Evaluating the Comparability of Paper‐ and Computer‐Based Science Tests Across Sex and SES Subgroups

As access and reliance on technology continue to increase, so does the use of computerized testing for admissions, licensure/certification, and accountability exams. Nonetheless, full computer‐based test (CBT) implementation can be difficult due to limited resources. As a result, some testing programs offer both CBT and paper‐based test (PBT) administration formats. In such situations, evidence that scores obtained from different formats are comparable must be gathered. In this study, we illustrate how contemporary statistical methods can be used to provide evidence regarding the comparability of CBT and PBT scores at the total test score and item levels. Specifically, we looked at the invariance of test structure and item functioning across test administration mode across subgroups of students defined by SES and sex. Multiple replications of both confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch differential item functioning analyses were used to assess invariance at the factorial and item levels. Results revealed a unidimensional construct with moderate statistical support for strong factorial‐level invariance across SES subgroups, and moderate support of invariance across sex. Issues involved in applying these analyses to future evaluations of the comparability of scores from different versions of a test are discussed.     

The role of gender constancy in early gender development

Kohlberg's (1966) hypothesis that the attainment of gender constancy motivates children to attend to gender norms was reevaluated by examining these links in relation to age. Ninety-four 3- to 7-year-old children were interviewed to assess whether and how constancy mediates age-related changes in gender-related beliefs. As expected, results indicated a general pattern of an increase in stereotype knowledge, the importance and positive evaluation of one's own gender category, and rigidity of beliefs between the ages of 3 and 5. Moreover, the stability phase, rather than full constancy, mediated some of these relations. After age 5, rigidity generally decreased with age, with relations primarily mediated by consistency.     

Annual Research Update

Each year, the Journal of Jewish Education will publish an annotated bibliography of research in Jewish education that has been produced in the past year. (The first update includes research produced from 2003–2005.) Criteria for listing in the annual update include that the research contains data relevant to Jewish education and that a report on the research is available to scholars, either online or through the author and/or sponsoring agency. Researchers and institutions wishing to have research reports included in future Research Updates may submit information about how to access the research reports to JournalofJEd@aol.com.     

Turning in or tuning out? Listening to silences in education for critical political consciousness

What happens when a team of university education researchers initiates a social justice learning project in a local high school, and – despite the overall project’s considerable successes in cultivating students’ critical political ‘voice’ – is confounded by the periodic, apparent ‘silences’ of some of its young female students? Drawing on eight years of fieldwork in a groundbreaking high school social justice education classroom, this article examines the presumptions inherent in certain forms of social justice pedagogy, and the ways in which ensuing classroom disjunctures may, in fact, lead to deeper insights about education for youth critical social consciousness. The article focuses on two, interrelated issues: the unsettling and sometimes confounding ‘silences’ of female students and the correlation between such silences and social justice educators’ attenuated ability to recognize and support the myriad ways in which minority female students may encounter, negotiate, and articulate their own particular forms of Freirian conscientización.     

The exotic world of Pierre Pomet's A Compleat History of Druggs

The English translation of Pierre Pomet's A Compleat History of Druggs (1712) demonstrates how the expansion of print culture altered the way that scientific ideas were communicated. Although it makes utilitarian claims, the text of the History departs from the style of contemporary British pharmacopoeias by emphasizing the exotic aspects of drugs. In this sense, the text exemplifies how Enlightenment science could be sold to a cross-over audience interested as much in the fantastical as in the quality and operation of drugs.     

Managing Patient-centered Communication across the Type 2 Diabetes Illness Trajectory: A Grounded Practical Theory of Interactional Sensitivity

This article uses the theoretical and methodological framework of Grounded Practical Theory (GPT) to provide a lens for analyzing and interpreting discourse as a situated form of social action in routine Type 2 diabetes visits. Drawing on a total data-set of 400 audio-recorded routine visits, we randomly selected 55 visits for qualitative analysis. In this article, we use Conversation Analysis to document communication techniques, which we in turn use as evidence to ground our claims within the GPT framework. We use two single cases of interaction to analyze communication techniques physicians use when recommending a change from oral medication to insulin. We argue treatment intensification is a key moment in health communication to reflect about patient centeredness because physicians can find themselves in an interactional dilemma: while insulin may effectively help control unstable disease, an insulin recommendation may simultaneously counter patient values and treatment preferences. Our analysis suggests that physicians use what we call interactional sensitivity to balance medical need and patient preferences when making medical decisions by tailoring their communication according to the local situation and the patient's larger illness trajectory. We propose that interactional sensitivity is a type of communication work and a quality of patient-centered communication characterized by the theoretical relationship between tailoring communication to the contingencies of the local interaction and the global illness trajectory. Overall, this article contributes to health communication scholarship by proposing a normative model for reflecting on how physicians negotiate challenging interactions with patients during routine chronic illness visits.     

Integration of Electronic Communication in Higher Education: Contributions of Faculty Computer Self-Efficacy

How confident are college faculty to integrate technology in their teaching? This study examined relationships between faculty computer self-efficacy and integration of electronic communication when teaching. Faculty at a Research I land-grant university were mailed a self-report questionnaire yielding a 59 percent response rate. Over half used electronic communication in their courses, mostly for course-related announcements and deadlines, but least for synchronous communication. Computer self-efficacy scores differed on age, gender, college, integration, and computer experience. Low integrators and female faculty reported lower confidence in using computers. As universities offer courses with significant Web-presence, faculty development efforts need to increase self-efficacy by providing hands-on experiences in technologically supported environments.