This article explores the mathematics involved in the NCAA basketball tournament including data analysis, basic probability, expected value, and the multiplication principle. A fun activity is presented that applies these concepts and involves students shooting Ping-Pong balls to discover a best strategy. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)

The crux in psychometrics is how to estimate the probability that a respondent answers an item correctly on one occasion out of many. Under the current testing paradigm this probability is estimated using all kinds of statistical techniques and mathematical modeling. Multiple evaluation is a new testing paradigm using the person's own personal…

Two new methods have been proposed to determine unexpected sum scores on sub-tests (testlets) both for paper-and-pencil tests and computer adaptive tests. A method based on a conservative bound using the hypergeometric distribution, denoted p, was compared with a method where the probability for each score combination was calculated using a…

Comparing variability of test scores across alternate forms, test conditions, or subpopulations is a fundamental problem in psychometrics. A confidence interval for a ratio of standard deviations is proposed that performs as well as the classic method with normal distributions and performs dramatically better with nonnormal distributions. A simple…

This paper analyses students' application strategies to higher education, the effects of labour market expectations and admission probabilities. The starting hypothesis of this study is that students consider the expected utility of their choices, a function of expected net lifetime earnings and the probability of admission. Based on a survey…

Despite its apparent simplicity, random assignment is an abstract concept for many students. This article describes a classroom demonstration that uses a standard deck of playing cards. In small groups, students randomly assign playing cards (i.e., participants) to 2 treatment groups. Following randomization, students compare the relative…

We present a multiple spells-competing risks model of stopout, dropout, reenrollment, and graduation behavior. We find that students who experience an initial stopout are more likely to experience subsequent stopouts (occurrence dependence) and are less likely to graduate. We also find evidence of the impact of the length of an initial spell on…

Background: This study investigated whether processing emotionally salient information such as emotional facial expressions influences the performance on a cognitive control task in pediatric anxiety and depression. Methods: The sample included 68 participants between 8 and 16 years of age selected into three diagnostic groups: Anxiety Disorder…

"Enciclomedia" is a Mexican project for primary school teaching using computers in the classroom. Within this project, and following an enactivist theoretical perspective and methodology, we have designed a computer-based package called "Dados", which, together with teaching guides, is intended to support the teaching and…

The randomized response (RR) technique is often used to obtain answers on sensitive questions. A new method is developed to measure latent variables using the RR technique because direct questioning leads to biased results. Within the RR technique is the probability of the true response modeled by an item response theory (IRT) model. The RR…

Although differential item functioning (DIF) theory traditionally focuses on the behavior of individual items in two (or a few) specific groups, in educational measurement contexts, it is often plausible to regard the set of items as a random sample from a broader category. This article presents logistic mixed models that can be used to model…

Part of the history of oil and gas development on Indian reservations concerns potential underpayment of royalties due to under-valuation of production by oil companies. This paper discusses a model used by the Shoshone and Arapaho tribes in a lawsuit against the Federal government, claiming the Government failed to collect adequate royalties.…

This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979-1998 to understand the differences between those who exited the welfare system voluntarily (leavers) and those who stayed (non-leavers), 1990-1996. The purpose of this research was to examine the differences between the groups in their personal and family characteristics,…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of gender and grade level on students' logical thinking abilities. A total of 174 sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade students participated in the study. Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT) was administered to determine students' reasoning abilities. A two-way multivariate analysis of variance…

With growing numbers of drug-involved offenders, substance abuse treatment has become a critical part of corrections. A multistage therapeutic community implemented in the Delaware correctional system has as its centerpiece a residential treatment program during work release--the transition between prison and community. An evaluation of this…