Requiring students to create weed collections is a common technique for teaching weed identification. Data compiled over 18 years from students' weed collections in a college-level course included over 350 species of plants. Almost half of the specimens belonged to the Asteraceae or Poaceae. The 30 most frequently collected species accounted for…

The ability to recognize and correct errors in one's explanatory understanding is critically important for learning. However, little is known about the mechanisms that determine when and under what circumstances errors are detected and how they are corrected. The present study investigated thought experiments as a potential tool that can reveal…

This phenomenological study's objective was to review the existing initiatives for cybersecurity awareness and training that are in place for the K-12 education system throughout the United States. Every facet of life is now plagued by the potential, perceived, and real threat of cyber warfare, which includes, but is not limited to, K-12 schools…

The residual differential item functioning (RDIF) detection framework was developed recently under a linear testing context. To explore the potential application of this framework to computerized adaptive testing (CAT), the present study investigated the utility of the RDIF[subscript R] statistic both as an index for detecting uniform DIF of…

The nature of education has been transformed by technological advances and online learning platforms, providing educational institutions with more options than ever to thrive in a complex and competitive environment. However, they still face challenges such as academic underachievement, graduation delays, and student dropouts. Fortunately, by…

It is generally agreed that proper pre-lineup instructions can reduce the rate of mistaken identifications of innocent suspects. However, the exact nature of these instructions has not been empirically established. We compared the effects of the detailed pre-lineup instructions recommended by the US Department of Justice to a simple instruction…

Uncertainty in education, both general and special, has long troubled educational researchers, reformers, and practitioners. Responding to students with special (atypical) educational needs is an example of decisions that are prone to error. Although some efforts to reduce uncertainty in education are reasonable and helpful, efforts to eliminate…

Dental students commit many errors when diagnosing radiographs. To improve performance, students were asked to compare radiographs (with and without disease or with the same disease); relevant structures were highlighted in the radiographs. In a crossover design, students were randomly assigned to two groups differing in training order: Students…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of score study and conducting gesture on collegiate musicians' ability to detect errors in a choral score. Is there a combined effect of gesture and score study that impacts undergraduate conductors' identification of errors in a score? Participants (N = 53) viewed a sequence of four choral…

Forensic science practitioners compare visual evidence samples (e.g. fingerprints) and decide if they originate from the same person or different people (i.e. fingerprint 'matching'). These tasks are perceptually and cognitively complex--even practising professionals can make errors--and what limited research exists suggests that existing…

Recent developments in AI technologies and the increasing accessibility of AI tools, such as ChatGPT, have raised concerns about academic integrity in higher education. Thus, this research aims to shed light on the challenges faced by English as a Second Language (ESL) lecturers in identifying AI-generated texts, and highlighting the skills and…

Matching unfamiliar faces is highly error-prone, and most studies highlight the implications for real-world ID-checking. Here we study a particular instance of ID-checking: proof of age for buying restricted goods such as alcohol. In this case, checkers must establish that an identity document is carried by its legitimate owner (i.e., that the ID…

Systematic errors are unfortunately common in analyses performed by students in teaching laboratories. Quality control (QC) tools are required to detect and solve bias in laboratory analyses. However, although QC has become routine in real-world laboratories, it is still rarely applied in teaching laboratories. For this reason, systematic errors…

One of the most serious forms of cheating occurs when examinees have item preknowledge and prior access to secure test material before taking an exam for the purpose of obtaining an inflated test score. Examinees that cheat and have prior knowledge of test content before testing may have an unfair advantage over examinees that do not cheat. Item…

It is considerably harder to generalize identity across different pictures of unfamiliar faces, compared with familiar faces. This finding hints strongly at qualitatively distinct processing of unfamiliar face stimuli--for which we have less expertise. Yet, the extent to which face selective versus generic visual processes drive outcomes during…