Cheating among elementary school children: A machine learning approach

Academic cheating is common, but little is known about its early emergence. It was examined among Chinese second to sixth graders (N = 2094; 53% boys, collected between 2018 and 2019) using a machine learning approach. Overall, 25.74% reported having cheated, which was predicted by the best machine learning algorithm (Random Forest) at a mean accuracy of 81.43%. Cheating was most strongly predicted by children's beliefs about the acceptability of cheating and the observed prevalence and frequency of peer cheating at school. These findings provide important insights about the early development of academic cheating, and how to promote academic integrity and limit cheating before it becomes entrenched. The present research demonstrates that machine learning can be effectively used to analyze developmental data.     

Excitement and Representation: Toward a Sociological Explanation of the Significance of Sport in Modern Society

It is suggested that sport is not only popular but also plays a highly significant part in the lives of many. One explanation focuses on the analysis of the tension excitement generated by sporting encounters. Particular emphasis is placed on the work of Elias and Dunning, who suggest that in societies at a late stage in the “civilising process,” affect-control is strongly established, so that people's expressions of sentiment are strongly restrained. Excitement in such societies is thus to be found not so much in real-life situations as through mimetic or “imitative” excitement, which resembles that produced in critical situations in real life, but in a safe and pleasurable way. A second approach draws on a variety of theoretical perspectives, although the contributions derived from Emile Durkheim's later work on the sociology of religion are prominent. The argument is advanced that sports encapsulate symbolically the social natures, relations, and identities of the collectivities that generate them. Sport, therefore, is perceived as a form of collective representation that may be invested with great social significance. Finally, relationships between the two approaches are considered.     

Personality Type and Participation in Networked Learning Environments

For networked learning environments, it is necessary to consider different aspects of this environment, such as the collaborative environment, the nature of activities and resources, the technological environment and the learner's characteristics, if quality learning is to take place online. This paper focuses on one aspect of the learner's characteristics; that of personality type as determined using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (Myers, 1984). It investigates the relationship between personality type and a student's participation (both passive and active) within a networked learning environment using asynchronous threaded discussion for a university course run both online and face-to-face. Qualitative results show patterns in student attitudes to participation related to personality type, particularly on the dimensions of introversion/extroversion, sensing/intuition and thinking/feeling. The paper also discusses implications of the findings in relation to the development of the networked learning environment, to ensure better online participation from all students. L’importance des types de personnalité dans la participation dans des environnements d’apprentissage en réseau. Pour les environnements d’apprentissage en réseau Net, il faut considérer différents aspects de cet environnement coopératif, la nature des activités et des sources, l’environnement technologique et les caractéristiques de l’apprenant si l’on veut en ligne obtenir un apprentissage de qualité. Cet article se concentre sur un aspect des caractéristiques de l’apprenant, celui du type de personnalité défini dans le Myer Briggs Type Indicator (Myers, 1984). Il étudie la relation entre le type de personnalité et la participation d’un étudiant (passive et active) dans un environnement d’apprentissage basé sur le Net utilisant une discussion filetée asynchrone our un cours d’université mené face À face et en ligne. Les résultats qualitatifs montrent des modéles dans

l’attitude des étudiant quant À la participation liée au type de personnalité, particulièrement sur les dimensions de l’introversion/extroversion, de la sensation/intuition et de la pensée/sentiments. L’article discute aussi des implications des

résultats en relation avec le développement de l’environnement de l’apprentissage en réseau, pur assurer une meilleure

participation en ligne de la part de tous les étudiants. Persönlichkeitstyp und Partizipation in vernetzten Lernumgebungen. Bei vernetzten Lernumgebungen müssen unterschiedliche Aspekte dieser Umgebung bedacht werden, so z.B. der

gemeinschaftliche Bereich, die Art von Aktivitäten und Ressourcen, die technischen Gegebenheiten und die Charakteristika der Lernenden, wenn erstklassiges Lernen auch online möglich werden soll. Dieser Beitrag beschränkt sich auf einen charakteristischen Aspekt des Lerners: seinen Persönlichkeitstyp unter Benutzung des Myers Briggs Type Indicator (Myers, 1984). Es untersucht die Beziehung zwischen dem Persönlichkeitstyp und der Teilhabe (aktiv und passiv) eines Studenten

innerhalb einer vernetzten Lernumgebung bei asynchron angelegter Diskussion – sowohl online als auch direkt – über einen Universitätskurs. Qualifizierte Ergebnisse zeigen, dass bestimmte Verhaltensmuster der Studenten zur Partizipation vom Persönlichkeitstyp abhängen, insbesondere vom Grad der Introversion/Extroversion, Empfindsamkeit/Einfühlungsvermögen und Denken/Fühlen. Der Beitrag stellt auch Folgerungen aus den Befunden in Bezug auf die Entwicklung vernetzter Lernumgebungen zur Diskussion, um bessere online-Partizipation aller Studenten sicherzustellen.     

Public understanding of science: from contents to processes

Public understanding of science is commonly seen in terms of lay persons' understanding of the contents of science. This article argues that it may be more salient to consider public understanding of the internal processes of science ‐ of the nature of scientific knowledge and of the sorts of information that science can reasonably be expected to provide. Drawing on the reported statements of non‐scientists in the media following the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident, the article argues that the view of scientific knowledge that many people appear to hold is not one that can help them interpret and cope successfully with sts issues. The role that formal science education plays in sustaining this unhelpful view of science is discussed and some implications for practice are considered.     

Development of an informal learning opportunities assay

Learning that takes place outside the formal classroom, called informal learning, has been a difficult parameter to assess due to the heterogeneous nature of the subjects and everyday learning situations. To date, no instrument has been developed to effectively examine the wide variety of informal experiences a child may encounter. Central to this study was the development and field testing of such an instrument, the Informal Learning Opportunities Assay (ILOA). The ILOA was administered to a total of 2128 middle and high school students and was found to be ethnically neutral, easily scored, and flexible in design to accommodate practitioners and researchers. The instrument was found to provide a reliable assessment of informal learning opportunities.