Dorothy DeWitt

The effectiveness of synthetic phonics in the development of early reading skills among struggling young ESL readers

ABSTRACT A quasi-experimental research design was used to investigate the effectiveness of synthetic phonics in the development of early reading skills among struggling young English as a second language (ESL) readers in a rural school. The pretest and posttest, adapted from the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) for Preschool Students and Grades 1 to 3 tests, assessed children’s early reading skills. A semi-structured interview was used to gather information. The findings indicated that the performance of students in the experimental group in decoding was significantly higher in the posttest, where t(39) = 31.441, p < .00005. Likewise, in comprehension, the experimental group achieved significantly higher scores in the posttest, where t(39) = 15.322, p < .00005. There was a significant difference in the achievement between the two groups, where t(78) = 31.010, p < .00005. This indicates that synthetic phonics could be effective in developing early reading skills for struggling readers.

Problem-Solving Strategies Among Science Teachers in the State of Selangor, Malaysia

Problem-solving is the highest level of learning in the cognitive domain. However, studies have shown that Malaysian students seem to lack problem-solving skills. This may be due to the lack of understanding of thinking skills and problem solving among teachers and the inability to apply appropriate teaching strategies for teaching problem solving. In this study, science teachers in Selangor, one of the most highly populated states in Malaysia, were sampled. The aim of the study was to investigate the problem-solving strategies teachers used for instruction. The findings indicated that teachers preferred giving factual explanations and asking students to listen to these explanations. As for problem-solving modes, argumentation was the dominant mode, followed by analogizing and reasoning causally. Participants were less inclined to use modeling for students to develop and test their own mental models. Hence, there is a need for instructional models for problem solving which would assist teachers in developing instructional strategies to inculcate problem solving and higher order thinking skills among students.

Development of an instructional model for higher order thinking in science among secondary school students: a fuzzy Delphi approach

ABSTRACT It is important for science students to develop higher order thinking (HOT) so that they can reason like scientists in the field. In this study, a HOT instructional model for secondary school science was developed with experts. The model would focus on reflective thinking (RT) and science process skills (SPS) among Grade 7 students. The Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) was employed to determine consensus among a panel of 20 experts. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted among the experts to generate the elements required for the model. Then, a questionnaire was developed using a seven-point linguistic scale based on these elements. The defuzzification value was calculated for each item, and a threshold value (d) of 0.75 was used to determine consensus for the items in the questionnaire. The alpha-cut value of >0.5 was used to select the phases and sub-phases in the model. The elements in the model were ranked to identify the sub-phases which had to be emphasised for implementation in instruction. Consensus was achieved on the phases of the HOT instructional model: engagement, investigation, explanation, conclusion and reflection. An additional 24 learning activities to encourage RT skills and SPS among students were also identified to develop HOT skills in science.

Design of an Instructional Module on Basic Life Support for Homeschooled Children.

Abstract Basic Life Support (BLS) can increase a victim’s chances of survival when administered promptly and correctly. Cardiac and respiratory arrests occur more frequently when the victim is at home far from clinical support. Hence, prompt action by family members trained in BLS can save the victim’s life. In this study, the requirements for the design of a module for teaching BLS as an important life skill to homeschooled children is investigated using Taba’s model of curriculum design. The Fuzzy Delphi technique was used to obtain consensus among 10 experts for the design, content, strategies, activities and assessment for the instructional module. The experts agreed that BLS should be taught to children above 15 years, with content focusing on the techniques of proper chest compression, rescue breath and rescue of drowning victims. The findings indicate that the preferred strategies were observation of demonstrations and hands-on return demonstrations with activities using manikins to simulate emergency scenarios. The preferred methods of assessment were practical demonstrations, multiple choice questions and online assessment. The findings provide insights for the design of a BLS module which could be developed for homeschooled children.