Raven's test performance of sub-Saharan Africans: Average performance,psychometric properties,and the Flynn Effect

This paper presents a systematic review of published data on the performance of sub-Saharan Africans on Raven's Progressive Matrices. The specific goals were to estimate the average level of performance, to study the Flynn Effect in African samples, and to examine the psychometric meaning of Raven's test scores as measures of general intelligence. Convergent validity of the Raven's tests is found to be relatively poor, although reliability and predictive validity are comparable to western samples. Factor analyses indicate that the Raven's tests are relatively weak indicators of general intelligence among Africans, and often measure additional factors, besides general intelligence. The degree to which Raven's scores of Africans reflect levels of general intelligence is unknown. Average IQ of Africans is approximately 80 when compared to US norms. Raven's scores among African adults have shown secular increases over the years. It is concluded that the Flynn Effect has yet to take hold in sub-Saharan Africa.     

The informationist in Australia: a feasibility study

OBJECTIVES: A clinical informationist could provide the best available published evidence in response to clinicians' questions identified during the process of care. This study sought to assess the feasibility of an informationist service and to propose a model for its delivery in an Australian teaching hospital. Whilst similar services are increasing in the UK, with a long history in the USA, this is the first Australian study in an acute public hospital. METHODS: The views of 40/49 (82%) medical staff at the Daw Park Repatriation General Hospital, South Australia were canvassed using a questionnaire designed to address key issues relating to a proposed service. RESULTS: Doctors were receptive to its potential benefits, perceived it as relevant and likely to be used, and were interested in a pilot. They typically indicated a required response time of 24 h. They expressed limited concerns other than a likely high workload for such a service, and reported currently searching infrequently for evidence in response to clinical questions, citing time issues and unavailability of computers as current key barriers to pursuing clinical questions. CONCLUSIONS: An informationist service is feasible. Results suggest that a pilot could be run in an area of acute medicine where questions about therapy and diagnosis are likely to proliferate, and the informationist should attend consultant ward rounds and clinical meetings, aiming to provide a response within 24 h.     

‘Educating rita’: Is an academic science course for prospective infant and primary teachers appropriate

Conclusion Our decision to choose the Open University S101 Science: A Foundation Course represents a direct attempt on our part to provide a background in science for our prospective infant and primary teachers. Our objective that this course achieve parity with first year Faculty of Science courses may appear to be an unattainable goal, given the methodological problems that have to be faced for such a general purpose course. It would certainly not be feasible for a lecture staff of four persons were it not for the printed readers, texts, assignments, examinations, and audio-visual software purchased, with approval, from the Open University in the United Kingdom. Our pilot study in 1983 gave us some encouragement and, most interestingly, 10 out of the 17 students continued with Science study into Year 2 in 1984, thus committing them to the major study in science in Years 3 and 4. Given that three students failed, 10 out of 14 is a far higher retention rate than anything we have experienced previously. Clearly, the evaluation of our efforts to influence the teaching of science in Tasmanian primary schools must wait, but these evaluative studies should make a contribution to the research data on curriculum issues in Australia. This course could play an important in-service function for present primary teachers. We are hopeful that such a content-based approach to science teacher education may help to convince teachers to take the extensive range of available curriculum materials seriously.     

Learning to teach primary geography in the context of school placement: lessons from an all-Ireland study

Teaching education is Ireland is currently undergoing significant structural and conceptual changes. School placement is at the centre of these reforms. This article reports the findings of an all-Ireland study which investigates student teachers’ experiences of teaching geography during their school placements. Based on data collected from surveys and focus group interviews with one cohort of B.Ed. students, this study illustrates the emotional journey of school placement, emerging identities as teacher, the positive impact of initial teacher education, the problematic nature of messages from ‘third parties’ and conflicting conceptualisations of geography. The findings of this study are important for student teachers and teacher educators as they illustrate the complexity of school placement and the importance of emotional as well as cognitive engagement.     

Evaluating Discipline-Based Education Research for Promotion and Tenure

Discipline-based education research (DBER) is an emergent, interdisciplinary field of scholarship aimed at understanding and improving discipline-specific teaching and learning. The number of DBER faculty members in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments has grown rapidly in recent years. Because the interdisciplinary nature of DBER involves social science, senior STEM faculty members may find it challenging to evaluate the quality or impact of DBER scholarship. This essay aims to address this issue by providing guidance on evaluating the scholarly accomplishments of DBER faculty members in a way that is useful to departmental colleagues and administrators during the tenure and promotion evaluation process.     

Limited representation of individuals with disabilities in early childhood classes: alarming or status quo?

UNICEF’s new Millennium Development Goals and Beyond (2015. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/) focus on the needs of the largest marginalised minority, individuals with disabilities, challenging us to examine issues related to exclusion and develop strategies for making an authentic sense of belonging and high-quality early childhood education a reality for over 93 million children with disabilities (United Nations Children’s Fund. 2006. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=150). A first step in addressing stigma and the exclusion of individuals with disabilities is to examine materials in environments, given that positive representation in books and media contributes to a sense of belonging, increased self-esteem, and greater understanding of and attitudes towards others. Historically, the portrayal of individuals with disabilities in the literature and media has been absent or negative while the number of children with disabilities in early childhood classes has steadily increased. In this study, the representation of individuals with disabilities in school materials was examined in 32 kindergarten classes using the Inventory of Disability Representation (Favazza, P. C., and S. L. Odom. 1997. “Promoting Positive Attitudes of Kindergarten-Age Children Toward People with Disabilities.” Exceptional Children 63: 405–418). Two classrooms (6%) had moderate representation, 22 classrooms (69%) had low representation, and 8 classrooms (25%) had no representation of disabilities. Implications for practice and research are presented in light of the current focus on disability rights and becoming a more inclusive society.