The Rasch latent trait model was applied to investigate the relationship of performance on Raven items to expectations for individuals at different levels of the underlying scale. The use of Rasch model in instances of small samples and issues related to the interpretation of the model to Raven-type data are discussed. (DWH)

Describes a course designed to assist students in writing differential equations to represent chemical processes and to solve these problems on digital computers. Course outline and discussion of computer projects and the simulation and optimization of a continuously stirred tank reactor process are included. (JN)

Equity impacts of school finance reform in South Carolina are studied with the aid of 15 different measures of equity. Results indicate considerable equity improvements in the state from 1978 to 1982. (Author/MLF)

Statistical methods, called latent variable models, have been developed to provide rigorous tests of theories involving unobserved variables. This paper describes the major types of latent variable models, shows how they can be applied in educational research, and gives representative examples of their use from the literature. (Author/BW)

Develops and tests a mathematical model that estimates the impact of home video recorders on the transience of television broadcasts. Concludes that home video recorder use has the potential to affect program longevity, but that the potential remains unfulfilled. (PD)

Describes the construction and use of cardboard models that illustrate systems that are functions of three variables. (MLH)

Concerned with consequences of employing the INDSCAL model when one of its assumptions are known to be violated. Under study is the notion that all individuals perceive the object space dimensions to be independent. (RC)

This article suggests some criteria to consider when using a concrete representation to support the treatment of a mathematical concept or sentence. (DT)

Learning processes have been investigated for regularities of the changes in the strength of a reflex that result from manipulations of several parameters of a stimulus. Most of this work has been carried out in the tradition of associative theory. One consequence of this emphasis was that for a long time several phenomena that can be…

We explore the nature and consequences of teachers' problem solving through an example of a teacher's mathematical problem solving as it was occasioned by a student's mathematics. This illustration demonstrates the value of an interpretive framework that points to the mathematics of the classroom as a collective. Arising from this exploration is…

This paper discusses the limitations of Classical Test Theory, the purpose of Item Response Theory/Latent Trait Measurement models, and the step-by-step calculations in the Rasch measurement model. The paper explains how Item Response Theory (IRT) transforms person abilities and item difficulties into the same metric for test-independent and…

This paper describes structural equation modeling (SEM) in comparison with another overarching analysis within the general linear model (GLM) analytic family: canonical correlation analysis. The uninitiated reader can gain an understanding of SEM's basic tenets and applications. Latent constructs discovered via a measurement model are explored and…

Item response theory models arose from the inherent limitations of classical test theory methods of test analysis. A brief description of those limitations and the corresponding enhancements provided by item response models is provided. Further, an examination of the popular Rasch one-parameter latent trait model is undertaken. Specific…

In this paper are described some features of the intensive use of math software, primarily DERIVE, in the context of modeling in an introductory university course in differential equations. Different aspects are detailed: changes in the curriculum that included not only course contents, but also the sequence of introduction to various topics and…

This paper aims to describe a Bayesian approach to modeling and estimating cognitive models both in terms of statistical machinery and actual instrument development. Such a method taps the knowledge of experts to provide initial estimates for the probabilistic relationships among the variables in a multivariate latent variable model and refines…