Statistical investigation measuring intelligence and creativity

The use of statistical investigations as a teaching strategy have been shown to both motivate and engage students. The implementation of a statistical investigation to measure intelligence is described, covering core statistical principles and key elements of research design.     

Opportunities for educational innovations in authentic project-based learning: understanding instructor perceived challenges to design for adoption

Educational technology research and development - Authentic project-based learning (APBL) is a highly effective way for instructors to help students learn disciplinary skills, modes of thinking,...     

Backward design as a mobile application development strategy

Backward design is a well-established design strategy that has been used to produce educational curriculum for decades. While traditionally used to plan and create classroom-based curriculum, in this paper we explore the use of backward design as a design strategy for the development of an educational mobile application, BiblioTech? “CityHacks: In Search of Sleep.” We discuss the process from initial conception to launch and updates, as well as plans for future research.

     

Pathways to Quality: From Internal Program Supports to Early Educators’ Practice

Research Findings: Early care and education (ECE) quality is critical for children’s learning, and ECE programs’ support of teachers’ learning may be important for ensuring high-quality classrooms. Yet little is known about how such supports operate outside of resource-intensive research studies and interventions. This study explores pathways through which “naturally occurring” professional development supports are related to improved classroom quality. Structural equation modeling results reveal indirect associations of support for mentoring with gains in structural and interactional aspects of classroom quality the following year via teachers’ participation in mentoring. Improvements in classroom quality were not similarly associated with support for degree attainment, nor were they related to teachers’ participation in a degree program, beliefs about teaching and learning, or job satisfaction. Practice or Policy: These findings help to expand our understanding of the complex relations among characteristics of ECE programs, individual teachers, and classroom quality. Specifically, mentoring may be an accessible and effective choice for improving classroom quality and thus may serve as a desirable target for policy aimed at improving ECE quality at scale.     

Quantifying Qualitative Scholarship: A Fool’s Errand or a Methodological Necessity?

This paper describes our efforts to systematically generate knowledge from ethnographic and other qualitative scholarship as a way of bridging intellectual gaps found in quantitative research. We ground this scholarly endeavor in the study of gangs, which has a lengthy history in the field of criminology, yet lacks a coherent, coordinated, and comparative understanding of gang dynamics, behavior, and impacts. We discuss the importance of acknowledging the multiple and mixed methodologies used in gang scholarship and detail the inductive, deductive, and iterative process that helped us (1) develop a comprehensive coding instrument for coding a range of qualitative works, (2) establish the instrument’s inter-rater reliability, and (3) remain cognizant and reflexive about the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative research. Finally, we share the critical yet informative challenges we faced throughout the project and conclude with reflections on why the project was unsuccessful in the way we originally envisioned.     

“They Were There for People Who Needed Them”: Student Attitudes Toward the Use of Trigger Warnings in Victimology Classrooms

Over the last five years, vigorous debate has been waged about the purpose, use, and impact of trigger warnings in courses offered at institutions of higher education. This debate has been largely uninformed by research findings. This study fills this gap using quantitative and qualitative data collected via surveys in a large undergraduate victimology course to explore student attitudes toward trigger warnings. Findings revealed considerable, but nuanced support for trigger warning use in victimology courses. Support does not appear to differ between crime victims and non-victims; support is higher among females than males. These findings underscore that universal decisions mandating or advocating for or against the use of trigger warnings are premature. Further study is needed with a diverse range of samples to gain a fuller picture of student attitudes about trigger warnings as well as to assess any impact of trigger warnings use on student behavior and learning.     

Fostering Analogical Reasoning Through Creating Robotic Models of Biological Systems

This article considers student analogical reasoning associated with learning practice in creating bio-inspired robots. The study was in the framework of an outreach course for middle school students. Fifty eighth and ninth graders performed inquiries into behavior and locomotion of snakes and designed robotic models using the BIOLOID robot construction kit. We analyzed the interdomain analogies between biological and robotic systems elaborated by the students and evaluated the contribution of the analogies to the integrated learning of biology and robotics. The analogies expressed by the students at different stages of the course were collected and categorized, and their use in knowledge construction was traced. The study indicated that students’ reasoning evolved with learning, towards an increased share of deeper analogies at the end of the course. We found that analogical reasoning helped students to construct knowledge and guided their inquiry and design activities. In the proposed framework, the students learn to inquire into biological systems, generate analogies, and use them for developing and improving robotic systems.

     

The Role of Statistical Learning in Word Reading and Spelling Development: More Questions Than Answers

ABSTRACT

This special issue bundles a set of eight empirical studies and one review article that explore the role of statistical learning (SL) mechanisms (both domain-specific and domain-general) in supporting word reading and spelling development, and vice versa. In this introduction to the special issue, we worked to summarize the extent to which studies support our hypotheses relating SL to reading and spelling development while pointing out inconsistencies across studies that require us to refine and rethink our hypotheses.     

Assessing Marijuana Use,Anxiety, and Academic Performance Among College Students

This article examines the relationship between marijuana use and anxiety symptoms among college students, with a secondary focus on marijuana use and grade point average (GPA). A secondary analysis was conducted on data obtained from the American College Health Association–National College Health Assessment. Results indicated that marijuana use was negatively associated with GPA among students with current anxiety and no formal treatment. The relationships between these variables may be more complex than previously thought.