Acquiring information from simple weather maps: Influences of domain-specific knowledge and general visual–spatial abilities

The influences of domain-specific meteorological knowledge and general visual–spatial abilities on the comprehension of simple weather maps were examined in a regression-based study involving a sample of participants with relatively low meteorological knowledge and in an experiment involving a contrast between samples of higher- and lower-knowledge participants. Results from the first study indicated that the roles of domain-specific knowledge and visual–spatial abilities for lower-knowledge individuals were strongly influenced by the presence of supporting geographic information (i.e., city locations) in the weather maps being interpreted. Results from the second study underscored the importance of domain-specific meteorological knowledge and map familiarity and, surprisingly, pointed to a single visual–spatial ability (speed of closure) that mediated both of these influences.     

Developing Information Fluency in Introductory Biology Students in the Context of an Investigative Laboratory

Students of biology must learn the scientific method for generating information in the field. Concurrently, they should learn how information is reported and accessed. We developed a progressive set of exercises for the undergraduate introductory biology laboratory that combine these objectives. Pre- and postassessments of approximately 100 students suggest that increases occurred, some statistically significant, in the number of students using various library-related resources, in the numbers and confidence level of students using various technologies, and in the numbers and confidence levels of students involved in various activities related to the scientific method. Following this course, students should be better prepared for more advanced and independent study.     

Policies on and practices of cultural inclusivity in learning management systems: perspectives of Indigenous holistic pedagogies

Online learning has become a conventional term and practice in Australian higher education, yet cultural inclusivity for Indigenous (Indigenous for the purposes of this paper refers to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples) students is insufficiently reflected in learning management system (LMS) policies and design. This study aims to explore culturally inclusive learning entrenched in Australian university policies on and practices of LMS by applying Indigenous holistic pedagogical values in LMS design. Based on a literature review, we articulate four dimensions: communication, collaboration, community and interculturality for culturally inclusive learning in an online learning environment. By using the dimensions, we critically review policies (n?=?10) and LMS sites (n?=?50). In this review, we argue that there are contrasts of individually heterogeneous and collectively homogeneous approaches, self-focused and community-driven pedagogy, and task-oriented and relational learning. Significantly, the review results indicate that Indigenous holistic pedagogies have a metaphysical strength to be the ontological foundation for cultural inclusivity.     

Demographic Transformation in a Policy Vacuum: The Changing Face of U.S. Metropolitan Society and Challenges for Public Schools

Abstract

Educators and policy makers must confront the race and class disparities in learning opportunities across American society. Nowhere are these disparities more acute than in the country's great metropolitan areas. As the demographic landscape continues to shift, metropolitan areas are fueling the transition to a majority-minority country. This essay provides an overview of the challenges for the country's public schools and offers an alternative path to creating a more just and vital society.     

Effect of instructor and class characteristics on students' class evaluations

Student evaluations of their classes and instructors are widespread in higher education and have both practical and theoretical importance. This study examined the relationship between class average evaluations and characteristics of the instructor and of the class in an off-campus setting with nontraditional students. A stepwise multiple regression analysis found that four variables—the time format of the class, the number of classes taught in the program by the instructor during the year, whether a term paper was required, and the size of the class—explained 13.5% of the variance in class average evaluations. The addition of average class grade increased the explained variance by 6%. Evaluations were higher in classes taught with more intensive time formats, in classes taught by instructors teaching more frequently in the program, in classes where term papers were required, and in classes with fewer students. Evaluations were also higher in classes where the average class grade was higher. Other course and instructor characteristics had little or no effect on overall class evaluations. The results support the view that nontraditional students react similar to traditional students in their evaluations of their classes. The results also suggest the importance of time format as a factor affecting class evaluations.An earlier version of this paper was presented at Western Psychological and Rocky Mountain Psychological Association Meeting, April 1989.     

Limitations of using students' self-reports of academic development as proxies for traditional achievement measures

An important issue in national assessment efforts is how best to measure the outcomes of college. While initial discussions about a national collegiate assessment focused on the reliability, validity, and feasibility of using achievement tests to measure student learning, subsequent discussions have raised the possibility of using students' self-reports of academic development as proxies for achievement test scores. The present study examines the stability of the relationships among self-reports and test scores across samples of two- and four-year colleges and universities. Multitrait-multimethod analyses indicated that self-reports and test scores developed from the same set of test specifications do measure the same constructs, although the scores from one type of measurement may not be substitutable for scores from the other type of measurement. In addition, the analyses produced ambiguous results concerning the stability of relationships across different types of institutions.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Institutional Research, Boston, May 29, 1995.     

COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF TV PRODUCTION VARIABLES

This article initially considers varied categories that previous authors have formulated either for survey compilations or studies of television and related media production variable effects. A revised classification is developed from investigations confined specifically to television; extensive review is given to research conducted within the various divisions. Practical implications emerging from the residue of “interpretable” studies are extended to television production teams and suggestions are made for continued research activity.     

Content and alignment of state writing standards and assessments as predictors of student writing achievement: an analysis of 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress data

We examined the degree to which content of states’ writing standards and assessments (using measures of content range, frequency, balance, and cognitive complexity) and their alignment were related to student writing achievement on the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), while controlling for student, school, and state characteristics. We found student demographic characteristics had the largest effect on between-state differences in writing performance, followed by state policy-related variables, then state and school covariates. States with writing tests that exhibited greater alignment with the NAEP writing assessment demonstrated significantly higher writing scores. We discuss plausible implications of these findings.     

Exclusion of the majority: Shrinking college access and public policy in metropolitan Los Angeles

This paper examines trends in white and minority student experiences in the high schools, the community colleges, and the universities of the greater Los Angeles area since the mid-1970s. Black and Hispanic access to educational mobility is shown to have been severely hampered by high rates of dropping out of high school, by increasingly rigorous standards of admission and the high cost of attending 4-year public colleges, by the failure of community colleges in their transfer function, by the deemphasis on minority recruitment and retention programs, and by the curtailment of civil rights enforcement. To the extent that Los Angeles area trends forecast broader national patterns in our increasingly multiethnic society, the evidence from the area has fundamental national importance.     

Supervision for Preparation and Practice of School Counselors: Pathways to Excellence

In this article, the importance of clinical supervision for school counselors is examined in terms of prior literature and the school counseling context. Standards relative to supervision are presented, followed by an overview of each article in the special section of the Counselor Education and Supervision journal (Vol. 45, No. 4, June 2006).