Does continuous assessment in higher education support student learning?

A distinction is often made in the literature about “assessment of learning” and “assessment for learning” attributing a formative function to the latter while the former takes a summative function. While there may be disagreements among researchers and educators about such categorical distinctions there is consensus that both types of assessment are often used concurrently in higher education institutions. A question that often arises when formative and summative assessment practices are used in continuous assessment is the extent to which student learning can be facilitated through feedback. The views and perceptions of students and academics from a discipline in the Humanities across seven higher education institutions were sought to examine the above question. A postal survey was completed by academics, along with a survey administered to a sample of undergraduate students and a semi-structured interview was conducted with key academics in each of the seven institutions. This comparative study highlights issues that concern both groups about the extent to which continuous assessment practices facilitate student learning and the challenges faced. The findings illustrate the need to consider more effective and efficient ways in which feedback can be better used to facilitate student learning.     

A study in usability: redesigning a health sciences library's mobile site

A mobile site redesign was conducted at a medium-sized academic health sciences library with the goal of creating a site that meets the mobile information needs of its users. The redesign phases included (1) needs assessment, (2) usability testing, and (3) site design. The survey results showed that Apple devices were the most prevalent; the most desirable activities performed on a mobile site were searching for articles, accessing full-text articles and e-books, searching databases, and searching the catalog. These activities guided the development of the usability testing tasks and the redesign. All phases were completed within six months, and the total project cost was $50 for incentive purchases.     

Un marco conceptual para la interpretación psicológica del juego infantil

Resumen

El artículo plantea un análisis conceptual de la teoría del juego de Piaget y la compara críticamente con la teoría que se desprende del pensamiento vygotskiano sobre el tema. Aunque hay una elección por parte de la autora del trabajo de este último constructo teórico, el estudio está dirigido a resaltar aquellos aspectos del discurso piagetiano que considera fundamentales para elaborar una teoría psicológica del juego infantil, y a criticar aquellos otros que le parecen contradictorios o deficitarios.     

Fostering theory of mind development. Short- and medium-term effects of training false belief understanding / Favorecer el desarrollo de la teoría de la mente. Efectos a corto y medio plazo de un entrenamiento en comprensión de la falsa creencia

Abstract

This study examines the temporal effect of different trainings designed to favour the development of false belief understanding. A sample of 78 pre-school children aged between three years, five months and three years, 11 months was divided into three training conditions. After three training sessions, they were immediately evaluated in post-test 1 and again a month and a half later in post-test 2. The results showed that the efficiency of the training conditions depended both on the type of linguistic communication and on the use of deceptive objects. Also, the effect of the training was maintained for at least a month and a half after post-test 1 and it was transferred from the trained task to other false belief tasks. The results are commented according to the possibility of using language-based trainings to foster children’s theory of mind understanding in educational contexts.     

Development and Validation of a Scale to Assess Students’ Attitude towards Animal Welfare

This work presents the development of a scale of attitudes of secondary-school and university students towards animal welfare. A questionnaire was drawn up following a Likert-type scale attitude assessment model. Four components or factors, which globally measure animal welfare, are proposed to define the object of the attitude. The components are animal abuse for pleasure or due to ignorance (C1), leisure with animals (C2), farm animals (C3) and animal abandonment (C4). The final version of the questionnaire contains 29 items that are evenly distributed among the four components indicated, guaranteeing that each component is one-dimensional. A sample of 329 students was used to validate the scale. These students were aged between 11 and 25, and were from secondary schools in Aragon and the University in Zaragoza (Aragon's main and largest city, located in NE Spain). The scale shows good internal reliability, with a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.74. The questionnaire was later given to 1,007 students of similar levels and ages to the sample used in the validation, the results of which are presented in this study. The most relevant results show significant differences in gender and level of education in some of the components of the scale, observing that women and university students rate animal welfare more highly.     

‘I'm your teacher,I'm Brazilian!’ Authenticity and authority in European capoeira

Capoeira, the Brazilian dance and martial art is now globalised and taught widely outside Brazil. Instruction is provided by Brazilians who are living in self-imposed exile from their homeland. The authentic capoeira that such teachers provide is a major attraction for non-Brazilian students. However, there is little research available on the motivations and strategies of overseas capoeira instructors. Building on a long term ethnographic study, this paper showcases the goals and strategies of one successful Brazilian teacher, from the Beribazu Group of Capoeira, working in the UK. This teacher reflects upon his four interlocking aims for his students and the strategies for achieving them. They should develop social cohesion, appreciate Brazilian culture, play good capoeira and learn to move their bodies acrobatically, flexibly and beautifully. Two sociologists embed the teacher's perspective on his work in an analytic framework derived from Bourdieu.     

The effect of radioactive radiations upon euglena

An examination has been made of the rate of death of euglena cells when exposed to the alpha particle radiation from radium emanation dissolved in the containing liquid. It was found that the rate of death of the cells was pro. portional to the strength of the dissolved emanation and to the number of live euglena cells present, a conclusion in harmony with the view that death of a cell is caused by a single impact of some sensitive region with an alpha particle. The theory of the case where two impacts of the sensitive region with an alpha particle are necessary to cause death, has been worked out with a generality which allows for a recovery of the cells between the two impacts.It is found that the results of the experiment are inconsistent with such a hypothesis.From the experimental data, it is possible to calculate the size of the sensitive entity which when struck by the alpha particle causes death to the cell. The diameter of this entity comes out about equal to that of the nucleus of the euglena cell.     

批判的质性研究方法论与行动取向

批判的质性研究方法论作为当代西方质性研究方法论中的一支,结合了一般质性研究方法论与批判理论的特点,既关注社会中作为行动者的个人及其解放,同时又为以此为对象的研究者提供一套可操作的研究方法理论。批判的质性研究方法理论认为,人在受到压抑或被异化后,总有寻求突破与解放的要求,而现实的行动条件却制约着这种要求,但这并不意味着行动者完全没有获得解放的可能。除了对个人难以控制的行动条件进行大规模的社会变革外,每一位行动者还可以通过反思自身的行动取向,突破经由文化施加的限制获得一定意义上的解放。文化结构与行动意义正是该研究方法论为研究行动取向而建构的两个重要概念。     

Word problem solving approaches in mathematics textbooks: a comparison between Singapore and Spain

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Singaporean children are the best performers on international achievement tests in mathematics (i.e. the TIMSS). Their excellent results could be due...