Scott C. Marley

What Cognitive Benefits Does an Activity-Based Reading Strategy Afford Young Native American Readers?

The authors conducted 2 experiments with children from a reservation community. In Experiment 1, 45 third-grade children were randomly assigned to the following reading strategies: (a) “reread,” in which participants read each sentence of a story and then reread it; (b) “observe,” in which participants read sentences and then observed an experimenter move manipulatives as directed by the story; and (c) “activity,” in which participants read sentences and then moved manipulatives as directed by the story. In Experiment 2, 40 second-grade children were randomly assigned to either the reread or activity strategy. In both experiments, activity participants remembered more story content than did reread participants. In Experiment 1, the authors identified no memory differences between observe and activity strategies. When imagery instructions replaced the original strategies, Experiment 1 third-grade activity (and observe) participants recalled more story content than did reread participants, but Experiment 2 second-grade activity participants did not. The authors discuss the instructional benefits of activity-based reading strategies, along with developmental implications.

Investigation of an Activity-Based Text-Processing Strategy in Mixed-Age Child Dyads

The authors examined an activity-based listening strategy with first- and third-grade children in mixed-grade dyads. On the basis of theories of cognitive development and previous research, the authors predicted the following: (a) children in an activity-based strategy would recall more story events compared with those in a repetition strategy and (b) children who performed activity would recall more events compared with those who observed activity. In addition, previous visual imagery research suggested that (c) recall in favor of the activity-based strategy would be observed when the toys were removed and imagery instructions were provided. The results confirmed the first prediction that the activity-based strategy would improve childrens memory for story content. The second prediction was not supported: Physical manipulation did not improve memory beyond observing the actions performed by a peer. Last, third-grade students benefited from imagery instructions after training, whereas first-grade students did not. The authors discuss the theoretical and education implications of the results.

Improving Children's Listening Comprehension with a Manipulation Strategy

ABSTRACT The authors examined the cognitive benefits of physical manipulation. Participants were 76 kindergarten and first-grade students randomly assigned to 2 strategies: stories with pictures or manipulation. In the pictures strategy, participants listened to story content and viewed pictures. In the manipulation strategy, participants moved manipulatives as directed by the stories. After a training period, the pictures or manipulatives were removed and participants were instructed to imagine story events. Significant differences in favor of the manipulation strategy on free and cued recall were observed during all 3 instructional periods. Furthermore, strategy by recall type and strategy by grade-level interactions were identified during the training sessions. After training, the participants were instructed to imagine story events, and a significant difference was observed in favor of the manipulation strategy.

Differential Item Functioning Analysis of the Preschool Language Scale-4 Between English-Speaking Hispanic and European American Children From Low-Income Families

The study examined whether item bias is present in the Preschool Language Scale—4 (PLS-4). Participants were 440 children (3—5 years old; 86% English-speaking Hispanic and 14% European American) who were enrolled in Head Start programs. The PLS-4 items were analyzed for differential item functioning (DIF) using logistic regression and a one-parameter item response theory (IRT) model. The logistic regression analysis identified Auditory Comprehension (AC) Item 35 as having non-uniform DIF. Using IRT, AC Item 55 and Expressive Communication (EC) Items 30 and 31 displayed statistical evidence of DIF. AC Item 55 and EC Item 30 were more difficult for Hispanic children than for European American children, whereas the opposite was true for EC Item 31. These findings did not find strong evidence of cultural bias for the PLS-4 against English-speaking Hispanic children from low-income families.

Pictorial illustrations, visual imagery, and motor activity: Their instructional implications for native American children with learning disabilities

This study assessed the number of fears, intensity of fears, type of fears and anxieties, and most common feais in children having a disability. In addition, the correlation level between different raters in the assessment of student fears and related anxieties were examined. Data were collected from public schools and evaluated using Multivariate Analysis of Variance, Analysis of Variance, slice effect test, frequency analysis, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Findings from the present study indicated that students with learning disabilities (LD) reported significantly higher total fear score and higher levels of fear in the two factors of the Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised (FSSC-R); fear of failure and criticism and fear of danger and death. In addition, the LD group reported significantly higher overall anxiety level and higher levels of anxiety in all the three subscale scores of Revised Childrens Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS). Results showed that girls reported significantly higher scores than did boys in total fear score, intensity of fears, and two factors of FSSC-R—fear of unknown and fear of injury and small animals. Furthermore, girls in the LD group reported higher total fear score, intensity of fears, and higher levels of fear in all the five factors of FSSC-R than their male counterparts in the same group. On the other hand, girls in the mild mental retardation (MIMR) group reported lower scores in these measures than did their boy counterparts in the same group. Regarding age differences, older students reported significantly higher scores in the fear of failure and criticism. In addition, older students in the MIMR group reported higher levels of total fear score, intensity of fears, fear of theA solution to get the problem off, have you found it? Really? What kind of solution do you resolve the problem? From what sources? Well, there are so many questions that we utter every day. No matter how you will get the solution, it will mean better. You can take the reference from some books. And the disability research and policy current perspectives is one book that we really recommend you to read, to get more solutions in solving this problem.

Guided Instruction Improves Elementary Student Learning and Self-Efficacy in Science

ABSTRACT The authors investigated whether the amount of instructional guidance affects science learning and self-efficacy. Sixty 9- and 10-year-old children were randomly assigned to one of the following three instructional conditions: (a) guided instruction consisting of examples and student-generated explanations, (b) direct instruction consisting of a lecture and examples, and (c) minimal instruction consisting of student directed discovery. Children who received guided instruction designed a greater percentage of experiments correctly and self-reported greater changes in science self-efficacy than children in the other conditions. No statistically significant differences were observed between direct and guided instruction on outcome measures of cued recall, application and evaluation. However, both conditions performed statistically higher on these outcome measures relative to the minimal instruction condition.

Psychological Measurement for Specialists in Group Work

Recent articles in The Journal for Specialists in Group Work have discussed credibility indicators for quantitative and qualitative studies (Asner-Self, 2009; Rubel & Villalba, 2009). This article extends upon these contributions by discussing measurement issues that are relevant to producers and consumers of quantitative group research. This article is necessary as measurement quality is directly associated with research credibility. The topics of reliability and validity along with credibility indicators for measures are discussed. This is followed by a description of the statistical assumption of independent measurements in relationship to group research. Implications for research and practice are provided.

Exploring the Boundary Conditions of the Redundancy Principle.

This experiment investigated whether study of a scientific text and a visual display that contained redundant text segments would affect memory and transfer. The authors randomly assigned 42 students from a university in the southwestern United States in equal numbers to 1 of 2 conditions: (a) a redundant condition, in which participants studied a scientific text that described plate tectonics and a corresponding visual display that contained redundant segments from the text; or (b) a nonredundant condition, in which participants studied the scientific text and a corresponding visual display that lacked the redundant text segments. Embedding redundant text segments within the visual display enhanced performance on 3 measures of memory but not on a measure of transfer. The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications using the cognitive theory of multimedia learning.

Validity Study of the Preschool Language Scale-4 With English-Speaking Hispanic and European American Children in Head Start Programs

The purpose of the study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Preschool Language Scale—4 (PLS-4) with a sample of English-speaking Hispanic and European American children who attended Head Start programs. Participants were 440 children between the ages of 3 and 5 years (52% male; 86% Hispanic and 14% European American). Participants were administered the PLS-4 and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—III (PPVT-III). The Auditory Comprehension and Expressive Communication subscales and Total Language scale scores for the PLS-4 in this sample had excellent reliability (Kuder Richardson—20s > .90). Validity evidence for the PLS-4 was present, with both subscales being positively correlated with PPVT-III scores. Agreement analysis between the PLS-4 and the PPVT-III indicated that the PLS-4 was less likely to identify a child as having a potential language delay than was the PPVT-III. The results largely support the validity of the PLS-4 for its intended purpose of assessing language skills with preschoolers.

Instructional Guidance and Realism of Manipulatives Influence Preschool Children's Mathematics Learning.

Educators often use manipulatives when teaching mathematics because manipulatives are assumed to promote learning. However, research indicates that instructional variables impact the effectiveness of manipulatives. In this article, the authors consider the relations between two instructional characteristics: (a) level of instructional guidance and (b) perceptual qualities of manipulatives. Results from the randomized experiment with preschoolers (N = 72) suggest that learning is improved when instruction is conducted with high levels of instructional guidance and is impacted by the perceptual qualities of manipulatives. Perceptually rich manipulatives decreased learner performance on outcomes associated with conceptual knowledge and improved performance on transfer of learning. In addition, transfer was positively affected by perceptually rich manipulatives when low levels of instructional guidance were present.