Adult Tutors Research Articles

Understanding the nature and impact of young readers’ literacy interactions with talking books and during adult reading support

This paper reports an extended analysis of the study reported in [Wood, C. (2005). Beginning readers’ use of ‘talking books’ software can affect their reading strategies. Journal of Research in Reading, 28, 170–182.], in which five and six-year-old children received either six sessions using specially designed talking books or six sessions of one-to-one tuition with an adult using the paper-based versions of the same books. This analysis focuses on the nature of the children’s interactions with either the adult or the computer in an attempt to explore how these different resources impacted on the children’s literacy interactions, and whether different styles of literacy interaction observed within each group were associated with gains in phonological awareness or changes in reading strategy. Four styles of literacy interaction were identified and there was a significant association between these styles and membership of one of the two experimental conditions in the study. Interactional style was also seen to impact positively on phonological awareness development for lower ability children who used the talking books. In contrast, interactional style affected changes in reading strategy amongst children in the adult tutor condition. Finally, there was also an influence of interactional style on spontaneous dialogic reading by the children overall, but this effect originated from the children in the adult tutor group.

Song development in the grasshopper sparrow, Ammodramus savannarum

Adult male grasshopper sparrows sing two structurally and functionally distinct songs: buzz song and warble song. To investigate how these songs develop, we tutored three groups of young males in the laboratory: one with recordings, one with live adult tutors and one with no song (isolate birds). We used visual scoring of spectrograms, principal components analysis of acoustic measures and spectrogram cross-correlation to analyse the results. Tape-tutored and live-tutored birds developed structurally normal buzz songs and largely normal warble songs. Isolate birds developed moderately normal buzz songs along with one or two more atypical songs. Neither buzz songs nor warble songs were accurately imitated by any of the tape-tutored birds. Live-tutored birds imitated buzz songs, but not warble songs, more closely than did tape-tutored birds. We also examined buzz songs in a population of grasshopper sparrows in the field. Comparisons of buzz songs of yearling males with those of their social fathers and with those of their first-breeding-year territorial neighbours indicate that sons do not imitate songs of their social fathers, and imitate songs of their immediate territorial neighbours only to a limited degree. Overall our results suggest that grasshopper sparrow song does not develop by imitation but that exposure to conspecific song is important for normal song development. Differences in development of the two song types may relate to both acoustic structure and function of these songs.

Functional MRI of Auditory Responses in the Zebra Finch Forebrain Reveals a Hierarchical Organisation Based on Signal Strength but Not Selectivity

BackgroundMale songbirds learn their songs from an adult tutor when they are young. A network of brain nuclei known as the ‘song system’ is the likely neural substrate for sensorimotor learning and production of song, but the neural networks involved in processing the auditory feedback signals necessary for song learning and maintenance remain unknown. Determining which regions show preferential responsiveness to the bird's own song (BOS) is of great importance because neurons sensitive to self-generated vocalisations could mediate this auditory feedback process. Neurons in the song nuclei and in a secondary auditory area, the caudal medial mesopallium (CMM), show selective responses to the BOS. The aim of the present study is to investigate the emergence of BOS selectivity within the network of primary auditory sub-regions in the avian pallium.Methods and FindingsUsing blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI, we investigated neural responsiveness to natural and manipulated self-generated vocalisations and compared the selectivity for BOS and conspecific song in different sub-regions of the thalamo-recipient area Field L. Zebra finch males were exposed to conspecific song, BOS and to synthetic variations on BOS that differed in spectro-temporal and/or modulation phase structure. We found significant differences in the strength of BOLD responses between regions L2a, L2b and CMM, but no inter-stimuli differences within regions. In particular, we have shown that the overall signal strength to song and synthetic variations thereof was different within two sub-regions of Field L2: zone L2a was significantly more activated compared to the adjacent sub-region L2b.ConclusionsBased on our results we suggest that unlike nuclei in the song system, sub-regions in the primary auditory pallium do not show selectivity for the BOS, but appear to show different levels of activity with exposure to any sound according to their place in the auditory processing stream.

Training reading fluency among poor readers of German: many ways to the goal

Outcomes of two training programs aimed at improving reading speed for 39 German-speaking poor readers in grades 2 and 4 were evaluated. During a 6-week training period, a specific target for children in a computer group was to improve reading of word-initial consonant clusters by practice in associating an orthographic unit with a corresponding phonological unit. Children in a paired reading group read books with an adult tutor. The results showed that, in reading words in which the computer-trained sublexical items were included, both groups exhibited similar improvement. A post hoc analysis suggested that computer training was associated with better reading skills with respect to the trained sublexical items; however, this improvement did not show large generalization effects to the words with the sublexical items. The paired reading group showed a more rapid gain in global word reading fluency than the computer group. Neither of the groups improved their pseudoword reading.

Regulation of forebrain perineuronal nets during a critical period for vocal learning

Event Abstract Back to Event Regulation of forebrain perineuronal nets during a critical period for vocal learning Teresa A. Nick1*, T. S. Balmer1, V. M. Carels1 and J. L. Frisch1 1 University of Minnesota Medical School, United States Extracellular matrix structures known as perineuronal nets (PNNs) appear to have roles in the closure of sensory critical periods and may define the critical period for ocular dominance plasticity in the primary visual cortex (Hensch, 2005; Pizzorusso et al., 2002). We hypothesized that similar mechanisms may also underlie sensorimotor critical periods, such as that for speech. For our model, we chose the zebra finch songbird (Taeniopygia guttata). As in humans, vocal sensorimotor learning in the zebra finch occurs during a well-defined and restricted developmental period. The finch learns a song from an adult tutor and then gradually matches the song he produces to the memorized tutor song. Song learning and production depend on a set of anatomically distinct forebrain song nuclei, which allows precise investigation of brain areas with defined behavioral roles. PNNs in song nuclei were examined at the beginning, middle, and end of the sensorimotor learning phase using antibodies to chondroitin sulfate, which composes the PNNs. We found that PNNs are strongly expressed in the adult song system (Fig. 1).PNNs in mammals are preferentially expressed around typically fast-spiking neurons that express parvalbumin, a calcium-binding protein. Finch brain sections were thus also stained for parvalbumin. All neurons in each nucleus were identified using a fluorescent Nissl stain. Consistent with a role for PNNs in vocal development, both the percent of neurons with PNNs and the percent of parvalbumin-positive neurons with PNNs increased to adult levels during the sensorimotor period of vocal development in all song nuclei examined. Stereological quantification confirmed these findings. Several perturbations alter vocal learning, such as overstimulation with tutor song auditory playback, isolation from a song tutor, and chronic exposure to testosterone. Preliminary data suggest that experimentally-induced shifts in the vocal critical period also shift PNN expression pattern. These data suggest that perineuronal nets may regulate plasticity in forebrain networks that underlie sensorimotor learning. Conference: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience, Bodrum, Türkiye, 1 Sep - 5 Sep, 2008. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Neuronal Plasticity Citation: Nick TA, Balmer TS, Carels VM and Frisch JL (2008). Regulation of forebrain perineuronal nets during a critical period for vocal learning. Conference Abstract: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.01.311 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 10 Dec 2008; Published Online: 10 Dec 2008. * Correspondence: Teresa A Nick, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, United States, nickx002@umn.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Teresa A Nick T. S Balmer V. M Carels J. L Frisch Google Teresa A Nick T. S Balmer V. M Carels J. L Frisch Google Scholar Teresa A Nick T. S Balmer V. M Carels J. L Frisch PubMed Teresa A Nick T. S Balmer V. M Carels J. L Frisch Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Adult Learners, Tutors and the Challenge of Assessment at a Distance

This article explores the experiences of adult learners and tutors on a particular externally assessed distance-learning degree programme. On this programme, assignments are set, reviewed and graded independently of the on-site tutor by the external awarding body. An analysis of eight interviews with four tutors and four graduates from one such course suggests that the absence of a link between the on-site tutor and external assessment has a significant negative effect on the teaching and learning environment for both adult learners and tutors. Guided by Basil Bernstein's work on the classification and framing of educational rules and roles, it is argued that benefits will ensue if the on-site tutors are included in, or at a minimum be allowed to become more familiar with, the assessment process. Inclusive framing is the process of including all parties in the education process. Insights from the interviews support the view that distance learning is suitable for adult learners but that external assessment procedures which separate the on-site tutor from the external assessor actually increase anxiety levels among adult learners.

Model of Birdsong Learning Based on Gradient Estimation by Dynamic Perturbation of Neural Conductances

We propose a model of songbird learning that focuses on avian brain areas HVC and RA, involved in song production, and area LMAN, important for generating song variability. Plasticity at HVC --> RA synapses is driven by hypothetical "rules" depending on three signals: activation of HVC --> RA synapses, activation of LMAN --> RA synapses, and reinforcement from an internal critic that compares the bird's own song with a memorized template of an adult tutor's song. Fluctuating glutamatergic input to RA from LMAN generates behavioral variability for trial-and-error learning. The plasticity rules perform gradient-based reinforcement learning in a spiking neural network model of song production. Although the reinforcement signal is delayed, temporally imprecise, and binarized, the model learns in a reasonable amount of time in numerical simulations. Varying the number of neurons in HVC and RA has little effect on learning time. The model makes specific predictions for the induction of bidirectional long-term plasticity at HVC --> RA synapses.

Development of Selectivity for Natural Sounds in the Songbird Auditory Forebrain

In adult songbirds, auditory neurons in the primary auditory forebrain region of field L and a secondary auditory forebrain region of caudal mesopallium (CM) are highly responsive to natural sounds, such as conspecific song. Because these nuclei are involved in sensory representations of songs, we investigated how their function changes during development. We recorded neural responses to conspecific and tutor song and acoustically matched synthetic sounds in field L and lateral CM (CLM) of urethane-anesthetized juvenile male zebra finches of approximately 35 days of age. At this age, juvenile songbirds are memorizing the songs of their adult tutors but do not yet sing mature song. They are also starting to recognize songs of individual conspecifics. Compared with adult auditory forebrain neurons, juvenile neurons in field L were on average less responsive to auditory stimuli and exhibited less selectivity for natural sounds compared with the synthetic sounds. This developmental effect was more pronounced in the secondary subregions of L1 and L3 than in the primary thalamo-recipient subregion L2 of field L. CLM showed adultlike selectivity for natural sounds. Also, we did not find any evidence of memory for the tutor song in either field L or CLM. We note that the neural development of selective responses to conspecific song in the secondary subregions of field L is correlated with the emergence of individual song preference around 35 days of age. Therefore we suggest that the emergence of natural sound selectivity in field L could be important for the behavioral development of song recognition.

Examining the Relationships between Reading Achievement and Tutoring Duration and Content for Gifted Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students from Low-Income Backgrounds

This article describes a study designed to examine the relationship of tutoring in specific reading comprehension strategies to gains in reading achievement for children enrolled in self contained classrooms for gifted students from low-income, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and heterogeneous with respect to reading achievement. Participants were 58 students in grades 3–5, including 12 English learners. Eleven adult tutors received training in decoding and 3 basic and 3 higher level reading comprehension strategies consistent with the district's reading program and adapted to include increasing levels of challenge and support for English learners. Scores on a standardized reading achievement test and an assessment of reading fluency served as outcome measures. Findings suggest that tutoring in decoding and higher level reading comprehension strategies supported gains in reading achievement. Gifted students who are English learners appear to benefit from tutoring in decoding and the full range of lower and higher level reading comprehension strategies.

The Fifty-One Society: A case study of BBC radio and the education of adults

This article discusses the relationship between sound broadcasting and adult education, looking at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) during the period of postwar reconstruction and austerity of the 1950s. It considers in particular one of the Corporation's most innovative educative programmes of the period, ‘The Fifty-One Society’. This was produced in Manchester by the Talks Department of the BBC North Region and first broadcast on 1 November 1951. The format was a discussion, along the lines of the old literary and debating societies, and featured a small group of northern academics drawn from the Universities of Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, many of whom had personal experience as adult education tutors. Each week a topic was introduced by a guest speaker and then discussed by the ‘resident experts’ in the studio. The discussion was then edited and broadcast. The Fifty-One Society aimed to bring to listening audiences ideas, informed views and argument on a wide range of topics relating to science, the arts, industry, education, literature, government, politics, religion, war and peace. The paper examines the programme's underlying philosophy: ‘the belief of the liberal imagination’ and attempts to evaluate its success and its educative impact.

Improving computer skills of socially disadvantaged adolescents: Same-age versus cross-age tutoring

In a voluntary tutor-based training program, socially disadvantaged adolescents acquired basic computer skills. Two training groups were compared: one group was instructed by adolescents, the other by adults. Both groups achieved comparable results in a final test. The tutees' learning results did not differ with respect to their initial knowledge, gender, school type, or socio-economic status, nor did these factors interact with the training group. We identified a significant interaction between the tutees' immigration status and training group. These results are interpreted on the basis of (1) the tutees' attitudes towards adolescent and adult teachers, and (2) the instructional styles of adolescent and adult tutors. Finally, the adolescents' self-esteem increased throughout the program.

Early auditory experience generates long-lasting memories that may subserve vocal learning in songbirds.

In both humans and songbirds, infants learn vocalizations by imitating the sounds of adult tutors with whom they interact during an early sensitive period. Vocal learning occurs in few animal taxa; similarities in the imitation process between humans and songbirds make the songbird a unique system in which vocal learning mechanisms can be studied at the neurobiological level. One theory of vocal learning proposes that early auditory experience generates auditory memories that subsequently guide vocal imitation. We now present a combination of behavioral and neurophysiological results, obtained in a songbird, that support this theory. We show that neurons in a forebrain auditory area of adult male zebra finches are selectively tuned to the song of a tutor heard early in development. Furthermore, the strength of this selectivity shows a striking correlation with the fidelity of vocal imitation, suggesting that this auditory memory may have served as the model for song learning.

Increasing struggling learners’ self‐efficacy: what tutors can do and say

Self‐efficacy is essential to motivation and learning. Compared to students with weak self‐efficacy for academics, students with strong self‐efficacy have higher motivation, make greater effort, persist longer, and achieve more. Unfortunately, struggling learners with weak self‐efficacy often avoid academic tasks or give up prematurely, reducing the likelihood of academic success. Because tutoring usually occurs in one‐to‐one or small group situations, adult tutors are in an excellent position to enhance struggling learners’ self‐efficacy which, in turn, can improve academic outcomes. To achieve this, tutors need to understand the importance of self‐efficacy, its sources, and how to strengthen weak or flagging self‐efficacy. To assist tutors in strengthening learners’ self‐efficacy, this article discusses (a) the importance and sources of self‐efficacy, (b) instructional principles derived from these sources, and (c) topics for future research.

Beginning readers' use of ‘talking books’ software can affect their reading strategies

This paper reports on a small‐scale study that considered whether a phonic‐based ‘talking book’ could outperform one‐to‐one reading tuition with an adult with respect to improving beginning readers' phonological awareness over a short period. It also examined whether the children's reading strategies were affected by their use of the software. Two groups of children, one aged five years and one aged six years, used three phonic‐based talking books over six 15‐minute sessions and were assessed on their phonological awareness and reading strategies both before and after this intervention. Their performance was compared to that of matched comparison groups who were given one‐to‐one adult tutoring with the paper versions of the same books. There were no significant differences between the two groups in their phonological awareness attainment, with both groups showing equivalent gains from pre‐ to post‐test. Use of specific features of the software was associated with gains in rhyme detection ability and with changes in the children's reading strategies.

Introducing an Intergenerational, Internet-Based Tutoring Program

ABSTRACT Schools face many challenges in preparing students to meet today's state and national academic goals. Intergenerational tutoring programs have been shown to be an excellent resource to help schools and students meet these academic challenges. However, inter-generational tutoring programs can be expensive and face obstacles that include scheduling difficulties and barriers pertaining to physical mobility and transportation needs of older adult tutors. This paper describes an intergenerational, Internet-based tutoring program established to determine whether older adults could successfully tutor middle-school students over the Internet. An asset of this program is that older adults can tutor at convenient times, providing resources that may be unavailable to remote rural areas. Following a brief description of the program, i.e., a reading strategy identified as successful in improving reading comprehension for both older adults and younger students, challenges met in implementing the program are outlined. A description of how those working with intergenerational programs may meet these challenges is then presented.

Effects of structure strategy instruction delivered to fifth-grade children using the Internet with and without the aid of older adult tutors.

The authors assessed the impact of using the structure strategy as a base for an intergenerational Internet tutoring program in which older adults, with strategy training, provided Internet-based tutoring for 5th-grade students learning the strategy through an instructional Web site. Students were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: structure strategy with tutors, structure strategy without tutors, and control. Both tutors and children in the structure strategy group with tutors increased strategy use, total and main idea recall, and self-efficacy. Program effects were apparent months after instruction. Posttest performance was related both to careful completion of Web lessons and amount of tutor feedback and content-related questions. Findings have implications for learning from computers, intergenerational tutoring, and reading instruction.

Effects of structure strategy instruction delivered to fifth-grade children using the Internet with and without the aid of older adult tutors.

Effects of structure strategy instruction delivered to fifth-grade children using the Internet with and without the aid of older adult tutors.

The Effects of an After-School Tutoring Program on the Academic Performance of At-Risk Students and Students with LD

Improving the educational outcomes for students who are at risk for academic failure is an important issue for educators and policymakers. Recently, before- and after-school tutoring programs have been identified as having the potential to turn academic failure into academic success. Two studies were conducted to determine the efficacy of an after-school tutoring program. Results of the studies showed that at-risk students and students with learning disabilities who were failing classes could earn average or better grades on quizzes and tests if they had the support of trained adult tutors. Additionally, researchers found that tutors could teach strategies during their tutoring sessions and that students could learn the strategies while they worked on their class assignments. Finally, researchers found that some students continued to be successful after tutoring ended, indicating that they were able to use the strategy they had learned in a generative fashion.

Androgens and isolation from adult tutors differentially affect the development of songbird neurons critical to vocal plasticity.

Song learning in oscine birds occurs during a juvenile sensitive period. One idea is that this sensitive period is regulated by changes in the electrophysiological properties of neurons in the telencephalic song nucleus lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum (LMAN), a structure critical for song development but not adult singing. A corollary of this idea is that manipulations affecting the pace and quality of song learning will concomitantly affect the development of LMAN's electrophysiological properties. Manipulations known to affect song development include treating juvenile male zebra finches with exogenous androgens, which results in abnormally truncated adult songs, and isolation of the juvenile from adult tutors and their songs, which extends the sensitive period for song learning. Previously, we showed that synaptic transmission in LMAN changes over normal song development and that these changes are accelerated or retarded, respectively, by androgen treatment and isolation from an adult tutor. The intrinsic properties of LMAN neurons afford another potential target for regulation by steroid hormones and experience of adult tutors. Indeed previous studies showed that the capacity for LMAN neurons to fire action potentials in bursts, due to a low-threshold calcium spike, and the width of single action potentials in LMAN, wane over development. Here we analyzed these and other intrinsic electrophysiological features of LMAN neurons over normal development, then tested whether either early androgen treatment or isolating juveniles from adult tutors affected the timing of these changes. The present study shows that androgen but not isolation treatment alters the developmental time at which LMAN neurons progress from the bursting to nonbursting phenotype. In addition, other intrinsic properties, including the half-height spike width and the magnitude of the spike afterhyperpolarization (AHP), were found to change markedly over development but only changes to the AHP were androgen sensitive. Interestingly of all of the synaptic and intrinsic electrophysiological properties in LMAN studied to date, only the half-height spike width continues to change in the late juvenile stages of song learning. Furthermore raising juveniles in isolation from an adult tutor transiently delays the maturation of this property. The present results underscore that beyond their effects on LMAN's synaptic properties, both androgens and adult tutor experience are potent and selective regulators of the intrinsic properties of LMAN neurons.

Song development by chipping sparrows and field sparrows

When, where and from whom young songbirds learn their songs have been controversial issues in the study of song development. We chose to study some of these issues in two migratory and closely related songbirds, the chipping sparrow,Spizella passerina , and field sparrow, Spizella pusilla . Nestlings of both species were collected in western Massachusetts and hand-reared in the laboratory. There, juveniles were placed in separate cages and assigned to one of three rooms; in each room were eight young chipping sparrows, eight young field sparrows and two adult tutors of each species, arranged so that most of the young males were adjacent to adult tutors of the same species. During mid-winter, adult tutors were moved from one room to another, so that the young birds heard different song types from different tutors during their hatching year and the following spring. From spectral analysis of our extensive tape recordings, we found that most juvenile males imitated the songs of their hatching-year tutors but then gradually modified their songs to match more closely either their adult tutors or other pupils the next spring. One chipping and one field sparrow clearly imitated a new song syllable from a spring live tutor; that is, these yearling males learned songs by ‘instruction’. Other sparrows improvised extensively, and one chipping sparrow learned a field sparrow's song syllable. Our results reveal great individual variation in how songs are developed, and we expect similar flexibility among birds in nature.