This study by Lio Moscardini of the University of Strathclyde shows how a group of 24 children in three Scottish primary schools for pupils with moderate learning difficulties responded to word problems following their teachers' introduction to the principles of Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI). CGI is a professional development programme in…

Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether behaviours typical of working memory problems are associated with poor academic attainment in those with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as well as a non-clinical group identified on the basis of working memory difficulties. Method: Children clinically diagnosed with…

This action research aims to investigate how technology improves the conditions of storytelling to help enhance the learning attitude and motivation of EFL children with learning difficulty using power point designs and an online recording system--VoiceThread (http://voicethread.com/). The use of power point designs is to assure children of clear…

This note re-examines a finding by Crow et al. [Crow, T. J., Crow, L. R., Done, D. J., & Leask, S. (1998). Relative hand skill predicts academic ability: Global deficits at the point of hemispheric indecision. "Neuropsychologia", 36(12), 1275-1281] that equal skill of right and left hands is associated with deficits in cognitive ability. This is…

Previous research has demonstrated that a positive relationship between teacher and student improves student performance in school. However, less information is available regarding the verbal and nonverbal communications between the students with special needs and their teachers within this middle school subgroup. Personal attention and support…

Individuals with Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience difficulties understanding the non-verbal cues conveyed by others that provide symbolic information about relationships between self, other, and environmental events. This study examined whether these difficulties reflect underlying problems in the identification of temporal…

Particle models of matter are widely recognised as being of fundamental importance in many branches of modern science, and particle ideas are commonly introduced and developed in the secondary school curriculum. However, research undertaken in a range of national contexts has identified significant learning difficulties in this topic, and suggests…

Infants in the early stages of word learning have difficulty learning lexical neighbors (i.e. word pairs that differ by a single phoneme), despite their ability to discriminate the same contrast in a purely auditory task. While prior work has focused on top-down explanations for this failure (e.g. task demands, lexical competition), none has…

The underlying neural mechanisms of developmental dyscalculia (DD) are still far from being clearly understood. Even the behavioral processes that generate or influence this heterogeneous disorder are a matter of controversy. To date, the few studies examining functional brain activation in children with DD mainly focus on number and counting…

The activation of cAMP-responsive element-binding protein (CREB)-dependent gene expression is thought to be critical for the formation of different types of long-term memory. To explore the consequences of chronic enhancement of CREB function on spatial memory in mammals, we examined spatial navigation in bitransgenic mice that express in a…

Background: Children with learning disabilities are identified by their severe learning problems and their deficient school achievement. On the other hand, children with sub-average school achievement "and" sub-average intellectual development are thought to suffer from a general intellectual delay rather than from specific learning disabilities.…

A wiki is able to provide a learning environment which is closely aligned with the social-constructivist approach and is more natural than many tools where open collaboration and the exchange of ideas are important. This case study analyses and evaluates essential aspects for the successful deployment of a wiki in a higher education setting using…

As Scotland moves ahead with both an ambitious school building programme and forward-thinking educational reforms, the author explores the background to "Making Space 2010", an exciting design programme which aims to focus international vision on the importance of space. Run by Children in Scotland, in partnership with the Scottish…

New additional support-needs legislation in Scotland sought to recognise the way in which poverty, as well as individual impairment, contribute to the creation of children's difficulties in learning. As well as identifying a wider range of needs, the legislation sought to provide parents, irrespective of social background, with more powerful means…

This book presents a schoolwide model of instructional support designed to make the most of available time, resources, and personnel--one that is also fully compatible with other problem-solving models, such as response to intervention. The authors provide a comprehensive and cohesive framework for linking assessment and intervention. They show…