Science teachers' knowledge about and attitudes towards the use of models and modelling in learning science

A semi-structured interview was used to enquire into the knowledge of models and modelling held by a total sample of 39 Brazilian science teachers working in 'fundamental' (ages 6-14 years) and 'medium' (ages 15-17 years) schools, student teachers, and university teachers. This paper focuses on their perceptions of the role of models in science teaching. The teachers' ideas are organized in three groups: the status and value of models; the influences that inform the translation of these general ideas into classroom practice; and how they respond to the outcomes of students' modelling activities. The teachers interviewed generally showed an awareness of the value of models in the learning of science but not of their value in learning about science. They were also uncertain of the relationship that could exist in the classroom between various types of models. Modelling, as an activity by students, whilst praised in theory, would not seem to be widely practised. Where practised, the outcomes are by no means always treated with that integrity that learning about science would call for.     

A study of color in dissertations and theses

This study examined the occurrence of color in dissertations and theses produced at the Pennsylvania State University over a nine year period. Since the most common preservation method for dissertations and theses is monochromatic microfilming, traditional treatment may result in a loss of information encoded in color in these resources. Results indicate a significant increase in the use of color over the time period studied. Variations in the amount of color use by discipline were also observed. Implications related to monochromatic microfilming and recommendations for long term preservation are discussed.     

Bibliographic control of medical illustrations--a case study in the development of a library subsystem: I. Project planning

The need to provide bibliographic access to a collection of original medical illustrations led the Library of the University of California, San Francisco, to search for a bibliographic control system and, not finding a satisfactory one, to develop one of its own, Part 1 of the report details the planning for such a development, including the need for bibliographic control of illustrations, the goals of the proposed system, design decisions and changes required, the type of system chosen, special subjects indexing needs, the required output, and staffing and budgetary needs.     

Validating Student Score Inferences With Person‐Fit Statistic and Verbal Reports: A Person‐Fit Study for Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment

The goal of this study was to investigate the usefulness of person‐fit analysis in validating student score inferences in a cognitive diagnostic assessment. In this study, a two‐stage procedure was used to evaluate person fit for a diagnostic test in the domain of statistical hypothesis testing. In the first stage, the person‐fit statistic, the hierarchy consistency index (HCI; Cui, 2007 ; Cui & Leighton, 2009 ), was used to identify the misfitting student item‐score vectors. In the second stage, students’ verbal reports were collected to provide additional information about students’ response processes so as to reveal the actual causes of misfits. This two‐stage procedure helped to identify the misfits of item‐score vectors to the cognitive model used in the design and analysis of the diagnostic test, and to discover the reasons of misfits so that students’ problem‐solving strategies were better understood and their performances were interpreted in a more meaningful way.