Salivary Testosterone Levels in Intellectually Gifted and Non-Intellectually Gifted Preadolescents: An exploratory study

There are suggestive data to link salivary testosterone concentrations (ST) to cognitive abilities in humans. Saliva reflects the plasma-free fraction of ST, which is biologically active, available for uptake by tissues including the brain. In the present study, therefore, salivary testosterone levels in healthy preadolescent children of both sexes, 6 to 9 years old, were determined. Among a total of 215 participants, 122 were intellectually gifted, attending special classes for gifted in primary school (IQ 130 or more in two independent standard tests of general intelligence). Their ST levels were compared with ST levels of 93 non-gifted children attending regular primary school. In general, results show there are no changes in ST concentrations between ages 6 and 9. However, there are significant differences between gifted and non-gifted participants. ST levels in gifted children were lower (p < 0.01) in all age categories. This also holds for both sexes separately (p < 0.01).     

Desarrollando sistemas de evaluación formativa y compartida en la docencia universitaria. Análisis de resultados de su puesta en práctica en la formación inicial del profesorado

In this article we present the results obtained from implementing a formative and shared assessment system in higher education (in initial physical education teacher education). This research on teacher education has been developing for more than 11 years. In this article, we present the objective of the study, a review of the literature on the topic, the methodology used, and the results obtained. Empirical data show that the assessment system has important advantages in teacher education and education generally: greater application and motivation of students, improved quality of learning processes, better learning and professional competence acquisition, better academic performance. Obviously, there are some difficulties, too, although these can be minimised and overcome with appropriate planning of the educational project and continuous assessment.     

The impact of formative and shared or co-assessment on the acquisition of transversal competences in higher education

The use of formative and shared or co-assessment has been shown to improve the motivation, involvement and learning of university students. The aim of this study is to analyse the effect that implementing these processes has on university students’ perception of their acquisition of transversal competences. The participants in the study were 1021 students from five Spanish universities taking degree courses in primary education or physical education and sport science. They all experienced formative and shared or co-assessment throughout a complete academic year of their courses. For the data collection, a Self-Perception Scale of Transversal Competences was created, which had adequate values of reliability and validity. Using a transversal design (inter-subjects), inferential statistical analysis was undertaken of the differences in means between the perception of a range of transversal competences before and after the course. The results show significant perceived improvements at the end of the course for most of the competences analysed, which indicates, among other thing, the value and importance of this type of assessment for the educational process.     

Measuring the local economic impact of universities: an approach that considers uncertainty

The contribution of universities to society is due to the effects generated both in the supply and in the demand side, the latter being associated with the injection of demand as a result of the activities these institutions carry out. This paper focuses on the impact of the demand side by designing a methodology based on Monte Carlo simulations so as to introduce stochastic elements in calculating the economic impact of universities. We apply this methodology to the case of Valencian public universities, introducing stochastic elements in all the elements which imply assumptions with uncertainty. The results highlight the importance of considering uncertainty by generating multipliers which can vary around the average value by 18 % in the case of output and employment, and 10 % in the case of income.     

Nature and profiles of racial prejudice: analyses and educational implications in Secondary School students / Naturaleza y perfiles del prejuicio racial: análisis e implicaciones educativas en alumnos de Educación Secundaria

Abstract

The reduction of racial prejudice is an important challenge of intercultural education. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze racial prejudice, as well as the different profiles and the possible educational implications in secondary school students. A total of 327 third form students completed the scales of blatant and subtle prejudice and also a scale of emotions towards North Africans. The results showed significant levels of subtle prejudice and four profiles of racial prejudice, with a low number of students showing equalitarian tendencies. A multivariate analysis showed significant differences in prejudice depending on social distance as well as the academic level of the participants’ families. Finally, we discuss the results from the perspective of intercultural education and we suggest some lines of intervention in order to promote the integration of students from different cultures.     

A latent profile analysis of college students’ achievement goal orientation

Achievement goal research has grown increasingly complex with the number of proposed goal orientations that motivate students. As the number of proposed goal constructs proliferates, a variety of data analytic challenges have emerged, such as profiling students on different types of goal pursuit as well as evaluating the relationships of multiple goal pursuit with different educational outcomes. The purpose of the current article is to showcase the advantages of using latent profile analysis (LPA) over other traditional techniques (such as multiple regression and cluster analysis) when analyzing multidimensional data like achievement goals. Specifically, we review the advantages of LPA over traditional person- and variable-centered analyses and then provide a critical look at three different conceptualizations of goal orientation (2-, 3-, and 4-factor) using LPA.     

Patterns of Solution Behavior across Items in Low-Stakes Assessments

The trustworthiness of low-stakes assessment results largely depends on examinee effort, which can be measured by the amount of time examinees devote to items using solution behavior (SB) indices. Because SB indices are calculated for each item, they can be used to understand how examinee motivation changes across items within a test. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used with the SB indices from three low-stakes assessments to explore patterns of solution behavior across items. Across tests, the favored models consisted of two classes, with Class 1 characterized by high and consistent solution behavior (>90% of examinees) and Class 2 by lower and less consistent solution behavior (<10% of examinees). Additional analyses provided supportive validity evidence for the two-class solution with notable differences between classes in self-reported effort, test scores, gender composition, and testing context. Although results were generally similar across the three assessments, striking differences were found in the nature of the solution behavior pattern for Class 2 and the ability of item characteristics to explain the pattern. The variability in the results suggests motivational changes across items may be unique to aspects of the testing situation (e.g., content of the assessment) for less motivated examinees.     

Students’ self-grading,professor’s grading and negotiated final grading at three university programmes: analysis of reliability and grade difference ranges and tendencies

This study was undertaken at three teacher education programmes and was designed to determine the following within each programme: (1) the reliability correlations among students’ self‐grade (SSG), the grade granted by the professor (PG) and the negotiated final grade (NFG); (2) the range and frequency of grade differences between SSG and PG; and (3) the tendency of the negotiation on NFG as compared to SSG (i.e. NFG > SSG or NFG < SSG), when SSG was not equal to PG. The samples were made up of three professors and their corresponding student groups (students, n = 100, 34 and 53, respectively), each in a different teacher education programme. The results show that there was a high reliability correlation among SSG, PG and NFG in all three programmes. Furthermore, in these programmes, the grade differences were never higher than 1.5 on a scale of 0 to 10 points; in fact, agreement between DDG and PG was reached 96%, 35.29% and 43.39% of the time), and, when disagreement emerged, it was mainly within a minimum range of 0.1 to 0.5 points. As for the tendency of NFG versus SSG in each programme, slightly higher percentages were obtained for NFG > SSG in Programmes B and C, whereas the opposite (NFG < SSG) was true in Programme A; overall, however, it could be said that both tendencies balanced each other out, being the total percentages in each programme 0%, 41% and 30% for NFG > SSG; and 4%, 23% and 26%, for NFG < SSG, respectively.