One size fits all? The limitations of standardised assessment in critical thinking

In today’s market-driven educational culture, universities are coming under increasing pressure to justify funding through the disclosure of measurable outcomes in education and research. One educational objective that receives particular attention is critical thinking, regarded as an essential skill in both academic and work environments. The assessment of critical thinking has become a significant enterprise, with a number of standardised tests available for both individuals and organisations. While these tests are based on well-known taxonomies of critical thinking, this paper argues that institutions should be wary of using them as a means to measure educational outcomes. First, they fail to take into account fundamentally contested issues within conceptions of critical thinking. They also have significant weaknesses in terms of validity and reliability. Finally, and most importantly, they provide only a limited assessment of critical thinking, failing to evaluate the skills exercised in real-life academic tasks. A more effective approach to critical thinking testing would be one implemented at a faculty level, with assessments carried out on coursework integral to the curricula of specific academic disciplines.     

论和而不同跨文化翻译策略的哲学认知

从东西方不同的文化相异所致人们思维差异之维入手,本文就东西方人们的思维模式语言符号物质化异性表现进行了的分析和探讨:认为思维模式的差异是跨文化交际中的障碍产生的主要原因,而思维模式的相异导致了语言符号逻辑组合的异性和审美意趣的异性。但认知共识奠定了跨文化跨语际人类交际活动的基础,故“和而不同”的翻译原则是跨越由文化不同而产生的思维模式的差异和跨文化跨语际成功交际中思维认知转换的“一般原则”,它有助于译者在具体的译文活动能从“形而下”的思维过程升华至“形而上”的思维转换过程,再从“形而上”的一般认知回到“形而下”的微观操作。     

Where there are no rules or systems to guide us: argument from example in a hermeneutic rhetoric

Many rhetoricians treat argument from example as a kind of induction, an illustration of a general principle. Although this is one function of example, consistent with Aristotle's statements about the paradeigma and The New Rhetoric's “argumentation by example,” it camouflages the practice of exemplary proof that has contributed to our richest sense of rhetorical understanding. Inductive example allies itself with the principles of theoretical science and contradicts Aristotle's insight that rhetoric functions where rules or systems are wanting. A properly rhetorical understanding of the exemplum does not work through a universal, implicit or otherwise, but follows a sideways movement from particular to particular. This essay traces the alliance of the paradeigma with inductive science to an unstable fault-line in our Aristotelian heritage, then retraces the path of the prudential tradition by following the long and distinguished career of the rhetorical example in the West in order to reclaim this heritage and to challenge the pre-eminence of inductive subsumption.     

Quantum Yang-Baxter equation and constant R -matrix over Grassmann algebra

Constant solutions to Yang-Baxter equation are investigated over Grassmann algebra for the case of 6-vertexR-matrix. The general classification of all possible solutions over Grassmann algebra and particular cases with 2,3,4 generators are studied. As distinct from the standard case, whenR-matrix over number field can have a maximum 5 nonvanishing elements, we obtain over Grassmann algebra a set of new full 6-vertex solutions. The solutions leading to regularR-matrices which appear in weak Hopf algebras are considered.     

Models in Physics, Models for Physics Learning, and Why the Distinction may Matter in the Case of Electric Circuits

Models are important both in the development of physics itself and in teaching physics. Historically, the consensus models of physics have come to embody particular ontological assumptions and epistemological commitments. Educators have generally assumed that the consensus models of physics, which have stood the test of time, will also work well as teaching models, and for many topics this assumption is at least unproblematic and in many cases productive. However, in the case of electric circuits the consensus models are highly abstract and consequently inaccessible to beginning learners. Certain historically derived analogues for the consensus models are accepted in texts, but these are demonstrably ineffective for helping learners grasp the fundamental concepts of electric circuits. While awareness of other models circulates informally in the teaching community, these are not well documented in the science education literature and rarely referred to in authoritative texts, possibly because the models do not share the ontological assumptions and epistemological commitments that characterise consensus models. Consequently these models have not been subjected to a disciplined critique of their effectiveness for teaching purposes. In this paper I use criteria drawn from the science education literature to reflect on why I have found particular models valuable in teaching electric circuits. These criteria contrast with the epistemological and ontological features that characterise the consensus models of science, and my reflection leads me to attend explicitly to the ways in which meanings are created within physics. This suggests that all models, whether consensus models or not, can be used more knowingly for important educational ends.

Commentary: Evaluating the Validity of Formative and Interim Assessment

In many school districts, the pressure to raise test scores has created overnight celebrity status for formative assessment. Its powers to raise student achievement have been touted, however, without attending to the research on which these claims were based. Sociocultural learning theory provides theoretical grounding for understanding how formative assessment works to increase student learning. The articles in this special issue bring us back to underlying first principles by offering separate validity frameworks for evaluating formative assessment (Nichols, Meyers, & Burling) and newly-invented interim assessments (Perie, Marion, & Gong). The article by Heritage, Kim, Vendlinski, and Herman then offers the most important insight of all; that is, formative assessment is of little use if teachers don't know what to do when students are unable to grasp an important concept. While it is true that validity investigations are needed, I argue that the validity research that will tell us the most—about how formative assessment can be used to improve student learning—must be embedded in rich curriculum and must at the same time attempt to foster instructional practices consistent with learning research.     

A Framework for Evaluating and Planning Assessments Intended to Improve Student Achievement

Assessments labeled as formative have been offered as a means to improve student achievement. But labels can be a powerful way to miscommunicate. For an assessment use to be appropriately labeled formative, both empirical evidence and reasoned arguments must be offered to support the claim that improvements in student achievement can be linked to the use of assessment information. Our goal in this article is to support the construction of such an argument by offering a framework within which to consider evidence-based claims that assessment information can be used to improve student achievement. We describe this framework and then illustrate its use with an example of one-on-one tutoring. Finally, we explore the framework's implications for understanding when the use of assessment information is likely to improve student achievement and for advising test developers on how to develop assessments that are intended to offer information that can be used to improve student achievement.     

Tracing the development of preservice teachers’ efficacy beliefs in teaching mathematics during fieldwork

This paper focuses on efficacy beliefs with respect to teaching mathematics; it aims at testing and validating an existing scale for measuring efficacy beliefs in the domain of mathematics, examining the development of preservice teachers’ efficacy beliefs in mathematics during fieldwork, and identifying factors that contribute to the development of these beliefs. Exploratory factor analysis applied to longitudinal data collected through a questionnaire administered to almost 90 preservice teachers elicited a two-factor model, reflecting efficacy beliefs in mathematics instruction and classroom management. Using cluster analysis, we found four patterns in the development of preservice teachers’ efficacy beliefs regarding these two factors. Our analysis of semi-structured interviews with eight participants representing these four patterns suggested that preservice teachers’ efficacy beliefs were mainly informed by experimentation with teaching and interaction with mentors, tutors, peers, and pupils. Based on our findings, we draw implications for mathematics preservice teacher education and provide suggestions for future research.

图示理论指导下的 跨文化思辨能力的培养策略探究 ——以《中西方生活习俗比较》课程建设为例

为大力开拓学生的国际化视野,提高学生的跨文化交际能力,立足于教学改革前沿和独立高校的办学现状,以开展的微留学项目为契机,在认知图示理论为指导下,以跨文化思辨能力的培养为重点,开设了《中西方生活习俗比较》的课程.从教学目标的设定,教学内容的安排以及教学方法的实施三个方面,提出了中西文化比较课程建设的基本理念及策略,希望为...     

Predicting children’s academic achievement from early assessment scores: a validity generalization study

Although there have been numerous studies investigating the predictive validity of early assessment, observed predictive validity coefficients across studies are not stable. A validity generalization study was conducted in order to answer the question of whether the relationship between early assessment of children and later achievement is generalizable or situation-specific. This study examined 716 predictive correlation coefficients from 44 studies using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). The findings of this study revealed that predictive validity of early assessment is not generalizable. Additional analyses indicated that predictive validity differ across assessments as a function of test type, specific construct being assessed, length of prediction, and administration procedures. The most impressive finding in this study was the variability of effect sizes across different test administration types. In particular, tests that were scored through ratings were found to be most effective. These findings suggest that instead of addressing a broad predictive validity between a test and a criterion measure, it is necessary to understand early assessment procedures as a whole system by including considerations of various variables related to testing conditions.     

Women’s Learning in Contract Work: Practicing Contradictions in Boundaryless Conditions

The general rise in contractors, particularly among knowledge workers negotiating ‘boundaryless’ employment conditions, has generated interest in the nature and forms of contract work. This article explores the learning of contract workers as they negotiate these conditions, with a focus on women. Drawing from a qualitative study of women practicing nursing and education in Canada as self-employed contractors, the discussion focuses on the practices that they learn in order to manage their work activities and identities. In these practices, tensions abound – particularly around the recognition of knowledge in ways that establish the contractor’s identity, position within the organisation, and market value. For women, it is argued from the study findings, boundaryless contract work incurs particular gendered demands that embed contradictions that the contractor must learn to negotiate. This article describes five practices that women contractors learn within these contradictions: (1) being noticed while avoiding notice, (2) nailing down contracts without nailing the contractor, (3) performing a woman in control while hiding the chaos, (4) shape-shifting while ‘branding’ one shape, and (5) proving knowledge in a market of impressions. The article concludes with implications for education that might assist women contract workers.

The Quality of Local District Assessments Used in Nebraska's School-Based Teacher-Led Assessment and Reporting System (STARS)

A sample of 293 local district assessments used in the Nebraska STARS (School-based Teacher-led Assessment and Reporting System), 147 from 2004 district mathematics assessment portfolios and 146 from 2003 reading assessment portfolios, was scored with a rubric evaluating their quality. Scorers were Nebraska educators with background and training in assessment. Raters reached an agreement criterion during a training session; however, analysis of a set of 30 assessments double-scored during the main scoring session indicated that the math ratings remained reliable during scoring, while the reading ratings did not. Therefore, this article presents results for the 147 mathematics assessments only. The quality of local mathematics assessments used in the Nebraska STARS was good overall. The majority were of high quality on characteristics that go to validity (alignment with standards, clarity to students, appropriateness of content). Professional development for Nebraska teachers is recommended on aspects of assessment related to reliability (sufficiency of information and scoring procedures).     

Effects of Cooperative Learning on Students’ Understanding of Metallic Bonding

The present study focused on investigating the effectiveness of instruction via newly developed teaching materials based on cooperative learning when compared to a traditional approach, on ninth grade students’ understanding of metallic bonding. Fifty-seven ninth grade science students from two science classes in the same high school participated in this study. The same teacher taught metallic bonding with cooperative learning to an experimental group (N = 28) and with a traditional teacher centred approach to a control group (N = 29). Students’ conceptual understanding of metallic bonding was measured using the Metallic Bonding Concept Test. The results from the Student’s t test indicated that the mean score of the students in the experimental group was significantly higher in the experimental group (78.60, SD = 8.62), than in the control group (54.33, SD = 9.11) after treatment. In the light of the results from the concept test and individual interviews, the misconceptions related to metallic bonding were found less in the experimental group than traditional. Five of these misconceptions were firstly identified in this study. The individual interviews which were done with students from experimental group immediately after the instruction showed that students had positive perceptions about their cooperative work experiences.     

跨文化交际中的文化差异

语言是反映民族文化的一面镜子。因此，要想使跨文化交际获得成功，就要求我们在学语言规则的同时，也要学其文化的交际规则。本文主要探讨由于思维方式不同而引起的汉英文化交际中常常出现的障碍和误解。     

汉语国际教育专业学生跨文化思辨能力培养研究

随着汉语国际教育事业的逐步推进,高校的汉语国际教育人才培养也应该与时俱进,提升学生的跨文化思辨能力.从解析跨文化思辨能力的含义入手,结合汉语国际教育事业的发展现状,分析汉语国际教育专业学生提升跨文化思辨能力的必要性,并提出促进高校汉语国际教育专业学生跨文化思辨能力培养的建议.