Battling Biases: How Can Diverse Students Overcome Test Bias on the Multistate Bar Examination

Drafters of standardized tests, such as the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) and Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), strive to eliminate biases in multiple-choice questions by assembling representatives of diverse backgrounds to screen and discard prejudicial questions. But in reality, intelligence tests will always contain some aspect of bias because a committee of test administrators can never represent the views of every person. Nevertheless, the bar exam incorrectly assumes that all applicants learned the same information throughout their academic careers and possess similar cultural experiences and opinions. The bar exam has not fully recognized that questions can be interpreted differently. Scholars advocate to abandon intelligence tests as a measure of a person’s future success, but this is unlikely to happen anytime soon because intelligence tests have been used since the early 1900s. Thus, in the meantime, professors must teach students how to identify and eliminate personal biases to increase the students’ chances of selecting the best answer. We must acknowledge that biases will never fully disappear and figure out how to properly support students who experience biases. This article does not promote conforming to social norms, changing our students core beliefs, or decreasing diversity. This article addresses the reality of the bar exam and provides students with a chameleon-like skill that they can use to ensure they are triumphant on the MBEs. Part I provides background information on the components of the bar exam and disparity in performance results between Whites and people of color. It defines test validity and explores test biases as a possible reason for the lower passage of minorities, such as language barriers, the equal experience assumption, promotion of dominantvalues, and bias in item selection. Part II discusses test biases on the MBE portion of the bar by exploring the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ (NCBE) five myths and breaking down specific multiple-choice questions from NCBE’s Online Practice Exam #4. Part III shares how academics can (a) reframe stereotype threat to help students overcome test anxiety and (b) reframe the speediness and memorization requirements of the bar exam to requirements of grit and determination to join the profession. Finally, Part IV acknowledges that test biases are unlikely to disappear and provides a step-by-step solution to help students be successful on the MBEs. The step-by-step approach is supported by statistics from the Logic for Lawyers class at the University of San Francisco School of Law, a multiple-choice skills-based test that employs the step-by-step method

Providing authentic, contemporary and equitable training for students in STEM peer leadership programs

The rapidly changing environment for educators in STEM disciplines is also affecting students who partner with academics to deliver peer-led programs. Training for these programs needs to be able to respond to and reflect those changes, whilst at the same time preparing students for engaging in extracurricular activities that enhance their discipline training. For example, students leading peer study programs need to be aware of the need to maintain their own academic integrity whilst facilitating the learning of others, and students who take on leadership roles during international study tours need training in cultural competence and problem solving in diverse surroundings. The development in STEM students of workplace skills such as communication, team work, ethical conduct (Jones et al., 2011), cultural competence (Howitt, 2022), and other professional attributes (Park et al., 2022), can be addressed in part by participation in leadership programs. The challenge is in designing training that is authentic, contemporary, and equitable and that caters to the needs of the students who lead and those they are supporting. The preparation and delivery of the training also needs to be sustainable, efficient in terms of academic development time, and adaptable in response to the inevitable changes in student learning and international and cultural environments. An added challenge is that our student leader demographic is diverse, so training needs to be as equitable as possible to provide students with a variety of learning experiences. Our approach combined synchronous and asynchronous online activities, face-to-face interactions, and discussion of authentic scenarios that we hoped would encourage transformative learning (Mezirow, 2003), through reflective practice and critical thinking to prepare the students for leadership. Peer-led study program training was delivered online using a recorded presentation and interactive H5P modules covering cultural competency and academic integrity. Students completed a compulsory reflective practice activity before attending the face-to-face training, which included group work and responding to authentic scenarios utilising GroupMap, an online brainstorming tool. International study tour leaders received similar training experiences, with their GroupMap scenarios tailored to the types of experiences they might encounter in a culturally diverse setting. We wanted to know if these approaches were successful for preparing the peer leaders, and what changes we needed to make to the training to ensure equity in delivery, sustainability and relevance. The training is being modified in response to student and staff feedback, with the eventual aim of providing authentic, contemporary and equitable training that is easily adaptable to the changing climate of higher education. REFERENCES Howitt, S. (2022, September). The Science Threshold Learning Outcomes: Review and update. In Proceedings of The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education (pp. 84). Jones, S. M., Yates, B. F., & Kelder, J.-A. (2011). Learning and Teaching Academic Standards project: Science Learning and Teaching Academic Standards Statement. Australian Learning and Teaching Council. http://disciplinestandards.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/52690236/altc_standards_SCIENCE_240811_v3.pdf Mezirow, J. (2003). Transformative learning as discourse. Journal of transformative education, 1(1), 58-63. Park, J. J., Handley, M., Lang, D., & Erdman, M. A. (2022). Engineering Leadership Development: Contribution of Professional Skills to Engineering Undergraduate Students' Leadership Self-Efficacy. International Journal of Educational Methodology, 8(1), 69-80

Ausgewogene Life-Balance durch erfolgreiches Zielmanagement

Chong CS. Ausgewogene Life-Balance durch erfolgreiches Zielmanagement. Bielefeld: Universitätsbibliothek Bielefeld; 2013.Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit wurde ein umfangreiches Zielmodell des Subjektiven Wohlbefindens (SWB) formuliert, welches eine Erweiterung des telenomischen Modells des SWB von Brunstein und Maier (2002) darstellt. Dabei wurden bisherige Forschungsergebnisse berücksichtigt und neue theoretische Annahmen integriert. Das neue Modell umfasste neben bereits bekannten Faktoren (Zielbindung, Realisierbarkeit, Zieleffektivität) auch Zielkonflikte und Persönlichkeitseigenschaften. Weiterhin stellte die Arbeitszufriedenheit eine zentrale abhängige Variable dar, deren Auswirkungen auf die Unternehmensbindung und Kündigungsabsicht überprüft wurden. Eine Online-Studie, an der insgesamt 267 Personen teilnahmen, lieferte die Datenbasis für eine umfangreiche Modellprüfung. Der Großteil der Modellannahmen konnte mithilfe eines Strukturgleichungsmodells empirisch belegt werden. Die Ergebnisse wurden vor allem in Hinblick auf die unterschiedliche Wichtigkeit eines Ziels interpretiert. Ausgehend von zwei Interventionsprogrammen zur Steigerung der Zielerreichung und des SWBs (Dargel, 2005; Spaniol, 2007) wurde im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit eine Trainingsweiterentwicklung vorgenommen. Dabei handelte es sich um ein achtstündiges interaktives Workshop-Konzept, welches speziell auf den Kontext der multiplen Zielverfolgung zugeschnitten war, indem es Ziele aus vier unterschiedlichen Lebensbereichen (Arbeit & Leistung, Familie & Kontakte, Körper & Gesundheit, Sinn & Kultur) zum Gegenstand der Analysen machte. Das Training bestand aus fünf Modulen, welche ausgehend von einer ausführlichen Definition der vier Ziele sowie einer intensiven Reflexion dieser über deren Vergleich und Priorisierung bis hin zur schrittweisen Planung jedes einzelnen Ziels die Zieleffektivität der Teilnehmer erhöhen sollte. Im Rahmen einer quasiexperimentellen Studie wurde eine Trainingsgruppe (N=23) mit einer untrainierten Kontrollgruppe (N=23) verglichen. Die Befunde legten nahe, dass das Zielerreichungstraining das Bewusstsein für den Umgang mit Zielen gefördert und ein effektiveres Zielstrebungsverhalten unterstützt hat

A Five-Year Retroactive Analysis of Cut Score Impact: California’s Proposed Supervised Provisional License Program

A five-year cohort of 39,737 examinees who sat for the California Bar Exam (“CBX”) between 2014-18 was analyzed using a simulation model based on actual exam results to evaluate how the minimum passing scores (“cut score”) of 1440, 1390, 1350, 1330, and 1300, if used as qualifying scores for a provisional licensing program, would affect the number of previous examinees, by race and ethnicity, who would qualify to participate within retroactive groupings of five-year, four-year, three-year, two-year, and one-year examinee cohorts.The result of the simulation models indicated that selecting a qualifying score lower than the current California cut score of 1390 will significantly increase both the overall number of eligible participants and the diversity of the group eligible to participate in the proposed alternate licensing program.This study follows an initial study of 85,727 examinees of the CBX from 2009-18 titled, Examining the California Cut Score: An Empirical Analysis of Minimum Competency, Public Protection, Disparate Impact, and National Standards that determined maintaining a high cut score does not result in greater public protection as measured by disciplinary statistics, but does result in excluding minorities from admission to the bar and the practice of law at rates disproportionately higher than Whites

Morphometric sexing of little spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra) in Peninsular Malaysia

Sexual dimorphism is often directly linked to sexual selection, mating systems and resource partitioning, which are crucial in species conservation and management. Many avian species, including pollinator birds, are sexually dimorphic with respect to size and colour, yet, such differences may be subtle for some species. In this study, molecular sexing was performed in addition to determining morphological parameters that can aid in future sex determination of a common forest pollinator, the little spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra), in Peninsular Malaysia. Based on 23 captures made in four forests, two out of seven body measurements (i.e. wing and tail lengths) were useful in predicting the sexes of the bird with 100% accuracy. In addition, significant differences were found in the head, bill, and total body lengths. Such findings will facilitate more effective sex identification in future field studies, particularly in the case of juveniles

Examining the California Cut Score: An Empirical Analysis of Minimum Competency, Public Protection, Disparate Impact, and National Standards

The selection of a minimum bar exam passing score (“cut score”) shapes the representation of racial and ethnic minorities in the legal profession and the quality of access to justice in the state. California and national policy makers have not had the benefit of detailed exam performance data that analyzes the effect of the cut score on race and ethnicity. Because policy makers consider the cut score an important public protection mechanism, this study also explored whether the selection of higher cut scores better protected the public from attorneys who do not have the minimum competence to practice law. To conduct the analysis, the study used two data sets. The first data set included 85,727 examinees who sat for 21 administrations of the CBX from 2009-18 and the race and ethnicity of each examinee. The second data set included the ABA discipline data from up to 48 U.S. jurisdictions from 2013-18 and the cut scores in each jurisdiction. Using the first data set,the study determined how the selection of a minimum cut score (1) widens or narrows the racial and ethnic impacts of the bar exam and/or (2) alters the racial and ethnic composition of new attorneys joining the legal profession. Both historical actual and simulated cut scores were analyzed. Using the second data set, this study examined a third factor: the relationship, if any, between minimum cut scores and rates of attorney discipline. This analysis determined that initial and eventual passing rates differed significantly between racial and ethnic groups, and this gap was wider at higher simulated cut scores. A simulation analysis using actual examinee scores confirmed that selecting a lower cut score would have significantly narrowed the achievement gap between Whites and racial and ethnic minorities and would have increased the number of newly admitted minority attorneys in California. For example, at 1440, the achievement gap between Whites and Blacks was 27.4 percentage points. But at a simulated cut score of 1300, the achievement gap between these two groups would have been only 14.5 percentage points. This 12.9 percentage point difference in the achievement gap at 1440 and 1300 demonstrates a disparate effect of the higher cut scores. Using the second data set about disciplinary statistics, the study determined that no relationship exists between the selection of a cut score and the number of complaints, formal charges, or disciplinary actions taken against attorneys in the jurisdictions studied. California’s recent decision to lower the cut score from 1440 to 1390 moved California from having the second-highest cut score to the fourth-highest cut score in the country. However, the report data established that at 1390 California will continue to produce significantly disparate pass rates on the basis of race and ethnicity when compared to the national norm of 1350, the New York standard of 1330, and the simulated model of 1300. This study establishes that maintaining a high cut score does not result in greater public protection as measured by disciplinary statistics but does result in excluding minorities from admission to the bar and the practice of law at rates disproportionately higher than Whites

Development of a healthy ageing index in Latin American countries - a 10/66 dementia research group population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Our population is ageing and in 2050 more than one out of five people will be 60 years or older; 80% of whom will be living in a low-and-middle income country. Living longer does not entail living healthier; however, there is not a widely accepted measure of healthy ageing hampering policy and research. The World Health Organization defines healthy ageing as the process of developing and maintaining functional ability that will enable well-being in older age. We aimed to create a healthy ageing index (HAI) in a subset of six low-and-middle income countries, part of the 10/66 study, by using items of functional ability and intrinsic capacity. METHODS: The study sample included residents 65-years old and over (n = 12,865) from catchment area sites in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Items were collected by interviewing participants or key informants between 2003 and 2010. Two-stage factor analysis was employed and we compared one-factor, second-order and bifactor models. The psychometric properties of the index, including reliability, replicability, unidimensionality and concurrent convergent validity as well as measurement invariance per ethnic group and gender were further examined in the best fit model. RESULTS: The bifactor model displayed superior model fit statistics supporting that a general factor underlies the various items but other subdomain factors are also needed. The HAI indicated excellent reliability (ω = 0.96, ωΗ = 0.84), replicability (H = 0.96), some support for unidimensionality (Explained Common Variance = 0.65) and some concurrent convergent validity with self-rated health. Scalar measurement invariance per ethnic group and gender was supported. CONCLUSIONS: A HAI with excellent psychometric properties was created by using items of functional ability and intrinsic capacity in a subset of six low-and-middle income countries. Further research is needed to explore sub-population differences and to validate this index to other cultural settings

Early Mathematics learning in reading and writing numerals: Learning through "What are the numbers?" A picture book made up flora and fauna in Borneo.

Learning through picture books is a method which is widely used in preschools to teach mathematics. However, the research findings on the benefits of using picture books in learning mathematics remain inconclusive. This study aimed to i) investigate the effects of a picture book entitled “What are the numbers?” (a picture book made up flora and fauna in Borneo) on early mathematics achievement (reading and writing numerals up to 20) and ii) to get feedback on how appropriate the use of “what are the numbers” from teachers and parents. The book consists elements of critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creative thinking. The effects were measured by comparing the change in early mathematical ability of children in reading and writing numerals up to 20 by using the Rasch measurement model. The mean of the pre-test achievement was -1.99 logits and the mean of the post-test achievement was 1.75 logits which shows a difference of 3.74 logits. The effect size of the difference between the post-test and pre-test achievement was 1.4, which is considered large. Teachers and parents gave positive feedback on the use of the picture book. They commented that the picture book is able to attract children’s attention, enhance their thinking skills and nurture creativity among children. In conclusion, the picture book based on the 4C approach enhanced early mathematics achievement of children

Are patients with HHV-8 associated Castleman disease successfully treated with rituximab at risk of subsequently developing HHV-8 negative (idiopathic) Castleman disease?

Introduction: Multicentric Castleman disease (MCD) is a lymphoproliferative disorder characterized by lymph node histopathology and systemic symptoms. To our knowledge, there are no descriptions in the literature of long-term outcomes of human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8)-associated MCD. Case Description: We report a case of a 70-year-old male living with human immunodeficiency virus and a history of human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8)-associated MCD. The patient reported having had low-grade fever for two weeks. Extensive workup revealed systemic lymphadenopathy without evidence of autoimmune disease or malignancy. Lymph node biopsy was consistent with HHV-8-negative idiopathic MCD (iMCD). The patient was subsequently scheduled for anti-interleukin-6 therapy. Discussion: The present case is the first report of probable development of iMCD after long-term follow-up for HHV-8-associated MCD. The case illustrates the possible long-term consequences of MCD, suggesting the necessity of further research on the pathogenesis of CD. Conclusion: Given the uncertainty in the long-term outcomes of HHV-8-associated MCD, periodic surveillance of patients with a history of HHV-8-associated MCD is warranted. Prospective nationwide cohort studies comparing characteristics of HHV-8-associated MCD and iMCD would bring further insights

Designing for Diverse User Groups: Case Study of a Language Archive

This article explores the challenges of designing large-scale computing systems for multiple, diverse user groups. Such computing systems house large, complex datasets, and often provide analytic tools to interpret the data. They are increasingly central to activities in industry, science, and government agencies, and are often associated with “big data,” data warehousing, and/or scientific “cyberinfrastructure”.  A key characteristic of these systems is the diversity and multiplicity of their intended user groups, which may range from various scientific disciplines, to assorted business functions, to government officials and citizen groups. These user groups occupy structurally different positions in local and global political economies, and bring different forms of expertise to the data housed in the computing system. We argue that design anthropologists can contribute to the usefulness of such systems by engaging in collaborative ethnographic research with the targeted user groups, and communicating findings to the designers and developers creating these systems.