Karen L. Yanowitz

Changes in Student-Centred Assessment by Postsecondary Science and Non-Science Faculty.

Although many appeals for reform include adopting more student-centred assessment, few studies have examined the postsecondary classroom. Using the 1993 and 1999 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty, the results of the current study revealed that faculty in the sciences were less likely to use student-centred assessment practices than faculty in non-sciences. Additionally, while faculty in the non-sciences showed a significant increase in their use of student-centred assessment between the two waves of data collection, no such increase was obtained for faculty in the sciences. Results are discussed in terms of public policy.

Do Boys and Girls Act Differently in the Classroom? A Content Analysis of Student Characters in Educational Psychology Textbooks

Previous research on gender stereotyping in textbooks has focused primarily on pictures used in texts. However, many textbooks also use scenarios, with fictional characters, as pedagogical devices. Student characters in educational psychology textbooks were analyzed for potential gender stereotypes. Results revealed that male characters were depicted with negative masculine traits, such as aggression, significantly more often than were female characters. However, no differences were found for positive masculine traits or for feminine traits. Male characters were also portrayed as engaging in stereotypically masculine activities significantly more often than female characters, although no difference was found in science activity as a function of gender. The findings are discussed in terms of possible influence on preservice teachers who are the primary readers of educational psychology textbooks.

The relative ease of obtaining a dermatologic appointment in Boston: How methods drive results

BACKGROUND Recent reports have indicated long wait times for dermatologic appointments even for changing moles. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to determine the wait time for a person willing to make multiple calls and accept an appointment from any dermatologist at any satellite location for a changing mole from a dermatologist who advertised in a Boston, MA, telephone book. METHODS We telephoned each practice listed in a Boston, MA, telephone book. RESULTS Patients making one call to each dermatologic practice on average obtained an appointment in 18 days. Patients calling two practices were offered an appointment on average in 7 days. Patients calling 3 practices were also offered an appointment in 1 week. LIMITATIONS We only telephoned practices listed in a Boston, MA, telephone book and we only surveyed one urban area. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that a reasonable concerned patient who was willing to make multiple calls to different providers in Boston, MA, can be seen in a timely fashion.

Transfer of Structure-Related and Arbitrary Information in Analogical Reasoning

Analogies can aid learners in understanding a new domain, yet misunderstandings may occur if they are applied too broadly. The present studies examined transfer of two types of information. Participants read analogical source and target stories. The source stories in Experiments 1–3 included two additional sentences that could be transferred to the target. One of the sentences was related to the analogical structure, while the other was more arbitrary. Participants transferred the structure-related information significantly more often than the arbitrary information both when retrieving source stories from memory (Experiment 1) and when having access to them (Experiment 2). Participants in Experiment 3 were explicitly encouraged to consider both types of information for transfer. Results showed the structure-related information was selected as the appropriate transfer sentence. Experiment 4 examined the possibility that reading both types of information in the source stories influenced transfer rates. Some participants received stories with both the structure-related and arbitrary information while others received stories with only one type of information. Again, participants transferred the structure-related information to a greater extent than the arbitrary information. Furthermore, no differences in transfer were found between participants who received both types of information in the source domain versus those who received only one type of information. Overall, the results of the studies provide evidence that learners will preferentially transfer information related to the shared analogical structure.