Paths to reading comprehension in at-risk second-grade readers

Two studies of second graders at risk for reading disability, which were guided by levels of language and functional reading system theory, focused on reading comprehension in this population. In Study 1 (n = 96), confirmatory factor analysis of five comprehension measures loaded on one factor in both fall and spring of second grade. Phonological decoding predicted accuracy of real-word reading; automatic letter naming predicted rate of real-word reading; accuracy and rate of both real-word reading (more so than decoding of pseudowords) and text reading predicted reading comprehension; and Verbal IQ also predicted reading comprehension. In Study 2 (n = 98), the treatment group (before/after school clubs receiving an integrated instructional approach that was supplementary to the general reading program) improved significantly more in phonological decoding and state standards for reading fluency than the control group (general reading program that had some code instruction but emphasized comprehension). The rate of phonological decoding explained 60.3% of real-word reading. Both treatment and control children improved significantly in reading comprehension, but controlling for pretreatment individual differences in oral vocabulary or in phonological decoding eliminated this effect. Taken together, the results of the two studies support two paths to reading comprehension: one from vocabulary and verbal reasoning, and one from written language that has multiple links between subskills: (a) alphabetic principle --> phonological decoding, (b) automatic phonological decoding --> accurate real-word reading, (c) automatic letter coding ---> automatic word reading, and (d) automatic word reading --> fluent text reading. Instructional implications of both paths and the links within the written language are discussed.     

Understanding life together: A brief history of collaboration in biology

The history of science shows a shift from single-investigator ‘little science’ to increasingly large, expensive, multinational, interdisciplinary and interdependent ‘big science’. In physics and allied fields this shift has been well documented, but the rise of collaboration in the life sciences and its effect on scientific work and knowledge has received little attention. Research in biology exhibits different historical trajectories and organisation of collaboration in field and laboratory – differences still visible in contemporary collaborations such as the Census of Marine Life and the Human Genome Project. We employ these case studies as strategic exemplars, supplemented with existing research on collaboration in biology, to expose the different motives, organisational forms and social dynamics underpinning contemporary large-scale collaborations in biology and their relations to historical patterns of collaboration in the life sciences. We find the interaction between research subject, research approach as well as research organisation influencing collaboration patterns and the work of scientists.     

Academic Institutions,Ambiguity and Learning Outcomes as Management Tools

Specifying learning outcomes (LOs) in higher education as part of the European Qualification Framework (EQF) has resulted in a variety of experiences in the national contexts of England and Norway, as well as in different institutional and disciplinary settings. This article contributes to a contextualised understanding of the kind of management tools that higher education learning outcomes (HELOs) are, based on a conceptually‐informed comparative empirical analysis. The comparison is based on two types of disciplines (the humanities and STEM) in two national contexts (Norway and England) at two research‐intensive universities in each country. These settings offer an opportunity to look for evidence – inspired by public administration literature – as to whether HELOs have some specific characteristics as management tools. HELOs share the characteristics that afflict most reform policies – that of ambiguity and the potential of being shaped by a number of circumstantial factors. Higher education institutions are highly dependent on, and embedded in, multiple relationships to the environment. Hence, as decision making structures, they are ‘penetrated’ and influenced in ways that are likely to vary across countries, types of institutions and academic disciplines. Because institutions and disciplinary groups are embedded in different policy (varying degrees and forms of state steering and policy implementation) and organisational environments (different degrees and forms of hierarchical leadership, managerial control, and autonomy) and different disciplines (different perceptions of scientific‐, professional‐, educational mission, and relationships to external stakeholders) they also constitute different organisational spaces for participation and engagement in shaping and using HELOs.     

Adolescents’ credibility justifications when evaluating online texts

Education and Information Technologies - Research has shown that students differ in their abilities to evaluate the credibility of online texts, and, in general, many perform poorly on online...     

Predicting teachers’ use of digital learning materials: combining self-determination theory and the integrative model of behaviour prediction

In this article, we report on a study that investigated the motivational (e.g. intrinsic motivation) and dispositional variables (e.g. attitudes) that determine teachers’ intention to use or not to use digital learning materials (DLMs). To understand the direct and indirect relationships between these variables, we replicated a study in which self-determination theory (SDT) and the theory of planned behaviour/integrated model of behaviour prediction (IMBP) are combined and a distinction was made between global level psychological needs, and contextual level as well as situational level motivational constructs. Using a sample of 1273 teachers, our preliminary findings support the findings of the previous study. The combined model potentially provides us with a more comprehensive explanation of teachers’ volitional behaviour regarding their use of DLMs in their pedagogical practices than would be possible on the basis of SDT or IMBP alone.     

Direct and indirect effects of textual and individual factors on source-content integration when reading about a socio-scientific issue

Reading and Writing - The purpose of this study was to test a hypothesized model that specified direct and indirect effects of textual and individual factors on readers’ ability to integrate...     

A longitudinal think-aloud study of spontaneous strategic processing during the reading of multiple expository texts

This study examined the strategiesspontaneously used by university students asthey tried to understand multiple expositorytexts as part of their normal reading andstudying. Law students read self-selected textsat different points in time during onesemester. Think-aloud protocols generatedduring reading were analyzed to identify typesof strategic text processing. It was foundthat students' strategic processing changedover time, with some of the changes associatedwith changes in students' perception of thenature of the reading task. Different changesin strategic processing were observed forstudents at different levels of performance.     

Investigating self-regulated study strategies among postsecondary students with and without dyslexia: a diary method study

We investigated the use of self-regulated study strategies among undergraduates with dyslexia by means of extensive web-based diary data, comparing their strategy use to that of matched students without dyslexia who completed the diary in the same period. Additionally, we examined the perceived benefits of using the recorded strategies in both groups, as well as relationships between the recorded strategies and perceived self-efficacy and academic performance. Results indicated that across lecture, individual study, and social study contexts, students with and without dyslexia recorded a comparable, broad range of strategies, yet students with dyslexia seemed to use particular visual and social strategies more consistently than did students without dyslexia. Across the three study contexts, both students with and without dyslexia also perceived the strategies they recorded in the diaries to be quite beneficial, but with particular visual and social strategies seemingly perceived as more helpful by students with dyslexia. Finally, self-regulated study strategies were positively related to perceived self-efficacy and academic performance among the students with dyslexia but not among the students without dyslexia. We discuss the possibility that the diary method used to assess strategy use among students with dyslexia in different study contexts over time was more appropriate for revealing the breadth and value of their strategy repertoire than the decontextualized, one-time questionnaire and interview approaches used in prior work.