CPDB: Carcinogenic Potency Database

ABSTRACT

The Carcinogenic Potency Database reports analyses of animal cancer tests on 1,547 chemicals. These tests are used in support of cancer risk assessments for humans. Results are searchable and are made available via the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) TOXNET system. This column will provide background information on the database, as well as present search basics.     

浅谈大学英语四、六级考试考务管理工作中的“以人为本”

大学英语四、六级考试是由教育部高等教育司主办的全国性统一考试.本文作者结合自己十余年大学英语四、六级考试考务管理工作的经验教训,从考务管理工作各环节中“人”的角度进行分析和思考,对完善大学英语四、六级考务管理工作提出自己的一些建议和看法,从而保证大学英语四、六级考试顺利有序地进行.     

广义指数分布在恒加试验中的参数估计

针对分组数据情形,研究其参数估计的文献甚是少见.鉴于如此,这篇文章探讨了广义指数分布在恒加试验中,基于分组数据的参数估计问题,并利用EM算法给出了参数估计的显性表达式,最后通过Monte Carlo模拟说明了估计方法的有效性和可行性.     

A Field Test for Upper Body Strength and Endurance

Abstract

Historically, a measure of upper body strength and endurance has been included in fitness test batteries that are typically administered in the school setting. Pull-ups, or some modified form of pull-ups, have been the most popular test item used for the measurement of upper body strength and endurance. Despite the widespread usage of pull-ups, the test has often been criticized because of the large number of zero scores and the subsequent loss of discrimination among ability levels (Jackson & Griffin, 1983). The inability to achieve a score is perceived as failure on the part of the student.     

Beyond high-stakes exam: A neo-Confucian educational programme and its contemporary implications

Abstract

This article seeks to clarify the purpose of high-stakes exam and its relationship with teaching and learning by elucidating the educational thought of the eminent neo-Confucian thinker Zhu Xi. The paper contends that Zhu Xi views standardised testing as an essential means to evaluate the learning outcomes, honour exemplary scholars and select suitable persons for official positions. But he rejects exam-centred teaching and learning that promote rote-memorisation and neglect self-cultivation and self-transformation. The paper further delineates Zhu Xi’s broad-based and integrated educational programme that is aimed at learning for the sake of one’s self through experiential learning, personal inquiry and mindful reading. The essay concludes by highlighting the contemporary implications of Zhu Xi’s ideas: they inform the ongoing debates on the usefulness and impacts of high-stakes exam by situating standardised testing within a larger educational agenda that is geared towards self-improvement and personal transformation.     

An approach to developing independent learning and non-technical skills amongst final year mining engineering students

There is mounting evidence to show that engineers need more than technical skills to succeed in industry. This paper describes a curriculum innovation in which so-called ‘soft’ skills, specifically inter-personal and intra-personal skills, were integrated into a final year mining engineering course. The instructional approach was designed to promote independent learning and to develop non-technical skills, essential for students on the threshold of becoming practising engineers. Three psychometric tests were administered at the beginning of the course to make students aware of their own and their classmates’ characteristics. Substantial prescribed reading assignments preceded weekly group discussions. Several projects during the course required team work skills and application of content knowledge to real-world contexts. Results obtained from students’ reflection papers, assignments related to ‘soft’ skills and end of course evaluations suggest that students’ appreciation of the need for these skills, as well as their own perceived competence, increased during the course. Their ability to function as independent learners also increased.     

Representing self‐in‐society: education for citizenship and the social‐subjects curriculum in Scotland

The documented social‐subjects curricula for Scottish 5–16 year olds are analysed for representations of ‘self‐in‐society’. Such representations are important in Scotland because it is expected that the new Education‐for‐Citizenship framework will in part be delivered through the social subjects. However, citizenship education is also relevant throughout the UK and beyond and our analysis of the social subjects has wider relevance.

An ideal‐type analysis was used on documents including national guidelines, examination syllabuses, examination papers, and assessor instructions. Our analysis suggests that in these documents: the self is seen as an abstract; people are understood by category; society is the sum of discrete institutions; self‐in‐society is fully defined; and this representation of society is not contested. This representation becomes increasingly exclusive with age/ability and may be linked to assumed modes of curricular division, teaching and assessment. We discuss how this overall picture might affect students’ sense of ‘agency’ in the light of citizenship education. We conclude that the social‐subjects’ curricular representation of self‐in‐society may not fully support the Scottish Education‐for‐Citizenship framework.     

Testing collective memory: Representing the Soviet Union on multiple-choice questions

This article tests the assumption that state-mandated multiple-choice history exams are a cultural tool for disseminating an ‘official’ collective memory. Findings from a qualitative study of a collection of multiple-choice questions that relate to the history of the Soviet Union are presented. The 263 questions all come from New York State Regents exams that were administered between 1980–2010. Test questions were organized by decade, analysed for content, and then synthesized into historical narratives. These narratives were then analysed to see the extent to which they changed as the Soviet Union decayed, collapsed, and then broke up into new nation states. Particular attention was paid to the period that begins with the Cold War and ends with the present situation in post-Soviet Russia. The analysis shows that, despite great upheavals in the history of the Soviet Union, and changes in New York State standards and testing policies, the narrative that exists on these exam questions largely remains the same. This suggests that official narratives are slow to change. Further research should look at the extent to which test-taker knowledge and acceptance of official narratives affect performance on multiple-choice history items.     

Statistical Power of Randomization Tests Used with Multiple-Baseline Designs

Statistical power was estimated for 3 randomization tests used with multiple-baseline designs. In 1 test, participants were randomly assigned to baseline conditions; in the 2nd, intervention points were randomly assigned; and in the 3rd, the authors used both forms of random assignment. Power was studied for several series lengths (N = 10, 20, 30), several effect sizes (d = 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0), and several levels of autocorrelation among the errors (p ₁ = 0, .1, .2, .3, .4, and .5). Power was found to be similar among the 3 tests. Power was low for effect sizes of 0.5 and 1.0 but was often adequate (> .80) for effect sizes of 1.5 and 2.0.     

The Functioning of Single-Case Randomization Tests With and Without Random Assignment

The authors used Monte Carlo methods to examine the Type I error rates for randomization tests applied to single-case data arising from ABAB designs involving random, systematic, or response-guided assignment of interventions. Six randomization tests were examined (permuting blocks of 1, 2, 3, or 5 observations, and randomly selecting intervention triplets so that each phase has at least 3 or 5 observations). When the design included randomization, the Type I error rate was controlled. When the design was systematic or guided by the absolute value of the slope, the tests permuting blocks tended to be liberal with positive autocorrelation, whereas those based on the random selection of intervention triplets tended to be conservative across levels of autocorrelation.