Learning styles encapsulate the preferences of the students, regarding how they learn. By including information about the student learning style, computer-based educational systems are able to adapt a course according to the individual characteristics of the students. In accomplishing this goal, educational systems have been mostly based on the…

Means-end theory provides a useful approach for characterizing the relationship among the attributes or components of an experiential education course (the "means"), the benefits, or the outcomes associated with these attributes/course components, and the personal values (the "ends") these outcomes help to reinforce for course participants. The…

This article presents a model for the analysis of cost efficiency within the framework of data envelopment analysis models. It calculates the cost excess, separating a unit of production from its optimal or frontier levels, and, at the same time, breaks these excesses down into three explanatory factors: (a) technical inefficiency, which depends…

The stability of learning style preferences, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Learning Style Inventory (LSI), was examined using a configural frequency analysis of differences. Thirteen cohorts (222 graduate students) completed the instruments 3 times during their programs. Implications for use of learning style measures…

Context: There is a growing recognition of the need to measure and report hospital financial performance. However, there exists little comparative financial indicator data specifically for critical access hospitals (CAHs). CAHs differ from other hospitals on a number of dimensions that might affect appropriate indicators of performance, including…

A major form of data analysis in clinical child and adolescent psychology is multiple regression. This article reviews issues in the application of such methods in light of the research designs typical of this field. Issues addressed include controlling covariates, evaluation of predictor relevance, comparing predictors, analysis of moderation,…

Response bias has long been recognized as an issue in the behavioral and social sciences, especially in cross-cultural research. Transforming raw data into ipsatized data, individual scores subject to a constant sum constraint, is proposed to be an effective measure to minimize response bias. One major problem of applying ipsatized data is that…

Data from a longitudinal sample of dating couples (some of whom married) were analyzed to test the aspect of Waller's (1938) principle of least interest that states that unequal emotional involvement between romantic partners has implications for relationship quality and stability. Both members of the couples were asked multiple times over several…

To immerse high school students in inquiry, as advocated by the National Science Education Standards (1996), and to take advantage of the Internet's power, students are engaged in a computer data-mining exercise to solve real science problems. After formulating their research question, students scour the Internet to locate raw data they can…

Several data-analysis problems could be addressed in different ways, ranging from a series of related "local" fitting problems to a single comprehensive "global analysis". The approach has become a powerful one for fitting data to moderately complex models by using library functions and the methods are illustrated for the analysis of HCI-IR…

To assess the major sources of students' difficulties in qualitative analysis (QA), 51 grade 10 students (15 to 17 year old) from three secondary schools were interviewed. The results found that the major sources of students' difficulties in understanding QA are formation of precipitates, formation of complex salts and addition of acid.

This study compared data from death certificates (DC), medical examiner (ME) reports, and Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program for homicides among children age 5 years or younger in Jefferson County, Alabama between 1988 and 1998. Records from each source were matched independently to records from the other two sources. Kappa coefficients…

Objective:: This study examined the association between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and parenting outcomes including parenting stress, feelings of competence and discipline strategies. Maternal depression and current partner violence were hypothesized to be mediators of the association between CSA and parenting. Method:: This study is based on…

We contrast 2 theories within whose context problems are conceptualized and data interpreted. By traditional linear theory, a dependent variable is the sum of main-effect and interaction terms. By dimensional theory, independent variables yield values on internal dimensions that in turn determine performance. We frame our arguments within an…

This study examines technical efficiency in European higher education (HE) institutions. To measure efficiency, we consider the capacity of each HE institution, on one hand, to provide competencies to graduates and, on the other hand, to match competencies provided during education to competencies required in the job. We use a large sample of…