Changes In Academic Skills Research Articles

Effect of remedial teaching on the scholastic performance of children with learning disability

Background: To assess the effectiveness of remedial teaching in children with learning disability and to find association between IQ score and age of the child with their improvement.Methods: An interventional study using pre-post study design, took place in Child Development Centre (CDC) of tertiary care Medical College hospital. Participants includes 45 school going children of age group of 6-15 years. After initial diagnosis and IQ assessment, remedial teaching was given in CDC for 12 months. Techniques are chosen on an individual basis by formulating individualised education program (IEP) by special educators. Diagnosis and pre- post assessment were done using tool, NIMHANS SLD battery. Effectiveness was evaluated as improvement in class levels of students. Definite improvement was decided in each student if improvement was observed in 4 or more domains. Relationship of IQ score and age with their improvement in was noted.Results: In pretest, poor results were found in attention and copying in 39 children, reading in 41, comprehension and spelling in 42, written expression in 43, and arithmetic in 44. In posttest, good results with statistical significance (p<0.05) were found in attention in 33, copying in 27, reading in 24, arithmetic in 15, and spelling in 12 children. Definite improvement was noticed for 33% of students with significant association with age and not IQ score of the child.Conclusions: This study shows that remedial teaching can bring about significant changes in academic skills namely attention, copying, reading, arithmetic, and spelling. 33% had definite improvement in 4 or more domains. The improvement in academic skills following remedial teaching was dependent on the child’s age and not on IQ score.

Üniversite Öğrencilerinin Yaşam Doyumlarının Çeşitli Değişkenler Bağlamında İncelenmesi

The aim of this study is to determine university students’ life satisfaction levels and to examine the differences in these students’ life satisfaction in the context of different socio-demographic variables as well as variables related to university life. The study has been conducted with 5,208 students studying at Istanbul University in 2015-2016 using stratified sampling. This study accepts gender, place of residence, family income, parents’ educational status, parental relationship, and religious belief as the socio-demographic variables. In addition to academic achievement, changes in academic skills, life skills, and social skills during university life have been examined as variables related to university life. According to the findings, students from Istanbul University have moderate life satisfaction. Women have significantly higher life satisfaction compared to men, as well as students staying with their families, at home, or in private dormitories compared to those staying in state dormitories, with relatives, or in student houses; students with higher family income and education compared to those with lower; students who have good communication with parents compared to those who have middling or poor; those who have more religious beliefs and perform their religious requirements compared to those with no religious beliefs or who don’t fulfill their religious requirements; and those with higher academic achievement compared to those with lower academic achievement. A positive and significant relationship has been found for students’ perceptions of improving academic, social, and personal competencies and skills with their life satisfaction.

Early childhood memory and attention as predictors of academic growth trajectories.

Longitudinal data from the children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) were used to assess how well measures of short-term and working memory and attention in early childhood predicted longitudinal growth trajectories in mathematics and reading comprehension. Analyses also examined whether changes in memory and attention were more strongly predictive of changes in academic skills in early childhood than in later childhood. All predictors were significantly associated with academic achievement and years of schooling attained, although the latter was at least partially mediated by predictors’ effect on academic achievement in adolescence. The relationship of working memory and attention with academic outcomes was also found to be strong and positive in early childhood but nonsignificant or small and negative in later years. The study results provide support for a “fade-out” hypothesis, which suggests that underlying cognitive capacities predict learning in the early elementary grades, but the relationship fades by late elementary school. These findings suggest that whereas efforts to develop attention and memory may improve academic achievement in the early grades, in the later grades interventions that focus directly on subject matter learning are more likely to improve achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Psychosocial Adjustment Over a Two–Year Period in Children Referred for Learning Problems: Risk, Resilience, and Adaptation

Children with learning difficulties have an increased prevalence of psychosocial adjustment problems. We hypothesized that within the context of a risk and resilience model contextual variables influence adjustment, over and above any effects of academic performance. The Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) was used to evaluate the relationship between psychosocial adjustment, changes in academic skills, and contextual factors longitudinally over a two–year period in 100 children (ages 7 to 11) referred for learning problems. Although there was little improvement in academic skills, contextual factors contributed to observed psychosocial outcome. Different factors were salient for parents, teachers, and children. Context–derived vulnerability and protective factors can be important determinants of adjustment in children with learning problems, even though the academic difficulties can remain chronic.