This paper presents several methods to automatically detecting students' mental models in MetaTutor, an intelligent tutoring system that teaches students self-regulatory processes during learning of complex science topics. In particular, we focus on detecting students' mental models based on student-generated paragraphs during prior knowledge…

Data from a sample of 2,593 high school seniors (58% female) were used to study the relationship between courses taken and scores on the American College Testing (ACT) English Usage Test, the ACT Mathematics Usage Test, the ACT Social Studies Reading Test, and the ACT Natural Sciences Reading Test. For English and Mathematics, test performance…

This paper examines the following issue: Is the process of educational attainment the same for both whites and Mexican Americans, or does it differ? Two possible explanations for why mean differences exist in educational outcomes for whites and Mexican Americans are that either the process of educational attainment varies between the two groups,…

The basic design of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) called for repeated surveys of a statistical sample of the Class of 1972. Each sample member was followed so as to build a historical database that would allow the investigation of the complex developmental paths that occur in the transition years from high…

Pennsylvania high school seniors who were tested on their knowledge of South Asian geography, history, political science, and culture knew little about this politically important region. The sample included 684 urban and rural students from high and low income families who answered 43 multiple choice questions on knowledge, interests, and…

Following publication of "A Nation at Risk," several states passed legislation increasing high school graduation and college entrance requirements. This study was conducted to determine whether there is a relationship between the number of courses a student takes in a subject-matter area and the student's score on the corresponding…

The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of academic background and noncognitive variables as predictors of student achievement in science and mathematics. Participants in this study were 9,802 students who began as new freshmen during 5 consecutive fall semesters and took at least 1 of 14 frequently taken mathematics and science…

As part of an ongoing study of sex differences in spatial ability, three preliminary hypotheses on parental socialization, sex role socialization, and biological explanations were tested, using 139 high school seniors as subjects. The early findings indicated that there was no support for the hypothesis that boys and girls differ in how they view…

This paper analyzes a study designed to determine if students understand the concept of democracy and can apply democratic principles. It also compares the study with related investigations conducted in Europe and calls for improved teaching to make the concept of democracy comprehensible. In 1974, 1,000 high school seniors in Pennsylvania…