Educational Assessment via a Web-Based Intelligent System

Effective assessment is vital in educational activities. We propose IWAS （intelligent Web-based assessment system）, an intelligent, generalized and real-time system to assess both learning and teaching. IWAS provides a foundation for more efficiency in instructional activities and, ultimately, students＇ performances. Our contributions are summarized as （1） Given the causes （student knowledge levels and learning styles）, BN （Bayesian Networks） technique is utilized to automatically reason on the probabilities of the presence of the effects （learning outcomes）; （2） The absence of teaching practice assessments is addressed via the feedbacks from three different levels, aiming to correlate the teaching assessment with the learning assessments for the improved effectiveness in instructional activities; （3） Under a client/server architecture, IWAS is decomposed into a set of independent modules; through the standard inter-module interfaces, the flexibility of easy maintenance makes IWAS a generalized system adaptable to different domains; and （4） Web technologies are integrated to deliver the formative feedbacks to users in a timely manner     

Instruction Boot Camp: Better Instruction Through Collaborative Course Design

ABSTRACT

This case study details Oregon State University Libraries and Press’ Instruction Boot Camp, a professional development event inspired by several different instructional improvement models, where librarians have a chance to work collaboratively in small groups of four to six to redesign a library instruction session. Librarians from six different departments participated in two Instruction Boot Camp sessions in 2012. The benefits of such collaboration include drawing upon the collective wisdom of the group to design a course and having a dedicated time to work on instruction. Although our assessment did not include student-learning outcomes, participating librarians found this a useful and valuable experience.     

Providing Help in Hard Times: A Blueprint for Successful Strategic Planning

ABSTRACT

In response to a lack of funding during the 2007–2009 recession, many library systems reduced or eliminated professional and library support positions. Traditional outcome measurements were not sufficient to convince tax-depleted legislatures to allocate more funds to libraries. In response to the crisis authors recommended cost-saving measures and tactics for perception management. Studies have shown that the demand for library services increases during times of economic hardship. The production of a strategic plan justifying budget requests is necessary in those times, and should be accompanied by efforts to secure endowment and donation opportunities. This column provides a table or “blueprint for successful strategic planning” that matches goals, actions and measurement criteria.     

Embedded gender expectations: A covariate analysis of conflict situations and issues

A recent meta‐analysis of gender differences in the selection of conflict management strategies revealed small effect sizes. To explore the possibility that the primary experiments used situations and instances containing embedded gender expectations, 49 participants completed a survey evaluating the actual scenarios used in the primary research. They rated conflict strategies far efficacy, consequences, and gender bias and evaluated the scenarios for the male/female sex role appropriateness of each situation reported in the primary studies. A covariate analysis provides evidence that gender‐based cognitions play a small, but meaningful role in assessments of conflict situations.     

The Relationship Between Chinese Students’ Subject Matter Knowledge and Argumentation Pedagogy

Science education in China is Subject Matter Knowledge (SMK) oriented in that SMK understanding is the major benchmark to assess students’ achievement in science learning. Such an orientation causes students to overemphasize the memorization of SMK and neglect other indispensable components of science, such as scientific attitudes and research skills. The central government in China launched an educational innovation known as New Curriculum Reform in 2003. Considerable progress has been made in the past 11 years in regard to theoretical understandings and administrative priorities, but little progress has been made in terms of classroom instruction and scientific literacy cultivation at the secondary level. Under the pressure of nationwide standardized exams, any educational innovations are unlikely to be accepted unless there is robust evidence suggesting their efficacy in promoting students’ achievements on exams, or even attempted unless teachers are assured such attempts will not negatively impact such achievement. Argumentation-integrated curriculum is one such innovation. Scientific argumentation is an essential scientific activity that leads to the development of an explanation based on empirical evidence. An initial foundation of SMK, in terms of the necessary background knowledge, is considered by many to be a vital component of argumentation and an enhanced SMK is one of the intended products of argumentation. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to investigate the relationship between Chinese students’ SMK levels and argumentation pedagogy and to provide insights into a possible research agenda focused on implementing argumentation in a heavily SMK-oriented context.     

Torey Hayden’s teacher lore: classroom behavior management of children with emotional and behavioral disorders

Torey Hayden’s portrayal of classroom behavior management in her teacher lore, autobiographical writings about teaching children with emotional and behavioral disorders, is examined. Five of her books were sampled: One child, Somebody else’s kids, Just another kid, Ghost girl and Beautiful child. Each of these books unfolds within the space of an elementary age, self‐contained classroom for children with emotional and behavioral disorders. Each technique Hayden used to respond to her students’ problem behaviors in the five books was categorized according to Fritz Redl’s theory on managing behavior problems. Redl identified five strategies educators can use to handle their students’ behavior problems: changing, managing, tolerating, preventing and accommodating. The methodology used to categorize Hayden’s techniques was analogous to constant comparative analysis of documents. Hayden is portrayed through Redl’s strategies as a teacher who relies on managing without consequences and changing techniques. Narrative passages illustrating these techniques are presented. The roles of altruism and student empowerment in Hayden’s storied model of classroom management are presented. Implications for Hayden as a role model for teachers of children with emotional and behavioral disorders are discussed.