Integrating data in a complex mixed-methods classroom interaction study

Mixed-methods (MM) designs have gained increasing interest in educational research. Still, many studies collect quantitative and qualitative data but report these data separately and do not attempt to integrate them in practice. The aim of this article is to discuss the purposes and processes of integrating qualitative and quantitative data in an MM classroom interaction study. Issues regarding mixing and integration, including how to overcome integration barriers, are discussed. Based on this outline, the study then presents details about the various integration processes adopted in a recent MM study on classroom interaction in Norway. The possibilities and challenges of integration to produce new knowledge and a deeper understanding throughout the research process in classroom studies are illustrated with a specific focus on points of interface. A key issue is whether the new knowledge obtained in an MM study is more than the sum of the individual quantitative and qualitative parts. Using selected questions from the MM alphabet proved a helpful heuristic for guiding the iterative processes of integration and provided richer explanations and an enhanced understanding of the implementation and impact of a complex classroom intervention initiative. The study provides a new methodological contribution to the MM literature by examining the integration processes and challenges faced in a specific study.     

Examining the impacts of the structures writing intervention for teaching fourth-grade students to write informational text

Reading and Writing - Expository writing may be especially difficult for elementary grade students due to lack of background knowledge and unfamiliar text structures. A text structure writing...     

The Outcome of a Social Cognitive Training for Mainstream Adolescents with Social Communication Deficits in a Chinese Community

The use of cognitive-based strategies for improving social communication behaviours for individuals who have solid language and cognition is an important question. This study investigated the outcome of teaching Social Thinking^®, a framework based in social-cognition, to Chinese adolescents with social communication deficits. Thirty-nine students (33 with Autism Spectrum Disorders and six without), ranging in age from 12 to 15 years with social communication deficits, participated in a 12-week intervention. Students’ pre- and post-intervention social behaviours were measured by six aspects of the Social Thinking-ILAUGH Scale involving 115 familiar raters. Students showed significant improvement in all the six subscales of the Social Thinking-ILAUGH except humour after training. Agreements on ratings among parents and school personnel were satisfactory. A framework based in social cognitive strategies, with appropriate linguistic and cultural adaptations, appears to be a promising tool for Chinese adolescents with social learning issues. Social behaviours improved across school and home settings as noted by groups of raters familiar with the students.     

Conditioned suppression and discriminative control of behavior

Rats were trained on a multiple variable-interval extinction schedule of reinforcement. The effects of a stimulus which preceded an unavoidable shock were assessed when it was superimposed on both components of the schedule or on VI components only. In general, VI responding was suppressed during the preshock stimulus. There was no evidence for any increase in responding during extinction components either generally or differentially during the preshock stimulus. These findings fail to support an earlier suggestion that a preshock stimulus may impair discrimination performances.     

Understanding Categorical Hierarchies: The Earliest Levels of Skill

2 categorization skills necessary for understanding hierarchies are the ability to form categories at different levels of generality and the ability to include the same objects into multiple categories. 2-year-olds appear to have the first skill, but some theoretical and empirical work suggests that the second may be a later acquisition. Yet, in 3 studies, 2- and 3-year-olds applied familiar basic level and superordinate labels to the same objects, even when reminded of basic labels before being tested with superordinates. They did not reserve superordinates for objects with unfamiliar basic level names (Study 2), and they were willing to apply superordinates to objects presented singly rather than in groups (Study 3). Thus, contrary to the implications of some previous work, 2- and 3-year-olds appear to have both of the categorization skills necessary for forming categorical hierarchies.     

Building research capacity collaboratively: Can we take ownership of our future?

This presidential address argues that there is a pressing need in the UK to build educational research capacity at system level and to do so collaboratively. It advances three main arguments for doing so. These are (i) the increasing concentration of research resources; (ii) the dangers of increasing separation of research and initial teacher education; and (iii) the complexity of the links between research, policy and practice. Drawing on evidence about research quality and on demographic trends of academic staff in education departments, it illustrates one approach to collaborative capacity building in Scotland, the Applied Educational Research Scheme. It concludes by drawing attention to the nascent Strategic Forum for Research in Education as an important forum for monitoring the health of educational research.     

Developing Multicultural Competence Using the Structured Peer Group Supervision Model

Interest in the role of supervision in counselor training has increased concurrent with the interest in effective strategies for developing multicultural counseling competency. L. D. Borders (1991) proposed a model of group supervision appropriate for use with supervisees of differing skill levels; however, the model does not overtly provide for supervisees' development of multicultural awareness and skills. This article presents a format of peer group multicultural supervision in which supervisees work to increase their multicultural competencies while engaging in helper roles important for working with culturally diverse clients.