Adults who learn differently: Help through a volunteer literacy program     

Louise Skinner  Phyllis Gillespie  Lynda Balkam 《Annals of dyslexia》1997,47(1):183-202

In adult literacy programs today, well-intentioned but inadequately prepared volunteer tutors are being matched with learning disabled adult students without the benefit of receiving training from experts in the field of language/learning disabilities. The collaboration of adult literacy providers and learning specialists is obviously the most resourceful, yet most untried, solution to a problem that is plaguing volunteer-based programs across the country: meeting the needs of learning disabled adults. One adult literacy program—READ/San Diego of the San Diego Public Library—recognized that its volunteer tutors needed training in special instructional methods to teach adults who evidence learning disabilities. Accordingly, the program’s administrator obtained the services of specialists to develop a learning disabilities tutor-training module. This article (1) presents an overview of preservice volunteer training at READ/San Diego; (2) discusses informal assessment procedures that help identify possible language/learning disabilities in adults and provide valuable information for instructional planning; and (3) describes selected multisensory teaching techniques designed especially for adults who “learn differently.”  相似文献   

Towards adaptive open learning environments: Evaluating the precision of identifying learning styles by tracking learners’ behaviours     

Heba Fasihuddin  Geoff Skinner  Rukshan Athauda 《Education and Information Technologies》2017,22(3):807-825

Open learning represents a new form of online learning where courses are provided freely online for large numbers of learners. MOOCs are examples of this form of learning. The authors see an opportunity for personalising open learning environments by adapting to learners’ learning styles and providing adaptive support to meet individual learner needs and preferences. Identifying learning styles of learners in open learning environments is crucial to providing adaptive support. Learning styles refer to the manner in which learners receive and perceive information. In the literature, a number of learning style models have been proposed. The Felder and Silverman Learning Styles Model (FSLSM) has been selected as the most appropriate model for open learning. In previous studies two approaches have been used to automatically identify learning styles based on the FSLSM. These approaches are known as the data-driven method and the literature-based method. In the literature, the literature-based method has been shown to be more accurate in identifying learning styles. This method relies on tracking learners’ interactions with the provided learning objects based on a set of pre-determined patterns that help in inferring learning styles. The patterns are monitored based on pre-identified threshold values. This paper aims to apply the literature-based method to open learning environments and introduce the optimal patterns and threshold values for identifying learning styles based on the FSLSM. To achieve this aim, a study was conducted whereby a prototype that simulates the open learning environment was developed and piloted on an undergraduate IT course so that learner behaviour could be tracked and data could be collected. Next, different sets of threshold values from the literature were considered along with some updated threshold values considering the context of open learning environments, and the precision of identifying learning styles was calculated. Eighty-three students participated in the study and used the developed prototype. Precision results from different threshold values presented in the literature along with customised threshold values for this study are reported and analysed in this paper. It is shown that threshold values derived from literature and customised to suit open learning environments provide a high level of accuracy in identifying learning styles. The paper presents the first study of its kind in evaluating threshold values and precision in identifying learning styles based on the FSLSM in open learning environments. The results are promising and indicate that the proposed methodology is efficient in detecting learning styles in open learning environments and useful for developing an adaptive framework.  相似文献   

Aversive, appetitive and flavour avoidance responses in the presence of contextual cues     

Brown AR  Penney AM  Skinner DM  Martin GM 《Learning & behavior》2011,39(2):95-103

Appetitive, aversive and avoidance responses to a flavoured solution in distinct contexts were examined. Rats placed in either a white or black box were given access to saccharin. Consumption was followed by an injection of a toxin in one but not the other box. Rats showed more aversive responses in anticipation of and during the presentation of saccharin in the box paired with the toxin than in the box paired with vehicle. The reverse was true for appetitive responses. The acquisition of conditioned avoidance paralleled the acquisition of aversive and appetitive responses. These findings demonstrate that the toxin does not have to overlap exposure to contextual cues to produce conditioned aversive responses, that the aversive and appetitive responses to a flavour can be modulated by visually distinct environments that predict the toxin, and that conditioned avoidance and conditioned aversions develop simultaneously during acquisition. Thus, environmental cues can modulate anticipatory nausea and may prove helpful in the control of nausea in clinical settings.  相似文献   

Enhancing academic engagement: Providing opportunities for responding and influencing students to choose to respond     

Christopher H. Skinner  Danielle N. Pappas  Kai A. Davis 《Psychology in the schools》2005,42(4):389-403

Although educators often provide opportunities for students to engage in active academic responding, in many situations, students either cannot or will not respond. In the current article, we analyze the reasons students fail to respond. Practical procedures educators can use to prevent can't do problems are provided. Won't do problems are conceptualized as choice behaviors. Both applied and theoretical research on choice behavior provides the basis for recommendations designed to enhance the probability of students choosing to engage in active accurate academic (AAA) responding. Such procedures can increase skill development and achievement while decreasing inappropriate behaviors that are incompatible with AAA responding. School psychologists may utilize this information during the initial stages of collaborative problem solving (e.g., consultation) to help conceptualize problems. This conceptualization may then guide the assessment and intervention processes. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 42: 389–403, 2005.  相似文献   

Making the Connection: Broadband Access and Online Course Enrollment at Public Open Admissions Institutions     

Skinner  Benjamin T. 《Research in higher education》2019,60(7):960-999

Postsecondary students increasingly enroll in online courses, which have the potential to further democratize higher education by expanding access for historically underserved populations. While a number of studies have investigated student outcomes in online courses, past data limitations have hindered robust examination of a potential mechanism underlying the decision to enroll in an online course: access to high speed broadband. With data from the National Broadband Map and IPEDS, I fit a number of Bayesian regression models to investigate the relationship between various measures of broadband access—download speed, upload speed, and the number of providers—and the number of students who take online courses at public colleges and universities with open admissions policies. Results show that increases in broadband speed at the lower end of the speed spectrum are positively associated with the number of students who take some of their courses online, but that the marginal gain diminishes as speeds increase. This finding suggests that there may be a minimum threshold of necessary broadband access, beyond which increases in speed become a less important factor in the take up of online coursework. Open admissions colleges seeking to improve access for local students through increased online course offerings should consider broadband access in the area, particularly if the targeted populations live in communities with low average broadband speeds.

  相似文献   

The effects of multisensory structured language instruction on native language and foreign language aptitude skills of at-risk high school foreign language learners     

Richard Sparks  Leonore Ganschow  Jane Pohlman  Sue Skinner  Marjorie Artzer 《Annals of dyslexia》1992,42(1):25-53

Research findings suggest that most students who have foreign language learning problems have language-based difficulties and, in particular, phonological processing problems. Authors of the present study examined pre- and posttest scores on native language and foreign language aptitude tests of three groups of at-risk high school students enrolled in special, self-contained sections of first-year Spanish. Two groups were instructed using a multisensory structured language (MSL) approach. One of the groups was taught in both English and Spanish (MSL/ES), the other only in Spanish (MSL/S). The third group (NO-MSL) was instructed using more traditional second language teaching methodologies. Significant gains were made by the MSL-ES group on measures of native language phonology, vocabulary, and verbal memory and on a test of foreign language aptitude; the MSL/S group made significant gains on the test of foreign language aptitude. No significant gains on the native language or foreign language aptitude measures were made by the NO-MSL group. Implications for foreign language classroom instruction of at-risk students are discussed.  相似文献   

Friendship formation in inclusive early childhood classrooms: what is the teacher’s role?     

Virginia Buysse  Barbara Davis Goldman  Martie L. Skinner 《Early childhood research quarterly》2003,18(4):485-501

This study examined strategies teachers reported using to support friendships among young children in inclusive early childhood classrooms. The teachers included 25 general early childhood educators from 9 child care centers and 20 early childhood special educators from 9 specialized programs. The Playmates and Friends Questionnaire for Teachers documented the number and nature of children’s friendships and teachers’ reported use of 11 different strategies to support individual friendships. Overall, the friendship strategies that teachers reported using most frequently included providing sufficient free choice time, allowing children to form their own friendships, and commenting on the play between friends. The majority of teachers reported rarely using two strategies: arranging for children to play together outside of the classroom and allowing two friends to exclude other children from their play. Teachers reported using more active friendship strategies to support dyads in which one or both children had special needs. Implications of these findings to support friendship formation in inclusive early childhood settings and directions for future research are presented.  相似文献   

New problems,new challenges: embracing innovative approaches to sport research     

James Skinner  Terry Engelberg 《Sport in Society》2018,21(2):179-184

  相似文献   

Randomized interdependent group contingencies: Group reinforcement with a twist     

Kimberly Kelshaw‐Levering  Heather E. Sterling‐Turner  Jennifer R. Henry  Christopher H. Skinner 《Psychology in the schools》2000,37(6):523-533

This investigation examined the effects of randomizing components of an interdependent group contingency procedure on the target behavior of 12 students in a second‐grade classroom in a rural southeastern school district. Specifically, using a multiphase time‐series design (i.e., A‐B‐A‐C‐B‐C design) levels of disruptive behavior were compared across baseline, an intervention phase with only randomized reinforcers (the RR+ phase), and an intervention phase with all components randomized (R‐ALL phase). Results suggest that both interventions were successful in decreasing levels of disruptive behavior, with the R‐ALL phase resulting in lower mean, and more stable, percentages of disruptive behavior. The advantages to randomizing components within a group contingency procedure are discussed, because this procedure not only incorporates the strengths of an interdependent group contingency, but also addresses the limitations. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  相似文献   

Soil aldehydes: A scientific study of a new class of soil constituents unfavorable to crops,their occurrence,properties and elimination in practical agriculture     

Joshua J. Skinner 《Journal of The Franklin Institute》1918,186(6):723-741

The experimental results show that aldehydes are harmful to plant growth in aqueous culture solutions, in nutrient solutions, in soil in pots, and in soil in the field.The effects of six aldehydes—namely, salicylic aldehyde, vanillin, benzaldehyde, heliotropine, formaldehyde, and paraformaldehyde—were studied in nutrient-culture solutions and each proved to be detrimental to plant growth.The effect of the compounds varied according to the composition of the nutrient solutions. Salicylic aldehyde was least harmful in solutions composed of a high percentage of phosphates. Vanillin was least harmful in solutions with a high percentage of nitrates. Benzaldehyde was about equally harmful in all the nutrient solutions. It was slightly more harmful, however, in the high nitrate solutions than in the mainly phosphatic or potassic cultures. Paraformaldehyde was also least harmful in the phosphate culture, but formaldehyde and heliotropine showed harmful effects to an equal degree in almost all cultures, regardless of their composition.Salicylic aldehyde and vanillin were found to occur in soils quite frequently, especially in soils of low productivity. The isolated substance from the soils was harmful to plants when dissolved in aqueous solution.The two aldehydes were harmful in some soils and not in others. The field studies show that the added aldehydes disappeared in some soils and not in others. There was no harmful action where the aldehydes were destroyed. The soils in which the aldehydes were destroyed have strong biological activities, good oxidation powers, and are fertile.The results of the experimental work presented in this paper further show that unfertile soils, where due to the presence of harmful aldehydes, can be made productive by good drainage and by the use of lime and certain fertilizers. This is demonstrated, first, by the growth of plants in nutrient solutions, where it is shown that phosphates partially overcome the bad effects of salicylic aldehyde, and that nitrates ameliorate the harmfulness of another aldehyde, vanillin. Second, by the more normal absorption of phosphates by plants growing in solutions containing salicylic aldehyde. Third, by the growth of plants in soil in pots, which shows that the harmful action of salicylic aldehyde is partially overcome by lime and phosphates and the effects of vanillin by lime and nitrate fertilizers. Fourth, by the growth of plants in field soils to which aldehydes were added, which again shows that lime and phosphates lessen the harmfulness of salicylic aldehyde and lime and nitrates alter the effects of vanillin. Fifth, by chemical tests in which it was shown that salicylic aldehyde, when added to a soil, was destroyed where lime and phosphates were added, and vanillin was destroyed where lime and nitrates were added. Sixth, by the improved productivity from the addition of lime and phosphates to a soil in which salicylic aldehyde was naturally formed and persisted for a period of years.  相似文献