The Needs of the Highly Able and the Needs of Society: A Multidisciplinary Analysis of Talent Differentiation and Its Significance to Gifted Education and Issues of Societal Inequality

Formative evaluation helps to determine the realistic value of a program and sets the stage for program change for improvement.     

Gender Effects in Assessment of Economic Knowledge and Understanding: Differences Among Undergraduate Business and Economics Students in Germany,Japan, and the United States

Gender effects in large-scale assessments have become an increasingly important research area within and across countries. Yet few studies have linked differences in assessment results of male and female students in higher education to construct-relevant features of the target construct. This paper examines gender effects on students’ economic content knowledge with a focus on construct-relevant explanations. Moreover, we compare gender effects cross-nationally between Germany, Japan, and the United States. To assess economic content knowledge of higher education students, we used translated, adapted, and validated versions of the Test of Understanding in College Economics (TUCE, 4th ed.), an instrument that is commonly used internationally. We found gender effects on test scores in all three countries; effects were larger in Germany and the United States than in Japan. Gender effects were generally more pronounced on the numeracy subscale than on the literacy subscale, that is, male students had a greater edge over female students when items required calculations. In our conclusion, we discuss how numeracy and literacy items may tap different abilities.     

Do images influence assessment in anatomy? Exploring the effect of images on item difficulty and item discrimination

Anatomists often use images in assessments and examinations. This study aims to investigate the influence of different types of images on item difficulty and item discrimination in written assessments. A total of 210 of 460 students volunteered for an extra assessment in a gross anatomy course. This assessment contained 39 test items grouped in seven themes. The answer format alternated per theme and was either a labeled image or an answer list, resulting in two versions containing both images and answer lists. Subjects were randomly assigned to one version. Answer formats were compared through item scores. Both examinations had similar overall difficulty and reliability. Two cross‐sectional images resulted in greater item difficulty and item discrimination, compared to an answer list. A schematic image of fetal circulation led to decreased item difficulty and item discrimination. Three images showed variable effects. These results show that effects on assessment scores are dependent on the type of image used. Results from the two cross‐sectional images suggest an extra ability is being tested. Data from a scheme of fetal circulation suggest a cueing effect. Variable effects from other images indicate that a context‐dependent interaction takes place with the content of questions. The conclusion is that item difficulty and item discrimination can be affected when images are used instead of answer lists; thus, the use of images as a response format has potential implications for the validity of test items. Anat Sci Educ © 2012 American Association of Anatomists.     

The BASES Expert Statement on Exercise and Cancer Survivorship

Abstract

Research examining the proximal-to-distal sequencing of segments of the body involved in overarm throwing has been equivocal: some studies have found support for the concept while others have not. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to determine if there is a proximal-to-distal sequence in the timing of the movements of joints and the distal endpoints of segments in overarm throwing. The three-dimensional kinematics of a penalty throw in experienced team handball players (n = 11) were recorded and analysed with regard to the timing of events. We analysed the timing of the maximal velocity of the distal endpoints of six segments and the maximal angular velocity in 11 joints, as well as the initiation of these joint movements. A temporal proximal-to-distal sequence was observed only for the initiation of the joint movements. No such sequence was found for maximal velocity of the joints and distal endpoints of segments.     

Reconsidering the Ambitions and Position of Gifted Education

This article is a theoretical commentary to Robert J. Sternberg’s Active Concerned Citizenship and Ethical Leadership (ACCEL) model as published in the Roeper Review. Though the proposed model is attractive and a formidable attempt to reform education in a politically and economically turbulent world that all too often ignores ethics and wisdom and increasingly shuns critical thinking, this article focuses on the two equally formidable obstacles to implementing the model, namely, systems inertia and evolutionary dynamics, neither of which is addressed by Sternberg (2017). In conclusion, a suggestion is made for the reevaluation of ambitions and position in the light of what the ACCEL model is proposed to potentially achieve.     

The Impact of Explicit Teaching of Methodological Aspects of Physics on Scientistic Beliefs and Interest

We assessed the impact of teaching methodological aspects of physics on students’ scientistic beliefs and subject interest in physics in a repeated-measurement design with a total of 142 students of upper secondary physics classes. Students gained knowledge of methodological aspects from the pre-test to the post-test and reported reduced scientistic beliefs, both from their own views and from their presumed prototypical physicists’ views. We found no direct impact of teaching on students’ subject interest in physics. As path analysis indicates, this result can be traced back to opposing paths: Lower scientistic beliefs of students attenuate subject interest while lower presumed scientistic beliefs that they hold of physicists foster subject interest. This finding is in accordance with the self-to-prototype matching theory that predicts an impact of the overlap between students’ self-image and their prototypical image on subject interest in physics.