Does Guessing Really Help?

This study examines the claim that attempting, or guessing at, more items yields improved formula scores. Two samples of students who had taken a form of the SA T- Verbal consisting of three parallel half-hour sections, were used to form the following scores on each of the three sections: the number of attempts, a guessing index, the formula score, and (indirectly) an approximation to an ability score. Correlations were obtained separately for the two samples between the attempts, and the guessing index, on one section, the formula score on a second section, and ability as measured by the third section. The partial correlations obtained hovered near zero, suggesting, contrary to conventional opinion, that, on average, attempting more items and guessing are not helpful in yielding higher formula scores, and that, therefore, formula scoring is not generally disadvantageous to the student who is less willing to guess and attempt an item that he or she is not sure of. On closer examination, however, it became clear that the advantages of guessing depend, at least in part, on the ability of the examinee. Although the relationship is generally quite weak, it is apparently the case that more able examinees do tend to profit somewhat from guessing, and would therefore be disadvantaged by their reluctance to guess. On the other hand, less able examinees may lower their scores i f they guess.     

Moving to a Global Stage: A Media View

The Times Higher Education Supplement was the first newspaper to publish an international ranking of universities in November 2004 Jobbins, D. 2002. “The Times/The Times Higher Education Supplement – League Tables in Britain: An Insider's View”. Higher Education in Europe, 27(4): 383–389. [Taylor & Francis Online] [Google Scholar]. This article describes the evolution of the international rankings from their origin in a limited peer review exercise through the gradual refinement of a national ranking based on, as far as possible, publicly available, verifiable, and accepted data. The author describes the methodology of the international ranking and presents the case for the integrity of commercially produced rankings, national and international, which can be as objective, robust, and transparent as initiatives from within the university community itself.     

Using multidimensional scaling for curricular goal analysis

Multidimensional sealing and related analytic procedures were used to estimate the accuracy of a set of goals used to pattern the design of a graduate curriculum. The analysis suggests that this goal set faithfully represents the essential elements within the area of professional practice to be taught. The procedures described have utility for a wide range of goal-focused analyses.     

Fees,flows and imaginaries: exploring the destination choices arising from intra-national student mobility

ABSTRACT

Are intra-national student flows driven by the same forces as international student mobility? This paper addresses this question by analysing cross-border student mobility in the UK. The paper identifies four principles that one might expect to drive the destination choices of students from Scotland enrolling in English universities. Following a statistical analysis of student destination choices, it is argued that cross-border moves from Scotland to England are stimulated by some of the same global forces as international student mobility (such as a desire to accumulate cultural capital), but in terms of destination choice the imaginaries held by Scottish students of ‘good’ places to study in England to accumulate cultural capital are constructed differently from the imaginaries of international students.     

Mental toughness and transitions to high school and to undergraduate study

Mental toughness can be conceptualised as a set of attributes that allow people to deal effectively with challenges, stressors and pressure. Recent work has suggested that it may be a valuable construct to consider within educational settings. The current studies explored the associations between mental toughness and educational transitions. Study 1 examined the relationships between mental toughness and concerns about moving to a new school in 105 children aged 12–13 years of age. The results revealed significant relationships between several aspects of mental toughness, but particularly confidence in abilities, and children’s concerns. Study 2 examined the relationships between mental toughness and adjustment to university in 200 undergraduate students at various stages of their course. The results revealed a role for several aspects of mental toughness; commitment, control of life, control of emotion, confidence in abilities and interpersonal confidence. The results are discussed in terms of implications for educational practice. It is suggested that measures of mental toughness could be used to identify individuals who may benefit from additional support during transition to a new school or to university, and that future research should explore the potential benefits of mental toughness training.     

Emotion Regulation Strategies and Parenting Practices among Parents of Children With Clinic-Referred Conduct Problems

Objective. This study examined the cognitive-affective strategies used by parents of young children with conduct problems to regulate emotions. Key questions concerned the extent to which these emotion regulation strategies are associated with positive and negative parenting practices and predict quality of parenting through interplay with parental depression. Design. Participants were families of toddlers (n = 84) referred to a tertiary-level health service for the treatment of disruptive behavior problems. Parenting practices were indexed through observational coding of parent–child interactions and self-report data on multiple dimensions of positive and negative parenting. Parents self-reported their use of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression—the two emotion regulation strategies that are most robustly associated with psychosocial functioning in adults. Results. Associations between emotion regulation strategy and quality of parenting were moderated by parental depressive symptom severity, with distinct effects seen for positive and negative parenting practices. In terms of positive parenting, more frequent use of cognitive reappraisal was associated with increased use of labeled praise among parents with lower levels of depressive symptoms, whereas parents who had higher levels of depressive symptoms engaged in less such praise regardless of how frequently they used reappraisal. In terms of negative parenting, frequent use of cognitive reappraisal and expression suppression were associated with reduced levels of negative parenting, but only among parents with high levels of depression. Conclusions. These findings add to growing support for the integration of emotion regulation strategies into family process models of early-onset conduct problems and related clinical interventions.     

Reflections on some contemporary educational slogans

Five fashionable ideas in educational theory are here identified as essentially amounting to slogans in which mere rhetoric supplants rational discussion. First, the back-to-basics movement, trading on a preference for what is essential and useful, blurs the point that there is serious dispute about what actually is essential in education. Second, progressive educators favour discovery learning, but ignore the fact that discoveries can grow out of teaching situations. Third, the notion of values clarification is attractive to all who reject authoritarianism in moral education, but it cannot be enough merely to clarify our moral views. We need to ask how far they are defensible. Fourth, the idea of the hidden curriculum is used to denounce subtle indoctrination, but it is too readily assumed that a hidden curriculum is both inevitable and undesirable. Finally, modern educators have succumbed to the apparent security offered by behavioural objectives without noticing that many educational outcomes, including dispositions, cannot be specified with the precision demanded. Slogans offer simplistic solutions, and serve to curtail serious criticism.

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Zusammenfassung Fünf gängige Begriffe aus der erziehungswissenschaftlichen Theorie, die wesentlich zur Schlagwortbildung beitragen, werden hier identifiziert, bei denen das rein Rhetorische die rationale Diskussion ersetzt. Erstens, die Back to Basics (Zurück zu den Grundfertigkeiten)-Bewegung, die mit Vorliebe übernimmt, was daran wesentlich und nützlich ist, jedoch die Tatsache verwischt, daß eine ernsthafte Auseinandersetzung darüber geführt wird, was eigentlich in der Erziehung wesentlich ist. Zweitens, fortschrittliche Erzieher bevorzugen entdeckendes Lernen, übersehen aber die Tatsache, daß Entdeckungen aus Lehrsituationen heraus erwachsen können. Drittens, der Begriff der Werteabklärung ist für alle verlockend, die das Autoritäre in der Moralerziehung ablehnen, aber es ist nicht ausreichend, nur unsere moralischen Standpunkte zu klären. Es muß die Frage gestellt werden, inwieweit sie zu verteidigen sind. Viertens, der Gedanke des verborgenen Curriculums wird angewandt, um die subtile Indoktrination zu entlarven, aber es wäre voreilig anzunehmen, daß das verborgene Curriculum gleichermaßen unvermeidlich und unerwünscht ist. Schließlich glauben moderne Erzieher durch die sich anbietenden Verhaltensweisen eine Garantie zu haben, ohne zu bemerken, daß vielfach Folgen der Erziehung einschließlich der Charakteranlagen, nicht im einzelnen mit der erforderlichen Präzision angegeben werden können. Schlagworte bieten vereinfachende Lösungen und dienen dazu, ernsthafte Kritik einzuschränken.

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Résumé Les cinq idées en vogue dans le domaine de la théorie éducative sont identifiées ici essentiellement en tant que slogans dans lesquels la rhétorique supplante le débat rationnel. Tout d'abord, le mouvement pour un retour aux éléments d'apprentissage essentiels de base, en tirant profit d'une préférence pour ce qui est fondamental et utile en éducation, cache la controverse sérieuse qui est soulevée lorsqu'il s'agit de savoir ce qui est vraiment essentiel en éducation. Deuxièmement, les éducateurs progressistes favorisent l'apprentissage par la découverte, mais ignorent le fait que ces découvertes peuvent provenir des situations d'apprentissage. Troisièmement, la notion de clarification des valeurs est attirante pour tous ceux qui rejettent l'autoritarisme dans l'éducation morale, mais il est insuffisant de clarifier nos vues morales. Nous devons nous demander jusqu'à quel point elles sont justifiables. Quatrièment, l'idée du curriculum dissimulé est utilisée pour dénoncer une indoctrinement raffinée, mais on affirme trop facilement qu'un curriculum dissimulé est inévitable et peu désirable à la fois. Enfin, les éducateurs modernes ont cédé à l'apparente sécurité offerte par les objectifs relatifs au comportement sans remarquer que de nombreux résultats éducatifs, y compris les dispositions, ne peuvent être spécifiés avec la précision demandée. Les slogans offrent des solutions simplistes et servent à amputer la critique sérieuse.

     

Village Elders’ and Secondary School Students’ Explanations of Natural Phenomena in Papua New Guinea

This research investigated the sources of explanations and understanding of natural phenomena in terms of the students’ cultural and school science experiences. The first phase involved interviews with eight village elders that probed their explanations and understanding of natural phenomena. The second phase involved the design, development and administration of two questionnaires on natural phenomena to 179 students in a rural boarding high school in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Most village elders gave explanations of many of the phenomena in terms of spirits, spells, magic, religion, and personal experiences. Most school-aged students choose scientific explanations of natural phenomena in terms of what they had learned in school or from personal experiences. However, many choose explanations of the same phenomena about spirits, spells and magic that came from the village, family or home. The study revealed that students’ ideas about natural phenomena are strongly governed and controlled by their school science knowledge in the school setting. It is likely that their own traditional knowledge cannot be identified in a school setting but that questionnaires in the students’ local language be given to students in their villages (as opposed to school). In addition, so as not to diminish the value of this traditional knowledge, science education programs are needed that are able to consider and harmonise traditional knowledge with school science.     

新疆西准噶尔地区塔斯特岩体锆石LA-ICPMS年龄及其意义

西准噶尔萨吾尔地区地处新疆阿勒泰地区吉木乃县及塔城地区和丰县。酸性侵入岩在区内较发育，其研究对于准噶尔地区后碰撞构造一岩浆演化时限的厘定具有重要的意义。塔斯特岩体是萨吾尔地区重要的复式花岗岩体，与区内铜、金矿化关系密切。塔斯特岩体锆石LA-ICPMS年龄为337±4Ma（1δ），形成于早石炭世。结合已有的地球化学特征研究，这一年龄显示西准噶尔地区在早石炭世已处于后碰撞环境。本文获得的塔斯特岩体成岩年龄是目前在准噶尔地区获得的最老的后碰撞花岗岩锆石U-Pb年龄之一，为准噶尔地区后碰撞构造-岩浆演化时限的厘定提供了新的证据。