Promoting basic arithmetic competence in early school years–using a response to intervention model

This study investigated whether mathematics education based on a multi-tiered response to intervention (RTI) model can support students' arithmetic competence in primary schools in Sweden. The intent was to identify and support students at risk of failure. In this study, 113 students participated in the intervention, and 30 students participated in the control group. Both groups were followed from Grade 1 to the end of Grade 2 and compared. During the first semester in Grade 1, all students were taught basic addition and subtraction with explicit instructions in Tier 1. Those who did not respond to Tier 1 after one semester were provided support within Tier 2 during the second semester. The same was repeated in grade 2 and the students that did not respond to Tier 2 were supported within Tier 3. At the end of Grade 2, students in the intervention group performed significantly higher on the basic arithmetic competence in the number range 1–9 than the control group. No significant difference was found in a test measuring basic arithmetic competence in the number range 10–19. This study shows that using multi-tiered RTI might be sufficient to identify and support students at risk in early arithmetic competence.     

Change in Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence and Student Achievement: The Role of Intellectual Engagement

Intellectual engagement (IE) refers to enjoyment of intellectual activities and is proposed as causal for knowledge acquisition. The role of IE for cognitive development was examined utilizing 2‐year longitudinal data from 112 ninth graders (average baseline age: 14.7 years). Higher baseline IE predicted higher baseline crystallized ability but not changes therein, and was not associated with fluid ability. Furthermore, IE predicted change in school grades in language but not in mathematics grades or in standardized tests. These findings suggest that IE is not a major predictor of knowledge acquisition in adolescence, where degree of self‐determination in intellectual behaviors may be relatively limited. Open questions for future research are addressed, including reciprocal longitudinal associations between IE and academic and cognitive development.     

Predictors of psychological distress and positive resources among Palestinian adolescents: trauma, child, and mothering characteristics

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to examine how traumatic and stressful events, responses to violence, child characteristics, and mothering quality, as measured in middle childhood predict psychological distress and positive resources in adolescence. METHOD: The participants were 65 Palestinian adolescents (17+/-.85 years; 52% girls), who had been studied during the First Intifada (T1), during the Palestinian Authority rule (T2) and before the Second Al Aqsa Intifada (T3) in Gaza. Psychological distress was indicated by PTSD, and depressive symptoms and positive resources by resilient attitudes and satisfaction with quality of life, all measured at T3. The predictors that were measured at T1 were exposure to military violence, active coping with violence and children's intelligence, cognitive capacity, and neuroticism. Mothering quality and stressful life-events were measured at T2, the former reported by both the mother and the child, and the latter by the mother. RESULTS: Adolescents' PTSD symptoms were most likely if they had been exposed to high levels of traumatic and stressful experiences and had poor cognitive capacity and high neuroticism in middle childhood. Only high levels of childhood military violence and stressful life-events predicted high depressive symptoms and low satisfaction with quality of life in adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: Military violence in childhood forms risks for both increased psychological distress and decreased positive resources. However, child characteristics such as cognitive capacity and personality are important determinants of psychological vulnerability in military trauma.     

Exploring temporal sequences of regulatory phases and associated interactions in low- and high-challenge collaborative learning sessions

Investigating the temporal order of regulatory processes can explain in more detail the mechanisms behind success or lack of success during collaborative learning. The aim of this study is to explore the differences between high- and low-challenge collaborative learning sessions. This is achieved through examining how the three phases of self-regulated learning occur in a collaborative setting and the types of interaction associated with these phases. The participants were teacher training students (N?=?44), who worked in groups on a complex task related to didactics of mathematics during 6 weeks. The participants were instructed to use an application that was designed to increase awareness of the cognitive, motivational and emotional challenges the group might face. Based on the application’s log files, the sessions were categorized into low- and high-challenge sessions. The video data from each session were coded based on the self-regulation phases and the types of interaction. The frequencies of the phases and the types of interaction were calculated for each session, and process discovery methods were applied using the heuristic miner algorithm. The results show no significant differences between the sessions in the frequency of phases. However, the process models of the two sessions were different: in the high-challenge sessions, the groups switched between the forethought and performance phases more. In conclusion, the regulation phases and types of interaction that contribute to successful collaboration differ in high- and low challenge sessions and support for regulated learning is needed especially at the middle of the learning process.     

Correction to: Primary school students’ perceived social support in relation to study engagement

European Journal of Psychology of Education -     

Strategies for Selling Paid Content on Newspaper and Magazine Web Sites: An Empirical Analysis of Bundling and Splitting of News and Magazine Articles

More and more newspaper and magazine Web sites offer paid content. However, selling information goods at a price higher than the marginal cost means finding a strategy for product or price differentiation. A possible strategy to solve this problem is the bundling of information goods. In this article, we analyze empirically, with quantitative statistic methods, strategies for selling bundled and unbundled content on newspaper and magazine Web sites. This analysis is based on the theoretical approach of Bakos and Brynjolfsson (1996). The article shows that a cannibalization takes place if the same bundle of information goods is offered in offline (printed) and online (digital) media at the same time. Traditional bundling models work nonetheless in an online media if the online content is rebundled (e.g., as dossiers about a topic), but thereby do not compete with the printed version.     

Biowatch South Africa and the challenges in enforcing its constitutional right to access to information

This paper examines the difficulties encountered by Biowatch, a South African civil society environmental organization, in its attempts to obtain access to government information in respect of genetically engineered plants. After establishing the context of South Africa's access to information regime, including a brief discussion of several of its weaknesses, the paper engages in an extended account of the Biowatch case as an exemplar of some of the more pronounced challenges to the effective implementation of the country's access to information legislation. The elaboration of the case is based on interviews conducted with the Director of Biowatch and counsel from the Legal Resources Centre that aided Biowatch, as well as various internal and court documents provided by Biowatch and its lawyers.     

Is teacher attrition a poor estimate of the value of teacher education? A Swedish case

Far from all who complete teacher education end up working as teachers throughout their entire career. At first sight the value of teacher education, in terms of efficiency, seems to be a failure. In the present article we argue that teacher attrition, when defined as whether one is working as teacher or not, is a too blunt measure to gauge whether teacher education has been valuable. With a unique dataset, where we have detailed information on 87 Swedish teacher graduates’ working life across 23 years, we can consider whether activities and/or experiences point to an apparent use of teacher education. In conclusion, we find that in order to get informative estimates of its value it is important to consider it from different perspectives and to consider attrition related to the total working time spent in educational settings across a career rather than percentage leaving teaching after a set of years     

Towards a Research Policy for the New Europe: Changes and Challenges for Public and Private Funders

Since the late 1980s, Europe has witnesseddramatic changes in the political landscape andin daily life. Many of these changes are drivenby new developments in science and technology.At the same time, research choices are beingmade in the anticipation of economic benefits.In this context, the European Commission andprivate foundations in Europe are rethinkingtheir approaches and priorities. This paperconsiders some of the changes taking place inresearch policy, and reflects upon somereconfigurations currently underway.