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A survey was administered to University of Kentucky freshmen enrolled in introductory composition courses. Former Kentucky high school students were asked to describe their high school writing experiences since the 1990 passage of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) and the implementation of its controversial testing and accountability component. The survey revealed much that is positive. Almost three-quarters of the students reported writing daily in high school in a variety of disciplines. Approximately one-half rated their writing abilities as “above average” or “excellent” and felt prepared or somewhat prepared to write in college. Most reported regularly employing writing process strategies. Few, however, mentioned consideration of purpose and audience as part of their approach to writing, even though these are the two most important criteria for scoring the portfolio. Some two-thirds of the students responded that compiling the portfolio was not a useful activity. These findings suggest that KERA's accountability system may be undermining the instructional improvements it was intended to foster. In its haste to implement mandated reform, the state failed to take into account students' willingness to assume new roles as “creators, authors, and owners” of writing portfolios. Students' negative attitudes toward writing under KERA may reflect a more widespread misunderstanding among teachers and administrators of the theoretical bases for the writing portfolio. Professional development might help to dispel some of this negativity, but classroom teachers alone cannot bear responsibility for ensuring that students see “real world” value in the writing portfolio. Public schools, post-secondary institutions, and employers must work together to find authentic uses for the portfolio.  相似文献   

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Leon  Jody  Sue 《Assessing Writing》2008,13(1):45-60
This paper is an examination of statewide district writing achievement gain data from the Nebraska Statewide Writing Assessment system and implications for statewide assessment writing models. The writing assessment program is used to gain compliance with the United States No Child Left Behind Law (NCLB), a federal effort to influence school district assessment and accountability. While the research literature is mixed with some viewing statewide writing assessment as narrowing writing curriculum and “standardizing” writing, others point out that it facilitates sharing between teachers to improve writing and teachers are empowered by their participation in the process.Nebraska's Statewide Writing Assessment, based on the six-trait model, has strong support from teachers regarding their perception of the assessment in supporting teaching practices and student success. Examination of achievement gain data revealed gains in 4th, 8th, and 11th grades in the average number of students rated proficient from one administration of the assessment to the next.Implications for educational practice, recommendations for future research, and relevant related issues (NCLB concerns and measurement issues) are discussed.  相似文献   

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The paper reports a cross-cultural investigation conducted in 2001–2002 that seeks to reveal students’ alternative ideas in two countries, Taiwan and Germany. It was carried out by means of semi-structured interviews in a story form. The targeted students were arbitrarily selected from grades 3 to 6 in both countries and amounted to 64. The questions in the interview were centered around “the heavens” (space, heavenly bodies, and familiar astronomical events) and “the earth” (the appearance, shape, movement, and, in some cases, gravity). The results indicated that, first, the students presented their ideas in a consistent manner, regardless of their cultural backgrounds, if we take into account the scope of questions and phenomena which were in their concern or of their interest. The comments from the student can be patterned into a structure-like whole, which we term “model” in the study. Second, the alternative models of “the heavens and the earth” elicited in the interviews appear to have various strengths of explaining familiar astronomical events. Interestingly, the more advanced a model is (in regard with the present-day cosmological model), the higher explanatory power it contains. As for the difference between the sample of two countries, the German students show more intention (or are more aware of the need) to explain astronomical phenomena than their Taiwanese counterparts, and thereby presented more precise models with stronger explanatory power. On the other hand, the Taiwanese students appeared to have more imagination and conceptual flexibility that should also be valued.  相似文献   

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This essay employs Barbara Herrnstein Smith's notion of “contingencies of value,” the idea that evaluations of text vary because our readings take place in specific contexts and are shaped by cultural and historical exigencies. In this study, we apply this notion to the reading of student texts in a college composition portfolio assessment. Through an analysis of taped teacher discussions of students' writing and an examination of student responses to the grading process, we conclude that in every reading of a text (but especially in the reading of the multiple texts of a portfolio) readers posit an “implied author.” That is, based on their reading of a single text or portfolio, teacher-readers construct a persona that represents the author, and this projection can strongly influence the reader's evaluation of student work. Group discussions of portfolios allow teachers to expose and explore the value-laden nature of these judgments.  相似文献   

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Harry C.   《Assessing Writing》2008,13(1):26-44
This study details the development and results of a campus-based writing assessment plan that was mandated by a state-wide university system in order to explore the “value-added” from a writing program curriculum to undergraduate students’ competence with written expression. Four writing samples (two timed essays and two conventional essays) that are produced before, during and at the close of enrollment in the writing program are scored for critical thinking, genre knowledge, rhetorical skills, and mechanics. The results indicate that local campus student achievement related to writing is comparable with performance captured by nationally normed technologies and larger assessment projects at similar state universities. The data also suggest significant performance difference related to the institutional position of students’ instructors as well as students’ own enrollment status. The article concludes that while the data produced by this research project are compelling, the policy and political implications of the undertaking suggest greater sensitivity to the institution's culture and program direction as well as its impact on instructor morale, student learning environment and the place of composition studies in the university.  相似文献   

8.
Windows into the mind   总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1  
As faculty, our goals for students are often tacit, hidden not only from students but from ourselves as well. We present a conceptual framework for considering teaching goals – what we want our students to achieve – that encourages us to think more broadly about what we mean by achieving in our knowledge domains. This framework includes declarative knowledge (“knowing that”), procedural knowledge (“knowing how”), schematic knowledge (“knowing why”) and strategic knowledge (“knowing when, where and how our knowledge applies”). We link the framework to a variety of assessment methods and focus on assessing the structure of declarative knowledge – knowledge structure. From prior research, we know that experts and knowledgeable students have extensive, well-structured, declarative knowledge; not so novices. We then present two different techniques for assessing knowledge structure – cognitive and concept maps, and a combination of the two – and provide evidence on their technical quality. We show that these maps provide a window into the structure of students declarative knowledge not otherwise tapped by typical pencil-and-paper tests. These maps provide us with new teaching goals and new evidence on student learning.Based on an invited address, Facoltá di Ingegneria dell’Universitá degli Studi di Ancona, June 27, 2000. This research was supported, in part, by the Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (Grant R117G10027), and by the National Science Foundation (Nos. ESI 95-96080). The opinions expressed here represent those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funding agency.  相似文献   

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Nationwide, state policy-makers have increasingly adopted curriculum standards as a means of improving education. However, relatively little empirical research has been done to investigate if a link actually exists between curriculum standards and student performance. Using data collected by the New York State Department of Education, the impact of standards on high school student achievement is examined through estimation of a one-way fixed-effects model of the education production function. Curriculum standards are operationalized as the award of a “50–64” variance, which is considered a means of increasing the number of students taking demanding courses. The findings suggest that curriculum standards can improve student performance, but they do little to improve equity. While larger portions of pupils pass curriculum-based assessment exams, continued associations between select student characteristics and student performance remain.  相似文献   

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Portfolio advocates argue that teacher commentary becomes more meaningful for students with the use of portfolio assessment, particularly because the commentary is unaccompanied by a grade. However, my own study of portfolio classrooms suggests that students continue to regard teacher responses as directives that leave them few options in terms of revisions. My study involved six writing classrooms from the middle school to the university level and included classroom observations, interviews of students and teachers, and examination of student writing and teacher response. The students generally looked to their teachers to show them the “correct” way to write and resisted the notion of making independent judgments about their writing and the necessary revisions, primarily because they could not ignore the ultimate reality of the grade. Yet the teachers generally avoided being directive in their responses. In one instance, the teacher's best efforts to adopt a more open style of response backfired when a sensitive student read the commentary as demeaning. I argue, therefore, that even though portfolios represent a more enlightened approach to assessment, students have difficulty escaping their conditioned obeisance to teacher authority. While this finding should not be read as a condemnation of portfolio assessment, it does indicate that teachers need to be aware of how students read their responses. Otherwise, portfolios alone may not substantially alter the teacher–student dynamics.  相似文献   

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The paper describes and analyzes the interactions between university tutors, cooperating teachers, and the student teachers in guided practice situations. The main aim of the study was to gain insights into the mode of interaction and the nature of massages transmitted in a variety of settings of practice teaching. The study reveals the dominance of evaluative comments made by cooperating teachers and their focus on issues of content. Alternative approaches and teaching modes were mentioned only rarely, cooperating teachers seem to rely mostly on their own wisdom of practice and tend to transmit traditions of “succesful” teaching modes. Student teachers were mostly passive and the mode of interaction authoritative. The paper suggests a distinction between an “incremental” versus a “comprehensive” practicum. It is suggested to focus on issue-specific post-lesson conferences which are planned jointly by student teachers, cooperating teachers, and university tutors.  相似文献   

13.
This study reports data extending work by Marsh and colleagues on the “big-fish-little-pond effect” (BFLPE). The BFLPE hypothesizes that it is better for academic self-concept to be a big fish in a little pond (gifted student in regular reference group) than to be a small fish in a big pond (gifted student in gifted reference group). The BFLPE effect was examined with respect to academic self-concept, test anxiety, and school grades in a sample of 1020 gifted Israeli children participating in two different educational programs: (a) special homogeneous classes for the gifted and (b) regular mixed-ability classes. The central hypothesis, deduced from social comparison and reference group theory, was that academically talented students enrolled in special gifted classes will perceive their academic ability and chances for academic success less favorably compared to students in regular mixed-ability classes. These negative self-perceptions, in turn, will serve to deflate students' academic self-concept, elevate their levels of evaluative anxiety, and result in depressed school grades. A path-analytic model linking reference group, academic self-concept, evaluative anxiety, and school performance, was employed to test this conceptualization. Overall, the data lend additional support to reference group theory, with the big-fish-little-pond effect supported for all three variables tested. In addition, academic self-concept and test anxiety were observed to mediate the effects of reference group on school grades.  相似文献   

14.
Jerry   《Assessing Writing》2009,14(3):178-193
Large-scale writing programs can add value to the traditional timed writing assessment by using aspects of the essays to assess the effectiveness of institutional goals, programs, and curriculums. The “six learning goals” prompt in this study represents an attempt to provide an accurate writing assessment that moves beyond scores. This paper focuses on student challenges to the prompt and testing situation to reveal that many students successfully challenge the task as a deliberate strategy, while less savvy test-takers clearly resist in response to anger, confusion or frustration. While only a small minority of test-takers openly protest the prompt or testing situation, the paper suggests that all students could be better prepared to reflect upon their university experience in timed essays through more coaching and experience with reflective impromptu questions. This finding offers both encouragement and caution for writing programs seeking a single test that can generate both placement scores and valuable feedback.  相似文献   

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Although well established in a range of situations, the application of operant methodologies to typical classrooms is often difficult for teachers because of logistic considerations which may lead to a subgroup of a class being rewarded, with peers showing performance decrement. This paper reviews the use of “vicarious” and “implicit” rewards in both special and normal classrooms, critically examining previous literature and concluding that several key issues are open to speculation. A series of four further studies which were designed to investigate some of these issues and overcome some of the design and methodology flaws of previous research are reported, with several important distinctions being drawn between “vicarious reinforcement” effects and outcomes from “implicit reward” situations. Criterion variables are discussed, with several key findings suggesting that the concept of vicarious reinforcement as based upon the general literature is simplistic and inaccurate. Suggestions are made for the successful use of “implicit reward” procedures in the classroom.  相似文献   

16.
Teacher knowledge: The relationship between caring and knowing   总被引:1,自引:0,他引:1  
While everyone acknowledges the importance of the “caring teacher,” little acknowledgment of caring as an issue exists at the level of educational policymaking. This paper presents teacher and researcher stories which describe a teacher's knowledge in practice and argues for recognition of an epistemological role for caring in teaching. The teacher's narratives describe what she knows from caring and being in relationship with her students - her relational knowing (Hollingsworth et al., 1993, 1994)- and how this knowledge alters her pedagogy and the curriculum that is constructed with each student. Caring for the person (Noddings, 1984, 1992) is revealed as central to what the teacher knows. The findings of this research suggest that for the teacher, the relationship between caring and knowing is complex and involves a constant reflective process. In attempting to situate caring within existing theories for teacher knowledge, Elbaz' (1983) structures are found to be too neat and the boundaries too well defined. A construct of teacher knowledge as relational and dynamic is described. This builds upon Lyons' provisional characterization of the epistemological relationship between students and teachers as nested knowing: “that is, students and teachers are considered to have nested, interacting epistemological perspectives” (1990a, p. 162). In this view, knowledge is not limited to what one person knows, but the intersection where the knowing of two persons in-relation overlap and the consequences for student learning (and teacher development) when one of those persons is a teacher.  相似文献   

17.
This paper compares academic achievement of The University of Calgary undergraduate population with that of transfer students from Alberta community colleges for the four academic years 1968–1972. The comparison is made using four measures: percentage distributions of student grade point averages, percentage distributions of grades, course grade point averages, and withdrawals. The measures were taken along several dimensions, including faculty of student registration, year of student academic program, and academic discipline and level of courses taken. Transferring students do not succeed academically as well as the total university student population. For example, in 1971/72 the average grade points achieved in all courses was 2.49, while the college transfer student subset achieved only 2.33. The corresponding figures for 1970/71 were 2.45 versus 2.24; for 1969/70, 2.41 versus 2.23; and for 1968/69, 2.38 versus 2.16.  相似文献   

18.
Development of creativity is influenced by multiple factors, including the environment, developmental changes, and measurement tools. In this study, we investigated the relationship between creativity development and implementation of the Discovering Intellectual Strengths and Capabilities while Observing Varied Ethnic Responses (DISCOVER) curriculum model. Using the Test of Creative Thinking–Drawing Production (TCT-DP), 1986 culturally diverse, low-income students, K through 6, in four elementary schools in the U.S. were assessed for three consecutive years. The creativity of all children increased from grades K to 6, but children in classrooms of low implementers demonstrated a dip and some “pauses.” Differences in scores of children in middle/high and low implementers' classrooms were significant. The implication is that creativity development is supported through active learning, student choice, access to varied materials, exploration, self-evaluation, problem finding, and problem solving. Additional analyses need to be conducted to uncover cultural and linguistic influences in these four schools.  相似文献   

19.
This study investigated whether mean expected grades and the level of difficult/workload in courses, as reported by students, unduly influence student ratings instruction. Over 50,000 college courses whose teachers used the Student Instructional Report II were analyzed. In addition to the two primary independent variables, the regression analyses included 8 subject area groupings and controlled for such factors as class size, teaching method, and student perceived learning outcomes in the course. Learning outcomes had a large positive effect on student evaluations of instructions, as it should. After controlling for learning outcomes, expected grades generally did not affect student evaluations. In fact, contrary to what some faculty think, courses in natural sciences with expected grades of A were rated lower, not higher. Courses were rated lower when they were rated as either difficult or too elementary. Courses rated at the just right level received the highest evaluations.  相似文献   

20.
The role of cognitive processing and language awareness in relation to reading is discussed. The framework for cognitive processing was Luria's (1966a, Higher cortical functions in man, New York: Basic Books; 1966b, Human brain and psychological processes, New York: Harper & Row) simultaneous and successive syntheses. Language awareness involved understanding of phonological representation, ambiguities, and incongruities. The sample of 56 Grade 2 and 64 Grade 4 children was administered a battery of seven “simultaneous-successive” tasks. Principal component and promax oblique factor analyses and factor scores were used to classify the children as low-low, low-high, high-low, and high-high simultaneous-successive “processors.” A series of ANOVAs showed significant differences by grade and level of cognitive processing for the three language awareness tasks and for reading. These tasks and factor scores derived from the simultaneous and successive components of the within correlation matrix for the total sample of 120 children after removing covariance associated with the two grades were subjected to stepwise multiple regression analyses and a path analysis to tease out the contribution of these components to reading. Results showed a much greater direct effect from language awareness on reading than simultaneous and successive syntheses. Ability to reflect on language and to use language as “disembedded modes of thinking” are seen as central to reading acquisition and development.  相似文献   

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