College debaters who go to law school are often surprised by the differences between the processes that take place in the court of reason and the process that takes place in the court of law. The court of reason relies mainly on authoritative testimony, while the court of law relies on direct evidence. Evidence in the court of reason is either…

This paper discusses the determination of college faculty salary inequity and identifies the areas in which human judgment must be used in order to conduct a statistical analysis of salary equity. In addition, it provides some informed guidelines for making those judgments. The paper provides a framework for selecting salary equity models, based…

Determines the accuracy of teacher judgment of the oral proficiency of pupils in French and Spanish high school classes. Results indicate that (1) teachers consistently overrate pupil performance and (2) the letter grade of the student in the foreign language class severely biases the accuracy of the teacher's judgment regardless of actual oral…

Classroom techniques are suggested for teaching English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students cognitive and academic skills needed for academic success, using the reading and analysis of folk tales. Skills targeted include comparing and contrasting, evaluating ideas, supporting claims with facts and evidence, organizing and grouping ideas, and using…

Profiles a class exercise that teaches the importance of developing an accurate definition of a psychological construct (guilt, control, altruism). The more precise the definition, the easier it is to choose an appropriate technique to measure that construct. Discusses the Health and Psychosocial Instrument File, a recent measurement database.…

Describes an empirical study that investigated how well people in the information science field perform as judges of document relevance, topicality, and utility for information needs that they did not originate. Results are compared to the actual users' judgments, and the effects of experience and gender are explored. (Contains 17 references.)…

This study was an attempt to determine whether, and to what extent: 1) there is disagreement about the nature and function of values and valuing among educators, and between social science educators and certain axiologists; 2) social science educators endorse valuation theories which are internally inconsistent or antithetical to the purposes of…

The diagnostic discourse of medical students and physicians in thinking-aloud protocols on paper cases was analyzed for evidence of semantic structure. Results show that structural semantics can be used to distinguish various levels of mental processing among novices as well as between novices and professionals. (MSE)

This study of 60 eighth grade students found differences among students with learning disabilities and students who were low, average, and high achieving, on perceptions of ability and achievement; attitude toward mathematics; knowledge of mathematical problem-solving strategies; and knowledge, use, and control of problem representation…

Compared the use of conditional logic in adult-adult and adult-child conversation. Results indicated that conversation patterns and inferences were similar except that children made fewer independent inferences and shifts in taxonomic level and responded more frequently to socially controlling statements than did adults. (AA)

This paper reports on a study conducted to examine a shift in responsibility for learning to the students in an advanced placement American history class. Specifically, the extent to which students (N=9) were analytic in their thinking and writing and self-directed in their work was investigated. Naturalistic inquiry and comparative analysis were…

How people evaluate primary and secondary sources when considering historical questions was studied by asking eight historians and eight high school seniors to think aloud while reviewing written and pictorial documents about the Battle of Lexington. Differences between the groups are discussed concerning cognitive processes and beliefs about…

Examined developmental differences in evidence evaluation skills among school children, non-college educated adults, and college students, utilizing plant growth variables. Found that children were more strongly influenced by prior beliefs and missing data than were the two adult groups. Age and educational differences were found in the…

Examination of selected national and state level career education curriculum development projects provided the basis for consideration and comparison of major strategies used in deriving curriculum content. Those found most useful included the theoretical base, philosophical base, introspection, function approach, task analysis, Delphi approach,…

Interviews with teams of teachers at two Australian technical and further education (TAFE) institutes (the Lawson Institute of TAFE Motor Mechanics and the Franklin Institute of TAFE Disability and Aged Care) were used to examine the theoretical and practical tensions experienced by TAFE teachers when making assessment judgments within the…