Metacognition and EFL/ESL reading

Several distinct research streams are converging in the field of foreign or second language reading in the U.S. Separate research streams in metacognition, in reading strategies, and in the training of reading strategies are converging in the field of English as a foreign or second language. This confluence of research is dramatically impacting the teaching of English to adult non-native speakers for academic purposes. In this article we will briefly review these distinct research streams for their relevance to the population in question, and will then describe the research design for an empirical study we are currently conducting to further investigate the efficacy of metacognitive strategy training for adult EFL/ESL reading.     

The Self‐evaluation of Teachers: a Strategy for the Improvement of Teaching at Higher Education Level

Teaching assessment at higher education level is required in order to improve the quality of teaching in universities. As both teaching staff and students are equally involved in the teaching/learning process, the views of both must be taken into account when determining the quality of teaching. Basically, a self‐evaluation process has two aspects. On the one hand, there is the source of information, the teacher in this particular case. He or she has the opportunity to reflect upon the actual teaching situation by evoking his or her own point of view in regard to his or her vision of reality even if it might be judged as a complementary view as opposed to other views. On the other hand, the objective of the process might be one either of providing a means of checking (process evaluation) or of improving (result evaluation). A detailed analysis of the two characteristics will enable us to appreciate properly their inter‐connectedness. This analysis, as well as the prior experience of the authors in the domain of teaching assessment within their university, enables them to present a model of self‐evaluation applicable to the context in which they are working.     

Young Children Are Wishful Thinkers: The Development of Wishful Thinking in 3- to 10-Year-Old Children

Previously, research on wishful thinking has found that desires bias older children’s and adults’ predictions during probabilistic reasoning tasks. In this article, we explore wishful thinking in children aged 3- to 10-years-old. Do young children learn to be wishful thinkers? Or do they begin with a wishful thinking bias that is gradually overturned during development? Across five experiments, we compare low- and middle-income United States and Peruvian 3- to 10-year-old children (N = 682). Children were asked to make predictions during games of chance. Across experiments, preschool-aged children from all backgrounds consistently displayed a strong wishful thinking bias. However, the bias declined with age.     

Online learning: Learner characteristics and their approaches to managing learning

Using cluster analysis this study investigated the characteristics of learning strategies learners use in online courses with one-on-one mentoring. Three distinct approaches were identified: “Mastery oriented”, “Task focused” and “Minimalist in effort”. Despite the widespread concern that students will have difficulty managing their time in online courses with high level of student freedom, this study found that the vast majority of learners were very effective in their learning strategies. The findings speak well for the potential of distance education environments to provide high quality self-paced learning, accommodating different learning strategies, which is difficult to do in group-paced courses. We further explored how these approaches relate to and interact with, participants’ background and their levels of satisfaction and self reported learning.     

Recycling Piaget: Posthumanism and making children’s knowledge matter

A growing body of research incorporates children’s perspectives into the research process. If we are to take children’s perspectives seriously in education research, research methodologies must be capable of addressing issues that matter to children. This article engages in a theoretical discussion that considers how a posthuman research methodology can support such an effort. Piaget’s early and lesser known qualitative studies on children’s conception of the world are re-read along with Karen Barad’s posthuman theory, using Catherine Malabou’s concept of plasticity. Through a plastic reading of Piaget and Barad, I consider how a posthuman theoretical framework might contribute to research seeking to access children’s perspectives. Before concluding, I reflect on some ethical concerns regarding posthuman research in education.     

The efficacy of `whole word' versus `analytic' reading instruction for children with Down syndrome

An intervention study was conducted toinvestigate whether children with Down syndrome(DS) would benefit from an `analytic' approachto reading instruction, which encompassedexplicit training in phonological awareness.Participants were seven English-speakingchildren with DS aged 8;6 (years;months) to11;1, who demonstrated little or nononword-reading ability prior to intervention.The children received weekly instruction (forsix weeks) in reading aloud 30 regularly speltmonosyllables (e.g., ten, bake) using an`analytic' approach, in which words werelearned by combining onsets with rimes (fourchildren), or a `whole-word' approach (threechildren). Participants' oral reading wasassessed pre- and post-intervention using areading test comprising the 30 trained wordsand 30 untrained (generalisation) words. Mostchildren (six out of seven) read more trainingwords correctly after intervention than before,with significant improvement shown by fourchildren (two trained analytically, and twotrained with whole words). More importantly,reading of generalisation words improvedsignificantly in only three children, all ofwhom had received analytic training. It wasconcluded that children with DS benefit from ananalytic approach to reading instruction, eventhough their auditory-verbal memory (assessedusing digit span) is poor.     

Inquiry-Learning with WebLab: Undergraduate Attitudes and Experiences

The Microelectronics WebLab at MIT allows students to do actual (not simulated) laboratory research on state-of-the art equipment through the Internet. This study assesses the use of WebLab in a junior-level course on microelectronic devices and circuits in 2004–05 and 2005–06. In quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews, students and faculty reported that WebLab was effective as an instrument of learning, and grew more so with refinements of the program. WebLab allowed undergraduates to learn at their own pace and on their own schedules. It enabled them to use different processes of learning (intuitive, visual, abstract), and it gave them an opportunity to link individual and collaborative effort in creative combinations. Online laboratories on this model have broad applications in the experimental sciences and in other research-oriented disciplines.     

The Academic Rational Beliefs Scale: Development,Validation, and Implications for College Counselors

This study reports on a new instrument, the Academic Rational Beliefs Scale, designed to measure college students' academic beliefs along a rational‐irrational continuum. The new instrument is potentially useful when working with students experiencing academic difficulties. Information about test construction, reliability, validity, and generalizability are presented and implications, benefits, and cautions associated with use of the instrument as a college counseling tool are discussed.     

Differences between WISC‐R and WISC‐III performance scale among children with ADHD

Reviews involving the Wechsler Scales for children suggest that Full Scale IQ scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition, average 5 to 6 points lower than scores on the second edition of the scale [WISC‐R, Wechsler, D. (1974). Zimmerman & Woo‐Sam, 1997], with the differences distributed disproportionately over subtests, i.e., with larger discrepancies found within the Performance Scale (Wechsler, 1991). Changes on the revised subtests of the WISC‐III Performance Scale may place children with ADHD at a disadvantage compared to their performance on analogous WISC‐R subtests. We examined IQ test performance in 122 unmedicated children with ADHD (61 given the WISC‐R, 61 given the WISC‐III), and 46 children from a healthy, comparison group (23 given the WISC‐R, 23 given the WISC‐III). The ADHD and comparison group samples were matched for sex and for Verbal IQ between WISC‐R and WISC‐III. Children with ADHD had significantly lower Performance IQ on WISC‐III compared to the WISC‐R, with the Picture Arrangement subtest showing the most significant difference. In contrast, there were no significant differences between the WISC‐R and WISC‐III cohorts on Performance IQ or any Performance subtests among the comparison group. These findings highlight the importance of examining the comparability of ability test revisions among clinical and non‐clinical populations, and will be especially salient when the WISC‐III is revised. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 331–340, 2003.