The development and validation of a primary science curriculum delivery evaluation questionnaire

This study describes the processes involved in the development and statistical validation of a primary science curriculum delivery evaluation instrument, the Science Curriculum Implementation Questionnaire (SCIQ), used to identify factors influencing science programme delivery at the classroom and school level. The study begins by exploring the themes generated from several qualitative studies in the New Zealand context pertaining to the phenomenon of primary science delivery. Building on the findings from the qualitative studies, quantitative procedures used to develop and validate both a five‐scale, 35‐item SCIQ and a seven‐scale, 49‐item SCIQ are presented. Finally, current applications of the seven‐scale, 49‐item SCIQ as a foundation for data collection, staff discussion and collaborative decision‐making for the purpose of primary science delivery are briefly discussed.     

Effect of Phiocon upon Ligamentous Injury in Rats

Abstract

Fourteen incised medial collateral ligaments in respective control and experimental groups of white rats were treated to test whether or not the application of phiocon hastened the rate of healing. There was no significant difference in the rate of healing with respect to the following criteria: (a) amount of granulation present; (b) amount of capillarization present; and, (c) amount of infiltrating white blood cells present. It was substantiated that phiocon: (a) is antiseptic; (b) is systemic; and, (c) produces no observable harmful side effects.     

Evaluating the Impact of a National Curriculum on Content‐Free Cognitive Outcomes

Summaries

English

This paper elucidates some of the conceptual, measurement and methodological problems associated with evaluating science curricula in terms of their impact upon students’ content‐free cognitive outcomes. In particular, a report is given of an investigation of the effects of incorporating ASEP (Australian Science Education Project) materials into the science programmes of a large sample of seventh‐grade students in Tasmania. In this investigation, the content‐free outcomes were assessed at the beginning and end of a school year by means of three measures of understanding of the nature of science and four measures of enquiry skills.

It was found that a significant relationship emerged between the curriculum variables and one learning outcome, between sex and six learning outcomes, between socio‐economic status and one learning outcome, and between school type and all seven learning outcomes. All together, the curriculum shows a continuous influence on the general cognitive‐learning results in the scientific field, as far as they are not related to specific subject matter.     

Team processes, team conflict, team outcomes, and gender: An examination of U.S. and Mexican learning teams

Team learning is growing rapidly in popularity in United States (U.S.) and Mexican universities. This instructional approach consists of using learning teams in which participants are required to work together regularly for a semester period of time and produce evaluated team outcomes. These team outcomes, along with their individual performance, have a significant impact on each individual's final assessment. We compare team processes, team conflict, team outcomes, and gender interaction in Mexican and U.S. student teams. U.S. teams report more team-oriented behavior and more cohesiveness, and Mexican teams report more self-oriented behavior and more conflict. Nationality (United States or Mexico) has a moderating effect on the relationship between gender heterogeneity and cohesiveness and conflict. Suggestions are given for applications and future research.     

Serving,learning and mentoring through the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program

This study describes the collaborative partnership between a Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, an elementary school and the College of Education at a public university. The partnership utilized a mentoring system consisting of elementary students, college students, elementary teachers and university faculty. Benefits of the various stakeholders are discussed.     

Teenage dropouts and drug use: Does the specification of peer group structure matter?

Four alternative structures of peer groups are compared in an empirical analysis of teenage dropouts and recent drug use. In general, individual-specific covariates remain robust regardless of group structure specification in dropout models, but lose significance in models of drug-use. Estimates of correlated school effects depend on the specification of group structure. Contextual group effects have no influence on the probability that an individual uses drugs, but demonstrate some statistical significance, albeit ambiguous and strongly dependent on the specification of group structure. Endogenous peer effects do not influence the probability of dropping-out of school, but exhibit positive complementarities with respect to recent drug-use. Modeling the probabilities of leaving school and recent drug-use within a jointly distributed empirical framework indicates that unobserved attributes bridging the two types of behavior demonstrate positive correlation.