How reliable are students’ evaluations of teaching quality? A variance components approach     

Daniela Feistauer  Tobias Richter 《Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education》2017,42(8):1263-1279

The inter-rater reliability of university students’ evaluations of teaching quality was examined with cross-classified multilevel models. Students (N = 480) evaluated lectures and seminars over three years with a standardised evaluation questionnaire, yielding 4224 data points. The total variance of these student evaluations was separated into the variance components of courses, teachers, students and the student/teacher interaction. The substantial variance components of teachers and courses suggest reliability. However, a similar proportion of variance was due to students, and the interaction of students and teachers was the strongest source of variance. Students’ individual perceptions of teaching and the fit of these perceptions with the particular teacher greatly influence their evaluations. This casts some doubt on the validity of student evaluations as indicators of teaching quality and suggests that aggregated evaluation scores should be used with caution.  相似文献   

Like Father, Like Son: Young Children's Understanding of How and Why Offspring Resemble Their Parents   总被引：7，自引：0，他引：7  

Gregg E. A. Solomon  Susan C. Johnson  Deborah Zaitchik  Susan Carey 《Child development》1996,67(1):151-171

4 studies investigated the broad claim that preschoolers understand biological inheritance. In Study 1, 4–7-year-old children were told a story in which a boy was born to one man and adopted by another. The biological father was described as having one set of features (e.g., green eyes) and the adoptive father as having another (e.g., brown eyes). Subjects were asked which man the boy would resemble when he grew up. Preschoolers showed little understanding that selective chains of processes mediate resemblance to parents. It was not until age 7 that children substantially associated the boy with his biological father on physical features and his adoptive father on beliefs. That is, it was not until age 7 that children demonstrated that they understood birth as part of a process selectively mediating the acquisition of physical traits and learning or nurturance as mediating the acquisition of beliefs. In Study 2, subjects were asked whether, as a boy grew up, various of his features could change. Children generally shared our adult intuitions, indicating that their failure in Study 1 was not due to their having a different sense of what features can change. Studies 3 and 4 replicated Study 1, with stories involving mothers instead of fathers and with lessened task demands. Taken together, the results of the 4 studies refute the claim that preschoolers understand biological inheritance. The findings are discussed in terms of whether children understand biology as an autonomous cognitive domain.  相似文献   

An analysis of building methods: chemical-physical and archaeological analyses of micro-layer coatings on medieval facades in the centre of Genoa     

Alessandra Casarino  Daniela Pittaluga   《Journal of Cultural Heritage》2001,2(4)

The present research is an attempt to create a link among different disciplines and to confirm stratigraphic observations through chemical analyses. It involved detailed colorimetric examination and in-depth chemical-physical study of the samples taken from the historical centre of Genoa, which enabled connections to be made among many data. This led to the creation of an analytical method that is applicable to various geographical sites. Examinations involved several experimental techniques: X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy and infrared spectroscopy; the data were compared with those from the stratigraphic examination. A detailed investigation of the Ligurian climate, including data kindly supplied by the Environment Department of the Provincia di Genova, allowed us to explain the presence of particular chemical substances and suggested how they might have been formed.  相似文献   

Moving toward a grand theory of development: in memory of Esther Thelen     

Spencer JP  Clearfield M  Corbetta D  Ulrich B  Buchanan P  Schöner G 《Child development》2006,77(6):1521-1538

This paper is in memory of Esther Thelen, who passed away while President of the Society for Research in Child Development. A survey of Esther Thelen's career reveals a trajectory from early work on simple movements like stepping, to the study of goal-directed reaching, to work on the embodiment of cognition, and, ultimately, to a grand theory of development--dynamic systems theory. Four central concepts emerged during her career: (1) a new emphasis on time; (2) the proposal that behavior is softly assembled from the interaction of multiple subsystems; (3) the embodiment of perception, action, and cognition; and (4) a new respect for individuality. Esther Thelen communicated these ideas to scientists and practitioners alike, so the ultimate benefactors of her work were children.  相似文献   

A comparison of individual and group contingency systems in a first-grade class     

Richard Solomon  Thomas F. Tyne 《Psychology in the schools》1979,16(2):193-200

Individual and group management programs have been reported to be effective methods of reducing off-task behaviors; however, few studies have empirically contrasted the two intervention programs. Utilizing a multielement design, individual and group contingency systems were found to significantly reduce disruptive-unacceptable behaviors in a first-grade classroom, compared to baseline-reversal conditions. Teacher control statements also were significantly decreased within the treatment programs. No differences were found between the group and individual phases in reduction of student off-task behaviors or teacher control statements.  相似文献