Evaluating fifth- and sixth-grade students’ expository writing: task development, scoring, and psychometric issues

Drawing from multiple theoretical frameworks representing cognitive and educational psychology, we present a writing task and scoring system for measurement of students’ informative writing. Participants in this study were 72 fifth- and sixth-grade students who wrote compositions describing real-world problems and how mathematics, science, and social studies information could be used to solve those problems. Of the 72 students, 69 were able to craft a cohesive response that not only demonstrated planning in writing structure but also elaboration of relevant knowledge in one or more domains. Many-facet Rasch Modeling (MFRM) techniques were used to examine the reliability and validity of scores for the writing rating scale. Additionally, comparison of fifth- and sixth-grade responses supported the validity of scores, as did the results of a correlational analysis with scores from an overall interest measure. Recommendations for improving writing scoring systems based on the findings of this investigation are provided.     

BioMEMS and Electrophoresis in 2006: Review of the 23rd Annual Meeting of the American Electrophoresis Society

The 23rd Annual Meeting of the American Electrophoresis Society (AES) was held at the San Francisco Hilton in San Francisco, California on 12–17 November 2006. This year’s meeting featured a look toward the future, with an emphasis on theoretical and experimental advances in miniaturization of BioMEMS, electrokinetics, and proteomics technologies. A total of 13 sessions accommodating 71 presentations and 18 posters were held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). This review and corresponding special issue of Biomicrofluidics provide a sampling of some of the exciting research presented at the conference.     

Fostering Understanding by Structural Alignment as a Route to Analogical Learning

The purpose of this study was to extend previous research on the conditions that may promote understanding and abstraction via structural alignment, that is, through a comparison between two partially understood situations. Structural alignment is a route to analogical reasoning which differs from the typical route where an analogy is made by eliciting an unknown situation from a very familiar one. Ninety-nine eighth graders were presented with two pairs of scenarios; the first depicting two phenomena of heat flow and the second, two phenomena of the changing state of matter. Participants were randomly assigned to five different conditions which varied in the degree to which they required a comparisonbetween the phenomena in the scenario pairs. For each pair of scenarios, participants were asked to describe the differences between the two phenomena, explain what happens in the phenomena, rate the similarity between the two, and justify the ratings. Results show that analogical reasoning was promoted more in the condition where participants were asked to jointly interpret the phenomena depicted in the scenarios. For both pairs of scenarios, students in this condition reached a deeper understanding; they were more able to identify alignable differences between the phenomena, and recognize the abstract and general higher-order relational structure implied by the perceptually different situations.     

Diarrhea Management Training in Early Childhood Settings

This study addresses the health of young children and how to safely and effectively care for children with diarrhea in the home and in early child care settings. A baseline survey showed the prevalence of oral rehydration solution (ORS) usage at last diarrhea bout to be low. An educational workshop was developed to train parents and child care professionals on how to properly manage young children with diarrhea and reduce the risk of diarrhea spread at home and in early childhood settings. Specific intervention activities are discussed and program activities, including specially designed materials for mixing homemade ORS are described. A comparison of pre- and postintervention data indicates substantial gains in knowledge among both urban and rural populations. Implications of research findings are discussed along with suggestions for future research.     

The Development and Design of a Framework to Match Mentees and Mentors Through a Systematic Review andThematic Analysis of Mentoring Programs Between 2000 and 2015

ABSTRACT

The need for longitudinal and holistic support of medical students throughout their training has led to the development of formal mentoring programs. Whilst success of formal mentoring programs has been attributed to (a) pairing mentees with trained and experienced mentors (matching), (b) the quality of mentoring interactions and (c) the presence of a nurturing environment, little attention has been attributed to establishing an effective matching process in medical school. We sought, in this review, to redress this gap within the context of matching medical students for mentoring. Modified PRISMA guidelines were followed to guide the review process. PubMed, ERIC, Cochrane Database, OVID and ScienceDirect databases were searched for articles on matching in medical schools and in allied health specialities published between 2000 and 2015.     

Policy discourses and changing practice: Diversity and the university-college

This study reports the results of research with respect to policy and diversity, as part of a larger case study of a Canadian university-college. The study details an examination of policy discourses as a vehicle for institutional change and provides insights into the everyday experiences of educators, their perspectives on policy and change, and the contested territory of diversity (i.e.,race, gender, class, disability,and sexual orientation) in an institution. The paper begins by considering the university-college and the context of the college and institute system in Canada. The paper briefly reviews state policy and the context that state public policy provides in principles of valuing diversity. Policy discourses were generated from the narratives of educators, from an institutional committee and from ‘outsiders’ to committee processes and to the institutional culture. Drawing from narrative auto/biographies (Gluck, S.B. and Patai, D., Women’s Words: the Feminist Practice of Oral History. London: Routledge, 1991; Stanley, L., The Auto/biographical I. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992; West, L., Beyond Fragments. London: Taylor and Francis, 1996), policy stories are presented which illuminate the contention surrounding policy, practice and institutional change. A discourse of fairness is discussed in relation to hiring practices and how the perception of fairness actually contributes to the practice of discrimination. Discursive power relations (Foucault, M., Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972–1977. London: Harvester Press, 1980; Smith, D., The Conceptual Practices of Power. Toronto: University of Toronto, 1990) are considered in interpreting these stories and reveal the complex, competing forces affecting individuals engaged in the change process. The paper concludes by identifying a number of factors that contribute to the hindrance and advancement of the goals of diversity within an educational institution.     

Measuring the attitudes of human service professionals toward deafness

The Attitudes to Deafness Scale is a 22-item measure of attitudes toward people who are deaf designed for use with human service professionals. Attitude statements were generated from personal accounts by deaf people in the literature and from a focus group in which deaf people discussed their experience of hearing people's attitudes toward them. A 60-item scale was administered to a group of 121 clinical and forensic psychologists during their training. Item analysis was conducted to select items that effectively distinguished participants with a positive attitude from those with a negative attitude toward deaf people. The scale may be used in any context where a professional group comes into contact with people who are deaf.