Designing a likert-type scale to assess attitude toward energy conservation: A nine step process

A nine-step process was used as a multilevel screening mechanism in developing a Likert-type scale that measures that attitudes of teachers toward energy conservation. Following the assemblage of a 71 statement item pool, the statements were analyzed via qualitative criteria (i.e., presence of authoritative appeals, use of double negatives, statements irrelevant to the attitude object, etc.). The 60 statements meeting the qualitative criteria were then pilotted using a sample of 93 preservice elementary teachers. One of the 60 statements was modified as a result of respondent feedback. Data collected from respondents were anlayzed using the Likert Attitude Scale Analysis Main Program (LIKRT) and the emotional intensity of each statement was judged by the criteria: discrimination index, bipolar data, and neutral data. Nineteen statements that were part of the initial item pool met all the criteria set forth by the nine-step process; as a result, these statements composed the Attitude Toward Energy Conservation Scale. Coefficient alpha for the scale was reported at 0.81 by LIKRT with an average adjusted item-total correlation of 0.48. Initial validity data collected suggests the scale to be a valid measure of preservice teachers' attitudes toward energy conservation.     

The Algebraic Nature of Students’ Numerical Manipulation in the New Zealand Numeracy Project

The New Zealand Ministry of Education has introduced a Numeracy Project for students aged 5–14 years in selected schools. The project encourages the adoption of flexible strategies for solving numerical problems, and discourages reliance on standard computational algorithms. One potential benefit of the project is that the methods students acquire in the project may provide a foundation for algebraic thinking through the use of quasi-variables in numerical operations. In order to evaluate this possibility, we constructed a 21-item test of numerical manipulation that required an underlying awareness of the presence of quasi-variables. The test was administered to 431 12-year-old students who participated in the project and to 468 students who did not. The test consisted of six sections, each of which examined the application of a different aspect of reasoning to numerical problems. The results showed that students who participated in the Numeracy Project solved numerical problems that required manipulation with more success than did students who had not participated in the project. This proved to be the case for three different levels of analysis: for the test as a whole, for each of the six sections of the test, and for every individual item of the test. The results were interpreted as showing that the project fostered students awareness of numbers as quasi-variables and thus provided an early indicator of algebraic thinking.     

Creating Learning Prisms with an Interdisciplinary Case Study Workshop

With increasing specialization, most academic disciplines have become highly compartmentalized. Numerous organizations in higher education strongly encourage interdisciplinary collaboration at the faculty and student level. The purposes of this article are (a) to provide a conceptual framework for explaining how and why an interdisciplinary case study method is a catalyst for the development of students and faculty; (b) to document the conception, planning, organizing, and results of an interdisciplinary case study workshop; and (c) to provide recommendations to encouragechange others who might want to apply this model to their own interdisciplinary efforts.All authors are at Towson University Sharon B. Buchbinder, R.N., PhD, is associate professor of health science. She received her PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Special interests are physician job satisfaction and turnover, patient compliance, learning styles and teamwork among undergraduates. Patricia M. Alt, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is professor of health science. Special interests are state level policies on aging and human subjects protection, the impact of baby boomer aging on public services, responsible conduct of research training and typologies of institutional review boards. Karen Eskow, PhD, University of Maryland is associate professor of occupational therapy and occupational sciences and director of the Family Studies Program. Special interests are family professional relationships, family quality of life, and families with adolescents. William Forbes, PhD, University of Maryland is associate professor of Kinesiology and director of the Wellness Center. Special interests are developing quality programming to assist older adults in improving their fitness and wellness, racquetball, squash, downhill skiing, and billiards. Eva Hester, PhD, University of Maryland is associate professor of communication science and disorders and special assistant to the dean, College of Health Professions. Special interests are speech language-disorders in children and adults. Miriam Struck, O.T., doctoral student, University of Maryland is currently occupational therapist, Physical Disabilities Program, with the Montgomery County Public Schools. Special interests are disability, transitioning from school to work, and instructional methods. Dianne Taylor, R.N., Ed.D., University of Maryland is associate professor, nursing. Special interests are psychiatric nursing and critical incident stress management.     

The detection and correction of bias in student ratings of instruction

With the use of surveys of instructional effectiveness that use Likert rating scales, bias is a potential threat to the validity of interpretations. Simple summation of ratings or the use of larger samples are not methods for removing bias. In this study, a new model for scaling ratings is examined. The method both identifies and corrects for bias. Working with a database of student ratings of college instruction, the model was tested in terms of a variety of criteria. Results indicated that bias was detected and that it was large enough to warrant our concern. The statistical corrections were significant both in terms of order and magnitude of class means. Implications for future studies include the specification of more potential sources of bias, the interaction of some of these factors, and the development of more systematic evidence supporting the need to be attentive to bias. The many-faceted Rasch model used in this study needs more evaluation before we are convinced of its utility to study and correct for bias, but preliminary evidence is encouraging. Recommendations were offered for a theoretical rationale for studying bias in student ratings of instructional effectiveness and a program of research leading to the use of this model for reporting results for use in improving instruction and for promotion, tenure, and merit decisions. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Atlanta April 1993.     

How to Save the World and Other Lessons from Children’s Environmental Literature

This article argues that most contemporary children’s environmental picture books and easy readers published in the United States focus overwhelmingly on individual environmentalist acts and lifestyle changes, overlook the connections between environmental degradation and systemic social problems such as class disparities, and ultimately over-simplify environmental crisis. They typically encourage children to adopt environmentalist behaviors such as recycling that can be performed by individuals or families in the home, school, and local community, but do little to encourage civic engagement that would call into attention the intertwined ideological, economic, and political factors preventing profound environmental change. The analysis then examines several books that notably do inform readers about the larger political and economic issues and place a strong emphasis on environmental justice, a type of environmentalism deeply concerned with issues of race, class, gender, and economic inequality. Such texts are more likely to encourage an environmentalism that combines lifestyle and consumer choices with political activism. We need more books like this, as children’s texts that resign environmental action almost completely to individual choices and behaviors and disassociate environmental crises from their larger constitutive contexts do little to prepare young people for the socio-environmental challenges we face now and in the future.     

Constructing more meaningful relationships: Mnemonic instruction for special populations

This article describes a model for reconstructing associative learning tasks along the dimensions of meaningfulness and concreteness, and for providing pictorial elaborations between stimulus and response information to promote learning in a variety of content domains. The research reviewed is of direct relevance to students with histories of learning failure in schools; we argue that such elaborative strategies are suitable especially for these handicapped learners. Initial investigations of mnemonic techniques involving the use of keywords and pegwords are described. Next, the broader approach of reconstructive elaborations, incorporating such strategies as the keyword method, is described. Several recent field investigations are presented, in which this approach was implemented in classrooms over extensive time periods. Finally, we discuss future applications, with particular reference to the transfer issue.     

Alternative Conceptions in Animal Classification Focusing on Amphibians and Reptiles: A Cross-Age Study

This study examined students alternative conceptions of reptiles and amphibians and the extent to which these conceptions remain intact through the elementary (grades 4 and 6), junior, and senior high school years. We administered multiple-choice and free-response instruments to a total of 513 students and interviewed at least 20 students at each educational level to get an in-depth view of their original conceptions. Then, we developed and administered a two-tier multiple choice diagnostic instrumentto assess various levels of students understanding of amphibians and reptiles(N=1267). The results showed that most students were able to classify snakes as reptiles, whereas fewer than 30% of the students across different ages classified sea turtles as reptiles; the remaining 70% classified sea turtles as amphibians. More students were able to correctly classify frogs as amphibians than toads. In most instances, students correctly classified prototypical representatives of the two animal classes more readily than less exemplary representatives, a finding that supports previous research (Trowbridge, J.E. andMintzes, J.J. (1988). Alternative conceptions in animal classification: A cross-age study. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 25(7), 547–571). Interestingly, the alternative views of sea turtles as amphibians remained intact throughout the school years. Interview data indicated that students classified sea turtles as amphibians largely because sea turtles are able to live in terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Semantically, amphi means living on land and in water. When asked to distinguish between reptiles and amphibians and to classify several species into those two groups, a wide range of alternative conceptions emerged and the origin of those alternative conceptions are discussed. Similar results were obtained when we applied a two-tier multiple-choice diagnostic instrument to assess students understanding of amphibians and reptiles.