Comparison of student performance using web and paper‐based homework in college‐level physics

Homework gives students an opportunity to practice important college‐level physics skills. A switch to Web‐based homework alters the nature of feedback received, potentially changing the pedagogical benefit. Calculus‐ and algebra‐based introductory physics students enrolled in large paired lecture sections at a public university completed homework of standard end‐of‐the‐chapter exercises using either the Web or paper. Comparison of their performances on regular exams, conceptual exams, quizzes, laboratory, and homework showed no significant differences between groups; other measures were found to be strong predictors of performance. This indicates that the change in medium itself has limited effect on student learning. Ways in which Web‐based homework could enable exercises with greater pedagogical value are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 1050–1071, 2003     

Reinforcement and the Scholarly Response

Abstract

Failure is Impossible Women Teaching for Change: Gender, Class and Power By Kathleen Weiler South Hadley, Massachusetts: Bergin &; Garvey, 1988, 174 pages, $29.95 hardbound, $12.95 softbound Reviewed by Martha Kendall

Just the Right Medicine Exhortations on Liberal Education: A Dean Speaks His Mind By Robert L. Spaeth Collegeville, Minnesota: Office of Academic Affairs, St. John's University, 1988, 110 Pages, $4.95 softbound Reviewed by Pheme Perkins

Are Intellectuals as Irrelevant as They Seem? The Last Intellectuals: American Culture In the Age of Academe By Russell Jacoby New York: Basic Books, 1987, 290 pages, $18.95. Reviewed by Joseph A. Amato     

Assuring Quality in Collaborative Distance Education Programmes: The Experience of the University of Texas System TeleCampus

In 1997, the University of Texas (UT) System initiated the development of the UT TeleCampus, a centralized facilitation point for distance learning. The TeleCampus opened its virtual doors in May 1998. At the start, its focus was entirely on support services for students. By late 1998, however, the TeleCampus had begun developing what would become collaborative benchmark on-line programmes for the UT System. Since then, in developing more than twelve complete on-line degree programmes, the administrators of the TeleCampus have learned lessons about creating and maintaining quality in collaborative, Web-based, distance, for-credit, education courses and degree programmes. Some of the key issues arising from the collaborative nature of these programmes and methods that are used to ensure that each course meets a high-quality standard are discussed.     

Marital conflict and conduct problems in Children of Twins

The Children-of-Twins design was used to test whether associations between marital conflict frequency and conduct problems can be replicated within the children of discordant twin pairs. A sample of 2,051 children (age 14-39 years) of 1,045 twins was used to estimate the genetic and environmental influences on marital conflict and determine whether genetic or environmental selection processes underlie the observed association between marital conflict and conduct problems. Results indicate that genetic and nonshared environmental factors influence the risk of marital conflict. Furthermore, genetic influences mediated the association between marital conflict frequency and conduct problems. These results highlight the need for quasiexperimental designs in investigations of intergenerational associations.     

Name writing but not environmental print recognition is related to letter-sound knowledge and phonological awareness in pre-readers

This paper reports a study exploring the associations between measures of two levels of phonological representation: recognition (epi-linguistic) and production (meta-linguistic) tasks, and very early reading and writing skills. Thirty-eight pre-reading Ottawa-area children, aged 4–5 years, named environmental print (EP), wrote their own name, identified correct names and EP words amongst foils and detected foil letters within EP and names. Results showed that phonological awareness and letter-sound knowledge were not related to EP recognition. Name writing accuracy and name identification were related to both levels of phonological awareness. Furthermore, name writing showed a unique association with phonological awareness even after letter-sound knowledge was controlled statistically. Pre-readers may first use meta-linguistic phonological awareness in their name writing and identification prior to learning to read.     

Successive acquisition and extinction in a runway with the domestic Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata)

Twenty domestic Muscovy ducks were trained to traverse a runway for food reward. Subjects were then randomly assigned to treatments. In one treatment, subjects received six nonrewarded trials followed by six rewarded trials every day for 12 days; and, in the other treatment, subjects received six rewarded trials followed by six nonrewarded trials every day for 12 days. These successive acquisition and extinction (SAE) treatments were selected because different extinction rates on the nonrewarded trials are expected on the bases of previous research performed with rats. Analyses of variance revealed the former treatment yielded significantly greater resistance to extinction than did the latter treatment. It was concluded that ducklings performed similarly to rats in the above SAE situation.     

美国创业型研究型大学存在的问题及其对中国高等教育的启示

美国研究型大学模式的发展包括四个关键阶段,第一阶段主要是19世纪受德国的影响,第二阶段是两次世界大战期间联邦资助研究的兴起,第三阶段是20世纪60-70年代多功能大学的广泛成型,第四阶段是新自由主义影响下创业型大学的崛起。就学术研究的规模而言,美国研究型大学已经无国能及,但其在每一个历史发展阶段中所产生的基本问题,却常常为学术研究所忽视。中国在致力于将自己的顶尖大学提升至世界一流水平的过程中,应该考虑到这些基本问题。