Cultivating Orchids May Help Conserve Wild Species in China     

Sophie J.Williams 《中国科学院院刊(英文版)》2018,(2)

正Over-exploitation of economically valuable species is a major threat to biodiversity.Few studies have investigated the role of consumer behavior in driving over-exploitation of rare,wild species in the lucrative horticultural trade.Dr.Sophie Williams,a postdoc of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden(XTBG),and her collaborators conducted a study to investigate consumer preferences for particular attributes of ornamental  相似文献   

Relations of Emotional Competence and Effortful Control to Child Disruptive Behavior Problems     

Melissa Duncombe  Sophie S. Havighurst  Kerry A. Holland  Emma J. Frankling 《Early education and development》2013,24(5):599-615

Research in child development suggests that emotional competence and effortful control are important for the prevention of conduct disorder, although studies regarding their effects in relation to each other are limited. This investigation examined the additive contribution of specific components of emotional competence and effortful control to child disruptive behaviors, after controlling for IQ and symptoms of inattention/hyperactivity. The sample consisted of 357 Australian five- to nine-year-old children who were identified through a school-wide screening procedure as at risk for developing conduct disorder. Five independent variables were evaluated including emotion identification, emotion understanding, emotion regulation, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. Outcome variables measured child disruptive behavior problems and were based on parent and teacher assessment. Results indicated that deficits in emotion regulation and cognitive flexibility are significantly related to risk for disruptive behavior problems, according to parent but not teacher report. These deficits outweighed inhibitory control, emotion identification, and emotion understanding in their association with problem behavior. Findings may enhance the content and delivery of preventative programs.  相似文献   

The Role of External Professionals in Education about Sexual Orientation−towards good practice     

Nicola Douglas  Sophie Kemp  Peter Aggleton  Ian Warwick 《Sex education》2013,13(2):149-162

Throughout England, young people in schools are entitled to a comprehensive programme of sex education as part of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). Current debate about the content of such a programme is informed by new government guidance on sex and relationship education as well as pre-existing concerns about homophobic bullying, sexual health and mental health. In an English local authority, an externally funded Young Gay and Bisexual Men's Development Worker provided educational activities to address sexual orientation and identity issues to four schools. An evaluation sought to identify whether successes had been achieved and why. A further aim was to identify useful learning about the role of external professionals in carrying out effective education about sexual orientation with young people in schools. The evaluation was developed within the context of a number of 'real-world' limitations. Nevertheless, a significant number of project successes (and areas for development) were documented. Successes included raising awareness of key issues among pupils and supporting teachers engaged in PSHE. Key factors contributing to success included: adequate preparation of teachers and pupils in schools; an appropriately skilled and experienced project worker; and a considered approach to building partnerships with schools and working with young people.  相似文献   

Modified Multiple-Choice Items for Alternate Assessments: Reliability,Difficulty, and Differential Boost     

Ryan J. Kettler  Michael C. Rodriguez  Daniel M. Bolt  Stephen N. Elliott  Peter A. Beddow  Alexander Kurz 《教育实用测度》2013,26(3):210-234

Federal policy on alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MAS) inspired this research. Specifically, an experimental study was conducted to determine whether tests composed of modified items would have the same level of reliability as tests composed of original items, and whether these modified items helped reduce the performance gap between AA-MAS eligible and ineligible students. Three groups of eighth-grade students (N?=?755) defined by eligibility and disability status took original and modified versions of reading and mathematics tests. In a third condition, the students were provided limited reading support along with the modified items. Changes in reliability across groups and conditions for both the reading and mathematics tests were determined to be minimal. Mean item difficulties within the Rasch model were shown to decrease more for students who would be eligible for the AA-MAS than for non-eligible groups, revealing evidence of differential boost. Exploratory analyses indicated that shortening the question stem may be a highly effective modification, and that adding graphics to reading items may be a poor modification.  相似文献   

Investigation of a Nonparametric Procedure for Assessing Goodness-of-Fit in Item Response Theory     

Craig S. Wells  Daniel M. Bolt 《教育实用测度》2013,26(1):22-40

There have been many studies of the comparability of computer-administered and paper-administered tests. Not surprisingly (given the variety of measurement and statistical sampling issues that can affect any one study) the results of such studies have not always been consistent. Moreover, the quality of computer-based test administration systems has changed considerably over recent years, as has the computer-experience of students. This study synthesizes the results of 81 studies performed between 1997 and 2007. The estimated effect size across all studies was very small (–.01 weighted, .00 unweighted). Meta-analytic methods were used to ascertain whether grade (elementary, middle, or high school) or subject (English Language Arts, Mathematics, Reading, Science, or Social Studies) had an impact on comparability. Grade appeared to have no affect on comparability. Subject did appear to affect comparability, with computer administration appearing to provide a small advantage for English Language Arts and Social Studies test (effect sizes of .11 and .15, respectively), and paper administration appearing to provide a small advantage for Mathematics tests (effect size of??.06).  相似文献   

Conditions of Success of a School's Self-Evaluation: Some Lessons of an European Experience     

Denis Meuret  Sophie Morlaix 《School Effectiveness & School Improvement》2013,24(1):53-71

This study uses data from an European Project on school self-evaluation. A hundred and one schools experimented with self-evaluation and reported on what they did and what were the outcomes of the process. It is therefore possible to look at which characteristics of the process are associated with a positive appreciation of its effects. This analysis is conducted by confronting 2 general models of self-evaluation, named here the “technical” and the “participating” models. The 2 models are presented, then their ability to explain the success of a process of self-evaluation is compared. The explaining power of both models appears to show similarities, a result which makes it relevant to look at their optimal combination.  相似文献   

Choosing and using methodological search filters: searchers' views     

Sophie Beale  Steven Duffy  Julie Glanville  Carol Lefebvre  Dianne Wright  Rachael McCool  Danielle Varley  Charles Boachie  Cynthia Fraser  Jenny Harbour  Lynne Smith 《Health information and libraries journal》2014,31(2):133-147

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IRT Model Misspecification and Measurement of Growth in Vertical Scaling     

Daniel M. Bolt  Sien Deng  Sora Lee 《Journal of Educational Measurement》2014,51(2):141-162

Functional form misfit is frequently a concern in item response theory (IRT), although the practical implications of misfit are often difficult to evaluate. In this article, we illustrate how seemingly negligible amounts of functional form misfit, when systematic, can be associated with significant distortions of the score metric in vertical scaling contexts. Our analysis uses two‐ and three‐parameter versions of Samejima's logistic positive exponent model (LPE) as a data generating model. Consistent with prior work, we find LPEs generally provide a better comparative fit to real item response data than traditional IRT models (2PL, 3PL). Further, our simulation results illustrate how 2PL‐ or 3PL‐based vertical scaling in the presence of LPE‐induced misspecification leads to an artificial growth deceleration across grades, consistent with that commonly seen in vertical scaling studies. The results raise further concerns about the use of standard IRT models in measuring growth, even apart from the frequently cited concerns of construct shift/multidimensionality across grades.  相似文献   

Public libraries: A meeting place for immigrant women?     

Ragnar Audunson^{Author Vitae}  Sophie EssmatAuthor VitaeSvanhild AabøAuthor Vitae 《Library & information science research》2011,33(3):220-227

The potential role of the public library in the lives of immigrant women is elicited by in-depth interviews with nine female immigrants to Norway from Iran, Afghanistan, and Kurdistan. The research utilizes social capital theory, the concepts of communities of practice and legitimate peripheral participation, as well as the concepts of high intensive versus low intensive meeting places. The results indicate that the library plays different roles in the different stages in the respondents' experiences as immigrants. It allows for legitimate peripheral participation when the immigrants move from observing at a distance to more active participation. The library functions as a high intensive as well as a low intensive meeting place and seems to contribute to building social capital in a variety of ways.  相似文献   

The motivations, values and future plans of Australian academics   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Emmaline Bexley  Sophie Arkoudis  Richard James 《Higher Education》2013,65(3):385-400

The Australian academic profession is more differentiated than is acknowledged in national and institutional policies and academic roles are more diverse than many academics themselves may recognise. However, the evolution of the nature and purposes of the profession and its implicit diversification have been incremental and largely unplanned. A consequence of this piecemeal approach is the attitudes and pressures on academic staff uncovered by this study, including a widespread intent to leave the Australian higher education sector for other work, or work in overseas universities. The study is based on a large-scale survey of over 5,500 academics across 19 Australian universities, and explores the attitudes, motivators and career plans of the present academic workforce in Australia.  相似文献