Cover story, in the sense of context, is a potentially relevant factor in the assessment of reasoning and problem solving in science, given repeated demonstration of its effects on laboratory tasks. This study follows up on a preliminary interview study that showed cover story influenced the way students were assessed at the end of an…

This chapter describes how the mean of fractal processes does not exist and is not a meaningful measure of some data. It discusses how important it is to stay open to the possibility that sometimes analytic techniques fail to satisfy some assumptions on which the mean is based. (KHR)

Task-based language assessment (TBLA) grows from the observation that mastering the grammar and lexicon of a language is not sufficient for using a language to achieve ends in social situations. In TBLA, language use is observed in settings that are more realistic and complex than in discrete skills assessment and that typically require the…

In the literature on sociobehavioral theory and educational administration, theorists are offering other methodologies as replacements for empiricism or positivism. Other paradigms, such as critical theory, and other methodologies are used. Sometimes these are combined with the empirical method. Research focusing on how people interact in the…

In this article, which is part of an ongoing research, a classification is proposed for ratio comparison problems, according to their context, their quantity type, and their numerical structure. Deriving from this classification, an interview protocol was designed, and guidelines for the interpretation of answers into strategies were decided. A…

This report presents an analysis blueprint for data provided by the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), a survey system sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The report will inform beginning NELS:88 data users of the many substantive issues that can be addressed by the data, and it should present…

In an effort to create a polyphonic critical response to the roles of the researcher and the researched in classroom-based literacy research, this paper is formatted as a play--indented parts are direct quotes from others spoken by the speakers. It articulates questions of classroom literacy research as it considers the methods, goals, and…

This book helps students become better and more informed consumers of published research studies. The book provides students with a systematic approach for first identifying whether an article or report should be considered "research," and then understanding the type of research it is and using criteria to judge the research. The book is meant to…

This book gives step-by-step instructions on how to design, implement, and present an evaluation study for a museum or other settings for informal education, and it presents guidelines for studying the experiences of visitors in informal educational settings. The chapters are: (1) "Planning an Evaluation Project"; (2) "Informal…

Estimates of the number and proportions of students who are home schooled vary. This report explores differences in survey design and execution that may have contributed to the discrepancies between the estimates for the October 1994 Current Population Survey Education Supplement (CPS:Oct94) and the National Household Education Survey, Parent and…

The present studies explored the effects of several variables upon subjects' ability to combine and organize information from different sentences as well as their ability to retain that information. (Author/RK)

The present investigation was designed to compare the behavior of 6- and 9-month-old infants; visual as well as manipulative responses were recorded. (Author/RK)

The approach of the present experiment is a developmental one in that it attempts to relate the preferences of children for certain selected stimuli, letters and letter-like shapes, to their age and experience. (Author)

The purpose of the present study was to provide further evidence with respect to the effects of presentation method in serial learning. (Author)

The present experiment examined the choice behavior of humans during the learning of a reversal (R) shift as an empirical test of attentional explanations of the overtraining reversal effect. (Author/RK)