Designing Interdisciplinary Assessments in Sciences for College Students: An example on osmosis

College science education needs to foster students' habit of mind beyond disciplinary constraints. However, little research has been devoted to assessing students' interdisciplinary understanding. To address this problem, we formed a team of experts from different disciplines to develop interdisciplinary assessments that target introductory college-level science. We started our project by focusing on osmosis, a topic that involves knowledge from multiple science disciplines. We developed an instrument focusing on this topic and administered it to 3 classes of college students. A Rasch partial credit analysis showed that the items demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties. The findings also revealed the differences between student's disciplinary and interdisciplinary understanding. The educational implications of the study were discussed.     

Origen de las acciones ideales: Condiciones psicológicas de las mismas

Resumen

Se plantee el problema de la interiorización de las acciones materiales en los niños de edad preescolar. Los autores conciben el pensamiento como el componente ideal de la actividad real del hombre en cuanto ser social. El objetivo de la investigación, que emplea como ejemplo las operaciones implicadas en la adn matemática, es el de identificar algunas de las condiciones psicológicas del origen de las acciones mentales reducidas. Los datos demostraron que una de las condiciones significativas para la transformación de la acción real de adición orientada a los objetos en una acción mental es el cambio del modo en que ésta se ejecuta. Este cambio se basa en la diferente relación o proporción entre los real-material y los simbólico-verbal empleados en la fijación de los objetos. La investigación intenta precisar, por tanto, algunos de los aspectos relacionados con los mecanismos de interiorización de las acciones.     

Career development of foreign trained immigrants from regulated professions

In this article, we aim to examine and understand the career development experiences of foreign-trained immigrants from regulated professions (FTIRPs) in Canada. To provide some background on immigration in a Canadian context, we focus on a myriad of factors that affect the vocational well-being of FTIRPs. We apply key concepts from several major career development theories to FTIRPs, proposing some general helping strategies intended to empower this population in managing and developing their careers in a new world of work in their host country.     

Read Alouds and Beyond: The Effects of Read Aloud Extension Activities on Vocabulary in Head Start Classrooms

A study was conducted in 26 Head Start classrooms with 264 children to compare the effect of a read aloud plus extension activities intervention over a control group to the effect of a read aloud only intervention over a control group on preschool children's vocabulary. Children were assessed before and after the intervention on target vocabulary and general vocabulary measures. Research Findings: The results suggest that the effects of the read aloud plus intervention were stronger than the effects of the read aloud only intervention on target word learning. In addition, the effects of the read aloud plus intervention on target word learning were stronger for children with higher versus lower general vocabulary knowledge. Neither intervention had an effect on general word knowledge. Practice or Policy: Observation and fidelity data are used to contextualize the findings, and the results are discussed in light of the extant literature on preschool vocabulary interventions.     

Experimental evidence of the relative effectiveness of problem-based learning for knowledge acquisition and retention

This study investigated the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) on knowledge acquisition and knowledge retention in a controlled experiment in a lab setting. Eighty-eight first-year psychology students were randomly assigned to either a PBL condition, a lecture condition, or a self-study condition. All participants had the opportunity to study the same text. Their knowledge acquisition was tested on both an immediate post-test and a delayed post-test, one week later. The results showed beneficial effects for the PBL group on the immediate and the delayed test compared to the lecture group. There were no differences between knowledge acquisition scores for the self-study condition and either of the other conditions. Moreover, no differences on knowledge retention were shown, because the decline in performance over time was equal in all conditions. In conclusion, the present study provides experimentally based evidence of the disadvantageous effects of instruction through lectures compared to PBL.     

Implementation of a peer‐led team learning instructional approach in an undergraduate organic chemistry course

This study focuses on the implementation of a peer‐led team learning (PLTL) instructional approach for all students in an undergraduate organic chemistry course and the evaluation of student outcomes over 8 years. Students who experienced the student‐centered instruction and worked in small groups facilitated by a peer leader (treatment) in 1996–1999 were compared with students who experienced the traditional recitation section (control) in 1992–1994. Quantitative and qualitative data show statistically significant improvements in student performance, retention, and attitudes about the course. These findings suggest that using undergraduate leaders to implement a peer‐led team learning model that is built on a social constructivist foundation is a workable mechanism for effecting change in undergraduate science courses. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 606–632, 2002     

Learners’ socio-cultural backgrounds and science teaching and learning: a case study of township schools in South Africa

Cultural Studies of Science Education - In an effort to pursue and achieve quality and equity in science education, the South African National Curriculum Statement stipulates that learners should...     

Ten Years After the Spellings Commission: From Accountability to Internal Improvement

Student learning outcomes assessment has been increasingly used in U.S. higher education institutions over the last 10 years, partly fueled by the recommendation from the Spellings Commission that institutions need to demonstrate more direct evidence of student learning. To respond to the Commission's call, various accountability initiatives have been launched, profoundly reshaping how assessment has been viewed, implemented, and used in higher education. This article reviews the conceptual and methodological challenges of the assessment agenda for one of the landmark accountability initiatives, the Voluntary System of Accountability, and also documents the notable shift from a strong focus on accountability to an increasing emphasis on internal improvement. This article then discusses the most recent developments in assessment approaches and tools, and proposes a four‐element, one‐enabler assessment cycle for institutions to maximally benefit from their assessment efforts.