Studies in assessment

Conclusion The pilot studies, and that includes the more recent 1986 study which involved 22 schools, have done much to convince teachers and educators in this State that the ‘practical’ mode in biology can be assessed satisfactorily using the processes described. The performance data, the teachers responses and the test/re-test procedures tend to confirm the reliability, validity and usability of the practical examination, in spite of inital doubts by many teachers in that regard. How the results of the practical examination are used remains to be decided. They could be used alone or in conjunction with marks obtained from continuous assessment of practical work done over the year. They could be used directly or as a moderating instrument only. In view of the recent decision by the subject committee to allocate a considerable percentage of the overall mark to practical work, specifically (25%), it seems highly likely that the results may well be used directly. The strategies employed in this study may well be appropriate to physics, chemistry and geology, though the choice of criteria to be tested, the form of the Practical Test Assessment Inventory and the marking scheme may need to be substantially modified for those particluar subjects.     

The dilemma of international counselor education: Attending to cultural and professional fits and misfits

Efforts at international counselor educationare potentially problematic because of oftenunexamined differences between host and donor.These differences can include culture itself aswell as the related constructs of worldview andinformation processing styles. The interactionbetween this `cultural nexus' and the`professional nexus' of theoretical models,therapeutic schools, and particular professionsprovides the topography that must be negotiatedby educators attempting to cross nationalboundaries. The international counseloreducator who wishes to avoid doing harm in thelocal development of the mental healthprofessions must at a minimum take into accountthe potential sources of difference betweenhost and donor implied in such cultural andprofessional distinctions.     

Exploring problem conceptualization and performance in STEM problem solving contexts

Problem solving abilities are critical components of contemporary Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. Research in the area of problem solving has uncovered much about the representation, processes and heuristic approaches to problem solving. However, critics claim this overemphasis on the process of solving problems has led to a dearth in understanding of the earlier stages such as problem conceptualization. This paper aims to address some of these concerns by exploring the area of problem conceptualization and the underlying cognitive mechanisms that may play a supporting role in reasoning success. Participants (N?=?12) were prescribed a series of convergent problem-solving tasks representative of those used for developmental purposes in STEM education. During the problem-solving episodes, cognitive data were gathered by means of an electroencephalographic headset and used to investigate students’ cognitive approaches to conceptualizing the tasks. In addition, interpretive qualitative data in the form of post-task interviews and problem solutions were collected and analyzed. Overall findings indicated a significant reliance on memory during the conceptualization of the convergent problem-solving tasks. In addition, visuospatial cognitive processes were found to support the conceptualization of convergent problem-solving tasks. Visuospatial cognitive processes facilitated students during the conceptualization of convergent problems by allowing access to differential semantic content in long-term memory.

     

The Development of Perspective Taking: Understanding Differences in Information and Weighting

2 separate aspects of perspective taking are that judgments attributed to another should depend on the information available to the other (Information effect) and on how the other's use of information differs from one's own (Weighting effect). These 2 aspects of perspective taking were studied in a moral judgment task with preschoolers, and second and fifth graders. Subjects were read a series of stories about a little boy transgressing and asked to make judgments from both their own perspective and that of a mother character in the stories. The mother story character had either the same information as the subject or only partial information. Valence of intention and consequence and the amount of mother's knowledge varied factorially. Subjects were clustered using scores derived from the judgements. 3 clusters were found that showed different levels of perspective-taking ability. There was a developmental progression in the 3 levels of perspective taking. Subjects in the Harshness cluster attributed harsher judgments to the mother perspective. Subjects in the Weighting cluster weighted information differently depending on the perspective from which they judged. Subjects in the Information-and-Weighting cluster weighted information differently depending on perspective, and also considered the amount of information available to the mother character in attributing judgments. The findings are compared to current theory on the development of perspective taking. Future research and theory need to consider the influence of both information and weighting differences on performance in perspective-taking tasks.     

Support for teaching the liberal arts: An institutional dilemma

Using data from a random sample of chief liberal arts academic officers in American colleges and universities, the authors examine the support of teaching in the liberal arts (defined as the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities). Information is presented on 15 categories of faculty support for teaching and research, basic teaching conditions, tenure decisions, and merit salary increases. Differences in support are examined among institutions that vary in size, location, sponsorship, and degree level. These findings suggest that liberal arts teaching is in less than excellent health on most American campuses. In addition, the researchers note numerous inconsistencies among resources, standards, and rewards in American institutions of higher learning and urge liberal arts administrators to reduce these inconsistencies where possible.     

Need for approval and children's well-being

This research examined the hypothesis that a tendency to base one's self-worth on peer approval is associated with positive and negative aspects of children's well-being. A sample of 153 fourth through eighth graders (9.0 to 14.8 years) reported on need for approval, global self-worth, social-evaluative concerns, anxiety and depression, and exposure to victimization. Teachers reported on social behavior. Results confirmed that need for approval is a two-dimensional construct composed of positive (enhanced self-worth in the face of social approval) and negative (diminished self-worth in the face of social disapproval) approval-based self-appraisals. Need for approval had trade-offs for well-being that depended on the dimension (positive vs. negative), the psychological domain (emotional vs. social adjustment), children's sex and age, and children's social context (high vs. low peer victimization).     

Factors affecting student success at the National Open University of Venezuela

This study analyzed the effect of selected variables on attrition in the Introductory Course of the National Open University of Venezuela. The findings suggested that noninstitutional variables accounted for the largest proportion of variance of student completion. Counseling and course redesign may enhance students’ motivation to persist successfully.