水仙花

Early in his childhood, as soon as he was able to speak, he was asked what kind of face he would like to have. They agreed when he said he' d like to have a blue face like his mother, who had hers from being born in the sea. Pith(抽去;杀死) from the claws of a certain bird furnished the dye, which he let the nurse wipe over his brow and cheeks. Soon his face was blue and stayed blue; and although no one said it to him, everyone thought he was a beautiful boy.     

Spontaneous recovery of instrumental discriminative responding

In six experiments, rats received discriminative training in which making a response (R) during a stimulus (S) produced a particular outcome (O). In Experiment 1, that outcome was replaced by a second outcome and responding was tested either immediately or after a delay. More substantial responding was observed with the delayed test. In Experiment 2, a test of transfer to new responses suggested that the growth in performance was not attributable to greater use of particular S-O associations. However, in Experiment 3, the growth in responding was found to be specific to particular S-R combinations. Experiment 4 replicated that specificity and demonstrated the importance of using two different outcomes for obtaining the growth in responding with time. Experiments 5 and 6 repeated these observations for the case of extinction, in which O was replaced by nonreinforcement. These results are interpreted as suggesting that an outcome-independent inhibitory S-R process develops, both with extinction and with the use of a second outcome, but dissipates with time.     

Teaching the Use of Complex IT in Specific Domains: Developing, Assessing and Refining a Curriculum Development Framework

Information technology holds the promise of increased productivity. However, rapidly evolving tools require a professional able to incorporate these tools into their careers effectively, which signals the need for IT curriculum development initiatives that incorporate the use of complex, domain-specific IT applications in specific professional fields. This paper reports on a study that addresses this need, by developing, assessing and refining a curriculum development framework. The Information Technology Fluency (ITF) framework is a methodology for constructing components (case studies) for inclusion into existing or newly proposed courses to help students develop the skills needed for this challenge. Results obtained using the framework are reported, compared to similar work at a different institution, and used to suggest improvements to the framework.     

Integrating Cognitive and Psychometric Models to Measure Document Literacy

The Survey of Young Adult Literacy conducted in 1985 by the National Assessment of Educational Progress included 63 items that elicited skills in acquiring and using information from written documents. These items were analyzed using two different models: (1) a qualitative cognitive model, which characterized items in terms of the processing tasks they required, and (2) an item response theory (IRT) model, which characterized items difficulties and respondents' proficiencies simply by tendencies toward correct response. This paper demonstrates how a generalization of Fischer and Seheibleehner's Linear Logistic Test Model can be used to integrate information from the cognitive analysis into the IRT analysis, providing a foundation for subsequent item construction, test development, and diagnosis of individuals skill deficiencies.     

The assessment of teaching in higher education: A critical retrospect and a proposal

Evaluation of college and university teaching is considered in the context of growing demands for accountability of educational institutions and particular roles of faculty in achieving goals for which these institutions are believed to be accountable. In the first of two papers,^* three contemporary aprroaches to evaluation of teaching in higher education are critically reviewed. All three of these approaches-assessment of learning outcomes, assessment of teacher characteristics and analysis of pedagogical behaviors-are found to be defective on logical, theoretical and empirical grounds. A common thread of deficiency is the absence of a coherent theoretical framework for analysis of teaching and phenomena associated with teaching. Specific defecs are analyzed in each of the three approaches as well as in the ubiquitous methodology of rating of teaching performance. In analysis of evaluation by assessment of learning outcomes, teaching is shown to be neither necessary nor sufficient to subsequent learning outcomes. Assessment of teacher characteristics fails to identify those characteristics peculiarly indigenous to teaching as a generic activity. Analysis of pedagogical behaviors fails to distinguish critical teaching acts from more general teacher characteristics interpretable in terms of teacher personality. Furthermore, no adequate basis is provided for normative interpretation of data pertaining to pedagogical behaviors. The use of rating scales to provide data about teacher characteristics or pedagogical behavior rests on assumed rather than demonstrated validity of results. Evidence of validity or meaningfulness is replaced by evidence of consistency which is often spurious. The first paper concludes with an outline of requirements for a more constructive approach to the task of teacher evaluation. In a second paper, an outline of a theory of teaching is sketched which conforms to these requirements. Realization of this theoretical structure in teaching assessment report forms is described. Tentative conclusions from trial use of forms-in-development and recommendations for additional data sources are discussed in terms of their potential contribution to improvement in teaching.     

The detection and correction of bias in student ratings of instruction

With the use of surveys of instructional effectiveness that use Likert rating scales, bias is a potential threat to the validity of interpretations. Simple summation of ratings or the use of larger samples are not methods for removing bias. In this study, a new model for scaling ratings is examined. The method both identifies and corrects for bias. Working with a database of student ratings of college instruction, the model was tested in terms of a variety of criteria. Results indicated that bias was detected and that it was large enough to warrant our concern. The statistical corrections were significant both in terms of order and magnitude of class means. Implications for future studies include the specification of more potential sources of bias, the interaction of some of these factors, and the development of more systematic evidence supporting the need to be attentive to bias. The many-faceted Rasch model used in this study needs more evaluation before we are convinced of its utility to study and correct for bias, but preliminary evidence is encouraging. Recommendations were offered for a theoretical rationale for studying bias in student ratings of instructional effectiveness and a program of research leading to the use of this model for reporting results for use in improving instruction and for promotion, tenure, and merit decisions. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Atlanta April 1993.     

The British University Grants Committee 1919–83: Changing relationships with government and the universities

Since its creation in 1919 the University Grants Committee (UGC) has been seen in Britain and many other countries as a model piece of machinery for channelling funds from Government to universities. Over these 60 years there have been many changes and fluctuations in its relationships both with Government and universities, and its effectiveness has varied, depending on the circumstances of the period.Up till World War II the UGC achieved its purpose of serving as a buffer or shock absorber (UGC, 1968). These metaphors picture a largely reactive body responding to initiatives either by Government or the universities. After the Second World War there were calls for the UGC to play a more positive role in university development and national planning and its terms of reference were changed. The UGC's response to this change has been variable and only in the period post 1979 has it consistently played the broader role envisaged for it in 1946 although its rhetoric claimed this role for it in the 1960s. This more active role in the 1980s has brought mixed reactions: more respect from the Government but more criticism from the universities.Insofar as this criticism relates to the processes used by the UGC during its selective retrenchment activities (1981–83), these could be improved by a strengthened UGC; insofar as the criticisms relate to the basic idea of a committee composed primarily of academics apparently aiding and abetting a Government's policy to cut back higher education, the future viability of the UGC idea itself is called into question.Another variable in the UGC's future is connected with the recently created National Advisory Board for Local Authority Higher Education (NAB). Discussions have ranged widely over the future options for the coordination of higher education: a merger of the two bodies, their separate development or creation of an overarching body over both sectors and their respective agencies. For the moment, however, the continued existence of the UGC represents an extraordinary example of institutional longevity over a period when immense changes have occurred in British society, the machinery of Government, and the British education system.