The use and validity of the Graduate Record Examination General Test (GRE) to predict the success of graduate school applicants is heavily debated, especially for its possible impact on the selection of underrepresented minorities into science, technology, engineering, and math fields. To better identify candidates who would succeed in our program…

Constructing a computational model of conceptual change for a computer-based scientific inquiry learning environment is difficult due to two challenges: (i) externalizing the variables of conceptual change and its related variables is difficult. In addition, defining the causal dependencies among the variables is also not trivial. Such difficulty…

Adolescents' motivation is a critical factor for reading success. The lack of motivation adversely affects adolescents' abilities to enhance vocabulary and reading comprehension skills as well as developing powerful reading strategies (Roberts, Torgesen, Boardman, & Scammacca, 2008). Starting in the fourth grade, students' academic…

This study examined the utility of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2's (MMPI-2) malingering discriminant function index (M-DFI), recently developed by Bacchiochi and Bagby, in the detection of malingering in a forensic sample. Criminal defendants were divided into "malingering" and "not malingering" groups using…

This dissertation has two primary concerns: (i) evaluating the uncertainty and prediction capabilities of a nanodiamond drug delivery model using Bayesian calibration and bias correction, and (ii) determining conceptual difficulties of multi-scale analysis from an engineering education perspective. A Bayesian uncertainty quantification scheme…

This article examines the use of institutional research data on tertiary academic success of students in the first-year Biology program at the University of Canterbury in relation to their secondary school performance in English, Mathematics with Statistics, Biology and Chemistry. This study was commissioned by the School of Biological Sciences to…

In this paper, we explore what happened to the young workers featured in the classic text "Young workers: From school to work." In this book, the authors made predictions about the labour market outcomes and careers for the young people in their study, classifying them into three groups: the "careerless", the "short-term careers" and the "extended…

We administered two instruments designed to assess and predict teacher effectiveness, the TeacherInsight Interview (TI) and the Renaissance Teacher Work Sample (TWS), to student teachers (N = 396) at a large comprehensive institution in the Southeastern United States to investigate whether TWS performance predicts TI scores. We first investigated…

This paper describes the diffusion of Moodle within Cherokee County Schools. The diffusion is evaluated using the Bass Model and the RIPPLES model in order to evaluate relative success or failure. The Bass Model of Diffusion was calculated utilizing forecasting by analogy in order to analyze the adoption rates in a county high school. The adoption…

First-year student dropout in the university sector can reach 20% or higher. Over a two-year period, a simple instrument was developed to identify potential student low performance and withdrawal. It was based on a measure of students' early expectation of higher education, matched subsequently with their actual experience. The instrument design…

This study explores factors that predict learner satisfaction and transfer of learning in an online educational program at a multinational corporation, established to improve organizational learning by providing training in technical skills. A mixed-methods design was used, selecting both quantitative methods (utilizing survey research) and…

Mounting pressure in the policy arena to improve teacher productivity either by improving signals that predict teacher performance or through creating incentive contracts based on performance--has spurred two related questions: Are there important determinants of teacher productivity that are not captured by teacher credentials but that can be…