Role of concept definition, teaching examples, and practice on concept learning from prose

Two experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of definition adjunct questions on concept learning. Each experiment included 132 undergraduates at a large midwestern university. In both experiments, subjects studied a passage containing matched or unmatched application questions only, matched or unmatched application questions preceded by a definition question, definition questions only, or no questions at all. The critical attributes of the to-be-learned concepts were more salient in the sets of examples and nonexamples presented in the matched application questions than in the unmatched application questions. Subjects took a criterion test which consisted of novel matched and unmatched application questions. In both experiments, only unmatched application adjunct questions preceded by a definition question produced significantly higher performance on the criterion questions than definition questions only. The discussion focused on the importance of definition questions for effective use of different types of application questions.     

U.S.-Produced Entertainment Media and Attitude Toward Americans

This study examines the relationship between Singaporean college students'attitude toward Americans and their exposure to U.S. exported entertainment media.

The 328 Singaporean college student participants expressed relatively neutral attitudes toward Americans and reported high consumption of U.S. entertainment media (movies, television shows, magazines, music). Exposure to American media was found to correlate positively with student attitudes toward Americans.

In contrast to some media critics' contention that exposure to U.S. media fosters negative attitudes among citizens of other countries, this study suggests that U.S. entertainment may influence attitude toward Americans in a positive direction.     

Leadership Perception

Multirater feedback, often called 360‐degree feedback, is a popular development and assessment tool, especially for organizational leaders. Raters from different organizational levels, including subordinates, boss, peers, and self, rate the leader's performance. However, there seldom is strong agreement across rater groups. This study used the data from a commercially available 360‐degree leader development feedback instrument and a second‐order confirmatory factor analysis model to try to explain the differences in ratings between the groups. Rather than an explanation of the differences, what was found were two second‐order factors that may be the underlying elements that all raters consider when observing leader performance.     

On the evaluation of systemic science education reform: Searching for instructional sensitivity

We propose a multilevel‐multifaceted approach to evaluating the impact of education reform on student achievement that would be sensitive to context and small treatment effects. The approach uses different assessments based on their proximity to the enacted curriculum. Immediate assessments are artifacts (students' products) from the enactment of the curriculum; close assessments parallel the content and activities of the unit/curriculum; proximal assessments tap knowledge and skills relevant to the curriculum, but topics can be different; and distal assessments reflect state/national standards in a particular knowledge domain. To provide evidence about the sensitivity of the multilevel approach in ascertaining outcomes of hands‐on science programs we administered close, proximal, and distal performance assessments to evaluate the impact of instruction based on two Full Option Science System units—Variables, and Mixtures and Solutions—in a Bay Area school district. Results indicated that close assessments were more sensitive to the changes in students' pre‐ to post‐test performance than proximal assessments. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 369–393, 2002     

The surprising viability of a simple alternate estimation procedure for construction of large‐scale structural equation measurement models

As part of developing a comprehensive strategy for structural equation model building and assessment, a large‐scale Monte Carlo study of 7,200 covariance matrices sampled from 36 population models was conducted. This study compared maximum likelihood with the much simpler centroid method for the confirmatory factor analysis of multiple‐indicator measurement models. Surprisingly, the contribution of maximum likelihood to model analysis is limited to formal evaluation of the model. No statistically discernible differences were obtained for the bias, standard errors, or mean squared error (MSE) of the estimated factor correlations, and empirically obtained maximum likelihood standard errors for the pattern coefficients were only slightly smaller than their centroid counterparts. Further supporting the recommendations of Anderson and Gerbing (1982), the considerably faster centroid method may have a useful role in the analysis of these models, particularly for the analysis of large models with 50 or more input variables. These results encourage the further development of a comprehensive research paradigm that exploits the relative strengths of both centroid and maximum likelihood as complementary estimation procedures along an integrated exploratory‐confirmatory continuum of model specification, revision, and formal evaluation.     

Three‐year results of the Friendly Schools whole‐of‐school intervention on children's bullying behaviour

A group randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of the Friendly Schools program to reduce student bullying behaviour. This socio‐ecological intervention targeted the whole school, classroom, family, and individual students to reduce bullying behaviour. Self‐report data were collected in 29 schools over three years from a cohort of 1968 eight to nine‐year‐olds. Surveys measured frequency of being bullied, bullying others, telling if bullied and observing bullying. Results indicate that intervention students were significantly less likely to observe bullying at 12, 24 and 36 months and be bullied after 12 and 36 months, and significantly more likely to tell if bullied after 12 months than comparison students. No differences were found for self‐reported perpetration of bullying. The findings suggest whole‐of‐school programs that engage students in their different social contexts appear to reduce their experiences of being bullied and increase their likelihood of telling someone if they are bullied.