Correcting for sample problems in PISA and the improvement in Portuguese students’ performance     

Pedro Freitas  Luís Catela Nunes  Carmo Seabra  Adriana Ferro 《Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice》2016,23(4):456-472

The results of large-scale international assessments such as Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have attracted a considerable attention worldwide and are often used by policy-makers to support educational policies. To ensure that the published results represent the actual population, these surveys go through a thorough scrutiny to ensure their validity. One important issue that may affect the results is the occurrence of different participation rates across groups with heterogeneous average student scores. In this study, we illustrate how problems of representativeness of the samples may be corrected by the use of post-stratified weights. We use the case of Portugal, a country where we uncover a meaningful difference between the actual population and the PISA samples in terms of the distribution of students per grade and track of studies. We show that after post-stratification, the temporal evolution of the PISA scores is quite different from the one reported.  相似文献   

Learning to spell regular and irregular verbs     

Terezinha Nunes  Peter Bryant  Miriam Bindman 《Reading and writing》1997,9(5-6):427-449

Several conventional spelling sequences for morphemes do not conform to letter-sound correspondence rules. One example is the -ed spelling for the inflectional morpheme at the end of English past verbs. Previous work has shown a close relationship between children's awareness of grammatical distinctions and their success in learning about this spelling sequence. However, this research was with real verbs and the children's spelling might have been influenced by familiarity with the words. To check this, we devised a task with pseudo-verbs. This is a novel use of pseudo-words, which hitherto have been a tool for testing letter-sound knowledge; here the spellings violated letter-sound relationships and followed a morphological pattern. The children heard passages with a pseudo-verb in the past tense and in other tenses and had to write the pseudo-verb in the past tense. The task contained both regular pseudo-verbs, whose stem was the same in the present and past tense, and irregular pseudo-verbs, which had different stems in the present and the past tense. The children's scores in a grammatical awareness task predicted their use of the -ed spelling sequence over a 21 month period. The children also used -ed endings significantly more often in regular than irregular pseudo-verbs. We conclude that the use of -ed endings for regular verbs reflects a morphological spelling strategy based on children's grammatical awareness.  相似文献   

The effects of learning to spell on children’s awareness of morphology     

Terezinha Nunes  P. Bryant  Miriam Bindman 《Reading and writing》2006,19(7):767-787

Because the spelling of many words in the English language (and in many other languages as well) depends on their morphemic structure, children have to have some knowledge about morphemes in order to learn to read and write. This raises the possibility that children gain much of their explicit knowledge about morphemes as a direct result of learning to read and to spell. We report two large-scale longitudinal studies that support the idea of this kind of causal connection. In the first study children’s success in spelling the inflexion at the end of regular past verbs predicted their performance in two morphological awareness tasks a year later. In the second study the children’s consistency in spelling morphemes predicted their ability to define new words on the basis of their morphemic structure. We conclude that the experience of learning to read and write does affect people’s knowledge of morphemes, and we argue that the causal relationship between morphemic knowledge and reading and writing is probably a two-way one.  相似文献   

TradeSmith: An Exercise to Demonstrate the Illusion of Control in Decision Making     

Ben Martz  Thomas C. Neil  Alessandro Biscaccianti 《Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education》2003,1(2):273-287

Resource allocation decisions are a fundamental class of problems common throughout a business and therefore are found throughout business school curricula. Entrepreneurs must allocate capital, financiers must allocation cash, and production managers must create the best mix of multiple‐use resources. Within this context, a business school's curriculum, instructional materials, and learning processes must consider the implications of individual decision making. Our traditional instructional content and delivery methods may effectively teach how to set up a decision “problem” and how to obtain an optimal answer. Yet, we may not be teaching a key underlying factor: that entrepreneurs, managers, and future leaders appear to have implicit cognitive biases, which discount information and skew individual decision making. The results of this study demonstrate that a phenomenon known as the “illusion of control” presents a fundamental challenge to the efficacy of formalized educational programs on decision making. TradeSmith was designed as a problem‐based learning exercise to elicit for the illusion of control in a basic, resource allocation, decision environment. The subjects in this study demonstrate a decision‐making pattern consistent with the “illusion of control” phenomenon. Finally, by revealing individuals' implicit design‐making paradigms, TradeSmith helps them experience key issues for managerial decision making.  相似文献   

Backward readers’ awareness of language: Strengths and weaknesses     

Peter Bryant  Terezinha Nunes  Miriam Bindman 《European Journal of Psychology of Education - EJPE》1997,12(4):357-372

An important, though somewhat neglected, aspect of learning to spell in English and in many other orthographies is that children have to learn about the conventional spellings for morphemes which often depart from strict letter-sound principles. There is some evidence that backward readers might have great difficulties with these spellings. We looked at a group of backward readers’ (BR) spelling of “ed” in regular past verbs and “wh” in interrogatives, and also at their grammatical awareness and we compared them to one control group matched on chronological age (CA) and to another matched on reading level (RL). The backward readers were considerably behind the CA controls in producing grammatically based spelling patterns correctly and also in the grammatical awareness tasks, but no worse than the RL controls in either of these domains: in fact they were better with the “wh” spellings. We conclude that learning the written language makes a significant contribution to the development of grammatical awareness and this interferes with BR progress in grammatical awareness when they are compared to their cohort. However, there is no evidence of an intrinsic difficulty with grammatical awareness among BR and perhaps this strength could be used to support their spelling.  相似文献   

Learner motivation for MOOC registration and the role of MOOCs as a university ‘taster’     

Jason Paul Howarth  Steven D’Alessandro  Lester Johnson  Lesley White 《International Journal of Lifelong Education》2016,35(1):74-85

Despite the widespread adoption of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), no business model has emerged to make them sustainable from an institution standpoint. Using MOOCs as a marketing platform shows promise; but for this to succeed, it is necessary to understand the motivations of those who undertake them and to demonstrate how these same motivations can be better satisfied through enrolment in a fee-paying university course. We discuss the motivations for students as they progress through a MOOC and the factors that might lead to subsequent university enrolment. Our arguments are informed by MOOC statistics, the AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action) marketing model, and the literature on adult education, technology adoption, goal seeking and consumer value. We argue that most students are led to MOOC enrolment through close alignment of the course topic and subject matter with their personal goals and through the establishment of an attractive value proposition. Progress in the MOOC depends on whether this goal alignment is maintained, and whether the value assumptions of students are met or exceeded. We predict that subsequent university enrolment will most likely occur when the MOOC experience is both satisfying and representative of the university experience, and where the increased time and financial commitment demanded by formal study is offset by the greater likelihood of attaining the focal goal. For this strategy to succeed, it will be necessary for the host institution to actively work with MOOC students to create an awareness of appropriate fee-paying courses and to promote the benefits of university study. This has implications for the way institutions market their courses to MOOC students.  相似文献   

Reliability and validity of Yo-Yo tests in 9- to 16-year-old football players and matched non-sports active schoolboys     

Susana C. A. Póvoas  Carlo Castagna  José M. C. Soares  Pedro M. R. Silva  Mariana V. M. F. Lopes 《European Journal of Sport Science》2016,16(7):755-763

The purpose of this study was to examine the test–retest reliability and construct validity of three age-adapted Yo-Yo intermittent tests in football players aged 9–16 years (n?=?70) and in age-matched non-sports active boys (n?=?72). Within 7 days, each participant performed two repetitions of an age-related intensity-adapted Yo-Yo intermittent test, i.e. the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery level 1 children's test for 9- to 11-year-olds; the Yo-Yo intermittent endurance level 1 for 12- to 13-year-olds and the Yo-Yo intermittent endurance level 2 test for 14- to 16-year-olds. Peak heart rate (HR_peak) was determined for all tests. The distance covered in the tests was 57% (1098?±?680 vs. 700?±?272?m), 119% (2325?±?778 vs. 1062?±?285?m) and 238% (1743?±?460 vs. 515?±?113?m) higher (p?≤?.016), respectively for football-trained than for non-sports active boys aged 9–11, 12–13 and 14–16 years. The typical errors of measurement for Yo-Yo distance, expressed as a percentage of the coefficient of variation (confidence interval), were 11.1% (9.0–14.7%), 10.1% (8.1–13.7%) and 8.5% (6.7–11.7%) for football players aged 9–11, 12–13 and 14–16 years, respectively, with corresponding values of 9.3% (7.4–12.8%), 10.2% (8.1–14.0%) and 8.5% (6.8–11.3%) for non-sports active boys. Intraclass correlation coefficient values for test–retest were excellent in both groups (range: 0.844–0.981). Relative HR_peak did not differ significantly between the groups in test and retest. In conclusion, Yo-Yo intermittent test performances and HR_peak are reliable for 9- to 16-year-old footballers and non-sports active boys. Additionally, performances of the three Yo-Yo tests were seemingly better for football-trained than for non-sports active boys, providing evidence of construct validity.  相似文献   

Output-orientated Data Envelopment Analysis for measuring recycling efficiency: an application at Italian regional level     

Alessandro Crociata  Nicola Mattoscio 《Environmental Education Research》2016,22(4):551-570

Pro-environmental behaviours associated with reducing, reusing and recycling have become increasingly matters of public policy concern. However, the existing literature on waste management rarely considers the cultural factors associated with predictors and enablers of recycling behaviours, nor has it deeply explored the relation between cultural access and such behaviours. Mindful of the relationship between cultural participation and learning, the main objective of this paper is to examine which Italian regions are ranked among the most ‘efficient’ in recycling, taking into account the variable of cultural participation. Using a Data Envelopment Analysis method applied to Italian regions for the period 2002–2007, we provide a measure of ‘efficiency’ that considers cultural consumptions (as input) and recycling (as output). Public data are drawn from two sources: the Italian Institute of Statistics database, ‘Cultura in cifre’, and the survey ‘Noi Italia – Environment section’. The results from the empirical analysis rank efficient and non-efficient regions in terms of connection between pro-environmental behaviour and cultural participation. The results also indicate a benchmark for ‘inefficient’ regions. The findings add to the discussion of cultural considerations for designing and implementing preventative pro-environmental strategies, that seek to reduce environmental costs and public environmental expenditure by factoring in – rather than out – the importance, role and impact of cultural access and participation.  相似文献   

An intervention program for promoting deaf pupils' achievement in mathematics     

Nunes T  Moreno C 《Journal of deaf studies and deaf education》2002,7(2):120-133

Our past research identified two aspects of deaf children's functioning that places them at risk for underachievement in mathematics. The first is their reduced opportunities for incidental learning, and the second is their difficulty in making inferences involving time sequences. This article examines the effectiveness of an intervention program to promote deaf children's numeracy that was designed to deal with these two factors. The design involved a comparison of 23 deaf pupils participating in the project with a baseline group formed by 65 deaf pupils attending the same schools in the previous year. The project pupils were tested before and after the intervention on the NFER-Nelson Age Appropriate Mathematics Achievement Test. The intervention was delivered by the teachers during the time normally scheduled for mathematics lessons. The project pupils did not differ from the baseline group at pretest but performed significantly better at posttest. They also performed at posttest better than expected on the basis of their pretest scores, according to norms provided by the NFER-Nelson Age Appropriate Mathematics Test for assessing the progress of hearing pupils. We conclude that the program was effective in promoting deaf pupils' achievement in numeracy.  相似文献   

Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) Technology and Learning Outcomes in Dental Anatomy Education: E-Learning Approach     

Ana Corte-Real  Tiago Nunes  Catarina Caetano  Pedro A. Almiro 《Anatomical sciences education》2021,14(6):711-720

E-learning is an educational method that improves knowledge innovation by sharing relevant images for advanced learning, especially in a pandemic state. Furthermore, cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) is a method that gathers medical or dental diagnostic images. This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of dental anatomy education through a CBCT technology tool, through teachers' and students' perspectives, adjusted according to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. A cohort study and longitudinal exploratory analysis were performed. Forty undergraduate first-year dental students, from the University of Coimbra in Portugal, were selected as per the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two different teaching methods were applied during an identical time-period: face-to-face lectures complemented by physical models (T1 cohort) and webinar lectures complemented by CBCT images (T2 cohort). Learning outcomes were then studied according to theoretical and spatial orientation contexts. A self-reported survey that focused on students' satisfaction, stress, and support was studied. Both teaching methods were analyzed with paired sample student's t-test and Pearson Correlation Confidence intervals 95% with P < 0.05. Furthermore, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used for self-reported satisfaction survey validity and reliability analysis. The learning outcomes between T1 and T2 cohorts were statistically significant, (P < 0.001) corresponding to differences with a large effect degree (r > 0.60). Students' satisfaction, as measured on a six-point Likert scale, was positively influenced by the webinar lectures supplemented with CBCT images (T2 cohort) in a learning context (4.95 ± 0.5) and future applications (5.92 ± 0.27). In conclusion, the webinar approach with CBCT images was more effective and better learning method for teaching dental anatomy.  相似文献