Instructors at Cleveland State University have designed an activity that moves prospective supervisor teachers through the steps of a particular model simulation to develop needed skills. (SK)

Subjects (N=52) took part in an investigation of the effects of room environment on self-disclosure in a counseling analogue procedure. Results indicated that intimacy of self-disclosure was significantly higher in a warm, intimate room than in a "cold," nonintimate room. Theoretical reasons for these results and practical applications are…

Discusses the PLATO computer educational network, examples of various computer simulation modules, and educational benefits and problems of teaching by computer. (MLH)

Filmed vignettes of emotional confrontations are suggested as a training device to be used for resident assistants. (Author)

Suggested ways of introducing "realism" into the classroom by exposing students to the problems, jargon, and forms used by a variety of businesses using the "in-basket" on simulated projects. (HD)

Alterations in the communication of the simulated patient may provide an opportunity for doctor-patient communication research in such areas as: message effects upon both doctor and patient; effects of role expectations; communication competency; and the manner in which the patient weighs information and acts upon it. (LBH)

Discusses the use of the System Dynamics technique in simulating a chemical reaction for kinetic analysis. Also discusses the use of simulation modelling in biology, ecology, and the social sciences, where experimentation may be impractical or impossible. (MLH)

A positive correlation has been found between laptops and student achievement. Laptops are similar to Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) in many respects. This study seeks to determine the effect of PDA usage on high school student academic achievement. It was hypothesized that a positive correlation between PDA usage and academic achievement in…

The validity of inferences based on achievement test scores is dependent on the amount of effort that examinees put forth while taking the test. With low-stakes tests, for which this problem is particularly prevalent, there is a consequent need for psychometric models that can take into account different levels of examinee effort. This article…

"Toxic Waste in Grand Banks" is an assessment task in which students from a high school economics class investigate the issues of economic prosperity, environmental concerns, government intervention in the market economy, and responsible civic participation in solving community problems. Students will demonstrate an ability--both individually and…

The purpose of this study was to examine empirical Type I error rates and rejection rates for three dimensionality assessment procedures with data sets simulated to reflect short tests and small samples. The TESTFACT G superscript 2 difference test suffered from an inflated Type I error rate with unidimensional data sets, while the approximate chi…

Because of perceived advantages, simulations are increasingly being used for performance-based training. This is a review of computer simulation as a learning tool, and its application within the context of disaster preparedness. Concepts from established learning theory are examined and research verifiable by empirical data is referenced. To…

One challenge associated with computerized adaptive testing (CAT) is the maintenance of test and item security while allowing for daily testing. An alternative to continually creating new pools containing an independent set of items would be to consider each CAT pool as a sample of items from a larger collection (referred to as a VAT) rather than…

Several recent studies have investigated the application of statistical inference procedures to the analysis of differential item functioning (DIF) in test items that are scored on an ordinal scale. Mantel's extension of the Mantel-Haenszel test is a possible hypothesis-testing method for this purpose. The development of descriptive statistics for…