The Domain-Specificity of Elementary School Teachers’ Judgment Accuracy

Teachers’ diagnostic competence for accurately judging students’ achievement is essential for instructional practice and professional decisions. To promote their judgment accuracy, it is important to know if this is a general or domain-specific skill. We investigated teachers’ judgment accuracy in German language (one subdomain: reading) and mathematics (two subdomains: geometry; stochastics) and examined differences across domains (i.e., German and mathematics) and across subdomains (reading; geometry; stochastics). We examined the judgment accuracy of 59 German elementary school teachers who teach both German and mathematics, judging the achievement of 1227 students in the three subdomains. We conducted multilevel analyses with a subsample of 39 teachers and 787 students and calculated different accuracy components (i.e., rank, level, and differentiation) to examine the comparability of our results. In line with prior research, findings revealed that teachers’ judgments were fairly accurate. However, there were significant differences between teachers’ average judgment accuracy in different subdomains (between-person comparisons) and no or only a weak relation between individual teachers’ judgment accuracy in different subdomains (within-person comparisons). Findings support the notion that teachers’ judgment accuracy of student achievement is domain-specific with respect to the investigated subdomains. Practical implications for the promotion of teacher judgment accuracy are discussed.     

高职院校《兽医临床诊断技术》实践教学改革探索

《兽医临床诊断技术》是高职院校畜牧兽医专业的一门重要的专业基础课。高职院校《兽医临床诊断技术》在实践教学中存在着校内外实训基地不足、实践性教学环节实践性不强等问题。调整实践教学大纲、加强实训基地建设、改革教学方法和考核方式,以提高高职院校《兽医临床诊断技术》实践教学效果。     

DIALANG:评介与启示

DIALANG-欧洲诊断性语言测验系统是面向大众的诊断性评价的先驱。本文对该测验系统的开发背景、开发依据、测验内容、测验特点以及测验过程进行了较为全面的介绍。在此基础上,为推动我国诊断性评价的开展,文章提出了4点建议:1)关注过程,服务学习;2)开发主观题自动阅卷技术,全面考查各语言技能;3)建立我国自己的语言教学和评价标准;4)建立具有中国特色的、可持续性的诊断性评价体系。     

Retrofitting the IELTS reading section with a general cognitive diagnostic model in an Iranian EAP context

Cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) allows for diagnosing second language (L2) learners’ strengths and weaknesses of attributes in a specific domain. Exploring the little-known territory of CDA, the current study retrofitted the reading section of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) with a cognitive diagnostic model (CDM). It aimed to identify the attributes involved in successfully implementing IELTS reading, analyze the overall and individual test-takers’ reading performance, and, finally, explore the IELTS reading differences of Iranian students in engineering and veterinary domains. Based on think-aloud protocols and expert judgement, an initial Q-matrix was developed. Using R package CDM, the generalized deterministic inputs, noisy “and” gate (G-DINA) model was applied to IELTS reading data to refine and validate the initial Q-matrix and estimate the mastery probabilities of 1025 test-takers on each attribute. The final Q-matrix consisted of 6 attributes assumed to be involved in IELTS reading. Moreover, the overall test-takers and the individuals demonstrated different mastery/non-mastery across the 6 IELTS reading attributes on both macro and micro levels. Further, significant differences were found between IELTS reading performances of Iranian engineering and veterinary students. The findings supported the assumption that CDA can provide instructors and IELTS candidates with detailed diagnostic feedback to promote test-takers’ IELTS reading performance.     

The noticing of physical education teachers: a comparison of groups with different expertise

Background: Teachers’ important diagnostic abilities include noticing and interpreting students’ behaviors and learning processes. By focusing on noticing, I refer to the theoretical framework of professional vision. Professional vision includes the ability to notice what is occurring in complex classroom situations (selective attention) and the ability to give these events meaningful importance (knowledge-based reasoning).

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to investigate the noticing differences of groups with different expertise while they observe students’ activities in gym class.

Participants and setting: Sixty participants with different sport-specific and pedagogical expertise were asked to describe and interpret videotaped teaching sequences. Observational data were obtained from physical education classes. The focus was on motoric and social learning processes.

Research design: The groups were compared in a four-field design according to their observations and interpretations of students’ activities in gym class.

Data collection: The teaching sequences function as stimuli to activate selective attention and knowledge-based reasoning. The participants were questioned in guided interviews.

Data analysis: The participants’ comments were recorded, transcribed and analyzed based on qualitative content analysis. The analysis was performed with the software program MaxQDA. The comments were subsequently exported to the software program SPSS 20 for further analysis.

Results: By comparing groups with different sport-specific and pedagogical expertise, this study reveals new observation foci when people exclusively monitor students’ behaviors, not teachers’ behaviors, in authentic teaching situation along with different observation foci based on expertise.

Conclusions: The findings indicate that noticing is a characteristic of professionalization that should be given greater consideration in physical education teacher education (PETE) programs. Special observations tasks (e.g. focusing on social processes) and supplemental theoretical materials for specific issues in PETE programs that use video recordings could help improve learning to notice.     

Historical plasters on light thin vaults: State of conservation assessment by a Hybrid ultrasonic method

Historical plasters on light thin vaults, usually made by mats of reeds nailed to an upper wooden framework, were used in several historical and monumental Italian buildings and churches built between the 16th and the 19th century and almost all of the historical Italian theatres built between the 18th and the 19th century to cover the theatre-hall and to improve its acoustic properties. The non-destructive inspection of these structures is very important, but traditional inspection techniques are usually limited in resolution, which may be a problem for detection of defects at a very early stage. The paper presents the development and application of a high-resolution inspection technique based on a hybrid ultrasonic method, where a contact emitter probe and a non-contact air-coupled receiver probe are used. Results show the effectiveness of the method on laboratory samples and propose an inspection procedure for in-field application.     

大型建设工程项目实施状态诊断指标自适应调整系统的构建与开发

为有效解决大型建设工程项目实施状态诊断指标的自动调整问题,在充分了解和掌握诊断指标自动调整需求的基础上,基于自适应技术,设计和明确了诊断指标自适应调整系统所需的相关功能模块。在此基础上,依据数据流程法,确定这些功能模块间以及与现行工程项目实施状态诊断系统一级相关模块间的数据流程关系。然后,采用与现行工程项目实施状态诊断系统相同的程序语言,开发大型建设工程项目实施状态诊断指标自适应调整系统。通过分级分类测试,验证该系统的有效性和与现行工程项目实施状态诊断系统的兼容性与匹配性。     

最近发展区智能可视化机理及其技术设计突破

文章以教育信息化2.0为背景,旨在借助智能技术可视化地诊测内隐于学生心中的最近发展区,解决教师精准定位教学起点和补教内容等问题。利用文献研究方法发现,社会知识与个体认知之间可以借助语言符号进行转化。研究结果表明:准确诊测学生最近发展区的基本原理,就是将学生现有基础水平同其需要达到的学习目标进行比对,再以认知地图方式找出其可视化的差距。其技术实现原理为:采用Spring MVC技术,推送易、中、难测试题,区分出学生基础水平层次,再将学生残缺和模糊不清的知识点进行可视化补教导航。运用这些原理进行教学实验研究,得出了以下结论:(1)通过分层推送练习题,可准确定位学生最近发展区,有针对性地促进其发展;(2)根据学生最近发展区现状,可实现全班大面积的个性化智能教学导航;(3)针对入门教学特征,需要进行认知地图可视化导航设计,针对教学难点,需要开展解题智能可视化导航设计。     

Characteristics of a cognitive tool that helps students learn diagnostic problem solving

Three related studies replicated and extended previous work (J.A. Danielson et al. (2003), Educational Technology Research and Development, 51(3), 63–81) involving the Diagnostic Pathfinder (dP) (previously Problem List Generator [PLG]), a cognitive tool for learning diagnostic problem solving. In studies 1 and 2, groups of 126 and 113 veterinary students, respectively, used the dP to complete case-based homework; groups of 120 and 199, respectively, used an alternative method. Students in the dP groups scored significantly higher (p = .000 and .003, respectively) on final exams than those in control groups. In the third study, 552 veterinary students responding to a questionnaire indicated that the dP’s gating and data synthesis activities aided learning. The dP’s feedback and requirement of completeness appear to aid learning most.     

教育测量理论发展研究

对教育测量理论的发展进行了综述,分析了经典测验理论、概化理论、项目反应理论和认知诊断理论的理论基础与实践应用优缺点,进而探讨了理论假设存在的问题.