What do Underprepared Students Learn about Measurement from Introductory Laboratory Work?

This study investigates changes in students' understanding of various aspects of measurement before and after participating in two different introductory laboratory courses at two universities in South Africa. Students' ideas were sought using a probe into their understanding of data collection, data processing and data comparison. The responses were analysed using a model which identified subjects as adhering to either a point or set paradigm. Considerable gains were made during instruction with both groups, though some important differences were identified between them. Neither group could be identified after instruction as full adherents to the set paradigm which was a goal of the instruction. Rather, the majority were found to use ad hoc or rote set action, while using point reasoning.     

ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTIONS OF WISDOM: AN ONION‐PEELING EXERCISE

Contexualistic and integrative approaches to the concept of wisdom are discussed. The evolution of the concept of wisdom from an independent construct of intelligence to a component of intelligence (i.e., practical intelligence) is presented. It is argued that wisdom can be operationalized as the ability to integrate cognition and affect. In other words, both logical, rational and affective, experiential modes of knowing are recognized as equally valid and taken into consideration in social reasoning contexts. A methodological illustration of the integrative approach is presented in the form of an ongoing study investigating real‐world problem solving in adolescents as well as young, middle‐aged, and older adults. Implications for adult education are discussed.     

Comparison of Subjective and Objective Judgments of Children’S Drawings

This paper presents a user-oriented technique to analyze dichotomous data arising from a double repeated measures 2 × 2 design. The design under consideration occurs most frequently in survey research in which two matched samples of subjects are measured at two points in time on a dichotomous dependent measure. Test statistics are presented that test for change on the dependent measure over time for each sample separately, as well as an interaction test statistic that compares the change rates between the two samples. An extension of the technique to higher order two-dimensional tables is also suggested.