Validation of An Early Childhood Emotional and Social Competence Instrument Using a Rasch Partial Credit Model

The release of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) started a new chapter of education in the United States. The ESSA emphasizes the importance of preschool education; the act states that more resources will be devoted to preschool education, which lays the foundation for children’s school learning process. The goal of the act is to make sure children enter kindergarten education with equal preparatory. School, family, and researchers are paying more attention to developing preschool children’s social and emotional competency before entering Kindergarten. For understanding preschool children’s social and emotional skill development situation, instrument is the mostly widely adopted method by researchers. The quality of the instrument adopted to measure children’s’ competency play an important role in getting reliable measurement results. Therefore, the Rasch model validation method was adopted in this study to assess The Feeling Friend instrument which was designed to measure preschool children’s social and emotional ability. Rasch model remedy multiple flaws of classic test theory validation method. The Rasch model can provide multiple validity and reliability diagnoses from multiple perspectives. In this study, the Rasch model validation diagnoses including reliability, validity, single item fit, DIF, and category threshold are adopted to provide a validation guide for researchers to apply the Rasch model in assessing their self-design instrument based on their research needed. The Rasch model can also provide a solution to assess instruments with a small item sample or for a small number sample, such as an evaluation of instrument quality, single item fit, and rating scale. In this study, equating method (stacking) was then adopted to assess the children’s competency in social and emotional change over time. Through use of Rasch validation model, researchers can better design and modify instruments ensure measurement quality, and the results collected from the instrument would be more reliable and trustable

STUDENT AND INSTRUCTOR PERCEPTIONS OF FACTORS IMPORTANT FOR STUDENT SUCCESS IN ONLINE AND IN-PERSON ALGEBRA CLASSES AT SOMERSET COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Online mathematics courses at Somerset Community College (SCC) have traditionally had a lower retention rate than their in-person counterparts. This study looked at online and in-person students at SCC in the courses Intermediate Algebra and College Algebra. Beginning of semester student demographics were considered to determine whether or not the online and in-person student populations were comparable. End of semester student demographics, retention rates, and grades on the final exams were examined to determine whether or not there were patterns among completer students. Finally, a survey was administered to students and instructors to determine their perceptions of several factors thought to influence student success and to determine areas of agreement and disagreement among these factors. Follow-up telephone interviews were given to instructors and students in order to identify areas that were not covered in the survey. The results indicated that although online courses tended to attract older students, the online and in-person student groups were similar in terms of make-up. This was true both at the beginning and at the end of the semester. The in-person sections showed better results, both in terms of retention and grades on the final exams. The survey results were analyzed using Rasch analysis. This showed differences between students and instructors, most importantly in the areas of student self-efficacy behaviors and communication between instructor and student. These differences between students and instructors were generally exacerbated in the online sections indicating that these areas might have had an impact on the lower retention and grades of the online sections

Utilizing the rasch model to develop and evaluate items for the tacit knowledge inventory for superintendents (TKIS)

Tacit knowledge was originally introduced into the professional literature by Michael Polanyi and later made popular by researchers in a variety of domains. Measuring this implicit form of procedural knowledge requires multiple approaches to adequately capture what is often known, but not easily articulated. The present study combines use of Sternberg et al. \u27s framework for capturing domain-specific tacit knowledge with that of Rasch modeling to develop and validate items for use on a newly developed tacit knowledge inventory. Development of the Tacit Knowledge Inventory for Superintendents (TKIS) occurred in three phases, including two phases of piloting and Rasch analysis. For illustrative purposes, presentation of results is limited to the Rasch analyses conducted on interpersonal tacit knowledge items. However, the methodology extends its usefulness to researchers and practitioners to guide the development process of similar assessments. Copyright © 2009, IGI Global

An Analysis of Functional Differences in Implicit Learning

This thesis analysed whether functional implicit learning differences existed in two areas that have produced promising, but equivocal, findings: individual differences in typical populations (e.g., Gebauer & Mackintosh, 2010) and group differences between Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) and Typically Developing (TD) individuals (e.g., L. G. Klinger, Klinger, & Pohlig, 2007). Overall, the results from the four studies presented in this thesis emphasised a lack of functional differences in implicit learning between individuals. Study I investigated whether there were functional individual differences in implicit learning among a typical population by examining the inter-correlation between the performances of academic psychologists on three implicit learning tasks; the independence of those performances from IQ; the relationships between those performances, intuitive aspects of personality and occupational tacit knowledge; and, finally, whether the performances were related to occupational achievement. There was no evidence of inter-correlation between the implicit learning task performances, nor relationships between any of those performances, and occupational achievement, or personality. The study did replicate a finding that is important to the distinction between implicit and explicit learning: indices of explicit processing, but not performance on implicit learning tasks, were correlated with IQ (e.g., Gebauer & Mackintosh, 2007). Additionally, the study found that Academic Psychology and Business Management Tacit Knowledge Inventories measured knowledge that predicted occupational achievement in academic psychology incrementally to IQ and personality, and was general to both occupations. However, tacit knowledge appeared to be acquired primarily as a function of practice and experience, rather than individual differences in implicit learning. Overall, I asserted that a consideration of the results from Study I with the wider literature currently leads to the conclusion that there are minimal individual differences in implicit learning, which signifies that there is no general implicit learning ability that is critical to how much is learnt implicitly. In the absence of a general ability that determines how much is learnt implicitly, it was argued that there could still be general, prerequisite processes, which are always necessary for implicit learning but without those processes determining the variation in how much was learnt implicitly. Such prerequisite processes would not constitute a psychometric ability but could be SUMMARY vi conceptualised as general implicit learning processes. This conceptualisation of implicit learning would be supported by the existence of an atypical population who consistently demonstrated profound deficits on all implicit learning tasks and skills associated with an implicit acquisition. There is no convincing evidence of such a patient group, although the ASC population is a plausible candidate (e.g., L. G. Klinger, et al., 2007). Therefore, Study II compared IQ-matched ASC and TD individuals on a range of implicit learning tasks. The study, taken together with other recent reports (e.g., Barnes, et al., 2008), provided convincing evidence that implicit learning is actually intact in ASC and it was argued that deficits reported in previous studies must have resulted from differences in task procedures (e.g., L. G. Klinger, et al., 2007). In particular, the earlier studies used procedures that encouraged explicit strategies, which disadvantaged the ASC groups who had not been matched for IQ. A further analysis supported that interpretation: TD and ASC groups who were not matched for IQ exhibited differences on an explicit learning task, but not on the implicit learning tasks. In order to determine whether those previously identified implicit learning deficits in ASC resulted just from differences in IQ, or whether there was also a contribution from an ASC difficulty in explicit learning, Study III compared ASC individuals with IQ-matched TD individuals on an implicit learning task, the Serial Reaction Time (SRT) task, with a procedure that encouraged explicit strategies. The SRT procedure was combined with a contextual cueing task that provided an indirect, ongoing index of the extent to which sequence learning was explicit (Jiménez & Vázquez, in press). Study III indicated a difference in initial explicit sequence learning in ASC, which was independent of IQ. Study IV replicated the difficulty and by using a pre-task manipulation the study was also able to elaborate the nature of that difficulty: ASC individuals were able to learn sequence information explicitly, but they had a specific difficulty with learning to apply that explicit information. Thus, there was good evidence that implicit learning is intact in ASC and that instead ASC individuals have more difficulties with aspects of explicit learning. These findings refute the idea that ASC individuals successfully compensate for implicit deficits with explicit compensatory strategies. Instead, together with the ASC propensity for using explicit strategies, an ASC difficulty with explicit processing might explain some ASC deficits in a range of learnt skills, although I acknowledge that there are also plausible alternatives. More generally, these SUMMARY vii findings and ideas accord with ASC literature concerning impairments in executive functions, which require flexible and intentional processing (e.g., Russell, 1997a) and emphasise that future research is focused on how explicit, executive differences emerge and affect behaviour. In conclusion, the thesis provided no evidence for the proposal that there are functional differences between individuals in implicit learning. I propose that, taken together with the equivocal evidence discussed in my reviews of the wider literature, it is parsimonious to conclude that there is neither a general implicit learning ability, nor general, prerequisite implicit learning processes. However, in line with previous literature, the thesis did support functional distinctions between implicit and explicit learning: explicit, but not implicit, learning was related to IQ; and ASC individuals have difficulties with explicit but not implicit learning. Therefore, I assert that a descriptive distinction between explicit and implicit learning remains both useful and valid. This is true even though implicit learning seems to be defined by the absence, or minimal influence, of explicit processing rather than the general presence of an implicit learning ability or processes. Beyond the issue of functional differences, I argue that these findings and conclusions make modest, but not decisive, contributions to some of the other fierce debates in the wider implicit learning literature. Finally, I propose some recommendations, and directions, for future research

Online Language Acquisition and Leadership in Higher Education-Governed Intensive English Programs: A Rasch-Based Diffusion of Innovation Study

Research has indicated accredited, U.S. higher education-governed intensive English programs (IEPs) often struggle financially due to a scarcity of resources (namely students) because of political and global economic factors and increased competition (ICEF Monitor, 2017; IIE, 2017; Ladika, 2018; Soppelsa, 2015). However, few IEPs advertise online language acquisition (OLA) courses despite the increase in online study methods at the higher education institutes governing the programs and its use by competitors. The purpose of this study was to determine the status and extent of OLA diffusion in U.S. IEPs, how IEP directors and faculty perceived OLA, and whether they perceived themselves to be the leaders in its diffusion. Drawing on Rogers’ (1962) diffusion of innovation framework to inform the instrument methodology, this study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional survey. The study used the Rasch measurement model (1960) as the framework informing the instrument’s design and analysis. All 249 executive directors and 2,492 faculty in the 249 accredited, higher education-governed IEPs were invited to participate in the study, and 328 directors and faculty from 121 IEPs opted to do so. Major findings revealed 40.5% had experimented with online courses within the last five years, and 24.8% offered it currently. The Winsteps dimensionality analysis showed each of the six innovation characteristics performed as a separate strand supporting the dimension of OLA adoption potential. The Wright map and item measures revealed respondents perceived OLA visibility (1.52 logits) as the most difficult-to-endorse characteristic followed by complexity (0.48 logits). The least challenging characteristic was articulated benefits (-0.39 logits), and the easiest item was technology confidence (-1.21 logits) followed by technology clusters (-0.65 logits). Regarding leadership in promoting OLA adoption, 53.2% of the sample claimed they were involved in its leadership at some level, and 31.1% reported leadership involvement at institutes currently lacking online English courses. This study suggests respondents found OLA to be beneficial for their IEP with articulable results. Cost and technology confidence were not viewed as prohibitive, but respondents lacked confidence that OLA would lead to increased enrollment. Because of the high level of OLA leadership in their IEP, the adoption of online language courses appears to be moving in an upward trajectory