Sample and Population Diagram - A Teaching Tool

This article describes a simple, yet effective way to introduce and also review the concepts of ‘sample’ and ‘population’ using a Sample and Population Diagram.     

Teacher education for a democratic society in England and South Africa

This paper considers the role of teacher education in England and South Africa in relation to education for democratic citizenship. It argues that teacher education should play a positive role in this respect but there has often been a contradiction between the structures and practices of teacher education and democratic forms of education. The paper analyses teacher education policy in both countries in the light of these arguments. It then goes on to discuss the practice of teacher education in both countries in relation to existing literature and evidence and interviews with student teachers at two universities in England and two in South Africa.     

Conducting tests of hypotheses: The need for an adequate sample size

This article addresses the importance of obtaining a sample of an adequate size for the purpose of testing hypotheses. The logic underlying the requirement for a minimum sample size for hypothesis testing is discussed, as well as the criteria for determining it. Implications for researchers working with convenient samples of a fixed size are also considered, and suggestions are given about the steps that should be taken when they are not able to obtain a large enough sample. Finally, the implications of not having an adequate sample size for hypothesis testing are discussed to highlight the importance of determining sample size prior to conducting one’s study.     

Replacement of event-generated memories of nonreinforcement with signal-generated memories of reinforcement during partial reinforcement training: Effect on resistance to extinction

Event-generated memory refers to the memory of a reinforcement (R) or nonreinforcement (N) event from an immediately preceding trial;signal-generated memory refers to the memory of a temporally remote R or N, retrieval of which is generated by presentation of a signal with which the memory is associated (Haggbloom, 1988). In each of three experiments, Group Signal-R received runway discrimination training in Phase 1 to establish a stimulus as a signal for R, and partial reinforcement training in Phase 2. An extinction test measured learning about the memory of nonreward (S^N)—learning that occurs when S^N is retrieved on R trials that follow N trials. In Group Signal-H, those R trials were accompanied by the signal for R, a treatment we hypothesized would generate retrieval of the memory of reinforcement (S^R) so that signal-generated S^R would replace event-generated S^N as the operative memory, thereby eliminating the increased resistance to extinction normally produced by PRF training. In each experiment, Group Signal-R was less resistant to extinction than was a control group conditioned to respond to-event-generated S^N. Extinction was as rapid in Group Signal-R as it was in a consistent reinforcement control group (Experiment 1) and in a group given intertrial reinforcements to interfere with learning about S^N (Experiment 3). Experiment 2 tested two alternative interpretations of the failure to learn about S^N in Group Signal-R. Those alternatives were found to be less viable than the hypothesis that the signal for R actively recruited retrieval of a competing memory.     

Using a Post‐Experience Questionnaire to Measure the Quality of Student Learning in a Computer Conferencing Environment

A class of second year (age group 19–20), university students used computer conferencing as an alternative to face‐to‐face seminars. A questionnaire based on Garrison's critical thinking model tested their conferencing versus face‐to‐face experiences. Factor analysis using SPSS produced five factors for face‐to‐face seminars and four factors for computer conferencing consistent with deep approaches to learning. One negative factor emerged for computer conferencing which indicated a problem with student use of the technology. The results show that computer conferencing can be a valuable learning environment on campus.     

Stimulating transition to postconventional morality: The pickering high school study

Over a four-month period, a class of Grade 11 students were involved in discussion of ethical problems and principles at a postconventional level (as defined by Lawrence Kohlberg). At the beginning and the end of the period, these students used very little postconventional thinking. However, one year later they exhibited a significant usage of post-conventional moral thinking, in comparison with a control group that remained unchanged throughout.

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Résumé Pendant quatre mois, les élèves d'une classe de onzième année ont participé à la discussion de problèmes et de principes de moralité au niveau post-classique (selon la définition de Lawrence Kohlberg). Au début et à la fin de cette période, ces étudiants ont exprimé peu de réflexions post-classiques. Un an plus tard, cependant, ils manifestaient une nette attitude fondée sur des principes de morale post-classique alors que l'attitude d'un groupe-témoin n'avait subi aucune modification pendant la même période.

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The authors wish to express their sincerest gratitude for the very willing cooperation and assistance of Mr. Malcolm Mitchell, head of history at Pickering High School, of Mr. Kettle, the then principal, and other members of staff, and of the students involved in the study, particularly those in the experimental class.     

Schooling and ethnic attitudes in Nigeria

This article examines the attitudes of a sample of school pupils from Kano State, Northern Nigeria, towards questions of ethnicity and national unity. In particular it attempts to assess whether a policy of deliberate ethnic mixing has helped to change orientations and lessen tensions at the Kano Federal Government College. Findings are not particularly optimistic for those who would use schools to further national integration. Strong preferences for the pupils' own ‘geoethnic’ heroes and areas still remain, though there are some signs that a substantial period of residence in a part of Nigeria that is different from a pupil's home area may help to change rigid adherence to a total ethnic perspective. However, feelings of ethnic hostility and differentiation still exist and schools seem to be having little effect in this regard. Indeed, the Federal Government College would appear at the moment to be making matters worse rather than better.     

The Concept of British Education Policy in the Colonies 1850–1960

It is common in the literature to refer to British colonial education policy as if it were ‘a settled course adopted and purposefully carried into action’, but in reality it was never like that. Contrary to popular belief, the size and diversity of the empire meant that no one really ruled it in any direct sense. Clearly some kind of authority had to be exercised from London but as Arthur Mayhew said of education policy in the Colonial Empire in 1938: ‘No Secretary of State for the Colonies … [is] anxious to adopt too definite a policy. He will be content with a few assumptions and a statement of general principles. And he will not be surprised if these principles in their local application are adapted with the utmost elasticity to local conditions.’ In the absence of any strong direction from the centre, this paper examines the factors that shaped twentieth century education policy in the 47 crown colonies, protectorates and mandates under the aegis of the Colonial Office in Whitehall. They included the all‐important attitudes of the governor and his senior administrative officers towards education; the status of the director of education; the influence of the Christian missions both in London and in the colonies; denominational rivalry; long‐standing British educational traditions based on social class; the state of the local economy; the attitudes of the European settlers; the advice and status of the London‐based Advisory Committee on Education in the Colonies; the influence of the Secretary of State for the Colonies on the government of the day; the attitudes of key senior Colonial Office officials towards education; indigenous pressure groups; special reports and recommendations; war; national rivalry; the so‐called Cold War; post‐war constitutional changes, and the pressure of world opinion as reflected in the League of Nations after 1918 and the United Nations after 1945. Clearly there was great diversity in the ways in which education was developed from one territory to another but only detailed case studies can generate the data for broader and more historically accurate hypotheses about the development of British colonial education as a whole.