The role of two reading strategies in text comprehension: An eye fixation study in primary school children

This study examined whether 10–12‐year‐old children use two reading strategies to aid their text comprehension: (1) distinguishing between important and unimportant words; and (2) resolving anaphoric references. Of interest was the question to what extent use of these reading strategies was predictive of reading comprehension skill over and above decoding skill and vocabulary. Reading strategy use was examined by the recording of eye fixations on specific target words. In contrast to less successful comprehenders, more successful comprehenders invested more processing time in important than in unimportant words. On the other hand, they needed less time to determine the antecedent of an anaphor. The results suggest that more successful comprehenders build a more effective mental model of the text than less successful comprehenders in at least two ways. First, they allocate more attention to the incorporation of goal‐relevant than goal‐irrelevant information into the model. Second, they ascertain that the text model is coherent and richly connected.     

Non‐at‐risk adolescents' attitudes towards reading in a Singapore secondary school

In this paper, we examine the various nuanced dimensions of adolescents' dispositions towards reading in one secondary school in Singapore, where a high‐stakes examination culture often threatens to colonise the practices of leisure reading. Our focus is on the better and more avid readers as they were the ones that developed the more negative attitudes towards reading at the end of their first year in secondary school. Our analysis found that there were no significant differences between boys and girls in their declining attitudes, and that for both ‘intrinsic motivation’ saw the greatest decline. However, attitudes related to learning orientation remained stable, suggesting both the impact of constraints in an exam‐oriented educational structure as well as possibilities for developing reading pedagogy and adolescent reading programmes. We argue that the more educators are aware of the multidimensionality and complexity of the attitudes and values that students bring to their reading, the more effectively they will be able to design and implement programmes and pedagogy to foster positive attitudes and promote a lifelong love for reading.     

Going to Prison: The Effect of a Prison Tour on Students’ Attitudes Toward Punitiveness

The pedagogical approaches of a criminal justice education affect the attitudes and perceptions of those most likely to develop and administer criminal justice policies in the future. This study examines the effect of a prison tour on students’ understanding of prison and attitudes about punishment. Undergraduate criminal justice students were given a survey to assess their attitudes about prisons, prisoners, and alternative sanctions before and after a field trip to the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. Post-survey responses showed changes in students’ perceptions regarding punitiveness, prisons, prisoners, and rehabilitation. We discuss this finding within the framework of the contact hypothesis, and we recommend including this type of first-hand exposure as part of a criminal justice curriculum.     

Pedagogical constraints of physical literacy based on cognitive load theory

PROSPECTS - While numerous studies have highlighted the benefits of physical activity on cognitive health, learning, and executive function, maintaining physical activity throughout one’s...     

Progressive treatment and self-assessment: effects on students’ automatisation of grammatical spelling and self-efficacy beliefs

The production of grammatical markers takes a long time to master. Even when students know the rules, they do not systematically apply them. However, few studies have demonstrated the efficacy of interventions to improve this competence, and no study has addressed the issue at the cognitive and motivational levels jointly. Our study demonstrates the effect of combining progressive treatment, based on cognitive cost and self-assessment, on grammatical spelling and on self-efficacy beliefs. Over 8 weekly 50-minute lessons, four groups of 18, 20, 18 and 21 ninth graders received, respectively, progressive treatment alone, coupled with self-assessment, coupled with feedback, or coupled with self-assessment and feedback. These intervention groups were compared with a control group of 36 students receiving standard spelling instruction. The interventions focussed on past participle inflections, which are particularly difficult to learn for French-speaking students. The results indicated that (a) students who received progressive treatment made more progress than the control group students in spelling past participle inflections, presenting a transfer and a first degree of automatisation of the rules. The results also indicated that (b) students who participated in progressive treatment with self-assessment improved even more on the spelling tests, including free text production, and in their self-efficacy beliefs, demonstrating a deeper automatisation of the grammatical rules combined with an increase in perceived efficacy. This research shows that learning benefits from instructional practices that provide both cognitive cost and motivational support.     

Differences in Career Attitude and Career Knowledge for High School Students with and without Paid Work Experience

A large sample (N =1,279) of high school students was assessedusing the Career Maturity Inventory (CDI-A;Lokan, 1984). The two composite scales ofCareer Development Attitude and CareerDevelopment Knowledge were examined in relationto age, gender and whether the students hadengaged in paid work experience. Levels ofcareer maturity increased with age, and ingeneral, females at all age levels reportedhigher levels of maturity than males. Studentswith paid work experience reported higherlevels of Career Development Attitude thanthose with no paid work experience. CareerDevelopment Knowledge was not associated withpaid work experience. Gender differences alsooccurred, with females with paid workexperience generally reporting higher levels ofcareer maturity than males with paid workexperience. Results are discussed in adevelopmental context.     

Exploring the Use of Cases and Case Methods in Influencing Elementary Preservice Science Teachers' Self-Efficacy Beliefs

In this study, we hypothesize that cases demonstrating exemplary practice in the science classroom can be used as a source for learning content and pedagogical skills that will improve teachers' self-efficacy beliefs. Twelve preservice elementary science teachers are followed as they participate in a case and case method activity illustrating the Grade 7 topic of robotics and fluids. While there was little evidence to show improvements in content knowledge, results indicate that the case acted as a boundary object for brokering between individual experiences and those found in the science teaching community by scaffolding for multiple points of entry, bridging the theory practice gap and offering beginning teachers more immediate access to the community of already practicing teachers.

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Contents Vol. 1

Volume Contents

Contents Vol. 1