What Did We Learn?

Assessment is critical to effectively implementing interdisciplinary pedagogy in higher education. We developed an interdisciplinary project for an Introduction to Psychology and Introduction to Criminal Justice learning community at an urban community college. The semester-long project involved completing a series of lessons and assignments in both courses. The study objective was to evaluate the extent to which the interdisciplinary project supported students’ learning, with attention to their academic skill development, progress on course learning outcomes, and academic progress in the psychology course. Data procedures included summative assessment of final paper submissions and collection of final paper grades and final grades in the psychology course across two cohorts of learning community students. Findings suggest the interdisciplinary project positively supported students’ academic skill development, progress on course learning outcomes, and overall success in the psychology course. These findings demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary teaching and assessment. We offer the interdisciplinary project and assessment procedures presented here as models for higher education faculty interested in interdisciplinary pedagogical approaches.

Predicting Fraction and Algebra Achievements Online: A Large-Scale Longitudinal Study Using Data from an Online Learning Environment

Background: Mastering fractions seems among the most critical academic skill for students to acquire in school as fraction understanding significantly predicts later academic and vocational prospects. As such, identifying longitudinal predictors of fraction understanding (e.g., mastery of numbers and operations) is highly relevant. However, almost all existing studies identifying more basic numerical skills as predictors of fraction understanding rest on data acquired in face-to-face testing - mostly in classrooms. Objectives: In this article, we evaluated whether obtained results generalize to data from the curriculum-based online learning environment Bettermarks for mathematics used in schools in the Netherlands. In particular, we i) evaluated whether fraction understanding can be predicted by prior skills on different more basic mathematical topics before we ii) examined whether fraction understanding predicted achievements in algebra over and beyond the influence of basic mathematical skills. Methods: We considered data from more than 5,000 students who solved over 1 million mathematical problem sets. Results and Conclusions: In line with previous findings, we found that fraction understanding was predicted significantly by prior skills on basic mathematical topics. Our analyzes also revealed that algebra achievements were predicted significantly by fraction understanding beyond influences of basic mathematical skills. Implications: Together, these findings substantiated previous results based on face-to-face testing and, thus, indicate that data from large-scale online learning environments may well qualify to provide significant insights into the development of mathematical skills.

Source-Based Argumentation as a Form of Sustainable Academic Skill: An Exploratory Study Comparing Secondary School Students’ L1 and L2 Writing

Argumentative writing is the most commonly used genre in writing classroom practices and assessments. To draft an argumentative essay in authentic settings, writers are usually required to evaluate and use content knowledge from outside sources. Although source-based argumentation is a sustainable skill that is crucial for students’ academic career, this area remains under-researched. Hence, this paper presents a within-subject study that investigated Hong Kong secondary school students’ argumentation construction in L1 and L2 source-based writing from both product-oriented and process-oriented perspectives. Multiple sources of data were collected, including L1 and L2 source-based argumentative texts, eye-tracking metrics and recorded videos, and stimulated recall interviews. Findings of our study show that the L1 source-based argumentative compositions of the Hong Kong secondary student writers differed greatly from their L2 ones in terms of the argument structure, source use, and reasoning quality. Analyses on four cases further revealed a multitude of factors such as self-regulation and cultural orientations coming into play in similar and different argumentation performance between L1 and L2 source-based writing tasks. This study contributes new knowledge to better understand the argumentation in L1 and L2 source-based writing, yielding meaningful implications on pedagogy and assessment in this field.

The impacts of supervisor – PhD student relationships on PhD students’ satisfaction: A case study of Vietnamese universities

This study focuses on investigating impact of supervisor – PhD student relationship on PhD students’ satisfaction with their supervisors’ supervisory styles and their skill development. A survey was conducted among 430 respondents who both finished or were doing their doctoral study at universities in Northern, Central and Southern cities in Vietnam in social science, economics and business management majors. Findings revealed that the leadership, helping, understanding and responsibility relationship between supervisors and PhD students were positively associated with PhD students’ satisfaction with supervisors’ supervisory style while the uncertain, dissatisfied and admonishing types of relationships were negatively associated with PhD students’ satisfaction. The strict relationship did not negatively affect PhD students’ satisfaction with their supervisors’ supervisory styles. Furthermore, PhD students’ satisfaction with their supervisors’ supervisory styles positively influenced their satisfaction with academic skill development during their PhD candidature. Implications and future research directions were then discussed.

The Intersection between Instructor Expectations and Student Interpretations of Academic Skills

Numerous studies exist on how and to what extent course instructors in higher education are embedding or directly teaching writing, learning and information literacy skills in their courses (Cilliers, 2012; Crosthwaite et al., 2006; Mager & Spronken-Smith, 2014). Yet, disparity within the literature demonstrates that there is no consistent approach to the scaffolded development of these necessary skills within courses, programs, disciplines, or across disciplines. This study sought to explore the skills expectations of instructors and whether students are capable of identifying or articulating the academic skills they are required to develop in to succeed in third-year undergraduate university courses. We discovered a discrepancy rate of approximately 63% between instructor and student responses when exploring differences in instructor expectations and student interpretations of academic skills indicated on course outlines. Data from this study suggests that instructors and students do not always share the same understanding of the skills required to complete course work and to be successful in assessments. With the support of learning, writing, and research specialists, instructors can embed academic skill development in the curriculum.

Life-long love of reading

Learning to read is probably the single most important academic skill we acquire through formal education, affecting as it does, every other area of learning; from reading instructions in maths, to drawing upon inspiration from stories for art.

A-28 Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder or Trauma?: A Case Study

Objective Previous literature has found that it can be difficult differentiating between trauma disorders and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and that children diagnosed with ADHD have higher exposure to traumatic events compared to children without ADHD. This current case exemplifies the complexity of factors involved in ADHD, including history of trauma. Method Patient is an 11 year old, African American, cisgender male. History is significant for childhood neglect, trauma, and housing and caregiver instability. He carries a diagnosis of ADHD for which he receives psychiatric and therapeutic treatment. Neuropsychological evaluation was pursued due to concerns regarding academic skill development, attention/concentration, potential trauma reactions, and socialization skills. In particular, patient’s guardians sought evaluation to parse out what may be neurodevelopmental concerns (ADHD) versus challenges associated with his history of trauma and neglect. Results On objective measures of executive functioning, patient displayed some difficulties with planning and inhibition. Additionally, on parent and teacher forms (BASC-3 and BRIEF-2), significant concerns were noted regarding attention, hyperactivity, and other domains related to executive functioning. Parents and teachers also reported concerns regarding conduct, anxiety, and atypicality. Additionally, on the BASC-3 self-report, patient reported low self-esteem—a symptom common in both ADHD and trauma-related disorders. Conclusions This case demonstrates the difficulty of parsing out ADHD symptoms from trauma reactions. The purpose of examining this case is to further explore the relationship between trauma and ADHD, as well as to add to the conversation regarding the misattribution of symptoms related to trauma as being solely ADHD or behavioral in African American, pediatric males.

Persistent reading difficulty despite improved focus on a stimulant medication

Specific learning disorder is a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties learning a specific academic skill (reading, written expression, or mathematics), leading to substantially reduced achievement compared to same-age peers. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a common comorbidity. Low academic performance must not be attributable to a more general condition such as intellectual disability, lack of educational opportunity, or low language proficiency. The learning difficulties are present from the early school years. The diagnostic assessment includes standardized academic achievement testing, review of academic records, and cognitive testing to rule out intellectual disability. Treatment includes specialized multimodal educational interventions in conjunction with academic accommodations. Pharmacologic treatment of comorbid psychiatric disorders may provide indirect benefit by helping the child better access educational interventions.

The Development of School Readiness of Kindergarten Students Through Storytelling

Complete–playtime is an early concept of kindergarten idea. However, recently, children no longer obtain many opportunities to explore themselves through contextual learning activities such as playing drama or listening to tale. Children are focused on academic-centered activities, so they experience learning boredom at an early age. Moreover, students have not owned a school readiness when entering elementary school. This research helps kindergarten students have school readiness like academic skill, emotional-social skill, and morality through storytelling classically. This experimental study used True-Experimental Postest-Only Design. The two kindergartens were selected through cluster sampling from 100 target populations—the data was collected using the Bender Gestalt Test and observation. The series of storytelling activities as a treatment given towards students proved that the experimental group had school readiness earlier than the controlled group. The experimental group possessed more school readiness than the control group, with the difference was 37% age equivalent to eight years old and 29.6% equal to 7 years old. Other purposes accomplished were developing school readiness skills in vocabulary building, active question-answering, positive attitude towards peers, concern towards social environment, and literacy development.