and learning outcomes; what students understand learning to consist of; and whether it is possible to manipulate students' approach to studying in order to influence the learning outcomes. This review is intended to build up an overall picture of learning as seen from a phenomenological research perspective.     

Exploring ICT Integration as a Tool to Engage Young People at a Flexible Learning Centre

The Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) Flexible Learning Centres aim to provide a supportive learning environment for young people who find themselves outside of the mainstream secondary schooling system. Drawing on twenty first Century learning principles, the Centres aim to deliver a personalised learning experience with an emphasis on flexibility and individual choice. Provision of a comprehensive curriculum enables young people to make positive future life choices and successfully transition into employment and further training. The aim of this research project has been to work with teaching staff at a Flexible Learning Centre in North Queensland, Australia, to explore the value of integrating ICT in the form of Web 2.0 technologies to enhance young people??s engagement with the subject of science. The findings of this case study suggest that ICT integration is effective in revitalising science education interest for disengaged young people. This may have wider implications in relation to general concerns of declining student interest and participation in science in the secondary years of schooling.     

Strategy Precedes Operational Effectiveness: Aligning High Graduation Rankings With Competitive Graduation Grade Point Averages

Two pivotal and interconnected claims are addressed in this article. First, strategy precedes program effectiveness. Second, graduation rates and rankings are insufficient in any account of academic progress for African American students. In this article, graduation is regarded as the floor and not the ceiling, as it were. The ideal situation in the promotion of strategy is the alignment of high graduation rates or rankings with high graduation cumulative grade point averages. This strategic alignment is precisely what needs to be formulated in the first instance before making judgments about program development and/or operational effectiveness. The work of the Office of African American Affairs of the University of Virginia provides the context for observing trends in academic performance that illustrate the optimal alignment between high graduation rankings and correspondingly high grade point averages.     

From Crisis Management to Academic Achievement: A University Cluster-mentoring Model for Black Undergraduates

In spite of the widening racial achievement gap among U.S. college students (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011), some universities are achieving success in supporting the graduation and postcollege goals of Black undergraduates (Apprey, Bassett, Preston-Grimes, Lewis, & Wood 2014/this issue; Baker, 2006; Hrabowski, 2003; Hrabowski & Maton, 2009). Although research has documented efforts to improve students’ college academic success in mathematics, science, and engineering (Maton & Hrabowski, 2004), little research has examined the role of undergraduate support programs across the academic disciplines to bridge success for students from high school graduation through graduate school matriculation. This is a key link in the pipeline to career and lifelong achievement for Black students. The following case study describes an inclusive cluster-mentoring model for Black undergraduates at a Research I university that includes four elements—(a) student peer-advising, (b) faculty–student academic mentoring and advising, (c) culturally sensitive initiatives, and (d) organized parental support—to create high impact with measurable results. This university-based model can serve as a guide to improve and expand services that support the academic and leadership success of Black undergraduate students in other higher education settings.