Innovations in data science like predictive analytics, data mining, and data reduction have improved a variety of fields. Innovations in data science have also enabled the growth of two data-driven movements primarily used in clinical and counseling psychology: the common factors and common elements approaches. Each of these movements contains…

This study investigated the effects of linking potentially multidimensional test forms using the fixed item parameter calibration. Forms had equal or unequal total test difficulty with and without confounding difficulty. The mean square errors and bias of estimated item and ability parameters were compared across the various confounding tests. The…

Bayesian analysts use informed priors to improve analytic precision and prediction; however, rarely have they applied a mixed methods approach that uses qualitative data to develop these priors. Yet, using qualitatively informed priors can be useful when making predictions in the context of small sample sizes, which is common in school-based…

We studied the impact of different layouts for rank order questions on respondent effort, data quality, and substantive results among PC and smartphone respondents, in an experiment in an opt-in online panel in Spain, using an order-by-click design. We experimentally varied the device, the number of columns, and, for smartphone respondents, the…

This research derived information functions and proposed new scalar information indices to examine the quality of multidimensional forced choice (MFC) items based on the RANK model. We also explored how GGUM-RANK information, latent trait recovery, and reliability varied across three MFC formats: pairs (two response alternatives), triplets (three…

Reading aloud receives a great deal of attention as something done with children and as a potential teaching tool, but less is known about the oral reading that we, as adults, may do for various purposes across our everyday lives. This article explores one element of a two-year project recording and analysing contemporary adult reading aloud…

Applause, an overt expression of approval from audience to performer, is one of the most common forms of audience response to live musical performances. In this study, we examined the effects of applause magnitude (high, low, or no applause) and musical style (motet or spiritual) on listeners' ratings of choral performances. A secondary area of…

Gender gaps on the most widely used conceptual inventories created by physics education researchers have been extensively studied. Most of the research exploring the consistent gender gaps has been performed at the student level using the total evaluation score; less research has been performed examining these assessments at the item level and…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a unique form of pedagogy dedicated to developing students' self-learning and clinical practice skills. After several decades of development, although applications vary, PBL has been recognized all over the world and implemented by many medical schools. This review summarizes and updates the application and study of…

Background: Living with dementia is challenging, but poses unique difficulties for people with an intellectual disability. The process of dementia is also challenging for family, carers and friends. Materials and Methods: This study explores the impact of dementia on direct care staff using a focus group methodology. Thematic analysis was used to…

The trend in mathematics achievement from preschool to kindergarten is studied with a longitudinal growth item response theory model. The three measurement occasions included the spring of preschool and the spring and fall of kindergarten. The growth trend was nonlinear, with a steep drop between spring of preschool and fall of kindergarten. The…

After discussing informal feedback from a district workshop for teachers of the gifted on the practice of mindfulness, the authors asked the question: Does research support the shared reactions of these teachers? A review of the literature showed there are a growing number of studies on mindfulness, but research on teachers and mindfulness is…

Student feedback literacy denotes the understandings, capacities and dispositions needed to make sense of information and use it to enhance work or learning strategies. In this conceptual paper, student responses to feedback are reviewed and a number of barriers to student uptake of feedback are discussed. Four inter-related features are proposed…

Doctoral examiners are increasingly assessing theses that include publications that have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication. This paper presents insights into the nature of commentary that examiners provide on doctoral theses that include publications. Data were gathered from examiners who had experience assessing publication-based…

Adolescent anger, aggression, and violent outbursts are social problems significantly affecting each of us. Individual therapeutic management of pathological anger is treated in various ways depending on practitioners' theoretical orientations and competency levels. Popular psychological individual and group therapies addressing anger and…