In primary schools, Lesen durch Schreiben (LdS; “reading through writing”, known internationally as inventive spelling) is a prevalent didactic method of reading and spelling instruction. In LdS, ...pupils learn writing through prolonged inventive spelling, meaning that only phonological but not orthographic spelling errors are corrected. Rigorous studies of the effectiveness of LdS are scarce and have delivered inconsistent results, casting doubt on the suitability of LdS for primary school instruction. Empirical investigations of writing acquisition methods are time-consuming, costly, and are plagued by methodological evaluation difficulties, such as separating method effects from other instruction-related variables. In this work, we developed a computational framework (based on recurrent neural networks) for reading and writing acquisition. This framework enables us to extract and systematically investigate some core principles of writing acquisition methods. Focusing on two German corpora, we compared the behavior of learning agents trained using the LdS regime against agents trained using a classical, primer-based regime. Experimental results revealed that our LdS agents performed significantly worse than our primer agents in writing tasks and, to a lesser extent, in reading tasks. Our results show that the stereotypical spelling mistakes of children exposed to LdS can be replicated with neural network models. These mistakes arise naturally during writing acquisition for all learning agents but are either suppressed or reinforced depending on the learning regime. We examined the learned, internal representations of both agents and found deviations in the LdS agent that may have induced the amplified confusion of similar phonemes. While we focused on two German corpora, similar results can be expected for alphabetic languages with similar graphene-phoneme regularities. In sum, LdS does not exhibit benefits over standard instruction in our simulations. However, we urge caution in drawing immediate conclusions for human learners. Instead, our work presents a modest step towards the construction of a computational framework for writing and reading instructional methods that may inspire future research.
This study presents a novel standardized rating instrument for observing and measuring effective classroom management (ECM) as part of the teaching and learning environments in primary school. The ...instrument comprises eight high-inferent items on organizational aspects (lack of disruptions/discipline problems, withitness, effective time use, clear rules, clear routines, appreciation) and instructional aspects (structuring, goal clarity). It was applied in second grade classrooms of German primary school teachers (
n
= 35) providing early reading and writing instruction. Pairs of trained raters (student teachers) observed one to three lessons in each classroom over 3–4 months, reaching acceptable interrater agreement. The instrument showed acceptable internal consistency. Factor analyses revealed structures with good to acceptable fit indices, with confirming the differentiation into organizational and instructional ECM aspects. Correlations between observed ECM and facets of teacher knowledge (that were directly assessed by using paper–pencil tests) provide divergent and convergent validity evidence: Whereas no significant correlations could be found between pedagogical content knowledge for early reading and writing instruction and ECM, findings show significant correlations between general pedagogical knowledge and the ECM. The added value of the study is therefore to provide a novel instrument that can be applied in future empirical research on primary school classroom management.
► The assumptions of the Slippery Slope Framework are empirically evidenced on a sample of Italian taxpayers. ► A differentiation of legitimate and coercive power within the framework is provided. ► ...While legitimate power is positively related to trust, coercive power is negatively related. ► Legitimate as well as coercive power impact influence enforced compliance. ► Compared to the power-path, the trust-path of compliance is more efficient in combating evasion.
The Slippery Slope Framework of tax compliance postulates that citizens’ compliance depends on the power of the authorities to enforce compliance and/or trust in the authorities and voluntary cooperation. While trust is widely recognized as a strong determinant of cooperation, empirical evidence is less clear on power: severe fines may lead towards compliance or even have the opposite effect. We propose a thorough investigation of the nature of power (coercive versus legitimate) within the theoretical framework of tax compliance to shed light on the ambiguous results and to clarify the complex relation between power and trust. We use structural equation modeling to test the assumptions of the Slippery Slope Framework by taking into account coercive power and legitimate power on a sample of N=389 self-employed Italian taxpayers and entrepreneurs. We found evidence that trust is positively related to voluntary tax compliance. Trust was found to be negatively related to coercive power and positively related to legitimate power. Both coercive power and legitimate power were correlated with enforced compliance. However, the effect of enforced compliance leads to increased evasion. The results evidence the multifaceted nature of power and trust and their relation with tax compliance, and the importance of power and trust in political regulatory strategies.
The purpose of our study was to explore peer mentoring styles and examine their contribution to academic success among mentees. Data were collected as part of a comprehensive evaluation of a peer ...mentoring program. The sample consisted of 49 mentors (advanced students) who supported 376 mentees (first year students) in small groups. Indicators for peer mentoring styles were constructed using mentee assessments of mentoring functions and mentor quality, and unobtrusive data gathered in an analysis of online mentoring activities and a content analysis of the quality of the online mentoring activities. Using cluster analyses, three distinct mentoring styles were identified: Motivating master mentoring, informatory standard mentoring, and negative minimalist mentoring. Motivating master mentors were shown to have a positive influence on success in the mentoring program among those mentees who failed two preliminary exams. Implications for the training of peer mentors in higher education are discussed.
Abstract To ensure adequate writing support for children, a profound understanding of the subskills of text quality is essential. Writing theories have already helped to better understand the ...contribution of different subskills to text quality, but empirical work is often limited to more general low-level transcription skills like handwriting fluency and spelling. Skills that are particularly important for composing a functional text, while theoretically seen as important, are only studied in isolation. This study combines subskills at different hierarchical levels of composition. Executive functions, handwriting fluency and spelling were modeled together with text-specific skills (lexically diverse and appropriate word usage and cohesion), text length and text quality in secondary school students’ narratives. The results showed that executive functions, spelling and handwriting fluency had indirect effects on text quality, mediated by text-specific skills. Furthermore, the text-specific skills accounted for most of the explained variance in text quality over and above text length. Thus, it is clear from this study that, in addition to the frequently reported influence of transcription skills, it is text-specific skills that are most relevant for text quality.
How Art Is Appreciated Leder, Helmut; Gerger, Gernot; Dressler, Stefan G ...
Psychology of aesthetics, creativity, and the arts,
02/2012, Volume:
6, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Art is a
unique feature of human experience. It involves the complex interplay among
stimuli, persons, and contexts. Using structural equation modeling, we explored
this complex interplay by ...analyzing expertise-related differences in the
aesthetic appreciation of classical, abstract, and modern artworks. We measured
liking, elicited emotions, arousal, and comprehension, and compared structural
equation solutions for 2 groups of students with higher and lower levels of art
expertise. Experts and nonexperts not only revealed strong effects of emotion in
all conditions, but also confirmed that the intercorrelations between emotion
and understanding were consistently higher for nonexperts. Moreover, experts
generally provided higher ratings on nearly all scales. These results reflect
experts' greater flexibility and differentiation in art appreciation.
Associations between reading difficulties and problem behaviours in the classroom have been discussed controversially since the 1970s. The present paper investigates the influence of reading ...performance on teacher ratings of behavioural problems while taking into account behavioural autocorrelations and teacher halo effects. Teachers rated reading (in the middle of the school year) and behaviour (at the beginning and end of the school year) for a sample of 171 first‐grade students. In addition, the students’ reading performance was objectively assessed via a standardised test at the end of first grade. The results showed that the effect of reading problems on classroom behaviour is heavily affected by autocorrelational and halo effects. After controlling for the interaction between teachers’ ratings of reading and behaviour, objectively measured reading performance had only a marginal direct effect on behaviour (as rated by teachers). Therefore, we argue that findings from the literature on the co‐morbidity of behaviour and reading may be affected by similar (halo) effects, causing the effect of reading difficulties on classroom behaviour to be overestimated. Co‐morbidities reported in the study should be closely examined with respect to their ‘methodological composition’ in the future.
There are contradictory findings in the literature about prosodic sensitivity’s contribution to reading. In this study, we examined whether prosodic sensitivity makes a unique contribution to ...different reading outcomes in German after controlling for the effects of phonological awareness. Word reading, nonword reading and sentence reading as well as phonological awareness (PA), prosodic sensitivity (PS), and nonverbal IQ were assessed in a sample of N = 207 8- to 10-year-old German-speaking children in third grade. Results showed that after controlling for PA, PS was predictive of only sentence reading. A commonality analysis further showed that PS and PA share about 22% of the explained variance (
R
2
= .13) in sentence reading, while PS uniquely contributes 18% and PA 60% of this variance. The results indicate that PS is more strongly related to reading tasks with semantic demands.
Prosodic sensitivity (PS) and phonological awareness (PA) are reading‐related predictors in children, which themselves might be affected by basic auditory processing (BAP). This study proposes a new ...model that considers possible relations between all three variables and reading. Skilled adult reading is examined to exclude possible developmental influences and obtain more information about mature reading. One hundred thirty‐eight German‐speaking adults (mean age: 26 years) completed three measures of BAP (frequency, intensity and amplitude rise time discrimination), two sentence‐based PS tasks, a PA task, and three word and nonword reading tasks. Structural equation modelling revealed a significant direct effect of PS on reading, a significant direct effect of BAP on PS and an indirect effect of BAP on reading via PS. The results strengthen the relevance of BAP skills and PS for reading in adults.
Highlights
What is already known about this topic
PA is less important for predicting reading in more experienced readers and in transparent orthographies.
PS contributes directly and/or indirectly to reading in children. Little is known how PS contributes to reading in skilled adult readers.
BAP skills are associated with PS, PA and reading.
What this paper adds
A new model including the relations between BAP, PS, PA and reading in skilled adult readers is proposed.
Sentence‐based stress sensitivity contributes directly to word‐level reading in skilled adult readers.
BAP skills contribute directly to PS and indirectly via PS to reading.
Implications for theory, policy or practice
PS should be considered as an important factor in adult reading.
PS is influenced by BAP.
PA no longer has informative value for skilled reading.
In the educational context, there are numerous “neuromyths” about how findings from neuroscience can be used to improve teaching and learning. International research has shown that the majority of ...teachers tend to believe in these and use them in the classroom. Since the belief in neuromyths might not enhance or even have adverse effects on students' learning, teachers need to be able to identify neuromyths. We examined the prevalence of beliefs in neuromyths among German in‐service and pre‐service teachers—compared to the prevalence among people with a certain expertise in neuroscience (“specialists”) or no connection to neuroscience (“general public”). A sample of 247 participants completed a German adaptation of the neuromyth questionnaire by Dekker et al. (2012). The results show that German teachers believe the majority of neuromyths to be true. Compared to teachers and the general public, specialists were more accurate in identifying neuromyths. About half of the in‐service teachers reported that they generally use neuroscientific principles in the classroom—at least some of which seem to be based on NM. Possible approaches to disrupt neuromyths are discussed.
LAY ABSTRACT
Numerous misconceptions exist about how findings from brain research can be used to improve teaching and learning. Such misconceptions are usually referred to as “neuromyths.” We studied German teachers' competence in identifying neuromyths, which is important because they should use evidence‐based teaching strategies instead. However, our results show that teachers believe the majority of neuromyths to be true and about half of them use neuroscientific principles in the classroom. Possible approaches to disrupt neuromyths are discussed.
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