Cognitive Consequences of Participation in a “Fifth Dimension” after-School Computer Club

1997 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. Mayer ◽  
Jill Quilici ◽  
Roxana Moreno ◽  
Richard Duran ◽  
Scott Woodbridge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Group ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
After School ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Fifth Dimension ◽  
Computer Club ◽  
Matching Techniques ◽  
School Computer

The Fifth Dimension is an after-school computer club aimed at improving the literacy of English- and Spanish-speaking elementary school children. Children who attended the club at least ten times during the 1994–95 school year (treatment group) showed larger pretest-to-posttest gains on tests of word problem comprehension than did non-participating children matched for grade, gender, school teacher, and language proficiency (comparison group). The same effect was noted for both Spanish and English versions of the test, and under a variety of matching techniques. The superiority of the treatment group was still present when the children were retested after the summer in the fall of the next year. These results provide support for the hypothesis that experience in using computer software in the Fifth Dimension computer club produces measurable, resilient, and sustained cognitive changes related to children's literacy.

Girls and Computers - Yes We Can!

2011 ◽  
pp. 46-63
Author(s):  
Misook Heo ◽  
L. Monique Spradley-Myrick
Keyword(s):  
Small Sample ◽  
Female Students ◽  
The Self ◽  
After School ◽  
Gender Inequity ◽  
Computer Club ◽  
Computer Confidence ◽  
Northeastern State ◽  
Academic Year ◽  
School Computer

This research was designed to increase the awareness of female students with regard to Computer Science (CS) as both a major and a career field. Five female students from a high school in a northeastern state were voluntarily recruited for a weekly, after-school computer club curriculum for one academic year. Over the project period, participants ventured through tasks relating to various technologies, thereby increasing their computer confidence. Collaboration preferences increased only when faced with both technical and content knowledge. Participants’ understanding of CS changed from abstract and superficial to more concrete, but disinterest in the major persisted. Finally, while the participants’ perceptions of gender differences changed, some of the self-reflections did not match their responses to structured questions. While the project impacted only a small sample, increased knowledge of the field of CS prevailed. If females are educated earlier, this may cause a noticeable shift in gender inequity amongst CS majors.

Girls and Computers - Yes We Can!

2012 ◽  
pp. 1126-1143
Author(s):  
Misook Heo ◽  
L. Monique Spradley-Myrick
Keyword(s):  
Small Sample ◽  
Female Students ◽  
The Self ◽  
After School ◽  
Gender Inequity ◽  
Computer Club ◽  
Computer Confidence ◽  
Northeastern State ◽  
Academic Year ◽  
School Computer

This research was designed to increase the awareness of female students with regard to Computer Science (CS) as both a major and a career field. Five female students from a high school in a northeastern state were voluntarily recruited for a weekly, after-school computer club curriculum for one academic year. Over the project period, participants ventured through tasks relating to various technologies, thereby increasing their computer confidence. Collaboration preferences increased only when faced with both technical and content knowledge. Participants’ understanding of CS changed from abstract and superficial to more concrete, but disinterest in the major persisted. Finally, while the participants’ perceptions of gender differences changed, some of the self-reflections did not match their responses to structured questions. While the project impacted only a small sample, increased knowledge of the field of CS prevailed. If females are educated earlier, this may cause a noticeable shift in gender inequity amongst CS majors.

What is Learned in an After-School Computer Club?

1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. Mayer ◽  
Jill L. Quilici ◽  
Roxana Moreno
Keyword(s):  
After School ◽  
Computer Club ◽  
School Computer

University-Community Links

2021 ◽  
pp. 97-123
Keyword(s):  
Historical Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Original Model ◽  
After School ◽  
Fifth Dimension ◽  
After School Program ◽  
History Of ◽  
Institutional Strategies ◽  
Program Accountability ◽  
University Community

This chapter describes the history of UC Links, including the original Fifth Dimension and its later adaptation, La Clase Mágica, and how through these programs' learning activities, undergraduates enrolled in a university practicum course, and younger peers, participating in a local after-school program, together engage in the joint exploration of digital technologies. The authors then describe how the original model began to be adopted and adapted in a network of colleges and universities throughout the United States and beyond. The chapter offers concise descriptions of UC Links founding university-community partnerships and a summary of its institutional strategies for ensuring program accountability and sustainability. The chapter closes with an ethnographic focus on the historical development of the Fifth Dimension in Solana Beach, from the time it became a UC Links program in 1996 to the present.

The Development of Bilingual Children’s Narrative Skills: A Report of the “Looking Glass Neighborhood” Program

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sibo Chen
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
First Language ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
After School ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
Interactive Games ◽  
Fifth Dimension ◽  
Looking Glass

AbstractThis paper evaluates Look Glass Neighborhood (LGN), an educational after-school program being experimented in San Diego, California. Following the theories of Vygotskian psychology and the “Fifth-Dimension” education model, LGN aims at improving bilingual children’s literacy via interactive games and letter writing activities. Based on previous studies on first language acquisition over past decades, the paper first discusses the inadequacy of research on child narrative development, especially in terms of the lack of attention to bilingual children and the insufficient discussion on applying first language acquisition theories to early literacy education. Then, it demonstrates the unique designs of the “Looking Glass Neighborhood” program by a qualitative analysis of ethnographic data from two elementary school bilingual participants in the program, explicating the program’s focuses on the interactions between oral performance and content-focused co-writing activities. Finally, the paper explores the possibility to embed some design elements of LGN such as content-based, co-writing activities and indirect oral corrective feedback into China’s current kindergarten and elementary EFL curriculums.

John von Neumann and Materials Science

MRS Bulletin ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick Seitz
Keyword(s):  
Materials Science ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
Foundations Of Quantum Mechanics ◽  
High School Teacher ◽  
After School ◽  
John Von Neumann ◽  
Von Neumann ◽  
Eugene Wigner ◽  
Great Love

I presume that many of you will be surprised to learn that John von Neumann, a great mathematician, and a remarkable man, had even a passing interest in materials science since his name is usually associated with work in function theory, mathematical logic, the mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics, game theory, and of course with the development of computer logic. Actually, he was deeply interested in the evolution of materials science and technology, and he played an important role in giving prominence to materials science at a critical time in its evolution. But first let me tell you a little about his life.John von Neumann was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1903 into a prominent business family. His mathematical genius was recognized early by his high school teacher, Lázsló Ratz, who insisted that he receive special tutoring since mathematical geniuses tend to flower early. He became a close and, indeed, a lifetime friend of a slightly older fellow student, Eugene Wigner, who was inspired by the same mathematics teacher. The two of them frequently wandered home together after school, with von Neumann providing a tutorial on some aspect of mathematics while Wigner, who had a comparably brilliant mind, absorbed everything. The two students had different personalities, but shared a great love of mathematics.Von Neumann was never a narrow genius. He soaked up knowledge of all kinds rapidly and was exposed to much because the von Neumann family dinner gatherings were devoted to discussions of technical, historical and cultural affairs, as well as business. This great versatility in interests was a characteristic trademark of von Neumann‘s entire life.

scholarly journals Global Second Language Proficiency Predicts Self-Perceptions of General Sarcasm Use Among Bilingual Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-478
Author(s):  
Mehrgol Tiv ◽  
Vincent Rouillard ◽  
Naomi Vingron ◽  
Sabrina Wiebe ◽  
Debra Titone
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
First Language ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Communication Style ◽  
Communication Styles ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
Second Language Proficiency ◽  
Cognitive Changes

Each culture has a distinct set of features that contribute to a unique communication style. For example, bilinguals often balance multiple social contexts and may undergo cognitive changes that consequently support different communication styles. The present work examines how individual differences in bilingual experience affect one form of communication style: sarcastic and indirect language. A diverse sample of largely bilingual adults (first language English) rated their likelihood of using sarcastic and indirect language across different daily settings. They also rated their second language experience. There were two key findings: Bilinguals use sarcasm for similar social functions as do monolinguals (general sarcasm, frustration diffusion, and embarrassment diffusion) and greater global second language proficiency linked to greater usage of general sarcasm in daily life. These results suggest that bilinguals may use sarcasm to achieve various communicative goals and bilingual experience may affect general cognitive capacities that support sarcasm use across real-world contexts.

Study on students' background and attitudes towards computer skills in selected secondary schools in Segamat

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Azizah Aris ◽  
Ruhana Zainuddin ◽  
Rafidah Kamarudin ◽  
Norzaidi Mohd Daud
Keyword(s):  
Computer Anxiety ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Computer Skills ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Computer Ownership ◽  
Club Membership ◽  
Computer Club ◽  
Computer Confidence ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
School Computer

This study is carried out to identify whether students ofdifferent backgrounds differ in their computer skills and at the same time to identify whether there is a correlation between students' attitudes and their computer skills. Thefinal objective of this study is to investigate which variable (background or attitudes) has a greater influence on the students' computer skills. All the Form Five students from the three different types ofschools in the Segamat district were chosen as samples. T-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation and regression analyses were used to analyze the data. The study showed that there was a significant difference between the types ofschools the students were in, students' computer ownership and the students' computer club membership with their computer skills. In addition, the findings also revealed that there was a significant correlation between the computer attitude subscales with the students' computer skills. The multiple regression analysis showed that there was a relationship between the students' computer confidence, computer ownership, computer anxiety, school computer club membership and type ofschools towardsthe students'computer skills. However, we found that students' confidence in using the computer had a greater influence than computer ownership and other characteristics.

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