From Bottom of the Barrel to Cream of the Crop: Sequential Screening with Positive Selection

In a number of interesting environments, dynamic screening involves positive selection: in contrast with Coasian dynamics, only the most motivated remain over time. The paper provides conditions under which the principal's commitment optimum is time consistent and uses this result to derive testable predictions under permanent or transient shocks. It also identifies environments in which time consistency does not hold despite positive selection, and yet simple equilibrium characterizations can be obtained

The role of parent-child relationship in children’s emergent literacy in Hong Kong

The burgeoning research literature has shown that family variables are important in contributing to children’s emergent literacy development. However, no compelling picture about the underlying mechanism and inconsistent findings about the extent of impact have emerged from the existing literature. In this present study, I address this knowledge gap by focusing on three related issues in order to unravel theoretical interplay among the structural components and hence the underlying mechanism of the developmental process of children’s emergent literacy. I propose a theoretical framework of hypothetical mediation structure for empirical testing. It posits that parent-child relationship quality (PCRQ) affects indirectly children’s emergent literacy development through an intervening process captured by home literacy environment. Using systematic random sampling of a population, a total of 432 biological parent-child dyads (M=48 months; SD=2) from 19 international kindergartens across Hong Kong participated in this research study. Structural equation modeling with LISREL 8.80 was employed for evaluating the structural models. Results demonstrated that differential effects of different facets of home literacy environment on different domains of children’s emergent literacy were robust. The hypotheses with home literacy resource as mediator were rejected. Although the results supported the hypotheses that two components of parent-child literacy interaction significantly mediated the relations between parent-child relationship quality and children’s emergent literacy, the specific indirect effects were small and negative. By translating the present findings and integrating them with the insights from decades of rigorous science of child development, in particular, drawing on the recent advances in the field of developmental neuroscience, I develop a PCRQ Commitment Model to provide parents, policymakers and society with a more integrated picture about the total family process for optimization of child developmental outcomes in all aspects of child functioning and well-being including the development of children’s emergent literacy beginning in the earliest years of life

Deconstructing Concepts of Student Satisfaction, Engagement and Participation in UK Higher Education

This thesis argues that established models of student satisfaction in higher education fail to take into account the contribution that students make towards their own learning and satisfaction and postulates a holistic model of student satisfaction. This thesis also highlights that student satisfaction is a slow and incremental process spread over several semesters and thus can more appropriately be understood longitudinally. Based on the conceptual framework, a theoretical model is presented and empirically explored using two datasets: a cross-sectional dataset comprised of 147 students and a longitudinal dataset comprised of 66 students. Both datasets were collected from students at Oxford Brookes University. The longitudinal data is collected for 2 years (4 semesters). A theoretical model is presented and tested for empirical support using structural equation modelling (SEM) for the cross-sectional dataset while SEM growth curve modelling is employed to analyse the longitudinal dataset. The results provide overwhelming support for the proposed theoretical model and confirm that student satisfaction is indeed a multi-faceted concept and cannot be understood solely on aspects of student learning experiences like many established models. It can more appropriately be understood using other concepts that signify the contribution of students in their own learning and satisfaction such as student engagement and student participation. The results also point out the significance of understanding student satisfaction longitudinally and give an insight into students’ growth trajectories as well as their perceptions about student satisfaction at different times during their course

Knowledge of Overdiagnosis and the Decision To Participate in Breast Cancer Screening

In 2014, breast cancer was the second leading cause of death among Canadian women, with women over age 50 years making up 82% of the identified cases. To address this issue, the Ontario Breast Screening Program developed a media campaign that promoted the benefits of mammogram screening, but not the associated risks (i.e., false-positive, false-negative, radiation exposure, and overdiagnosis). This study was designed to determine whether there was a statistically significant relationship between knowledge of overdiagnosis and participation in mammogram screening. This cross-sectional, correlational study used schema theory supported by the effective health communication model. Forty-one women were invited to listen to a brief presentation on the benefits and risks of screening mammograms and then completed a modified Champion Health Belief Model Scale survey. Two sample t tests and logistic regression analyses of the survey scores showed that the data did not support any correlations with education and screening, but did indicate a correlation between overdiagnosis and participation. The less a participant felt that overdiagnosis was a negative consequence, the more likely they were to participate in breast screening. Survey participants also stated that promotions of mammograms should present balanced information about the benefits and risks of screening. The positive social change and policy implications of this study include providing women aged 50-69 years more information on overdiagnosis in mammograms so they are more informed participants in the decision-making process, and educating Ontario government policymakers with information about the barriers that women aged 50-69 years face in getting balanced information on mammography programs

A Confirmation Factor Analysis Of Teaching Presence Within The Florida Online Reading Professional Development Program

The Community of Inquiry model provides a framework for recognizing and evaluating interpersonal behaviors in online educational settings. One of its three components, teaching presence (TP), describes those behaviors that are under the auspices of the online instructor. By examining these interactions and behaviors through the theoretical lens provided by teaching presence, and by measuring them with the Teaching Presence Scale (TPS), it may be possible to gain greater understanding of the practices employed most effectively by online instructors. This dissertation describes the background, theoretical and empirical foundations, methods, and results of a study on TP. The purpose of the study was threefold: to validate the use of the TPS in an online professional development setting outside of the higher education context in which it was designed and tested; to confirm the factor composition of TP among facilitators in an online professional development course; and to determine the extent and direction of the relationship between teaching presence and student satisfaction. The participants in this study (n = 718) were in-service educators enrolled at the Florida Online Reading Professional Development program. They responded to an instrument that included the 28 original TPS questions, plus 17 student satisfaction and 11 demographic items. Confirmatory factor analysis and Pearson\u27s correlation were used to answer the three research questions and corresponding hypotheses. The research questions were answered in the affirmative, and the null hypotheses rejected. There was support for the use of the TPS in an online professional development setting (all 28 TPS items loaded as hypothesized on the three TP factors); support for a three-factor model of TP using 17 of the 28 TPS items (X2 [116, N = 718] = 115.56, p = .49, CFI = .999; NNFI = .999; SRMR = .02; and RMSEA = .03); and evidence of a strong relationship between components of TP and student satisfaction (statistically significant correlations [p \u3c .001] between TP and student satisfaction, r2 values ranging from .25 to .57). A discussion of the results, implications for practice, implications for further research, and limitations of the study were presented following the data analysis

Learner perceptions of demotivators in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom: Conceptual framework, scale development, and tentative underlying cause analysis

Notwithstanding the negative influence of demotivation on student learning outcomes, prior research in EFL demotivation suffers from the lack of generally agreed-upon conceptual understanding, which hampers scale development. The present series of studies sought to explore the ideas of demotivation and describe the development of the Learner Perception of Demotivators Scale (LPDS) both conceptually and psychometrically. In Study 1 (N = 295), an exploratory factor analysis offered preliminary support for a factor structure comprising three dimensions: negative teacher behavior, loss of task value, and low expectancy for success. In Study 2 (N = 320), the proposed factor structure was further corroborated through confirmatory factor analysis, and its validity was documented by means of correlating with academic performance, self-efficacy, and mindset. A second-order factor model was tested to investigate whether a set of demotivating factors load on an overall construct that may be termed “Demotivator”. Whereas the model fit confirmed a wellitting second-order model with post hoc model adjustment, one low first-order loading (negative teacher behavior) does not seem to support “Demotivator” as a higher order construct comprising three subdimensions. Furthermore, the LPDS demonstrated evidence of configural, metric, scalar, and residual invariance across gender, suggesting the same underlying construct is measured across gender groups. Contrary to the findings in motivation research, loss of task value was a stronger predictor of performance than low expectancy for success. Further, in Study 3 (N =320), loss of task value distinguished extremely motivated EFL learners from ordinary ones, offering tentative evidence for the reason behind demotivation in EFL learning. The unique role of task value found in Study 2 and Study 3 gave insights into the hypothetical construct of “demotivation”. It was also examined in the context of East Asian culture. By establishing a nomological network (academic performance, self-efficacy, and mindset), the current study provided a lawful pattern of interrelationships that exists between the hypothetical construct (demotivation) and observable attributes (e.g., academic performance) and that guides researcher for future L2 studies. More implications and limitations for future studies are discussed

Improving screening for externalizing behavior problems in very young children : applications of item response theory to evaluate instruments in pediatric primary care.

Externalizing behavior problems in very young children are associated with an array of negative and costly long-term outcomes. Pediatric primary care is a promising venue for implementing screening practices to improve early identification of this social and public health problem. In this setting, screening requires a brief, easily scored instrument which can detect sub-clinical to clinical levels of the latent construct within the context of early childhood development. Further, items used should perform consistently with children of all sociodemographic backgrounds. This study applied item response theory analyses to investigate the precision, utility, and differential item functioning (DIF) of items measuring externalizing behavior problems in two caregiverreport questionnaires: the PSC-17 (Gardner et al., 1999) and the BPI (Peterson & Zill, 1986; Zill, 1990). Caregivers (N = 900) of children ages 3 to 5 responded to both instruments and a sociodemographic questionnaire in the waiting rooms of four pediatric primary care clinics. Sociodemographic characteristics of the children were diverse: 47% were female, 50% were of minority race, and 43% were of low socioeconomic status (SES). Eighteen items comprising the instruments\u27 combined externalizing subscales were evaluated for (a) levels of externalizing behavior problems best measured, and (b) DIF exhibited by child sex, race, and SES. Samejima\u27s (1969) graded response model was fit to the data, and two methods of DIF-detection were employed. Estimation of item parameters allowed consideration of the levels of externalizing behavior problems at which each item was most informative. Five items were found to measure only low to average levels of externalizing problems in the target population, while the remaining 13 were informative at sub-clinical to clinical levels. Significant DIF was detected in 8 of 18 items by child sex, race, or SES. A set of 4 items was identified which (a) provided the most information at sub-clinical to clinical levels of externalizing behavior problems, and (b) exhibited the least amount of DIF by child sex, race, and SES. These items may constitute a promising tool for screening purposes with preschool-aged children in the primary care setting, potentially improving early identification of very young children with externalizing behavior problems

Financing mix of non-financial corporations: evidence from European countries

This study analyses the financing decisions of listed non-financial corporations in France, Germany and the UK over the period 1969 to 2000. These countries represent satisfactorily different financial structures of their classes, Le., Latinic, Germanic and Anglo-Saxon traditions, respectively. Thus, this thesis attempts to shed light on the impact of institutional differences (accounting and taxation systems, bankruptcy laws, corporate governance structure) on corporate financing mix policies. The empirical investigation comprises three main themes; capital structure (debt versus equity), debt maturity structure (short-term versus long-term debt), and debt ownership structure public versus private debt). It is obvious that factors influencing financial strategies of firms change overtime and firms are expected to adjust themselves to their target financing structure according to random events. For these reasons we use dynamic panel data and choose Generalised Methods of Moments (GMM) as an appropriate estimation procedure for our autoregressive-distributed lag model GMM methodology overcomes the problems of endogeneity, heteroscedasticity, normality, simultaneity and measurement errors, which are common for studies using firm-level data. The empirical evidence shows that corporate financing decisions are determined by both firm-specific (profitability, tangibility and maturity of assets, growth, quality, size, liquidity, payout policy, corporate tax rates, and earnings volatility), and market-related factors (term structure of interest rates, market equity premium, interest rate volatility, stock return volatility, stock price performance). However, the strength and nature of the effect of these factors are dependent on the financial environment and tradition of the countries of interest. Therefore, our research argues that financing mix decisions of firms are not only the product of their own characteristics, but also the outcome of environment and traditions in which they operate