The generative paradigm

This research highlights the learning of female offenders on a 20-day tailor-made experiential adventure education course (Women in Action) delivered by Outward Bound New Zealand. The aims of the course were to increase self-awareness, to develop an understanding of the concept of choice and self responsibility, to improve communication skills and to effectively influence others. Twenty-seven women were interviewed immediately after the course and 14 of these, three months post-course. Most women indicated that their self-confidence had increased and they had become more self-aware. Key factors in facilitating learning opportunities for the women were the instructors and the course environment both physical and social. The holistic course approach provided physical, creative, emotional and reflective opportunities, enabling all the women to develop personally. The challenge of applying their learning on return to prison was highlighted by some participants.

Never did I think that

My life could be changed

In so many ways.

But the challenges I've faced

From being here Lord I Know

That I can make it.

Cos I gotta keep on

Moving on in life

Won't let my spirit fall

Walk on walk on.

Some people tell me

I'd never change.

But now I've seen the light

More clear in every kind of way

I'm alive today

No more worries on my shoulders

I'm gonna make it

Oh yes I am.

Cos I gotta keep on

Moving on in life

Won't let my spirit fall

Walk on walk on.

(Poem by T – Women in Action participant)     

The influence of students’ interest,ability and personal situation on students’ perception of a problem-based learning environment

The twofold purpose of this study is to identify engineering students’ perceptions of a problem-based learning environment and to analyse the influence of their personal situation, general interest in engineering and ability to succeed on their perception, after they were exposed to PBL for the first time. Based on an adjusted version of the problem-based learning environment inventory [Senocak, E. 2009. “Development of an Instrument for Assessing Undergraduate Science Students’ Perceptions: The Problem-based Learning Environment Inventory.” Journal of Science Education Technology 18 (6): 560–569], data regarding students’ perception were collected through a questionnaire survey and analysed by applying exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The analysis revealed a three-factorial PBL environment consisting of learning facilitator support, student responsibility and project quality, with strong influences of students’ personal situation on project quality, interest on the learning facilitator support and ability to succeed on students’ responsibility. Supporting students’ general interest in engineering seems to improve their perception of the learning facilitator support and ensuring students’ ability to succeed in a PBL environment seems to increase students’ awareness of their own responsibility.     

Iteration sequences and their representations

Given a function f and an initial value a ₁, we consider properties and representations of the iteration sequence a ₁ , f(a ₁ ), f(f(a ₁ )),.... Because iteration sequences often cannot be expressed in explicit algebraic terms, there is an emphasis on using various graphical and numerical representations. An empirical investigation examined the influence of representations on the discovery of properties and on problem solving abilities for iteration sequences. A total of 79 students (11th graders) and 22 secondary mathematics teachers participated. The empirical study was implemented with a computer program, developed by the author.     

Exploring pre-service student-teachers' commitment to community engagement in the second year of training

This preliminary study examines the utility of the Community Engagement Commitment Scale and reports on factors that predict student-teachers' commitment to community engagement in their second year of study at a South African university. Independent variables included Dalbert's personal belief in a just world, an adaptation of Rusbult et al.'s original predictors of Commitment level (Satisfaction, Quality of alternatives, Investment size) and a new factor, Meaningfulness. The latter factor is based theoretically on the work of Lieberman and Heine, Proulx and Vohs and was included to study the extent to which identity-expression could be related to Commitment level. We administered the Community Engagement Commitment Scale on a non-random sample of 414 student-teachers in their second year of study, who all participated in compulsory community engagement project. The results support a four-factor model of Commitment with Meaningfulness, Quality of alternatives and Investment as predictors of Commitment level. Surprisingly, all the Satisfaction items loaded with the Commitment level items on one factor. Together, Meaningfulness, Quality of alternatives and Investment accounted for approximately two-thirds of the variance in Commitment level. Significant (p?Meaningfulness and Commitment level. The results of the study suggest the importance of studying meaningfulness as an additional predictor of Commitment level in community engagement contexts.     

Implementation of formative assessment – effects of quality of programme delivery on students’ mathematics achievement and interest

The aim of this study was to contribute to the understanding of the effectiveness of formative assessment interventions by analysing how the quality of programme delivery affects students’ mathematics achievement and interest. Teachers (n = 17) implemented formative assessment in their ninth-grade mathematics classes and provided their students (n = 426) with written process-oriented feedback. Four feedback characteristics (number of feedback comments, specificity, feedback at self level, social reference norm) and two types of embedment of feedback in the instructional context (focus on feedback utilisation, focus on performance evaluation) were evaluated. Multilevel regression analyses revealed no significant effects of feedback characteristics on interest but negative effects of number of feedback comments and specificity on achievement in mathematics. Positive effects on mathematics achievement and interest were found when feedback was embedded in instruction and had emphasis on feedback utilisation. Students’ interest also was affected positively when performance evaluation was stressed.     

The impact of new public management instruments on PhD education

New public governance emphasises less state, more market and more hierarchy as the cornerstones for effective steering of higher education institutions. Based on an explorative analysis of qualitative and quantitative data of fourteen German and European economics departments, we investigate the steering effects of six new public management instruments in the years 2001 and 2002 on subsequent placement success of PhD graduates. Using crisp set Qualitative Comparative Analysis to analyse the data, our results deliver strong support for the positive effects of competition for resources and the varying effects of hierarchy on PhD education. Governance of successful departments is characterised by two solutions: transparency over academic achievements as one single success factor in each solution or a combination of additional funding based on national competitive performance with either no public policy regulations for departments or no university regulations for departments. Governance of unsuccessful departments is characterised by one solution: university regulations for departments or a combination of no additional funding based on national competitive performance and no transparency over academic achievements. Our results strengthen the strong impact of selected competitive mechanisms as an effective governance instrument and the partially detrimental effects of state regulations. University regulations turn out to be successful if they increase transparency over academic achievements by faculty members. Success is unlikely if those rules intervene into PhD education.     

Potential use of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) endophytic fungi as seed treatment agents against root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita

Seed treatment with endophytic fungi has been regarded as an effective method for plant parasitic nematode control. Endophytic fungi from cucumber seedlings were isolated and screened for their potential to be used as seed treatment agents against Meloidogyne incognita. Among the 294 isolates screened, 23 significantly reduced galls formed by M. incognita in greenhouse test. The 10 most effective isolates were Fusarium (5), Trichoderma (1), Chaetomium (1), Acremonium (1), Paecilomyces (1), and Phyllosticta (1). Their control efficacies were repeatedly tested and their colonizations as well as in vitro activity against M. incognita were studied. They reduced the number of galls by 24.0%–58.4% in the first screening and 15.6%–44.3% in the repeated test, respectively. Phyllosticta Ph511 and Chaetomium Ch1001 had high colonizations on both the roots and the aboveground parts of cucumber seedlings. Fusarium isolates had colonization preference on the roots, their root colonizations ranging from 20.1% to 47.3% of the total root area. Trichoderma Tr882, Paecilomyces Pa972, and Acremonium Ac985 had low colonizations on both the roots and the aboveground parts. Acremonium Ac985, Chaetomium Ch1001, Paecilomyces Pa972, and Phyllosticta Ph511 produced compounds affecting motility of the second stage juveniles of M. incognita. Based on these results, Chaetomium Ch1001 was considered to have the highest potential as a seed treatment agent for M. incognita biocontrol.     

Shared Picture Book Reading Interventions for Child Language Development: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Interventions that train parents to share picture books with children are seen as a strategy for supporting child language development. We conducted meta-analyses using robust variance estimation modeling on results from 19 RCTs (N_total = 2,594; M_childage = 1–6 years). Overall, book-sharing interventions had a small sized effect on both expressive language (d = 0.41) and receptive language (d = 0.26). They had a large effect on caregiver book-sharing competence (d = 1.01). The impact of the intervention on child language was moderated by intervention dosage, with lower dosage associated with a minimal impact. Child age and caregiver education level were unrelated to child outcome. This review and meta-analysis confirms the promise of book-sharing interventions for enhancing and accelerating child language development.     

Table of Contents

ARTICLES Assessment Trends: A Ten‐Year Perspective on the Uses of a General Education Assessment Jana M. Hanson and Lavonne Mohn Editor's Notes Trudy W. Banta Assessment on a Budget: Overcoming Challenges of Time and Money Cynthia Tweedell Junior Faculty Members' Involvement in University Assessment Min Liu Beyond the Grade: Developing Opportunities for Course‐Embedded Assessment Jeff King COLUMN From the States: Regional Accreditation Redux Peter T. Ewell FEATURE Recommended Reading Chris Mayer     

几乎正则图的全符号控制

1IntroductionFor notation and graph theory terminology we ingeneral follow[1].LetG=(V,E)be a graph with thevertex setVand the edge setE,andletvbe a vertexinV.The open neighborhood ofvisN(v)={u∈V|uv∈E}and the closed neighborhood ofvisN[v]={v}∪N(v).The d…     

The Fiscal Impacts of College Attainment

This study quantifies one part of the return to U.S. public investment in college education, namely, the fiscal benefits associated with greater college attainment. College graduates pay much more taxes than those not going to college. Government expenditures are also much less for college graduates than for those without a college education. Indeed, over an average lifetime, total government spending per college degree is negative. That is, direct savings in post-college government expenditures (conservatively, about 85,000 per four-year-equivalent degree over an average lifetime) are greater than government expenditures on higher education (generously, about85,000 per four-year-equivalent degree over an average lifetime) are greater than government expenditures on higher education (generously, about 74,500 per degree). Plus, the direct extra tax revenues from college graduates alone (roughly $471,000 per degree over a lifetime) are more than six times the gross government cost per college degree. The average real fiscal internal rate of return on government investment in college students is conservatively estimated to be 10.3%.     

Children's Inferences About Friendship and Shared Preferences Based on Reported Information

Two experiments (total N = 195) examined third-party inferences about friendship and shared preferences from reported dyadic information. Four-year-olds (N = 48) inferred friendship between individuals based on reports of prosocial behavior, and similarity, but not based on arbitrary links. Children privileged prosocial behavior over similarity when asked to adjudicate between the two. Adults (N = 120) were tested online and showed the same overall pattern of inferences. Furthermore, 4-year-olds (N = 27) expected individuals who had engaged in prosocial behavior to be playmates as well as friends, and to share preferences for novel games, but not novel foods. These findings shed crucial light on preschoolers' third-party friendship inferences, and add to our knowledge of their concept of friendship.     

Teaching the Bible in a Time of Emphasis upon Democratic Ideals

Since 1953 there have been three symposia and also various articles on the topic “Religion and the Public Schools” which have appeared in this Journal.

But the subject is still warmly and broadly controversial.

The present symposium of nine articles is presented to assist in the definition of terms and also to furnish data on what is actually being done.

We believe this symposium is a constructive contribution to the subject and we are indebted to the authors for their cooperation.

—The Editorial Committee     

Promoting Compliance in Children Referred to Child Protective Services: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Early experiences of maltreatment have long-term negative effects on children's compliance. This randomized clinical trial examined whether a brief preventative intervention (Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up; ABC) was effective in enhancing compliance in children who had been referred to Child Protective Services. Participants included 101 parent–child dyads who received either ABC or a control intervention when children were infants (M = 9.4 months old, SD = 6.1). When children were approximately 36 months old (M = 38.5, SD = 3.0), ABC children demonstrated significantly better compliance than control children. Further, parent sensitivity, measured 1 month post intervention when children were, on average, 18.4 months old (SD = 6.9) partially mediated the effect of ABC on child compliance at 36 months old.     

Speed of information processing in generally gifted and excelling-in-mathematics adolescents

A considerable amount of recent evidence suggests that speed of information processing (SIP) may be related to general giftedness as well as contributing to higher mathematical ability. To date, no study has examined SIP associated with both general giftedness (G) and excellence in mathematics (EM). This paper presents a part of more extensive research aimed at a multidimensional examination of mathematical giftedness, which is a complex function of the G factor and EM factor. The research population consisted of four groups of 10th–11th grade students who differed in their G level and EM level. 190 participants performed five SIP tests: Visual-matching, Cross-out of numbers, Digit-symbol, Symbol-search and Simple arithmetic exercises. We found that the G–EM group outperformed the three other study groups on all five tests. The findings reveal that between-group differences in performance on Cross-out of numbers and Simple arithmetic exercises tests are associated with both G and EM factors, whereas especially the G factor had an effect on students’ scores on Digit-symbol, Symbol-search and Visual-matching tests. In addition, we found gender differences on the Digit-symbol and Symbol-search tests. The results of this study suggest that EM and G factors are interrelated but represent different traits with respect to the SIP.     

Influence of using challenging tasks in biology classrooms on students’ cognitive knowledge structure: an empirical video study

Empirical analysis of secondary biology classrooms revealed that, on average, 68% of teaching time in Germany revolved around processing tasks. Quality of instruction can thus be assessed by analyzing the quality of tasks used in classroom discourse. This quasi-experimental study analyzed how teachers used tasks in 38 videotaped biology lessons pertaining to the topic ‘blood and circulatory system’. Two fundamental characteristics used to analyze tasks include: (1) required cognitive level of processing (e.g. low level information processing: repetiition, summary, define, classify and high level information processing: interpret-analyze data, formulate hypothesis, etc.) and (2) complexity of task content (e.g. if tasks require use of factual, linking or concept level content). Additionally, students’ cognitive knowledge structure about the topic ‘blood and circulatory system’ was measured using student-drawn concept maps (N?=?970 students). Finally, linear multilevel models were created with high-level cognitive processing tasks and higher content complexity tasks as class-level predictors and students’ prior knowledge, students’ interest in biology, and students’ interest in biology activities as control covariates. Results showed a positive influence of high-level cognitive processing tasks (β?=?0.07; p?.01) on students’ cognitive knowledge structure. However, there was no observed effect of higher content complexity tasks on students’ cognitive knowledge structure. Presented findings encourage the use of high-level cognitive processing tasks in biology instruction.     

Exploration of the DSM-5’s Autism Spectrum Disorder Severity Level Specifier and Prediction of Autism Severity

ABSTRACT

With the publication of DSM-5, clinical assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has begun to follow a new dimensional framework which includes new severity specifiers. Little research has explored these severity ratings in comparison to other previously established severity indicators (e.g. ADOS-2 calibrated severity score). The current study compared parent and teacher ratings using the BASC-2 for 43 children and adolescents diagnosed with DSM-5 ASD, to contribute novel information to the BASC literature and to explore the new DSM-5 severity ratings. Linear regression analyses were conducted to determine the extent to which the DSM-5 Social Communication and Restrictive/Repetitive Behavior Severity Ratings (clinician-rated) predicted autism severity based on ADOS-2 calibrated severity scores. Furthermore, linear regressions were conducted to explore whether teacher ratings on the BASC-2 enhance parent ratings. Implications of these preliminary results for the assessment of children and adolescents with ASD are suggested.     

Study of the behaviour of the dielectric constant in Cu,Fe：BaTiO3

In this work we study the behaviour of the dielectric constant of BaTiO3 single crystals doped with Cu and Fe for different ion percentages, particularly, the influence of these hetemvalent substitutions on the ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transition whose temperature is found at Tc=120℃ for pure samples. The dielectric constant e in terms of temperature shows that the Curie temperature decreases when the quantity of impurities increases and presents a broadening and flattering of the maximum oft（T） within higher values, with the transition becoming more and more diffuse. It is interesting to have a material with very high permittivity （high-k） because of its capacity to store an important quantity of electric charges. The t anisotropy and the Curie-Weiss law are also verified with a good ratio between the slopes ofε^-l（T） from both sides of the transition, leading to a Curie constant： C= 13 × 10^4 K for BaTiO3：1.6%Fe in the polar phase. BaTiO3 is a displacive ferroelectric going through a first-order phase transition. The substitutions have an effect on the dynamics of the perovskite lattice. They induce charges transfer to Ti and a diminution of elastic forces in BaTiO3. Then we discuss the transition but on the nature of the material. fact that the maximum of permittivity does not depend on the phase     

Conceptions of Research and Methodology Learning

In 15–16 year olds from Oslo, Norway, we investigated the occurrence of self‐reported dyslexia and reading/writing difficulties (RWD), and we measured dyslexic symptoms using the Duvan dyslexia screening test. The prevalence of self‐reported dyslexia was 8.2%, while 10.4% reported severe or moderate RWD. The group of self‐reported dyslexics obtained lower mean‐values on Duvan than the non‐dyslexic group (125.7 [SD = 20.2] versus 153.2 [SD = 23.4]), but not on the test of general ability. The questionnaire items on dyslexia and RWD, as well as gender, ethnicity and general ability, significantly predicted Duvan scores (explained variance, R ² = 0.25). More research is needed to explore the precision of Duvan as a screening tool for dyslexic symptoms among Norwegian adolescents.     

Judging the quality of case study reports

In this paper, the authors outline how quality can be judged in “the typical product of alternative paradigm inquiry,” the case report. Their earlier work has focused on judging the quality of the inquiry process; this paper focuses on the product. They propose and discuss four criteria: resonance, rhetoric, empowerment, and applicability.