Helping students learn only what they don't already know.

Well-known, well-validated principles of individual-difference psychology and education should lead to major changes in classroom instruction. Students need to be helped to learn what they do not already know, instead of being marched through course materials in lockstep, largely regardless of what they knew at the start of the course. The lockstep method especially hurts the intellectually talented, who tend to be far ahead of grade level. This finding led the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) at Johns Hopkins University to devise a Diagnostic Testing followed by Prescribed Instruction (DT-PI) procedure. It has been tested often and successfully, especially for instruction in middle and high school mathematics, but the procedure is applicable to other subjects. Nevertheless, the DT-PI model is viewed by SMPY as merely a stopgap on the road to radical reorganization of instruction in schools. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The contributions of co-occurring forms of classroom discourse and academic activities to curriculum events and instruction.

How do academic activities and discourse work together in classrooms to shape learning and instruction? This complex question was answered in a case study of underachieving students in a Grade 8 history class. Data were collected through class observation and interviews with experienced teachers and students in 2 classrooms. Teachers taught history content and learning strategies. Theories of social constructivism predict that the discourse arising before, during, and after activities can explain variability in students' social and academic participation in curriculum events, as can the nature of the instructional approach students experience when teachers hold similar goals. Patterns of co-occurring forms of discourse and activities across sequences of lesson events provided a useful window into interactions between learning and instruction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On what we cannot learn from proximity data.

Different issues raised in the commentaries are elaborated in this reply. The focus was on the following five topics: (a) the nature of storage deficits in the patient groups and the different meanings that can be attached to it, (b) the possible explanations for the disordered responses of the patients, (c) suggestions for the use of other techniques to study semantic deficits, (d) the Warrington and Shallice criteria to distinguish between access and storage problems, and (e) some technical (statistical) issues raised in the commentaries. The reply concludes by highlighting the key findings reported in the target article that seem to be accepted by the large majority of the commentators. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of examples in how students learn to categorize statistics word problems.

In Experiment 1, students who studied example word problems that were grouped by t test, correlation, and chi-square were more likely to sort subsequent problems on the basis of structure and less likely to sort on the basis of surface characteristics than students who received no examples. In Experiment 2, this pattern was strongest when students studied structure-emphasizing rather than surface-emphasizing examples. In Experiment 3, students who studied and practiced 4 structure-emphasizing worked-out examples of t test and correlation problems were more likely to apply the appropriate statistical test correctly to subsequently presented statistics word problems than students who had studied surface emphasizing examples. This pattern was strong for lower but not for higher ability students. Implications of a schema construction theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rediscovering reality: Considering what works in the classroom.

Reviews the book, The academic challenge: What really works in the classroom? by Jeanne S. Chall (2000). This book (2000) seeks to provide answers to both of these questions. To understand the philosophical differences between progressive student-centered and the traditional teacher-centered approaches to education in today's educational climate, Chall provides a clearly written overview of the history and research in American education of the 20th century. For school psychologists, this book provides: (a) a useful overview of the history of key ideas which continue to affect what we do in schools today, and (b) an overview of the empirical research on the comparative effectiveness of student-centered and teacher-centered approaches to education. For teachers who are less exposed to the current empirical literature in education, this book is perhaps an even more valuable resource. The author provides a clear presentation of the relevant research that relates to improving achievement and the historical context in which certain beliefs, independent of supporting research, gained ascendancy over empirically supported practices. Of particular concern for Chall, however, is the disconnect between empirical research and the unchallenged philosophical beliefs that have contributed to ineffective educational practices and lowered student achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term retention of discourse during reading.

In 2 experiments, 68 3rd, 4th, and 6th graders at different reading levels were given a probe memory task assessing the availability in working memory of recently read discourse segments. During oral and silent reading (Exp I), retention was related to segment length and the occurrence of a sentence boundary. The limits on retention were tested by increasing segment length and difficulty (Exp II). For these segments, performance of less skilled readers was uniformly low, whereas that of the skilled and older readers continued to be affected by length and sentence boundary. Relationships between individual differences in verbal coding processes and short-term retention of discourse as well as implications for text comprehension models are discussed. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preschool peer interactions and readiness to learn: Relationships between classroom peer play and learning behaviors and conduct.

Preschool children's competency in interacting with peers has been associated with long-term school success. Little is known, however, about how this competency relates to other learning readiness domains. The study used multivariate techniques to examine whether low-income preschool children's peer play interactions relate to learning behaviors and problem behaviors, and differ according to age and gender. Positive interactive play behavior was associated with active engagement in classroom learning activities, whereas disconnection in play related to inattention, passivity, and lack of motivation. Disruptive players evidenced conduct problems and hyperactivity in the classroom. Older children and girls demonstrated greater levels of peer play interaction, with older girls exhibiting the highest levels. Implications for future research and educational practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contributions of morphology beyond phonology to literacy outcomes of upper elementary and middle-school students.

Using structural equation modeling the authors evaluated the contribution of morphological awareness, phonological memory, and phonological decoding to reading comprehension, reading vocabulary, spelling, and accuracy and rate of decoding morphologically complex words for 182 4th- and 5th-grade students, 218 6th- and 7th-grade students, and 207 8th- and 9th-grade students in a suburban school district. Morphological awareness made a significant unique contribution to reading comprehension, reading vocabulary, and spelling for all 3 groups, to all measures of decoding rate for the 8th/9th-grade students, and to some measures of decoding accuracy for the 4th/5th-grade and 8th/9th-grade students. Morphological awareness also made a significant contribution to reading comprehension above and beyond that of reading vocabulary for all 3 groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A process model to guide selection of essential curriculum content

The purpose of this qualitative study was to develop and test the usefulness of a process model to identify guidelines for selecting essential content in undergraduate nursing curricula from nursing and related disciplines. The study was designed to test the usefulness of the model. Usefulness was determined by evaluating the operationalization of the model and the product resulting from operationalization of the model. The criteria of practicality, purposiveness, realism, and judiciousness were used. The model consists of four steps. In Step 1, the content area is delineated. Step 2 consists of a review of the literature of both disciplines. Analysis and synthesis of this information results in guidelines, stated in conceptual terms and accompanied by brief rationale, for essential content. In Step 3, educators and clinicians are interviewed to determine reliability and validity of the guidelines. In Step 4, guidelines are revised based on comments obtained in Step 3. Operationalization of the model using nutrition content resulted in five content and three process guidelines. Both the process described by the model and the guidelines which resulted from that process were evaluated as useful. Suggestions for future research using the model are made.     

Physiopathology of diabetic nephropathy: what we learn from transplantation]

The comparative analysis of content prostaglandins E2, F2 alpha and cAMP, cGMP in the compositions of the high-molecular aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase complexes and endoplasmic reticulum vesicules from the rat liver has been carried out. The influence of lethal and sublethal X-ray doses on the levels of cyclic nucleotides and prostaglandins has been studied. Cyclic nucleotides and prostaglandins proved to be rapid and high sensitive transmitters of ionizing radiation influence on the eukaryotic translation apparatus.     

Teaching secondary students with learning disabilities to self-manage classroom survival skills

This multiple baseline study investigated the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral self-management training package on the consistent use of specific classroom survival skills. Participants were three adolescent males with learning disabilities in Grades 7 and 8. The training package involved a multicomponent strategy focused on the improvement, maintenance, and cross-classroom generalization of targeted classroom preparedness skills. Following intervention, the training procedures were systematically faded. Results demonstrated more consistent use of targeted classroom survival skills by all three students in both learning support and mainstream generalization settings. Long-term maintenance of the intervention effects was observed for two students in both settings. Three social validity measures revealed positive results. Implications for self-management in secondary education settings are discussed.     

Contributions of inadequate source monitoring to unconscious plagiarism during idea generation.

Participants engaged in a creative idea-generation task that required them to monitor source to devise ideas not offered previously by others. In Experiment 1, inadvertent plagiarism (cryptomnesia) occurred more often when participants were generating ideas than when they were taking a recognition test. In Experiment 2, focusing participants on the origin of their ideas during generation resembled the focusing that occurs in recognition performance and reduced plagiarism. In Experiment 3, a speeded-response condition increased inadvertent plagiarism by mimicking conditions in which people cannot or do not adequately monitor source. In Experiment 4, plagiarism was reduced both when participants offered their new ideas in a one-on-one context as compared with a more anonymous group setting and when participants were specifically instructed to avoid plagiarism. The results are discussed in terms of source-monitoring decision criteria and the conscious and unconscious processes that support that monitoring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-monitoring of classroom behaviors with students exhibiting emotional and behavioral challenges.

Examined the effectiveness of a self-monitoring package (SMP) on the task engagement and disruptive behaviors of 2 elementary school children (10-yr-old female and 11-yr-old male). Ss received full-time special education services for students with severe emotional disturbance. This SMP was comprised of periodic cuing, self-recording of individually-determined target behaviors, feedback, and reinforcement for accurate self-monitoring. Results indicated that SMP was highly effective in increasing task engagement while decreasing disruptive behavior. Data add to the growing testimony regarding the utility of self-monitoring and SMPs as effective and proactive components of behavioral support for students with emotional and behavioral challenges. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in schema utilization during discourse processing.

Discourse processing involves an interaction of text-based and knowledge-based processes. It was hypothesized that college students (N?=?112) would differ in their relative employment of knowledge-based processes, and that Ss would tend to be more "text bound" when they were more "stimulus bound" in another task with analogous processing demands (i.e., an embedded figures test; EFT). Extent of knowledge-based processing (or schema utilization) was assessed by comparing recall of food items from a narrative about a trip to a fancy restaurant with that from a parallel narrative about a trip to a supermarket. Previous research has demonstrated that since the "foods purchased" component of the restaurant schema is more highly constrained than the equivalent component of the supermarket schema, the former supports greater food item recall. As predicted, food item recall was significantly positively correlated with EFT residuals (after predicting EFT from vocabulary test scores) for the restaurant condition, with no correlation for the supermarket control. Other dependent measures yielded the same pattern of positive correlation with EFT or no correlation with EFT as a function of whether performance would be enhanced by schema utilization or not, respectively. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using numerosity judgments to determine what is learned during automatization.

An important question in learning is the nature of the information required to support skilled, or automatic, performance. In 2 experiments, participants counted patterns of 8–10 objects displayed on a computer screen for 4 sessions of 240 trials each before being transferred to a different set of patterns for a final session of 240 trials. The patterns in the final session differed from those seen in the 4 training sessions in either overall configuration (Experiment 1) or identity of constituents (Experiment 2). Results indicated that both types of information are important in learning and automatization of a counting task and support the idea that what is attended to during training will be necessary to support subsequent automatic performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between the discourse knowledge and the writing performance of elementary-grade students.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 101(2) of Journal of Educational Psychology (see record 2009-04640-012). The DOI published was incorrect. The correct DOI for this article is provided in the erratum.] This study examined whether discourse knowledge about various forms of writing predicted young developing writers' (Grade 2 and Grade 4 students) story writing performance once 4 writing (handwriting fluency, spelling, attitude toward writing, advanced planning) and 3 nonwriting (grade, gender, basic reading skills) variables were controlled. It also examined whether Grade 4 students (18 boys, 14 girls) possessed more discourse knowledge than Grade 2 students (18 boys, 14 girls). Students wrote a story and responded to a series of questions designed to elicit their declarative and procedural knowledge about the characteristics of good writing in general and stories in particular as well as their knowledge about how to write. Five aspects of this discourse knowledge (substantive, production, motivation, story elements, and irrelevant) together made a unique and significant contribution to the prediction of story quality, length, and vocabulary diversity beyond the 7 control variables. In addition, older students possessed greater knowledge about the role of substantive processes, motivation, and abilities in writing. Findings support the theoretical propositions that discourse knowledge is an important element in early writing development and that such knowledge is an integral part of the knowledge-telling approach to writing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Learning to administrate, administrating to learn.

This article describes a director of clinical training (DCT) mentorship program aimed at teaching administrative skills to graduate students. Toward this end, the administrative knowledge and skills targeted in the program are described, followed by a discussion of the implications of this training experience, including the potential applicability to other disciplines within psychology. Although the DCT mentorship experience that is presented seems to be a promising model for administrative training, future efforts are needed to evaluate the relative merits of this type of program over the long term. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How people learn to skip steps.

Novices often explicitly apply in a domain each necessary operator while solving a problem, whereas experts often skip steps, and as a result, the solution procedures they use are often organized differently from those of novices. Using an algebra analog, the authors examined this change in process. In 2 experiments people learned the rules of the task and then solved many problems. Their solution procedures were monitored, and concurrent verbal protocols were taken. When participants started overtly skipping steps, they appeared to be performing them mentally but later started to use new transformations, thereby covertly skipping steps as well. An adaptive control of thought–rational model ( J. R. Anderson, 1993) of problem solver behavior within this task was developed and evaluated with respect to existing theories of skill acquisition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)