COACHING MIDDLE-LEVEL TEACHERS TO THINK ALOUD IMPROVES COMPREHENSION INSTRUCTION AND STUDENT READING ACHIEVEMENT

In an effort to improve student achievement, a group of middle-school teachers at an underperforming school developed a schoolwide literacy plan. As part of the plan, they agreed to model their thinking while reading aloud. Eight teachers were selected for coaching related to think alouds in which they exposed students to comprehension strategies that they used while reading. The achievement of their students was compared with the achievement of students whose teachers participated in the ongoing professional development but who were not coached. Results indicate that the coached teachers changed their instructional practices and that student achievement improved as a result.     

The Inclusion of Intentional Ethos Enablers in Electronic Distance Learning Opportunities of Christian Institutions

Abstract

Communicating the Christian ethos of Christian institutions constitutes a significant portion of the effort and monies of these institutions. Included in the purview of ethos enablers are faculty input and advising, student services, required chapel/worship, ministry formation/field experiences, admissions procedures, and opportunities for students to interact with one another in informal settings. Each of these is included in the core functioning of campus-based Christian institutions. As these institutions move more and more to providing distance learning opportunities, it is questioned if equal importance is being given to these ethos enablers in interactions with distance learners. The purpose of this study is to describe what is being done and how effective selected Christian institutions perceive themselves to be in including intentional ethos enablers in their distance learning opportunities.     

Using Extreme Programming in the Software Design Course

This is a report on an effort to bring the practices of the Extreme Programming methodology into a Software Design course. Two teams of 11 members followed many of those practices in developing their semester projects. We described the practices required of the development teams, those encouraged, and those that were not easily simulated. Near the end of the semester the students were asked to answer questions about how well each practice had served the process. Summaries and examples of their responses along with the instructor's observations are presented as an evaluation of this approach. The main conclusions are that pair programming is generally powerful and popular, and that it is difficult to make upper level students write tests prior to writing code. Suggestions for what might be done differently to better simulate the Extreme Programming methodology are included. The foremost suggestion is to teach a “test first” approach in all programming courses.     

A comparison of scholarly productivity among current professors who obtained terminal degrees

ABSTRACT

Although scholarship is important in higher education and faculty productivity expectations are continually increasing, we still do not understand the holistic view of faculty productivity. This study takes a different viewpoint on faculty productivity examining differences by university classification and by discipline. Most importantly, we sought to obtain the effects of the delivery mode of terminal degree on later faculty productivity. The mode of terminal degree via Internet delivery looks attractive to students, but this study found that this has implications for future research productivity. These three elements illustrate a different scope that has important implications for administrative leaders looking to hire future faculty as well as students thinking about becoming a future faculty member. To capture this view, 600 faculty members from 59 American universities were surveyed. From this survey, five different variables emerged to create an overall faculty scholarly productivity factor. This factor was then compared against university classification, discipline, and mode of terminal degree. Results showed surprising significant differences between university classifications and disciplines as compared to scholarly productivity. One of the most noteworthy findings was that there is a significant difference in faculty productivity based on the mode of terminal degree. Furthermore, no difference in later faculty scholarly productivity exists between that of a hybridized, online degree and a purely online degree. Again, these results indicate significant finds which have a high influence on faculty scholarly productivity, which holds important implications for the future of the university.     

Extended sociometric status of adolescents with mild handicaps: A cross‐categorical perspective

Abstract

We compared adolescents identified as having mild mental retardation, learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, and no known handicaps on regular classroom sociometric status extended to include measures of social impact and social preference. Students attended regular classroom physical education classes in six high schools from two adjacent school districts. We administered a rating scale sociometric in physical education classes where students with mild handicaps were enrolled. Results indicated that not all students with mild handicaps were similar in social acceptance, rejection, and preference. Students with mild handicaps also differed in composition of subgroups labeled popular, rejected, neglected, controversial, and average. We discuss implications concerning social standing differences across types of mild handicaps and the value of examining sociometric status in the manner employed here.     

Supporting Educators to Implement Mand Training for a Student with Multiple Disabilities

ABSTRACT

The purposes of the study were to assess the effects of an online learning module on the implementation of mand training by a classroom team and determine whether training improved manding for a student with multiple disabilities. The classroom team utilized the Support Needs Assessment and Planning (SNAP) process to identify supports and guide implementation of the mand training procedures. The results indicate that both the special education teacher and paraprofessional were able to implement the mand training strategy with fidelity after completing the online module and student manding increased. The classroom team reported that both the online learning module and SNAP process were valuable for planning and implementing research-based supports. Limitations, implications for practice, and future research considerations are addressed.     

Learning Visualization Strategies: A qualitative investigation

The following study investigates the range of strategies individuals develop to infer and interpret cross-sections of three-dimensional objects. We focus on the identification of mental representations and problem-solving processes made by 11 individuals with the goal of building training applications that integrate the strategies developed by the participants in our study. Our results suggest that although spatial transformation and perspective-taking techniques are useful for visualizing cross-section problems, these visual processes are augmented by analytical thinking. Further, our study shows that participants employ general analytic strategies for extended periods which evolve through practice into a set of progressively more expert strategies. Theoretical implications are discussed and five main findings are recommended for integration into the design of education software that facilitates visual learning and comprehension.     

The golden age of BTEC: the business education curriculum in 1980s further education

This article provides an account of ‘three generations’ of the Business Education Council (BEC)/Business and Technician (later Technology) Education Council (BTEC) curriculum as implemented in further education colleges between 1979 and 1992. There is discussion of aspects of the underlying philosophy of BEC/BTEC, the structure and content of the programmes, skills, assessment, work experience, learning strategies, and aspects of monitoring and quality control. It is argued that BEC/BTEC, through a form of vocational progressivism, successfully transformed pedagogic practices in FE during the 1980s. The advent of the National Council for Vocational Qualifications, however, and the subsequent introduction of General Advanced Vocational Qualifications in 1993 effectively marked the end of the ‘BEC/BTEC’ era and the establishment of a more directly instrumentalist approach to vocational education.     

Researching learning outcomes: building confidence in our conclusions

The ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme is expected to produce knowledge of high social scientific quality and practical pedagogic value. It faces, in a particularly acute form, the issue of how confidence in its conclusions can be built. This article begins with some conceptual clarification of the notion of a ‘warrant’ for research findings and distinguishes between warrants in social research and warrants for educational policy and practice. It then, in the specific context of research on learning outcomes, proposes an integrated model that recognizes the importance of, and relationships among, criteria associated with research design and empirical work, theoretical coherence, relationship with other research, and user affirmation. It concludes by emphasizing the need for continuing debate about, and development of, the roles and relationships of ‘researchers’ and ‘users’.     

Editorial

In earlier papers, we considered some of the pedagogy and assessment practices enacted by physical education (PE) teachers, when attempting to translate a centrally prescribed rationale into meaningful performance-led teaching within an integrated curriculum—Higher Still Physical Education (HSPE) in Scotland. One recurring theme from the data collected was anecdotal assertions from teachers that students were disadvantaged from achieving high levels of authentic attainment by written assessment instruments. Accordingly, students completed oral assessments, which were subsequently transcribed and marked to the same criteria as their written examination answers. However, results indicated that students were not disadvantaged as claimed. On the contrary, results highlighted that to various extents weaknesses in content knowledge were partially concealed through holistic written assessment. More optimistically, findings indicated that oral interviews could provide a constructive atmosphere for ongoing assessment, as well as providing informative feedback for teachers to utilize as part of their reflections on practice. Evidence from Senior Level Physical Education (SLPE) in Australia highlights the importance of language in dialogue and discussion within integrated teaching, learning and assessment environments. Consequently, a wider review of the functions such awards might play in students' school experiences prior to higher education appears merited.