ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Fostering Spaces for Black Joy in STEM-Rich Making and Beyond
Author: Worsley, Ti'Era
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: African American Students,STEM Education,Shared Resources and Services,Youth Clubs,Ethnography,Critical Theory,Race,Curriculum Design,Facilitators (Individuals),Informal Education

What does it mean to express Black joy and loving blackness through STEM-rich making? What does it mean for Black youth in community-based, youth-focused makerspaces to express Black joy and loving blackness? We look at how Black youth alongside their facilitators co-create spaces of Black joy through making. These makerspaces are located at two local Boys and Girls Clubs in the US Midwest and the Southeast. Makerspaces are informal sites where youth are encouraged to work collaboratively while building digital and physical artifacts. As two Black female STEM educators working with Black youth we frame our work in critical race theory. Specifically we draw on the tenets of whiteness as property and counter-narratives. Using critical ethnographic methods, we explore the ways in which Black youth produce counter-narratives that disrupt whiteness as property through STEM-rich making. Data sources include fieldnotes; artifacts, such as youth work; interviews; and video recordings. The first vignette highlights how two Black girls navigate choosing and creating characters using Scratch. The second vignette focuses on a brother and sister duo who center their making on family and their shared maker identity. We then discuss the freedoms afforded to youth with flexible co-designed curriculum with facilitators and how we foster open spaces. We address this special issue's driving question by asking, How do we, as STEM facilitators, counter anti-blackness in/through STEM by fostering space for Black joy with youth in making?
Engaging Stakeholders in Extension Strategic Planning
Author: Elliott-Engel, Jeremy
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Extension Education,Strategic Planning,Stakeholders,Advisory Committees

Strategic planning is the deliberative, disciplined effort to produce decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why. [State] Cooperative Extension invested considerable time and effort in conducting a statewide process to engage internal and external stakeholders and nonusers. The strategic planning steering committee balanced negotiations in defining the process, determining who should be involved, and how to develop goals. The semi-structured interviews with the steering committee members, generated three themes: effectiveness of the team enhanced results; context and process can inhibit stakeholder participation, the steering committee needs a commitment to diverse voices.
Improving Youth Financial Literacy: A Profile of Middle School Camp Attendees
Author: Byram, Jamie Lynn
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Money Management,Middle School Students,Profiles,Camps,Experiential Learning,Summer Programs,Pretests Posttests,Self Efficacy,Goal Orientation,Knowledge Level

The purpose of this paper is to present a profile of middle-school-age youth who participated in a weeklong experiential residential camp focused on helping campers learn about and interact with money, personal finance topics, and mainstream financial service providers. Based on pre- and post-test data, it was determined an experiential real-world camp experience can increase the financial confidence and goal-setting abilities of young people.
A Mixed Study on the Effectiveness of Verbal Praise in Primary School Class
Author: Zhang, Shiyuan
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Verbal Communication,Positive Reinforcement,Elementary School Students,Elementary School Teachers,Foreign Countries,Student Behavior,Program Effectiveness,Grade 4,Grade 5,Grade 6,Nonverbal Communication,Generalization,Time

Verbal praise is frequently used as motivation by teachers in class and truly effective verbal praise plays an important role in maintaining classroom order and stimulating positive student behavior. In this study, students from three classes of X Primary School of Jiangxi Province were interviewed and 328 verbal praise expressions collected. The subsequent empirical study on the effectiveness of verbal praise in four dimensions, namely content, spatiality, subjectivity and time, found that verbal praise generates both shallow and deep effects. The shallow effects act as a foundation for deep effects but do not necessarily result in deep effects. Other conditions are required to actualize a deep effect.
Emotional Contagion and Pro-Social Behavior of Student Teachers: The Mediating Effect of Moral Judgment
Author: Zhang, Qing
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Emotional Response,Student Behavior,Moral Values,Preservice Teachers,Prosocial Behavior,Gender Differences,Rural Urban Differences,Student Characteristics,Correlation,Psychological Patterns,Professionalism,Value Judgment,Foreign Countries

Objective: To study the relationship between emotional contagion, professional behavior, and moral judgment of student teachers and the mediating role of moral judgment among them. Methods: The &quot;Emotional Contagion Questionnaire&quot;, &quot;Pro-social Tendencies Measure for Adolescent (PTM)&quot; and &quot;Moral Judgment Test (MJT)&quot; was used to survey 448 student teachers. Results: The emotional contagion and pro-social behavior of student teachers have no significant differences between gender and urban and rural areas, but significant differences in professional nature. No significant differences were observed in moral judgment between urban and rural areas and major character, but significant in gender. A significant positive correlation was detected between emotional contagion and pro-social behavior. Conclusion: Moral judgment plays a partially mediating role in the relationship between emotional contagion and pro-social behavior.
Insights into Barriers and Educational Needs for Farm Succession Programming
Author: Schlesser, Heather
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Planning,Agricultural Occupations,Barriers,Money Management,Interpersonal Communication,Change Strategies,Delivery Systems,Educational Needs,Extension Agents,Extension Education,Income,Generational Differences,Risk Management,Information Dissemination,Family Relationship

Planning for farm succession is vital to the longevity of the farm business. To understand the challenges with succession planning, the University of Wisconsin - Division of Extension facilitated focus group meetings across the state. These authors classified the information from the focus groups into eight codes, and each code was further subdivided into themes. The codes included Financial, Communication, Control, Change, Fair vs. Equal, Delivery, and Support, Strategies, and Educational Needs. University of Wisconsin Division of Extension Agriculture Educators utilized the information obtained from the focus groups to create a workbook that provides practical assistance when working with families planning a farm succession.
Parent Perceptions of Outdoor Learning in the Kids in the Woods Program
Author: Mazyck, Mary
Date: 2021-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Parent Attitudes,Outdoor Education,Grade 6,Middle School Students,Science Education,Program Evaluation

Research shows that exposure to the outdoors is beneficial to children and can improve the learning experience for students. The Kids in the Woods program in Gainesville, Florida provides 6th grade students with opportunities to learn science through a series of outdoor activities during their regular science classes. The article reports on an evaluation of the Kids in the Woods program. We surveyed parents/guardians of students participating in the program to examine the impacts of the program and to better understand parent/guardian perceptions of the program and of outdoor learning in general. Results indicate that parents/guardians observed positive changes in their children and had largely positive perceptions of outdoor learning and the Kids in the Woods program. Lessons learned and recommendations for using parent surveys as a tool in program evaluation are discussed.
The Contribution of Executive Functions in Predicting Mathematical Creativity in Typical Elementary School Classes: A Twofold Role for Updating
Author: Stolte, Marije
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Elementary School Students,Executive Function,Mathematics Instruction,Elementary School Mathematics,Creativity,Mathematics Skills,Predictor Variables,Inhibition,Correlation,Cognitive Processes,Foreign Countries

The goal of the current study was to investigate the role of executive functions in mathematical creativity. The sample included 278 primary school children (ages 8-13). Two models were compared: the starting model tested whether executive functions (shifting, updating, and inhibition), domain-general creativity, and mathematical ability directly predicted mathematical creativity. The second model, which fitted the data best, included the additional assumption that updating influences mathematical creativity indirectly through mathematical ability and domain-general creativity. Updating was positively related to mathematical creativity. Additionally, updating was positively related to mathematical ability and domain-general creativity. Inhibition, shifting, domain-general creativity and mathematical ability did not have a significant contribution to either model but did positively correlate with mathematical creativity. This study reports the first empirical evidence that updating is a predictor of mathematical creativity in primary school children and demonstrates that creativity is a higher order cognitive process, activating a variety of cognitive abilities.
A Mokken Scale Analysis of the Last Series of the Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM-LS)
Author: Myszkowski, Nils
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Intelligence Tests,Psychometrics,Nonparametric Statistics,Item Response Theory,Scaling,Test Reliability,Scores,Test Items,Scoring

Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (Raven 1941) is a widely used 60-item long measure of general mental ability. It was recently suggested that, for situations where taking this test is too time consuming, a shorter version, comprised of only the last series of the Standard Progressive Matrices (Myszkowski and Storme 2018) could be used, while preserving satisfactory psychometric properties (Garcia-Garzon et al. 2019; Myszkowski and Storme 2018). In this study, I argue, however, that some psychometric properties have been left aside by previous investigations. As part of this special issue on the reinvestigation of Myszkowski and Storme's dataset, I propose to use the non-parametric Item Response Theory framework of Mokken Scale Analysis (Mokken 1971, 1997) and its current developments (Sijtsma and van der Ark 2017) to shed new light on the SPM-LS. Extending previous findings, this investigation indicated that the SPM-LS had satisfactory scalability (H=0.469), local independence and reliability (MS=0.841, LCRC=0.874). Further, all item response functions were monotonically increasing, and there was overall evidence for invariant item ordering (H[subscript T]=0.475), supporting the Double Monotonicity Model (Mokken 1997). Item 1, however, appeared problematic in most analyses. I discuss the implications of these results, notably regarding whether to discard item 1, whether the SPM-LS sum scores can confidently be used to order persons, and whether the invariant item ordering of the SPM-LS allows to use a stopping rule to further shorten test administration.
Diagnosing a 12-Item Dataset of Raven Matrices: With Dexter
Author: Partchev, Ivailo
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Intelligence Tests,Scores,Psychometrics,Diagnostic Tests,Programming Languages,Test Items,Item Analysis,Item Response Theory

We analyze a 12-item version of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices test, traditionally scored with the sum score. We discuss some important differences between assessment in practice and psychometric modelling. We demonstrate some advanced diagnostic tools in the freely available R package, dexter. We find that the first item in the test functions badly--at a guess, because the subjects were not given exercise items before the live test.
The Worst Performance Rule, or the Not-Best Performance Rule? Latent-Variable Analyses of Working Memory Capacity, Mind-Wandering Propensity, and Reaction Time
Author: Welhaf, Matthew S.
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Short Term Memory,Attention,Reaction Time,Performance,Cognitive Ability,Undergraduate Students

The worst performance rule (WPR) is a robust empirical finding reflecting that people's worst task performance shows numerically stronger correlations with cognitive ability than their average or best performance. However, recent meta-analytic work has proposed this be renamed the &quot;not-best performance&quot; rule because mean and worst performance seem to predict cognitive ability to similar degrees, with both predicting ability better than best performance. We re-analyzed data from a previously published latent-variable study to test for worst vs. not-best performance across a variety of reaction time tasks in relation to two cognitive ability constructs: working memory capacity (WMC) and propensity for task-unrelated thought (TUT). Using two methods of assessing worst performance--ranked-binning and ex-Gaussian-modeling approaches--we found evidence for both the worst and not-best performance rules. WMC followed the not-best performance rule (correlating equivalently with mean and longest response times (RTs)) but TUT propensity followed the worst performance rule (correlating more strongly with longest RTs). Additionally, we created a mini-multiverse following different outlier exclusion rules to test the robustness of our findings; our findings remained stable across the different multiverse iterations. We provisionally conclude that the worst performance rule may only arise in relation to cognitive abilities closely linked to (failures of) sustained attention.
Mapping Mind-Brain Development: Towards a Comprehensive Theory
Author: Spanoudis, George
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Cognitive Mapping,Cognitive Development,Cognitive Processes,Brain,Intelligence,Brain Hemisphere Functions,Neurological Organization,Short Term Memory,Abstract Reasoning,Networks,Attention,Executive Function,Individual Differences,Theories

The relations between the developing mind and developing brain are explored. We outline a theory of intellectual development postulating that the mind comprises four systems of processes (domain-specific, attention and working memory, reasoning, and cognizance) developing in four cycles (episodic, realistic, rule-based, and principle-based representations, emerging at birth, 2, 6, and 11 years, respectively), with two phases in each. Changes in reasoning relate to processing efficiency in the first phase and working memory in the second phase. Awareness of mental processes is recycled with the changes in each cycle and drives their integration into the representational unit of the next cycle. Brain research shows that each type of processes is served by specialized brain networks. Domain-specific processes are rooted in sensory cortices; working memory processes are mainly rooted in hippocampal, parietal, and prefrontal cortices; abstraction and alignment processes are rooted in parietal, frontal, and prefrontal and medial cortices. Information entering these networks is available to awareness processes. Brain networks change along the four cycles, in precision, connectivity, and brain rhythms. Principles of mind-brain interaction are discussed.
Ergodic Subspace Analysis
Author: von Oertzen, Timo
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Cognitive Ability,Individual Differences,Statistical Analysis,Factor Analysis,Correlation,Statistical Distributions,Sample Size,Time,Young Adults,Error of Measurement

Properties of psychological variables at the mean or variance level can differ between persons and within persons across multiple time points. For example, cross-sectional findings between persons of different ages do not necessarily reflect the development of a single person over time. Recently, there has been an increased interest in the difference between covariance structures, expressed by covariance matrices, that evolve between persons and within a single person over multiple time points. If these structures are identical at the population level, the structure is called ergodic. However, recent data confirms that ergodicity is not generally given, particularly not for cognitive variables. For example, the &quot;g&quot; factor that is dominant for cognitive abilities between persons seems to explain far less variance when concentrating on a single person's data. However, other subdimensions of cognitive abilities seem to appear both between and within persons; that is, there seems to be a lower-dimensional subspace of cognitive abilities in which cognitive abilities are in fact ergodic. In this article, we present ergodic subspace analysis (ESA), a mathematical method to identify, for a given set of variables, which subspace is most important within persons, which is most important between person, and which is ergodic. Similar to the common spatial patterns method, the ESA method first whitens a joint distribution from both the between and the within variance structure and then performs a principle component analysis (PCA) on the between distribution, which then automatically acts as an inverse PCA on the within distribution. The difference of the eigenvalues allows a separation of the rotated dimensions into the three subspaces corresponding to within, between, and ergodic substructures. We apply the method to simulated data and to data from the COGITO study to exemplify its usage.
Imagine: Design for Creative Thinking, Learning, and Assessment in Schools
Author: Rosen, Yigal
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Imagination,Design,Creative Thinking,Formative Evaluation,Student Evaluation,Electronic Learning,Creative Development,Competency Based Education,Thinking Skills,Communication Skills,Motivation

Although not generally included in classroom activities of the past, cultivating creative thinking is considered one of the core strands in future-focused learning in schools. Learning focused on creative thinking is uncommon in school, mainly due to a lack of consensus on the definition of the creative thinking competency and a lack of effective methods designed for curriculum-embedded implementations of creative thinking learning and assessment in classrooms. This paper describes the development of a framework for formative assessments of creative thinking frameworks and provides considerations for the design of technology-enhanced learning and assessment in support of creative thinking competency in students. Task models described in the paper aimed to cultivate creative thinking and elicit evidence on competency development in students. Future directions for the development and validation of learning and assessment approaches are discussed.
How Much &quot;g&quot; Is in the Distractor? Re-Thinking Item-Analysis of Multiple-Choice Items
Author: Forthmann, Boris
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Test Items,Item Analysis,Multiple Choice Tests,Intelligence Tests,Undergraduate Students,Business Schools,Foreign Countries,Difficulty Level,Cognitive Processes,Effect Size

Distractors might display discriminatory power with respect to the construct of interest (e.g., intelligence), which was shown in recent applications of nested logit models to the short-form of Raven's progressive matrices and other reasoning tests. In this vein, a simulation study was carried out to examine two effect size measures (i.e., a variant of Cohen's [omega] and the canonical correlation R[subscript CC]) for their potential to detect distractors with ability-related discriminatory power. The simulation design was adopted to item selection scenarios relying on rather small sample sizes (e.g., N = 100 or N = 200). Both suggested effect size measures (Cohen's [omega] only when based on two ability groups) yielded acceptable to conservative type-I-error rates, whereas, the canonical correlation outperformed Cohen's [omega] in terms of empirical power. The simulation results further suggest that an effect size threshold of 0.30 is more appropriate as compared to more lenient (0.10) or stricter thresholds (0.50). The suggested item-analysis procedure is illustrated with an analysis of twelve Raven's progressive matrices items in a sample of N = 499 participants. Finally, strategies for item selection for cognitive ability tests with the goal of scaling by means of nested logit models are discussed.
Tracking with (Un)certainty
Author: Hofman, Abe D.
Date: 2020-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teaching Methods,Computer Assisted Instruction,Difficulty Level,Individualized Instruction,Learning Analytics,Integrated Learning Systems,Error Patterns,Responses,Statistical Inference,Cognitive Ability,Testing,Comparative Analysis,Competition,Educational Games,Computer Games,Probability,Visual Aids,Item Response Theory,Mathematics Instruction

One of the highest ambitions in educational technology is the move towards personalized learning. To this end, computerized adaptive learning (CAL) systems are developed. A popular method to track the development of student ability and item difficulty, in CAL systems, is the Elo Rating System (ERS). The ERS allows for dynamic model parameters by updating key parameters after every response. However, drawbacks of the ERS are that it does not provide standard errors and that it results in rating variance inflation. We identify three statistical issues responsible for both of these drawbacks. To solve these issues we introduce a new tracking system based on urns, where every person and item is represented by an urn filled with a combination of green and red marbles. Urns are updated, by an exchange of marbles after each response, such that the proportions of green marbles represent estimates of person ability or item difficulty. A main advantage of this approach is that the standard errors are known, hence the method allows for statistical inference, such as testing for learning effects. We highlight features of the Urnings algorithm and compare it to the popular ERS in a simulation study and in an empirical data example from a large-scale CAL application.