‘Stroppy’ or ‘confident’? Do carers and professionals view the impact of transition support on young people differently?

Accessible summary •Young people with learning disabilities encounter many problems when they leave school.•Support is provided by schools and other agencies, but often families feel that this support is not good enough.•One reason may be that carers look at transition from school in a different way to school and support staff.•We wanted to know how carers see the changes that happen in their young son or daughter during transition from school and how their view is different to that of teachers and support staff.•Carers often stressed how things changed within the family during the time of transition while teachers and support staff emphasised changes in independence and social skills of the young people in our study.Summary The study examined the effects of transition employment support to two cohorts of young people who were in their last year in school or college in 2005/2006 and 2006/2007. This paper reports the views of carers, teachers and support workers of the impact this additional support made to the young people. Analysis of the data reveals a difference between the views of carers and those of professionals. The paper argues that these differences may reflect different understandings of the aim and purpose of transition support and which may make it difficult to achieve a smooth transition for all stakeholders when not taken into account. This may have implications for how to structure and deliver transition support, some of which are being outlined in the discussion

Gender Differences in Student Motivation and Self-Regulation in Science Learning: A Multi-Group Structural Equation Structural Modelling Analysis

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of students' motivational beliefs (learning goal orientation, task value and self-efficacy) in science learning on students' self-regulation in the science classroom. The study also examines the moderating effect of gender on the proposed relationships. Data were collected from 719 boys and 641 girls across grades 8, 9 and 10 in 5 public schools in Perth, Western Australia. Results from structural equation modeling analysis indicated that all 3 motivational constructs were strong predictors of students' self-regulation in science learning. The multi-group analysis to examine gender differences revealed that the influence of task value on self-regulation was statistically significant for boys only. The findings present possible opportunities for educators to plan, and to put into practice, effective intervention strategies aimed at increasing students' self-regulation in science learning. The core feature would be to target and develop students' motivational beliefs of learning goal orientation and self•efficacy in science learning. Additionally, for boys, the intervention strategies would be to elevate boys' perspectives of science task value

Guiding the design of lessons by using the MAPLET framework: matching aims, processes, learner expertise and technologies

This paper introduces the MAPLET framework that was developed to map and link teaching aims, learning processes, learner expertise and technologies. An experimental study with 65 participants is reported to test the effectiveness of the framework as a guide to the design of lessons embedded within larger units of study. The findings indicate the potential of the MAPLET framework and reinforces the need to take a fresh approach to the design and development of curriculum that makes more effective use of the diminishing time available. It provides a conceptual model and working procedure that places the learner and the process of learning at the forefront of decisions