The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of text genre on student learning from science text, using science-related traditional informational and poetic informational texts, with fifth-graders. Four texts were used: a traditional informational text about caves, a poetic informational text about caves, a traditional informational text about mountains, and a poetic informational text about mountains. One group of students worked with the traditional informational cave text and the poetic information mountain text, while a second group worked with the traditional informational mountains text and the poetic informational caves text. After reading each text, students completed comprehension questions and a sorting task involving the main concepts of each text. Results indicated that genre was not a factor in student comprehension of science text. Rather, it appears that student reading ability and student knowledge of the text topic may have influenced student comprehension. Study results might be interpreted as an indication that in a classroom, some students might learn better from poetic texts, and that a variety of text types may be useful.

This case study examined the overarching approaches to second language (L2) reading instruction reflected in the Malaysian EFL secondary curriculum and how well this curriculum prepares students for tertiary reading in EFL. The Malaysian context was chosen because it highly values EFL instruction and has many similarities with other English as Foreign Language (EFL) countries, in terms of EFL reading issues at the tertiary level. The research questions for this study included: What types of reading tasks are reflected in the Malaysian EFL secondary reading curriculum? What types and length of reading passages are used in the Malaysian Form Five English language textbook? What levels of cognitive demand of the reading tasks are reflected in the Malaysian EFL secondary reading curriculum? What types of learner roles are reflected in the Malaysian EFL secondary reading curriculum? This explorative study used document reviews as the primary data collection and analysis method. The Malaysian EFL Secondary Curriculum and the EFL secondary textbook were analyzed using a revision of Richards and Rodgerss (2001) framework for analyzing EFL teaching. The findings indicate that the Malaysian EFL secondary reading curriculum frequently uses reading as an explicit skill to achieve the listed learning outcomes in the EFL Secondary Curriculum. Nonetheless, the curriculum is developed based on the cognitive information processing theory of SLA, Top-Down theory of L2 reading reflecting Non-Interactive Whole Language instruction as well as learner roles that are primarily in the form of individual tasks. The findings on passage analysis show that the EFL textbook primarily uses narrative passages with the majority of passages below grade-level length. The curriculum, however, emphasizes reading tasks that require high cognitive demand as well as important types of reading tasks.

This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of a rich instructional program on the vocabulary acquisition of three-, four-, and five-year-old Dual Language Learners (DLLs). The lead teacher of a private preschool in western Pennsylvania, five children who were native speakers of English, and 16 DLLs who speak Kirundi, Burmese, Nepali, a combination of Ahiska Turkish and Russian, Karen, and a combination of Karen and Burmese, as well as each childs primary caregiver participated in the study. The children received rich instruction in small groups in three four-day blocks. Five sophisticated vocabulary words from authentic childrens literature were targeted during each four-day instructional block. Two control instructional sessions were included in the study to compare the childrens word learning based on typical instruction of text-based words in the classroom, to word learning after engaging in rich instructional activities. The childrens understanding of each set of five target words was evaluated using two researcher-designed vocabulary measures after the fourth day of instruction. The childrens baseline receptive vocabulary skills in English, baseline vocabulary in their home language, the number of months that they lived in the U.S., their home language, and the frequency of book reading in the home were also examined to identify other factors that might explain differences in word learning. Results suggested that the strategies and activities included in the rich instructional program were effective in increasing the childrens knowledge of sophisticated English words. Among the 21 participants, the children who demonstrated the most notable gains in word learning included those in the older age group. Results also suggested that children who had lived in the U.S. longer demonstrated higher scores on the verbal portion of the rich instruction posttests. In addition, children who demonstrated understanding of more English words at the start of the study earned higher scores on the picture portion of each posttest.

In this study, a dynamic assessment was used to measure the morphological analysis skills of participating sixth graders. The primary aim of this research was to examine the utility of this dynamic assessment and specifically to identify whether this measure can differentiate among students based on reading proficiency. Twenty-seven participants, including three identified as needing special education services, underwent two testing sessions. Four assessments were administered: a standardized measure of receptive vocabulary, an oral reading fluency task, and two measures of morphological knowledge, one static in nature and the other a dynamic task which utilizes a standardized graduated prompting approach. Scores on a standardized reading outcome measure were also obtained for each participant. Several significant results can be drawn from this study. Evidence was generated that the dynamic task had high estimates of internal consistency and seemed to perform similarly to other measures of morphological problem-solving found in the literature. Correlations between the dynamic task and measures of vocabulary knowledge and reading fluency were moderate to large in size and positive, also making it consistent with other studies and suggesting that the dynamic measure captures skills related to these critical literacy constructs. Other interesting findings occurred in this study which extend our understanding of the role of morphological problem-solving in reading performance. First, the dynamic task emerged from the analyses as a potentially useful screening measure, capable of differentiating sixth graders at risk for reading difficulty and including procedures and content more sensitive than a static measure of morphological knowledge. The predictive validity of the DATMA was also compared to the oral reading fluency task, a commonly used reading screening measure. Results showed that the dynamic measure added significantly to the prediction of reading outcomes. Exploratory analyses examined the use of the dynamic assessment as a supplemental screening measure to the oral reading fluency task. The dynamic assessment reduced the number of false positives, and in some cases, predicted reading outcomes as well as a combination of the two measures.

There is a need for classroom research that examines the impact of task-based instruction on second/foreign language learning in a real classroom practice (Skehan, 2007). Using the quantitative data obtained from a pre-test, an immediate post-test, and a one-month-later delayed post-test with Thai FL learners of English for business purposes, this study investigated how and to what extent a task-based course using sociocultural approach in a Thai university classroom helped students improve and retain their business English ability. Considering each learner as an active agent with unique historical bearings and learning motives and goals, this study also used the qualitative data obtained from five focal participants to address the question of what activities looked like in task-based instruction. Using a case study and activity theory as analytical framework, the qualitative data were collected from a questionnaire, stimulated recall interviews, researchers observation notes, the post-task interviews, and the final interview. The quantitative results revealed a significant difference between the scores of the pre-test and the post-test implying that there was an improvement in the business English ability of the subjects in those six tasks. A significant difference was also found between the scores of the post-test and the delayed post-test implying that there were both the retention and an increase of their business English ability. The significant improvement of the students test scores resulted from task familiarity, task internalization, and the influential roles of motives and affect. The qualitative findings showed that (1) the participants activities differed across tasks and time. (2) Four patterns of assistance were found, but they were not stable within pairs and across tasks. The pairs that demonstrated patterns of Collaborative and Expert/Novice were more successful than Dominant/Dominant and Dominant/Passive. (3) Participants successful performance were mostly reported as being influenced by themselves as subjects, objects that motivated them to complete the course, the teacher and their partners in division of labor, and the tools they used to complete the tasks. They were less influenced by the rules and the community. (4) Students joined the course with similar and different motives, goals, and motivation. They shifted and were transformed.

For over a century, history teachers throughout the United States have selected textbooks as the primary instructional material for their classrooms, while textbook authors and publishers have continuously produced a unified nation-state narrative that presents United States history as a series of objective historical facts for student memorization. Some researchers have suggested that teachers abandon the textbook in favor of primary sources. Yet, due in part to institutional, societal, and political pressures, classroom teachers continue to use these traditional texts. This study, a qualitative investigation of the causal and coherences structures in a sample textbook, a teachers instructional explanation, and students related summaries, seeks to determine the influence of a textbook passage and teachers instructional explanation on students mental representations of history: What causal and coherence structures are present in a sample US History textbook? To what extent do the causal and coherence structures of the textbook passage influence a teachers mental representation of a historical event? To what extent do the causal and coherence structures of the textbook passage and the instructional explanation influence students mental representations of a historical event? Using Kintschs Construction-Integration Model and Hallidays Systemic Functional Linguistics, data from participants in a diverse setting east of Pittsburgh was analyzed, comparing the network chains and transitivity structures of the passage, the instructional explanation, and participants summaries. Among this studys findings, students include information common to both the textbook passage and the teachers instructional explanation in their summaries. Furthermore, the causal constructions identified in students summaries are similar to those found in either the textbook or the instructional explanation, not often both. These findings have implications for teaching with textbooks, disciplinary literacy instruction, and the implementation of critical, historical thinking in K-12 history classrooms.

Although researchers have begun to explore the implementation of dynamic assessment (DA) with foreign language learners, few of these studies have occurred in the language classroom. Whereas DA is typically implemented in dyads, promising research in the field of foreign language learning suggests that DA may promote development with groups of students as well. The present study explored the implementation of group DA in a combined fourth and fifth grade elementary Spanish classroom as students studied interrogative use and formation. After a pre-test determined no student could use and form interrogatives independently, a DA program was designed to provide mediation attuned the zone of proximal development of the group of students as a whole. During this ten day DA program, the development of nine focal students was tracked as they participated in large group and small group instruction. Drawing on sociocultural theory, mediation provided by the teacher and by peers was transcribed and analyzed, as well as students responses to that mediation. Development was further examined based on students scores on a post-test, near transcendence task and far transcendence task. Findings suggest that while some students moved from assisted to unassisted performance during large group DA, other students required peer mediation provided during small group work to develop interrogative use and formation. Those students who could perform independently during large group DA acted as mediators during small group work for those who still required mediation. Still other students were never able to use and form questions independently, indicating that interrogative use and formation was not within their zone of proximal development. It was concluded that DA can be integrated into the language curriculum of early language learning programs without the sacrifice of effective language pedagogy. To that end, small group work is an essential complement to large group DA in that it provides students with the opportunity to request mediation, verbalize their thoughts, and provide mediation to their peers.

This case study examined the integration of discipline specific literacy instruction as part of a comprehensive literacy program at the secondary level. Eight teachers were interviewed and observed to investigate their knowledge of and beliefs about discipline specific literacy instruction. Two literacy coaches and the schools principal were also interviewed and shadowed to understand how they supported teachers efforts to include disciplinary literacy instruction and how they influenced instructional decision making. Results from this study indicated that teachers believed they were responsible for developing students literacy skills in the discipline they taught. Teachers emphasized discipline specific literacy practices and strategies to improve students literacy skills as well as to enhance students content knowledge. Professional development was a key factor in the continuity and success of teachersliteracy instruction across the disciplines. Through professional development, teachers were developing a deep understanding of what it means to engage students in discipline specific literacy practices. The school principal and instructional coaches played an active role in developing teachers literacy knowledge and strategy instruction. Their primary role was to support teachersefforts to implement disciplinary literacy instruction through systematic professional development and instructional coaching.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the representation of other cultures in award-winning picture books from the United States, Australia, and Great Britain between 1960 and 2009. Not only was the cultural content of childrens literature over the past fifty years investigated, but the protocol created to evaluate the books was a newly devised instrument that focused on the educational application of the content in the books. The protocol included three levels of analysis of the award-winning picture books. The Level I Analysis determined which books depicted other cultures; that is, cultures that were different from the cultures in the country in which the book was originally published. The Level II Analysis investigated the type of cultural representation found in the books, including depictions of geographic location, social systems, economic systems, and/or political systems. The final analysis (Level III Analysis) identified the genres and themes found in the picture books. Of the 143 books read for this study, only 25 (17%) depicted information about cultures different from those in the country in which the book was originally published. Books from the 2000s had the least amount of cultural representation. Geographic location was the cultural element most often represented in the picture books. Political systems had the least amount of representations in the books. This study addresses the potential for using childrens literature as a medium for cross-cultural awareness and the importance of providing teachers with appropriate tools to critically analyze books with cultural content. Study results might be interpreted as an indication that there is a need for more picture books to be representative of all people and cultures.

How do learning environments influence the ways that middle school students use math to engage with and learn about robotics? Data from two observational studies suggest that existing formal (scripted inquiry) and informal (competitions) learning environments in this domain are limited in their support for connecting math with robotics. In light of the evaluation of these existing learning environments, two additional studies were conducted documenting the design, implementation, and redesign of a new learning environment intended to more effectively align learning and engagement with the connection between math and robots. Pre-post assessments and analyses of student work support the hypothesis that a model eliciting learning environment can facilitate learning while maintaining interest in both disciplines, and facilitate the development of a greater sense of the value of math in robotics. Two additional studies expanded on the previous work. The first study identified two contrasting approaches for connecting math with robots in the context of the model-eliciting learning environment from the previous studies. One approach used mathematics as a calculational resource for transforming input values into desired output values. The second approach used mathematics as a mechanistic resource for describing intuitive ideas about the physical quantities and their relationships. The second study manipulated instructional conditions across two groups of students that encouraged the students to take on one of these approaches or the other. Both groups engaged in high levels of productive mathematical engagement: designing, justifying, and evaluating valid strategies for controlling robot movements with connections to mathematics. But only the mechanistic group made significant learning gains and they were more likely to use their invented robot math strategies on a transfer competition task. All six studies taken together provide a rich description of the range of possibilities for connecting math with robots. Further, the results suggest that in addition to carefully crafting environments and associated tasks to align math and robots, that instructional designers ought to pay particular attention to helping students frame their approaches to using math productively as a tool for thinking about situations.