Logistic Knowledge Tracing: A Constrained Framework for Learner Modeling

Adaptive learning technology solutions often use a learner model to trace learning and make pedagogical decisions. The present research introduces a formalized methodology for specifying learner models, Logistic Knowledge Tracing (LKT), that consolidates many extant learner modeling methods. The strength of LKT is the specification of a symbolic notation system for alternative logistic regression models that is powerful enough to specify many extant models in the literature and many new models. To demonstrate the generality of LKT, we fit 12 models, some variants of well-known models and some newly devised, to 6 learning technology datasets. The results indicated that no single learner model was best in all cases, further justifying a broad approach that considers multiple learner model features and the learning context. The models presented here avoid student-level fixed parameters to increase generalizability. We also introduce features to stand in for these intercepts. We argue that to be maximally applicable, a learner model needs to adapt to student differences, rather than needing to be pre-parameterized with the level of each student's ability

Comparando el grado de dificultad de ítems y la distribución de sus menciones en el instrumento Autoeficacia para Enseñar Estadística (SETS) de docentes en formación a nivel secundario

III Congreso Internacional Virtual de Educación Estadística (CIVEEST), 21-24 febrero de 2019. [www.ugr.es/local/fqm126/civeest.html]In recent years, there has been an increased interest in grade 6-12 mathematics teacher efficacy to teach statistics in the US. However, knowing teachers’ overall efficacy level may not be enough. In this study, 47 pre-service secondary mathematics teachers completed the Self-Efficacy to Teach Statistics – high school (SETS-HS) instrument. Additionally, the participants answered open-ended questions in which they identified the items that were easiest and most difficult to rate with higher efficacy, as well as explained the reasons for their ratings of these items. We explore the connection between the items identified by item difficulty estimates as hardest (or easiest) and the frequencies of the specific items those pre-service teachers identified most often in the open-ended questions.En los últimos años, ha habido un mayor interés en la eficacia de profesores de matemáticas de grado 6-12 para enseñar estadísticas en los Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, conocer el nivel general de eficacia de los docentes no es suficiente. En este estudio, 47 docentes de matemática en formación completaron el instrumento Autoeficacia para Enseñar la Estadística – nivel secundario (SETS-HS). Además, los participantes respondieron a preguntas abiertas en las que identificaron los ítems más fáciles y difíciles de valorar con mayor eficacia, así como explicaciones sobre las razones de su clasificación de estos ítems. Exploramos la conexión entre los ítems identificados por las estimaciones de la dificultad del ítem como más difíciles (o más fáciles) y las frecuencias de los ítems específicos que los profesores en formación identificaron más a menudo en las preguntas abiertas

Social goals in context: African american students

Social relationships in school are hypothesized to be universal across cultures, but research has illustrated both slight and great differences among ethnic groups. With a particular focus on African American students, the present chapter discusses how social goals can both improve and hinder their academic performance. African American students’ social goals also help to explain the popularity of certain students over others. The limited number of studies including African Americans’ social goals needs to be addressed as does the inclusion of ethnic identity in future social goal research

The Influence of Between-Dimension Correlation, Misfit, and Test Length on Multidimensional Rasch Model Information-Based Fit Index Accuracy

Most research on confirmatory factor analysis using information-based fit indices (Akaike information criterion [AIC], Bayesian information criteria [BIC], bias-corrected AIC [AICc], and consistent AIC [CAIC]) has used a structural equation modeling framework. Minimal research has been done concerning application of these indices to item response models, especially within the framework of multidimensional Rasch analysis with an emphasis of the role of between-dimension correlation on index accuracy. We investigated how sample size, between-dimension correlation, model-to-data misfit, and test length affect the accuracy of these indices in model recovery in dichotomous data using a multidimensional Rasch analysis simulation methodology. Results reveal that, at higher values of between-dimension correlation, AIC indicated the correct two-dimension generating structure slightly more often than the BIC or CAIC. The results also demonstrated that violations of the Rasch model assumptions are magnified at higher between-dimension correlations. We recommend that practitioners working with highly correlated multidimensional data use moderate length (roughly 40 items) instruments and minimize data-to-model misfit in the choice of model used for confirmatory factor analysis (multidimensional random coefficient multinomial logit or other multidimensional item response theory models). © The Author(s) 2013

Transgender affect misattribution procedure (Transgender AMP): Development and initial evaluation of performance of a measure of implicit prejudice

Decades of social attitudes research has shown the importance of examining both implicit and explicit attitudes for a fuller understanding of attitudes. Despite evidence from the broader literature, transgender attitudes studies to date have almost exclusively utilized self-report measures to assess explicit transgender prejudice due, in large part, to the dearth of implicit transgender prejudice measures. The current study, therefore, conducted a series of three pilot studies using online samples to build a standardized procedure based on the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) to assess implicit transgender prejudice (Transgender AMP) and examined its performance to establish preliminary validity and reliability evidence for scores from the procedure. Results of the repeated-measures ANOVA showed a significant effect of prime type, demonstrating a systematic difference in the ratings of transgender primes versus neutral primes and provided initial evidence of construct validity. Although the effect size was not as large as what is reported for the original AMP, the Transgender AMP still showed sensitivity as a measure of implicit transgender prejudice. Likewise, results of the mixed ANOVA showed a significant effect of contact, replicating findings from the explicit transgender prejudice literature. Transgender AMP scores were also found to be internally consistent (α = .87). Overall, the newly developed Transgender AMP performed as expected with preliminary evidence suggesting that it is a simple, user-friendly procedure capturing implicit transgender prejudice

Racial Discrimination and Risky Sex: Examining Cognitive-Emotional Factors in Black College Students

Using the lifespan biopsychosocial model of cumulative vulnerability and minority health as a theroretical lens, the present study proposed two models to test the relationships among racial discrimination, cognitive–emotional factors, and risky sexual behaviors in a sample of 302 Black college students in the United States. Our models provided support for some of the hypothesized direct and indirect pathways. As expected, overt racial discrimination and subtle racial discrimination (i.e., racial microaggression) were both positively related to cognitive–emotional factors (i.e., anxiety, depression, hopelessness, and hostility). Racial microaggressions were significantly positively related to risky sexual behaviors, but overt racial discrimination was not. Hostility was the only cognitive–emotional factor that facilitated an indirect, significant effect from racial microaggressions to risky sexual behaviors. Potential implications are discussed for practice, training programs, and future counseling psychology research with Black college students using the lifespan biopsychosocial model of cumulative vulnerability and minority health

Intergroup Contact, Intergroup Anxiety, and Anti-Transgender Prejudice: An Examination Using Structural Equation Modeling

This cross-sectional study applied the intergroup contact theory in the context of transgender prejudice and examined the relationships between quality and quantity of contact and explicit and implicit anti-transgender prejudice. Additionally, the study assessed the possible mediating role of intergroup anxiety in the relationship between intergroup contact and anti-transgender prejudice. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the proposed relationships, controlling for gender, religiosity, and political conservatism. Data were collected from an online sample of 354 participants (males: n = 168; females: n = 186). As hypothesized, greater quantity of contact was uniquely related to less implicit anti-transgender prejudice, whereas greater quality of contact was uniquely related to less explicit and implicit anti-transgender prejudice. Intergroup anxiety mediated the relationships between quality of contact and implicit and explicit anti-transgender prejudice but did not mediate the relationship between quantity of contact and implicit anti-transgender prejudice

Exploring the Effectiveness of Academic Coaching for Academically At-Risk College Students

The purpose of this study, which was conducted over the course of five semesters at one institution, was to determine the effectiveness of the Academic Coaching for Excellence (ACE) program for academically at-risk students. The study utilized archival data, which had been collected by the Center for Academic Retention and Enrichment Services (CARES), for 1434 undergraduate students in a cohort-based, nonequivalent groups post-tests design. Results indicated that full- and part-time students who participated in academic coaching had significant GPA increases, were more likely to earn at least a 2.00 GPA in the intervention semester, and were more likely to be retained at the university the following semester than were those students who did not participate in the program. Implications for higher education professionals are discussed

Psychometric analysis of the BASC-2 behavioral and emotional screening system (BESS) student form: Results from high school student samples

The Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) is a relatively new method for identifying behavior and emotional risk (BER) in children and adolescents. Psychometric evidence regarding this instrument is important for researchers and practitioners considering the use of the BESS for identifying BER in students. Previous psychometric research specifically regarding the BESS Student Form involved the use of samples of elementary and middle school-age children. This study adds to the psychometric evidence for scores on the BESS Student Form by using samples of high school aged students to assess both the factor structure reported by Dowdy, Twyford et al. (2011) and the measurement invariance of the BESS items with regard to ethnicity, English language proficiency, and socioeconomic status. The results indicate that while the proposed 4-factor structure of the BESS Student Form is appropriate, lower than preferred reliabilities for some of the factors indicates that reporting the overall risk T score is more appropriate than reporting factor scores for risk classification purposes. Additionally, the BESS Student Form items did not exhibit measurement bias when comparing across ethnicities, language proficiency classification, or socioeconomic status (via free/reduced lunch classification)

Predicting behavior assessment system for children–second edition self-report of personality child form results using the behavioral and emotional screening system student form: a replication study with an urban, predominantly latino/a sample

This study assesses the ability of a brief screening form, the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System–Student Form (BESS-SF), to predict scores on the much longer form from which it was derived: the Behavior Assessment System for Children–Second Edition Self-Report of Personality–Child Form (BASC-2-SRP-C). The present study replicates a former study included in the BESS manual with an entirely new sample. Participants included 252 students from a large, urban, Southwestern U.S. city school district in the third through fifth grades. The sample’s ethnic majority was Hispanic (81.7%). Results revealed high specificity and negative predictive values between the screener and omnibus form, suggesting a child who identifies as not “atrisk” on the BESS-SF will likely identify as not “at-risk” on the BASC-2-SRP-C domains. These results effectively replicate the previous findings with a new sample of largely Hispanic (Latino/a) students from a large urban school district