Integrating formative evaluation into a learner-centred revision course

This article describes a learner-centred course which ran in summer 1988. It was ostensibly a revision exercise, using computer assisted learning (CAL), but an element of formative evaluation was deliberately built into the process, making it contribute to our systematic review and development of our teaching. Our aim was to take snapshots of learning at different stages, through a short but intensive revision class in mathematics for engineering and science undergraduates at a Scottish university
The CALM Project—Computer Aided Learning in Mathematics—has produced 2 5 software units to enhance the teaching of calculus to large groups of undergraduates. The CALM software was piloted by one group of students and a formative evaluation of the packages has been reported elsewhere (Beevers et al 1987, Beevers et al 1988a). This revision course enabled us to confirm many of the previous evaluation findings on the CALM software; we also discovered that a round-up session on problem-solving is an important and integral part of the learning process. The evaluation proved useful to us as teachers of mathematics, and has already influenced the future development of our CAL work.     

The RAVE-O Intervention: Connecting Neuroscience to the Classroom

ABSTRACT—This article explores the ways in which knowledge from the cognitive neurosciences, linguistics, and education interact to deepen our understanding of reading's complexity and to inform reading intervention. We first describe how research on brain abnormalities and naming speed processes has shaped both our conceptualization of reading disabilities and the design of a multicomponent reading intervention, the RAVE-O program. We then discuss the unique ways this program seeks to address the multiple and varied sources of disruption in struggling readers. Finally, we present efficacy data for the RAVE-O reading intervention across multiple school settings.     

Modeling and Motor Performance: A Developmental Perspective

Abstract

The present study was designed to examine the effects of age, modeling and verbal self-instruction on children's performance of a sequential motor task. Eighty-four children between the ages of 4–0 and 5–11 years and 84 children between the ages of 7–0 and 8–11 years were randomly assigned to one of six instructional conditions in a 2 × 3 × 2 (age × model type × verbal self-instruction) factorial design. Results revealed that older children performed better than younger children on motor, verbal-cognitive, and attentional measures. More importantly, an age by model type interaction revealed that model effectiveness depended on the age of the observer as well as the type of model observed. Specifically, 7- and 8-year-old children performed equally well after observing either a silent or verbal model, while the 4- and 5-year-olds performed best under a verbal model only. The absence of verbal self-instructional effects was attributed to task difficulty, information processing capabilities and methodological procedures. In general, the results supported the notion that developmental factors play a critical role in the modeling process, and both theoretical and practical implications are outlined.     

Managing the consultant and the client: A two-handled crosscut saw

This article focuses on managing the client and the concultant with a performance appraisal process. The authors use their current practical experiences to consider the management of an effective client-consultant relationship. Dorothy writes from her perspective as a training director and user consultants and Maureen from her experience as an independent consultant providing management training and consulting services in the Metropolitan Washington area.     

Parents Influence the Visual Learning Environment Through Children's Manual Actions

The present research studied children in the second year of life (N = 29, M_age = 21.14 months, SD = 2.64 months) using experimental manipulations within and between subjects to show that responsive parental influence helps children have more frequent sustained object holds with fewer switches between objects compared to when parents are either not involved or over-involved. Regardless of parental involvement, sustained holds were visually rich, based on the size, centeredness, and dominance of the held object relative to other objects. These findings are important because they suggest not only that the child's body creates visually rich scenes across play contexts but also that a responsive parent can increase the frequency of these visually rich and informative moments.     

Engaging Experts: Science-Policy Interactions and the Introduction of Congestion Charging in Stockholm

This article analyzes the conditions for mobilizing the science base for development of public policy. It does so by focusing upon the science-policy interface, specifically the processes of direct interaction between scientists and scientifically trained experts, on the one hand, and agents of policymaking organizations, on the other. The article defines two dimensions – cognitive distance and expert autonomy – which are argued to influence knowledge exchange, in such a way as to shape the outcome. A case study on the implementation of congestion charges in Stockholm, Sweden, illustrates how the proposed framework pinpoints three central issues for understanding these processes: (1) Differentiating the roles of, e.g., a science-based consultancy firm and an academic environment in policy formation; (2) Examining the fit between the organizational form of the science-policy interface and the intended goals; and (3) Increasing our understanding of when policymaker agents themselves need to develop scientific competence in order to interact effectively with scientific experts.     

The concurrent validity of the peabody individual achievement test and woodcock reading mastery tests among students with mild learning problems

Previous research has revealed moderate to high validity coefficients between the Peabody Individual Achievement Test and the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests. However, the same research has indicated rather consistently that the latter instrument provides significantly lower means than do several screening tests currently being used in the field. This investigation replicated and extended previous research by comparing the two instruments across three grade clusters in order to determine whether the lower Woodcock scores are equally robust for each level. As in prior research, validity coefficients were moderate to high in magnitude. However, the differences between the means of two instruments were found to decrease in size from earlier to later grades. That is, seven of the eight significantly different means were found to occur in grades 1 through 4. Only one significant difference was found for grades 5 through 8. Discussion sought to explain the results in terms of the representativeness of the Woodcock norms and the novel method that Woodcock used to estimate sample means and standard deviations.     

‘What can I do to help?’: Postsecondary students with learning disabilities' perceptions of instructors' classroom accommodations

This qualitative research report adopts a critical pedagogy perspective to examine the provision of classroom accommodations for postsecondary students with learning disabilities. Although instructors in the United States are bound to abide by disability rights laws, we also believe instructors can act in ways that allow students to feel comfortable in disclosing their disabilities and in requesting and accessing accommodations for these disabilities. We engaged the voices of 10 university students living with learning disabilities through a series of semi‐structured interviews. These students offered a variety of statements on the ways that their disabilities were accommodated or not by their instructors. We classified these perceptions into three kinds of accommodation perceived by university students with learning disabilities: non‐accommodation, formal accommodation and accommodation for all students. We discuss the implications that these types of accommodations have for pedagogy and offer recommendations for effective techniques for accommodating for all. We hope the voices of these students will serve to enhance communication between students with learning disabilities and their professors.