Journalism's societal role hinges on effective communication, demanding proficient language skills. This study assesses a South African University of Technology's Department of Journalism, probing existing selection methods' efficacy in predicting success in two English modules. Concerns persist about these methods accurately identifying students…

Readers often struggle to identify the main ideas in expository texts. Existing research and instruction provide some guidance on how to encourage readers to identify main ideas. However, there is substantial variability in how main ideas are operationalized and how readers are prompted to identify main ideas. This variability hinders…

Edgenuity is a one of a multitude of digital support tools for instruction and intervention. In 2019,a School District in the South began using Edgenuity -- a digital intervention platform focused on grade and credit recovery. This current study evaluated Edgenuity to determine its effects on students learning and the associated cost. For the…

Longitudinal models of individual growth typically emphasize between-person predictors of change but ignore how growth may vary "within" persons because each person contributes only one point at each time to the model. In contrast, modeling growth with multi-item assessments allows evaluation of how relative item performance may shift…

Longitudinal models typically emphasize between-person predictors of change but ignore how growth varies "within" persons because each person contributes only one data point at each time. In contrast, modeling growth with multi-item assessments allows evaluation of how relative item performance may shift over time. While traditionally…

Replicable, aggregable, data- supported (RAD) research has become standard in writing center studies. Choice of research question is determined by local conditions and exigencies, often influenced by institutional assessment policy and national mandates. The methodology of choice in most writing center research is qualitative inquiry, though…

This study aims to develop a valid and reliable scale for determining the self-efficacy of teachers toward context-based science education. This study employed a survey design. The sample has formed 433 science teachers working in Kayseri province in the 2020-2021 spring semester. Firstly, an item pool of 85 items was developed by reviewing the…

School systems across the United States increasingly use performance-based assessments (PBAs) as alternatives to traditional standardized tests, like the SAT, to make post-secondary and workforce readiness (PWR) determinations. However, very little research has been conducted to validate such alternative assessments as valid indicators of a…

Differential item functioning (DIF) often arises from multiple sources. Within the context of multidimensional item response theory, this study examined DIF items with varying secondary dimensions using the three DIF methods: SIBTEST, Mantel-Haenszel, and logistic regression. The effect of the number of secondary dimensions on DIF detection rates…

As a crucial method in organizational and social behavior research, self-report surveys must manage method bias. Method biases are distorted scores in survey response, distorted variance in variables, and distorted relational estimates between variables caused by method designs. Studies on method bias have focused on "post hoc"…

For many professors, testing is primarily a tool for assessing the learning of students. However, research into the "testing effect" has established the value of testing also as a learning tool, not just as an assessment tool. This article provides an overview of this research and also of my own experiences in using a variety of testing…

The Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment (BEMA) is a multiple-choice instrument commonly used to measure introductory undergraduate students' conceptual understanding of electricity and magnetism. This study used a network analysis technique called modified module analysis-partial (MMA-P) to identify clusters of correlated responses, also…

Background: Reading comprehension is an interactive process. Yet, instructional needs are usually identified with isolated componential tests. This study examined whether a dynamic approach, in which componential abilities are measured within the same text and global text comprehension is facilitated via feedback, can help in understanding…

Background: School Health Profiles assesses school health policies and practices among US secondary schools. Methods: The 2020 School Health Profiles principal and teacher questionnaires were used for a test-retest reliability study. Cohen's kappa coefficients tested the agreement in dichotomous responses to each questionnaire variable at 2 time…

Alterations in the development of attention control and learning have been associated with autism and can be measured using the "antisaccade task," which assesses a child's ability to make an oculomotor response away from a distracting stimulus, and learn to instead anticipate a later reward. We aimed to assess these cognitive processes…