Infant Auditory Temporal Acuity: Gap Detection

The development of auditory temporal acuity during infancy was examined in 3-, 6-, and 12-month-old infants and in adults using the gap detection paradigm. Listeners detected a series of gaps, or silent intervals, or variable duration in a broadband noise. In order to vary the acoustic frequencies available to the listener, a high-pass noise was used to mask frequencies above specified cutoffs. High-pass maskers with cutoffs of 500, 2,000, and 8,000 Hz were used. The minimum detectable gap was determined using the Observer-based Psychoacoustic Procedure. The thresholds of 3- and 6-month-olds were considerably poorer than those of the adults, although the effect of masker condition was about the same for these 3 groups. The thresholds of 12-month-olds were significantly worse than the adults when the stimulus was unmasked or when the masker cutoff frequency was 2,000 or 8,000 Hz. When the masker cutoff frequency was 500 Hz, 12-month-olds fell into 2 groups: some had gap thresholds that were about the same as 3- and 6-month-olds, while some had gap thresholds that approached those of adults. In a second experiment, a larger group of 12-month-olds were tested with a 500-Hz masker cutoff. Average performance of 12-month-olds was about the same as that of 3- and 6-month-olds in Experiment 1. Some infants attained thresholds close to those of adults. Thus, gap detection thresholds are quite poor in infants, although the similarity of the effect of frequency on performance in infants and adults suggests that the mechanisms governing temporal resolution in infants operate qualitatively like those in adults.     

Attitudes of Early Childhood Teachers Toward Family and Community Involvement

This investigation examined early childhood teachers' attitudes towards families and their involvement with schools, and specific variables that influence these attitudes. Teachers' perspectives about school and family partnerships were assessed using the School and Family Partnerships: Questionnaires for Teachers and Parents in the Elementary and Middle Grades (Epstein & Salinas, 1993). This survey was administered to 92 elementary school teachers in Follow Through classrooms in the southeastern and pacific northwestern United States. Results indicated that teachers' attitudes about family and community involvement were highly positive. Additionally, African American teachers had a more positive attitude than European American teachers. Furthermore, teachers who taught large proportions of low ability students had less positive views of family strengths.     

Conversation with a ghost

“SPEAK THAT I MAY SEE THEE!” THE RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE OF LANGUAGE, by Harold Stahmer. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1968; pp. xi+304. $7.95.

PREACHING IN AMERICAN HISTORY. Edited by DeWitte Holland. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1969; pp. 436. $8.95.

A QUEST FOR REFORMATION IN PREACHING. By H. C. Brown, Jr. Waco, Texas: Word Books, Publishers, 1968; pp. 251. $5.95.

DWIGHT L. MOODY: AMERICAN EVANGELIST, 1837–1899. By James F. Findlay, Jr. Chicago: University of Chicao Press, 1969; pp. 440. $10.00.

THE RHETORIC OF CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM. Edited by Paul H. Boase. New York: Random House, 1969; pp. ix+173. $1.95, paper.     

Portfolios in First Grade: Four Teachers Learn to Use Alternative Assessment

Educational assessment is experiencing significant changes which affect classroom practices. This article describes an in-depth qualitative study of the implementation of portfolio assessment by four first grade teachers. Creative activities and valuable insights were given by these teachers which allow for successful implementation of portfolios in the classroom. These teachers found three major benefits of portfolios: (1) a means of communicating more effectively with families, (2) a tool to motivate, encourage, and instruct students in the skills of self-assessment, and (3) a mechanism to monitor and improve their own instruction in the classroom.     

Student performance in high-stakes examinations based on content area in senior secondary (VCE) physical education

Background: Senior secondary physical education courses for certification continue to evolve with curricula reform occurring to ensure content is contemporary, student learning outcomes are maximised and assessment practices are valid for determining certification of students. The content of examinable senior secondary physical education courses privilege theoretical concepts over student physical performance of motor skills and this is reflected in the use of written assessment of cognitive outcomes in many courses internationally.

Purpose: Student examination data were analysed from the year 12 (exit year) written examination of Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) Physical Education to determine if student performance varied by Area of Study (content). Additionally, it investigated whether there was a relationship between student performance in each of the four Areas of Study examined and overall examination performance and considered the alignment of curriculum, assessment and pedagogy and the implications the findings may have on the teaching of VCE Physical Education in the future.

Methods: A secondary data analysis of student results from the 2011 (n?=?9323; M?=?5212, F?=?4111) and 2012 (n?=?8781; M?=?5011, F?=?3770) VCE Physical Education (Victoria, Australia) examinations were conducted. Examination questions were categorised by content, and means and standard deviations (SD) for discrete and continuous data were calculated, and categorical variables were presented as percentages. Regression analysis was also performed to establish the relationship between student cohort size and examination scores. An independent sample t-test was used to explore the examination scores and each Area of Study scores across 2011 and 2012. A one-way ANOVA were performed to investigate the differences of each Area of Study scores between examination grades from UG to A+.

Results: The results showed a positive correlation between VCE Physical Education student cohort size in a school and examination score in 2011 and 2012. Student performance differed across both years (2011 and 2012) and across Areas of Study within each of the years analysed. Students performed significantly lower on questions relating to the ‘planning, implementing and evaluating a training program’ Area of Study in 8 of the 11 possible grades (2011) and 10 of the possible 11 grades (2012) than in each of the other Areas of Study.

Discussion and conclusions: This study reveals that student performance on the external VCE Physical Education examination is not consistent across all content areas (Areas of Study). This may suggest that student difficulties in answering questions based on content in ‘planning, implementing and evaluating a training program’ result from topic or content difficulty rather than process or question difficulty. From these findings, implications for teaching examinable physical education effectively include the use of experiential learning and practical experiences to provide students with experiences from which they can draw knowledge when completing written assessment tasks. Additionally, the importance of having the required content knowledge to teach examinable physical education confidently for pre-service and in-service teachers is discussed.     

Measuring cross-cultural adjustment: The problem of criteriaLa evaluación del ajuste transcultural: El problema de criteriosL'évaluation de l'adaptation inter-culturelle: Le problème des critères

The nature of the adjustment process for individuals crossing cultural boundaries has not been adequately described in past research, and this leads to difficulty in selection and training of personnel for overseas assignments. This article critically reviews research on criterion measures of overseas adaptation, and raises a series of theoretical issues to be considered in future research. In addition, methods for measurement of cross-cultural adjustment are proposed, and it is suggested that practitioners and researchers in this field could benefit from a careful definition of criteria.     

The medical information needs of internists and pediatricians at an academic medical center

Medical information needs were examined in a survey of sixty-seven physicians selected from the faculty and housestaff at Johns Hopkins Hospital. A standardized questionnaire was administered personally by a medical informatics physician to collect data on information needs, attitudes, and previous experience with computers. The types of information most frequently required by both faculty and housestaff were treatment recommendations and differential diagnosis. The sources of reference information most commonly used were textbooks and colleagues. The information needs of housestaff differed significantly in several categories from those of faculty physicians. Housestaff more frequently needed information for patient care (P less than 0.05), and preferred the use of textbooks (P less than 0.01) and handbooks (P less than 0.001) as information sources. Faculty more frequently needed information for activities unrelated to patient care (P less than 0.01) and placed greater importance on basic science information (P less than 0.01). When asked to suggest references for online access, the respondents named 143 journals and textbooks, with journals overwhelmingly preferred over textbooks. Only one reference, the New England Journal of Medicine, was requested by a majority of the respondents. The importance of a broad understanding of physician information needs through improved data-collection techniques is discussed as a means of increasing the use of medical information systems.     

Meta-Assessment: Assessing the Learning Outcomes Assessment Program

Assessing the effectiveness of an assessment program is essential and can be accomplished through analysing the quality of closing the loop actions and through gathering faculty feedback. In this article we present closing the loop data from over 3 years of learning assessment reporting and from findings garnered through a faculty survey. Results indicated that moving from deciding on closing the loop actions to actually taking meaningful actions remains a challenge and that faculty members are aware of this challenge. We use these findings, along with findings and recommendations found in the existing literature, to suggest assessment program improvements and demonstrate the effectiveness of this method of meta-assessment.