The monitoring and support of university freshmen is considered very important at many educational institutions. In this paper we describe the results of the educational data mining case study aimed at predicting the Electrical Engineering (EE) students drop out after the first semester of their studies or even before they enter the study program…

Proposed a taxonomy of latent structure assumptions for probability matrix decomposition (PMD) that includes the original PMD model and a three-way extension of the multiple classification latent class model. Simulation study results show the usefulness of the taxonomy. (SLD)

To teach the rigorous skills and knowledge students need to succeed in future college-entry courses and workforce training programs, education stakeholders have increasingly called for more rigorous curricula, instruction, and assessments. Identifying the critical attributes of rigor and measuring its appearance in curricular materials is…

Iterative Intercolumnar Correlation Classification (IICC) computes the correlation coefficients for the entries of every column of a matrix with those of every other column of the matrix. Iteration increases the size and validity of the object indices, reduces error in the indices, and increases homogeneity amongst them. (Author/BW)

A technique is presented for partitioning N students into K groups of fixed sizes using a given measure of proximity for all student pairs. The measure of proximity is typically calculated from a set of variables and constitutes the data needed for a criterion of partition "fit." (Author)

Peay presented a class of grouping methods based on the concept of the r-clique for symmetric data relationships. The concepts of the r-clique can be generalized readily to directed (or asymmetric) relationships, and groupings based on this generalization may be found conveniently using an adoption of Peay's methodology. (Author/BJG)

Three dissimilarity measures for the unconstrained sorting task are investigated. All three are metrics, but differ in the kind of compensation which they make for differences in the sizes of cells within sortings. Empirical tests of the measures are done with sorting data for occupations names and the names of behaviors, using multidimensional…

Describes the development of a functional indexing system that is tailored to the thinking involved in the process of invention. Classification by function is discussed; matrix representation is explained; a controlled vocabulary of verbs, objects, and modifiers is described; and the relation to other indexing systems is examined. (13 references)…

Compares approaches to occupational analysis and develops a framework that identifies the role, skill, and function of each of the following dimensions: focus, conception of rationality, view of knowledge, concept of intelligence, learning process, individual/expertise relationship, enabling factors, psychological theory, model of social…

Heuristic methods for the construction of term classes are presented and experimental results are obtained to illustrate the usefulness of the method. (Author/PF)

The problem of scaling ordinal categorical data observed over two or more sets of categories measuring a single characteristic is addressed. Scaling is obtained by solving a constrained entropy model. A Kullback-Leibler statistic is generated that operationalizes a measure for the strength of consistency among the sets of categories. (TJH)

The measurement of affect to support the achievement or nonachievement of affective education goals is an unresolved problem for educational institutions. The paper outlines a means for both developing an affective goal structure and identifying measurable indicators of affective behavior. To achieve this, it defines and discusses concepts related…

Both the Rule Space Method (RSM) and the Neural Network Model (NNM) are techniques of statistical pattern recognition and classification approaches developed for applications from different fields. RSM was developed in the domain of educational statistics. It started from the use of an incidence matrix Q that characterizes the underlying cognitive…

The problem of developing numerical methods for classification in the sciences is examined, with a discussion of classification strategies included. (DT)

Describes instructional design theory at the micro level and offers practical examples that may be applied to bibliographic instruction. The Performance-Content Matrix, a classification scheme for categorizing learning objectives according to their specified level of performance and type of content, is explained; and Merrill's Component Display…