The present study used meta-analytic techniques (number of samples = 92) to determine the patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course. Results showed that people increase in measures of social dominance (a facet of extraversion), conscientiousness, and emotional stability, especially in young adulthood (age 20 to…

Purpose: The paper seeks to develop a conceptual framework capable of informing future research into beginning principalship in diverse cultural contexts. Design/methodology/approach: Based on recent literature, and specifically drawing on contributions to this Special Issue, the paper explores the relationship between externally generated…

In this evaluation we used Messick's construct validity as a conceptual framework for an empirical study assessing the validity of use, utility, and impact of office discipline referral (ODR) measures for data-based decision making about student behavior in schools. The Messick approach provided a rubric for testing the fit of our theory of use of…

A 47-item structured Q-sort methodology was used to identify and analyze the frameworks held by experienced emergency response personnel. The questionnaire was designed to determine the following: the characteristics/behaviors considered important by people within specific fields of emergency response; differences between individuals within a…

In this article, the meanings students construct and the conceptual advances they make as they deal with ratio and proportion problems are described. The study cites episodes with a second grader, two fifth graders, and three seventh graders. A critical factor in students' comprehension of and solution to ratio and proportion problems is their…

This paper outlines a theoretical perspective for studying student understandings of the concept of addition. The notion of operational sense is defined as a way to describe the notion of addition as a mathematical object, paving the way for an application of the theory of reification at this level. Previous frameworks relative to problem solving…

Two studies examined preschoolers' understanding of germs as causes of illness. Previous research suggests that preschoolers know that certain behaviors lead to illness without understanding why or how. In the first study, 22 children between 4 and 5 years old were presented with 12 brief stories describing characters engaged in either dangerous…

This manual describes two methods of assessing college students' conceptual structures in the interest of student evaluation. The focus is on the mental frameworks (conceptual structures) that enable students to remember and apply facts and theories. The guide offers two methods, the "ordered-tree" and the "fill-in-the-structure." An introduction…

Two kinds of perspectives governing the provision and preservation of knowledge, a universal and an ecological perspective, are discussed in this paper. In the first case, scientific observations are represented through a semantic interpretation of facts. This is illustrated with a series of experiments on semantic feature perception in the recall…

The focus of this document is upon zetetics, the science of research and artistic activity, and its role: to study the origin, growth, and transitions of human knowledge as a whole. The choice and allocation of subject matter within the curriculum is one of the central domains of expertise required of the general curriculum specialist. No matter…

This paper on the curiculum development process describes how primary sources may be used to teach history. Three frameworks related to historical understanding are presented: (1) the thinking skills/information processing framework; (2) the cognitive structure framework; and (3) the response theory framework. A curriculum development model is…

Course offerings with an international focus have expanded rapidly in secondary schools in the United States in the last decade, and research is needed to explore how global and international education goals may be achieved. Four models for organizing the research agenda are presented: (1) organization around a study of influences upon global and…

Based on a prior model on modularity of the brain, a new modular model of intrapersonal communication was developed which focuses on brain processing, encompassing both the structures and the functions of those structures in the creation of messages. The modular mind is a bio-social model of communication which presupposes a relationship between…

A study used structure mapping theory to examine the claim that children can understand metaphors based on shared object attributes before understanding those based on shared relational structure. The three kinds of metaphor used in the study varied in whether the shared information forming the basis for the interpretation was attributional,…

The controversial nature of the knowledge base of educational administration is discussed in this paper. Included are a definition of professionalism, a discussion of how to build and develop a knowledge base, and a review of the obstacles to knowledge base development. Elements of a consensual knowledge base include theory, practice, and other…