Sample records for learning difficulties

  1. Measurement of functional task difficulty during motor learning: What level of difficulty corresponds to the optimal challenge point?

    PubMed

    Akizuki, Kazunori; Ohashi, Yukari

    2015-10-01

    The relationship between task difficulty and learning benefit was examined, as was the measurability of task difficulty. Participants were required to learn a postural control task on an unstable surface at one of four different task difficulty levels. Results from the retention test showed an inverted-U relationship between task difficulty during acquisition and motor learning. The second-highest level of task difficulty was the most effective for motor learning, while learning was delayed at the most and least difficult levels. Additionally, the results indicate that salivary α-amylase and the performance dimension of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) are useful indices of task difficulty. Our findings suggested that instructors may be able to adjust task difficulty based on salivary α-amylase and the performance dimension of the NASA-TLX to enhance learning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Status of Muslim Immigrants' Children with Learning Difficulties in Vienna

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mohsin, M. Naeem; Shabbir, Muhammad; Saeed, Wizra; Mohsin, M. Saleem

    2013-01-01

    The study was conducted to know the status of Muslim immigrants' children with learning difficulties and importance of parents' involvement for the education whose children are with learning difficulties, and the factors responsible for the learning difficulties among immigrants' children. There were 81 immigrant children with learning…

  3. What Do Romanian Teachers Know about Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pop, Cristina Florina; Ciascai, Liliana

    2013-01-01

    There is a growing concern for students with learning difficulties and teachers are responsible for identifying and helping these students. The present study aims to explore the teachers' knowledge of manifestations, causes and types of learning difficulties, necessary to diagnose, prevent or remedy learning difficulties. The participants involved…

  4. Assessing College-Level Learning Difficulties and "At Riskness" for Learning Disabilities and ADHD: Development and Validation of the Learning Difficulties Assessment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kane, Steven T.; Walker, John H.; Schmidt, George R.

    2011-01-01

    This article describes the development and validation of the "Learning Difficulties Assessment" (LDA), a normed and web-based survey that assesses perceived difficulties with reading, writing, spelling, mathematics, listening, concentration, memory, organizational skills, sense of control, and anxiety in college students. The LDA is designed to…

  5. A Meta-Analysis of Working Memory Deficits in Children with Learning Difficulties: Is There a Difference between Verbal Domain and Numerical Domain?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peng, Peng; Fuchs, Douglas

    2016-01-01

    Children with learning difficulties suffer from working memory (WM) deficits. Yet the specificity of deficits associated with different types of learning difficulties remains unclear. Further research can contribute to our understanding of the nature of WM and the relationship between it and learning difficulties. The current meta-analysis…

  6. Students' performance in phonological awareness, rapid naming, reading, and writing.

    PubMed

    Capellini, Simone Aparecida; Lanza, Simone Cristina

    2010-01-01

    phonological awareness, rapid naming, reading and writing in students with learning difficulties of a municipal public school. to characterize and compare the performance of students from public schools with and without learning difficulties in phonological awareness, rapid naming, reading and writing. participants were 60 students from the 2nd to the 4th grades of municipal public schools divided into 6 groups. Each group was composed by 10 students, being 3 groups of students without learning difficulties and 3 groups with students with learning difficulties. As testing procedure phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, oral reading and writing under dictation assessments were used. the results highlighted the better performance of students with no learning difficulties. Students with learning difficulties presented a higher ratios considering time/speed in rapid naming tasks and, consequently, lower production in activities of phonological awareness and reading and writing, when compared to students without learning difficulties. students with learning difficulties presented deficits when considering the relationship between naming and automatization skills, and among lexical access, visual discrimination, stimulus frequency use and competition in using less time for code naming, i.e. necessary for the phoneme-grapheme conversion process required in the reading and writing alphabetic system like the Portuguese language.

  7. Effects of Persuasive Designed Courseware on Children with Learning Difficulties in Learning Malay Language Subject

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ng, Kien Heng; Bakri, Aryati; Rahman, Azizah Abdul

    2016-01-01

    The effects of courseware learning for children with learning difficulties have been studied over the years. Educational courseware is very common nowadays as a teaching tool for children's early education. However, most of the coursewares are designed for children with normal learning ability. Special children who face difficulty in the learning…

  8. What Is Literacy for Students with Severe Learning Difficulties? Exploring Conventional and Inclusive Literacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lacey, Penny; Layton, Lyn; Miller, Carol; Goldbart, Juliet; Lawson, Hazel

    2007-01-01

    This paper arises from research into inclusive literacy for pupils with severe learning difficulties who do not learn to read and write conventionally. The ultimate aim of the study was to seek out examples of good practice in teaching and learning literacy that includes students with severe learning difficulties and disseminate them as widely as…

  9. Desirable Difficulties in Vocabulary Learning

    PubMed Central

    BJORK, ROBERT A.; KROLL, JUDITH F.

    2016-01-01

    In this article we discuss the role of desirable difficulties in vocabulary learning from two perspectives, one having to do with identifying conditions of learning that impose initial challenges to the learner but then benefit later retention and transfer, and the other having to do with the role of certain difficulties that are intrinsic to language processes, are engaged during word learning, and reflect how language is understood and produced. From each perspective we discuss evidence that supports the notion that difficulties in learning and imposed costs to language processing may produce benefits because they are likely to increase conceptual understanding. We then consider the consequences of these processes for actual second-language learning and suggest that some of the domain-general cognitive advantages that have been reported for proficient bilinguals may reflect difficulties imposed by the learning process, and by the requirement to negotiate cross-language competition, that are broadly desirable. As Alice Healy and her collaborators were perhaps the first to demonstrate, research on desirable difficulties in vocabulary and language learning holds the promise of bringing together research traditions on memory and language that have much to offer each other. PMID:26255443

  10. Desirable Difficulties in Vocabulary Learning.

    PubMed

    Bjork, Robert A; Kroll, Judith F

    2015-01-01

    In this article we discuss the role of desirable difficulties in vocabulary learning from two perspectives, one having to do with identifying conditions of learning that impose initial challenges to the learner but then benefit later retention and transfer, and the other having to do with the role of certain difficulties that are intrinsic to language processes, are engaged during word learning, and reflect how language is understood and produced. From each perspective we discuss evidence that supports the notion that difficulties in learning and imposed costs to language processing may produce benefits because they are likely to increase conceptual understanding. We then consider the consequences of these processes for actual second-language learning and suggest that some of the domain-general cognitive advantages that have been reported for proficient bilinguals may reflect difficulties imposed by the learning process, and by the requirement to negotiate cross-language competition, that are broadly desirable. As Alice Healy and her collaborators were perhaps the first to demonstrate, research on desirable difficulties in vocabulary and language learning holds the promise of bringing together research traditions on memory and language that have much to offer each other.

  11. [The comorbidity of learning difficulties and ADHD symptoms in primary-school-age children].

    PubMed

    Schuchardt, Kirsten; Fischbach, Anne; Balke-Melcher, Christina; Mähler, Claudia

    2015-05-01

    Children having difficulties in acquiring early literacy and mathematical skills often show an increased rate of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. This study provides data on the comorbidity rates of specific learning difficulties and ADHD symptoms. We analyzed the data of 273 children with learning difficulties despite an at least average IQ, 57 children with low IQ, and 270 children without learning difficulties and average IQ (comparison group). We assessed children’s IQ and school achievement using standardized achievement tests. ADHD symptoms were assessed via parents’ ratings. Our results showed that only 5 % of both the control group and the group with solely mathematical difficulties fulfilled the criteria of an ADHD subtype according to the DSM-IV based on parents’ ratings. In contrast, this was the case in even 20 % of the children with difficulties in reading/writing and of those with low IQ. Compared to girls, boys in the control group had a 150% higher risk for matching the criteria of one of the ADHD subtypes in parents’ ratings, whereas boys with learning difficulties and those with low IQ had an even 200% to 600% higher risk for it. The relationship between learning difficulties and ADHD symptoms can be found predominantly in the inattentive type. Possible reasons for the results are discussed.

  12. Learning difficulties of senior high school students based on probability understanding levels

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anggara, B.; Priatna, N.; Juandi, D.

    2018-05-01

    Identifying students' difficulties in learning concept of probability is important for teachers to prepare the appropriate learning processes and can overcome obstacles that may arise in the next learning processes. This study revealed the level of students' understanding of the concept of probability and identified their difficulties as a part of the epistemological obstacles identification of the concept of probability. This study employed a qualitative approach that tends to be the character of descriptive research involving 55 students of class XII. In this case, the writer used the diagnostic test of probability concept learning difficulty, observation, and interview as the techniques to collect the data needed. The data was used to determine levels of understanding and the learning difficulties experienced by the students. From the result of students' test result and learning observation, it was found that the mean cognitive level was at level 2. The findings indicated that students had appropriate quantitative information of probability concept but it might be incomplete or incorrectly used. The difficulties found are the ones in arranging sample space, events, and mathematical models related to probability problems. Besides, students had difficulties in understanding the principles of events and prerequisite concept.

  13. Social competence and learning difficulties: Teacher perceptions.

    PubMed

    Wight, Megan; Chapparo, Christine

    2008-12-01

    Social competence has been linked to children's classroom performance with three out of four children with learning difficulties reported to have problems with social skills. Social participation remains a predominant childhood occupation and a key indicator of school performance. Occupational therapists work with teachers to accurately assess the social performance of children in context and to provide targeted intervention. There is limited research about what teachers perceive are the specific nature of social difficulties experienced by children with learning difficulties in the classroom. This study investigated teacher perceptions of the social competence of a small sample of Australian boys with learning difficulties within the classroom context. The Teacher Skillstreaming Checklist was used to investigate teacher perceptions of the social abilities of 21 primary school aged boys with learning difficulties compared to a control group. A correlational analysis was used to examine the relationship. The study identified that the boys with learning difficulties were perceived by their teachers as having poorer social performance across multiple domains when compared to their typically developing peers. Implications of these findings are that children's social performance may negatively impact learning and classroom participation and that for some children, social competence should be a focus of occupational therapy assessment and treatment.

  14. A Case Study on Learning Difficulties and Corresponding Supports for Learning in cMOOCs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Shuang; Tang, Qi; Zhang, Yanxia

    2016-01-01

    cMOOCs, which are based on connectivist learning theory, bring challenges for learners as well as opportunities for self-inquiry. Previous studies have shown that learners in cMOOCs may have difficulties learning, but these studies do not provide any in-depth, empirical explorations of student difficulties or support strategies. This paper…

  15. Medical students’ perceptions and understanding of their specific learning difficulties

    PubMed Central

    Abbott, Stephen; Bevere, Grazia; Roberts, Christopher M.

    2013-01-01

    Objectives The purpose of this study is to explore how medical students with Specific Learning Difficulties perceive and understand their Specific Learning Difficulty and how it has impacted on their experience of medical training. Method A purposive sample of fifteen students from one medical school was interviewed. Framework Analysis was used to identify and organise themes emerging from the data. An interpretation of the data was made capturing the essence of what had been learned. The concept of ‘reframing’ was then used to re-analyse and organise the data. Results Students reported having found ways to cope with their Specific Leaning Difficulty in the past, some of which proved inadequate to deal with the pressures of medical school. Diagnosis was a mixed experience: many felt relieved to understand their difficulties better, but some feared discrimination. Practical support was available in university but not in placement. Students focused on the impact of their Specific Learning Difficulty on their ability to pass undergraduate exams. Most did not contemplate difficulties post-qualification. Conclusions The rigours of the undergraduate medical course may reveal undisclosed Specific Learning Difficulties. Students need help to cope with such challenges, psychologically and practically in both classroom and clinical practice. University services for students with Specific Learning Difficulties should become familiar with the challenges of clinical placements, and ensure that academic staff has access to information about the needs of these students and how these can be met.

  16. Difficulties of Diabetic Patients in Learning about Their Illness.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bonnet, Caroline; Gagnayre, Remi; d'Ivernois, Jean Francois

    2001-01-01

    Examines the difficulties experienced by diabetic patients in learning about their illness. Diabetic people (N=138) were questioned by means of a closed answer questionnaire. Results reveal that patients easily acquired manual skills, yet numerous learning difficulties were associated with the skills required to solve problems and make decisions,…

  17. Learning Difficulty and Learner Identity: A Symbiotic Relationship

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hirano, Eliana

    2009-01-01

    This paper reports on a longitudinal case study of an adult EFL learner who perceived himself as having difficulty learning English. Both learning difficulty and learner identity are viewed as being constructed in discursive interactions throughout one's life and, hence, amenable to reconstruction. Data collected from classroom interactions,…

  18. The System of the Learner Experiencing Difficulty: Some Reflections on the Use of a Simulation as a Tool for Investigating and Analysing Elements of a Complex System.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thatcher, Donald; Robinson, June

    1990-01-01

    Discusses learning systems and learning difficulties, and describes the use of a simulation to help professionals better understand people with learning difficulties. The General Systems Theory and a systems approach are discussed, the role of debriefing is considered, and theoretical perspectives on the development of learning disabilities are…

  19. Using Biology Education Research and Qualitative Inquiry to Inform Genomic Nursing Education.

    PubMed

    Ward, Linda D

    Decades of research in biology education show that learning genetics is difficult and reveals specific sources of learning difficulty. Little is known about how nursing students learn in this domain, although they likely encounter similar difficulties as nonnursing students. Using qualitative approaches, this study investigated challenges to learning genetics among nursing students. Findings indicate that nursing students face learning difficulties already identified among biology students, suggesting that nurse educators might benefit from biology education research.

  20. Analysis of difficulties in mathematics learning on students with guardian personality type in problem-solving HOTS geometry test

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Karimah, R. K. N.; Kusmayadi, T. A.; Pramudya, I.

    2018-04-01

    Learning in the current 2013 curriculum is based on contextual issues based on questions that can encourage students to think broadly. HOTS is a real-life based assessment of everyday life, but in practice, the students are having trouble completing the HOTS issue. Learning difficulty is also influenced by personality type Based on the fact that the real difference one can see from a person is behavior. Kersey classifies the personality into 4 types, namely Idealist, Rational, Artisan, and Guardian. The researcher focuses on the type of guardian personality that is the type of personality that does not like the picture. This study aims to describe the difficulty of learning mathematics in students with a type of guardian personality in the completion of Geometry materials especially in solving HOTS. This research type is descriptive qualitative research. Instruments used in this study were the researchers themselves, personality class test sheets, learning difficulty test sheets in the form of HOTS Geometry test, and interview guides. The results showed that students with guardian personality it was found that a total of 3.37 % difficulties of number fact skill, 4.49 % difficulties of arithmetics skill, 37.08 % difficulties of information skill, 31.46% difficulties of language skill, 23.60 % difficulties of visual-spatial skill.

  1. Psychometric Properties of a Newly Developed Learning Difficulties Scale in the Omani Society

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al-Qaryout, Ibrahim A.; Abu-Hilal, Maher M.; Alsulaimani, Humaira

    2013-01-01

    Introduction: Learning difficulties (LD) is a recent construct. It has been agreed that the individual who suffers from learning difficulties has a disorder in one or more of the basis psychological processes, including attention, cognition, formation of concepts, memory, problem solving, understanding or reading, speaking or writing, or…

  2. Reconsidering Learning Difficulties and Misconceptions in Chemistry: Emergence in Chemistry and Its Implications for Chemical Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tümay, Halil

    2016-01-01

    Identifying students' misconceptions and learning difficulties and finding effective ways of addressing them has been one of the major concerns in chemistry education. However, the chemistry education community has paid little attention to determining discipline-specific aspects of chemistry that can lead to learning difficulties and…

  3. Improvement of Word Problem Solving and Basic Mathematics Competencies in Students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Mathematical Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    González-Castro, Paloma; Cueli, Marisol; Areces, Débora; Rodríguez, Celestino; Sideridis, Georgios

    2016-01-01

    Problem solving represents a salient deficit in students with mathematical learning difficulties (MLD) primarily caused by difficulties with informal and formal mathematical competencies. This study proposes a computerized intervention tool, the integrated dynamic representation (IDR), for enhancing the early learning of basic mathematical…

  4. Men with Learning Difficulties Doing Research: Challenging Views of Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Inglis, Pamela A.; Swain, John

    2012-01-01

    This paper explores the views of men with learning difficulties living in a secure environment. Reflecting findings from a doctoral thesis based upon a research project where the participants looked at the processes and concepts of research, the dialogues within the study were analysed using critical discourse analysis. Thesis aims relevant here…

  5. Researching Learning Difficulties: A Guide for Practitioners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Porter, Jill; Lacey, Penny

    2005-01-01

    The aim of this book is to provide a source for teachers and other professionals working with children and adults with learning difficulties and disabilities that will enable them to: (1) access selected recent and relevant research in the field of learning difficulties, drawn from a range of disciplines and groups of people; (2) reflect on…

  6. Laptops Meet Schools, One-One Draw: M-Learning for Secondary Students with Literacy Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Conway, Paul F.; Amberson, Jessica

    2011-01-01

    Mobile technology-enhanced literacy initiatives have become a focus of efforts to support learning for students with literacy difficulties. The "Laptops Initiative for Post-Primary Students with Dyslexia or other Reading/Writing Difficulties" offers insights into and addresses questions about ICT policy making regarding m-learning technologies for…

  7. Learning Difficulties: A Portuguese Perspective of a Universal Issue

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martins, Ana Paula Loucao; Correia, Luis de Miranda; Hallahan, Daniel P.

    2012-01-01

    In this article we present findings of a study that was conducted with the purpose of deepening the knowledge about the field of learning difficulties in Portugal. Therefore, within these findings we will discuss across several cultural boundaries, themes related with the existence of learning difficulties as a construct, the terminology, the…

  8. Why do organizations not learn from incidents? Bottlenecks, causes and conditions for a failure to effectively learn.

    PubMed

    Drupsteen, Linda; Hasle, Peter

    2014-11-01

    If organizations would be able to learn more effectively from incidents that occurred in the past, future incidents and consequential injury or damage can be prevented. To improve learning from incidents, this study aimed to identify limiting factors, i.e. the causes of the failure to effectively learn. In seven organizations focus groups were held to discuss factors that according to employees contributed to the failure to learn. By use of a model of the learning from incidents process, the steps, where difficulties for learning arose, became visible, and the causes for these difficulties could be studied. Difficulties were identified in multiple steps of the learning process, but most difficulties became visible when planning actions, which is the phase that bridges the gap from incident investigation to actions for improvement. The main causes for learning difficulties, which were identified by the participants in this study, were tightly related to the learning process, but some indirect causes - or conditions - such as lack of ownership and limitations in expertise were also mentioned. The results illustrate that there are two types of causes for the failure to effectively learn: direct causes and indirect causes, here called conditions. By actively and systematically studying learning, more conditions might be identified and indicators for a successful learning process may be determined. Studying the learning process does, however, require a shift from learning from incidents to learning to learn. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Errors in Multi-Digit Arithmetic and Behavioral Inattention in Children With Math Difficulties

    PubMed Central

    Raghubar, Kimberly; Cirino, Paul; Barnes, Marcia; Ewing-Cobbs, Linda; Fletcher, Jack; Fuchs, Lynn

    2009-01-01

    Errors in written multi-digit computation were investigated in children with math difficulties. Third-and fourth-grade children (n = 291) with coexisting math and reading difficulties, math difficulties, reading difficulties, or no learning difficulties were compared. A second analysis compared those with severe math learning difficulties, low average achievement in math, and no learning difficulties. Math fact errors were related to the severity of the math difficulties, not to reading status. Contrary to predictions, children with poorer reading, regardless of math achievement, committed more visually based errors. Operation switch errors were not systematically related to group membership. Teacher ratings of behavioral inattention were related to accuracy, math fact errors, and procedural bugs. The findings are discussed with respect to hypotheses about the cognitive origins of arithmetic errors and in relation to current discussions about how to conceptualize math disabilities. PMID:19380494

  10. The Vision of Children with Learning Difficulties: The Role of the Teacher and Psychologist.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Willis, Marilyn A.

    1981-01-01

    The role of optometry in the study of learning difficulties and the problems of interpreting research results in the fields of optometry and ophthalmology are discussed. Limitations of school visual screening are described, and it is suggested that many children with learning difficulties should be referred for a full clinical visual examination.…

  11. A Few Steps along the Road? Promoting Support for Parents with Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tarleton, Beth

    2015-01-01

    This paper considers the impact of research and development work around parenting by adults with a learning difficulty undertaken at the Norah Fry Research Centre (NFRC) since 2005. It discusses how our understanding of the support needs of parents with learning difficulties grew through an initial mapping study which led to the concept of…

  12. Identifying College Students at Risk for Learning Disabilities: Evidence for Use of the Learning Difficulties Assessment in Postsecondary Settings

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kane, Steven T.; Roy, Soma; Medina, Steffanie

    2013-01-01

    This article describes research supporting the use of the Learning Difficulties Assessment (LDA), a normed and no-cost, web-based survey that assesses difficulties with reading, writing, spelling, mathematics, listening, concentration, memory, organizational skills, sense of control, and anxiety in college students. Previous research has supported…

  13. The Curriculum for Children with Severe and Profound Learning Difficulties at Stephen Hawking School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rayner, Matthew

    2011-01-01

    The increasing number of children with profound and multiple learning difficulties means that many schools for children with severe learning difficulties are having to review the curriculum that they offer. In addition, these schools are continuing to question whether a subject-based approach, in line with the National Curriculum, is the most…

  14. The effects of task difficulty and workload on training

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mane, Amir; Wickens, Christopher D.

    1986-01-01

    Four hypotheses regarding the possible effects of workload and task difficulty on training are proposed. These are: (1) increased levels of task difficulty will facilitate learning to the extent that these increases are (a) resource loading and (b) intrinsic to the component task to be learned; (2) decrease of task difficulty will facilitate learning to the extent that these decreases (a) reduce the resource load and (b) are extrinsic of the component task to be learned; (3) the lerner's tendency to conserve resources may bead to the adoption of undesirable, short-term, low resource strategies early in training; and (4) the effect of changes in resource demand on learning will depend upon the similarity of the resource whose demand is changed to the resource involved in learning.

  15. A Two Hundred Year History of Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carlson, Shirley

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this paper was to track the history of learning disabilities and collect intervention theories which might be helpful for adult college students suffering from any number of learning disabilities (LD). There is a vast difference between a learning difficulty and a learning disability; an individual with learning difficulty can learn…

  16. Assessing college-level learning difficulties and "at riskness" for learning disabilities and ADHD: development and validation of the learning difficulties assessment.

    PubMed

    Kane, Steven T; Walker, John H; Schmidt, George R

    2011-01-01

    This article describes the development and validation of the Learning Difficulties Assessment (LDA), a normed and web-based survey that assesses perceived difficulties with reading, writing, spelling, mathematics, listening, concentration, memory, organizational skills, sense of control, and anxiety in college students. The LDA is designed to (a) map individual learning strengths and weaknesses, (b) provide users with a comparative sense of their academic skills, (c) integrate research in user-interface design to assist those with reading and learning challenges, and (d) identify individuals who may be at risk for learning disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and who should thus be further assessed. Data from a large-scale 5-year study describing the instrument's validity as a screening tool for learning disabilities and ADHD are presented. This article also describes unique characteristics of the LDA including its user-interface design, normative characteristics, and use as a no-cost screening tool for identifying college students at risk for learning disorders and ADHD.

  17. Why Is Math So Hard for Some Children? The Nature and Origins of Mathematical Learning Difficulties and Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berch, Daniel B., Ed; Mazzocco, Michele M.M., Ed.

    2007-01-01

    In order for schools to help students with learning difficulties and disabilities improve their achievement in mathematics, educators, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers need a better understanding of the evidence based on what is behind these students' difficulties in learning math. That is just what they will get with this landmark…

  18. "May We Please Have Sex Tonight?"--People with Learning Difficulties Pursuing Privacy in Residential Group Settings

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hollomotz, Andrea

    2009-01-01

    Many residential group settings for people with learning difficulties do not provide individuals with the private space in which they can explore their sexual relationships in a safe and dignified manner. Lack of agreed private spaces seriously infringes the individual's human rights. Many people with learning difficulties who lack privacy have no…

  19. The Relationships between Indonesian Fourth Graders' Difficulties in Fractions and the Opportunity to Learn Fractions: A Snapshot of TIMSS Results

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wijaya, Ariyadi

    2017-01-01

    This paper reports an exploration into Indonesian fourth graders' difficulties in fractions and their relation to the opportunity to learn fractions students got at schools. The concept of "opportunity to learn" is often considered as a framework to investigate possible reasons for students' difficulties. The data for this study was…

  20. An Examination of the Effectiveness of Instruction in Which Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers Use Technology to Overcome Student Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yenmez, Arzu Aydogan

    2017-01-01

    It is seen that students face certain difficulties when learning the concepts and the relationships between them in the mathematics education that aims at enabling students to learn on the highest level. Identifying and eliminating these difficulties, helping students in the learning process and guiding them are among teachers' tasks. Overcoming…

  1. Relating Difficulty in School Mathematics to Nature of Mathematics: Perception of High School Students from Kerala

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gafoor, Kunnathodi Abdul; Sarabi, M. K.

    2015-01-01

    This study relates factors in nature of Mathematics and its teaching learning to student difficulties for diverse mathematics tasks. Descriptive survey was done on a sample of 300 high school students in Kerala with a questionnaire on difficulties in learning. Student perception of difficulty on 26 types of tasks, under five heads that students…

  2. Identifying Students' Difficulties When Learning Technical Skills via a Wireless Sensor Network

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wang, Jingying; Wen, Ming-Lee; Jou, Min

    2016-01-01

    Practical training and actual application of acquired knowledge and techniques are crucial for the learning of technical skills. We established a wireless sensor network system (WSNS) based on the 5E learning cycle in a practical learning environment to improve students' reflective abilities and to reduce difficulties for the learning of technical…

  3. What Makes Biology Learning Difficult and Effective: Students' Views

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cimer, Atilla

    2012-01-01

    The present study aims to determine the biological topics that students have difficulties learning, the reasons why secondary school students have difficulties in learning biology, and ways to improve the effectiveness of students' biology learning. For these purposes, a self-administered questionnaire including three open-ended questions was…

  4. Genetics - Are There Inherent Learning Difficulties?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Longden, Bernard

    1982-01-01

    Sources of misconceptions and learning difficulties were identified by interviewing academically sound A-level students (N=10) who were having difficulties with genetics. Indicates misconceptions were related to nature of concepts used in genetics, such as frequent representation of meiosis by fixed inanimate stage diagrams and to instructional…

  5. Colorado Learning Difficulties Questionnaire:Validation of a parent-report screening measure

    PubMed Central

    Willcutt, Erik G.; Boada, Richard; Riddle, Margaret W.; Chhabildas, Nomita; DeFries, John C.; Pennington, Bruce F.

    2011-01-01

    This study evaluated the internal structure and convergent and discriminant evidence for the Colorado Learning Difficulties Questionnaire (CLDQ), a 20-item parent-report rating scale that was developed to provide a brief screening measure for learning difficulties. CLDQ ratings were obtained from parents of children in two large community samples and two samples from clinics that specialize in the assessment of learning disabilities and related disorders (total N = 8,004). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed five correlated but separable dimensions that were labeled reading, math, social cognition, social anxiety, and spatial difficulties. Results revealed strong convergent and discriminant evidence for the CLDQ Reading scale, suggesting that this scale may provide a useful method to screen for reading difficulties in both research studies and clinical settings. Results are also promising for the other four CLDQ scales, but additional research is needed to refine each of these measures. PMID:21574721

  6. The Effects of Generative Learning Strategy Prompts and Metacognitive Feedback on Learners' Self-Regulation, Generation Process, and Achievement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Hyeon Woo

    2008-01-01

    Instructional designers need to understand the internal processes of learning, identify learners' cognitive difficulties with those processes, and create strategies to help learners overcome those difficulties. Generative learning theory, one conception of human learning about cognitive functioning and process, emphasizes that meaningful learning…

  7. Changing How We Think, Changing How We Learn: Scaffolding Executive Function Processes for Students with Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rosen, Sonia M.; Boyle, Joseph R.; Cariss, Kaitlyn; Forchelli, Gina A.

    2014-01-01

    Students with learning disabilities have been reported to have difficulty in a number of different executive function processes that affect their academic performance (Singer & Bashir, 1999). Executive function difficulties for students with learning disabilities have been implicated as the reason why these students struggle with complex…

  8. Pre-Service Physics Teachers' Comprehension of Quantum Mechanical Concepts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Didis, Nilufer; Eryilmaz, Ali; Erkoc, Sakir

    2010-01-01

    When quantum theory caused a paradigm shift in physics, it introduced difficulties in both learning and teaching of physics. Because of its abstract, counter-intuitive and mathematical structure, students have difficulty in learning this theory, and instructors have difficulty in teaching the concepts of the theory. This case study investigates…

  9. The Role of Metacognitive Reading Strategies, Metacognitive Study and Learning Strategies, and Behavioral Study and Learning Strategies in Predicting Academic Success in Students with and without a History of Reading Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chevalier, Thérèse M.; Parrila, Rauno; Ritchie, Krista C.; Deacon, S. Hélène

    2017-01-01

    We examined the self-reported use of reading, study, and learning strategies in university students with a history of reading difficulties (HRD; n = 77) and with no history of reading difficulties (NRD; n = 295). We examined both between-groups differences in strategy use and strategy use as a predictive measure of academic success. Participants…

  10. Perception of Contingency and Mental Retardation.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeVellis, Robert F.; McCauley, Charley

    1979-01-01

    It is argued that the general learning difficulties exhibited by mentally retarded persons are similar in many respects to the learning difficulties of nonretarded persons who are in a state of learned helplessness (M. Seligman, 1975) or who are external in locus of control orientation. (Author)

  11. Meaning-Led Learning for Pupils with Severe and Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goss, Phil

    2006-01-01

    This paper proposes that learning and teaching for pupils with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties could be enhanced by a closer focus on emotional factors and on the careful identification of what is meaningful for them. Phil Goss, senior lecturer in counselling and psychotherapy at the University of Central Lancashire draws on…

  12. Teachers' Perceptions of the Concomitance of Emotional Behavioural Difficulties and Learning Disabilities in Children Referred for Learning Disabilities in Oman

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Emam, Mahmoud Mohamed; Kazem, Ali Mahdi

    2015-01-01

    Research has documented overlapping and coexisting characteristics of learning disabilities (LD) and emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD). Such concomitance may impact teacher referrals of children at risk for LD which in turn may influence service delivery. Using the Learning Disabilities Diagnostic Inventory (LDDI) and the Strengths and…

  13. Reflections on providing sport science support for athletes with learning difficulties.

    PubMed

    Hills, Laura; Utley, Andrea

    2010-01-01

    To highlight the benefits and the need for sport science support for athletes with learning difficulties, and to reflect on our experience of working with the GB squad for athletes with learning difficulties. A review of key and relevant literature is presented, followed by a discussion of the sport science support provision and the issues that emerged in working with athletes with learning difficulties. Pre- and post- physiological tests along with evaluations of athletes' potential to benefit from sport psychology support were conducted. The aim of these tests was to provide information for the athletes and the coaches on fitness levels, to use this information to plan future training, and to identify how well the performance could be enhanced. A case study is presented for one athlete, who had competed in distance events. The focus is the psychological support that was provided. It is clear that athletes with learning difficulties require the same type of sports science support as their mainstream peers. However, sport scientists will need to consider ways to extend their practice in order to provide the appropriate level of support.

  14. Learner's Learning Experiences & Difficulties towards (ESL) among UKM Undergraduates

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maarof, Nooreiny; Munusamy, Indira Malani A/P

    2015-01-01

    This paper aims to investigate the learners learning experiences and difficulties of ESL among the UKM undergraduates. This study will be focusing on identifying the factors behind Malaysian undergraduate's experiences and also their difficulties in the English as Second Language (ESL) classroom. This paper discusses some of the issues of English…

  15. Students' Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties: The Role of Teachers' Social and Emotional Learning and Teacher-Student Relationships

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Poulou, Maria S.

    2017-01-01

    This study investigates how teachers? perceptions of Emotional Intelligence (EI), Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skills, and teacher-student relationships relate to students? emotional and behavioral difficulties. We examined teachers and students? perceptions of students? emotional and behavioral difficulties and the degree of agreement…

  16. A Review of Factors Associated with Young Children's Difficulties in Acquiring Age-Appropriate Mathematical Abilities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Evans, Roy; Goodman, Kathy

    1995-01-01

    Analyzes the factors behind children's learning difficulties in mathematics from three kinds of characteristics: characteristics of the child, of the teacher/teaching method, and of the subject. Suggests that perceived underachievement comes mainly from poor self-image, learning style, poor language skills, dyslexic-type difficulties, lack of…

  17. Initial Understandings of Fraction Concepts Evidenced by Students with Mathematics Learning Disabilities and Difficulties: A Framework

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hunt, Jessica H.; Welch-Ptak, Jasmine J.; Silva, Juanita M.

    2016-01-01

    Documenting how students with learning disabilities (LD) initially conceive of fractional quantities, and how their understandings may align with or differ from students with mathematics difficulties, is necessary to guide development of assessments and interventions that attach to unique ways of thinking or inherent difficulties these students…

  18. Learners' Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gilakjani, Abbas Pourhosein; Sabouri, Narjes Banou

    2016-01-01

    Listening is one of the most important skills in English language learning. When students listen to English language, they face a lot of listening difficulties. Students have critical difficulties in listening comprehension because universities and schools pay more attention to writing, reading, and vocabulary. Listening is not an important part…

  19. Player Modeling for Intelligent Difficulty Adjustment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Missura, Olana; Gärtner, Thomas

    In this paper we aim at automatically adjusting the difficulty of computer games by clustering players into different types and supervised prediction of the type from short traces of gameplay. An important ingredient of video games is to challenge players by providing them with tasks of appropriate and increasing difficulty. How this difficulty should be chosen and increase over time strongly depends on the ability, experience, perception and learning curve of each individual player. It is a subjective parameter that is very difficult to set. Wrong choices can easily lead to players stopping to play the game as they get bored (if underburdened) or frustrated (if overburdened). An ideal game should be able to adjust its difficulty dynamically governed by the player’s performance. Modern video games utilise a game-testing process to investigate among other factors the perceived difficulty for a multitude of players. In this paper, we investigate how machine learning techniques can be used for automatic difficulty adjustment. Our experiments confirm the potential of machine learning in this application.

  20. Web-Based Technology for Children with Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kumar, S. Praveen; Raja, B. William Dharma

    2010-01-01

    Individuals with special educational needs may face difficulties in acquiring basic skills needed for learning such as reading, spelling, writing, speaking, understanding, listening, thinking or arithmetic. The difficulties they face in the learning process have begun to attract serious attention throughout the globe. They suffer from severe…

  1. The Role of Parenting for the Adjustment of Children with and without Learning Disabilities: A Person-Oriented Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barkauskiene, Rasa

    2009-01-01

    A person-oriented approach was used to examine the role of parenting in the associations between single learning disabilities and multiple learning disabilities and the adjustment difficulties in 8-11-year-olds. The results revealed that multiple, but not single, learning disabilities were associated with greater difficulties in emotional and…

  2. Developing Pedagogical Expertise in Modern Language Learning and Specific Learning Difficulties through Collaborative and Open Educational Practices

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gallardo, Matilde; Heiser, Sarah; Arias McLaughlin, Ximena

    2017-01-01

    This paper analyses teachers' engagement with collaborative and open educational practices to develop their pedagogical expertise in the field of modern language (ML) learning and specific learning difficulties (SpLD). The study analyses the findings of a staff development initiative at the Department of Languages, Open University, UK, in 2013,…

  3. Making It Work: Embedding a Supported Employment Approach in Vocational Education and Training for People with Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacobsen, Yola

    2010-01-01

    The "Making it Work" book is for practitioners and managers working with people with learning difficulties in FE colleges, adult and community learning services, work-based learning and voluntary sector organisations. This book was produced as a result of a two-year project funded by the Department of Health. It provides information…

  4. The Effectiveness of Project-Based Learning on Pupils with Learning Difficulties Regarding Academic Performance, Group Work and Motivation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Filippatou, Diamanto; Kaldi, Stavroula

    2010-01-01

    This study focuses upon the effectiveness of project-based learning on primary school pupils with learning difficulties regarding their academic performance and attitudes towards self efficacy, task value, group work and teaching methods applied. The present study is a part of a larger one that included six Greek fourth-grade primary school…

  5. Foreign Language Learning Difficulties in Italian Children: Are They Associated with Other Learning Difficulties?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ferrari, Marcella; Palladino, Paola

    2007-01-01

    A group of seventh- and eighth-grade Italian students with low achievement (LA) in learning English as a foreign language (FL) was selected and compared to a group with high achievement (HA) in FL learning. The two groups were matched for age and nonverbal intelligence. Two experiments were conducted to examine the participants' verbal and…

  6. What is the optimal task difficulty for reinforcement learning of brain self-regulation?

    PubMed

    Bauer, Robert; Vukelić, Mathias; Gharabaghi, Alireza

    2016-09-01

    The balance between action and reward during neurofeedback may influence reinforcement learning of brain self-regulation. Eleven healthy volunteers participated in three runs of motor imagery-based brain-machine interface feedback where a robot passively opened the hand contingent to β-band modulation. For each run, the β-desynchronization threshold to initiate the hand robot movement increased in difficulty (low, moderate, and demanding). In this context, the incentive to learn was estimated by the change of reward per action, operationalized as the change in reward duration per movement onset. Variance analysis revealed a significant interaction between threshold difficulty and the relationship between reward duration and number of movement onsets (p<0.001), indicating a negative learning incentive for low difficulty, but a positive learning incentive for moderate and demanding runs. Exploration of different thresholds in the same data set indicated that the learning incentive peaked at higher thresholds than the threshold which resulted in maximum classification accuracy. Specificity is more important than sensitivity of neurofeedback for reinforcement learning of brain self-regulation. Learning efficiency requires adequate challenge by neurofeedback interventions. Copyright © 2016 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Blended Learning for College Students with English Reading Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Yu-Fen

    2012-01-01

    Most previous studies in blended learning simply involved on-site and online instruction without considering students' control of their own learning in these two different modalities. The purpose of this study was to investigate how college students with English reading difficulties integrate their conceptions of and approaches to blended learning…

  8. Too Late at Eight: Prevention and Intervention, Young Children's Learning Difficulties.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Atkinson, Joan K., Ed.

    The report contains 15 papers given at a 1979 Australian conference on prevention and intervention with young children at risk of developmental and learning difficulties. Papers have the following titles and authors: "Prevention and Early Amelioration of Developmental and Learning Disabilities: Progress, Problems and Prospects" (W.…

  9. Ranking the Difficulty Level of the Knowledge Units Based on Learning Dependency

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Liu, Jun; Sha, Sha; Zheng, Qinghua; Zhang, Wei

    2012-01-01

    Assigning difficulty level indicators to the knowledge units helps the learners plan their learning activities more efficiently. This paper focuses on how to use the topology of a knowledge map to compute and rank the difficulty levels of knowledge units. Firstly, the authors present the hierarchical structure and properties of the knowledge map.…

  10. A Review of the Approaches Investigating the Post-16 Transition of Young Adults with Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carroll, Catherine

    2015-01-01

    Investigations into the lives and transition from compulsory schooling of young adults with a disability, including a learning difficulty (LD), are increasing. The emerging consensus is one which points to this group of young people experiencing greater difficulties and poorer outcomes compared to the general population. How these investigations…

  11. Lessons from Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children for Adult Learning and Literacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Snow, Catherine E.; Strucker, John

    1999-01-01

    In the spring of 1998 the National Research Council released a report, Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children for Adult Learning and Literacy (PRD). PRD was written with the goal of contributing to the prevention of reading difficulties by documenting the contributions of research to an understanding of reading development and the…

  12. Helping Students Draw Correct Free-Body Diagrams

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Albert

    2017-01-01

    As physics instructors, we try to help our students learn physics. But most of us begin to realize that our students are not learning as much as we hope they would. As we listen to our students, we begin to see some of their difficulties. Some of their difficulties are expected, but some are unexpected. One such difficulty is drawing the force…

  13. A Study on the Difficulties of Learning Phase Transition in Object-Oriented Analysis and Design from the Viewpoint of Semantic Distance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shin, Shin-Shing

    2015-01-01

    Students in object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) courses typically encounter difficulties transitioning from object-oriented analysis (OOA) to logical design (OOLD). This study conducted an empirical experiment to examine these learning difficulties by evaluating differences between OOA-to-OOLD and OOLD-to-object-oriented-physical-design…

  14. Self-Control of Task Difficulty during Training Enhances Motor Learning of a Complex Coincidence-Anticipation Task

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Andrieux, Mathieu; Danna, Jeremy; Thon, Bernard

    2012-01-01

    The aim of the present work was to analyze the influence of self-controlled task difficulty on motor learning. Participants had to intercept three targets falling at different velocities by displacing a stylus above a digitizer. Task difficulty corresponded to racquet width. Half the participants (self-control condition) could choose the racquet…

  15. Learners with Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties' Experiences of Reintegration into Mainstream Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pillay, Jace; Dunbar-Krige, Helen; Mostert, Jacques

    2013-01-01

    Behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD) are a significant impediment to effective teaching and learning in England and Wales. Initiatives such as in-school Learning Support Units (LSUs) and off-site Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) aim to address BESD through short-term individualised learning programmes, followed by mandatory…

  16. Opportunity-to-Learn Context-Based Tasks Provided by Mathematics Textbooks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wijaya, Ariyadi; van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, Marja; Doorman, Michiel

    2015-01-01

    Based on the findings of an error analysis revealing that Indonesian ninth- and tenth-graders had difficulties in solving context-based tasks, we investigated the opportunity-to-learn offered by Indonesian textbooks for solving context-based mathematics tasks and the relation of this opportunity-to-learn to students' difficulties in solving these…

  17. Enabling Pupils with Learning Difficulties to Reflect on Their Own Thinking.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Powell, Stuart D.; Makin, Michael

    1994-01-01

    Reports on a study of the impact of metacognition among 10 middle school-aged British students with learning difficulties. Finds that student awareness and subsequent control over thought processes were enhanced through self-reporting and self-appraisal. Examines this kind of reflection on enhanced learning capabilities and self-esteem. (CFR)

  18. Analysis of Learning in the Case of a Teaching on Heat and Temperature.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tiberghien, Andree

    In the domain of research on physics education, results on students' conceptions show difficulties in physics learning. This paper aims to propose theoretical elements to interpret such learning difficulties related to physics teaching in the case of heat and temperature. Sections in this paper include: (1) Introduction; (2) Epistemological…

  19. Learning Computing Topics in Undergraduate Information Systems Courses: Managing Perceived Difficulty

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wall, Jeffrey D.; Knapp, Janice

    2014-01-01

    Learning technical computing skills is increasingly important in our technology driven society. However, learning technical skills in information systems (IS) courses can be difficult. More than 20 percent of students in some technical courses may dropout or fail. Unfortunately, little is known about students' perceptions of the difficulty of…

  20. Effects of Semantic Ambiguity Detection Training on Reading Comprehension Achievement of English Learners with Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jozwik, Sara L.; Douglas, Karen H.

    2016-01-01

    This study examined how explicit instruction in semantic ambiguity detection affected the reading comprehension and metalinguistic awareness of five English learners (ELs) with learning difficulties (e.g., attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, specific learning disability). A multiple probe across participants design (Gast & Ledford, 2010)…

  1. Learning Difficulties of Diabetic Patients: A Survey of Educators.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bonnet, Caroline; Gagnayre, Remi; d'Ivernois, Jean-Francois

    1998-01-01

    Surveys 85 health care professionals on the learning difficulties of diabetic patients. Results show that educators find it easy to teach techniques: patients master procedures well and make few mistakes. In contrast, diabetic patients seem to have problems learning skills, such as insulin dose adjustment, that require complex problem-solving.…

  2. EasyLexia 2.0: Redesigning Our Mobile Application for Children with Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Skiada, Roxani; Soroniati, Eva; Gardeli, Anna; Zissis, Dimitrios

    2014-01-01

    Dyslexia is one of the most common learning difficulties affecting approximately 15 to 20 per cent of the world's population. A large amount of research is currently being conducted in exploring the potential benefits of using Information & Communication Technologies as a learning platform for individuals and especially children with such…

  3. Academic Attainment in Students with Dyslexia in Distance Education.

    PubMed

    Richardson, John T E

    2015-11-01

    This investigation studied attainment in students with dyslexia or other specific learning difficulties who were taking modules by distance learning with the Open University in 2012. Students with dyslexia or other specific learning difficulties who had no additional disabilities were just as likely as nondisabled students to complete their modules, but they were less likely to pass the modules that they had completed and less likely to obtain good grades on the modules that they had passed. Students with dyslexia or other specific learning difficulties who had additional disabilities were less likely to complete their modules, less likely to pass the modules that they had completed and less likely to obtain good grades on the modules that they had passed than were nondisabled students. Nevertheless, around 40% of students with dyslexia or other specific learning difficulties obtained good grades (i.e. those that would lead to a bachelor's degree with first-class or upper second-class honours). Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  4. Adaptive categorization of ART networks in robot behavior learning using game-theoretic formulation.

    PubMed

    Fung, Wai-keung; Liu, Yun-hui

    2003-12-01

    Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) networks are employed in robot behavior learning. Two of the difficulties in online robot behavior learning, namely, (1) exponential memory increases with time, (2) difficulty for operators to specify learning tasks accuracy and control learning attention before learning. In order to remedy the aforementioned difficulties, an adaptive categorization mechanism is introduced in ART networks for perceptual and action patterns categorization in this paper. A game-theoretic formulation of adaptive categorization for ART networks is proposed for vigilance parameter adaptation for category size control on the categories formed. The proposed vigilance parameter update rule can help improving categorization performance in the aspect of category number stability and solve the problem of selecting initial vigilance parameter prior to pattern categorization in traditional ART networks. Behavior learning using physical robot is conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive categorization mechanism in ART networks.

  5. The use of depth interviewing with vulnerable subjects: lessons from a research study of parents with learning difficulties.

    PubMed

    Booth, T; Booth, W

    1994-08-01

    This paper explores the practicalities of using the technique of depth interviewing with people who have learning difficulties. The authors set out to provide other researchers with guidance in the use of the life story approach and to demonstrate its utility with this vulnerable and devalued group of informants. They conclude that depth interviewing can provide new knowledge not accessible through other methods of data collection, and offers a way of giving people with learning difficulties a voice in the making of their own history.

  6. College students' understanding of stereochemistry: Difficulties in learning and critical junctures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lyon, Gary Lester

    Because stereochemistry is an important part of both high school and college chemistry curricula, a study of difficulties experienced by students in the learning of stereochemistry was undertaken in a one-semester college organic chemistry course. This study, conducted over the course of two semesters with more than two hundred students, utilized clinical interviews, concept maps, and student journals to identify these difficulties, which were then tabulated and categorized. Although student journals were not a productive source of information, the types of difficulties that emerged from the concept maps were compared and contrasted with those that emerged from the clinical interviews. Data from the concept maps were analyzed using Kendall's W, a nonparametric statistic that was deemed appropriate for determining concordance between individual concept maps. The correlation between values of Kendall's W for sets of concept maps and multiple choice questions designed to evaluate the content of these same maps was determined, with values of Pearson's r of .8093 (p = .051) and .7191 (p = .044) for the Fall, 1997 and Spring, 1998 semesters, respectively. These data were used to estimate the occurrence of critical junctures in the learning of stereochemistry, or points at which students must possess a certain framework of understanding of previous concepts in order to master new material (Trowbridge & Wandersee, 1994). One critical juncture was identified that occurred when the topics of enantiorners, absolute configuration, and inversion of configuration were introduced. Among the more important conclusions of this study to the learning of stereochemistry are the following. Both concept maps and interviews provided useful information regarding difficulties in the learning of stereochemistry; this information was complementary in some aspects and similar in others. Concept maps were useful in diagnosing difficulties in application of terms and definitions, whereas interviews were useful when seeking information about difficulties in the manipulation of chemical structures. Both concept maps and interviews were superior to student journals as tools to probe student difficulties in the learning of stereochemistry.

  7. Psychomotor development and learning difficulties in preschool children with probable attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: An epidemiological study in Navarre and La Rioja.

    PubMed

    Marín-Méndez, J J; Borra-Ruiz, M C; Álvarez-Gómez, M J; Soutullo Esperón, C

    2017-10-01

    ADHD symptoms begin to appear at preschool age. ADHD may have a significant negative impact on academic performance. In Spain, there are no standardized tools for detecting ADHD at preschool age, nor is there data about the incidence of this disorder. To evaluate developmental factors and learning difficulties associated with probable ADHD and to assess the impact of ADHD in school performance. We conducted a population-based study with a stratified multistage proportional cluster sample design. We found significant differences between probable ADHD and parents' perception of difficulties in expressive language, comprehension, and fine motor skills, as well as in emotions, concentration, behaviour, and relationships. Around 34% of preschool children with probable ADHD showed global learning difficulties, mainly in patients with the inattentive type. According to the multivariate analysis, learning difficulties were significantly associated with both delayed psychomotor development during the first 3 years of life (OR: 5.57) as assessed by parents, and probable ADHD (OR: 2.34) CONCLUSIONS: There is a connection between probable ADHD in preschool children and parents' perception of difficulties in several dimensions of development and learning. Early detection of ADHD at preschool ages is necessary to start prompt and effective clinical and educational interventions. Copyright © 2016 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  8. Learning approaches and learning difficulties: a comparison of Indian and Nepali dental science students.

    PubMed

    Mayya, Shreemathi S; Rao, A Krishna; Ramnarayan, K

    2002-11-01

    This study explored the difference in learning approaches and difficulties of Nepali and Indian undergraduate students of dental science. A locally developed inventory was used to measure learning approach and learning difficulties. Data collected from 166 Indians and 69 Nepalis were compared. The scores on various scales of the inventory indicate that Nepalis are more fearful and less confident regarding examination and course completion and have significantly less positive perception about academic capability. Indian students scored significantly higher on motivation, interest, and deep processing. The language problem was significantly greater for Nepali students. Higher percentages of Nepalis experienced various academic and nonacademic problems. The study highlights the need to consider difference in learning approach among the students of health science courses that admit students from different academic, nonacademic, and cultural backgrounds.

  9. Novel-word learning deficits in Mandarin-speaking preschool children with specific language impairments.

    PubMed

    Chen, Yuchun; Liu, Huei-Mei

    2014-01-01

    Children with SLI exhibit overall deficits in novel word learning compared to their age-matched peers. However, the manifestation of the word learning difficulty in SLI was not consistent across tasks and the factors affecting the learning performance were not yet determined. Our aim is to examine the extent of word learning difficulties in Mandarin-speaking preschool children with SLI, and to explore the potent influence of existing lexical knowledge on to the word learning process. Preschool children with SLI (n=37) and typical language development (n=33) were exposed to novel words for unfamiliar objects embedded in stories. Word learning tasks including the initial mapping and short-term repetitive learning were designed. Results revealed that Mandarin-speaking preschool children with SLI performed as well as their age-peers in the initial form-meaning mapping task. Their word learning difficulty was only evidently shown in the short-term repetitive learning task under a production demand, and their learning speed was slower than the control group. Children with SLI learned the novel words with a semantic head better in both the initial mapping and repetitive learning tasks. Moderate correlations between stand word learning performances and scores on standardized vocabulary were found after controlling for children's age and nonverbal IQ. The results suggested that the word learning difficulty in children with SLI occurred in the process of establishing a robust phonological representation at the beginning stage of word learning. Also, implicit compound knowledge is applied to aid word learning process for children with and without SLI. We also provide the empirical data to validate the relationship between preschool children's word learning performance and their existing receptive vocabulary ability. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Making the Jump: 'We Can Do a Good Job'. A Pack for Adults with Learning Difficulties Who Want To Work.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jacobsen, Yola

    This document uses clear language and pictures to help adults with learning disabilities learn how other adults with learning difficulties have made the jump from courses and training into jobs and kept working. The following are among the topics discussed in Sections 1 through 9: (1) the objectives and activities of the Making the Jump project…

  11. Gradual training reduces practice difficulty while preserving motor learning of a novel locomotor task.

    PubMed

    Sawers, Andrew; Hahn, Michael E

    2013-08-01

    Motor learning strategies that increase practice difficulty and the size of movement errors are thought to facilitate motor learning. In contrast to this, gradual training minimizes movement errors and reduces practice difficulty by incrementally introducing task requirements, yet remains as effective as sudden training and its large movement errors for learning novel reaching tasks. While attractive as a locomotor rehabilitation strategy, it remains unknown whether the efficacy of gradual training extends to learning locomotor tasks and their unique requirements. The influence of gradual vs. sudden training on learning a locomotor task, asymmetric split belt treadmill walking, was examined by assessing whole body sagittal plane kinematics during 24 hour retention and transfer performance following either gradual or sudden training. Despite less difficult and less specific practice for the gradual cohort on day 1, gradual training resulted in equivalent motor learning of the novel locomotor task as sudden training when assessed by retention and transfer a day later. This suggests that large movement errors and increased practice difficulty may not be necessary for learning novel locomotor tasks. Further, gradual training may present a viable locomotor rehabilitation strategy avoiding large movement errors that could limit or impair improvements in locomotor performance. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Improving students' understanding of quantum mechanics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Guangtian

    2011-12-01

    Learning physics is challenging at all levels. Students' difficulties in the introductory level physics courses have been widely studied and many instructional strategies have been developed to help students learn introductory physics. However, research shows that there is a large diversity in students' preparation and skills in the upper-level physics courses and it is necessary to provide scaffolding support to help students learn advanced physics. This thesis explores issues related to students' common difficulties in learning upper-level undergraduate quantum mechanics and how these difficulties can be reduced by research-based learning tutorials and peer instruction tools. We investigated students' difficulties in learning quantum mechanics by administering written tests and surveys to many classes and conducting individual interviews with a subset of students. Based on these investigations, we developed Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorials (QuILTs) and peer instruction tools to help students build a hierarchical knowledge structure of quantum mechanics through a guided approach. Preliminary assessments indicate that students' understanding of quantum mechanics is improved after using the research-based learning tools in the junior-senior level quantum mechanics courses. We also designed a standardized conceptual survey that can help instructors better probe students' understanding of quantum mechanics concepts in one spatial dimension. The validity and reliability of this quantum mechanics survey is discussed.

  13. The Creation of Task-Based Differentiated Learning Materials for Students with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barker, Trevor; Jones, Sara; Britton, Carol; Messer, David

    This paper describes Horizon, a European-funded project designed to increase employment opportunities for students with disabilities or learning difficulties. The project established a working cafe/restaurant (Cafe Horizon) in East London staffed by students. Part of the project involved the creation of multimedia units linked directly to Level 1…

  14. Morphing Images: A Potential Tool for Teaching Word Recognition to Children with Severe Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sheehy, Kieron

    2005-01-01

    Children with severe learning difficulties who fail to begin word recognition can learn to recognise pictures and symbols relatively easily. However, finding an effective means of using pictures to teach word recognition has proved problematic. This research explores the use of morphing software to support the transition from picture to word…

  15. Text Difficulty Affects Metacomprehension Accuracy and Knowledge Test Performance in Text Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vössing, J.; Stamov-Roßnagel, C.; Heinitz, K.

    2017-01-01

    Metacomprehension as reflected in judgements of one's learning is crucial for self-regulated study, yet their accuracy is often low. We investigated text difficulty as a constraint on metacomprehension accuracy in text learning. A total of 235 participants studied a 10-section expository text and afterwards took a knowledge test. They made…

  16. Response to Intervention: Building the Capacity of Teachers to Serve Students with Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Richards, Catherine; Pavri, Shireen; Golez, Felipe; Canges, Rebecca; Murphy, Joanne

    2007-01-01

    In thirty years since federal special education law, PL 94-142 (1975), there has been much debate about how to best identify and serve students with learning disabilities and those at-risk for learning difficulties. This debate continues even after the most recent reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act…

  17. Towards Motivation-Based Adaptation of Difficulty in E-Learning Programs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Endler, Anke; Rey, Gunter Daniel; Butz, Martin V.

    2012-01-01

    The objective of this study was to investigate if an e-learning environment may use measurements of the user's current motivation to adapt the level of task difficulty for more effective learning. In the reported study, motivation-based adaptation was applied randomly to collect a wide range of data for different adaptations in a variety of…

  18. Mathematical Learning Disability in Girls with Turner Syndrome: A Challenge to Defining MLD and Its Subtypes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mazzocco, Michele M. M.

    2009-01-01

    Turner syndrome is a common disorder with a prevalence of 1:2,500 live female births. Although not associated with mental retardation, there is an increased risk of learning difficulties in this population. In particular, mathematical learning difficulties among girls with Turner syndrome are prevalent, significant, and persistent. As such, the…

  19. Applying Cognitive Behavioural Methods to Retrain Children's Attributions for Success and Failure in Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Toland, John; Boyle, Christopher

    2008-01-01

    This study involves the use of methods derived from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to change the attributions for success and failure of school children with regard to learning. Children with learning difficulties and/or motivational and self-esteem difficulties (n = 29) were identified by their schools. The children then took part in twelve…

  20. "Trying, Failing, Succeeding, and Trying Again and Again": Perspectives of Teachers of Pupils with Severe Profound Multiple Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Phyllis; Riley, Michael W.

    2017-01-01

    This article explores the perspectives of seven teachers in England who teach pupils with severe profound and multiple learning difficulties about their learning to teach this group of students. Teachers' views were captured through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous online communications. Four themes emerged from teachers' perspectives…

  1. Spatial Working Memory and Arithmetic Deficits in Children with Nonverbal Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mammarella, Irene Cristina; Lucangeli, Daniela; Cornoldi, Cesare

    2010-01-01

    Visuospatial working memory and its involvement in arithmetic were examined in two groups of 7- to 11-year-olds: one comprising children described by teachers as displaying symptoms of nonverbal learning difficulties (N = 21), the other a control group without learning disabilities (N = 21). The two groups were matched for verbal abilities, age,…

  2. Mathematics Learning Difficulties in Primary Education: Teachers' Professional Knowledge and the Use of Commercially Available Learning Packages

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Van Steenbrugge, H.; Valcke, M.; Desoete, A.

    2010-01-01

    The present study builds on teachers' professional knowledge about mathematics learning difficulties. Based on the input of 918 primary school teachers, an attempt is made to develop an overview of difficult curriculum topics in primary school mathematics. The research approach builds on new conceptions about the professional identity of teachers…

  3. Storytelling Supported by Technology: An Alternative for EFL Children with Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Sy-ying

    2012-01-01

    This action research aims to investigate how technology improves the conditions of storytelling to help enhance the learning attitude and motivation of EFL children with learning difficulty using power point designs and an online recording system--VoiceThread (http://voicethread.com/). The use of power point designs is to assure children of clear…

  4. Learning Journeys: A Resource Handbook on Adult Learning and Mental Health.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mather, Joy; Atkinson, Sue

    This document explains how tutors and managers in adult education programs across the United Kingdom can smooth the journeys of adults with mental health difficulties who are returning to learning. The handbook begins with suggestions for its use and case studies of two adult learners with mental health difficulties. Sections 1 through 4 discuss…

  5. The Effect of Selected "Desirable Difficulties" on the Ability to Recall Anatomy Information

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dobson, John L.; Linderholm, Tracy

    2015-01-01

    "Desirable difficulties" is a theory from cognitive science used to promote learning in a variety of contexts. The basic premise is that creating a cognitively challenging environment at the learning acquisition phase, by actively engaging learners in the retrieval of to-be-learned materials, promotes long-term retention. In this study,…

  6. Getting the Gist: Relating Text Processing Research to Reading and Writing Instruction for Learning Disabled Secondary Students. Long Island University Transition Project Learning How to Learn: A High School/College Linkage Model to Expand Higher Educational Opportunities for Learning Disabled Students. Position Paper Series: Document No. 5.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Seidenberg, Pearl L.

    Many learning disabled secondary school students have difficulties with text organization in both subject area reading and expository writing. Problems may include difficulty in following the main ideas in text, recognizing the main text topics and their interrelationships, or recognizing the subordinate and superordinate ideas and examples.…

  7. Difficulty in learning similar-sounding words: a developmental stage or a general property of learning?

    PubMed Central

    Pajak, Bozena; Creel, Sarah C.; Levy, Roger

    2016-01-01

    How are languages learned, and to what extent are learning mechanisms similar in infant native-language (L1) and adult second-language (L2) acquisition? In terms of vocabulary acquisition, we know from the infant literature that the ability to discriminate similar-sounding words at a particular age does not guarantee successful word-meaning mapping at that age (Stager & Werker, 1997). However, it is unclear whether this difficulty arises from developmental limitations of young infants (e.g., poorer working memory) or whether it is an intrinsic part of the initial word learning, L1 and L2 alike. Here we show that adults of particular L1 backgrounds—just like young infants—have difficulty learning similar-sounding L2 words that they can nevertheless discriminate perceptually. This suggests that the early stages of word learning, whether L1 or L2, intrinsically involve difficulty in mapping similar-sounding words onto referents. We argue that this is due to an interaction between two main factors: (1) memory limitations that pose particular challenges for highly similar-sounding words, and (2) uncertainty regarding the language's phonetic categories, as these are being learned concurrently with words. Overall, our results show that vocabulary acquisition in infancy and in adulthood share more similarities than previously thought, thus supporting the existence of common learning mechanisms that operate throughout the lifespan. PMID:26962959

  8. Socioeconomic variation, number competence, and mathematics learning difficulties in young children.

    PubMed

    Jordan, Nancy C; Levine, Susan C

    2009-01-01

    As a group, children from disadvantaged, low-income families perform substantially worse in mathematics than their counterparts from higher-income families. Minority children are disproportionately represented in low-income populations, resulting in significant racial and social-class disparities in mathematics learning linked to diminished learning opportunities. The consequences of poor mathematics achievement are serious for daily functioning and for career advancement. This article provides an overview of children's mathematics difficulties in relation to socioeconomic status (SES). We review foundations for early mathematics learning and key characteristics of mathematics learning difficulties. A particular focus is the delays or deficiencies in number competencies exhibited by low-income children entering school. Weaknesses in number competence can be reliably identified in early childhood, and there is good evidence that most children have the capacity to develop number competence that lays the foundation for later learning.

  9. Learning Self-Evaluation: Challenges for Students.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    MacGregor, Jean

    1993-01-01

    Self-evaluation is unfamiliar to most college students. Teachers can use varied approaches to support students in overcoming unfamiliarity with self-evaluation, lack of confidence in describing learning, writing difficulties, evaluation difficulties, discomfort discussing academic problems, cultural bias against self-evaluation, emotional…

  10. Helping children with reading difficulties: some things we have learned so far

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McArthur, Genevieve; Castles, Anne

    2017-03-01

    A substantial proportion of children struggle to learn to read. This not only impairs their academic achievement, but increases their risk of social, emotional, and mental health problems. In order to help these children, reading scientists have worked hard for over a century to better understand the nature of reading difficulties and the people who have them. The aim of this perspective is to outline some of the things that we have learned so far, and to provide a framework for considering the causes of reading difficulties and the most effective ways to treat them.

  11. The Impact of Learning Difficulties and Socioemotional and Behavioural Problems on Transition to Postsecondary Education or Work Life in Finland: A Five-Year Follow-Up Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hakkarainen, Airi M.; Holopainen, Leena K.; Savolainen, Hannu K.

    2016-01-01

    Learning difficulties have been found to dilute the possibilities that young adults have in their educational careers. However, during the last few decades, education has become increasingly important for employment and overall life satisfaction. In the present study, we were interested in the effects of mathematical and reading difficulties and…

  12. Learning in the Learner's Perspective. III. Level of Difficulty Seen as a Relationship Between the Reader and the Text. No. 78.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marton, Ference; Saljo, Roger

    Structural reading difficulty of argumentative prose (text with an underlying message or superordinate principle), is related to the reader's approach to reading and learning. Ninety Swedish teenagers and adults with varying levels of formal education, were divided into three groups, based on their own descriptions of reading and learning: deep…

  13. Evaluation of an Innovative Programme for Training Teachers of Children with Learning and Behavioural Difficulties in New Zealand

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pilgrim, Marcia; Hornby, Garry; Everatt, John; Macfarlane, Angus

    2017-01-01

    This article reports the views of recent graduates of a competency based, blended learning teacher education programme for specialist resource teachers of children with learning and behaviour difficulties in New Zealand. Identifying and developing the competencies needed by teachers in the field of special needs education is important in ensuring…

  14. Movement and Learning in the Early Years: Supporting Dyspraxia (DCD) and Other Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Macintrye, Christine; McVitty, Kim

    2004-01-01

    This book is written to support parents and practitioners who wish to understand movement and how it contributes to all aspects of learning--intellectual, social and emotional, as well as the movement/motor aspect itself. Moreover, as there is a huge increase in the number of children with movement learning difficulties (Keen, 2001), that is…

  15. Investigating Cognitive Task Difficulties and Expert Skills in E-Learning Storyboards Using a Cognitive Task Analysis Technique

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yusoff, Nor'ain Mohd; Salim, Siti Salwah

    2012-01-01

    E-learning storyboards have been a useful approach in distance learning development to support interaction between instructional designers and subject-matter experts. Current works show that researchers are focusing on different approaches for use in storyboards, and there is less emphasis on the effect of design and process difficulties faced by…

  16. Treating the Whole Person: A Counseling, Psychology and Support Model for Learners with Learning Difficulty and Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Larry

    2014-01-01

    Concerned about traditional practice that attempted to manage the challenging behavior of learners with learning difficulty and disabilities (LLDD) in learning and social environments, I questioned the extent to which they could manage themselves. From 265 students, 15 males, median age of 19, were invited to participate in 12 weekly one-hour…

  17. The Role of Sentence Recall in Reading and Language Skills of Children with Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alloway, Tracy Packiam; Gathercole, Susan Elizabeth

    2005-01-01

    The present study explores the relationship between sentence recall and reading and language skills in a group of 7--11-year-old children with learning difficulties. While recent studies have found that performance on sentence recall tasks plays a role in learning, it is possible that this contribution is a reflection of shared resources with…

  18. On the Roots of Difficulties in Learning about Cell Division: Process-Based Analysis of Students' Conceptual Development in Teaching Experiments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Riemeier, Tanja; Gropengiesser, Harald

    2008-01-01

    Empirical investigations on students' conceptions of cell biology indicate major misunderstandings of scientific concepts even after thorough teaching. Therefore, the main aim of our research project was to investigate students' difficulties in learning this topic and to study the impact of learning activities on students' conceptions. Using the…

  19. Investigation Of Student Learning In Thermodynamics And Implications For Instruction In Chemistry And Engineering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meltzer, David E.

    2007-01-01

    As part of an investigation into student learning of thermodynamics, we have probed the reasoning of students enrolled in introductory and advanced courses in both physics and chemistry. A particular focus of this work has been put on the learning difficulties encountered by physics, chemistry, and engineering students enrolled in an upper-level thermal physics course that included many topics also covered in physical chemistry courses. We have explored the evolution of students' understanding as they progressed from the introductory course through more advanced courses. Through this investigation we have gained insights into students' learning difficulties in thermodynamics at various levels. Our experience in addressing these learning difficulties may provide insights into analogous pedagogical issues in upper-level courses in both engineering and chemistry which focus on the theory and applications of thermodynamics.

  20. The interface between spoken and written language: developmental disorders.

    PubMed

    Hulme, Charles; Snowling, Margaret J

    2014-01-01

    We review current knowledge about reading development and the origins of difficulties in learning to read. We distinguish between the processes involved in learning to decode print, and the processes involved in reading for meaning (reading comprehension). At a cognitive level, difficulties in learning to read appear to be predominantly caused by deficits in underlying oral language skills. The development of decoding skills appears to depend critically upon phonological language skills, and variations in phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge and rapid automatized naming each appear to be causally related to problems in learning to read. Reading comprehension difficulties in contrast appear to be critically dependent on a range of oral language comprehension skills (including vocabulary knowledge and grammatical, morphological and pragmatic skills).

  1. Reading disorders and dyslexia.

    PubMed

    Hulme, Charles; Snowling, Margaret J

    2016-12-01

    We review current knowledge about the nature of reading development and disorders, distinguishing between the processes involved in learning to decode print, and the processes involved in reading comprehension. Children with decoding difficulties/dyslexia experience deficits in phoneme awareness, letter-sound knowledge and rapid automatized naming in the preschool years and beyond. These phonological/language difficulties appear to be proximal causes of the problems in learning to decode print in dyslexia. We review data from a prospective study of children at high risk of dyslexia to show that being at family risk of dyslexia is a primary risk factor for poor reading and children with persistent language difficulties at school entry are more likely to develop reading problems. Early oral language difficulties are strong predictors of later difficulties in reading comprehension. There are two distinct forms of reading disorder in children: dyslexia (a difficulty in learning to translate print into speech) and reading comprehension impairment. Both forms of reading problem appear to be predominantly caused by deficits in underlying oral language skills. Implications for screening and for the delivery of robust interventions for language and reading are discussed.

  2. The nature and extent of aggressive behaviour amongst people with learning difficulties (mental handicap) in a single health district.

    PubMed

    Harris, P

    1993-06-01

    This paper describes the method and results of a survey of aggressive behaviour amongst people with learning difficulties. The study was confined to a single health district in the South Western Region of the UK with a general population of about 370,000. At the time of the survey, the Mental Handicap Register for the district recorded 1,362 people as having a learning difficulty. The overall prevalence of aggressive behaviour amongst people with learning difficulties for whom base population data was available was 17.6%. The lowest rate was identified amongst day facilities (9.7%) and the highest in hospitals within the district (38.2%). The prevalence rate amongst those attending schools for children with severe learning difficulties was 12.6%. Proportionately more males than females were reported to present problems of aggressive behaviour. The gender difference appeared to be largely accounted for by the disproportionate number of men identified within day facilities. There was no significant evidence of an association between the person's gender and the presence aggressive behaviour within schools or hospitals. The results indicated that, although physical and verbal aggression were the most frequently reported behaviours, many of the sample were also said to engage in other forms of challenging behaviour, particularly self-injurious, ritualistic, stereotypical and withdrawn behaviour. The risk of a serious or very serious injury to another person was very low; 0.7% or six people with learning difficulties from the district were reported to be currently presenting such a risk. Similarly, only 2% of the base population (n = 18) were reported to be extremely difficult to manage. The implications of the findings are discussed.

  3. Involving users with learning difficulties in health improvement: lessons from inclusive learning disability research.

    PubMed

    Walmsley, Jan

    2004-03-01

    In this paper the author considers the lessons to be drawn from what is termed "inclusive" learning disability research for user involvement around health improvement. Inclusive learning disability research refers to research where people with learning difficulties (intellectual disability) are involved as active participants, as opposed to passive subjects. There is by now a considerable body of such research, developed over the past 25 years. From the review, the author draws attention to areas which can inform practice in involvement of users in a way that adds value.

  4. The Effect of Self-Regulated and Experimenter-Imposed Practice Schedules on Motor Learning for Tasks of Varying Difficulty

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Keetch, Katherine M.; Lee, Timothy D.

    2007-01-01

    Research suggests that allowing individuals to control their own practice schedule has a positive effect on motor learning. In this experiment we examined the effect of task difficulty and self-regulated practice strategies on motor learning. The task was to move a mouse-operated cursor through pattern arrays that differed in two levels of…

  5. Differentiated Curriculum Design: Responding to the Individual and Group Needs of Students with Learning Difficulties with Self-Regulated Learning Strategies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pui, Winnie Sin Wai

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to explore special educational curriculum design at senior secondary school level and whether this helps to enhance the academic attainment and self-confidence of students with learning difficulties. An in-depth discussion focuses on lesson planning for the individual needs and group needs of students by…

  6. Obstaculos al aprendizaje--obstaculos a la ensenanza en contextos (Barriers to Learning--Barriers to Teaching in Multicultural Contexts). Papers on Teacher Training and Multicultural/Intercultural Education 25.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gagliardi, Raul

    This study focused on identifying learning difficulties with a view to incorporating both understanding of those difficulties and methods for minimizing or neutralizing them in multicultural classroom settings. Discussion gives guidelines for teachers to use in analyzing student concepts and approaches to learning, particularly in the…

  7. Children's Attitudes towards ADHD, Depression and Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bellanca, Faye Francesca; Pote, Helen

    2013-01-01

    Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression and general learning disabilities (LD) are common difficulties for British primary school children. It has been found that characteristics associated with these difficulties can result in negative attitudes and stigma from other children, causing problems with peer relationships.…

  8. Meta-Analysis of Fluid Intelligence Tests of Children from the Chinese Mainland with Learning Difficulties

    PubMed Central

    Tong, Fang; Fu, Tong

    2013-01-01

    Objective To evaluate the differences in fluid intelligence tests between normal children and children with learning difficulties in China. Method PubMed, MD Consult, and other Chinese Journal Database were searched from their establishment to November 2012. After finding comparative studies of Raven measurements of normal children and children with learning difficulties, full Intelligent Quotation (FIQ) values and the original values of the sub-measurement were extracted. The corresponding effect model was selected based on the results of heterogeneity and parallel sub-group analysis was performed. Results Twelve documents were included in the meta-analysis, and the studies were all performed in mainland of China. Among these, two studies were performed at child health clinics, the other ten sites were schools and control children were schoolmates or classmates. FIQ was evaluated using a random effects model. WMD was −13.18 (95% CI: −16.50–−9.85). Children with learning difficulties showed significantly lower FIQ scores than controls (P<0.00001); Type of learning difficulty and gender differences were evaluated using a fixed-effects model (I2 = 0%). The sites and purposes of the studies evaluated here were taken into account, but the reasons of heterogeneity could not be eliminated; The sum IQ of all the subgroups showed considerable heterogeneity (I2 = 76.5%). The sub-measurement score of document A showed moderate heterogeneity among all documents, and AB, B, and E showed considerable heterogeneity, which was used in a random effect model. Individuals with learning difficulties showed heterogeneity as well. There was a moderate delay in the first three items (−0.5 to −0.9), and a much more pronounced delay in the latter three items (−1.4 to −1.6). Conclusion In the Chinese mainland, the level of fluid intelligence of children with learning difficulties was lower than that of normal children. Delayed development in sub-items of C, D, and E was more obvious. PMID:24236016

  9. [Integral assessment of learning subjects difficulties].

    PubMed

    Grebniak, N P; Shchudro, S A

    2010-01-01

    The integral criterion for subject difficulties in senior classes is substantiated in terms of progress in studies, variation coefficient, and subjective and expert appraisals of the difficulty of subjects. The compiled regression models adequately determine the difficulty of academic subjects. According to the root-mean-square deviation, all subjects were found to have 3 degrees of difficulty.

  10. Poor Executive Functions among Children with Moderate-into-Severe Asthma: Evidence from WCST Performance.

    PubMed

    Taha, Haitham

    2017-01-01

    Executive functions (EFs) measures of 27 asthmatic children, with general learning difficulties, were tested by using the Wisconsin card sorting test (WCST), and were compared to the performances of 30 non-asthmatic children with general learning difficulties. The results revealed that the asthmatic group has poor performance through all the WCST psychometric parameters and especially the perseverative errors one. The results were discussed in light of the postulation that poor EFs could be associated with the learning difficulties of asthmatic children. Neurophysiological framework has been suggested to explain the etiology of poor EFs among children with moderate into severe asthma.

  11. Specific Learning Difficulties--What Teachers Need to Know

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hudson, Diana

    2015-01-01

    This book clearly explains what Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) are, and describes the symptoms of conditions most commonly encountered in the mainstream classroom: dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, and OCD. The author provides an overview of the strengths and weaknesses commonly associated with…

  12. In Physics Education, Perception Matters

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sattizahn, Jason R.; Lyons, Daniel J.; Kontra, Carly; Fischer, Susan M.; Beilock, Sian L.

    2015-01-01

    Student difficulties in science learning are frequently attributed to misconceptions about scientific concepts. We argue that domain-general perceptual processes may also influence students' ability to learn and demonstrate mastery of difficult science concepts. Using the concept of center of gravity (CoG), we show how student difficulty in…

  13. Difficulties in Initial Algebra Learning in Indonesia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jupri, Al; Drijvers, Paul; van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, Marja

    2014-01-01

    Within mathematics curricula, algebra has been widely recognized as one of the most difficult topics, which leads to learning difficulties worldwide. In Indonesia, algebra performance is an important issue. In the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007, Indonesian students' achievement in the algebra domain was…

  14. Characterisation of Sleep Problems in Children with Williams Syndrome

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Annaz, Dagmara; Hill, Catherine M.; Ashworth, Anna; Holley, Simone; Karmiloff-Smith, Annette

    2011-01-01

    Sleep is critical to optimal daytime functioning, learning and general health. In children with established developmental disorders sleep difficulties may compound existing learning difficulties. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence and syndrome specificity of sleep problems in Williams syndrome (WS), a…

  15. Learning difficulties: a retrospective study of their co morbidity and continuity as indicators of adult criminal behaviour in 18-70-year-old prisoners.

    PubMed

    Zakopoulou, Victoria; Pashou, Theodora; Tzavelas, Panagiotis; Christodoulides, Pavlos; Anna, Milona; Iliana, Kolotoura

    2013-11-01

    The development of learning difficulties is associated with problems in external (executive) and extensive behaviour in a co-occurrence with psycho-emotional problems beginning from pre-school, school age, and adolescence up to adulthood. Through the current survey, we aim to emphasise the early role of learning difficulties during the school age and adolescence of prisoners and their effects on the onset of offending behaviours in adulthood, such as criminal behaviour. Altogether, we studied 117 Greek adult prisoners from 18 to 70 years old who were accused of different types or degrees of offences. Through statistical analyses, the following factors were observed with high statistical significance as early indicators of criminal behaviour in the adult lives of the prisoners: (i) learning difficulties, (ii) family problems, (iii) behaviour disorders, (iv) developmental disorders, and (v) psycho-emotional disorders. As a result, the learning difficulties were assumed to be the most decisive factor in the developmental progression of prisoners because they manifested early in the prisoners' lives, weakened the prisoners to be competitive and robust, provoked a bad self-image and low self-esteem, and, in the frame of a weak or negative family and educational environment, they accompanied antisocial behaviour and psycho-emotional disorders even from adolescence, which continued into adulthood. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. What Are the Symptoms of Learning Disabilities?

    MedlinePlus

    ... Difficulty with reading and/or writing Problems with math skills Difficulty remembering Problems paying attention Trouble following ... numbers. Other symptoms may include 7 : Difficulty with math-related word problems Trouble making change in cash ...

  17. Investigating Difficulties of Learning Computer Programming in Saudi Arabia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alakeel, Ali M.

    2015-01-01

    Learning computer programming is one of the main requirements of many educational study plans in higher education. Research has shown that many students face difficulties acquiring reasonable programming skills during their first year of college. In Saudi Arabia, there are twenty-three state-owned universities scattered around the country that…

  18. A Preschool Program for Preventing Learning Difficulties in Arithmetic.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dunlap, William P.

    Described are many concrete readiness activities within ten broad categories that are designed to provide children with a solid foundation for mathematics and that help prevent learning difficulties in mathematics. Preschool mathematical experiences form the foundation for all studies in mathematics. Without a sufficient number of appropriate…

  19. Associations among Sleep Problems, Learning Difficulties and Substance Use in Adolescence

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fakier, Nuraan; Wild, Lauren G.

    2011-01-01

    This study investigated the relationships among sleep problems, learning difficulties and substance use in adolescence. Previous research suggests that these variables share an association with executive functioning deficits, and are intertwined. The sample comprised 427 adolescents (M age = 16 years) attending remedial schools and 276 adolescents…

  20. Building Knowledge Structures by Testing Helps Children with Mathematical Learning Difficulty

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhang, Yiyun; Zhou, Xinlin

    2016-01-01

    Mathematical learning difficulty (MLD) is prevalent in the development of mathematical abilities. Previous interventions for children with MLD have focused on number sense or basic mathematical skills. This study investigated whether mathematical performance of fifth grade children with MLD could be improved by developing knowledge structures by…

  1. Fractions Learning in Children with Mathematics Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tian, Jing; Siegler, Robert S.

    2017-01-01

    Learning fractions is difficult for children in general and especially difficult for children with mathematics difficulties (MD). Recent research on developmental and individual differences in fraction knowledge of children with MD and typically achieving (TA) children has demonstrated that U.S. children with MD start middle school behind their TA…

  2. Fractions Learning in Children with Mathematics Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tian, Jing; Siegler, Robert S.

    2016-01-01

    Learning of fractions is difficult for children in general and especially difficult for children with mathematics difficulties (MD). Recent research on developmental and individual differences in fraction knowledge of MD and typically achieving (TA) children has demonstrated that U.S. children with MD start middle school behind TA peers in…

  3. Learning Disabilities: A Practitioner's Scriptal Accommodation of More Recent Trends.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Majsterek, David J.

    Intended for teachers of students with learning disabilities, the paper reviews recent trends in research. The importance and the difficulty of keeping up with new developments in the field are noted. Research and theoretical considerations are presented for the following topic areas: definition and identification difficulties (including,…

  4. Bullying Risk in Children with Learning Difficulties in Inclusive Educational Settings

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Luciano, Severina; Savage, Robert S.

    2007-01-01

    This study investigated whether students with learning difficulties (LDs) attending inclusive schools that eschewed segregated "pull out" programs reported more incidents of being bullied than their peers without LDs. Cognitive and self-perception factors associated with reports of peer victimization were also explored. Participants were…

  5. Improving Student Understanding of Addition of Angular Momentum in Quantum Mechanics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhu, Guangtian; Singh, Chandralekha

    2013-01-01

    We describe the difficulties advanced undergraduate and graduate students have with concepts related to addition of angular momentum in quantum mechanics. We also describe the development and implementation of a research-based learning tool, Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorial (QuILT), to reduce these difficulties. The preliminary evaluation…

  6. Students' Difficulties With Multiple Representations in Introductory Mechanics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nguyen, Dong-Hai; Rebello, N. Sanjay

    2011-01-01

    Research in physics education indicates that the use of multiple representations in teaching and learning helps students become better problem-solvers. We report on a study to investigate students' difficulties in solving mechanics problems presented in multiple representations. We conducted teaching/learning interviews with 20 students in a…

  7. Academic Difficulties Encountered by East Asian International University Students in New Zealand

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lee, Boram; Farruggia, Susan P.; Brown, Gavin T. L.

    2013-01-01

    The study focused on learning difficulties experienced by East Asian International (EAI) students. Participants were 117 EAI students undertaking tertiary study at a major university, all were surveyed and 21 students were interviewed. The findings suggest that language limitations, academic content and learning styles were associated with…

  8. Tackling the Difficulties in Learning Evolution: Effects of Adaptive Self-Explanation Prompts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Neubrand, Charlotte; Harms, Ute

    2017-01-01

    Teaching and learning evolution is challenging. Biology education research shows that the underlying evolutionary concepts are poorly understood among students. This prevents a meaningful understanding of the central biological concepts. The instructional format of self-explanation prompts seems to be promising to respond to these difficulties.…

  9. A Process Approach to Assessing Children with Learning Difficulties: Merging Assessment and Intervention.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, Corinne Roth

    A multidimensional approach to assessment of children with learning difficulties is examined. The approach explores factors along five dimensions: (1) learner characteristics (motivation, social-emotional maturity, cognitive abilities and styles); (2) task-based contributors (match of tasks to maturational levels and to cognitive style); (3)…

  10. Rule learning in autism: the role of reward type and social context.

    PubMed

    Jones, E J H; Webb, S J; Estes, A; Dawson, G

    2013-01-01

    Learning abstract rules is central to social and cognitive development. Across two experiments, we used Delayed Non-Matching to Sample tasks to characterize the longitudinal development and nature of rule-learning impairments in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Results showed that children with ASD consistently experienced more difficulty learning an abstract rule from a discrete physical reward than children with DD. Rule learning was facilitated by the provision of more concrete reinforcement, suggesting an underlying difficulty in forming conceptual connections. Learning abstract rules about social stimuli remained challenging through late childhood, indicating the importance of testing executive functions in both social and non-social contexts.

  11. Learning Paths and Learning Styles in Dyslexia: Possibilites and Effectiveness--Case Study of Two Elementary School Students Aged 7 Years Old

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tsampalas, Evangelos; Dimitrios, Sarris; Papadimitropoulou, Panagoula; Vergou, Maria; Zakopoulou, Victoria

    2018-01-01

    The difficulty in reading and writing, spelling mistakes and poor speech are considered as the main elements that characterize students with dyslexia. If one thinks that most of the things in a class are based on writing and reading, then the importance of such a learning difficulty is that it is recognized as soon as possible and with appropriate…

  12. The Effect of the 4MAT Learning Model on the Achievement and Motivation of 7th Grade Students on the Subject of Particulate Nature of Matter and an Examination of Student Opinions on the Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aktas, Idris; Bilgin, Ibrahim

    2015-01-01

    Background: Many researchers agree that students, especially primary students, have learning difficulties on the "Particulate Nature of Matter" unit. One reason for this difficulty is not considering individual differences for teaching science. In 4MAT model learning, environment is arranged according to individual differences. Purpose:…

  13. Who Needs Learning Theory Anyway?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zemke, Ron

    2002-01-01

    Looks at a variety of learning theories: andragogy, behaviorism, cognitivism, conditions of learning, Gestalt, and social learning. Addresses the difficulty of selecting an appropriate theory for training. (JOW)

  14. A Five-Year Follow-Up on the Role of Educational Support in Preventing Dropout From Upper Secondary Education in Finland.

    PubMed

    Hakkarainen, Airi M; Holopainen, Leena K; Savolainen, Hannu K

    2015-01-01

    In this longitudinal study, we investigated the role of word reading and mathematical difficulties measured in 9th grade as factors for receiving educational support for learning in upper secondary education in Grades 10 to 12 (from ages 16 to 19) and furthermore as predictors of dropout from upper secondary education within 5 years after compulsory education. In addition, we studied the role of school achievement in Grades 9 and 11 in this prediction. The participants of this study were members of one age group of 16-year-old ninth graders (N = 595, females 302, males 293) in a midsized Finnish city, who were followed for 5 years after completing compulsory education. The path model results, where the effects of gender, educational track, and SES were controlled, showed, first, that students with academic learning difficulties received educational support for learning particularly in the 11th grade. Second, academic learning difficulties directly affected school achievement in the 9th grade, but no longer in the 11th grade. Third, mathematical difficulties directly predicted dropout from upper secondary education, and difficulties in both word reading and mathematics had an indirect effect through school achievement in Grades 9 and 11 on dropout. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2013.

  15. Foreign Language Learning Difficulties and Teaching Strategies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Banks, Tiffini

    2008-01-01

    Beginning foreign language (FL) courses in high school often have high numbers of learning disabled (LED) and at-risk students, perhaps because many students who are considered to be college bound begin foreign language study in middle school. This paper examines FL difficulties as well as effective strategies that others have used to conquer…

  16. Mathematical Interventions for Secondary Students with Learning Disabilities and Mathematics Difficulties: A Meta-Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jitendra, Asha K.; Lein, Amy E.; Im, Soo-hyun; Alghamdi, Ahmed A.; Hefte, Scott B.; Mouanoutoua, John

    2018-01-01

    This meta-analysis is the first to provide a quantitative synthesis of empirical evaluations of mathematical intervention programs implemented in secondary schools for students with learning disabilities and mathematics difficulties. Included studies used a treatment-control group design. A total of 19 experimental and quasi-experimental studies…

  17. Learning Difficulties with Solids of Revolution: Classroom Observations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mofolo-Mbokane, Batseba; Engelbrecht, Johann; Harding, Ansie

    2013-01-01

    The study aims to identify areas of difficulty in learning about volumes of solids of revolution (VSOR) at a Further Education and Training college in South Africa. Students' competency is evaluated along five skill factors which refer to knowledge skills required to succeed in performing tasks relating to applications of the definite integral, in…

  18. Educating Chinese, Japanese, and Korean International Students: Recommendations to American Professors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roy, Shelly R.

    2013-01-01

    This paper discusses the unique barriers and learning difficulties encountered by Chinese, Japanese, and Korean international students when they study at institutions of higher education in the US. These learning difficulties arise because of inability of some American professors to use discourse markers, summarize at the end of lectures, write…

  19. Accessing Mainstream: Examining the Struggle for Parents of Children Who Have Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kenny, Mairin; Shevlin, Michael; Walsh, Patricia Noonan; McNeela, Eileen

    2005-01-01

    In the past decade Ireland has witnessed substantial changes in policy and provision for children with general learning difficulties as government policies and legislation increasingly underpin the move towards more inclusive provision. Despite this series of policy initiatives parents of children who experience Down syndrome and general learning…

  20. Psycho-Pedagogical Interventions in the Prevention and the Therapy of Learning Difficulties in the Field of Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anca, Maria; Hategan, Carolina

    2009-01-01

    In the given study dyscalculia is approached in the context of learning difficulties, but also in relation with damaged psychic processes and functions. The practical part of the study describes intervention models from the perspective of dyscalculia prevention and therapymaterialized in personalized intervention programs.

  1. Machine Learning Based Evaluation of Reading and Writing Difficulties.

    PubMed

    Iwabuchi, Mamoru; Hirabayashi, Rumi; Nakamura, Kenryu; Dim, Nem Khan

    2017-01-01

    The possibility of auto evaluation of reading and writing difficulties was investigated using non-parametric machine learning (ML) regression technique for URAWSS (Understanding Reading and Writing Skills of Schoolchildren) [1] test data of 168 children of grade 1 - 9. The result showed that the ML had better prediction than the ordinary rule-based decision.

  2. The Twin Twin Paradox: Exploring Student Approaches to Understanding Relativistic Concepts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cormier, Sebastien; Steinberg, Richard

    2010-01-01

    A great deal has long been known about student difficulties connecting real-world experiences with what they are learning in their physics classes, making learning basic ideas of classical physics challenging. Understanding these difficulties has led to the development of many instructional approaches that have been shown to help students make…

  3. CAS-Induced Difficulties in Learning Mathematics?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jankvist, Uffe Thomas; Misfeldt, Morten

    2015-01-01

    In recent years computer algebra systems (CAS) have become an integrated part of the upper secondary school mathematics program. Despite the many positive possibilities of CAS, there also seems to be a flip side of the coin in relation to actual difficulties in learning mathematics, not least because a strong dependence on CAS for mathematical…

  4. Multigenerational Learning for Expanding the Educational Involvement of Bilinguals Experiencing Academic Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martínez-Álvarez, Patricia

    2017-01-01

    Focusing on two bilingual children experiencing learning difficulties, I explore the scientific representations these students generate in an afterschool programme where they have opportunities to exercise agency. In the programme, children use a digital camera to document science in their lives and engage in conversations about the products they…

  5. An Evolving Approach to Learning Problem Solving and Program Development: The Distributed Learning Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Deek, Fadi; Espinosa, Idania

    2005-01-01

    Traditionally, novice programmers have had difficulties in three distinct areas: breaking down a given problem, designing a workable solution, and debugging the resulting program. Many programming environments, software applications, and teaching tools have been developed to address the difficulties faced by these novices. Along with advancements…

  6. Multiple Goals Perspective in Adolescent Students with Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nunez, Jose Carlos; Gonzalez-Pienda, Julio Antonio; Rodriguez, Celestino; Valle, Antonio; Gonzalez-Cabanach, Ramon; Rosario, Pedro

    2011-01-01

    In the present work, the hypothesis of the existence of diverse motivational profiles in students with learning difficulties (LD) and the differential implications for intervention in the classroom are analyzed. Various assessment scales (academic goals, self-concept, and causal attributions) were administered to a sample of 259 students with LD,…

  7. Observing and Analyzing Children's Mathematical Development, Based on Action Theory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bunck, M. J. A.; Terlien, E.; van Groenestijn, M.; Toll, S. W. M.; Van Luit, J. E. H.

    2017-01-01

    Children who experience difficulties with learning mathematics should be taught by teachers who focus on the child's best way of learning. Analyses of the mathematical difficulties are necessary for fine-tuning mathematics education to the needs of these children. For this reason, an instrument for Observing and Analyzing children's Mathematical…

  8. Difficulties in Learning and Teaching Statistics: Teacher Views

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koparan, Timur

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to define teacher views about the difficulties in learning and teaching middle school statistics subjects. To serve this aim, a number of interviews were conducted with 10 middle school maths teachers in 2011-2012 school year in the province of Trabzon. Of the qualitative descriptive research methods, the…

  9. Students with Disabilities, Learning Difficulties and Disadvantages: Policies, Statistics and Indicators--2007

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    OECD Publishing (NJ3), 2008

    2008-01-01

    This book provides an internationally comparable set of indicators on educational provision for students with disabilities, learning difficulties and disadvantages (DDD). It highlights the number of students involved, where they are educated--special schools, special classes or regular classes--and in what phases of education--pre-primary,…

  10. Multi-sensory Environments: An Exploration of Their Potential for Young People with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mount, Helen; Cavet, Judith

    1995-01-01

    This article addresses the controversy concerning multisensory environments for children and adults with profound and multiple learning difficulties, from a British perspective. The need for critical evaluation of such multisensory interventions as the "snoezelen" approach and the paucity of relevant, rigorous research on educational…

  11. Learning Difficulties Experienced by Grade 12 South African Students in the Chemical Representation of Phenomena

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ramnarain, Umesh; Joseph, Aleyamma

    2012-01-01

    This study investigated the learning difficulties of grade 12 South African students in a national chemistry examination. A quantitative analysis of students' performance in the examination revealed there was a significant difference between student performance in questions where students needed to execute a transformation across levels of…

  12. Language Difficulties of International Students in Australia: The Effects of Prior Learning Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sawir, Erlenawati

    2005-01-01

    Globalisation has placed a growing importance on English language speaking and listening. Prior research indicates that many international students from Asia, studying in Australia, face serious learning difficulties and lack confidence in speaking and taking a proactive role in classrooms. The paper reports on data gathered in interviews with…

  13. The Relation between Children's Conceptual Functioning with Color and Color Term Acquisition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kowalski, Kurt; Zimiles, Herbert

    2006-01-01

    Young children experience considerable difficulty in learning their first few color terms. One explanation for this difficulty is that initially they lack a conceptual representation of color sufficiently abstract to support word meaning. This hypothesis, that prior to learning color terms children do not represent color as an abstraction, was…

  14. A Mobile Application to Improve Learning Performance of Dyslexic Children with Writing Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tariq, Rabbia; Latif, Seemab

    2016-01-01

    A neurological learning disability, termed as Dyslexia, is characterized by difficulties in various aspects of writing skills making the individuals unable to develop age-appropriate and ability-appropriate functional skills. In Pakistan, lack of dyslexia awareness and remedial education training restrains the remediation of dyslexic children at…

  15. Morphological Processing and Learning to Read: The Case of Deaf Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berthiaume, Rachel; Daigle, Daniel

    2014-01-01

    Many deaf students encounter great difficulty in learning to read. Typically, research has cited deaf students' difficulties to use phonological processing as the source of their reading deficit. However, recent studies have shown that morphological processing also plays an important part in reading. Since morphological units are visually…

  16. Differences in the Mathematics-Vocabulary Knowledge of Fifth-Grade Students with and without Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Forsyth, Suzanne R.; Powell, Sarah R.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the impact of mathematics and reading learning difficulties on the mathematics-vocabulary understanding of fifth-grade students. Students (n = 114) completed three measures: mathematics computation, general vocabulary, and mathematics vocabulary. Based on performance on the mathematics computation and…

  17. The effects of autonomous difficulty selection on engagement, motivation, and learning in a motion-controlled video game task.

    PubMed

    Leiker, Amber M; Bruzi, Alessandro T; Miller, Matthew W; Nelson, Monica; Wegman, Rebecca; Lohse, Keith R

    2016-10-01

    This experiment investigated the relationship between motivation, engagement, and learning in a video game task. Previous studies have shown increased autonomy during practice leads to superior retention of motor skills, but it is not clear why this benefit occurs. Some studies suggest this benefit arises from increased motivation during practice; others suggest the benefit arises from better information processing. Sixty novice participants were randomly assigned to a self-controlled group, who chose the progression of difficulty during practice, or to a yoked group, who experienced the same difficulty progression but did not have choice. At the end of practice, participants completed surveys measuring intrinsic motivation and engagement. One week later, participants returned for a series of retention tests at three different difficulty levels. RM-ANCOVA (controlling for pre-test) showed that the self-controlled group had improved retention compared to the yoked group, on average, β=46.78, 95% CI=[2.68, 90.87], p=0.04, but this difference was only statistically significant on the moderate difficulty post-test (p=0.004). The self-controlled group also showed greater intrinsic motivation during practice, t(58)=2.61, p=0.01. However, there was no evidence that individual differences in engagement (p=0.20) or motivation (p=0.87) were associated with learning, which was the relationship this experiment was powered to detect. These data are inconsistent with strictly motivational accounts of how autonomy benefits learning, instead suggesting the benefits of autonomy may be mediated through other mechanisms. For instance, within the information processing framework, the learning benefits may emerge from learners appropriately adjusting difficulty to maintain an appropriate level of challenge (i.e., maintaining the relationship between task demands and cognitive resources). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Current management for word finding difficulties by speech-language therapists in South African remedial schools.

    PubMed

    de Rauville, Ingrid; Chetty, Sandhya; Pahl, Jenny

    2006-01-01

    Word finding difficulties frequently found in learners with language learning difficulties (Casby, 1992) are an integral part of Speech-Language Therapists' management role when working with learning disabled children. This study investigated current management for word finding difficulties by 70 Speech-Language Therapists in South African remedial schools. A descriptive survey design using a quantitative and qualitative approach was used. A questionnaire and follow-up focus group discussion were used to collect data. Results highlighted the use of the Renfrew Word Finding Scale (Renfrew, 1972, 1995) as the most frequently used formal assessment tool. Language sample analysis and discourse analysis were the most frequently used informal assessment procedures. Formal intervention programmes were generally not used. Phonetic, phonemic or phonological cueing were the most frequently used therapeutic strategies. The authors note strengths and raise concerns about current management for word finding difficulties in South African remedial schools, particularly in terms of bilingualism. Opportunities are highlighted regarding the development of assessment and intervention measures relevant to the diverse learning disabled population in South Africa.

  19. Rule Learning in Autism: The Role of Reward Type and Social Context

    PubMed Central

    Jones, E. J. H.; Webb, S. J.; Estes, A.; Dawson, G.

    2013-01-01

    Learning abstract rules is central to social and cognitive development. Across two experiments, we used Delayed Non-Matching to Sample tasks to characterize the longitudinal development and nature of rule-learning impairments in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Results showed that children with ASD consistently experienced more difficulty learning an abstract rule from a discrete physical reward than children with DD. Rule learning was facilitated by the provision of more concrete reinforcement, suggesting an underlying difficulty in forming conceptual connections. Learning abstract rules about social stimuli remained challenging through late childhood, indicating the importance of testing executive functions in both social and non-social contexts. PMID:23311315

  20. Searching for Interference Effects in Learning New Face-Name Associations

    PubMed Central

    James, Lori E.; Tauber, Sarah K.; McMahan, Ethan A.; Oberle, Shalyn; Martinez, Ashley P.; Fogler, Kethera A.

    2012-01-01

    In 3 experiments, we attempted to increase interference using experimental manipulations in a face-name learning paradigm. All experiments included young and older adult participants because aging is associated with increases in both susceptibility to interference and difficulty in learning face-name associations. None of the experiments produced interference for either age group: The inclusion of confusable (i.e., ambiguous) names and occupations, having to learn an additional piece of information in association with each face, and requiring participants to guess when uncertain all failed to negatively impact name learning. Interference does not appear to be the critical mechanism underlying the difficulty of learning proper names, and it cannot account for older adults’ disproportionate decline in name-learning ability. PMID:22292565

  1. Self-reported learning difficulties and dietary intake in Norwegian adolescents.

    PubMed

    Øverby, Nina Cecilie; Lüdemann, Eva; Høigaard, Rune

    2013-11-01

    The academic performance of children impacts future educational attainment which may increase socioeconomic status which again influences their health. One of several factors that might affect academic performance is the diet. The aim of this study was to investigate the cross sectional relation between diet and self-reported reading-, writing-, and mathematical difficulties in Norwegian adolescents. In total, 475 ninth- and tenth-grade students out of 625 eligible ones from four different secondary schools in three different municipalities in Vest-Agder County, Norway, participated, giving a participation rate of 77%. The students filled in a questionnaire with food frequency questions of selected healthy and unhealthy food items, questions of meal frequency and different learning difficulties. Regular breakfast was significantly associated with decreased odds of both writing and reading difficulties (OR: 0.44 (0.2-0.8), p = 0.01) and mathematical difficulties (OR: 0.33 (0.2-0.6), p ≤ 0.001). In addition, having lunch, dinner and supper regularly were associated with decreased odds of mathematical difficulties. Further, a high intake of foods representing a poor diet (sugar-sweetened soft drinks, sweets, chocolate, savory snacks, pizza and hot dogs) was significantly associated with increased odds of mathematical difficulties. Having a less-frequent intake of unhealthy foods and not skipping meals are associated with decreased odds of self-reported learning difficulties in Norwegian adolescents in this study. The results of this study support the need for a larger study with a more representative sample.

  2. What Research Says about Text Complexity and Learning to Read

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allington, Richard L.; McCuiston, Kimberly; Billen, Monica

    2015-01-01

    The CCSS framework indicates more difficult texts are to be used with students. However, the rationale for increasing text difficulty, decreasing text difficulty, is unsupported by the research that shows texts have been increasing in difficulty for at least 50 years. Oral reading accuracy is a traditional method of estimating text difficulty. For…

  3. Learner-Controlled Practice Difficulty in the Training of a Complex Task: Cognitive and Motivational Mechanisms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hughes, Michael G.; Day, Eric Anthony; Wang, Xiaoqian; Schuelke, Matthew J.; Arsenault, Matthew L.; Harkrider, Lauren N.; Cooper, Olivia D.

    2013-01-01

    An inherent aspect of learner-controlled instructional environments is the ability of learners to affect the degree of difficulty faced during training. However, research has yet to examine how learner-controlled practice difficulty affects learning. Based on the notion of "desirable difficulties" (Bjork, 1994), this study examined the…

  4. Science teacher's perception about science learning experiences as a foundation for teacher training program

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tapilouw, Marisa Christina; Firman, Harry; Redjeki, Sri; Chandra, Didi Teguh

    2017-05-01

    Teacher training is one form of continuous professional development. Before organizing teacher training (material, time frame), a survey about teacher's need has to be done. Science teacher's perception about science learning in the classroom, the most difficult learning model, difficulties of lesson plan would be a good input for teacher training program. This survey conducted in June 2016. About 23 science teacher filled in the questionnaire. The core of questions are training participation, the most difficult science subject matter, the most difficult learning model, the difficulties of making lesson plan, knowledge of integrated science and problem based learning. Mostly, experienced teacher participated training once a year. Science training is very important to enhance professional competency and to improve the way of teaching. The difficulties of subject matter depend on teacher's education background. The physics subject matter in class VIII and IX are difficult to teach for most respondent because of many formulas and abstract. Respondents found difficulties in making lesson plan, in term of choosing the right learning model for some subject matter. Based on the result, inquiry, cooperative, practice are frequently used in science class. Integrated science is understood as a mix between Biology, Physics and Chemistry concepts. On the other hand, respondents argue that problem based learning was difficult especially in finding contextual problem. All the questionnaire result can be used as an input for teacher training program in order to enhanced teacher's competency. Difficult concepts, integrated science, teaching plan, problem based learning can be shared in teacher training.

  5. The Role of Self-Assessment in Foundation of Mathematics Learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Masriyah

    2018-01-01

    This research is motivated by the low performance of students who took Foundations of Mathematics course. This study was aimed to describe (1) the learning outcomes of students who learned Mathematics Foundation after learning axiomatic applying self-assessment; (2) the difficulty of students and the alternative solutions; and (3) the response of students toward Foundation of Mathematics learning taught by applying self-assessment. This research was a descriptive research. The subjects were 25 mathematics students who studied Foundation of Mathematics in odd semester of the 2015/2016 academic year. Data collection was done using questionnaires, and testing methods. Based on the results of data analysis, it can be concluded that the learning outcomes of students were categorized as “good.” Student responses were positive; the difficulties lied in the sub material: Classification of Axiom Systems and the requirements, Theorem and how the formation, and finite geometry. The alternatives deal with these difficulties are to give emphasis and explanation as needed on these materials, as well as provide some more exercises to reinforce their understanding.

  6. Associations among attitudes, perceived difficulty of learning science, gender, parents' occupation and students' scientific competencies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chi, ShaoHui; Wang, Zuhao; Liu, Xiufeng; Zhu, Lei

    2017-11-01

    This study investigated the associations among students' attitudes towards science, students' perceived difficulty of learning science, gender, parents' occupations and their scientific competencies. A sample of 1591 (720 males and 871 females) ninth-grade students from 29 junior high schools in Shanghai completed a scientific competency test and a Likert scale questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis revealed that students' general interest of science, their parents' occupations and perceived difficulty of science significantly associated with their scientific competencies. However, there was no gender gap in terms of scientific competencies.

  7. Typically Developing Children's Understanding of and Attitudes towards Diversity and Peers with Learning Difficulties in the Greek Setting

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ralli, A. M.; Margeti, M.; Doudoni, E.; Pantelemidou, V.; Rozou, T.; Evaggelopoulou, E.

    2011-01-01

    During the last few years, across Europe, special education has been orientated towards an inclusive model. Accordingly, in Greece, special education functions as an integral part of general education. However, few studies have investigated how children in the mainstream school understand diversity issues and specifically learning difficulties.…

  8. Survey of Complementary and Alternative Therapies Used by Children with Specific Learning Difficulties (Dyslexia)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bull, Leona

    2009-01-01

    Background: Dyslexia is a common learning difficulty affecting up to 10% of British children that is associated with a wide range of cognitive, emotional and physical symptoms. In the absence of effective conventional treatment, it is likely that parents will seek complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to try and help their children.…

  9. Prevalence and Pattern of Learning Difficulties in Primary School Students in Jordan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abu-Hamour, Bashir; Al-Hmouz, Hanan

    2016-01-01

    The major purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of learning difficulties (LDs) among primary school students (Grade 1 to Grade 3) in Jordan. A total of 306 students were randomly selected and tested using the Arabic version of the Woodcock-Johnson Basic Achievement Tests that measure reading, spelling, and calculation skills. The…

  10. Hands-On Tabletop Units for Addressing Persistent Conceptual Difficulties in Continuity and Frictional Loss in Fluid Mechanics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Xuesong; Van Wie, Bernard J.

    2016-01-01

    The difficulty in covering chemical engineering concepts using traditional lectures and whiteboard teaching approaches means today's students' learning demands are unfulfilled, so alternate methods are needed. Desktop learning modules (DLMs) are designed to show industrial fluid flow and heat transfer concepts in a standard classroom so students…

  11. A Comparative Study of Teachers' Pedagogical Competencies in Supporting Children with Learning Difficulties in Primary Schools in Ghana and Brunei Darussalam

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abosi, Okechukwu; Alhassan, Abdul Razak Kuyini

    2017-01-01

    Teachers' pedagogical competencies level is increasingly affecting the implementation of inclusive education policy in many countries. The aimed at comparing primary school teachers' competence levels in supporting children with learning difficulties in Brunei Darussalam and Ghana. Descriptive survey design was used and 188 primary school teachers…

  12. Formative Assessment Pre-Test to Identify College Students' Prior Knowledge, Misconceptions and Learning Difficulties in Biology

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lazarowitz, Reuven; Lieb, Carl

    2006-01-01

    A formative assessment pretest was administered to undergraduate students at the beginning of a science course in order to find out their prior knowledge, misconceptions and learning difficulties on the topic of the human respiratory system and energy issues. Those findings could provide their instructors with the valuable information required in…

  13. A Comparison of Saudi and Canadian Children's Knowledge of the Causes of Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Felimban, Huda; Nowicki, Elizabeth A.; Dare, Lynn; Brown, Jason

    2016-01-01

    In this comparative study, students from inclusive schools in Canada and Saudi Arabia shared their beliefs about factors associated with learning difficulties. Qualitative data were collected through interviews with 36 Canadian and 62 Saudi elementary students in Grades 5 and 6. Thematic analysis uncovered six themes: lack of knowledge,…

  14. Educating Children and Young People with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Constructing Personalised Pathways to Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blackburn, Carolyn; Carpenter, Barry; Egerton, Jo

    2012-01-01

    The range of learning difficulties associated with children and young people who have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) has been highlighted as an emerging but little understood area of Special Educational Needs. This engaging, timely and highly practical book will raise awareness about FASD and its associated difficulties across the entire…

  15. Awareness of Number In Children With Severe And Profound Learning Difficulties: Three Exploratory Case Studies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Porter, Jill

    2005-01-01

    This paper reports on exploratory work investigating how children with severe and profound learning difficulties register an awareness of small quantities and how they might use this information to inform their understanding. It draws on studies of typically developing children and investigates their application to pupils whose response to…

  16. Learning Difficulties and Ethnicity: Updating a Framework for Action

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Poxton, Richard

    2012-01-01

    This update of the Framework for Action highlights the continuing relevance of its message as well as those raised by Valuing People Now. People with learning difficulties and their families from Black and minority ethnic (BME) communities have been highlighted as a priority group by Valuing People since 2001 and remain a priority for better…

  17. Naming Abilities in Low-Proficiency Second Language Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Borodkin, Katy; Faust, Miriam

    2014-01-01

    Difficulties in second language (L2) learning are often associated with recognizable learning difficulties in native language (L1), such as in dyslexia. However, some individuals have low L2 proficiency but intact L1 reading skills. These L2 learners experience frequent tip-of-the-tongue states while naming in L1, which indicates that they have a…

  18. A Review of Teaching Sentence-Level Writing Skills to Students with Writing Difficulties and Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Datchuk, Shawn M.; Kubina, Richard M.

    2013-01-01

    Students with writing difficulties and learning disabilities struggle with many aspects of the writing process, including use of sentence-level skills. This literature review summarizes results from 19 published articles that used single-case or group-experimental and quasi-experimental designs to investigate effects of intervention on the…

  19. A Preliminary Instrument for Measuring Students' Subjective Perceptions of Difficulties in Learning Recursion

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lacave, Carmen; Molina, Ana I.; Redondo, Miguel A.

    2018-01-01

    Contribution: Findings are provided from an initial survey to evaluate the magnitude of the recursion problem from the student point of view. Background: A major difficulty that programming students must overcome--the learning of recursion--has been addressed by many authors, using various approaches, but none have considered how students perceive…

  20. Comparison of Scores on Two Visual-Motor Tests for Children Referred for Learning or Adjustment Difficulties.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeMers, Stephen T.; And Others

    1981-01-01

    This study compared the performance of school-aged children referred for learning or adjustment difficulties on Beery's Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration and Koppitz's version of the Bender-Gestalt test. Results indicated that the tests are related but not equivalent when administered to referred populations. (Author/AL)

  1. How Does the Legal System Respond when Children with Learning Difficulties Are Victimized?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cederborg, Ann-Christin; Lamb, Michael E.

    2006-01-01

    Objective: To understand how the Swedish legal system perceives and handles mentally handicapped children who may have been victimized. Method: Twenty-two judicial districts in Sweden provided complete files on 39 District Court cases (including the Appeals Court files on 17 of these cases) involving children with learning difficulties or other…

  2. Initial Considerations for Helping Your Infant Learn To Eat [and] Strategies To Promote Oral Eating in Infants.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pagano, John

    These two papers offer parents of infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities and feeding problems both general advice and specific intervention strategies. The first paper examines the causes of feeding difficulty (such as a physical structure problem, fear of eating, or difficulty learning to eat); the need for intervention while…

  3. Children Placed at Risk for Learning and Behavioral Difficulties: Implementing a School-Wide System of Early Identification and Intervention.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Shaughnessy, Tam E.; Lane, Kathleen L.; Gresham, Frank M.; Beebe-Frankenberger, Margaret E.

    2003-01-01

    This article describes a school-wide system of early identification and intervention for children recognized as being at risk for learning and behavior difficulties. Suggested guidelines for implementing such a program include: evaluating existing theory, knowledge, and practice; providing ongoing professional development; creating a school-wide…

  4. An Examination of the Relationship among Teachers' Perceptions of Social-Emotional Learning, Teaching Efficacy, Teacher-Student Interactions, and Students' Behavioral Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Poulou, Maria S.

    2017-01-01

    The study investigated how teachers' perceptions of emotional intelligence (EI), social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, and teaching efficacy relate to perceptions of teacher-student relationships and students' emotional and behavioral difficulties. Ninety-eight elementary teachers from public schools in central Greece completed the…

  5. Perry's Scheme of Intellectual and Epistemological Development as a Framework for Describing Student Difficulties in Learning Organic Chemistry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grove, Nathaniel P.; Bretz, Stacey Lowery

    2010-01-01

    We have investigated student difficulties with the learning of organic chemistry. Using Perry's Model of Intellectual Development as a framework revealed that organic chemistry students who function as dualistic thinkers struggle with the complexity of the subject matter. Understanding substitution/elimination reactions and multi-step syntheses is…

  6. The Effect of Cognitive- and Metacognitive-Based Instruction on Problem Solving by Elementary Students with Mathematical Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grizzle-Martin, Tamieka

    2014-01-01

    Children who struggle in mathematics may also lack cognitive awareness in mathematical problem solving. The cognitively-driven program IMPROVE, a multidimensional method for teaching mathematics, has been shown to be helpful for students with mathematical learning difficulties (MLD). Guided by cognitive theory, the purpose of this…

  7. Fraction Intervention for Students with Mathematics Difficulties: Lessons Learned from Five Randomized Controlled Trials

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fuchs, Lynn S.; Malone, Amelia S.; Schumacher, Robin F.; Namkung, Jessica; Wang, Amber

    2017-01-01

    In this article, the authors summarize results from 5 randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of intervention to improve the fraction performance of fourth-grade students at risk for difficulty in learning about fractions. The authors begin by explaining the importance of competence with fractions and why an instructional focus on…

  8. Difficulties in Academic Writing: From the Perspective of King Saud University Postgraduate Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al Fadda, Hind

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine what difficulties King Saud University students encounter when learning to write academic English and to differentiate between students' learning needs and objectives. The sample consisted of 50 postgraduate students enrolled in King Saud University during the academic year 2009-2010. Analysis of the data…

  9. Considerations of Numbers Used in Tasks for Promoting Multiplicative Reasoning in Students with Learning Difficulties in Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Risley, Rachael Ann

    2016-01-01

    This study explored the impact of numbers used in instructional tasks on the construction and generalization of multiplicative reasoning by fourth grade students designated as having learning difficulties or disabilities in mathematics (SLDs). In particular, this study addressed the following research questions: (1) In what ways do SLDs'…

  10. Inclusive Education for Children with Specific Learning Difficulties: Analysis of Opportunities and Barriers in Inclusive Education in Slovenia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kavkler, Marija; Babuder, Milena Košak; Magajna, Lidija

    2015-01-01

    Inclusive education allows for universal inclusion, participation and achievement of all children, including children with specific learning difficulties (SpLD). Children with SpLD form a heterogeneous group with diverse cognitive deficits, special educational needs (SEN) and strengths, and have a legislated right to the continuum of both…

  11. Emergence, Learning Difficulties, and Misconceptions in Chemistry Undergraduate Students' Conceptualizations of Acid Strength

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tümay, Halil

    2016-01-01

    Philosophical debates about chemistry have clarified that the issue of emergence plays a critical role in the epistemology and ontology of chemistry. In this article, it is argued that the issue of emergence has also significant implications for understanding learning difficulties and finding ways of addressing them in chemistry. Particularly, it…

  12. Associations among Attitudes, Perceived Difficulty of Learning Science, Gender, Parents' Occupation and Students' Scientific Competencies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chi, ShaoHui; Wang, Zuhao; Liu, Xiufeng; Zhu, Lei

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated the associations among students' attitudes towards science, students' perceived difficulty of learning science, gender, parents' occupations and their scientific competencies. A sample of 1591 (720 males and 871 females) ninth-grade students from 29 junior high schools in Shanghai completed a scientific competency test and…

  13. Moderate Learning Difficulties: Searching for Clarity and Understanding

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Norwich, Brahm; Ylonen, Annamari; Gwernan-Jones, Ruth

    2014-01-01

    The concept of moderate learning difficulties (MLD) is not clearly understood in its definition and in its general use. Nevertheless, as a distinct area of special educational needs (SEN) this category has constituted about a quarter of all of those pupils identified as having SEN in England. This paper reports the analysis of findings from an…

  14. A School-Based Movement Programme for Children with Motor Learning Difficulty

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mannisto, Juha-Pekka; Cantell, Marja; Huovinen, Tommi; Kooistra, Libbe; Larkin, Dawne

    2006-01-01

    The study investigated the effectiveness of a school-based movement programme for a population of 5 to 7 year old children. Performance profiles on the Movement ABC were used to classify the children and to assess skill changes over time. Children were assigned to four different groups: motor learning difficulty (n = 10), borderline motor learning…

  15. Development and Validation of Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) for Identifying Students with Reading Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Valladolid, Violeta C.

    2015-01-01

    The role of classroom teachers in the early detection of learning difficulty/disability in school children cannot be ignored. When it comes to young children's literacy learning, there is substantial consensus that the teacher is the primary assessment agent (Johnston & Rogers, 2002). But classroom teachers also have a lot of responsibilities…

  16. Difference and Choice: Exploring Prenatal Testing and the Use of Genetic Information with People with Learning Difficulties.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ward, Linda; Howarth, Joyce; Rodgers, Jackie

    2002-01-01

    This article describes two workshops that explained the use of prenatal testing and genetic information to inform choices in pregnancy to people with learning difficulties, explored the issues with them, and describe the contribution subsequently made by these people to a British national conference on this subject. (Contains references.)…

  17. Student Difficulties in Learning Density: A Distributed Cognition Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Xu, Lihua; Clarke, David

    2012-01-01

    Density has been reported as one of the most difficult concepts for secondary school students (e.g. Smith et al. 1997). Discussion about the difficulties of learning this concept has been largely focused on the complexity of the concept itself or student misconceptions. Few, if any, have investigated how the concept of density was constituted in…

  18. Learning Difficulties and the Power of Labelling in ABE. Mendip Papers MP071.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bergin, Sue; Johnson, Andy

    A study examined recent developments in adult basic education (ABE) in Great Britain in relation to students with learning difficulties and issues about the ways in which programs seemed to be moving. Information was collected from ABE staff and students in case study sites in northwest England from the following sources: semistructured interviews…

  19. Performance of Children with Developmental Dyslexia on Two Skill Learning Tasks--Serial Reaction Time and Tower of Hanoi Puzzle

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vakil, Eli; Lowe, Michal; Goldfus, Carol

    2015-01-01

    Among the various theories proposed to explain developmental dyslexia (DD), the theory of specific procedural learning difficulties has gained certain support and is the framework for the current research. This theory claims that an inability to achieve skill automaticity explains the difficulties experienced by individuals with DD. Previous…

  20. Do Learning Difficulties Differentiate Elementary Teachers' Attributional Patterns for Students' Academic Failure? A Comparison between Greek Regular and Special Education Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vlachou, Anastasia; Eleftheriadou, Dimitra; Metallidou, Panayiota

    2014-01-01

    This study aimed to (a) investigate whether the presence of learning difficulties (LD) in primary school children differentiates Greek teachers' attributional patterns, emotional responses, expectations and evaluative feedback for the children's academic failures and (b) to examine possible differences between regular and special education…

  1. Ethnic & Linguistic Minority Children with Special Needs. A Critical Review of Educational Language & Culture.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miles, Christine

    This paper describes experiences in teaching ethnic and linguistic minority children with learning difficulties and counseling their families, from 1976 to 1992 in Pakistan and England. The paper begins with a vignette describing an ethnic minority child with learning difficulties. A global approach to the issues is then presented, examining the…

  2. Children's Structured Conceptualizations of Their Beliefs on the Causes of Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nowicki, Elizabeth A.; Brown, Jason; Stepien, Magdalena

    2014-01-01

    Elementary school children between 9 and 12 years of age were interviewed on what they believed to be the causes of learning difficulties and were invited to take part in the analysis of the data. We achieved this with Trochim's concept mapping approach that combines qualitative and quantitative data analyses. Study results indicated that children…

  3. Real Power? An Examination of the Involvement of People with Learning Difficulties in Strategic Service Development in Cambridgeshire

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dearden-Phillips, Craig; Fountain, Rob

    2005-01-01

    Securing meaningful involvement in service development and provision can be seen as a particular challenge for people with learning difficulties. The National Health Service & Community Care Act [(1990) HMSO, ISBN 0105419907] and more recently Valuing People [Department of Health (2001) "Valuing people: a new strategy for learning…

  4. Can Multiple-Choice Testing Induce Desirable Difficulties? Evidence from the Laboratory and the Classroom.

    PubMed

    Bjork, Elizabeth Ligon; Soderstrom, Nicholas C; Little, Jeri L

    2015-01-01

    The term desirable difficulties (Bjork, 1994) refers to conditions of learning that, though often appearing to cause difficulties for the learner and to slow down the process of acquisition, actually improve long-term retention and transfer. One known desirable difficulty is testing (as compared with restudy), although typically it is tests that clearly involve retrieval--such as free and cued recall tests--that are thought to induce these learning benefits and not multiple-choice tests. Nonetheless, multiple-choice testing is ubiquitous in educational settings and many other high-stakes situations. In this article, we discuss research, in both the laboratory and the classroom, exploring whether multiple-choice testing can also be fashioned to promote the type of retrieval processes known to improve learning, and we speculate about the necessary properties that multiple-choice questions must possess, as well as the metacognitive strategy students need to use in answering such questions, to achieve this goal.

  5. Keeping Wartime Memory Alive: An Oral History Project about the Wartime Memories of People with Learning Difficulties in Cumbria

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dias, John; Eardley, Malcolm; Harkness, Elizabeth; Townson, Louise; Brownlee-Chapman, Chloe; Chapman, Rohhss

    2012-01-01

    This article discusses an oral history project funded by the Heritage Lottery. It recorded the memories of eight people with learning difficulties during the Second World War in Cumbria, UK, before their personal histories were lost forever. This qualitative, inclusive research project was supported by various organisations. The process of…

  6. Effects on Reading of an Early Intervention Program for Children at Risk of Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    González-Valenzuela, María-José; Martín-Ruiz, Isaías

    2017-01-01

    The study aimed to analyze the effects on reading of an early oral and written language intervention program for Spanish children at risk of learning difficulties. The goal of this classroom-based program was to prioritize a systematic approach to reading and writing and to foster phonological knowledge and the development of oral language…

  7. The Value of Using ICT in the Education of School Students with Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adam, Tas; Tatnall, Arthur

    2017-01-01

    This article argues that whatever the 2015 OECD report says about the value of ICT in relation to PISA results, our research has shown that using ICT in the education of students with Learning Difficulties has great value in interesting, enthusing and inspiring these students, so leading to better educational outcomes. The term "Learning…

  8. Succeeding against the Odds: Observations on Coping by Three Intellectually Very Able University Students with Specific Learning Difficulties in Hong Kong

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lo, Cecilia C.; Yuen, Mantak

    2017-01-01

    This small-scale exploratory study identified strategies used by three intellectually very able university students with specific learning difficulties for maintaining motivation on their path to achievement. All three participants were located in Hong Kong. The research questions were: (a) What coping strategies are used by intellectually very…

  9. Primary School Teachers' Practices and Troubles with the Students Who They Think Have Undiagnosed Difficulties in Verbal Communication, Reading and Writing

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ergen, Yusuf; Elma, Cevat

    2018-01-01

    The primary school Turkish program was basically built on three learning domains. These are the learning domains of verbal communication, reading and writing. The purpose of the present study is to determine primary school teachers' practices and difficulties related to students considered to have undiognosed verbal communication, reading and…

  10. Enhancing Peer Acceptance of Children with Learning Difficulties: Classroom Goal Orientation and Effects of a Storytelling Programme with Drama Techniques

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Law, Yin-kum; Lam, Shui-fong; Law, Wilbert; Tam, Zoe W. Y.

    2017-01-01

    Peer acceptance is an important facilitator for the success of inclusive education. The aim of the current study is twofold: (1) to examine how classroom goal orientation is associated with children's acceptance of peers with learning difficulties; and (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of a storytelling programme with drama techniques on…

  11. To What Extent Does Information and Communication Technology Support Inclusion in Education of Students with Learning Difficulties?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mølster, Terje; Nes, Kari

    2018-01-01

    The main intention of this study is to explore the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) and inclusion. The target group is students who are conceived as having learning difficulties or special educational needs. To illuminate this issue, we draw on data collected in a recent national research project about the…

  12. Fraction Intervention for Students with Mathematics Difficulties: Lessons Learned from Five Randomized Control Trials

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fuchs, Lynn S.; Malone, Amelia S.; Schumacher, Robin F.; Namkung, Jessica; Wang, Amber

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this article was to summarize results from 5 randomized control trials assessing the effects of intervention to improve the fraction performance of 4th-grade students at-risk for difficulty in learning about fractions. We begin by explaining the importance of competence with fractions and why an instructional focus on fractions…

  13. Self-Reported Substance Use among High School Students with and without Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carroll, Annemaree; Houghton, Stephen; Bourgeois, Amanda

    2014-01-01

    A total of 197 Year 9 and 10 students, 74 of whom had learning difficulties (LD), from two high schools in Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, Australia, self-reported their substance use. Seventeen substances, including two fictitious ones to detect over-reporting, were presented to participants for them to indicate their current usage,…

  14. Pre-Service Science Teachers' PCK: Inconsistency of Pre-Service Teachers' Predictions and Student Learning Difficulties in Newton's Third Law

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhou, Shaona; Wang, Yanlin; Zhang, Chunbin

    2016-01-01

    There is widespread agreement that science learning always builds upon students' existing ideas and that science teachers should possess knowledge of learners. This study aims at investigating pre-service science teachers' knowledge of student misconceptions and difficulties, a crucial component of PCK, on Newton's Third Law. A questionnaire was…

  15. Effect of Self-Instruction Strategy on the Achievement in Algebra of Students with Learning Difficulty in Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adani, Anthony; Eskay, Michael; Onu, Victoria

    2012-01-01

    This quasi-experimental study examined the effect of self-instruction strategy on the achievement in algebra of students with learning difficulty in mathematics. Two research questions and one null hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted a non-randomized pre-test and post-test control group design with one experimental…

  16. The Persistence and Functional Impact of English Language Difficulties Experienced by Children Learning English as an Additional Language and Monolingual Peers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Whiteside, Katie E.; Norbury, Courtenay Frazier

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: This study explored whether a monolingual-normed English language battery could identify children with English as an additional language (EAL) who have persistent English language learning difficulties that affect functional academic attainment. Method: Children with EAL (n = 43) and monolingual English-speaking children (n = 46)…

  17. Potential or Problem? An Investigation of Secondary School Teachers' Attributions of the Educational Outcomes of Students with Specific Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Woodcock, Stuart; Hitches, Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    Despite strong support for inclusive education in principle, many teachers and administrators still demonstrate mixed responses to the inclusion of certain students in their classrooms. Students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) form a large group of students in inclusive classrooms yet some provincial, state and national jurisdictions…

  18. Physical Fitness Differences in Children with and without Motor Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hands, Beth; Larkin, Dawne

    2006-01-01

    Children with motor learning difficulties (MLD) tend to be less physically active than their coordinated peers and one likely consequence is a reduced level of physical fitness. In this study, 52 children with MLD, aged 5 to 8 years, were compared to 52 age- and gender-matched control children across a range of health and skill related fitness…

  19. "Why Do I Slog through the Physics?" Understanding High School Students' Difficulties in Learning Physics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ekici, Erhan

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study is to develop a valid and reliable instrument to assess why physics courses are perceived as one of the most difficult courses among high school students and to investigate the reasons why students have difficulty in learning physics through this scale. This study includes the development and validation studies of the…

  20. Discriminating Children with Autism from Children with Learning Difficulties with an Adaptation of the Short Sensory Profile

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Brien, Justin; Tsermentseli, Stella; Cummins, Omar; Happe, Francesca; Heaton, Pamela; Spencer, Janine

    2009-01-01

    In this article, we examine the extent to which children with autism and children with learning difficulties can be discriminated from their responses to different patterns of sensory stimuli. Using an adapted version of the Short Sensory Profile (SSP), sensory processing was compared in 34 children with autism to 33 children with typical…

  1. Lifelong Learning Programs of Education Faculty in Sinop: Evaluation of Participants' Problems and Worries

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Usakli, Hakan

    2009-01-01

    In this paper Lifelong Learning Program of Education Faculty in Sinop was evaluated in terms of interrelations between LLP and cultural shock. The barriers of LLP in Education Faculty in Sinop can be examined in two main parts: difficulties of finding suitable partner and students' difficulty in deciding whether to apply or not. These two main…

  2. Comparability of Self-Concept among Normal Achievers and Children with Learning Difficulties within a Greek Context.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leonadari, Angeliki

    1994-01-01

    Assessed Greek third through sixth graders on the Perceived Competence Scale for Children (PCSC). Subjects were normally achieving (NA) and low achieving students and a special class (SC) of students identified as at risk for learning difficulties. The SC students scored lower than the NA students on the PCSC global self-worth, competence affect,…

  3. Learner and Teacher Perception on Difficulties in Learning and Teaching Mathematics: Some Implications

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abdul Gafoor, K.; Kurukkan, Abidha

    2015-01-01

    Mathematics holds a relevant and unique place in the school curriculum as it is important for a better living of the individual. But, it is known that most of the students are considering mathematics as difficult. This study examines the difficulties perceived by high school students and teachers in learning and teaching mathematics. Two hundred…

  4. The Effect of Time on Difficulty of Learning (The Case of Problem Solving with Natural Numbers)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kaya, Deniz; Kesan, Cenk

    2017-01-01

    The main purpose of this study is to determine the time-dependent learning difficulty of "solving problems that require making four operations with natural numbers" of the sixth grade students. The study, adopting the scanning model, consisted of a total of 140 students, including 69 female and 71 male students at the sixth grade. Data…

  5. Effectiveness of Mathematical Word Problem Solving Interventions for Students with Learning Disabilities and Mathematics Difficulties: A Meta-Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lein, Amy E.

    2016-01-01

    This meta-analysis synthesized the findings from 23 published and five unpublished experimental or quasi-experimental group design studies on word problem-solving instruction for K-12 students with learning disabilities (LD) and mathematics difficulties (MD). A secondary purpose of this meta-analysis was to analyze the relation between treatment…

  6. What about Us? Promoting Emotional Well-Being and Inclusion by Working with Young People with Learning Difficulties in Schools and Colleges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Byers, Richard; Davies, Jill; Fergusson, Ann; Marvin, Claire

    2008-01-01

    "What about us?" was a participative action research project promoting the emotional well-being of young people with learning difficulties in inclusive secondary schools and colleges. The project began by reviewing the impact of inclusion on the emotional well-being and personal and social development of young people with learning…

  7. Perceived Learning Difficulty and Actual Performance: Explicit and Implicit Knowledge of L2 English Grammar Points among Instructed Adult Learners

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Silva, Luis Humberto Rodríguez; Roehr-Brackin, Karen

    2016-01-01

    This article draws on an approach that conceptualizes L2 learning difficulty in terms of implicit and explicit knowledge. In a study with first language Mexican Spanish university-level learners (n = 30), their teachers (n = 11), and applied linguistics experts (n = 3), we investigated the relationship between (a) these groups' difficulty…

  8. The effect of selected "desirable difficulties" on the ability to recall anatomy information.

    PubMed

    Dobson, John L; Linderholm, Tracy

    2015-01-01

    "Desirable difficulties" is a theory from cognitive science used to promote learning in a variety of contexts. The basic premise is that creating a cognitively challenging environment at the learning acquisition phase, by actively engaging learners in the retrieval of to-be-learned materials, promotes long-term retention. In this study, the degree of desirable difficulties was varied to identify how cognitively challenging the learning acquisition phase must be to benefit university-level students' learning of anatomy concepts. This is important to investigate as applied studies of desirable difficulties are less frequent than laboratory-based studies and the implementation of this principle may need to be tailored to the specific field of study, such as anatomy. As such, a read-read-read-read (R-R-R-R) condition was compared to read-generate-read-generate (R-G-R-G) and read-test-read-test (R-T-R-T) conditions. The three conditions varied in terms of how effortful the retrieval task was during the learning acquisition phase. R-R-R-R required little effort because participants passively read the materials four times. R-G-R-G required some effort to generate a response as participants completed a word fragment task during the learning acquisition phase. R-T-R-T was thought to be most demanding as participants performed a free recall task twice during the learning phase. With regard to the absolute amount of anatomy information recalled, the R-T-R-T condition was superior at both immediate and delayed (one week) assessment points. Thus, instructors and learners of anatomy would benefit from embedding more free recall components, or self-testing, into university-level course work or study practices. © 2014 American Association of Anatomists.

  9. Reading and Spelling Difficulties in the ELT Classroom

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gerlach, David

    2017-01-01

    Learners with reading and/or spelling difficulties (RSD) generally also show severe problems in learning EFL. Taking into consideration several observational and interventional studies, this article illustrates some practical and pragmatic means of identifying RSD, and provides possible solutions when addressing these difficulties in ELT…

  10. What teacher factors influence their attributions for children's difficulties in learning?

    PubMed

    Brady, Katy; Woolfson, Lisa

    2008-12-01

    Identifying the factors that influence teacher beliefs about teaching children with learning difficulties is important for the success of inclusive education. This study explores the relationship between teachers' role, self-efficacy, attitudes towards disabled people, teaching experience and training, on teachers' attributions for children's difficulties in learning. One hundred and eighteen primary school teachers (44 general mainstream, 33 mainstream learning support, and 41 special education teachers) completed the short form of the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale, the Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale (IDP), and a revised version of the Teacher Attribution Scale. Regression analysis found that teachers' role influenced stability and controllability attributions. However, for stability attributions the effect was not sustained when examined in the context of the other factors of teaching efficacy, experience, training, and attitudes towards disability. What emerged as important instead was strong feelings of sympathy towards disabled people which predicted stable attributions about learning difficulties. Experience of teaching children with additional support needs and teaching efficacy positively predicted external locus of causality attributions. Surprisingly, training was not found to have an impact on attributions. A mixed MANOVA found that mainstream teachers' controllability attributions were influenced by whether or not the child had identified learning support needs. Teacher efficacy, experience of teaching students with support needs, attitudes towards disabled people, and teachers' role all impact on teacher attributions, but no relationship with training was found. Implications for teacher training and development, and for student achievement and student self-perception are discussed.

  11. Talking with patients and peers: medical students' difficulties with learning communication skills.

    PubMed

    Lumma-Sellenthin, Antje

    2009-06-01

    Patient-centered communication skills, such as an empathic attitude towards patients and a holistic perspective on health, are difficult to acquire. Designing effective courses requires better understanding of the difficulties that students perceive with learning to talk with patients The study aimed at exploring students' common difficulties with learning patient-centered communication skills. Group discussions about student-patient interviews were videotaped and analyzed with regard to issues that students perceived as difficult and to their reflections about these difficulties. The students reported feeling intrusive as they explored the patient's psychosocial situation. They avoided being empathic and felt insecure about coping adequately with emotionally loaded topics. Their difficulties were mainly due to insufficient understanding of the functional relations between psychosocial issues and health conditions. Moreover, students were insecure concerning the function of affective feedback in the diagnostic process. However, the group discussions generated a language for analyzing and structuring interviews that helped develop the students' professional identities. Students experienced moral qualms about applying major aspects of patient-centered interviewing. Instruction in communication skills should aim at filling the students' knowledge gaps and fostering their awareness and expression of emotional perceptions. Long-term relationships with patients could help develop patient-centered communication.

  12. Mathematics achievement and anxiety and their relation to internalizing and externalizing behaviors.

    PubMed

    Wu, Sarah S; Willcutt, Erik G; Escovar, Emily; Menon, Vinod

    2014-01-01

    Although behavioral difficulties are well documented in reading disabilities, little is known about the relationship between math ability and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Here, we use standardized measures to investigate the relation among early math ability, math anxiety, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors in a group of 366 second and third graders. Math achievement was significantly correlated with attentional difficulties and social problems but not with internalizing symptoms. The relation between math achievement and externalizing behavioral problems was stronger in girls than in boys. Math achievement was not correlated with trait anxiety but was negatively correlated with math anxiety. Critically, math anxiety differed significantly between children classified as math learning disabled (MLD), low achieving (LA), and typically developing (TD), with math anxiety significantly higher in the MLD and LA groups compared to the TD group. Our findings suggest that, even in nonclinical samples, math difficulties at the earliest stages of formal math learning are associated with attentional difficulties and domain-specific anxiety. These findings underscore the need for further examination of the shared cognitive, neural, and genetic influences underlying problem solving and nonverbal learning difficulties and accompanying internalizing and externalizing behaviors. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2013.

  13. Mathematics Achievement and Anxiety and Their Relation to Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors

    PubMed Central

    Wu, Sarah S.; Willcutt, Erik G.; Escovar, Emily; Menon, Vinod

    2013-01-01

    Although behavioral difficulties are well documented in reading disabilities, little is known about the relationship between math ability and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Here, we use standardized measures to investigate the relation among early math ability, math anxiety, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors in a group of 366 second and third graders. Math achievement was significantly correlated with attentional difficulties and social problems but not with internalizing symptoms. The relation between math achievement and externalizing behavioral problems was stronger in girls than in boys. Math achievement was not correlated with trait anxiety but was negatively correlated with math anxiety. Critically, math anxiety differed significantly between children classified as math learning disabled (MLD), low achieving (LA), and typically developing (TD), with math anxiety significantly higher in the MLD and LA groups compared to the TD group. Our findings suggest that, even in nonclinical samples, math difficulties at the earliest stages of formal math learning are associated with attentional difficulties and domain-specific anxiety. These findings underscore the need for further examination of the shared cognitive, neural, and genetic influences underlying problem solving and nonverbal learning difficulties and accompanying internalizing and externalizing behaviors. PMID:23313869

  14. Effectiveness of a self-regulated remedial program for handwriting difficulties.

    PubMed

    Van Waelvelde, Hilde; De Roubaix, Amy; Steppe, Lien; Troubleyn, Evy; De Mey, Barbara; Dewitte, Griet; Debrabant, Julie; Van de Velde, Dominique

    2017-09-01

    Handwriting difficulties may have pervasive effects on a child's school performance. I Can! is a remedial handwriting program with a focus on self-regulated learning and applying motor learning principles combined with a behavioural approach. It is developed for typically developing children with handwriting problems. The study aim was to evaluate the program's effectiveness. Thirty-one children aged 7-8 year participated in a cross-over study. Handwriting quality and speed were repeatedly assessed by means of the Systematic Screening of Handwriting Difficulties test. Difficulties addressed were fluency in letter formation, fluency in letter connections, letter height, regularity of letter height, space between words, and line path. Mixed model analysis revealed improved quality of writing and speed for all children but significantly more improvement in handwriting quality for the children participating in the program. Although writing speed improved over time, no additional effects of the program occurred. 'I Can!' is found to be an effective instructive program to ameliorate handwriting quality in typically developing children with handwriting difficulties. The program's success was by a therapy burst of only 7 weeks focusing on the child's self-regulated learning capacities, within an individualized education plan according to their needs and goals.

  15. How Common are WM Deficits in Children with Difficulties in Reading and Mathematics?

    PubMed

    Gathercole, Susan E; Woolgar, Francesca; Kievit, Rogier A; Astle, Duncan; Manly, Tom; Holmes, Joni

    2016-12-01

    The extent to which deficits in working memory (WM) are characteristic of children with reading and mathematics difficulties was investigated in a large sample aged 5-15 years reported to have problems in attention, learning and memory. WM performance was highly correlated with reading and mathematics scores. Although deficits in individual tests of short-term memory (STM) and WM occurred in less than half of the children with detected learning difficulties, three-quarters of the children with low reading and mathematics scores obtained one or more WM scores in the deficit range. These findings are consistent with proposals that WM or the broader cognitive dimensions it taps impede school-based learning, and point to the importance of managing WM loads in the classroom.

  16. Evaluation of the level of difficulty of patient cases for veterinary problem-solving examination: a preliminary comparison of three taxonomies of learning.

    PubMed

    Koskinen, Heli

    2007-01-01

    An important issue that has received insufficient attention in the use of problem-based learning in the medical curriculum is the mode of assessing the level of difficulty of patient cases. In the present study, the level of difficulty of case-based questions in a veterinary degree final examination in reproduction was evaluated. First, cognitive taxonomies were evaluated to clarify whether qualitative methods such as Bloom's taxonomy, the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) taxonomy, and the Amsterdam Clinical Challenge Scale (ACCS) differed from each other as evaluation tools for problem-based cases. Using these taxonomies, 30 case-based questions from the final examination in reproduction in the Helsinki veterinary program were initially evaluated to determine which one was best suited to the evaluation of the difficulty of cases. In follow-up, the same cases were also evaluated by an experienced veterinary instructor in reproduction, with the aim of gaining insight into using these approaches to evaluating difficulty. It would appear, from this preliminary assessment, that the SOLO taxonomy may be the most suitable for evaluating the difficulty of patient cases, since the instructor's quality rating resembled more closely the SOLO than the Bloom taxonomy or the ACCS. It is to be emphasized that the purpose of this study was to provide a preliminary evaluation of possible approaches that might be used to assess patient-case difficulty. Resolving all issues will require a greater number of evaluations of all components.

  17. Learning how to learn: Meta-learning strategies for the challenges of learning pharmacology.

    PubMed

    Alton, Suzanne

    2016-03-01

    Nursing students have difficulty with pharmacology courses because of the complicated nomenclature and the difficulty of applying drug information to actual patient care. As part of a new pharmacology course being created, meta-learning strategies designed to diminish the difficulties of learning this difficult content were part of the course pedagogy. Strategies were demonstrated, reviewed in class, and implemented through homework assignments. The setting was an Academic Health Center's School of Nursing in the southern United States. Participants were third-year nursing students in an undergraduate nursing program. Surveys of students' opinions of learning gains were conducted at the end of the course over several semesters. In addition, pharmacology scores on a standardized exit exam were compared prior to implementing the course and after. Students reported learning dry material more easily, having greater confidence, and finding substantial value in the learning strategies. Students indicated the most helpful strategies, in descending order, as follows: making charts to compare and contrast drugs and drug classes, writing out drug flash cards, making or reviewing creative projects, prioritizing information, making or using visual study aids, and using time and repetition to space learning. Implementation of the new course improved pharmacology scores on a standardized exit exam from 67.0% to 74.3%. Overall response to learning strategies was positive, and the increase in the pharmacology standardized exit exam scores demonstrated the effectiveness of this instructional approach. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Commognitive analysis of undergraduate mathematics students' first encounter with the subgroup test

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ioannou, Marios

    2018-06-01

    This study analyses learning aspects of undergraduate mathematics students' first encounter with the subgroup test, using the commognitive theoretical framework. It focuses on students' difficulties as these are related to the object-level and metalevel mathematical learning in group theory, and, when possible, highlights any commognitive conflicts. In the data analysis, one can identify three types of difficulties, relevant to object-level learning: namely regarding the frequently observed confusion between groups and sets, the object-level rules of visual mediators, and the object-level rules of contextual notions, such as permutations, exponentials, sets and matrices. In addition, data analysis suggests two types of difficulties, relevant to metalevel learning. The first refers to the actual proof that the three conditions of subgroup test hold, and the second is related to syntactic inaccuracies, incomplete argumentation and problematic use of visual mediators. Finally, this study suggests that there are clear links between object-level and metalevel learning, mainly due to the fact that objectification of the various relevant mathematical notions influences the endorsement of the governing metarules.

  19. Unconscious and Unnoticed Professional Practice within an Outstanding School for Children and Young People with Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crombie, Richard; Sullivan, Lesley; Walker, Kate; Warnock, Rebecca

    2014-01-01

    This article describes a three-year project undertaken at Pear Tree School for children and young people with severe and multiple and profound learning difficulties. Lesley Sullivan, the school's head teacher, believed that much of the value within the work of this outstanding school went unidentified by existing approaches to planning, monitoring…

  20. Young Children's Affective Decision-Making in a Gambling Task: Does Difficulty in Learning the Gain/Loss Schedule Matter?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gao, Shan; Wei, Yonggang; Bai, Junjie; Lin, Chongde; Li, Hong

    2009-01-01

    This research investigated the development of affective decision-making (ADM) during early childhood, in particular role of difficulty in learning a gain/loss schedule. In Experiment 1, we administrated the Children's Gambling Task (CGT) to 60 Chinese children aged 3 and 4, replicating the results obtained by Kerr and Zelazo [Kerr, A., & Zelazo,…

  1. Teachers' Perceptions of the Availability and Need of a Support Program for Students with Learning Difficulties Attending Elementary Schools in the Atlantic Union Conference

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coke, Lileth Althea

    2013-01-01

    Purpose of the Study. Support programs have been known to be very effective in helping students succeed academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally. The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of the availability and need of a support program for students with learning difficulties who attend elementary schools…

  2. The Effects of Tier 2 Intervention on the Mathematics Performance of First-Grade Students Who Are at Risk for Mathematics Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bryant, Diane Pedrotty; Bryant, Brian R.; Gersten, Russell M.; Scammacca, Nancy N.; Funk, Catherine; Winter, Amanda; Shih, Minyi; Pool, Cathy

    2008-01-01

    Responsiveness to Intervention (RtI) is recommended both as an essential step before identifying learning disabilities (LD) and as a mechanism for preventing learning difficulties. The use of evidence-based multi-tiered interventions is of critical importance when implementing RtI. This article presents the results of a study that examined the…

  3. Out of Sight, out of Mind? Transition for Young People with Learning Difficulties in Out-of-Area Residential Special Schools and Colleges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abbott, David; Heslop, Pauline

    2009-01-01

    Young people with learning difficulties who go to residential special schools and colleges are highly vulnerable, often living a long way from home. Transition towards adulthood--from school to college, or college and beyond--requires careful planning and support for both young people and their families. Despite national policy and guidance in…

  4. "I like It Instead of Maths": How Pupils with Moderate Learning Difficulties in Scottish Primary Special Schools Intuitively Solved Mathematical Word Problems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moscardini, Lio

    2010-01-01

    This study by Lio Moscardini of the University of Strathclyde shows how a group of 24 children in three Scottish primary schools for pupils with moderate learning difficulties responded to word problems following their teachers' introduction to the principles of Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI). CGI is a professional development programme in…

  5. Working Memory Deficits in ADHD: The Contribution of Age, Learning/Language Difficulties, and Task Parameters

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sowerby, Paula; Seal, Simon; Tripp, Gail

    2011-01-01

    Objective: To further define the nature of working memory (WM) impairments in children with combined-type ADHD. Method: A total of 40 Children with ADHD and an age and gender-matched control group (n = 40) completed two measures of visuo-spatial WM and two measures of verbal WM. The effects of age and learning/language difficulties on performance…

  6. A Review of the Empirical Evidence Identifying Effective Interventions and Teaching Practices for Students with Learning Difficulties in Years 4, 5 and 6. Literature Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Purdie, Nola; Ellis, Louise

    2005-01-01

    This review has been prepared by the Australian Council for Educational research (ACER) under an Agreement with the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST). It is one component of a project to investigate effective third wave intervention strategies for students and learning difficulties that persist beyond the…

  7. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

    MedlinePlus

    ... between the nose and upper lip Small head size Shorter-than-average height Low body weight Poor coordination Hyperactive behavior Difficulty with attention and memory Learning disabilities and difficulty in school ...

  8. The Cognitive Profile of Chinese Children with Mathematics Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chan, Becky Mee-yin; Ho, Connie Suk-han

    2010-01-01

    This study examined how four domain-specific skills (arithmetic procedural skills, number fact retrieval, place value concept, and number sense) and two domain-general processing skills (working memory and processing speed) may account for Chinese children's mathematics learning difficulties. Children with mathematics difficulties (MD) of two age…

  9. Attention Functioning among Adolescents with Multiple Learning, Attentional, Behavioral, and Emotional Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shalev, Lilach; Kolodny, Tamar; Shalev, Nir; Mevorach, Carmel

    2016-01-01

    Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by high levels of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity; however, these symptoms can result from a variety of reasons. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of the various difficulties of individuals with ADHD, especially when co-occurrence difficulties are present, it is…

  10. Teaching Children with Down Syndrome in Inclusive Primary Mathematics Classrooms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Faragher, Rhonda; Stratford, Melanie; Clarke, Barbara

    2017-01-01

    At the turn of this century, expectations for learning mathematics by students with Down syndrome were low. Research and practice continued to indicate considerable difficulty with number and calculation (Bird & Buckley, 2001). Unfortunately, most authors extrapolated difficulty with number to difficulty with mathematics in general, even…

  11. Data-based Decision-making: Teachers' Comprehension of Curriculum-based Measurement Progress-monitoring Graphs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    van den Bosch, Roxette M.; Espin, Christine A.; Chung, Siuman; Saab, Nadira

    2017-01-01

    Teachers have difficulty using data from Curriculum-based Measurement (CBM) progress graphs of students with learning difficulties for instructional decision-making. As a first step in unraveling those difficulties, we studied teachers' comprehension of CBM graphs. Using think-aloud methodology, we examined 23 teachers' ability to…

  12. Learner-controlled practice difficulty in the training of a complex task: cognitive and motivational mechanisms.

    PubMed

    Hughes, Michael G; Day, Eric Anthony; Wang, Xiaoqian; Schuelke, Matthew J; Arsenault, Matthew L; Harkrider, Lauren N; Cooper, Olivia D

    2013-01-01

    An inherent aspect of learner-controlled instructional environments is the ability of learners to affect the degree of difficulty faced during training. However, research has yet to examine how learner-controlled practice difficulty affects learning. Based on the notion of desirable difficulties (Bjork, 1994), this study examined the cognitive and motivational antecedents and outcomes of learner-controlled practice difficulty in relation to learning a complex task. Using a complex videogame involving both strong cognitive and psychomotor demands, 112 young adult males were given control over their practice difficulty, which was reflected in the complexity of the training task. Results show that general mental ability, prior experience, pre-training self-efficacy, and error encouragement were positively related to learner-controlled practice difficulty. In turn, practice difficulty was directly related to task knowledge and post-training performance, and it was related to adaptive performance through the mediating influences of task knowledge and post-training performance. In general, this study supports the notion that training difficulty operationalized in terms of task complexity is positively related to both knowledge and performance outcomes. Results are discussed with respect to the need for more research examining how task complexity and other forms of difficulty could be leveraged to advance learner-controlled instructional practices. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  13. The difficulties of using MACSYMA and the function of user aids

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Genesereth, M. R.

    1977-01-01

    The size and complexity of the MACSYMA system may create learning difficulties for users. Deficiency in understanding the system leads to resource knowledge difficulties. A communication factor arises from a difference between the primitive objects, actions, and relations of a user's problem and those provided by the system. The functions of various user aids in handling each of these difficulties are discussed.

  14. Developing learning community model with soft skill integration for the building engineering apprenticeship programme in vocational high school

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sutrisno, Dardiri, Ahmad; Sugandi, R. Machmud

    2017-09-01

    This study aimed to address the procedure, effectiveness, and problems in the implementation of learning model for Building Engineering Apprenticeship Training Programme. This study was carried out through survey method and experiment. The data were collected using questionnaire, test, and assessment sheet. The collected data were examined through description, t-test, and covariance analysis. The results of the study showed that (1) the model's procedure covered preparation course, readiness assessment, assignment distribution, handing over students to apprenticeship instructors, task completion, assisting, field assessment, report writing, and follow-up examination, (2) the Learning Community model could significantly improve students' active learning, but not improve students' hard skills and soft skills, and (3) the problems emerging in the implementation of the model were (1) students' difficulties in finding apprenticeship places and qualified instructors, and asking for relevant tasks, (2) teachers' difficulties in determining relevant tasks and monitoring students, and (3) apprenticeship instructors' difficulties in assigning, monitoring, and assessing students.

  15. Failure to learn from feedback underlies word learning difficulties in toddlers at risk for autism.

    PubMed

    Bedford, R; Gliga, T; Frame, K; Hudry, K; Chandler, S; Johnson, M H; Charman, T

    2013-01-01

    Children's assignment of novel words to nameless objects, over objects whose names they know (mutual exclusivity; ME) has been described as a driving force for vocabulary acquisition. Despite their ability to use ME to fast-map words (Preissler & Carey, 2005), children with autism show impaired language acquisition. We aimed to address this puzzle by building on studies showing that correct referent selection using ME does not lead to word learning unless ostensive feedback is provided on the child's object choice (Horst & Samuelson, 2008). We found that although toddlers aged 2;0 at risk for autism can use ME to choose the correct referent of a word, they do not benefit from feedback for long-term retention of the word-object mapping. Further, their difficulty using feedback is associated with their smaller receptive vocabularies. We propose that difficulties learning from social feedback, not lexical principles, limits vocabulary building during development in children at risk for autism.

  16. Consequences, Characteristics, and Causes of Mathematical Learning Disabilities and Persistent Low Achievement in Mathematics

    PubMed Central

    Geary, David C.

    2011-01-01

    Objective The goals of the review are threefold; a) to highlight the educational and employment consequences of poorly developed mathematical competencies; b) overview the characteristics of the children with persistently low achievement in mathematics; and c) provide a primer on cognitive science research that is aimed at identifying the cognitive mechanisms underlying these learning disabilities and associated cognitive interventions. Method Literatures on the educational and economic consequences of poor mathematics achievement were reviewed and integrated with reviews of epidemiological, behavioral genetic, and cognitive science studies of poor mathematics achievement. Results Poor mathematical competencies are common among adults and result in employment difficulties and difficulties in many common day-to-day activities. Among students, about 7% of children and adolescents have a mathematical learning disability (MLD) and another 10% show persistent low achievement (LA) in mathematics despite average abilities in most other areas. Children with MLD and their LA peers have deficits in understanding and representing numerical magnitude, difficulties retrieving basic arithmetic facts from long-term memory, and delays in learning mathematical procedures. These deficits and delays cannot be attributed to intelligence, but are related to working memory deficits for children with MLD, but not LA children. Interventions that target these cognitive deficits are in development and preliminary results are promising. Conclusion Mathematical learning disabilities and learning difficulties associated with persistent low achievement in mathematics are common and not attributable to intelligence. These individuals have identifiable number and memory delays and deficits that appear to be specific to mathematics learning. The most promising interventions are those that target these specific deficits and, in addition, for children with MLD interventions that target their low working memory capacity. PMID:21285895

  17. Health-Related Quality of Life for Pediatric NF1 Patients

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-08-01

    writing, learning/cognitive v attendance, learning problems and/or disability, classroom classroom difficulties modifications Difficulties with family...not conclusive, there are data to suggest a high incidence of ADHD in children with NF (cf., Moore et al., 1996; North et al., 1997b) and participants...in our interviews frequently reported either a formal diagnosis of ADHD or symptoms consistent with this diagnosis. Reporting on an investigation

  18. Help to Move on--but to What? Young People with Learning Difficulties Moving on from Out-of-Area Residential Schools or Colleges

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heslop, Pauline; Abbott, David

    2009-01-01

    This article describes research undertaken between 2004 and 2006 about the issues faced by 15 young people with a wide range of learning difficulties in out-of-area residential schools and colleges at transition. The process of transition planning was hampered by the distance between the school/college and the "home authority" of the young person;…

  19. Probing High School Students' Cognitive Structures and Key Areas of Learning Difficulties on Ethanoic Acid Using the Flow Map Method

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhou, Qing; Wang, Tingting; Zheng, Qi

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was primarily to explore high school students' cognitive structures and to identify their learning difficulties on ethanoic acid through the flow map method. The subjects of this study were 30 grade 1 students from Dong Yuan Road Senior High School in Xi'an, China. The interviews were conducted a week after the students…

  20. The Effective Use of Symbols in Teaching Word Recognition to Children with Severe Learning Difficulties: A Comparison of Word Alone, Integrated Picture Cueing and the Handle Technique.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sheehy, Kieron

    2002-01-01

    A comparison is made between a new technique (the Handle Technique), Integrated Picture Cueing, and a Word Alone Method. Results show using a new combination of teaching strategies enabled logographic symbols to be used effectively in teaching word recognition to 12 children with severe learning difficulties. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

  1. An Analysis of Attitudes towards the Gifted Students with Learning Difficulties Using Two Samples of Greek and Czech Primary School Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gari, Aikaterini; Mylonas, Kostas; Portešová, Sarka

    2015-01-01

    The provision of gifted students with learning difficulties (GSLD) composes a complicated educational problem that deserves special care. This study explores teachers' attitudes towards the GSLD in two samples of primary school teachers: 225 Greek teachers and 158 teachers in the Czech Republic, 40-59 years of age and with 14-28 years of teaching…

  2. Using Tic-Tac Software to Reduce Anxiety-Related Behaviour in Adults with Autism and Learning Difficulties during Waiting Periods: A Pilot Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Campillo, Cristina; Herrera, Gerardo; Remírez de Ganuza, Conchi; Cuesta, José L.; Abellán, Raquel; Campos, Arturo; Navarro, Ignacio; Sevilla, Javier; Pardo, Carlos; Amati, Fabián

    2014-01-01

    Deficits in the perception of time and processing of changes across time are commonly observed in individuals with autism. This pilot study evaluated the efficacy of the use of the software tool Tic-Tac, designed to make time visual, in three adults with autism and learning difficulties. This research focused on applying the tool in waiting…

  3. The Relationship between Vocabulary, Grammar, and False Belief Task Performance in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Children with Moderate Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fisher, Naomi; Happe, Francesca; Dunn, Judy

    2005-01-01

    Background: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between language and theory of mind in children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and children with moderate learning difficulties (MLD). Previous studies have found a strong association between language and theory of mind in a range of groups, but mostly have not included…

  4. Chiropractic management using a brain-based model of care for a 15-year-old adolescent boy with migraine headaches and behavioral and learning difficulties: a case report

    PubMed Central

    Kuhn, Kurt W.; Cambron, Jerrilyn

    2013-01-01

    Objective The purpose of this report is to describe chiropractic management, using a brain-based model of care, of a teen who had migraine headaches and several social and learning difficulties. Clinical features A 15-year-old adolescent boy with a chronic history of migraines and more than 10 years of learning and behavioral difficulties, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and Tourette syndrome, presented for chiropractic care. Intervention and outcome The patient received spinal manipulation and was given home physical coordination activities that were contralateral to the side of the involved basal ganglia and ipsilateral to the involved cerebellum, along with interactive metronome training. Quantitative changes were noted in neurological soft signs, tests of variables of attention Conners’ Parent Rating Scale, the California Achievement Test, grade point, and reduction of medications. The patient reported qualitative improvements in tics, attention, reading, vision, health, relationships with his peers and his family, and self-esteem. Conclusion The patient with migraine headaches and learning difficulties responded well to the course of chiropractic care. This study suggests that there may be value in a brain-based model of care in the chiropractic management of conditions that are beyond musculoskeletal in nature. PMID:24396330

  5. Multisensory perceptual learning is dependent upon task difficulty.

    PubMed

    De Niear, Matthew A; Koo, Bonhwang; Wallace, Mark T

    2016-11-01

    There has been a growing interest in developing behavioral tasks to enhance temporal acuity as recent findings have demonstrated changes in temporal processing in a number of clinical conditions. Prior research has demonstrated that perceptual training can enhance temporal acuity both within and across different sensory modalities. Although certain forms of unisensory perceptual learning have been shown to be dependent upon task difficulty, this relationship has not been explored for multisensory learning. The present study sought to determine the effects of task difficulty on multisensory perceptual learning. Prior to and following a single training session, participants completed a simultaneity judgment (SJ) task, which required them to judge whether a visual stimulus (flash) and auditory stimulus (beep) presented in synchrony or at various stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) occurred synchronously or asynchronously. During the training session, participants completed the same SJ task but received feedback regarding the accuracy of their responses. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three levels of difficulty during training: easy, moderate, and hard, which were distinguished based on the SOAs used during training. We report that only the most difficult (i.e., hard) training protocol enhanced temporal acuity. We conclude that perceptual training protocols for enhancing multisensory temporal acuity may be optimized by employing audiovisual stimuli for which it is difficult to discriminate temporal synchrony from asynchrony.

  6. Neural signatures of co-occurring reading and mathematical difficulties.

    PubMed

    Skeide, Michael A; Evans, Tanya M; Mei, Edward Z; Abrams, Daniel A; Menon, Vinod

    2018-06-19

    Impaired abilities in multiple domains is common in children with learning difficulties. Co-occurrence of low reading and mathematical abilities (LRLM) appears in almost every second child with learning difficulties. However, little is known regarding the neural bases of this combination. Leveraging a unique and tightly controlled sample including children with LRLM, isolated low reading ability (LR), and isolated low mathematical ability (LM), we uncover a distinct neural signature in children with co-occurring low reading and mathematical abilities differentiable from LR and LM. Specifically, we show that LRLM is neuroanatomically distinct from both LR and LM based on reduced cortical folding of the right parahippocampal gyrus, a medial temporal lobe region implicated in visual associative learning. LRLM children were further distinguished from LR and LM by patterns of intrinsic functional connectivity between parahippocampal gyrus and brain circuitry underlying reading and numerical quantity processing. Our results critically inform cognitive and neural models of LRLM by implicating aberrations in both domain-specific and domain-general brain regions involved in reading and mathematics. More generally, our results provide the first evidence for distinct multimodal neural signatures associated with LRLM, and suggest that this population displays an independent phenotype of learning difficulty that cannot be explained simply as a combination of isolated low reading and mathematical abilities. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. Understanding Learning Disabilities and Substance Abuse.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Star, Nonnie; Shadoff, Sander

    This guide is designed to assist people with learning disabilities to recognize their disabilities and the connection between learning disabilities and substance abuse. It begins by defining learning disabilities and providing a self-test checklist for common signs and symptoms of learning disabilities. Difficulties with organization, memory,…

  8. Aligning Needs, Expectations, and Learning Outcomes to Sustain Self-Efficacy through Transfer Learning Community Programs

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leptien, Jennifer R.

    2015-01-01

    This chapter addresses strengths and difficulties encountered in implementing transfer learning community models and how efficacy is supported through transfer learning community programming. Transfer programming best practices and recommendations for program improvements are presented.

  9. Teaching Chemical Equilibrium and Thermodynamics in Undergraduate General Chemistry Classes.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Banerjee, Anil C.

    1995-01-01

    Discusses some of the conceptual difficulties encountered by undergraduate students in learning certain aspects of chemical equilibrium and thermodynamics. Discusses teaching strategies for dealing with these difficulties. (JRH)

  10. Temperament and Social-Emotional Difficulties: The Dark Side of Learning Disabilities.

    PubMed

    Buonomo, Ilaria; Fiorilli, Caterina; Geraci, Maria Angela; Pepe, Alessandro

    2017-01-01

    The authors compared the relations between general psychological difficulties and dimensions of temperament in children with and without learning disability (LD). The main aim was to analyze whether and to what extent children's temperament dimensions contribute to their general psychological difficulties when LD diagnosis, age, and gender are taken into account. Participants were 52 elementary school children 7-11 years old (M age = 8.61 years, SD = 1.21 years). Twenty-six of them had been diagnosed with LD. Six teachers rated their pupils with and without LD in relation to their general psychological difficulties (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) and temperament dimensions (Italian Questionnaires of Temperament). In children with LD, the main dimensions of temperament with the power to predict general psychological difficulties (i.e., emotionality and social orientation) concern these students' relationships with others (teachers and peers). The findings of the current study draw educators' and practitioners' attention to the fact that children's temperamental characteristics may affect how they experience their LD, with significant implications for their later social adjustment.

  11. Fraction Intervention for Students With Mathematics Difficulties: Lessons Learned From Five Randomized Controlled Trials.

    PubMed

    Fuchs, Lynn S; Malone, Amelia S; Schumacher, Robin F; Namkung, Jessica; Wang, Amber

    In this article, the authors summarize results from 5 randomized controlled trials assessing the effects of intervention to improve the fraction performance of fourth-grade students at risk for difficulty in learning about fractions. The authors begin by explaining the importance of competence with fractions and why an instructional focus on fractions magnitude understanding may improve learning. They then describe an intervention that relies strongly on this type of understanding about fractions instruction, and they provide an overview of the intervention's overall effects. This is followed by an overview of 5 intervention components for which the authors isolated effects. They conclude by discussing some of the lessons learned from this research program.

  12. Evidence-based interventions for reading and language difficulties: creating a virtuous circle.

    PubMed

    Snowling, Margaret J; Hulme, Charles

    2011-03-01

    BACKGROUND. Children may experience two very different forms of reading problem: decoding difficulties (dyslexia) and reading comprehension difficulties. Decoding difficulties appear to be caused by problems with phonological (speech sound) processing. Reading comprehension difficulties in contrast appear to be caused by problems with 'higher level' language difficulties including problems with semantics (including deficient knowledge of word meanings) and grammar (knowledge of morphology and syntax). AIMS. We review evidence concerning the nature, causes of, and treatments for children's reading difficulties. We argue that any well-founded educational intervention must be based on a sound theory of the causes of a particular form of learning difficulty, which in turn must be based on an understanding of how a given skill is learned by typically developing children. Such theoretically motivated interventions should in turn be evaluated in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to establish whether they are effective, and for whom. RESULTS. There is now considerable evidence showing that phonologically based interventions are effective in ameliorating children's word level decoding difficulties, and a smaller evidence base showing that reading and oral language (OL) comprehension difficulties can be ameliorated by suitable interventions to boost vocabulary and broader OL skills. CONCLUSIONS. The process of developing theories about the origins of children's educational difficulties and evaluating theoretically motivated treatments in RCTs, produces a 'virtuous circle' whereby theory informs practice, and the evaluation of effective interventions in turn feeds back to inform and refine theories about the nature and causes of children's reading and language difficulties. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

  13. Student Obstacles in Ratio and Proportion Learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Andini, W.; Jupri, Al

    2017-02-01

    Ratio and proportion are mathematics topics that are learned in elementary school. In the learning process, teachers often found students who have difficulties in learning these topics. Analysing the difficulties on the topics is important for teachers, as an attempt to doa reflection of the learning process and as a reference in devising a learning plan, including for anticipation of the possibility of these barriers that might appear in the next learning process. This research used as the qualitative method, and involved 49 students of grade 5 and one teacher. From the analysis of the data, i.e., student test results and observation of the learning, we found some obstacles that faced by students, such as students confused in understanding about ratio and proportion topic, students found it difficult in completing the problem which have different contexts, the learning material of ratio and proportion topic that presented in textbooks are still partial (not depth), and the lack of ability of the teacher in creating problems.

  14. Creating Dynamic Learning Environment to Enhance Students’ Engagement in Learning Geometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sariyasa

    2017-04-01

    Learning geometry gives many benefits to students. It strengthens the development of deductive thinking and reasoning; it also provides an opportunity to improve visualisation and spatial ability. Some studies, however, have pointed out the difficulties that students encountered when learning geometry. A preliminary study by the author in Bali revealed that one of the main problems was teachers’ difficulties in delivering geometry instruction. It was partly due to the lack of appropriate instructional media. Coupling with dynamic geometry software, dynamic learning environments is a promising solution to this problem. Employing GeoGebra software supported by the well-designed instructional process may result in more meaningful learning, and consequently, students are motivated to engage in the learning process more deeply and actively. In this paper, we provide some examples of GeoGebra-aided learning activities that allow students to interactively explore and investigate geometry concepts and the properties of geometry objects. Thus, it is expected that such learning environment will enhance students’ internalisation process of geometry concepts.

  15. Learning of Grammar-Like Visual Sequences by Adults with and without Language-Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aguilar, Jessica M.; Plante, Elena

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: Two studies examined learning of grammar-like visual sequences to determine whether a general deficit in statistical learning characterizes this population. Furthermore, we tested the hypothesis that difficulty in sustaining attention during the learning task might account for differences in statistical learning. Method: In Study 1,…

  16. Developing and assessing research-based tools for teaching quantum mechanics and thermodynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brown, Benjamin R.

    Research-based tools to educate college students in physics courses from introductory level to graduate level are essential for helping students with a diverse set of goals and backgrounds learn physics. This thesis explores issues related to student common difficulties with some topics in undergraduate quantum mechanics and thermodynamics courses. Student difficulties in learning quantum mechanics and thermodynamics are investigated by administering written tests and surveys to many classes and conducting individual interviews with a subset of students outside the class to unpack the cognitive mechanisms of the difficulties. The quantum mechanics research also focuses on using the research on student difficulties for the development and evaluation of a Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorial (QuILT) to help students learn about the time-dependence of expectation values using the context of Larmor precession of spin and evaluating the role of asking students to self-diagnose their mistakes on midterm examination on their performance on subsequent problem solving. The QuILT on Larmor precession of spin has both paper-pencil activities and a simulation component to help students learn these foundational issues in quantum mechanics. Preliminary evaluations suggest that the QuILT, which strives to help students build a robust knowledge structure of time-dependence of expectation values in quantum mechanics using a guided approach, is successful in helping students learn these topics in the junior-senior level quantum mechanics courses. The technique to help upper-level students in quantum mechanics courses effectively engage in the process of learning from their mistakes is also found to be effective. In particular, research shows that the self-diagnosis activity in upper-level quantum mechanics significantly helps students who are struggling and this activity can reduce the gap between the high and low achieving students on subsequent problem solving. Finally, a survey of Thermodynamic Processes and the First and Second Laws (STPFaSL) is developed and validated with the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of these topics in a thermodynamics curriculum. The validity and reliability of this survey are discussed and the student difficulties with these topics among various groups from introductory students to physics graduate students are cataloged.

  17. Supporting Learning from Illustrated Texts: Conceptualizing and Evaluating a Learning Strategy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schlag, Sabine; Ploetzner, Rolf

    2011-01-01

    Texts and pictures are often combined in order to improve learning. Many students, however, have difficulty to appropriately process text-picture combinations. We have thus conceptualized a learning strategy which supports learning from illustrated texts. By inducing the processes of information selection, organization, integration, and…

  18. Myths about Foreign Language Learning and Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sparks, Richard L.

    2016-01-01

    Conventional wisdom in education has suggested that students who are classified as learning disabled (LD) will exhibit inordinate difficulties learning a foreign language (FL). Even when not explicitly stated, the notion that those classified as LD have a disability for FL learning is implied. However, while beliefs about this purported disability…

  19. Exhibiting the Field for Learning: Telling New York's Stories

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saunders, Angharad

    2011-01-01

    This paper explores the challenges of engaging and assessing students in residential field learning. Fieldwork presents students with complex learning environments, wherein they are asked to participate in a variety of learning activities. Difficulties arise, however, over how to sustain engagement in field learning while simultaneously capturing…

  20. Effects of Segmenting, Signalling, and Weeding on Learning from Educational Video

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ibrahim, Mohamed; Antonenko, Pavlo D.; Greenwood, Carmen M.; Wheeler, Denna

    2012-01-01

    Informed by the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, this study examined the effects of three multimedia design principles on undergraduate students' learning outcomes and perceived learning difficulty in the context of learning entomology from an educational video. These principles included segmenting the video into smaller units, signalling…

  1. Facts About Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs)

    MedlinePlus

    ... attention Poor memory Difficulty in school (especially with math) Learning disabilities Speech and language delays Intellectual disability ... do poorly in school and have difficulties with math, memory, attention, judgment, and poor impulse control. Alcohol- ...

  2. Working Memory in Students with Mathematical Difficulties

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nur, I. R. D.; Herman, T.; Ningsih, S.

    2018-04-01

    Learning process is the activities that has important role because this process is one of the all factors that establish students success in learning. oftentimes we find so many students get the difficulties when they study mathematics. This condition is not only because of the outside factor but also it comes from the inside. The purpose of this research is to analyze and give the representation how students working memory happened in physical education students for basic statistics subjects which have mathematical difficulties. The subjects are 4 students which have a mathematical difficulties. The research method is case study and when the describe about students working memory are explanated deeply with naturalistic observation. Based on this research, it was founded that 4 students have a working memory deficit in three components. The components are phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, dan episodic buffer.

  3. Difficulties in learning and teaching statistics: teacher views

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Koparan, Timur

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to define teacher views about the difficulties in learning and teaching middle school statistics subjects. To serve this aim, a number of interviews were conducted with 10 middle school maths teachers in 2011-2012 school year in the province of Trabzon. Of the qualitative descriptive research methods, the semi-structured interview technique was applied in the research. In accordance with the aim, teacher opinions about the statistics subjects were examined and analysed. Similar responses from the teachers were grouped and evaluated. The teachers stated that it was positive that middle school statistics subjects were taught gradually in every grade but some difficulties were experienced in the teaching of this subject. The findings are presented in eight themes which are context, sample, data representation, central tendency and dispersion measure, probability, variance, and other difficulties.

  4. Genetics Home Reference: 48,XXYY syndrome

    MedlinePlus

    ... degree of difficulty with speech and language development. Learning disabilities, especially those that are language-based, are very ... Autism Speaks CHADD: The National Resource on ADHD Learning Disabilities Association of America National Center for Learning Disabilities ...

  5. Similar Sound Separation and Cumulative Introduction in Learning Letter-Sound Correspondences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carnine, Douglas W.

    1976-01-01

    Since similarity inhibits learning, children will have greater difficulty learning responses that are more similar to each other; the instructional procedure of separating similar sounds was evaluated in two experiments. (DMT)

  6. Auditory processing disorders, verbal disfluency, and learning difficulties: a case study.

    PubMed

    Jutras, Benoît; Lagacé, Josée; Lavigne, Annik; Boissonneault, Andrée; Lavoie, Charlen

    2007-01-01

    This case study reports the findings of auditory behavioral and electrophysiological measures performed on a graduate student (identified as LN) presenting verbal disfluency and learning difficulties. Results of behavioral audiological testing documented the presence of auditory processing disorders, particularly temporal processing and binaural integration. Electrophysiological test results, including middle latency, late latency and cognitive potentials, revealed that LN's central auditory system processes acoustic stimuli differently to a reference group with normal hearing.

  7. Not Fit for Purpose: A Call for Separate and Distinct Pedagogies as Part of a National Framework for Those with Severe and Profound Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Imray, Peter; Hinchcliffe, Viv

    2012-01-01

    The introduction of the National Curriculum in 1988 caused much discussion (some of it angst-ridden) among both academics and practitioners working with pupils with severe and profound learning difficulties, and much of the meat (and the angst) of these discussions is still going on today. We argue that 24 years is a long experiment; that despite…

  8. The Challenges of Chinese: A Preliminary Study of UK Learners' Perceptions of Difficulty

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hu, Bo

    2010-01-01

    This study aims to highlight aspects of difficulty encountered by Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) learners and to explore the factors underlying these aspects. Data were gathered through a Chinese Language Learning Difficulty Survey from 164 CFL learners, mostly in British higher education. The survey data provided useful exploratory findings.…

  9. Identification of Fluency and Word-Finding Difficulty in Samples of Children with Diverse Language Backgrounds

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howell, Peter; Tang, Kevin; Tuomainen, Outi; Chan, Sin Kan; Beltran, Kirsten; Mirawdeli, Avin; Harris, John

    2017-01-01

    Background: Stuttering and word-finding difficulty (WFD) are two types of communication difficulty that occur frequently in children who learn English as an additional language (EAL), as well as those who only speak English. The two disorders require different, specific forms of intervention. Prior research has described the symptoms of each type…

  10. Arithmetic Difficulties in Children with Cerebral Palsy Are Related to Executive Function and Working Memory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jenks, Kathleen M.; de Moor, Jan; van Lieshout, Ernest C. D. M.

    2009-01-01

    Background: Although it is believed that children with cerebral palsy are at high risk for learning difficulties and arithmetic difficulties in particular, few studies have investigated this issue. Methods: Arithmetic ability was longitudinally assessed in children with cerebral palsy in special (n = 41) and mainstream education (n = 16) and…

  11. Visual-Perceptual Difficulties and the Impact on Children's Learning: Are Teachers Missing the Page?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boyle, Christopher; Jindal-Snape, Divya

    2012-01-01

    This article attempts to bring to the fore of educational practice the importance of considering the visual-perceptual condition of Meares-Irlen syndrome (MIS) when identifying students who have prolonged reading difficulties. Dyslexia is a frequently used term which can be used to label children who have specific difficulties with reading and/or…

  12. Supporting Teachers in Identifying Students' Learning Styles in Learning Management Systems: An Automatic Student Modelling Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graf, Sabine; Kinshuk; Liu, Tzu-Chien

    2009-01-01

    In learning management systems (LMSs), teachers have more difficulties to notice and know how individual students behave and learn in a course, compared to face-to-face education. Enabling teachers to know their students' learning styles and making students aware of their own learning styles increases teachers' and students' understanding about…

  13. Do Science Teachers Distinguish between Their Own Learning and the Learning of Their Students?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brauer, Heike; Wilde, Matthias

    2018-01-01

    Learning beliefs influence learning and teaching. For this reason, teachers and teacher educators need to be aware of them. To support students' knowledge construction, teachers must develop appropriate learning and teaching beliefs. Teachers appear to have difficulties when analysing students' learning. This seems to be due to the inability to…

  14. Learning Materials Recommendation Using Good Learners' Ratings and Content-Based Filtering

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ghauth, Khairil Imran; Abdullah, Nor Aniza

    2010-01-01

    The enormity of the amount of learning materials in e-learning has led to the difficulty of locating suitable learning materials for a particular learning topic, creating the need for recommendation tools within a learning context. In this paper, we aim to address this need by proposing a novel e-learning recommender system framework that is based…

  15. The Use of Geometry Learning Media Based on Augmented Reality for Junior High School Students

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rohendi, D.; Septian, S.; Sutarno, H.

    2018-02-01

    Understanding the geometry especially of three-dimensional space is still considered difficult by some students. Therefore, a learning innovation is required to overcome students’ difficulties in learning geometry. In this research, we developed geometry learning media based on augmented reality in android flatform’s then it was implemented in teaching three-dimensional objects for some junior high school students to find out: how is the students response in using this new media in geometry and is this media can solve the student’s difficulties in understanding geometry concept. The results showed that the use of geometry learning media based on augmented reality in android flatform is able to get positive responses from the students in learning geometry concepts especially three-dimensional objects and students more easy to understand concept of diagonal in geometry than before using this media.

  16. Spatial short-term memory in children with nonverbal learning disabilities: impairment in encoding spatial configuration.

    PubMed

    Narimoto, Tadamasa; Matsuura, Naomi; Takezawa, Tomohiro; Mitsuhashi, Yoshinori; Hiratani, Michio

    2013-01-01

    The authors investigated whether impaired spatial short-term memory exhibited by children with nonverbal learning disabilities is due to a problem in the encoding process. Children with or without nonverbal learning disabilities performed a simple spatial test that required them to remember 3, 5, or 7 spatial items presented simultaneously in random positions (i.e., spatial configuration) and to decide if a target item was changed or all items including the target were in the same position. The results showed that, even when the spatial positions in the encoding and probe phases were similar, the mean proportion correct of children with nonverbal learning disabilities was 0.58 while that of children without nonverbal learning disabilities was 0.84. The authors argue with the results that children with nonverbal learning disabilities have difficulty encoding relational information between spatial items, and that this difficulty is responsible for their impaired spatial short-term memory.

  17. Lessons Learned and Technical Standards: A Logical Marriage for Future Space Systems Design

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gill, Paul S.; Garcia, Danny; Vaughan, William W.; Parker, Nelson C. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    A comprehensive database of engineering lessons learned that corresponds with relevant technical standards will be a valuable asset to those engaged in studies on future space vehicle developments, especially for structures, materials, propulsion, control, operations and associated elements. In addition, this will enable the capturing of technology developments applicable to the design, development, and operation of future space vehicles as planned in the Space Launch Initiative. Using the time-honored tradition of passing on lessons learned while utilizing the newest information technology, NASA has launched an intensive effort to link lessons learned acquired through various Internet databases with applicable technical standards. This paper will discuss the importance of lessons learned, the difficulty in finding relevant lessons learned while engaged in a space vehicle development, and the new NASA effort to relate them to technical standards that can help alleviate this difficulty.

  18. Student Cognitive Difficulties and Mental Model Development of Complex Earth and Environmental Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sell, K.; Herbert, B.; Schielack, J.

    2004-05-01

    Students organize scientific knowledge and reason about environmental issues through manipulation of mental models. The nature of the environmental sciences, which are focused on the study of complex, dynamic systems, may present cognitive difficulties to students in their development of authentic, accurate mental models of environmental systems. The inquiry project seeks to develop and assess the coupling of information technology (IT)-based learning with physical models in order to foster rich mental model development of environmental systems in geoscience undergraduate students. The manipulation of multiple representations, the development and testing of conceptual models based on available evidence, and exposure to authentic, complex and ill-constrained problems were the components of investigation utilized to reach the learning goals. Upper-level undergraduate students enrolled in an environmental geology course at Texas A&M University participated in this research which served as a pilot study. Data based on rubric evaluations interpreted by principal component analyses suggest students' understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry is limited and the ability to cross scales and link systems proved problematic. Results categorized into content knowledge and cognition processes where reasoning, critical thinking and cognitive load were driving factors behind difficulties in student learning. Student mental model development revealed multiple misconceptions and lacked complexity and completeness to represent the studied systems. Further, the positive learning impacts of the implemented modules favored the physical model over the IT-based learning projects, likely due to cognitive load issues. This study illustrates the need to better understand student difficulties in solving complex problems when using IT, where the appropriate scaffolding can then be implemented to enhance student learning of the earth system sciences.

  19. Being and becoming a psychotherapy supervisor: the crucial triad of learning difficulties.

    PubMed

    Watkins, C Edward

    2013-01-01

    More than 40 years ago eminent psychiatrist Richard Chessick penned a classic, highly prescient psychotherapy supervision paper (that appeared in this journal) in which he identified for supervisors the crucial triad of learning difficulties that tend to confront beginning therapists in their training. These are (a) dealing with the anxiety attendant to the development of psychological mindedness; (b) developing a psychotherapist identity; and (c) developing conviction about the meaningfulness of psychodynamics and psychotherapy. In this paper, I would like to revisit Chessick's seminal contribution about the teaching and learning of psychotherapy and extrapolate his triad of learning difficulties to the process of teaching and learning supervision. The process of being and becoming a psychotherapist has been likened to a developmental journey, and similarly being and becoming a supervisor is increasingly recognized as a developmental journey that is best stimulated by means of didactic and practical experiences (i.e., supervision coursework, seminars, or workshops and the supervision of supervision). In what follows, I would like to explore how Chessick's crucial triad of learning difficulties can be meaningfully extrapolated to and used to inform the supervision training situation. In extrapolating Chessick's triad, beginning supervisors or supervisor trainees can be conceptualized as confronting three critical issues: (a) dealing with the anxiety and demoralization attendant to the development of supervisory mindedness; (b) developing a supervisory identity; and (c) developing conviction about the meaningfulness of psychotherapy supervision. This triadic conceptualization appears to capture nicely core concerns that extend across the arc of the supervisor development process and provides a useful and usable way of thinking about supervisor training and informing it. Each component of the triadic conceptualization is described, and some supervisor education intervention possibilities are considered.

  20. Feedback Valence Affects Auditory Perceptual Learning Independently of Feedback Probability

    PubMed Central

    Amitay, Sygal; Moore, David R.; Molloy, Katharine; Halliday, Lorna F.

    2015-01-01

    Previous studies have suggested that negative feedback is more effective in driving learning than positive feedback. We investigated the effect on learning of providing varying amounts of negative and positive feedback while listeners attempted to discriminate between three identical tones; an impossible task that nevertheless produces robust learning. Four feedback conditions were compared during training: 90% positive feedback or 10% negative feedback informed the participants that they were doing equally well, while 10% positive or 90% negative feedback informed them they were doing equally badly. In all conditions the feedback was random in relation to the listeners’ responses (because the task was to discriminate three identical tones), yet both the valence (negative vs. positive) and the probability of feedback (10% vs. 90%) affected learning. Feedback that informed listeners they were doing badly resulted in better post-training performance than feedback that informed them they were doing well, independent of valence. In addition, positive feedback during training resulted in better post-training performance than negative feedback, but only positive feedback indicating listeners were doing badly on the task resulted in learning. As we have previously speculated, feedback that better reflected the difficulty of the task was more effective in driving learning than feedback that suggested performance was better than it should have been given perceived task difficulty. But contrary to expectations, positive feedback was more effective than negative feedback in driving learning. Feedback thus had two separable effects on learning: feedback valence affected motivation on a subjectively difficult task, and learning occurred only when feedback probability reflected the subjective difficulty. To optimize learning, training programs need to take into consideration both feedback valence and probability. PMID:25946173

  1. Learning Programming Technique through Visual Programming Application as Learning Media with Fuzzy Rating

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Buditjahjanto, I. G. P. Asto; Nurlaela, Luthfiyah; Ekohariadi; Riduwan, Mochamad

    2017-01-01

    Programming technique is one of the subjects at Vocational High School in Indonesia. This subject contains theory and application of programming utilizing Visual Programming. Students experience some difficulties to learn textual learning. Therefore, it is necessary to develop media as a tool to transfer learning materials. The objectives of this…

  2. Managing Dynamics of Power and Learning in Community Development: A Case Study of Iowan Farmers in Uganda

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stephen, Lauer; Owusu, Francis Y.

    2015-01-01

    Extension professionals facilitate community development through the strategic manipulation of learning and power in peer-to-peer learning partnerships. We discuss the relationship between empowerment and power, highlight relevant literature on the difficulties power presents to learning and the efficacy of service learning tools to facilitate…

  3. Teaching with Technology: Applications of Collaborative Online Learning Units to Improve 21st Century Skills for All

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Terrazas-Arellanes, Fatima E.; Strycker, Lisa A.; Walden, Emily D.; Gallard, Alejandro

    2017-01-01

    Inquiry-based learning methods, coupled with advanced technology, hold promise for closing the science literacy gap for English learners (ELs) and students with learning difficulties (SWLDs). Project ESCOLAR (Etext Supports for Collaborative Online Learning and Academic Reading) created collaborative online learning units for middle school science…

  4. On the learning difficulty of visual and auditory modal concepts: Evidence for a single processing system.

    PubMed

    Vigo, Ronaldo; Doan, Karina-Mikayla C; Doan, Charles A; Pinegar, Shannon

    2018-02-01

    The logic operators (e.g., "and," "or," "if, then") play a fundamental role in concept formation, syntactic construction, semantic expression, and deductive reasoning. In spite of this very general and basic role, there are relatively few studies in the literature that focus on their conceptual nature. In the current investigation, we examine, for the first time, the learning difficulty experienced by observers in classifying members belonging to these primitive "modal concepts" instantiated with sets of acoustic and visual stimuli. We report results from two categorization experiments that suggest the acquisition of acoustic and visual modal concepts is achieved by the same general cognitive mechanism. Additionally, we attempt to account for these results with two models of concept learning difficulty: the generalized invariance structure theory model (Vigo in Cognition 129(1):138-162, 2013, Mathematical principles of human conceptual behavior, Routledge, New York, 2014) and the generalized context model (Nosofsky in J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 10(1):104-114, 1984, J Exp Psychol 115(1):39-57, 1986).

  5. [Nineteen cases of school-aged children with degenerative or metabolic neurological disorders initially presenting with learning difficulty and/or behavior disturbance].

    PubMed

    Honzawa, Shiho; Sugai, Kenji; Akaike, Hiroto; Nakayama, Tojo; Fujikawa, Yoshinao; Komaki, Hirofumi; Nakagawa, Eiji; Sasaki, Masayuki

    2012-07-01

    We reported 19 cases of school-aged children. They were initially judged to have learning difficulty or school maladaptation because of attention deficits, hyperactive behaviors or poor school performance, followed by the diagnosis such as degenerative or metabolic neurological diseases. The patients consisted of 4 cases of adrenoleukodystrophy, 5 cases of dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy, 3 cases of Sanfilippo syndrome, 3 cases of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, and each one case of juvenile Gaucher disease, juvenile Huntington disease, juvenile metachromatic leukodystrophy and Leigh disease. They had markedly poor school performance, and/or abnormal behaviors, followed by seizures, character disorders or psychomotor regression. The diagnostic clues included brain CT scan and/or MRI, peculiar facial appearance and notable family histories. When the children were indicated to have learning difficulty or maladjustment to school life, we should make deliberate differential diagnoses before concluding that they have a learning disorder and/or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Instead they should be recommended to visit child neurologists, when they present with any problems as aforesaid.

  6. Can transcranial electrical stimulation improve learning difficulties in atypical brain development? A future possibility for cognitive training☆

    PubMed Central

    Krause, Beatrix; Cohen Kadosh, Roi

    2013-01-01

    Learning difficulties in atypical brain development represent serious obstacles to an individual's future achievements and can have broad societal consequences. Cognitive training can improve learning impairments only to a certain degree. Recent evidence from normal and clinical adult populations suggests that transcranial electrical stimulation (TES), a portable, painless, inexpensive, and relatively safe neuroenhancement tool, applied in conjunction with cognitive training can enhance cognitive intervention outcomes. This includes, for instance, numerical processing, language skills and response inhibition deficits commonly associated with profound learning difficulties and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The current review introduces the functional principles, current applications and promising results, and potential pitfalls of TES. Unfortunately, research in child populations is limited at present. We suggest that TES has considerable promise as a tool for increasing neuroplasticity in atypically developing children and may be an effective adjunct to cognitive training in clinical settings if it proves safe. The efficacy and both short- and long-term effects of TES on the developing brain need to be critically assessed before it can be recommended for clinical settings. PMID:23770059

  7. Developing learning material of introduction to operation research course based on problem-based learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yerizon; Jazwinarti; Yarman

    2018-01-01

    Students have difficulties experience in the course Introduction to Operational Research (PRO). The purpose of this study is to analyze the requirement of students in the developing lecturing materials PRO based Problem Based Learning which is valid, practice, and effective. Lecture materials are developed based on Plomp’s model. The development process of this device consists of 3 phases: front-end analysis/preliminary research, development/prototype phase and assessment phase. Preliminary analysis was obtained by observation and interview. From the research, it is found that students need the student’s worksheet (LKM) for several reasons: 1) no LKM available, 2) presentation of subject not yet based on real problem, 3) experiencing difficulties from current learning source.

  8. Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sittiprapaporn, Wichian, Ed.

    2012-01-01

    Learning disability is a classification that includes several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner. Depending on the type and severity of the disability, interventions may be used to help the individual learn strategies that will foster future success. Some interventions can be quite simplistic, while others are…

  9. Peer Collaboration: The Relation of Regulatory Behaviors to Learning with Hypermedia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Winters, Fielding I.; Alexander, Patricia A.

    2011-01-01

    Peer collaboration is a pedagogical method currently used to facilitate learning in classrooms. Similarly, computer-learning environments (CLEs) are often used to promote student learning in science classrooms, in particular. However, students often have difficulty utilizing these environments effectively. Does peer collaboration help students…

  10. Modifying Learning Strategies for Classroom Success

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Brien, Chris

    2005-01-01

    Students with Learning Disabilities (LD) often experience significant difficulty with academic content at the secondary level due to weaknesses in reading comprehension, written expression, math skills, and vocabulary learning skills. This article will highlight the usefulness of learning strategies for ensuring success of students with LD in the…

  11. An investigation into introductory astronomy students' difficulties with cosmology, and the development, validation, and efficacy of a new suite of cosmology lecture-tutorials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wallace, Colin S.

    This study reports the results of the first systematic investigation into Astro 101 students' conceptual and reasoning difficulties with cosmology. We developed four surveys with which we measured students' conceptual knowledge of the Big Bang, the expansion and evolution of the universe, and the evidence for dark matter. Our classical test theory and item response theory analyses of over 2300 students' pre- and post-instruction responses, combined with daily classroom observations, videotapes of students working in class, and one-on-one semi-structured think-aloud interviews with nineteen Astro 101 students, revealed several common learning difficulties. In order to help students overcome these difficulties, we used our results to inform the development of a new suite of cosmology lecture-tutorials. In our initial testing of the new lecture-tutorials at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Arizona, we found many cases in which students who used the lecture-tutorials achieved higher learning gains (as measured by our surveys) at statistically significant levels than students who did not. Subsequent use of the lecture-tutorials at a variety of colleges and universities across the United States produced a wide range of learning gains, suggesting that instructors' pedagogical practices and implementations of the lecture-tutorials significantly affect whether or not students achieve high learning gains.

  12. Supporting the Transition of Learning Disabled Students to the Postsecondary Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gray, Patricia Jean

    2012-01-01

    Students with learning disabilities present a diverse spectrum of learning needs; research suggest they may have difficulty making the transition to the postsecondary environment. Learning disabled students at the subject high school were not successfully making the transition from the secondary to the postsecondary environment. This study was…

  13. Computer Assisted Instruction to Promote Comprehension in Students with Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stetter, Maria Earman; Hughes, Marie Tejero

    2011-01-01

    Reading comprehension is a crucial skill for academic success of all students. Very often, students with learning disabilities struggle with reading skills and since students learn new information in school by reading; these difficulties often increase the academic struggles students with learning disabilities face. The current study examined…

  14. Working Memory in Children with Learning Disabilities: Rethinking the Criterion of Discrepancy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maehler, Claudia; Schuchardt, Kirsten

    2011-01-01

    The criterion of discrepancy is used to distinguish children with learning disorders from children with intellectual disabilities. The justification of the criterion of discrepancy for the diagnosis of learning disorders relies on the conviction of fundamental differences between children with learning difficulties with versus without discrepancy…

  15. Findings of Studies on Dyscalculia--A Synthesis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Raja, B. William Dharma; Kumar, S. Praveen

    2012-01-01

    Children with learning disabilities face problems in acquiring the basic skills needed for learning. Dyscalculia is one among those learning disorders which affects the ability to acquire arithmetic skills that are needed to perform mathematical calculations. However this is a learning difficulty which is often not recognized. The objectives of…

  16. Writing Process Products in Intermediate-Grade Children With and Without Language-Based Learning Disabilities.

    PubMed

    Koutsoftas, Anthony D

    2016-12-01

    Difficulties with written expression are an important consideration in the assessment and treatment of school-age children. This study evaluated how intermediate-grade children with and without written language difficulties fared on a writing task housed within the Hayes and Berninger (2014) writing process framework. Sixty-four children completed a writing task whereby they planned, wrote, and revised a narrative story across 3 days. Children had extended time to produce an outline, first draft, and final copy of their story. Language transcription approaches were used to obtain measures reflecting writing productivity, complexity, accuracy, and mechanics, in addition to measures of planning and revision. Results indicated that children with writing difficulties produced poorer quality stories compared with their peers yet were not significantly different across all measures. Children with typical development produced longer stories with better spelling accuracy. Writing process measures predicted significant amounts of variance in writing quality across the sample. Writing should be considered as part of language assessment and intervention, whether as the sole language difficulty or alongside difficulties with speaking, listening, or reading in children with language-based learning difficulties. Implications for translation of research to practice and service delivery are provided.

  17. Comparison of reading-writing patterns and performance of students with and without reading difficulties.

    PubMed

    Fidalgo, Raquel; Torrance, Mark; Arias-Gundín, Olga; Martínez-Cocó, Begoña

    2014-01-01

    This paper analyses performance and the process used in carrying out a common hybrid task, such as, summarizing a text, from a developmental point of view and comparing the differences between students with and without reading difficulties. 548 students typically developing and 54 students with learning difficulties for reading (grades 5 to 8, ages 11 to 14) read and summarized a text using the triple task technique and then they did a comprehension questionnaire. Attention was paid to the various activities undertaken during this task, their cognitive cost, and the organization of reading and writing activities throughout the exercise, together with performance through evaluation of the summary and the reading comprehension questionnaire. There were no significant differences in performance or strategies used for the task between students of primary and secondary education. A linear reading-writing process was mostly employed by both, with greater cost and time needed by primary students. Students with reading difficulties did not show any strategies compensating for the greater difficulty and cognitive cost that the task represents for them. The effective and strategic use of summarizing as a learning tool seems to demand a specific training for students with or without reading difficulties.

  18. The Use of Open-Ended Questions with Giving Feedback (OEQGF) for Effective Mathematic Learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sabilah, I.; Manoy, J. T.

    2018-01-01

    Feedback deals with giving information to students related to their task which is done through score of their achievement, reaction, and comments. Considering its hierarchy, task difficulty level consists of low, middle and high levels. The difficulty level of open-ended questions is middle to high. Open-ended question is a good way to train students’ knowledge. This research is a descriptive research which aims at describing teacher’s learning management, students’ activities, students’ learning achievement, and students’ responses in mathematic learning using OEQGF. The subject was a teacher of mathematics who teaches eighth graders, and students themselves. The research design used is one shot case study. The result shows that: management learning has been very well implemented by the teacher; every students’ activity has been carried out by students; the students’ learning achievement have reached the criteria of completeness, and the students’ responses can be considered as positive. Therefore, it can be concluded that mathematic learning using OEQGF is effective.

  19. Evaluating the User Experience of Exercising Reaching Motions With a Robot That Predicts Desired Movement Difficulty.

    PubMed

    Shirzad, Navid; Van der Loos, H F Machiel

    2016-01-01

    The notion of an optimal difficulty during practice has been articulated in many areas of cognitive psychology: flow theory, the challenge point framework, and desirable difficulties. Delivering exercises at a participant's desired difficulty has the potential to improve both motor learning and users' engagement in therapy. Motivation and engagement are among the contributing factors to the success of exercise programs. The authors previously demonstrated that error amplification can be used to introduce levels of challenge into a robotic reaching task, and that machine-learning algorithms can dynamically adjust difficulty to the desired level with 85% accuracy. Building on these findings, we present the results of a proof-of-concept study investigating the impacts of practicing under desirable difficulty conditions. A control condition with a predefined random order for difficulty levels was deemed more suitable for this study (compared to constant or continuously increasing difficulty). By practicing the task at their desirable difficulties, participants in the experimental group perceived their performance at a significantly higher level and reported lower required effort to complete the task, in comparison to a control group. Moreover, based on self-reports, participants in the experimental group were willing, on average, to continue the training session for 4.6 more training blocks (∼45 min) compared to the control group's average. This study demonstrates the efficiency of delivering the exercises at the user's desired difficulty level to improve the user's engagement in exercise tasks. Future work will focus on clinical feasibility of this approach in increasing stroke survivors' engagement in their therapy programs.

  20. Modular Training for Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy: Where to Begin?

    PubMed

    Lovegrove, Catherine; Ahmed, Kamran; Novara, Giacomo; Guru, Khurshid; Mottrie, Alex; Challacombe, Ben; der Poel, Henk Van; Peabody, James; Dasgupta, Prokar

    Effective training is paramount for patient safety. Modular training entails advancing through surgical steps of increasing difficulty. This study aimed to construct a modular training pathway for use in robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). It aims to identify the sequence of procedural steps that are learnt before surgeons are able to perform a full procedure without an intervention from mentor. This is a multi-institutional, prospective, observational, longitudinal study. We used a validated training tool (RARP Score). Data regarding surgeons' stage of training and progress were collected for analysis. A modular training pathway was constructed with consensus on the level of difficulty and evaluation of individual steps. We identified and recorded the sequence of steps performed by fellows during their learning curves. We included 15 urology fellows from UK, Europe, and Australia. A total of 15 surgeons were assessed by mentors in 425 RARP cases over 8 months (range: 7-79) across 15 international centers. There were substantial differences in the sequence of RARP steps according to the chronology of the procedure, difficulty level, and the order in which surgeons actually learned steps. Steps were not attempted in chronological order. The greater the difficulty, the later the cohort first undertook the step (p = 0.021). The cohort undertook steps of difficulty level I at median case number 1. Steps of difficulty levels II, III, and IV showed more variation in median case number of the first attempt. We recommend that, in the operating theater, steps be learned in order of increasing difficulty. A new modular training route has been designed. This incorporates the steps of RARP with the following order of priority: difficulty level > median case number of first attempt > most frequently undertaken in surgical training. An evidence-based modular training pathway has been developed that facilitates a safe introduction to RARP for novice surgeons. Copyright © 2017 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Learner Outcomes in Science in South Africa: Role of the Nature of Learner Difficulties with the Language for Learning and Teaching Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oyoo, Samuel Ouma

    2017-08-01

    Paul Leslie Gardner pioneered the study of student difficulties with everyday words presented in the science context (Gardner 1971); several similarly designed studies (e.g. Cassels and Johnstone 1985; Tao in Research in Science Education, 24, 322-330, 1994; Farell and Ventura in Language and Education, 12(4), 243-254, 1998; Childs and O'Farell in Chemistry Education: Research and Practice, 4(3), 233-247, 2003) have since been reported in literature. This article draws from an exploratory study of the difficulties South African High School physical science learners encounter with everyday English words when presented in the science context. The participants (1107 learners and 35 respective physical science teachers) were drawn from 35 public secondary schools in Johannesburg area of South Africa. Data were obtained through a word test to participant learners followed by group interviews but face-to-face interviews with each physical science teacher. This study has revealed that in similar ways as have been reported in each of the studies so far, South African learners also face difficulties with meanings of everyday words presented in a science context. The main source of difficulties encountered was learner inability to distinguish between the meanings of familiar everyday words as used in everyday parlance from the `new' meanings of the same everyday words when used in the science context. Interpretations of learner interview responses revealed that fewer difficulties would have been experienced by learners if science teachers generally explained the context meanings of the words as used during science teaching. The findings suggest that focusing on contextual proficiency more than on general proficiency in the language of learning and teaching (LOLT) during teaching perhaps holds more promise for enhanced learning and achievement in science. Steps necessary to raise teacher awareness of the potential impact of context on meanings of everyday words of the LOLT are discussed. This article stands as an evidence-led discussion of the issues around the language-related difficulties that learners in South Africa may encounter as they learn school science.

  2. Difficulty with learning of exercise instructions associated with 'working memory' dysfunction and frontal glucose hypometabolism in a patient with very mild subcortical vascular dementia with knee osteoarthritis.

    PubMed

    Takeda, Kenji; Meguro, Kenichi; Tanaka, Naofumi; Nakatsuka, Masahiro

    2013-07-25

    We present a patient with no dementia, depression or apathy, who had difficulty in learning self-exercise instructions. The patient was an 80-year-old right-handed woman who was admitted to a rehabilitation unit to receive postoperative rehabilitation after a femoral neck fracture. She was instructed quadriceps isometric exercises to perform 10 repetitions and to hold each stretch for 10 s. She performed the exercise correctly with motivation, but she had difficulty in learning the number of repetitions and the duration of each stretch. She had no history of cerebrovascular accident and the neurological examination was normal. Neuropsychological testing, MRI and (18)F-fluoro- D-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) were performed to examine the neural mechanisms associated with this difficulty in learning instructions. Neuropsychological tests revealed dysfunction of working memory while other cognitive domains were relatively preserved. Her neuropsychological tests scores were (1) Mini-Mental State Examination: 24 (mild cognitive impairment), (2) Geriatric Depression Scale-15: 2 (no depression), (3) Apathy Scale: 2 (no apathy), (4) digit span forward: 5 (normal), (5) digit span backward: 2 (impaired), (6) visuospatial span forward: 4 (normal), (7) visuospatial span backward: 2 (impaired), (8) frontal assessment battery: 11 (normal), (9) Weigl test: 0 (impaired), (10) trail making test A: 52 s (normal), (11) train making test B: failed (impaired). T2-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MRI showed high signal-intensity lesions in the cerebral deep white matter. FDG-PET revealed hypometabolic areas in the bilateral frontal lobes, particularly in the bilateral dorsolateral frontal area, anterior cingulate cortex and orbitofrontal cortex. One of the possible neural mechanisms underlying the learning difficulties in this patient may have been partial blockage of the cingulofrontal network by deep white matter lesions.

  3. Enhancing Collaborative Learning in Web 2.0-Based E-Learning Systems: A Design Framework for Building Collaborative E-Learning Contents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    El Mhouti, Abderrahim; Nasseh, Azeddine; Erradi, Mohamed; Vasquèz, José Marfa

    2017-01-01

    Today, the implication of Web 2.0 technologies in e-learning allows envisaging new teaching and learning forms, advocating an important place to the collaboration and social interaction. However, in e-learning systems, learn in a collaborative way is not always so easy because one of the difficulties when arranging e-learning courses can be that…

  4. Autonomy in Language Learning.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gathercole, Ian, Ed.

    Ten papers from a January 1990 conference in Britain on the meaning and implications of autonomy for school learners of second languages address theoretical and practical issues in independent study, learner-controlled instruction, cooperative learning, teacher-student relationship, learner responsibility, students with learning difficulties, and…

  5. An Analysis of Learning Barriers: The Saudi Arabian Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Khan, Intakhab A.

    2011-01-01

    Learning and teaching are quite interrelated. Teaching can't take place unless the target students learn. Thus, teaching is a bi-polar activity. Learning barriers or causes of learning difficulties are quite common in an educational setting. But, when it comes to a very adverse effect it becomes crucial and unavoidable. There are different kinds…

  6. Social and Emotional Learning for Children with Learning Disability: Implications for Inclusion

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cavioni, Valeria; Grazzani, Ilaria; Ornaghi, Veronica

    2017-01-01

    This paper discusses the key role of social and emotional learning programmes for children with Learning Disability (LD). The first part of the paper discusses the difficulties students with learning disability may encounter in their education, such as issues related to peer group acceptance, friendship and social isolation, low self-efficacy and…

  7. Designing Educational Programs for Minority Entrepreneurs.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pride, Michelle L.; Stoffel, Bruce; van Es, J. C.

    1997-01-01

    When Urbana (Illinois) city government had difficulty recruiting minority contractors, extension educators interviewed 22 minority entrepreneurs, finding they had difficulty meeting requirements and learning about opportunities. Solutions included training for banking, legal, and insurance representatives; workshops to develop bidding skills; and…

  8. [Academic future of children treated for brain tumors. Single-center study of 27 children].

    PubMed

    Zucchinelli, V; Bouffet, E

    2000-09-01

    Brain tumours constitute the most common type of solid malignancy in childhood. Despite intensive efforts developed since the mid-1970s in paediatric neuro-oncology, survivors still have a wide range of sequelae leading to frequent failure in academic achievements. Very few studies have detailed the educational outcome of these children. The study was based on a questionnaire sent to the parents of children diagnosed with a brain tumour and treated at the Centre Léon-Bérard between 1987 and 1993. Children had to be under 12 years old at the time of diagnosis and with at least three years of follow-up since diagnosis. Questions focused on the child's education before diagnosis, his progress during and after treatment, the measures taken when the child experienced learning difficulties and their consequences on the child's socioprofessional integration. Twenty-seven responses were obtained out of 34 questionnaires. Twenty-six children were reported to experience learning difficulties. Only four children had a normal education. The main problems are associated with slowness, memory and comprehension difficulties. The main disciplines affected are mathematics, reading and spelling. Fifteen children did benefit from extra support, with large interindividual variations in the amount and the quality of this support. Half of the parents play an active role in their child's extra support. This study provides additional information to previous reports on progressive I.Q. decline following the treatment of a brain tumour in childhood. Learning difficulties are nearly constant and adversely influence the child's curriculum. They also affect the parents who experience questions about the future of their ideal child. The severity and complexity of these learning difficulties urge for an early multidisciplinary educational and psychological management. The main characteristics of these remedial efforts should be assessed in prospective studies.

  9. Probing when Japanese junior high school students begin to feel difficulty in learning mathematics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nishikawa, Tomoko; Izuta, Giido

    2017-05-01

    It is thought that the increasing number of Japanese students avoiding mathematics has become a serious problem in the last decades. Japanese junior high school students are learning the basic understanding and skills of mathematics during the years of mandatory education. To our knowledge, there are few reports about the time when Japanese junior high school students begin to feel difficulty in mathematics learning. The aim of this work is to examine this case. To accomplish this purpose, a typical public junior high school in a country city with 616 students (182 first-year, 212 second-year, 222 third-year) in all was chosen to be the field of investigation. Likert scale type questionnaires to assess their feelings were conducted, and the respondents who answered `difficulty' and `a little difficulty' were extracted. The number of respondents were 89 first-year (26 males, 63 females), 76 second-year (27 males, 49 females), and 112 third-year (45 males, 67 females) students. The beginning time was divided into school years when it was in elementary school, and semesters when it was in junior high school. Ordinary statistical processings for each grade and gender were performed to analyze them. It was found that the time when they began to have difficulty learning mathematics was different in gender. Male students tended to start from higher-grade of elementary school whereas female students from middle-grade of elementary school. In other words, these results showed differences in gender and time. Finally, these examinations suggest that teachers need to provide appropriate support for students at a suitable time in the elementary school. Also these results are useful in mathematics education of elementary school.

  10. Dyslexia in adults: Evidence for deficits in non-word reading and in the phonological representation of lexical items.

    PubMed

    Elbro, C; Nielsen, I; Petersen, D K

    1994-01-01

    Difficulties in reading and language skills which persist from childhood into adult life are the concerns of this article. The aims were twofold: (1) to find measures of adult reading processes that validate adults' retrospective reports of difficulties in learning to read during the school years, and (2) to search for indications of basic deficits in phonological processing that may point toward underlying causes of reading difficulties. Adults who reported a history of difficulties in learning to read (n=102) were distinctly disabled in phonological coding in reading, compared to adults without similar histories (n=56). They were less disabled in the comprehension of written passages, and the comprehension disability was explained by the phonological difficulties. A number of indications were found that adults with poor phonological coding skills in reading (i.e., dyslexia) have basic deficits in phonological representations of spoken words, even when semantic word knowledge, phonemic awareness, educational level, and daily reading habits are taken into account. It is suggested that dyslexics possess less distinct phonological representations of spoken words.

  11. Taking the Curriculum Afloat.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fogell, John

    1986-01-01

    A canal barge trip involving a group of 11- to 14-year-olds with moderate learning difficulties provided opportunities for leisure education, social skill learning, and information gathering and recording tasks. (CL)

  12. Using Graphic Organizers to Improve Teaching and Learning. IDEA Paper #51

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kiewra, Kenneth A.

    2012-01-01

    Students often have difficulty learning from texts and lectures because information is commonly organized in blocks or lines that obscure important relationships among ideas. This article introduces graphic ways to display information so that relationships are apparent and easily learned.

  13. The Challenge of Evaluating Action Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Edmonstone, John

    2015-01-01

    The paper examines the benefits claimed for action learning at individual, organisational and inter-organisational levels. It goes on to identify both generic difficulties in evaluating development programmes and action learning specifically. The distinction between formative and summative evaluation is considered and a summative evaluation…

  14. Service-Learning Pathologies and Prognoses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schwartzman, Roy

    2007-01-01

    This essay addresses how to cope with several potential barriers to implementing effective service-learning projects. The discussion builds on experiences of developing and refining service-learning in upper-division communication courses. Difficulties arise in three areas: the institutional and physical setting, student attitudes, and community…

  15. Learning Computer Science: Perceptions, Actions and Roles

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berglund, Anders; Eckerdal, Anna; Pears, Arnold; East, Philip; Kinnunen, Paivi; Malmi, Lauri; McCartney, Robert; Mostrom, Jan-Erik; Murphy, Laurie; Ratcliffe, Mark; Schulte, Carsten; Simon, Beth; Stamouli, Ioanna; Thomas, Lynda

    2009-01-01

    This phenomenographic study opens the classroom door to investigate teachers' experiences of students learning difficult computing topics. Three distinct themes are identified and analysed. "Why" do students succeed or fail to learn these concepts? "What" actions do teachers perceive will ameliorate the difficulties facing…

  16. Preterm Birth: Transition to Adulthood

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allen, Marilee C.; Cristofalo, Elizabeth; Kim, Christina

    2010-01-01

    Preterm birth is associated with greater difficulty with transitions from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Adolescents and young adults born preterm have higher rates of cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, cognitive impairment, learning disability, executive dysfunction, attention deficit disorder, and social-emotional difficulties than…

  17. Design and evaluation of the computer-based training program Calcularis for enhancing numerical cognition

    PubMed Central

    Käser, Tanja; Baschera, Gian-Marco; Kohn, Juliane; Kucian, Karin; Richtmann, Verena; Grond, Ursina; Gross, Markus; von Aster, Michael

    2013-01-01

    This article presents the design and a first pilot evaluation of the computer-based training program Calcularis for children with developmental dyscalculia (DD) or difficulties in learning mathematics. The program has been designed according to insights on the typical and atypical development of mathematical abilities. The learning process is supported through multimodal cues, which encode different properties of numbers. To offer optimal learning conditions, a user model completes the program and allows flexible adaptation to a child's individual learning and knowledge profile. Thirty-two children with difficulties in learning mathematics completed the 6–12-weeks computer training. The children played the game for 20 min per day for 5 days a week. The training effects were evaluated using neuropsychological tests. Generally, children benefited significantly from the training regarding number representation and arithmetic operations. Furthermore, children liked to play with the program and reported that the training improved their mathematical abilities. PMID:23935586

  18. The Role of Self-Regulatory and Metacognitive Competence in the Motor Performance Difficulties of Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Theoretical and Empirical Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jokic, Claire Sangster; Whitebread, David

    2011-01-01

    Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) experience difficulty coping with everyday demands due to difficulties in performing motor tasks. Recently, a cognitive learning paradigm has been applied to studying the nature of the problems experienced by children with DCD, which assumes that these children have fewer cognitive and…

  19. Commentary: Increased Risk of Later Emotional and Behavioural Problems in Children with SLI -- Reflections on Yew and O'Kearney (2013)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Conti-Ramsden, Gina

    2013-01-01

    Children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) find it effortful to learn to talk and these difficulties can be persistent. Given the importance of language to human behaviour, it is not surprising to find that language difficulties are a risk factor for associated difficulties in other aspects of children's development. This article asks…

  20. Novel Spoken Word Learning in Adults with Developmental Dyslexia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Conner, Peggy S.

    2013-01-01

    A high percentage of individuals with dyslexia struggle to learn unfamiliar spoken words, creating a significant obstacle to foreign language learning after early childhood. The origin of spoken-word learning difficulties in this population, generally thought to be related to the underlying literacy deficit, is not well defined (e.g., Di Betta…

  1. Beliefs about Learning English as a Second Language among Native Groups in Rural Sabah, Malaysia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Krishnasamy, Hariharan N.; Veloo, Arsaythamby; Lu, Ho Fui

    2013-01-01

    This paper identifies differences between the three ethnic groups, namely, Kadazans/Dusuns, Bajaus, and other minority ethnic groups on the beliefs about learning English as a second language based on the five variables, that is, language aptitude, language learning difficulty, language learning and communicating strategies, nature of language…

  2. Improving Students' Understanding of Quantum Measurement. II. Development of Research-Based Learning Tools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhu, Guangtian; Singh, Chandralekha

    2012-01-01

    We describe the development and implementation of research-based learning tools such as the Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorials and peer-instruction tools to reduce students' common difficulties with issues related to measurement in quantum mechanics. A preliminary evaluation shows that these learning tools are effective in improving students'…

  3. The Place of Game-Based Learning in an Age of Austerity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Whitton, Nicola

    2012-01-01

    Digital games have the potential to create active and engaging environments for learning, supporting problem-solving, communication and group activities, as well as providing a forum for practice and learning through failure. The use of game techniques such as gradually increasing levels of difficulty and contextual feedback support learning, and…

  4. Student Perceptions of Facebook as a Learning Aid

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Daniel, Michael Aubrey

    2018-01-01

    Hybrid learning has been shown to enhance students' experiences in the classroom and can promote deeper learning when the tools used meet the students' particular learning needs. Many digital natives are familiar with Facebook and are able to navigate it with little difficulty. When used in an education setting in the place of traditional…

  5. Inspiring a Life Full of Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ludlam, John

    2012-01-01

    The Secrets and Words films had everything one would expect from a BBC drama--great writing, acting and directing allied with high production values. But the dramas were also powerful learning tools, co-commissioned by BBC Learning and aimed at inspiring people who have difficulty with reading and writing to seek help. The BBC's learning vision is…

  6. A Comparison between Paper-Based and Online Learning in Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Emerson, Lisa; MacKay, Bruce

    2011-01-01

    To date researchers have had difficulty establishing reliable conclusions in studies comparing traditional forms of learning (eg paper-based or classroom based) vs online learning in relation to student learning outcomes; no consistent results have emerged, and many studies have not been controlled for factors other than lesson mode. This paper…

  7. Web-Based Learning System for Developing and Assessing Clinical Diagnostic Skills for Dermatology Residency Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kuo, Fan-Ray; Chin, Yi-Ying; Lee, Chao-Hsien; Chiu, Yu-Hsien; Hong, Chien-Hu; Lee, Kuang-Lieh; Ho, Wen-Hsien; Lee, Chih-Hung

    2016-01-01

    Few studies have explored the learning difficulties and misconceptions that students encounter when using information and communication technology for e-learning. To address this issue, this research developed a system for evaluating the learning efficiency of medical students by applying two-tier diagnosis assessment. The effectiveness of the…

  8. Using Microcomputers To Help Learning Disabled Student with Arithmetic Difficulties.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brevil, Margarette

    The use of microcomputers to help the learning disabled increase their arithmetic skills is examined. The microcomputer should be used to aid the learning disabled student to practice the concepts taught by the teacher. Computer-aided instruction such as drill and practice may help the learning disabled student because it gives immediate feedback…

  9. Researches on Learning Disabilities--Where Are We?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Raja, B. William Dharma; Kumar, S. Praveen

    2011-01-01

    This article focusses on the review of research studies done on the area of learning disabilities and the need to conduct more research studies in this area. School children are seen to have different types of learning difficulties with regard to academics. Children with learning disability, who occupy the largest number receiving special…

  10. Public Computer Assisted Learning Facilities for Children with Visual Impairment: Universal Design for Inclusive Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Siu, Kin Wai Michael; Lam, Mei Seung

    2012-01-01

    Although computer assisted learning (CAL) is becoming increasingly popular, people with visual impairment face greater difficulty in accessing computer-assisted learning facilities. This is primarily because most of the current CAL facilities are not visually impaired friendly. People with visual impairment also do not normally have access to…

  11. Triple Scheme of Learning Support Design for Scientific Discovery Learning Based on Computer Simulation: Experimental Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zhang, Jianwei; Chen, Qi; Sun, Yanquing; Reid, David J.

    2004-01-01

    Learning support studies involving simulation-based scientific discovery learning have tended to adopt an ad hoc strategies-oriented approach in which the support strategies are typically pre-specified according to learners' difficulties in particular activities. This article proposes a more integrated approach, a triple scheme for learning…

  12. Studying Visual Displays: How to Instructionally Support Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Renkl, Alexander; Scheiter, Katharina

    2017-01-01

    Visual displays are very frequently used in learning materials. Although visual displays have great potential to foster learning, they also pose substantial demands on learners so that the actual learning outcomes are often disappointing. In this article, we pursue three main goals. First, we identify the main difficulties that learners have when…

  13. Bringing ICT to Teach Science Education for Students with Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Harish, H. G. Jeya; Kumar, R. Krishna; Raja, B. William Dharma

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of the following study was to examine the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Science classrooms of students with Learning Disabilities. Teachers were positive about the learning benefits and design of the Science curriculum. Students were more critical but still positive about these features. Learning Science…

  14. Lifelong Learning in Architectural Design Studio: The Learning Contract Approach

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hassanpour, B.; Che-Ani, A. I.; Usman, I. M. S.; Johar, S.; Tawil, N. M.

    2015-01-01

    Avant-garde educational systems are striving to find lifelong learning methods. Different fields and majors have tested a variety of proposed models and found varying difficulties and strengths. Architecture is one of the most critical areas of education because of its special characteristics, such as learning by doing and complicated evaluation…

  15. Reading Comprehension, Learning Styles, and Seventh Grade Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Williams, Judy

    2010-01-01

    Reading is a basic life skill. Unfortunately, in 2007, only 29% of all eighth graders were able to comprehend at or above a proficient reading comprehension level. Sensory learning styles (kinesthetic, tactile, auditory, and visual) affect the way that students prefer to learn and the areas in which they will have difficulty learning. This study…

  16. Learning in Context: Linguistic and Attentional Constraints on Children's Color Term Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Hanlon, Catherine G.; Roberson, Debi

    2006-01-01

    Three experiments investigated whether linguistic and/or attentional constraints might account for preschoolers' difficulties when learning color terms. Task structure and demands were equated across experiments, and both speed and degree of learning were compared. In Experiment 1, 3-year-olds who were matched on vocabulary score were taught new…

  17. Utilizing Learners' Negative Ratings in Semantic Content-Based Recommender System for e-Learning Forum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Albatayneh, Naji Ahmad; Ghauth, Khairil Imran; Chua, Fang-Fang

    2018-01-01

    Nowadays, most of e-learning systems embody online discussion forums as a medium for collaborative learning that supports knowledge sharing and information exchanging between learners. The exponential growth of the available shared information in e-learning online discussion forums has caused a difficulty for learners in discovering interesting…

  18. Metacognitive Load--Useful, or Extraneous Concept? Metacognitive and Self-Regulatory Demands in Computer-Based Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schwonke, Rolf

    2015-01-01

    Instructional design theories such as the "cognitive load theory" (CLT) or the "cognitive theory of multimedia learning" (CTML) explain learning difficulties in (computer-based) learning usually as a result of design deficiencies that hinder effective schema construction. However, learners often struggle even in well-designed…

  19. Design and validation of general biology learning program based on scientific inquiry skills

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cahyani, R.; Mardiana, D.; Noviantoro, N.

    2018-03-01

    Scientific inquiry is highly recommended to teach science. The reality in the schools and colleges is that many educators still have not implemented inquiry learning because of their lack of understanding. The study aims to1) analyze students’ difficulties in learning General Biology, 2) design General Biology learning program based on multimedia-assisted scientific inquiry learning, and 3) validate the proposed design. The method used was Research and Development. The subjects of the study were 27 pre-service students of general elementary school/Islamic elementary schools. The workflow of program design includes identifying learning difficulties of General Biology, designing course programs, and designing instruments and assessment rubrics. The program design is made for four lecture sessions. Validation of all learning tools were performed by expert judge. The results showed that: 1) there are some problems identified in General Biology lectures; 2) the designed products include learning programs, multimedia characteristics, worksheet characteristics, and, scientific attitudes; and 3) expert validation shows that all program designs are valid and can be used with minor revisions. The first section in your paper.

  20. The Role of Metacognitive Reading Strategies, Metacognitive Study and Learning Strategies, and Behavioral Study and Learning Strategies in Predicting Academic Success in Students With and Without a History of Reading Difficulties.

    PubMed

    Chevalier, Thérèse M; Parrila, Rauno; Ritchie, Krista C; Deacon, S Hélène

    2017-01-01

    We examined the self-reported use of reading, study, and learning strategies in university students with a history of reading difficulties (HRD; n = 77) and with no history of reading difficulties (NRD; n = 295). We examined both between-groups differences in strategy use and strategy use as a predictive measure of academic success. Participants completed online questionnaires regarding reading history and strategy use. GPA and frequency of use of academic support services were also obtained for all students. University students with HRD reported a different profile of strategy use than their NRD peers, and self-reported strategy use was differentially predictive of GPA for students with HRD and NRD. For students with HRD, the use of metacognitive reading strategies and the use of study aids predicted academic success. Implications for university student services providers are discussed. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2015.

  1. The role of learning in social development: Illustrations from neglected children.

    PubMed

    Wismer Fries, Alison B; Pollak, Seth D

    2017-03-01

    Children who experience early caregiving neglect are very likely to have problems developing and maintaining relationships and regulating their social behavior. One of the earliest manifestations of this problem is reflected in indiscriminate behavior, a phenomenon where young children do not show normative wariness of strangers or use familiar adults as sources of security. To better understand the developmental mechanisms underlying the emergence of these problems, this study examined whether institutionally reared children, who experienced early social neglect, had difficulty associating motivational significance to visual stimuli. Pairing stimuli with motivational significance is presumably one of the associative learning processes involved in establishing discriminate or selective relationships with others. We found that early experiences of neglectful caregiving were associated with difficulties in acquiring such associations, and that delays in this developmental skill were related to children's social difficulties. These data suggest a way in which early social learning experiences may impact the development of processes underlying emotional development. © 2016 The Authors. Developmental Science Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. Delaware Longitudinal Study of Fraction Learning: Implications for Helping Children With Mathematics Difficulties.

    PubMed

    Jordan, Nancy C; Resnick, Ilyse; Rodrigues, Jessica; Hansen, Nicole; Dyson, Nancy

    The goal of the present article is to synthesize findings to date from the Delaware Longitudinal Study of Fraction Learning. The study followed a large cohort of children ( N = 536) between Grades 3 and 6. The findings showed that many students, especially those with diagnosed learning disabilities, made minimal growth in fraction knowledge and that some showed only a basic grasp of the meaning of a fraction even after several years of instruction. Children with low growth in fraction knowledge during the intermediate grades were much more likely to fail to meet state standards on a broad mathematics measure at the end of Grade 6. Although a range of general and mathematics-specific competencies predicted fraction outcomes, the ability to estimate numerical magnitudes on a number line was a uniquely important marker of fraction success. Many children with mathematics difficulties have deep-seated problems related to whole number magnitude representations that are complicated by the introduction of fractions into the curriculum. Implications for helping students with mathematics difficulties are discussed.

  3. Using Games-Based eLearning Technologies in Overcoming Difficulties in Teaching Information Systems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Connolly, Thomas; Stanfield, Mark

    2006-01-01

    The contributions of this research center on two major areas: delineation of a new model of distance education in which the authors identify three generations of eLearning; and examination of how eLearning and games-based eLearning technologies can be used to enrich the Information Systems (IS) learning experiences of students with different…

  4. Intrinsic Motivation of Chinese Learning in Predicting Online Learning Self-Efficacy and Flow Experience Relevant to Students' Learning Progress

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hong, Jon-Chao; Hwang, Ming-Yueh; Tai, Kai-Hsin; Lin, Pei-Hsin

    2017-01-01

    Students of Southeast Asian Heritage Learning Chinese (SSAHLC) in Taiwan have frequently demonstrated difficulty with traditional Chinese (a graphical character) radical recognition due to their limited exposure to the written language form since childhood. In this study, we designed a Chinese radical learning game (CRLG), which adopted a drill…

  5. Improving Student Engagement in Learning Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adams, Nancy; And Others

    Engaging students seriously in their own academic learning is a persistent difficulty for teachers. The goal of this action research project was to actively involve elementary school students in their learning. The program was implemented at three elementary schools in northern Illinois serving multicultural populations; special education…

  6. Inclusion: Something More Than Sitting Together

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bulbul, Mustafa Sahin

    2011-01-01

    Awareness about students with learning difficulty brought us to inclusive learning environments. The acceptance was to build collaborative atmospheres in the class. Unfortunately, when teachers are not enthusiastic and adequate to develop the interaction, the inclusive learning environment never occurs. This conclusion bases on this studies…

  7. Maximizing Student Success with Differentiated Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morgan, Hani

    2014-01-01

    Students tend to comprehend little and lose focus of classroom instruction when their teachers fail to use instructional strategies that match students' learning styles. Differentiated instruction can alleviate or eliminate this disengagement. This article describes a case involving a child having difficulty learning and shows how…

  8. Verbal Rehearsal and Visual Imagery: Mnemonic Aids for Learning-Disabled Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rose, Michael C.; And Others

    1983-01-01

    Studies involving 30 learning-disabled elementary students support the contention that reading comprehension difficulties among learning-disabled children are partly due to inefficient memorization strategies, and demonstrate the efficacy of practical, cost-effective mnemonic training procedures which significantly increase reading comprehension…

  9. Exploring Visuospatial Thinking in Chemistry Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wu, Hsin-Kai; Shah, Priti

    2004-01-01

    In this article, we examine the role of visuospatial cognition in chemistry learning. We review three related kinds of literature: correlational studies of spatial abilities and chemistry learning, students' conceptual errors and difficulties understanding visual representations, and visualization tools that have been designed to help overcome…

  10. Collaborative-Consultation: A Pathway for Transition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dobson, Emma; Gifford-Bryan, Janet

    2014-01-01

    Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) are specialised teachers who work in regular schools to help facilitate the presence, participation and learning of students who experience difficulties with learning and behaviour. In focusing upon the RTLB principle of a "collaborative and seamless model of service" (Ministry of…

  11. The Role of Multiword Building Blocks in Explaining L1-L2 Differences.

    PubMed

    Arnon, Inbal; Christiansen, Morten H

    2017-07-01

    Why are children better language learners than adults despite being worse at a range of other cognitive tasks? Here, we explore the role of multiword sequences in explaining L1-L2 differences in learning. In particular, we propose that children and adults differ in their reliance on such multiword units (MWUs) in learning, and that this difference affects learning strategies and outcomes, and leads to difficulty in learning certain grammatical relations. In the first part, we review recent findings that suggest that MWUs play a facilitative role in learning. We then discuss the implications of these findings for L1-L2 differences: We hypothesize that adults are both less likely to extract MWUs and less capable of benefiting from them in the process of learning. In the next section, we draw on psycholinguistic, developmental, and computational findings to support these predictions. We end with a discussion of the relation between this proposal and other accounts of L1-L2 difficulty. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  12. Facilitating students' application of the integral and the area under the curve concepts in physics problems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nguyen, Dong-Hai

    This research project investigates the difficulties students encounter when solving physics problems involving the integral and the area under the curve concepts and the strategies to facilitate students learning to solve those types of problems. The research contexts of this project are calculus-based physics courses covering mechanics and electromagnetism. In phase I of the project, individual teaching/learning interviews were conducted with 20 students in mechanics and 15 students from the same cohort in electromagnetism. The students were asked to solve problems on several topics of mechanics and electromagnetism. These problems involved calculating physical quantities (e.g. velocity, acceleration, work, electric field, electric resistance, electric current) by integrating or finding the area under the curve of functions of related quantities (e.g. position, velocity, force, charge density, resistivity, current density). Verbal hints were provided when students made an error or were unable to proceed. A total number of 140 one-hour interviews were conducted in this phase, which provided insights into students' difficulties when solving the problems involving the integral and the area under the curve concepts and the hints to help students overcome those difficulties. In phase II of the project, tutorials were created to facilitate students' learning to solve physics problems involving the integral and the area under the curve concepts. Each tutorial consisted of a set of exercises and a protocol that incorporated the helpful hints to target the difficulties that students expressed in phase I of the project. Focus group learning interviews were conducted to test the effectiveness of the tutorials in comparison with standard learning materials (i.e. textbook problems and solutions). Overall results indicated that students learning with our tutorials outperformed students learning with standard materials in applying the integral and the area under the curve concepts to physics problems. The results of this project provide broader and deeper insights into students' problem solving with the integral and the area under the curve concepts and suggest strategies to facilitate students' learning to apply these concepts to physics problems. This study also has significant implications for further research, curriculum development and instruction.

  13. Thematic Matching as Remedial Teaching for Symbolic Matching for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    PubMed Central

    Lionello-DeNolf, Karen M.; Farber, Rachel; Jones, B. Max; Dube, William V.

    2014-01-01

    Matching-to-sample (MTS) is often used to teach symbolic relationships between spoken or printed words and their referents to children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, many children have difficulty learning symbolic matching, even though they may demonstrate generalized identity matching. The current study investigated whether training on symbolic MTS tasks in which the stimuli are physically dissimilar but members of familiar categories (i.e., thematic matching) can remediate an individual’s difficulty learning symbolic MTS tasks involving non-representative stimuli. Three adolescent males diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder were first trained on symbolic MTS tasks with unfamiliar, non-representative form stimuli. Thematic matching was introduced after the participants failed to learn 0, 2 or 4 symbolic MTS tasks and before additional symbolic MTS tasks were introduced. After exposure to thematic matching, accuracy on symbolic MTS tasks with novel stimuli increased to above chance for all participants. For two participants, high accuracy (> 90%) was achieved on a majority of these sessions. Thus, thematic matching may be an effective intervention for students with limited verbal repertoires and who have difficulty learning symbolic MTS tasks. Possible explanations for the facilitative effect of thematic matching are considered and warrant further investigation. PMID:24634695

  14. Can transcranial electrical stimulation improve learning difficulties in atypical brain development? A future possibility for cognitive training.

    PubMed

    Krause, Beatrix; Cohen Kadosh, Roi

    2013-10-01

    Learning difficulties in atypical brain development represent serious obstacles to an individual's future achievements and can have broad societal consequences. Cognitive training can improve learning impairments only to a certain degree. Recent evidence from normal and clinical adult populations suggests that transcranial electrical stimulation (TES), a portable, painless, inexpensive, and relatively safe neuroenhancement tool, applied in conjunction with cognitive training can enhance cognitive intervention outcomes. This includes, for instance, numerical processing, language skills and response inhibition deficits commonly associated with profound learning difficulties and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The current review introduces the functional principles, current applications and promising results, and potential pitfalls of TES. Unfortunately, research in child populations is limited at present. We suggest that TES has considerable promise as a tool for increasing neuroplasticity in atypically developing children and may be an effective adjunct to cognitive training in clinical settings if it proves safe. The efficacy and both short- and long-term effects of TES on the developing brain need to be critically assessed before it can be recommended for clinical settings. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  15. The relationship between phonological short-term memory, receptive vocabulary, and fast mapping in children with specific language impairment.

    PubMed

    Jackson, Emily; Leitao, Suze; Claessen, Mary

    2016-01-01

    Children with specific language impairment (SLI) often experience word-learning difficulties, which are suggested to originate in the early stage of word learning: fast mapping. Some previous research indicates significantly poorer fast mapping capabilities in children with SLI compared with typically developing (TD) counterparts, with a range of methodological factors impacting on the consistency of this finding. Research has explored key issues that might underlie fast mapping difficulties in children with SLI, with strong theoretical support but little empirical evidence for the role of phonological short-term memory (STM). Additionally, further research is required to explore the influence of receptive vocabulary on fast mapping capabilities. Understanding the factors associated with fast mapping difficulties that are experienced by children with SLI may lead to greater theoretically driven word-learning intervention. To investigate whether children with SLI demonstrate significant difficulties with fast mapping, and to explore the related factors. It was hypothesized that children with SLI would score significantly lower on a fast mapping production task compared with TD children, and that phonological STM and receptive vocabulary would significantly predict fast mapping production scores in both groups of children. Twenty-three children with SLI (mean = 64.39 months, SD = 4.10 months) and 26 TD children (mean = 65.92 months, SD = 2.98) were recruited from specialist language and mainstream schools. All participants took part in a unique, interactive fast-mapping task whereby nine novel objects with non-word labels were presented and production accuracy was assessed. A non-word repetition test and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition (PPVT-IV) were also administered as measures of phonological STM capacity and receptive vocabulary, respectively. Results of the fast-mapping task indicated that children with SLI had significantly poorer fast mapping production scores than TD children. Scores from the non-word repetition task were also significantly lower for the SLI group, revealing reduced phonological STM capacity. Phonological STM capacity and receptive vocabulary emerged as significant predictors of fast mapping performance when the group data were combined in a multiple regression analysis. These results suggest that the word-learning difficulties experienced by children with SLI may originate at the fast mapping stage, and that phonological STM and receptive vocabulary significantly predict fast mapping ability. These findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of word-learning difficulties in children with SLI and may inform lexical learning intervention. © 2015 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

  16. Cognitive Function of Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Learning Difficulties: A Developmental Perspective.

    PubMed

    Huang, Fang; Sun, Li; Qian, Ying; Liu, Lu; Ma, Quan-Gang; Yang, Li; Cheng, Jia; Cao, Qing-Jiu; Su, Yi; Gao, Qian; Wu, Zhao-Min; Li, Hai-Mei; Qian, Qiu-Jin; Wang, Yu-Feng

    2016-08-20

    The cognitive function of children with either attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or learning disabilities (LDs) is known to be impaired. However, little is known about the cognitive function of children with comorbid ADHD and LD. The present study aimed to explore the cognitive function of children and adolescents with ADHD and learning difficulties in comparison with children with ADHD and healthy controls in different age groups in a large Chinese sample. Totally, 1043 participants with ADHD and learning difficulties (the ADHD + learning difficulties group), 870 with pure ADHD (the pure ADHD group), and 496 healthy controls were recruited. To investigate the difference in cognitive impairment using a developmental approach, all participants were divided into three age groups (6-8, 9-11, and 12-14 years old). Measurements were the Chinese-Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, the Stroop Color-Word Test, the Trail-Making Test, and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Parents (BRIEF). Multivariate analysis of variance was used. The results showed that after controlling for the effect of ADHD symptoms, the ADHD + learning difficulties group was still significantly worse than the pure ADHD group, which was, in turn, worse than the control group on full intelligence quotient (98.66 ± 13.87 vs. 105.17 ± 14.36 vs. 112.93 ± 13.87, P < 0.001). The same relationship was also evident for shift function (shifting time of the Trail-Making Test, 122.50 [62.00, 194.25] s vs. 122.00 [73.00, 201.50] s vs. 66.00 [45.00, 108.00] s, P< 0.001) and everyday life executive function (BRIEF total score, 145.71 ± 19.35 vs. 138.96 ± 18.00 vs. 122.71 ± 20.45, P < 0.001) after controlling for the effect of the severity of ADHD symptoms, intelligence quotient, age, and gender. As for the age groups, the differences among groups became nonsignificant in the 12-14 years old group for inhibition (meaning interference of the Stroop Color-Word Test, 18.00 [13.00, 25.00] s vs. 17.00 [15.00, 26.00] s vs. 17.00 [10.50, 20.00] s , P = 0.704) and shift function (shifting time of the Trail-Making Test, 62.00 [43.00, 97.00] s vs. 53.00 [38.00, 81.00] s vs. 101.00 [88.00, 114.00] s, P = 0.778). Children and adolescents with ADHD and learning difficulties have more severe cognitive impairment than pure ADHD patients even after controlling for the effect of ADHD symptoms. However, the differences in impairment in inhibition and shift function are no longer significant when these individuals were 12-14 years old.

  17. Learning to Delegate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ritterman, G. P.

    1975-01-01

    A three-day training course in delegating provides an analysis of the principles involved, simulates many inherent difficulties, and provides feedback to junior managers who are learning how to delegate tasks and responsibilities to subordinates. (AJ)

  18. Difficulties Experienced by University Students with Severe Mental Illness Who Participate in Supported Education Programs.

    PubMed

    Shor, Ron

    2017-04-01

    Knowledge about the difficulties students with severe mental illness (SMI) encounter is essential to helping them meet the challenges of studying in universities. Therefore, a study was conducted in Israel with 80 university students with SMI to ascertain their difficulties and the relationship between these difficulties and their level of recovery. The two subscales of an instrument measuring students' difficulties that were ranked the highest were "Learning Skills and Management of Academic Tasks" and "Social Inclusion Difficulties." Inverse relationships were found between the students' difficulties and their perceived level of recovery. The findings illuminate that one of the major challenges that students with SMI experience is to meet academic requirements while coping with mental illness. They also indicate that students' difficulties may not be limited to academic functioning. Therefore, there is a need to broaden the view of students' difficulties to include social and contextual factors in the university environment.

  19. The Effects of a Growth Mindset Intervention on the Beliefs about Intelligence, Effort Beliefs, Achievement Goal Orientations, and Academic Self-Efficacy of LD Students with Reading Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baldridge, Mary Caufield

    2010-01-01

    The overall purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a "growth mindset" intervention on the beliefs about intelligence, effort beliefs, achievement goals, and academic self-efficacy of learning disabled (LD) students with reading difficulties. The treatment group consisted of 12 high school LD students with reading difficulties. This…

  20. Difficulties in initial algebra learning in Indonesia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jupri, Al; Drijvers, Paul; van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, Marja

    2014-12-01

    Within mathematics curricula, algebra has been widely recognized as one of the most difficult topics, which leads to learning difficulties worldwide. In Indonesia, algebra performance is an important issue. In the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007, Indonesian students' achievement in the algebra domain was significantly below the average student performance in other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. This fact gave rise to this study which aims to investigate Indonesian students' difficulties in algebra. In order to do so, a literature study was carried out on students' difficulties in initial algebra. Next, an individual written test on algebra tasks was administered, followed by interviews. A sample of 51 grade VII Indonesian students worked the written test, and 37 of them were interviewed afterwards. Data analysis revealed that mathematization, i.e., the ability to translate back and forth between the world of the problem situation and the world of mathematics and to reorganize the mathematical system itself, constituted the most frequently observed difficulty in both the written test and the interview data. Other observed difficulties concerned understanding algebraic expressions, applying arithmetic operations in numerical and algebraic expressions, understanding the different meanings of the equal sign, and understanding variables. The consequences of these findings on both task design and further research in algebra education are discussed.

  1. The Persistence and Functional Impact of English Language Difficulties Experienced by Children Learning English as an Additional Language and Monolingual Peers

    PubMed Central

    Whiteside, Katie E.

    2017-01-01

    Purpose This study explored whether a monolingual-normed English language battery could identify children with English as an additional language (EAL) who have persistent English language learning difficulties that affect functional academic attainment. Method Children with EAL (n = 43) and monolingual English-speaking children (n = 46) completed a comprehensive monolingual-normed English language battery in Year 1 (ages 5–6 years) and Year 3 (ages 7–8 years). Children with EAL and monolingual peers, who either met monolingual criteria for language impairment or typical development on the language battery in Year 1, were compared on language growth between Year 1 and Year 3 and on attainment in national curriculum assessments in Year 2 (ages 6–7 years). Results Children with EAL and monolingual peers who met monolingual criteria for language impairment in Year 1 continued to display comparably impaired overall language ability 2 years later in Year 3. Moreover, these groups displayed comparably low levels of academic attainment in Year 2, demonstrating comparable functional impact of their language difficulties. Conclusion Monolingual-normed language batteries in the majority language may have some practical value for identifying bilingual children who need support with language learning, regardless of the origin of their language difficulties. PMID:28617919

  2. Optimization of perceptual learning: effects of task difficulty and external noise in older adults.

    PubMed

    DeLoss, Denton J; Watanabe, Takeo; Andersen, George J

    2014-06-01

    Previous research has shown a wide array of age-related declines in vision. The current study examined the effects of perceptual learning (PL), external noise, and task difficulty in fine orientation discrimination with older individuals (mean age 71.73, range 65-91). Thirty-two older subjects participated in seven 1.5-h sessions conducted on separate days over a three-week period. A two-alternative forced choice procedure was used in discriminating the orientation of Gabor patches. Four training groups were examined in which the standard orientations for training were either easy or difficult and included either external noise (additive Gaussian noise) or no external noise. In addition, the transfer to an untrained orientation and noise levels were examined. An analysis of the four groups prior to training indicated no significant differences between the groups. An analysis of the change in performance post-training indicated that the degree of learning was related to task difficulty and the presence of external noise during training. In addition, measurements of pupil diameter indicated that changes in orientation discrimination were not associated with changes in retinal illuminance. These results suggest that task difficulty and training in noise are factors important for optimizing the effects of training among older individuals. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Analysis of difficulties in mathematics problem solving based on revised Bloom’s Taxonomy viewed from high self-efficacy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prismana, R. D. E.; Kusmayadi, T. A.; Pramudya, I.

    2018-04-01

    The ability of solving problem is a part of the mathematic curriculum that is very important. Problem solving prefers the process and strategy that is done by students in solving a problem rather than the result. This learning concept in accordance with the stages on the revised bloom’s taxonomy. The revised Bloom’s Taxonomy has two dimensions, namely the dimension of cognitive process and the dimension of knowledge. Dimension of knowledge has four categories, but this study only restricted on two knowledge, conceptual knowledge and procedural knowledge. Dimensions of cognitive processes are categorized into six kinds, namely remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. Implementation of learning more emphasis on the role of students. Students must have their own belief in completing tasks called self-efficacy. This research is a qualitative research. This research aims to know the site of the students’ difficulty based on revised Bloom’s Taxonomy viewed from high self-efficacy. The results of the study stated the students with high self efficacy have difficulties site. They are evaluating conceptual knowledge, evaluating procedural knowledge, creating conceptual knowledge, and creating procedural knowledge. It could be the consideration of teachers in the teaching, so as to reduce the difficulties of learning in students.

  4. Theory-Based Causal Induction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Griffiths, Thomas L.; Tenenbaum, Joshua B.

    2009-01-01

    Inducing causal relationships from observations is a classic problem in scientific inference, statistics, and machine learning. It is also a central part of human learning, and a task that people perform remarkably well given its notorious difficulties. People can learn causal structure in various settings, from diverse forms of data: observations…

  5. Assessing for Learning: Some Dimensions Underlying New Approaches to Educational Assessment.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Biggs, John

    1995-01-01

    Different models of performance assessment arise from interactions of three dimensions of assessment: the measurement versus the standards model of testing, quantitative and qualitative assumptions concerning the nature of learning, and whether learning and testing are situated or decontextualized. Addresses difficulties in implementing…

  6. Modelling and Optimizing Mathematics Learning in Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Käser, Tanja; Busetto, Alberto Giovanni; Solenthaler, Barbara; Baschera, Gian-Marco; Kohn, Juliane; Kucian, Karin; von Aster, Michael; Gross, Markus

    2013-01-01

    This study introduces a student model and control algorithm, optimizing mathematics learning in children. The adaptive system is integrated into a computer-based training system for enhancing numerical cognition aimed at children with developmental dyscalculia or difficulties in learning mathematics. The student model consists of a dynamic…

  7. The Remedial Effect of a Biological Learning Game.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blum, Abraham

    1979-01-01

    Investigates the effectiveness of a structured learning game in overcoming learning difficulties encountered by Israeli students when studying the life cycles of fungi because of lack of structural conceptualization. The Fungi Life Cycle Game (FLCG) was used by undergraduate students enrolled in a phytopathology course. (HM)

  8. How Effective Is Instructional Support for Learning with Computer Simulations?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eckhardt, Marc; Urhahne, Detlef; Conrad, Olaf; Harms, Ute

    2013-01-01

    The study examined the effects of two different instructional interventions as support for scientific discovery learning using computer simulations. In two well-known categories of difficulty, data interpretation and self-regulation, instructional interventions for learning with computer simulations on the topic "ecosystem water" were developed…

  9. Perceptual Learning of Acoustic Noise by Individuals with Dyslexia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Agus, Trevor R.; Carrión-Castillo, Amaia; Pressnitzer, Daniel; Ramus, Franck

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: A phonological deficit is thought to affect most individuals with developmental dyslexia. The present study addresses whether the phonological deficit is caused by difficulties with perceptual learning of fine acoustic details. Method: A demanding test of nonverbal auditory memory, "noise learning," was administered to both…

  10. Metacognitive and Multimedia Support of Experiments in Inquiry Learning for Science Teacher Preparation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bruckermann, Till; Aschermann, Ellen; Bresges, André; Schlüter, Kirsten

    2017-01-01

    Promoting preservice science teachers' experimentation competency is required to provide a basis for meaningful learning through experiments in schools. However, preservice teachers show difficulties when experimenting. Previous research revealed that cognitive scaffolding promotes experimentation competency by structuring the learning process,…

  11. Guidance Provided by Teacher and Simulation for Inquiry-Based Learning: A Case Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lehtinen, Antti; Viiri, Jouni

    2017-01-01

    Current research indicates that inquiry-based learning should be guided in order to achieve optimal learning outcomes. The need for guidance is even greater when simulations are used because of their high information content and the difficulty of extracting information from them. Previous research on guidance for learning with simulations has…

  12. Selecting Learning Tasks: Effects of Adaptation and Shared Control on Learning Efficiency and Task Involvement

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Corbalan, Gemma; Kester, Liesbeth; van Merrienboer, Jeroen J. G.

    2008-01-01

    Complex skill acquisition by performing authentic learning tasks is constrained by limited working memory capacity [Baddeley, A. D. (1992). Working memory. "Science, 255", 556-559]. To prevent cognitive overload, task difficulty and support of each newly selected learning task can be adapted to the learner's competence level and perceived task…

  13. The Effectiveness of Problem-Based Learning on Teaching the First Law of Thermodynamics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tatar, Erdal; Oktay, Munir

    2011-01-01

    Background: Problem-based learning (PBL) is a teaching approach working in cooperation with self-learning and involving research to solve real problems. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but that energy is conserved. Students had difficulty learning or misconceptions about this law. This study…

  14. Letting the Cat out of the Bag: EFL College Students' Attitudes towards Learning English Idioms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al-Houti, Shorouq K.; Aldaihani, Sultan M.

    2018-01-01

    Learning idioms is an uphill battle for many language learners. Thus, this quantitative study aims to shed light on English as Foreign Language (EFL) college students' attitudes towards idiom learning. Specifically, the study is interested in revealing their attitudes towards (1) the importance of idiom learning, (2) the difficulties of idiom…

  15. Learning Quanta: Barriers to Stimulating Transitions in Student Understanding of Orbital Ideas

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taber, Keith S.

    2005-01-01

    This paper reports the results of applying a particular analytical perspective to data from an interview study: a typology of learning impediments informed by research into learning and students' ideas in science. This typology is a heuristic tool that may help diagnose the origins of students' learning difficulties. Here it is applied to data…

  16. Rethinking Learning Disabilities: Understanding Children Who Struggle in School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Waber, Deborah P.

    2010-01-01

    Experts have yet to reach consensus about what a learning disability is, how to determine if a child has one, and what to do about it. Leading researcher and clinician Deborah Waber offers an alternative to the prevailing view of learning disability as a problem contained within the child. Instead, she shows how learning difficulties are best…

  17. Interpreting Medical Information Using Machine Learning and Individual Conditional Expectation.

    PubMed

    Nohara, Yasunobu; Wakata, Yoshifumi; Nakashima, Naoki

    2015-01-01

    Recently, machine-learning techniques have spread many fields. However, machine-learning is still not popular in medical research field due to difficulty of interpreting. In this paper, we introduce a method of interpreting medical information using machine learning technique. The method gave new explanation of partial dependence plot and individual conditional expectation plot from medical research field.

  18. At the Boundaries, in the Trenches: Curriculum Development and Implementation in Learning Communities at an Urban Commuter College

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Belton, Ellen R.; Lander, Tracey F.

    2008-01-01

    One of the greatest difficulties facing learning community programs at urban non-residential colleges and universities is the challenge of promoting communication and collaboration among faculty from different disciplines. In this article, the authors, a learning communities coordinator and a learning communities faculty team member, describe and…

  19. The Answering Process for Multiple-Choice Questions in Collaborative Learning: A Mathematical Learning Model Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nakamura, Yasuyuki; Nishi, Shinnosuke; Muramatsu, Yuta; Yasutake, Koichi; Yamakawa, Osamu; Tagawa, Takahiro

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, we introduce a mathematical model for collaborative learning and the answering process for multiple-choice questions. The collaborative learning model is inspired by the Ising spin model and the model for answering multiple-choice questions is based on their difficulty level. An intensive simulation study predicts the possibility of…

  20. Learning and Skills: Opportunities or Threats for Disabled Learners? FEDA Responds.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mace, Jackie, Ed.

    Challenges will be created by proposed changes to post-school education and training for people with learning difficulties and disabilities. Two important bills have been proposed. The Learning and Skills Bill (LSB) changes the whole architecture of the post-school education and training sector. LSB sets up the Learning and Skills Council (LSC)…

  1. e-Learning, Online Learning, and Distance Learning Environments: Are They the Same?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moore, Joi L.; Dickson-Deane, Camille; Galyen, Krista

    2011-01-01

    It is not uncommon that researchers face difficulties when performing meaningful cross-study comparisons for research. Research associated with the distance learning realm can be even more difficult to use as there are different environments with a variety of characteristics. We implemented a mixed-method analysis of research articles to find out…

  2. Identifying and Remediating Student Misconceptions in Introductory Biology via Writing-to-Learn Assignments and Peer Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Halim, Audrey S.; Finkenstaedt-Quinn, Solaire A.; Olsen, Laura J.; Gere, Anne Ruggles; Shultz, Ginger V.

    2018-01-01

    Student misconceptions are an obstacle in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses and unless remediated may continue causing difficulties in learning as students advance in their studies. Writing-to-learn assignments (WTL) are characterized by their ability to promote in-depth conceptual learning by allowing students to explore…

  3. Testing Students with Learning Disabilities. Assessment Brief. Number 6

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dietel, Ron

    2004-01-01

    A variety of testing methods can be extremely useful in finding out whether children who are experiencing learning difficulties may have one or more learning disabilities. This is an important and valuable role for testing. Another important issue concerns how best to ensure fairness for a learning disabled student when he or she must take a…

  4. Influence of Linguistic Challenges on Attitude towards Mathematics Learning among Upper Primary Students of Kerala

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sarabi, M. K.; Gafoor, K. Abdul

    2017-01-01

    Aspects that influences mathematics learning is widely studied and language factors have been identified as a key backer to difficulties in learning Mathematics. It is evidenced that not only cognitive factors but also affective factors have vital role in learning mathematics. Such affective beliefs sources from various aspects of mathematics…

  5. Students' Strategies of Measuring Time Using Traditional "Gasing" Game in Third Grade of Primary School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jaelani, Anton; Putri, Ratu Ilma Indra; Hartono, Yusuf

    2013-01-01

    Understanding of measuring time has difficulty for children because it is intangible. Standard units often used directly by teacher for learning time measurement. Many researches involved games in designing learning material to facilitate fun and meaningful learning for children. For this reason, learning of time measurement that connects with…

  6. Doing Dissections Differently: A Structured, Peer-Assisted Learning Approach to Maximizing Learning in Dissections

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hall, Emma R.; Davis, Rachel C.; Weller, Renate; Powney, Sonya; Williams, Sarah B.

    2013-01-01

    Areas of difficulty faced by our veterinary medicine students, with respect to their learning in dissection classes, were identified. These challenges were both general adult-learning related and specific to the discipline of anatomy. Our aim was to design, implement, and evaluate a modified reciprocal peer-assisted/team-based learning…

  7. Better Categorizing Misconceptions Using a Contemporary Cognitive Science Lens

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Slater, S. J.; Slater, T. F.

    2013-12-01

    Much of the last three decades of discipline-based education research in the geosciences has focused on the important work of identifying the range and domain of misconceptions students bring into undergraduate science survey courses. Pinpointing students' prior knowledge is a cornerstone for developing constructivist approaches and learning environments for effective teaching. At the same time, the development of a robust a priori formula for professors to use in mitigating students' misconceptions remains elusive. An analysis of the literature and our own research has persuaded researchers at the CAPER Center for Astronomy & Physics Education Research to put forth a model that will allow professors to operate on students' various learning difficulties in a more productive manner. Previously, much of the field's work binned erroneous student thinking into a single construct, and from that basis, curriculum developers and instructors addressed student misconceptions with a single instructional strategy. In contrast, we propose a model based on the notion that 'misconceptions' are a mixture of at least four learning barriers: incorrect factual information, inappropriately applied mental algorithms (phenomenological primitives), insufficient cognitive structures (e.g. spatial reasoning), and affective/emotional difficulties (e.g. students' spiritual commitments). In this sense, each of these different types of learning barriers would be more effectively addressed with an instructional strategy purposefully targeting these different attributes. Initial applications of this model to learning problems in geosciences have been fruitful, suggesting that an effort towards categorizing persistent learning difficulties in the geosciences beyond the single generalized category of 'misconceptions' might allow our community to more effectively design learning experiences for our students and the general public

  8. The Dyslexic Student and Mathematics in Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Perkin, Glynis; Croft, Tony

    2007-01-01

    Difficulties that are encountered by dyslexic undergraduates with their learning and understanding of mathematics are explored. Specific consideration is given to issues arising through mathematical content, its delivery, the procedures and processes of doing mathematics, and its assessment. Particular difficulties, which have emerged through…

  9. Learning Difficulties and Nutrition: Pills or Pedagogy?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Evans, Roy

    1999-01-01

    Examines the efforts to find effective ameliorative measures for literacy difficulties such as dyslexia and dyspraxia, focusing on noneducational techniques found in holistic medicine, complementary therapies, and nutritional supplements. Maintains that dyslexia has become big business for drug companies and that the appropriate research regarding…

  10. Students' Difficulties with Integration in Electricity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nguyen, Dong-Hai; Rebello, N. Sanjay

    2011-01-01

    This study investigates the common difficulties that students in introductory physics experience when solving problems involving integration in the context of electricity. We conducted teaching-learning interviews with 15 students in a second-semester calculus-based introductory physics course on several problems involving integration. We found…

  11. A Preliminary Study of Some of the Learning and Assessment Difficulties in Connection with O-Level Electrochemistry.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hillman, R. A. H.; And Others

    1981-01-01

    Describes a study which explored some difficulties related to technical and nontechnical vocabulary and the structure of the examination questions in electrochemistry. Includes results from a sample of 1,500 students in the fourth forms. (DS)

  12. Moving Beyond Misconceptions: A New Model for Learning Challenges in Cognition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Slater, T. F.; Slater, S. J.

    2011-12-01

    For over 40 years, the science education community has given its attention to cataloging the substantial body of "misconceptions" in individual's thinking about science, and to addressing the consequences of those misconceptions in the science classroom. Despite the tremendous amount of effort given to researching and disseminating information related to misconceptions, and the development of a theory of conceptual change to mitigate misconceptions, progress continues to be less than satisfying. An analysis of the literature and our own research has persuaded the CAPER Center for Astronomy and Physics Education Research to put forth model that will allow us to operate on students' learning difficulties in a more fruitful manner. Previously, much of the field's work binned erroneous student thinking into a single construct, and from that basis, curriculum developers and instructors addressed student misconceptions with a single instructional strategy. In contrast this model suggests that "misconceptions" are a mixture of at least four learning barriers: incorrect factual information, inappropriately applied mental algorithms (phenomenological primitives), insufficient cognitive structures (e.g. spatial reasoning), and affective/emotional difficulties. Each of these types of barriers should be addressed with an appropriately designed instructional strategy. Initial applications of this model to learning problems in the Earth & Space Sciences have been fruitful, suggesting that an effort towards categorizing persistent learning difficulties in the geosciences beyond the level of "misconceptions" may allow our community to craft tailored and more effective learning experiences for our students and the general public.

  13. Transfer in motion perceptual learning depends on the difficulty of the training task.

    PubMed

    Wang, Xiaoxiao; Zhou, Yifeng; Liu, Zili

    2013-06-07

    One hypothesis in visual perceptual learning is that the amount of transfer depends on the difficulty of the training and transfer tasks (Ahissar & Hochstein, 1997; Liu, 1995, 1999). Jeter, Dosher, Petrov, and Lu (2009), using an orientation discrimination task, challenged this hypothesis by arguing that the amount of transfer depends only on the transfer task but not on the training task. Here we show in a motion direction discrimination task that the amount of transfer indeed depends on the difficulty of the training task. Specifically, participants were first trained with either 4° or 8° direction discrimination along one average direction. Their transfer performance was then tested along an average direction 90° away from the trained direction. A variety of transfer measures consistently demonstrated that transfer performance depended on whether the participants were trained on 4° or 8° directional difference. The results contradicted the prediction that transfer was independent of the training task difficulty.

  14. An investigation of difficulties experienced by students developing unified modelling language (UML) class and sequence diagrams

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sien, Ven Yu

    2011-12-01

    Object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) is not an easy subject to learn. There are many challenges confronting students when studying OOAD. Students have particular difficulty abstracting real-world problems within the context of OOAD. They are unable to effectively build object-oriented (OO) models from the problem domain because they essentially do not know "what" to model. This article investigates the difficulties and misconceptions undergraduate students have with analysing systems using unified modelling language analysis class and sequence diagrams. These models were chosen because they represent important static and dynamic aspects of the software system under development. The results of this study will help students produce effective OO models, and facilitate software engineering lecturers design learning materials and approaches for introductory OOAD courses.

  15. Skilled interaction among professional carers in special accommodations for adult people with learning disabilities.

    PubMed

    Antonsson, H; Aström, S; Lundström, M; Graneheim, U H

    2013-09-01

    Communicative difficulties affect interactions between people with learning disabilities and their carers. Despite such difficulties, however, some carers seem to interact successfully with people who have limited ability to communicate verbally and exhibit challenging behaviour. This study aims to illuminate skilled interaction among carers working in special accommodations for people with learning disabilities. Interactions between 16 caregivers and 11 residents with learning disabilities were recorded on video. Verbal and non-verbal interaction skills among the carers were identified. Four caring situations with people with learning disabilities were chosen to illuminate skilled interaction. The transcribed text was subjected to qualitative content analysis and core stories were created. The results show that skilled interaction between the carers and the people with learning disabilities is based upon being confirming, sharing daily life experience, giving time and space, and using congruent and distinct language. In this paper we present examples that offer concrete suggestions of how to promote successful interaction and create meaning in the shared day-to-day life in special accommodations for people with learning disabilities. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Effects of Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematical Metacognition on Word Problem Solving in Children with and without Mathematical Learning Difficulties.

    PubMed

    Lai, Yinghui; Zhu, Xiaoshuang; Chen, Yinghe; Li, Yanjun

    2015-01-01

    Mathematics is one of the most objective, logical, and practical academic disciplines. Yet, in addition to cognitive skills, mathematical problem solving also involves affective factors. In the current study, we first investigated effects of mathematics anxiety (MA) and mathematical metacognition on word problem solving (WPS). We tested 224 children (116 boys, M = 10.15 years old, SD = 0.56) with the Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Children, the Chinese Revised-edition Questionnaire of Pupil's Metacognitive Ability in Mathematics, and WPS tasks. The results indicated that mathematical metacognition mediated the effect of MA on WPS after controlling for IQ. Second, we divided the children into four mathematics achievement groups including high achieving (HA), typical achieving (TA), low achieving (LA), and mathematical learning difficulty (MLD). Because mathematical metacognition and MA predicted mathematics achievement, we compared group differences in metacognition and MA with IQ partialled out. The results showed that children with MLD scored lower in self-image and higher in learning mathematics anxiety (LMA) than the TA and HA children, but not in mathematical evaluation anxiety (MEA). MLD children's LMA was also higher than that of their LA counterparts. These results provide insight into factors that may mediate poor WPS performance which emerges under pressure in mathematics. These results also suggest that the anxiety during learning mathematics should be taken into account in mathematical learning difficulty interventions.

  17. Investigating and improving student understanding of quantum mechanics in the context of single photon interference

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marshman, Emily; Singh, Chandralekha

    2017-06-01

    Single photon experiments involving a Mach-Zehnder interferometer can illustrate the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics, e.g., the wave-particle duality of a single photon, single photon interference, and the probabilistic nature of quantum measurement involving single photons. These experiments explicitly make the connection between the abstract quantum theory and concrete laboratory settings and have the potential to help students develop a solid grasp of the foundational issues in quantum mechanics. Here we describe students' conceptual difficulties with these topics in the context of Mach-Zehnder interferometer experiments with single photons and how the difficulties found in written surveys and individual interviews were used as a guide in the development of a Quantum Interactive Learning Tutorial (QuILT). The QuILT uses an inquiry-based approach to learning and takes into account the conceptual difficulties found via research to help upper-level undergraduate and graduate students learn about foundational quantum mechanics concepts using the concrete quantum optics context. It strives to help students learn the basics of quantum mechanics in the context of single photon experiment, develop the ability to apply fundamental quantum principles to experimental situations in quantum optics, and explore the differences between classical and quantum ideas in a concrete context. We discuss the findings from in-class evaluations suggesting that the QuILT was effective in helping students learn these abstract concepts.

  18. Effects of Mathematics Anxiety and Mathematical Metacognition on Word Problem Solving in Children with and without Mathematical Learning Difficulties

    PubMed Central

    Lai, Yinghui; Zhu, Xiaoshuang; Chen, Yinghe; Li, Yanjun

    2015-01-01

    Mathematics is one of the most objective, logical, and practical academic disciplines. Yet, in addition to cognitive skills, mathematical problem solving also involves affective factors. In the current study, we first investigated effects of mathematics anxiety (MA) and mathematical metacognition on word problem solving (WPS). We tested 224 children (116 boys, M = 10.15 years old, SD = 0.56) with the Mathematics Anxiety Scale for Children, the Chinese Revised-edition Questionnaire of Pupil’s Metacognitive Ability in Mathematics, and WPS tasks. The results indicated that mathematical metacognition mediated the effect of MA on WPS after controlling for IQ. Second, we divided the children into four mathematics achievement groups including high achieving (HA), typical achieving (TA), low achieving (LA), and mathematical learning difficulty (MLD). Because mathematical metacognition and MA predicted mathematics achievement, we compared group differences in metacognition and MA with IQ partialled out. The results showed that children with MLD scored lower in self-image and higher in learning mathematics anxiety (LMA) than the TA and HA children, but not in mathematical evaluation anxiety (MEA). MLD children’s LMA was also higher than that of their LA counterparts. These results provide insight into factors that may mediate poor WPS performance which emerges under pressure in mathematics. These results also suggest that the anxiety during learning mathematics should be taken into account in mathematical learning difficulty interventions. PMID:26090806

  19. Mapping Remote and Multidisciplinary Learning Barriers: Lessons from "Challenge-Based Innovation" at CERN

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jensen, Matilde Bisballe; Utriainen, Tuuli Maria; Steinert, Martin

    2018-01-01

    This paper presents the experienced difficulties of students participating in the multidisciplinary, remote collaborating engineering design course challenge-based innovation at CERN. This is with the aim to identify learning barriers and improve future learning experiences. We statistically analyse the rated differences between distinct design…

  20. Accommodating Asperger's: An Autoethnography on the Learning Experience in an E-Learning Music Education Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Farrell, Riley Jarrett

    2013-01-01

    A student with Asperger's Syndrome faces a complex myriad of learning disabilities and social difficulties. The co-morbid conditions of dyslexia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder and anxiety further complicate Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's Syndrome and these conditions, singularly…

  1. Learning Multiplication Using Indonesian Traditional Game in Third Grade

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Prahmana, Rully Charitas Indra; Zulkardi; Hartono, Yusuf

    2012-01-01

    Several previous researches showed that students had difficulty in understanding the basic concept of multiplication. Students are more likely to be introduced by using formula without involving the concept itself. This underlies the researcher to design a learning trajectory of learning multiplication using Permainan Tradisional Tepuk Bergambar…

  2. Navigational Aids: The Phenomenology of Transformative Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mälkki, Kaisu; Green, Larry

    2014-01-01

    Although the notion of transformative learning points to a desirable destination for educational endeavors, the difficulty in the journey is often neglected. Our intention is to map the experiential micro-processes involved in transformative learning such that the phenomenon is illuminated from a first-person rather than third-person point of…

  3. A Model for Student Adoption of Online Interactivity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Karamanos, Neophytos; Gibbs, Paul

    2012-01-01

    Acknowledging the general difficulty of new e-learning pedagogical approaches in achieving wide acceptance and use, the study described in this article examines a class of MBA students' adoption of a proposed online interactive learning environment. To this end, a web-based, case-based constructivist learning environment was developed, embedding…

  4. Development of a Personalized Educational Computer Game Based on Students' Learning Styles

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hwang, Gwo-Jen; Sung, Han-Yu; Hung, Chun-Ming; Huang, Iwen; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2012-01-01

    In recent years, many researchers have been engaged in the development of educational computer games; however, previous studies have indicated that, without supportive models that take individual students' learning needs or difficulties into consideration, students might only show temporary interest during the learning process, and their learning…

  5. Enhancing Transfer of Learning among Seventh Graders.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Penn, Cheryl; Shelley, Sherry; Zaininger, Lucie

    The difficulty students have in transferring what they have learned to "real life" situations is emerging as a major problem. This action research project examined the impact of an intervention to improve transfer of learning by means of student journals and projects, and graphic organizers. Participating in this research were 68…

  6. How Elementary School Students' Motivation Is Connected to Self-Regulation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jarvela, Sanna; Jarvenoja, Hanna; Malmberg, Jonna

    2012-01-01

    Empirical research reveals that students face difficulties engaging in learning and achieving their goals in a variety of learning contexts. To study effectively, students need to regulate their learning process. In spite of increased understanding of cognitive aspects of self-regulation, motivational aspects of regulation have not yet been…

  7. Sequence Learning and Selection Difficulty

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rowland, Lee A.; Shanks, David R.

    2006-01-01

    The authors studied the role of attention as a selection mechanism in implicit learning by examining the effect on primary sequence learning of performing a demanding target-selection task. Participants were trained on probabilistic sequences in a novel version of the serial reaction time (SRT) task, with dual- and triple-stimulus participants…

  8. Understanding the Problems of Learning Mathematics.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Semilla-Dube, Lilia

    1983-01-01

    A model is being developed to categorize problems in teaching and learning mathematics. Categories include problems due to language difficulties, lack of prerequisite knowledge, and those related to the affective domain. This paper calls on individuals to share teaching and learning episodes; those submitted will then be compiled and categorized.…

  9. Designing Strategies That Meet the Variety of Learning Styles of Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lopez, Doreen M.; Schroeder, Linda

    2008-01-01

    This action research project was designed to maximize learning for all students by addressing different learning styles and implementing various strategies. The students in the targeted school exhibited difficulty in experiencing academic success while exposed to conventional teaching strategies. The two target schools consisted of an intermediate…

  10. Interinformant Agreement of the Dementia Questionnaire for People with Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Walker, Brigid; MacBryer, Shona; Jones, Alan; Law, Jim

    2015-01-01

    Because of difficulties with neuropsychological assessments for dementia in people with learning disabilities, professionals in clinical practice have relied heavily on carer interviews, one of the most widely used being the "Dementia Questionnaire for People with Learning Disabilities" (DLD-Evenhuis et al. 2006 "Dementia…

  11. Effective Spelling Instruction for Students with Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sayeski, Kristin L.

    2011-01-01

    Difficulty with spelling is a perennial challenge for students with learning disabilities. Several decades of research, however, have identified both fundamental linguistic concepts and instructional approaches that, when understood by a teacher, can be applied to teach students with learning disabilities to spell. In this article, a brief history…

  12. Team Learning in SMES: Learning the Lessons

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McKeown, Ian

    2012-01-01

    This research identifies and explores the factors that influence team learning in the context of an SME management team. It examines the difficulties the team members face in attempting to share and combine their experiences to co-construct knowledge and understanding of their environment and future opportunities. The paper reveals a connection…

  13. Teaching Listening Skills to JFL Students in Australia.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Danaher, Mike

    1996-01-01

    Examines issues affecting the teaching and learning of listening skills within the study of Japanese as a Foreign Language. Listening within foreign-language learning is a complex skill, and students encounter several difficulties in learning to listen for comprehension. Teachers face concerns ranging from resource availability to how to teach…

  14. Developing and Evaluating a Chinese Collocation Retrieval Tool for CFL Students and Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chen, Howard Hao-Jan; Wu, Jian-Cheng; Yang, Christine Ting-Yu; Pan, Iting

    2016-01-01

    The development of collocational knowledge is important for foreign language learners; unfortunately, learners often have difficulties producing proper collocations in the target language. Among the various ways of collocation learning, the DDL (data-driven learning) approach encourages the independent learning of collocations and allows learners…

  15. Using Computers To Accommodate Learning Disabled Students in Mathematics Classes.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rapp, Rhonda H.; Gittinger, Dennis J.

    A person with a learning disability usually has average or above average intelligence, but has difficulty taking in, remembering, or expressing information. Learning disabilities can involve visual processing speed, short-term memory processing, fluid reasoning, and long-term memory retrieval. These disorders are intrinsic to the individual and…

  16. A Methodology for Enhancing Mobile Learning through Content Semantics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dimitrios, Glaroudis; Athanasios, Manitsaris; Isabella, Kotini

    2013-01-01

    Mobile learning is becoming increasingly popular. Educational web sites can be used as supporting learning tools for students who wish to supplement their knowledge without restrictions of time and place. The continuously increasing demand for enhanced remote and mobile services, as well as the difficulty in easily incorporating current learning…

  17. The Art of Movement and Letter Learning.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Haslett, Jacqueline G.

    Movement education techniques can be used to enhance childen's creative and expressive abilities, which can help to develop a sound self image and to transfer knowledge to reading skills. Numerous studies have explored perceptual and motor learning, movement therapy, and the needs of children with learning difficulties. Movement concepts have been…

  18. The Warning Signs of Learning Disabilities. ERIC Digest #E603.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bergert, Susan

    This brief paper summarizes warning signs of learning disabilities in preschool children, elementary school children, and secondary school children. It notes that learning disabilities are presumed to arise from dysfunctions in the brain resulting in significant difficulties in perceiving information, processing and/or remembering information,…

  19. Effects of Students' Characteristics on Online Learning Readiness: A Vocational College Example

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cigdam, Harun; Yildirim, Osman Gazi

    2014-01-01

    Educational institutions rapidly adopt concepts and practices of online learning systems for students. But many institutions' online learning programs face enormous difficulty in achieving successful strategies. It is essential to evaluate its different aspects and understand factors which influence its effectiveness. Readiness stands out among…

  20. Challenges for Cooperative Learning Implementation: Reports from Elementary School Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Buchs, Céline; Filippou, Dimitra; Pulfrey, Caroline; Volpé, Yann

    2017-01-01

    Despite the well-established benefits of cooperative learning, implementation remains a challenge. This research aims to document these challenges at the elementary school level, drawing on teachers' beliefs regarding learning as well as the difficulties teachers report. Results indicate that the most frequent instructional strategies reported are…

  1. Virtual Manipulatives: Tools for Teaching Mathematics to Students with Learning Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shin, Mikyung; Bryant, Diane P.; Bryant, Brian R.; McKenna, John W.; Hou, Fangjuan; Ok, Min Wook

    2017-01-01

    Many students with learning disabilities demonstrate difficulty in developing a conceptual understanding of mathematical topics. Researchers recommend using visual models to support student learning of the concepts and skills necessary to complete abstract and symbolic mathematical problems. Virtual manipulatives (i.e., interactive visual models)…

  2. Automatic Presentation of Sense-Specific Lexical Information in an Intelligent Learning System

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eom, Soojeong

    2012-01-01

    Learning vocabulary and understanding texts present difficulty for language learners due to, among other things, the high degree of lexical ambiguity. By developing an intelligent tutoring system, this dissertation examines whether automatically providing enriched sense-specific information is effective for vocabulary learning and reading…

  3. Online Learning: Learner Characteristics and Their Approaches to Managing Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    del Valle, Rodrigo; Duffy, Thomas M.

    2009-01-01

    Using cluster analysis this study investigated the characteristics of learning strategies learners use in online courses with one-on-one mentoring. Three distinct approaches were identified: "Mastery oriented", "Task focused" and "Minimalist in effort". Despite the widespread concern that students will have difficulty managing their time in online…

  4. Learning to Draw through Digital Modelling

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Temple, Stephen

    2016-01-01

    The education of architectural designers begins by learning drawing and digital modelling following the notion that students learn these new modes as instruments of thinking in design process. Curricular arguments persist about which mode should follow the other. Difficulties occur when one mode replaces the other. Students uninitiated to design…

  5. Twice-Exceptionality: Parents' Perspectives on 2e Identification

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dare, Lynn; Nowicki, Elizabeth Agnes

    2015-01-01

    Twice-exceptional students have high abilities and coexisting learning difficulties. Abilities and difficulties tend to mask each other, and these underidentified students often struggle in school and express their frustrations at home. However, few studies have examined how parents experience the identification of their children's multiple…

  6. Reading Stories to Learn Math: Mathematics Vocabulary Instruction for Children with Early Numeracy Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hassinger-Das, Brenna; Jordan, Nancy C.; Dyson, Nancy

    2015-01-01

    The present study involved examining whether a storybook reading intervention targeting mathematics vocabulary, such as "equal," "more," and "less," and associated number concepts would increase at-risk children's vocabulary knowledge and number competencies. Children with early numeracy difficulties (N = 124) were…

  7. Learning Disorders: Know the Signs, How to Help

    MedlinePlus

    ... a child to read, write or do simple math. Understand the signs and what you can do. ... Dyscalculia. Dyscalculia is a learning disorder related to math concepts. Signs include difficulty solving even simple math ...

  8. Triple X Syndrome: Symptoms and Causes

    MedlinePlus

    ... be more pronounced — possibly including developmental delays and learning disabilities. Treatment for triple X syndrome depends on which ... motor skills, such as sitting up and walking Learning disabilities, such as difficulty with reading (dyslexia), understanding or ...

  9. The role of language in learning physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brookes, David T.

    Many studies in PER suggest that language poses a serious difficulty for students learning physics. These difficulties are mostly attributed to misunderstanding of specialized terminology. This terminology often assigns new meanings to everyday terms used to describe physical models and phenomena. In this dissertation I present a novel approach to analyzing of the role of language in learning physics. This approach is based on the analysis of the historical development of physics ideas, the language of modern physicists, and students' difficulties in the areas of quantum mechanics, classical mechanics, and thermodynamics. These data are analyzed using linguistic tools borrowed from cognitive linguistics and systemic functional grammar. Specifically, I combine the idea of conceptual metaphor and grammar to build a theoretical framework that accounts for: (1) the role and function that language serves for physicists when they speak and reason about physical ideas and phenomena, (2) specific features of students' reasoning and difficulties that may be related to or derived from language that students read or hear. The theoretical framework is developed using the methodology of a grounded theoretical approach. The theoretical framework allows us to make predictions about the relationship between student discourse and their conceptual and problem solving difficulties. Tests of the theoretical framework are presented in the context of "heat" in thermodynamics and "force" in dynamics. In each case the language that students use to reason about the concepts of "heat" and "force" is analyzed using the theoretical framework. The results of this analysis show that language is very important in students' learning. In particular, students are (1) using features of physicists' conceptual metaphors to reason about physical phenomena, often overextending and misapplying these features, (2) drawing cues from the grammar of physicists' speech and writing to categorize physics concepts; this categorization of physics concepts plays a key role in students' ability to solve physics problems. In summary, I present a theoretical framework that provides a possible explanation of the role that language plays in learning physics. The framework also attempts to account for how and why physicists' language influences students in the way that it does.

  10. Analysis of junior high school students' difficulty in resolving rectangular conceptual problems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Utami, Aliksia Kristiana Dwi; Mardiyana, Pramudya, Ikrar

    2017-08-01

    Geometry is one part of the mathematics that must be learned in school and it has important effects on the development of creative thinking skills of learners, but in fact, there are some difficulties experienced by the students. This research focuses on analysis difficulty in resolving rectangular conceptual problems among junior high school students in every creative thinking skills level. This research used a descriptive method aimed to identify the difficulties and cause of the difficulties experienced by five students. The difficulties are associated with rectangular shapes and related problems. Data collection was done based on students' work through test, interview, and observations. The result revealed that student' difficulties in understanding the rectangular concept can be found at every creative thinking skills level. The difficulties are identifying the objects rectangular in the daily life except for a rectangle and square, analyzing the properties of rectangular shapes, and seeing the interrelationships between figures.

  11. Low Achieving Eighth Graders Learn to Crack Word Problems: A Design Research Project for Aligning a Strategic Scaffolding Tool to Students' Mental Processes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Prediger, Susanne; Krägeloh, Nadine

    2015-01-01

    Topic-specific didactical design research provides means not only to investigate how to learn but also what to learn, i.e., for specifying learning contents by analyzing students' comprehension processes in detail. This important characteristic of didactical design research is exemplarily shown for students' difficulties in finding symbolic…

  12. Situating beyond the Social: Understanding the Role of Materiality in Danish Nursing Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soffer, Ann Katrine B.

    2016-01-01

    Situated learning serves as an analytical framework for learning in a community of practice and has been widely used to understand the learning process that is entailed in becoming a nurse. Yet in this paper, the difficulties encountered with the original notion of situated learning once it is applied to contemporary Danish nursing education are…

  13. Key Players in Inclusion: Are We Meeting the Professional Needs of Learning Support Assistants for Pupils with Complex Needs?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abbott, Lesley; McConkey, Roy; Dobbins, Michael

    2011-01-01

    Under the aegis of inclusion, greater numbers of learning support assistants (LSAs) in mainstream and special schools are increasingly required to assist teachers with pupils who have complex needs across the full age range. Because of the numerous and wide-ranging learning difficulties and learning disabilities in addition to sensory impairment,…

  14. How Many U.S. High School Students Have a Foreign Language Reading "Disability"? Reading without Meaning and the Simple View

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sparks, Richard L.; Luebbers, Julie

    2018-01-01

    Conventional wisdom suggests that students classified as learning disabled will exhibit difficulties with foreign language (FL) learning, but evidence has not supported a relationship between FL learning problems and learning disabilities. The simple view of reading model posits that reading comprehension is the product of word decoding and…

  15. The Impacts of Team Learning on the Development of a Learning Organisation: A Cultural Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Chao-Hua; Su, Kun-Shan

    2015-01-01

    Generalisability of a learning organisation (LO) for cross-cultural applications is doubtful. Some cultural values may be opposed to the nature in a LO which calls for voluntary participation in learning activities by all employees. The study reveals a dynamic analysis of a LO with the sense of the difficulties organisations typically face and how…

  16. Difficulty in Learning Similar-Sounding Words: A Developmental Stage or a General Property of Learning?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pajak, Bozena; Creel, Sarah C.; Levy, Roger

    2016-01-01

    How are languages learned, and to what extent are learning mechanisms similar in infant native-language (L1) and adult second-language (L2) acquisition? In terms of vocabulary acquisition, we know from the infant literature that the ability to discriminate similar-sounding words at a particular age does not guarantee successful word-meaning…

  17. Modern Languages and Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD): Implications of Teaching Adult Learners with Dyslexia in Distance Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gallardo, Matilde; Heiser, Sarah; Arias McLaughlin, Ximena

    2015-01-01

    In modern language (ML) distance learning programmes, teachers and students use online tools to facilitate, reinforce and support independent learning. This makes it essential for teachers to develop pedagogical expertise in using online communication tools to perform their role. Teachers frequently raise questions of how best to support the needs…

  18. The Learning-to-Learn Strategies of Adolescent Students with Disabilities: Highlighting, Note Taking, Planning, and Writing Expository Texts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Englert, Carol Sue; Mariage, Troy V.; Okolo, Cynthia M.; Shankland, Rebecca K.; Moxley, Kathleen D.; Courtad, Carrie Anna; Jocks-Meier, Barbara S.; O'Brien, J. Christian; Martin, Nicole M.; Chen, Hsin-Yuan

    2009-01-01

    This study focuses on an examination of the learning-to-learn strategies of seventh-grade students as they highlight, take notes, plan, organize, and write expository texts. Participants consist of 125 students, 41 with disabilities and 84 without disabilities. The results reveal that the students with disabilities have more difficulties in using…

  19. Romantic Agrarianism and Movement Education in the United States: Examining the Discursive Politics of Learning Disability Science

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Danforth, Scot

    2011-01-01

    The learning disability construct gained scientific and political legitimacy in the United States in the 1960s as an explanation for some forms of childhood learning difficulties. In 1975, federal law incorporated learning disability into the categorical system of special education. The historical and scientific roots of the disorder involved a…

  20. Selectivity in social and asocial learning: investigating the prevalence, effect and development of young children's learning preferences.

    PubMed

    Flynn, Emma; Turner, Cameron; Giraldeau, Luc-Alain

    2016-03-19

    Culture evolution requires both modification and faithful replication of behaviour, thus it is essential to understand how individuals choose between social and asocial learning. In a quasi-experimental design, 3- and 5-year-olds (176), and adults (52) were presented individually with two novel artificial fruits, and told of the apparatus' relative difficulty (easy versus hard). Participants were asked if they wanted to attempt the task themselves or watch an experimenter attempt it first; and then had their preference either met or violated. A significant proportion of children and adults (74%) chose to learn socially. For children, this request was efficient, as observing a demonstration made them significantly quicker at the task than learning asocially. However, for 5-year-olds, children who selected asocial learning were also found to be highly efficient at the task, showing that by 5 years children are selective in choosing a learning strategy that is effective for them. Adults further evidenced this trend, and also showed selectivity based on task difficulty. This is the first study to examine the rates, performance outcomes and developmental trajectory of preferences in asocial and social learning, ultimately informing our understanding of innovation. © 2016 The Authors.

  1. Selectivity in social and asocial learning: investigating the prevalence, effect and development of young children's learning preferences

    PubMed Central

    Turner, Cameron; Giraldeau, Luc-Alain

    2016-01-01

    Culture evolution requires both modification and faithful replication of behaviour, thus it is essential to understand how individuals choose between social and asocial learning. In a quasi-experimental design, 3- and 5-year-olds (176), and adults (52) were presented individually with two novel artificial fruits, and told of the apparatus' relative difficulty (easy versus hard). Participants were asked if they wanted to attempt the task themselves or watch an experimenter attempt it first; and then had their preference either met or violated. A significant proportion of children and adults (74%) chose to learn socially. For children, this request was efficient, as observing a demonstration made them significantly quicker at the task than learning asocially. However, for 5-year-olds, children who selected asocial learning were also found to be highly efficient at the task, showing that by 5 years children are selective in choosing a learning strategy that is effective for them. Adults further evidenced this trend, and also showed selectivity based on task difficulty. This is the first study to examine the rates, performance outcomes and developmental trajectory of preferences in asocial and social learning, ultimately informing our understanding of innovation. PMID:26926279

  2. Stop Think: a simple approach to encourage the self-assessment of learning.

    PubMed

    Guy, Richard; Byrne, Bruce; Dobos, Marian

    2017-03-01

    A simple "stop think" approach was developed to encourage the self-assessment of learning. A key element was the requirement for students to rate their feeling of difficulty before [FOD (pre) ] and after [FOD (post) ] completing each of three authentic anatomy and physiology concept map exercises. The cohort was divided into low- (group L) and high-performing (group H) groups (based on final subject marks). Both FOD (pre) (group L) and FOD (post) (groups L and H) were significantly negatively correlated with score for some maps. A comparison of FOD (pre) and FOD (post) showed that students changed their mind about difficulty in 58-70% of the completed maps. Students who changed their estimation were asked to provide explanatory comments, and an increase in difficulty was related to problems with map link generation. For students who found the maps easier, 40% of comments indicated that map generation prompted recall of information from memory. Both difficulty estimations and comments supported the contention that students were self-assessing their interaction with the concept maps. Group H was significantly older than group L, had significantly higher levels of deep strategic and deep motivational learning, and had significantly higher marks in two of three concept map exercises. Notwithstanding these differences, the results from the "stop think" approach were similar between groups, indicating that it may be appropriate for students of varying academic ability. It is suggested that "stop think" may be a useful approach to encourage student self-assessment, an important step in assisting self-regulated learning development. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

  3. A Meta-Analysis of Empirical Research on Teaching Students with Mathematics Learning Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dennis, Minyi Shih; Sharp, Emily; Chovanes, Jacquelyn; Thomas, Amanda; Burns, Raquel M.; Custer, Beth; Park, Junkoung

    2016-01-01

    This article quantitatively summarizes experimental and quasi-experimental studies on teaching students with mathematics difficulties (MD) published between 2000 and 2014, research that was available following earlier syntheses. It reports the analysis of effect sizes of 25 intervention studies on participant characteristics, intervention…

  4. Chance and Probability: What Do They Mean to University Engineering Students?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barragues, J. I.; Guisasola, J.; Morais, A.

    2006-01-01

    The great interest aroused by the incorporation of Statistics and Probability into curricular projects has been accompanied by considerable evidence of significant difficulties in the meaningful learning and application of the concepts. These difficulties have been the subject of many studies, mostly concerning secondary school students. This…

  5. Contrastive Analysis of Spanish and English Sounds Which Create Pronunciation Difficulties.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stewart, Adela Artola

    This pamphlet presents the content of a workshop on the contrastive analysis of Spanish and English sounds which create pronunciation difficulties for Mexican- American children learning the English language. Introductory remarks lead to teaching procedures for: (1) "ch" (voiceless alveo-palatal affricate, (2) "sh" (voiceless alveo-palatal…

  6. Mathematics Difficulties: Does One Approach Fit All?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gifford, Sue; Rockliffe, Freda

    2012-01-01

    This article reviews the nature of learning difficulties in mathematics and, in particular, the nature and prevalence of dyscalculia, a condition that affects the acquisition of arithmetical skills. The evidence reviewed suggests that younger children (under the age of 10) often display a combination of problems, including minor physical…

  7. Beyond Epistemological Deficits: Dynamic Explanations of Engineering Students' Difficulties with Mathematical Sense-Making

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gupta, Ayush; Elby, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    Researchers have argued against deficit-based explanations of students' difficulties with mathematical sense-making, pointing instead to factors such as epistemology. Students' beliefs about knowledge and learning can hinder the activation and integration of productive knowledge they have. Such explanations, however, risk falling into a…

  8. Communication and Self-Esteem in Adults with Down Syndrome

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jackson, Claire; Cavenagh, Penny; Clibbens, John

    2014-01-01

    Background: It is estimated that around 50-90% of people with learning disabilities experience difficulties in communicating. Previous research has linked communication difficulties and self-esteem in other populations, yet this relationship has not previously been investigated for people with Down syndrome. Aims: To explore the relationship…

  9. Who Says Organic Chemistry Is Difficult? Exploring Perspectives and Perceptions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Dwyer, Anne; Childs, Peter E.

    2017-01-01

    Much research has identified organic chemistry as an area of difficulty for learners. There is also much literature pertaining to the factors that contribute to learners' difficulties. This paper explores the intersections of teachers' and learners' perceptions of teaching and learning organic chemistry respectively. Understanding these nuances…

  10. Piaget for Chemists: Explaining What "Good" Students Cannot Understand

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Herron, J. Dudley

    1975-01-01

    Attributes learning difficulties in introductory chemistry to the thesis that many students have not reached the formal operations level of intellectual development. Cites instances to support this thesis, outlines an instructional procedure to overcome the difficulty, and presents a list of competencies that can be expected of these students. (GS)

  11. Sotos syndrome, failure to thrive and parotitis

    PubMed Central

    Thomas, Megan R

    2011-01-01

    Sotos syndrome is characterised by excessive pre and postnatal growth, a variable degree of learning difficulties and a recognisable facial appearance. This report highlights the difficulty in making the diagnosis where failure to thrive is the presenting feature and documents a previously undescribed association with recurrent parotitis. PMID:22715272

  12. Using Literature Response Activities To Build Strategic Reading for Students with Reading Difficulties.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martin, Sarah H.; Martin, Michael A.

    2001-01-01

    Describes two classroom activities that can be implemented in accordance with the best practices revealed by current research on reading instruction with learning disabled students. Describes what research suggests for promoting comprehension for students with reading difficulties. Describes instructional sequences for two literacy activities,…

  13. Improving Algebra Preparation: Implications from Research on Student Misconceptions and Difficulties

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Welder, Rachael M.

    2012-01-01

    Through historical and contemporary research, educators have identified widespread misconceptions and difficulties faced by students in learning algebra. Many of these universal issues stem from content addressed long before students take their first algebra course. Yet elementary and middle school teachers may not understand how the subtleties of…

  14. A Scaffolding Framework to Support Learning of Emergent Phenomena Using Multi-Agent-Based Simulation Environments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Basu, Satabdi; Sengupta, Pratim; Biswas, Gautam

    2015-01-01

    Students from middle school to college have difficulties in interpreting and understanding complex systems such as ecological phenomena. Researchers have suggested that students experience difficulties in reconciling the relationships between individuals, populations, and species, as well as the interactions between organisms and their environment…

  15. Writing Characteristics of Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder: A Meta-Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graham, Steve; Fishman, Evan J.; Reid, Robert; Hebert, Michael

    2016-01-01

    Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD) frequently experience significant difficulty mastering basic academic skills. This meta-analysis focuses on one specific potential area of learning difficulties for these students: namely, writing. To identify the extent and depth of the potential writing challenges faced by students…

  16. Aspects of Motor Performance and Preacademic Learning.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Feder, Katya; Kerr, Robert

    1996-01-01

    The Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP) and a number/counting test were given to 50 4- and 5-year-olds. Low performance on counting was related to significantly slower average response time, overshoot movement time, and reaction time, indicating perceptual-motor difficulty. Low MAP scores indicated difficulty processing visual spatial…

  17. Understanding How Adolescents with Reading Difficulties Utilize Technology-Based Tools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marino, Matthew T.

    2009-01-01

    This article reports the findings from a study that examined how adolescent students with reading difficulties utilized cognitive tools that were embedded in a technology-based middle school science curriculum. The curriculum contained salient features of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) theoretical framework. Sixteen general education…

  18. Difficulties in Recognising Vocational Skills and Qualifications across Europe

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brockmann, Michaela; Clarke, Linda; Winch, Christopher

    2009-01-01

    The development of the European Qualification Framework (EQF) as a means of assessing the relative status of qualifications across the EU is described, together with its fundamental design characteristics, particularly the adoption of a "learning outcomes" approach. Ways in which it may be implemented, and possible difficulties in this,…

  19. Theorising Simulation in Higher Education: Difficulty for Learners as an Emergent Phenomenon

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abrandt Dahlgren, Madeleine; Fenwick, Tara; Hopwood, Nick

    2016-01-01

    Despite the widespread interest in using and researching simulation in higher education, little discussion has yet to address a key pedagogical concern: difficulty. A "sociomaterial" view of learning, explained in this paper, goes beyond cognitive considerations to highlight dimensions of material, situational, representational and…

  20. Development of Multisensory Integration Approach Model

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kumar, S. Prasanna; Nathan, B. Sami

    2016-01-01

    Every teacher expects optimum level of processing in mind of them students. The level of processing is mainly depends upon memory process. Most of the students have retrieval difficulties on past learning. Memory difficulties directly related to sensory integration. In these circumstances the investigator made an attempt to construct Multisensory…

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