The structure of two-tier testing is such that the first tier consists of a multiple-choice question and the second tier requires justifications for choices of answers made in the first tier. This study aims to evaluate two-tier tasks in "proportion" in terms of students' capacity to write and select justifications and to examine the effect of…

This paper identifies and discusses misconceptions that students have in making judgments of center and variability when data are presented graphically. An assessment addressing interpreting center and variability in histograms and stem-and-leaf plots was administered to, and follow-up interviews were conducted with, undergraduates enrolled in…

Surprise is of great value for learning, especially in cases where deep-seated preconceptions and assumptions are upset by vivid demonstrations. In this essay, Jonathan Adler explores the ways in which surprise positively affects us and serves as a valuable tool for motivating learning. Adler considers how students' attention is aroused and…

This article presents situations involving perimeter, area, volume and mass, and the misconceptions often encountered with these measurements. The author suggests possible interventions that teachers can use to correct these misconceptions and help students to better understand these properties.

The recognition that human minds/brains are finite systems with limited resources for computation has led some researchers to advance the "Tractable Cognition thesis": Human cognitive capacities are constrained by computational tractability. This thesis, if true, serves cognitive psychology by constraining the space of computational-level theories…

This article discusses a particular type of concordance table and the potential for test score misuse that may result from employing such a table. The concordance that is discussed is typically created between scores on different, nonequatable versions of a test that share the same or close to the same test title. These concordance tables often…

The United States may be the most rank-crazy country in the world, but the world is catching up. The author cites the Organization for Economic and Cooperating and Development (OECD). When the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) started its international studies--the First International Mathematics Study…

Across the United States, there is a need for professionals who have expertise caring for aging men and women. Doctors and nurses are among the most sought after. But it is not just clinicians who are needed; a variety of professionals, from housing specialists to social workers and service administrators, also are in high demand. Many of the…

An extraordinary amount of the national discussion since the shootings at Virginia Tech a year ago has focused on the role that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or Ferpa, the federal statute governing the privacy of student records, played in that tragedy. What that discussion has revealed most notably is that, although colleges have…

The Family Class Category of Canada's Immigration Policy exists with the key objective of family unification. Among Canada's second largest immigrant group, the South Asians, the cultural practice of arranged marriage is applied across international borders, leading to spousal sponsorship. Existing research on South Asian sponsored wives suggests…

STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has been a powerful engine of prosperity in the US since World War II. Currently, American students' performances and enthusiasm in STEM education are inadequate for the US to maintain its leadership in STEM professions unless the government takes more actions to motivate a new generation of…

Little is known about Black male students who graduate from high school, enroll in college, aspire to earn degrees beyond the baccalaureate, and espouse commitments to various career pathways in the field of education (teaching, school administration, education research, the professoriate, education policy, and so forth). What compels these men to…

This article discusses the role of open and distance learning to widen participation and promote social inclusion within Australian higher education, as well as the benefits that open educational resources (OER) could bring to that context. It also explores some of the most relevant social inclusion policies and related initiatives developed in…

Ratio (and associated topics such as fractions and proportion) is known to be an area of mathematics that students find difficult. Multiplicative thinking is necessary, and students benefit from a wide range of strategies and representations for interpreting ratio. This study examined aspects of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge for teaching…

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine knowledge of food hygiene amongst young children (5-7 years), and facilitators and barriers to application of knowledge. Few studies exist that explore the knowledge and attitudes of young children towards food hygiene. This is an important age group, as it is a time when attitudes and…