Read, Understand, Learn, & Excel: Development and Testing of an Automated Reading Strategy Detection Algorithm for Postsecondary Students.

Purpose An important predictor of postsecondary academic success is an individual's reading comprehension skills. Postsecondary readers apply a wide range of behavioral strategies to process text for learning purposes. Currently, no tools exist to detect a reader's use of strategies. The primary aim of this study was to develop Read, Understand, Learn, & Excel, an automated tool designed to detect reading strategy use and explore its accuracy in detecting strategies when students read digital, expository text. Method An iterative design was used to develop the computer algorithm for detecting 9 reading strategies. Twelve undergraduate students read 2 expository texts that were equated for length and complexity. A human observer documented the strategies employed by each reader, whereas the computer used digital sequences to detect the same strategies. Data were then coded and analyzed to determine agreement between the 2 sources of strategy detection (i.e., the computer and the observer). Results Agreement between the computer- and human-coded strategies was 75% or higher for 6 out of the 9 strategies. Only 3 out of the 9 strategies-previewing content, evaluating amount of remaining text, and periodic review and/or iterative summarizing-had less than 60% agreement. Conclusion Read, Understand, Learn, & Excel provides proof of concept that a reader's approach to engaging with academic text can be objectively and automatically captured. Clinical implications and suggestions to improve the sensitivity of the code are discussed. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.8204786.

Read, Understand, Learn, & Excel (RULE): Development and Feasibility of a Reading Comprehension Measure for Postsecondary Learners.

Purpose: There is a lack of quick, reliable, and valid standardized reading comprehension assessments appropriate for postsecondary readers. We attempted to address this gap by designing Read, Understand, Learn, & Excel (RULE), a reading comprehension measure that employs sentence verification and recall tasks to assess reading comprehension. This article describes the exploratory study undertaken to construct RULE and then examines the preliminary concurrent validity and alternate form reliability of this measure. Method: The RULE measure was first developed by designing reading stimuli, test items for the sentence verification task, and directions for the recall test for 2 forms based on previous work (Griffiths, Sohlberg, Kirk, Fickas, & Biancarosa, 2016). Thirty undergraduate students who identified themselves as typical readers were administered the RULE measure as well as the Nelson-Denny Reading Test (Brown, Fishco, & Hanna, 1993). Students also completed questionnaires and participated in informal interviews to provide information regarding study and learning habits and academic background. Results: There was preliminary evidence of alternate form reliability between the sentence verification task sets of 2 chapters of RULE (r = .38, p < .05). Preliminary evidence for concurrent validity between RULE and the Nelson-Denny Reading Test was provided by correlation coefficients in the low to moderate range (.03-.38). Conclusion: RULE design and preliminary findings of concurrent validity and alternate form reliability provide "proof of concept" for an ecologically valid testing format that assesses comprehension skills appropriate for the postsecondary level. Suggestions for strengthening validity and reliability of the tool are provided, and clinical contributions of RULE are discussed. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.6987371.

A randomised controlled crossover trial evaluating Television Assisted Prompting (TAP) for adults with acquired brain injury.

Assistive technologies for cognition (ATC) provide an effective means to compensate for prospective memory failures among adults with acquired brain injury (ABI; de Joode, van Heugten, Verhey, & van Boxtel, 2010 ; Sohlberg et al., 2007 ). This study evaluated a novel ATC device, the Television Assisted Prompting (TAP) system, which provides audiovisual reminders at scheduled prospective times on a person's home television. A randomised, controlled crossover design evaluated task completion for two preferred, two non-preferred, and two structured experimental tasks among 23 adults with ABI between two conditions: TAP prompting or typical (TYP) practice, without TAP reminders. Main outcomes showed a significant advantage of prospective memory prompting (72% completion) over no prompting (43% completion) and higher task completion with TAP prompting for researcher-assigned experimental tasks (81%) compared to self-selected preferred (68%) or non-preferred (68%) tasks. Results are discussed in the context of ATC efficacy to support prospective memory prompting following ABI, with contributions and future directions for continued investigation of customisation of prompts to maximise task completion.

Public computing options for individuals with cognitive impairments: survey outcomes.

PURPOSE: To examine availability and accessibility of public computing for individuals with cognitive impairment (CI) who reside in the USA. METHOD: A telephone survey was administered as a semi-structured interview to 145 informants representing seven types of public facilities across three geographically distinct regions using a snowball sampling technique. An Internet search of wireless (Wi-Fi) hotspots supplemented the survey. RESULTS: Survey results showed the availability of public computer terminals and Internet hotspots was greatest in the urban sample, followed by the mid-sized and rural cities. Across seven facility types surveyed, libraries had the highest percentage of access barriers, including complex queue procedures, login and password requirements, and limited technical support. University assistive technology centres and facilities with a restricted user policy, such as brain injury centres, had the lowest incidence of access barriers. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest optimal outcomes for people with CI will result from a careful match of technology and the user that takes into account potential barriers and opportunities to computing in an individual's preferred public environments. Trends in public computing, including the emergence of widespread Wi-Fi and limited access to terminals that permit auto-launch applications, should guide development of technology designed for use in public computing environments.