Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

The Teaching Portfolio, Peter Seldin, Linda Amis

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

One of the best ideas about the evaluation of teaching to come along in recent years is the teaching portfolio, which allows the individual instructor to create a well-documented history of his or her own teaching efforts and the thinking which undergirds them.

A Comparative Study Of The Effects Of Learning Style Prescriptions And/Or Modality-Based Instruction On The Spelling Achievement Of Fifth-Grade Students, Nancy D'Isa Turner

Dissertations

Problem

Learning style has been studied extensively across the United States since the early 1970s. Much research has involved Rita and Kenneth Dunns' model and associated Learning Style Inventory. In 1991, Robert Zenhausern developed the Homework Disc software program which correlates with the Dunns' work and yields learning style prescriptions for students. The use of these study strategies at the elementary level has not been broadly examined. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of prescriptions on spelling achievement of fifth-grade students.

Method

A total of 65 students (33 males, 32 females) in three intact groups participated in this study. The …

Spelling In The Secondary School: A Review Of The Current Situation, Joan Rodrigues

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study was to discover the strategies being employed by secondary school teachers to assist students with spelling difficulties. Teachers in the English and social studies departments of three Perth high schools were interviewed and asked to indicate the criteria they used to identify students with spelling problems and the teaching methods they employed to help those students overcome their problems. They were also asked to identify the causes of spelling difficulty. Staff at the local district offices and the Ministry of Education were interviewed to establish what support services were available for teachers who wished to …

Factor Analysis Of The Personal Profile System, Thomas G. Henkel, James Noel Wilmoth

Publications

Principal components extraction with orthogonal and oblique rotations tested construct validity for the Personal Profile System. MOST-LIKE endorsements of 96 behavioral descriptors were coded with 4, LEAST-LIKE with 1, and unendorsed with 2.5. Descriptor data from 1,045 senior noncommissioned Air Force officers were normalized. Four factors accounted for 85% of total variance, with 19 descriptors loading significantly on two factors and the remaining 77 on just one factor. The measure of sampling adequacy for every descriptor exceeded .94. One factor for the varimax-rotated (best) analysis was bi-scalar, loading on Steadiness and Compliance descriptors; a second resembled Influencing, a third loaded …

Family Life Education In The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints In The 20th Century: A Historical Review, Ray W. Stringham

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reviewed selected educational literature in almost 350 texts published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) from General Authorities and manuals which included content curriculum in adult family life education; for the adult women's organization (Relief Society); for the men's Melchizedek Priesthood; and for parents instructing their children at home (Family Home Evening).

Topics were ranked by century, according to frequencies of occurrence (FO) in the five major publications. Topics were also summarized by each decade. Tables were provided which summarized the top 40 of 78 topics identified. Recurring Themes suggest family is the basis …

A Case Study Of Two Year Six Classes Involved In A Health-Related Fitness Intervention, Andrew T. Medland

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Children are not as active as they may appear and they do not voluntarily engage in moderate to high intensity activity as commonly perceived by the general public. With coronary heart disease risk factors now found to have origins in childhood there is a real need for children to adopt lifestyles that will produce healthier adults. In Perth the Western Australian Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition project (WASPAN) has been implemented, as a Year 6 intervention, addressing the problems of poor nutritional habits and low activity levels. The focus of this case-study was to describe the physical activity component of …

Ua3/8/6 Report Of The Task-Force On Part-Time Faculty, Wku President's Office-Meredith

WKU Archives Records

During the 1991 fall semester, President Thomas Meredith appointed a Task Force on Part-Time Faculty at WKU. He requested that the task force conduct a study and make recommendations to the university regarding such issues as part-time faculty compensation and benefits, rates of usage, quality of instruction, orientation and evaluation and administration and budgeting. The study was stimulated, in part, by the fact that the university has in recent years reached historic highs in the use of part-time faculty.

Parent Involvement And Vocabulary Development In Kindergarten, Carolyn Eckerty

Masters Theses

A kindergarten teacher used action research to determine if the vocabulary growth of kindergarten students was influenced by parents being involved in the Tasks For Talented Parents (TFTP) program. A correlational study was conducted to determine the relationship between parent involvement and student's vocabulary development. Kindergarten students (N=58) were administered the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test in August and November. Also in August and November each child's parent completed the parent questionnaire from the Tasks For Talented Parents program. The results indicated a moderate correlation between the answers on the parent questionnaire and the results of the PPVT-R. Results of the …

Parallel Form Test-Retest Reliability And Predictive Validity Of A Curriculum-Based Measurement Academic Readiness Test, Stanley F. Hanus

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to help a local school district in rural Iowa determine the reliability and predictive validity of a Curriculum-Based Measurement Academic Readiness Test (CBM-ART). The subjects were 85 kindergarten students and 77 first grade students enrolled in regular education. The total sample of 162 students was approximately 88% Caucasian, 8% Native American, 2% Hispanic, and 2% Asian. Parallel forms of the test were administered at a 14-day interval, with resulting reliability coefficients ranging from .76 to .94 with a median coefficient of .88. Validity coefficients computed between CBM measures administered in kindergarten and Iowa Tests …

A Comparison Of The Performance Of African American Preschool Children On The Wppsi And Wppsi-R, Cynthia A. Vandervelde

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) (Wechsler, 1967) has long been one of the most widely used instruments for the assessment of preschool children's intelligence. The recently published Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence Revised (WPPSI-R) (Wechsler, 1989) was designed to replace the WPPSI as the instrument of choice for the purposes of making classification, placement, and program evaluation decisions. Thus, data concerning the comparability of the two instruments is of particular importance to educators. This study investigated the relationship between the WPPSI and the WPPSI-R among a sample of predominantly lower socioeconomic status African American …

Reader-Text Match: The Interactive Effect Of Reader Ability And Text Difficulty On Comprehension Monitoring, Kathryn Maelou Baxter

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of text difficulty on the comprehension monitoring of above- and below-average readers. The most of the good reader/poor reader comprehension monitoring research, students have been given identical passages. Consequently, the poor readers must read text that is relatively more difficult for them than it is for the better readers.

In this study, 36 fourth graders, 18 above-average readers and 18 below-average readers, were given text on three levels of difficulty, as determined by the Fry readability formula: (a) a second-grade passage for all students, used to reflect the standard practice …

Sustaining And Impinging Factors On Teaching Satisfaction Of Effective Middle Level Teachers, Cheryl D. Hoversten

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to identify the ontogeny of effective middle level teachers. The study was a search through their lives, both professional and private, for those elements that they perceived have contributed to their professional development and consequent attitudes and perspectives on teaching.

A sample of 12 teachers was obtained through reputational-case selection, a process by which teachers were nominated by experts on the basis of their professional expertise. All participants were middle level teachers from two Midwestern states who had at least 10 years of teaching experience.

A career history interview, which focused on critical shifts …

Investigations In Metacognitive Learning Processes With Computers: Learner Based Inquiries, Diane Maschette, Evelyn Bransgrove, S Morris, Richard Johnson, Prue Anderson

Prue Anderson

Current research concerning learning highlights the importance of metacognitive skills in promoting successful learning for both adults and children (Baird, 1989; Flavell, 1981; Rowe, 1988). Several researchers have identified particular strategies for use in developing metacognitive skills in the classroom (Baird & Mitchell, 1986; Swan & White, 1990). Claims have been made for the computer as a useful tool in this process (for example, in developing problem solving skills) however there is relatively little research evidence to support such claims. This study addresses this shortfall, building on the considerable research in metacognition.

Progress Through High School: A Study Of Senior Secondary Schooling In New South Wales, John Ainley, Michael Sheret

Dr John Ainley

In the 20 years from 1971 to 1990 the percentage of each cohort of young people completing secondary education to Year 12 has more than doubled. Most of that growth in the retention of young people into the postcompulsory years of school has taken place since 1983. In a short space of time postcompulsory schooling has changed from minority to majority participation. Changes such as these have impelled a consideration of how best to respond to the interests and aptitudes of the increasingly diverse population of students and how to encourage further increases in levels of participation. These issues are …

Determinants Of Status And Earnings Within A Profession: A Case Study Of Australian Lawyers, Julie Mcmillan

Julie McMillan

No abstract provided.

Mapping Abilities And Skill Levels Using Rasch Techniques, Annie Brown, Catherine Elder, Tom Lumley, Tim Mcnamara, Joy Mcqueen

Dr Tom Lumley

The ongoing interest in investigating the use of Item Response Theory (IRT) methods, involving the Rasch model, in language testing research and the development of language tests has encouraged the authors to explore the nature of this approach and to introduce some research on its validation.

Reporting Research For Teachers: Strategic Review Of Research In Education: An Overview, Phil Mckenzie

Dr Phillip McKenzie

In this article the author who is the executive officer of the Strategic Review of Research in Education in Australia outlines the major findings of the review and its recommendations.

In Vivo Growth Of C6 Glioma Cells Transfected With Connexin43 Cdna, C. Naus, K. Elisevich, D. Zhu, Daniel Belliveau, R. Del Maestro

Daniel J. Belliveau

In order to examine the possible role of intercellular communication via gap junctions in the control of tumor growth, we have transfected C6 glioma cells with connexin43 cDNA. We obtained several clones with variable expression of connexin43. The growth rate of these clones in culture was inversely related to the degree of expression of the transfected cDNA. To examine the growth of these transfected cells in vivo, cells were grown in spinner culture flasks to form spheroids 250–300 µm in diameter. Spheroids of nontransfected C6 cells produced large gliomas. Immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization analyses revealed relatively high levels of …

Students' Views Of Primary School, John Ainley, S Bourke

Dr John Ainley

No abstract provided.

Displacement, Velocity, And Frames Of Reference: Phenomenographic Studies Of Students’ Understanding And Some Implications For Teaching And Assessment, John Bowden, Gloria Dall'alba, Elaine Martin, D Laurillard, Ference Marton, Geoff Masters, Paul Ramsden, Andrew Stephanou, E Walsh

Prof Geoff Masters AO

Student understanding of fundamental concepts in kinematics has been explored using the phenomenographic research method. University and high schoolphysics students were interviewed and their understandings of displacement, velocity, and frames of reference have been analyzed in particular problem contexts. Descriptions of the different ways students understand the concepts have been developed and relations between the different levels of understanding have been identified. The data highlight the contextual nature of learning and the need for teachers to focus on the nature of student understanding in specific contexts using questions that require qualitative explanation by students. In particular, it is demonstrated that …

Computer Adaptive Testing : A Feasibility Study, Siek Khoo, Geoff Masters, Ray Adams

Dr Siek Toon Khoo

The Australian National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition (NOOSR) commissioned ACER to investigate the feasibility of implementing computer adaptive testing (CAT) in NOOSR’s screening examinations for overseas trained professionals. The National Office administers screening examinations in seven professions (Dentistry, Dietetics, Occupational Therapy, Podiatry, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy and Veterinary Science) at venues throughout Australia and in up to fifty centres around the world. Surveys were conducted to gain an overview of the current methods and procedures used by NOOSR in the screening examinations. Issues related to the application of CAT to NOOSR’s screening examinations and the possible improvement of NOOSR’s assessment program …

Educational Research In Australia, David Boud, Millicent Poole, Richard Warry, Phil Mckenzie

Dr Phillip McKenzie

This review of educational research in Australia was stimulated by the Australian Research Council which convened a meeting of representatives of major stakeholders in educational research in December 1990. That meeting established terms of reference for the Review, appointed a review panel to take responsibility for the detailed work and continued itself as a reference group. More than 120 written submissions were received in response to circulation of the Terms of Reference. An interim report was drafted by the panel in consultation with the reference group and circulated widely for comment in early 1992. Seventy-six written responses were received and …

The Nllia Esl Development Project And Assessment In The Curriculum, Tom Lumley, Penny Mckay

Dr Tom Lumley

This article outlines the ESL Development or the ESL Profiles Project, abbreviated terms for the National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia (NLLIA) ESL Development Project: Language and Literacy in Schools. A brief introduction to the project and two of its principal components: the ESL Bandscales and the Exemplar Assessment Activities with accompanying Observation Guides for each macro-skill, are included in this article.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, John W. Hill

John W. Hill

No abstract provided.

Rx For Literacy, Donna M. Farrell

Dr. Donna M Farrell

Specific kinds of educational experiences provided for children by both parents and teachers from preschool through high school were examined to document the effects, if any, on reading achievement during the course of development. Findings indicated that early childhood experiences were particularly important to literacy development and early reading instruction, in particular, are key factors in the reading competency of high school seniors.