<p>Sammanfattning</p><p> </p><p>Syfte: Att undersöka två läsmetoders effekter på tolv elever från skolår 2, 3 och 4 avseende fonologisk och ortografisk läsförmåga, läsflyt, läsförståelse och RAN (Rapid Automatic Naming) samt jämföra resultaten med en grupp elever som fått traditionell specialundervisning under samma tid.</p><p> </p><p>Metod: 52 elever genomförde en screening med avseende att mäta läsflyt och läsförståelse. Av dessa valdes 12 elever ut som hade svårigheter i läsflyt och korrekt läsning, fyra elever från varje skolår, 5 pojkar och 7 flickor. Eleverna delades i två lika stora grupper som tränade ordavkodning med två olika metoder i en-en-undervisning, 20 minuter tre gånger per vecka i sex veckor. De 18 eleverna fick utföra ytterligare fem läs- och skrivtest före och efter interventionen.</p><p> </p><p>Resultat: De båda interventionsgrupperna förbättrade sina resultat på flera test mer än gruppen som fick traditionell specialundervisning. Elever som tränat Rydaholmsmetoden fick bättre resultat i alla högläsningstest utom ett. Elever som tränat datorprogrammet Hitta ord fick bättre resultat i nonsensordtestet samt de båda tystläsningstesten.</p><p> </p><p>Diskussion: Resultatet skulle kunna tydas så att Rydaholmsmetoden tränar artikulation, ordmobilisering och läsflyt i högläsning medan datorprogrammet Hitta Ord tränar den ortografiska och fonologiska läsningen mer. Vidare skulle studiens resultat kunna tolkas så att en-en-undervisning är effektivare än traditionell specialundervisning.</p> / <p>Abstract</p><p>Aim: To investigate two reading methods effect on twelve students from school year 2, 3 and 4 in phonologic and orthographic reading, reading fluency and RAN comparing to traditional special education.</p><p> </p><p>Method: 52 students were tested in reading fluency. Twelve students with reading problems were elected, four students from each class, 5 boys and 7 girls. They were divided in two groups and had an intervention in two different word reading program in a one-to-one-torturing for 20 minutes three times a week in six weeks. A group of six students, were chosen as a comparing group. All 18 students were testing the same battery of tests before and after the six weeks.</p><p> </p><p>Result: The result showed that both intervention groups were improved their result more than the group trained with traditional special education. Rydaholms method group improved more in all loud reading tests except Nonsen word reading test while the computer trained group improved more in both cilent reading test and made a small improve in Nonsen word reading test.</p><p> </p><p>Discussion: The result could interpret that Rydaholm method trained articulation, word mobilization and loud reading fluency more while the computer based program trained orthographic and phonological reading more. The result could also interpret that one-to-one-torturing improve reading ability more than traditional special education in this reading abilities.</p><p> </p>

The nurturing of creative thinking skills is one of the cornerstones of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE). This study investigated to what extent teachers nurture the development of creative thinking through the choice of teaching methods, which include the application of teaching strategies and the utilization of resources, in the Grade 9 Social Sciences classroom. A literature study was undertaken to highlight the importance and nature of the development of creative thinking skills, and to establish which teaching methods, strategies and resources nurture the development of creative thinking in Social Sciences classrooms. The literature review provided the conceptual framework for the study, as well as the framework for designing a questionnaire that was utilized to obtain the perceptions of learners regarding the teaching methods, strategies and resources that their teachers use to nurture the development of creative thinking in the Grade 9 Social Sciences classroom. By means of a sequential explanatory mixed method research design, quantitative data were collected by means of a self-constructed questionnaire that was administrated to a convenient sample of a purposively selected group of Grade 9 Social Sciences learners (n=399) in the D7 district of the Gauteng Department of Education. Following this, a qualitative interview, which was constructed from the findings in the questionnaire, was conducted with purposively selected Grade 9 Social Sciences teachers (n=6) in order to ascertain the reasons behind the quantitative findings. The combination of quantitative and qualitative data revealed differences and similarities in opinion related to the teaching methods, strategies and resources that teachers use for nurturing creative thinking. In essence, the data revealed that teachers are, to some extent, nurturing creative thinking through their choice of teaching methods and strategies as well as the questioning techniques that they choose. However, the responses did not convincingly indicate to the researcher that the nurturing of creative thinking skills takes place on a regular and frequent basis. According to the learner responses, it appeared that teaching and learning methods and strategies that promote indirect, independent, interactive and experiential learning, are under-used by the Grade 9 Social Sciences teachers. In addition, resources that nurture creative elaboration such as political cartoons and photographs appear to be under-utilized. This study is concluded with recommendations to teachers concerning which teaching methods, strategies and resources could be implemented in order to promote the nurturing of creative thinking in the Grade 9 Social Sciences classroom. / Thesis (MEd (Learning and Teaching))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Numerous studies have evaluated and confirmed many benefits of errorless learning and fluency-based procedures. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the benefits of combining an errorless learning procedure, stimulus shaping, and fluency-based procedures to teach see/say letter sound discriminations to three preschool children. Participants were taught 6 letter sounds using a hear/point stimulus shaping procedure followed by a see/say fluency-based procedure. A second letter set was taught using only the fluency-based procedure. Results showed that combining the procedures reduced the amount of teaching time by up to 40% and the percent of errors by up to 50%. This preliminary evidence shows exceptional promise in application of this combination of procedures to teach letter sounds to preschool children.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of singing-integrated reading instruction on the oral reading fluency and motivation of elementary students in an after school program. Participants were third graders (n = 29) who attended the singing-integrated oral reading fluency (SI ORF) intervention twice a week for eight weeks. Components of the intervention included teacher-modeling of fluent oral reading, oral support, repeated reading and singing activities from a variety of children’s literature, and individual free-time. The adapted Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS; McKenna & Kear, 1990) measured recreational, academic, and composite reading attitudes. The Qualitative Reading Inventory – 5 (QRI-5; Leslie & Caldwell, 2011) measured the following fluency components: Word Recognition in Isolation (WRI), both Correct Automatic and Total Number Correct, Word Recognition in Context (WRC), and reading rate, calculated as Words per Minute (WPM). Pretests and posttests for components of both assessments were compared using paired-samples t – tests. Data analyses of adapted ERAS mean percentage scores revealed a statistically significant decline in recreational reading attitude, no statistically significant difference in academic reading attitude, and a decline that approached significance in participants’ overall reading attitudes. QRI-5 scores revealed a statistically significant increase from pretest to posttest in WRI Correct Automatic, WRI Total Number Correct, WRC, and reading rate scores. The after-school environment offered a viable option for SI ORF instruction and was free from restraints that can accompany high-stakes testing environments in the traditional school setting. Overall, participants were attentive and enthusiastic, particularly enjoying the singing and repeated lyrics components of the intervention.

The potentially beneficial role of classroom codeswitching, or the use of the first language (L1) in foreign language (FL) classroom settings, is gradually becoming acknowledged in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) research. However, researchers call for the construction of a framework, which indicates when this use is beneficial for language learning and when it is not. In an attempt to contribute to the construction of this framework, the present study investigates whether codeswitching can be used as a tool within task-based learning settings for the development of second language (L2) oral fluency. It is hypothesised that by allowing learners to codeswitch during task completion, their willingness to communicate (WTC) is enhanced because the function of that switching is likely to be mainly the metalanguage needed to complete the task. Previous research has also suggested that task repetition might lead to greater fluency. However, both teachers and learners may be sceptical of the value of repetition without some form of feedback on the first task attempt. This study sought to explore therefore the value of task repetition with feedback (TR+). By repeating the task with feedback that recycles metalanguage into the L2, it is hypothesised that learners will learn to move to a state of less reliance on their L1, while simultaneously achieving the overall aim of tasks, which is effective L2 communication. With increased WTC and L2 metalanguage, extensive L2 oral practice will facilitate the proceduralisation processes needed for fluency development. In short, the pedagogical package of TR+ on recycled language is tested in the present study as a potential contributor to oral fluency. The thesis begins by relating these themes with the context of Cyprus through teacher interviews. It becomes evident through these interviews that the activities taking place in this context are not tasks in the sense researchers intended. Following the setting of the context, the interactions of 75 primary school learners of English (11-12-year-olds) practising TR+ are analysed qualitatively. This analysis determines whether the package can lead to enriched output on the second attempt. In addition, there is a quasi-experimental aspect to the study. The students were allocated in three groups, each testing a different package. The codeswitching group was allowed to switch to Greek while completing the tasks and had their L1 metalanguage recycled into the L2 when they repeated the tasks. The English-only group completed the tasks strictly under L2 conditions and repeated them with feedback on accuracy. The comparison group completed the tasks once with no language instructions. Oral production tests, used as pre- and post-tests, partly support the hypothesis by suggesting that WTC is enhanced with the incorporation of codeswitching, but no evidence supports fluency development. Nevertheless, when comparing TR+ with no task repetition, the data indicate that TR+ leads to greater fluency. It is suggested that a larger and longer intervention would have allowed more time for fluency to be developed when codeswitching was incorporated. As for task-based learning, it is suggested that TR+ is a more viable way to move forward in real classroom contexts, particularly those with young learners. Furthermore, the results of the present study indicate that this package works better with learners of a certain proficiency level.

The present work describes the model of heuristic judgment of Kahneman & Frederick (2002) and two experiments based upon it. According to the model people answer a question with an answer to an easier question when making a heuristic judgment. This process is called the attribute substitution because a target attribute of a question is substituted by an associated and easier accessible heuristic attribute. The first experiment investigated whether two heuristic attributes can be used simultaneously during making of a judgment. A part of participants gave 1 or 4 reasons for one of the statements in Linda problem (Tversky & Kahneman, 1983). Numbers of reasons were selected so as to produce a feeling of fluency of disfluency. Although the conjunction fallacy occurred, the writing of the reasons didn't have any influence on the assessment of the probability of the related statement. The second experiment investigated whether the priming of the relation between processing fluency and risk can influence the effect of pronounceability of a food additive name on the assessment of its harmfulness. In accord with previous study (Song & Schwarz, 2009) it was shown that food additives with less pronounceable names were considered as more harmful. The priming didn't have any effect. The present studies...

Bien que les données soient relativement rares, les élèves français semblent particulièrement anxieux en milieu scolaire (OCDE, 2014). Parallèlement, un grand nombre d’entre eux présentent d’importantes lacunes dans la maitrise des savoirs élémentaires, notamment en compréhension de l’écrit (OCDE, 2011), habileté pourtant indispensable à toute forme d’apprentissage comme à l’insertion sociale et professionnelle. Ce double constat fonde le présent travail. En effet, nous nous interrogeons sur le rôle joué par l’anxiété dans la variabilité des acquisitions des élèves en lecture. Si la littérature sur les anxiétés académiques compte d’innombrables travaux relatifs à l’anxiété face aux mathématiques (e.g., Ashcraft & Moore, 2009) ou en contexte évaluatif (e.g., Pekrun & Stephens, 2015), aucun d’entre eux n’envisage l’existence d’anxiétés spécifiques à la lecture ou à l’environnement scolaire, plus largement. Nous avons précisément choisi de nous acquitter de cette tâche et de rendre compte de leurs effets au plan des performances en compréhension écrite et en fluence de lecture. Pour cela, nous avons mené deux études longitudinales impliquant plusieurs centaines d’élèves de CM2 et de 6ème. Dans la première, nous avons eu recours à des modélisations multiniveaux et avons montré que l’anxiété à l’égard du contexte scolaire entretient une relation quadratique avec la compréhension écrite à la fin de l’école primaire. Nous avons, de plus, montré que les croyances d’efficacité personnelle pouvaient partiellement médiatiser cet effet. Dans la seconde, l’usage de modèles multiniveaux de croissance nous a permis de révélé que l’anxiété en lecture conditionne le rythme de progression des performances en fluence des élèves suivis en CM2 et en 6ème. / Although data are quite rare, French pupils seem particularly anxious in school (OCDE, 2014). A significant number of them also show important gaps in elementary abilities – such as written comprehension (OCDE, 2011) – that are yet crucial for any form of learning as much as for social and professional insertion. The present research emerges from both these observations. We interrogate the effect of anxiety on the variability of students’ acquisitions in reading. Numerous research have been lead on academic anxiety related to mathematics (e.g., Ashcraft & Moore, 2009) or evaluation context (e.g., Pekrun & Stephens, 2015). But none have considered the existence of specific anxieties related either to reading or to academic environment. We tackle this task by giving an account of the effects of these two specific academic anxieties on reading comprehension and reading fluency. To do so, we led two longitudinal studies involving several hundreds of 5th and 6th graders. In the first study, we used multilevel models and have shown that anxiety related to academic context has a quadratic relation with reading comprehension at the end of primary school. Moreover, we have shown that self-efficacy beliefs could partially mediate this effect. In the second study, the use of growth curve models underline that anxiety related to reading helps to predict, for the pupils followed up in 5th and 6th grade, the rhythm of progression of their fluency performances.

INTRODUÇÃO: A Estimulação cerebral profunda (ECP) do núcleo subtalâmico (NST) é uma técnica neurocirúrgica utilizada para tratamento de indivíduos com Doença de Parkinson (DP) idiopática quando a terapia farmacológica não atinge mais a sua finalidade. Entretanto, a ECP provoca deterioração nos sintomas fonoarticulatórios e fluência verbal. Durante as testagens vocais estudos mostram grande variação do intervalo entre a desativação da ECP e o início das tarefas vocais sendo inconclusivo seu efeito. Este estudo teve o objetivo de verificar as modificações acústicas da voz, fala, fluência verbal fonológica e motoras durante a ECP do NST ligado e desligado em pacientes com DP. MÉTODOS: Foram avaliados 16 pacientes com DP submetidos ao implante de ECP do NST, em tratamento estabilizado e sob efeito da medicação antiparkinsoniana. As avaliações acústicas da voz e da fluência verbal fonológica foram realizadas no início e 5, 15, 30, 45 e 60 minutos após o ECP ser desligado. Após religar o neuroestimulador estas avaliações foram repetidas aos 5 e 15 minutos. Já as avaliações motora global através do UPDRS III e perceptiva da fala (item 18 da UPDRS III) foram realizadas no início e 5, 30 e 60 minutos após o ECP ser desligado, após religar o neuroestimulador estas avaliações foram repetidas aos 5 minutos. RESULTADOS: Um padrão sequencial de retorno dos sinais parkinsonianos foi observado, com agravamento do tremor e da bradicinesia logo nos primeiros 5 minutos após o ECP desligado, já a rigidez retornou de forma significativa após 30 minutos do aparelho desligado. Os sintomas se estabeleceram quando o ECP foi religado. A fala apresentou melhora significativa após 5 minutos do ECP desligado, apresentando escores semelhantes ao baseline após o aparelho ser religado. O parâmetro acústico Shimmer apresentou melhora significativa nos momentos 30, 45 e 60 minutos após o ECP desligado e também aos 5 minutos após religar o ECP, a proporção ruído-harmônico apresentou piora significativa nos momentos 15, 30, 45 e 60 minutos após o ECP desligado. Os demais parâmetros não apresentaram alteração significativa. Os resultados da fluência verbal não apresentou alteração significativa em nenhum dos momentos testados. CONCLUSÃO: A descontinuação da ECP do NST acarreta um agravamento dos sintomas motores, sendo o tremor o primeiro sintoma a reaparecer seguido da bradicinesia e rigidez. Em contrapartida, pacientes submetidos a este procedimento sofrem de alterações da fala e voz que pioram com estimulador ligado. / INTRODUCTION: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a technique used for neurosurgical treatment of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) idiopathic when drug therapy does not achieve its purpose more. However, DBS causes deterioration symptoms phonoarticulatory and verbal fluency. During testing vocal studies showed wide variation in the interval between the deactivation of the DBS and the beginning of the tasks being inconclusive vocal effect. This study aimed to check the voice acoustic, speech, phonologic verbal fluency and motor changes during the on and off states of the subthalamic nucleus (SNT) deep brain stimulation (DBS) in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). METHODS: Sixteen PD patients with a STN DBS and stable antiparkinsonian medication were evaluated. Voice acoustics and verbal fluency were assessed with DBS on and after 5, 15, 30, 45, 60 minutes after the device was turned off and after 5 and 15 minutes of DBS was on again. Motor assessment was done using the UPDRS III and speech perception with the DBS on and after 15, 30, 60 minutes of DBS off and 5 minutes after DBS on again. RESULTS: A sequence pattern was identified for the return of the parkinsonian signs. There is an aggravation of the tremor and bradykinesia after 5 minutes of DBS off while rigidity aggravates after 30 minutes. Speech showed a significant improvement after 5 minutes of DBS off. Symptoms approached baseline 5 minutes after the DBS was turned on. The Shimmer acoustic parameters showed significant improvement after 30 minutes of DBS off and after 5 minutes of DBS on, the noise-harmonic ratio showed significant worsening after 15 minutes of DBS off. The results of verbal fluency did not 13 change significantly in any of the times tested. CONCLUSION: Discontinuation of the DBS of the subthalamic nucleus carries a worsening of motor symptoms, the tremor being the first symptom to reappear followed by bradykinesia and rigidity. In contrast, patients undergoing this procedure suffer from speech and voice changes that worsen with stimulator is turned on.

Today it is common for shares to be listed in alphabetical order in newspapers, indexes, databases, watch lists and statements. Investors often face a search problem because of the thousands of available shares. It causes investors to make use of a ready-made stock list to make a financial decision. In this study, we have investigated whether there is alphabetical bias on the Swedish stock exchange and whether it has any impact on the investment decision. Previous research shows evidence that alphabetical bias occurs in the selection of shares based on alphabetically arranged lists on the US stock exchange. In this study, a quantitative method was used for data collection, later data were processed using univariate analysis, bivariate analysis, and multivariate analysis. Using the data collected, the different variables could be calculated, Tobin's Q, Market value, Name flow, Stock turnover rate, Stock price, and Age. The result cannot ensure whether alphabetical bias occurs in the Swedish stock market, however, we can with 99% certainty determine that early placed shares receive higher Tobin's Q than late placed. / Idag är det vanligt att aktier noteras i alfabetisk ordning i tidningar, index, databaser, bevakningslistor och uttalanden. Investerare möter ofta ett sök problem på grund av de tusentals tillgängliga aktierna. Det får investerarna att ta hjälp av en färdig ordnad aktielista för att fatta ett finansiellt beslut. I den här studien har vi undersökt ifall det råder alfabetisk bias på Nasdaq Stockholmsbörsen och om det har någon inverkan på investeringsbeslutet. Tidigare forskning visar belägg för att alfabetisk bias förekommer vid val av aktier utifrån alfabetisk ordnade listor på den amerikanska börsen. I denna studie tillämpades en kvantitativ metod för datainsamlingen, senare bearbetades data med hjälp av univariat analys, bivariat analys och multivariat analys. Med hjälp av den insamlade data kunde de olika variablerna räknas fram, Tobins Q, Marknadsvärde, Namnflyt, Aktieomsättningshastighet, Aktiekurs (pris) och Ålder. Resultatet kan inte säkerställa om alfabetisk bias förekommer på den svenska aktiemarknaden, dock kan vi med 99% säkerhet fastslå att tidigt placerade aktier erhåller högre Tobins Q än sent placerade.

Elementary students who demonstrate accuracy and speed in handwriting are better equipped to generate higher quality, longer composition. Unfortunately, students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to encounter significant difficulties with legibility, size, and speed of handwriting. The present study used a single-subject, multiple-baseline design across participants to examine the effects of CASL (Center for Advancing Student Learning) Handwriting intervention on handwriting accuracy and speed for three early elementary students with ASD. The dependent variable was correct letter points (CLP) and error letter points (ELP) as measured on a 90-s sentence copy probe. The intervention was delivered over eighteen, 20-min sessions which included alphabetic knowledge activities, explicit instruction in handwriting, and timed practice with goal-setting, praise, performance feedback, and self-graphing. After starting intervention, all students showed immediate increases in overall handwriting accuracy. Throughout intervention, handwriting accuracy continued to improve for each student, and handwriting speed increased for 2 of 3 students. However, the observed gains fell short of high levels of accuracy needed to achieve fluency as a learning outcome. Results extend prior research on handwriting intervention for students with ASD, the CASL Handwriting Program, behavioral fluency theory, the Instructional Hierarchy, explicit instruction, and timed practice.