Exploring an intervention’s impact on everyday school activities

The focus of this paper is on a group of pupils with reading and writing difficulties who have been participating in an intervention study using assistive technology. That intervention study contained supervised training sessions with reading and writing tasks using an iPad with special supportive applications. The current study is a qualitative investigation of whether there has been any transfer from the intervention, to the pupils’ everyday school activities. Interviews with pupils and their teachers and observations during classroom lectures have been used to collect data. The results show that the pupils were positive to the assistive technology (the applications on the iPads), they found the apps easy to learn how to use and they appreciated the benefits they could give. Even so, only a few of the pupils had found use for and continued to use the tools after the intervention period finished. Possible reasons are that when the novelty wore off, students reverted to their usual study habits and that older students with many teachers and different classrooms were less able to adapt to using the apps. To improve transfer, it is suggested to introduce assistive technology earlier to students, in the younger grades, before study habits have been formed and to inform teachers about the use of AT in the classroom, including what is available and how it can benefit students.     

The Structure of Ill-Structured (and Well-Structured) Problems Revisited

Educational Psychology Review - In his 1973 article The Structure of ill structured problems, Herbert Simon proposed that solving ill-structured problems could be modeled within the same...     

Research Training Needs of Scientist‐Practitioners: Implications for Counselor Education

Counselors (N = 911) reported the research skills needed for practice and subsequent research training needs. Findings indicate that counselors have a high need for research skills at work, but training needs differ significantly by counselor type. Recommendations include increasing emphasis on single‐case design, survey design, and widely available data analysis tools.     

The Freedom to Teach

Maintaining that academic freedom is necessary if schools are to function effectively, Dr. Dahl presents lucid arguments to support his position.     

Challenges of assuring the development of graduate attributes in a Bachelor of Arts

All universities in Australia are asked to develop various attributes in their degrees. From 2011, the Australian Qualifications Framework has stipulated some of these attributes for the various levels of qualifications. There are many challenges that face assuring the development of graduate attributes in a Bachelor of Arts as the degree typically has very few core units (if any), a wide choice of subjects, a limited prerequisite structure and, unlike many professional degrees, the BA does not have an external accrediting body. This paper describes an approach used to identify the pathway undertaken by each individual student in a History major of the Bachelor of Arts. This pathway was used to identify the graduate attributes that each student should have developed, as articulated by the lecturers. Student perceptions were then compared with the graduate attributes that were intended to be developed through each individual's combination of units studied. In summary, through analysing the two methods (student perceptions and unit pathway) we found that they concurred with respect to only three-quarters of the graduate attributes. Possible reasons for the discrepancies and future research are discussed. The need for multiple methods of providing evidence of the development of graduate attributes is confirmed.     

Perfectionism in Gifted High-School Students: Responses to Academic Challenge

Through a qualitative interview design, this study investigated how participation in a rigorous academic environment may influence gifted students who demonstrate high levels of perfectionism. The study also examined how their responses to a rigorous academic and residential environment may differ according to the type of perfectionism. Findings indicated that some socially prescribed perfectionists reported an increase in perfectionism, whereas some self-oriented perfectionists reported an increase followed by a decrease in their perfectionism. Overall, the majority of the participants, regardless of their type of perfectionism, indicated a decrease in their perfectionism as a result of their new academic environment. Reactions to experiencing imperfections ranged from calm to guilt or even anger, depending on the type of perfectionism. Implications for working with gifted students who show high levels of perfectionism are discussed.