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Descriptors:
Writing (Composition); Synthesis; Reading Comprehension; European History; Reading Processes; Writing Processes; Secondary School Students; Case Studies; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
The case study reported here explores the processes involved in producing a written synthesis of three history texts and their possible relation to the characteristics of the texts produced and the degree of comprehension achieved following the task. The processes carried out by 10 final-year compulsory education students (15 and 16 years old) to produce their syntheses, including the integrations they verbalized while performing the task, were examined in detail with a double-analysis system. The results revealed a tendency for the students who engaged in more elaborative patterns to make more integrations and produce better texts. These students seemed to benefit more from the task in terms of comprehension. Conversely, the students who followed a more reproductive pattern by and large copied ideas from the source texts and achieved low levels of comprehension. (Contains 6 tables and 1 note.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Instructional Leadership; Knowledge Management; Communities of Practice; Sustainability; Theories; Synthesis; Content Analysis; Models; Stakeholders

Abstract:
Knowledge is one of the crucial and dominant economic resources in order to obtain sustainable advantages in any community. The world is now shifting faster thanks to the advanced development of digital connectivity and increasing access to knowledge. Leaders of a community, society, or country must contemplate what factors concerned in the emergent era of valuable network that fosters learning communities. To some extent, learning communities benefit each individual member and the community as a whole as they generate economic prosperity as well as improve students' academic and social achievement. They even enhance interdisciplinary studies in higher education levels. Hence, it is of essence to have a strong learning community which requires all stakeholders to actively participate in sharing common values, beliefs, and knowledge in order to pass on their wisdom from generation to generation and embracing a strong sense of loyalty and belonging among themselves, so as to achieve together both individual needs and shared missions of the community. With the aim of sustaining a learning community, it necessitates synthesizing the creative mechanism of knowledge sharing with the application of authentic educational leadership that encompasses a process of influencing, sharing knowledge of new concepts, practices, ideas, insights, abilities, and values for personal development and of facilitating ongoing learning, communicating certain values and useful information for people's well-being in a community, enhancing academic progress, and inculcating sound awareness of continuous lifelong education. The purposes of this study through content analysis are to raise the awareness of the eminent power of sharing knowledge that requires a strong sense of educational leadership and to emphasize the significance of sustaining learning communities for the academic achievement of learners in particular and for the intellectual well-being of people in a community in general. (Contains 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Accuracy; Misconceptions; Questioning Techniques; Discussion (Teaching Technique); Class Organization; Classroom Communication; Synthesis

Abstract:
In this article, the author offers a discussion technique: the twice-around. A variant on the circular response discussion, the twice-around engages students by beginning with students' questions, ensuring equal time for all participants and inviting discussants to build on previous contributions. In the twice-around, participants sit in a circle, and the discussion proceeds in two rounds, with each person speaking once for each round. In the first round, participants pose a question or raise a problem that perplexes them. For the second round, participants discuss the questions. After a moment of silence for thought, the first person begins the discussion by responding to a question (it may be his or her own) or by responding to a theme across questions. After the first person responds, each subsequent person responds to the participant who precedes him or her, beginning with a brief summary of what was said, and then adding a contribution. Participants can add a new example, a different perspective, a connection to a reading, or a synthesis statement. While some groups prefer to test the accuracy of their summaries, doing so is not necessary, since subsequent respondents frequently identify misconceptions or contradictions. Discussants can always return to the initial set of questions, so long as they integrate the questions with the current thread. In a sense, three items are on the table for people to pick up: (1) the questions; (2) previous comments from discussants; and (3) course materials. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Intervention; Developmental Delays; Interaction; Quasiexperimental Design; Fidelity; Participant Characteristics; Outcomes of Treatment; Program Effectiveness; Generalization; Sustainability; Program Implementation; Literature Reviews; Meta Analysis; Behavior Change; Parenting Skills; Parenting Styles; Synthesis; Sample Size; Research Design; Interaction Process Analysis; At Risk Students; Emotional Response; Social Development; Interpersonal Communication; Journal Articles

Abstract:
The purpose of this article is to synthesize the available studies regarding responsive interaction intervention (RII) for children with or at risk for developmental delays with a focus on six dimensions: (a) the characteristics of participants, (b) the features of RII, (c) the measurement of treatment fidelity, (d) the overall effectiveness of RII as reflected by the percentage of studies reporting significant changes in adult or child outcomes, (e) the measurement of maintenance and generalization of RII effects, and (f) the social validity or level of acceptability. Through a search of articles from 1990 to 2010, the authors identified 26 studies (31 articles) employing group experimental or quasiexperimental designs incorporating these dimensions. Overall, the results of the reviewed studies indicated that implementation of RII resulted in significant positive changes in adults' responsive behaviors and children's emotional and social-communicative outcomes. Although the most frequently reported child outcomes were in the social-communication domain, the most consistently significant positive outcomes for parent and child outcomes were in the emotional domain. The authors identify several gaps in this literature and suggest areas where research is needed. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
English (Second Language); Control Groups; Experimental Groups; Writing Ability; Instructional Effectiveness; Pretests Posttests; Synthesis; Writing Instruction; Teaching Methods

Abstract:
Synthesis writing has become the focus of much greater attention in the past 10 years in L2 EAP contexts. However, research on L2 synthesis writing has been limited, especially with respect to treatment studies that relate writing instruction to the development of synthesis writing abilities. To address this research gap, the present study examines the effect of instruction on ESL students' synthesis writing. Participants were from two intact ESL classes; one class was randomly chosen to be experimental and the other the control. During a one-semester treatment, the experimental group received five iterations of discourse synthesis instruction while the control group worked on a comparable amount of reading and writing practice. Students' discourse synthesis skills were measured by pre- and post-tests, for which they wrote problem-solution essays using two source texts. Results showed that (1) the experimental group performed significantly better at the post-test and (2) the experimental group improved significantly more from pre-test to post-test than the control group. These results suggest a positive effect of instruction on discourse synthesis writing. More importantly, the study demonstrates the feasibility of incorporating synthesis writing instruction into an ESL course without significantly disrupting the curriculum. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Environmental Education; Research Needs; Interdisciplinary Approach; Research Tools; Research Utilization; Public Policy; Sustainable Development; Synthesis; Technology Transfer; Technology Uses in Education; Science and Society; Scientific and Technical Information; Environmental Research; Research Universities; Case Studies

Abstract:
Systemic understanding of potential research activities and available technology seeds at university level is an essential condition to promote interdisciplinary and vision-driven collaboration in an attempt to cope with complex sustainability and environmental problems. Nonetheless, any such practices have been hardly conducted at universities due mainly to a lack of appropriate institutional schemes and methodologies to systemically collect, map out, and synthesize individual research activities within a university. In this paper, we present the recent initiative of such systemic and comprehensive understanding of research activities at university level. We carry out a case study, attempting to summarize all the relevant research activities and technology seeds associated with environmental issues and sustainability currently being studied individually at the laboratory level at Osaka University. We collected 138 potential seeds from the university's relevant schools and institutes and sorted them according to Japan's three sustainability visions. The case study demonstrates the university's potential to provide collective knowledge enabling the societal transition to sustainability if these seeds are systematically overviewed and effectively mobilized to mesh with specific social demands and purposes. We highlight the need for a framework and practice that allows synthesizing research activities and promising technologies even at university level to further facilitate providing collective knowledge and discuss challenges and research needs for promoting synthesis practices and interdisciplinary research that are essential to deal with sustainability problems. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Undergraduate Students; Online Searching; Internet; Information Seeking; Science and Society; Synthesis; Information Sources; Critical Reading; Conflict; Information Literacy; Reading Comprehension; Memory; Expertise; Health Materials; Information Technology; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
Past research has shown that readers often fail to notice conflicts in text. In our present study we investigated whether accessing information from multiple documents instead of a single document might alleviate this problem by motivating readers to integrate information. We further tested whether this effect would be moderated by source expertise. One hundred undergraduates read the same medical information purportedly written by either medical experts or laypeople, which was presented as one document or spread across four documents. Results revealed partial support for our hypotheses. Readers of multiple documents exhibited superior memory for conflicts and provided a more balanced description of conflicting information in essays they wrote. Variation of author expertise moderated the effect of presentation format in the essay task but not on the memory test. The results extend previous research by showing that multiple documents reading also stimulates the integration of "conflicting" information. (Contains 2 tables and 1 footnote.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Information Seeking; Science and Society; Information Sources; Critical Reading; Information Literacy; Reading Comprehension; Reader Text Relationship; Synthesis; Prior Learning; Schemata (Cognition); Reliability; Conflict; Bias; Models; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
When reading multiple texts about controversial scientific issues, learners must construct a coherent mental representation of the issue based on conflicting information that can be more or less belief-consistent. The present experiment investigated the effects of text-belief consistency on the situation model and memory for text. Students read four texts about a scientific controversy. Learners' situation model was biased towards their beliefs when belief-consistent and belief-inconsistent texts were presented block-by-block. When the texts were presented alternatingly, situation models for belief-consistent and belief-inconsistent texts were equally strong. Moreover, the text base was better for belief-inconsistent texts. These results support the idea that prior beliefs influence the processing of conflicting information in multiple texts differently on the level of the situation model and on the propositional text base. A more balanced situation model of scientific controversies can be promoted by presenting belief-consistent and belief-inconsistent texts in an alternating sequence. (Contains 5 tables, 2 figures and 1 footnote.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Cognitive Processes; Information Literacy; Synthesis; Epistemology; Influence of Technology; Technological Advancement; Information Technology; Research Needs; Intellectual Disciplines; Metadata; Decision Making Skills; Reputation; Authors; Value Judgment; Information Sources; Critical Reading; Information Utilization

Abstract:
New media, new knowledge practices, and concepts point to the need for greater understanding of cognitive processes underlying knowledge acquisition and generation in open informational worlds. The authors of the articles in this special issue address cognitive and instructional challenges surrounding multiple document comprehension--a prerequisite of digital literacy and knowledge work in the information age. In this article, we raise issues of conceptual clarity regarding constructs such as "source" and "document", and discuss work in disciplinary literacy and knowledge-building communities to clarify uses of information resources to support knowledge creation. The discussion aims to (a) provide insights into the cognitive and social practices needed for students to manage, understand, apply, and create knowledge and (b) suggest research directions to advance these goals. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Thinking Skills; Critical Thinking; Effect Size; Intellectual Disciplines; Time Factors (Learning); Intervention; Meta Analysis; Synthesis; Statistical Analysis; Predictor Variables; College Students; College Instruction; Instructional Effectiveness; Research Reports

Abstract:
Promoting students' critical thinking skills is an important task of higher education. Colleges and universities have designed various instructional interventions to enhance students' critical thinking skills. Empirical studies have yielded inconsistent results in terms of the effects of such interventions. This meta-analysis presents a synthesis of empirical studies designed to promote measurable changes in students' critical thinking skills using instructional interventions. Findings demonstrated statistically significant but small average effect size and evidence of heterogeneity among studies. Hierarchical linear model was adopted to explore potential predictors of the variance across effect sizes. Results showed that student discipline and treatment length explained part of the variability among treatment effects. Limitations and implications are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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