A Meta‐Analysis of Empirical Research on Teaching Students with Mathematics Learning Difficulties

This article quantitatively summarizes experimental and quasi‐experimental studies on teaching students with mathematics difficulties (MD) published between 2000 and 2014, research that was available following earlier syntheses. It reports the analysis of effect sizes of 25 intervention studies on participant characteristics, intervention parameters, domains of mathematics interventions, and instructional approaches and components. Results indicate that several participant characteristics (e.g., grade level and level of mathematics difficulties) and intervention parameters (e.g., methodological soundness, intervention agent, and grouping) mediated the treatment effects. In addition, different types of instructional approaches and several instructional components contributed to the improvements in mathematics performance in students with MD.     

The Impact of a Pedagogy of Teacher Education Seminar on Educator and Future Teacher Educator Identities

Educators require support as they move from classroom to higher education settings. This collaborative self-study provides insight into one such support space, a doctoral seminar titled Pedagogy of Teacher Education, and how our identities as educators and future teacher educators developed through participation in the course. Several important themes emerged as we negotiated and adopted new identities as educators, and future teacher educators and researchers. These themes include our development of a collaborative mindset, a teacher educator-researcher perspective, and a critical self-awareness. The findings draw on our professional and personal histories to explore the prominent features that influenced and shaped our identities as educators and future teacher educator-researchers. In sharing our development as educators and future teacher educators, this article provides insights into the ways in which doctoral students in education begin to develop their identities and pedagogies through guided support from more experienced teacher educators.     

为什么运动员常常不在运动中补充足够的液体?如何弥补?

(1)运动员在运动中因出汗丢失大量体液而补液不足的现象屡见不鲜，这就是所谓的“自愿脱水”，对运动员的身体健康和运动能力带来严重影响。(2)运动员补液不充分有诸多原因，包括：用饮料湿润口腔而造成的生理性渴感抑制，液体引起胃部不适，运动中不易取得饮料，饮料质量欠佳，以及缺乏对运动中补液必要性的认识，等等。(3)发生脱水后，年龄较大的运动员往往比年轻的队员补液少。(4)通过补液指导和训练，运动员能够做到在运动的前、中、后较充分地补液。(5)增进饮品的口感，可使运动中液体的补充量奇迹般增加。(6)运动员大多选择冷饮料，而选择热饮料的较少。饮品的温度对中心体温的影响一般不大。     

Interactive or inactive? a consideration of the nature of interaction in whole class teaching

Recent learning theories and the suggested importance of ‘interactive’ approaches in national initiatives, (NLS, NNS) led to an ESRC‐funded action research project involving the University of Exeter and teachers in three schools—‘Using Talk to Activate Learners’ Knowledge' (TALK). This investigated how ‘interactive’ whole class teaching was and whether teacher‐pupil interactions permitted recoding of information and understanding. The findings corroborate those from Galton (1999 Galton M Hargreaves L Comber C Wall D Pell T (1999a) Inside the primary classroom—20 years on (London, Routledge) [Crossref] [Google Scholar]a, 1999 Galton, M, Hargreaves, L, Comber, C, Wall, D and Pell, T. (1999b). Changes in patterns of teacher interaction in primary classrooms: 1976–1996. British Educational Research Journal, 25(1): 23–37. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar]b), Mroz (2000 Mroz, M, Smith, F and Hardman, F. (2000). The discourse of the Literacy Hour. Cambridge Journal of Education, 30(3): 379–390. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar]) and English (2002 English, E, Hargreaves, L and Hislam, J. (2002). Pedagogical dilemmas in the National Literacy Strategy: primary teachers' perceptions, reflections and classroom behaviour. Cambridge Journal of Education, 32(1): 9–26. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar]): that teacher‐led questioning and explanation still dominate, as do teachers' objectives. Interaction as participation was differentially experienced by higher and lower abilities, boys and girls, with few opportunities for pupil initiation or extended response. The study, however, provides a model for more fully analysing the varying forms and functions of teachers' questions and statements which may lead to a greater clarity in recognising ways to provide more effective discourse for learning.     

Reexamining data from the national reading panel's meta‐analysis: Implications for school psychology

The National Reading Panel (NRP) recently conducted a meta‐analysis about reading interventions and made several recommendations from the data. However, given that reading is the academic area for which most children are referred to school psychologists, further exploration of the implications of the NRP data may be warranted. Effect size data for reading outcome measures were qualitatively interpreted, with none of the posttest effect sizes, and only one‐third of all of the effect size coefficients exhibiting a large effect. Furthermore, reading outcome measures were divided into three categories: pseudowords, words in isolation, and contextual reading. The resulting recomputed mean effect sizes of .84, .92., and .37, respectively, questions the grouping of these three variables into one outcome. Other concerns about methodology were also included. This supports the need for targeted reading interventions based on assessment of reading skills. Implications for the three roles that school psychologists play in the educational research area are also discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 605–612, 2003.     

Functional anatomy of the cardiovascular system: Professional development for PreK‐3 teachers using a “Train and equip” method results in learning opportunities for students

Preadolescent students are interested in learning the structure and function of the human body. However, their teachers are not trained in this content. The purpose of this project was to expand a successful outreach effort in the health sciences for grade 7–12 teachers to include PreK‐3 teachers. A “Healthy Hearts” workshop was offered to train the teachers in relevant content and also to give them a resource kit of supplies and equipment to facilitate the transference of the training into educational opportunities for their students. The workshop included many role‐playing activities and use of all items in the resource kit. A total of 25 workshops were conducted in 14 different community locations with 716 PreK‐3 teachers attending from 169 communities representing 59 (79%) of the state's 75 counties. African American (AA) teacher participation was 35%, twice the state AA population rate and 3.5× the AA public school teacher rate. Pre to Posttest scores increased an average of 15%. The results of the evaluation measures regarding the workshop and the transference of the training and use of resource kit items into learning opportunities for students were excellent. Universities have the capability, perhaps the responsibility, to provide the much‐needed professional development training to PreK‐12 teachers. Anatomists in medical and nonmedical school settings are well positioned to participate in this process and help close the gap between the interest young children have in learning about the human body and the lack of teacher training in this content. Anat Sci Ed 1:119–125, 2008. © 2008 American Association of Anatomists.     

Study and Stress among First Year Overseas Students in an Australian University

Overseas students bring to Australia a very different cultural, social and intellectual experience from that which awaits them. Reviews of previous studies suggest that their beliefs, values and attitudes to knowledge, to styles of learning and study can lead to study shock. A questionnaire survey of a sample of 133 first year overseas students mainly from Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, most of whom were studying for a Bachelor of Business degree, and 76 Australian born first year students mainly of British and European origin from the same classes, showed that compared to local students the overseas group had significantly greater difficulties adjusting to academic requirements, particularly with regard to managing the demands of study, specifically study methods, independent learning, language skills, participation and time management. The overseas students manifested significantly higher degrees of various stress indicators than did the local students. More academic and counselling support and resources for this increasing intake of overseas students should be provided.     

Simultaneous contrast in the goldfish

In this, as in two prior experiments, goldfish trained with small reward for response to one color and large reward for response to another color performed less well for the small reward than control animals trained with small reward for response to both colors. The results obtained in the present experiment (with liquid food as reward) cannot be explained in terms of postingestive inhibition (evidence from the prior experiments withTubifex worms as reward being inconsistent on this point) or in terms of within-sessions decrement in drive. The results bear on the phyletic generality of simultaneous contrast and on the relation of simultaneous to successive contrast, a phenomenon that has thus far failed to appear in goldfish.