App-Based Manipulatives and Explicit Instruction to Support Division with Remainders

ABSTRACT

In theory, both virtual manipulatives and explicit instruction are viable options to support students with disabilities as they learn mathematics. This study explored the effect of a treatment package—an app-based virtual manipulative (Cuisenaire® Rods) in conjunction with explicit instruction—on students’ acquisition and generalization of solving problems involving division of whole numbers with remainders. Three middle school students with disabilities participated in this multiple baseline, multiple probe across participants single case design study. Each of the students acquired the mathematical behavior of being able to solve division with remainders problems. In other words, a functional relation existed between the intervention package of explicit instruction and the Cuisenaire® Rods app-based manipulative and students’ accuracy in solving division with remainders problems. Yet, two students failed to generalize the skill without the explicit instruction and use of the app-based manipulative.     

庄子与伽达默尔:忘己与体道

把庄子"忘己以体道"的思想同伽达默尔"一个人只有失去自身才能发现自身"的思想加以比较.伽达默尔发展了海德格尔的一个观点:与一件艺术作品遭遇,就是接受一次"冲击".运用伽达默尔的思想走近庄子,可以得到一种道家诠释学."冲击"的哲学意蕴何在?柏拉图认为哲学始于惊讶,亚里士多德进而认为,哲学始于惊讶,但"并不终止于惊讶的对立面",即惊讶的消失.庄子与伽达默尔把我们带到了哲学思想的开端.我们发现自己处在哲学的源头处:一种惊讶的状态.在惊讶的状态中,我们陷入未知领域之中,失去了置身于熟悉领域之时的确定感.无论是在庄子的认识论,还是在他的伦理学与美学思想中,忘己都是体道的核心.     

The Politics of Emotions in ELT: Structure of Feeling and Anxiety of Korean English Teachers

ABSTRACT

Using the notion of structure of feeling by Raymond Williams, this article seeks to illuminate an ideological understanding of Korean English teachers’ anxiety and deep sense of insecurity in English language teaching (ELT). Through a discussion of how their anxiety is grounded deeply within unequal social relations and how they reframe their anxiety through critical reflection on the cultural and ideological bias of their own anxiety, it points out the intricate relationship between ideology and emotion; teachers’ emotions are shaped by dominant ideologies that constitute the social structures constraining their position as teachers, while their engagement with those emotions also enables their self-transformation towards gaining confidence as teachers. The results of the study emphasise the tension between social structure and agency in teachers’ emotional experiences and discuss implications for teacher education and development.     

The roles of cognitive and language abilities in predicting decoding and reading comprehension: comparisons of dyslexia and specific language impairment

This study aimed to (a) explore the roles of cognitive and language variables in predicting reading abilities of two groups of individuals with reading disabilities (i.e., dyslexia and specific language impairment) and (b) examine which variable(s) is the most predictive in differentiating two groups. Inclusion/exclusion criteria applied to categorize the two groups yielded a total of 63 participants (n = 44 for the dyslexia; n = 19 for the specific language impairment). A stepwise multiple regression approach was conducted to examine which cognitive and/or language variables made the largest contribution to reading abilities (i.e., Phonetic Decoding Efficiency, Word Attack, Sight Word Efficiency, and Passage Comprehension). Results revealed that there were significant differences in which measures of cognitive and language ability predicted individuals with dyslexia and speech and language impairments reading ability, showing that the cognitive and language variables underlying their difficulty with reading abilities were not the same across the two groups. A discriminant function analysis showed that a measure of Verbal Comprehension, Phonological Awareness, and Phonetic Decoding Efficiency can be used to differentiate the two groups. These findings support the tenet that dyslexia and specific language impairment are two subgroups of reading disabilities and that thorough diagnostic evaluations are needed to differentiate between these two subgroups. Distinctions of this nature are central to determining the type and intensity of language-based interventions.     

Examining Word Factors and Child Factors for Acquisition of Conditional Sound-Spelling Consistencies: A Longitudinal Study

It has been suggested that children acquire spelling by picking up conditional sound-spelling consistencies. To examine this hypothesis, we investigated how variation in word characteristics (words that vary systematically in terms of phoneme-grapheme correspondences) and child factors (individual differences in the ability to extract phonological, morphological, and orthographic information) simultaneously relates to spelling accuracy. A total of 143 Korean-speaking children were assessed on spelling 4 times from prekindergarten to kindergarten. Words in the spelling task systematically varied in orthographic transparency stemming from phonological shifts. At Time 1 they were also assessed on emergent literacy or linguistic awareness skills (e.g., phonological awareness, morphological awareness, letter-name knowledge). Explanatory item response model revealed that (a) growth trajectories of spelling differed as a function of orthographic transparency, and (b) the effect of emergent literacy skills on words of varying transparency differed as a function of children’s emergent literacy skill levels and time.     

The Role of Visual Indicators in Dual Sensory Mode Instruction

Advances in our knowledge of the structure of working memory suggest that under some circumstances, effectively more processing capacity is available to learners if instructional materials use multiple information modes (e.g. auditory and visual) instead of equivalent single mode formats. This paper examined this modality effect from a cognitive load perspective in three experiments using geometry instruction. In accordance with cognitive load theory, it was predicted that the additional processing capacity provided in an audio/visual format would only enhance learning if mental resources were not devoted to extensive visual based search in order to coordinate auditory and visual information. Using two different areas of geometry, Experiments 1 and 2 found that if visual search was clearly high, then audio‐visual instruction was only beneficial if visual indicators in the form of electronic flashing were incorporated into the instructional format. Under high search conditions, a standard audio/visual format without the aid of flashing proved no better than visual only instruction. Experiment 3 attempted to clarify earlier results by using instructional materials trivially low in visual search. Data indicated that a standard, audio‐visual format resulted in superior learning to a visual only format. There was no beneficial effect of electronic flashing in Experiment 3, suggesting that visual indicators were not necessary in areas of low visual search. It was concluded that cognitive load as determined by visual search established the effectiveness of visual indicators.     

Empirically-based guidelines for the design of interactive multimedia

While interest in interactive multimedia continues to grow, thus far its activities have been driven more by technological capacity than research and theory. Typically, guidelines for interactive multimedia design are based not upon empirical evidence, but on the intuitive beliefs of designers. In this article, relevant research and theory are organized within an overarching framework, and their principles and implications for the design of interactive multimedia are derived.     

Feasibility of the MTAI as a Selection Instrument for Pre-Service Teacher Education — A Pilot Project

The Institute of Education is the only institution in Singapore that trains and prepares individuals for the task of teaching. In order to ensure that its products, the teachers, are of a respectable calibre, not only should the training programme be reviewed regularly, but also the method of selecting trainees.     

U.S. and Israeli young women’s future perceptions

The current study investigated the content of future perceptions among 47 U.S. women and 48 Israeli women. Thematic analysis was used to explore participants’ qualitative responses. Women’s responses covered a wide range of topics, and were categorized into ten key themes: (a) work, (b) family/relationships, (c) property, (d) residence, (e) education, (f) general quality of life, (g) leisure, (h) pro-social activities, (i) multiple role management, and (j) religion. Results demonstrated the role of nationality in the process of exploration and future perceptions. Implications for research and practice are discussed.