Trajectories of self-perceived math ability,utility value and interest across middle school as predictors of high school math performance

Although many studies have documented developmental change in mathematics motivation, little is known about how these trends predict math performance. A sample of 288 participants from the United States reported their perceived math ability, math utility value and math interest in 5th, 7th and 9th grades. Latent growth curve models estimated developmental trajectories in each of these constructs. Mathematics interest and utility value decreased across time, but there was no significant change in self-perceived math ability. Slopes and intercepts of all mathematics motivation variables correlated with one another. Even when controlling for prior mathematics performance, students who self-reported high math ability in 5th grade had higher standardised test scores than their peers in high school five years later. Neither math utility value nor math interest intercepts or slopes predicted later performance. Understanding the predictors of math performance is important for supporting students’ success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers.     

Assessment reform in Hong Kong: developing the HKDSE to align with the new academic structure

ABSTRACT

In alignment with the New Academic Structure, the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) was launched in 2012 to replace the former Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) as certification for completion of secondary education, and the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE) as the main credentials for university admission in Hong Kong. Standards-referenced reporting is adopted for the HKDSE with the objective of reporting candidates’ results against a set of prescribed levels of achievement based on typical performances at those levels. Clearly defined standards facilitate learning and teaching as well as enable users of the qualification, including tertiary institutions and employers, to set appropriate entrance/job requirements. The standards are set and maintained by expert judgement supported by psychometric data to ensure fairness and consistency of standards across subjects and across cohorts. Systemic and implementation issues and their resolutions are discussed in the context of the education reform in Hong Kong.     

Social and cognitive correlates of children's lying behavior

The relation between children's lie-telling and their social and cognitive development was examined. Children (3–8 years) were told not to peek at a toy. Most children peeked and later lied about peeking. Children's subsequent verbal statements were not always consistent with their initial denial and leaked critical information revealing their deceit. Children's conceptual moral understanding of lies, executive functioning, and theory-of-mind understanding were also assessed. Children's initial false denials were related to their first-order belief understanding and their inhibitory control. Children's ability to maintain their lies was related to their second-order belief understanding. Children's lying was related to their moral evaluations. These findings suggest that social and cognitive factors may play an important role in children's lie-telling abilities.     

Misconceptions and biases in German students’ perception of multiple energy sources: implications for science education

Misconceptions and biases in energy perception could influence people's support for developments integral to the success of restructuring a nation’s energy system. Science education, in equipping young adults with the cognitive skills and knowledge necessary to navigate in the confusing energy environment, could play a key role in paving the way for informed decision-making. This study examined German students’ knowledge of the contribution of diverse energy sources to their nation’s energy mix as well as their affective energy responses so as to identify implications for science education. Specifically, the study investigated whether and to what extent students hold mistaken beliefs about the role of multiple energy sources in their nation’s energy mix, and assessed how misconceptions could act as self-generated reference points to underpin support/resistance of proposed developments. An in-depth analysis of spontaneous affective associations with five key energy sources also enabled the identification of underlying concerns driving people’s energy responses and facilitated an examination of how affective perception, in acting as a heuristic, could lead to biases in energy judgment and decision-making. Finally, subgroup analysis differentiated by education and gender supported insights into a ‘two culture’ effect on energy perception and the challenge it poses to science education.     

The effects of principals’ humor on teachers’ job satisfaction

Traditionally, education has been perceived as a most serious and disciplined undertaking. Schools have become so obsessed with discipline, standardized test scores, proper objectives, competence, and proficiency that they have turned into rather grim places. All too often teachers and students will say that school and learning are not enjoyable. This study was designed to investigate school principals’ overall frequency of humor use as perceived by teachers, and the relationship of principals’ humor use to teachers’ job satisfaction. This study also analyzed how teacher job satisfaction was influenced by principals’ frequency of humor use in different groups. Results of this study support the idea that principals who share humor in the workplace have teachers with higher job satisfaction than those principals who share very little or no humor in the workplace.     

Health Literacy of Students with and without Individualized Education Programs: A Brief Report

While much is known about the educational, behavioral, and social needs of adolescents receiving school-based special education services, one critical domain, health literacy, has been largely unexamined. Given the impact of health and health management on the well-being of all persons, and the likelihood of additional challenges for students receiving special education supports, this study sought to examine and compare the health needs and transition preparedness of 341 adolescents with and without Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Survey items were selected from widely used health literacy, health risk, and health related quality of life measures. Findings revealed that for students with IEPs, the risk for having limited health literacy was 128% higher than for their peers without IEPs. Students with IEPs were also significantly more likely to demonstrate risk across indicators of health related quality of life, health risk, and access. Limitations, research recommendations, and implications are addressed.     

Exploring high school students' and teachers' preferences toward the constructivist Internet‐based learning environments in Taiwan

This paper explores high school students' and teachers' preferences towards constructivist Internet‐based learning environments. The study proposes a framework, including two dimensions and five aspects, to illustrate the features of the Internet‐based learning environments. Based upon this framework, the Constructivist Internet‐based learning environment survey improvement (CILESI) was developed, which includes the scales of ease of use, multiple sources, student negotiation, reflective thinking, critical judgement and epistemological awareness. Questionnaire responses gathered from 630 high school students in Taiwan suggested that the CILESI showed adequate reliability in assessing students' preferences. Male students placed more emphasis on the student negotiation, critical judgement and epistemological awareness enhanced by the Internet‐based learning environments than female students did. In addition, the teachers of the sampled students (n?=?78) were also surveyed by CILESI. The teachers tended to express stronger preferences on the ease of use of the Internet‐based learning environments than did their students. However, students, when compared with their teachers, seemed to express more preferences towards the features of student negotiation, reflective thinking, critical judgement and epistemological awareness of Internet‐based learning environments.     

Shape-oriented storage and retrieval of geometric figures and chromosome images

Four advantages of storing and retrieving geometric figures and chromosome images through the use of shape-oriented similarity measures are presented. A complemented but not distributive lattice and a distributive but not complemented lattice are found. Answers to triangle related fuzzy queries such as “retrieve the triangles which are very similar to isosceles triangles but not similar to a given triangle Δx”, and chromosome related fuzzy queries such as “retrieve the chromosomes which are more or less similar to median chromosomes and very very similar to a given chromosome A” are presented and illustrated by examples. For shape-oriented storage of triangles, it is proposed to store the angles of each triangle in decreasing order of the magnitude and logically order all the triangles according to the magnitude of the angles. For shape-oriented storage of chromosomes, it is proposed to logically order all the chromosomes individually and independently according to the angular sums of its exterior biangles and interior biangles. The results may have useful applications in information storage and retrieval, artificial intelligence and pattern recognition.     

Increasing public understanding of transgenic crops through the World Wide Web

Transgenic crops among the most controversial "science and society" issues of recent years. Because of the complex techniques involved in creating these crops and the polarized debate over their risks and beliefs, a critical need has arisen for accessible and balanced information on this technology. World Wide Web sites offer several advantages for disseminating information on a fast-changing technical topic, including their global accessibility; and their ability to update information frequently, incorporate multimedia formats, and link to networks of other sites. An alliance between two complementary web sites at Colorado State University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln takes advantage of the web environment to help fill the need for public information on crop genetic engineering. This article describes the objectives and features of each site. Viewership data and other feedback have shown these web sites to be effective means of reaching public audiences on a complex scientific topic.