In this exploratory study, we designed and validated game-based performance tasks to assess the development of representational flexibility in autistic adolescents through virtual reality (VR)-based training. Representational flexibility, a critical cognitive ability, involves attention switching, generating representations, and recognizing…

Students are often encouraged to learn 'deeply' by abstracting generalizable principles from course content rather than memorizing details. So widespread is this perspective that Likert-style inventories are now routinely administered to students to quantify how much a given course or curriculum evokes deep learning. The predictive validity of…

We examined the validity of the Shorter Psychotherapy and Counseling Evaluation (Halstead, Leach, & Rust, 2007). Results supported incremental predictive validity (up to 12%) over the Outcome Questionnaire--10.2 (OQ-10.2), predictive validity with the Outcome Questionnaire--45 and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems--32, and convergent…

Case-based Learning (CBL) is perceived as an effective pedagogical approach to improving students' ability to transfer knowledge, concepts and skills learned in schools to real-life contexts This study offers a new instrument that captures students' perceptions of CBL skills and their ability to transfer the knowledge and skills that they acquire…

The purpose of this study was to re-evaluate the validity of traditional admissions criteria--UGPA and GRE scores--in predicting academic success for students admitted to a counselor education program in the United States. In contrast to prior research, we also included the newer GRE-Analytical Writing scores in our analyses. In general, we found…

Finding strategies to increase the motivation of students, their connection with the material, and retention of the content, has been very important within leadership education. Previous research studies have shown that personality traits can predict desired outcomes, including goal orientation or motivational disposition. However, there have not…

Out-of-school time (OST) youth programs are inherently difficult to assess. They are often very dynamic: Many youth interact with one another and with staff members in various physical environments. Despite the challenge, measuring quality is critical to help program directors and policy makers identify where to improve and how to support those…

In this study we evaluated the predictive validity of conceptual scoring. Two independent samples of Spanish-speaking language minority preschoolers (Sample 1: N = 96, mean age = 54.51 months, 54.3% male; Sample 2: N = 116, mean age = 60·70 months, 56.0% male) completed measures of receptive, expressive, and definitional vocabulary in their first…

The therapeutic working alliance by Bordin has been demonstrated as a 'common ground' variable attributable to change in identified change enterprises, including education. In this context, working alliance (renamed learning alliance) has been empirically demonstrated to predict positive on-campus student outcomes. However, minimal research…

To examine the importance of manual character writing to reading in a new writing system, 48 adult Chinese-as-a-foreign-language students were taught characters in either a character writing-to-read or an alphabet typing-to-read condition, and engaged in corresponding handwriting or typing training for five consecutive days. Prior knowledge of…

Objective: Fear reactivity during exposure is a commonly used indicator of learning and overall therapy outcome. The objective of this study was to assess the predictive value of fear reactivity during exposure using multimodal indicators and an advanced analytical design. We also investigated the degree to which treatment condition (cognitive…

We present work toward automatically assessing and estimating science inquiry skills as middle school students engage in inquiry within a physical science microworld. Towards accomplishing this goal, we generated machine-learned models that can detect when students test their articulated hypotheses, design controlled experiments, and engage in…

Students conducted inquiry using simulations within a rich learning environment for 4 science topics. By applying educational data mining to students' log data, assessment metrics were generated for two key inquiry skills, testing stated hypotheses and designing controlled experiments. Three models were then developed to analyze the transfer of…

In this article, the authors present the findings of two studies analyzing new recruits' adjustment to army life in the Chinese military. In the first exploratory study, we developed a scale to measure new recruits' adjustment to military life, and found that new soldiers' adaptation could be divided into two distinct types: interpersonal…

Context: Instrument validation is an important facet of survey research methods and athletic trainers must be aware of the important underlying principles. Objective: To discuss the process of survey development and validation, specifically the process of construct validation. Background: Athletic training researchers frequently employ the use of…