Three studies of factors affecting the attitudes of blacks and females toward the pursuit of science and science-related careers

This study involved the development of an instrument, the Science Career Predictor Scale (SCPS), which assesses seven factors thought to be involved with science career choices: teacher/counselor encouragement, participation in science-related hobbies and activities, academic self-image, science-related career interest, parental encouragement and support, the perceived relevance of mathematics and science, and mathematics and science ability. This instrument was administered to a sample of 522 middle and high school students, and a sample of 185 students from an historically black university, and the effects of such factors as sex, race, personal acquaintance with a scientist, and type of community (rural or urban) on the above-mentioned variables were ascertained using a multivariate analysis of covariance with age as the covariate. A separate study on a sample of 81 high school students looked at race and gender differences in critical thinking abilities as measured by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking appraisal, and how these abilities correlated with scores on the Science Career Predictor Scale. These studies produced several significant findings. Female subjects did produce significantly lower scores on the career interest factor. Black students actually had significantly higher science-career preference scores than their white counterparts. However, blacks scored significantly lower on the measure of critical thinking ability. Across both races and both sexes, however, the major factor affecting science-related career decisions appears to be personal contact with a scientist. The implications of these findings are discussed, along with possible strategies for increasing the participation of these groups in science.     

Parental involvement in education during middle school: Perspectives of ethnically diverse parents,teachers, and students

Maintaining productive partnerships between families and schools is more complex when youth enter middle school. A systematic and inclusive understanding of the strategies parents use, youth want and need, and teachers' desire is needed to broaden our conceptualization and deepen our understanding of parental involvement in education. The authors captured the voices of 3 primary stakeholders in education (i.e., parents, teachers, and students) to identify the goals for parental involvement in education, identify consistencies across stakeholders in the conceptualizations of parental involvement in education, and deepen our understanding of the types of involvement that matter for adolescents. The study used grounded-theory analysis of 20 focus groups, with ethnically diverse parents, youth, and teachers (N = 150), along with quantitative indicators of involvement and interactions with schools. From these analyses scaffolding independence, linking education to future success, and communication emerged as the most consistent strategies for promoting achievement. Conceptualizations of home-based involvement were broadened. Ethnic variations in the general experiences of families at school were highlighted.     

Ganztagseinrichtungen in Finnland, den Niederlanden, Frankreich und Italien

Vergleiche ganzt?giger Bildungseinrichtungen erm?glichen, ein breites Spektrum von Konzeptionen und ihrer Realisierung kennen zu lernen sowie m?gliche Effekte und Funktionen einzusch?tzen (u.a. auf Lernleistungen oder für die Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf, aber auch Effekte auf au?erschulische Arbeitsformen und Einrichtungen). Deshalb werden hier die Struktur und die Organisation von — mehr oder weniger ganzt?gigen — Bildungseinrichtungen aus Finnland, den Niederlanden, Frankreich und Italien kriteriengeleitet dargestellt und analysiert. Die Sicht auf das Au?erunterrichtliche ist dabei vorherrschend. Im Hauptteil des Textes sind zentrale Merkmale der Bildungssysteme (Ausbau in den Schulstufen, Rechtsgrundlagen, Funktionen und Effekte; Zeiten, Tagesabl?ufe, Bildungssettings) auf Basis l?nderspezifischer — jedoch allein englisch-oder deutschsprachiger — Quellen kompiliert. Im zweiten Teil findet sich ein kurzer Ausblick auf weitere Vergleichsebenen (Personal, Kooperationen, Au?erschulisches) sowie eine Bewertung des Forschungsstandes und des Spektrums an Konzeptionen und ihrer Effekte.     

Focussing the Teacher's Gaze: Primary teachers reconstructing assessment in self managing schools

As a result of the changes to school administration and curriculum in New Zealand over the last ten years, primary teachers have had to make significant changes to their assessment practices. This paper briefly reviews literature relating to the competing discourses of assessment that underpin teachers' practices and describes how the changes to New Zealand education have provoked a reconsideration of the balance between formative and summative assessment. It then reports findings from a qualitative investigation into how some primary teachers have attempted to accommodate these competing discourses and the effects these have had on their teaching practice. These results are discussed in light of the research literature and suggestions for changing national and school policies and practices to prioritise assessment for better learning over accountability conclude the paper. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Faculty role orientation and perceived teaching effectiveness: The case of an intervening variable

This study was designed to explore the relationship between faculty role orientations and student perceptions of teaching effectiveness in community colleges. Survey questionnaires were completed by 260 faculty members and 12,396 students at five Pennsylvania community college campuses. Using a conceptual framework drawn from symbolic interaction theory, it was hypothesized that faculty members holding a student-centered role orientation will be perceived as more effective teachers than those holding a subject-matter orientation. Results indicate that whereas there is an association between a student-centered role orientation and perceived teaching effectiveness, the relationship is due to an intervening variable—the expected course grade. An examination of the causal chain of relationships among these variables is presented.This is a revision of a paper presented at the 1975 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (see South, Morrison and Hill, 1975).     

Perfectionism in Academically Gifted Students: A Systematic Review

Educational Psychology Review - Perfectionism has long been recognised as a psychological factor that can enhance or interfere with the healthy adjustment of young students who are academically...     

CAVEman: Standardized anatomical context for biomedical data mapping

The authors have created a software system called the CAVEman, for the visual integration and exploration of heterogeneous anatomical and biomedical data. The CAVEman can be applied for both education and research tasks. The main component of the system is a three‐dimensional digital atlas of the adult male human anatomy, structured according to the nomenclature of Terminologia Anatomica. The underlying data‐indexing mechanism uses standard ontologies to map a range of biomedical data types onto the atlas. The CAVEman system is now used to visualize genetic processes in the context of the human anatomy and to facilitate visual exploration of the data. Through the use of Java? software, the atlas‐based system is portable to virtually any computer environment, including personal computers and workstations. Existing Java tools for biomedical data analysis have been incorporated into the system. The affordability of virtual‐reality installations has increased dramatically over the last several years. This creates new opportunities for educational scenarios that model important processes in a patient's body, including gene expression patterns, metabolic activity, the effects of interventions such as drug treatments, and eventually surgical simulations. Anat Sci Ed 1:10–18, 2008. © 2007 American Association of Anatomists.     

Organisational cultures in public and private Portuguese Universities: a case study

Perceptions of organisational culture made by three categories of staff playing managerial roles in each of two Portuguese Universities (one public and the other private) were compared using a questionnaire adapted from the Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument and translated into Portuguese. The four scales of the questionnaire, designed to measure the Cultures of Clan, Adhocracy, Hierarchy and Market orientation were found to have adequate internal reliabilities, though a factor analysis raised doubts about the construct (factor) validity of two of the scales (Clan and Adhocracy). Application of a MANOVA to scores on the four scales of organisational culture showed, as hypothesised, that the private university was perceived to have significantly stronger cultures of Market orientation and Hierarchy than the public university. No overall difference was found between the universities for the cultures of Clan and Adhocracy. However, general managerial staff in both Universities perceived the cultures of Clan and Adhocracy to be stronger than was the case for technical managerial staff.     

Operant response topographies of rats receiving food or water reinforcers on FR or FI reinforcement schedules

Separate groups of food- and water-deprived rats pressed a lever for food or water, respectively, on continuous reinforcement and various fixed-ratio and fixed-interval reinforcement schedules. Food-reinforced rats on continuous, FR 2-, or FI 10-sec schedules showed consistently longer mean lever contact durations per leverpress than did water-reinforced rats on the same schedules. Mean lever-contact-duration differences between food- and water-reinforced rats were greatly attenuated or disappeared under FR 4-, FR 8-, FI 20-sec, and FI 30-sec schedules of reinforcement. These results are interpreted as supporting earlier hypotheses that there are respondent components of operantly conditioned and autoshaped leverpresses, but that these respondent components weaken with partial reinforcement and the leverpress topography comes under the control of operant contingencies.