Conceptualizing Continuous Coverage: A Strategic Model for Wall-to-Wall Local Television Weather Broadcasts

The 2005 hurricane season provided unprecedented opportunities for local television stations to serve the public interest in live, often commercial-free, coverage of severe weather. In this examination of four local television stations' coverage of four Atlantic hurricanes in two Southeastern markets, observed patterns of behavior culminated in the development of the Local Weather Continuous Coverage Model. The study showed that unlike their cable news counterparts, local television news continuous coverage prioritizes weather personnel over live, on-the-scene news reporting. Of all the weather tools used, radar was the most frequently used, followed by watch and warning graphics.     

Assessment: New Ways of Pupil Evaluation Using Real Data

Typically, external assessment of school statistics concentrates on lower–level skills. This article discusses how use of the real data of CensusAtSchool makes it possible to devise questions and activities that assess deeper levels of understanding, as described in Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Learning.     

Transforming SIBTEST to Account for Multilevel Data Structures

SIBTEST is a differential item functioning (DIF) detection method that is accurate and effective with small samples, in the presence of group mean differences, and for assessment of both uniform and nonuniform DIF. The presence of multilevel data with DIF detection has received increased attention. Ignoring such structure can inflate Type I error. This simulation study examines the performance of newly developed multilevel adaptations of SIBTEST in the presence of multilevel data. Data were simulated in a multilevel framework and both uniform and nonuniform DIF were assessed. Study results demonstrated that naïve SIBTEST and Crossing SIBTEST, ignoring the multilevel data structure, yield inflated Type I error rates, while certain multilevel extensions provided better error and accuracy control.     

Student perceptions of their learning and engagement in response to the use of a continuous e-assessment in an undergraduate module

Student engagement is an important issue in higher education, and is related to the quality of the student experience. Increasing student engagement is one way of enhancing quality at a higher education institution. An institution is able to influence student engagement in a number of ways, one being through curriculum design. The use of a low-stakes continuous weekly summative e-assessment had a positive influence on student engagement in an optional level 5 (second year) undergraduate geography module. Students considered their increased engagement was a direct consequence of this assessment method. It was also found that students thought they improved their learning, particularly their understanding, as a result of the continuous assessment. This study suggests that carefully designed assessments can be used to increase student engagement and learning, and, as a result, contribute to improving the quality of the overall student experience.     

Comparison of Knowledge and Attitudes Using Computer-based and Face-to-Face Personal Hygiene Training Methods in Food Processing Facilities

ABSTRACT:  Computer-based training is increasingly favored by food companies for training workers due to convenience, self-pacing ability, and ease of use. The objectives of this study were to determine if personal hygiene training, offered through a computer-based method, is as effective as a face-to-face method in knowledge acquisition and improved attitude toward food safety. Employees from four food processing facilities ( n = 94) were randomly assigned to a control group, a face-to-face training group, or a computer-based training group. Evaluation instruments consisted of a pretest and a posttest to measure knowledge gain, a step scale to measure attitude after training and retrospectively before training, and a brief set of interview questions. Results for both treatments and the control group indicated increases in knowledge. Analysis of the posttest scores, when controlling for the pretest scores, indicated the difference was significant ( P ≤ 0.05); however, post hoc analysis did not indicate which treatment was superior. There was a significant increase in attitude scores for both groups using paired t -tests, although the difference between groups was not significant when controlling for attitude scores before training. Issues that may limit application of the technology used in this study include low literacy and language barriers among employees, and time constraints within companies. These and other variables should be taken into account in future research studies addressing comparisons of training methods. This study is the first to demonstrate the effectiveness of computer-based training aimed at food handlers who work in food processing establishments.     

Developmentally-based insights for science teaching

From where should science teaching derive its inspiration? It is suggested here that if we are to have sustainable, rational progress in science teaching then practice must be theoretically based. Working from this position, Piaget's theory is examined for its teaching implications. Ten implications are derived and, in a second section of the paper, are used to generate a coherent program of classroom practice and research.