Using concept maps to assess student learning in the science classroom: Must different methods compete?

This yearlong study was implemented in seventh-grade life science classes with the students' regular teacher serving as teacher/researcher. In the study, a method of scoring concept maps was developed to assess knowledge and comprehension levels of science achievement. By linking scoring of concept maps to instructional objectives, scores were based upon the correctness of propositions. High correlations between the concept map scores and unit multiple choice tests provided strong evidence of the content validity of the map scores. Similarly, correlations between map scores and state criterion-referenced and national norm-referenced standardized tests were indicators of high concurrent validity. The approach to concept map scoring in the study represents a distinct departure from traditional methods that focus on characteristics such as hierarchy and branching. A large body of research has demonstrated the utility of such methods in the assessment of higher-level learning outcomes. The results of the study suggest that a concept map might be used in assessing declarative and procedural knowledge, both of which have a place in the science classroom. One important implication of these results is that science curriculum and its corresponding assessment need not be dichotomized into knowledge/comprehension versus higher-order outcomes. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 1103–1127, 1998.     

Enacting whole-school relationships and sexuality education in England: Context matters

Evidence from intervention evaluations suggests that achieving meaningful and lasting social, behavioural and attitudinal change from relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) in schools requires more than just a curriculum. Whole-school approaches appear particularly promising since they work at multiple levels. For instance, they may: engage with carers, communities and local services; address iniquitous cultures and norms; change school policies and practices; and actively involve young people themselves. They have also been advocated to tackle sexual harassment and abuse in schools. Currently, however, such approaches have not been rigorously evaluated in the UK. This article focuses on the whole-school elements of two recent RSHE pilot studies conducted in English secondary schools. We describe how these elements were variably enacted in different settings. We analyse contextual factors that help account for these differences, including: teacher and departmental professional identity and autonomy; broader education policy including high-stakes testing and school inspection judgements; the significance of support staff; and staff–student relationships and partnerships. We argue that the likely impact of whole-school approaches and RSHE in schools more generally will depend on attending to all of these factors. The paper contributes firstly to debates about the theory and practice of RSHE by highlighting the significance of processes and cultures beyond the classroom in enabling or constraining positive change. Secondly it contributes to scholarship that elucidates the role of contexts, broadly defined, in understanding the enactment of policy and practice.     

From Distance Education to Online Learning: Practical Approaches to Information Literacy Instruction and Collaborative Learning in Online Environments

The increasingly ubiquitous nature of online learning has necessarily changed pedagogical approaches in the 21st century. This article will present an overview of the evolution of distance learning with a particular emphasis on current models and emerging methods of instruction for online learners. The authors detail how various learning management systems and tools as well as online learning objects can be used as mechanisms for creating a platform for student investment and ownership in the learning process. Additional discussion will focus on how these methods and approaches can enhance teaching, training, and peer collaboration within the library workplace.     

Can You Be a PESCaterian Among the Fort Worth Stockyards?

Yes you can, but you don’t have to eat only fish! All you have to do is follow the progress of the Protocol for Exchanging Serial Content (PESC) Working Group. The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) charged this group with delivering a recommended practice that will improve the interactions among libraries, archives, indexing services, content aggregators, publishers, and content creators, all needing to exchange serial data and work with digital files of serials. It will help them process a wide range of files that may be text based, image based, text with images, or some other combination, coded in a variety of file formats such as XML, EPUB, HTML, PDF, or ONIX. Laurie Kaplan discussed the PESC Working Group’s approach to this challenge.     

The Inclusion of Children with ASD: Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a Theoretical Framework to Explore Peer Attitudes

This study used the Theory of Planned Behaviour to explore the attitudes, behavioural intentions and behaviour of 318 mainstream primary school children in an urban East London borough towards peers with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Pupils were presented with a vignette about a hypothetical peer with ASD then completed self-report questionnaires and peer socio-metric measures. The results showed that children’s attitudes, the social pressure they felt from others and the amount of control they felt they had over their own behaviour, significantly predicted their behavioural intentions to befriend a peer with ASD. The strongest association was between perceived behavioural control and behavioural intentions. A significant association was also found between children’s behavioural intentions and actual behaviour towards an included peer. Support was therefore found for the use of the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a valuable tool by which to explore the social inclusion of children with ASD.     

Second chance education matters! Income trajectories of poorly educated non-Nordics in Sweden

In this study we examine the long-term impact of second chance education (SCE) on incomes of poorly educated individuals who live in Sweden but were not born in a Nordic country, using data on income changes from 1992 to 2003 compiled by Statistics Sweden. Ordinary Least Squares regression analyses show that participation in SCE increased the work income of non-Nordics by a higher percentage than that of Nordics. The results also indicate that much of the effects of SCE on non-Nordics are related to increases in “Sweden-specific” human capital, rather than increases in their educational level per se, which seems to provide a form of ‘endowment insurance’ that improves their labour market position in Sweden. Relying on the theoretical framework of the Capability Approach, we conclude that such effects are related to the instrumental economic value of individuals’ capability to be educated, as well as the value of material well-being.