EAST: Developing an electronic assessment and storage tool

Assessment is an ongoing process that evaluates samples of completed student assignments to determine whether the underlying curriculum effectively produces the desired learning outcomes. Each year, the current system of tracking and storing artefacts for assessment becomes increasingly difficult. Compiling the results is a time-consuming process. EAST provides a cohesive web-based solution for managing assessment artefacts. EAST aids the assessment effort through the ability to easily store artefacts in electronic form, support and record the assessment of student work, and ease the development of reports. This paper discusses the analysis, development and features of EAST. The first section discusses the analysis phase of the project, highlighting the system objectives and the requirements of the EAST system. The second section details how the EAST system was developed and implemented. In the last section, features of the system are described and its contribution to the school's assessment effort is discussed.     

C. S. E.: an examination of reading?

This study examines the readability of a selection of C. S. E. papers taken from the areas of Humanities, the Sciences and practical subjects. The readability formula used was the Fry Graph, this being applied to the whole of each paper, thereby avoiding problems of sampling. In each subject, the papers for 1982 and 1983 were studied. The papers in English Literature, Mathematics, Needlecraft, Science and Woodwork all had a reading level considerably lower than the chronological age of the candidates for whom the examination is intended, only History having scores at or above that age level. The papers in the Sciences and practical subjects were found to be quite consistent in their readability levels, both internally and from year to year. The English Literature questions were consistent but those papers included passages from set books whose reading levels varied quite considerably. The History papers were rather less consistent than the others, although even there a fair measure of agreement was to be found.     

Effects of a Demonstration Laboratory on Student Learning

Laboratory and demonstration have long been used to supplement lecture in chemistry education. Current research indicates that students are better served by laboratories which exercise the higher-order cognitive skills, such as inquiry-based laboratories. However, the time and the resources available to perform these recommended types of laboratories are continually shrinking. Due to these factors, a demonstration-laboratory was designed to allow students to make observations through demonstration rather then through hands-on laboratory. For this study, the hands-on procedures of an inquiry style laboratory were replaced by an instructor demonstration of these same procedures. A significant difference was found between student conceptual understanding before and after the experiment, indicating that students performing the laboratory experiment and students viewing the demonstration-laboratory had an increase in conceptual understanding. However, no significant difference was found between the conceptual understanding of the two groups after the experiment, indicating that students learn roughly the same from both methods and that the demonstration-laboratory at least does no harm to the students conceptually. Long-term effects on student understanding were not measured. Student opinions comparing the demonstration laboratory to a hands-on laboratory were also collected and analyzed.     

African-Americans’ perceptions of organ donation: ‘simply boils down to mistrust!’

Five focus groups were conducted to better understand African-American adults’ (N?=?62) perceptions of organ donation. Applying the health belief model, results revealed that participants generally were aware of the need for organ donors and felt susceptible to needing a transplant in the future. Additionally, the number of perceived barriers greatly outweighed the number of perceived benefits to organ donation. Several novel barriers to organ donation, not currently identified in the literature, arose during focus group discussions, alluding to a larger source of mistrust among African-Americans. In respect to self-efficacy, participants’ responses further delineated the distinction between task and decisional efficacy. The results are discussed with an emphasis on how the current findings compare and contrast with previous work, as well as a focus on the practical implications for targeted organ donation campaigns aimed at African-American communities.     

Using “Sesame Street” to facilitate children’s recognition of letters and numbers

How can adults who watch “Sesame Street” with children facilitate the children’s recognition of the letters and numbers presented on the show? In order to examine this question, each of 95 preschool children watched three specially edited versions of “Sesame Street” with an adult who either (a) asked the child questions and provided feedback, (b) only asked questions, (c) directed the child’s attention to the screen, or (d) simply watched the shows with the child. Those children in the Questions + Feedback condition and the Questions condition scored significantly higher on a delayed posttest than did children who just watched the shows with an adult. There were no other significant differences among the treatment conditions. Results indicate that adults can increase children’s recognition of letters and numbers presented on “Sesame Street” by asking the children to name the letters and numbers as they are presented. Other interpretations are also discussed.     

The Uses and Misuses of 'Alienation' in the Social Sciences and Education

Despite the ambiguities, even contradictions, that surround the term 'alienation' it has been much used and found useful, particularly at certain times. This paper provides a brief history and analysis of the term, exploring both its attractions to some, and the suspicions of others. The way in which the term is used and misused in educational research, and the ways in which the concepts which the term suggest could be developed, are also explored.     

The Use of Video Demonstrations and Particulate Animation in General Chemistry

Different visualization techniques have been used for teaching chemistry concepts. Previous studies have shown that when molecular animations and video demonstrations are used, students seem to better correlate all three levels of representation: macroscopic, submicroscopic, and symbolic. This thinking process allows the students to improve their conceptual understanding and ability to create dynamic mental models. In this study, general chemistry students viewed three experiments involving dynamic fluid equilibrium in a graphic design, a video demonstration, and a molecular animation. The study investigated whether video demonstrations or particulate animations helped the students' conceptual understanding, and if the order of visualizations (video or animation first) produced any differences. Students showed improvement after each visualization. Surprisingly, there was significant improvement in responses between the first and second visualization. This work shows the importance of combining both types of visualizations, but it does not indicate a preference toward a specific order.