Generalization of visual matching and delayed matching by a California sea lion (Zalophus californianus)

Only a limited number of species have been found capable of generalized matching-to-sample (MTS) after exposure to relatively few training exemplars. We trained a juvenile, experimentally naive California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) in MTS, using a pair of three-dimensional objects as samples. Successful matching to a criterion of 90% correct or better over 2 successive sessions was attained in 12 sessions (269 trials and 70 errors). Two subsequent “partial” transfer tests, in which each of the two training objects was paired with a novel test object, and four additional transfer tests, all with novel objects, were presented following training. An 80% performance criterion over 2 successive sessions was reached, or closely approximated, in from 2 to 4 transfer sessions for all transfer tests; errors to criterion tended to be reduced across the successive novel transfer tests and were as few as five during the final two tests; and performance on the first 48 trials of the last two novel transfers was not significantly different from a near-ceiling level baseline performance measure. Neophobic responses of the sea lion to new objects precluded an unbiased evaluation of immediate (Trial 1) transfer. The sea lion’s short-term memory for sample objects was also measured. Matching performance was maintained at a level of 78% correct responses or better for delays through to 45 sec after removal of the sample object. At a 58-sec delay, the longest tested, performance declined to 69% correct responses. These retention levels are only somewhat below levels reported for dolphins and nonhuman primates tested on visual delayed MTS, but they are above levels typically reported for pigeon subjects.     

Research productivity and perceived teaching effectiveness: A survey of economics faculty

The relationship between research productivity and teaching effectiveness has long been a controversial topic among university professors. This study utilizes a nationwide survey of economics faculty to examine the relationship between research productivity and classroom performance, using self-reported measures of research output and teaching evaluation scores, and to solicit the participants' opinions on this issue. Findings indicate a very weak relationship between research output and teaching effectiveness. However, individual and institutional characteristics seem to explain some differences in research output and teaching evaluation scores. Further, faculty opinions on the research-teaching relationship seem to be influenced by institutional and individual characteristics.     

Forced to choose: some determinants of racial identification in multiracial adolescents

This paper categorizes multiracial youth (N=1,496) ages 14 to 19 and compares them with each other and with monoracial youth on identity development measures. The multiracial categories used here are derived from youths' reports of their own and their parents' race(s). Comparisons are made within groups of multiracial respondents who make different choices among single-race categories. Results show differences between subgroups in strength and importance of ethnic identity, self-esteem, and perceptions of ethnic discrimination. Multinomial logistic regression shows further that physiognomy, ethnic identity, and race of coresident parent(s) are significantly associated with reported race. Also related to racial identification among part-Hispanic youth are the racial distribution and socioeconomic status of their neighborhoods and the racial distributions of their schools.     

Association Between Experienced Teachers’ NOS Implementation and Reform-Based Practices

The assertion that general reform-based science teaching practices (GRBSTPs) can facilitate nature of science (NOS) instruction has been mentioned in the literature, but rigorous and transparent empirical substantiation for this claim has not been made. This investigation empirically demonstrates an association between thirteen experienced teachers’ NOS implementation practices and their GRBSTPs. While effectively implementing GRBSTPs does not ensure the NOS will be taught, the findings show that these practices are associated with high levels of NOS instruction. In this study, teachers who implemented higher levels of reform-based practices were also observed to enact more instances of planned and spontaneous effective NOS instruction. Furthermore, these teachers were more likely to recognize and capitalize on NOS teaching opportunities when they unexpectedly arose in the context of their GRBSTPs. Just as NOS understanding must be assessed when determining factors associated with teachers’ NOS implementation, teachers’ GRBSTPs should also be empirically and transparently established to ensure they do not mask or confound other factors associated with NOS implementation.     

Engineering Instructors Look at Their Report Cards

Abstract

This article investigates the effect of the raters' perception of a given topic on students' writing scores. Three raters, who were teachers in TEFL with backgrounds in teaching essay and letter writing in English, scored the compositions. The means of the three sets of scores by three raters were compared using the two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Concerning the hypothesis of the study that states “raters' perception has no effect on writers' composition scores,” the result of ANOVA was nonsignificant, meaning that there are other factors such as students' attitude and cognitive ability that may affect raters' judgments on student writing performance.     

Computer History

FROM ENIAC TO UNIVAC: AN APPRAISAL OF THE ECKERT-MAUCHLY COMPUTERS by Nancy Stern (1981, 286 pp.—$25.00).

EARLY BRITISH COMPUTERS by Simon Lavington (1980, 139 pp.—$9.00, paper).

PROJECT WHIRLWIND: THE HISTORY OF A PIONEER COMPUTER by Kent C. Redmond and Thomas M. Smith (1980, 280 pp.—$25.00).

HERMAN HOLLERITH: FORGOTTEN GIANT OF INFORMATION PROCESSING by Geoffrey D. Austrian (originally published by Columbia University Press in New York: 1982. 418 pp.-819.95).

THE COMPUTER FROM PASCAL TO VON NEUMANN by Herman H. Goldstine (originally published by Princeton University Press in 1972, and also available since 1980 in paperback, 378 pp.—$25.00).

RECKONERS: THE PREHISTORY OF THE DIGITAL COMPUTER, FROM RELAYS TO THE STORED PROGRAM CONCEPT, 1935-1945, by Paul E. Ceruzzi (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1963— $29.95).     

Administration of high school forensics in Wisconsin

This article surveys the frontiers where speech, assembly, and the right to be silent meet the law in terms of philosophy of free speech of the United States Supreme Court, constitutional law, tort law, rights in intellectual property, and academic and corporate use of parliamentary law.     

A theory of planned behaviour-based analysis of TIMSS 2011 to determine factors influencing inquiry teaching practices in high-performing countries

ABSTRACT

Given the abundance of literature describing the strong relationship between inquiry-based teaching and student achievement, more should be known about the factors impacting science teachers’ classroom inquiry implementation. This study utilises the theory of planned behaviour to propose and validate a causal model of inquiry-based teaching through analysing data relating to high-performing countries retrieved from the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study assessments. Data analysis was completed through structural equation modelling using a polychoric correlation matrix for data input and diagonally weighted least squares estimation. Adequate fit of the full model to the empirical data was realised. The model demonstrates that the extent the teachers participated in academic collaborations was positively related to their occupational satisfaction, confidence in teaching inquiry, and classroom inquiry practices. Furthermore, the teachers’ confidence with implementing inquiry was positively related to their classroom inquiry implementation and occupational satisfaction. However, perceived student-generated constraints demonstrated a negative relationship with the teachers’ confidence with implementing inquiry and occupational satisfaction. Implications from this study include supporting teachers through promoting collaborative opportunities that facilitate inquiry-based practices and occupational satisfaction.     

Socioscientific Issues as a Vehicle for Promoting Character and Values for Global Citizens

Our guiding presupposition in this study was that socioscientific issues (SSI) instruction, given the humanistic features that comprise this type of instruction, could play a role as a vehicle for cultivating character and values as global citizens. Our main objective was to observe how and to what extent SSI instruction might contribute to this. In order to achieve this aim, we implemented a SSI program on genetic modification technology for 132 ninth-grade students over 3–4 weeks and identified its educational effects using a mixed method approach. Data sources included student responses to questionnaire items that measure the students' character and values, records of student discussions, and semi-structured interviews with the students and their teachers. Results indicated that the students became more sensitive to moral and ethical aspects of scientific and technological development and compassionate to diverse people who are either alienated by the benefits of advanced technology or who are vulnerable to the dangers of its unintended effects. In addition, the students felt more responsible for the future resolution of the genetic SSI. However, the students struggled to demonstrate willingness and efficacy to participate within broader communities that entailed action toward SSI resolution.