TIME ALLOCATION AND PATTERNS OF ITEM RESPONSE

A measure of student patterns of item response is usually interpreted as a measure of carelessness or guessing. However, when aggregated to the class level, it was shown that the index identifies classes that have a poor match between test content and instructional coverage. In particular, Sato's (1980) caution index identified classes whose pattern of time allocation across content areas was atypical. In addition, it was found that the mean caution index for a class can best be interpreted knowing the within-class standard deviation of the index.     

MINDFULNESS IN SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY: APPLICATIONS FOR INTERVENTION AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Although the use of mindfulness is increasing in other areas of applied psychology, school psychology has yet to embrace it in practice. This article introduces school psychologists to the burgeoning field of mindfulness psychology and to the possibilities that it offers to their discipline. A background on the Western scientific study and application of mindfulness provides a theoretical foundation to those unfamiliar with the topic. We then discuss the application of mindfulness technologies to various forms of service provision in the professional practice of school psychology. The innovative and novel avenues that mindfulness psychology offers to psychological science     

ATTITUDES TOWARD EDUCATIONAL MEDIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATIONAL GERONTOLOGY

This study was conducted to determine if there is or is not a difference in attitudes toward educational media between older adults and younger adults. Attitudinal information was gathered from the two groups utilizing an instrument entitled “Controversy in Academia” a 39‐item Likert‐type questionnaire. The questions from the instrument were divided into six groups, and six operational hypotheses were generated to effect testing. The results indicated that there were no basic differences between the attitudes toward educational media expressed by older adults and those expressed by younger adults.     

A TECHNICAL COLLEGE'S RESPONSE TO THE NEED FOR INTERNATIONALIZING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

Part of the mission of the American Association of Community Colleges addresses the need for a curriculum emphasis on international and intercultural education (Wismer, 1994, p. 77). Considering that (a) 2‐year colleges exist primarily to prepare students for jobs, (b) many American businesses operate in an international environment, and (c) a growing proportion of companies in the United States are foreign affiliated, the internationalization of our curriculums is necessaryforthe fulfillment of institutional missions of preparing the workforce for businesses. However, to fully internationalize college programs and services, the focus must be on more than courses and curriculums. The everyday life of college students, faculty, and staff must present evidence of cultural diversity. Internationalization, therefore, must be infused at every level of college activity. Such an infusion is occurring at Florence‐Darlington Technical College in Florence, South Carolina. There are four broad categories within which activities are planned or are underway: (a) resource development, (b) awareness development and information dissemination, (c) faculty and staff development, and (d) curriculum development. The importance of the need for this South Carolina college to undertake internationalizing initiatives is underscored by the multicultural business environment that exists in the state. For many years, international investment has created record levels of new employment opportunities for South Carolinians and has contributed significantly to statewide economic and industrial growth. The economic impact of international business in the state is apparent. However, there is also a cultural impact that is less obvious, yet profound. These factors present some definite implications for the need to internationalize technical college programs and services.     

MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD AND BAYESIAN PARAMETER ESTIMATION IN ITEM RESPONSE THEORY

Advantages and disadvantages of joint maximum likelihood, marginal maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods of parameter estimation in item response theory are discussed and compared.     

教育过程中知识的公共性与教育实践-兼批激进建构主义的教育观和课程观

教育过程中的知识具有公共性,并非是纯粹意义上的个人主观建构。现代主流的建构主义教育观与课程观,在本质上强调知识的社会建构。过于淡化教育过程中知识的公共性,将使教育实践陷入混乱无序的境地。     

ITEM ANALYSIS FOR TEACHER-MADE MASTERY TESTS1

Various item selection techniques are compared on resultant criterionreferenced reliability and validity. Techniques compared include three nominal criterion-referenced methods, a traditional point biserial selection, teacher selection, and random selection. Eighteen volunteer junior and senior high school teachers supplied behavioral objectives and item pools ranging from 26 to 40 items. Each teacher obtained reponses from four classes. Pairs of tests of various length were developed by each item selection method. Estimates of test reliability and validity were obtained using responses independent of the test construction sample. Resultant reliability and validity estimates were compared across item selection techniques. Two of the criterion-referenced item selection methods resulted in consistently higher observed validity. However, the small magnitude of improvement over teacher or random selection raises a question as to whether the benefit warrants the necessary extra effort on the part of the classroom teacher.