The Effect of Cooperative Teaching on the Development of Reading Skills among Students with Reading Disorders

Cooperative teaching is the result of efforts made by two educators for teaching a heterogeneous group of students, especially one including those with specific needs, due to reading disorders for instance. The present study serves as an experimental investigation focusing on the effect of cooperative teaching on the development of reading skills among students with a reading disorder. To achieve this, three female students were selected from a regular primary school in the 2nd education district of Tabriz, Iran. The research design was a multiple baseline single subject design with different children, in which we used the reading and dyslexia test (RDT) and the revised Wechsler Intelligence Scale to diagnose reading disorders, and a researcher‐made hundred‐word test to measure the development of reading skills. The children received five cooperative teaching sessions during only the (experimental) intervention, i.e. in the baseline and the follow‐up stages, they were not exposed to any cooperative teaching. The comparisons of the students’ performance in experimental phases showed that cooperative teaching is an effective technique for developing reading skills and that the effectiveness of this technique was also maintained over time. This work is the first empirical demonstration of the effectiveness of co‐teaching in dealing with dyslexic reading disabilities. It additionally serves as the first instance of applying co‐teaching to any form of reading disability in Iran.     

Management of inclusive education in Oman: A framework for Action

Inclusive education (IE) and the special education services related to it are relatively new in Oman. Efforts to manage special/inclusive education face many challenges due to a number of culturally rooted factors. Further, empirical research on IE in Oman is scarce and there is a need to advance IE discourse based on empirically validated perspectives. This article examines how IE is managed in schools from the perspective of school leaders in order to develop a framework for action. The author conducted a preliminary qualitative inquiry into how IE is understood and managed in Key stage 1 schools in Oman. The inquiry was based on a focus group interview with a cohort of 25 school leaders who were completing a two year bachelor in educational administration, an endorsement‐like programme at Sultan Qaboos University. Findings showed a number of challenges and tensions between theory and practice, highlighted by school leaders. These challenges and tensions were analysed in order to map out strengths and difficulties. A three level prism shaped framework for action was developed based on the analysis. The framework for action could potentially serve to guide policy‐ and decision‐makers, researchers, practitioners, and is advocated to develop a model of best practice for the successful implementation and management of IE in Oman.     

When empathy hurts: Modelling university students’ word of mouth behaviour in public vs. private universities in Syria

This study examines and compares word of mouth (WOM) behaviour among university students in Syria. To date, little is known about this important phenomenon which is surprising given the deregulated education market in Syria that allows for private universities to compete for students alongside public universities. Using a mixed methods research design and structural equation modelling, our results show faculty individualised attention and student satisfaction were found to be positively related to university image. Further, student satisfaction and university image were found to be direct sources of students’ positive WOM behaviour. We found a moderating effect of university ownership type on university image. Interestingly, we identified six themes showing how support staff empathy could be seen as a source of low student satisfaction. These were defined as deception/credibility/soft‐soapers/suspiciousness: when support staff coax something out of students; confusion/role conflict: resulting from the diverse roles played by support staff while interacting with students; unfairness: when a student notices discrimination in the level of empathy between their peers; privacy: when support staff empathy can be perceived as a kind of intrusion; self‐congratulatory: when a support staff member shows off or praises their empathy; and support staff/student ratio: when this ratio is seen to be small, the empathy effect reverses.     

Unique Correlation Between Mutated Citrullinated Vimentine IgG Autoantibodies and Markers of Systemic Inflammation in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common inflammatory systemic autoimmune disease, primarily affecting the peripheral joints. Anti-mutated citrullinated vimentin autoantibodies (anti-MCV) of IgG isotype were shown to be a useful diagnostic marker of RA especially in RA patients who were anti-cyclic citrullinated protein autoantibodies (anti-CCP) negative. Nevertheless, published data correlates rheumatoid factor (RF), anti-CCP or anti-MCV antibodies with either erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) or serum C-reactive protein (CRP) as markers of disease activity, not investigated the possible correlations of RA autoantibodies towards ESR and CRP in comparison. Herein, we aim to evaluate the usefulness of anti-MCV as a dependable marker in established RA compared with anti-CCP and RF antibodies and to examine correlations between RF, anti-CCP and anti-MCV antibodies towards ESR and serum CRP. Serum RF-IgA, RF-IgM, anti-CCP and anti-MCV levels were measured in 30 patients with RA and 40 patients with other autoimmune diseases (non-RA) compared with 20 normal subjects. Specificity, sensitivity and AUC for RF antibodies, anti-CCP and anti-MCV were calculated towards RA diagnosis. Our results showed that ESR and CRP had significantly higher values in both RA and non-RA patients compared with our healthy controls with observed significant increment in RA patients compared with non-RA patients. An important finding from our study is that 33.3 % of RA patients were anti-CCP negative but being positive towards anti-MCV. Also, in-between 36.7 up to 40 % of RA patients were RF-IgA and RF-IgM negative while being anti-MCV positive. Anti-MCV antibodies showed the highest specificity and sensitivity (97.5 and 86.6 %, respectively) towards RA diagnosis with the highest AUC value (0.920) compared with anti-CCP and RF antibodies. Correlation analyses revealed that there was no significant correlation between ESR along with CRP towards RF-IgA, RF-IgM and anti-CCP while profound highly significant correlation exhibited between ESR and CRP towards anti-MCV data (r = 0.879 and 0.994, respectively). Thus, our data suggest that the assessment of serum anti-MCV autoantibodies along with ESR and CRP considered as a simple laboratory regime for monitoring RA patients to assess and follow-up disease activity. The addition of anti-MCV autoantibodies to serologic markers in the ACR/EULAR classification criteria for RA will add points for patients with negative anti-CCP and RF antibodies.     

Exploring the determinants of students’ academic performance at university level: The mediating role of internet usage continuance intention

Education and Information Technologies - This study investigates the impact of integrating essential factors on academic performance in university students’ context. The proposed model...     

Jordanian Pre‐service Teachers' Perceptions of the Portfolio as a Reflective Learning Tool

This study investigates how portfolios support pre‐service teachers' learning to teach. The findings revealed that the portfolio provides pre‐service teachers with productive learning experiences which help them develop their library use, knowledge, skills, attitudes, personal traits, motivation to learn, interpersonal relationships and an information source. The respondents were found to consider the portfolio a highly effective tool in their learning to teach.     

Visual motor integration as a screener for responders and non-responders in preschool and early school years: implications for inclusive assessment in Oman

Visual motor integration (VMI) is the ability of the eyes and hands to work together in smooth, efficient patterns. In Oman, there are few effective methods to assess VMI skills in children in inclusive settings. The current study investigated the performance of preschool and early school years responders and non-responders on a VMI test. The full range test of visual motor integration (FRTVMI) was administered to a sample of 359 children from preschool and elementary school settings in Oman. A two-way analysis of variance showed that there are statistically significant differences in VMI between preschool and early school non-responders. Gender did not show any effect on preschool children's performance on the FRTVMI, whereas it had an effect on elementary school children's performance. Results of the study are discussed in relation to the use of VMI assessment in screening for responders and non-responders in preschool and elementary school settings. Implications for psycho-educational assessment of children who struggle academically in inclusive settings are presented.     

The acute effects of resistance exercise on the main determinants of blood rheology

The aim of this study was to examine short-term changes in blood rheological variables after a single bout of resistance exercise. Twenty-one healthy males completed three sets of 5?–?7 repetitions of six exercises at an intensity corresponding to 80% of one-repetition maximum (1-RM). The average duration of the exercise bout was 35?min. Venous blood samples were obtained before exercise, immediately after exercise and after 30?min of recovery and analysed for lactate, red blood cell count, haematocrit, haemoglobin, plasma viscosity, fibrinogen, total protein and albumin concentration. Plasma volume decreased 10.1% following resistance exercise. This occurred in parallel with an increase of 5.6%, 5.4% and 6.2% in red blood cell count, haemoglobin and haematocrit; respectively. Plasma viscosity increased from 1.55?±?0.01 to 1.64?±?0.01 mPa?·?s immediately after resistance exercise before decreasing to 1.57?±?0.01 mPa?·?s at the end of the recovery period. Similarly, fibrinogen, albumin and total protein increased significantly following resistance exercise. However, the rises in all these rheological parameters were transient and returned to pre-exercise values by the end of recovery. We conclude that a single session of heavy resistance exercise performed by normal healthy individuals alters blood rheological variables and that these changes are transient and could be attributed to exercise-induced haemoconcentration.     

Improved digital tracking controller design for pilot-scale unmanned helicopter

In this paper, methods for improved design of digital tracking controller for a pilot-scale unmanned helicopter are considered. By discretizing the linearized helicopter model, the linear quadratic with integral (LQI) capability is investigated and applied in order to develop an efficient tracking system including a state-feedback plus integral action. The helicopter velocities are used to formulate a prescribed position reference tracking trajectory. When both process and measurement noises are present, a Kalman filter (KF) is combined with the LQI to form a linear quadratic Gaussian with integral (LQGI) tracking system. Simulation studies illuminate both the capability of the controller design and the accuracy of the estimator. Next, H₂, $H_{\infty }$ and mixed $H_2/H_{\infty }$ controls are designed and the results between methods are produced and compared.