System Thinking the Vision for Change in the Reading Intervention System (K-12)

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Greg A. Bartus ◽

Frank T. Fisher

Keyword(s):

Systems Engineering ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Thinking Skills ◽

System Thinking ◽

Suggested Approach ◽

Student Preparedness ◽

Post Secondary ◽

Barriers And Opportunities ◽

Improve Instruction ◽

K 12

Conceptual and pedagogical barriers in post-secondary education inhibit student preparedness in system thinking skills (STS) critical for success in the workplace. To improve instruction in systems and sustainable engineering skills at the undergraduate level it is instructive to look at STS barriers and opportunities K-12 teacher’s face when they take part in a systems engineering (SE) project. This case study presents our approach to instructing K-12 educators about systems engineering through the design of a wind farm. Demographics of the 35 participants in this NSF-sponsored program who are all grades 3–8 classroom teachers include that they are 66% elementary level teachers, mostly female (80%), with an average of 10 years’ experience. Assessment of the project included a pre- and post-assessment of engineering and SE concepts, student reflections, customer feedback and an Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) driven rubric. Results include that K-12 teachers exhibit strong interpersonal skills but were challenged by technical skills more common to the university level. Vertical collaborations between K-12 and post-secondary is a suggested approach to address barriers at both levels.

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The Relation Between Implementation Fidelity and Students’ Reading Outcomes: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

10.35542/osf.io/vhrp5 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Wilhelmina van Dijk ◽

Holly Lane ◽

Nicholas A Gage

Keyword(s):

Reading Intervention ◽

Student Outcomes ◽

Intervention Studies ◽

Internal Validity ◽

Implementation Fidelity ◽

Necessary Condition ◽

Research Projects ◽

Review Of The Literature ◽

Final Data ◽

K 12

Implementation fidelity is often thought of as a necessary condition to achieve internal validity and as having a relation to student outcomes. To examine the nature of this relation, we reviewed reading intervention studies for students in K-12 in which measures of implementation fidelity were included in final data analysis. A systematic search yielded 43 studies using mostly measures of dosage, adherence, and quality. A detailed look at the construction of the measures revealed a wide variety of conceptualizations of implementation fidelity, in terms of content, measurement approaches, and variable construction. The relation between implementation fidelity and student outcomes was variable across the studies. In order to better study the relation, we recommend researchers to incorporate measurement of implementation fidelity in the design phase of research projects.

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