Current Issues in Education (E-Journal, Arizona State University)
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Development of the Oldenburg Epistemic Beliefs Questionnaire (OLEQ), a German Questionnaire Based on the Epistemic Belief Inventory (EBI)
Get PDFThe present research describes the development of a German questionnaire for measurement of domain-general epistemic beliefs. Pre-studies on the psychometric properties of a German version of the Epistemic Beliefs Inventory (EBI) had emphasized the necessity to develop an instrument that is especially constructed for German-speaking samples. The new questionnaire, the Oldenburg Epistemic Beliefs Questionnaire (OLEQ), is based on the Epistemic Beliefs Inventory and includes original EBI items as well as newly developed ones. The investigation of the psychometric properties of the questionnaire in a German-speaking sample showed a factor solution in which nearly all items loaded on the theoretically assumed dimensions. The stability of the factor solution could be confirmed by means of confirmatory factor analysis in another sample. Retest reliabilities of the different questionnaire dimensions were satisfactory. The dimensions of the new instrument correlated significantly, yet to a moderate to weak degree, to the use of learning strategies.  
Negotiated Issues in an Early College Partnership: Description and Understanding through Interorganizational Theory
Get PDFEarly college high schools are one solution to the college readiness challenge, but school-university partnerships are complex and difficult to negotiate. This case study took a close look an early college program between a state community college and a suburban high school and asked what were the negotiable items and how could interorganizational theory help clarify the motives and positions of the negotiators in order to better understand the process? Data included transcription and notes from four years of bimonthly planning meetings among institutional leaders along with individual interviews. The results provide a road-map of negotiable “sticking points” for early college high school partnerships and a framework of seven theories to facilitate understanding and successful negotiations
Everyone Has a Story: A Collaborative Inquiry Project by Five Teacher Candidates of Color and One White Professor
Get PDFInitiatives to increase the number of teachers of color in U.S. public schools must be accompanied by culturally relevant teacher preparation for candidates of color. This study is a cooperative inquiry (Heron, 1996) conceived, conducted, and analyzed by five preservice teachers of color and one of their professors, a white lesbian. The women met biweekly for a year to co-construct meaning from their experiences in a teacher education program. They analyzed data sources together, including meeting transcripts, autobiographical sketches, and reflective writing on themes from the data. Key findings include the complexity of teacher candidates’ identities; the importance of support systems for teacher candidates of color, particularly within predominantly white contexts; the connection between teacher candidates’ backgrounds and their visions as teachers; and the role others’ perceptions, particularly teacher educators, have played in teacher candidates becoming teachers
Observing Classroom Instruction in Schools Implementing the International Baccalaureate Programme
Get PDF The International Baccalaureate (IB) programme utilizes an inquiry-based multi-disciplinary approach and focuses on the teaching of critical-thinking skills. The IB programme is growing at a rapid rate within the United States, with the overall number of IB schools having more than doubled in the last five years. The purpose of the present study was two-fold: (a) to specifically focus on classroom instruction and students’ behavior within Texas IB schools, and (b) to highlight the importance of systematic classroom observation as an evaluative method; in particular, the simultaneous use of three observation instruments to illustrate the importance of examining instruction from multiple perspectives. Systematic observations of 85 classrooms from eight Texas IB schools revealed that instruction in most of the schools was active, with teachers often engaging students, exploring new skills and key concepts, explaining, elaborating, and evaluating. Overall, the general instructional practices and student behaviors/activities observed were favorable and were higher than those found in similar classrooms in Texas schools. The amount of time that students were observed as being on-task was dramatically higher than the amount of student on-task time measured in other observational studies
Criterion-Referenced Exit Examinations: An Institutionâs Internal Process for Psychometric Analysis
Get PDFThe Texas State University-San Marcos undergraduate healthcare administration program requires all bachelors of health administration (BHA) students to pass a comprehensive examination to demonstrate their knowledge of specific core competencies. This also demonstrates completion of their didactic coursework in order to enter a practical internship or residency experience. Since this examination provided important documentation of student learning, the program conducted a detailed psychometric analysis of its three most recent undergraduate comprehensive exit examinations. In order to determine the value of this examination psychometrically, an evaluation of item validity evidence, between-exam reliability, and related assessment of descriptive statistics with regard to overall exam results and individual healthcare administration competency outcomes was necessary. Using Classical Test Theory (CTT) as a methodological framework, the psychometric analysis involved calculating item-level indices that assessed descriptive, validity, difficulty, and discrimination characteristics. This allowed the program’s faculty to better interpret student exam outcomes at the overall exam and within-exam competency levels. Additionally, this analysis provided an evaluation of the score reliability of the three alternate exam forms, as well as within-exam healthcare administration competency items, furthering the program’s comprehensive exit exam test development process. The outcomes of the analysis included an increased awareness of potential non-equivalent test forms for the total exam and within each exam (competency) level, increased level of interpretation the descriptive results for each exam, and the establishment of a more robust test development process to guide future comprehensive examination efforts
Does Social Background Influence Political Science Grades?
Get PDF This paper tests a hypothesized linear relationship between social background and final grades in several political science courses that I taught at the University of Central Arkansas. I employ a cross-sectional research design and ordinary least square (OLS) estimators to test the foregoing hypothesis. Relying on a sample of up to 204 undergraduate students that I taught in 2008 and 2009, and controlling for attendance, GPA, gender, test scores, and number of credit hours, I found no linear relationship between social background and grades. A notable finding of this paper is that the social backgrounds of students born to families of lower and moderate education and their political science grades have a curvilinear relationship. In addition, there seems to be no relationship between the social background of students who come from families of higher education and their grades. On the other hand, students' class attendance and GPA seem to have positive influences on their final grades. Gender and students' number of credit hours are not, however, related to students' final grades.  
The Perception of Educational Software Development Self-Efficacy among Undergraduate CEIT Teacher Candidates
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The objective of this study was to analyze self-efficacy perceptions for education software development of teacher candidates studying at Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technologies, with respect to a range of variables. The Educational Software Development Self-Efficacy Perception Scale was used as data collection tool. Sixty teacher candidates participated in the study. Independent sample t-test and canonical correlation were used as the data analysis techniques in the study. At the end of the study, it was determined that there is a weak correlation between teacher candidates’ general academic performance and their self-efficacy perception for educational software development, and self-efficacy perception does not vary with gender. A significant difference in favor of 4th year undergraduates was established with respect to year of study. Also, a positive correlation was found between teacher candidates’ self-efficacy perceptions in sub-dimensions of the scale and their achievement in the relevant courses
Personality Profile of a Typical Indian Female Primary Teacher: Taking a Psychoanalytic Object Relations Approach
Get PDFResearch on Primary teachers fall into two major categories i.e. Pedagogy and the Personal Characteristics of teachers. Empirical evidence indicates that a teacher's personality influences the classroom climate, students' behaviors, and their interpersonal relationships. Although the effect of a teacher's personality on students' psychological well-being has long been stressed in many studies, very little is known about the actual personality characteristics of Indian in-service teachers. The purpose of this study was to allocate the characteristics that best describe the personality of Indian female elementary school teachers through Rorschach Inkblot Test. This study intends to be part of the endeavor of describing and understanding the possible foundations of teachers' behavior. The sample consisted of 100 female elementary teachers, who completed the Rorschach inkblot test. The test responses of all the teachers in the sample were scored using Paul Lerners Psychoanalytic Object relations approach (Lerner, 1991). The typical personality profile was then arrived at by combining all the 100 Rorschach test profiles. The typical personality has been discussed in terms of Core Character and Level of Personality Organization, in the light of Object Relations Theory (Lerner, 1991). Holts classification of Primary process manifestations (Lerner, 1991) was also applied on the content of the 100 protocols, to better understand her object relations. The findings indicate that the typical Indian primary teacher may be more cognitive than affective in her object relations, which may be a possible indication of a core character of the Obsessive Compulsive nature, with sub features of Hysterical, Depressive, and Schizoid characteristics, of a typical Indian female primary teacher. Implications of the study for students behavior and for teacher development are discussed
Cross-Cultural Reading Comprehension Assessment in Malay and English as it Relates to the Dagostino-Carifio Model of Reading Comprehension
Get PDFThe review of existing literature suggests that few researchers have adopted cross-language comparisons to explore how cultural background affects the assessment of reading comprehension of students. In this present study, the researchers independently reviewed and rated all the items of two reading comprehension tests translated from Malay into English. The original tests, based upon Dagostino-Carifio’s (1994) model of reading comprehension, were developed in Malaysia for the purpose of evaluating reading comprehension abilities of K-6 students in Malaysia. Results indicated that some information in the test material are culturally based and are lost in translation. Findings imply the possibility of employing comparable tests with valid translation to evaluate reading comprehension abilities of second language (L2) students. 
Why are In-grade Retention Rates so High in Macao?
Get PDFThis paper seeks to address why in-grade retention rates are so high in Macao by examining the operation of its education system. To this end, I shall draw on data from a qualitative research project on educational inequality in Macao, referring specifically to criteria for in-grade retention set by different schools, the related practices of schools and teachers, and the schooling experiences of students. This examination leads me to argue that in-grade retention rates of Macao are so high mainly because its education system is a system of private schools without effective state governance. This argument, then, urges us to rethink the belief that a privatized schooling system allows competition between schools and thus provides more parental choices; therefore it is efficient and effective in providing quality education. The case of Macao suggests that competition does not necessarily guarantee more school choices for parents or the provision of quality education