The effect of verbalizers on the achievement of non-verbalizers in an enquiring classroom

This study investigated the effect of verbal participation during enquiry sessions on achievement. Other factors examined included intelligence characteristics of participants and non-participants and question categories for each treatment group. The Suchman questioning procedure was used. Twelve eighth grade science classes were assigned to three treatment groups of four classes each. Treatment A consisted of a film, a pretest on the film, the enquiry session, and a posttest. Subjects in treatment B were not administered the pretest but engaged in unguided discovery. Treatment C students submitted five questions each on paper after having viewed the film. Three such enquiry sessions were conducted. Each class was also administered an I.Q. test, a reading test, a sociogram, and an academiogram. In all treatment groups the mean I.Q. of the participants exceeded that of the non-participants. With I.Q. controlled, significant differences in mean achievement were found between the participants and non-participants in the higher categories (3:00 to 6:00) of the Bloom taxonomy but not on the lower (1:00 to 2:00) categories. With adjustment for ability, the highest mean achievement in both the composite and higher category was attained by the group given maximum guidance by means of the pretest. Participation was found to be independent of sociometric position in the classroom but not of academiometric position. Sex and participation were found to be dependent upon each other, with more boys and fewer girls participating than was expected. In the analysis of questions written by students in treatment C, it was found that the participants wrote a substantially higher percentage of “directed” questions than did the non-participants. No significant difference in the distribution of questions was evident between treatment groups A and C but group B differed significantly from both. It would appear that student verbal participation in the classroom is associated with achievement at the higher cognitive levels.     

Effects of social and individual school self-concepts on school engagement during adolescence

European Journal of Psychology of Education - While school self-concept is an important facilitator of a student’s school engagement, previous studies rarely investigated whether it may also...     

Classroom Response Systems: A Review of the Literature

As the frequency with which Classroom Response Systems (CRSs) are used is increasing, it becomes more and more important to define the affordances and limitations of these tools. Currently existing literature is largely either anecdotal or focuses on comparing CRS and non-CRS environments that are unequal in other aspects as well. In addition, the literature primarily describes situations in which the CRS is used to provide an individual as opposed to a group response. This article points to the need for a concerted research effort, one that rigorously explores conditions of use across diverse settings and pedagogies.     

Online course selection: using course dashboards to inform student enrollment decisions

This article explores the potential of course dashboards as a front-end strategy for decreasing online course dropout rates. Scholarship has addressed course attrition once students are enrolled in online courses. However, supporting academic success by assisting students in the making of effective decisions about which online courses to take has received relatively little attention. Students in undergraduate-level online courses from varied disciplines rated the utility of course information types and three course dashboard prototypes. Qualitative feedback was also collected. Various types of information related to the time investment necessary to successfully complete the course were given priority. With regard to information displays, students preferred moderate-to-high amounts of well-organised information, presented with a careful balance of text and visual images. Comments from past students also favoured course dashboard elements.     

Self‐efficacy,reasoning ability,and achievement in college biology

This study compared the relationships of self‐efficacy and reasoning ability to achievement in introductory college biology. Based on the hypothesis that developing formal and postformal reasoning ability is a primary factor influencing self‐efficacy, a significant positive correlation was predicted between reasoning ability and degree of self‐efficacy to complete biological tasks. Further, reasoning ability was predicted to be more highly correlated with course achievement than self‐efficacy. The study involved pre‐ and posttesting 459 introductory biology students. Both self‐efficacy and reasoning ability increased during the semester. As predicted, self‐efficacy and reasoning ability were positively correlated. Depending on the nature of the achievement measure, reasoning ability accounted for some 15 to 30 times more variance in achievement than self‐efficacy. Also, as predicted, reasoning ability was a strong predictor of self‐efficacy, but self‐efficacy was not a strong predictor of reasoning ability. Self‐efficacy estimates and achievement were higher for the concrete tasks than for the formal tasks and higher for the formal tasks than for the postformal tasks. In general, students tended to overestimate their abilities to carry out the concrete, formal, and postformal tasks. Results support the study's working hypothesis that intellectual development continues for some students during the college years, that a postformal level of intellectual development exists, and that reasoning ability is a primary factor influencing both self‐efficacy and achievement. Student overestimation of their abilities may contribute to complacency, lack of effort, and to less than optimal achievement. Consequently, it may be advantageous early in the semester to provide students with particularly challenging tasks that “shock” them out of their complacency and perhaps increase their effort, their reasoning skills, and their achievement. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 706–724, 2007     

Using Charter Schools to Alleviate Racial Exclusion in Rural America: An Innovative Idea or a Trojan Horse?

ABSTRACT

Racial segregation has remained a lasting legacy of rural schools in southern states. Our article explains a case where community leaders created a diverse charter school to change its historical practice of an isolated White private school and isolated African American public schools. We scan documents and literature related to this integration strategy to surface key themes when using rural charter schools to alter patterns of school segregation. First, we explain pressing issues in rural schools. Second, we describe how segregation and inequality have evolved in the South. Third, we explain research showing how charter schools maintain patterns of school segregation, but with exceptions and nuances in certain contexts. Fourth, we consider the benefits and tensions surrounding one rural charter school that offers an integrated educational program. Benefits range from societal to individual as the school fosters an environment where students are exposed to diverse educational experiences. Tensions include shifting power and funding dynamics and the possibility of using a good example to shepherd in less effective charter models elsewhere.     

DNA sequence representation by trianders and determinative degree of nucleotides

INTRODUCTION Genomic DNA sequence analysis using wide range of statistical methods (Torney et al., 1999; Bulmer, 1987; Luo et al., 1998; Nieselt-Struwe, 1997; Fickett et al., 1992; Buldyrev et al., 1998; Azbel, 1995) and various symmetry investigations (Findley et al., 1982; Hornos and Hornos, 1993; Bashford et al., 1997; Bhry et al., 1998; Forger and Sachse, 1998; Frappat et al., 1998) is an extremely important tool for extracting hidden information on the dynamic process of evolu…