Artifactual dimensions of visual rhetoric: what a content analysis of 114 peer-reviewed articles reveals about data collection reporting

This content analysis examined how the authors of 114 peer-reviewed journal articles explained their empirical approaches to visual rhetoric scholarship. The authors content analysis sought to answer the question: how do scholars engage with the material dimensions of visual culture, specifically in terms of artifact selection and reporting data collection procedures? The answers to this question, the authors argue, are needed urgently as visual rhetoric research continues to expand because inconsistent reporting will hinder replicability and the reader’s access to the author’s argument. The authors use the findings of their content analysis to surface the implicit norms of empirical visual rhetoric research and to develop recommendations for reporting visual data collection procedures.     

Submaximal and Peak Cardiorespiratory Response After Moderate-High Intensity Exercise Training in Subacute Stroke

Purpose

Reduced cardiovascular fitness post-stroke may negatively impact recovery. There is little information regarding exercise testing performance and cardiorespiratory response to an aerobic exercise intervention in subacute stroke. The purpose of this study was to examine cardiorespiratory response in subacute stroke after an 8-week aerobic exercise intervention using a total body recumbent stepper (TBRS).

Methods

Nine individuals with mean age 61.2 (SD 4.7) years and mean 66.7 (SD 41.5) days post-stroke completed the exercise intervention. Participants had a mean Fugl-Meyer score of 100.3 (SD 29.3). Outcome measures were obtained at baseline and postintervention. A peak exercise test using a TBRS assessed oxygen consumption, heart rate, and minute ventilation. Participants completed an 8-week exercise intervention on a recumbent stepper 3 times per week at a prescribed heart rate intensity.

Results

Submaximal VO₂ was significantly lower from baseline to postintervention with a main effect of Study Visit (F_1,8 = 8.5, p = 0.02). Heart rate was not significantly different pre- to postintervention. Minute ventilation exhibited no main effect of Study Visit or Test Minute.

Conclusion

Moderate-high intensity aerobic exercise in subacute stroke appears to be beneficial for improving cardiovascular outcomes during submaximal performance of an exercise test.Key Words: oxygen uptake, cerebrovascular accident, cardiovascular fitness, submaximal exercise     

Auditory temporal structure processing in dyslexia: processing of prosodic phrase boundaries is not impaired in children with dyslexia

Reading disability in children with dyslexia has been proposed to reflect impairment in auditory timing perception. We investigated one aspect of timing perception—temporal grouping—as present in prosodic phrase boundaries of natural speech, in age-matched groups of children, ages 6–8 years, with and without dyslexia. Prosodic phrase boundaries are characterized by temporal grouping of functionally related speech elements and can facilitate syntactic processing of speech. For example, temporary syntactic ambiguities, such as early-closure structures, are processed faster when prosodic phrase boundaries are present. We examined children’s prosodic facilitation by measuring their efficiency of sentence processing for temporary syntactic ambiguities spoken with (facilitating) versus without (neutral) prosodic phrase boundaries. Both groups of children benefited similarly from prosodic facilitation, displaying faster reaction times in facilitating compared to neutral prosody. These findings indicate that the use of prosodic phrase boundaries for speech processing is not impaired in children with dyslexia.     

Communication,Communication, Communication! Growth through Laboratory Instructing

This study examined gains undergraduate students made in their communication and collaboration skills when they served as peer teachers, i.e., laboratory instructors (LIs), for a General Psychology laboratory. Self-ratings of communication and collaboration skills were completed before and after teaching the laboratory. When compared to before the teaching experience, the students rated their skills significantly higher in written expression, oral expression, and participation skills. They also rated themselves significantly higher in written comprehension and expression skills than did a comparison group of non-LIs. Results from interviews also revealed beliefs that their communication and collaboration skills had substantially increased.     

Modern foreign languages: decision-making,motivation and 14–19 schools

ABSTRACT

This article reports on an exploratory study comparing motivation and student choice in modern foreign language lessons in secondary schools (11–16 or 11–18) and schools for 14–19 year olds in England. The study uses data gathered from 634 Year 10 students (aged 14–15) and uses Self-Determination Theory to compare motivation amongst students in the two types of schools. It finds that student motivation differed significantly in each, with students in 14–19 schools displaying more autonomous motivation. Students in schools in this category were less likely to have been given a choice as to whether or not to take the subject than their peers, suggesting that they may feel autonomous in ways not governed by subject choice. Possible reasons for the differences in motivation in the two kinds of school are discussed and directions for future study proposed.     

The Conceptualization and Development of the Practical Epistemology in Science Survey (PESS)

Research in Science Education - Various inquiry approaches have been promoted in science classrooms as a way for students to engage in, and have a deeper understanding of scientific discourse....     

Attitudes and Knowledge of Future Teachers to Identify Struggling Readers

Indiana recently passed legislation requiring teacher preparation programs to educate future teachers on how to identify and refer struggling readers, including students with learning needs related to dyslexia. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a university course that covers content in response to legislation was effective in improving preservice teachers’ knowledge about the topic of dyslexia. Participants included 62 undergraduate students enrolled in general education teacher preparation programs. One group of 23 participants had taken a required course with content regarding reading challenges and targeted instruction; the remaining 39 participants had not yet taken the required course. Preservice teachers who took the course had more accurate knowledge about dyslexia than those who had not taken the course. There were no differences between groups for confidence in ability to help students struggling with dyslexia. Additional implications regarding legislation and teacher preparation will be included in the discussion.     

In amongst the glitter and the squashed blueberries: crafting a collaborative lens for children’s literacy pedagogy in a community setting

ABSTRACT

In this article, we bring together relational arts practice (Kester, 2004) with collaborative ethnography (Campbell and Lassiter, 2015) in order to propose art not as a way of teaching children literacy, but as a lens to enable researchers and practitioners to view children’s literacies differently. Both relational arts practice and collaborative ethnography decentre researcher/artist expertise, providing an understanding that “knowing” is embodied, material and tacit (Ingold, 2013). This has led us to extend understandings of multimodal literacy to stress the embodied and situated nature of meaning making, viewed through a collaborative lens (Hackett, 2014a; Heydon and Rowsell, 2015; Kuby et al, 2015; Pahl and Pool, 2011). We illustrate this approach to researching literacy pedagogy by offering a series of “little” (Olsson, 2013) moments of place/body memory (Somerville, 2013), which emerged from our collaborative dialogic research at a series of den building events for families and their young children. Within our study, an arts practice lens offered a more situated, and entwined way of working that led to joint and blurred outcomes in relation to literacy pedagogy.     

How much is transferred from training to the job? The 10% delusion as a catalyst for thinking about transfer

This article explores the common belief that only a small amount of what is taught in a training program is actually transferred to the job. After providing evidence of the source of the generalization and the acceptance of the notion despite the lack of empirical, behavioral evidence, we take the opportunity to examine the likely reasons for that acceptance. We present five questionable assumptions behind the generalization about minimal transfer. Based on this analysis, we offer four practical strategies for planning, assessing, and reporting training transfer. These strategies include investigating and accounting for variables influencing transfer, expanding the definition of use, stating realistic transfer goals, creating specific transfer objectives, describing observable indicators of use, setting quantitative standards of successful transfer, and reporting the complete transfer story. These strategies provide avenues for producing a more accurate picture of the training transfer experience.     

Mapping inclusion of a child with autism in a mainstream kindergarten: how can we move towards more inclusive practices?

ABSTRACT

This study identify and reflect on barriers to inclusion that children with autism can meet in kindergarten. We use a single case study with participant- and video observation to map inclusion for a single 5-year-old boy with autism, in a mainstream kindergarten in Norway. Analysis identified three modes of inclusion; distance-keeping, maintaining proximity and interacting. The mapping procedure demonstrated that barriers to inclusion continue to operate. The extent of the child's participation seemed to relate to what he was doing and who he was with; overall, limited social inclusion amongst peers being achieved. Results indicated that predictable frameworks and teacher support increased participation. We discuss how participation for children with autism can be promoted. Our study points toward the need to extend current adaptations and support to children with autism within the educational settings, to enable a more inclusive practice.