Summer Camp and Experiential Learning – A Qualitative Study Exploring the Perspectives of Selected Participants, Living in Poverty, While Attending a Sleep-Away Summer Camp in Northern Minnesota

Summer breaks vary in length and depth of experiences for many children and families. The summer learning gap has been widely researched as problematic to the cognitive, social, and emotional development for many children, especially children living in poverty. At the same time, best practices in summer learning initiatives have a narrow research scope. This qualitative phenomenological research study explores participants’ perceptions of their time at a sleep-away summer camp in Northern Minnesota. All participants were living in poverty during their time at summer camp. A major focus will examine summer learning opportunities and the importance of creating experiences for every child to learn, grow, and flourish during these long breaks

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Short-Duration Reading Intervention on Grade One Phonological Awareness and Word Reading

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the influence of a summer intervention for children showing early signs of reading delay. The project evaluated two intervention components: a two week camp for children and two training workshops for parents. Data were collected for five groups of participants. Three groups participated in one or more intervention components: parent workshops only group, child camp only group, and both parent workshops and child camp group. All children who participated in the interventions were identified by teachers as having difficulty in phonological awareness and word reading skills at the end of senior kindergarten. Two additional groups served as comparisons. Children in the ‘low’ comparison group had early literacy skills similar to children in the intervention groups. The ‘average’ comparison group included children that were identified by teachers as normally achieving in early literacy. The intervention programs sought to improve children’s word reading ability by providing explicit instruction in phonological awareness and opportunities to practice other emergent literacy skills. Children participated in pre- and post-test assessments measuring literacy skills and general cognitive skills. Children in all three intervention groups showed positive change following the intervention compared to a comparison group of children with similar initial abilities who did not receive any intervention. Children who received both intervention components showed the most positive change following a follow-up assessment at the end of grade one. The frequency of home literacy activities with parents was related to positive improvement in children’s phonological awareness and word reading skills. The quality of home literacy activities is also thought to be important. Results are presented in the context of the response-to-intervention framework for identifying children with reading disabilities

William T. Grant Foundation 2015 Annual Report

In 2015, we embarked on a new direction in one of our two major focus areas, shifting our attention from understanding how and under what conditions research is used tounderstanding how to create those conditions. In the first six years of our work supporting studies of the use of research evidence, grantees deepened our understanding of the problem of research use and offered fresh ideas about how to improve its use--particularly with regard to the role of intermediaries in brokering research evidence and the importance of trusting relationships between researchers, decision makers, and practitioners in its uptake. The next phase of this work will build on this knowledge and advance understanding of how to improve the use of research evidence in policy and practice

Infusing Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Into Science Methods Courses Across Virginia

This article outlines the results of a collaborative study of the effects of infusing problem-based learning (PBL) into K-12 science methods courses across four universities in Virginia. Changes in pre-service teachers\u27 attitudes surrounding science teaching were measured before and after completing a science methods course in which they experienced PBL first-hand as participants, and then practiced designing their own PBL units for use in their future classrooms. The results indicate that exposure to PBL enhances pre-service teachers\u27 knowledge of inquiry methods and self-efficacy in teaching science

Concept Mapping and the Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) Approach As An Intervention Framework for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Individuals who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience a range of difficulties that impact their daily occupational performance. The current body of research identifies the importance of occupational engagement and competence as fundamental elements in facilitating an individual’s social connections, development of personal autonomy and overall wellbeing. This dissertation explores the use of concept mapping embedded within the meta-cognitive framework of the Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) approach, to engage adolescents with ASD in meaningful occupations. This thesis contains three manuscripts, an introductory and a final reflection chapter. The first manuscript is a methodological paper that outlines a qualitative concept mapping framework that can be applied within the field of occupational science. The second manuscript explores how concept mapping can be theoretically embedded with the CO-OP approach to facilitate the engagement, occupational competence, relatedness and autonomy of adolescents with ASD. The third manuscript presents the findings of a focused sensory ethnography exploration that explores the personalized and socio-cultural perceptions of adolescents with ASD while participating in a novel intervention. The third manuscript is analyzed using an occupational science framework, and highlights the themes identified by the participants through their concept maps and personal reflections. The data were analyzed using the qualitative concept mapping framework presented in the first manuscript, and through deductive thematic analysis using a theoretical codebook derived and highlighted in the third manuscript. This thesis contributes new knowledge to shaping the development and delivery of interventions focused on enhancing the occupational performance of adolescents with ASD in meaningful goals important in the transition to adulthood. It has expanded the limited research that approaches the topic from the frameworks of qualitative research, multi-modal and multi-sensory methods. It also uniquely explores the concept of human occupation as it relates to culture of ASD, and the development of meaningful life skills within a group environment. This work has implications for the future methodologies and research questions for studies exploring the lives of adolescents with ASD, the CO-OP approach, and the use of visual methods in exploring occupational meaning