Why school based assessment is not a universal feature of high stakes assessment systems?

Accepting that school based assessment may have the potential to bring additional reliability to the assessment outcomes of an educational system, this research uses Generalizability Theory to address the question “why school based assessment is not a universal feature of high stakes assessment systems”? Three major issues are identified: (a) there is a conflict between the psychometric model and classroom assessment practice; (b) different schools are not equally effective; and, (c) teachers’ judgments are frequently accused of being biased. The role of public examination boards is discussed in this context.     

A categorization of the “whys” and “hows” of using history in mathematics education

This is a theoretical article proposing a way of organizing and structuring the discussion of why and how to use the history of mathematics in the teaching and learning of mathematics, as well as the interrelations between the arguments for using history and the approaches to doing so. The way of going about this is to propose two sets of categories in which to place the arguments for using history (the “whys”) and the different approaches to doing this (the “hows”). The arguments for using history are divided into two categories; history as a tool and history as a goal. The ways of using history are placed into three categories of approaches: the illumination, the modules, and the history-based approaches. This categorization, along with a discussion of the motivation for using history being one concerned with either the inner issues (in-issues) or the metaperspective issues (meta-issues) of mathematics, provides a means of ordering the discussion of “whys” and “hows.”

Online learning: Learner characteristics and their approaches to managing learning

Using cluster analysis this study investigated the characteristics of learning strategies learners use in online courses with one-on-one mentoring. Three distinct approaches were identified: “Mastery oriented”, “Task focused” and “Minimalist in effort”. Despite the widespread concern that students will have difficulty managing their time in online courses with high level of student freedom, this study found that the vast majority of learners were very effective in their learning strategies. The findings speak well for the potential of distance education environments to provide high quality self-paced learning, accommodating different learning strategies, which is difficult to do in group-paced courses. We further explored how these approaches relate to and interact with, participants’ background and their levels of satisfaction and self reported learning.     

Effects of a Peer Helping Training Program on Helping Skills and Self-Growth of Peer Helpers

The purpose of this study was to develop a peer helping training program for university students in Turkey and to examine its effectiveness in improving the helping skills and self-growth of peer helpers. A pre-test, post-test, follow-up-test experimental design, involving a treatment and control group, was carried out with a total sample of 31 undergraduate participants. Results indicate that there was a significant difference between treatment and control groups in specific measures of empathic and reflection skills, but not in communication skills as a general measure. Significant improvements also were found in the treatment group participants` self-esteem and self-acceptance in regard to time.     

Aggregate unemployment decreases individual returns to education

Aggregate unemployment may affect individual returns to education through qualification-specific responses in participation and wage bargaining. This paper shows that an increase in regional unemployment by 1% decreases returns to education by 0.005 percentage points. This implies that higher skilled employees are better sheltered from labour market changes with respect to their jobs but they encounter larger wage changes than less skilled employees. We use representative individual data and panel variation in unemployment between German regions and employee groups. We demonstrate that our results are robust with respect to aggregation bias, time lags and potential endogeneity of the unemployment variable.     

Integrating Free Computer Software in Chemistry and Biochemistry Instruction: An International Collaboration

At the Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Colombia, we used their new computer facilities to introduce chemistry graduate students to biochemical database mining and quantum chemistry calculations using freeware. These hands-on workshops allowed the students a strong introduction to easily accessible software and how to use this software to begin to explore computer modeling. Each workshop was scheduled for 2 h and each included a tutorial exercise to familiarize the students with the main menus and features of the software. In addition, accompanying lectures and practical laboratory sections were provided. Both courses were taught in Spanish although the written instructions were in English. This was not a problem since these students have a comfort level with reading English. Student feedback following these workshops was highly enthusiastic and positive. This international collaborative will impact both the teaching and research goals for this cohort of graduate students.     

Integrating Gender and Group Differences into Bridging Strategy

The main goal of this study was to integrate gender and group effect into bridging strategy in order to assess the effect of bridging analogy-based instruction on sophomore students’ misconceptions in Newton’s Third Law. Specifically, the authors developed and benefited from anchoring analogy diagnostic test to merge the effect of group and gender into the strategy. Newton’s third law misconception test, attitude scale toward Newton’s third law, and classroom observation checklists were the other measuring tools utilized throughout this quasi-experimental study. The researchers also developed or used several teaching/learning materials such as gender and group splitted concept diagrams, lesson plans, gender splitted frequency tables, make sense scales, PowerPoint slides, flash cards, and demonstrations. The convenience sample of the study chosen from the accessible population involved 308 students from two public universities. The results of multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that the bridging strategy had a significant effect on students’ misconceptions in Newton’s third law whereas it had no significant effect on students’ attitudes toward Newton’s third law.     

Investigating the Relationships Among Elementary School Students’ Epistemological Beliefs, Metacognition, and Constructivist Science Learning Environment

The research questions addressed in this study were: what types of epistemological beliefs do elementary students have; what types of metacognition do elementary students have; and what are the relationships among students’ perceived characteristics of constructivist learning environment, metacognition, and epistemological beliefs. A total of 626 students enrolled in sixth, seventh, and eight grades of nine elementary public schools located in Ankara, Turkey constituted the participants of this study. Constructivist learning environment survey (CLES), Junior metacognitive awareness inventory (Jr. MAI), and Schommer epistemological belief questionnaire (EB) were administered to students. Factor Analysis of Jr. MAI revealed both knowledge of cognition and regulation of cognition items were loaded into one factor. Confirmatory factor analysis of EB revealed a four factor structure namely innate ability, quick learning, omniscient authority, and certain knowledge. Regression analyses revealed that metacognition and omniscient authority were significant predictors of personal relevance dimension of CLES. Metacognition was found as the only predictor of the student negotiation. Innate ability and metacognition significantly contributed to uncertainty. This study revealed that the elementary students with different mastery levels hold different epistemological beliefs and multi-faceted nature of elementary school students’ metacognition was seemed to be supported with this study. It was found that metacognition contributed to model more than epistemological beliefs for all three dimensions of CLES.