Meta‐Analytic Methodology and Inferences About the Efficacy of Formative Assessment

In a recent article published in EM:IP, Kingston and Nash report on the results of a meta‐analysis on the efficacy of formative assessment. They conclude that the average effect of formative assessment on student achievement is about .20 SD units. This would seem to dispel the myth that effects between .40 and .70 can be attributed to formative assessment. They also find that there is considerable variability in effect sizes across studies, and that only the content area in which the treatment is situated explains a significant proportion of study variability. However, there are issues in the meta‐analytic methodology employed by the authors that make their findings somewhat equivocal. This commentary focuses on four methodological concerns about the Kingston and Nash meta‐analysis: (1) the approach taken to select studies for inclusion, (2) the application of study inclusion criteria, (3) the extent to which the effect sizes being combined are biased, and (4) the relationship between effect size magnitude and characteristics of outcome measures. After examining these issues in the context of the Kingston and Nash review, it appears that considerable uncertainty remains about the effect that formative assessment practices have on student achievement.     

The importance of specifying and studying causal mechanisms in school-based randomised controlled trials: lessons from two studies of cross-age peer tutoring

Based on the experience of evaluating 2 cross-age peer-tutoring interventions, we argue that researchers need to pay greater attention to causal mechanisms within the context of school-based randomised controlled trials. Without studying mechanisms, researchers are less able to explain the underlying causal processes that give rise to results from randomised controlled trials. Studying implementation fidelity is necessary but not sufficient for causal explanation; the study of causal mechanisms through the application of mixed methods is also required. Due to the increasingly complicated nature of many classroom-based innovations that are subject to evaluation, and the potentially distal nature of hypothesised effects, particularly on attainment, programme theory and articulation of mechanisms are essential in enhancing causal explanation and promoting the accumulation of knowledge of what works and why in classroom settings.     

Confirmation of a Teacher Expectancy Model: Student Perceptions and Causal Attributions of Teaching Behaviors

Abstract

This study described patterns of observed and student perceived teaching behaviors directed to high and low expectancy students and determined how students attribute causes to the teaching behaviors. Eleven certified elementary classroom teachers and their second and third-grade classes served as subjects for the study. Twenty-seven high expectancy and 33 low expectancy students were identified by having the teachers rate their students in terms of expected levels of performance for the school year. Three types of teacher feedback were recorded by trained observers: a) praise/encouragement; b) skill correction; and c) corrective behavior feedback. Students were also interviewed to see whether their perceptions of the teachers' actions were consistent with the coded dyadic interactions. In addition, interviewers asked the students to describe the causes for the teacher's actions. Each cause was classified into one of four attributional categories: a) personal causes; b) teacher causes; c) environmental causes; and d) complex causes. Major differences between observed and perceived teacher praise and corrective behavior feedback were found for high and low expectancy students. Attributional data also revealed that low expectancy students tended to attribute corrective behavior feedback to personal causes much more so than high expectancy students. High expectancy students, on the other hand, were more inclined to attribute the same behavior to teacher characteristics.     

因果必然性探析——结合休谟、卡尔纳普因果研究的考察

纵观西方因果观念的历史演变．它与必然性、决定论的相互纠缠有其特定的自然科学背景。近代．休谟提出了因果性批判;卡尔纳普试图从语义学角度来定义因果必然性。对待决定论的态度取决干不同阶段自然科学的发展状况．被认为是非（因果）决定论的量子力学却在某种意义上保留了因果必然性（微观因果性）。     

中介效应检验方法比较

中介效应的识别与检验在社会科学研究中具有重要意义。依次介绍中介效应检验的因果分析法、系数相乘法、bootstrap法、乘积分布法等4种方法的主要思想及其发展脉络;以科技中介接受模型为例,比较不同方法对中介效应检验的结果。     

Lazy, Dumb, or Industrious: When Stereotypes Convey Attribution Information in the Classroom

Historically, ethnic minority children and girls have underachieved in American schools. This paper examines the role that stereotypes play in imposing obstacles to success for stigmatized children inside and outside of the classroom. Stereotypes convey explanatory information about groups—such as blacks are lazy, girls are bad at math, and so forth—that may be used as attributions for performance by adults as well as the children themselves. This paper presents a model that brings to light the underlying attributional structures of all stereotypes. Each of these attributional signatures has specific effects on judgments of responsibility and deservingness, help giving or punishment, self-esteem and motivation, and even performance inside and outside of the classroom. Through recognizing that stereotypes are vehicles for attributional judgments, educators are better able to anticipate the effects that stereotypes may have on students and take measures to counteract or diminish them.     

Impact evaluation of quality assurance in higher education: methodology and causal designs

In this paper, the theoretical perspectives and general methodological elements of impact evaluation of quality assurance in higher education institutions are discussed, which should be a cornerstone of quality development in higher education and contribute to improving the knowledge about the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of quality assurance. The suggested core methodology consists in comparative and longitudinal studies carried out simultaneously to the quality assurance interventions and relying on surveys and mixed methods. The methodology is applicable to any particular quality assurance procedure and any achievement area of higher education institutions. To round off the methodology presentation, an overview of causal designs, in particular causal social mechanisms, for impact analyses of quality assurance in higher education institutions and its challenges and limits is outlined and some characteristics of survey questionnaire construction are given.     

课程考核方式对高校学生评教结果的影响

利用统计学方法检验不同"考核方式"对老师的"评教等级"与"学生成绩"间因果关系的影响,并以"考核方式"对"学生评教"的影响做t检验。结果显示:"学生成绩"与"学生评教"之间存在相关系数极小的正相关关系;课程"考核方式"与"学生评教"有显著的负相关关系,而与学生成绩无关。区别对待不同课程考核方式的学生评教结果,有利于教学管理部门正确认识和评定教师的教学水平,激励教师积极参与教学工作。     

英语课文理解的原因复位研究

本研究在2个实验中采用识别检测技术以英语材料检测了课文理解的因果推理。实验1表明,如果呈现一个因果连贯中断句子时,读者可以较慢地识别这个句子。因此,在理解当前加工的句子时读者便复位课文表征的先前信息。实验2采用不同的材料进一步验证了这个结果。最后在课文理解的当前理论框架中讨论了本研究的结果。     

The (Social) Construction of Information Security

While the philosophical foundations of information security have been unexamined, there is an implicit philosophy of what protection of information is. This philosophy is based on the notion of containment, taken from analogies with things that offer physical security (e.g., buildings, safes, fences). I argue that this implicit philosophy is unsatisfactory in the current age of increased connectivity, and provide an alternative foundation. I do so from a constructionist point of view, where the coevolution of social and technical mechanisms is seen as the source of the security of an information system, rather than rational design choices only. I employ the concept of causal insulation from system theory in order to give an account of the fundamental characteristics of information security research. This generates definitions that can be used for philosophically informed discussions on the protection of information in new systems.