Preservice Teachers' Knowledge of Difficulties in Decimal Numeration

In this study we investigated preservice elementary school teachers' content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of decimal numeration. The preservice teachers completed a decimal comparison test, marked items they thought would be difficult for students, and explained why. Only about 80 percent of the sample tested as experts, indicating that a significant proportion of preservice teachers have inadequate content knowledge of decimals. Confusion about the size of decimals in relation to zero was a significant and unexpected difficulty, leading to concerns about the fragmentary nature of the preservice teachers' knowledge. Most preservice teachers were aware of longer-is-larger misconceptions in students, but had little awareness of shorter-is-larger misconceptions. Preservice teachers' explanations for the reasons students might have difficulty demonstrated that many are good at identifying features that make comparisons difficult but less able to explain why these cause trouble. Results point to the need for teacher education to emphasise content knowledge that integrates different aspects of number knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge that includes a thorough understanding of common difficulties. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Implementation of a peer‐led team learning instructional approach in an undergraduate organic chemistry course

This study focuses on the implementation of a peer‐led team learning (PLTL) instructional approach for all students in an undergraduate organic chemistry course and the evaluation of student outcomes over 8 years. Students who experienced the student‐centered instruction and worked in small groups facilitated by a peer leader (treatment) in 1996–1999 were compared with students who experienced the traditional recitation section (control) in 1992–1994. Quantitative and qualitative data show statistically significant improvements in student performance, retention, and attitudes about the course. These findings suggest that using undergraduate leaders to implement a peer‐led team learning model that is built on a social constructivist foundation is a workable mechanism for effecting change in undergraduate science courses. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 606–632, 2002     

A Metastudy of Counselor Education and Supervision: An Analysis of Publication Characteristics From 2000 to 2019

Patterns of articles published in Counselor Education and Supervision from 2000 to 2019 were reviewed, and analyses sought to identify trends over time in author characteristics (e.g., gender, work setting, leading individual contributors and universities) and article characteristics (e.g., type, topic, research design, sample size, participant type, statistical procedures used).     

Instruction-first and problem-solving-first approaches: alternative pathways to learning complex tasks

According to cognitive load theory, using worked examples is an effective and efficient instructional strategy for initial cognitive skill acquisition for novice learners, as it reduces cognitive load and frees up cognitive resources to build task competence. Contrary to this, productive failure (as well as invention learning, desirable difficulties and other problem-solving-first) frameworks suggest that scaffolded problem-solving activities (a generation phase) preceding explicit instruction enhance learners’ performance. The reported experimental study investigated the effectiveness of different levels of instructional guidance provided to students during the learning phase preceding explicit instruction in standard solution procedures in enhancing students’ engagement and transfer problem-solving skills. Specifically, the study compared partially-guided or unguided attempts at generating problem solutions as opposed to comprehensive guidance, in the form of a worked example. Levels of experienced cognitive load and learner motivation were evaluated in addition to delayed post-test performance scores. There were no differences between the three groups on the transfer post-test outcomes, even though the condition with fully-guided worked examples prior to the explicit instruction expectedly reduced cognitive load relative to the conditions without such guidance. There were also differences between the conditions on some sub-dimensions of the motivation scale. In general, the findings indicate that similar overall outcomes (delayed transfer performance) could be achieved by different sequences of instructional tasks aimed at achieving different sets of specific goals.     

The relationship between citation errors and library anxiety: An empirical study of doctoral students in education

The present study investigated whether levels of library anxiety predict simultaneously the citation error rate and quality of reference lists in doctoral dissertation proposals among 93 doctoral students in education. This study was unique for at least two reasons. First, it was one of the first studies to examine bibliographic citation inaccuracies in doctoral research proposals. Second, the current investigation was one of the first to investigate the psychological characteristics of doctoral students who commit such errors. A canonical correlation analysis revealed a multivariate relationship between levels of library anxiety and both the citation error rate and quality of reference lists. This finding suggests that level of library anxiety plays an important role in students’ ability to construct accurate reference lists. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Children’s Self-Reported Effects of Stimulant Medication

This study determined the self-reported positive and negative physical, academic, and social effects of stimulant medication on middle/junior high school and high school students who have been diagnosed with AD/HD. The study also identified other students’ attitudes toward those diagnosed with AD/HD and receiving stimulant medication. Students in regular education classrooms, classrooms for students with an emotional disturbance, and classrooms for students with learning disabilities participated by filling out a questionnaire. A convenience sample of 925 students in Wisconsin and Minnesota participated in the study. Eighty-six of the students were taking stimulant medication for the treatment of AD/HD. Students did report experiencing side effects from the medication. The social and behavioural effects of the medication rather than the academic achievement enhancement effects appear to be the reasons for taking stimulant medication. Students not taking stimulant medication reported neither they nor teachers treated students taking stimulant medication differently.     

Suitability of the California Abbreviated WISC for WISC-R subtests with mentally retarded and slow learner children

This study was undertaken to determine the suitability of the California Abbreviated WISC—Form 1 (CAW-1) for use with WISC-R subtests. Subjects were drawn from the files of previously evaluated students from two southern mountain communities. Examination of WISC records within the age and IQ ranges of the CAW-1 (CA 8-0 to 13-6, IQ 50 to 80) indicated that our sample was not significantly different from the CAW-1 noim group (N = 148, r = .85 between CAW-1 & WISC Full Scale IQ). WISC-R recods (N = 178) for the same ranges were examined and were found to be more highly predictive of Full Scale IQs (r = .91, FSIQ = .98 CAWIQ + 2.2). Extensions of the age range from 6-0 to 16-11 and of the IQ range from 40 to 100 were attempted. Final results (N = 284) indicated the CAW-1 could be used with the WISC-R over the full age range and for IQs ⩽ 100 with minor alteration (r = .96, FSIQ = 1.09 CAWIQ - 5.4). The second sample served for cross validation of these results. Using the alteration, results were consistent with original findings (N = 202, r = .93, FSIQ = .98 CAWIQ + 2.2). It was concluded that the CAW-1 was suitable for use with WISC-R subtests with minor alterations.