Quality assurance in health sciences literature searching: applying the ISO 9000 quality standard

相似文献   

Examples as Method? My Attempts to Understand Assessment and Fairness (in the Spirit of the Later Wittgenstein)

What is 'fairness' in the context of educational assessment? I apply this question to a number of contemporary educational assessment practices and policies. My approach to philosophy of education owes much to Wittgenstein. A commentary set apart from the main body of the paper focuses on my style of philosophising. Wittgenstein teaches us to examine in depth the fine-grained complexities of social phenomena and to refrain from imposing abstract theory on a recalcitrant reality. I write philosophy of education for policy makers and teachers. Scrutiny of examples plays a vital role in communicating with such an audience. Starting points include 'accommodations' for disabled students, allegedly gender-biased tests, and the recruitment procedures of 'elitist' music conservatoires. A key intuition that fairness is associated with test validity turns out to be seriously flawed. Problems centre on the idea of a 'construct', and the supposed divide between an underlying construct and its behavioural manifestations. Equality of opportunity notions underlie some accusations of unfairness but there are alternative approaches to a just society. Both the judgments about fairness, and the proposed remedies are open to serious philosophical criticisms. There are widespread conceptual difficulties, together with inconsistent and contestable value judgments.     

Expectations and Perceptions of the Role of the Guidance Counselor as Described by Students and Parents

This study compared the students' and parents' views with respect to both the perceived and the ideal role of the secondary school counselor. It was found that parents assigned higher ratings to both perceptions and expectations of counselors than did students, and both parents and students held higher expectations than perceptions of counselors. Apparently irreconcilable conflicts among idealized roles were found, which suggested implications for counselor training programs.     

Gypsy Masculinities and the School–Home Interface: exploring contradictions and tensions

Drawing on data generated by a 3-year study, informed by ethnographic principles, of the interface between Gypsy culture and the educational system in the South West of England, this article focuses specifically on the experiences of young Gypsy males [1]. The manner in which they perform specific forms of masculine identity though business skills and dealing, fighting, and sex talk are considered. Tensions are highlighted regarding the ways in which these performances are valued in different communities of practice, and how this operates to maintain an atmosphere of suspicion regarding the educational system.     

High School Students' Beliefs About Maths,Mathematical Problem Solving,and Their Achievement in Maths: A cross-sectional study

The main aim of the study reported in this paper was to identify Italian high school students' ( n =599) beliefs about maths and mathematical problem solving by exploring the use of a 36-item (six scales) self-report questionnaire. The study was also aimed at analysing possible significant differences in beliefs related to grade (five years of school) and gender, as well as the relationship between beliefs and achievement in maths. Moreover, it explored the reasons underlying mature and nai¨ve beliefs about the different dimensions measured by the questionnaire. Results show a substantial replication of the instrument with the exception of one scale (importance of word problems) which was not reliable. A MANOVA revealed differences for three scales (ability to solve time consuming problems; problems which cannot solved by routine procedures; the usefulness of mathematics) related to grade and a difference for one scale related to gender (importance of understanding maths). It also emerged that the four scales mentioned predicted achievement in maths to different extents. Data regarding the reasons underlying students' beliefs show how their convictions are adaptive or maladaptive to learning. Finally, educational implications are drawn.