Kathleen Gradel

Parental and professional agreement in early childhood assessment

Robert Sheehan, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Child Development and Family Studies Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana A RECENT emphasis in early childhood and special education has been the multidisciplinary evaluation of at-risk infants and handicapped children. The involvement of medical, psychological, and other healthrelated examiners, as well as of teachers and parents, has been supported as a means of improving information gathering (Cross, 1977; DuBose, Langley, & Stagg, 1977; Frankel, 1979; Honzik, 1976; Simeonsson, 1977; Simeonsson, Huntington, & Parse, 1980). There are obvious benefits of collecting child performance data across contexts and from multiple informed sources. More importantly, there is a strong possibility that corroboration between sources improves the credibility of these data (Irvin, Crowell, & Bellamy, 1979).

Putting Universal Design for Learning on the Higher Ed Agenda

This article provides an overview of how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) applies to higher education. Illustrations of UDL implementation are made, using both campus models of systemic change and coursework exemplars. Start-up solutions and sample applications are summarized. The purposes of this article are to: provide an overview of UDL, including needs for and challenges to UDL in higher education; and identify start-up strategies and models for faculty implementation of UDL practices, addressing potential challenges to their use.

Cooperative Learning: Smart Pedagogy and Tools for Online and Hybrid Courses

This article focuses on meshing technology-enhanced learning with cooperative learning pedagogy, to address teaching/learning challenges in higher education online and hybrid courses. Illustrations of implementation are made using coursework exemplars. Start-up solutions and sample applications are summarized. The purposes of this article are to provide an overview of cooperative learning in online and blended teaching/learning settings, and identify start-up strategies for faculty implementation.

The effects of distributed feedback and videotape self-monitoring on the productivity of a janitorial trainee with mental retardation

The participant, an adult worker with moderate mental retardation, had received prior training in cleaning bathroom, hall, and office sites in a community-based competitive work setting, but demonstrated substandard productivity. An intervention program was designed, consisting of (a) videotape-based self-monitoring, and (b) distributed verbal feedback and breaks which were systematically reduced over time. Sequential application of the intervention to the three cleaning sites resulted in the persons increased productivity in each site. Results are discussed in terms of the components of the training package.

QR Codes in Higher ED: Fad or Functional Tool?

As higher education grapples with addressing the 21st century needs of learners, technology is a pervasive concern. Waters (2012) painted a picture of three historical “screens,” namely the television screen, the computer monitor, and todays mobile device screen. As mobile devices become increasingly commonplace in the workplace and on the street, educators are faced with challenges to staying updated, infusing relevant use, and engaging students who are both media-savvy and device-dependent (Edson & Gradel, 2011; Gradel, 2012). Quick Response (QR) codes—easy-to-use links from offline to online content—may be functional “hooks” to making mobilism more relevant to student learning and engagement in higher education. This article addresses: basics about QR codes, popular and research literature, and recommended cross-discipline applications and efficiencies in higher education.

Tools of Engagement Project: On-Demand Discovery Learning Professional Development

Increasingly, the traditional professional development (PD) model at 4-year institutions fails to meet the evolving needs of faculty. The traditional model of PD faces unique implementation challenges, including developing offerings that appeal to a wide range of disciplines and topics, dealing with limited faculty availability, physical/campus location barriers, and limited training staff. This article discusses a collaborative initiative across five State University of New York (SUNY) colleges and universities to develop a web-based, on-demand, self-directed PD opportunity that can easily be shared and replicated throughout SUNY and the world under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 2.5 license. The Tools of Engagement Project: On-demand Discovery Learning Professional Development (hereafter referred to as TOEP) allows faculty to explore emerging technologies and Web 2.0 tools at their own pace through a variety of rich media and textual tutorials. As a part of the grant research, the interactive community of TOEP learners also reflect on how they could incorporate emerging technologies and Web 2.0 tools into their pedagogy, thereby creating a knowledge base of technology implementation.

Using Problem Based Learning to Develop Class Projects in Upper Level Social Science Courses: A Case Study with Recommendations

Problem Based Learning is often used as the pedagogy for an entire course. However, instructors wanting to try PBL for the first time may find this intimidating. An alternative is to use this pedagogy for a class project and not the entire class. Students in an upper level psychology course used Problem Based Learning to create a transitional facility for ex-offenders in a rural county where currently none exists. Students gained insight into community services, the needs of the target population, and how to match clients’ need with services in the community. This project can be used as a model for instructors in the fields of psychology, sociology and social work.

Interface between Assessment and Intervention for Infants and Preschoolers with Disabilities

A casual question such as “What can she do?” posed by a visitor to an infant program for children with disabilities is typically answered by a series of relatively precise, descriptive statements by the teacher, including: “She can say ‘hi’ by waving her hand and whispering, ‘HA’. She can stack three blocks; push a ball on the floor to a friend who is one foot away; put a circle in a three-piece formboard; imitate rocking a baby and hand-clapping ...” Informal, anecdotal skill profiles such as these offered by practitioners are impressive samples of both the range and the specificity of their knowledge about their charges. Coupled with the pool of information that they have on specific children over time, the breadth of their information base is difficult to synthesize and summarize (Gradel, Thompson, & Sheehan, 1981; Sheehan & Gallagher, 1984).

Blog-Based Support for Preservice Teachers in an Afterschool Tutoring Program

This article reports on findings from a study that explored blogging (a web-based log) as a tool for literacy graduate students to deliver support to preservice teachers who were working in an afterschool intervention program. Its effectiveness is compared to the use of an online literacy instructional module. Analyses of the discussions in nine blogs and lesson plan sets written by preservice teachers indicated that the blogging between the coaches and the preservice teachers aided their learning during the tutoring process. A content analysis of the blogs indicated disparity in both the activities and the types of support in the coach-created blogs that resulted in differences in how the blogs promoted or limited preservice teacher learning. This article concludes with possibilities for using blogs as a mediating tool for learning in field-based courses and teacher training programs.