Fortune favors the bold (and the Italicized): effects of disfluency on educational outcomes

Previous research has shown that disfluency – the subjective experience of difficulty associated with cognitive operations – leads to deeper processing. Two studies explore the extent to which this deeper processing engendered by disfluency interventions can lead to improved memory performance. Study 1 found that information in hard-to-read fonts was better remembered than easier to read information in a controlled laboratory setting. Study 2 extended this finding to high school classrooms. The results suggest that superficial changes to learning materials could yield significant improvements in educational outcomes.     

Multiple-choice testing as a desirable difficulty in the classroom

We examined whether the power of tests as learning events, frequently demonstrated in the laboratory, would also occur in a large undergraduate course. Our goals were to determine: if learning of information tested on multiple-choice quizzes administered across the course would be enhanced compared to non-tested control information; and what the effects of quizzing would be for the learning of information conceptually related to the tested information but not itself tested on the quizzes. Given that retrieval practice can have positive (testing effect) and negative consequences (retrieval-induced forgetting), our concern was that the learning and later retention of non-tested conceptually related information might be impaired by the multiple-choice quizzes. Importantly, learning benefits were found for both types of information on the final exam, indicating that quizzing within a course can enhance not only the learning of specifically tested information, but the learning of non-tested conceptually related information as well.     

修订的布卢姆目标分类与加涅和安德森学习结果分类的比较

本文首先阐述了对新修订的布卢姆认知教育目标分类学与加涅和安德森的认知学习结果分类进行比较研究的缘由;然后分别概述这三个分类理论;接着就他们分类的异同进行比较,以沟通_三者关系;最后表明,应该将教学目标与学习结果分类理论相沟通才能有效运用目标分类学指导教学目标、策略和评估的设计.     

Growing up with severe learning difficulties: A longitudinal study of young people and their families

The paper reports on a longitudinal study of young people with severe learning difficulties. Two types of comparison are made: changes between Time 1 and Time 2, and comparisons with the younger age group in the study. The young adults acquired considerably more self-help and communication skills between Time 1 and Time 2. They were less likely to require help with self care than the younger age group and their carers were less stressed. Parents' needs for additional service provision fell into three categories: information needs, help with communication and other skills, and practical help. The greatest need was for information. The main concerns of the mothers at Time 1 and Time 2 are documented. The young adults' preparation for leaving school, current day placements at Social Education Centres and employment prospects are discussed. It is concluded that there are few opportunities to move on to less sheltered environments.     

Programa para el Bienestar y Aprendizaje Socioemocional en estudiantes de tercero y cuarto grado: descripción y evaluación de impacto

This paper presents a program to foster socioemotional learning and wellbeing in 3rd and 4th graders, and its impact on evaluation. The program is conceptually grounded in the socioemotional learning perspective, which integrates factors both at the individual and contextual levels. Development of quality interpersonal bonding is emphasized, as is the development of the necessary socioemotional skills to achieve this goal. A quasi-experimental design was implemented which included 647 students in five private subsidized schools in Santiago, Chile. Evaluation with Anova analysis of repeated measures showed an impact of the program on students’ self-esteem reported by the teacher (measured with TAE). Seemingly, the program mitigated the decrease in the perception of school social climate (measured with ECLIS), in social integration, and in academic performance, as observed in the control group. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for the development of interventions in this field.     

高中生学习策略调查研究

用自编量表调查了一所重点高中和一所普通高中2658名学生的学习策略状况。因素分析结果显示:高中生学习策略可用一个三层次结构的图式表征,最概括的顶层为主导性和辅助性两大策略群;中间层次为学习态度调整、学习行为管理、学习方法运用、学习环境适应、课外活动调控等五大策略亚群;基层次为良好的学习心态,积极合理规划学习生活,预习和复习总结,营造学习的人际环境,劳逸结合、丰富课余生活等19项策略子群。重点高中学生、成绩好的学生、年级高的学生,在主导性策略方面存在优势,主要体现在学习态度调整和学习方法运用这2个策略亚群上。在学习策略的性别差异上,男生更善于营造学习的人际环境、运用学习行为管理方面的策略,而女生则更注重学习方法运用的策略。     

Differential constraints on the working memory and reading abilities of individuals with learning difficulties and typically developing children

This study examined the factors that constrain the working memory span performance and reading ability of individuals with generalized learning difficulties. In the study, 50 individuals with learning difficulties (LD) and 50 typically developing children (TD) matched for reading age completed two working memory span tasks. Participants also completed independent measures of the processing and storage operations involved in each working memory span task and Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices. The results showed that despite an equivalent level of working memory span, the relative importance of the constraints on working memory differed between the groups. In addition, working memory span was not closely related to word recognition or sentence comprehension performance in the LD group. These results suggest that the working memory span performance of LD and TD individuals may reflect different working memory limitations and that individuals with generalized learning difficulties may approach cognitive tasks in a qualitatively different way from that of typically developing individuals.     

中学生学习主观幸福感的影响因素及其教育建议

学习主观幸福感对中学生整体生活的满意程度和心理健康有着重要的影响。本文分析了影响中学生学习主观幸福感的主要因素：学习体验、归因倾向、学习成绩、自我效能感及社会支持,并在此基础上提出了针对学校、教师及家庭的教育建议。     

Confidentiality Revisited

This article challenges the importance and necessity of confidentiality, which are often taken for granted, and questions whether the default promise of confidentiality to all participants, particularly in educational research, could in fact be an unnecessary concern. This article begins by reviewing the difference in the way confidentiality is handled in different fields and the applicability of some underlying assumptions. This is followed by an explanation of why confidentiality is investigated in the sense of anonymity in this article. Then the article draws on an empirical study where original researchers and their original participants were interviewed about their views on anonymity. Lastly, the contradiction between the promises of confidentiality and the recognition of a participant’s contribution is highlighted. The article concludes with a call for more empirical observation and investigation into the importance of confidentiality.

Evidence for word length coding during visual word recognition

In a masked priming procedure manipulating orthographic neighbourhood size, the priming word activates a number of word candidates of which the target could be one. Whether the target is one of the candidates or not determines how quickly it is recognised. However, the efficiency of lexical processing may be markedly less if all possible candidates are activated. One solution to this problem is if the visual system uses prime length information to reduce the number of candidates to a more manageable amount. Here, we investigated in two masked priming experiments whether prime length and orthographic information combine to facilitate target word recognition. In Experiment 1, we showed that the efficiency of visual word recognition is not influenced by the length of primes alone. However, when combined with orthographically related primes, word length coding is preserved. In Experiment 2, we investigated whether length priming affects recognition of short and long words differently. Results showed that only short words benefit from a same-length orthographically related prime, and that the priming effect does not generalise to longer words. These results suggest that the length of a word is not an essential feature in lexical processing, but that it can facilitate recognition by constraining the activation of orthographically related words.