Stability of three‐wave simplex estimates of reliability

In this article 2 major problems of using the three‐wave quasi simplex model to obtain reliability estimates are illustrated. The 1st problem is that the sampling variance of the reliability estimates can be very large, especially if the stability through time is low. The 2nd problem is that, for the reliability parameter to be identified, the model assumes a particular change process, namely a Markov process. We show that minor violations of this assumption can lead to a large bias in the reliability estimates. The problems are evaluated using both real and Monte Carlo data. A model with repeated measurements in 1 of the waves is also discussed.     

An assessment of the extent to which subject variation between the Arts and Sciences in relation to the award of a First Class degree can explain the ‘gender gap’ in UK universities

There is a widely recognised national trend for girls to outperform boys at all levels of compulsory schooling. With few exceptions, however, most recent research has reported that, in relation to academic performance at university, men are proportionately over‐represented at the First Class level. A number of general hypotheses have been put forward to explain this phenomenon, including those that assume gender‐linked differences in cognitive and/or personality traits. A smaller proportion of research has given explanatory primacy to the broad subject area studied. More specifically, it has been alleged that the over‐representation of men within the First bracket is largely a function of a ‘compositional effect’ whereby men achieve proportionately more Firsts as there are more of them within the First‐rich Sciences. Based upon analysis of 1,707,408 students graduating between 1995 and 2002, this paper seeks to provide the most comprehensive exploration, to date, of this effect. It confirms that a substantial proportion of the ‘gender gap’ can be explained with reference to the male propensity to take degrees in first‐rich disciplines.     

Does Student–Teacher Thinking Style Match/Mismatch Matter in Students’ Achievement?

This study concerns the contingent nature of the relationships of student–teacher style match (or mismatch) to students’ academic achievement. Participants were 135 (59 male and 76 female) students (average age of 21.5 years) from three academic disciplines (mathematics, physics, and public administration) who responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory and rated their own abilities (analytical, creative, and practical). The academic achievement scores in two subject matters for each student were also used. The students’ subject matter teachers responded to the Thinking Styles in Teaching Inventory. Three major findings were obtained. First, the effects of style match/mismatch upon students’ achievement vary as a function of academic discipline and subject matter. Second, the statistical procedures used to analyse the data play an important role in the relationships under investigation. Third, students’ self‐rated abilities make a difference in the tested relationships. Findings have implications for both researchers and teachers.     

Chinese primary school mathematics teachers working in a centralised curriculum system: a case study of two primary schools in North‐East China

Mainland China has a highly centralised curriculum development system. A study of two schools in northeast China, one in a rural area and the other in an urban area, indicates that the primary mathematics curriculum has been widely adopted by teachers at the classroom level. Feeling the intense pressure generated by the national mathematics Olympiad,1 1. The mathematics Olympiad is a type of ‘extracurricular’ activity that aims to promote students' interest and improve their ability in mathematics. Students participating in the competition are required to complete some challenging and non‐routine mathematical operations. The international mathematics Olympiad is held every year. In Mainland China, this competition is commonly organised at city, provincial and national level. Students who perform exceptionally well are exempted from the highly competitive national university entrance examinations for entry to universities View all notes teachers in the urban school tended to give more difficult mathematics problems to their students in the hope that above‐average students would perform well in the competition. In the rural school, the ability of students was more varied and generally lower. Teachers there worked very hard to push their students to meet the national requirements. The driving force behind this was the county‐wide public examination in which students' performance was taken as an indicator of teachers' competence. Teachers in both schools also have not taken effective steps to adapt the curriculum for students' individual differences. A comparison of the practices between the teachers in the two schools suggests that teachers' beliefs, their professional knowledge and skills shape their inclination and ability in curriculum adaptation and differentiation.     

Top contributors to the school psychology literature: 1996–2005

An erratum has been published for this article in Psychology in the Schools 43(7) 2006, iii‐vi. [ ]. S.G. Little (1997) reported the top contributors to the school psychology literature from 1987 to 1995. The present study represents a follow‐up by examining the top contributors from 1996 to 2005. Similar to Little, a list of the top 50 contributors was developed using a point system that assigned more credit based on fewer coauthors and higher authorship placement. Expanding upon the Little study, we also computed a list of the top 50 contributors in terms of number of articles authored, thus facilitating a comparison of the two methods. Melissa Bray ranked first on both lists. The top 10 authors in terms of articles also were ranked in the top 13 in terms of points. Thus, for the most productive authors, choice of criteria for ranking does not appear important; however, in terms of encouraging versus discouraging collaboration among researchers, criteria choice may be important. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 737–743, 2006.     

Defining,Assessing, and Promoting E‐Learning Success: An Information Systems Perspective*

This research advances the understanding of how to define, evaluate, and promote e‐learning success from an information systems perspective. It introduces the E‐Learning Success Model, which posits that the overall success of an e‐learning initiative depends on the attainment of success at each of the three stages of e‐learning systems development: system design, system delivery, and system outcome. To study this model, an online version of an undergraduate quantitative methods core course for business students is developed using a prototyping strategy. Four cycles of development are traced, each comprised analysis, design, implementation, testing, and enhancement. Findings from the study confirm the validity of using the proposed success model for e‐learning success assessment. In addition, an action research methodology is also found to be a valuable impetus for promoting e‐learning success through an iterative process of diagnosing, action planning, action taking, evaluating, and learning.     

UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES AND INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY IN THE COMPUTER AGE

Through increasingly sophisticated computerization, libraries will evolve from being passive depositories of published materials to becoming dynamic information systems. Stored information will be analyzed and recoinbined in original ways which are similar to the processes occurring on the frontiers of disciplines which are giving rise to new combined disciplines: Thus the partnership of computerized information systems and interdisciplinary scientific research will vastly widen the frontiers of human discovery.     

Learning Styles Compared Across Health Science Courses

The Honey and Mumford Learning Style questionnaire was applied to undergraduate students at the first and third year level courses in Nursing, Optometry and Podiatryin the Queensland University of Technology Faculty of Health Science, and to students in the post‐graduate courses in Nursing and Nutrition and Dietetics. With one exception, there were no significant differences between first and third year student results for any learning style or course. The mean scores from all courses fell within the normal range defined by Honey and Mumford, but some differences were identified in the preferred learning styles across the different disciplines.

The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to the use of different teaching techniques such as structured lectures, practical exercises, case discussions and role‐play, as the findings may be used to predict the type of instructional techniques which would be most effective. Recommendations are made on the most appropriate of these techniques for different health science courses.     

The Use of Behavioural Self‐management in Primary School Settings: a review

The present paper attempts to review the studies which employed behavioural self‐management technology as a means of improving aspects of children's academic and social behaviour. The review is limited to those studies which involve primary school children attending mainstream schools. Studies are divided into three categories: those where the treated target behaviour(s) is academic, those where it is behavioural, and those which combine academic and behavioural target behaviours or are collections of two or more studies, some of which are academic and some behaviour‐ally oriented. Special attention was given to the problem of the absence of a ‘common’ language underpinning this area of research, which is considered to be one of the reasons that some of the results reported are equivocal. Finally, the orientation of future research in behavioural self‐management is discussed.     

Self‐assessment in university assessment of prior learning procedures

Competency‐based university education, in which lifelong learning and flexible learning are key elements, demands a renewed vision on assessment. Within this vision, Assessment of Prior Learning (APL), in which learners have to show their prior learning in order for their goals to be recognised, becomes an important element. This article focuses on a first step in APL, namely students’ self‐assessment of their prior learning before entering university education. The main aim of the presented study is to examine the suitability of the use of self‐assessment in APL. First, in an explorative study, the main sources for self‐assessment are derived and the relation between sources and domain of study is investigated. Second, in a pre‐test post‐test research design, the hypothesis that students’ self‐assessment of prior learning related to a course changes after studying a domain‐specific course is tested. Pre‐test results reveal that students indicate that they have prior knowledge related to the chosen university programme. In general, this prior learning is obtained from study experience, work experience, books, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, TV, radio, film or video. A relation is found between the type of source and the university programme. The hypothesis that students change their self‐assessment after a study period could not be confirmed. Based on these results, it is concluded that self‐assessment in APL might be a suitable tool. Implications for further research are discussed.