This study’s purpose was to examine the impact of a computer-assisted reading program, “Academy of Reading,” on reading achievement of 2nd and 3rd grade readers. The researcher studied the impact a computer-aided reading program had on the reading achievement of students in a central Mississippi suburban school district. A quasi-experimental research design was used to conduct the research. There were a total of 8 intact classes out of 30 classes from 1 elementary school used in the study. Of these 8, 4 were 2nd-grade classes of 15 intact classes and 4 were 3rd-grade classes of 15 intact classes. The 2nd grade reading classes that were selected were identified as below average according to the Scientific Research Association (SRA) Reading Placement Test. The 3rd grade classes selected were performing at grade level. The 3rd grade did not have many intact classes below the established grade 3 level as in 2nd grade. The selected classes were randomly put in the control and quasi-experimental groups. Both groups were given the STAR reading assessment as a pretest. The quasi-experimental group contained 65 students who received the treatment for a 9-week period. Each class went to the computer lab 3 times a week for 30-minute sessions. The control group contained 68 students who continued with independent reading activities in the classroom. At the end of the quasi-experimental treatment both groups were administered the STAR reading assessment as the post-test. The control group had a pretest mean score of 3.14 and the quasi-experimental group had 2.64. An analysis of covariance was used to adjust for the pretest differences. The post-test scores indicated a slight increase in the mean scores in reading performance of both groups. The mean score for the control group was 3.30 and the quasi-experimental group was 2.87. The control group students improved the mean score by 0.16 and the quasi-experimental group improved by 0.23 points. There was no significant difference; therefore the null hypothesis was accepted. The quasi-experimental group had increased in reading performance as suggested by many articles and research publications, such as Fiedorowicz and Trites (1987), Colorado Commission of the States (1999), and Schacter (2000) supporting Academy of Reading. When the data were analyzed based on gender, ethnicity, and grade level, the quasi-experimental group had the largest increase in the mean scores. However, the findings showed that there was no statistical difference among the groups based on these demographic variables.

In recent years there has been an increased interest on the role of web-based simulations in student learning. I have conducted a preliminary study on the effectiveness of interactivity in 3-Dimensional simulations to help students learn the interference phenomenon. The study was based on a Pretest-Posttest design with the experimental and control groups completing different but equivalent web-based tutorials. The experimental tutorial was based on the use of highly interactive 3-dimentional simulations developed by the WebTOP project. The only difference between the control tutorial and the experimental tutorial is that the control tutorial used static images instead of simulations. The content of both tutorials addressed the common misconceptions students usually have about waves and interference as identified in previous physics education research. The results suggest that student learning from both tutorials was significant with no significant difference in learning between the two groups. The study also identified several factors that might have affected the results and that should be the subject of further study.

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Yes / For a long time, Games Research suffered from what Jaakko Stenros and Annika Waern classified as the Digital Fallacy – the tendency to regard analog games as a subset of digital games rather than the other way around. Where boardgames were once associated with the past of games and learning and digital games with the future, there are now fresh insights and applications for boardgames in learning – alongside with their renaissance as games for entertainment. Even as boardgames found new relevance in learning, the already-recognized possibilities in digital games for learning have continued to expand, with more flexible and ubiquitous tools and platforms allowing for a greater variety of avenues of learning research and practice to be explored. Augmented and mixed reality as well as virtual reality are frontiers in learning that beg for further exploration.

US competitiveness in the 21st century global economy depends on a workforce that is science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) literate, and has knowledge and skills to tackle complex technological problems. In response to the need for a STEM literate workforce equipped with 21st century skills there is a push for K-12 educational reform. STEM literacy is the ability to use content knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering and math in solving human problems in a collaborative manner (NRC, 2009, Wiggins and McTighe, 2005). Researchers have argued that the integrative STEM education (I-STEM ED) pedagogical approach (with its roots in technology education) promotes active learning through student discovery of using science and mathematics content and practices in novel situations, with active construction of understanding by doing (Cajas, 2001; Wells, 2010, 2016b) Critical thinking and problem solving (CT and PS) skills, collectively identified as 21st century skills by P21 (2005a), involved in solving authentic design problems are not assessed in traditional science and mathematics standardized testing or in Tech-ED classrooms in K-12 grades. Assessments in traditional classrooms, focus on the extent of correctness of the end-result, and rarely, if ever, on the reasoning or procedures leading to the result (Docktor and Heller, 2009; Shavelson, Ruiz-Primo, Li and Ayala, 2003; Steif and Dantzler, 2005). Furthermore, the content knowledge tested is directly related to what has been recently taught in the classroom, and eliminates the need for solvers' demonstration of metacognitive processes involved in CT and PS that require recalling/selecting the discipline specific content knowledge. Within traditional Tech-ED classrooms, students are assessed using competencies defined in the Career and Technical Education curriculum framework which do not focus on solving authentic problems. Herein lies the gap between what is needed for the 21st century worker and what is currently the focus of secondary education. The purpose of this study was to measure the extent to which students immersed in an I-STEM ED program were successful in solving an authentic design-based problem presented to them outside the context of the classroom where the content was learned. In addition, five specific student abilities (SAs) that contribute to authentic problem-solving were identified and a rubric to assess these SAs was developed and validated. A design-no-make challenge (DNMC) was developed and administered to these students. Analysis of their responses showed that students immersed in an integrative STEM education program performed significantly better in designing a solution to the DNMC when compared with a hypothesized mean for students in a traditional classroom. Furthermore, the specific SAs associated with selecting and utilizing the relevant science and math content and practices, and communicating logical reasoning in their design of a solution were found to be strongly correlated to students' successful problem-solving. / Ph. D. / Researchers have argued that the integrative STEM education (I-STEM ED) pedagogical approach (with its roots in technology education) promotes active learning through student discovery of using science and mathematics content and practices in novel situations. In response to the need for a STEM literate workforce equipped with 21st century skills there is a push for K-12 educational reform, with an emphasis on the use of content knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering and math in solving authentic problems in a collaborative manner. Collectively identified as one of the 21st century skills, critical thinking and problem solving skills involved in solving authentic design problems are not assessed in traditional science and mathematics standardized testing or in most technology education K-12 classrooms. Furthermore, the content knowledge tested is directly related to what has been recently taught in the classroom. Solvers therefore are not required to demonstrate recalling/selecting the discipline specific content knowledge which are part of critical thinking and problem solving. The purpose of this study was to measure the extent to which students immersed in an I-STEM ED program were successful in demonstrating their critical thinking and problem solving skills by solving an authentic design-based problem presented to them outside the context of the classroom where the content was learned. In addition, five specific student abilities that contribute to authentic problem-solving were identified and a rubric to assess these SAs was developed and validated. To assess and measure the success, a design (no-make) challenge was developed and aligned with the rubric to assess these student abilities. The results of the study indicated that students immersed in an integrative STEM education program performed significantly better in designing a solution to an authentic problem when compared with students with similar math and science coursework in a traditional classroom. Furthermore, of the five student abilities identified, three abilities related to selecting and utilizing the relevant science and math content and practices, and communicating logical reasoning in their design of a solution were found to be strongly correlated to students’ successful problem-solving.

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Multimodality MR imaging of pathological changes in schizophrenia Aim: To prove structural changes of the neocortex and white matter of the brain indicating connectivity disorder in early phases of schizophrenia. Material and methods: A prospective monocentric study comparing a cohort of patients after the first episode of schizophrenia (on average 15.6 days after the initial hospitalization) with a control group of healthy persons. Probands were examined using a complex MRI protocol. Twenty-six patients and twenty-four healthy persons were examined in total. Three dimensional T1 and T2 data and DWI data were analyzed using TBSS FA, FBA a surface- based morphometry. Results: Large areas of dispersively decreased FA were found in patients compared to control group using TBSS. Several fixels of decreased FD metric were found using FBA in the anterior commissure of patients and one sporadic fixel of decreased FDC metric was found in frontal white matter of the brain. No statistically significant areas of cortical surface area and cortical thickness differences were found using SBM. Conclusions: Large areas of decreased microstructural integrity of the white matter of the brain were found. However, it was not possible to specify the nature of its corruption using FBA. Our findings indicate the crucial role of...

The introduction of OBE in South Africa, a developing country, has been characterized by problems relating to the implementation process. Thus a comparative analysis of OBE was conducted in Australia, a developed country, to compare the implementation process. A small scale sample investigation was carried out in 11 Australian and 11 South African classrooms. Findings were that Australia is a country found to be we!! resourced, politically and economically stable, with at least 10 years experience in OBE. Furthermore, small classroom sizes, support structures and teacher aides have enhanced the implementation of OBE in Australia. However, the findings indicated that similar problems have emerged in Australia and South Africa regarding the structure of OBE, assessment and reporting and the extra workload associated with the implementation of OBE. This suggests that there are problems inherent in the system of OBE. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Comparative Education)