The paper presents a theoretical framework addressing three aspects of embodied pedagogical agents: visual static appearance, pedagogical role, and communicative style. The framework is then applied to a user study where 90 school children (aged 12-15) in a dummy multimedia program were presented with either an instructor or a learning companion…

Using computer simulation, the authors assessed the accuracy of J. E. Hunter, F. L. Schmidt, and H. Le's (2006) procedure for correcting for indirect range restriction, the most common type of range restriction, in comparison with the conventional practice of applying the Thorndike Case II correction for direct range restriction. Hunter et…

This article provides technical descriptions of five fixed parameter calibration (FPC) methods, which were based on marginal maximum likelihood estimation via the EM algorithm, and evaluates them through simulation. The five FPC methods described are distinguished from each other by how many times they update the prior ability distribution and by…

Conventional wisdom suggests the omnibus F-test needs to be significant before conducting post-hoc pairwise multiple comparisons. However, there is little empirical evidence supporting this practice. Protected tests are conducted only after a significant omnibus F-test while unprotected tests are conducted without regard to the significance of the…

A special case of the homogeneity of effect size test, as applied to pairwise comparisons of standardized mean differences, was evaluated. Procedures for comparing pairs of pretest to posttest effect sizes, as well as pairs of treatment versus control group effect sizes, were examined. Monte Carlo simulation was used to generate Type I error rates…

Research was conducted to provide educational researchers with a choice of pairwise multiple comparison procedures (P-MCPs) to use with single group repeated measures designs. The following were studied through two Monte Carlo (MC) simulations: (1) The T procedure of J. W. Tukey (1953); (2) a modification of Tukey's T (G. Keppel, 1973); (3) the…

Males and females participated in a coalition formation procedure by interacting with a computer program that simulated a pachisi game situation. Female partner preference data supported a weighted probability model of coalition formation over a bargaining theory. Male partner preference data did not support either theory. (Author)

Used Monte Carlo methods to compare several measures of item-parameter drift, manipulating numbers of examinees and items and numbers of drift items. Overall, Lord's chi square (F. Lord, 1968) measure was the most effective in identifying items that exhibited drift. Discusses the usefulness of other methods. (SLD)

Compared three methods for developing a common metric under item response theory through simulation. For smaller numbers of common items, linking using the characteristic curve method yielded smaller root mean square differences for both item discrimination and difficulty parameters. For larger numbers of common items, the three methods were…

Two generalizations of the Rasch model are compared: the between-item multidimensional model (Adams, Wilson, and Wang, 1997), and the mixture Rasch model (Mislevy & Verhelst, 1990; Rost, 1990). It is shown that the between-item multidimensional model is formally equivalent with a continuous mixture of Rasch models for which, within each class…

Various approaches using the maximum likelihood (ML) option of the LISREL program and products of indicators have been proposed to analyze structural equation models with non-linear latent effects on the basis of Kenny and Judd's formulation. Recently, some methods based on the Bayesian approach and the exact ML approaches have been developed.…

This article empirically supports the thesis that there is no clear and unequivocal argument in favor of simulations and experiential learning. Instead the effectiveness of simulation-based learning methods depends strongly on the target group's characteristics. Two methods of supporting experiential learning are compared in two different complex…

This study investigated the effectiveness of massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)-based (massive multiplayer online role-playing game) instruction in elementary English education. The effectiveness of the MMORPG program was compared with face-to-face instruction and the independent variables (gender, prior knowledge, motivation…

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of inquiry-based computer simulation with heterogeneous-ability cooperative learning (HACL) and inquiry-based computer simulation with friendship cooperative learning (FCL) on (a) scientific reasoning (SR) and (b) conceptual understanding (CU) among Form Four students in Malaysian Smart…

A meta-analysis was performed to synthesize existing research comparing the effects of computer applications (i.e., computer-assisted instruction, computer simulations, and Web-based learning) versus traditional instruction on elementary school students' achievement in Taiwan. Forty-eight studies were located from four sources, and their…