Factors Related to Teacher-Directed Play Between Preschool-Age Children With Special Needs and Their Typical Peers

This study investigated the relations among child factors, classroom factors, and the percentage of observations that preschoolers with and without special needs spent in teacher-directed group play. Differences in the number of observations for other types of play (e.g., playing with a teacher or playing cooperatively with peers) between children with and without special needs also was examined. Additionally, the percentage of observations spent by children with and without special needs in different classroom activities and centers was examined. Participants were 48 typically developing children and 22 children with special needs. A scanning method was used to assess play types for the children. Results indicated that girls were more likely to play cooperatively in teacher-directed groups than boys. And, children with special needs were more likely to play with a teacher and less likely to play cooperatively with peers than their typically developing classmates. Children with and without special needs frequently engaged in play in the following areas: art, blocks, science, making food, talking with classmates. In future studies, investigators should observe the different types of child and teacher behaviors related to increased interactions between children who have special needs and their typically developing classmates.     

Implementing randomised control trials in open and distance learning: a feasibility study

Randomised control trials (RCTs) are an evidence-based research approach which has not yet been adopted and widely used in open and distance education to inform educational policy and practice. Despite the challenges entailed in their application, RCTs hold the power to robustly evaluate the effects of educational interventions in distance learning and conclude on whether (or not) these interventions should be adopted and used extensively. The aim of this paper is to spark discussions around the use of RCTs in distance learning by illustrating their benefits and drawbacks including challenges in adopting RCTs in education. To achieve this aim, a RCT was implemented to examine whether a small-scale intervention in four language modules could improve attendance at an end-of-module speaking assessment, and in consequence, performance, completion and pass rates. Results raise the need for further research in order to identify what type of interventions should be designed and put into practice to elicit a positive impact on learners. The paper concludes with a discussion on why RCTs should be brought to the forefront as a viable method for the effective evaluation of the impact of open learning analytic interventions.     

Group treatments for women sexually abused as children: a review of the literature and recommendations for future outcome research

OBJECTIVE: Adults with a history of sexual abuse often suffer many long-term consequences. It is important that therapists be able to provide effective treatment to address the host of issues that are presented in therapy by adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). In order to provide the best possible treatment, therapists should know which treatments are most effective. METHOD: This paper provides a critique of the outcome research of 13 studies (six uncontrolled and seven controlled) on the treatment of adults who suffered childhood sexual abuse and discusses specific methodological strategies that can enhance the quality of such research in the future. RESULTS: Although many of the studies contain methodological limitations, the results generally indicate that group treatment helps reduce symptomatology in the short-term and at follow-up. CONCLUSION: Although outcome research has not been published on specific individual or conjoint treatment approaches for adult survivors of CSA, several outcome studies have found group treatment to be effective in the recovery of female CSA survivors.     

Unseen roots and unfolding flowers? Prison learning,equality and the education of socially excluded groups

The objective of this theoretical article is to critique the notion that adult education, in its current marketised formations, might serve the purpose of rehabilitating learners. To date there has been no detailed interrogation by educationalists of the desirability of rehabilitation as an overarching aim for prison education, or to consider the existing educational philosophies that notions of rehabilitation might cohere with. This article begins to address this gap by engaging with the idea of rehabilitation from a critical adult education perspective. The conceptual framework informing the analysis is critical adult education theory, drawing tangentially on the work of Raymond Williams. The overarching assumption is that education might be understood as the practice of equality, which I employ alongside conceptualisations of empowering adult literacies learning as drawn from writings in the field of New Literacies Studies (NLS). These approaches enable the critique of criminological theory associated with prison learning, alongside the critique of assumptions traceable to NLS. The analysis focuses more specifically on Scotland’s prison system, where the criminological theory of ‘desistance’ currently holds some sway. I observe that whilst perspectives of criminologists and educationists draw upon similar sociological assumptions and underpinnings, different conclusions are inferred about the purpose and practice of adult learning. Here criminologists' conceptualisations tend to neglect power contexts, instead inferring educational practices associated typically with early years education. I also demonstrate the importance of equality in the context of adult education, if educators are to take responsibility for the judgements they make in relation to the education of socially excluded groups.     

Are Broad-Based Vouchers an Effective Way to Support Life-Long Learning? Evidence from an Australian Reform

Research in Higher Education - Increasing mature-age access to education and training in a way that is responsive to changing labour market needs is a key policy challenge. In this paper we examine...     

Effects of Aggression on Achievement: Does Conflict With the Teacher Make It Worse?

This longitudinal study examined different explanations for negative associations between aggression and academic achievement using data collected from 403 children from low‐income families followed from kindergarten or first grade (ages 6 and 7 years) through fifth grade (ages 10–11 years). Most results of growth curve analyses examining change over time and path analyses examining associations among the variables within grades were consistent with the hypothesis that the effect of aggression on achievement was partially mediated by the conflictual relationships relatively more aggressive children tended to develop with their teachers and concomitant reductions in engagement in academic tasks. The evidence suggested, however, that the relationship between aggression and achievement is complex and reciprocal. Gender differences were also observed.     

A framework for classroom assessment,learning, and self-regulation

ABSTRACT

We present a conceptual framework that leverages synergies between classroom assessment (CA) practices and self-regulated learning (SRL) theory to support academic growth and instruction. We articulate the processes shared by CA and SRL, drawing on a model of SRL with three phases: forethought, performance, and self-reflection. We blend this SRL model with CA to create the CA:SRL framework in four stages: (1) pre-assessment, (2) the cycle of learning, doing, and assessing, (3) formal assessment, and (4) summarizing assessment evidence. We elucidate how SRL processes are involved at each stage and can be drawn on to support learning development and teacher understanding and co-regulation of learning. This framework is important in that it depicts how assessment and learning processes interact dynamically for both teachers and students in classrooms, and demonstrates that such interactions encompass the full breadth of purposes in CA, from planning through summation of evidence.     

Reagent integration and controlled release for multiplexed nucleic acid testing in disposable thermoplastic 2D microwell arrays

The seamless integration of reagents into microfluidic devices can serve to significantly reduce assay complexity and cost for disposable diagnostics. In this work, the integration of multiplexed reagents into thermoplastic 2D microwell arrays is demonstrated using a scalable pin spotting technique. Using a simple and low-cost narrow-bore capillary spotting pin, high resolution deposition of concentrated reagents within the arrays of enclosed nanoliter-scale wells is achieved. The pin spotting method is further employed to encapsulate the deposited reagents with a chemically modified wax layer that serves to prevent disruption of the dried assay components during sample introduction through a shared microchannel, while also enabling temperature-controlled release after sample filling is complete. This approach supports the arbitrary patterning and release of different reagents within individual wells without crosstalk for multiplexed analyses. The performance of the in-well spotting technique is characterized using on-chip rolling circle amplification to evaluate its potential for nucleic acid-based diagnostics.     

Construct Equivalence of PISA Reading Comprehension Measured With Paper‐Based and Computer‐Based Assessments

For many years, reading comprehension in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) was measured via paper‐based assessment (PBA). In the 2015 cycle, computer‐based assessment (CBA) was introduced, raising the question of whether central equivalence criteria required for a valid interpretation of the results are fulfilled. As an extension of the PISA 2012 main study in Germany, a random subsample of two intact PISA reading clusters, either computerized or paper‐based, was assessed using a random group design with an additional within‐subject variation. The results are in line with the hypothesis of construct equivalence. That is, the latent cross‐mode correlation of PISA reading comprehension was not significantly different from the expected correlation between the two clusters. Significant mode effects on item difficulties were observed for a small number of items only. Interindividual differences found in mode effects were negatively correlated with reading comprehension, but were not predicted by basic computer skills or gender. Further differences between modes were found with respect to the number of missing values.