Letter Processing and the Formation of Memory Representations in Children with Naming Speed Deficits

The ability to recognize letter patterns within words as a single unit is important for fluent reading. This skill is based on previously established memory representations of common letter patterns. The ability to form these memory representations may be impaired in some poor readers, particularly readers with naming speed deficits (NSD). This study explored factors that influence letter processing and the subsequent formation of memory representations of letter strings in children with and without a NSD. Children were presented with a letter string, followed by a probe unit that was either a single letter, a two-letter cluster, or a repetition of the whole string. Children indicated whether or not the probe had been present in the preceding string. Two factors were manipulated: (a) amount of time to process the initial letter string, and (b) level of orthographic structure present in the letter string. Results indicated that overall, children with NSD performed less accurately than children without NSD. However, children with NSD showed no differential benefit in performance as a result of longer time to process a letter string. In addition, all readers were able to make use of the orthographic structure in a letter string to aid performance. Implications of results for establishing memory representations of letter strings are discussed.     

Single or Dual Representations for Reading and Spelling?

Neuropsychological models postulate that the memory representation acquired for use in reading words is separate from the one acquired for use in spelling, while developmental models assume that the same representation is developed for access in both reading and spelling. The dual-representation model contends that there is often more precise information in reading representations than in spelling representations. This claim was tested in the current study using adult native speakers of English. People were supplied with minimal visual feedback while they spelled words that they knew and could read, and were then shown their whole spelling and asked whether they could improve upon it. People detected spelling mistakes on fewer than one in six trials after the reading check. They also returned many spellings to the original form, and were unable to improve upon them any more often than to change them to something equally bad or worse. The findings favour the view that normal individuals acquire a single orthographic representation from repeated exposures to a word during both reading and spelling. The representation may be adequate to permit successful reading but be insufficient for reproduction of the word-specific knowledge required for accurate spelling.     

Reasoning about Representations: Effects of an Early Math Intervention

ABSTRACT

The outcomes of a longitudinal randomized number sense intervention including pre-, post- and follow-up tests are reported. The intervention was conducted in Grade 0 when children were six years old. Using Concrete-Representational-Abstract principles, a structured explicit 10-week program focusing on numbers and collective reasoning about representations was conducted by the classroom teachers. In addition to their regular mathematics teaching, a trained control group received an equally structured and explicit intervention program but without the critical mathematics component. The children in the experimental group outperformed the children in the control group on number sense growth between the pre- and the post-test. There was also a sustained effect of the intervention nine months later when children were assessed in Grade 1.     

Electromagnetic Concepts in Mathematical Representation of Physics

Our paper deals with the use of mathematics when studying the physics of electromagnetism. We have concentrated on common electromagnetic concepts (magnetic field and flux) and their associated mathematical representation and arithmetical tools. Our studies showed that most students do not understand the significant aspects of physical situations. Students have difficulty in using relationships and models specific to magnetic phenomena (the construction of relationships between concepts, and the use of mathematical formalism).     

Stimulating the imaginative capacities of agricultural extension students

Purpose: To address the dynamic challenges associated with developing a globally sustainable society, numerous scholars have stressed the need to cultivate the imagination of agricultural students. This study aimed to explore how pictorial representations stimulate the imaginative capacities of agricultural extension students. Design/methodology/approach: We adopted a focus group method that enabled in-depth discussions amongst selected participants. Three focus group discussions were held with 15 student participants in Taiwan. Regarding the pictorial representations, a series of works from three great artists were selected, namely Jean-François Millet, Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró. The works were chosen. Findings: The results indicated that different indicators of imaginative capacities were stimulated by different types or combinations of pictorial representations. For example, realistic visual stimuli were beneficial for cultivating student intuition of problem solving. The atmosphere and colour of visual stimuli affected student sensibilities. The abstract stimuli and remote analogues were beneficial in generating original ideas and breaking design fixations. These stimulations occurred largely according to encountering problems and project needs. Practical implications: These findings can assist agricultural educators in developing imaginative curricula and instructional strategies and might increase students’ creative performance. Originality/value: This research provides intriguing insights into the complexities of human imagination. First, the present study developed a novel approach to assess how pictorial representations stimulate the imaginative-capacity indicators of agricultural extension students. Our results indicated that various indicators were stimulated by various types or combinations of pictorial representations, and how and why these stimulations occurred largely depended on design problems and project needs.     

Learners’ Difficulties with Quantitative Units in Algebraic Word Problems and the Teacher’s Interpretation of those Difficulties

This study examines 8th grade students’ coordination of quantitative units arising from word problems that can be solved via a set of equations that are reducible to a single equation with a single unknown. Along with Unit-Coordination, Quantitative Unit Conservation also emerges as a necessary construct in dealing with such problems. We base our analysis within a framework of quantitative reasoning (Thompson, 1988; 1989; 1993; 1995) and a theory of children’s units-coordination with different levels of units (Steffe 1994) that both encompass and are extended by these two constructs. Our data consist of videotaped classroom lessons, student interviews, and teacher interviews. Ongoing analyses of these data were conducted during the teaching sequence. A retrospective analysis using constant comparison methodology was then undertaken during which the classroom video, related student interviews, and teacher interviews were revisited many times in order to generate a thematic analysis. Our results indicate that the identification and coordination of the units involved in the problem situation are critical aspects of quantitative reasoning and need to be emphasized in the teaching-learning process. We also concluded that unit coordination and unit conservation are cognitive prerequisites for constructing a meaningful algebraic equation when reasoning quantitatively about a situation.     

Children’s interaction with cross-cultural and multilingual digital libraries: I. Understanding interface design representations

This paper reports the results of a study that examined Arabic-speaking children’s interaction with the International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL). Assessment of the ICDL to Arabic-speaking children as a culturally diverse group was grounded in “representations” and “meaning” rather than in internationalization and localization. The utility of the ICDL navigation controls was judged based on the extent it supported children’s navigation. Most of the ICDL representations and their meanings were found to be highly appropriate for older children but inappropriate for younger ones. The design of the ICDL navigation controls was supportive of children’s navigation. Recommendations for assessing the cross-cultural usability of the ICDL are made and suggestions for system design improvements are provided.     

Knowledge organization through multiple representations in a computer-supported collaborative learning environment

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments provide learners with multiple representational tools for storing, sharing, and constructing knowledge. However, little is known about how learners organize knowledge through multiple representations about complex socioscientific issues. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate learners’ knowledge organization (KO) through multiple representations in a CSCL environment. We designed a learning unit on nuclear energy and implemented it with a group of 20 college students. The participants used a web-based hypertext KO platform that incorporated three representational modes: textual, pictorial, and concept map. The platform interlinked learners’ knowledge entries based on similar keywords. Utilizing mixed methods research we analyzed the individual entries and the knowledge base to determine KO both at the individual and the collective levels. We found that the density of the knowledge base was high; the learners mostly benefited from their text- and concept map-based entries, though the picture-based entries were also an important means for connecting entries with similar content and hence creating a dense knowledge base. Our results suggest that KO with multiple representations can create a more comprehensive knowledge base. Using distinct analytical approaches will allow CSCL researchers to better identify KO both at the individual and collective levels.     

Disrupting the habitus? Media representations and participant experience of Teach First: an exploratory case study in Wales

Teach First is a schools-based route into teaching, where graduates are able to train while employed by ‘disadvantaged’ schools. Established in 2002, the charity works in partnership with teacher training providers around England and Wales. The first Teach First Cymru cohort began in 2013, at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD). Drawing on the work of Bourdieu, this paper will discuss the potential impact of Teach First Cymru on the teaching habitus, through public and personal articulations of the profession, set within the context of critical debate surrounding the programme. In order to do so, the paper will explore media representations of Teach First and data generated from focus groups and interviews with Teach First Cymru participants and trainees on the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) at the same university.