Selection Interviews of Students for Master's Programs in Counseling: An Exploratory Study

Nine faculty from 4 counselor education departments were interviewed regarding the evaluation criteria and decision‐making processes used during selection interviews. Ten characteristics were identified that participants looked for during interviews. There was a high degree of agreement among participants on the evaluation criteria they used. However, the same homogeneity was not found in decision‐making processes. Counselor educators seemed to use selection interviews to screen out applicants who were unsuitable rather than to select the most qualified applicants. Evaluation criteria and procedures should be refined to increase the benefits of using interviews in the selection process.     

Investigation of High School Students’ Online Science Information Searching Performance: The Role of Implicit and Explicit Strategies

Due to a growing trend of exploring scientific knowledge on the Web, a number of studies have been conducted to highlight examination of students’ online searching strategies. The investigation of online searching generally employs methods including a survey, interview, screen-capturing, or transactional logs. The present study firstly intended to utilize a survey, the Online Information Searching Strategies Inventory (OISSI), to examine users’ searching strategies in terms of control, orientation, trial and error, problem solving, purposeful thinking, selecting main ideas, and evaluation, which is defined as implicit strategies. Second, this study conducted screen-capturing to investigate the students’ searching behaviors regarding the number of keywords, the quantity and depth of Web page exploration, and time attributes, which is defined as explicit strategies. Ultimately, this study explored the role that these two types of strategies played in predicting the students’ online science information searching outcomes. A total of 103 Grade 10 students were recruited from a high school in northern Taiwan. Through Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses, the results showed that the students’ explicit strategies, particularly the time attributes proposed in the present study, were more successful than their implicit strategies in predicting their outcomes of searching science information. The participants who spent more time on detailed reading (explicit strategies) and had better skills of evaluating Web information (implicit strategies) tended to have superior searching performance.     

Do specific relevance instructions promote transfer appropriate processing?

This study examined whether specific relevance instructions affect transfer appropriate processing. Undergraduates (n = 52) were randomly assigned to one of three pre-reading question conditions that asked them what-questions, why-questions, or to read for understanding (i.e., control condition). There were no differences in reading time across conditions for sentences targeted by the pre-reading questions. There were three main findings with respect to cued recall. First, participants in the experimental conditions did better on questions that had greater similarity to relevance instructions than questions that had lesser similarity to relevance instructions. Second, participants in the experimental conditions did better on questions that had greater similarity to relevance instructions than the participants in the other conditions on those same questions. Third, participants in the control condition recalled equal amounts of information for both question. The results suggest that specific relevance instructions promote transfer appropriate processing and affect the quality of memory for text.     

Elementary Students' Laboratory Record Keeping During Scientific Inquiry

The present study examines the mutual interaction between students' writing and scientific reasoning among sixth‐grade students (age 11–12 years) engaged in scientific inquiry. The experimental task was designed to promote spontaneous record keeping compared to previous task designs by increasing the saliency of task requirements, with the design goal of making the relationship between record keeping and inquiry strategies more explicit and visible. Compared to previous studies, this new task design resulted both in a higher amount of record keeping overall and in a higher quality of information, which is interpreted to be a result of increased participants’ metatask and metastrategic knowledge arising from greater engagement with the task. The study found a significant relationship between the quality of students' record keeping and the inquiry strategies that were investigated. However, this relationship varied depending on the type of inquiry strategy. Strategies that are employed during the design of experiments (i.e., factorial combination strategy and control‐of‐variables strategy [CVS]) were statistically related to the number of complete comments (plans and intents), but not with the total number of comments. In contrast, the study found that for strategies employed while evaluating evidence (i.e., drawing inferences), student production of quality records is a necessary but not sufficient condition for effective evidence evaluation; in addition to recording high‐quality information, students must also review their records (both from design and evaluation phases).     

Analogical encoding with and without instructions for case comparison of scientific phenomena

The study aimed to extend current research on conditions that better support analogical encoding through mutual alignment. We focused on two variables that have not been examined independently in previous studies: the joint presentations of two cases of a scientific phenomenon and the explicit instructions for comparison. One hundred and sixty-five 5th graders and one hundred and sixty-eight 7th graders were presented with two pairs of scenarios, one about heat flow and the other about the state change of matter. Participants were randomly assigned to three conditions: sequential presentation of scenarios, joint presentation of scenarios and joint presentation of scenarios with explicit instructions to compare analogically. Results show that for both pairs of scenarios, analogical encoding was promoted more in the condition of joint presentation of scenarios with instructions for comparison. In addition, 7th graders benefited more from this condition than 5th graders.     

Textual and graphical refutations: Effects on conceptual change learning

Refutation text is potentially more effective than standard text for conceptual change. Learning from text and graphic is also potentially superior to learning from text alone. In two studies, we investigated the effectiveness of both a refutation text and a refutation graphic for promoting high school students’ conceptual change learning about season change, as well as their metacognitive awareness of conceptual conflict and knowledge revision. In both studies, participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (1) standard text with standard graphic, (2) standard text with refutation graphic, (3) refutation text with standard graphic, or (4) refutation text with refutation graphic. Both studies had a pretest, immediate post-test, and delayed post-test design and involved students with an initial common misconception about the causes of season change. In Study 2, explicit relevance instructions to observe the important illustration were given to the participants. In both studies, refutation text with refutation graphic was not more beneficial than other instructional materials, either at immediate or delayed post-test. In Study 1, more stable conceptual change learning emerged in readers of the refutation text with standard graphic compared to readers in the control condition. In Study 2, readers of the standard text with refutation graphic performed as well as readers of the refutation text with standard graphic. In addition, more readers of the refutation text with either graphic showed metacognitive awareness of their knowledge change compared to readers in the control condition. Educational implications underline the importance of relevance instructions for guiding readers toward the graphic and of the design of text-graphic pairing to sustain knowledge revision.     

Use of a World Wide Web Site Evaluation Tool in Chemistry

Material on the World Wide Web may be freely accessed by instructors and students, regardless of its source. Evaluation of such material can be facilitated by use of one of a number of web site evaluation tools. These assess a web site in terms of content and design by adapting established principles in each of these areas. The feasibility of using one such tool, originally developed for the evaluation of medical information sites, in chemistry has been explored. The tool was applied to 37 sites that cover the periodic table. Most of the criteria seemed to be as applicable to chemical sites as to those for which it was designed, and gave useful information on the quality aspects of each site. On the other hand, some of the criteria included for medical sites were inappropriate or too vague in the context of chemical sites, and additional criteria not present in the original tool would have been useful for this application. These observations have been used to construct a modified tool which should be more applicable for World Wide Web sites with chemical content.     

Factors Causing Failure in Teaching

Abstract

This study was undertaken to examine two fundamental questions related to the use of graphic organizer instruction with fifth-grade, normal-achieving students: (a) Does graphic organizer instruction facilitate comprehension, recall, and transfer of information contained in an expository textbook? and (b) To what degree is explicit instruction necessary for independent generation and use of graphic organizers by students? In four experimental conditions, participants read social studies information with or without the graphic organizer. The conditions were further separated by the presence or absence of explicit instruction. Participants in the control condition received traditional basal instruction, as prescribed by the teacher's manual of the district-adopted textbook. Participants in all groups performed comparably on acquisition and retention measures. However, when required to read and recall novel social studies content, participants receiving the graphic organizer and explicit instruction performed better on the measure of transfer than students who received traditional basal instruction did.     

Self-regulation in text processing

In this paper an experiment is reported on the influence of two variations of instructions on learning performance and thinking-aloud protocols of 64 pupils from secondary schools. Furthermore, differences between successful and less successful pupils in self-regulatory processes during text processing are described. The texts consisted of instructions on how to use a computer keyboard and a text-editor. Learning performance referred to both knowledge and application. The variation in instructions did not influence the learning performance and the thinking-aloud protocols (either quantitatively or qualitatively), but the variable Marks/No Marks did. The main differences between successful and less successful pupils occurred in orientation processes, especially with regard to Reflection on Foreknowledge and Gaps in Foreknowledge. Differences also turned up for processes such as Process Selection and Making Summaries. The results are discussed in light of the results from a prior study with an informative text.     

The Effects of Relevance Instructions and Verbal Ability on Text Processing

The authors examined whether relevance instructions compensate for differences in verbal ability on measures of reading time, text recall, and sentence recognition. College students (n = 81) with higher and lower verbal ability were assigned randomly to 1 of 2 relevance-instruction conditions before reading a text. They asked participants in each condition to focus on different categories of information within the same text. Relevant information took longer to read and was recalled and recognized better than nonrelevant information. Readers with higher verbal ability read faster and recalled and recognized more information correctly than did those readers with lower verbal ability. Results support the noncompensatory hypothesis, which states that relevance instructions and verbal ability make independent contributions to resource allocation and learning. Readers with lower verbal ability may need additional support even when given prereading relevance instructions.     

Searching the Web to learn about a controversial topic: are students epistemically active?

Students are making an increased use of the Web as a source for solving information problems for academic assignments. To extend current research about search behavior during navigation on the Web, this study examined whether students are able to spontaneously reflect, from an epistemic perspective, on the information accessed, and whether their epistemic metacognition is related to individual characteristics, such as prior knowledge of the topic and the need for cognition. In addition, we investigated whether Internet-based learning is influenced by the activation of spontaneous epistemic metacognition in the search context. Forty-six psychology and engineering university students were asked to research information about a controversial subject in order to write an essay. They were also asked to think aloud during their research. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed. As revealed by their spontaneous reflections, all participants were epistemically active, although to different extents and levels. As expected, there was evidence that students activated beliefs about the four epistemic dimensions identified in the literature, especially about the credibility of an electronic source and the criteria for justification of knowledge. Prior knowledge was not related to activation of epistemic beliefs in the search context, while the need for cognition significantly associated with aspects of source and its content evaluation. Two patterns of epistemic metacognition were identified and they significantly influenced Internet-based learning. Students who spontaneously generated more sophisticated reflections about the sources as well as the information provided, outperformed students who were active only at the first epistemic level. Educational implications are drawn.     

The negative impact of goal-oriented instructions

The phrasing of task instructions can facilitate or hinder the learning process. In this study, three groups of participants (N = 526) performed a foreign vocabulary memorization task, with modified instructions for each group. The instructions were either learning oriented, encouraging participants to improve their abilities; outcome oriented, prompting participants to achieve a positive evaluation of their performance; or neutral, with no goal orientation, for the control group. Participants’ performance in the task was measured along with several factors pertinent to the learning process. Results showed that learning-oriented instructions led to lower performance levels, while outcome-oriented instructions reduced participants’ language risk-taking, both of which negatively impact learning. The control group had the best overall results, indicating that it is better to refrain from using goal-oriented instructions in learning tasks.     

The Unfulfilled Potential of Institutional Review

Institutional review rarely produces benefits commensurate with the effort expended. Major causes of this disappointing result are neglecting the political dimension of evaluation and separating the review process from ongoing decision making. Reviews often engender suspicions of bias and covert motives. These must be allayed by a clear commitment to respect the rights of participants, to recognise the legitimacy of their divergent viewpoints, and to negotiate about the purposes and control of the evaluation. The separation of the complementary processes of evaluation and planning arises from the common practice of forming a special committee to undertake an institutional or departmental review. Furthermore, review reports generally contain fragmented arrays of assessments for individual components of institutional/departmental performance. The information obtained is usually not structured to relate directly to current problems and decision choices. Evaluation and planning can be integrated by expanding the responsibilities of policy and management committees to include the continuing review of institutional/departmental peformance. The notions of effectiveness and efficiency, re‐cast in a form which accommodates the ambiguity and conflict in higher education, can provide a useful structure for organising review information.     

Learning by teaching in immersive virtual reality – Absorption tendency increases learning outcomes

We investigated the learning outcome of teaching an agent via immersive virtual reality (IVR) in two experiments. In Experiment 1, we compared IVR to a less immersive desktop setting and a control condition (writing a summary). Learning outcomes of participants who had explained the topic to an agent via IVR were better. However, this was only the case for participants who scored high on absorption tendency. In Experiment 2, we investigated whether including social cues in the task instructions enhances learning in participants explaining a topic to an agent. Instruction manipulation affected learning as a function of absorption tendency: Low-absorption participants benefitted most from being instructed to imagine they were helping a student peer pass an upcoming test, while high-absorption participants benefitted more when they were to explain the text to a virtual agent. The findings highlight the crucial role of personality traits in learning by teaching in IVR.     

Development of an Evaluation Model for an Introductory Module on Social Medicine

Evaluation of educational programmes is an essential component of the teaching-learning process. Therefore, efficient and effective ways of evaluating programmes or their components need to be identified. In this paper a focus group approach to evaluation is compared with a written format in relation to the time, quality and nature of feedback obtained from participants. The focus group required significantly less student and faculty time than the written evaluation approach. The focus group also yielded specific and therefore useful information in terms of module development compared with the written evaluations even though the overall impression of the students' experiences of the module as reflected in the written evaluations were more positive.     

基于改进TOPSIS法的教师评价分析

在对现有的教师评价方法进行分析的基础上,结合模糊数学、信息熵、多目标决策相关理论提出一种基于改进的TOPSIS法的教师综合评价方法。文章用模糊数学的方法量化了具有模糊性的属性值,运用信息熵权法确定属性权重,较好地解决了权重分配受主观偏好影响的这一问题,最后结合多目标决策中的TOPSIS法对教师综合评价这一问题进行了求解。通过实例分析,证明该方法是切实可行的,能较好地体现评价的客观性、公正性和实效性。     

基于语言评价信息的毕业设计质量评价

该文针对经济类本科毕业设计评价时不容易定量的实际情况,提出了一种基于语言评价信息的质量评价方法。依据《青岛大学毕业设计质量评价指标体系》标准,对2009届金融学专业本科毕业设计进行了实例抽样评价分析。     

论显性教学与隐性教学对习语学习的影响

本文以隐喻习语为研究对象探讨以不同语言输入方武为主要特征的显性法与隐性法对习语学习的影响。调查结果显示,两种方法均能促进目标知识学习,但接受显性法教学的受试在教学实验即时后测和四周后的延迟后测中平均成绩显著高于隐性法,其四周内成绩递减率相对较低。这说明课堂语言教学有积极作用,其中显性法由于更好地引起受试者对目标知识特征等的注意具有更好的教学即时效应和延迟效应,但教学作用有限,受试者无法仅靠语言教学获得全部语言知识。     

Metacognitive activities in text-studying and problem-solving: Development of a taxonomy

This article describes the construction of a hierarchical taxonomy of metacognitive activities for the interpretation of thinking-aloud protocols of students in secondary education, who studied texts on history and physics. After testing an initial elaborate taxonomy on a restricted number of protocols by multiple raters, it appeared that the interrater correspondence was well below par. The categories in the taxonomy were too highly specified. Categories were combined and tested on new protocols in a cyclic fashion. The revised taxonomy was then used for coding 16 history protocols and 16 physics protocols. Frequencies of occurrence of metacognitive activities were obtained, as well as judgements of the quality of the metacognitive activities of the participants. There is a reasonable correlation between the frequency method and the quality method for coding thinking-aloud protocols. Also, there is a substantial covariation of the number of metacognitive activities across both tasks.     

美国基于专业标准的校长评估及其对我国的启示——以沃恩郡学区为例

校长专业标准是校长专业发展必需的知识、能力等结构的重要标志和尺度,为相关的评价制度提供重要依据。美国沃恩郡基于专业标准的校长评估制度的开发、理念、评估程序和评估标准较好的体现了制定校长专业标准的理念,评估标准具有全面性和明确性,评估过程体现了评估对象在不同发展阶段的动态性和实用性,是基于专业标准的校长评估的典范,体现了基于专业标准的校长评估的发展方向。