Understanding Student Evaluations of Teaching Quality: The Contributions of Class Attendance

Institutions of higher learning employ compulsory attendance policies with the expectation that these mandates enhance students' academic performance and perceptions of course quality. However, numerous empirical investigations demonstrate equivocal and often contradictory findings regarding the relationship between attendance and various markers of student achievement. The present investigation extends this research by exploring the utility of student ratings of the need to attend class in predicting their perceptions of teaching excellence after controlling for class size, instructor availability, and small-group interactions. As hypothesized, ratings of the need to attend predicted excellence while accounting for a significant 5.3% of the variance. Discussion and conclusions highlight the utility of class attendance in understanding students' evaluations of teaching and course quality.     

EXAMINING THE USE OF SPACING EFFECT TO INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF INCREMENTAL REHEARSAL

Incremental rehearsal (IR) is a highly effective intervention that uses high repetition and a high ratio of known to unknown items with linearly spaced known items between the new items. It has been hypothesized that narrowly spaced practice would result in quick learning, whereas items that are widely spaced would result in longer‐term retention. The current study examined the effect of spacing by teaching vocabulary words to 36 fourth‐grade students. Each student was randomly assigned to a widely spaced IR condition (i.e., one unknown item, one known item, one unknown item, two known items, one unknown item, three known items, and an increase in the number of known items presented each time by one) or an IR condition in which spacing increased exponentially (IR‐Exp; i.e., one unknown item, one known item, one unknown item, two known items, one unknown item, four known items, and one unknown item, eight known items). The results indicated that the students in the study retained twice as much information with the widely spaced IR than with the IR‐Exp condition, but the latter required half as much time. IR and IR‐Exp were equally efficient, but IR continues to be superior to all other flashcard approaches in improving retention.     

Bridging the gap between a learning support centre and school: A solution‐focused group approach

This paper describes a small‐scale action research project that aimed to increase the effectiveness of a learning support centre within a secondary school. Central to the project was the use of a solution‐focused approach with groups of pupils. The added dimension in this project involved a focus on class teacher involvement. The paper discusses the importance of peer support and teacher involvement in working to enhance positive behaviour by bridging the gap between the learning support centre and the wider school system. It details the work undertaken by two educational psychologists (EPs) working in one secondary school.     

Some further observations on serial enumeration and categorical flexibility

Rats were runway-trained in a variety of serial discriminations that involved three different reward outcomes: Noyes pellets (R), a Kellogg’s Corn Pop (R’), and 30 sec of confinement in an unbaited goal area (N). Each of three groups experienced a series that consisted of a single non-rewarded trip down the runway, irregularly mixed with a longer series that for one group (n = 3) consisted of three trips rewarded with the pellets, followed by a terminal nonrewarded trip (RRRN/N). A second group (n = 6) had the single N series mixed with a series that included an initial trip rewarded with a Pop, and three subsequent trips rewarded with pellets, pellets, and nothing, respectively (R’RRN/N). The remaining group was trained with an RRN/N series pair. The interval between trips within a series was about 20 sec, and the interval between series was about 10 min. All rats developed strong, accurate anticipation of the terminal nonreward event of the longer series. In a 4-day transfer shift phase, a matched one-half of the rats originally trained R’RRN/N were shifted to a new series pair, RRRN/NRRRN, as were all the animals trained RRN/N. The remaining one-half of the matched rats were shifted to RRN/NRRN, as were the animals originally trained on the RRRN/N series pair. The transfer to the new series was plainly more powerful in animals initially trained with the R’RRN series than it was in either of the control groups. This shift result is taken to mean that rats classified the differing motivational events of the R’RRN series into at least three numerical categories: (1) one R’, (2) two Rs, and (3) three rewards.     

Examining Trait × Method Interactions Using Mixture Distribution Multitrait–Multimethod Models

Multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) analyses are used in psychology to assess convergent and discriminant validity and to study method effects. Most current MTMM approaches assume that measures have equal convergent and discriminant validity across the entire range of trait values and thus do not account for potential trait × method interactions. A novel approach is presented that allows analyzing trait × method interactions using factor mixture modeling. The new MTMM mixture model allows identifying latent classes of individuals who differ with respect to convergent and discriminant validity. The new approach was applied to mother’s and father’s ratings of children’s attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms (N = 618). Results revealed four latent classes: one with no symptom levels, two with low symptom levels, and one with moderate symptom levels. Three classes showed evidence for convergent and discriminant validity, whereas a low symptom class lacked convergent validity for ratings of inattention.

     

Role of the Information Professional in the Development and Promotion of Digital Humanities Content for Research,Teaching, and Learning in the Modern Academic Library: An Irish Case Study

ABSTRACT

The Internet has been the catalyst for the convergence of many subject areas and online platforms. Information professionals such as Archivists, IT developers and especially Librarians have been impacted in the development and promotion of digital humanities content for research, teaching, and learning in the modern academic library. In this case study, relevant findings from research that sought to determine the level of awareness of digital humanities in Irish Libraries is examined. The research project, The Mary Martin Diary, is highlighted as an example of a multidisciplinary collaboration project that utilized library communication skills, project management skills, digital humanities tools and techniques, as well as other online resources in its development. These skills and tools have the potential to be applied to similar projects that librarians engage in. Recommendations derived from this research highlight the practical application of skills for information professionals and their roles in the development and promotion of digital humanities content for research, teaching, and learning in the modern academic library.     

Relationships of surveillance,assurance and recognition: early career primary teachers’ engagement with discourses of accountability and performance

Anecdotal evidence suggests that Irish primary teachers, and particularly those working in disadvantaged schools, are coming under increasing pressure to orient their practices towards satisfying the exigencies of accountability and performativity (Conway, P. F., and R. Murphy. 2013. “A Rising Tide Meets a Perfect Storm: New Accountabilities in Teaching and Teacher Education in Ireland.” Irish Educational Studies 32 (1): 11–36. doi:10.1080/03323315.2013.773227). Focusing specifically on early career teachers (ECTs) in Irish designated disadvantaged primary schools, this paper investigates ECTs’ engagement with discourses of accountability and performance and its influence on their daily practices. Semi-structured, life-history interviews were conducted with 18 participants drawn from three urban designated disadvantaged schools. Local conditions (level of disadvantage, the intensity and concentration of students’ needs, and school culture), as well as participants’ career stage, impacted upon the way ECTs engaged with, and/or mediated the influence of the strong, neoliberal performativity discourse. Participants’ engagement with the literacy and numeracy standardised testing process was characterised by relationships of surveillance which were held in tension with contradictory and conflicting relationships of assurance and recognition that the DEIS literacy and numeracy programmes and positive standardised test scores fostered. The findings indicate that the nature of these relationships, coupled with the demanding social context in which they begin their careers, is orienting ECTs towards the use of more structured and control oriented pedagogies.     

Aiding culturally responsive assessment in schools in a globalising world

Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability - Across the world, teachers’ classroom assessment tasks and responsibilities are becoming more diverse due to increased migration. In...