Experiments with Industry's “Pair-Programming” Model in the Computer Science Classroom

Anecdotal evidence from several sources, primarily in industry, indicates that two programmers working collaboratively on the same design, algorithm, code, or test perform substantially better than the two working alone. Two courses taught at the University of Utah studied the use of this technique, often called pair-programming or collaborative programming, in the undergraduate computer science classroom. The students applied a positive form of “pair-pressure” on each other, which proved beneficial to the quality of their work products. The students also benefit from “pair-learning,” which allowed them to learn new languages faster and better than with solitary learning. The workload of the teaching staff is reduced because the students more often look to each other for technical support and advice.     

Darwin’s Arguments in Favour of Natural Selection and Against Special Creationism

In many places in The Origin of Species, Darwin compares his own theory of Natural Selection favourably with Special Creationism which comes off as a bad second best. He does this using some version of the argument form known as ‘Inference to the Best Explanation’. The first part of this paper is methodological. It considers Whewell’s notion of consilience, that is, the way in which theories can get additional confirmation through unifying otherwise disparate and independent facts. Then it considers various forms of inference to the best explanation. The second part of the paper applies these methodological considerations to an analysis of some of the many passages in Origin where Darwin presents his case in favour of Natural Selection. This gives a far superior explanation of biological facts compared with Special Creationism which provides either an inferior explanation or no explanation at all. Contrary to the view that Creationism should not be taught, the passages from Darwin show at least that it should be understood if only to show that it offers no explanation of a wide range of obvious biological facts. As such the passages in Origin in which Darwin presents his case against Creationism can serve as a series of excellent exercises in getting students to think about Natural Selection as opposed to Creationism. For this reason alone they ought to be better known. In addition, Darwin’s point in these passages can only be understood using principles of scientific method, such as inference to the best explanation, which are essential in showing that Natural Selection is to be preferred to Creationism.     

What We Know and Need to Know about Preventing Problem Behavior in Schools

When chronic problem behaviors occur in schools, the tendency is to react with stringent and restrictive consequences. Recently, emphasis has shifted toward proactive prevention strategies. In this article, we focus on what we know and need to know about school-wide applications of effective practices and systems for preventing problem behaviors. We describe why this emphasis is important, what defines one prevention approach called school-wide positive behavior support, what current research results indicate about this approach, and what future research is needed to prevent development and occurrences of problem behavior in schools.     

Teens and Technology

Abstract

The article describes the study undertaken of how to help disadvantaged teenagers by the Johann Jacobs Foundation of Switzerland and the Russell Sage Foundation of New York. It presents its conclusions, and the follow up of these during the European NetDays Awareness Week in October 1997.     

Differentiating Reinforcement Priorities of Junior High School Students

Two hundred seventh grade Ss were administered a paired comparison scale for the purpose of predicting reinforcer effectiveness of fifteen stimuli. These stimuli were selected from three categories of reinforcement: 1.) verbal and social, 2.) tangible and manipulatable, and 3.) knowledge of progress. Results of the study indicated that the paired comparison scale of determining reinforcing preferences was moderately reliable. On the validation task, Ss performed equally well for the most and least preferred reinforcers. This finding suggests that a S, when selecting from several reinforcers, cannot choose the stimulus which would be most effective in increasing his performance.     

Statistical Techniques Employed in AERJ and JCP Articles from 1988 to 1997: A Methodological Review

The authors of the present methodological review investigated the patterns of statistical usage and reporting practices in 756 articles published in the American Educational Research Journal (AERJ) and in the Journal of Counseling Psychology (JCP) over a 10-year period. First, some findings from other similar reviews are summarized. Second, the authors present a framework for characterizing selected research practices that emphasizes, in part, elements of the recent report of the American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force on Statistical Inference (Wilkinson & APA Task Force on Statistical Inference, 1999). Third, characterizations of 10 years of analytic practices in 2 journals are presented and evaluated within that framework. The article concludes with a discussion of the changes that may be necessary to improve the statistical state of affairs in behavioral research.     

Environmental Numbness in the Classroom

Following research on deleterious effects of surroundings on the behavior of users of other institutions, a naturalistic study of classroom-student interaction was conducted. Instructor-experimenters observed and recorded the behavior of university students in a laboratory which had been slightly altered to maximize difficulty of movement in the room. The amount and frequency of student alteration of the inhospitable furnishings was compared with person-furnishing distances in a non-institutional, personalized setting. The results indicated a strong tendency for students to accept without alteration a rather uncomfortable classroom arrangement. A brief discussion of possible implications for student attitudes toward school follows, one of these being that a specific inhospitality may lead to a diffuse negative feeling and may affect communicative behavior.     

Implicit Association Tests of Attitudes Toward Persons With Disabilities

The authors assessed 3 of the currently available implicit association tests designed to measure attitudes toward persons with disabilities. The Revised Multiple Disability Implicit Association Test, the Implicit Association Test for Attitudes Toward Athletes With Disabilities, and the Disability Attitude Implicit Association Test were related to each other, demonstrating some consistency in measurement. They were mostly unrelated, however, to more traditional, explicit measures of attitudes toward persons with disabilities. In addition, although the implicit association tests were not related to socially desirable responding, the most psychometrically sound explicit measure (The Interaction With Disabled Persons Scale) was related to socially desirable responding.