Student‐directed learning strategies to promote the progress of students with intellectual disability in inclusive classrooms

Student‐directed learning strategies involve teaching students to modify and regulate their own behaviour. Teaching students to self‐regulate behaviour has been identified as one means of promoting self‐determination, and promoting and enhancing self‐determination has become a valued outcome internationally. In addition, however, student‐directed learning strategies could prove important for including students with disabilities in general education classrooms by reducing the student's dependency upon others in the classroom setting. Four students with intellectual disability were supported to select an educational goal on which they wanted to work and were taught to self‐monitor their progress toward that goal in general education classrooms. Their progress toward the goal was evaluated through data collection activities and by using the Goal Attainment Scaling process. In general, students achieved their self‐selected goals. The potential contribution of student‐directed learning strategies to inclusion and promoting self‐determination are discussed.     

Strategic leadership for large‐scale reform: the case of England's national literacy and numeracy strategy

Both ‘strategic’ and ‘distributed’ forms of leadership are considered promising responses to the demands placed on school systems by large‐scale reform initiatives. Using observation, interview and survey data collected as part of a larger evaluation of England's National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies, this study inquired about sources of leadership, the distribution of leadership functions across roles and how such distribution could also provide the strategic coordination necessary for successful implementation of such an ambitious reform agenda     

A Comparison of Lecture-Based and Challenge-Based Learning in a Workplace Setting: Course Designs,Patterns of Interactivity,and Learning Outcomes

We describe findings from a research partnership involving a global airline manufacturing company (The Boeing Company), and learning scientists and aeronautical engineers from the University of Washington. Our starting point for the partnership focused on an 8-hour introductory composites course that was designed for company employees. In phase one, learning scientists observed the company's course development activities and the course as taught by company experts. In phase two, we collaboratively designed and implemented a quasi-experimental study comparing two approaches to teaching. One involved lectures with PowerPoint slides. The second, a “challenge-based” learning approach, combined a set of composites-relevant challenges with individual, small-group, and large-group collaborative inquiry. Comparisons between these methods showed greater interaction among participants in the challenge-based group. In addition, the challenge-based group performed significantly better on posttest items requiring integration and synthesis of concepts. Increased interactivity in the challenge course provided opportunities for participants to articulate connections among concepts and may have contributed to the challenge participants' better synthesis of learned concepts. This work highlighted the benefits for learning scientists of collaborating with industry partners to explore learning in workplace settings, as these settings provide illuminating contrasts to the structures of teaching, learning, and assessment found in schools.     

Understanding collaborative learning behavior from Moodle log data

Although course management systems (CMSs) were originally designed for teachers to manage their teaching, little interest has been directed at students' learning. Moodle is usually regarded as a CMS. However, how to make full use of its powerful features and design them into learning tools has rarely been investigated. This study investigates two features, embedded in the Moodle system, wiki and assessment tools, to find out how they are designed to support project-based learning. The theory and rationale for using these two features in learning activities are elaborated. The effects of wiki-supported collaboration, peer grading, and feedback on junior secondary students' enquiries in liberal studies are analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. One hundred and eighty-six students participated in the study. Working on their own wikis, commenting on the work of peers, and previous performance on the humanities course were found to be significant predictors of liberal study project performance.     

Narration and knowledge in direct solicitations

Although narration has been recognized as a complex mode of discourse, its role in professional communication has not been widely studied. This article examines narration in one form of professional communication—direct solicitations— and links narration to an important research issue: the social construction of knowledge, or the social justification of belief, through language. The direct solicitations are described, and the role of narration in justifying belief socially, for direct solicitations, is then discussed by examining narration and analysis as two means for organizing and expressing experience. The interweaving of these two means in direct solicitations is illustrated, but finally the importance of the narrational over the analytic in giving shape and significance to experience is asserted. Thus, the central role narratives play in justifying belief socially, for direct solicitations is described. Three sample narratives from three direct _ solicitations illustrate this discussion.     

Fostering Continuous Improvement and Learning Through Peer Assessment: Part of an Integral Model of Assessment

Assessment is a critical component of educational practices and thus impacts educational reform efforts. This article reviews and considers assessment from 2 perspectives: a focus on accountability and a focus on continuous improvement. A class of preservice and practicing science teachers explored notions of assessment while experiencing peer assessment as part of the class. Their online conversations about the processes of establishing quality criteria for peer assessment and their reflections on the experiences compose the primary data source. Two purposes for assessment, accountability and continuous improvement, arose from the data and created conflicts within the individuals and the class. To resolve this conflict, we propose a framework for viewing assessment as part of an integral model (Wilber, 2004 Wilber, K. 2004. Kosmic consciousness [CD], Boulder, CO: Sounds True..  [Google Scholar]) that includes and transcends the dualities.     

WILL THIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER STUDENT SUCCEED? FACTORS AFFECTING TRANSFER STUDENT PERFORMANCE

This study focuses on the academic performance of students who transferred from a suburban community college to a private, moderately selective urban university. The purpose was to determine if certain easily ascertainable student characteristics and academic behaviors at the community college would be associated with degree persistence and completion at the university. Results indicated that the best predictor of academic success at the university was community college grade point average (GPA): As a group transfer students who entered with a GPA of 2.5 or more were able to maintain a 2.3 at the university, whereas those who entered with less than a 2.5 had an average university GPA of 1.9.     

Concussion Management in Community College Athletics: Revealing and Understanding the Gap Between Knowledge and Practice

The seriousness of concussions in athletics is only recently becoming fully understood and appreciated. There are significant implications for the concussed student-athlete both in returning to the playing field and the classroom. Although practices are now in place to improve identification and management of concussions in professional sports, little is known about how it is managed in community colleges. This mixed method study identified the extent to which California Community College athletic trainers are implementing best practices set forth by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association in their management of concussion. It also sought to understand the training, cultural pressures, and resources that may impact the degree to which community college athletic trainers implement these guidelines.