Development of a user-friendly instrument for identifying the learning strategy preferences of adults

Learning strategies offer a means of addressing individual differences. A programmatic line of inquiry at two universities in the United States has led to an extensive body of research related to learning strategies and to the development of two instruments. This study reports on the development of one of these instruments that can be used to quickly identify learning strategy preferences. Although this instrument, Assessing The Learning Strategies of AdultS (ATLAS), appears very simple and is easy to use, a series of multivariate statistical procedures were used to develop and validate it. These procedures are reported here in detail so that practitioners can be aware of its strong research base and use it with confidence. ATLAS can be used either for self-assessment or by an instructor in order to quickly identify how an individual learner approaches a learning task.     

Structural and convergent validity of the homework performance questionnaire

Homework is a requirement for most school-age children, but research on the benefits and drawbacks of homework is limited by lack of psychometrically sound measurement of homework performance. This study examined the structural and convergent validity of scores from the newly developed Homework Performance Questionnaire – Teacher Scale (HPQ-T). Participants were 112 teachers of 224 students in six Illinois school districts. Common factor analysis with principal axis extraction and promax rotation was used for data analysis. Results revealed three salient factors: Parent support, student competence and homework completion. Subsequently, convergent validity of HPQ-T subscale scores with subscale scores from the Learning Behaviours Scale was examined. Findings suggest that the HPQ-T may potentially be a useful tool for improving research on homework and identifying strengths and weaknesses in student homework performance. However, modifications are recommended to optimise the utility of the scores.     

Constant and variable irrelevant cues during intra- and extradimensional transfer

Experiment I compared constant (CI), variable-between (VBI), and variable-within (WVI) irrelevant cues during an extradimensional (ED) shift discrimination. Performance was better for CI than for VBI and better for VBI than for VWI. Experiment II combined CI, VBI, and VWI cues with ED or intradimensional (ID) shifts. Irrelevant-cue conditions did not affect ID performance but did affect ED performance. The typical superiority of ID, as compared to ED, shifts was observed in the VWI condition but not in the CI condition. Implications for mediating-response (i.e., attention or observing-response) theories were indicated.     

The Consistency of Detecting Item Bias Across Different Test Administrations: Implications of Another Failure

Several item bias detection methods were applied to the analysis of bias among males and females for items from a curriculum-based mathematics test. The focus of this analysis was the consistency of the methods across different test administrations of the same items. The results indicated that, of the methods studied, the Mantel–Haenszel (M–H) and IRT-based sum-of-squares methods were the most consistent. However, the degree of reliability and agreement for these methods was modest at best. As with most prior research, no reasonable explanation could be found for the most consistently flagged items. A likely reason for this lies in the confusion of visible genetic group characteristics with their instructional backgrounds. A multidimensional perspective of item bias is proposed for future research that will take such confounding into account.     

Young children's understanding of perception, desire, and emotion

Very young children seem to know that people experience several mental states: desires, perceptions, emotions. In three studies, we investigated 2- and young 3-year-olds' judgments and communications about how these states connect together in people's lives and minds. Two experimental studies with 56 participants demonstrated young children's understanding of at least one set of connections: In appropriate circumstances, a person's perception of desirable or undesirable objects leads to related emotional experiences. A complementary investigation of four young children's everyday conversations demonstrated their awareness of and expression of several additional connections between people's desires, perceptions, and emotions.     

The Enduring Nature of the Tripartite System of Secondary Schooling in Germany: Some Explanations

This paper suggests explanations for the enduring nature of the tripartite system of secondary education in Germany and the failure to develop the comprehensive school (Gesamtschule) over a long period.     

Incidence and situational factors surrounding sexual assault against delinquent youths

This study reports the results of extensive interviews with an intact sample of moderately delinquent adolescents concerning their sexual assault histories. Findings indicate a surprisingly high incidence of victimization among the females interviewed which, the authors suggest, may characterize the larger population of delinquent females. The behavioral-situational contexts of reported victimization experiences are examined for salient commonalities and the following composite rape scenerio can be cast from the data: An unsupervised, 14-year-old female, who has been consuming alcohol or marijuana, is sexually assaulted, following threat and/or force, to the point of penile-vaginal penetration, by an older male friend or acquaintance (who has also consumed alcohol or marijuana) in his home or vehicle or other place where she is inherently unprotected. Some comments are offered concerning the requirements of an effective technology of child rape prevention.