A Study of Sensori-Motor and Conceptual Thinking in Children between the Ages of Nine and Eighteen

In this research, the author addresses whether the application of unidimensional item response models provides valid interpretation of test results when administering items sensitive to multiple latent dimensions. Overall, the present study found that unidimensional models are quite robust to the violation of the unidimensionality assumption due to secondary dimensions from sensitive items. When secondary dimensions are highly correlated with main construct, unidimensional models generally fit and the accuracy of ability estimation is comparable to that of strictly unidimensional tests. In addition, longer tests are more robust to the violation of the essential unidimensionality assumption than shorter ones. The author also shows that unidimensional item response theory models estimate item difficulty parameter better than item discrimination parameter in tests with secondary dimensions.     

Changes in the Multi‐Level Effects of Socio‐Economic Status on Reading Achievement in Sweden in 1991 and 2001

This study examines the changes in educational inequality at the school‐ and individual‐levels in 1991 and 2001. Comparisons are made between the IEA Reading Literacy Study 1991 and the so called 10‐Year Trend Study in PIRLS 2001. The between‐school differences in reading achievement variance and the size of the relationship between SES and reading achievement at school‐level are the two main focuses. Applying a two‐level structural equation modeling technique, it was found that the between‐school differences in reading achievement were greater in RLS 2001 than in RLS 1991, and the school SES effect has been strengthened over time. These changes indicate that educational inequality in Sweden has increased over time. Some possible explanations to these changes are discussed with reference to school reforms and demographic changes.     

Code-Switching and Competition: An Examination of a Situational Response

Code switching is primarily a linguistic term that refers to the use of two or more languages within the same conversation, or same sentence, to convey a single message. One field of linguistics, sociocultural linguistics, is broad and interdisciplinary, a mixture of language, culture, and society. In sociocultural linguistics, the code, or language that is selected, can be triggered by a social situation or setting in which the speaker is placed. Code-switching can also apply to behavior. In physical education, teachers may communicate in the language of sport. When teaching a competitive activity in physical education class, the environment changes, becomes competitive, and the teachers often code switch and switch instructional choices unconsciously. This article examines the occurrence of code-switching during competitive activities.     

Presidential debate questions and the public agenda

Presidential debates have become an institutionalized component of presidential campaigns. Debates have been shown to create learning in voters and are capable of influencing vote choices. Although candidates have some control over their utterances, questions, usually asked by journalists, have a strong influence on the topics candidates can address. It is fashionable to criticize the questions posed by journalists in these “joint press conferences.” This study adds a new twist to media agenda‐setting, providing empirical evidence on the question of whether voters’ issue interests influence the topics of journalists’ questions. Results show that the questions asked by journalists in debates do not reflect the public interest. We recommend that future debates eschew the use of journalists as sources of questions for presidential debates.     

Integrative Anthropological Method in History of Culture and Education

This is the story of three professors who found collective success in certain old-time approaches to teaching. Using three different first-person perspectives from Professors Burg, Piedmont, and Kamke, we examine some of the key components of such teaching orientation that may be helpful for professors navigating increased enrollments, while trying to engage students to learn not only the subject matter, but also, perhaps more importantly, about themselves as human beings.

The relevance of this classic approach is reflected in the fact that all of us, typically unawares, continue to apply, and expand on, the way of education to which we were introduced a long time ago. In essence, that old-time teaching showed us how to be, in the words of Angyal, simultaneously autonomous (i.e., being oneself, standing alone) and homonomous (belonging/surrendering to something greater than oneself).     

Reflections on the Manner in Teaching Project

In reflections on the Manner in Teaching Project, I focus on four themes: why teaching is an intellectual and moral endeavour; the significance of the school context for understanding the moral dimensions of teaching; the uses and limitations of moral theory in research on teaching; and the centrality of the person in the role of teacher. The 'Manner in Teaching Project' sheds useful light on these themes, including how to examine them systematically.     

Faculty Incentives for Online Course Design, Delivery, and Professional Development

This quantitative study investigated the types and frequency of incentives for online instruction at non-profit institutions of higher education with an established teaching and learning development unit. While up to 70 % of institutions offer incentives, this support is not universal and varies by incentive type and purpose.