Risk profile using PCM and RSM

In this paper we analyze the investors’ risk profile in order to meet the minimal requirements that Italian financial institutions must satisfy by law. We focus particularly on three latent traits of the investor’s risk profile: knowledge of financial instruments, the investor’s personal predisposition to risk/earn, and the investor’s temporal horizon. We specifically identify a questionnaire whose items describe different characteristics of these three latent variables. In order to take into account the investor’s preferences and his/her psychological attitude we propose analyzing the risk profile questionnaire with two different sub-models of the polytomous Rasch model: the Partial Credit Model (PCM) and the Rating Scale Model (RSM). Finally, we discuss the possible uses of the proposed analysis in a financial context

Motivations and concerns of outgoing Erasmus students

Internationalization of higher education is a priority in the European education policy. Since it began in 1987/1988, the world’s most successful student mobility programme, the Erasmus programme, has provided over three million European students with the opportunity to go abroad and study at a higher education institution. Aiming to speed up this trend, for the next long-term EU budget 2021-2027, the European Commission has proposed to double funding for Erasmus to EUR 30 billion. In this way, it will make it possible to support up to 12 million people between 2021-2027. However, learning mobility barriers still exist and the shares of study abroad participants vary widely across Member States. Within this context, the aim of this contribution is to investigate the motivations and concerns about the experience abroad of 1272 students of a medium size Italian university – the University of Bergamo – that apply for an Erasmus+ or Extra-EU Program. To analyse the data collected by an on-line survey we used the Principal Component Technique. Caviezel, V.; Falzoni, AM.; Galizzi, L. (2020). Motivations and concerns of outgoing Erasmus students. En 6th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'20). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. (30-05-2020):1173-1180. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd20.2020.112301173118030-05-202

Estimation for the Rasch Model under a linkage structure: a case study

The purpose of this study is to measure the student’s ability and the course’s difficulty of a sample of students of the Faculty of Economics, University of Bergamo, using a Rasch measurement model. The problems of the linkage structure and of the choice of optimal categorization are discussed too

A methodological approach for university teaching evaluation: the multilevel Rasch model

In this paper a generalization of the Rating Scale Model (RSM) with a hierarchical data structure will be presented. Having shown how the RSM, as with other Rasch models, may be read in terms of a Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) with two aggregation levels, a presentation will be given of an extension to the case of measuring the latent trait of individuals aggregated in groups. The use of this model will be illustrated via reference to the evaluation of university teaching by students following the courses. The aim is to generate a ranking of teaching on the basis of student satisfaction, so as to give teachers, and those responsible for organizing study courses, a background of information that takes the opinions of the direct target group for university teaching (that is, the students) into account, in the context of improving the teaching programmes available

Multilevel IRT models for the university teaching evaluation

In this paper, a generalization of the two-parameter partial credit model (2PL-PCM) and of two special cases, the partial credit model (PCM) and the rating scale model (RSM), with a hierarchical data structure will be presented. Having shown how 2PL-PCM, as with other item response theory (IRT) models, may be read in terms of a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) with two aggregation levels, a presentation will be given of an extension to the case of measuring the latent trait of individuals aggregated in groups. The use of this Multilevel IRT model will be illustrated via reference to the evaluation of university teaching by students following the courses. The aim is to generate a ranking of teaching on the basis of student satisfaction, so as to give teachers, and those responsible for organizing study courses, a background of information that takes the opinions of the direct target group for university teaching (that is, the students) into account, in the context of improving the teaching courses available

Why to study abroad? An example of clustering

In the last decades in the Italian and European universities, there has been an increasing emphasis in all activities related to internationalization. These activities have gradually increased in terms of number of students and teachers involved, have become more complex and cover many aspects of the university education. The University of Bergamo has aligned, making internationalization one of the main guidelines for the future development. The purpose of this contribution is to analyse students’ motivations and expectations regarding their study abroad experience. The authors have conducted an on-line survey addressed to a sample of about 1300 Italian students enrolled in the University of Bergamo. To assess the results of the survey, we propose a mapping of the response variables using the VOSviewer software