Hypercorrection of high confidence errors in children

Three experiments investigated whether the hypercorrection effect – the finding that errors committed with high confidence are easier, rather than more difficult, to correct than are errors committed with low confidence – occurs in grade school children as it does in young adults. All three experiments showed that Grade 3–6 children hypercorrected high confidence errors and the children also claimed that they ‘knew those answers all along.’ Experiment 2 included two second-guess tasks following error commission, one in which the children attempted to choose the correct answer from six options and the other in which they tried to generate a correct second response. Neither provided evidence that children actually knew high confidence corrections all along. Experiment 3, however, showed that the children had some preferential partial knowledge insofar as they needed fewer hints to guess the correct answers to high confidence than to low confidence errors.     

A cultural map of the United Kingdom, 2003

This paper employs Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) to map cultural participation and taste in the UK. It constructs what Bourdieu calls a space of lifestyles from evidence collected in a national random sample survey of the British population in 2003. MCA constructs the space relationally on the basis of similarities and differences in responses to questions about a large number of cultural items in several sub‐fields including music, reading, TV and recreational activity. These items are mapped along two axes and their clustering indicates affinities between tastes and practices across sub‐fields. The cultural patterns are described. We then superimpose socio‐demographic variables, including class, educational qualifications and age, the distribution of which indicates tendencies for certain categories of person to have shared tastes. The analysis reveals meaningful, socially differentiated patterns of taste. The space of lifestyles proves to be structured primarily by the total volume of capital (resources) held by respondents and by age. Strong oppositions are revealed. An older, educated middle class shares ‘legitimate’ established cultural preferences. The repertoire of a younger middle class group contains more contemporary and ‘popular’ items. Less well‐educated, working class groups are characterised often primarily by lack of cultural participation, but also, especially among the young, by an aversion to ‘legitimate’ culture.     

Making group assessment transparent: what wikis can contribute to collaborative projects

This paper investigates the use of new media technologies, in particular wikis, for the compiling and grading of group assessment tasks. Wikis are open web pages that can be viewed and modified by anyone with internet access and are well known for their collaborative nature. Wikis are also transparent, which means that any edit/modification is recorded and attributed to a specific user. Such transparency has immense implications for the assessment of group work, as one of the major criticisms of group assessment tasks made by students relates to fairness in the distribution of grades. Therefore, the aims of this paper are to examine whether a wiki can help make the grading of group work fairer and whether the wiki environment encourages students to engage more directly with the contributions of other group members, thereby making it a truly collaborative experience.     

Connecting policy aspirations with principled progress? An analysis of current physical education challenges in Scotland

Various recent politically driven policy interventions have outlined the increased importance of school physical education programmes as a contributor towards realising active lifelong learning targets. This paper explains the origins of the new policy emphasis and describes some of the opportunities which now exist for reviewing many curriculum orientation and fragmentation concerns. However, in reviewing the possibilities for policy aspirations to achieve transformative educational benefits, the paper also outlines how a commitment towards principled progress and educational realignment could founder on the rock of its own ambition unless various critical conceptual questions and associated pedagogical issues are thoroughly addressed. Following analysis of the barriers to progress that exist, the encouraging signs of a more coherent future are discussed. This occurs through analysing the progress of developmental-based programmes, which aim to improve the quality and authenticity of pupils’ learning experiences in physical education, and by analysis of the new professional development opportunities that are available to teachers.     

A Rubric for Self-Assessment of Essential Technology Conditions in Schools

This article describes the development of a Web-based instrument that is part of a strategic planning initiative in technology in K–12 schools in Nebraska. The instrument provides rubrics for self-assessment of essential conditions necessary for integrating and adopting of technology. Essential conditions were defined by an extended panel of educators from across the state. The rubric examines the areas of (a) technology administration and support, (b) technology capacity, (c) educator competencies and professional development, (d) learners and learning, and (e) accountability. Each area is assessed by four to seven items that are rated using explicitly described criteria. The Web-based system allows schools to complete this rubric as part of the needs assessment process and make comparisons on their profile from year to year and relative to a statewide composite profile. Based on data from 2005 and 2006, reliability scores (Cronbach's alpha) for subscales ranged from .68 to .82. Reliability for the entire scale was .92. Examination of data over the first two years of implementation showed significant year-to-year positive mean differences in subscale scores, indicating that the instrument was sensitive to changing conditions. Effect sizes were small but acceptable.