Podcasts on Mobile Devices as a Read-Aloud Testing Accommodation in Middle School Science Assessment

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a digitized podcast to deliver read-aloud testing accommodations on mobile devices to students with disabilities and reading difficulties. The total sample for this study included 47 middle school students with reading difficulties. Of the 47 students, 16 were identified as students with disabilities who received special education services. Participants were randomly assigned to three experimental testing conditions, standard administration, teacher-controlled read-aloud in traditional group delivery format, and student-controlled read-aloud delivered as a podcast and accessed on a mobile device, and given sample end-of-year science assessments. Based on a factorial analysis of variances, with test conditions and student status as the fixed factors, both student groups demonstrated statistically significant gains based on their testing conditions. Results support the use of podcast delivery as a viable alternative to the traditional teacher-delivered read-aloud test accommodation. Conclusions are discussed in the context of universal design for learning testing accommodations for future research and practice.     

Accuracy in direct behavior rating is minimally impacted by completion latency

Direct behavior ratings (DBRs) have been proposed as an efficient method to assess student behavior in the classroom due to their relative ease of administration compared to alternative methods like systematic direct observation. DBRs are considered low‐inference assessments of behavior because they are designed to be completed immediately following a specified observation period of student behavior; however, in practice it is common for teachers and other respondents to delay completion of a DBR until they are reminded to do so. It is unclear what effect, if any, this latency between observation and DBR completion has on rater accuracy. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of completion latency on accuracy in an analogue setting. Two‐hundred forty‐one undergraduate students (83.8% female) with a mean age of 21 participated across eight groups and were asked to complete an electronic DBR immediately after watching a video of student behavior or after a predetermined delay of 5 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, or 6 hours. A one‐way analysis of variance revealed that there was no statistically significant relationship between completion latency and DBR accuracy, F(7, 233) = .959, p = .46, η² = .028.     

Embodiment and becoming in secondary drama classrooms: the effects of neoliberal education cultures on performances of self and of drama texts

This article explores the effects of neoliberalism and performative educational cultures on secondary school drama classrooms. We consider the ways Deleuze and Guattari’s schizoanalysis and Butler’s concept of gender performance enable us to chart the embodied, relational, spatial and affective energies that inhabit the often neoliberal and heterosexually striated space of the drama classroom. These post-humanist analyses are useful methodological tools for mapping the complexities of student becomings in the space context of the secondary school. We also show how Foucault’s governmentality and Ball’s theory of competitive performativity are particularly salient in the context of immanent capitalism that shapes the desires of its subjects. These frameworks, when combined, can be useful in critiquing neoliberal educational assemblages and in indicating emerging deterritorializations and lines of flight in teachers and students.     

Mindfulness and discussing “thorny” issues in the classroom

Being in the moment, showing compassion, being non-judgmental, acknowledging deep emotional challenges without getting stuck: these are mindfulness characteristics important to us as teachers, yet not often included in teacher preparation. These concerns become magnified when we focus on difficult knowledge and thorny issues, like topics related to gender and race. Using a sociocultural framework, we address how mindfulness, heuristics, and other contemplative practices can be adopted to create safe, supporting, and healing spaces for such complex, often emotionally painful discussions. Participant narratives are used extensively to provide a voice to those marginalized or hurt. Drawing from these narratives and their experience in discussing thorny issues, we put forth possible solutions and interventions that can create spaces that encourage and support critical discourse through mindful practices. The development of a heuristic for discussing thorny issues whose characteristics can be adopted by interested teachers and educators to help frame and mediate this type of difficult discussion is an outcome of this research.     

Television and Families: What Do Young Children Watch with Their Parents?

A sample of 271 3- and 5-year-olds and their families participated in a 2-year longitudinal study of television viewing patterns. 5 1-week diaries for all family members were collected at 6-month intervals. Programs were categorized as: (1) child informative, (2) child entertainment, (3) news and informative, (4) sports, (5) comedy, (6) drama, (7) action-adventure, and (8) variety-game. The majority of child programs were viewed without parents, while the majority of adult programs were watched with parents. Coviewing patterns of adult programs were predicted from parents' individual viewing habits, but not from the child's. Coviewing declined with age. Parental encouragement and regulation of viewing were orthogonal. Children whose parents encouraged viewing watched more child informative programming; children of restrictive parents watched less entertainment programming. Encouraging parents coviewed more than nonencouraging parents. Results support the assertion that parental viewing preferences, habits, and orientations toward television influence children's viewing, both with and without parents.     

Measuring the impact of a new faculty program using institutional data

This paper presents a quasi-experimental evaluation of a required, teaching-focused, new faculty program at a large research university. The study makes use of institutional data, including student evaluations of teaching and faculty participation in educational development activities, which are available on many campuses yet rarely used in program evaluation. Results show positive impacts. Faculty found the program valuable and reported increases in their preparation for a range of teaching tasks. In comparison to earlier cohorts, program participants received stronger student evaluations on two global items, and demonstrated significantly more connections with the teaching center in their early careers.     

Children's Reasoning about Video and Real Balance-Scale Problems

Research findings: 3- and 5-year-old children's television-viewing was recorded for 2 years, then their rules for solving videotaped and real balance-scale problems were assessed. Older children used more advanced rules than younger children. Those who saw the videotaped version first used less advanced rules on it than on the real version. Those who saw the real problems first did not differ between versions. Neither verbal IQ, nor family demographics, nor television-viewing predicted 5- or 7-year-olds' rules on real problems. However, 7-year-olds' rules for solving video problems were positively related to parents' ratings of how often their child engaged in TV-focused social interactions. TV focus accounted for the effects of order of administration on the video problems. Cartoon-viewing at age 7 was negatively correlated with using rules on the video. Once cartoon-viewing at 7 was accounted for, cartoon-viewing at age 5 emerged as a positive predictor of rule use on the video. The results are more consistent with mental effort than media literacy. Implications for practice: Parents should encourage TV-focused social interactions and educators should begin with real demonstrations, then proceed to video-mediated instruction.     

Linear Algebra and the Experiences of a “Flipper”

Abstract

This paper describes the linear algebra class I taught during Spring 2014 semester at Adelphi University. I discuss the details of how I flipped the class and incorporated elements of inquiry-based learning as well as the reasoning behind specific decisions I made. I give feedback from the students on the success of the course and provide my own reflections of the semester. Examples of some of the materials used are provided in the Appendix.