Two sampling-and-classification-based procedures were developed for automated test assembly: the Cell Only and the Cell and Cube methods. A simulation study based on a 540-item bank was conducted to compare the performance of the procedures with the performance of a mixed-integer programming (MIP) method for assembling multiple parallel test…

Reliabilities of the two most widely used intraindividual variability indicators, "ISD[superscript 2]" and "ISD", are derived analytically. Both are functions of the sizes of the first and second moments of true intraindividual variability, the size of the measurement error variance, and the number of assessments within a burst. For comparison,…

Aim: The aim of this paper is to share the initial experiences on a European Union (EU) Lifelong Learning Programme Leonardo Da Vinci Transfer of Innovation Project related to the use of simulation-based learning with nursing students from Turkey. The project started at the end of the 2010 involving 7 partners from 3 different countries including…

Eye-trackers are becoming increasingly widespread as a tool to investigate second language (L2) acquisition. Unfortunately, clear standards for methodology--including font size, font type, and placement of interest areas--are not yet available. Although many researchers stress the need for ecological validity--that is, the simulation of natural…

The authors of this article believe that the introductory speech course described here is a good fit for this sophomore-specific assignment for several reasons. First, the introductory speech course is often taken in the first 60 hours. Most students taking the course are in their second, third, or fourth semesters. Second, this assignment is a…

This article introduces an exercise that simulates the negotiation process in a dynamic supply chain. The retailer and wholesaler roles are assigned to student groups who negotiate supply contracts in a number of rounds during a class period. Each group makes pricing, inventory, and ordering decision concurrently, and competes with others to…

Background: Schooling is considered one of the major contributors to the development of intelligence within societies and individuals. Genetic variation might modulate the impact of schooling and explain, at least partially, the presence of individual differences in classrooms. Method: We studied a sample of 1,502 children (mean age = 11.7 years)…

It is often assumed that graphemes are a crucial level of orthographic representation above letters. Current connectionist models of reading, however, do not address how the mapping from letters to graphemes is learned. One major challenge for computational modeling is therefore developing a model that learns this mapping and can assign the…

This dissertation presents a novel effort to develop ITS technologies that adapt by observing student behavior. In particular, we define an evolving expert knowledge base (EEKB) that structures a domain's information as a set of nodes and the relationships that exist between those nodes. The structure of this model is not the particularly novel…

Clinical placements for senior nursing students enrolled in leadership courses are vital to student learning and to the preparation of new graduates. Schools of nursing are struggling with issues of access and availability of adequate clinical experiences for student learning. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality and availability…

Propensity score analysis (PSA) is a methodological technique which may correct for selection bias in a quasi-experiment by modeling the selection process using observed covariates. Because logistic regression is well understood by researchers in a variety of fields and easy to implement in a number of popular software packages, it has…

Analyzing examinees' responses using cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs) have the advantages of providing richer diagnostic information. To ensure the validity of the results from these models, differential item functioning (DIF) in CDMs needs to be investigated. In this dissertation, the model-based DIF detection method, Wald-CDM procedure is…

The primary purpose of this quantitative study was to examine if simulation training correlated with the decision-making abilities of firefighters from two departments (one in a mountain state and one in a southwest state). The other purposes were to determine if firefighter demographics were correlated with the completion of the simulation…

General diagnostic models (GDMs) and Bayesian networks are mathematical frameworks that cover a wide variety of psychometric models. Both extend latent class models, and while GDMs also extend item response theory (IRT) models, Bayesian networks can be parameterized using discretized IRT. The purpose of this study is to examine similarities and…

Adolescent smoking and friendship networks are related in many ways that can amplify smoking prevalence. Understanding and developing interventions within such a complex system requires new analytic approaches. We draw on recent advances in dynamic network modeling to develop a technique that explores the implications of various intervention…