An Examination of Parameter Recovery Using Different Multiple Matrix Booklet Designs

Educational large-scale assessments examine students’ achievement in various content domains and thus provide key findings to inform educational research and evidence-based educational policies. To this end, large-scale assessments involve hundreds of items to test students’ achievement in various content domains. Administering all these items to single students will over-burden them, reduce participation rates, and consume too much time and resources. Hence multiple matrix sampling is used in which the test items are distributed into various test forms called “booklets”; and each student administered a booklet, containing a subset of items that can sensibly be answered during the allotted test timeframe. However, there are numerous possibilities as to how these booklets can be designed, and this manner of booklet design could influence parameter recovery precision both at global and subpopulation levels. One popular booklet design with many desirable characteristics is the Balanced Incomplete 7-Block or Youden squares design. Extensions of this booklet design are used in many large-scale assessments like TIMSS and PISA. This doctoral project examines the degree to which item and population parameters are recovered in real and simulated data in relation to matrix sparseness, when using various balanced incomplete block booklet designs. To this end, key factors (e.g., number of items, number of persons, number of items per person, and the match between the distributions of item and person parameters) are experimentally manipulated to learn how these factors affect the precision with which these designs recover true population parameters. In doing so, the project expands the empirical knowledge base on the statistical properties of booklet designs, which in turn could help improve the design of future large-scale studies. Generally, the results show that for a typical large-scale assessment (with a sample size of at least 3,000 students and more than 100 test items), population and item parameters are recovered accurately and without bias in the various multi-matrix booklet designs. This is true both at the global population level and at the subgroup or sub-population levels. Further, for such a large-scale assessment, the match between the distribution of person abilities and the distribution of item difficulties is found to have an insignificant effect on the precision with which person and item parameters are recovered, when using these multi-matrix booklet designs. These results give further support to the use of multi-matrix booklet designs as a reliable test abridgment technique in large-scale assessments, and for accurate measurement of performance gaps between policy-relevant subgroups within populations. However, item position effects were not fully considered, and different results are possible if similar studies are performed (a) with conditions involving items that poorly measure student abilities (e.g., with students having skewed ability distributions); or, (b) simulating conditions where there is a lot of missing data because of non-response, instead of just missing by design. This should be further investigated in future studies.Die Erfassung des Leistungsstands von Schülerinnen und Schülern in verschiedenen Domänen durch groß angelegte Schulleistungsstudien (sog. Large-Scale Assessments) liefert wichtige Erkenntnisse für die Bildungsforschung und die evidenzbasierte Bildungspolitik. Jedoch erfordert die Leistungstestung in vielen Themenbereichen auch immer den Einsatz hunderter Items. Würden alle Testaufgaben jeder einzelnen Schülerin bzw. jedem einzelnen Schüler vorgelegt werden, würde dies eine zu große Belastung für die Schülerinnen und Schüler darstellen und folglich wären diese auch weniger motiviert, alle Aufgaben zu bearbeiten. Zudem wäre der Einsatz aller Aufgaben in der gesamten Stichprobe sehr zeit- und ressourcenintensiv. Aus diesen Gründen wird in Large-Scale Assessments oft auf ein Multi- Matrix Design zurückgegriffen bei dem verschiedene, den Testpersonen zufällig zugeordnete, Testheftversionen (sog. Booklets) zum Einsatz kommen. Diese enthalten nicht alle Aufgaben, sondern lediglich eine Teilmenge des Aufgabenpools, wobei nur ein Teil der Items zwischen den verschiedenen Booklets überlappt. Somit wird sichergestellt, dass die Schülerinnen und Schüler alle ihnen vorgelegten Items in der vorgegebenen Testzeit bearbeiten können. Jedoch gibt es zahlreiche Varianten wie diese Booklets zusammengestellt werden können. Das jeweilige Booklet Design hat wiederum Auswirkungen auf die Genauigkeit der Parameterschätzung auf Populations- und Teilpopulationsebene. Ein bewährtes Booklet Design ist das Balanced-Incomplete-7-Block Design, auch Youden-Squares Design genannt, das in unterschiedlicher Form in vielen Large-Scale Assessments, wie z.B. TIMSS und PISA, Anwendung findet. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht sowohl auf Basis realer als auch simulierter Daten die Genauigkeit mit der Item- und Personenparameter unter Anwendung verschiedener Balanced-Incomplete-Block Designs und in Abhängigkeit vom Anteil designbedingt fehlender Werte geschätzt werden können. Dafür wurden verschiede Designparameter variiert (z.B. Itemanzahl, Stichprobenumfang, Itemanzahl pro Booklet, Ausmaß der Passung von Item- und Personenparametern) und anschließend analysiert, in welcher Weise diese die Genauigkeit der Schätzung von Populationsparametern beeinflussen. Die vorliegende Arbeit hat somit zum Ziel, das empirische Wissen um die statistischen Eigenschaften von Booklet Designs zu erweitern, wodurch ein Beitrag zur Verbesserung zukünftiger Large-Scale Assessments geleistet wird. Die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Arbeit zeigten, dass für ein typisches Large-Scale Assessment (mit einer Stichprobengröße von mindestens 3000 Schülerinnen und Schülern und mindestens 100 Items) die Personen- und Itemparameter sowohl auf Populations- als auch auf Teilpopulationsebene mit allen eingesetzten Varianten des Balanced-Incomplete- Block Designs präzise geschätzt wurden. Außerdem konnte gezeigt werden, dass für Stichproben mit mindestens 3000 Schülerinnen und Schülern die Passung zwischen der Leistungsverteilung und der Verteilung der Aufgabenschwierigkeit keinen bedeutsamen Einfluss auf die Genauigkeit hatte, mit der verschiedene Booklet Designs Personen- und Itemparameter schätzten. Die Ergebnisse untermauern, dass unter Verwendung von multi-matrix Designs bildungspolitisch relevante Leistungsunterschiede zwischen Gruppen von Schülerinnen und Schülern in der Population reliabel und präzise geschätzt werden können. Eine Einschränkung der vorliegenden Studie liegt darin, dass Itempositionseffekte nicht umfassend berücksichtigt wurden. So kann nicht ausgeschlossen werden, dass die Ergebnisse abweichen würden, wenn (a) Items verwendet werden würden, welche die Leistung der Schülerinnen und Schüler schlecht schätzen (z.B. bei einer schiefen Verteilungen der Leistungswerte) oder (b) hohe Anteile an fehlenden Werten vorliegen, die nicht durch das Multi-Matrix Design erzeugt wurden. Dies sollte in zukünftigen Studien untersucht werden

Special Libraries, February 1941

Volume 32, Issue 2https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1941/1001/thumbnail.jp

The infrared spectrograph during the SIRTF pre-definition phase

A test facility was set up to evaluate back-illuminated impurity band detectors constructed for an infrared spectrograph to be used on the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF). Equipment built to perform the tests on these arrays is described. Initial tests have been geared toward determining dark current and read noise for the array. Four prior progress reports are incorporated into this report. They describe the first efforts in the detector development and testing effort; testing details and a new spectrograph concept; a discussion of resolution issues raised by the new design; management activities; a review of computer software and testing facility hardware; and a review of the preamplifier constructed as well as a revised schematic of the detector evaluation facility

Special Libraries, December 1940

Volume 31, Issue 10https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1940/1009/thumbnail.jp

The construction of statistical expert systems with applications

PhD ThesisStatistical expert systems have grown more numerous over the last few years. However, the tools which are used in their development are largely modifications of existing methods from other areas. This means that the unique aspects of statistical problems may be omitted in their development. This thesis examines the way that a statistical consultant works, and proposes guidelines and tools for system development based on this. Section I provides a brief introduction to this area. Section II considers the problems faced in establishing the actual problem brought by a client. Two areas of particular interest are establishing the background subject and the facts of a problem. Two methods are proposed to tackle these areas. Also of interest is the way in which a consultant may select a statistical test. Section III introduces a program to elicit the rules used by a consultant. A disk containing the program and the functions used is included with this thesis.Science and Engineering Research Counci

The development and use of bib overalls in the United States, 1856-1945

In the past, costume historians have expended much effort researching fashionable dress. Now scholars are gaining in awareness of the need to also study common, everyday dress. Much of the research done to date has focused on women\u27s clothing, but that, too is changing, with the realization of the need to consider men\u27s clothing. Not only are costume historians beginning to look at everyday clothing, but clothing manufacturers are also interested in learning about the history of their products, because this information can be applied to advertising campaigns and company promotional literature. Perhaps the findings will also shed light on the larger issue of the development of workwear and its diversification to serve different purposes. Bib overalls were, and still are, the everyday apparel for some people. They are perceived as a uniform for the working masses, especially those in agriculture. Historic photographs and mail order catalogs provide evidence that males were the primary wearers through the early 1900\u27s, but these sources also illustrate that the age of the wearers ranged widely. Previously unanswered questions about this functional garment included when it was first made, how the garment design evolved, who the intended wearers were, and whether it was first home sewn or commercially manufactured. The Geo. N. Davis and Bro\u27s Catalogue, dated 1856, advertised overalls, vulcanized and solarized, for provision packers, butchers, fisherman, &c (sic]. By the early 1900\u27s there were many companies producing bib overalls, from Vermont to Kansas to Canada

Developing a 'personalome' for precision medicine: emerging methods that compute interpretable effect sizes from single-subject transcriptomes

The development of computational methods capable of analyzing -omics data at the individual level is critical for the success of precision medicine. Although unprecedented opportunities now exist to gather data on an individual's -omics profile (personalome'), interpreting and extracting meaningful information from single-subject -omics remain underdeveloped, particularly for quantitative non-sequence measurements, including complete transcriptome or proteome expression and metabolite abundance. Conventional bioinformatics approaches have largely been designed for making population-level inferences about average' disease processes; thus, they may not adequately capture and describe individual variability. Novel approaches intended to exploit a variety of -omics data are required for identifying individualized signals for meaningful interpretation. In this review-intended for biomedical researchers, computational biologists and bioinformaticians-we survey emerging computational and translational informatics methods capable of constructing a single subject's personalome' for predicting clinical outcomes or therapeutic responses, with an emphasis on methods that provide interpretable readouts. Key points: (i) the single-subject analytics of the transcriptome shows the greatest development to date and, (ii) the methods were all validated in simulations, cross-validations or independent retrospective data sets. This survey uncovers a growing field that offers numerous opportunities for the development of novel validation methods and opens the door for future studies focusing on the interpretation of comprehensive personalomes' through the integration of multiple -omics, providing valuable insights into individual patient outcomes and treatments.National Institute of Health (NIH)/Office of the Director Precision Medicine Initiative [1UG3OD023171-01]; Precision Medicine Initiative of the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics of the University of Arizona Health Sciences; NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [HL126609-01, HL132523, U01 HL125208]; NIH/National Cancer Institute [P30CA023074, 1R01CA190696-01]; NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases [U01AI122275-01]Open access articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Taylor University Catalog 1990-1992

The 1990-1992 academic catalog of Taylor University in Upland, Indiana.https://pillars.taylor.edu/catalogs/1021/thumbnail.jp

Taylor University Catalog 1988-1990

The 1988-1990 academic catalog of Taylor University in Upland, Indiana.https://pillars.taylor.edu/catalogs/1022/thumbnail.jp