Nancy L. Hutchinson

Effects of Cognitive Strategy Instruction on Algebra Problem Solving of Adolescents with Learning Disabilities

This study investigated the effects of a two-phase cognitive strategy on algebra problem solving of adolescents with learning disabilities. The strategy was designed to enable students to represent and solve three types of word problems. The study used a modified multiple baseline with 11 replications as well as a two-group design. Conditions of the multiple-baseline design included baseline, instruction to mastery, transfer, and maintenance. Visual analysis of the single-subject data showed the strategy to be an effective intervention for this sample of students with deficits in algebra problem solving, but with criterial knowledge of basic operations and one-step problems. Statistical analyses of the two-group data showed that the instructed students had significantly higher posttest scores than the comparison group. Overall, the instructed students demonstrated improved performance on algebra word problems. Maintenance and transfer of the strategy were evident. This study has implications for teaching complex problem solving to adolescents with learning disabilities in secondary schools.

Fostering Inclusive Beliefs and Practices during Preservice Teacher Education through Communities of Practice.

Increasingly classroom teachers are expected to create inclusive classrooms and make adaptations for exceptional learners. A field-based course in a teacher education program with an extended early practicum undertook to foster the beliefs and practices of preservice teachers about adapting teaching for exceptional learners. The teacher candidates discussed dilemma cases in communities of practice, on-campus and in schools. We analyzed dilemma cases written by 28 elementary teacher candidates about their experiences with inclusion. Themes included maintaining a critical stance, questioning ones own assumptions, and recognizing unresolved ambiguities. We also analyzed the adaptations as well as the content of written peer responses to the cases. Most of the cases were dilemmas and the peer responses showed challenging and supportive dialogue among the members of the school-based communities. The cases demonstrated beliefs and practices regarding inclusion and suggest that using case approaches within communities of practice may foster inclusive beliefs and practices during preservice teacher education.

Workplace learning and the metacognitive functions of routines

In the face of research that shows that workplace knowledge and learning are highly contextual, calls for the teaching of generalizable skills for the workplace have been widespread. While the authors reject the usefulness of teaching generalizable skills, they believe that there are commonalities in workplace knowledge that can be taught. These commonalities are related to metacognition rather than simple cognition, and the approach in this paper is to explore the potential of metacognitive instruction for workplace learning. Specifically, the concept of routines is used to develop an instructional theory derived from the inherent metacognitive functions of routines themselves. The paper draws upon contemporary cognitive theory and on recent research on workplace learning, and it builds on studies the authors have conducted on learning in the workplace and on the observation of routines at work.

Epistemological Appropriation in One High School Student’s Learning in Cooperative Education

In this study, detailed observations and interviews from a high school student’s semester-long cooperative (co-op) placement in a dental practice are used to exemplify Hung’s theoretical approach to understanding situated learning. Using Hung’s theory of epistemological appropriation in an analysis of the coop supervisor’s regulatory behaviors (scaffolding, modeling, and coaching) and of the novice’s corresponding regulatory behaviors (submitting, mirroring, and constructing) helped to explain the developments in this student’s learning, actions, and beliefs. In contrast to the progression suggested by Hung’s theory, this study reports daily examples of all types of regulatory behaviors, with scaffolding/submitting being most prominent. The discussion focuses on how Hung’s theory of regulatory behaviors informs supervisors’ improving opportunities for novices’ learning and informs novices’ engagement in epistemological appropriation in work-based learning.

Learning in the workplace: Fostering resilience in disengaged youth

OBJECTIVE International reports on school-to-work transition make it clear that worldwide youth are at-risk for educational disengagement and are three times as likely to be unemployed as their adult counterparts. Work-based education (WBE) is one of the most frequently recommended solutions for youth disengagement which suggests that WBE serves as a protective factor and encourages resilience in at-risk youth. The objective of this study was to describe and compare the experiences of two at-risk youth enrolled in WBE. PARTICIPANTS Two 18-year old at-risk youth enrolled in WBE were chosen for study because they were learning in workplaces judged likely to promote resilience. Both had been disengaged from school prior to enrolling in WBE. METHOD Each multiple-perspective case study includes the perspective of the youth, the workplace employer, and the work-based educator. Data consisted of ethnographic observations and interviews conducted at the workplace, and with the teacher in the school. RESULTS Each case study highlights how supportive adults and an at-risk youth engage in interactions that facilitate the emergence of resilience in the workplace. CONCLUSIONS In these two cases, risk and resilience are context specific, suggesting that at-risk youth may require tailored workplace programs to meet their career development needs.

Using Experience to Prepare Teachers for Inclusive Classrooms: Teacher Education and the Epistemology of Practice

This paper describes an innovative experience-based teacher education program and a course in the program aimed at preparing teacher candidates for inclusive education of children with special needs. The paper opens with an account of the theoretical background of the program, with special attention given to the nature of professional knowledge and its acquisition. The impact of this approach to teaching for inclusion is illustrated with two case studies prepared by teacher candidates from their experience in an extended practicum of 14 weeks beginning at the opening of the school year.

Exemplary practice in work‐based education: a validation study

This paper validates the concept of exemplary practice in work‐based education (WBE) programs. The validation uses two theoretical frameworks: Social Cognitive Career Theory, and Billett’s research on workplace learning. The empirical component of the validation study consists of two widely differing case studies of high school students in work placements. Concepts found in previous research (communication, assessment and evaluation, linking school and workplace learning, and creating a pathway) are evident in the data of this study and are consistent with the theoretical frameworks, thus validating the concept of exemplary practice.

The Effects of Student Gender, Race, and Achievement on Career Exploration Advice Given by Canadian Preservice Teachers.

This study investigated the effects of gender, race, and achievement on ratings of appropriateness of occupations and classifications of occupations (people, data, things) suitable for future exploration by ninth-grade students. The subjects (N=125; 106 females, 19 males), advanced undergraduate education students, were each asked to evaluate a case folder in which gender (female, male, not stated), race (Native, non-Native), and achievement (higher average, lower average) were systematically varied. Subjects gave ratings of appropriateness for future exploration of occupations on 5-point Likert-type scales. The occupations rated also represented three classifications (data, people, things), yielding a second dependent variable. Analysis was accomplished using two four-way analyses of variance. The attribute most influencing ratings was achievement. However, the three-way interactions of gender, race, and achievement limit direct interpretation of the data, and suggest that complex combinations of student attributes influence teachers. The limitations of the present study are emphasized; the implications for advising young women and for future research are discussed.

Social Competence of Adolescents with Learning Disabilities: Interventions and Issues

Publisher Summary Lacking social competence can cause adolescents to feel isolated and to be denied opportunities to grow socially, cognitively, and physically through hanging out with friends, working in collaborative learning groups, and engaging in their interests with peers. Friendships are an integral part of social development for adolescents and can be distinguished conceptually as well as empirically from social status or peer acceptance. The researchers concluded that their relationships showed less intimacy, empathy, and stability as well as more conflict than did the relationships of non-disabled adolescents. It is thought that social interactions become more complex and intense through adolescence into adulthood. Deficits in social skills, such as difficulties in conversing with peers, may mean that adolescents with LDs are less able to seek or find the social support from peers that can enhance adjustment and reduce stress. The major strength of the program is in its isolation and understanding of vital components of social competence. These basic skills are fundamental for adolescents to master if they are to be successful in social interactions.

Enhancing Workplace Learning for Adolescents: The Use of Metacognitive Instruction.

Purpose – This paper aims to describe an instructional study of three cases of work‐based education students (in co‐operative education in Canada), described by their teachers as ranging from high achieving to low achieving.Design/methodology/approach – The three students are given metacognitive instruction to enhance their workplace learning. The instruction is based on findings from a population of recent case studies of learning in the workplace and is shared with the students, with their teachers, and with their workplace supervisors. Interviews and observations are used to describe the variable success of metacognitive instruction in the three workplace settings.Findings – The paper finds that, while the teachers do not implement the materials fully, both the employers and the students find the metacognitive questions that make up the instructional materials to be useful and have suggestions for how the instructional materials should be used in workplaces. The instructional materials are appended.Ori...