An individualized project is introduced to accompany a differential equations course with different modules ranging from standard to advanced levels with "Matlab" scripts. (Contains 1 figure.)

This report presents a model and an approach that institutions of higher education can use to analyze and project the impact of endogenous and exogenous factors on both net and gross tuition in the context of the increasing practice of tuition discounting. It is noted that two key questions drive this effort: (1) what influence does gross tuition…

Five issues relative to the use of different Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) models to identify effective schools and teachers were examined using data from all students in the Dallas (Texas) public schools in grade 3 in 1994 and grade 4 in 1995. OLS models using first- and second-order interactions produced…

Classical test theory, item response theory, and generalizability theory all treat the abilities to be measured as continuous variables, and the items of a test as independent probes of underlying continua. These models are well-suited to measuring the broad, diffuse traits of traditional differential psychology, but not for measuring the outcomes…

The role of prior knowledge in skill acquisition is to enable the learner to detect and to correct errors. Computational mechanisms that carry out these two functions are implemented in a simulation model which represents prior knowledge in "constraints". The model learns symbolic skills in mathematics and science by noticing and…

This paper discusses the requirements of Interactive Geometry Systems (IGSs) and how they can be fulfilled, explains how a geometry tool can benefit from the Internet, and presents Cinderella's Cafe. Cinderella's Cafe is a new IGS with a high mathematical background that uses the most general mathematical models whenever possible, is highly…

A study was conducted to determine if the centralization of braille operations for the national free library program would be feasible, economical, and desirable. This report presents the findings of the study in three sections. Section 1 provides background information, a summary of the first phase of operations, and the study objective for phase…

An important topic presented in introductory statistics courses is the estimation of population parameters using samples. Students learn that when estimating population variances using sample data, we always get an underestimate of the population variance if we divide by n rather than n-1. One implication of this correction is that the degree of…

This first-year report of the National Effective Transfer Consortium (NETC) summarizes the progress made by the member colleges in creating standardized measures of actual and expected transfer rates and of transfer effectiveness, and establishing a database that would enable valid comparisons among NETC colleges. Following background information…

Regression-based adjustment of student outcomes for the assessment of the merit of schools is considered. First, the basics of causal modeling and multiple regression are briefly reviewed. Then, two common regression-based adjustment procedures are described, pointing out that the validity of the final assessments depends on: (1) the degree to…

In multiple-choice items the response probability on an item may be viewed as the result of two distinct latent processes--a cognitive process to solve the problem, and another random process that leads to the choice of a certain alternative (the process of giving the actual response). An incomplete latent class model is formulated that describes…

Although perfectly scalable items rarely occur in practice, Guttman's concept of a scale has proved to be valuable to the development of measurement theory. If the score distribution is uniform and there is an equal number of items at each difficulty level, both the elements and the eigenvalues of the Pearson correlation matrix of dichotomous…

This paper discusses the use of latent class structure as a modelling framework for tests in which much of the data conforms to a relatively small number of systematic patterns. Application of this framework to the analysis of tests has been limited because available parameter estimation algorithms can only handle a relatively small number of…

Hypothetical data sets are used to demonstrate how canonical correlation methods subsume other commonly utilized parametric methods. Analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, multiple analysis of variance, and multiple analysis of covariance are heavily used by educational researchers. It is concluded that researchers would do well to consider…

Three item response models were evaluated for estimating item parameters and equating test scores. The models, which approximated the traditional three-parameter model, included: (1) the Rasch one-parameter model, operationalized in the BICAL computer program; (2) an approximate three-parameter logistic model based on coarse group data divided…