Systematic Review of Studies on Visual Phonics

Visual Phonics is a multisensory teaching tool that has the potential to improve reading outcomes. The purpose of this systematic review is to examine studies on Visual Phonics to provide a comprehensive understanding of the effects on code-related skills. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The results demonstrate that Visual Phonics can be an effective strategy to teach code-related skills for at-risk hearing kindergarteners and d/Deaf and hard of hearing students, regardless of the degree of hearing loss, grade placement, communication method, home language, and prevalence of an additional disability. A number of these studies contain limitations such as a small sample size, difficulty with obtaining a randomized sample, lack of a control group, and difficulty with the generalization of findings. Therefore, there is a need for additional research on the effects of Visual Phonics and its progression to becoming an evidence-based practice.

A Proses Pengembangan Organisasi Kurikulum di Indonesia

Organisasi kurikulum merupakan alat mempermudah untuk mencapai keberhasilan siswa dalam mempelajari bahan pelajaran secara efektif. Kegiatan belajar mengajar yang berlangsung di kelas tanpa kurikulum yang jelas akan menyebabkan siswa kurang mengerti pelajaran yang disampaikan. Mengorganisasi kurikulum berarti memilih tujuan-tujuan yang jelas dan objektif serta sesuai dengan kebutuhan dan minat peserta didik. Ada banyak unsur yang terdapat dalam organisasi kurikulum yang bisa menjadi acuan, yaitu: (1) Konsep, (2) Generalisasi, (3) Keterampilan, dan (4) Nilai-nilai. Ada beberapa kriteria dalam merumuskan organisasi kurikulum yang efektif, yaitu: (1) Ruang lingkup bahan (scope), (2) Urutan (sequance), dan (3) Penempatan bahan (grade placement).

Book Review: … And All the Children Are Above Average: A Review of The End of Ignorance: Multiplying Our Human Potential

The End of Ignorance (TEOI), laced with anecdote, is published for a lay audience, by a nonacademic press, with no real foundation in learning theory. Yet every mathematics education researcher—perhaps every educational researcher—needs to have John Mighton's book clearly within his or her sights. Mighton's curriculum approach, JUMP Math, threatens to leapfrog over the head of the mathematics education establishment, delivering mathematical learning to every child, from the profoundly learning disabled on up, at up to three or four grade levels beyond their current grade placement.

High School Biology Today: What the Committee of Ten Actually Said

This essay describes how in the 1890s the Committee of Ten arrived at their recommendations about the organization of the high school biological sciences and seeks to correct the frequently held, but erroneous view that the Committee of Ten was the initiator of the Biology-Chemistry-Physics order of teaching sciences prevalent in high schools today. The essay details the factors underlying the changing views of high school biology from its “natural history” origins, through its “zoology, botany, physiology” disciplinary phase to its eventual integration into a “general biology” course. The simultaneous parallel development of the “Carnegie Unit” for measuring coursework is highlighted as a significant contributor in the evolution of the present day high school biology course. The essay concludes with a discussion of the implications of the grade placement of the sciences for the future development of high school biology.

Postimplantation Audition and Educational Attainment in Children with Prelingually Acquired Profound Deafness

Language and educational attainment were evaluated over a 4-year period in 8 profoundly deaf, orally trained child users of the Nucleus multichannel implant with the spectral peak (SPEAK) processor. The average age at implantation was 5.8 years. In terms of audition and language, these children resembled severely deaf children, with unaided hearing losses in the region of 70 to 75 dB, who use hearing aids. In tests of educational attainment and literacy, average performance lagged behind grade placement by an amount that increased with increasing language demand of the task. The benefits of implantation are considerable; nevertheless, auditory limitations, combined with language deficits already present at the time of implantation, present a continuing educational challenge. Earlier implantation, when the auditory system is more plastic and language delays are automatically minimized, may well produce better outcomes, but this advantage remains to be demonstrated.