Integrating reading and science education: On developing and evaluating WEE Science

Two studies of a new science programme called WEE Science were conducted in two fifth-grade classrooms. The studies lasted for seven days in one of the classrooms and nine days in the other. At the beginning of the programme the students chose a science trade book from among the many that were selected and brought to the classroom. The students then formed groups based on the topics of the books and asked questions (Wondering) about the content. After choosing one of the 'wonderments' to pursue further, the students formed and implemented a plan for investigating (Exploring). In each classroom, each student explored, working in cooperating groups of two or more. The students then explained (Explaining) to a group of their peers what they had wondered and what and how they had explored. The students' wonderments, activities, plans, and explanations were recorded in a science notebook that had been designed for that purpose. In addition, the classrooms were videotaped while WEE Science was in progress. While the studies were successful in that most students eagerly participated in all phases of the project, some problems were encountered which created another round of wondering for the researchers. Some of these were: evaluating students' work, responding to science misconceptions of students, teaching some students to record observations in their notebooks, deciding where WEE Science would fit best in the curriculum, and anticipating its reception in the science education community.     

No child,no school,no state left behind: schooling in the age of accountability 1

Why and under which conditions do international student assessment programmes like PISA have success? How can the results of these assessments be useful for advocates of different, even contradictory, policies? What might explain different patterns of using assessment as a tool for school governance? Drawing on historical and comparative research, and using PISA as an example, this paper provides a frame for discussing these and other questions around the international rise of accountability as a key tool of social change. The basic argument is that even though accountability is a global phenomenon, the ways and means of enacting and encountering accountability are not. How accountability is experienced depends on deeply engrained ‘constitutional mind‐sets’, i.e. diverse cultures of conceptualizing the relation between the public and its institutions.     

Variations of Normal Children

Previous research indicates that academic emotions are largely organized along domain-specific lines. In the present study (N = 1,687; Grades 8/11), the authors explored the domain specificity of academic emotions in terms of the moderating influence of having the same versus a different course instructor across domains. The authors evaluated discrete emotions consisting of enjoyment, pride, anxiety, anger, and boredom as experienced in the academic domains of mathematics and physics. Consistent with previous findings, between-domain relations for these emotions were relatively weak. These relations were, however, significantly stronger in classes having the same instructor in mathematics and physics compared with classes having different instructors for each subject. Nevertheless, the between-domain relations in classes having the same instructor were not strong enough to disconfirm the domain-specific conceptualization of academic emotions. Last, the authors discuss directions for future research on additional factors potentially affecting the strength of between-domain relations of academic emotions.     

Implicit Association Tests of Attitudes Toward Persons With Disabilities

The authors assessed 3 of the currently available implicit association tests designed to measure attitudes toward persons with disabilities. The Revised Multiple Disability Implicit Association Test, the Implicit Association Test for Attitudes Toward Athletes With Disabilities, and the Disability Attitude Implicit Association Test were related to each other, demonstrating some consistency in measurement. They were mostly unrelated, however, to more traditional, explicit measures of attitudes toward persons with disabilities. In addition, although the implicit association tests were not related to socially desirable responding, the most psychometrically sound explicit measure (The Interaction With Disabled Persons Scale) was related to socially desirable responding.     

The Multi-Sensory-Motor Method of Teaching Reading

Despite repeated warnings against its usage, researchers and textbook authors continue to employ the phrase “level of confidence” as a synonym for the phrase “level of significance.” Three possible sources of this incorrect usage are noted: (a) imitation; (b) the related but different concepts of fiducial inference and confidence interval estimation; and (c) the myriad of terms associated with confidence. It is recommended that the magnitude of level of confidence be restricted to that of the complement of the level of significance and also that the term level of confidence should be used only in connection with interval estimation.     

Bias Corrections for Standardized Effect Size Estimates Used With Single-Subject Experimental Designs

A multilevel meta-analysis can combine the results of several single-subject experimental design studies. However, the estimated effects are biased if the effect sizes are standardized and the number of measurement occasions is small. In this study, the authors investigated 4 approaches to correct for this bias. First, the standardized effect sizes are adjusted using Hedges’ small sample bias correction. Next, the within-subject standard deviation is estimated by a 2-level model per study or by using a regression model with the subjects identified using dummy predictor variables. The effect sizes are corrected using an iterative raw data parametric bootstrap procedure. The results indicate that the first and last approach succeed in reducing the bias of the fixed effects estimates. Given the difference in complexity, we recommend the first approach.     

Two Sequence Factors in Programmed Instruction

Pupil performances due to variation of step size (texture) and block size in programmed instruction were tested in a two-factor (3x3) experimental design. A 60-item addition drill was prepared in three different sequenc es of item difficutly and each sequence was presented via computer in three different block sizes (15, 30, and 60 items per block). Thirty-six bright eighth graders were randomly assigned to the resulting nine sequences. A nalysis of variance of posttest performance data based on response latency showed no significant differences du to texture, block size, or interaction. Control of performance data for initial differences in ability did not significantly improve experimental precision.     

Teachers' Questions and Responses during Teacher-Student Feedback Dialogues

In vocational education, students have to develop competences for reflection to self-regulate their development during their career. Students' reflection can be supported by teachers interacting with students and giving them prompts. In this study, 46 videotaped feedback dialogues of 23 teachers and their individual students were analysed. A total of 16 teachers participated in a training programme and 7 teachers formed a control group. The study aimed to investigate teachers' questions and responses and students' reactions, and the effects of the training programme. Analysis showed that, in the post-test, the trained group used a broader repertoire than the control group. The trained group, on average, used more hybrid prompts, deep reasoning questions, and prompt responses, which potentially stimulate students to elaborate and reflect.     

The Civil Contract of Photography

A climate of political repression, formed by the Pitt Government in response to agitation by so‐called “radical” societies, surrounded debate on the Habeas Corpus Suspension Bill of 1794. Pitt employed rhetorical tactics such as manipulating evidence and disparaging motives in order to secure passage of this repressive measure. Pitt's tactics appear unjustified in the light of available historical evidence.