Managing to make a difference

This is an account of a programme involving the application of action learning to the task of ‘blending personal development with development of an organisation's capability’. It was aimed at dismantling cross boundary barriers and extending cross boundary networks. It became clear that staff needed to reflect on their own effectiveness in current roles and, despite considerable ongoing change, begin to drive their own development in the organisation. The changes also demanded that they extend their knowledge and skills in confronting and solving problems. The programme designed to achieve these aims proved to be highly successful.     

Students’ assessment preferences and approaches to learning: can formative assessment make a difference?

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the relationships between hands‐on experiences with formative assessment, students’ assessment preferences and their approaches to learning. The sample consisted of 108 university first‐year Bachelor’s students studying criminology. Data were obtained using the Revised two‐factor study process questionnaire (R‐SPQ‐2F) and the Assessment preferences inventory (API). The study shows that differences in assessment preferences are correlated with differences in approach to learning. Students’ preferences for assessment methods with higher‐order thinking tasks are significantly lower after actual experience with a formative assessment. Moreover, students also changed their approaches to learning after hands‐on experience with a formative mode of assessment. Surprisingly, this change evinced a more ‘surface approach’ to learning. Nevertheless, this is in line with other recent research findings. The paper ends with some possible explanations, and new directions for research are proposed.     

You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him learn: Smartphone use in higher education

Smartphone technology is penetrating world markets and becoming ubiquitous in most college settings. This study takes a naturalistic approach to explore the use of these devices to support student learning. Students that had never used a smartphone were recruited to participate and reported on their expectations of the value of smartphones to achieve their educational goals. Instrumented iPhones that logged device usage were then distributed to these students to use freely over the course of 1 year. After the study, students again reported on the actual value of their smartphones to support their educational goals. We found that students' reports changed substantially before and after the study; specifically, the utility of the smartphone to help with education was perceived as favorable prior to use, and then, by the end of the study, they viewed their phones as detrimental to their educational goals. Although students used their mobile device for informal learning and access to school resources according to the logged data, they perceived their iPhones as a distraction and a competitor to requisite learning for classroom performance.     

Curriculum sensitive assessment: Content does make a difference

This chapter explores the use of rankings and total test scores in large-scale international comparative studies and some of the issues related to them. It examines their value as a basis for policy decisions and educational research. Country ranks on total test scores have been seen to be relatively robust to changes in test content, even changes directed at greater curriculum relevance. Unfortunately, other analyses suggest this robustness is likely a consequence of high levels of aggregation and broad, shallow domain sampling. Student achievement in mathematics and science is inherently multi dimensional. Highly aggregated scores of broadly sampled domains are inherently misleading and mask fundamental, educationally relevant diversities at more specific levels of the curriculum.     

Gender and learning: Does emotion make a difference?

Research into learning at the tertiary level has paid little attention to emotional factors in learning. In this study, emotions experienced in classrooms are examined through written narratives, using the methodology of Memory-Work. The experiences, reflections and writings of the women taking part indicate the centrality of relationships in the construction of beliefs about themselves as learners, and the persistence of such beliefs through to adulthood and tertiary education. The findings suggest that emotionally-laden beliefs and behaviours, which are inextricably bound up with cognition, profoundly influence learning at tertiary level.Particularly powerful for women are emotions associated with being affirmed and being shamed. Conflicting discourses of caring and competitiveness, compliance and rebellion, and silence and risktaking, have their roots in pride and shame. These emotions are basic organising themes around which well-being is constructed. They are powerful motivators in tertiary learning, and if, as it appears, they are constructed differently for men and women, both emotion and gender are significant factors in learning.     

Decisions that make a difference in detecting differential item functioning

There are numerous statistical procedures for detecting items that function differently across subgroups of examinees that take a test or survey. However, in endeavouring to detect items that may function differentially, selection of the statistical method is only one of many important decisions. In this article, we discuss the important decisions that affect investigations of differential item functioning (DIF) such as choice of method, sample size, effect size criteria, conditioning variable, purification, DIF amplification, DIF cancellation, and research designs for evaluating DIF. Our review highlights the necessity of matching the DIF procedure to the nature of the data analysed, the need to include effect size criteria, the need to consider the direction and balance of items flagged for DIF, and the need to use replication to reduce Type I errors whenever possible. Directions for future research and practice in using DIF to enhance the validity of test scores are provided.     

隐形人:能让自己变得透明吗

("天才物理学家"发明了一种可以使人隐身的技术,下面是他向别人介绍他的发明依据。)我们能够看见一件东西,是由于这件东西能对光线起作用。你知道,物体或者是吸收光线,或者是反射光线、折射光线。如果物体既不吸收光线,也不反射光线或折射光线,那它就根本不能被看到。例     

You can lose what you never had

An often-used idiom states: you can't lose what you never had. Yet contrary to this expression, it is possible to lose what you never had – at least when special education support is concerned. In Ontario, as in other jurisdictions, special education exists as a codified system. An ever-changing nexus of discourses and documents – including normalisation, legislation, regulations, and memoranda – set out how special education is to function in the province. The documents themselves articulate how learners' needs are to be formally identified, as well as how students are to be supported. Within this network a phenomenon of non-identification has arisen whereby some students do not get identified and yet would have qualified for special education support had they gone through the process. Yet what leads to this phenomenon? To what does the phenomenon itself lead? Should Ontario's special education system be readjusted to address the phenomenon of non-identification, or is identification itself an inherently flawed practice? To explore these three questions, this paper will analyse Ontario's identification policy, examining what it allows, what it dictates, as well as the challenges it creates.     

Does training make a difference to quality in family child care?

The purpose of this study was to determine which family child care providers seek training, which providers drop out of training, and the effects of training on the quality of care offered by providers. One-hundred thirty family child care providers in three communities who enrolled in Family-to-Family training participated in the study. A comparison group consisted of 112 regulated providers in those same communities who were not involved in the training program under investigation. Each provider was observed for 3 hrs, was interviewed, and completed questionnaires. Providers in training were observed prior to training and 6 months afterwards. Results revealed that providers who sought training were very similar to typical regulated providers. Providers who dropped out of training were less experienced and used fewer business and safety practices than providers who completed it. Training increased global quality in two out of three sites, but did not affect process quality. Of 95 providers, 18 made observable (as opposed to statistically significant) improvements in quality following training, and 9 decreased in quality. These data are interpreted with respect to family child care training policies and practices.     

An attempt to make a difference: Overlooked disadvantaged gifted Appalachian children

Thirty disadvantaged gifted children in Appalachian regions of East Tennessee attended the Summer Institute for Gifted Children at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, at the Cumberland Gap. Home visits were conducted before and after the camp experience to determine the impact of the camp experience on the lives of these children. Findings indicate that these children benefit from both the social and academic aspects of this enriching program. The author has established a non‐profit foundation to continue the work of this project.     

Does secondary school size make a difference?: A systematic review

There is a vast body of literature on school size but comparatively few high quality empirical studies comparing outcomes in schools of different sizes. This systematic review synthesizes the results of the published research from 31 studies on the effects of secondary school size from OECD countries since 1990. Overall the directions and patterns of effect vary for different outcomes. For pupil attainment measured by exam results, and for attendance, larger schools appear to do better up to some optimal school size but estimates of this point or range are insufficiently precise to be useful. The implications of different school sizes on student behaviours are equivocal, but teachers and pupils at smaller schools are more likely to have a positive perception of their ‘school environment’. Costs per pupil appear to decrease as school size increases. The results of the review suggest that there is little empirical evidence to justify policies that aim to ‘change’ or mandate particular school sizes. However, given the evidence that there do appear to be optimal sizes for some outcomes, stakeholders should be made aware that dramatic changes in a school's size may change the characteristics of a school's learning environment.     

试读生也能造原子弹

我有幸成为了普林斯顿大学的学生。不幸的是,第一个学期结束,我的成绩惨不忍睹,几乎所有的学利都是D或F。教务长决定把我降级为试读生,并宣布,如果第二个学期再有一门功课不及格,我就得卷铺盖走人。第二个学期一开始,我就强迫自己对所选修的学     

Gender differences in science achievement: Do school effects make a difference?

The problem of the underrepresentation of girls in science in Australian schools is often attributed to their poor performance. Yet the role of both the home and the school in affecting female science achievement is rarely examined empirically. The comprehensiveness of the Second International Science Study database provided an excellent opportunity to investigate the presence of gender differences in science achievement. Although previous studies of gender differences in science achievement have relied on methodology that has not adequately accounted for the school effects, this study used the design effect and hierarchical linear modeling (multilevel analysis) to explore whether there were significant gender differences. The relative contribution of schools to student achievement was examined, and school-level differences were found to contribute significantly toward explaining variations in student performance. Although statistically significant sex differences were found in physics achievement for 10-year-old, 14-year-old, and year-12 students, school effects were much more powerful in explaining student differences (9–19%) when compared with gender (3%).     

性格决定外表

如果你表现出诚实和乐于助人等美好品质,那么别人会觉得你的外表也很迷人。一个人的性格会影响别人对他或她外表吸引力的看法。人们认为,表现出不诚实和粗鲁等恶劣品质的人外表也不够吸引人。     

Complementing classroom learning through outdoor adventure education: out-of-school-time experiences that make a difference

Recent research underscores the importance of the skills, beliefs and behaviors that support student achievement in the classroom and beyond. This set of intrapersonal and interpersonal assets (e.g. perseverance, grit, social skills, efficacy beliefs and mind-sets) are often referred to as noncognitive factors, as they are not measured directly by traditional academic assessments. Outdoor adventure education (OAE) is well positioned to deliver these desired outcomes—boosting self-confidence, self-efficacy and social skills while developing leadership and communication competencies. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to better understand the form, function and delivery of an effective OAE program/school partnership targeting factors that support student success. Findings explain how shared OAE experiences among adolescent girls attending the same school contribute to greater social connectedness, self-efficacy in leadership competencies, and a recalibrated sense of self and personal potential.