Structural equation modeling using the LISREL VI program was used to investigate predictors of female university students' participation in mathematics and science courses. Contributing significantly to the model were self-perceived mathematical ability, quality of experience in mathematics and science courses, importance to self-concept of…

Causal modeling was used to examine how primary students' language ability interacted with pace and redundancy of instructional language during an expository science lesson to explain students' attention and learning. Language ability and pace, mediated by students' attention to the lesson, accounted for variance in learning outcomes. Higher…

A central theme of research on human development and psychopathology is whether a therapeutic intervention or a turning-point event, such as a family break-up, alters the trajectory of the behavior under study. This paper lays out and applies a method for using observational longitudinal data to make more confident causal inferences about the…

This paper uses the widespread variation across states in the timing of adoption of tougher drunk driving laws that set very low legal blood alcohol limits for drivers under age 21--"zero tolerance" (ZT) laws--to provide new evidence on the causal effect of alcohol use on youth suicide. ZT laws reduced heavy episodic drinking by underage men, with…

This paper proposes a model of learning dynamics and learning energy, one that analyzes learning systems scientifically. This model makes response to the learner action by means of some equations relating to learning dynamics, learning energy, learning speed, learning force, and learning acceleration, which is analogous to the notion of Newtonian…

This paper addresses the accumulating knowledge of prospective teachers of secondary school mathematics and their acquired proficiency during the course "Psychological aspects of mathematics education," in which we discussed theoretical models including the intuitive rules theory. Participants' performances are examined by means of an extensive…

By making visible certain entities, phenomena, changes and continuities as being relevant to vocational education, researchers are joint definers of work and education at their sub-national, national and supranational levels. Which stories and mappings are going to have currency in transnational discourses on VET? Studies about transformation of…

This article argues that an important source of the difficulties posed by particular concepts and theories is the narrow range of "types of causal models" with which most learners are familiar. Most learners are familiar with relatively simple styles of causal models, but many concepts and theories in science depend on styles…

Despite readily available alumni survey data warehoused at many alumni associations and foundations across colleges and universities, researchers have underutilized the abundant available data to identify key predictors of alumni donation, including factors that trigger alumni donation behavior. Utilizing the data from a two-year alumni survey…

This study explored, with both experimental and correlational designs, the roles of (a) authentic, communicatively functional reading and writing and (b) the explicit explanation of genre function and features on growth in genre-specific reading and writing abilities of children in grades two and three. The genres used for this exploration were…

This paper employs cointegration and error-correction modelling to test the causal relationship between real income, real investment and tertiary education using data for the People's Republic of China over the period 1952-1999. To proxy tertiary education we use higher education enrolments and higher education graduates in alternative empirical…

Two experiments investigated learning outcomes and comprehension processes when students learned about the heart and circulatory system using (a) text only, (b) text with simplified diagrams designed to highlight important structural relations, or (c) text with more detailed diagrams reflecting a more accurate representation. Experiment 1 found…

This paper estimates linear structural models using LISREL and employs MIMIC models to find out factors determining child health in Pakistan. A distinction has been made in permanent and transitory health states that lend support to Grossman's (1972) stock and flow concepts of health. The paper addresses the issue of health unobservability and…

Using college transcripts, we separate the effects of remedial coursework from high school preparation. For two-year colleges, taking remedial classes was "not" associated with less academic success. In four-year colleges, there "are" negative effects of remedial coursework, but many minority students who complete a bachelor's…

In a series of studies, teacher competence was studied from a student perspective. Students from different grades in secondary schools were interviewed about their views on what characterises a good teacher. Based on interviews and open-ended questionnaires, it was possible to construct a questionnaire with fixed alternatives that could be applied…