Thesaurus-based automatic book indexing

This paper describes a technique for automatic book indexing. The technique requires a dictionary of terms that are to appear in the index, along with all text strings that count as instances of the term. It also requires that the text be in a form suitable for processing by a text formatter. A program searches the text for each occurrence of a term or its associated strings and creates an entry to the index when either is found. The results of the experimental application to a portion of a book text are presented, including measures of precision and recall, with precision giving the ratio of terms correctly assigned in the automatic process to the total assigned, and recall giving the ratio of correct terms automatically assigned to the total number of term assignments according to a human standard. Results indicate that the technique can be applied successfully, especially for texts that employ a technical vocabulary and where there is a premium on indexing exhaustivity.     

The effect of practical work on students' understanding of combustion

This paper describes a study which investigated 14 and 15 year old students' understanding of combustion in both England and Spain, and explores the effect of practical laboratory experience on students' understanding. The teaching and learning styles used with the students in the study were explored using questionnaires and interviews. The students' understanding of combustion was explored using a questionnaire. The responses of English and Spanish students are significantly different. The quality of the responses is explored in terms of the awareness of students of the involvement of gases in combustion, and it appears, however, that the more extensive use of practical work in English schools has had only a marginal effect on their understanding of combustion.     

NARST: a lived history

In this Forum, we construct a history of the National Association for Research in Science Education (NARST) through the analysis of documents and through the personal perspectives of individuals. The history of NARST is inseparable from the biography of the individuals through whose lives it was produced and reproduced. The history of NARST is a living history that both shapes and was shaped by the biographies of its members.

Exploring students’ epistemological knowledge of models and modelling in science: results from a teaching/learning experience on climate change

The scientific community has been debating climate change for over two decades. In the light of certain arguments put forward by the aforesaid community, the EU has recommended a set of innovative reforms to science teaching such as incorporating environmental issues into the scientific curriculum, thereby helping to make schools a place of civic education. However, despite these European recommendations, relatively little emphasis is still given to climate change within science curricula. Climate change, although potentially engaging for students, is a complex topic that poses conceptual difficulties and emotional barriers, as well as epistemological challenges. Whilst the conceptual and emotional barriers have already been the object of several studies, students’ reactions to the epistemological issues raised by climate changes have so far been rarely explored in science education research and thus are the main focus of this paper. This paper describes a study concerning the implementation of teaching materials designed to focus on the epistemological role of ‘models and the game of modelling’ in science and particularly when dealing with climate change. The materials were implemented in a course of 15 hours (five 3-hour lessons) for a class of Italian secondary-school students (grade 11; 16–17 years old). The purpose of the study is to investigate students’ reactions to the epistemological dimension of the materials, and to explore if and how the material enabled them to develop their epistemological knowledge on models.     

Building community capacity and social infrastructure through landcare: a case study of land grant engagement

In the struggle to remain true to their technical assistance and civic engagement missions in an era of shrinking budgets and increasingly complex accountability claims, land grant universities have developed different engagement strategies to contribute to the development of surrounding communities. Drawing on Flora and Flora’s (in Ann Am Acad Polit Soc Sci, 48, 1993) assertion that a strong and “entrepreneurial” social infrastructure is critical for facilitating lasting change and development in communities (particularly rural communities), this article presents a case study of a land grant university’s engagement with a community landcare group from the perspective of building social capacity in surrounding communities. This case explores Virginia Tech’s involvement in facilitating and supporting Catawba Landcare using three theoretical frames—Ronald Heifetz’s concept of “holding environments” as a safe and facilitated space where social learning can occur; ecological and social entrepreneurship and the roles and functions required to support these forms of entrepreneurship; and the concept of learning action networks in which otherwise disparate partners are linked under common goals and collectively learn how to manage the situation at hand. Using these three theoretical frames, this paper posits landcare as a model of engagement for land grant universities thus contributing to the construction of social infrastructure.     

Understanding motivation, engagement and experiences of intercultural interactions at university: a person-in-multiple contexts perspective

The paucity of intercultural interactions among students from culturally diverse backgrounds at university and off campus is widely documented in the literature. A review of this empirical work, however, reveals narrow conceptualisations of the construct of intercultural interactions. Intercultural interactions are seldom conceptualised as part of complex, dynamic activity systems, and across multiple social contexts. Yet, intercultural interactions represent unique relational, socio-emotional and socio-cultural activities with their own, specific underlying cognitive, motivational and emotional dynamics. It is posited that activity theory (e.g. Engestr?m in Journal of Education and Work 14(1):133?C156, 2001) provides a useful framework for interpreting students?? intercultural experiences, because of its emphasis on the evolving and complex interrelations between individuals and their surroundings??conceptualised as activity systems. The multiple contexts angle further stresses the overlapping and/or embedded nature of the activity systems that individuals simultaneously participate in. A series of empirical studies that incorporated quantitative methodologies for identifying meaningful patterns, and qualitative methodologies for gaining experiential insights into students?? intercultural experiences across multiple social contexts (i.e. formal on campus and informal, off campus) is presented. Methodological and conceptual issues related to studying the dynamics of motivational, cognitive and emotional aspects of intercultural interactions in activity systems and multiple contexts are addressed.     

Do the Paths to STEMM Professions Differ by Gender?

In this article we examine gender differences in factors related to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) education and employment between the ages of 36 and 39. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, we identified a STEMM high school talent pool. We found early gender differences in interest in engineering, although we found no such differences in entry into a general STEMM undergraduate major. Throughout the course of the study, we developed and tested structural equation models. We discovered that there were no major gender differences in family encouragement or precollege educational experiences, except that high school boys were slightly more likely to take calculus in high school. There were no significant differences in entrance into medicine and other health professions, but there were substantial gender differences in earned engineering degrees and employment in engineering. The completion of a graduate or professional degree was a stronger predictor of female employment in a STEMM profession than for young men. Among young adults with academic qualifications for a STEMM profession, the presence of children 18 years of age or younger in the family made no difference in the likelihood of employment in a STEMM profession.     

Judges' Use of Examinee Performance Data in an Angoff Standard‐Setting Exercise for a Medical Licensing Examination: An Experimental Study

Although the Angoff procedure is among the most widely used standard setting procedures for tests comprising multiple‐choice items, research has shown that subject matter experts have considerable difficulty accurately making the required judgments in the absence of examinee performance data. Some authors have viewed the need to provide performance data as a fatal flaw for the procedure; others have considered it appropriate for experts to integrate performance data into their judgments but have been concerned that experts may rely too heavily on the data. There have, however, been relatively few studies examining how experts use the data. This article reports on two studies that examine how experts modify their judgments after reviewing data. In both studies, data for some items were accurate and data for other items had been manipulated. Judges in both studies substantially modified their judgments whether the data were accurate or not.