Words refer to objects in the world, but this correspondence is not one-to-one: Each word has a range of referents that share features on some dimensions but differ on others. This property of language is called underspecification. Parts of the lexicon have characteristic patterns of underspecification; for example, artifact nouns tend to specify…

In their article, "Using Learning Progressions to Design Vertical Scales that Support Coherent Inferences about Student Growth," Briggs and Peck (this issue) argue that an important goal of assessment should be "to support coherent and actionable inferences of growth." They suggest that current approaches to test design rely on…

A variety of mechanisms contribute to word learning. Learners can track co-occurring words and referents across situations in a bottom-up manner (cross-situational word learning, CSWL). Equally, they can exploit sentential contexts, relying on top-down information such as verb-argument relations and world knowledge, offering immediate constraints…

The testing effect is a finding from cognitive psychology with relevance for education. It shows that after an initial study period, taking a practice test improves long-term retention compared to not taking a test and--more interestingly--compared to restudying the learning material. Boundary conditions of the effect that have received attention…

The present study investigated how oxytocin (OT) signaling in the central (CeA) and basolateral (BLA) amygdala affects acquisition, expression, and extinction of context-conditioned fear (freezing) in rats. In the first set of experiments, acquisition of fear to a shocked context was impaired by a preconditioning infusion of synthetic OT into the…

Covers career development theory, models, and techniques and how to apply them; understand the steps in the career development process and why career choice and development theory is important as well as limitations. Presents the assumptions that underlie four different types of theories; trait and factor, learning, developmental, and transition…

Kindergarten education is changing. Current reforms have increased accountability structures requiring teachers to integrate assessments throughout their instruction to support academic learning while retaining developmentally appropriate pedagogies such as play-based learning. Despite these reforms, comparatively little research has been…

This paper addresses the wicked problem of measuring the productivity of learning and teaching in higher education. We show how fundamental validity issues and difficulties identified in educational productivity research point to the need for a qualitatively different framework when considering the entire question. We describe the work that needs…

It is nearly impossible today to discuss education without considering testing and evaluation. In the opening article of this volume, professors Baird, Andrich, Hopfenbeck, and Stobart (2017) lay out the challenge of putting learning and teaching first, tracing the development of the science of educational assessment and raising the question…

In this paper, we use the concept of "consequential learning" to frame our exploration of what makes learning and doing science matter for youth from nondominant communities, as well as the barriers these youth must confront in working toward consequential ends. Data are derived from multimodal cases authored by four females from…

The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which literacy histories and present literacy experiences of doctoral students shaped their literacy identities. Data were collected through surveys, interviews, and visual identity representations. This paper focuses on the literacy stories of two doctoral students with positive literacy…

Academics must be encouraged to reflect on their teaching, to apply new pedagogies to support student learning and to report on the results of these actions, which really forms part of programmes relating to Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). However, there seems to be resistance among some academics to get involved in these programmes…

Teaching is to be amalgamated with learning environment where students attend work with interest. Coursework was designed and conducted for Quantity Surveying module from 2014 as a study and found that it has supported for promoting teaching and learning. It was revealed that encouragement made only for attendance is not sufficient to obtain high…

Introduction: Applied epistemology allows information studies to benefit from developments in philosophy. In information studies, epistemic concepts are rarely considered in detail. This paper offers a review of several epistemic concepts, focusing on understanding, as a call for further work in applied epistemology in information studies. Method:…

In this paper, we share background and key considerations of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), and propose introducing library and information science (LIS) students to SoTL as a way to acquaint them with the higher education teaching profession. Throughout the article, we employ reflection as the primary consideration and support…