Background/purpose: This study investigated the effectiveness of Problem-Based Worksheets (PBWs) in improving conceptual understanding of logic gates. PBWs were designed with key characteristics that integrate authentic problem-solving, active student engagement, and conceptual scaffolding to support critical thinking processes. A total of 32…

Because schools worldwide use low-stakes tests to make important decisions, value-added indices computed from test scores must accurately reflect student learning, which requires equal test-taking effort across testing occasions. Evaluating change in effort assumes effort is measured equivalently across occasions. We evaluated the longitudinal…

This book explores the influence of high stakes standardised testing within the context of South Korea. South Korea is regarded as a shining example of success in educational achievement and, as this book reveals, pressurised standardised testing has been a major contributing factor to its success. This unique country provides an excellent setting…

Students engaged in problem-based learning (PBL) units solve ill-structured problems in small groups, and then present arguments in support of their solution. However, middle school students often struggle developing evidence-based arguments (Krajcik et al., "J Learn Sci" 7:313-350, 1998). Using a mixed method design, the researchers examined the…

In this article, the authors provide an overview of behavior screening tools available, including free and commercially available options. Next, the authors offer step-by-step procedures for (a) selecting, (b) scheduling, (c) preparing, (d) administering, and (e) scoring and interpreting behaviors screening tools. The authors conclude with…

Allowing respondents to retake a cognitive ability test has shown to increase their test scores. Several theoretical models have been proposed to explain this effect, which make distinct assumptions regarding the measurement invariance of psychometric tests across test administration sessions with regard to narrower cognitive abilities and general…

We study the properties of two specification tests that have been applied to a variety of estimators in the context of value-added measures (VAMs) of teacher and school quality: the Hausman test for choosing between random and fixed effects and a test for feedback (sometimes called a "falsification test"). We discuss theoretical…

This paper reviews the progress made in washback studies over the quarter century since Hughes' (1989) placed it at the centre of his textbook "Testing for Language Teachers." Research into washback and the development of models of washback are described and an agenda is suggested for test developers wishing to build washback into…

Research Findings: Parental expressivity, child physiological regulation (indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia suppression), child behavioral regulation, and child adjustment outcomes were examined in 45 children (M age = 4.32 years, SD = 1.30) and their parents. With the exception of child adjustment (i.e., internalizing and externalizing…

Humphry (this issue) has written a thought-provoking piece on the interpretation of item discrimination parameters as scale units in item response theory. One of the key features of his work is the description of an item response theory (IRT) model that he calls the logistic measurement function that combines aspects of two traditions in IRT that…

With the popularization of computer and communication technologies, researchers have attempted to develop computer-assisted testing and diagnostic systems to help students improve their learning performance on the Internet. In developing a diagnostic system for detecting students' learning problems, it is difficult for individual teachers to…

At a time when, in most countries, the profession of school psychology is experiencing a period of growth and expansion, many problems still remain. The origins of these problems are linked to the historical development of the profession which has provided school psychologists with a unique and distinctive role in administering IQ tests and using…

In this commentary, the author points out few issues, one being that there are models mislabeled as diagnostic, which deal with linear decompositions of item difficulties rather than estimating multidimensional skill variables. The author discusses the issue that there are many new names for essentially well-known models for multiple simultaneous…

As Rupp and Templin (2008) stated directly, diagnostic classification methods "are confirmatory in nature." Methods, though, are neither inherently confirmatory nor exploratory. Diagnostic classification modeling, with its analytical and computational obstacles eventually yielding as a comprehensive and potent discipline emerges, will…

The paper by Rupp and Templin (2008) is an excellent work on the characteristics and features of cognitive diagnostic models (CDM). In this article, the authors comment on some substantial and methodological aspects of this focus paper. They organize their comments by going through issues associated with the terms "cognitive,"…