The purpose of this study was to determine pre-service and in-service science and mathematics teachers' perceptions of the characteristics of a professional teaching environment. The study further investigated the relationships of field placement contexts and grade levels on pre-service teachers' perceptions of importance and availability of…

National assessment data indicate that the large majority of students in America perform below expected proficiency levels in the area of writing. Given the importance of writing skills, this is a significant problem. Curriculum-based measurement, when used for progress monitoring and intervention planning, has been shown to lead to improved…

Teaching is considered one of the most trusted professions, yet literature evaluating teachers' understanding of professional behaviour is scarce. Recently, technological advancements such as Social Networking Sites (SNS; e.g. Facebook) have created fresh debate about appropriate behaviour for teachers: in school and online. The "Professional…

To investigate the construct validly of a section of a high stakes test, an exploratory factor analysis using principal components analysis was employed. The rotation used was varimax with the suppression level of 0.30. Eleven factors were extracted out of 35 reading comprehension items. The fact that these factors emerged speak to the construct…

This study examines the impact of prior learning experience on students' approaches to learning (SAL). It compares SAL of accounting students admitted to university in Australia on the basis of Institutes of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) qualifications (TAFE-to-university) and through direct entry mode (Year 12-to-university). The…

Horn's parallel analysis (PA) is the method of consensus in the literature on empirical methods for deciding how many components/factors to retain. Different authors have proposed various implementations of PA. Horn's seminal 1965 article, a 1996 article by Thompson and Daniel, and a 2004 article by Hayton, Allen, and Scarpello all make assertions…

Critical thinking (CT) has been of longstanding interest among scholars, educators, and others who are concerned with thinking skills. The Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) is the oldest and among the most widely used and studied CT measure. It was constructed around five subscales (or CT skills): inference, recognition of…

In response to works by Robert J. Sternberg, summarizes relations between components and factors as analytical tools for research on intelligence and mental abilities. (GC)

It is shown that McDonald's generalization of Classical Principal Components Analysis to groups of variables maximally channels the totalvariance of the original variables through the groups of variables acting as groups. An equation is obtained for determining the vectors of correlations of the L2 components with the original variables.…

Suggests a framework for analysis of a PPB success which can be used for subsequent cross-case comparisons. The framework consists of two major elements: (1) a typology of success variants which is useful in determining degrees of success and (2) a set of causal variables, both technical and behavioral, which can be employed in determining what…

In a manner similar to that used in the orthogonal case, formulas for the asymptotic standard errors of analytically rotated oblique factor loading estimates are obtained. This is done by finding expressions for the partial derivatives of an oblique rotation algorithm and using previously derived results for unrotated loadings. These include the…

Outlines a componential theory of intelligence and describes how this theory might complement different factorial theories of intelligence. Discusses the respective uses of components and factors in educational theory and practice. (Author/GC)

Six points of view regarding the future of intelligence testing are considered, and a "prototypical" point of view is presented. The past history and present status of intelligence testing and research are considered. Their future is discussed in terms of assessment of various kinds of components of intelligence. (Author/RD)

This study was undertaken to determine the degree of factorial invariance that exists in a battery of predictor variables commonly used in the selection of applicants for dental school. The following variables were used in the analyses performed: 13 subscores from the Dental Aptitude Test Battery, Overall QPA, Required Courses QPA, years of…