A model for assessing student interaction with educational software

We present a simple model of generative learning that permits us to define four kinds of interactions and a system for tracing and recording how students use educational technology. We believe that this model will maintain a link between interaction and learning, thus providing one method for the assessment of a wide range of educational technology environments. Two results are presented from an evaluation of ConStatS, a program for teaching conceptual understanding of probability and statistics. The results illustrate the kinds of insight into generative learning that a detailed trace method can provide.     

THE JUSTIFIED SCOUNDREL: THE STRUCTURAL GENESIS OF CORRUPTION

"It's more important to look honest than it is to get anything done."
Municipal Agency Commissioner in New York City; Interview, 1991     

Kindergarten predictors of boys' stable behavior problems at the end of elementary school

This study predicted stable social maladjustment at ages 10, 11, and 12 from teacher behavioral ratings in kindergarten and a measure of family demographics. Kindergarten teachers rated 1,034 boys on hyperactivity, aggression, inattention, anxiety–withdrawal, and prosocial behavior. Sociodemographic information was collected from the parents. At ages 10, 11, and 12, teacher, parent, peer, and self-report behavior ratings were collected on 743 boys. School achievement was documented from school records. Boys whose average scores on each of the five behavioral ratings across ages 10, 11, and 12 were above the 90th percentile according to at least two informants were defined as having stable behavioral problems. From teacher ratings collected in kindergarten and family demographics, logistic regression analyses predicted stable social maladjustment. For each negative outcome there was a unique set of predictors. The results are discussed with reference to the early identification of children who are at risk.This research was supported by a grant from the Conseil Québécois de la Recherche Sociale. We would also like to thank H. Beauchesne, H. Boileau, P. Charlebois, L. David, L. Desmarais-Gervais, S. Larivée, and M. LeBlanc for their participation.     

Indeterminism and the direction of time

Many phenomena in the world display a striking time-asymmetry: the forwards transition frequencies are approximately invariant while the backwards ones are not. I argue in this paper that theories of such phenomena will entail that time has a direction, and that quantum mechanics in particular entails that the future is objectively different from the past.     

An extension of item analysis procedures to the case of polychotomous response

Classical item analysis procedures were developed for dichotomously scored items and do not apply to items allowing multiple correct responses. Maximum likelihood procedures analogous to those employed in polychotomous bio-assay are presented which yield estimates of the sets of parameters for items having multiple nonordered responses. Expressions for the estimates of the asymptotic variances of the item parameters and on overall chi-square goodness of fit test are also provided.     

Axioms of a theory of discrimination learning

Analysis of an empirical theory into a formal system with specified primitive notions and axioms has the advantage of making it clear what deductions from the theory are permissible, and clarifying the internal structure of the theory. An example of such analysis is presented in this paper.This paper is adapted from part of a Ph.D. dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology, Stanford University, in November 1953. The author wishes to express his appreciation to Dr. Patrick Suppes, who guided the analysis reported in this paper. The author is now with the Human Resources Research Office, The George Washington University.     

THE OMEGA POINT AS ESCHATON: ANSWERS TO PANNENBERG'S QUESTIONS FOR SCIENTISTS

Abstract. I present an outline of the Omega Point theory, which is a model for an omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, evolving, personal God who is both transcendent to spacetime and immanent in it, and who exists necessarily. The model is a falsifiable physical theory, deriving its key concepts not from any religious tradition but from modern physical cosmology and computer science; from scientific materialism rather than revelation. Four testable predictions of the model are given. The theory assumes that thinking is a purely physical process of the brain, and that personality dies with the brain. Nevertheless, I show that the Omega Point theory suggests a future universal resurrection of the dead very similar to the one predicted in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition. The notions of "grace" and the "beatific vision" appear naturally in the model.     

Intervening during crises of life transitions: Promoting a sense of humor as a stress moderator

The numerous crisis situations associated with life cycle transitions present the mental health professional with numerous intervention opportunities. Since a good sense of humor can assist in the mediation of stress, a crisis intervention technique designed to enrich a person's appreciation of humor during and after life cycle transitions has therapeutic merit. Toward this goal, the author has designed an imagery technique which permits the enhancement of a person's sense of humor. Guiding clients towards the generation of humor at the imagery level has been found to be therapeutically beneficial. Methods of intervention utilizing the factors of absurdity, incongruity and exaggeration are discussed in promoting an adaptive sense of humor.