Integrating curriculum-based dynamic assessment in computerized adaptive testing: Development and predictive validity of the EDPL-BAI battery on reading competence

In recent decades, there have been significant changes in the conceptualization of reading as well as in the perception of how this activity should be assessed. Interest in the analysis of reading processes has led to the emergence of new explanatory models based primarily on the contributions of cognitive psychology. In parallel, there have been notable advances in measurement procedures, especially in models based on Item Response Theory (IRT), as well as in the capacity and performance of specific software programs that allow data to be managed and analyzed. These changes have contributed significantly to the rise of testing procedures such as computerized adaptive tests (CATs), whose fundamental characteristic is that the sequence of items presented in the tests is adapted to the level of competence that the subject manifests. Likewise, the incorporation of elements of dynamic assessment (DA) as the prompts are gradually offered allows for obtaining information about the type and degree of support required to optimize the subject’s performance. In this sense, the confluence of contributions from DA and CATs offers a new possibility for approaching the assessment of learning processes. In this article, we present a longitudinal research developed in two phases, through which a computerized dynamic adaptive assessment battery of reading processes (EDPL-BAI) was configured. The research frame involved 1,831 students (46% girls) from 13 public schools in three regions of Chile. The purpose of this study was to analyze the differential contribution on reading competence of dynamic scores obtained in a subsample composed of 324 (47% girls) students from third to sixth grade after the implementation of a set of adaptive dynamic tests of morpho-syntactic processes. The results achieved in the structural equation modeling indicate a good global fit. Individual relationships show a significant contribution of calibrated score that reflects estimated knowledge level on reading competence, as well as dynamic scores based on the assigned value of graduated prompts required by the students. These results showed significant predictive values on reading competence and incremental validity in relation to predictions made by static criterion tests

Demographic, academic and personal traits associated with three types of procrastination in university students

La procrastinación supone un déficit autorregulatorio, definido por la demora voluntaria e irracional en el curso de una acción, que genera consecuencias negativas para el in-dividuo. Según la literatura, entre un 40% y un 80% de los estudiantes presentan conductas pro-crastinadoras que impactan negativamente tanto en su rendimiento como en su salud física y mental. En el presente estudio se caracterizan tres perfiles de alumnado según el principal motivo para procrastinar: rebelión, miedo a la evaluación y pereza. Para ello se consideran rasgos demo-gráficos (sexo, edad), académicos (jornada, semestres cursados, dedicación, planificación del tiempo, frecuencia de procrastinación, rendimiento académico) y personales (buenos hábitos, estabilidad psicológica, establecimiento de metas, perseverancia, toma de decisiones y aprendiza-je de los errores). MÉTODO. La muestra estuvo constituida por 457 universitarios de diversas titulaciones y cursos. Se exploró la relación entre las razones para procrastinar y los rasgos demo-gráficos, académicos y personales mediante correlaciones de Pearson y biserial puntual; y me-diante regresión lineal múltiple se valoró el peso de cada variable en la explicación de los tres tipos de procrastinación considerados. RESULTADOS. Se encontró que la procrastinación por rebelión se asocia a hombres jóvenes con baja capacidad de perseverancia y toma de decisiones; la procrastinación por miedo a la evaluación se asocia al alumnado más joven, con menor esta-bilidad psicológica y baja capacidad de toma de decisiones; y la procrastinación por pereza se asocia a hombres con menor capacidad autorregulatoria general. DISCUSIÓN. Se discuten las implicaciones para el diseño de intervenciones educativas preventivas para el manejo de la pro-crastinación en contextos académicos, de acuerdo a las necesidades específicas que derivan de los rasgos asociados a cada una de las razones para procrastinar

Structural Model of Biomedical and Contextual Factors Predicting In-Hospital Mortality due to Heart Failure

Background: Among the clinical predictors of a heart failure (HF) prognosis, different personal factors have been established in previous research, mainly age, gender, anemia, renal insufficiency and diabetes, as well as mediators (pulmonary embolism, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), arrhythmias and dyslipidemia). We do not know the role played by contextual and individual factors in the prediction of in-hospital mortality. Methods: The present study has added hospital and management factors (year, type of hospital, length of stay, number of diagnoses and procedures, and readmissions) in predicting exitus to establish a structural predictive model. The project was approved by the Ethics Committee of the province of Almeria. Results: A total of 529,606 subjects participated, through databases of the Spanish National Health System. A predictive model was constructed using correlation analysis (SPSS 24.0) and structural equation models (SEM) analysis (AMOS 20.0) that met the appropriate statistical values (chi-square, usually fit indices and the root-mean-square error approximation) which met the criteria of statistical significance. Individual factors, such as age, gender and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, were found to positively predict mortality risk. Isolated contextual factors (hospitals with a greater number of beds, especially, and also the number of procedures performed, which negatively predicted the risk of death. Conclusions: It was, therefore, possible to introduce contextual variables to explain the behavior of mortality in patients with HF. The size or level of large hospital complexes, as well as procedural effort, are key contextual variables in estimating the risk of mortality in HF