Special education placement decisions made by teams and individuals: A cross-cultural perspective

The present study looked at whether special education placement decisions made by teams are superior to those made by individuals. The investigation was conducted in Puerto Rico to determine whether the benefits of the cooperative group process exist in another culture. Results indicated that teams in Puerto Rico generated significantly less variability (i.e., errors) in their placement decisions than did the same specialists acting independently.     

The Computer in Secondary Education

In this context we do not mean the production of educational films by various institutes, publishers, and professional film-makers because they have to follow a given standard in technique, theme and reference to the school curriculum.     

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS AND POTENTIALS OF EDUCATION IN LATER LIFE: THE CASE OF AUSTRIA

Various theoretical concepts such as plasticity, competence, and potential have recently been applied to underline the possibility of later‐life development and change. Value and limitations of these concepts are discussed in view of learning in later life. A review of the special case of Austria and the educational attainments of its elderly indicates that social reality is slow in its transformation and that the disadvantageous educational achievements credited to today's older people hardly encourage them in pursuing later‐life studies. The paper reports results obtained by means of two questionnaires filled out by older students and teachers. This empirical investigation examines the influence of societal norms, social setting in institution‐related learning situations (age‐homogeneity vs. age‐heterogeneity), and instructors’ attitudes toward older students. The results demonstrate that permanent education and proper stimulation of the learning processes depend on a complex relationship between (competent) individuals, their social surroundings, and learning conditions that often prove unfavorable.     

Evaluating the Responsiveness of Accelerometry to Detect Change in Physical Activity

The responsiveness to change of the Actical and ActiGraph accelerometers was assessed in children and adolescents. Participants (N = 208) aged 6 to 16 years completed two simulated free-living protocols, one with primarily light-to-moderate physical activity (PA) and one with mostly moderate-to-vigorous PA. Time in sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous PA was estimated using 8 previously developed cut-points (4 for Actical and 4 for ActiGraph) and 5-sec, 15-sec, and 30-sec epochs. Accelerometer responsiveness for detecting differences in PA between protocols was assessed using standardized response means (SRMs). SRM values ≥.8 represented high responsiveness to change. Both accelerometers showed high responsiveness for all PA intensities (SRMs = 1.2–4.7 for Actical and 1.1–3.3 for ActiGraph). All cut-points and epoch lengths yielded high responsiveness, and choice of cut-points and epoch length had little effect on responsiveness. Thus, both the Actical and ActiGraph can detect change in PA in a simulated free-living setting, irrespective of cut-point selection or epoch length.     

A New Two-Step Approach for Hands-On Teaching of Gene Technology: Effects on Students’ Activities During Experimentation in an Outreach Gene Technology Lab

Emphasis on improving higher level biology education continues. A new two-step approach to the experimental phases within an outreach gene technology lab, derived from cognitive load theory, is presented. We compared our approach using a quasi-experimental design with the conventional one-step mode. The difference consisted of additional focused discussions combined with students writing down their ideas (step one) prior to starting any experimental procedure (step two). We monitored students’ activities during the experimental phases by continuously videotaping 20 work groups within each approach (N = 131). Subsequent classification of students’ activities yielded 10 categories (with well-fitting intra- and inter-observer scores with respect to reliability). Based on the students’ individual time budgets, we evaluated students’ roles during experimentation from their prevalent activities (by independently using two cluster analysis methods). Independently of the approach, two common clusters emerged, which we labeled as ‘all-rounders’ and as ‘passive students’, and two clusters specific to each approach: ‘observers’ as well as ‘high-experimenters’ were identified only within the one-step approach whereas under the two-step conditions ‘managers’ and ‘scribes’ were identified. Potential changes in group-leadership style during experimentation are discussed, and conclusions for optimizing science teaching are drawn.     

E-learning with multiple-try-feedback: Can hints foster students’ achievement during the semester?

Educational technology research and development - E-learning opportunities have become an increasingly important component of university education. Various laboratory studies have shown that...     

Toward Synergizing Educational Research and Movement Sciences: a Dialogue on Learning as Developing Perception for Action

Educational Psychology Review - What could possibly be a meaningful conversation between educational researchers and movement scientists? Curiously, they have much in common. Both groups of...     

Effektivität schulischer Sprachförderung bei Erstklässlern mit Sprachentwicklungsstörungen

The present study examines the language development of N = 48 children with specific language impairments. All pupils were primary students in their first year. They all were tested with the standardized test (SET 5-10). N = 24 children received special tuition. All other children participated in the common tutoring structures of teaching in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The results of this study show a moderate but significant progress in language development for both groups.