El papel de la evaluación negociada en el desarrollo de la autonomía del estudiante en la escuela secundaria norteamericana: un ciclo de investigación-acción

RESUMEN: En este artículo presento hallazgos de una investigación-acción cuyo objetivo era averiguar en qué medida una forma alternativa de evaluación negociada promovería la autonomía de los estudiantes. El estudio se realizó en una escuela secundaria norteamericana. Las principales estrategias de acción fueron el uso de símbolos en la retroalimentación y la inclusión de criterios negociados con los estudiantes en el diseño de una rúbrica que se utilizó como instrumento de evaluación y calificación. Los resultados mostraron que los estudiantes desarrollaron su autonomía en tres dimensiones: apropiación de su proceso de aprendizaje, metacognición y pensamiento crítico, lo que influenció positivamente el desarrollo de sus habilidades de escritura tanto en inglés como en español. Asimismo se encontró que el papel del profesor es de vital importancia para establecer condiciones propicias en el desarrollo de la autonomía de los estudiantes.ABSTRATC: In this article I present some findings of an action research study intended to find out to what extent a teacher-student partnership in writing assessment could promote high school students’ autonomy. The study was conducted in a U.S. school. Two main action strategies in the assessment process were the use of symbols as the form of feedback and the design of a rubric containing criteria negotiated with the students as the scoring method. Results showed that the students developed some autonomy reflected in three dimensions: ownership of their learning process, metacognition, and critical thinking, which positively influenced an enhancement of their writing skills in both English and Spanish. Likewise, the role of the teacher was found to be paramount to set appropriate conditions for the students’ development of autonomy

Essays on Human Capital Development and Socio-economic Inequality

This dissertation consists of three chapters in which I address central research questions about the role of parental investments and family structure on human capital development, the impact of education on labour-market outcomes and learning outcomes, and the origins and mechanisms of inter-generational mobility in developing countries. The first chapter examines how parental monetary investment affects the joint evolution of child health, cognitive skills and socio-emotional skills. I estimate a dynamic factor model, characterizing the skill formation process over the childhood, from birth to 12 years of age, using the sample of Vietnamese children from the Young Lives study. In the second chapter, I estimate marginal returns to upper secondary school on the labour market and on learning outcomes in Indonesia. Using the longitudinal data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey 1997-2015, I document a substantial degree of heterogeneity in the returns to upper secondary school on the labour market. The third chapter investigates the origins and mechanisms of birth order effects on cognitive skills, socio-emotional skills and health in Vietnam. Using a sample of children from the Young Lives study we find strong evidence of negative birth order effects on parental investments and child capabilities, emerging very early in life

Assessments in school psychology: comparability and diagnostic utility of tests measuring cognitive abilities

In the context of school psychology, students’ cognitive abilities such as intelligence, attention, and executive functions are often assessed for diagnostic classification purposes (e.g., intellectual disability or giftedness; the presence of an attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]). There are an increasing number of tests measuring these abilities, raising the question of whether different tests aimed at measuring the same psychological attribute yield comparable results. Most previous studies have addressed this question using grouplevel analyses (i.e., correlations among tests). Yet, research investigating whether different tests yield comparable scores for individuals, that is, scores that lead to the same classification, is sparse. This is surprising given that individual-level comparability is essential, as diagnostic classification is most often based on cut-off scores. Thus, the main goal of the present dissertation was to shed light on such individual-level comparability with findings from three studies. Studies I and II revealed that different intelligence test scores were generally highly correlated on the group level, but individual-level comparability was not satisfactory. Specifically, in Study I, the 95% confidence interval (CI) of two test scores obtained from different tests overlapped in only about 60% of all cases. In Study II, the 95% CI of intelligence scores obtained from the same test (Full-Scale IQs vs. Screening IQs) did overlap in 74–99% of all cases. In both studies, comparability decreased toward the tails of the IQ distribution, the very ranges in which diagnostic questions most often arise in practice. Study III revealed that scores of attention and executive functions obtained in parent questionnaires did not correlate substantially with those obtained in performance-based measures. Moreover, only scores from parent questionnaires and not those from performancebased measures were associated with an ADHD diagnosis. Possible approaches for dealing with and enhancing individual-level comparability are discussed. The focus thereby lies on two aspects that were identified to be the most prominent sources of incomparability: different theoretical groundings of tests and measurement error

Analysis of Assessment and Hemodynamic Activation in the Prefrontal Cortex: An Investigation of Executive Function

Executive function (EF) refers to the group of cognitive processes that guide human behavior. EF dysfunction is characteristic of a number of clinical conditions such as ADHD. Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an economical and less invasive means to image the cortex during tasks of EF to visualize cognitive processes. Measuring hemodynamics in those with and without ADHD during EF tasks, and comparing hemodynamics, EF performance and ratings of EF in daily functioning can yield additional insight into the functional relationship of the cortex and behavior. This study utilized the EXecutive Abilities: Measures and Instruments for Neurobehavioral Evaluation and Research (EXAMINER), Trail Making Test (TMT), Twenty Questions (20Q) task from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (DKEFS), and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult (BRIEF-A) Behavior Regulation Index (BRI) and Metacognition Index (MCI). NIRS data was collected during the EF performance tasks and results were calculated based on average hemodynamic responses. Additional questions were addressed regarding the association of EF ratings to EF performance, whether there was an association between digital and non-digital EF tasks, and whether performance differed between those with and without ADHD in terms of hemodynamics and performance or only performance variables. A moderate association was found between BRI and decreased oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyHb) in the left DLPFC during Set Shifting. Higher MCI was moderately associated with decreased oxyHb in the left DLPFC during a task of inhibition and sustained attention, and improved performance on N-Back was moderately associated with increased oxyHb in bilateral DLPFC during Set Shifting. No statistically significant differences were found between ADHD and Non-ADHD groups in PFC hemodynamics during EF tasks; however, ADHD participants exhibited greater impairment on ratings of EF. No statistically significant associations between digital and non-digital tasks were found. Findings confirm deficits in everyday EF in those with ADHD; however, continued use of digital tasks to assess EF constructs, and use of those results for diagnostic purposes is not consistently supported in the literature. Additional information regarding use of EF tasks in those with and without ADHD may provide additional insight into the connection between neurophysiology and everyday function

Second language acquisition of the English interrogatives : the effect of different learning contexts on the SLA of three groups of Chinese learners of English.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:D91701 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

How definite are we about the English article system? Chinese learners, L1 interference and the teaching of articles in English for academic purposes programmes.

Omission and overspecification of the/a/an/Ø are among the most frequently occurring grammatical errors made in English academic writing by Chinese first language (L1) university students (Chuang & Nesi, 2006; Lee & Chen, 2009). However, in the context of competing demands in the English for academic purposes (EAP) syllabus and conflicting evidence about the effectiveness of error correction, EAP tutors are often unsure about whether article use should or could be a focus and whether such errors should be corrected or ignored. With the aim of informing pedagogy, this study investigates: whether explicit teaching or correction improves accuracy; which article uses present the most challenges for Chinese students; the causes of error and whether a focus on article form can be integrated within a modern genre based/student centred approach in EAP. First, a questionnaire survey investigates how EAP teachers in higher education explicitly teach or correct English article use. Second, the effect of explicit teaching and correction on English article accuracy is investigated in a longitudinal experiment with a control group. Analysis of this study’s post-study measures raise questions about the sustained benefits of written correction or decontextualised rule-based approaches. Third, findings are presented from a corpus-based study which includes an inductive and deductive analysis of the errors made by Chinese students. Finally, in a fourth study hypotheses are tested using a multiple-choice test (n=455) and the main findings are presented: 1) that general referential article accuracy is significantly affected by proficiency level, genre and students’ familiarity with the topic; 2) Chinese students are most challenged by generic and non-referential contexts of use which may be partly attributable to the lack of positive L1 transfer effects; 3) overspecification of definite articles is a frequent problem that sometimes gives Chinese B2 level students’ writing an ‘informal tone’; and 4) higher nominal density of pre-qualified noun phrases in academic writing is significantly associated with higher error rates. Several practical recommendations are presented which integrate an occasional focus on article form with whole text teaching, autonomous proofreading skills, register awareness, and genre-based approaches to EAP pedagogy

Explaining the neural activity distribution associated with discrete movement sequences:Evidence for parallel functional systems

To explore the effects of practice we scanned participants with fMRI while they were performing four-key unfamiliar and familiar sequences, and compared the associated activities relative to simple control sequences. On the basis of a recent cognitive model of sequential motor behavior (C-SMB), we propose that the observed neural activity would be associated with three functional networks that can operate in parallel and that allow (a) responding to stimuli in a reaction mode, (b) sequence execution using spatial sequence representations in a central-symbolic mode, and (c) sequence execution using motor chunk representations in a chunking mode. On the basis of this model and findings in the literature, we predicted which neural areas would be active during execution of the unfamiliar and familiar keying sequences. The observed neural activities were largely in line with our predictions, and allowed functions to be attributed to the active brain areas that fit the three above functional systems. The results corroborate C-SMB’s assumption that at advanced skill levels the systems executing motor chunks and translating key-specific stimuli are racing to trigger individual responses. They further support recent behavioral indications that spatial sequence representations continue to be used