Does an activity-based learning strategy improve preschool children's memory for narrative passages?

Contemporary embodiment theory's indexical hypothesis predicts that engaging in text-relevant activity while listening to a story will: (1) enhance memory for enacted story content; and, (2) result in relatively greater memory enhancement for enacted atypical events than for typical ones (16 and 17). To date, indexical hypothesis predictions and applications have been examined only with adults and elementary school-aged children. The present study extended previous research by comparing an activity-based listening strategy to a listening-only strategy with 56 preschool children. The first hypothesis was supported in that children in the activity-based condition recalled more story actions than children in the listening-only condition. At the same time, this effect was relatively greater for children who were initially better at remembering story content than for initially poorer story rememberers. Consistent with previous research findings, no statistical differences between conditions were observed on memory for nonaction story content. The second hypothesis – that children in the activity-based strategy would exhibit comparatively greater memory enhancement for atypical story events relative to typical ones – was not supported. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

The ABC’s of Chinese: maternal mediation of Pinyin for Chinese children’s early literacy skills

In the present study, maternal Pinyin mediation and its relations with young Chinese children??s word reading and word writing development were explored. At time 1, 43 Mainland Chinese children and their mothers were videotaped on a task in which children were asked to write 12 words in Pinyin (a phonological coding system used in Mainland China as an aid to reading Chinese characters) with help from their mothers. The videotapes were later coded on a scale (adapted from Aram & Levin, 2001) of mothers?? writing facilitation techniques. Scores on this scale of maternal mediation of Pinyin uniquely explained children??s reading of Chinese words, but not writing of Chinese words, after statistically controlling for maternal education and age, and children??s non-verbal IQ, age, and phonological awareness. At time 2, 22 of the children from time 1 were further tested on Chinese word reading and word reading task 1?year later. After controlling for children??s age and non-verbal IQ, maternal Pinyin mediation uniquely explained 6% of the variance in children??s word writing and 7% of the variance in children??s word reading performance at time 2. Results underscore the potential importance of the maternal scaffolding role for reading acquisition both theoretically and practically in a domain not previously explored (i.e., use of a common coding system (Pinyin) for learning to read, rather than word reading itself).     

More than just test scores

Around the world we hear considerable talk about creating world-class schools. Usually the term refers to schools whose students get very high scores on the international comparisons of student achievement such as PISA or TIMSS. The practice of restricting the meaning of exemplary schools to the narrow criterion of achievement scores is usually premised on the view that test scores are closely linked to the provision of a capable labour force and competitive economy. In fact, the measured relationships between test scores and earnings or productivity are modest and explain a relatively small share of the larger link between educational attainment and economic outcomes. What has been omitted from such narrow assessments are the effects that education has on the development of interpersonal and intrapersonal skills and capabilities that affect the quality and productivity of the labour force. This article provides evidence on some of these relationships, on the degree to which the non-cognitive effects of schooling contribute to adult performance, and on the evidence that deliberate school interventions can influence non-cognitive outcomes. It concludes with the view that the quest for world-class schools must encompass a range of human development characteristics that extend considerably beyond test scores.     

Facing Facts: Can the Face-Name Mnemonic Strategy Accommodate Additional Factual Information?

In 3 experiments, undergraduates used their own best method (control) or an “imposed” face-name mnemonic strategy to associate 18 caricatured faces, names, and additional facts. On all immediate tests (prompted by the faces), and on the delayed tests of Experiments 2a and 2b combined, mnemonic students statistically outperformed control students on name and political affiliation identification measures as well as on name-affiliation pairs. Interference issues were examined in the latter 2 experiments. The study findings replicate prior positive findings with the face-name mnemonic and demonstrate that additional factual information can be successfully added to the face-name mnemonic strategy through implementation of the present mnemonic format.     

Using data to support educational improvement

Data on student achievement are increasingly being used to support effective policy and practice, and to move education systems towards more evidence-informed approaches to large-scale improvement. In this paper, we outline strategies used in Ontario, Canada to create, enhance and apply a range of data to support educational improvement. These strategies were intended to integrate the collection of data and its use at the three levels of school, district, and province. The strategy also included improving educator capacity to use data and the development of better analytic tools to understand data in context. Submitted to Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability     

大学、经济增长和地区发展

我很荣幸参加今天的校长论坛。和全球许多教育者一样,我很欣赏中国的飞速发展,特别是中国政府对优秀高校大幅增加投入的决定。这一令人欣喜的决策不仅能大力推动全人类的潜力开发,而且也是推动经济发展的明智之举。为了进一步阐述这一点,我想在此与各位分享美国在过去瓦十年间的经验,并以此为例,     

Do College Students Use Online Self-Help? A Survey of Intentions and Use of Mental Health Resources

Online self-help may help increase the reach of mental health services for college students, but little research has examined students’ actual interest/use of these resources. An online survey of 389 college students examined intentions and use of online mental health resources as compared with other support options. Findings indicated the highest intentions/use of informal supports (e.g., parents, friends) for mental health problems and lowest intentions/use for online self-help. However, a subset of students showed a preference for online self-help over other forms of support. Participants were also more likely to request online self-help resources (21%) than in-person therapy resources (9%) when offered these options. Reported barriers were also identified for using mobile applications (apps) specifically (e.g., stigma, credibility, privacy). Overall, results suggest mixed findings and relatively low interest for use of online self-help among college students, while highlighting potential barriers that might be addressed to increase engagement.     

Early childhood teaching manuals: Guidelines for selection

More and more early childhood teaching manuals and guides are appearing all the time. It is difficult to look at any teaching magazine without finding reviews and advertisements for guides which promise to help us in our work with children.Diane E. Levin is Assistant Professor of Education at Wheelock College in Boston.     

In pursuit of the elusive relationship between selected cognitive abilities and learning

The present research consists of two experiments that attempt to produce differential learning-ability relationships on the basis of selected learning task variations. In the first experiment, 120 5th-graders performed a cued recall task under one of three instructional conditions. In the second, 144 10th-graders recalled items of high and low meaningfulness under constrained or free conditions of recall. Although the task variations produced mean performance differences, the expected patterns of covariation between learning and the ability markers of reasoning, spatial ability, and digit span did not materialize. These results, taken with those of previous investigations, suggest that the nonreplicability characteristic of this domain may be traced to the relatively impure sources of individual differences variance associated with psychometric abilities.