scholarly journals Does Spelling Still Matter—and If So, How Should It Be Taught? Perspectives from Contemporary and Historical Research

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven C. Pan ◽  
Timothy C. Rickard ◽  
Robert A. Bjork
Keyword(s):  
Approaches To Teaching ◽  
Traditional Methods ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Relevant Evidence ◽  
Spelling Instruction ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Traditional Approaches

AbstractA century ago, spelling skills were highly valued and widely taught in schools using traditional methods, such as weekly lists, drill exercises, and low- and high-stakes spelling tests. That approach was featured in best-selling textbooks such as the Horn-Ashbaugh Speller of 1920. In the early 21st century, however, skepticism as to the importance of spelling has grown, some schools have deemphasized or abandoned spelling instruction altogether, and there has been a proliferation of non-traditional approaches to teaching spelling. These trends invite a reevaluation of the role of spelling in modern English-speaking societies and whether the subject should be explicitly taught (and if so, what are research-supported methods for doing so). In this article, we examine the literature to address whether spelling skills are still important enough to be taught, summarize relevant evidence, and argue that a comparison of common approaches to spelling instruction in the early 20th century versus more recent approaches provides some valuable insights. We also discuss the value of explicit spelling instruction and highlight potentially effective ways to implement such instruction, including the use of spelling tests. Overall, our goals are to better characterize the role of spelling skills in today’s society and to identify several pedagogical approaches—some derived from traditional methods and others that are more recent—that hold promise for developing such skills in efficient and effective ways.

scholarly journals Pan, Rickard, and Bjork (2021) Does spelling still matter—And if so, how should it be taught?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven C. Pan ◽  
Timothy Charles Rickard ◽  
Robert A. Bjork
Keyword(s):  
Approaches To Teaching ◽  
Traditional Methods ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
Relevant Evidence ◽  
Spelling Instruction ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Traditional Approaches

A century ago, spelling skills were highly valued and widely taught in schools using traditional methods, such as weekly lists, drill exercises, and low- and high-stakes spelling tests. That approach was featured in best-selling textbooks such as the Horn-Ashbaugh Speller of 1920. In the early 21st century, however, skepticism as to the importance of spelling has grown, some schools have deemphasized or abandoned spelling instruction altogether, and there has been a proliferation of non-traditional approaches to teaching spelling. These trends invite a reevaluation of the role of spelling in modern English-speaking societies and whether the subject should be explicitly taught (and if so, what are research-supported methods for doing so). In this article we examine the literature to address whether spelling skills are still important enough to be taught, summarize relevant evidence, and argue that a comparison of common approaches to spelling instruction in the early 20th century versus more recent approaches provides some valuable insights. We also discuss the value of explicit spelling instruction and highlight potentially effective ways to implement such instruction, including the use of spelling tests. Overall, our goals are to better characterize the role of spelling skills in today’s society and to identify several pedagogical approaches—some derived from traditional methods and others that are more recent—that hold promise for developing such skills in efficient and effective ways.

scholarly journals THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE ECOLOGICAL AND GEOMORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE SOIL COVER OF THE CENTRAL PART OF THE NORTHERN BLACK SEA COAST

2017 ◽  
pp. 49-53
Author(s):  
V. Stetsyuk ◽  
E. Veselova
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Soil Cover ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Black Sea Region ◽  
Black Sea Coast ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Methodological Principles ◽  
Traditional Approaches ◽  
First Time

The questions of possibilities of ecological and geomorphological study of the soil formation, using and transformation of soil cover northern Black Sea region in the context of theoretical ideas general geomorphology are shown. The significant role of the relief as a factor of soil formation and as a factor, that leads to the spreading of soils in nature (the law of vertical zoning) is noted. It allows us to assert that the formation of soil science as a science began; the relief is included in the range of its objects of investigation, the scientific interweaving of soil and geomorphological ideas. In article the role of the basic properties of the relief – morphology, genesis, age and dynamics, as well as the general conditions in the geographic possibilities of interpretation at the establishment of the laws of the formation of the general properties of the soil cover of the region are analyzed. It is indicated that an attempt to depart from the traditional approaches to the study of geographical objects, to study the soil cover precisely from the position of the subject of geomorphology are the methodological principles of geomorphological science. The role of morphological and morphometric properties of the relief of the earth’s surface in relations with the soil cover, regional differences in the morphometric parameters of the relief of the earth’s surface, the role of the genesis of certain forms of the relief of the earth’s surface in the formation and changes in the soil cover, the influence of the relief age on the formation of the soil cover, earth`s surface in changes in soil properties are represented. This material show`s that the basis for our comprehensive geomorphological and soil studies of the territory of the Northern Black Sea Region, which for the first time illustrates the possibility of using the theoretical and methodological foundations of general geomorphology in the study of the origin, spread, degradation and protection of the soil cover of Ukraine’s most important agricultural region.

scholarly journals Six-legged walking in insects: how CPGs, peripheral feedback, and descending signals generate coordinated and adaptive motor rhythms

2018 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 459-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salil S. Bidaye ◽  
Till Bockemühl ◽  
Ansgar Büschges
Keyword(s):  
Present State ◽  
Locomotor Behavior ◽  
Historical Aspects ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Neurobiological Research ◽  
Descending Influences ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Traditional Approaches ◽  
The Brain

Walking is a rhythmic locomotor behavior of legged animals, and its underlying mechanisms have been the subject of neurobiological research for more than 100 years. In this article, we review relevant historical aspects and contemporary studies in this field of research with a particular focus on the role of central pattern generating networks (CPGs) and their contribution to the generation of six-legged walking in insects. Aspects of importance are the generation of single-leg stepping, the generation of interleg coordination, and how descending signals influence walking. We first review how CPGs interact with sensory signals from the leg in the generation of leg stepping. Next, we summarize how these interactions are modified in the generation of motor flexibility for forward and backward walking, curve walking, and speed changes. We then review the present state of knowledge with regard to the role of CPGs in intersegmental coordination and how CPGs might be involved in mediating descending influences from the brain for the initiation, maintenance, modification, and cessation of the motor output for walking. Throughout, we aim to specifically address gaps in knowledge, and we describe potential future avenues and approaches, conceptual and methodological, with the latter emphasizing in particular options arising from the advent of neurogenetic approaches to this field of research and its combination with traditional approaches.

Knowledge and Social Roles: A Virtue Approach

Episteme ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Wright
Keyword(s):  
Social Roles ◽  
Social Role ◽  
Knowledge Attribution ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Persistent Problem ◽  
Knowledge Attributions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Subject Sensitive Invariantism

Attributor contextualism and subject-sensitive invariantism both suggest ways in which our concept of knowledge depends on a context. Both offer approaches that incorporate traditionally non-epistemic elements into our standards for knowledge. But neither can account for the fact that the social role of a subject affects the standards that the subject must meet in order to warrant a knowledge attribution. I illustrate the dependence of the standards for knowledge on the social roles of the knower with three types of examples–focusing on knowledge attribution, action, and a mix of the two–and show why neither attributor contextualism nor subject-sensitive invariantism can explain them. I then suggest that subject-sensitive invariantism should be supplemented with insights from virtue epistemology so that it can explain the dependence of the standards of knowledge on social roles. This supplementation of subject-sensitive invariantism helps to solve a persistent problem facing that theory: the case of knowledge attributions made by those in high-stakes contexts about subjects in low-stakes contexts.

Between Pragmatics and Rehgious Experience. Hugo Tristram Engelhardt's Concept of Bioethics

1970 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-38
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Hołub
Keyword(s):  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Medical Doctor ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Rules And Principles ◽  
Rice University ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Methodological Status

Bioethics is a relatively young discipline. Within it, discussion is still taking place concerning the methodological status of the subject. Nevertheless, putting aside this inner aspect of bioethics, one thing appears striking. The short-lived existence of bioethics is surprisingly associated with a great number of bioethical projects, aimed at tackling complex problems, arising in the realm of health care. It seems that the rapid enhancement of biomedical sciences and biotechnologies - carrying with it many moral dilemmas - creates a pressure leading to a new sort of ethical reflection, as well as deepening further existing reflections. Looking more generally and somewhat superficially at existing approaches to bioethical matters, one can distinguish two tendencies. One of them puts forward creating a general ethical system drawing upon a specific notion of morality, and drawing up a set of moral rules and principles. The second one finds its starting point in separate cases, in their analyses, playing down the role of general moral theories. The best example of such an approach is a modern casuistry catching on especially in English speaking countries. The spreading tendency of casuistic analyses does not eliminate the fact that many bioethicists still make an effort to pursue the first of the mentioned trends by building up a general bioethical framework. Hugo Tristram Engelhardt is a good example of such a thinker. He is a medical doctor and philosopher working at Rice University in Houston. In the course of over 30 years of his medical and philosophical research, Engelhardt has outlined two bioethical projects: the project of secular bioethics and the project of Christian bioethics.

Top-Down Processing and Visual Reorientation Illusions in a Virtual Reality Environment

2004 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred W. Mast ◽  
Charles M. Oman
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Line Length ◽  
Perceptual Cues ◽  
Virtual Reality Environment ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Test Conditions ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Processing Mechanisms

The role of top-down processing on the horizontal-vertical line length illusion was examined by means of an ambiguous room with dual visual verticals. In one of the test conditions, the subjects were cued to one of the two verticals and were instructed to cognitively reassign the apparent vertical to the cued orientation. When they have mentally adjusted their perception, two lines in a plus sign configuration appeared and the subjects had to evaluate which line was longer. The results showed that the line length appeared longer when it was aligned with the direction of the vertical currently perceived by the subject. This study provides a demonstration that top-down processing influences lower level visual processing mechanisms. In another test condition, the subjects had all perceptual cues available and the influence was even stronger.

School Success and School Engagement of Immigrant Children and Adolescents

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frosso Motti-Stefanidi ◽  
Ann S. Masten
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
School Engagement ◽  
School Success ◽  
Immigrant Children ◽  
Integrative Model ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
The Individual

Academic achievement in immigrant children and adolescents is an indicator of current and future adaptive success. Since the future of immigrant youths is inextricably linked to that of the receiving society, the success of their trajectory through school becomes a high stakes issue both for the individual and society. The present article focuses on school success in immigrant children and adolescents, and the role of school engagement in accounting for individual and group differences in academic achievement from the perspective of a multilevel integrative model of immigrant youths’ adaptation ( Motti-Stefanidi, Berry, Chryssochoou, Sam, & Phinney, 2012 ). Drawing on this conceptual framework, school success is examined in developmental and acculturative context, taking into account multiple levels of analysis. Findings suggest that for both immigrant and nonimmigrant youths the relationship between school engagement and school success is bidirectional, each influencing over time the other. Evidence regarding potential moderating and mediating roles of school engagement for the academic success of immigrant youths also is evaluated.

Response Interference as a Mechanism Underlying Implicit Measures

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 218-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertram Gawronski ◽  
Roland Deutsch ◽  
Etienne P. LeBel ◽  
Kurt R. Peters
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Implicit Measures ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Response Interference ◽  
Relevant Evidence ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model ◽  
Stimulus Features ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

Over the last decade, implicit measures of mental associations (e.g., Implicit Association Test, sequential priming) have become increasingly popular in many areas of psychological research. Even though successful applications provide preliminary support for the validity of these measures, their underlying mechanisms are still controversial. The present article addresses the role of a particular mechanism that is hypothesized to mediate the influence of activated associations on task performance in many implicit measures: response interference (RI). Based on a review of relevant evidence, we argue that RI effects in implicit measures depend on participants’ attention to association-relevant stimulus features, which in turn can influence the reliability and the construct validity of these measures. Drawing on a moderated-mediation model (MMM) of task performance in RI paradigms, we provide several suggestions on how to address these problems in research using implicit measures.

The future role of the psychiatrist in Europe – a UEMS perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (01) ◽  
pp. 35-42
Author(s):  
M. Hermans
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Future Role ◽  
Personal Opinion ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Many

SummaryThe author presents his personal opinion inviting to discussion on the possible future role of psychiatrists. His view is based upon the many contacts with psychiatrists all over Europe, academicians and everyday professionals, as well as the familiarity with the literature. The list of papers referred to is based upon (1) the general interest concerning the subject when representing ideas also worded elsewhere, (2) the accessibility to psychiatrists and mental health professionals in Germany, (3) being costless downloadable for non-subscribers and (4) for some geographic aspects (e.g. Belgium, Spain, Sweden) and the latest scientific issues, addressing some authors directly.

Alignment

2016 ◽  
pp. 33-50
Author(s):  
Pier Giuseppe Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Enactive Approach ◽  
The World ◽  
Strategic Role ◽  
Education Today ◽  
Current Context ◽  
The Subject

The subject of alignment is not new to the world of education. Today however, it has come to mean different things and to have a heuristic value in education according to research in different areas, not least for neuroscience, and to attention to skills and to the alternation framework.This paper, after looking at the classic references that already attributed an important role to alignment in education processes, looks at the strategic role of alignment in the current context, outlining the shared construction processes and focusing on some of the ways in which this is put into effect.Alignment is part of a participatory, enactive approach that gives a central role to the interaction between teaching and learning, avoiding the limits of behaviourism, which has a greater bias towards teaching, and cognitivism/constructivism, which focus their attention on learning and in any case, on that which separates a teacher preparing the environment and a student working in it.

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