In educational research, there is the general trade-off that empirical evidence should be generalizable to be applicable across contexts; at the same time, empirical evidence should be as specific as possible to be localizable in subject-specific educational interventions to successfully transfer the empirical evidence to educational practice.…

This paper aims to assess the impact of the reciprocal teaching strategy on the academic performance of student-teachers enrolled in the Higher Professional Diploma (HDE) program at Ajman University, United Arab Emirates. The study adopts a quasi-experimental design, employing pre- and post-tests and a control-experimental group configuration. The…

Abstract: One of the interventions, of which effectiveness in the teaching of social skills has been examined in autism literature in recent years, is teaching with cool versus not cool. In this study, it was aimed to examine the effectiveness of teaching with cool versus not cool in the teaching of social skill ("Coping with inappropriate…

In contrast to the large body of research investigating intervention for poor decoding skills, far fewer studies have evaluated interventions for reading comprehension. There is even less research on children with more specific difficulties with reading comprehension, often referred to as "poor comprehenders". Levels of effectiveness…

A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that instruction with graphically integrated representations of whole and sectional neuroanatomy is especially effective for learning to recognize neural structures in sectional imagery (such as magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]). Neuroanatomy was taught to two groups of participants using computer…

In spite of the fact that public schools were established to prepare students for citizenship, the alignment of teaching practice with this goal is poor. In part, this is because the knowledge base about the efficacy of curricular and pedagogical approaches in supporting specific civic outcomes is limited, as is our knowledge about the extent to…

The first section of this book presents an overview and history of the problem of skill generalization among students with severe handicaps. Researchers review empirically based strategies proposed to remedy the problem, discuss the characteristics and foundations of decision rules which can be used to determine which strategy will work best in a…

This paper presents an overview of the Direct Instruction principles and guidelines that define general-case programing and then reviews recent research findings related to general-case instruction with learners with severe disabilities. (Author/DB)

Three teenagers with autism were taught to respond to a vibrating pager to seek assistance in community settings when physically separated from their parents or teachers. A multiple baseline probe design across participants demonstrated that, upon being paged, participants successfully handed a communication card to a community member indicating…

The study found that transfer of training by mentally handicapped adults receiving Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment program could not be demonstrated in clients' workshop or job placement (far transfer) settings. Transfer was demonstrated on specific tasks designed to measure cognitive abilities developed by the program (near transfer). (DB)

A review of 25 studies found that demonstrations of successful generalization of skills by persons with profound mental handicaps were characterized by: several trained exemplars, trained behaviors likely to be reinforced in natural settings by natural consequences, use of training stimuli common to the generalization setting, and training in…

Observation of four elementary grade learning disabled children about six months after a social skills training program found generalization of new skills by all subjects to new environments. Training included generalization training in the form of systematic attention by teachers and parents in the new environments. (Author/DB)

This article discusses the phenomenon of skill generalization and techniques for bringing it about. Strategies for generalization facilitation across several dimensions are defined and examples given, with an emphasis on developing and validating decision roles. Further discussion is given to means of facilitating generalization in design and use…

Two experiments with 89 fifth-grade and 166 intermediate-grade students with learning problems found that specific strategy training improved fifth graders' level of knowledge and performance on a categorical memory test, and metamemory and metacognitive reading training improved metacognitive knowledge and academic achievement of the learning…

This paper proposes for consideration by intervention researchers two instructional parameters that potentially can promote transfer of learned strategies in students with learning disabilities. The two parameters are mediating student mindfulness during strategy learning and at transfer and engaging in transfer-promoting instruction. (JDD)