Equating Error and Statistical Bias in Small Sample Linear Equating     

Cynthia G. Parshall  Pansy Du Bose Houghton  Jeffrey D. Kromrey 《Journal of Educational Measurement》1995,32(1):37-54

A resampling study was conducted to compare the statistical bias and standard errors of nonequivalent-groups linear test equating in small samples of examinees. Sample sizes of 15, 25, 50, and 100 were examined. One thousand samples of each size were drawn with replacement from each of 5 archival data files from teacher subject area tests. For each test, data files from 2 parallel forms were used. Results suggest trivial levels of equating bias even with small samples, but substantial increases in standard errors as sample size decreases. Results were interpreted in terms of applications to testing situations in which small numbers of examinees are available.  相似文献   

Student attitudes to UNDP Social Science curriculum in Fiji — Personal and environmental influences     

Tupeni L. Baba  Barry J. Fraser 《International Review of Education/Internationale Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft/Revue internationale l'éducation》1983,29(4):465-483

A sample of 834 seventh grade students in Fiji participated in an evaluation of the UNDP Social Science curriculum by responding to questionnaires measuring attitudes to or perceptions of three important curriculum process criteria (Interest, Ease and Adequacy of Time). The three major purposes of the evaluation were to provide formative information to guide curriculum revision, to provide summative information about the overall efficacy of the curriculum, and to explore the differential suitability of the curriculum for students varying in personal and environmental characteristics. Examination of means on individual questionnaire items led to the identification of certain curriculum activities requiring modification to improve their level of Interest, Ease, or Adequacy of Time. The finding that the mean score was relatively high for most questionnaire items suggested that the majority of activities in the curriculum were perceived by students as interesting and easy and having sufficient time for completion. Multiple regression analyses revealed that a block of personal variables and a block of environmental variables, but not a block of person-environment interactions, accounted for a significant amount of variance in the three process criteria. In particular, it was found that student attitudes to the curriculum varied systematically with certain personal variables (e.g., student general interest in social science, student ethnicity) and environmental variables (e.g., school location, teacher training).

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Zusammenfassung Eine Stichprobe von 834 Schülern des siebten Schuljahres auf den Fidschi-Inseln, die an einer Auswertung des UNDP sozialwissenschaftlichen Curriculums teilnahmen, indem sie Fragebogen beantworteten, welche die Einstellungen oder Wahrnehmungen dreier wichtiger Curriculumentwicklungskriterien (Interesse, Schwierigkeitsgrad und Angemessenheit des Zeitansatzes) maßen. Die drei Hauptziele der Auswertung waren, Hinweise zur Gestaltung als Anleitung zur Curriculumsüberarbeitung zu geben, zusammenfassende Information über die Gesamtwirkung des Curriculums zu erteilen, und die unterschiedliche Eignung des Curriculums für Schüler zu untersuchen, die in persönlichen und umweltbedingten Merkmalen abweichen. Die Untersuchung der Werte der individuellen Fragebogenpunkte führte zur Identifikation bestimmter Curriculumaktivitäten, die Veränderungen erforderten, um das Interessenniveau, den Schwierigkeitsgrad oder die Angemessenheit des Zeitansatzes zu verbessern. Die Feststellung, daß die durchschnittliche Punktzahl für die meisten Fragebogenpunkte relativ hoch war, legte nahe, daß die Mehrzahl der Aktivitäten im Curriculum von den Schülern als interessant, leicht und als zeitausreichend empfunden wurde. Multiple Regressionsanalysen zeigten, daß ein Block von persönlichen Variablen und ein Block von Umweltvariablen, aber kein Block von Person-, Umwelt-Interaktionen, Rechenschaft ablegten über einen signifikanten Betrag von Varianz in den drei Entwicklungskriterien. Im besonderen stellte sich heraus, daß die Einstellungen von Schülern zum Curriculum sich systematisch veränderten mit bestimmten persönlichen Variablen (z.B. allgemeines Interesse der Schüler an Sozialwissenschaften, ethnische Zugehörigkeit der Schüler) und durch Umweltvariablen (z.B. Schulstandort, Lehrerausbildung).

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Résumé Aux îles Fidgi, un échantillon de 834 élèves du 7ième degré a participé à une évaluation du curriculum des sciences sociales de l'UNDP en remplissant des questionnaires qui mesuraient leurs attitudes vis-à-vis de trois critères importants du processus curriculaire ainsi que leurs perceptions de ces critères (intérêt, facilité et convenance du temps alloué). Les trois principaux objectifs de l'évaluation consistaient à apporter une information formative pour guider la révision du curriculum, à donner ensuite une information globale sur l'ensemble de l'efficacité du curriculum et enfin à explorer la convenance différentielle du curriculum pour les étudiants qui présentent des caractéristiques personnelles différentes et dont l'environnement diffère. L'examen des données moyennes de certains points du questionnaire a conduit à l'identification de certaines activités du curriculum qui ont nécessité une modification pour améliorer leur niveau d'intérêt, de facilité et de convenance du temps alloué. Le fait que la moyenne était relativement élevée pour la plupart des points du questionnaire laissait supposer que la majorité des activités de ce curriculum étaient intéressantes, faciles pour les étudiants et réalisables dans le temps alloué. Plusieurs analyses régressives ont montré qu'un bloc de variables personnelles et un bloc de variables liées à l'environnement, mais non pas un bloc d'interactions entre personnes et environnement, étaient responsables d'une grande variation des trois critères du processus. Il s'est avéré en particulier que les attitudes des étudiants vis-à-vis du curriculum variaient systématiquement en fonction de certaines variables personnelles (intérêt général des étudiants pour les sciences sociales, l'origine des étudiants) et de variables liées à l'environnement (emplacement de l'école, formation des enseignants).

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Bottom line—Beyond the degree checklist     

Cynthia Demetriou 《About Campus》2007,12(4):27-29

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Home visiting intervention for vulnerable families with newborns: follow-up results of a randomized controlled trial     

Fraser JA  Armstrong KL  Morris JP  Dadds MR 《Child abuse & neglect》2000,24(11):1399-1429

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to: (1) Assess the community utility of a screening tool to identify families with child abuse or neglect risk factors in the immediate postnatal period (2) Determine the social validity and effectiveness of a home visiting program using community child health nurses and offering social work services for identified families, and (3) Identify factors in the immediate postnatal period associated with the child's environment that predict poor adjustment to the parenting role. METHOD: A randomized controlled trial using a cohort of 181 families was undertaken to evaluate the impact of a home visiting program. Mothers were recruited in the immediate postnatal period and allocated either into the home visiting program or into a comparison group. The research design required self-identification into the study by providing positive responses to a range of risk factors. A repeated measures design was used to test parenting stress and maternal depression from the immediate postnatal period to 12-month follow-up and physical child abuse potential to 18-month follow-up. To test whether measures taken in the immediate postnatal period were predictive for poor adjustment to the parenting role, a linear regression model was used. RESULTS: The screening procedure was shown to have utility in the context of recruitment to a research trial and mothers were willing to accept the home visiting program examined by this study from the immediate postnatal period. From as early as 6 weeks the program demonstrated ability to impact positively on maternal, infant, family, and home environment variables (testing 90 randomly allocated intervention vs. 91 comparison families). At follow-up, parental adjustment variables were not significantly different between groups (testing the remaining 68 (75.5%) intervention vs. 70 (76.9%) comparison families) and home environment assessment scores had converged. Predictive analysis of factors measured in the immediate postnatal period revealed an absence of any predictive value to demographic characteristics, which secondary prevention efforts typically target. CONCLUSIONS: Follow-up evaluation did not demonstrate a positive impact on parenting stress, parenting competence, or quality of the home environment confirming the need to test early program success on longer term outcomes. Further, thestudy not only demonstrated that there was a relationship between maternal, family and environmental factors identified in the immediate postnatal period. and adjustment to the parenting role, but also challenged demographic targeting for child abuse and neglect risk. At the same time, the immediate postnatal period presented an exciting window of opportunity to access high-risk families who may otherwise have become marginalized from traditional services.  相似文献   

Computer Technology,Science Education,and Students with Learning Disabilities     

Kumar  David  Wilson  Cynthia L. 《Journal of Science Education and Technology》1997,6(2):155-160

The ways computer technology could be used to teach science to students with learning disabilities (LD) are explored. Science is for all students and that includes students with LD. Learning science has both cognitive and affective implications for students with LD. In this context, computer technology provides cognitively engaging and motivating instructional tools for individualizing the mode of delivery; developing expert tutors; anchoring instruction; integrating science with other subjects; reducing cognitive load on working memory; and motivating students to stay on task. These applications are discussed with implications for teaching science to students with LD.  相似文献   

Innovations and Practice     

Barry J. Fraser 《Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education》1979,7(3-4):120-122

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Design,validation, and use of an evaluation instrument for monitoring systemic reform     

Kathryn Scantlebury  William Boone  Jane Butler Kahle  Barry J. Fraser 《科学教学研究杂志》2001,38(6):646-662

Over the past decade, state and national policymakers have promoted systemic reform as a way to achieve high‐quality science education for all students. However, few instruments are available to measure changes in key dimensions relevant to systemic reform such as teaching practices, student attitudes, or home and peer support. Furthermore, Rasch methods of analysis are needed to permit valid comparison of different cohorts of students during different years of a reform effort. This article describes the design, development, validation, and use of an instrument that measures student attitudes and several environment dimensions (standards‐based teaching, home support, and peer support) using a three‐step process that incorporated expert opinion, factor analysis, and item response theory. The instrument was validated with over 8,000 science and mathematics students, taught by more than 1,000 teachers in over 200 schools as part of a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of Ohio's systemic reform initiative. When the new four‐factor, 20‐item questionnaire was used to explore the relative influence of the class, home, and peer environment on student achievement and attitudes, findings were remarkably consistent across 3 years and different units and methods of analysis. All three environments accounted for unique variance in student attitudes, but only the environment of the class accounted for unique variance in student achievement. However, the class environment (standards‐based teaching practices) was the strongest independent predictor of both achievement and attitude, and appreciable amounts of the total variance in attitudes were common to the three environments. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 646–662, 2001  相似文献   

Elephants Dancing in My Head: A Developmental Approach to Children''s Concepts of Specific Pains     

Cynthia Harbeck  Lizette Peterson 《Child development》1992,63(1):138-149

The present study produced an empirically derived, developmental continuum of children's understanding of specific pains. Subjects of 5 age groups: preschool (ages 3-4), first grade (ages 6-7), third grade (ages 8-10), sixth grade (ages 11-12) and college freshmen (ages 18-23) were interviewed with open-ended questions. The subjects were questioned extensively about 3 specific types of pain: an injury (skinned knee), a medical intervention (injection), and an illness (headache). Subjects were asked to describe each pain, tell why the pain hurt, and state the value of the pain. Their answers were then categorized and the categories ordered developmentally by experts in pediatric pain who were unaware of the children's ages. Then children's specific answers were given developmental scores. Multivariate analyses revealed that older children had more complex and precise understandings of pain, and this pattern differed by type of pain and by aspect of pain being considered. The subjects were also asked to report the frequency of their own pains and their parents' pain; parental and self-reported pains were closely related.  相似文献   

How is radial arm maze behavior in rats related to locomotor search tactics?     

Cynthia M. Hoffman  William Timberlake  Joseph Leffel  Rory Gont 《Learning & behavior》1999,27(4):426-444

Norway rats have been shown to depend on short-term spatial memory to find food on a radial arm maze (RAM), but what locomotor search tactics are involved in using this memory effectively? Four experiments distinguished tactics of distance minimizing, central-place search, trail following, thigmotactic search, and random search by using different configurations of a RAM placed flat on the floor of an arena. These search tactics make similar predictions on an elevated RAM but predict different outcomes on a floor RAM because the rats are free to approach the food from any direction. After initial trials dominated by exploration, rats traveled along arms to food, even when the resultant distance was up to three times the minimum distance. With no food present, rats also traveled along arms; with no arms up to present, they traveled along walls to food. It appears that both maze arms and arena walls engage mechanisms related to trail following in rats.  相似文献   

Classroom Environment Instruments: Development,Validity and Applications   总被引：11，自引：0，他引：11  

Fraser  Barry J. 《Learning Environments Research》1998,1(1):7-34

Few fields of educational research have such a rich diversity of valid, economical and widely-applicable assessment instruments as does the field of learning environments. This article describes nine major questionnaires for assessing student perceptions of classroom psychosocial environment (the Learning Environment Inventory, Classroom Environment Scale, Individualised Classroom Environment Questionnaire, My Class Inventory, College and University Classroom Environment Inventory, Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction, Science Laboratory Environment Inventory, Constructivist Learning Environment Survey and What Is Happening In This Class) and reviews the application of these instruments in 12 lines of past research (focusing on associations between outcomes and environment, evaluating educational innovation, differences between student and teacher perceptions, whether students achieve better in their preferred environment, teachers' use of learning environment perceptions in guiding improvements in classrooms, combining quantitative and qualitative methods, links between different educational environments, cross-national studies, the transition from primary to high school, and incorporating educational environment ideas into school psychology, teacher education and teacher assessment).  相似文献