International Journal of Adult and Continuing Education

International Journal of Adult and Continuing Education ISSN 2241-4517 Vol. 3 (12), pp. 001-005, December, 2017. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Improving Data Driven Decision Making through Assessment Literacy for Respondents

Naomi Jeffery Petersen, Randall S. Davies and Bruce Spitzer

Indiana University South Bend, South Bend, Indiana, U.S.A.

Accepted 17 July, 2017

Abstract

This study examined the use of a college course evaluation instrument in an effort to better understand and improve the assessment data derived from the instrument. The purpose of the analysis was to examine the dimensionality and reliability of the instrument but, more importantly, to understand what the data really tells us and whether assessment literacy would improve data usability. Analysis of the results suggests that the instrument tended to produce internally consistent data. However, the instrument measured predominately one aspect of course quality. In addition, based on results of the assessment literacy exercise, respondents seem to use very different criterion for rating; the constructs being measured generally did not match what was intended; and the questions being asked did not always match the scale being used. As a result the usefulness of any data interpretation and subsequent decisions was deemed suspect. The results of this study also suggest that simple assessment literacy interventions by themselves do not seem to drastically change the ability of raters to score items reliably. A much more comprehensive effort would be needed to produce results that would be beneficial for long term, data-driven decision making.

Key Words: Assessment Literacy, Course Evaluation, Data-Driven Decisions.

International Journal of Adult and Continuing Education ISSN 2241-4517 Vol. 3 (11), pp. 001-006, November, 2017. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Job satisfaction and burnout among Greek early educators: A comparison between public and private sector employees

Nikolaos Tsigilis¹, Evridiki Zachopoulou² and Vasilios Grammatikopoulos¹

¹University of Thessaly, Greece ²AlexandrioTechnological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Accepted 17 July, 2017

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine perceived levels of burnout and job satisfaction of Greek early educators, across public and private sector. One hundred and seventy eight childhood educators participated in the study. 108 were working in the public sector, 67 in private sector, whereas three did not respond. Participants were administered the Employees Satisfaction Inventory (ESI, Koustelios and Bagiatis, 1997) and the emotional exhaustion subscale of the Maslach’s Burnout Inventory (MBI, Maslach and Jackson, 1986). Results showed that early educators experienced moderate levels of emotional exhaustion. Public sector early educators were more satisfied from the job itself and their immediate supervisor than their counterparts in the private sector. Regression analysis showed that job satisfaction facets which contributed to early educators’ burnout varied as a function of their workplace. In particular, satisfaction from the nature of the job and working conditions negatively contributed to the prediction of public sector early educators’ emotional exhaustion levels. On the other hand, increased levels of satisfaction from the nature of the job and immediate supervisor were associated with reduced private sector early educators’ emotional exhaustion levels.

Key words: job satisfaction, burnout, emotional exhaustion, early educators, Greece.

International Journal of Adult and Continuing Education ISSN 2241-4517 Vol. 3 (10), pp. 001-005, October, 2017. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Relation between science teachers’ assessment tools and students’ cognitive development

Tuncay ÖZSEVGEÇ* and Salih ÇEPN

Karadeniz Technical University, Fatih Education Faculty, 61335, Sö ütlü-Trabzon, TURKEY

Accepted 12 March, 2017

Abstract

In order to determine students’ achievement, science teachers have to develop their own assessment tools. This study attempts to find out the relationship between the teachers’ assessment tools and students’ cognitive development according to the teachers’ teaching experiences. Six open-ended survey questions were developed and delivered to 59 middle school science teachers. It was clear that the majority of science teachers used only written and oral assessment tools. Regardless of teaching experiences, almost all the samples do not have detailed knowledge on students’ cognitive development and its relation to asking questions.

Keywords: Cognitive development, science teacher, assessment tools, exam questions, middle school, formal operational level.

International Journal of Adult and Continuing Education ISSN 2241-4517 Vol. 3 (9), pp. 001-009, September, 2017. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Reviewing the link between creativity and madness: A postmodern perspective

Caroline Koh

National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University Singapore. Email: [email protected]

Accepted 15 April, 2017

Abstract

Researchers on creativity and psychology have long been fascinated with the high incidence of psychotic behavior amongst geniuses and individuals of exceptional creativity. The aims of this paper are first, to review the existing findings for a better insight into the socio-contextual factors underpinning the mad genius conundrum, and secondly, to discuss how the development of postmodern thoughts and beliefs have influenced our perception and understanding of the emotional fabric of highly creative, though mentally-ill individuals. While one cannot ignore the substantial body of evidence in support of the relationship between genius and madness, it is likely that many of the factors inducing psychosis in geniuses are no different from those achieving the same effects in ordinary people. Furthermore, the unique features of post-modern times may have contributed to erasing the fine line between creativity and insanity, in ways that would not have been possible a century earlier.a

Keywords: Creativity, genius, madness, mental illness, psychotic behavior, postmodernism.

International Journal of Adult and Continuing Education ISSN 2241-4517 Vol. 3 (8), pp. 001-007, August, 2017. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Against didacticism: A psychologist’s view

Michael J. Hogan

Department of Psychology, NUI, Galway, Ireland. Email: [email protected]

Accepted 16 May, 2017

Abstract

Quality thinking and quality teaching are desirable but difficult to achieve. Although lectures are necessary to teach information, one cannot rely on them to promote critical and constructive thinking skills. Nevertheless, didacticism remains the dominant teaching strategy in secondary education and in university, perhaps because it is viewed as the most efficient way of imparting large quantities of information. In this comment, research and theory in psychology are used to argue the case that the development of critical and constructive thinking skills necessarily involves the cultivation of dialectic, flexible attitudes toward thinking and teaching in context.

Keywords: Critical Thinking; Constructive Thinking; Quality Thinking; Dialogue; Imitation; Learning.

Key Word: Internet use, students.