Illustrative Aids Improve Reading

We present typical examples of what students (or teachers) might do to enhance comprehension while reading

Psychological Well-Being and its Effects on Mental Health and Program Outcome among Homeless Young Adults

The overall purpose of this study was to examine the impact of psychological well-being on mental health and behavioral outcomes among transitioning homeless youth in a New York City shelter. The main objective was to elucidate the relationship between psychological health, distress, and behavioral program outcomes. Participants were 116 formerly homeless young adults enrolled in the transitional living Rights of Passage program at Covenant House New York; a homeless youth shelter providing both crisis services and residential transitional living programs to young adults age 18 – 21. The correlates of psychological distress and program outcome were studied in relation to psychological well-being as measured by the Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB) identifying 6 core components of positive psychological functioning including Autonomy, Environmental Mastery, Positive Relationships with Others, Personal Growth, Purpose in Life, and Self-Acceptance. Markers of psychological distress were measured by using the PHQ-9 (Depression), GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety), PTSD Checklist - Civilian Version (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder), GHQ-12 (General Distress), while behavioral outcome data (i.e., behavioral infractions/disciplinary incidents, employment, discharge disposition, education advancement, and total savings) were assessed via the Efforts to Outcome (ETO) online software database maintained by Covenant House New York. Results of Pearson r correlations demonstrated a statistically significant relationship between psychological well-being and psychopathology. Stepwise regression analyses also showed that certain components of psychological well-being accounted for a significant portion of the variance over time in anxiety, PTSD, and general distress above and beyond initial levels of psychopathology. Additionally, Pearson r correlations and ANOVA analyses demonstrated significant associations with psychological well-being and program outcome including behavioral infractions (verbal conflicts, and non-compliance infractions), time unemployed, total savings, and G.E.D. obtainment. In contrast, psychopathology demonstrated significant associations with only behavioral infractions (verbal conflicts) and total savings. Findings suggest that psychological well-being is differentially associated with program outcome from psychopathology and that interventions aimed at homeless youth may benefit from incorporation of strengths-based, positive psychological approaches

What pedagogical approaches can effectively include children with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms? A systematic literature review

This article reports on a three-year systematic literature review funded by the UK Training and Development Agency for Schools. In order to begin to answer the question posed by the title of this article, the researchers systematically reviewed the literature with reported outcomes for the academic and social inclusion of pupils with special educational needs. This review process led to a focus upon peer-group interactions, the nature of teacher and pupil interactions and whole-class, subject-based pedagogies. This series of reviews highlights that within the complexities of a diverse mainstream classroom teachers' effectiveness is strongly influenced by their recognition of their responsibility for all learners and the centrality of social interaction to learning, as well as having a shared understanding of characteristics, skills and knowledge associated with a subject. It is also strongly influenced by a facility to plan for and to encourage participation in a communal learning experience through flexible groupings and roles, offering diverse opportunities to engage with concepts and practices using activities the learner finds meaningful. Effective practices are not about the teacher alone, but are rooted in the community of learners – including other practitioners – with whom they wor

Mixed-method tutoring support improves learning outcomes of veterinary students in basic subjects

P. 1-10Tutoring is a useful tool in the university teaching-learning binomial, although its development is impaired in large classes. Recent improvements in information and communication technologies have made tutoring possible via the Internet. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of mixed-method academic tutoring in two basic subjects in Veterinary Science studies at the University of León (Spain) to optimize the usefulness of tutoring support in the college environment. This quasi-experimental study was firstly carried out as a pilot study in a small group of tutored students of “Cytology and Histology” (CH) (47/186; 25.3%) and “Veterinary Pharmacology” (VP) (33/141; 23.4%) subjects, and was implemented in a large class of CH the next academic year (150 students) while comparing the results with those obtained in a previous tutorless course (162 students). Tutored students were given access to online questionnaires with electronic feedback on each subject. In addition to traditional tutoring carried out in both tutored and tutorless students, the pilot study included three sessions of face-to-face tutoring in order to monitor the progress of students. Its efficacy was assessed by monitoring students’ examination scores and attendance as well as a satisfaction survey. Online tutoring support, together with conventional teaching methods, may be a useful method to incorporate student-centered learning in basic subjects in Veterinary Science.S

A Melodic Contour Repeatedly Experienced by Human Near-Term Fetuses Elicits a Profound Cardiac Reaction One Month after Birth

Human hearing develops progressively during the last trimester of gestation. Near-term fetuses can discriminate acoustic features, such as frequencies and spectra, and process complex auditory streams. Fetal and neonatal studies show that they can remember frequently recurring sounds. However, existing data can only show retention intervals up to several days after birth.Here we show that auditory memories can last at least six weeks. Experimental fetuses were given precisely controlled exposure to a descending piano melody twice daily during the 35(th), 36(th), and 37(th) weeks of gestation. Six weeks later we assessed the cardiac responses of 25 exposed infants and 25 naive control infants, while in quiet sleep, to the descending melody and to an ascending control piano melody. The melodies had precisely inverse contours, but similar spectra, identical duration, tempo and rhythm, thus, almost identical amplitude envelopes. All infants displayed a significant heart rate change. In exposed infants, the descending melody evoked a cardiac deceleration that was twice larger than the decelerations elicited by the ascending melody and by both melodies in control infants.Thus, 3-weeks of prenatal exposure to a specific melodic contour affects infants 'auditory processing' or perception, i.e., impacts the autonomic nervous system at least six weeks later, when infants are 1-month old. Our results extend the retention interval over which a prenatally acquired memory of a specific sound stream can be observed from 3-4 days to six weeks. The long-term memory for the descending melody is interpreted in terms of enduring neurophysiological tuning and its significance for the developmental psychobiology of attention and perception, including early speech perception, is discussed

Improving PBL in Empowering Meta cognitive Skill of Students

Abstract Objective: Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a potential constructivist learning strategy that empowers students’ Meta cognitive skill. PBL focuses on problem, involves thinking activity to solve problems, and correlates to cognitive function of students. Methods: The implementation of PBL reveals various benefits, but there are also some weaknesses in this learning strategy. Thus, it is necessary to implement a certain learning strategy that can cover the PBL weaknesses, such as Reading, Questioning, and Answering (RQA) learning strategy. RQA is a new learning strategy developed based on a fact that almost all students do not read the next lecture materials, causing failure of learning strategy planned and finally the students’ comprehension becomes low. RQA is also potential to empower students’ Meta cognitive skill. Findings: The integration of RQA and PBL learning strategy is called PBL-RQA learning strategy. This study was a quasi-experimental study designed to compare the effect of PBL, RQA, and PBL-RQA learning strategies on the students’ Meta cognitive skill of Faculty of Mathematics and Science, State University of Makassar. Application: The results of the study showed that the potency of PBL learning strategy in empowering the students’ Meta cognitive skill has been increased by integrating it to RQA learning strategy. The meta cognitive skill mean score of the students taught by PBL-RQA learning strategy was 21% higher than that of the students taught by PBL and 26.9% higher than that of the students taught by RQA learning strategy. Keywords: Answering, Meta Cognitive Skill, Problem-Based Learning, Questioning, Reading, PBL-RQ

The attributes of a successful learning support teach in Australian inclusive classrooms

This study used focus groups to investigate 18 general classroom teachers' and 12 learning support teachers' conceptions of the attributes of successful learning support teachers. Based on the attributes emerging from the focus groups, a 20-item questionnaire was designed consisting of statements in four categories: Knowledge and Experience; Organisational Skills; Communication; and Personal Traits. The questionnaire was completed by 117 teachers. Results indicated that there was agreement between the focus groups and teachers who responded to the questionnaire. However, there was a mismatch between learning support teachers and classroom teachers as to what they regarded as being the most important attributes. Learning support teachers indicated that Knowledge and Experience was the most important attribute but this same category was not rated as highly by general classroom teachers. In the total sample of teachers, Personal Traits was rated significantly higher than the other three categories. Communication was ranked second which was significantly higher than Organisational Skills