Children's conceptions of the changes of state of water

Children are very familiar with water, ice, and steam as these things have been part of their lives since they first crawled into the kitchen. In this study children's conceptions about familiar phenomena associated with water, e.g., evaporating, condensing, boiling, and the melting of ice, were investigated using a clinical interview technique. The prevalence of specific views at particular age levels was also studied. The results of the investigation indicate that children do have ideas about the changes of state of water which are quite different from the views of scientists. It would also appear that these ideas can sometimes be influenced in unintended ways by science teaching. The implications of these findings for teaching are discussed.     

INCREASES IN TEST SCORES AS A FUNCTION OF MATERIAL REWARDS

In this study 81 experimental and 79 control subjects (randomly assigned to treatments) took Form A of the Nelson Reading Test, twice, with a four week interval between test administrations. Instructions for the retest varied for the E and C groups. The latter group was told that the test was readministered for purposes of assessing improvement. The E subjects were informed that by improving their previous score they would be eligible for winning a prize (candy bars, university sweaters, radios). Analysis of covariance indicated that the effect of the awards was significant (p < .01) in terms of number of items attempted and in terms of items correct. The adjusted mean increase for the E subjects was three months. The authors concluded that, if the terms of an actual performance contract would be applied to their results, they were to realize approximately $3,000 profit on a $75 investment.     

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE CONTENT OF MEDICAL PRACTICE IN THE UNITED STATES: PROFILES OF PHYSICIANS IN FIVE SPECIALITIES

The University of Southern California has conducted a series of 24 surveys of the professional activities of physicians and surgeons in the United States. The surveys encompass more than 10,000 respondents representing 65.8% of all practising physicians in the United States and its territories. Using a specially‐developed “log‐diary” recording instrument, these physicians reported data on the care they provided during hundreds of thousands of encounters with their patients. This article provides an exposition of the study's unique methodology, presents illustratative data for 5 of the 24 specialities surveyed (cardiology, family practice, general internal medicine, orthopaedic surgery and psychiatry), and discusses the study's relevance and implications for medical education.     

Beyond Mother Education: Maternal Practices as Predictors of Early Literacy Development in Chilean Children from Low-SES Households

Research Findings: To extend findings that are mainly based on North American studies with English speakers, we studied 989 Chilean mothers from households of low socioeconomic status and their prekindergarten children, posing 2 questions: (a) Do mothers’ self-reported practices about literacy development predict early literacy outcomes over and above child characteristics and maternal education? (b) Do these maternal practices mediate the relation between maternal education and these child outcomes? Confirming previous studies, exposure to texts and non-present talk predicted vocabulary, and teaching practices predicted child code-related skills. Contrary to previous studies, exposure to texts also predicted child code-related skills. We also found that maternal practices partially mediated the relation between maternal education and early literacy skills. Practice or Policy: Findings suggest the need to target children before prekindergarten with interventions that increase the studied maternal practices and to do so in family, day care, and health care settings with special emphasis on families with incomplete elementary education. The broad effect of exposure to texts on early literacy outcomes and the low social value on reading in Chilean culture suggest that teacher preparation programs need to include ways to engage children in literature as a frequent experience.     

Towards teaching science for social responsibility: An examination of flaws in science,technology and society

In this paper we continue our search for a socially responsible science education by an examination of the trends in the Science, Technology and Society movement. These trends reflect differing ideological perspectives and result in courses which serve different ends. We identify two major flaws in the movement that inhibits the realization of a schooling in science dedicated to democracy. We propose skills necessary for citizens to participate in debate over issues surrounding the impact of science and technology on society and a teaching stategy to help develop them. Specializations: social responsibility and the curriculum, ideology and comparative science education.     

Exploring and testing cluster analysis

Academic deans annually negotiate for a fair share of university resources. Without quantitative accreditation standards to serve as minimum guidelines, the competition is more difficult. Peer institution comparison, derived from the analysis of quantitative data on resource and productivity variables, assists by providing less biased justification for budget requests. In this study, data from a national study of doctoral-granting teacher education programs was used for a factor analysis of key resource and productivity variables. Seven alternative cluster analysis methods were used and compared. Three follow-up procedures (analysis of variance, discriminant analysis, and classification analysis) tested the cluster analysis results to verify the differences between clusters and their internal homogeneity on three different cluster solutions. The classification analysis showed that 88.2% of the 76 programs were correctly classified on the five-cluster solution produced using Ward's minimum variance method. The practical use of such data suggests that Cattell's pattern of profile similarly is a useful beginning to compare programs on factor scores; following that, raw data on each key variable might be used to prepare individual program profiles for more specific comparison.