A research methodology for studying how people think

Although science education intends to help students learn to think, research in this area does not usually use psychological research on how people think. The purpose of this article is to describe one type of research, commonly called information-processing psychology. Its goal is understanding how people think while doing complex tasks. It uses detailed data, usually from individual subjects, and develops precise yet powerful models of human performance, often by using a computer. After describing information-processing research, we illustrate it with two studies. The first shows how computer models are used to explain thinking. A computer program models the knowledge needed to understand and use a physics textbook. The second study shows how information-processing approaches can be used systematically but more simply. This study clarifies why students find it so difficult to master the “factor-label” method for converting chemical units. The article concludes with a discussion of guidelines and suggestions for using information-processing ideas.     

Low-Income Children's After-School Care: Are There Beneficial Effects of After-School Programs?

4 types of after-school care (formal after-school programs, mother care, informal adult supervision, and self-care) were examined for 216 low-income children ( M age = 9.1 years). After-school care was associated with maternal education, race, and family income but not with child gender, family marital status', neighborhood safety, or parenting style. When maternal education, race, and family income were controlled, attending a formal after-school program was associated with better academic achievement and social adjustment in comparison to other types of after-school care. Children's activities and experiences also varied in different after-school settings. Children in formal programs spent more time in academic activities and enrichment lessons and less time watching TV and playing outside unsupervised than other children. They also spent more time doing activities with peers and adults and less time with siblings than did other children. The time that children spent in these activities was correlated with their academic and conduct grades, peer relations, and emotional adjustment.     

Triangulating Perspectives: A Needs Assessment to Develop an Outreach Program for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations

This article describes the tiered process used to conduct a needs assessment and the implications of the methods employed had on the design and development of interventions for a community audience. A needs assessment was conducted to identify health needs for an underserved, vulnerable population. This report emphasizes the findings addressing the need for preventative educational materials and programming. Ethnographic characteristics were used to gather information from multiple sample sources in order to triangulate data from three different perspectives: (1) the client, (2) providers and support staff, and (3) educators in the community. The outcomes of this project will serve as input for designing and implementing innovative educational outreach programs for the vulnerable and underserved populations and for community‐based physicians and medical students who serve the community.     

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN STUDENT MOTIVATION AND SELF-REGULATION IN SCIENCE LEARNING: A MULTI-GROUP STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING ANALYSIS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of students?? motivational beliefs (learning goal orientation, task value and self-efficacy) in science learning on students?? self-regulation in the science classroom. The study also examines the moderating effect of gender on the proposed relationships. Data were collected from 719 boys and 641 girls across grades 8, 9 and 10 in 5 public schools in Perth, Western Australia. Results from structural equation modeling analysis indicated that all 3 motivational constructs were strong predictors of students?? self-regulation in science learning. The multi-group analysis to examine gender differences revealed that the influence of task value on self-regulation was statistically significant for boys only. The findings present possible opportunities for educators to plan, and to put into practice, effective intervention strategies aimed at increasing students?? self-regulation in science learning. The core feature would be to target and develop students?? motivational beliefs of learning goal orientation and self-efficacy in science learning. Additionally, for boys, the intervention strategies would be to elevate boys?? perspectives of science task value.     

Seven Years After the Call: Students’ and Graduates’ Perceptions of the Re-envisioned Ed.D.

Given continued confusion about the Ed.D.degree, universities affiliated with the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) have re-envisioned it using a set of guiding principles and design features. In this study, we investigated why students and graduates chose to pursue the Ed.D., what and how they learned, how they viewed themselves, and whether they perceived their programs to be aligned with CPED’s principles. Data were collected from 296 participants at 14 CPED institutions using an online survey. Results indicated respondents agreed that their programs were aligned with CPED principles, helped them meet their professional and personal goals, and developed them as scholarly practitioners.     

LONGITUDINAL PREDICTION OF 1ST AND 2ND GRADE ENGLISH ORAL READING FLUENCY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: WHICH EARLY READING AND LANGUAGE SKILLS ARE BETTER PREDICTORS?

This study investigates the relation between Spanish and English early literacy skills in kindergarten and first grade, and English oral reading fluency at the end of first and second grade in a sample of 150 Spanish‐speaking English language learners. Students were assessed in kindergarten, first, and second grades on a broad bilingual academic battery that included phonological awareness, letter knowledge, vocabulary, word reading, and oral reading fluency. These measures were analyzed using hierarchal multiple regression to determine which early reading skills predicted English oral reading fluency scores at the end of first and second grade. Predictive relationships were different between English and Spanish measures of early literacy and end of year first grade and second grade English oral reading fluency. This study has important implications for early identification of risk for Spanish‐speaking English language learners as it addresses the input of both Spanish and English early reading skills and the relation between those skills and English oral reading fluency.     

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN A THREE‐TIERED APPROACH TO SCHOOL DISCIPLINE POLICY AND PRACTICE

Research indicates that school discipline policies and practices have a significant influence on both student and school functioning. The purpose of this article is to uncover how the ethical standards guiding the field of school psychology inform school decisions about discipline in a three‐tiered approach. Various discipline approaches, empirical research evaluating the effectiveness of these approaches, and the role of school psychologists in school discipline decision making are reviewed. Ultimately, this integration of theory, empirical research, and ethical standards points to the importance of creating comprehensive and individualized school discipline policies that apply ethically sound practices at all three tiers of intervention. Implications for practicing school psychologists are discussed.     

Religious socialization of youth involved in child welfare

Increased religiosity is associated with a variety of improved outcomes, especially for youth in disadvantaged contexts. Although youth involved in child welfare may experience protective effects of religious participation or values, little is known about the impact of maltreatment on religious development. Using the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, a nationally representative study of child welfare involved families, correlates of religious attendance and importance of religion for youth were investigated using weighted logistic regression at two waves 18 months apart. Youth self-reports of religious attendance and their ratings of its importance were associated with religious attendance of their caregivers, whether birth-parents or foster parents. Foster parents were more likely to attend religious services than birth parents. Increases in youth attendance from Wave 1 to Wave 2 were associated with high youth religious importance at Wave 1, whereas decreases in attendance were associated with moving between home and foster placements. Increases in religious importance from Wave 1 to Wave 2 were associated with religious attendance at Wave 1 and with the youth being Black.     

Undergraduate non-completion rates: Differences between UK universities

The non-completion rate of university students differs substantially between UK universities. This paper provides estimates of non-completion rates for the 1979 and 1980 entry cohorts into each university and suggests a number of reasons which may have contributed to these inter-university differences. Statistical analysis indicates that a large proportion of the inter-university variation in the non-completion rate can be explained by three main factors: the scholastic ability of each university's new entrants (as reflected by A-level score), the subject mix of each university, and the proportion of each university's students accommodated in a hall of residence. The main conclusion is that inter-university comparisons in the non-completion rate are of little value unless account is taken of differences in the scholastic ability of each university's intake of students.The authors are grateful to the Nuffield Foundation for supporting this research project under its Small Grants Scheme and to the Universities Statistical Record for supplying the data. We are also grateful to Richard Cormack, Gareth Williams and several university registrars for their helpful comments on the first draft of this paper. The authors alone are responsible for the contents of this paper.