Trust in education

Abstract

The philosophy of trust is a relatively small subfield. Nonetheless, it contains within it many important insights. Our contention in this paper is that careful study of this subfield can bring with it many insights that can and should be used to reconsider a variety of arguments that have been brought forward in the literature on the philosophy of education and other areas of educational research. Our focus is largely destructive in section 2 of the paper. We object to two recent papers from the philosophy of education literature arguing that they fail to recognise important insights from the philosophical literature on trust. In section 3 we say something more positive, noting the routes forward.     

Multiple True-False Items: A Study of Interitem Correlations, Scoring Alternatives, and Reliability Estimation

Intercorrelations among multiple true-false items were examined to determine to what extent each true-false option can be treated as independent. Results from 157 health science students and 170 medical students showed that correlations between true-false options associated with the same stem were from 2.6 to 7.0 times larger than those from different stems. This suggests that results from previous research indicating that each true-false option could be treated as an independent item cannot be generalized to other tests and examinee populations without supporting evidence. Four scoring methods were explored which varied chance success levels and scoring for partial knowledge. The results showed that scoring methods incorporating partial knowledge were more reliable and possessed greater concurrent and predictive validity than those minimizing chance success. Methods for computing reliability estimates were compared and suggestions were offered regarding practical use     

SCAN: A method of community collaboration

Recent research has highlighted the complexity of the battered child syndrome. Clinical experience suggests that treatment of troubled families is a long-term process, draining financial resources of agencies and emotional resources of professionals. The need to provide support and case consultation to professionals working in the area of child abuse and neglect evolved in the establishment, in 1968, of the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Program at Children's Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This program provides an effective method of intervention through identification, consultation, referral and follow-up of at-risk families. Weekly meetings offer multi-disciplinary case coordination, treatment recommendations, and a channel of communication for representatives of community agencies. This paper traces the history and present status of the SCAN Program, as well as the role of SCAN as a force for change of community attitudes.     

How do teachers help children to learn? An analysis of teachers' interventions in computer-based activities

In British schools, educational software is normally used by children working under the supervision of a teacher, who will have set them specific tasks and organize them to work at the computer in pairs or groups. However, those theories of learning which have most influenced research into the design and use of educational software have been essentially concerned with individualized learning, and are insensitive to the nature of teaching and learning as a communicative, culturally-based process. The present paper discusses an alternative theoretical perspective, one derived from the work of Vygotsky. This is used in an analysis of interventions made by teachers in the computer-based activities of their pupils, using observational data gained from video-recordings of primary school classrooms. The usefulness of the theoretical perspective is evaluated, and implications for the development of computer-based activities are discussed.     

Faculty dynamation: Guided empowerment

Dynamation is the integrative process whereby the sum total of all learning, knowledge, experiences, and feelings are brought to bear on productive, creative action and problem solving. In this paper, we describe some of the benefits of dynamation, outline a general approach to it-including the importance of friendship (the core of the empowerment process)- and explain several key incentives that will encourage faculty, through dynamation, to engage in growth activities. Throughout the article we discuss ten techniques developers can use. Our focus is on informal facilitator-enhanced (guided) empowerment. That is, we look at growth that is likely to result when developers work with faculty with the goal of growth, change, and development.Richard L. Weaver II is a professor in the Department of Interpersonal and Public Communication at Bowling Green State University. Darrell Mullins is an assistant professor in the Communication Department at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. Howard W. Cotrell is an associate professor in the Instructional Media Center at Bowling Green State University. Thomas A. Michel is an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Business at Fordham University, Bronx, New York.     

The effect of intra- versus post-interview feedback during simulated practice interviews about child abuse

OBJECTIVE: This study compared the effectiveness of two types of instructor feedback (relative to no feedback) on investigative interviewers' ability to adhere to open-ended questions in simulated practice interviews about child abuse. METHOD: In one condition, feedback was provided at the end of each practice interview. In the other, the instructor stopped the interviewer at various stages during the practice interviews to provide feedback. The relative effect of these conditions was examined by measuring interviewers' performance in a standardized mock interview paradigm immediately prior to, immediately after, and 12 weeks after the practice and feedback sessions. RESULTS: Prior to and 12 weeks after the practice sessions were administered, there was no significant difference in participants' adherence to open-ended questions irrespective of the nature of the feedback, or whether feedback was received. At the immediate post-practice assessment interval, however, the participants who received feedback during the practice interviews performed better (M proportion of open-ended questions=.85, SD=.13) than the other participants (post-interview feedback M=.67, SD=.18, p<.001; no feedback M=.56, SD=.16, p<.001). This heightened use of open-ended questions was associated with a greater tendency among the interviewees to provide abuse-related details in response to open-ended questions (M=.91, SD=.11) compared to the other participants (post-interview feedback M=.77, SD=.15, p<.05; no feedback M=.69, SD=.16, p=.001). CONCLUSIONS: Different types of feedback can be differentially effective in training child abuse investigators to adhere to open-ended questions. The benefits of any training program, however, are likely to be short-lived without ongoing practice. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: A single study compared the relative effectiveness of two types of instructor feedback (relative to no feedback) on investigative interviewers' ability to adhere to open-ended questions in simulated practice interviews about child abuse. This research is relevant to trainers of investigative interviewers because there is currently large variability in the type of feedback employed in training programs. This study is one of the first to empirically demonstrate that different types of feedback may be differentially effective in improving the performance of investigative interviewers.     

Semantic networking: The new kid on the block

This article briefly describes the SemNet? software and some of its uses as an educational and research tool, with emphasis on the similarities and differences between concept mapping and semantic networking. A semantic network captures (in part) each concept's position in psychological space, identifying both the other concepts to which it is connected and the nature of the links that bind them. Computer-based semantic networks differ from paper-and-pencil maps in that they are n-dimensional; each concept can be linked to many other concepts; relations are bidirectional; representations can include images, text, and sound; and nets can be very large. Disadvantages of SemNet? networks include (a) the difficulties in obtaining a clear overview and (b) the homogeneous nature of the representations, in which all links look alike. Advantages include the ability to integrate ideas across a large knowledge base, the ease and rapidity of net creation, the ease with which elements (concepts, relations, or propositions) can be found within nets, and the utility of nets as self-study tools. Concept mapping and semantic networking are complementary strategies that can be used effectively in tandem to help students learn, to help teachers teach, and to support cognitive research.     

Costs and economies of scale in Turkey's postsecondary vocational schools

The study reported in this paper examines the institutional cost structures of the postsecondary vocational education system in Turkey. The study uses a single-output quadratic cost function to analyze 65 individual vocational schools located within the 28 existing universities. Appropriate controls for institutional quality, discretionary allocation of staffing resources, the degree of technical instruction in the cirriculum, and regional variation are also included. Both average and marginal costs for each school are estimated over relevant ranges of student enrollments for determing prospective degrees of economies of scale. The findings should help policy makers in Turkey determine which vocational schools can reap efficiencies by an expansion (or contraction) of their student enrollments.