Student Learning Problems Research Articles

Assessing and Helping Challenging Students: Part One, Why Do Some Students Have Difficulty Learning?

When students struggle with routine assignments and fall behind classmates, a busy teacher may pigeonhole them as slow, give up on them, or become frustrated from failed efforts to bring them up to speed. Well-intentioned efforts to help struggling students by providing repetitions of the same experiences may fail because the specific cause of the sub-par performance was not identified. Six potential causes of inadequate student performance can serve as a diagnostic framework to help teachers pinpoint why a student is struggling academically: 1) cognitive factors, including poorly integrated, compartmentalized information, poor metacognition that hinders the student's ability to monitor and self-correct performance, bona fide learning disabilities that require professional assessment and treatment, and sensory-perceptual difficulties that may hinder performance in certain health care disciplines; 2) ineffective study habits, which are more common among professional students than faculty realize; 3) an inadequate educational experience (unclear objectives, poorly organized instruction, absence of coaching and timely feedback) or a punitive environment in which students avoid approaching instructors for assistance; 4) distraction due to nonacademic issues such as social relationships, health of a spouse, or employment; 5) dysfunctional levels of defensiveness that hinder student-teacher communication; and 6) underlying medical conditions that may affect student attentiveness, motivation, energy, and emotional balance. The objective of this article is to help faculty recognize potential underlying causes of a student's learning problems. Strategies for helping the academically struggling student are also introduced for several of these etiologies.

Foreign Language Learning Problems of Students Classified as Learning Disabled and Non-Learning Disabled

Foreign Language Learning Problems of Students Classified as Learning Disabled and Non-Learning Disabled

School-Based Early Mental Health Intervention with At-Risk Students

This study investigated the effect of a school-based early mental health intervention program on school adjustment of first-to fourth-grade at-risk children, using a wait-control design. Subjects participated in individual play sessions conducted by carefully selected, trained, and supervised nonprofessional child aides. A MANOVA assessed changes in teachers' ratings of school adjustment over time using the Teacher-Child Rating Scale. The intervention significantly lessened teachers' perception of student shyness, anxiety, and learning problems. It also increased perceived assertive social skills, task orientation, and peer social skills (p <.05). Improvement placed children as a group within the range of functioning exhibited by nonreferred peers.

Using questions to facilitate motor skill acquisition

For the process of question-guided problem-solving to work successfully, several conditions must exist: 1) presence of valid and reliable criteria for evaluating product (DO) and performance (DP), 2) development of learning resources such as life-sized examples, 3) training sessions in the application of criteria and use of the process for both faculty and students, and 4) faculty commitment to the process. The process helps to establish conditions in which learning occurs. Underlying its structure is the requirement for incorporation of discrimination tasks. Question-guided problem-solving structures the learner's approach to the task in a way that facilitates the refinement of independent learning strategies over time. Further, it promotes effective use of time in laboratory or clinic. Through repeated interactions, the faculty may better monitor student progress, diagnose student learning problems, suggest remedial strategies, and evaluate their outcomes. By providing instruction that includes opportunities to practice the subskills of problem-solving in an interactive cooperative environment, students systematically monitor learning by asking good questions and, through questioning, are empowered to solve problems.

The nature and extent of analogies in secondary chemistry textbooks

This paper describes an analogy classification framework used with high school chemistry textbooks. The framework takes into account aspects of past research into analogies in science education to allow for a systematic classification of textbook analogies based upon nine criteria including chemistry content area. Many of the 93 analogies classified described abstract chemistry concepts such as atomic structure and bonding, however, the frequent use of simple analogies, and the scarcity of stated limitations, are likely to create learning problems for students. In some textbooks, authors made use of margin spaces to include more analogies and these marginalised analogies often contained a pictorial component. Recommendations for further research into analogies in science education and possible methodological approaches are suggested.

Reader's perception of importance: What ASP readers think is important and why

The authors conducted a study with Psychology I Academic Support Programme (ASP) students and tutors which explored readers' perception of importance in reading a Psychology I text. They explored a) what readers think is important and b) what strategies readers use to determine importance. From the analysis of the data four categories of readers emerged according to the strategies which they were using to process the text for important sentences. There was no significant difference between the performance on the selection task or the essay by the three different categories of ASP students. However, the findings are consistent with other research on differences between good and poor readers and support some of the general theories about learning problems of students from disadvantaged educational backgrounds.

A revisit to the student learning problem

AbstractA forgetful student wishes to accomplish a high knowledge level (ambitious) with a small effort (lazy). Two learning patterns are addressed. First, at low or intermediate knowledge level, the student improves faster as more knowledge is absorbed. Secondly, at high knowledge level, the more the student learns, the harder it is for an equal amount of improvement to be made. The study problem is cast into an optimal control setting. Study strategies are explored. One interesting finding in the second case is that the student may need to reduce the work intensity as the examination is approaching.

Full Inclusion and the REI: A Reply to Thousand and Villa

Full Inclusion and the REI: A Reply to Thousand and Villa We thank Jacqueline Thousand and Richard Villa for their thoughtful reply, which continues the dialogue we invited in our article (Jenkins, Pious, & Jewell, 1990). The differences in the way that Thousand and Villa and we read the regular education initiative (REI) confirm the fact that there is a legitimate diversity of viewpoints under the REI umbrella; these differences also confirm our suspicion that there is need for further discussion. We need to remind Thousand and Villa that our article was an attempt to test one interpretation of the REI literature, not to propound or advocate for specific procedures. Based on our own experience in regular education classrooms into which students with disabilities have been mainstreamed, we have to agree with Thousand and Villa that the teacher tasks we extrapolated from the literature are indeed Herculean and that it is unreasonable to expect all teachers to assume them. Since preparing our article, we have continued to work in mainstream classrooms, examining REI-like programs, observing and trying to help teachers implement regular education-based treatments for students with disabilities. The work of these teachers is not easy. Further, there is almost as much heterogeneity among teachers as there is among students. Some teachers can manage the responsibilities we identified with apparent ease and even some gusto. Many other teachers neither can nor want to take on these responsibilities, arguing with some justification that even the normal heterogeneity of the mainstream classroom poses challenges that are too daunting. This diversity of teachers will likely remain in our public school system. Thus we, like Thousand and Villa, do not think that it would be realistic to expect all teachers to manage all of the responsibilities we discussed in our article. How, then, can teachers' needs be reconciled with the legal mandate to educate students in the least restrictive environment? Perhaps a realistic and, to us, moderate interpretation of the REI philosophy is to assume that (a) education for students with mild and moderate disabilities starts in the general education setting; (b) classroom teachers and specialists work together to develop and test treatment programs in that setting; and (c) if satisfactory child outcomes are still not observed, then interventions conducted outside of the general education classroom may be tested and evaluated against student outcomes. Even this moderate view of the REI is clearly a departure from standard practice because, in many schools, disability automatically results in separate education. A critical element in the preceding sequence is the team approach--people working together to manage the mainstream classroom's diversity. There is no doubt that teams are the model of choice in many schools, and the examples provided by Thousand and Villa represent useful models of cooperation that should be considered and studied. We (Leicester, O'Connor, & Jenkins) are currently developing and testing still another model, a nonhierarchical model that enables classroom teachers and specialists to work together in a problem-solving process; a spirit of inquiry is the prevailing ethos. Our intent is to create a framework in which specialists and classroom teachers can participate equally in analyzing a student's learning problem, examining the existing instructional environment, and proposing modifications. After reaching agreement on a problem solution, either the teacher or the specialist or both may implement it, but the validity of the solution is determined by its measured effect on student performance--the original problem indicator. A summary of our own view on this issue is that whoever is involved in educating a student should also be involved in attempts to solve problems related to the student's development and achievement, and that these people should be empowered to do so. …

Some misconceptions in meiosis shown by students responding to an Advanced level practical examination question in biology

Lack of understanding of aspects of the process of meiosis and of the relationship of them to Mendelian genetics has been shown to cause learning problems for students of different ages and in different countries. Some of these problems have been revealed in students' responses to a practical task which formed part of an Advanced level examination. The frequencies with which some misconceptions occurred have been determined in a large sample of students. The nature of these is analysed and their implications discussed.

Some grammatical problems in scientific English

This paper examines the manner in which scientific English constitutes learning problems for students being introduced to science. It develops a taxonomy of the difficulties and investigates means of overcoming the problems which texts in scientific English create.

Towards the identification of student learning problems: the development of a diagnostic inventory.

An understanding of how students approach their learning has important implications for medical education. Of particular interest is the fact that the approach students use in their study has a significant impact on both the quality of the learning and their academic success. It would clearly be of value to identify students whose approach to learning was predictive of unsatisfactory performance. This paper describes the initial development of two versions of an inventory (questionnaire) which was designed to aid in the diagnosis of student learning problems. Preliminary information is given on the reliability and validity of these instruments. Factor analyses support the underlying design. Correlation of subscales with academic performance has provided encouraging evidence of the potential of these inventories in identifying students with specific learning or study problems.

The Learning Problem of the Student in Psychotherapy Supervision

The learning problems of the student in psychotherapy supervision are described from the vantage point of a clinical psychology intern. The vicissitudes of the relationship between psychotherapy supervisor and supervisee form the context for the appearance and potential resolution of the student's learning problems. Specific areas of discussion include the initial contact between supervisor and supervisee; the supervisory alliance; clarifying what therapy is and what it is not; realizing who you are and what your supervisor is; discovering that you can get results; leaving. A final section is devoted to describing apparent similarities between the supervisory relationship and psychotherapy. Supervision of a novice psychotherapist can be thought of as the psychotherapy of a learning disability.

Practice teaching: reflections, steps before reflection and some steps for the future

Abstract Much of the literature available on the topic of practice teaching in social work has focussed upon student learning patterns, feelings, behaviour and problems. Traditionally, the functions of a practice teacher have been described as assessing, managing, teaching and enabling. Enabling is a vital function which previously has received only limited attention in the literature. This article examines the attitudes and behaviour of the practice teacher in enabling and facilitating learning. Some contributions from humanistic psychology are considered and, in particular, the work of Carl Rogers and his associates. It is suggested that the Rogerian ‘core conditions’ are significant elements in the behaviour of the practice teacher, while important elements from the student perspective are seen in the significance of experience, description and responsibility.

A Factor Analysis of Teachers' Intervention Choices for Dealing with Students' Behavior and Learning Problems

The Elementary School Journal Volume 84, Number 2 ? 1983 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 001 3-5984/84/8402-0002$01.00 Although behavior problems are prevalent among America's school children, estimates of their frequency vary. The federal government acknowledges that approximately 2% of the school population has behavior problems (e.g., disruptiveness, disobedience, inattentiveness). Rubin and Balow (1971) surveyed classroom teachers and found that 41% of the children in that study had educationally defined behavior problems. As Rubin and Balow (1978, p. 103) indicated, those who have investigated this topic through contact with parents, teachers, and children consistently report prevalence figures of school behavior problems that are anywhere from 10 to 30 times in excess of the

Readiness as a Variable Influencing Comprehension in Content-Area Reading at the Secondary Level: A Cognitive View

A cognitive theory of readiness is offered as a possible explanation of the learning problems of learning or reading disabled secondary students. A discussion of the implications of the theory for secondary content-area reading is included along with a model for implementation of the readiness components.

Media Review: Books: Exceptional Students in Secondary Schools: A Report from the CEC Invisible College on Learning and Behavioral Problems of Handicapped Students in Secondary School Programs

Media Review: Books: Exceptional Students in Secondary Schools: A Report from the CEC Invisible College on Learning and Behavioral Problems of Handicapped Students in Secondary School Programs

A Plan for Servicing Problem Students in the Middle School

Dealing with learning or behavior problems of students in the middle school can be difficult without an organized, internal support system. One such system is out lined here.

Student Rights Require a Model for Change

This article describes a procedure to protect student rights and improve the process of identifying students' social, emotional, or learning problems. As a result of its implementation, suspensions have dropped 35 percent and student dropouts have been significantly reduced.

Video in the College Classroom: An Exploratory Study

The effect of a counselor working directly with college teachers on a specific student learning problem—oral nonparticipation in discussion classes—was explored. Seven college history instructors viewed with a counselor videotaped excerpts of their own classroom discussion sessions. During playback sessions the counselor modeled and verbally and nonverbally reinforced certain instructor behaviors seen on video. Four instructors viewed tapes individually (IT) with the counselor; three instructors viewed tapes in a group (GT) with the counselor. Results: (1) Instructors reported video‐playback counseling was very helpful in changing their behavior in the classroom; (2) Instructors became more aware of how verbal and nonverbal cues influence student behaviors; (3) Small group playbacks seemed as effective as individual playback procedure.