Additional Learning Support Research Articles

Supplementing Clinical Practice in Nursing Homes With Simulation Training: A Qualitative Study of Nursing Students' Experiences.

IntroductionLimited access to nurse supervisors, insufficient learning support and staff with high workloads are well documented in the research literature as barriers to nursing students´ learning in clinical practice in nursing homes. Due to these barriers nursing students may benefit from additional learning support from nurse educators during their clinical practice period.ObjectiveThe study aimed to explore nursing students’ experiences of supplementary simulation training as a tool to support learning during clinical practice in nursing homes.MethodsA descriptive qualitative design was used. Twenty-seven first-year nursing students from a university college in Norway were interviewed after attending a seven-week practice period in nursing homes with supplementary simulation training. Three semi-structured focus group interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analysed using systematic text condensation.FindingsThree categories of student experiences were identified: enhancing the reasoning behind care, transferring knowledge and experiences between the learning environments and enhancing the sense of mastery.ConclusionThe supplementary simulation training seemed to complement clinical practice by consolidating the students’ learning during the clinical practice period, enhance the students’ motivation and sense of mastery, and consequently their efforts to seek out new challenges, explore and learn both in the clinical and the simulated environment.

Do schools matter? An exploration of the determinants of lower secondary school subject choices under the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence

This paper explores school level determinants of curriculum narrowing in the senior phase of secondary education, under the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). It presents findings from an analysis of longitudinal administrative education data (2011–2017), and Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) data on subject enrolments for Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework National 5 level qualifications, undertaken by 14–15‐year‐old students in year 4 of secondary education (S4) in Scotland. The data are aggregated at the level of schools and linked with Scottish School Census data that provide information about school characteristics (in terms of their size, number of qualified teachers, socio‐economic composition, etc.) and school area characteristics. We used descriptive methods of statistical data analysis and multilevel regression modelling, in order to explore the variations between schools in: (a) number of subject choices; and (b) configuration of subject enrolment and to identify factors responsible for these variations. Our findings show that the senior phase curriculum is becoming narrower. There is trend since 2013, the year when new qualifications under CfE were introduced, for fewer subjects to be taken in school year S4 for level 5 National Qualifications. Yet, the size of this reduction has not been uniform, but has varied between schools of different characteristics, between areas with different level of deprivation and between local authorities across Scotland. The findings show that the SES composition of school intake has a strong association with the number and configuration of subject entries. A larger reduction in the number of subject entries for National 5 level qualifications took place in schools in more deprived areas, as well as in schools with a larger number of students from disadvantaged socio‐economic backgrounds, schools where the proportion of pupils with additional learning support needs was higher, and schools with poorer staff–student ratios. We also found that the number of subject entries was smaller in schools where the overall number of subjects offered for National 5 level qualifications was smaller. Furthermore, we found that schools in areas of higher deprivation and schools with larger numbers of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds had smaller proportions of young people enrolled in Sciences and Modern Languages, and a larger proportion of pupils enrolled in Vocational subjects.

Learning in Contests with Payoff Risk and Foregone Payoff Information

We test whether deviations from Nash equilibrium in rent-seeking contests can be explained by the slow convergence of payoff-based learning. We identify and eliminate two sources of noise that slow down learning. The first source of noise is present because each action is evaluated against a different sample of actions of other players. We eliminate it by providing foregone payoff information, which allows all actions to be evaluated against the same sequence of opponent's actions. The second source of noise is present because of payoff risk, which reduces the correlation between expected and realized payoffs. We manipulate payoff risk using a 2x2 design: payoffs from contest investments are either risky (as in standard contests) or safe (as in proportional contests), and payoffs from the part of endowment not invested in the contest are also either safe (as in standard contests) or risky. We find that Nash equilibrium rates go up to 100% when payoff risk is not present and foregone payoff information is available, but are at most 20% in all other cases. This result can be explained by payoff-based learning but not by other theories that might interact with payoff risk (non-monetary utility of winning, risk-seeking preferences, spitefulness, probability weighting, QRE). We propose a hybrid learning model that combines reinforcement and belief learning with preferences, and show that it fits data well, mostly because of reinforcement learning. Additional support for learning comes from the persistence of the Nash equilibrium following the removal of foregone payoff information.

‘Working Together’: Public Libraries Supporting Rural, Regional, and Remote Low-Socioeconomic Student Success in Partnership with Universities

ABSTRACTUniversity students living in rural, regional, and remote (RRR) areas of Australia face unique challenges including geographical isolation, lack of access to face-to-face support, and technological barriers. Additionally, RRR students from low-socioeconomic (low-SES) backgrounds experience multiple forms of disadvantage compared to their on-campus peers, and require additional study, learning, and social support. Partnerships between universities and local public libraries can enhance RRR low-SES student success through increased access to face-to-face support, reliable technologies, and study facilities. This exploratory research, led by five regional universities, presents the first national-level empirical data exploring how Australian public libraries and universities can work together to facilitate success for RRR low-SES students. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with public librarians from RRR low-SES communities across Australia. Thematic analysis findings explore themes of librarians’ perceptions of students as persons; the role of regional librarians in supporting RRR low-SES students; RRR low-SES students’ access to learning support; and the critical elements of sustainable partnerships between RRR public libraries and universities. Key recommendations are provided to guide future partnerships between public libraries and universities, including building the foundations of partnerships; professional development to support partnerships; and recommendations for good partnership practices.

The biggest extension of rights in Europe? Needs, rights and children with additional support needs in Scotland

ABSTRACTThe Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 boosted the rights of parents of children with additional support needs (ASN) by improving access to information, instituting a Code of Practice and establishing new redress mechanisms such as the ASN Tribunal and independent mediation. More than a decade later, Scottish legislation enacted in 2016 and implemented in 2018 attempted to increase children’s rights, broadly placing them on a par with those of parents and young people. This paper draws on data from an ESRC project entitled Autonomy, Rights and Children with Special Needs: A New Paradigm? (ES/P002641/1). Analysis of Scottish Government policy and legislation, key informant interviews and official statistics are used to examine the extent to which the new rights are likely to be realised in practice, given the complexity of the legislation and competition between discourses of needs, broadly synonymous with the wellbeing agenda and rights. The paper concludes with a discussion of the lessons which may be learnt from the Scottish experience, which will be of interest to an international audience.

A documentary analysis of the support services offered to adult learners with dyslexia in higher education

ABSTRACTThe National Student Survey (NSS) seeks to measure how ‘satisfied’ students are with their programmes of study and educational experience. Ongoing NSS data demonstrates that global satisfaction scores are increasing; however, when this is separated into disabled and non-disabled students, downward satisfaction trends for disabled students are apparent. Around half of these students will have dyslexia. This ‘snapshot’ documentary analysis evaluates the currently publicly available information outlining the support services that are available for students with dyslexia. The survey focuses upon a sample of higher education institutions (HEIs) in England. Findings indicate that there are notable differences in the types and consistency of support offered across the sample institutions. The most frequently used model is that of additional learning support (ALS), where support is provided outside of the usual class contact time. Mentoring provides benefits for students with dyslexia but fewer than half of the institutions surveyed offered this. Subject specialist mentoring is particularly beneficial but there is little evidence of this taking place. There is a level of support in all the institutions that appears to meet the requirements of the Equality Act (2010) but this does not necessarily indicate that dyslexic students are supported in the most effective way.

Sustainability requirements for eLearning systems: a systematic literature review and analysis

eLearning systems have become a very important part of teaching, both as web-based systems for online education and as auxiliary tools for face-to-face study, where they provide an additional learning support for on-campus learners. To insure the sustainability of an eLearning system on both individual and social levels, we have to cover many aspects of sustainability requirements: human, technical, economic, and environmental. This paper provides a systematic literature review of the sustainability meta-requirements for eLearning systems to identify open problems and to present the state of the art of this research area. We analysed 124 papers, so we identified 18 high-level sustainability requirements for eLearning systems.

Inclusion as Ethics, Equity and/or Human Rights? Spotlighting School Mathematics Practices in Scotland and Globally

Mathematics education has been notoriously slow at interpreting inclusion in ways that are not divisive. Dominant views of educational inclusion in school mathematics classrooms have been shaped by social constructions of ability. These particularly indelible constructions derive from the perceived hierarchical nature of mathematics and the naturalised assumption that mathematisation is purely an intellectual exercise. Constructions of ability, therefore, emanate from the epistemic structures of mathematics education as predominantly practiced worldwide, and the prevalence of proceduralism and exclusion in those practices. Assumptions about ‘ability’ have become a truth to mathematical aptitude held by mathematics teachers in schools. This includes schools across Scotland. In Scotland, the government owes the ‘included pupil’ a legal obligation to provide additional support for learning under section 1(1) of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004. However, classroom practices deployed around socially-constructed notions of ability have seen schools moving away from an emphasis on ‘additional’ to an expansive interpretation of ‘different from’ in the language of section 1(3)(a) of the Act 2004. This shift, therefore, reinstalls exclusionary effects to school mathematics practices by creating the conditions for some pupils, constructed in terms of disabilities or low ability, to be afforded a more inferior education than others. While philosophical conversations around whether these practices are ethical, egalitarian or democratic might ensue, there is also the human rights angle, which asks whether such practices are even lawful.

Impact of legislation on post‐school transition practice for young people with additional support needs in Scotland

A longitudinal study was conducted to understand post‐school transition practice for young people with additional support needs (ASN) before and after the implementation of key legislation, the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, amended in 2009. Primary data were collected from one local authority in Scotland. Twelve professionals involved in post‐school transition planning were interviewed in 2004 and eight in 2010. Minutes of transition meetings from one school for three young people prior to the implementation of the Act and four after the implementation were analysed. Results show some changes since the implementation of the Act.

“This is my family outside of my family”: Care-based relating in a model early college high school

Early college (EC) is a novel educational model in the US that combines high school and college in an effort to increase underrepresented students’ access to higher education by providing engaging, hands-on instruction in a supportive learning environment. For this phenomenological inquiry, we sought to understand the role of care-based relating in a model early college by examining how relationships are manifested and experienced at this school. Through 30-45 minute interviews, eleven participants (three sophomores, three seniors, and five teachers) described EC teachers’ high level of commitment to students’ academic success through: (a) responsive instruction in classroom and group contexts; (b) additional learning support for individual students; and (c) varied experiences from traditional school contexts. EC teachers found these efforts fostered student commitment to learning. Additionally, teachers and students noted the extraordinary commitment of EC teachers to the physical, social, and emotional wellbeing of learners demonstrated through: (a) family-like relationships; (b) promoting social and emotional wellbeing through timely advice and intervention; (c) joining students through tragic and intense personal and out-of-school realities; and (d) forming longitudinal connections with students and their families. However, this commitment resulted in teachers taking on significant burden when there was a lack of structural supports available for all learners. Findings hold implications for educational policy and school structuring that can promote educational equity and success through meaningful relationships, responsive practices, wrap-around services for students with out-of-school challenges, and teacher-support structures to ensure the longitudinal development and wellness of teachers, preventing burnout and attrition.

Influencing mathematics students' academic success through online intervention: A case study

Open distance learning (ODL), by the definition, subscribes to the limited direct engagement of the students with the learning institution. The University of South Africa, Western Cape, has placed key emphasis on providing an array of electronic support platforms to assist students with their needs in quantitative literacy skills. Consequently, as a part of this additional learning support, an online environment was designed in which the students, enrolled for various mathematics modules, were able to access an array of educational resources. Findings from similar studies suggest, that the utilisation of employment of additional learning support could show a positive effect on students’ academic achievement in distance learning. Therefore, a quasi-experimental research study was conducted to investigate this supposition by comparing the assessment outcomes among various student groups subjected to the additional learning support interventions. It has been found that online intervention might affect the success rate of the students, however, not necessarily in a simple or in the anticipated way.

Oral anticoagulation with vitamin K inhibitors and determinants of successful self-management in primary care.

BackgroundSelf-management may be an option to monitor oral anticoagulant therapy in health systems, but before recommending it, we need to assess patients’ ability to take on this task. The purpose of the study was to describe patients’ ability to self-manage and associated factors.MethodsThis was a 3-year prospective quasi-experimental study with a control group. Overall, 333 patients on anticoagulant therapy from seven primary care health centres of the Basque Health Service were included in the intervention group and followed up for 6 months after the intervention, assessing their ability to self-test and self-manage. The intervention consisted of a patient training programme, providing detailed information on their condition and its treatment, and practical training in how to use a portable blood coagulation monitor and adjust their anticoagulant dose. Comparisons were made with a control group (333 patients receiving OAT under usual care from the same seven health centres).Outcome variables were ability to self-manage, quality of the outcome (in terms of time in therapeutic range), and quality of life in the intervention group, and general patient characteristics (age and sex), clinical variables (reason for OAT, INR range), and quality of the outcome (in terms of percentage of INR measurements in range and complications) in both groups.ResultsOverall, 26.13 % of patients invited to participate in the intervention agreed. Of these, 99 % successfully learned to self-manage their OAT. Just 4.2 % did not complete the follow-up, in all cases for reasons unrelated to self-management, and 4.5 % required additional learning support. Outcomes were better than under usual care in terms of percentage of INR measurements in range (12 %), rate of complications (4 %) and quality of life (9.2 %).LimitationsPatients were only followed-up period for 6 months and the study was conducted in a single health organization. Though patients eligible to participate were selected randomly, they were not randomly allocated to the groups. This is a potential source of selection bias. Data needed to calculate in-range time were not collected from controls; rather the results for the self-management group were compared with external data from other studies.ConclusionsAlmost all participants achieved competency in self-management, with no differences by age, sex, concurrent illnesses, polypharmacy or educational level. The greatest barrier to self-management was the attitude of patients themselves and those around them. Self-management in primary care is a good alternative to usual care, patients having longer times in therapeutic range and fewer complications, and improving their quality of life. Remote management is a good support tool.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01878539.

Conceptual and practical foundations of patient engagement in research at the patient-centered outcomes research institute.

PurposeTo provide an overview of PCORI’s approach to engagement in research.MethodsThe Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) was established in 2010 to fund patient-centered comparative effectiveness research. Requirements for research funding from PCORI include meaningful engagement of patients and other stakeholders in the research. PCORI’s approach to engagement in research is guided by a conceptual model of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR), that provides a structure for understanding engagement in research.ResultsTo understand and improve engagement in research PCORI is learning from awardees and other stakeholders. Those efforts are described along with PCORI’s capacity building and guidance to awardees via the Engagement Rubric. PCORI’s unique model of engaging patients and other stakeholders in merit review of funding applications is also described. Additional support for learning about engagement in research is provided through specific research funding and through PCORI’s major infrastructure initiative, PCORnet.ConclusionPCORI requires engagement of stakeholders in the research it funds. In addition PCORI engages stakeholders in activities including review of funding applications and establishment of CER research infrastructure through PCORnet. The comprehensive approach to engagement is being evaluated to help guide the field toward promising practices in research engagement.

Supporting students with additional needs in Scotland

The Advisory Group for Additional Support for Learning advises ministers on the implementation of legislation and policy. Nasen's Jane Friswell updates us on its work and outlines some key priorities for the year ahead.

Teachers' perceptions of additional support needs of students in mainstream primary education

Mainstream primary education requires teachers to be proactively responsive to a variety of student educational needs, especially because of the increasing heterogeneity of school intake. Despite the increasing interest in learners' additional support needs rather than student deficits, empirical studies on the topic remain scarce. Therefore, this study addresses teacher perceptions (n=57) of additional learning support needs of students (n=114; mean age=9; 48% male). Exploratory factor analyses (PCA; PAF) identified four dimensions of need: a) instructional support, b) (on-task) behavioral support, c) emotional support, and d) peer support. Interestingly, the views of teachers correlated with the characteristics of students in terms of student attainment, the teacher-perceived task-oriented behavior of students, the teacher-perceived (problem) behavior in the classroom and teacher-perceived relationships with students. The present study shows that the views of teachers are both thorough and differentiated. Accordingly, implications for teacher training are discussed.

Parental experiences of dealing with disputes in Additional Support Needs in Scotland: why are parents not engaging with mediation?

Partnerships with parents, particularly in the field of education, have featured prominently in policy rhetoric for many years, but routes of redress have not had much attention until relatively recently. The development of Alternative Dispute Resolution in the UK reflects the situation in several jurisdictions (e.g. Norway, Germany, the Netherlands) where citizens can choose not to go to court to resolve administrative disputes. Under the Education (Additional Support for Learning [ASL]) (Scotland) Act 2004 local authorities must establish and publicise procedures for identifying and meeting the needs of children requiring additional support for learning. The Act and Code of Practice advocate early intervention to prevent disagreements about the provision for additional support from escalating into more serious disputes, with local authorities required to provide information about, and access to, independent mediation for parents. In Scotland the ASL Act 2004 has resulted in four routes available for redress in the area of Additional Support Needs which include both mediation and litigation type processes: • Informal mediation • Formal mediation • Adjudication • Tribunal This article uses case study information from parents in three local authorities in Scotland to explore why independent mediation is being under-used by schools and parents, and what factors influence this. Questions are raised regarding the large numbers of parents who are unaware of mediation, the attitudes towards and use of independent mediation by local authorities and the suitability of independent mediation, particularly when the dispute is over resources.

Training in Contrast Detection Improves Motion Perception of Sinewave Gratings in Amblyopia

PURPOSE. One critical concern about using perceptual learning to treat amblyopia is whether training with one particular stimulus and task generalizes to other stimuli and tasks. In the spatial domain, it has been found that the bandwidth of contrast sensitivity improvement is much broader in amblyopes than in normals. Because previous studies suggested the local motion deficits in amblyopia are explained by the spatial vision deficits, the hypothesis for this study was that training in the spatial domain could benefit motion perception of sinewave gratings. METHODS. Nine adult amblyopes (mean age, 22.1 ± 5.6 years) were trained in a contrast detection task in the amblyopic eye for 10 days. Visual acuity, spatial contrast sensitivity functions, and temporal modulation transfer functions (MTF) for sinewave motion detection and discrimination were measured for each eye before and after training. Eight adult amblyopes (mean age, 22.6 ± 6.7 years) served as control subjects. RESULTS. In the amblyopic eye, training improved (1) contrast sensitivity by 6.6 dB (or 113.8%) across spatial frequencies, with a bandwidth of 4.4 octaves; (2) sensitivity of motion detection and discrimination by 3.2 dB (or 44.5%) and 3.7 dB (or 53.1%) across temporal frequencies, with bandwidths of 3.9 and 3.1 octaves, respectively; (3) visual acuity by 3.2 dB (or 44.5%). The fellow eye also showed a small amount of improvement in contrast sensitivities and no significant change in motion perception. Control subjects who received no training demonstrated no obvious improvement in any measure. CONCLUSIONS. The results demonstrate substantial plasticity in the amblyopic visual system, and provide additional empirical support for perceptual learning as a potential treatment for amblyopia.

Developing and evaluating SynctoLearn, a fully automatic video and transcript synchronization tool for EFL learners

Authentic videos are always motivational for foreign language learners. According to the findings of many empirical studies, subtitled L2 videos are particularly useful for foreign language learning. Although there are many authentic English videos available on the Internet, most of these videos do not have subtitles. If subtitles can be added to videos, EFL students might better understand the video content and pick up more vocabulary items. To help EFL students make better use of authentic videos, an automatic video and transcript synchronization system called SynctoLearn was developed. The SynctoLearn system uses speech recognition technologies to automatically synchronize voices in audios and videos with their respective transcripts. Two studies were conducted in order to assess the effectiveness of this listening tool and investigate EFL learners' perception toward this device. In the first study, two college classes at similar proficiency levels were divided in two groups. One group viewed the synchronized video and another viewed the same video without any synchronized subtitles. The group that watched the synchronized video outperformed the other group in summarizing the key points of the video. In the second study, two college EFL classes used the SynctoLearn website for a whole semester and were invited to fill in a questionnaire. Based on the survey results, students indicated that they enjoyed watching synchronized videos. They regarded the design of the SynctoLearn system positively and particularly lauded the options that allowed them to click and replay any video segments and show/hide the subtitles at any time. Students, however, suggested that the video quality and subtitle presentation can be further improved. Moreover, additional learning support such as online dictionaries can be included in the system. The results of the experiment and the survey indicate that the SynctoLearn tool, which provides synchronized subtitles, can be used as a supporting tool to help EFL students reduce their cognitive loads and anxiety levels when tackling authentic videos. The findings and the technologies used in this article should be useful for teachers and researchers who want to use or develop similar tools for foreign language learning.

Preparing future teachers for inclusive education in Serbia: Current situation and needs

The paper presents one part of the research for Serbia Country Report, conducted within the regional project of the European Training Foundation. The research was aimed at analyzing the current situation in initial education of teachers, i.e. preparation of teachers for inclusive education (IE), as well as the need for introducing changes in the initial education curricula, leading towards a more efficient development of competences for working with all students needing additional support for learning and social participation. Qualitative research methodology was used. Data were collected via: analysis of documents comprising curricula of basic studies of five educational/teacher education faculties in Serbia with respect to IE preparation; three focus groups with teachers; and thirty-one interviews with other participants in the education system - principals of primary schools, school psychologists, university educators, decision-makers in education, NGO representatives and moderators of in-service teacher training programmes. Analysis of initial education curricula indicated that these do not contribute to the development of competences and preparation of teachers for inclusive education. The basic obstacles to preparation for IE perceived by research participants include inadequate curricula, dysfunctional professional practice and negative attitudes of university educators towards IE. The concluding part points out that the key factors for changes in initial education comprise sufficient motivation of university educators, awareness about the responsibility of the faculty to teach in accordance with the IE concept, as well as the support to these faculties through wide social action. The implications for enhancement of initial education of teachers refer to introducing changes into study programmes and implementing the strategies identified in practice, leading towards more effective preparation of teachers for IE.

Approaches to dispute resolution in additional support needs in Scotland

The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 aimed, among other things, to increase parents’ rights in relation to the education of their children. In addition to the creation of the Additional Supports Needs Tribunals for Scotland, parents were given new rights to challenge local authority decisions through mediation and independent adjudication. In line with the wider social policy thrust of encouraging proportionate dispute resolution, low‐level resolution of disputes at school and local authority level was also encouraged. This paper uses key informant interviews to explore the views of new dispute resolution arrangements, and whether the balance of power has indeed tipped in favour of parents. Local education authority officers expressed some concerns about the new measures, and were particularly critical of the tribunal on the grounds that it was expensive and stressful, although the role it might play in tightening up procedures was also recognised. Advocacy groups and parents’ organisations, on the other hand, welcomed the new measures but were concerned about the rules restricting access to the tribunal and the fact that the outcome of mediation and adjudications were not legally binding. They were also concerned about limited access to information and advocacy. Overall, key informants believed that the new measures had advanced parents’ rights to some extent, although further changes were needed to achieve a radical shift away from the post‐war dominance of bureaucracy and professionalism in Scotland.