Examining the Impact of a Consensus Approach to Content Alignment Studies

Although both content alignment and standard-setting procedures rely on content-expert panel judgements, only the latter employs discussion among panel members. This study employed a modified form of the Webb methodology to examine content alignment for twelve tests administered as part of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). This modification required panel members to discuss items for which there was no consensus regarding the item’s depth of knowledge or targeted standard. After the discussion, panel members were allowed to change their original ratings. The number of changes that occurred were analyzed considering the number of items discussed and the size of the panel. Moreover, we evaluated the impact these changes had on the overall judgments of alignment as reported by Webb’s Web Alignment Tool (WAT). Findings suggest that discussion among panel members between rating rounds positively increased agreement among panel members’ ratings but had minimal effects on the overall judgments of content alignment for 11 of the 12 tests evaluated

Examining the Comparative Measurement Value of Technology-Enhanced Items:

Thesis advisor: Michael RussellThe growth of computer-based testing over the last two decades has motivated the creation of innovative item formats. It is often argued that technology-enhanced items (TEIs) provide better measurement of test-takers’ knowledge, skills, and abilities by increasing the authenticity of tasks presented to test-takers (Sireci & Zenisky, 2006). Despite the popularity of TEIs in operational assessments, there remains little psychometric research on these innovative item formats. Claims regarding their potential to provide better measurement are seldomly explored. This dissertation adds to this limited body of research by developing theory and proposing a methodology to compare TEIs to traditional item formats. This study investigated how to judge the comparative measurement value (CMV) of two drag-and-drop technology-enhanced formats (classification and rank-ordering) relative to stem-equivalent multiple-choice items. Items were administered to a sample of adults and results were calibrated using a 2-parameter logistic IRT model. Moreover, the utility of the TEIs was evaluated according to the TEI Utility Framework (Russell, 2016). Four indicators were identified as the most valuable characteristics to judge CMV and then combined into a hierarchical decision protocol. When applied, this protocol provides a CMV judgment and a recommendation of the preferred item format. Applying the protocol to the items revealed that most TEIs examined in this study showed decreased CMV, indicating that in a real-life scenario the multiple-choice format would be favored for most of these item pairs. Recommendations for the use of the CMV protocol and directions of future related research are discussed.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation

Dise?o y renovaci?n del parque centenario y la concha acustica "Garz?n y Collazos" para la ciudad de Ibagu?

131 p. Recurso Electr?nicoEl proyecto abarca una propuesta al parque Centenario de dise?o y renovaci?n en un ?rea aproximada de 56418 metros cuadrados en ?l que se adelanta un diagnostico al centro hist?rico de la ciudad y sus alrededores para poder interpretar las condiciones ambientales, urbanas, sociales y arquitect?nicas, y desarrollar as? una propuesta que involucre la recuperaci?n del centro hist?rico de la ciudad al integrar la propuesta de parque lineal que devuelva la calidad ambiental perdida y la zonificaci?n en las ?reas de vegetaci?n existente, al conservar elementos de car?cter patrimonial y luego se hace un inventario del estado actual de los elementos arquitect?nicos, mobiliario, materiales, etc. se interpretan las necesidades de integrar la quebrada la Pioja al generar ejes paralelos a la misma y que marcan recorridos y zonas de concentraci?n. Se retoman caracter?sticas topogr?ficas del terreno y se insertan dentro del dise?o urbano tanto en parque, paisaje y proyecto puntual arquitect?nico. Se logra un dise?o acorde con la tipolog?a de accesos. Las curvas y diagonales ser?n las formas geom?tricas principales en las representaciones en todo el proyecto. la curva ser? el elemento estructurador de los espacios, Se involucran el agua y los senderos en adoqu?n y concreto cepillado, asociados a los recorridos que buscan espacios de contemplaci?n, permanencia, recreaci?n pasiva, ?reas de actividad m?ltiple, culturales, educativas y de descanso, incluyendo un proyecto arquitect?nico; que en este caso es un centro de bellas artes el para complementar las actividades culturales y art?sticas.The project includes a proposal to the Centennial park of design and renovation in an approximate area of 254,000 square meters in which a diagnosis is advanced to the historic center of the city and its surroundings to be able to interpret the environmental, urban, social and architectural conditions, and To develop a proposal that involves the recovery of the historic center of the city by integrating the linear park proposal that returns the lost environmental quality and zoning in the existing vegetation areas, conserving heritage elements and then making an inventory of the Current state of the architectural elements, furniture, materials, etc. Are interpreted the needs to integrate the ravine the Pioja by generating axes parallel to it and that mark routes and zones of concentration. Topographic characteristics of the terrain are taken up and inserted into the urban design, both in the park, landscape and architectural design. A design is achieved according to the type of access. The curves and diagonals will be the main geometric forms in the representations throughout the project. The curve will be the structuring element of the spaces. Water and pavements are involved in cobblestone and brushed concrete, associated to the paths that seek spaces of contemplation, permanence, passive recreation, multiple activity areas, cultural, educational and rest, Including an architectural project; Which in this case is a center of fine arts to complement cultural and artistic activities. Keywords: Design, renovation, integrate, generate, conserve

Behavioral Psychology’s Matching Law Describes the Allocation of Covert Attention: A Choice Rule for the Mind

The matching law describes the allocation of behavior over a wide range of settings, including laboratory experimental chambers, forest foraging patches, sports arenas, and board games. Interestingly, matching persists in settings in which economic analyses predict quite different distributions of behavior (and it also differs systematically from “probability matching”). We tested whether the matching law also describes the allocation of covert cognitive processes. Sixty-four participants viewed two, small, vertically arranged adjacent stimuli that projected an image that fit within the fovea. A trial-version of the reward contingencies used in matching law experiments determined which stimulus was the target. The amount of time the stimuli were available was tailored to each subject so that they were not able to make use of the information in both stimuli even though an eye-tracking experiment confirmed that they saw both. The implication of this restriction is that subjects had to decide which stimulus to attend to prior to each trial. The only available objective basis for this decision was the relative frequencies that a stimulus was the target. Although shifts in attention were covert, and the procedure did not provide explicit reinforcers, the matching law equation described the division of attention between two small, briefly presented stimuli as accurately as it describes the allocation of key pecking between two illuminated disks in hungry pigeons

Simón Bolívar Metropolitan Park: between places and urban imaginaries of nature

ilustracionesEn esta disertación y ejercicio de carácter investigativo se elaboran respuestas a la pregunta ¿Qué relaciones se manifiestan entre los imaginarios geográficos de naturaleza y la construcción significativa de lugar en el Parque Metropolitano Simón Bolívar de Bogotá desde la perspectiva experiencial de sus usuarios? Ello a través de la elucidación que brinda el andamiaje teórico de la geografía humanística, en una aplicación teóricometodológica de las herramientas conceptuales de la semiótica, cuya forma interdisciplinaria y transdisciplinaria es la geo-semiótica, particularmente en la búsqueda de relaciones de intertextualidad entre tres sectores del parque (Sector Central, Jardín Botánico José Celestino Mutis y Parque de Los Novios), así como, en relación al Parque Nacional Enrique Olaya Herrera. El enfoque metodológico estuvo signado por la influencia fenomenológica en la geografía humanística en la búsqueda de los imaginarios geográficos. El constructo de acercamiento empírico estuvo organizado en cinco partes : Observación no estructurada, entrevistas no direccionadas, entrevistas estructuradas, análisis fotográfico semiótico y análisis de contenido semiótico. Se encontraron distintas formaciones imaginarias en asociación a la construcción de lugar como: efecto contenedor de naturaleza del lugar-parque, la configuración de una infinitud espacial experiencial y una temporalidad asociada a la invariabilidad. Así como, una variación proxémica de relación sector-sector, parque-parque o sector-parque, pasando de por la geo-metáfora de una amplitud trascendente y la intimación con la alteridad natural o humana. Así mismo, la diferenciación parque-parque en formas de contraste o continuidad respecto de la antinomia ciudad-naturaleza. (Texto tomado de la fuente).In this dissertation and investigative exercise, answers are elaborated to the question What relations are manifested between the geographical imaginaries of nature and the significant construction of place in the Simón Bolívar Metropolitan Park of Bogotá from the experiential perspective of its users? This through the elucidation provided by the theoretical scaffolding of humanistic geography, in a theoretical-methodological application of the conceptual tools of semiotics, whose interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary form is the geosemiotics, particularly in the search for intertextuality relations between three sectors of the park (Sector Central, Jardín Botánico José Celestino Mutis and Parque de Los Novios), as well as in relation to the Enrique Olaya Herrera National Park. The methodological approach was marked by the phenomenological influence on humanistic geography in the search for geographical imaginaries. The construct of empirical approach was organized in five synchronous parts: Unstructured observation, unaddressed interviews, structured interviews, semiotic photographic analysis and semiotic content analysis. Different imaginary formations were found in association with the construction of place as: container effect of nature of the place-park, the configuration of an experiential spatial infinitude and a temporality associated with invariability. As well as, a proxemic variation of sector-sector relationship, park-park or sector-park, passing through the geo-metaphor of a transcendent amplitude and intimation with natural or human otherness. Likewise, the park-park differentiation in forms of contrast or continuity with the antinomy city-natureMaestríaMagíster en GeografíaCultura y ambient