The Tablet PC: Cool Toy or Useful Tool?

The tablet PC, or convertible laptop computer, is a relatively new technology - the potential of which is still being tested in the field of education and in libraries. This presentation will provide a brief overview of available tablets, evaluate some of their current uses in libraries and education, and demonstrate how a tablet PC is currently being used during information literacy sessions at Michigan State University. Participants will discuss the tablet’s potential uses in information literacy and will walk away with ideas, information, and best practices for incorporating this new technology into library instruction

Conditioned acquisition and augmenting effects in causal attributions for employee performance

A social analog of a short-delay conditioning paradigm in Pavlovian learning was used to test the prediction that under certain conditions, human causal judgments would reflect acquired response properties that can be either increased (augmented) or decreased (discounted). The learning experiment was masked by describing it as a study testing a computerized employee evaluation system

Training preschool teachers in creative art activities : the effects of a prescribed methodology.

Previous research does not address the integral role art plays in early childhood education and preschool teachers and providers are rarely trained to teach art creatively. This study presents a framework for training early childhood providers in the developmental and psychological aspects of early childhood art, and the methodology of formulating and teaching creative art activities. The study assessed the effectiveness of this training in changing attitudes and behaviors of preschool teachers and day care providers, regarding the value of art for the young child and methods of teaching art to children. The sample was composed of 73 preschool teachers, assistant teachers, and family day care providers in Western Massachusetts. The treatment group received training in creative art activities. Both groups were administered pre- and post- tests regarding attitudes towards children\u27s art, a demographic survey and a researcher-designed preschool and day care questionnaire. After the training the subjects\u27 styles of teaching art to young children were observed and evaluated. The treatment group completed an evaluation of the training, a self-evaluation form and participated in post- training interviews. The effectiveness of the training program was confirmed by the evaluations. Subjects found the training was important to their professional growth. Statistical findings reveal significant differences for 11 of the 23 items on the Likert-type attitude pretest and posttest. Non-significant findings show a change in the expected direction for almost all items. Although the control group also showed change on some items, their change was always smaller than that of the treatment group. The data showed that overall, educational level made no difference in participants\u27 attitudes towards the value of children\u27s art. The methodology and behavior of teaching art by treatment group subjects were more effective than the control group. When observed, treatment group subjects displayed a smaller percentage of dictated art activities. Both groups displayed an equal percentage of creative art activities in their facilities. The results of this study indicate the importance of teaching art creatively with an awareness of the developmental and psychological implications for preschool children. It depicts positive implications for future research

Impact of Direct Fine Motor Intervention on Handwriting

Structured fine motor lessons consisting of regulated fine motor materials and feedback is documented in the literature as a strategy for strengthening fine motor skills (Hamilton & Liu, 2017). The purpose of the present study was to determine (1) the mean duration of child engagement with fine motor materials within the classroom during free play, and (2) if direct intervention with fine motor materials, which promote pinch and grip strength, would impact handwriting performance. Children were observed during free play, interacting with materials. The hypothesis suggested interacting with fine motor materials, specifically promoting pinch and grip strength, would result in better handwriting. Data from pre- intervention writing samples and baseline observations were collected using a single case, multiple baseline, with interval recording. The Pinch and Grip Strength Intervention (PGSI) consisted of 10-minutes with 14 pinch and grip strength promoting choices. Results demonstrated that all children increased their engaged time with fine motor materials during the PGSI and increased name writing performance in all three children and increased compositional writing for two of the three children. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of developmentally appropriate interventions within the context of naturally occurring classroom routines to increase emergent writing in young children. Future research should focus on the intentional teaching of writing in young children using developmentally appropriate strategies

A Model for a Progressive Preschool Approach in Ghana

In recent years, Ghana has made strides to meet international mandates for early childhood education. With the implementation of the Early Childhood Care policy in 2004, Ghana has made attempts to provide holistic care for children 0-8 years. This thesis will be two-fold: the first part will consist of the progress Ghana has made in the years since the policy’s implementation in getting children ready for primary(grade) school. The second portion of the thesis is a proposal to the Government of Ghana (specifically, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and Ministry of Education) on a preschool approach novel to Ghana that will meet the needs of the modern Ghanaian child. The thesis will provide an overview of the current preschool system in Ghana based on extensive research on the strategies that are in place to meet this goal. The thesis will attempt to analyze the complex challenges and gaps of the current educational policies and practices in place. Based on the information gathered, the thesis will include a progressive preschool model that utilizes the Developmental- Interaction model of education with a social services component that has the needs of the family central in its focus

Language Games and Acquisition of Speaking Skills among Students of Junior High School in Hohoe Municipality, Ghana

Speaking is one of the basic language skills that students should master in order to communicate effectively and interact with others. Speaking skills are necessary for the social as well as academic life of a person by becoming responsive as well as receptive to information thus forming a favorable impression of oneself. Internationally, there is a debate that several high school graduates cannot properly speak English language and even the bright learners who get high scores in written tests cannot express themselves verbally, despite English being the official language of instruction in these schools Language learning is a hard task and it requires extraordinary efforts to realize the desirable outcomes. Language games are techniques and procedures that may be used by instructors to improve the speaking skills. Accordingly, the main objective of this study was to establish the effect of language games on acquisition of speaking skills among students of Junior High School in Hohoe Municipality in Ghana. Specifically, the study sought to establish the effect of role plays, problem-solving, puzzles, and board race games on acquisition of speaking skills among students of Junior High School in Hohoe Municipality in Ghana. The research was an empirical analysis and thus adopted an empirical research design and content analysis was used in the analysis of the qualitative data. The study revealed that language games significantly influence the acquisition of the speaking skills of the students. The study further found that using language games in teaching enhances the students’ achievement and results of speaking skills. Students enjoyed their lesson and got more motivation, interest, and confidence when learning is based on the use of language games. Hence, language games should be used as designed activities in teaching speaking skills. The study findings were generalized to students of Junior High School in Hohoe Municipality in Ghana, who like many other students in Ghana, require proficiency in speaking and writing skills, specifically in English which is used in Ghanain schools to teach subjects such as mathematics, science, social studies, art, and information and communication technology. Yet, English language is a second language to many Ghanaian students irrespective of their level in the education ladder. The outcomes of this study can be useful to Ghanian schools, researchers, scholars and the Government of Ghana.  &nbsp

Examining the Effects of Preschool Writing Instruction on Emergent Literacy Skills: A Systematic Review of the Literature

This article presents the results of a systematic review of the literature involving writing interventions in the preschool setting. The information presented is timely considering the current expectations for young children to write. Framing the empirical literature within different philosophical approaches, trends were analyzed to identify instructional strategies related to increases in emergent literacy outcomes and where gaps in the literature existed. The results from 22 intervention conditions from 1990 to 2013 indicated the overall effect size was g = .44, 95% CIs [.27, .60], suggesting that preschool writing interventions enhanced children’s early literacy outcomes. The findings also highlighted the importance of quality literacy environments and adult involvement. The findings from this article have important instructional implications for writing instruction in the preschool setting

A Comparison of Language and Graphic Products of Students From Kindergarten Classrooms Differing in Developmental Appropriateness of Instruction.

This study examines the ways in which kindergartners from more and less developmentally appropriate classrooms negotiate the process of graphic communication. Both quantitative and qualitative aspects of this process are examined. Eighty-one kindergarten children from four classrooms were asked to tell a story both verbally and graphically. They were encouraged to include drawing, writing, or both on their paper. Then they were asked to tell the story that they had produced graphically. The children were students in one of four classrooms from a single school system that were identified as: (a) most developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices; (b) developmentally appropriate in belief, but not in practice; (c) both developmentally appropriate and developmentally inappropriate beliefs and practices; and (d) least developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices. No statistically significant differences were found in the level of drawing of the children in the four classrooms. On the writing scale, significant differences were found for girls favoring the classroom that was both developmentally appropriate and developmentally inappropriate when mean scores were used for analysis. Analysis of highest writing scores for each child also showed statistically significant differences for girls favoring the classroom with both appropriate and inappropriate teaching methods. No significant differences were found between classrooms in the areas of writing or storytelling when each child\u27s first session scores were analyzed. For the storytelling scale, significant differences were found favoring the least developmentally appropriate classrooms when mean scores were analyzed. An investigation of the differences in the use of peer and private speech by the children as they produced their stories on paper was attempted. It was not successful due to whispered speech by some of the children. This speech was difficult to impossible to transcribe, causing transcriptions to be incomplete and therefore not analyzable. Qualitative analysis provided further insight into the problem

Does Families and Schools Together (FAST) achieve its goals: an evaluation of the Rice Lake, Wisconsin FAST program

Includes bibliographical references