Multipoint Desktop Video Conferencing in Teacher Education: Preliminaries,problems and progress

Members of this research team are investigating the use of multipoint desktop video conferencing (MDVC) technology in Singapore to enhance the National Institute of Education's schools practicum partnership model. The project builds on the Singapore ONE ATM island-wide network and the high-speed ADSL line access provided by Singtel Magix. This infrastructure provides state-of-the-art support for the White Pine CU-SeeMe Meeting Point server and client software that enables students on teaching practice to conference with each other and their university-based supervisors. A typical conference involves four of five students at different schools and one staff member at the National Institute of Education in Singapore. These conferences provide opportunities for professional sharing between staff and students without the limits of time and space which are traditional constraints on conventional teaching practice.     

Effects of Diagrams on Mathematics Performance

Research on the facilitative effect of diagrams on solving mathematics problems is both inconsistent and inconclusive. This study investigates the effects of diagrams on 124 Singaporean pupils in three classes: Primary One and three, and Secondary One. Pupils' performance was measured with the use of teacher-written mathematics problems in the form of worksheets. Number of errors made on problems accompanied with and without diagrams were compared. Whether or not pupils benefit from diagrams was estimated by their patterns of errors made in the presence or absence of diagrams. Results both confirm and disconfirm previous findings and shed further light on the use of diagrams in mathematics.     

Can Summer Vacation Be Detrimental To Learning? An Empirical Look

This study examined the performance of four autistic boys each trained to a criterion of 80 percent correct on two sets of noun labels. After training, one set of labels was reviewed twice a week for nine weeks (summer vacation); the other set received no additional training. Performance on both sets was then retested. Each boy showed greater retention of the rehearsed compared with the unrehearsed material; one, placed on a VR3 schedule of reinforcement during the final stages of training, showed slightly better retention of the unrehearsed material than two trained exclusively with a CRF schedule. The authors argue that these data provide beginning support for the contention that seriously developmentally disabled children need to be in a program which offers year‐round schooling rather than an 180‐day school year.     

Academic motivations of Yi youths in China: Classmate support and ethnic identity

To enhance the academic achievements of Yi ethnic minority youths in rural school settings, the authors examined the effect of classmate support and the meditating role of ethnic identity in promoting their academic motivation. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from Yi youths sponsored by a philanthropic organization to attend local schools in Liangshan, rural China (n?=?657; 7–12 years old; 52% boys). Results of structural equation modelling showed that classmate support positively affected ethnic identity-commitment and ethnic identity-exploration, which then had positive impacts on three academic motivation outcomes: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation-external and identified regulation, and extrinsic motivation-introjected regulation. The mediating effects of ethnic identity-exploration and ethnic identity-commitment were statistically significant, except for the pathway from classmate support to extrinsic motivation-introjected regulation via ethnic identity-commitment. The authors found that ethnic identity can be facilitated through building supportive classroom environment for positive academic motivations in Yi youths. Cross-cultural significance of this study is also discussed.     

(Re)braiding to tell: using trenzas as a metaphorical–analytical tool in qualitative research

Metaphors can be used in qualitative research to illuminate the meanings of participant experiences and examine phenomena from insightful and creative perspectives. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how I utilized trenzas (braids) as a metaphorical and analytical tool for understanding the experiences and perspectives of Latina teachers around being a well-educated person. Accordingly, this paper is organized into three strands. First, I discuss trenzas as a metaphorical concept in raced–gendered epistemology, highlighting the work of Chicana/Latina feminist scholars in law and education. Second, I describe how metaphorical thinking informed the methodological design. Third, I explain how I used trenzas to make sense of data and build theory. The discussion weaves the three strands together to emphasize the functional and generative nature of trenzas as a metaphorical–analytical tool for gaining critical and nuanced understandings of how personal, professional, and community identities shape participant’ experiences and perspectives.     

Literacy education and diversity: Toward equity in the teaching of reading and writing

The school-age population in North America is characterized by increasing linguistic, cultural, and ethnic diversity. The authors argue that non-mainstream students do not perform as well in schools as mainstream students (predominantly whilte, middle-class English speakers) because they are not equitably served by the educational system. They explore some of the complexities of educational equity and consider equity issues in the literacy education of language minority students from four different perspectives: individual student characteristics, sociocultural factors, language issues, and instructional issues. In support of their position, they examine each of these areas in turn, providing illustrations and analysis. They conclude with several principles upon which to build practices to make literacy education more equitable for all students.     

The use of think-aloud protocols to compare inferencing abilities in average and below-average readers

In this study, we examined whether think-aloud procedures would uncover differences in the kinds of inferences generated by average and below-average readers. Participants were 40 third-grade children who were divided into groups of average and below-average readers. All participants completed measures of nonverbal IQ, reading, language, and working memory, and a story comprehension task that consisted of two conditions: listen through and think aloud. The major findings in this study were that (a) average readers generated significantly more explanatory inferences than below-average readers, and (b) comprehension performance as measured by story recall was significantly better for both groups in the think-aloud condition than in the listen-through condition. The discussion addresses the implications of these findings.