Education
Helping Students with Chronic Illness: The Importance of School-based Data
This symposium explores the importance of including school-based data when researching or addressing health issues because clinic-based research often ignores classroom variables and teacher concerns. Presentation of four papers is the basis for discussion about pediatric school psychology intervention and prevention. Presenters summarize key points from their research, with projects investigating type 1 diabetes mellitus, childhood cancer, asthma, and HIV. Discussion will highlight the importance of including educational variables when examining health-related issues. Attendees will understand the limitations of clinic-based data in its application to school-based intervention while learning specific approaches to address chronic conditions. They will also hear about future directions of pediatric school psychology as a subspecialty.
A Multi-Component Goal-Setting Intervention to Improve Children’s Mathematics Skills
The current study examined the effects of goal setting on an intervention utilizing incremental rehearsal and performance feedback to teach multiplication facts to students with emotional and behavioral disorders using a multiple-baseline design across participants. Research indicates that drill models and performance feedback are effective for addressing mathematical difficulties. Further, the use of self-set goals is one way to enhance task performance. Results showed mild improvements in fluency for all three participants during performance feedback and incremental rehearsal, while two participants continued this growth during the goal-setting intervention. Two of the three participants demonstrated increases in their rate of improvement with the addition of the goal setting component to the intervention.
Design Strategies for Enhancing Social Connectedness in Online Learning: An Instructor’s Guide to “E-mmediacy”
Despite the unprecedented growth and availability of Web-based instruction and the great promise of any time/any place learning, it appears that higher than average attrition rates remain an issue for online learning (King, 2002). Students in online courses report missing the interpersonal interactions they more typically have with each other and with their instructors in face-to-face courses (Reisetter & Boris, 2004). Similarly, instructors report feeling out of touch with their students (Willis & Dickinson, 1997). Zielinski (2000) contended that this disconnectedness is directly related to the lack of immediate feedback and social cues that are so prevalent among classroom-group members in traditional courses. › Continue reading
Do Wireless Laptops Invite Instructional Change? A Multi-Case Study of High School Teachers One-to-One Computing Implementations
As a part of a state grant, researchers conducted this year-long evaluation case study of an urban school district’s laptop initiative during the 2006-2007 academic year. The laptops were implemented in 9th grade English Language Arts, Math, and Special Education Department classes. Comprised of three data collection points, this study triangulated observation, survey, and interview data gathered from various sources: principals, assistant principals, department chairs, teachers, and students. › Continue reading