ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Collaborative Problem Solving Assessment in an Online Mathematics Task. Research Report. ETS RR-19-24
Author: Andrews-Todd, Jessica
Date: 2019-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Problem Solving,21st Century Skills,Academic Achievement,Cooperation,Evaluation Methods,Task Analysis,Computer Assisted Testing,Mathematics,Student Attitudes,Pilot Projects,Difficulty Level,Middle School Students,Videoconferencing

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is an important 21st-century skill for academic and career success, and as a result, there is increased interest among businesses and educational institutions in the assessment and development of CPS skills. CPS skills are difficult to measure using traditional forms of assessment, and that difficulty has led to the use of computer environments that allow individuals to interact in complex situations and capture all actions throughout the process. In the current paper, we describe the design of a collaborative online mathematics task and explore student perceptions of the task and the extent to which the task elicits CPS skills. Results revealed areas of difficulty for students and showed that the task mostly elicited skills associated with the social dimension of CPS. We describe modifications to the task to provide better opportunities for students to display a broader range of CPS skills. An upcoming larger scale pilot study will explore whether the redesigned task can elicit the less observed CPS skills.
The History of the Public Education System in Vilna Governorate (The Second Half of the 19th and the Early 20th Centuries). Part 2
Author: Natolochaya, Olga V.
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Rural Areas,Periodicals,Educational History,Public Education,Christianity,Catholics,Jews,Educational Development,Foreign Countries,Elementary Secondary Education,School Districts,Religious Cultural Groups,Protestants,Muslims

This paper examines the public education system in Vilna Governorate in the period between the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century. This part of the paper analyzes the system's development in the period 1880-1908. In putting this work together, the authors drew upon a pool of statistical data published in Memorandum Books for Vilna Governorate in the period from 1880 to 1913, as well as an array of statistical data on the Vilna Educational District published in the scholarly journal Zhurnal Ministerstva Narodnogo Prosveshcheniya. The authors also made use of certain regulatory documents. The authors conclude by noting that during the period 1880-1908 the region witnessed a gradual increase in the number of educational institutions and students (a definite rise of at least three times). Estates-wise, the period was characterized by a sharp increase in students from rural areas and a drop in those who were the children of nobles and functionaries. In terms of students' religious affiliation, the way was led by Orthodox Christians, followed by Catholics and then Jews. [For Part 1, see EJ1228743.]
Examining Processes of Normative Isomorphism and Influence in Scaled Change among Higher Education Intermediary Organizations
Author: Kezar, Adrianna
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Organizational Change,STEM Education,Educational Improvement,Organizational Theories,National Organizations,Universities,Social Influences,Reputation,Undergraduate Students,Program Descriptions,Educational Change,Information Technology,Teacher Attitudes,Administrator Attitudes,College Faculty,Competition,Teaching Methods,Mass Media,Rewards

This study examines the Association of American Universities Undergraduate STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) initiative and the ability of a national organization and its member institutions to reshape norms about the importance and value of teaching and dedicated efforts to teaching improvement. The study is framed with literature from institutional theory, meso-influence theories from organizational theory, and research on higher education intermediary organizations. Our findings suggest that Association of American Universities' influence was a powerful motivator for institutions to alter deeply ingrained perceptions and behaviors. We organize our findings into three categories of &quot;enactments&quot; based on the vehicles through which an influence behavior is motivated: prioritization, social pressure, and recognition. This study was able to provide concrete descriptions for what influence can look like within national organizations that are organizational field actors.
Out-of-Field Teaching in Geography
Author: Caldis, Susan
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Qualifications,Teacher Certification,Geography Instruction,Foreign Countries,Secondary Education,Pedagogical Content Knowledge,Knowledge Level,Secondary School Teachers,Teacher Education Programs,Preservice Teacher Education,Required Courses

This paper forms part of the response by the Australian Geography Teachers Association (AGTA) to two school education related recommendations put forward in &quot;Geography: Shaping Australia's Future&quot; (National Committee for Geographical Sciences, 2018). The recommendations are: The National Committee for Geographical Sciences and AGTA write to the federal, state and territory Ministers of Education about the urgency of addressing 'out-of-field' teaching in geography (p. 86); and The National Committee for Geographical Sciences and AGTA develop a submission to university education program decision-makers about the need to improve both primary and secondary teacher training in geography (p. 85). The purpose of this response is to alert and inform Ministers of Education, policymakers, and other key Geography education stakeholders about the implications of two important issues impacting on the quality of Geography education available to young Australians in schools. The paper commences with a nationally agreed definition of Geography and then provides an overview about the nature and extent of out-of-field teaching in Australian schools with specific reference to Geography. From there, the paper uses an evidence-based approach to explore the concerns regarding out-of-field teaching in Geography and its implications for Geography education nationally. A set of proposed actions concludes the paper.
Teaching Higher-Order Thinking and Powerful Geographical Knowledge through the Stage 5 Biomes and Food Security Unit
Author: Maude, Alaric
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Thinking Skills,Geography Instruction,Teaching Methods,Units of Study,Food,Security (Psychology),National Curriculum,Foreign Countries,Taxonomy,Cognitive Processes,Land Use,Environmental Education,Generalization,Sustainability

The article outlines ways that teachers could use the content in Biomes and Food Security unit in the Australian curriculum, and its state and territory versions, to encourage their students to engage with higher order thinking. It first briefly discusses how to describe and classify higher-order thinking and argues that concepts are central to this thinking. It also argues that powerful knowledge, an idea associated with Michael Young, develops the same ways of thinking. The article then discusses the higher order actions of explaining (in the sense of explaining causation), analysing, synthesising (or generalising) and evaluating, and how they can be applied to the content of the unit. The contribution of geography's major concepts (such as place and interconnection) to higher order thinking, and therefore to making the unit &quot;geographical,&quot; is also discussed. The article concludes with a description of a way of teaching the unit as an extended inquiry, organised as a series of questions. This strategy provides many opportunities to use higher order thinking, because to answer the questions students will have to explain, analyse, synthesise, generalise and evaluate, while the whole unit becomes an exercise in problem solving.
Aligning Mapping Skills with Digitally Connected Childhoods to Advance the Development of Spatial Cognition and Ways of Thinking in Primary School Geography
Author: Robertson, Margaret
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Map Skills,Spatial Ability,Elementary School Students,Children,Geography Instruction,Cognitive Development,Foreign Countries,Technology Integration,Thinking Skills,Geographic Information Systems,Early Adolescents,Influence of Technology,Information Literacy,Elementary School Curriculum,Geographic Location

New technologies are changing the ways that children navigate, find places, make and use maps, and explore the world. This is the geospatial revolution. Children live in a world of rapid technological innovation bringing new opportunities for cognitive development in school geography. Geography learning is an important component of primary school curriculum in Australia and internationally. However how young people's mapping skills can be developed in a digitally connected realm has become an important question. These technologies require us to rethink the teaching of mapping skills in primary schools, both to take advantage of technology, and to connect with children who are growing up in a digital age. We argue that mapping in the curriculum is much more about developing spatial thinking skills by building spatial concepts. Given these purposes for learning about maps and mapping skills, teaching in primary schools can enhance students' knowledge of geography and spatial skills through a focus on the spatial concepts and ways of thinking. This article synthesises what is known about the purposes of mapping skills, spatial cognition and geography education, and how children learn mapping. It argues that teachers can use the new technologies to do this as well as established approaches. It then applies these to proposing how established methods can be augmented by innovative approaches to building spatial thinking skills.
Distractor Analysis for Multiple-Choice Tests: An Empirical Study with International Language Assessment Data. Research Report. ETS RR-19-39
Author: Haberman, Shelby J.
Date: 2019-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Multiple Choice Tests,Scores,Test Reliability,High Stakes Tests,Language Usage,Decision Making,Educational Assessment,Models,Comparative Analysis,Language Proficiency,Second Language Learning,Item Response Theory,Goodness of Fit,International Assessment

Distractor analyses are routinely conducted in educational assessments with multiple-choice items. In this research report, we focus on three item response models for distractors: (a) the traditional nominal response (NR) model, (b) a combination of a two-parameter logistic model for item scores and a NR model for selections of incorrect distractors, and (c) a model in which the item score satisfies a two-parameter logistic model and distractor selection and proficiency are conditionally independent, given that an incorrect response is selected. Model comparisons involve generalized residuals, information measures, scale scores, and reliability estimates. To illustrate the methodology, a study of an international assessment of proficiency of nonnative speakers of a single target language used to make high-stakes decisions compares the models under study.
Using Smartphones in Learning Arabic by AOU Students
Author: Alhasanat, Issa Khalil
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Native Language Instruction,Semitic Languages,Technology Uses in Education,Handheld Devices,College Students,Open Universities,Languages for Special Purposes,Elementary School Teachers,Use Studies,Users (Information),Incidence,Age Differences,Gender Differences,Academic Achievement,Preferences

The present article explores the use of smartphones by Arab Open University (AOU) students in learning the Arabic Language. The sample consisted of 275 students of those taking Arabic for primary school teachers. A questionnaire was prepared by the researcher to specify relevant uses and was divided into 4 sections: types of students' devices, useful services, students' purposes of using such services and challenges to the learning of Arabic on these devices. The results showed, first, that most students used smartphones, by different percentages, except for the GPS application. Second, they made use of all the services, by various percentages, except for those of games and image viewers. Third, they used smartphones for diverse purposes, but not for administrative data related to learning Arabic. Fourth, there were numerous challenges to the learning process on these devices. Finally, recommendations were made to develop the use of smartphones in learning Arabic according to the above findings.
A Promising Connection of College Journalism Students and Community Engagement
Author: Chen, Tse-Mei
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Journalism,College Students,Community Involvement,News Reporting,Foreign Countries,Citizen Participation,Student Attitudes,Teaching Methods,Trust (Psychology)

This study has explored the community engagement levels of Taiwanese college journalism students who took the community engagement and public journalism courses, as well as examined the way the practices have made an impact on them. The results indicated that taking community-oriented courses increases an interest in the community for the students. It enhances their abilities when participating in civic engagement activities more than their peers. The finding also showed through focusing the reportage on the residents and helping them to form a dialogue field for discussing community public issues, the participating students recognized the feeling that they have earned the trust and respect from the residents, and were able to rebuild their connection with society. Furthermore, the process not only improved the students' journalism skills so that they were more likely to produce in-depth and meaningful news coverage, but also strengthened their confidence to become a good news practitioner in the future.
Progress towards a World-Class Research University Status: The Case of Nanjing Agricultural University
Author: Irungu, Wanjiru Ruth
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Research Universities,Agricultural Education,Reputation,College Role,Productivity,Sustainability,Foreign Countries,Awards,Strategic Planning,Conferences (Gatherings),Intellectual Property,Knowledge Economy,International Cooperation,Government Role,Resource Allocation,Publications

The concept of &quot;world-class university&quot; has been there for some time, and everyone wants a world-class university, and no country feels it can do without one. This battle to develop world-class universities lies not only in the gained status but also in the symbolic role of such universities. Universities exist mainly for research and dissemination of knowledge, which have become critical drivers of economic growth. For this reason, world-class research universities are recognized as central institutions in the 21st century economies. This recognition comes with pressure for universities to rethink their research activities and with the need to raise their research status to that of internationally accepted world-class universities. However, in order to attain the world-class research status, there is a need to sustain the efforts being put in place at both national and university levels. This study analyzed university data over nine years, from 2008 to 2016. It examined how Nanjing Agricultural University has strived to sustain its efforts towards attaining world-class research status. The results reveal that consistency and sustainability have resulted in excellence in research and increased research production. The conclusion is that the sustainability of the efforts significantly increases research production and excellence.
Error Variance in Common Population Linking Bridge Studies. Research Report. ETS RR-19-42
Author: Jewsbury, Paul A.
Date: 2019-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Evaluation Research,Scores,Error Patterns,Error of Measurement,National Competency Tests,Item Response Theory,Sampling,Equations (Mathematics),Computation

When an assessment undergoes changes to the administration or instrument, bridge studies are typically used to try to ensure comparability of scores before and after the change. Among the most common and powerful is the common population linking design, with the use of a linear transformation to link scores to the metric of the original assessment. In the common population linking design, randomly equivalent samples receive the new and previous administration or instrument. However, conventional procedures to estimate error variances are not appropriate for scores linked in a bridge study, because the procedures neglect variance due to linking. A convenient approach is to estimate a variance component associated with the linking to add to the conventionally estimated error variance. Equations for the variance components in this approach are derived, and the approximations inherently made in this approach are shown and discussed. Exact error variances of linked scores, accounting for both conventional sources of variance (e.g., sampling) and linking variance together, are derived and discussed. The consequences of how linking changes how certain errors are related is considered mathematically. Specifically, the impacts of linking on the error variance for the comparison of two linked estimates (e.g., comparing the mean score of boys to the mean score of girls, after linking), for the comparison of scores across the two samples (e.g., comparing the mean score of boys in the new administration or instrument to the mean score of boys in the old administration or instrument), and for aggregating scores across the two samples (e.g., the mean score of boys across both administrations or instruments) are derived and discussed. Finally, general methods to account for error variance in bridge studies by simultaneously accounting for both conventional and linking sources of error are recommended.
Bridges to Bilingualism: Teachers&apos; Roles in Promoting Indigenous Languages in Guatemala
Author: Milian, Madeline
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Bilingualism,Teacher Role,Indigenous Knowledge,Language Maintenance,Cultural Maintenance,Culturally Relevant Education,Teacher Attitudes,Bilingual Teachers,Bilingual Students,Family Environment,Language Usage,Native Language,Mayan Languages,Spanish,Educational Policy,Elementary School Teachers,Rural Schools,Faculty Development

The Peace Accords of 1996 sought to bring significant changes for Indigenous people of Guatemala by promoting new educational opportunities centering on the recognition that culture and language are critical components of education. Bilingual intercultural programs have been created and attention to the detrimental effects of language loss and cultural identity have gained attention as Guatemala portrays itself to the rest of the world as a proud multiethnic and multilingual nation. As teachers are essential in the implementation of educational programs, this study explores the perspectives of 13 Indigenous bilingual teachers from multiple communities, and their role in implementing programs that promote bilingualism, biliteracy, and intercultural education in their respective communities. Teachers proudly accepted the responsibility of bridging school and home languages and recognized that educational progress had taken place, but expressed the need for continued improvements, as there are still many unmet goals both at the national and individual community levels.
Integrating Multilingual Education with Child Friendly Schools to Develop an Evidence-Referenced Monitoring System
Author: Frawley, Jack
Date: 2019-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Bilingual Education,Progress Monitoring,Multilingualism,Educational Indicators,Evidence Based Practice,Scoring Rubrics,Academic Achievement,Student Centered Learning,Student Evaluation,Summative Evaluation,Benchmarking,Childrens Rights,International Law,Treaties,Children

The paper focuses on work undertaken in Cambodia to develop a monitoring framework that integrates Multi-lingual Education (MLE) with Child Friendly School (CFS) indicators. I begin by comparing CFS dimensions and indicators in Cambodia with those of the Philippines, and Nepal, and aligning MLE principles, arguments and foci with the CFS framework. I argue that an evidence-referenced system, such as the use of a rubric, is a model for giving meaning to achievement by linking it to evidence of growth or progress and measurement along a developmental continuum. Rather than just monitoring against a summative checklist, an evidence-based system describes the evidence so that progress can be benchmarked, and programs can be improved. Based on analysis of this research, I suggest an approach that could be used to reflect MLE indicators within the CFS framework, using an evidence-based rubric to monitor progress along a developmental continuum.
Is Greater Access to English Language Learning Associated with Better Performance on the &quot;TOEFL Junior&quot;® Comprehensive Test? An Exploratory Investigation. TOEFL® Research Report. RR-87. ETS RR-19-17
Author: Ling, Guangming
Date: 2019-12-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Second Language Learning,English (Second Language),Language Tests,Language Proficiency,Socioeconomic Status,Elementary School Students,Secondary School Students,Cross Cultural Studies,After School Programs,Socioeconomic Background,Computer Assisted Instruction,Correlation,Scores,Decision Making,Educational Policy,Access to Education,Testing,Pilot Projects,Foreign Countries,Age Differences,Second Language Instruction

While many researchers have studied the relationship of socioeconomic status (SES) to adult learners' English language proficiency levels, little is known about this relationship for young learners (i.e., teenagers). In this study, we investigated the degree to which access to English language learning, as reflected by learners' SES, is associated with young learners' English language proficiency as measured by the &quot;TOEFL Junior&quot;® Comprehensive test. We analyzed data from 3,053 young English learners (aged 10-16 years) from 9 countries. Data included TOEFL Junior scores and self-reported SES-related background information indicating starting age of learning English, number of hours spent learning English in after-school programs, length of stay in an English-speaking country, and typing in and learning English on a computer. We found that the latter three factors were significantly associated with TOEFL Junior scores, with substantial variations among countries. These findings suggest that disparities in access to and opportunities for learning may have an impact on young learners' English proficiency levels. However, such relationships should be interpreted in the context of particular countries to arrive at more accurate interpretations and effective decisions in relation to English learning policies and practices.