The Development of Scientific Thinking in Elementary School: A Comprehensive Inventory

The development of scientific thinking was assessed in 1,581 second, third, and fourth graders (8‐, 9‐, 10‐year‐olds) based on a conceptual model that posits developmental progression from naïve to more advanced conceptions. Using a 66‐item scale, five components of scientific thinking were addressed, including experimental design, data interpretation, and understanding the nature of science. Unidimensional and multidimensional item response theory analyses supported the instrument's reliability and validity and suggested that the multiple components of scientific thinking form a unitary construct, independent of verbal or reasoning skills. A partial credit model gave evidence for a hierarchical developmental progression. Across each grade transition, advanced conceptions increased while naïve conceptions decreased. Independent effects of intelligence, schooling, and parental education on scientific thinking are discussed.     

Universal Design and Multimethod Approaches to Item Review

Test items undergo multiple iterations of review before states and vendors deem them acceptable to be placed in a live statewide assessment. This article reviews three approaches that can add validity evidence to states' item review processes. The first process is a structured sensitivity review process that focuses on universal design considerations for items. The second method is a series of statistical analyses intended to increase the limited amount of information that can be derived from analyses on low-incidence populations (such as students who are blind, deaf, or have cognitive disabilities). Finally, think aloud methods are described as a method for understanding why particular items might be problematic for students .     

Characteristics of character usage in Chinese Web searching

The use of non-English Web search engines has been prevalent. Given the popularity of Chinese Web searching and the unique characteristics of Chinese language, it is imperative to conduct studies with focuses on the analysis of Chinese Web search queries. In this paper, we report our research on the character usage of Chinese search logs from a Web search engine in Hong Kong. By examining the distribution of search query terms, we found that users tended to use more diversified terms and that the usage of characters in search queries was quite different from the character usage of general online information in Chinese. After studying the Zipf distribution of n-grams with different values of n, we found that the curve of unigram is the most curved one of all while the bigram curve follows the Zipf distribution best, and that the curves of n-grams with larger n (n = 3–6) had similar structures with β-values in the range of 0.66–0.86. The distribution of combined n-grams was also studied. All the analyses are performed on the data both before and after the removal of function terms and incomplete terms and similar findings are revealed. We believe the findings from this study have provided some insights into further research in non-English Web searching and will assist in the design of more effective Chinese Web search engines.     

Evaluating the Power of Latent Growth Curve Models to Detect Individual Differences in Change

We evaluated the statistical power of single-indicator latent growth curve models to detect individual differences in change (variances of latent slopes) as a function of sample size, number of longitudinal measurement occasions, and growth curve reliability. We recommend the 2 degree-of-freedom generalized test assessing loss of fit when both slope-related random effects, the slope variance and intercept-slope covariance, are fixed to 0. Statistical power to detect individual differences in change is low to moderate unless the residual error variance is low, sample size is large, and there are more than four measurement occasions. The generalized test has greater power than a specific test isolating the hypothesis of zero slope variance, except when the true slope variance is close to 0, and has uniformly superior power to a Wald test based on the estimated slope variance.     

A comparative judgement approach to the large-scale assessment of primary writing in England

ABSTRACT

Writing assessment is a key feature of most education systems, yet there are limitations with traditional methods of assessing writing involving rubrics. In contrast, comparative judgement appears to overcome the reliability issues that beset the assessment of performance assessment tasks. The approach presented here extends previous work on comparative judgement by directly involving teachers in a large number of schools in the judging of young pupils’ writing. To ensure quality control the process incorporated a process of ‘anchoring’ that ensured that teachers could not artificially inflate their own pupils’ scores. The approach was used to assess the writing of 55,599 primary pupils in England in 2017–2018. Overall, the results showed that a comparative judgement approach to writing incorporating anchoring shows promise in providing a fair and robust large-scale method to assess writing.     

Perceptions of challenge in science learning

Prior research has indicated that decisions made by students about their learning are influenced by perceptions of various factors related to the task and classroom context. This influence seems to be mediated by the extent to which the learner perceives personal challenge in what is done. This concept of personal challenge comprises both cognitive (demand) and affective (motivation) components. In the current paper, response trends of almost 4000 secondary science students to a questionnaire structured according to factors associated with challenge are considered by school, year level and gender. These trends indicate that challenge in science diminishes as students move from Years 7 to 10, due to increasingly negative perceptions of many of these factors. Results also indicate however that, through purposeful change in teaching perspectives and practices, teachers can establish and sustain students’ sense of challenge in classroom learning.     

Addressing the Global Digital Divide and its Impact on Educational Opportunity

This article examines the global digital divide, with tables of data that document the wide disparity between the world's information-rich and information-deprived. Its fundamental causes and ramifications for the world's poor are examined, with an emphasis upon how it affects educational opportunity. Critical challenges associated with addressing this problem are discussed, and some misguided past efforts to introduce instructional technology into developing regions are reviewed. Then, some potentially successful strategies for utilising educational technologies in developing settings are explored, including appropriate project design, funding issues, skill development programs for schools, new forms of distance education, and the establishment of tele-centres that can expand educational opportunities in a variety of ways. Considérations sur la fracture numérique globale et son impact sur les possibilités d'éducation. Cet article examine la fracture numérique globale À l'aide de tableaux de données qui illustrent le large fossé qui sépare les pays riches en informations et ceux qui en sont dénumis. Les causes Fondamentales et les ramifications pour les e pauvres f sont examinées, l'accent étant mis sur la facon dont elles affectent les possibilités d'éducation. On étudie et discute les challenges critiques associés À ce problème ainsi que les efforts mal concus dans le passé pour introduire la technologie de l'éducation dans les pays en voie de développement. Ensuite, on explore des stratégies potentiellement réussies pour élever le niveau de la technologie dans l'éducation y compris des projets soigneusement planifiés, des suggestions pour le financement des programmes de développement des aptitudes, de nouvelles formes d'éducation À distance et la prolifération des centres de Téléenseignement qui peuvent offrir des communications, des formations et des occasions de développement. Betrachtungen zur globalen digitalen Kluft und ihren Auswirkungen auf Bildungschancen. Dieser Artikel untersucht die globale digitale Kluft auf der Basis von Datentabellen, die die grosse Ungleichheit zwischen dem gut informierten Teil der Welt und jenem Teil der Welt ohne Zugang zu Informationen dokumentieren. Es werden die wesentlichen Gründe und ihre Auswirkungen auf die Armen dieser Welt untersucht, besondern hinsichtlich ihrer Chancen auf Bildung. Kritische Herausforderungen bei der Behebung dieses Problems werden besprochen und frühere fehlgeschlagene Versuche, Lerntechnologien in den Entwicklungsländern einzuführen, werden neu überdacht. Darüber hinaus werden potentiell erfolgreiche Strategien zur Verbesserung der Bildungstechnologie erörtert im Zusammenhang mit einer vorsichtigen Projektplanung, Möglichkeiten der Finanzierung und der Errichtung von Telezentren, die Kommunikations-, Trainings- und Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten anbieten.