Contextualizing Statistical Suppression Within Pretest-Posttest Designs

Statistical suppression occurs when adjusting for a variable enhances or substantially modifies the association between a predictor and an outcome. Although many methodologists have discussed this phenomenon, very little work has examined suppression in longitudinal regression models such as the pretest-posttest design. This research addressed this gap with two separate studies. Study One was a literature review that reviewed 80 articles (i.e., those meeting the inclusion criteria) from a variety fields within psychology. Study Two was an analysis of a large longitudinal clinical dataset via 925 statistical models. Both studies revealed consistent results: in approximately 20% of instances suppression effects were observed and were attributable to the inclusion of a pretest measure. Results underscore that controlling for pretest measures when assessing change may be of value, as this may help to clarify associations between predictors and posttest outcomes

Developing an Instrument to Examine Preservice Teachers' Pedagogical Development

National and international reform documents have forged blueprints for advancing science education. Coursework for preservice teachers needs to correspond to these documents by providing learning experiences that develop preservice teachers' capabilities to plan and implement reform measures. Using a pretest–posttest design, responses from 59 2nd-year preservice teachers from the same university were compared after involvement in an elementary science pedagogy coursework. The survey, which was linked to the course outcomes (constructs) and multiple indicators, measured the preservice teachers' perceptions of their development towards becoming elementary science teachers. A pretest–posttest survey linked to course outcomes can be employed to assess perceived pedagogical development of preservice teachers, which can inform further teaching practices for implementing science education reform agendas

The Application of Bibliotheraphy on Adolesenc Girls with Body Image Dissatisfaction

Body image dissatisfaction, caused by a discrepancy between cultural-based ideal body and individual actual body, is experienced by most of adolesencet girls. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of bibliotherapy on adolescence girls with body image dissatisfaction. Subjects were 15 senior high school girls, aged 14-17 years, with BMI (Body Mass Index) thin to normal, with average to high body image dissatisfaction. By using pretest-posttest control group design, the subjects were assigned into three groups i.e. interactive and reading bibliotherapy as experimental groups and the waiting-list control group. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is employed to measure the differences of body dissatisfaction among the three groups. The result showed that there were no significant differences of body dissatisfaction in the pretest – posttest and posttest – follow-up, between the three groups. It means that neither interactive nor reading bibliotherapy was effective in reducing the adolescence girls’ body image dissatisfactio

Reducing Test Bias Through Dynamic Assessment Of Children's Word Learning Ability

This study examined the performance of preschool children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, both typically developing and with low language ability, on a word-learning task. A pretest-teach-posttest method was used to compare a mediation group to a no-mediation group. Children in the mediation group were taught naming strategies using mediated learning experience (MLE). Results indicated that typically developing and low language ability children were differentiated on the basis of pretest-posttest change and that dynamic measures (e.g., posttest scores of single-word labeling and modifiability ratings from the mediation sessions) predicted the ability groups better than static measures (e.g., pretest scores of single-word labeling, description, and academic concepts). These results suggest that dynamic assessment approaches may effectively differentiate language difference from language disorder.Communication Sciences and Disorder

Characteristics of successful interventions to reduce turnover and increase retention of early career nurses: a systematic review

Background nurse shortages have been identified as central to workforce issues in healthcare systems globally and although interventions to increase the nursing workforce have been implemented, nurses leaving their roles, particularly in the first year after qualification, present a significant barrier to building the nurse workforce. Objective to evaluate the characteristics of successful interventions to promote retention and reduce turnover of early career nurses. Design this is a systematic review Data sources Online databases including Academic Search Complete, Medline, Health Policy reference Centre, EMBASE, Psychinfo, CINAHL and the Cochran Library were searched to identify relevant publications in English published between 2001 and April 2018. Studies included evaluated an intervention to increase retention or reduce turnover and used turnover or retention figures as a measure. Review methods The review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Studies were quality-assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal tools for Quasi Experimental and Randomised Controlled Trials. Retention/turnover data were used to guide the comparison between studies and appropriate measures of central tendency and dispersion were calculated and presented, based on the normality of the data. Results A total of 11, 656 papers were identified, of which 53 were eligible studies. A wide variety of interventions and components within those interventions were identified to improve nurse retention. Promising interventions appear to be either internship/residency programmes or orientation/transition to practice programmes, lasting between 27-52 weeks, with a teaching and preceptor and mentor component. Conclusions Methodological issues impacted on the extent to which conclusions could be drawn, even though a large number of studies were identified. Future research should focus on standardising the reporting of interventions and outcome measures used to evaluate these interventions and carrying out further research with rigorous methodology. Clinical practice areas are recommended to assess their current interventions against the identified criteria to guide development of their effectiveness. Evaluations of cost-effectiveness are considered an important next step to maximise return on investment

Increasing fluid intake and reducing dehydration risk in older people living in long-term care: a systematic review

Objective: To assess the efficacy of interventions and environmental factors on increasing fluid intake or reducing dehydration risk in older people living in long-term care facilities. Design: Systematic review of intervention and observational studies. Data Sources: Thirteen electronic databases were searched from inception until September 2013 in all languages. References of included papers and reviews were checked. Eligibility criteria: Intervention and observational studies investigating modifiable factors to increase fluid intake and/or reduce dehydration risk in older people (≥65 years) living in long-term care facilities who could drink orally. Review methods: Two reviewers independently screened, selected, abstracted data and assessed risk of bias from included studies, narrative synthesis was performed. Results: 4328 titles and abstracts were identified, 325 full-text papers obtained and 23 included in the review. Nineteen intervention and 4 observational studies from 7 countries investigated factors at resident, institutional or policy level. Overall the studies were at high risk of bias due to selection and attrition bias and lack of valid outcome measures of fluid intake and dehydration assessment. Reported findings from six of the nine intervention studies investigating the effect of multi-component strategies on fluid intake or dehydration described a positive effect. Components included greater choice and availability of beverages, increased staff awareness, increased staff assistance with drinking and toileting. Implementation of the US Resident Assessment Instrument reduced dehydration prevalence from 3% to 1%, p=0.01. Two smaller studies reported positive effects, one on fluid intake in 9 men with Alzheimer's Disease using high-contrast red cups, the other involved supplementing 13 mildly dehydrated residents with oral hydration solution over 5 days to reduce dehydration. Modifications to the dining environment, advice to residents, presentation of beverages and mode of delivery (straw vs beaker; pre-thickened drinks vs those thickened at the bedside) were inconclusive. Two large observational studies with good internal validity investigated effects of ownership; in Canada, for-profit ownership was associated with increased hospital admissions for dehydration; no difference was seen in dehydration prevalence between US for-profit and not-for-profit homes, although chain facilities were associated with lower odds of dehydration. This US study did not suggest any effect of staffing levels on dehydration prevalence. Conclusions: A wide range of interventions and exposures were identified, but the efficacy of many strategies remains unproven due to the high risk of bias present in many studies. Reducing dehydration prevalence in long-term care facilities is likely to require multiple strategies involving policymakers, management and care staff, but these require further investigation using more robust study methodologies. Systematic review registration: The review protocol was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.asp? ID=CRD42012003100)

Breast Self-Examination Teaching for Women in Chemical Dependency Programs

Fifty-two women from 5 chemical dependency programs participated in a 1 hour health education program teaching breast self-examination using breast models. Tactile skills and general information about breast cancer and breast self-examination were presented. The program was evaluated for its ability to teach this high risk population. Nine true/false questions and lump detection skills were evaluated using_a pretest/posttest non-experimental design. A level of significance for the true/false questions was set at .01, and for lump detection skills it was set at .05. Dependent t tests was used to statistically analyze the data. Participants improved their general knowledge about breast cancer and self-examination as a result of this program (p \u3c.01). Lump detection skills also improved (p \u3c.05). This study indicates health education programs are of value and can potentially decrease the survival discrepancy for breast cancer for a specific high risk population

Pretest-Posttest Measure of Introductory Computer Students\u27 Attitudes toward Computers

An exploratory study was conducted in multiple sections of an introductory computer course to determine whether an introductory computer course changed computer attitudes. A sample of 329 individuals were given a computer attitude measurement (ATCUS) the first and last day of an introductory computer class. We have strong evidence to conclude that those enrolled in the class had worse attitudes after the class than before

REKAYASA MEDIA PEMBELAJARAN PENGETAHUAN DASAR TEKNIK MESIN BERBASIS SOFTWARE ADOBE FLASH CS3 PROFESIONAL DI SMK MUHAMMADIYAH PRAMBANAN

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk (1) mengetahui proses rancangan media pembelajaran berbantu komputer di SMK Muhamadiyah Prambanan pada mata pelajaran Pengetahuan Dasar Teknik Mesin(PDTM), (2) mengetahui kelayakan dari media pembelajaran yang dibuat tersebut, (3) mengetahui efektivitas penggunaan media pembelajaran pada mata pelajaran PDTM di SMK Muhammadiyah Prambanan. Rekayasa media pembelajaran ini menggunakan pendekatan penelitian Research and Development. Tahap pengujian kelayakan meliputi uji validasi ahli, uji terbatas, dan uji luas. Metode yang digunakan untuk menganalisis data kelayakan adalah dengan teknik analisis deskriptif kuantitatif yang diungkapkan dalam distribusi skor dan kategori skala penilaian yang telah ditentukan. Pengujian efektivitas media pembelajaran menggunakan metode pretest-posttest dengan bentuk tes tertulis pilihan ganda dan untuk menganalisis data efektivitas media menggunakan Statistic Nonparametris Mann-Whitney U-Test. Hasil dari penelitian ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa (1) media pembelajaran yang dibuat memiliki spesifikasi resolusi tampilan 600x800pixel dengan file utama berupa aplikasi(.exe) dengan ukuran keseluruhan file 60,8megabyte. Media pembelajaran ini melalui beberapa tahap yakni analisis kebutuhan, desain, pembuatan produk awal, uji validasi ahli, revisi tahap 1, uji coba produk, revisi tahap 2, dan penerapan; (2) hasil penilaian ahli media 76,11% dengan kategori “baik”, penilaian ahli materi 88,84% dengan kategori “sangat baik”, uji coba terbatas 77,34% dengan kategori “sangat baik”, dan uji coba luas 80,29% dengan kategori sangat baik”. Secara keseluruhan kelayakan media pembelajaran ini termasuk dalam kategori sangat baik; (3) dari hasil analisis uji hipotesis yang dilakukan, terdapat perbedaan hasil belajar yang signifikan antara siswa yang menggunakan media flash dengan siswa yang tidak menggunakan media flash pada mata pelajaran PDTM di SMK Muhammadiyah Prambanan, dimana selisih pretest-posttest kelas eksperimen(42,29) lebih besar dari selisih pretest-posttest kelas kontrol(32,27) yang berarti media yang dibuat tersebut efektif untuk dapat diterapkan di SMK tersebut