Explaining student and home variance of Chinese reading achievement of the PIRLS 2011 Hong Kong

Hong Kong attained the top place in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011, an international study of reading achievement, which arouses keen interest in understanding the reasons behind this remarkable achievement. Although factors associated with reading achievement in English have been widely studied, similar studies using Chinese as a different language system are limited. The present study proposes and tests a hypothetical model that attempts to explain the variance of reading achievement of Hong Kong pupils in the PIRLS 2011 study, focusing on parental and student factors. Data of 3,875 fourth graders from 132 primary schools and their parents or caregivers (n = 3,682) are involved in the analysis. Structural equation modeling supports the hypothesized model as tenable explaining 34% of the variance of reading achievement. Parental background acts as the fundamental factor that exerts an indirect effect on reading motivation, reading self‐efficacy, and reading achievement of students via books at home and early reading abilities. Reading motivation and reading self‐efficacy are found to be significant in influencing reading achievement. Implications for educational practices and future research are discussed.     

A crosscultural validation of a test of science related attitudes

A test for measuring science attitudes, named Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA), was initially developed in Australia by Fraser (1977, 1978). This study investigated the crosscultural validity of this instrument when used with American high school students. Three hundred and thirty-six students (12th and 11th graders) in three high schools in suburban Chicago took the test. The results of the study, confirming previous validation of the test, revealed that the seven subscales of TOSRA were, in general, highly reliable. The discriminant validity of each of these scales, however, was found to be generally low. The item/scale correlation for all but four items of the test met Shrigley's (Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 20 (1), 87–89, 1983) criterion of being more than 0.30. The results of the principal components with varimax rotation did not support the distinctiveness of the subscale structure of the test.     

The relationship between within-interview contradictions and eliciting interviewer utterances.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether interview practices associated with inaccurate reporting in laboratory analog contexts were also associated with inaccurate information in actual forensic contexts. METHOD: The forensic interview of a 5-year-old girl, an alleged victim of sexual abuse, was analyzed to explore interview practices associated with the retrieval of contradictory information. Content analyses of the child's responses focused on: (1) new informative details about the reported incidents; (2) contradictory details; (3) "central" and "peripheral" details; and (4) the types of utterances used to elicit each detail. RESULTS: The results illustrate how risky option-posing and suggestive utterances can be, as most (90%) contradicting details were elicited using option-posing and suggestive utterances and almost all (98%) of the contradicted and contradicting details were central, containing crucial information concerning the investigated allegation. No contradictory details were elicited in response to open-ended invitations. CONCLUSION: The findings demonstrate that poor interviewing practices can be associated with high levels of internal contradiction and should be avoided by forensic interviewers. To avoid contaminating children's reports and increase the likely accuracy of the information retrieved, moreover, interviewers should elicit as much information as possible using open-ended utterances, which tap free-recall memory.     

Multicultural Career Counseling: Ten Essentials for Training

In the past 20 years, several changes have taken place within the field of counseling and psychology with regard to practice and research with individuals from racial/ethnic groups. At the same time, the United States population has experienced a dramatic shift in its composition. Both have contributed to transformations in graduate training. This article will highlight salient aspects from the multicultural literature regarding culturally competent practice and apply it to the training of vocational counselors.     

Influence of DSP controller on performance of a permanent magnet brushless AC drive in flux-weakening mode

The flux-weakening performance of a permanent magnet brushless AC drive was investigated using both floating-point and fixed-point DSP controllers. A significant current oscillation was observed when the drive was operated at high-speed in the flux-weakening mode with the fixed-point DSP. The investigation showed that this was due to the on-line compensation of the winding resistance voltage drop and quantisation errors associated with the fixed-point architecture of the DSP. A simple look-up table scheme is proposed to eliminate the oscillation and to achieve extended flux-weakening capability.     

Appraisal, social support, and life events: predicting outcome behavior in school-age children

To examine the relation between social support and appraisal of life events in predicting adaptive, externalizing, and internalizing behavior in 265 school-age children, child-report on both a global and a significant other measure of social support was used. Life event scores were separated into events endorsed as negative and events endorsed as positive by the child. Using hierarchical regression analyses, the present study tested two models: main effects and moderator models of the relation between life events, social support, and behavioral outcome. Support was found for global social support and positive life events in predicting adaptive, externalizing, and internalizing behavior. Gender differences were also found. Support was found for both the main effects and moderator models of the association between life events and global social support. Appraisal of life events as positive appears to compensate for lower levels of global social support. Appraisal is discussed as a possible protective factor from maladjustment after exposure to major life events.     

Applying the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) Taxonomy on Student's Learning Outcomes: An empirical study

This article explores the application of different educational taxonomies in measuring students' cognitive learning outcomes. The objectives were to compare three educational taxonomies--namely, the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy, Bloom's taxonomy and reflective thinking measurement model--and to test the application value of these taxonomies. A comparative literature review was conducted to provide an underlying conceptual framework. Recommendations from this review were examined experimentally. Scripts of long essay papers and short classroom discussion responses were analyzed by the modified versions of the taxonomies. It was found that SOLO is suitable for measuring different kinds of learning outcomes. However, finer categorization of SOLO levels did not eradicate the problem of SOLO's conceptual ambiguity. It is suggested that the next step of research should be on setting up panels of judges to find out which taxonomy is suitable for measuring what learning outcomes under which contexts.     

The Effect of Supplementing Instruction with Conceptual Change Texts on Students’ Conceptions of Electrochemical Cells

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of instruction supplemented by conceptual change texts (CCTs) over traditional instruction on students’ understanding of electrochemical (galvanic and electrolytic) cell concepts. The participants of the study consisted of 64 students from the two classes of a high school located in Turkey. Classes were randomly assigned to experimental group, which was exposed to CCTs as a supplementary material, and to control group, which was exposed to traditional instruction. A 23-item multiple-choice test was developed assess students’ conceptual understanding of electrochemical cells. This test was administered to both groups before and after the instruction. The results of ANCOVA indicated that students who were instructed by using CCTs had better conceptual understanding of electrochemical cells than those experiencing traditional instruction when their prior electrochemical cell concepts understanding was statistically controlled. The findings of this study suggest that CCTs can be used as a cost- and resource-effective supplement to classroom instruction to promote students’ understanding science concepts.