Balancing varied assessment functions to attain systemic validity: Three is the magic number

Accountability-oriented reforms demand immediate and continual gains on achievement test, for all students, and without diminishing other outcomes or undermining instruction. This paper describes a framework for aligning classroom assessment and external testing with the aim of negotiating these seemingly contradictory goals. The framework varies the sensitivity to instruction and the representations of knowledge across approaches to assessment. Cycles of design- based studies successively refine relationships between a curriculum and the frame that each assessment provides. Doing so, we argue, leverages the unique formative and summative balance across assessments in order to scaffold learning and demonstrate the “consequential” validity of our strategy without compromising curricula, instruction, or the “evidential” validity that warrants their continued use.     

Memory codes for temporal and nontemporal samples in many-to-one matching by pigeons

Pigeons were trained to match temporal (2 and 8 sec of keylight) and color (red and green) samples to vertical and horizontal comparison stimuli. In Experiment 1, samples that were associated with the same correct comparison stimulus displayed similar retention functions; and there was no significant choose-short effect following temporal samples. This finding was replicated in Phase 1 of Experiment 2 for birds maintained on the many-to-one mapping, and it was also obtained in birds that had been switched to a one-to-one mapping by changing the comparison stimuli following color samples. However, in Phase 2 of Experiment 2, when the one-to-one mapping was produced by changing the comparison stimuli following temporal samples, a significant choose-short effect was observed. In Experiment 3, intratrial interference tests gave evidence of temporal summation effects when either temporal presamples or color presamples preceded temporal targets. This occurred even though these interference tests followed delay tests that failed to reveal significant choose-short effects. The absence of significant choose-short effects in Experiment 1 and in Phase 1 of Experiment 2 indicates that temporal samples are not retrospectively and analogically coded when temporal and nontemporal samples are mapped onto the same set of comparisons The interference test results suggest that the temporal summation effect arises from nonmemorial properties of the timing system and is independent of the memory code being used     

How full is your luggage? Background knowledge of zoo visitors regarding sharks

For the general population, sharks have a reputation that does not really fit with their biological and ecological nature. Informal surveys often classify sharks as dangerous, aggressive and/or man-eaters. This apparent common knowledge seems difficult to detach from the conscience of many worldwide zoo visitors, even with the help of shark-focused educational programmes. As so, how can zoos and aquariums contribute to a change in this paradigm? Are the education and conservation strategies effective to the average zoo visitor? In this study, young visitors’ perceptions regarding sharks were assessed with the goal of identifying a valid Learning Progression, thus helping to update and develop different and more effective educational strategies and methodologies. The study took place at Zoomarine, an oceanographic park located in southern Portugal, with visitors aged between 8 and 16. A case study was conducted using a qualitative research approach (drawings and interviews) resulting in a Learning Progression Hypothesis. The proposed Learning Progression is composed of three knowledge levels for the participants’ biological perceptions regarding sharks. The results of this study showed a clear predominance of anthropomorphic and anthropocentric visions, as well as a utilitarian view of sharks and ecosystem, thus conditioning the visitors’ epistemological knowledge.     

Temperament, Harsh and Indulgent Parenting, and Chinese Children's Proactive and Reactive Aggression

This study examined the additive and interactive effects of temperament and harsh and indulgent parenting on Chinese children's proactive and reactive aggression. Participants were 401 children ( M age = 9.29 years, 203 girls) and their parents who were recruited from 2 elementary schools in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. The results showed that children's sensation seeking was associated with proactive aggression, whereas anger/frustration was associated with reactive aggression. Both subtypes of aggression were negatively related to children's effortful control but positively related to harsh parenting. Significant Temperament × Temperament and Parenting × Temperament interactions were also found. The findings point to similarities and differences between proactive and reactive aggression in relation to children's temperament and harsh and indulgent parenting in the Chinese context.     

Exploring the educational beliefs of primary education student teachers in the Chinese context

Teacher educational beliefs may be largely shaped by culturally shared learning experiences and social values. The main purpose of this study is to explore educational beliefs of Chinese student teachers. An adapted version of the Teacher Beliefs Scale (TBS)??developed in a Western context (Woolley et al. in Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64: 319?C331, 2004)??was validated in this study, and the profiles of student teacher educational beliefs were analyzed. The research participants consisted of 727 Chinese student teachers from four different teacher education universities. A factor analysis of the Chinese version of the TBS supported the dimensions of the original instrument, but some items had to be discarded to less consistent factor loading. The ANOVA results showed that there were significant differences in constructivist teaching beliefs with respect to gender, study year, and majoring subjects. But no significant differences in the adherence to traditional teaching beliefs were observed. The results also show that the first year student teachers hold stronger constructivist beliefs as compared to senior student teachers. This can be linked to the latter larger teaching and learning experiences in real classroom settings. Implications are drawn for further research in teacher education contexts.     

Conceptualising gender and violence in research: Insights from studies in schools and communities in Kenya,Ghana and Mozambique

Gender and violence are complex and contested concepts, understood in varying ways in research, policy and interventions in education. Often there has been an emphasis on acts of violence, with much less attention to the social conditions and gender relations behind these acts. This paper discusses the development of a conceptual framework that emphasises not just acts and individuals, but also transformation of gendered power relations and inequities, alongside a focus on addressing the identity conflicts and struggles of everyday life. The framework underpins research, advocacy and community interventions in a multi-partnered project on violence against girls led by ActionAid.     

Cardiorespiratory fitness and telomere length: a systematic review

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to systematically review the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and telomere length (TL). Studies were identified from searches in Cochrane Central, PubMed, Scopus, Sportdiscus, and Web of Science databases through July 2019. Eligibility criteria included: cross-sectional, prospective, and experimental study design; outcomes included TL; results expressed the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and TL; studies published in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. A total of 20 articles met the inclusion criteria. Sixteen studies (80%) reported a significant relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness, or training load, and TL. Better cardiorespiratory fitness or a large cardiorespiratory training load are associated with an increase in TL. Although, TL was related to regular moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise and cardiorespiratory fitness in older healthy humans, it was not related to cardiorespiratory fitness among young subjects. There seems to be a positive and significant relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and TL, mainly among middle age and older people, which emphasizes the importance of cardiorespiratory fitness for healthy ageing. Therefore, endurance exercise and better cardiorespiratory fitness may regulate the TL in middle age and older adults, slowing the cellular ageing process.     

Literacy skills of welfare recipients

Illiteracy is considered to be a significant barrier to employment. Programs are being established to require literacy education and work programs of welfare recipients. The purpose of this study was to determine the literacy skills of a random sample of welfare recipients. One-hundred and six welfare subjects were administered theWoodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery and a comprehensive interview form. Using common criteria to separate the sample into the literate and functionally illiterate, the groups were found to differ significantly on intellectual capabilities. It was concluded that illiteracy is associated with subaverage intellectual functioning among persons on welfare. A number of recommendations were made pertaining to policy.     

Academic Subject Specialist and Special Librarians: Exploring a Shared Interest in Developing Information Literacy Skills

Academic librarians who work as subject specialists within a discipline and special librarians have a shared interest in information literacy instruction, despite differences in their library settings and culture. Collaboration between these parties would decrease the gap between information literacy skills developed in the classroom and in the workplace. Practical issues relating to collaboration, as well as a reviewed case study engage the dialogue surrounding this kind of partnership.