We examined how academic background and course involvement differentially predicted students' performance on lecture- and text-based exam questions (N = 114; 34% men; 76% freshmen). Results showed that academic background and course involvement predicted performance on lecture-based questions and overall exam performance, whereas academic…

Providing remedial (also known as developmental) education is the primary way colleges cope with students who do not have the academic preparation needed to succeed in college-level courses. Remediation is widespread, with nearly one-third of entering freshman taking remedial courses at a cost of at least $1 billion per year. Despite its…

Curriculum materials designed to provide students with practice interpreting plotted evidence of global climate change were developed using graphs from the scientific literature and tested with one hundred urban high school students from a high-poverty school in a major northern city in the US. The graph interpretation lessons followed a…

An analysis of human errors in complex work settings can lead to important insights into the workspace design. This type of analysis is particularly relevant to safety-critical, socio-technical systems that are highly dynamic, stressful and time-constrained, and where failures can result in catastrophic societal, economic or environmental…

A new general explanation for u-shaped backward masking is analyzed and found to predict shifts in the interstimulus interval (ISI) that produces strongest masking. This predicted shift is then compared to six sets of masking data. The resulting comparisons force the general explanation to make certain assumptions to account for the data. In this…

Graduation rates have become a prominent feature in the landscape of high school reform and within the larger world of educational policy. Studies conducted over the past several years have repeatedly demonstrated that far fewer American students are completing high school with diplomas than had previously been realized. Whereas the conventional…

Although behavior analysis relies primarily on visual inspection for interpreting data, previous research shows that the method of display can influence the judgments. In the current study, 26 Board-Certified Behavior Analysts reviewed two data sets displayed on each of three methods--equal-interval graphs, tables, and Standard Celeration…

We reviewed a "Mental Retardation" article by Conroy et al. (2003) on consumer outcomes following the closure of the Hissom Center in Oklahoma. In this article the authors misconstrued their 254 subjects, implying they are representative of the Hissom Focus Class while failing to account for 128 subjects included in an earlier analysis.…

The authors critiqued the M. K. Lovelace (2005) meta-analysis of the Dunn and Dunn Model of Learning-Style Preferences (DDMLSP). The conclusion that Lovelace reported in her meta-analysis that learning-style instruction is a beneficial form of instructional delivery is unjustified because of critical conceptual and practical problems. Those…

Coping theory and research have long focused on negative outcomes. However, a growing body of literature has indicated that individuals may experience certain benefits from stressful life events. This research explored the positive and negative changes in caregivers' lives after caring for someone who had died of complications related to HIV/AIDS.…

Complete College America and FutureWorks conducted an analysis of certificate production, the value of the certificate program, and the economic benefit it provides to the region and nation. The conclusion, based on labor market demand and both personal and economic returns, is that certificates count and the policy and trends around certificates…

The "Facilities Performance Indicators Survey" ("FPI") supersedes and builds upon the two major surveys APPA conducted in the past: the Comparative Costs and Staffing (CCAS) survey and the Strategic Assessment Model (SAM). The "FPI" covers all the materials collected in CCAS and SAM, along with some select new data points and improved survey…

Are teacher salaries related to school quality in terms of student academic achievement and teacher retention? Are teacher salaries important factors influencing teacher job satisfaction? Is teacher job satisfaction related to retention? This research addressed these questions using international and national data. First, the literature will be…

The goal of this study was to estimate the effects of district efficiency on student achievement in Michigan with the hope that objective analysis might serve to ease progress through the troublesome political process any transition to an adequacy-based school finance model will encounter. This study draws upon the methodology used by Phelps and…

Every day physicians make judgments about patient management and diagnosis based on less than perfect information from many different sources. Judgment and decision-making research has taught us a great deal about such decisions, but these insights rarely find their way into the medical curriculum. One productive line of investigation in the study…