Student performance prediction,risk analysis,and feedback based on context-bound cognitive skill scores

Education and Information Technologies - In recent times, Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics have been abundantly used to model decision-making to improve teaching/learning ecosystems....     

Exploring Interactive Writing as an Effective Practice for Increasing Head Start Students’ Alphabet Knowledge Skills

The current study used a pretest–posttest randomized control group design with 73 Head Start students, ages 3–5 years. The researcher served as the interactive writing teacher for the treatment group, rotating to five different classrooms in one Head Start center 3–4 days a week for 13 weeks. Children in the treatment group received a 10–15 min interactive writing lesson each day in small groups within their own classroom settings. Children in the control group received standard literacy instruction in small groups with their own classroom teachers. Child outcome data on upper case, lower case, and letter sound identification were collected before and after the intervention for both groups. Based on the large frequency of zeros on outcomes, zero-inflated Poisson regression analyses were performed. The results of the study showed that children receiving interactive writing identified more lower case and upper case letters at the end of the study relative to children in the control, but no differences were observed on letter sounds. While continued evaluation of the interactive writing strategy is needed in the preschool setting, the evidence from the current study shows encouraging trends in alphabet knowledge skill development as a result of this strategy.     

The technological gender gap: Evidence and recommendations for educators and computer-based instruction designers

The term technological gender gap refers to the idea that males and females have different technology-related attitudes, behaviors, and skills. This article reviews the mounting evidence documenting the existence of a gender gap, which, if ignored, could render large numbers of female students unprepared to meet the technological challenges of the future. Recommendations for ameliorating the technological gender gap are presented for educators and computer-based instruction (CBI) designers who are interested in providing equitable educational opportunities for male and female students.     

Comparison of two methods of estimation of low density lipoprotein cholesterol, the direct versus friedewald estimation

Current recommendations of the Adult Treatment Panel and Adolescents Treatment Panel of National Cholesterol Education Program make the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in serum the basis of classification and management of hypercholesterolemia. A number of direct homogenous assays based on surfactant/solubility principles have evolved in the recent past. This has made LDL-C estimation less cumbersome than the earlier used methods. Here we compared one of the direct homogenous assays with the widely used Friedewald’s method of estimation of LDL-C to see the differences and correlation. We used direct homogenous assay kit to estimate serum LDL-C and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Serum Triglyceride (TG) and Total Cholesterol (TC) was estimated and using Friedewald’s formula LDL-C was calculated. The LDL-C level obtained by both methods in 893 fasting serum samples were compared. The statistical methods used were paired t-test and Pearson’s correlation. There was significant difference in the mean LDL-C levels obtained by the two methods at the TG levels <200 mg/dl (p<0.02) and TC levels >150 mg% (p<0.001). The correlation coefficient (r) between Friedewald’s and direct assay estimation was 0.88. Friedewald’s method classified 23.5 % of patients as high cardiac risk whereas there were 17.58% by direct assay. Both had good correlation even though the serum triglyceride and total cholesterol levels affect the difference in LDL-C estimated by both methods. Taking into account the cost and performance, Friedewald’s method is as good or even better for classifying and managing patients.     

Analysis of Parent, Teacher, and Consultant Speech Exchanges and Educational Outcomes of Students With Autism During COMPASS Consultation

The significant increase in the numbers of students with autism combined with the need for better trained teachers (National Research Council, 2001) call for research on the effectiveness of alternative methods, such as consultation, that have the potential to improve service delivery. Data from 2 randomized controlled single-blind trials indicate that an autism-specific consultation planning framework known as the collaborative model for promoting competence and success (COMPASS) is effective in increasing child Individual Education Programs (IEP) outcomes (Ruble, Dal-rymple, & McGrew, 2010; Ruble, McGrew, & Toland, 2011). In this study, we describe the verbal interactions, defined as speech acts and speech act exchanges that take place during COMPASS consultation, and examine the associations between speech exchanges and child outcomes. We applied the Psychosocial Processes Coding Scheme (Leaper, 1991) to code speech acts. Speech act exchanges were overwhelmingly affiliative, failed to show statistically significant relationships with child IEP outcomes and teacher adherence, but did correlate positively with IEP quality.     

The Impact of an Inquiry-Based Geoscience Field Course on Pre-service Teachers

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine the effects of a field-based, inquiry-focused course on pre-service teachers?? geoscience content knowledge, attitude toward science, confidence in teaching science, and inquiry understanding and skills. The field-based course was designed to provide students with opportunities to observe, compare, and investigate geological structures in their natural environment and to gain an understanding of inquiry via hands-on learning activities designed to immerse students in authentic scientific investigation. ANCOVA and MANCOVA analyses examining differences in outcome measures between students in the field experience (n?=?25) and education students enrolled in the traditional, classroom-based course (n?=?37) showed that students in the field course generally had significantly higher scores. Results provide evidence of the value of the field and inquiry-based approach in helping pre-service teachers develop the needed skills and knowledge to create effective inquiry-based science lessons.     

Crop Farmers' Willingness to Pay for Agricultural Extension Services in Bangladesh: Cases of Selected Villages in Two Important Agro-ecological Zones

Purpose: Globally, many extension professionals and policy-makers are advocating fee based services, in addressing the fund shortage and sustainable provision of agricultural advisory services. Hence, the article attempts to expose the farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) as agricultural extension in Bangladesh is experiencing chronic fund crisis.

Methodology: This study used contingent valuation method (CVM) for investigating farmers' WTP. Logit and Tobit model was employed to assess the determinants of WTP and amount willing to pay (AWTP) respectively. Besides, different qualitative methods were employed to have a deeper understanding of the research problems.

Findings: WTP was conditioned by providing quality extension services at farm and/or home of the farmers. The study also focused on farmers preferred mode of payment, criteria influencing payment decisions and the type of services for which they are willing to pay. Paid model can contribute to quality extension services, if started with a market oriented commodity based approach accompanied by adequate crop insurance support.

Practical implications: The study considered international experiences and national crisis in delivering extension services that provoke actions towards changing the extension policy of Bangladesh. The findings also prompt the factors that influence the paid extension service delivery for the crop farmers of Bangladesh.

Originality: Although, many studies have been conducted on privatisation of agricultural extension around the globe, we are not aware of any single study on crop farmers' willingness to pay for the extension services in Bangladesh.     

Norman geschwind lecture: Geschwind’s lesson

Norman Geschwind had a profound effect on behavioral neurology, not only on the basis of his research and theories expressed during his lifetime, but also through the impact that he had on colleagues privileged to train under him or have their work personally influenced by him. My work falls into the latter category. Novel associations between brain function/structure and behavior characterized his professional contributions, and offer a model for those who follow in his footsteps. He correctly predicted that like aphasic disorders, developmental dyslexia might be associated with deficits in color naming expressed currently as deficits in Rapid Automatized Naming. He stimulated anatomic research regarding patterns of asymmetry and microscopic architecture leading to the establishment of the Orton Dyslexia Neuropathology Laboratory at Beth Israel Hospital, Boston. He predicted an association between autoimmune disorders and reading disorders, an association that proved to be of genetic origin. He further predicted that reading disorders, like language disorders, would be cross-cultural and, similarly, their mechanism of production would be cross-cultural, although affected perhaps by the structure of the language to be learned. His suspicion that the clinical impression of male gender preponderance in dyslexia was accurate and carried biologic significance has recently been reconfirmed by colleagues at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Finally, with respect to dyslexia, one should not be surprised that since affect is influenced by brain architecture, developmental disorders characterized by altered brain architecture might be associated with affective or other psychiatric phenomena. My own work suggests that the altered neuroanatomy in dyslexia may be accompanied by altered clinical neurophysiology, offering the possibility that in some developmental disorders, behaviors, including academic aptitude and cognitive function, might benefit from medications designed originally to lower the risk of clinical seizures. Perhaps Geschwind’s greatest lesson is to not assume that all we have been taught as dogma is truth. Rather, we must have a willingness to make clear perceptions and draw conclusions that come closer to the reality of the causal relationship between brain and behavior.     

Innovation in scheming Maslow＇s hierarchy of basic needs

Almost all schemes that have been issued by scholars or researchers to present Maslow＇s hierarchy of basic needs include a pyramid （triangle） in which the physiological needs are in the base and the self-actualization needs are in the top of the triangle. Although this scheming is inspiring to some results, basic needs have more characteristics that are significant however, this scheming is not able to inspire. Based on elaborating Maslow＇s theory and research＇s findings, this study aims to disclose weaknesses and strengths of traditional scheme （triangle）, and develop two innovated schemes of basic needs, which are more close to Maslow＇s ideas and more inspiring to realize the actuality of this hierarchy.