Meaning-making in teaching-learning mathematical processes is a relevant issue analysed through different philosophical and educational frames. In particular, the use of digital tools in mathematics education affects the meaning-making processes. This paper discusses meaning-making from a phenomenological standpoint, in which interpretative…

This study sought to assess the level of secondary students' scientific literacy in suburban schools in Malaysia and England, a research area which to date has not been fully explored in the literature. The study analyzed the data using the OECD's three domain-specific competencies of scientific literacy, namely: (i) explain phenomena…

Secondary analyses of international large-scale assessments (ILSA) commonly characterize relationships between variables of interest using correlations. However, the accuracy of correlation estimates is impaired by artefacts such as measurement error and clustering. Despite advancements in methodology, conventional correlation estimates or…

Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is gaining ground in evaluation circles, but the number of applications is still limited. In this article, we consider the challenges that can emerge during a QCA evaluation by drawing on our experience of conducting one in the field of development cooperation. For each stage of the evaluation process, we…

We discuss the learning goals, content, and delivery of a University of Plymouth intensive module delivered over four weeks entitled MATH1608PP Understanding Big Data from Social Networks, aimed at introducing students to a broad range of techniques used in modern Data Science. This module made use of R, accessed through RStudio, and some popular…

In 1916 Robert Frost published his famous poem, "The Road Not Taken," in which he muses about what might have been had he chosen a different path, made a different choice. While counterfactual arguments in general can often lead to vacuous nowheres, frequently in statistics the data that are not presented actually exist, in a sense,…

Purpose: This paper presents a moderated discussion on popular misconceptions, benefits and limitations of International Large-Scale Assessment (ILSA) programs, clarifying how ILSA results could be more appropriately interpreted and used in public policy contexts in the USA and elsewhere in the world. Design/methodology/approach: To bring key…

In light of the emergence of statistical analysis techniques based on data mining in education sciences, and the potential they offer to detect non-trivial information in large databases, this paper presents a procedure used to detect factors linked to academic achievement in large-scale assessments. The study is based on a non-experimental,…

Background: Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience high rates of physical and mental health problems; yet their health care is often inadequate. Information about their characteristics and health services needs is critical for planning efficient and equitable services. A logical source of such information is…

Whilst professional development (PD) is an activity required by many regulatory authorities, the value that enterprises obtain from PD is often unknown, particularly when it involves development of knowledge. This paper discusses measurement techniques and processes and provides a review of established evaluation techniques, highlighting…

We present a data-based perspective concerning recent (e.g., 2008) "Maclean's" magazine rankings of Canadian universities, including cluster analysis of the 2008 data. Canadian universities empirically resemble and relate to each other in a manner different from their formal classification and final rank ordering in the…

This article presents key steps in the design and analysis of a computer based problem-solving assessment featuring interactive tasks. The purpose of the assessment is to support targeted instruction for students by diagnosing strengths and weaknesses at different stages of problem-solving. The first focus of this article is the task piloting…

Responds to an article that questioned the authors' previous attempts to define "subject difficulty" and compare subjects based on their level of difficulty. Argues that "subject difficulty" is a reasonable term and is important to the interpretation of examination data. Questions arguments that only qualitative judgments of…

A study involving 11,804 British children (age 10) found that when specified criteria for dyslexia were used, 269 children qualified as dyslexic. These included 223 boys and 46 girls, for a ratio of 4.51 to 1. Difficulties in interpreting these data are discussed and a defense of the criteria is provided. (Author/CR)

Global economic transformations have never been as dramatic as in the twentieth century. Most countries have experienced radical changes in the standards of income per capita, technology, fertility, mortality, income inequality and the extent of democracy in the course of the past century. It is the goal of many disciplines--economics, history,…