Matching Cloze as an Evaluation Procedure for Slow Learning Children

The matching cloze procedure, which does not require language production skills and which is simple enough for the classroom teacher to construct unaided, was originally developed to measure reading skills of elementary English‐second‐language pupils. The results of this pilot study with opportunity school children indicate the validity of the procedure as an evaluation technique for slow learning children.     

Facilitating Understanding of Movements in Dynamic Visualizations: an Embodied Perspective

Learners studying mechanical or technical processes via dynamic visualizations often fail to build an accurate mental representation of the system’s movements. Based on embodied theories of cognition assuming that action, perception, and cognition are closely intertwined, this paper proposes that the learning effectiveness of dynamic visualizations could be enhanced by grounding the movements of the presentation in people’s own bodily experiences during learning. We discuss recent research on embodied cognition and provide specific strategies for how the body can be used to ground movements during the learning process: (1) making or observing gestures, (2) manipulating and interacting with objects, (3) using body metaphors, and (4) using eye movements as retrieval cues. Implications for the design of dynamic visualizations as well as directions for future research are presented.     

How do instructional designers evaluate? A qualitative study of evaluation in practice

This study employed a qualitative research design to investigate how instructional designers use evaluation in everyday design practice. While past research has examined how designers spend their time, how they generally make decisions, and expert-novice differences, little attention has been paid to use of context, input, process, or product evaluation, from the perspective of practicing designers. Based on interviews of practitioners, our findings included ten themes regarding how designers use evaluation to improve their products. While these results substantiate to some degree the claim that practitioners believe clients will not pay for formal evaluations, they also suggest that practitioners use evaluation in important but less formal ways. Other conclusions regarding the role of evaluation in design are provided and future directions for training and research are discussed.     

Kindergarten Transition Preparation: A Comparison of Teacher and Parent Practices for Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities

The transition to kindergarten represents an important developmental milestone for children and may pose unique challenges to children with disabilities, their families, and teachers. The primary goal of the current study was to investigate teacher concerns regarding the transition to kindergarten as well as teacher and parent-reported transition preparation practices and involvement for a sample of children with autism spectrum disorders (n = 19) and children with other developmental disabilities (n = 76). Teachers reported significantly more concerns for children in the ASD group than for children in the DD group, although there was no difference in total involvement in transition practices between groups. Although teacher and parent involvement in transition preparation was generally high, generic less individualized practices often were utilized. Study findings are discussed in the context of future research directions to help facilitate kindergarten transitions for young children with disabilities.     

The problem-solving process as part of professionals’ boundary work in preschool to school transition

ABSTRACT

A successful transition from preschool to school demands continuity in education between the institutions: continuity in pedagogy, values and institutional structures. One way to achieve continuity is to learn how to do boundary work in the borderline of two activity systems. This article examines what kinds of discourses frame the problem-solving process in the context of inter-professional collaboration. The data consists of video-recorded, inter-professional discussions in the 2012–2013 (a total of 22.5?h). The project, called Flexible Preschool and School, aims to develop a new model for a smooth transition to school. In the project, professionals from preschool and school create joint activities and co-teaching, which is assumed to bridge the gap between pedagogies and assure the continuity of learning. The professionals’ cultural thoughts in different kinds of problem-solving situations become visible in the discourses produced in the talk. These discourses describe their capacity for solving shared problems. Creating new innovations demands an understanding that complex problems require diverse knowledge. Considering the shared knowledge as valuable enough to put into practice is the way to create new forms of problem-solving. This is implemented by taking on the responsibility to be an active actor.