Psychometric reevaluation of the scientific attitude inventory‐revised (SAI‐II)

The central purposes of this study were to review the development and evolution of the Scientific Attitude Inventory (SAI) and then reevaluate the psychometric properties of the revised form of the SAI, the Scientific Attitude Inventory II (SAI‐II). The SAI‐II was administered to a convenience sample of 543 middle and high school students from five teachers in four schools in four school districts in San Antonio, Texas, at the beginning of the 2004–2005 school year. Confirmatory factor analysis on the full data set failed to support the existence of a 12‐factor structure (as proposed by the scale developers) or a one‐factor structure. The data were then randomly divided into exploratory [exploratory factor analysis (EFA)] validation and confirmatory [confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)] cross‐validation sets. Exploratory and confirmatory models yielded a three‐factor solution that did not fit the data well [χ² (321) = 646, p < .001; RMSEA = .061 (.90 CI = .054–.068); and CFI = .81]. The three factors were labeled “Science is About Understanding and Explaining” (13 items), “Science is Rigid” (6 items), and “I Want to Be a Scientist” (8 items). The α‐coefficients for these three factors ranged from 0.59 to 0.85. Whether these identified subscales are valid will require independent investigation. In this sample, and consistent with prior publications, the SAI‐II in its current form did not have satisfactory psychometric properties and cannot be recommended for further use. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 600–616, 2008     

The analysis and treatment of child abuse by behavioural psychotherapy

The results from use of behaviour therapy with child abuse cases is very encouraging. Data has been presented to show the approach both economical and rewarding. Our experience suggests that selected social workers may be able to learn to use the approach with a relatively short period of training.     

CAMPUS EARLY CHILDHOOD LABORATORY SCHOOLS: PARTNERS IN TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Abstract

Making Theory and Development of Early Childhood Education come alive for elementary master's degree students in two learning sites offers opportunities and challenges. In constructing the class, a primary goal was to expose the students to the context under which early childhood educators developed programs and theories. Also, students were challenged to uncover the relationship that the education of young children had with social change and emerging human rights. Utilizing distance learning, contemporary books such as Who Moved My Cheese (Johnson, 1998) and a field trip to the National Civil Rights Museum and the Rock'n Soul Museum, students developed a sense of the place early childhood education had and continues to have in social change and the advancement of civil rights in this country.     

Cognitive regulation outdoes behavior regulation in predicting state standardized test scores over time

Metacognition and Learning - Individual differences in self-regulation have been a topic of increased empirical research. However, few investigations have been conducted on how sub-components of...