The relationship between working alliance and treatment outcomes in remedial instruction for older dyslexic children

Research in psychotherapy has demonstrated that a positive working alliance between therapist and client leads to positive treatment outcomes. Though its focus is in the area of psychotherapy, the concept of working alliance holds significant value to the area of education. Current applications of the theory in educational settings have looked at relationships between teacher and students in the broad context of classroom interaction and found significant promise. The present study investigates the application of the theory of working alliance in a sample of older reading disabled children. The study examined the psychometric properties of the Reading Alliance Scale for Children (RASC) and for Teachers (RAST) in relation to student reading ability and motivation. A sample of 254 (66.1 % male, 33.9% female) grade 6-8 students (mean age 12.7 years) were enrolled in a remedial reading program for reading disabled children. The average standard score across multiple reading measures was more than 1 SD below age-level expectations. Students responded to measures of reading achievement and motivation at pretest, after 70 hours (post 70) of remediation and at the end of the program (post 125). All participants completed measures on the working alliance relationship at post 70 and post 125. Results showed that teacher reports were most predictive of outcome compared to student reports of the working alliance relationship. Working alliance was correlated with posttest reading ability and motivation. Male students and Black students obtained the weakest working alliance reports from their teacher. Overall, findings support the view that students' relationships with teachers provide an important component of success in the classroom.

"They're trying to trick us!": Making sense of anti-oppressive children's literature in the elementary school classroom

This study examines how children make sense of “anti-oppressive” children’s literature in the classroom, specifically, books that integrate and promote positive portrayals of gender non-conformity and sexual diversity. Through a feminist poststructural lens, I conducted ethnographic observations and reading groups with twenty students in a grade one/two classroom to explore how children engage with these storybooks. I further explored how the use of these books in the classroom might help to mediate and negotiate existing gendered and heteronormative beliefs and practices within educational settings. The books used in this study challenge oppressive gender and sexuality regimes within mainstream children’s literature that have traditionally served to marginalize and silence gender non-conforming and LGBTQ individuals. Responses from participants in this study aid in questioning how dominant discourses of gender and sexuality are produced and reinforced, as well as where we may find opportunities for change and reform within the elementary school classroom.

La enseñanza del español a adultos mayores en Quebec : experiencia de talleres prácticos

La hausse démographique de la population des aînés dans le dernier tiers du XX siècle et leur désir d’une retraite productive où ils puissent réinventer une nouvelle étape de leur vie, ont produit un changement dans les salles de classes des institutions formelles et informelles au Québec. Les aînés d’aujourd’hui retournent aux salles de classes mais pas pour la même raison que lorsqu’ils étaient adolescents ou étudiants à l’université, là où l’éducation était connectée aux objectifs professionnels et à la promotion sociale, mais plutôt avec le désir d’intégration continue et de la croissance personnelle. Ce désir est traduit par un apprentissage tout au long de la vie. En effet, l’éducation du Troisième âge devient importante, ainsi que la gérontagogie (branche de la gérontologie) qui étudie le processus d’apprentissage des aînés. Le rôle des Universités du troisième âge (UTA) demeure important mais aussi celui des institutions diverses comme par exemple les « Elder Hostels » et les Centres Communautaires. Dans ce contexte-ci, et basé sur nôtre expérience d’animateur d’ateliers d’espagnol d’une Université (de la province) du Québec, nous présentons quelques méthodologies et stratégies appliquées aux cours d’espagnol langue étrangère (ELE). Ces méthodologies et stratégies sont résumées dans un journal du professeur qui nous aidera à observer le niveau d’efficacité de celles-ci dans les ateliers de conversation. Ainsi, nous avons la possibilité de créer notre propre approche méthodologique qui pourra venir en aide à d’autres professeurs d’espagnol.

Habilidades sociales y acoso escolar : un estudio en centros de Enseñanza Secundaria de Madrid. 'Social skills and school bullyng : a study in Secondary Schools in Madrid'.

Resumen tomado de la publicación. Con el apoyo económico del departamento MIDE de la UNED

Servicios de microblogs en la enseñanza secundaria.

Resumen tomado de la publicación

Transdisciplinaridade em intervenção precoce na infância : Perceção de uma Equipa Local de Intervenção

As Equipas Locais de Intervenção, compostas por técnicos de diferentes áreas, acolhem, avaliam e intervêm numa perspetiva de Intervenção Precoce centrada nas rotinas da família e nos contextos educativos da criança. Sendo este trabalho realizado essencialmente em equipa - cujos objetivos são comuns - parece haver evidencias de possíveis vantagens mas também constrangimentos inerentes a um trabalho transdisciplinar. Assiste-se cada vez mais a uma crescente especialização ao nível da formação e das práticas profissionais de cada um, o que conduz a um conhecimento mais delimitado a determinada especialidade. Por outro lado, o relacionamento entre as áreas dominadas por cada profissional parecem progressivamente reduzir o distanciamento que habitualmente existia na generalidade dos domínios. O presente estudo pretende contribuir para clarificar a realidade da Intervenção Precoce na Infância, bem como avaliar a implementação de um trabalho de natureza transdisciplinar. A investigação será realizada com dados de natureza qualitativa, através da análise documental e complementada com uma parte empírica baseada nas opiniões e sugestões dos elementos constituintes de uma Equipa Local de Intervenção.

Measuring the value of “all play and no work”: can rigorous assessment of simulation games drive innovative teaching in construction?

The construction field is dynamic and dominated by complex, ill-defined problems for which myriad possible solutions exist. Teaching students to solve construction-related problems requires an understanding of the nature of these complex problems as well as the implementation of effective instructional strategies to address them. Traditional approaches to teaching construction planning and management have long been criticized for presenting students primarily with well-defined problems - an approach inconsistent with the challenges encountered in the industry. However, growing evidence suggests that employing innovative teaching approaches, such as interactive simulation games, offers more active, hands-on and problem-based learning opportunities for students to synthesize and test acquired knowledge more closely aligned with real-life construction scenarios. Simulation games have demonstrated educational value in increasing student problem solving skills and motivation through critical attributes such as interaction and feedback-supported active learning. Nevertheless, broad acceptance of simulation games in construction engineering education remains limited. While recognizing benefits, research focused on the role of simulation games in educational settings lacks a unified approach to developing, implementing and evaluating these games. To address this gap, this paper provides an overview of the challenges associated with evaluating the effectiveness of simulation games in construction education that still impede their wide adoption. An overview of the current status, as well as the results from recently implemented Virtual Construction Simulator (VCS) game at Penn State provide lessons learned, and are intended to guide future efforts in developing interactive simulation games to reach their full potential.

Providing extrinsic reward for test performance undermines long-term memory acquisition

Based on numerous studies showing that testing studied material can improve long-term retention more than restudying the same material, it is often suggested that the number of tests in education should be increased to enhance knowledge acquisition. However, testing in real-life educational settings often entails a high degree of extrinsic motivation of learners due to the common practice of placing important consequences on the outcome of a test. Such an effect on the motivation of learners may undermine the beneficial effects of testing on long-term memory because it has been shown that extrinsic motivation can reduce the quality of learning. To examine this issue, participants learned foreign language vocabulary words, followed by an immediate test in which one-third of the words were tested and one-third restudied. To manipulate extrinsic motivation during immediate testing, participants received either monetary reward contingent on test performance or no reward. After 1 week, memory for all words was tested. In the immediate test, reward reduced correct recall and increased commission errors, indicating that reward reduced the number of items that can benefit from successful retrieval. The results in the delayed test revealed that reward additionally reduced the gain received from successful retrieval because memory for initially successfully retrieved words was lower in the reward condition. However, testing was still more effective than restudying under reward conditions because reward undermined long-term memory for concurrently restudied material as well. These findings indicate that providing performance–contingent reward in a test can undermine long-term knowledge acquisition.

Languaging in virtual learning sites : studies of online encounters in the language-focused classroom

This thesis focuses upon a series of empirical studies which examine communication and learning in online glocal communities within higher education in Sweden. A recurring theme in the theoretical framework deals with issues of languaging in virtual multimodal environments as well as the making of identity and negotiation of meaning in these settings; analyzing the activity, what people do, in contraposition to the study of how people talk about their activity. The studies arise from netnographic work during two online Italian for Beginners courses offered by a Swedish university. Microanalyses of the interactions occurring through multimodal video-conferencing software are amplified by the study of the courses’ organisation of space and time and have allowed for the identification of communicative strategies and interactional patterns in virtual learning sites when participants communicate in a language variety with which they have a limited experience. The findings from the four studies included in the thesis indicate that students who are part of institutional virtual higher educational settings make use of several resources in order to perform their identity positions inside the group as a way to enrich and nurture the process of communication and learning in this online glocal community. The sociocultural dialogical analyses also shed light on the ways in which participants gathering in discursive technological spaces benefit from the opportunity to go to class without commuting to the physical building of the institution providing the course. This identity position is, thus, both experienced by participants in interaction, and also afforded by the ‘spaceless’ nature of the online environment.

Visitabilidade-vivenciabilidade em assentamentos informais : um estudo da acessibilidade de percursos urbanos no Conjunto Santa Terezinha em Fortaleza-CE

This research approaches the issue of accessibility in informal settlements, seeking for the challenges and limits defined by informal urban settings, about the application of accessibility parameters. Take the empirical universe as the Conjunto Santa Terezinha, located in Fortaleza- Ce. Initially, the study presents a reflection about the housing issue in Brazil and the informal settlementes in view of the Right to the City. In this sense, the main references are, the works of Suzanne Pasternak (2008), Nabil Bonduki (1998) and Erminia Maricato (1996-97), among others. Follows with the discussion of the concepts and classifications of this type of settlement, making a content analysis of legislation and regulations relating to accessibility and proposed the discussion of the accessible route as the right strategy for the city. In another step, the methodology of 'walking together' created by Dischinger (2000) was applied in a passage previously chosen, which the researcher follows the disabled person during the journey through city making records like photos and video. The comments and perceptions are compared to the spatial analysis of urban morphology, made from the method of Del Rio (1990) and Panerai (2006), and the parameters of NBR 9050. Knowledge of the area is enriched by the methodology of the production of space made by Henri Lefebvre in his book 'The production of space' (1974) with these categories: space conceived, perceived and lived. Another key reference of this author it s the book 'The Right to the City' (991), which allowed in-depth reflections on the social function of town. In conclusion, the study finds that to guarantee a minimum access conditions in informal sittlements it´s necessary to know the specifics of their morphology, their relations and urban practices in view of the visitability- experiencebility, describing it as complementary concepts

Espaços educativos impulsionadores da educação ambiental

A educação ambiental (EA) vem-se expandindo no Brasil em diversos espaços educativos formais e não-formais. Este texto considera a EA provocadora de mudanças políticas, estimuladora de uma racionalidade ética e ecológica e promovedora de atitudes e valores pessoais e de práticas sociais compatíveis com a sustentabilidade da vida na Terra. Sob esta visão, o artigo tem como objetivo refletir sobre a expansão da educação ambiental nas universidades brasileiras, nos últimos vinte anos; discutir as possíveis mudanças educacionais das políticas públicas da área, a partir da Constituição de 1988; considerar a possível influência das forças dos movimentos sociais da sociedade organizada e das redes de EA locais, regionais e nacionais formadas com a generalização do uso da informática, como impulsionadora da sua expansão. A EA se constitui e se formaliza com o respaldo de uma política nacional que propicia sua permanência e aprofundamento nos espaços já conquistados e promove sua inserção nos demais contextos da sociedade organizada.

Ambientes educativos e conhecimento social: um estudo sobre as representações de escola

Este artigo apresenta parte de uma pesquisa sobre a construção do conhecimento social fundamentada na teoria piagetiana. Os dados analisados referem-se às ideias de crianças entre 7 e 8 anos a respeito da escola. Os sujeitos foram alunos de duas classes de primeira série: uma considerada ambiente tradicional e a outra considerada ambiente sócio-moral construtivista. Os dados obtidos sofreram análise qualitativa e quantitativa e as respostas dos sujeitos foram comparadas, com a finalidade de descobrir possíveis diferenças naquilo que as crianças pensam em função do ambiente escolar do qual participam. Os resultados demonstraram que as crianças não possuem compreensão real da função da escola e que houve diferença significativa em função do ambiente escolar pesquisado, especificamente em relação à compreensão que os sujeitos apresentam das razões para a existência de uma escola e das caracterizações de uma escola boa e uma escola ruim. Dessa forma, as crianças inseridas no ambiente tradicional consideram que para a existência de uma escola é necessário somente aspectos materiais; já aquelas inseridas no ambiente sócio-moral construtivista consideram a necessidade de outros elementos, tais como as pessoas. As crianças inseridas no ambiente considerado construtivista também apontam aspectos subjetivos e referentes a comportamentos considerados adequados para a caracterização de uma boa escola, o que não ocorre com os alunos do ambiente tradicional.

Perfil dos professores participantes da 2ª edição do curso de LIBRAS a distância: uma propsota de formação continuada no contexto educacional inclusivo

This research presents an analysis of the profile of participants in the second edition of the Extension Course “Libras by distance: a proposal for continuing education of teachers in inclusive educational settings”, funded by the Program for Continuing Education of Teachers in Special Education, the SEESP / MEC and the support of the UAB, whose goal was to promote a theoretical-practical-discourse on the importance of Libras in deaf education. The course was developed by the School of Philosophy and Science of UNESP / Marília, in distance mode. practicing teachers in public schools, linked to 19 Departments and / or Directors of Education in several regions of Brazil took the course. The information was collected from the questionnaire responses of the diagnostic evaluation performed in the pre-registration course. In general, the information was about place of residence, marital status, family constitution, educational training and professional experience in special education. We performed quantitative analysis and descriptive statistics on the data. The information presented refers to a summary of results for the total sample investigated. With the release of the profile of participants we expect to contribute towards the organization of new extension courses in the area of deafness, in distance mode, aimed at the in-service training of teachers with a view to Inclusive Education.

A formação pré-serviço do professor de língua estrangeira em curso de licenciatura: crenças e reflexões em experiências de estágio supervisionado em diferentes contextos (sala de aula e teletandem)

This article aims to show the results of an institutional research in Applied Linguistics, which tries to comprehend how the initial teaching practice occurs in diversely figured contexts of foreign language teaching-learning (on-site and virtual), as well as how such contexts may mutually favor and encourage reflective and critical training of the language teacher in/for a contemporary world. It´s possible to notice a reflective attitude of four Brazilian foreign language (Spanish, English and Italian) teachers in initial training, especially regarding some aspects related to the teaching-learning languages process, such as roles of the participants; relevance of meaningful interaction; engaged cultures; teaching of a foreign language and mother tongue teaching as foreign one; teaching and learning typologically similar languages; constitution of the place to learn-teachIt´s possible to notice a reflective attitude of four Brazilian foreign language (English, Italian and Spanish) teachers in pre-service education, especially about some aspects of language teaching and learning process, such as the role of the participants; the relevance of significant interactions; the involved cultures; the teaching of a foreign language and the teaching of the mother tongue as a foreign language; the teaching of similar languages as Portuguese and Spanish; and the constitution of the place of teaching and learning languages. The results indicate that the experience of experiencing the dynamics of a conventional didactic context of language teaching (classroom), alongside to the experience of teaching and learning in a context of virtual educational settings (teletandem), it was especially important for the critical training of the future language teachers and to the awareness about the practice of teaching languages in times of technological innovation.

Quem não sonhou em ser um jogador de futebol?: trabalho com projetos para reelaborar foregrounds

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)