Using first-order cognitive analysis to understand problem solving behavior: An example from accounting

We report a study of human problem solving in the accounting domain. This study has three characteristics. First, it is explicitly intended to aid in the development of instructional materials. Second, it uses a powerful task analyzing scheme as the basis for its conclusions. Third, we use a technique called First-Order Cognitive Analysis that combines the advantages of task analysis to overcome some of the traditional methodological problems posed to protocol analysis. Our representational scheme, KO, seems to be largely valid as a basis for reasoning about cognition, although only three subjects were studied.     

How Counsellors Cope with Traumatized Clients: Personal, Professional and Organizational Strategies

This qualitative study examined the experiences of counsellors and their perceptions of resources that helped them cope with traumatized clients and difficult client sessions. The research was conducted using in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of eight counsellors working in five counselling agencies. The study identified how counsellors develop their own personal and professional strategies for coping with challenge, and the supportive structures and coping strategies provided by agencies. From these counsellors’ stories of learning to cope with traumatized clients and traumatic material, we highlight some recommendations that may facilitate the development of effective coping strategies for the prevention or amelioration of vicarious traumatization.     

Ask Dr. Discovery: the impact of a casual mobile game on visitor engagement with science museum content

Educational technology research and development - This study examines the impact of a mobile game app on science museum visitors’ level of engagement with exhibit content, compared to a non...     

Skill acquisition in the bookkeeping task

Skill acquisition in a domain is the acquisition of appropriate problem solving schemes, as determined by experts. This paper extends previous research in the accounting domain by investigating skill acquisition. It does so by a series of protocol analyses of a single subject as she progressed through an intermediate accounting course. These findings are compared with the behavior of a skilled subject. Our results suggest that the strategy transformation of unit-building is utilized in the bookkeeping task environment.     

The Discounting Dilemma: Institutional Benefits,Unintended Consequences,and Principles for Reform

In recent years, concerns regarding runaway college tuition and student loan debt have risen to the forefront of the public consciousness, undermining confidence in the value of a college degree. Ironically, the very issue that is now causing such alarm—high tuition—has been a signature feature of the financial model intentionally employed by the vast majority of smaller private colleges and universities in the United States, including members of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). In the “high-price–high-aid” model, postsecondary institutions mark up their “sticker price” (meaning the publicized cost of attending per year) and then offset the tuition hike with sizable discounts that take the form of institutional grants marketed as scholarships. This article examines the institutional benefits and unintended consequences of tuition discounting, giving special attention to effects within the evangelical Christian segment of the private sector of American higher education. The article concludes by offering a set of principles for reforming tuition pricing and financial aid practices at Christian colleges and universities.     

Diagnostic Profiles: A Standard Setting Method for Use With a Cognitive Diagnostic Model

This article introduces the Diagnostic Profiles (DP) standard setting method for setting a performance standard on a test developed from a cognitive diagnostic model (CDM), the outcome of which is a profile of mastered and not‐mastered skills or attributes rather than a single test score. In the DP method, the key judgment task for panelists is a decision on whether or not individual cognitive skill profiles meet the performance standard. A randomized experiment was carried out in which secondary mathematics teachers were randomly assigned to either the DP method or the modified Angoff method. The standard setting methods were applied to a test of student readiness to enter high school algebra (Algebra I). While the DP profile judgments were perceived to be more difficult than the Angoff item judgments, there was a high degree of agreement among the panelists for most of the profiles. In order to compare the methods, cut scores were generated from the DP method. The results of the DP group were comparable to the Angoff group, with less cut score variability in the DP group. The DP method shows promise for testing situations in which diagnostic information is needed about examinees and where that information needs to be linked to a performance standard.     

Helicopter Parenting: The Effect of an Overbearing Caregiving Style on Peer Attachment and Self‐Efficacy

Helicopter parenting, an observed phenomenon on college campuses, may adversely affect college students. The authors examined how helicopter parenting is related to self‐efficacy and peer relationships among 190 undergraduate students ages 16 to 28 years. Helicopter parenting was associated with low self‐efficacy, alienation from peers, and a lack of trust among peers. Implications are provided for counselors and psychologists in college‐ and university‐based counseling centers to help them to understand and provide assessment and treatment for adult children of helicopter parents.