Torrance Test of Creative Thinking: The question of its construct validity

Some cognitive dimensions are internationally considered by psychologists to describe and to assess creativity. For example, (Guilford, P. (1976). Creatividad y Educación. Buenos Aires. Ed. Paidos) and (Torrance, E. P. (1977). Discovery and nurturance of giftedness in the culturally different. Reston, VA: Council on Exceptional Children) suggested fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration are the main cognitive processes used to define and assess creativity. However, data from several empirical studies did not confirm a factor structure in accordance with such cognitive functions, despite of the wide use of TTCT (Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking) in different countries. In this paper, we present new data collected in Spain and Portugal with TTCT. According to our data, those cognitive functions supposedly present on a subject's performance are not so strong as to explain the variance in scores. Elaboration factors assume some variance explanation, but the main factors are identified with the products in each subtest, suggesting the importance of format, content and demand on TTCT specific tasks. Consequently, we suggest some reflections to amplify the debate concerning the definition of creativity and its evaluation in psychology.     

History of Spanish Mathematics Education Focusing on PhD Theses

This article offers an overview of mathematics education in Spain, analyzing the production of PhD theses over the last 30 years. This period has been divided into four cycles that describe the evolution of Spanish research in the field of mathematics education, together with changes in university and social politics. This paper also includes a forecast of the number of theses that will be produced over the next 7 years, thus predicting the future progress and development of this area of research.     

The Use of Concept Maps as an Assessment Tool in Physics Classes: Can One Use Concept Maps for Quantitative Evaluations?

Research in Science Education - The aim of the present research was to explore the use of concept maps as an assessment tool. The research question posed was: can concept maps be used to...     

Tradutore,traditore: Can the aect code of ethics “speak” across cultures?

Conclusion Although many questions remain unanswered, these early translations of the AECT Code of Ethics will be available at the AECT Web site to ensure that access to the principles is offered in languages other than English. As they become available, more translations will be added to the English, Farsi, French, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish versions. The translations will be saved as PDF files to retain the unique characters of each language. Additional translators with expertise in both educational technology and the targeted languages will be identified. Exploration of ways to encourage debate regarding the viability of the translations within diverse cultures continues. The ultimate hope is that collaboration among members of the professional ethics committee of AECT, the translators, and interested educators will result in the development of a Code of Ethics that “speaks” across cultures and establishes a meaningful guide to professional conduct around the world. Authors’ Note: This article expands on earlier work published in the (2002) Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, edited by M, Simonson.     

Analysis of the distance covered by Brazilian professional futsal players during official matches

The purpose of this study was to measure and characterise the distances covered by Brazilian professional futsal players. The trajectories of 93 players during five matches were obtained using an automatic tracking method. The distances covered were analysed for different game conditions: over the entire game and during the times when the ball was out of play and in play separately. When the entire game was considered, the results showed that there was a reduction in the total distance covered per minute from the first [median ± IQR (interquartile range): 97.9 ± 16.2 m/min] to the second half (median = 90.3 m/min; IQR = 12.0), and when only the in-play time was considered (first half: 136.6 ± 17.2 m/min; second half: 129.2 ± 16.7 m/min). The percentage of distance covered in the standing and walking velocity range was higher in the second half than in the first when considering the entire game (30.8% and 28.0%, respectively) and during the in-play time (19.3% and 16.2%, respectively). In conclusion, this study verified that futsal players reduced the physical performance during the second half.     

A narrative review of Greek myths as interpretative metaphors in educational research and evaluation

This paper reviews a series of Greek myths put forward as cultural narratives that could be used as metaphors or interpretative similes for explanatory and evaluative purposes in educational research and evaluation. These myths have been used in educational research literature, and most of them were found by carrying out an exhaustive search of that literature. In particular, the paper discusses Procrustes, referring to the use of arbitrary evaluative standards; the myth of Mentor, the embodiment of the researcher as facilitator/improver for new, inexperienced researchers; Prometheus, or the archetype of the self-sacrificing researcher; Periphetes, representing the evaluator who is cruel through incompetence; Sisyphus, symbolising the researcher’s anxiousness to achieve his goals; and Ulysses, an archetype for qualitative research.These myths are still absolutely relevant today, after more than 20 centuries, and can be used as powerful explicative frameworks of phenomena in the field of educational research and evaluation. By using myths to interpret educational phenomena, one reconnects contemporary qualitative educational enquiry with its ancient predecessor forms of meaning making.     

The role of letter knowledge acquisition ability on children's decoding and word identification: Evidence from an artificial orthography

Background

Letter knowledge is crucial in the first stages of reading development. It supports learning letter-sound mappings and the identification of the letters that make up words. Previous studies have investigated the longitudinal impact of early letter knowledge on children's further word reading abilities. This study employed an artificial orthography learning paradigm to explore whether the rate of letter learning modulates children's reading and word identification skills.

Methods

In an initial training phase, 8-year-old Spanish children (N = 30) learned nine artificial letters and their corresponding sounds (two vowels and six consonants). The letter learning rate was set according to the number of attempts needed to name at least seven letters (i.e., 80% correct). These ranged from 1 to 4. In a second training phase, children visualized words made up of the trained letters while listening to their pronunciations. Some words included a context-dependent syllable (i.e., leading to grapheme-to-phoneme inconsistency), and others had an inconsistent syllable (i.e., phoneme-to-grapheme inconsistency). The post-test consisted of a reading aloud task and an orthographic-choice task in which the target word was presented with a distractor equal to the target except for the substitution of a letter.

Results

Children showed a high accuracy rate in the post-test tasks, regardless of whether words contained context-dependent or inconsistent syllables. Critically, the letter learning rate predicted both reading aloud and identification accuracy of words in the artificial orthography.

Conclusions

We provide evidence for the vital role of letter knowledge acquisition ability in children's decoding and word identification skills. Training children on this ability facilitates serial letter-sound mapping and word identification skills. Artificial orthography paradigms are optimal for exploring children's potential to achieve specific literacy skills.

     

Post-purchase Federal Financial Aid: How (in)Effective is the IRS’s Student Loan Interest Deduction (SLID) in Reaching Lower-Income Taxpayers and Students?

Research in Higher Education - Federal financial aid policies for higher education may be classified based on their “for-purchase” and “post-purchase” natures. The former...     

Teacher and school determinants of perceived classroom discipline: a multilevel analysis of TALIS 2013

Learning Environments Research - Classroom discipline is a significant concern in most educational systems and a critical element of an effective learning environment. In this article, we present a...