ABSTRACT LINKS AND DISCONNECTS BETWEEN THIRD GRADE TEACHERS’ BELIEFS, KNOWLEDGE, AND PRACTICES REGARDING NONFICTION READING COMPREHENSION INSTRUCTION FOR STRUGGLING READERS by Nicole P. Maxwell In the current era of accountability, U. S. teachers face strict demands from No Child Left Behind (NCLB) to ensure that all students’ reading achievement meets the requirements of their respective grade levels (Coburn, Pearson, & Woulfin, 2011). These demands are especially stressful when teachers have students who struggle with reading. Regrettably, many students grapple with reading difficulties, particularly with comprehending fiction and nonfiction texts (Allington, 2011). The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs and understandings three third grade teachers held concerning nonfiction reading comprehension instruction for struggling readers and how these beliefs and knowledge influenced their pedagogical practices. This qualitative, interpretive case study examined their beliefs using the theoretical lenses of epistemology (Crotty, 2007; Cunningham & Fitzgerald, 1996; Dillon, O’Brien, & Heilman, 2004; Magrini, 2009), social constructivism (Vygotsky, 1978), transactional theory of reading (Rosenblatt, 1994), and the sociocognitive interactive model of reading (Ruddell & Unrau, 2004). The following research questions guided this inquiry: (1) How do third grade teachers support struggling readers when navigating nonfiction texts? (2) What are these third grade teachers’ beliefs and understandings about struggling readers? (3) How do these beliefs influence the third grade teachers’ pedagogical practices with struggling readers? Data collection lasted for five months and involved interviews, classroom observations, teacher debriefs, and the collection of artifacts, including DeFord’s (1985) Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP). Data analysis was conducted using the constant comparative approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The findings in this study revealed links and disconnects between the accommodations teachers believed their struggling readers needed and what they actually provided their struggling readers. These teachers faced pressures of time constraints and a focus on testing, which affected their pedagogical practices. Furthermore, they demonstrated a reliance on content area textbooks and dissatisfaction with the accessibility of nonfiction materials. These findings highlight the need for pre-service and in-service teachers to have access to quality nonfiction materials to use in the classroom and instruction on how to provide nonfiction comprehension instruction to their struggling readers.

Mobile devices are more and more popular in recent years. As a result, many educational applications were developed to support learning activities on mobile devices. The portability of e-book readers allows learners to read anytime and anywhere they like to read. Because of these features, an e-book reader can be an ideal reading environment for supporting learners¡¦ reading activities. However, there is still a lack of proper instructional designs for making an e-book reader such a reading environment. In this study, we integrated the reading strategy of SQ3R into the reading environment of e-book readers to support learners¡¦ reading processes. Earlier studies showed that SQ3R is an effective strategy to improve learners¡¦ reading comprehension. But we have to consider whether learners are able to follow the steps of SQ3R when they are new to this strategy. If learners were not aware of the reading strategy when reading, the effect of applying SQ3R would be limited. Therefore, we proposed a SQ3R guiding mechanism to support every stage of SQ3R and embedded it into the reading environment of e-book readers. Learners could follow the guidance of SQ3R to read effectively and improve reading comprehension. A quasi-experiment and survey were conducted to evaluate the effect of the SQ3R guiding mechanism. The results showed that, given no guidance, there was no significant difference in learners¡¦ reading comprehension scores whether they read with SQ3R or not. However, if the SQ3R reading strategy was implemented together with the guiding mechanism, this combination of guidance and strategy positively and significantly contributed to learners¡¦ reading comprehension. Relevant issues and future research to improve this study was then suggested.

The instabilities in the late Qing Dynasty stimulated the reformation movement proposed by the intellectuals and caused a chain reaction in Chinese literature, in which the vision, theme, narrative mode, and aesthetics gradually deviated from the earlier traditions. In general, regardless of complicated contents and diversity of literary genres, the ideas also increased in diversity, and the language of writing moved from Classical Chinese to vernacular Chinese. From the aspect of literary development, this is the evolution from the old to the new. Even though it was only transitional, its function and value as a connection cannot be ignored. This essay compiles the evolutionary pattern of the prose since Gong Zizhen. Chapter One is the Introduction. Chapter Two, covering the social changes and development from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, discusses the elements of modernization during the late Ming Dynasty, the development and restrictions in the early writings of the Qing Dynasty, to determine the inner clues related to the literary evolution of the late Qing Dynasty. Chapter Three, focusing on the Opium War in 1840 and the writings of Gong Zizhen, Wei Yuan, and the students of Tongcheng Yao School, discusses the tendency behind the evolution of prose in the late Qing Dynasty before and after the Opium Wars (between 1820 and 1850). Chapter Four, covering the period from the Taiping Rebellion to the Sino-Japanese War (1850-1894), discusses how Hong Rengan, Wang Tao, and Zeng Guofan, as the forerunners of the cultural exchange between the East and the West, gradually brought Western knowledge into Chinese prose, thus leading to the development of modern prose. Chapter Five, covering the post Sino-Japanese War period to the end of the Qing Dynasty (1894-1911), with Lin Shu, Yen Fu, and Liang Qichao as examples, discusses the new literary evolution of traditional prose since the early Nineteenth Century, regarding demands for political reformation and social changes. The new course on contents and style had begun, either consciously or unconsciously, thus establishing a new model for literary creation. After the Opium Wars, many literary reformers and other people contributed greatly to the evolution of prose. Yet, this essay can only list a few because of the length, and thus to show the clues to understanding the changes. Generally, the modernization of Chinese prose began the social turbulences and demands for political and cultural reformation. This evolution remained unconscious since Gongwei, up to Lin Shu and Yen Fu. It was not until the Literary Revolution proposed by Liang Qichao, that it became a conscious movement. The new literary style became popular with the press and generated the May 4th Movement.

The effects of coaching on teacher and student outcomes were compared to outcomes of classes randomized to professional development only and comparison conditions. Twenty-one teachers, trained to implement a Tier II reading intervention curriculum, were grouped by campus then randomized to one of three conditions: professional development plus coaching support (n=6), professional development only (n=7) and a comparison condition (n=8). Teachers in the coached and professional development only (un-coached) conditions were compared on measures of teacher knowledge and implementation fidelity as an indication of teacher practice. Student achievement scores on word attack, reading fluency and reading comprehension measures were compared for students in each of the three conditions. A multiple-gating procedure was used to help teachers identify the five lowest-performing readers in their first grade classrooms. Students completed a battery of seven reading ability assessments prior to and immediately following teacher-implementation of a seventeen-week reading intervention curriculum. Results of ANCOVA analyses indicated students in classes of teachers who received professional development and coaching support did not demonstrate significantly higher scores than teachers who only received professional development training on a battery of reading measures. Further analysis indicated students in the professional development plus coaching condition did have significantly higher scores than those in comparison conditions on five of the seven outcome measures. Teachers in coached and professional development only conditions completed a teacher knowledge survey to measure their knowledge of evidence-based reading practices. ANCOVA analysis revealed no significant differences between groups at posttest. Changes in teacher practice were measured as a function of intervention implementation fidelity. Intervention teachers were videotaped three times over the course of the intervention and taped classes were scored, rated and compared across conditions. Results of a Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance on fidelity scores revealed a statistically significant difference in favor of the teachers who received professional development plus coaching. / text

The Vilnius press at the beginning of the 19th century was made of four types of news media: political and satirical newspapers, scientific and cultural journals. Each type of news media had specific kind of information. Political newspapers informed about political and military events of Russia Empire and foreign countries. News from Lithuania was rare and considered mostly Vilnius city. Scientific news media was made of three type’s journals: 1) propagated different kind of sciences. This type of scientific journal aimed to propagate science not only for clerisy, but for wider reader’s auditory; 2) informed about scientific work of Vilnius and foreign universities; 3) journals set for medicine. There were two satirical newspapers in Vilnius. Their main aim was to criticize the faulty way of life of nobility and officers. Cultural news media published fiction, history article, informed about cultural life of Vilnius and charity. The educated society wished to have tribune to propagate their ideas. That was the main reason for establishing new kinds of news media. And that is why Vilnius press allows knowing valuables of educated society of Lithuania. It is one of the main sources to know what kind of man’s life was standard. It is also the main source to know the forms of cultural life of Vilnius. But the goals of publishers did not check out with the goals of readers. That is one of the reasons why the Vilnius press had small number of readers. The others reasons were small... [to full text]

Temos aktualumas. Globalizacijos pokyčiai visuomenėje, nuolatinė informacijos ir mokslo plėtra, ugdymosi paradigmos, nuolatinio mokymosi koncepcijos tendencijos sąlygoja naują požiūrį į savarankišką skaitymą ir jaunesniojo mokyklinio amžiaus vaikų, kaip savarankiškų skaitytojų, ugdymo procesą, kurio samprata atskleidžiama mokytojo edukacinės-vadybinės veiklos kontekste. Tyrimo objektas – jaunesniojo mokyklinio amžiaus vaikų, kaip savarankiškų skaitytojų, ugdymas mokytojo edukacinės-vadybinės veiklos kontekste. Tikslas – teoriškai ir empiriškai pagrįsti jaunesniojo mokyklinio amžiaus vaikų, kaip savarankiškų skaitytojų, ugdymo procesą mokytojo edukacinės-vadybinės veiklos kontekste. Tyrimo metodai: teoriniai (mokslinės literatūros analizė ir interpretacija); empiriniai (pusiau standartizuotas interviu, standartizuotas interviu, dokumentų turinio (content) analizė); empiriniai (dažnių analizė). Tyrimo imtis ir organizavimas. Kokybiniame tyrime dalyvavo 15 IV klasę lankančių vaikų (10-11 metų amžiaus) bei 16 pradinių klasių mokytojų. Iš viso apklaustas 31 informantas. Interviu metu gauti duomenys padėjo atskleisti vaikų ir mokytojų nuomones nagrinėjamų problemų atžvilgiu. Po to organizuota savarankiškų skaitytojų ugdymą reglamentuojančių Pradinio ir pagrindinio ugdymo bendrųjų programų (2008) turinio analizė. Pirmajame skyriuje atskleista skaitymo sąvokos multidiscipliniškumo esmė, skaitymo reikšmė jaunesniojo mokyklinio amžiaus vaikams, savarankiškų skaitytojų ugdymo proceso... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Subject relevance. Globalization-driven changes in society, continuous development of information and science, education paradigms, tendencies of continuous learning conception determine a new attitude towards independent reading and the education process of junior school children, as independent readers, the conception of which is disclosed within the context of educational-management activities of a teacher. Research object – education of junior school children, as independent readers, within the context of educational-management activities of a teacher. Aim – to substantiate the education process of junior school children, as independent readers, within the context of educational-management activities of a teacher theoretically and empirically. Research methods: theoretical (analysis and interpretation of scientific readings); empirical (semi-standard interview, standard interview, analysis of document content); empirical (frequency analysis). Research scope and organization. 15 children attending Form 4 (10-11 years old) and 16 primary school teachers have participated in the qualitative research. 31 informants were interviewed altogether. Data obtained during the interviews helped to reveal the opinions of children and teachers in respect of the problems under the research. Then analysis of content of Basic Primary and Basic Education Programmes (2008) regulating education of independent readers has been organized. The first chapter reveals the essence of... [to full text]

No description available.

Knowledge workers are frequently called upon to perform deep, critical reading involving a heightened level of interaction with the reading media and other tools. This process, known as active reading, entails highlighting, commenting upon, and flipping through a text, in addition to other actions. While paper is traditionally seen as the ideal medium for active reading, computers have recently become comparable to paper through replicating the latter’s affordances. But even paper is not a panacea; it offers an inflexible document representation that supports some things well, such as embellishment, but supports others very poorly, like comparison and large scale annotation. In response to this, I developed a prototype system, called LiquidText, to embody a flexible, high degree-of-freedom visual representation that seeks to alleviate some of the problems in paper and paper-like representations. To provide efficient control of this representation, LiquidText runs on a multi-finger touch and gesture based platform. To guide the development of this system, I conducted a formative study of current active reading practice. I investigated knowledge workers’ active reading habits, perceptions, and the problems they face with current reading media. I also inquired into what they would like in a future active reading environment. I used these results in conjunction with multiple design iterations and formative system evaluations to refine LiquidText for use in a summative study. The summative study assessed, through a controlled, laboratory evaluation, LiquidText’s impact on 1) the subjective experience of active reading, 2) the process of active reading, and 3) the outputs resulting from active reading. Generally, the study found a strong participant preference for LiquidText, and a focus on the creation of a summary of the original document as part of the reading process. On average, reading outputs were not significantly better or worse with LiquidText, but some conditions were observed that may help identify the subset of people for whom LiquidText will result in an improvement.

The purpose of this case study was to examine the effectiveness of a technique known as re-creation on student writing abilities in ENG 104 section 95 during the spring semester of 1992. Re-creation, already used almost exclusively in England and Australia, invites a writer to divulge his or her personal interpretation of a literary text by rewriting given aspects of it. In section 95, the instructor devoted the entire range of assignments to re-creative writing tasks, using four dramatic scripts and the motion pictures that had been adapted from them as literary texts. The instructor carefully developed re-creative writing assignments and a reasonable criteria with which to grade them. He closely monitored how the students adapted to re-creative writing, and discovered that four students exemplified the main different styles of writing that emerged from re-creation. The case study does indicate that all of the twenty-one students coulddo the work that re-creation involves; some experienced only minor successes with it, but other students, including some top achievers who would probably have done well in any writing class, found broad new avenues for creative expression of their personal responses to literature. / Department of English

The School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering of the North-West University is conducting research about RFID (radio frequency identification) medium range reader systems for an international company, iPico. The focus area of the present research is the development of a robust tag detection algorithm for noisy environments. During the past three years a digital detection algorithm was developed. This digital detection algorithm delivered significant improvements in detection of RFIDs over its analogue counterpart, especially in noisy environments. However, the digital detection algorithm was found to be very sensitive with regard to data rate deviations. Although the latter algorithm improved the detection of RFIDs, ghost (absent) tags were now also detected. The objectives of this project are, to develop an enhanced detection algorithm which is less sensitive to frequency deviations and to eliminate the appearance of the so called ghost tags. The proposed enhanced algorithm will be implemented on a FPGA (field programmable gate array), more specific the Altera Cyclone EP1CT144C6 FPGA. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Computer and Electronical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.