Multilevel bifactor item response theory (IRT) models are commonly used to account for features of the data that are related to the sampling and measurement processes used to gather those data. These models conventionally make assumptions about the portions of the data structure that represent these features. Unfortunately, when data violate these…

As our society becomes more technologically advanced and jobs require additional related skills, it is important that all girls, not just those interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (commonly referred to as the STEM disciplines), take advanced levels of science and math in high school. Evidence suggests that intervention…

Drawing on the work of Dewey, we present a view of science education from the perspective of art and aesthetics. This perspective places a transformative, aesthetic experience at the forefront of educational objectives. Such experience involves the application of learning in everyday contexts, expansion of perception, and development of an…

The case of Germany is taken as an example of cyclical variation in higher education enrolment in the sciences. The article argues that the mechanism underpinning these fluctuations is the cobweb model. This model establishes a recursive loop between trends in enrolments in a discipline and trends in the labour market associated with this…