Elementary teachers' beliefs, knowledge, and practice relating to retention were explored using an adapted version of the Teacher Retention Beliefs Questionnaire (Tompchin & Impara, 1992). A researcher-developed knowledge section was added to the original questionnaire to measure teachers' propositional knowledge of retention. Thirty-five, K-4…

One of the most important goals in primary education is to guarantee literacy and numeracy, two crucial notational systems. Before schooling, children develop some fundamental knowledge on notations from which formal learning should depart. The literature has studied this knowledge, focusing on the development of notational production and…

In cut score setting processes, subject matter experts are asked to make judgments about the likely performance of examinees at a targeted skill level. When cut scores are used in K-12 settings to separate students who have and have not mastered certain skills, the target examinee may be characterized as the barely proficient or barely master…

Research on assessment and treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is moving at a rapid pace. Continuing education (CE) providers must translate new findings for clinicians so as to enhance patient care. A two-page survey was distributed by mail to a sample of 5,000 licensed Missouri clinicians to gather data in support of this translation process.…

Preparing youngsters for an aging society requires teachers who keep pace with health science research. The Stealth Gerontology[TM] program educates teachers regarding aging-related issues. The design and assessment of the program are reported in this paper. Teachers attended sessions including direct instruction and hands-on participation (e.g.,…

Background knowledge plays an important role in one?s ability to learn. We learn new knowledge by relating it to our prior knowledge, which in turn provides concrete understanding (Piaget, 1969). Rosenblatt (1996) explained, "The reader brings to the work personality traits, memories of past events, present needs and preoccupations, a…

We evaluated a project designed to expose introductory psychology students to the fields of psychology. We created this project to foster student learning about the various fields of psychology, careers that psychologists have, the psychology program on their campus, and courses available at their home institution. Evaluative data included…

Small tutorial groups in higher education are often composed without regard to students' gender or broad knowledge background, for example, yet research indicates that composing groups on the basis of gender and prior qualifications may have significant effects on assessment outcomes. Previous studies have also investigated the effects of…

The authors compared the effects of information-based and attitude-based interventions on counselor trainees' knowledge about and attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients. Analyses of variance indicated that providing information yielded higher knowledge levels than did not providing information and that the exploration of attitudes led…

Children learn many new categories and make inferences about these categories. Much work has examined how children make inferences on the basis of category knowledge. However, inferences may also affect what is learned about a category. Four experiments examine whether category-based inferences during category learning influence category knowledge…

Melanoma, the most fatal form of skin cancer, is rising at rates faster than all other preventable cancers in the United States. Childhood exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light increases the risk for skin cancer as an adult, therefore, starting positive sun protection habits early may be key to reducing the incidence of this disease. The…

Illness and injuries are common among students and school staff. Therefore, school nurses must be prepared. In this study, a 16-hour scenario-based emergency preparedness course for school nurses was evaluated for its effectiveness. Effectiveness was measured by (a) traditional methods (written exams and confidence surveys) and (b) skills and…

Adults overestimate the detail and depth of their explanatory knowledge, but through providing explanations they recognize their initial illusion of understanding. By contrast, they are much more accurate in making self-assessments for other kinds of knowledge, such as for procedures, narratives, and facts. Two studies examined this "illusion of…

This paper explores the development of students' knowledge of mathematical procedures. Students' tendency to develop rote knowledge of procedures has been widely commented on. An alternative, more flexible endpoint for the development of procedural knowledge is explored here, where students choose to deviate from established solving patterns on…

This paper is a reflection on a three-year longitudinal study that explored the development of children's concept of a substance, for which detailed results concerning children's understandings have been reported elsewhere. The attention in this paper is on the methodological features related to the longitudinal nature of the study and the…