Software for managing complex learning: Examples from an educational psychology course

Inquiry-based instruction including problem-, project-, and case-based methods often incorporate complex sets of learning activities. The numerous activities run the risk of becoming disconnected in the minds of learners and teachers. STAR.Legacy is a software shell that can help designers organize learning activities into an inquiry cycle that is easy to understand and pedagogically sound. To ensure that classroom teachers can adapt the inquiry activities according to their local resources and needs, STAR.Legacy was built upon four types of design principles: learner centered, knowledge centered, assessment centered, and community centered. We describe how a STAR.Legacy constructed for an educational psychology course helped preservice teachers design and learn about effective inquiry-based instruction. This work was supported by grant #R305F60090 from the Department of Education. The authors thank the educational psychology students for their contributions to this paper and Amy Ryce for her editorial talents.     

Juliet Makes her Mark

The early experience of a child born into a literate society is marked by literacy events – e.g. announcements, certificates, correspondence – and opportunities for engagement in literacy events. This article considers a selection of opportunities presented during three months in the experience of a four year old girl, Juliet, and the manner in which her emergent literacy has been scaffolded by her family and nursery school.     

Range effects using instrumental choice procedures

Pigeons were trained to discriminate visual flicker-rate stimuli using two types of instrumental choice procedures. One experiment used a free-operant concurrent schedule with multiple schedule components. Two additional experiments used a two-alternative, discrete-trial procedure. In all experiments, the range of training stimuli was manipulated across conditions. Results from all three experiments showed typical range effects on discrimination performance. That is, performance declined with increases in the overall range of variation of training stimuli. These range effects occurred with either continuous response rate measures or discrete choice measures. Moreover, range effects appeared with relatively high or low levels of overall discrimination accuracy and with either symmetrical or asymmetrical extensions of stimulus range. The results of these experiments suggest that increasing stimulus range influences both perceptual sensitivity and bias to response alternatives.     

Environmental and Genetic Variance in Children's Observed and Reported Maladaptive Behavior

The genetic and environmental contributions to children's maladaptive behavior are assessed in a sample of 154 twin pairs (77 MZ twin pairs and 77 DZ twin pairs), who range in age from 6 to 11 years. To bridge the strengths of behavioral genetic methods and environmental assessment techniques, we use a multimethod, multimeasure approach to data collection, and analyze the data using behavioral genetic modeling techniques. Results indicate that genetic variation accounts for a majority of the variance in parent-reported child maladaptive behavior (average = 62%). One parent-report measure also suggests a smaller, significant contribution of shared environmental variance. In contrast to the parental ratings, the observational coding and global impressions of parent-twin interactive behavior suggest that shared environment is the primary source of variance accounting for parent and child maladaptive behavior. This is due, in part, to the direct influence one's interactive partner has on the expression of maladaptive behavior in an interactive setting. When controlling for the co-participant's behavior, genetic variation increases and shared environmental variation decreases.     

Studying attitude to mathematics

Teachers' attitude to mathematics is increasingly put forward as a dominant factor in children's attitudes to mathematics. Our intention at the beginning of this study was to produce instruments for teachers to use in probing student attitudes as part of their personal professional research and development. To this end we undertook eight small studies of attitude carried out across the educational phases, which we report on here. Reflecting on them led us to challenge the very construct of attitude. We are also led to challenge the cause-and-effect model underlying much attitudinal research. We now see attitude as at best a complex notion, and we conjecture that perhaps it is not a quality of an individual but rather a construct of an observer's desire to formulate a story to account for observations. The difficulty in making attitudinal research precise, and in testing the validity of attitudinally based conjectures, lies therefore in conceptual and hence methodological issues.     

The American Statistics Poster Competition

This article covers the history and organisation of the American Statistics Poster Competition, and gives our view of what a statistical poster is.     

The effect of gender composition of faculty on student retention

The gender composition of faculty is an important issue on many campuses. Substantial efforts are taken by colleges to hire a diverse faculty where women are equitably represented. Several papers suggest that female faculty can act as role models for female students. This issue is particularly emphasized in science and engineering programs. However, empirical research finds mixed support for this hypothesis. We provide a new test of this issue by examining whether female students have higher first-year retention rates when a greater percentage of their classes are taught by female faculty. There is a positive relationship between retention of female students and the percentage of their science and mathematics classes taught by female faculty. Also faculty gender has a greater impact on female students when their classes have few female students. Thus this study provides support for gender-based programs for hiring.     

School Failure in the United Kingdom

This paper comprises five sections. Section 1 is concerned with the aims of education and definitions of pupil success and pupil failure, including criteria for determining success/failure; and section 2 proposes a model of pupil ssuccess/pupil failure which is analysed in terms of (i) ‘within-child’ characteristics and previous learning experiences, (ii) the physical, social and educational environment, and (iii) the extent to which there is a match or mismatch between educational provision and educational needs. The different criteria for measuring success/failure (educational attainment and pupil progress; pupil behaviour; pupils’ self-concepts and expectations of success; attitudes to school; number of pupils assessed as having special educational needs) are identified in section 3, and sources of evidence are analysed. Section 4 traces the legislative basis of educational provision from the 1944 Education Act, through the Education Act of 1988, which introduced the National Curriculum, to the present, while section 5 examines current developments in education.