Age Differences in Adaptive Decision Making: The Role of Numeracy

The primary purposes of the present study were to examine age differences in adaptive decision making and to evaluate the role of numeracy in mediating the relationship between age and adaptive decision making. Adaptive decision making was assessed by the Cups task (Levin, Weller, Pederson, & Harshman, 2007 Levin , I. P. , Weller , J. A. , Pederson , A. A. , & Harshman , L. A. ( 2007 ). Age-related differences in adaptive decision making: Sensitivity to expect value in risky choice . Judgement and Decision Making , 2 ( 4 ), 225 – 233 .[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Forty-six younger (18 to 24 years old) and 37 older adults (61 to 89 years old) completed the Cups task. In addition, the Numeracy Scale (Lipkus, Samsa, & Rimer, 2001 Lipkus , I. M ., Samsa , G. , & Rimer , B. K. ( 2001 ). General performance on a numeracy scale among highly educated samples . Medical Decision Making , 21 ( 1 ), 37 – 44 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) was used to measure individual numeric ability. Adaptive decision making was operationalized by the Expected Value sensitivity (i.e., the product of probability and outcome magnitudes) across the gain and the loss domains. Older adults had significantly lower Expected Value sensitivity than young adults. In addition, older adults demonstrated significantly lower numeracy than younger adults. Finally, numeracy partially mediated the relationship between age and adaptive decision making. It is suggested that older adults’ declined decision making may be partially due to their declined numeric abilities. Implications were discussed in numeracy education and public policies concerning older adults.     

Testing the Predictive Validity of the GRE Exam on Communication Graduate Student Success: A Case Study at University at Buffalo

GRE scores for entering M.A. and Ph.D. students in Communication at University at Buffalo from 1990 to 2001 were used to predict graduate student success. Graduate student success was measured in two ways: grade point average (GGPA) and graduation rates. Preliminary analyses on Master's students (M.A.) revealed that international students, compared to domestic students, earned lower GRE verbal (GRE-V) scores, higher GRE quantitative (GRE-Q) scores, had higher undergraduate grade point averages and were more likely to graduate from the program (82% vs. 49%). Only GRE scores were different for International vs. Domestic students when examining doctoral students. For M.A. students, GRE-V was positively correlated with GGPA and GRE-Q was positively related to earning the M.A. degree. Regression analyses controlling for several factors, including domestic student status, found only undergraduate GPA to predict GGPA and graduation for M.A. students. GGPA and GRE-V predicted graduation rates for M.A. students when GGPA was included in logistic regression analysis. GRE, GPA, and GGPA failed to predict Ph.D. success when examined together.     

The Virtual University as a Conceptual Model for Faculty Change and Innovation

Virtual universities and virtual learning environments are becoming increasingly accessible to faculty wishing to develop Web-based courses. They can provide a convenient cognitive framework to assist educators in moving towards new technology-based teaching methods. The University of Strathclyde has developed a series of faculty development workshops based around the conceptual model of Clyde Virtual University (http://cvu.strath.ac.uk) in an attempt to promote cultural change within the institution. The virtual university, whilst providing examples of good practice in the use of the new technologies, is also used as a delivery medium for the courses themselves, and as a place where participants can communicate with each other and archive their own materials. This paper explains the necessity for such a conceptual framework to overcome barriers faculty face in developing Web-based materials. It describes the Clyde Virtual University and the way in which innovative approac hes to teaching, learning, and assessment in a virtual setting can aid the development of a fully professionalized teaching force in higher education.     

COMMUNITY COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AS A FUNCTION OF ECONOMIC INDICATORS

This study investigated the ability of national economic trends to predict enrollment in community colleges. Data from government documents and source books were used in a correlational analysis to explore the relationship between the national economy and enrollment in community colleges. The results indicated that Unemployment Rate, Gross Domestic Product, Dollars Disposable Income, and Personal Consumption Expenditures are good indicators of trends in community college enrollment. The Consumer Price Index and the Average Hourly Earnings of Production Workers were not significantly correlated to Total Enrollment or to Per Capita Community College Enrollment.     

A Note on Multigroup Comparisons Using SAS PROC CALIS

Ant colony optimization is a recently proposed heuristic procedure inspired by the behavior of real ants. This article applies the procedure to model specification searches in structural equation modeling and reports the results. The results demonstrate the capabilities of ant colony optimization algorithms for conducting automated searches.     

Pedagogies for social justice: did Bernstein get it wrong?

This paper explores the often‐touted incompatibility between ‘intellectual rigour’ and ‘relevance’ as this has manifested in Australian debates over Queensland’s New Basics and ‘productive pedagogies’, and associated initiatives such as the New South Wales Quality Teaching Framework. This debate can be located in longer‐standing concerns about how best to meet the educational needs of students who experience social disadvantage. In particular, we focus on the way Bernstein’s concept of ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ discourse has been used by him and others to argue against attempting to make academic knowledge more ‘relevant’ by introducing elements of students out of school lives into the classroom. Drawing on examples from the literature, we trouble Bernstein’s contention that academic and ‘everyday’ knowledge represent different, incompatible knowledge forms that cannot be successfully integrated. This troubling creates an opening for reconsidering the relationship between ‘intellectual rigour’ and ‘relevance’. We argue that we can and should pursue the bringing together of ‘intellectual rigour’ and ‘relevance’ as a means to engage better all students, but particularly those who experience social and educational disadvantage, and improve their learning outcomes. Accordingly, we call for challenging, at a theoretical, practical and policy level, the perception that learning cannot be made relevant without sacrificing intellectual rigour. We also call for more research on teachers already integrating ‘intellectual rigour’ and ‘relevance’, and for teacher professional development and scaffolding to achieve this and to moderate multiple student perspectives and claims to ‘relevance’.     

Knowledge management in a small knowledge intensive organisation: research design process at the Cochrane Child Health Field

At the Cochrane Child Health Field, we embarked on a complex project to develop short one-page clinical summaries of health evidence to answer questions posed by paediatricians. Subsequently, our priority was to test these ‘Clinical Answers’ (CAs) to ensure that our product was meeting their needs. This paper provides a reflection of the process of developing a research design to evaluate the CAs format, particularly focusing on the process of partnership. Schön's concept of reflection-on-action is used as a framework.     

Notices

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