Students with Disabilities and eLearning in Australia: Experiences of Accessibility and Disclosure at Curtin University

This article reports on a study into students with disabilities and their experiences of eLearning at Curtin University in Australia. The results are compared to an earlier study of students at Open Universities Australia (OUA) (Kent 2016). The results confirm the earlier study’s findings that these students are drawn to eLearning. The prevalence of mental illness and medical disabilities as the two most frequent impairment types amongst students with disabilities in Australia was confirmed, along with a need to rethink universal design for eLearning to better accommodate these students. It also finds that the students had difficulty accessing online platforms and notably those provided directly by the university. This survey confirmed that students at Curtin University were more aware than their OUA counterparts of accommodations that could be made to help with their studies. It also showed that, when used, those accommodations were more successful. However, the study also reported that Curtin University students were more likely to not disclose their disability as part of their studies.     

University Counseling Centers’ Perceptions and Experiences Pertaining to Emotional Support Animals

Increasing numbers of students are requesting accommodations for emotional support animals (ESAs) in higher education settings. Since the legislation pertaining to this type of service animal differs from the laws governing disability service animals, colleges and universities are faced with developing new policies and guidelines. A sample of 248 University Counseling Centers (UCCs) completed a survey about student requests for ESA letters of support from their counselor. The UCCs were also asked if they issue official disability diagnoses for clients. Responses showed that UCCs are not yet being asked to write many letters of support for ESAs—56.9% almost never do it, and 31.05% do it only several times per year. And, only 47.18% of UCCs write official diagnosis letters in support of disability accommodations. Yet, most UCCs are aware of the need for official policies in this arena. This article provides general recommendations for establishing university policies.     

Infant Day-Care, Attachment, and the "File Drawer Problem"

The research literature on infant day-care and attachment may be biased by the unavailability of "file drawer" studies, unpublished data showing no statistically significant effects. Replication studies, whether showing an effect or not, are essential to clarify the relation between day-care and attachment. This study of 105 12-month-olds is an attempt to replicate four similar studies summarized and combined by Belsky to show that infants in day-care are at risk for insecure attachment. In the present study, no results were robust enough to emerge consistently, although there was a trend for more negative attachment outcomes to be associated with little or part-time day-care rather than with full-time day-care. In general, the results suggest that the specific measures, definitions of full- and part-time, and statistical techniques used in studies examining the relation between day-care and attachment are likely to affect the outcome of such studies.

For any given research area, one cannot tell how many studies have been conducted but never reported. The extreme view of the "file drawer problem" is that journals are filled with the 5% of the studies that show Type I errors, while the file drawers are filled with the 95% of the studies that show nonsignificant results. [Rosenthal, 1979, p. 638]

     

A study of teachers’ integration of interactive whiteboards into four Australian primary school classrooms

Interactive whiteboards (IWBs) have become increasingly available in Australian primary schools. However, little is known about how they are being integrated by teachers into their teaching practices. This paper reports on a study of the introduction of IWBs into an Australian public primary school. Data were collected for one day per week over two school terms, involving four classroom teachers. Data collected included a log of time allocation, lesson observations and a series of interviews with the teachers. The study found that participants used IWBs to a varying extent over the course of a teaching week, with lessons that integrated the use of IWBs tending to focus on literacy and numeracy. The technology was readily incorporated into the classroom environment by teachers and considered easy to use. Teachers adopted a range of pedagogical approaches when using the IWBs and these approaches were consistent with those they usually employed in their teaching.     

Negotiating the Inquiry Question: A Comparison of Whole Class and Small Group Strategies in Grade Five Science Classrooms

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of two strategies for negotiating the question for exploration during science inquiry on student achievement and teachers' perceptions. The study is set in the context of the Science Writing Heuristic. The first strategy (small group) consisted of each group of four students negotiating a question for inquiry with the teacher while the second strategy (whole class) consisted of the entire class negotiating a single question for inquiry with the teacher. The study utilized a mixed-method approach. A quasi-experimental repeated measures design was used to determine the effect of strategy on student achievement and semi-structured teacher interviews were used to probe the question of teacher perceptions of the two strategies. Teacher observations were conducted using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) to check for variation in implementation of the two strategies. Iowa Test of Basic Skills Science (ITBSS) (2005 and 2006) and teacher/researcher developed unit exams (pre and post) were used as student achievement measures. No statistically significant differences were found among students in the two treatment groups on the ITBSS or unit exams. RTOP observations suggest that teacher implementation was consistent across the two treatment strategies. Teachers disclosed personal preferences for the two strategies, indicating the whole class treatment was easier to manage (at least at the beginning of the school year) as students gained experience with science inquiry and the associated increased responsibility. Possible mechanisms linking the two strategies, negotiated questions, and student outcomes are discussed.     

Teacher Roles of Questioning in Early Elementary Science Classrooms: A Framework Promoting Student Cognitive Complexities in Argumentation

The purpose of this study was to investigate the various roles that early elementary teachers adopt when questioning, to scaffold dialogic interaction and students’ cognitive responses for argumentative practices over time. Teacher questioning is a pivotal contributing factor that shapes the role teachers play in promoting dialogic interaction in argumentative practice and that different roles serve different functions for promoting students’ conceptual understanding. The multiple-case study was designed as a follow-up study after a 4-year professional development program that emphasized an argument-based inquiry approach. Data sources included 30 lessons focusing on whole class discussion from three early elementary teachers’ classes. Data were analyzed through two approaches: (1) constant comparative method and (2) enumerative approach. This study conceptualized four critical roles of teacher questioning—dispenser, moderator, coach, and participant—in light of the ownership of ideas and activities. The findings revealed two salient changes in teachers’ use of questions and the relationships between teachers’ question-asking and students’ cognitive responses: (1) teachers increasingly used multiple roles in establishing argumentative discourse as they persistently implemented an argument-based inquiry approach, and (2) as teachers used multiple roles in establishing patterns of questioning and framing classroom interactions, higher levels of student cognitive responses were promoted. This study suggests that an essential component of teacher professional development should include the study of the various roles that teachers can play when questioning for establishing dialogic interaction in argumentation and that this development should consist of ongoing training with systematic support.