Search results for "Comprehension"

LINKING TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NEEDS WITH APPROPRIATE SOLUTIONS: INSIGHTS FROM AN INIATIVE IN LATVIA

2021

International surveys have stated that each year teachers spend, on average, more than 10 days engaged in different professional development activities. The purpose for this investment in teacher professional development (TPD) is clear: teachers’ competence must develop according to changes in curriculum and 21st century requirements. In previous research we have developed a theoretical teacher competence framework, implemented it to identify teacher (N=263) groups competence gaps and professional development needs. The goal of this research is to link identified professional development needs related to the instruction of 21st century skills (criteria - instructional design, learning goals…

Does IQ matter in adolescents' reading disability?

2009

Abstract We studied the connection of IQ, reading disability (RD) and their interaction with reading, spelling and other cognitive skills in adolescents with average IQ and RD (n = 22), average IQ, non-RD (n = 71), below average IQ and RD (n = 29), and below average IQ non-RD (n = 33). IQ was not connected to reading and spelling in subjects without RD, but a connection to non-word spelling in subjects with RD existed. IQ and RD showed a connection to other cognitive skills (IQ to working memory, verbal memory and syntactic skills, RD to poor performance in text reading and rapid naming and both of them to reading comprehension, phonological and arithmetic skills), but no interaction existe…

Reading, Gender, and Engagement : Lessons From Five PISA Countries

2014

The authors, members of the PISA/PIRLS Task Force, provide a summary of major gender differences in performance found overall on PISA 2009, along with relevant trends since 2000. The five countries represented by the authors are highlighted in this summary, which includes findings related to the interaction of engagement and reading literacy achievement by gender. These data are foregrounded from PISA because they add further evidence of a serious global pattern of boys’ underachievement in reading and lower reading engagement relative to girls. This is followed by a discussion of what each of our five countries has done in response to the gender gap in reading literacy. The article conclud…

Equivalence of Translations in International Reading Literacy Studies

2010

Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in the interest in international assessments of student performance. In such assessments it is mandatory that all the different‐language texts be equivalent to each other, that is, equally difficult to understand. The article summarizes a study made on the topic, examining the problems of equivalence encountered when translating texts in international reading literacy assessments. In the study, three English and Finnish texts used in the PISA 2000 reading test were compared text‐analytically. The analysis revealed six different types of problem, which, moreover, differed considerably between the three texts. As a result of the problems, non…

Reading comprehension difficulty is often distinct from difficulty in reading fluency and accompanied with problems in motivation and school well-bei…

2019

This paper examined if difficulty in reading comprehension (PISA) is distinct from difficulty in reading fluency and if the distinct types of reading difficulties are differently associated with learning motivation, school burnout, and school enjoyment. The participants were 1324 Finnish ninth graders. Findings suggested that difficulties in reading comprehension are often distinct from difficulties in reading fluency. Three reading difficulty groups were identified: (1) poor readers with both fluency and reading comprehension difficulties (n = 46, 3.5%), (2) slow readers with only fluency difficulties (n = 70, 5.3%), and (3) poor comprehenders with only reading comprehension difficulties (…

Impact of question-answering tasks on search processes and reading comprehension

2009

Abstract This study examined the effect of (a) high- and low-level questions and (b) reading the text before the questions asked on performance, delayed text recall, and deep text comprehension, as well as on specific text-inspection patterns. Participants were 37 undergraduate students who answered either high- or low-level questions using the software Read&Answer to read and answer questions on the computer screen. Additionally, half of the sample read first a text and then answered the questions (reading-first condition), whereas the other half answered the questions without having read the text in advance (no-reading-first condition). All participants had the text available to search fo…

What animated illustrations conditions can improve technical document comprehension in young students? Format, signaling and control of the presentat…

2005

We study the comprehension of a multimedia technical document about gear functioning by young pupils. The research is focused on the effect of three factors on the construction of a mental model: illustration format (animated versus static) signaling cues (presence versus absence) learner-control of information delivery (three rhythms of presentation: speed, slow and self-controlled). The experimental procedure, conducted with 123 children, follows three phases: pre-test, individual passation of the lesson, comprehension test, delayed post-test. The goal of the pre-test is the evaluation of prior knowledge about gears, but also the control of spatial and verbal working memory aptitude and r…

The effects of tasks on integrating information from multiple documents.

2008

The authors examine 2 issues: (a) how students integrate information from multiple scientific documents to describe and explain a physical phenomenon that represents a subset of the information in the documents; and (b) the role of 2 sorts of tasks to achieve this type of integration, either writing an essay on a question requiring integration across texts or answering shorter intratext questions that require students to integrate information within a single text, while superficial and deep comprehension measurements are obtained. Undergraduate students answered 1 of the 2 types of questions, and their reading times were recorded. Half of the sample thought aloud. Results showed that the in…

2019

Abstract This article considers the implementation of a new learning subject ”Technology Comprehension” into lower secondary schools in Denmark, as part of an initiative by the Danish Ministry of Education. The subject consists of learning objectives related to computing, design, and societal reflection and was first introduced as an elective course in 13 schools to investigate how it could be integrated into the Danish education system. We present four key findings based on school visits, interviews, an electronical survey, two questionnaires, and workshops including theme discussions: (1) teachers did not perceive Technology Comprehension as a distinct subject, but rather as a set of skil…

Register affects language comprehension: ERP evidence from article omission in newspaper headlines

2011

Abstract Language processing involving syntax-discourse interface operations has been claimed to be particularly resource-consuming. In production, this additional complexity is claimed to be the source of article omission in the speech of young children and certain language-impaired speakers. In comprehension, article omission in some “special registers” (e.g., newspaper headlines) has been attributed to the trade-off between spending more processing resources and increasing processing speed. We investigated the comprehension of noun phrases (NPs) with and without articles (e.g., (a) policeman arrests (a) monk) when readers were or were not aware of reading headlines by recording electroph…