Learning about students’ knowledge and thinking in science through large-scale quantitative studies

The main issue addressed in this article is that there is much to learn about students’ knowledge and thinking in science from largescale international quantitative studies beyond overall score measures. Response patterns on individual or groups of items can give valuable diagnostic insight into students’ conceptual understanding, but there is also a danger of drawing conclusions that may be too simple and nonvalid. We discuss how responses to multiple-choice items could be interpreted, and we also show how responses on constructed-response items can be systematised and analysed. Finally, we study, empirically, interactions between item characteristics and student responses. It is demonstrated that even small changes in the item wording and/or the item format may have a substantial influence on the response pattern. Therefore, we argue that interpretations of results from these kinds of studies should be based on a thorough analysis of the actual items used. We further argue that diagnostic information should be an integrated part of the international research aims of such large-scale studies. Examples of items and student responses presented are taken from The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).     

Globalised student achievement? A longitudinal and cross-country analysis of convergence in mathematics performance

ABSTRACT

With the aid of longitudinal country-level data from five IEA TIMSS assessments (1995–2011), the current study addresses the issue of the globalisation of curricula and achievement. To explore the hypothesis of global convergence, we study performance in four subdomains of mathematics. Using regression with fixed effects for countries, we consider whether the variation of subdomain scores decreases globally over time. Additionally, we explore qualitative differences in performance profiles using latent class analysis. Our results provide little evidence for a global harmonisation of student achievement. Rather, for regions with a similar language and culture, we observe similar strengths and weaknesses in mathematics content areas. Furthermore, these patterns remain stable over time. Directions for future research include the exploration of global trends in aspects of attained curricula for other subjects, and the use of information on school achievement.     

Effects of stimulus alternations on extinguishing a discrimination

Rats were trained in a light ON vs light OFF discrimination in operant chambers with food reinforcement. Following acquisition, extinction under conditions of no alternations between S+ and S? and under conditions of numerous alternations between S+ and S? were examined. In Experiment I, extinction in S+ or S? alone produced less responding to S+ and more responding to S? than extinction with regular alternations between S+ and S?. In Experiment II, 9, 39, or 79 alternations in extinction between S+ and S? produced no differences in responding. These results indicate that during extinction of a discrimination there is (a) sharpening of differential performance, (b) a difference between multiple- and single-stimulus procedures, and (c) little effect of different numbers of alternations.     

Getting Over the Hump: Examining Curvilinear Relationships between Adolescent Self-Esteem and Facebook Use

Literature examining self-esteem and social networking site use has generally considered linear relationships between these variables. Mixed results in this extant literature and Self-Affirmation Theory indicate that a curvilinear relationship is possible. Data from a survey of 337 Dutch adolescents (ages 12–18) suggest a curvilinear relationship between self-esteem and Facebook use. Relative to higher and lower levels of self-esteem, moderate levels of self-esteem correspond to the highest levels of both Facebook use and specific activities, such as text- and visual-based social contributions. Results clarify our understanding of the relationships between the well-being variable, self-esteem, and social networking site use.     

Implications of Prelecture Material on Cognitive Load and Instructional Effectiveness in Cross‐Disciplinary IS Education: The Nexus of Benford's Law and SQL

For some time, there has been a call for cross‐disciplinary teaching within the business disciplines. With the rise of data and analytics, there is an opportunity for cross‐disciplinary teaching by integrating technology throughout the business curriculum. However, many business professors have little experience in cross‐disciplinary teaching. We hope to rectify this by introducing an approach that uses prelecture material to prepare students for learning concepts and terms that are not core to the focal class. In a study that combines Structured Query Language (SQL) coding with an audit principle called Benford's Law, we analyze the impact of adding prelecture material about Benford's Law on student's cognitive load, knowledge gained, and instructional efficiency. Results indicate that students who received a prelecture on Benford's Law outperformed the control group in performance measures related to Benford's Law, and that the instructional efficiency on Benford's Law was also higher for the treatment group. We did not find any significant differences in cognitive load between the two groups, nor did the treatment group perform significantly better when tested on the SQL concepts. We conclude that cross‐discipline teaching is a fine balance between each discipline and communicating to students the importance of both disciplines is key.