Identifying the Content,Lesson Structure,and Data Use Within Pre-collegiate Data Science Curricula

Journal of Science Education and Technology - As data become more available and integrated into daily life, there has been growing interest in developing data science curricula for youth in...     

Major Survey Findings of Listening to MothersSM III: New Mothers Speak Out: Report of National Surveys of Women’s Childbearing Experiences ? Conducted October–December 2012 and January–April 2013

To understand the experiences and views of childbearing women in the United States and trends over time, Childbirth Connection carried out the third national Listening to Mothers survey among 2,400 women who gave birth in U.S. hospitals to a single baby from mid-2011 to mid-2012 and could participate in English. A follow-up survey directed to the same participants explored postpartum experiences, in depth and well into the second year after birth; views about maternity care; and some additional pregnancy and birth items. Harris Interactive conducted the surveys using a validated methodology that includes data weighting to ensure that results closely reflect the target population. The follow-up survey was reported in Listening to Mothers III: New Mothers Speak Out.     

The factor structure of the longeot test: A measure of logical thinking

Using a random sample of 389 grade 11 science students, the factor structure of the Longeot test (a measure of logical thinking) is investigated and some psychometric properties of the test items are determined. Varimax rotation on six principal component factors resulted in a simple structure. An attempt is made to interpret the obtained orthogonal factors. Implications of the findings on the “unity hypothesis” of the Piagetian construct of logical thinking and, consequently, on grade 11 science education are discussed.     

Teaching imaginary children: University students’ narratives about their Latino practicum children

This study investigates the dialogic processes involved in how teachers talk about their students and what consequences their ways of talking (i.e., “narratives”) may have for their guidance. We take a sociocultural perspective on learning as transformation of students’ subjectivity. Teaching, as a process of guiding and facilitating learning, cannot be effective if the teacher does not actively seek how the student perceives and understands reality. We borrow and adapt from Bakhtin (1999) four narrative ways of talking about others: objectivizing, subjectivizing, problematizing and finalizing. The presence of these narratives in web discussion postings of our pre-service teachers about the Latino children they worked with in a community center are analyzed. We then compare their ways of talking about children with print- and web-based discussions about children made by in-service teachers, model teachers and our pre-service teachers in a school-based practicum. Using mixed quantitative and qualitative methodologies, we found an overwhelming predominance of objectivizing and finalizing in our pre-service teachers’ narratives about the children with whom they work that seems to define a certain pedagogical regime that we call here “teaching imaginary children/students.” This “way of talking” about children seems to be characterized by unchecked speculations guiding instruction that are not tested by finding out from the children themselves how they understand the instruction and the world. These speculations, in turn, can lead to a dogmatic approach towards children.     

“Hispanic” children: Theoretical,empirical, and related policy issues

Not only are school-age ethnic and racial minority children one of the fastest growing segments of the U.S. population, they are also one of the most vulnerable. Hispanic children in particular are representative of the at-risk status of minority populations, displaying a portrait of unrealized social, educational, and employment success. This paper addresses the background and history of U.S. social and educational policies as they relate to the Hispanic student. Recent empirical findings are presented which support the following: (a) the bilingual character of Hispanic children is not a linguistic, cognitive, or educational liability and, in fact, should be employed to promote academic achievement; (b) the culture of the Hispanic family and child are better understood with regard to socialization variables and the potential differences they produce when directly compared to Anglo culture; and (c) educational strategies for Hispanic students that respect and integrate students' social, psychological, and linguistic attributes serve students effectively.     

Testing Measurement Invariance Across Groups in Longitudinal Data: Multigroup Second-Order Latent Growth Model

In latent growth modeling, measurement invariance across groups has received little attention. Considering that a group difference is commonly of interest in social science, a Monte Carlo study explored the performance of multigroup second-order latent growth modeling (MSLGM) in testing measurement invariance. True positive and false positive rates in detecting noninvariance across groups in addition to bias estimates of major MSLGM parameters were investigated. Simulation results support the suitability of MSLGM for measurement invariance testing when either forward or iterative likelihood ratio procedure is applied.