An explicit multicomponent alphabet writing instruction program in grade 1 to improve writing skills

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Learning to write involves the acquisition of several skills, not the least of which is handwriting. Indeed, studies in cognitive psychology have...     

Reflections as near‐peer facilitators of an inquiry project for undergraduate anatomy: Successes and challenges from a term of trial‐and‐error

Near‐peer facilitators (senior students serving as facilitators to their more junior peers) bring a unique student‐based perspective to teaching. With fewer years of teaching experience however, students who become involved in a facilitator role typically develop related skills quickly through a process of trial‐and‐error within the classroom. The aim of this paper is to report on the authors' own experiences and reflections as student near‐peer facilitators for an inquiry‐based project in an undergraduate anatomy course. Three areas of the facilitator experience are explored: (1) offering adequate guidance as facilitators of inquiry, (2) motivating students to engage in the inquiry process, and (3) fostering creativity in learning. A practical framework for providing guidance to students is discussed which offers facilitators a scaffold for asking questions and assisting students through the inquiry process. Considerations for stimulating intrinsic motivations toward inquiry learning are made, paying attention to ways in which facilitators might influence feelings of motivation towards learning. Also, the role of creativity in inquiry learning is explored by highlighting the actions facilitators can take to foster a creative learning environment. Finally, recommendations are made for the development of formalized training programs that aid near‐peer facilitators in the acquisition of facilitation skills before entering into a process of trial‐and‐error within the classroom. Anat Sci Educ. 7: 64–70. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.     

The Learning Intention of Low-Qualified Employees: A Key for Participation in Lifelong Learning and Continuous Training

In our continuously changing society, a need for updating one’s skills and knowledge puts pressure on safeguarding the labour market position of low-qualified employees. However, prior research and official statistics show that employees with a lower level of education tend to participate less in training than highly-educated individuals. This limited participation is associated with employers offering fewer opportunities to low-qualified employees, but also with the fact that low-qualified employees themselves might be less willing to participate. In other words, their learning intentions are assumed to be weaker and more restricted than the learning intentions of highly-educated employees. The article reports on a quantitative survey research on the learning intentions of 406 low-qualified employees. The results showed that employees who participated in formal job-related learning activities during the last 5 years had a stronger learning intention than those who did not. Next, the results of the stepwise regression showed that self-directedness, financial benefits, self-efficacy, and autonomy were significant positive predictors of the learning intentions of low-qualified employees. Also, the limited number of possibilities or opportunities to learn was not significant. The results indicated that a learning intention can lead towards the participation in learning activities, but participation is not merely initiated by offering opportunities for learning. Organisational aspects such as job autonomy and financial benefits can stimulate the learning intention of an employee. Finally, regarding the socio-demographic variables, only limited differences were found. In short, employees with no educational qualifications and a full-time contract had the lowest intention to learn.     

Can guidance during play enhance children’s learning and development in educational contexts? A systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis considered evidence of guided play compared to direct instruction or free play to support children's learning and development. Interventions from 39 studies were reviewed (published 1977–2020); 17 were included in meta-analysis (N_total = 3893; M_childage = 1–8 years; M_girls 49.8%; M_ethnicity White 41%, African American/Black 28%, Hispanic 19%). Guided play had a greater positive effect than direct instruction on early maths skills (g = 0.24), shape knowledge (g = 0.63), and task switching (g = 0.40); and than free play on spatial vocabulary (g = 0.93). Differences were not identified for other key outcomes. Narrative synthesis highlighted heterogeneity in the conceptualization and implementation of guided play across studies.     

Untangling the conflation of ‘young adults’ and ‘young people’ in STI and sexual health policy and sex education

Young adults, aged 18–30 years, are disproportionally mentioned in sexually transmissible infection surveillance data both in Australia and internationally. This contributes to categorising young adults as an ‘at risk’ group in health policy. How young adults are framed in policy, and what informs this, have direct implications for policy priorities and responses, including the development of health promotion programmes. In this paper, we provide a case study of Australia’s National Strategies for Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmissible Infections from 2005 to 2017. We identify how ‘young adults’ as a population are masked by, and subsumed within, the broader category of ‘young people’ within these strategies. As a result, young adults become framed by default as a ‘risk category’ that requires education to correct its deficits, regardless of personal experience. For health promotion to advocate, mediate and enable better sexual health outcomes, a policy environment is needed that reflects the changing social and cultural contexts and sexual independence that young adults experience. Sexual health policies should reflect the complexity and opportunities of young adulthood if we are to offer an enabling policy environment for innovative and nuanced health promotion strategies, including adult appropriate health education.     

Preschoolers modulate contrastive inferences during online language comprehension

This study examined 4- and 5-year-olds' incremental interpretation of size adjectives, focusing on whether contrastive inferences are modulated by speaker behavior. Children (N = 120, 59 females, mostly White, tested between July, 2018 and August, 2019) encountered either a conventional or unconventional speaker who labeled objects in a correspondingly typical or atypical way. Critical utterances contained size adjectives (e.g., “Look at the big duck”). With conventional speakers, gaze measures indicated that children rapidly used the adjective to differentiate members of a contrasting pair, indicating that even 4-year-olds derive contrastive inferences. With unconventional speakers, contrastive inferences were delayed in processing. The findings demonstrate that preschoolers adjust their use of pragmatic cues when presented with evidence disconfirming their default assumptions about a speaker.     

Case Study: Distance Learning at the SBC Center for Learning

This case study presents what distance learning is and how it can be used as an alternative delivery solution for training. Distance learning definitions, characteristics, and design qualities are discussed. Specific examples and characteristics of the SBC Center for Learning's distance learning use are provided and can be related with how other companies, such as Arthur Andersen, Eastman Kodak, Microsoft, Netscape, and the Rochester Institute of Technology are using distance learning as an instructional delivery solution. Finally, the future technologies and applications of distance learning at the SBC Center for Learning and in general are discussed.     

Failure is not an option: Entrepreneurship and the existential crisis of internationalization in the U.S.

Internationalization has become intertwined with efforts for institutions to compensate for declines in public funding with the development of new revenue streams. The purpose of this study is to understand the social construction of entrepreneurship in internationalization in the United States as well as explore the multiple meanings of entrepreneurship and its contradictions in discourse among senior international officers. The findings discuss and explore competing views, tensions and ethical complexities of the ‘new entrepreneurism’ increasingly common in internationalization, which blends creative problem-solving with pressures for revenue generation. The findings of this study illustrate that as the world faces genuine existential crises that threaten the continued existence of our species on the planet, internationalization is in the midst of an identity crisis. The drift towards privatization is proving to be increasingly unsustainable and an entirely insufficient response to the existential threats that face the world.