Distractor-driven multiple-choice assessment items and Rasch modeling were used as diagnostic tools to investigate students' understanding of middle school chemistry ideas. Ninety-one items were developed according to a procedure that ensured content alignment to the targeted standards and construct validity. The items were administered to 13360…

Our research aims to identify domain-specific similarities and differences of externalized cognitive structures. Cognitive structure, also known as knowledge structure or structural knowledge, is conceived as the manner in which an individual organizes the relationships of concepts in memory. By diagnosing these structures precisely, even…

Autobiographical reasoning is closely related to the development of normative ideas about life as measured by the cultural life script. The acquisition of a life script is an important prerequisite for autobiographical reasoning because children learn through the life script which events are expected to go into their life story, and when to expect…

The 1990 World Values Survey demonstrated that industrialization promotes a shift from traditional to secular-rational values. Drawing data from a sample survey of 2,350 respondents in Shanghai, this study examines the impact of social change on people's values in China. Specifically, we are interested in (1) are there significant differences in…

The purpose of this paper is to inform administrators and organizational leaders that a change in the support offered to faculty and the environment of research administration is desirable. This recommendation is supported by the results of a Delphi study that was undertaken to gather expert opinions and recommendations from research faculty…

Animism (erroneously believing inanimate objects are alive) is present in older adults (McDonald & Stuart-Hamilton, 2000). However, it is unclear if animism arises in later life or middle age. The current study tested 34 middle-aged adults (mean age 48 years) on Piaget's animism task and found a significant level of animism. Strength of…

Over time, accountability measurements in education have paralleled measurement systems that originated in the business sector. Reform efforts, such as the Baldrige criteria, have continued to demonstrate that the business paradigm has offered precious little in the way of classroom success, despite the publicity and funding these movements…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to analyse the evolution of the concepts of organizational learning and the learning organization and propose guidelines for the future. Design/methodology/approach: The evolution of organizational learning and the learning organization is analysed in the light of the three-stage model of the evolution of…

This article examines the inclusion of a culturally relevant curricular practice of social identity papers within teacher education in the USA that incorporates the transnational lifeworlds of teachers. Using tenets of feminist interdisciplinary frameworks, we highlight how this curricular practice allows teachers and teacher candidates in urban…

The purpose of the present paper is to examine the teachers' cognitive structures through moral judgment schemas, as well as whether the above-mentioned structures diversify among teachers, depending on education level, specialty, age, teaching experience, and gender. Moreover, another aim is to examine whether these cognitive structures can…

This paper explores some of the challenges that are involved in facilitating transformative learning. It presents a framework for practice that considers transformative learning from the perspective of the facilitator. These ideas were developed through a doctoral study in which adult educators were interviewed about their experiences in…

Roger Openshaw and Elizabeth Rata conceptualise Kaupapa Maori as a dominant intellectual orthodoxy in New Zealand, which creates a "culturalist ideological conformity" that limits the university's ability to serve as the critical conscience of society. They argue for the primacy of academic objectivity as the criteria for what counts as…

Various motivational frameworks converge to suggest that highlighting the relevance of a learning activity yields benefits for students' learning and performance. Herein, we review a set of studies grounded in self-determination theory's distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic goals, which show that the beneficial effect of a learning…

A concept map is a schematic device for representing a set of concept meanings embedded in a framework of propositions. It can be used to evaluate students' knowledge structure. This article introduces the comparative study of Chinese and American secondary school students' knowledge structure. They are compared quantitatively and qualitatively in…

This article examines responses of 13 preservice students to a mentoring program during their junior year. Throughout the first two terms of a five semester teacher education program, senior physical education specialists agreed to mentor them (in pairs or trios) relative to their development. This qualitative analysis included collection of…