Analyzes three trait measures (argumentativeness, verbal aggressiveness, and need for cognition) related to argumentation behavior. Confirms that all three are separate constructs. Finds significant ethnic differences among Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and European Americans for verbal aggressiveness and need for cognition. Discusses…

Seven univariate procedures for testing omnibus null hypotheses for data gathered from repeated measures designs were evaluated, comparing five alternative approaches with two more traditional procedures. Results suggest that the alternatives are improvements. The most effective alternate procedure in controlling Type I error rates is discussed.…

Defines a metasearch tool as one that simultaneously searches multiple search engines or directories and gives the end user a single integrated set of results. Focuses on end-user searching at public-access terminals and compares and evaluates 16 metasearch tools currently available on the World Wide Web. (LRW)

Assigned 48 Head Start teachers and 48 parent volunteers to either a Collaborative Training (CT) or Workshop Training (WT) approach. Found that CT teachers and parents reported greater levels of active involvement in and satisfaction with training, and greater levels of parent classroom activity than WT participants. CT teachers demonstrated…

Explores a different model of professional scholarship, knowledge, and research, and contrasts it with an academic model. Topics include the nature of scholarship, the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) in United Kingdom universities, and the changing face of knowledge as evidenced by RAE submissions. (LRW)

Tested methods designed to extract information about examinees' partial knowledge when taking multiple-choice tests. Applied seven testing methods to multiple-choice tests and analyzed results according to six criteria. Results with 2,989 Israeli college applicants show a tendency on the part of examinees to take advantage of the special methods.…

Describes the modular approach created by ChemConnections that involves change in content and pedagogy. Reports on two comparative evaluation studies that assess the impact of the modular approach on students' understanding, reasoning skills, and attitudes toward chemistry. Indicates that modular classroom section students outperformed the…

Sources of population heterogeneity may or may not be observed. If the sources of heterogeneity are observed (e.g., gender), the sample can be split into groups and the data analyzed with methods for multiple groups. If the sources of population heterogeneity are unobserved, the data can be analyzed with latent class models. Factor mixture models…

An enzymatic laboratory experiment based on the analysis of serum is described that is suitable for students of clinical chemistry. The experiment incorporates an introduction to mathematical method-comparison techniques in which three different clinical glucose analysis methods are compared using linear regression and Bland-Altman difference…

Dolphins, manatees, and sea lions are all aquatic mammals but are not closely related taxonomically. All three species are marine mammals, meaning they spend part or all of their lives in the sea and contiguous bodies of water. Dolphins belong to the taxonomic order Cetacea, which includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Manatees (sea cows),…

Educational technology applications and lessons, such as learning modules, activities, and user-authored systems, face substantial implementation challenges in public schools and post-secondary institutions. The design of technology impacts the willingness of teachers to implement new technology; evaluators examining implementation obstacles can…

The scaffolding metaphor was originally developed to describe the support given by a more expert individual in a one-on-one interaction. Since then, the notion of scaffolding has been applied more broadly, and it has been transformed and generalized. Most recently, it has been used by researchers in the learning sciences to describe features and…

Component loss functions (CLFs) are used to generalize the quartimax criterion for orthogonal rotation in factor analysis. These replace the fourth powers of the factor loadings by an arbitrary function of the second powers. Criteria of this form were introduced by a number of authors, primarily Katz and Rohlf (1974) and Rozeboom (1991), but there…

This article focuses on geographical education in Greece and Cyprus (Southern Cyprus). The two countries have different sets of books for their educational systems, approved by the relevant Ministries of Education. Since the teaching of these officially approved sets of books is compulsory, the context of geographical education in these countries…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically test a new industry-specific scale, HEdPERF (Higher Education PERFormance) to capture the authentic determinants of service quality within higher education sector. Design/methodology/approach: The primary goal of this research was to test and compare the relative efficacy of HEdPERF against…