An Appraisal of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal

Abstract

Successful prediction of achievement involves, as a minimum, selecting significant variables, measuring them accurately, and finding a way of combining them to account for maximum achievement variance. Extending earlier work, this report is of two studies-one on developing a refined combination of predictors including ability, “likability,” and “motivation”; and the other aimed at validating this multiple regression equation against actual school achievement, Prediction is in terms of whether students would fall in “good” or “poor” categories determined by dichotomizing the rank-ordered list of actual achievement at a grade point average of 3.33. The biserial r between the dichotomized variable of actual achievement and predicted achievement scores is .882, which is highly significant. The importance and shortcomings of the method are discussed.     

“It’s Groundhog Day”: Foucault’s Governmentality and Crisis Discourses in Physical Education

ABSTRACT

Dominant discourses in physical education research center on subject-wide crisis. This is despite repeated calls to address enduring concerns about how physical education is taught. In short, the subject seems caught in Groundhog Day (defined by Oxford Dictionaries (n.d.) as “a situation in which a series of unwelcome or tedious events appear to be recurring in exactly the same way”). This article scrutinizes this position through Foucault’s lens of governmentality, which focuses particularly on power/knowledge relations and their relationship to subjectivity. Through this lens, research functions as a shaper of contemporary understanding and becomes a means for intervention by “experts.” The article is structured as a conversation between authors about dominant discourses in physical education research and issues of governmentality. It argues that research approaches such as action research are framed within other power/knowledge relations and may provide a way to wake up on a new day.     

芝诺悖论、贝克莱悖论和罗素悖论“三胞胎”悬案的解决：概念与逻辑、无穷观、与“无穷”相关的数量形式及其处理理论和技术

基于迄今为止所取得的与“无穷概念、逻辑”相关领域的研究新成果,分析了“概念、逻辑、悖论”之间的密切关系,对比了无穷理论体系中三个组成部分新、旧内容之间的主要区别,即经典无穷观和新无穷观,与“无穷”相关的经典数量体系和新数量体系,与“无穷”相关的数量形式的新、旧处理理论和技术（比如极限论）。进一步分析芝诺悖论、贝克莱悖论和罗素悖论家族千百年来悬而未决且不断繁衍壮大的原因,事实证明了自古以来,人们在对这三个悖论所揭示问题的研究工作中那种“忽视基础理论研究（重形式-轻本体）”的思路一直是错误的。得到明确的结论,现有“概念-逻辑”、无穷理论体系基础的缺陷使人们自古以来一直无法知道芝诺悖论、贝克莱悖论和罗素悖论是“三胞胎”悖论,它们生于、养于、受保护于现有知识理论体系,与该体系共存亡,在现有知识体系中不可能单独解决其中的任何一个悖论;人类2500多年来艰辛却无果的“无穷悖论”史证明了经典无穷理论体系中与“潜无穷-实无穷”相关的各种内容是错误的、必须抛弃;注重“概念-逻辑”的研究,构建、研发以“无穷规律、性质及其载体”为基础的新无穷理论体系及其相关的逻辑体系,是解决这“三胞胎”无穷悖论悬案的唯一出路。     

An exploration of the impact of the Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) programme on wellbeing from the perspective of pupils

ABSTRACT

The Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) programme is an evidence-informed intervention delivered by teaching assistants and supervised by educational psychologists. In this research, semi-structured interviews were conducted to investigate the impact of the ELSA programme on wellbeing from the perspective of pupils. A thematic analysis of the data set identified the following themes: “Feelings and Emotions”, “Engagement”, “Resilience”, “Hopes and Aspirations” and “Relationships”. The findings suggest the ELSA programme has a perceived positive impact on multiple components of pupil wellbeing. These components include positive emotions, negative feelings, engagement, resilience, optimism, accomplishment and relationships, as described by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and Seligman’s “PERMA model”. The positive wellbeing changes experienced by the pupils occurred through strategies, talking, and forming a close relationship with the teaching assistant. Overall, this research provides evidence to suggest a positive impact of the ELSA programme on pupil wellbeing.     

Encouraging Future Helping Behaviors: The Role of Student-Faculty Relationships in Higher Education Marketing

ABSTRACT

Extant literature on relationship marketing tends to focus on for-profit firms and their relationships with important stakeholders. However, higher education institutions face many of the same intense competitive forces that have made relationship marketing a practical choice for many for-profit firms. Therefore, it is not surprising that many are adopting relationship marketing strategies. In the context of higher education marketing, we examine the nature of the student-faculty relationship development process and its affect on helpfulness, which we define as a “state of mind” conducive to future helping behavior. Drawing on relationship marketing theory and identity theory, we posit that trust, relationship commitment, and identity salience are key mediating variables between three antecedent variables (shared values, communication, and opportunistic behavior) and helpfulness. Our results provide support for the roles hypothesized for trust, relationship commitment, and identity salience.     

Commentary: Taking a Social Justice Perspective on Research Supporting LGBTQ Students: Same Team,Different Positions

ABSTRACT

This article is a commentary on a theme issue of Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation entitled “Consultation to Increase Educational Access and Improve Conditions for LGBTQ Youth.” Writing from the perspective of researchers who have focused on social justice, the authors both provide a critique of the theme issue articles and describe potential areas of overlap between social justice research broadly and research specifically focused on supporting LBGTQ youth. Suggested next steps for research are offered.     

从孔子的仁学看当前社会主义和谐社会的建设

“仁”字从“人”从“二”,从字形结构来看,讲的是人与人之间的关系。而所谓人与人之间的关系,主要有两种———家庭关系和社会关系,在处理这两种关系时,人与人之间难免会存在利益冲突,这就需要有一种原则来协调这种关系,而孔子的“仁”学思想恰恰就是这样一种调节和处理人与人之间关系的根本原则。从这一根本原则出发,我们不难找到处理各种现实关系的关键所在：在处理家庭关系时,要从孝悌之义中汲取有利因素;在处理社会关系时,要从忠恕爱人的原则中汲取精华;在处理人与自然的关系时,要遵循天人合一的思想原则。只有妥善处理好各方面的关系,才能有利于当前社会主义和谐社会的建设与发展。     

A study of teaching presence and student sense of learning community in fully online and web-enhanced college courses

This paper focuses on two components of a model for online teaching and learning—“teaching presence” and “community”. It is suggested that previous research points to the critical role that community plays in academic success and persistence in higher education. Through a review of recent literature it is proposed that teaching presence–viewed as the core roles of the online instructor–is a promising mechanism for developing learning community in online environments. This investigation presents a multi-institutional study of 1067 students across 32 different colleges that further substantiates this claim. An instrument to assess instructor teaching presence (“The Teaching Presence Scale”) is presented and validated. Factor and regression analysis indicate a significant link between students' sense of learning community and effective instructional design and “directed facilitation” on the part of course instructors, and highlights interesting differences between online and classroom environments. Alternative hypotheses regarding student demographics associated with variables such as age (the “net generation” effect) and gender are also examined. Despite recent assertions that younger students are or soon will be too sophisticated to “feel at home” in largely text-based asynchronous learning environments, no significant effects were found by demographic differences examined. Recommendations for online course design, pedagogy, and future research are included.     

Updating Latent Class Imputations with External Auxiliary Variables

Latent class models are often used to assign values to categorical variables that cannot be measured directly. This “imputed” latent variable is then used in further analyses with auxiliary variables. The relationship between the imputed latent variable and auxiliary variables can only be correctly estimated if these auxiliary variables are included in the latent class model. Otherwise, point estimates will be biased. We develop a method that correctly estimates the relationship between an imputed latent variable and external auxiliary variables, by updating the latent variable imputations to be conditional on the external auxiliary variables using a combination of multiple imputation of latent classes and the so-called three-step approach. In contrast with existing “one-step” and “three-step” approaches, our method allows the resulting imputations to be analyzed using the familiar methods favored by substantive researchers.     

The Relationship of Cognitive Style and Instructional Style to the Learning Performance of Undergraduate Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative effect of two different instructional styles, “discovery” and “expository,” on the change in learning performance of subjects of contrasting cognitive styles, field dependent and field independent. Based on the administration of the Group Embedded Figures Test, sixty-four subjects (thirty-two field dependent and thirty-two field independent) were randomly assigned to one of nine experimental groups (three expository experimental groups, three discovery experimental groups, and three no-treatment groups). The Behavior Modification Achievement Test, an original research instrument, was administered to all subjects on a pretest-posttest basis to measure change in learning performance. ANOVA revealed no significant interaction tied to the manipulation of the independent variable.     

Pragmatic Concepts and Tools for Data Interpretation

ABSTRACT

This paper takes as its premise that some of the schism between practice and researchin social work derives from the failure of statistics and research courses to provide straightforward guidelines and tools for data interpretation. Particular attention is directed to the paucity of tools presented for assessing strength of association. The failure to provide appropriate tools invites misinterpretation and misunderstanding; specifically,students are “invited” to attach invalid meanings to statistical significance. The paper presents a five-actor model for data interpretation. The factors in the model are: statistical significance, strength of association, causality, generalizability, and importance.The model makes explicit the importance of both statistical and nonstatistical reasoning for balanced interpretation and recognizes the importance of context. When all five factors are considered and given reasonably equal importance, data interpretation can be balanced, comprehensive, and meaningful.     

Cartographies of scholarship: Stephen Heimans talks to Parlo Singh about teaching,research, and the intellectual terrain of feminist scholarship with/after Bernstein

ABSTRACT

Parlo Singh is a leading contemporary sociologist of education and world-renowned “Bernstein” scholar. In this interview with Stephen Heimans, Parlo discusses important aspects of her teaching and research journey. She highlights the interconnections between these and discusses her relationship with Basil Bernstein’s oeuvre and the work she has undertaken both that builds on and is separate from it.     

Estimating Causal Effects of Education Interventions Using a Two-Rating Regression Discontinuity Design: Lessons From a Simulation Study and an Application

A valuable extension of the single-rating regression discontinuity design (RDD) is a multiple-rating RDD (MRRDD). To date, four main methods have been used to estimate average treatment effects at the multiple treatment frontiers of an MRRDD: the “surface” method, the “frontier” method, the “binding-score” method, and the “fuzzy instrumental variables” method. This article uses a series of simulations to evaluate the relative performance of each of these four methods under a variety of different data-generating models. Focusing on a two-rating RDD (2RRDD), we compare the methods in terms of their bias, precision, and mean squared error when implemented as they most likely would be in practice—using optimal bandwidth selection. We also apply the lessons learned from the simulations to a real-world example that uses data from a study of an English learner reclassification policy. Overall, this article makes valuable contributions to the literature on MRRDDs in that it makes concrete recommendations for choosing among MRRDD estimation methods, for implementing any chosen method using local linear regression, and for providing accurate statistical inferences.     

Poverty and Algebra Performance: A Comparative Spatial Analysis of a Border South State

This research uses two measures of poverty, as well as mobility and selected education variables to study how their relationships vary across 543 Missouri high school districts. Using Missouri and U.S. Census American Community Survey (ACS) data, local R²'s from geographically weighted regressions are spatially mapped to demonstrate differences in relationships between poverty, mobility, and educational variables across districts. Results show the importance of allowing relationships to “vary” between districts and that using a global measure fails to capture important local contextual variation. Missouri and ACS poverty measures are related to each other and to selected education variables, but the strength of relationship varies significantly by regions across the state. The implications for future research and policy are discussed.     

Empirical Study of the Role of Government Support and Success Factors in Industry-University-Institute Cooperation

Abstract

Empirical research methods were used to study the state of industry-university-institute collaboration in China and the factors influencing the results of cooperation between members of technological innovation alliances, from the dual perspectives of enterprises and universities/research institutes On the basis of questionnaire surveys of 100 universities/research institutes and 100 enterprises across the country, through factor analysis, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and other methods, we conducted a thorough study of the impact of success factors and government support on the results of cooperation; we found that the format of an alliance has a significant promotional effect on the results of industry-university-institute cooperation, but universities/research institutes have not given this sufficient attention. Among the success factors for industry-university-institute cooperation, enterprises give equal weight to the factors of “ability” and “mechanisms,” while universities/research institutes emphasize “ability.” The government must strengthen policy support for enterprises and guiding support for universities/research institutes.     

用先进的当代思想去研究古典文学

学术研究在求“真”求“善”,文学则在此基础上求“关”。研究古典文学,主要在提高人的精神生活素质,使之更崇高、纯洁、美好,所以,不能对古典文学只作纯文学的研究。古典文学的“用”不是实用主义的“用”,研究者必须具备“独立之人格,自由之精神”,用我们当代先进思想去研究。     

“Alignment-Plus”: alignment with schooling requirements and cultural-bridging among indigenous middle-class parents

Abstract

Education research demonstrates that positive and trusting family/school relationships support academic achievement but for many Indigenous parents in Canada legacies of residential schooling have made it difficult to develop strong bonds with schools and teachers. Drawing on interviews with 69 Indigenous parents and eight non-Indigenous parents of children who identify as Indigenous from two Canadian provinces, this study explores the intersection between family/school relationships and social class, and highlights distinct ways that middle-class Indigenous parents are involved in schooling. Shifting from a “deficit” approach to a “strength based” approach highlights existing resources and capacities among those who are comfortable and familiar with navigating the education system while also creating prospects to build on that capacity to empower others who are less familiar/comfortable.     

Reporting explained variance

The importance of reporting explained variance (sometimes referred to as magnitude of effects) in ANOVA designs is discussed in this paper. Explained variance is an estimate of the strength of the relationship between treatment (or other factors such as sex, grade level, etc.) and dependent variables of interest to the researcher(s). Three methods that can be used to obtain estimates of explained variance in ANOVA designs are described and applied to 16 studies that were reported in recent volumes of this journal. The results show that, while in most studies the treatment accounts for a relatively small proportion of the variance in dependent variable scores., in., some studies the magnitude of the treatment effect is respectable. The authors recommend that researchers in science education report explained variance in addition to the commonly reported tests of significance, since the latter are inadequate as the sole basis for making decisions about the practical importance of factors of interest to science education researchers.     

Evaluation of School Administrators’ Brand and Crisis Management Skills on Disability Services

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study is to enable teachers to evaluate the crisis management skills of the administrators in terms of school development. The study has been carried out on a sample group consisting of 376 teachers (sample) working in 10 secondary schools and high schools. The study is a survey research based on the use of a quantitative method. In this survey, the scale of “the evaluation of the crisis management skills of the school administrators by teachers in terms of school development (OGAÖTDÖ)” developed by Tokel has been used. In addition, it has been analysed with the independent ANOVA test to determine whether or not it differs according to the factor of professional branches. When the research findings are examined, it has been determined that teachers answer positively to the question directed about crisis management skills of school administrators (X ? = 3.52) on disability services. As a result, it has been concluded that school administrators have adequate crisis management skills and they need a reputation for the quality.     

Rethinking the Relationship Between Reading and Behavior in Early Elementary School

ABSTRACT

Considerable research has investigated the link between academic achievement and social behavior. The authors set the context for their work by reviewing some of the research that has been done. To address similarities and limitations in previous research, they included concurrent ratings of behavior from teachers and children's performance on multiple measures of reading in their analyses. The authors provide an empirical analysis of the relationship between behavior and achievement using structural equation modeling that illustrated comparable outcomes to previous research and discuss their findings as a base for directing attention to the importance of teaching behavior as well as academic skills in efforts to prevent learning problems and failure in school.