Do principal-educators have the ability to transform schools?: A South African perspective

Post-1994 South Africa adopted a new education system that would seemingly break with the past practices of the apartheid education system (Naicker, 1999) and produce citizens prepared for a democratic dispensation in South Africa. Accordingly, the new system of outcomes-based education was introduced in order to create the critical mass needed for the transformation of society. Thus, schools would become the sites where democratic practices for democratic citizenship would be fostered. Government duly promulgated the applicable policy documents (55 and 67).     

A Cognitive View of Reading Comprehension: Implications for Reading Difficulties

Our aim in the present paper is to discuss a “cognitive view” of reading comprehension, with particular attention to research findings that have the potential to improve our understanding of difficulties in reading comprehension. We provide an overview of how specific sources of difficulties in inference making, executive functions, and attention allocation influence reading comprehension processes and outcomes and may lead to reading comprehension problems. Finally, we discuss how the consideration of these potential sources of difficulty have practical implications for the design and selection of instructional materials.     

Prospective Educational Applications of Mental Simulation: A Meta-review

This paper focuses on the potential of mental simulation (mentally rehearsing an action to enhance performance) as a useful contemporary educational method. By means of a meta-review, it is examined which conditions impede or facilitate the effectiveness of mental simulation (MS). A computer search was conducted using Ovid PsycINFO. Reviews, meta-reviews, or meta-analyses published between 1806 and 2006 were included. The current paper presents the results of ten publications in which about 630 studies on mental simulation or mental practice are reviewed. According to the analyses, conditions that influence the effect of MS are the type of skill practiced, personal factors, time per trial, amount of trials, and instructional procedures. Based on these insights, it is reflected upon in which areas MS would be functional with regard to contemporary educational demands, such as for emotional, behavioral, and (other) complex cognitive tasks.     

Computer assisted learning: an instrument to improve the quality of education?

Abstract

In September 1990 computer assisted learning (CAL) was introduced at the Larenstein International Agricultural College. At first, CAL was only used for remedial teaching. The use of CAL was extended in 1991 to some regular courses (statistics, economy), and some courseware has been developed for specific purposes.

Students like the use of CAL, especially in the regular courses. They appreciate the immediate feedback and the flexibility of the programmes. Teachers are also positive about this kind of instruction, because theses lessons are less tiring for them, and because it gives them more time to help students with serious problems.

It is hard to prove that exam results get better, but there are signs that CAL help to improve the quality of education. However, CAL is an educational instruments that keeps students alert, just because it is different.     

Reciprocal relationships between math self-concept and math anxiety

The present study examined the reciprocal relationships between self-concept and anxiety in mathematics. A sample of 495 grade 7 students (51% girls) completed self-report measures assessing self-concept and anxiety three times in a school year. Structural equation modeling was used to test a cross-lagged panel model of reciprocal effects between math self-concept and math anxiety. The analysis showed a reciprocal relationship between self-concept and anxiety in math (i.e., higher self-concept leads to lower anxiety, which in turn, leads to higher self-concept). However, the magnitude of the path from anxiety to self-concept is almost half of that from self-concept to anxiety. Overall, the results provide empirical support for the theoretical notion that math self-concept and math anxiety are reciprocally related.     

What Can Be Learned from Computer Modeling? Comparing Expository and Modeling Approaches to Teaching Dynamic Systems Behavior

Computer modeling has been widely promoted as a means to attain higher order learning outcomes. Substantiating these benefits, however, has been problematic due to a lack of proper assessment tools. In this study, we compared computer modeling with expository instruction, using a tailored assessment designed to reveal the benefits of either mode of instruction. The assessment addresses proficiency in declarative knowledge, application, construction, and evaluation. The subscales differentiate between simple and complex structure. The learning task concerns the dynamics of global warming. We found that, for complex tasks, the modeling group outperformed the expository group on declarative knowledge and on evaluating complex models and data. No differences were found with regard to the application of knowledge or the creation of models. These results confirmed that modeling and direct instruction lead to qualitatively different learning outcomes, and that these two modes of instruction cannot be compared on a single “effectiveness measure”.     

School mapping restructure in rural China: achievements, problems and implications

This study considers the experience of school mapping restructure (SMR) in areas of rural China. It aims to understand what happened after SMR implementation. Through a combination of instruments such as questionnaires, interviews and document analysis, the study finds that SMR has impacted positively on the development of education in terms of generating scaling benefits, improved school conditions and educational quality, and more equitable distribution of educational resources. However, there remain several associated problems including longer schooling commute, household financial restrictions and student pressures, and increased teacher work-loads. The study recommends that more structured plans should be developed. Increased stakeholder participation should be enabled, and by providing increased teaching resources to rural schools, implementation should be improved.