Efficacy of the TELL language and literacy curriculum for preschoolers with developmental speech and/or language impairment

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the efficacy of a new preschool oral language and early literacy curriculum package (Teaching Early Literacy and Language [TELL]) for children with developmental speech and/or language impairment (DSLI) either as a primary (e.g., specific to speech and/or language) or secondary impairment (e.g., developmental delay that includes DSLI). Participants included 118 children (30 females, 88 males, M age = 53.58 months) with DLSI and their 29 preschool teachers. The design was a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with assignment to experimental versus contrast conditions at the classroom level. Teachers in TELL classes received formal training, in-class support, and mentoring to implement the curriculum. Dependent measures for the children included scores on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Preschool 2nd edition (CELF-P2), the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening for Preschool (PALS-PreK), the Renfrew Bus Story (BUS), and a receptive and expressive vocabulary measure developed for this investigation (VOCAB). Results indicated that when compared to the contrast group, children in the TELL condition demonstrated greater gains on the phonological awareness subtest of the CELF-P2, the sentence length score of the BUS, the letter sounds, beginning sound awareness, and rhyme awareness subtests of the PALS-PreK, and VOCAB. Results suggest that the TELL curriculum package has promise for promoting gains in early literacy and oral language skills in preschool children with DLSI.     

Guiding Low Spatial Ability Individuals through Visual Cueing: The Dual Importance of Where and When to Look

Research suggests that spatial ability may predict success in complex disciplines including anatomy, where mastery requires a firm understanding of the intricate relationships occurring along the course of veins, arteries, and nerves, as they traverse through and around bones, muscles, and organs. Debate exists on the malleability of spatial ability, and some suggest that spatial ability can be enhanced through training. It is hypothesized that spatial ability can be trained in low-performing individuals through visual guidance. To address this, training was completed through a visual guidance protocol. This protocol was based on eye-movement patterns of high-performing individuals, collected via eye-tracking as they completed an Electronic Mental Rotations Test (EMRT). The effects of guidance were evaluated using 33 individuals with low mental rotation ability, in a counterbalanced crossover design. Individuals were placed in one of two treatment groups (late or early guidance) and completed both a guided, and an unguided EMRT. A third group (no guidance/control) completed two unguided EMRTs. All groups demonstrated an increase in EMRT scores on their second test (P < 0.001); however, an interaction was observed between treatment and test iteration (P = 0.024). The effect of guidance on scores was contingent on when the guidance was applied. When guidance was applied early, scores were significantly greater than expected (P = 0.028). These findings suggest that by guiding individuals with low mental rotation ability “where” to look early in training, better search approaches may be adopted, yielding improvements in spatial reasoning scores. It is proposed that visual guidance may be applied in spatial fields, such as STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine), surgery, and anatomy to improve student's interpretation of visual content. Anat Sci Educ. © 2018 American Association of Anatomists.     

Four Educators in Plato's Theaetetus

Scholars who have taken interest in Theaetetus' educational theme argue that Plato contrasts an inferior, even dangerous, sophistic education to a superior, philosophical, Socratic education. I explore the contrasting exhortations, methods, ideals and epistemological foundations of Socratic and Protagorean education and suggest that Socrates' treatment of Protagoras as educator is far less dismissive than others claim. Indeed, Plato, in Theaetetus, offers a qualified defence of both Socrates and Protagoras. Socrates and Protagoras each dwell in the middle ground between the extremes presented in the dialogue's digression, which contrasts the life of the philosopher and the life of the courtroom orator. Both Socrates and Protagoras demonstrate a serious engagement with both politics and philosophy. Theodorus presents an educational option in which theory is divorced from politics while an ignoble sophistic education is presented as political but divorced from theory. Protagorean education, in Theaetetus, emerges as superior to a base sophistic education, though it remains inferior to Socratic education.     

Debates About the Reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences

The author contemplates the fate of Russian science in the light of the reforms that are going on today, and the requirements of bringing it into conformity with this country’s traditions as well as with international practices.     

Counseling With HEART: A Relationship Violence Prevention Program for College Students

Relationship violence is a salient concern on college campuses today, and psychoeducational groups may be an appropriate prevention format. This article describes a study measuring the impact of college student participation in the HEART (Help End Abusive Relationships Today) program, a series of group sessions designed to increase knowledge and awareness of relationship violence. Findings indicated significant changes for group participants postintervention. Implications and recommendations for college counselors are discussed.