Test item taxonomy based of functional criteria

There are many taxonomies that try to classify and apply some consistency to the very many item types currently in existence. They all have various limitations, however, such as ambiguous classification criteria, little discrimination between format types, and referring almost exclusively to pen-and-paper or screen-based items. This paper aims to overcome these limitations by proposing a new item format taxonomy based on functional criteria. Current classifications are reviewed, the criteria they are based on are examined and their limitations are identified. The proposed alternative classification identifies four essential components of items according to function: the structure of the included content, the device used for transmission of the question to the examinee, the device for receiving the response, and the instructions to the examinee about how to understand and respond to the item. The combination of different facets of these four components allows any format of item to be classified, both existing formats and those that may appear in the future. In addition to systematically and coherently classifying items, this new taxonomy may also be of great utility in the construction and research of new items. The proposed model is illustrated by examples showing how specific items are classified, using a checklist as a guide.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España PSI2014-56114-PMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad de España PSI2017-85724-

Competences and values to understand students' entrepreneurial intentions

Entrepreneurship is based on human capital, as the development of entrepreneurial activities comes from people committed to society, change and innovation. The generation of entrepreneurial human capital is one of the roles of the Entrepreneurial University, fostering entrepreneurial competences and values within the organization. This study analyses the influence of those factors, intrinsic and extrinsic to the individual, on the generation of Entrepreneurial Intentions (EI). Based on a sample of 420 university students from various degrees and faculties, the present study develops a structural equation model that explain the influence of values and six key entrepreneurial competences on EI, applying the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as a theoretical approach. The first results show that not all entrepreneurial competences have a significant influence on the formation of EI. Moreover, their effect differs for each of the three dimensions of the TPB. On the contrary, values influence EI across all three dimensions.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

New guidelines for developing multiple-choice items

The rigorous construction of items constitutes a field of great current interest for psychometric researchers and practitioners. In previous studies we had reviewed and analyzed the existing guidelines for the construction of multiple-choice items. From this review emerged a new proposal for guidelines that is now, in the present work, subjected to empirical assessment. This assessment was carried out by users of the guidelines and by experts in item construction. The results endorse the proposal for the new guidelines presented, confirming the advantages in relation to their simplicity and efficiency, as well as permitting identification of the difficulties involved in drawing up and organizing some of the guidelines. Taking into account these results, we propose a new, refined set of guidelines that constitutes a useful, simple and structured instrument for the construction of multiple-choice items

Directrices para el desarrollo de ítems de elección múltiple basadas en validez

Background: Many different guidelines have been presented for the construction of multiple choice items. Those guidelines have been based on the observation of errors when constructing items but not on any clear scientifi c criterion. Our main objective was to draw up guidelines for the development of multiple choice items based on validity criteria. Method: We used the properties of adjustment, precision, and differentiation, applying them to three basic phases of instrument construction: the defi nition of the objective and its context; their expression in the instrument and item stem; and the elaboration of response options. Results: We have combined these properties and phases to give nine general guidelines with a fi rm theoretical footing. Conclusions: Finally, we have written a checklist with twentyfour points to check how far the measurement instruments comply with the proposed guidelines.Antecedentes: se han propuesto diferentes directrices para la construcción de ítems de elección múltiple, basadas sobre todo en la observación de errores al construir los ítems pero no en algún criterio científi co claro. El objetivo central del presente trabajo es generar directrices para el desarrollo de ítems de elección múltiple basadas en criterios de validez. Método: se utilizan las propiedades de ajuste, precisión y diferenciación, aplicándolas a tres etapas fundamentales del desarrollo de instrumentos de evaluación: defi nición del objetivo y su contexto, su implementación en el instrumento y enunciado de los ítems, y elaboración de las opciones de respuesta. Resultados: la combinación entre tales propiedades y etapas da lugar a nueve directrices generales que, además de quedar fundamentadas, permiten resolver cualquier duda que surja a quienes desarrollan ítems de elección múltiple. Conclusiones: para facilitar esa labor, las directrices son complementadas con una lista de veinticuatro cuestiones con la que comprobar el grado en que los instrumentos de medida cumplen las directrices propuestas

Guidelines for the construction of multiple choice test items

Los ítems de elección múltiple son utilizados en numerosos contextos de evaluación psicológica y educativa. Con demasiada frecuencia las críticas que se hacen a este tipo de ítems tienen más que ver con su construcción defectuosa que con los inconvenientes del formato en sí mismo, que resulta objetivo, fácil y económico de corregir, y muy versátil, adaptándose a todo tipo de contextos y contenidos. El presente artículo destaca la necesidad de contar con un conjunto de directrices eficientes que guíen la construcción de dichos ítems, sustituyendo el modo intuitivo y poco sistemático seguido con frecuencia. Se revisan las directrices existentes y se identifican los diversos problemas que dificultan su aprovechamiento, tales como el elevado número de directrices propuestas, redundancias entre ellas y ciertas imprecisiones. A partir de esa revisión se seleccionan las directrices de contenido relevante y se reorganizan en un conjunto más parsimonioso y estructurado constituido por doce directrices básicas, acompañadas de ejemplos e ilustraciones. Se espera que esta propuesta resulte de utilidad como guía para los profesionales e investigadores que deseen construir ítems de elección múltiple o analizar los ya existentesMultiple choice test items are currently used in several areas of psychological and educational assessment. All too often, criticism made of these items concentrates more on their defective construction than the difficulties with the format itself; despite this, the format is objective, easily and cheaply corrected, and its versatility makes it adaptable to many contexts and contents. This paper highlights the need for a set of effective guidelines to assist in the construction of these items, thereby replacing the intuitive and unsystematic approach generally used. Existing guidelines are revised, as are several questions that stop them working properly, such as the excessive number of guidelines, overlapping between them and inaccuracies. Following this revision, the guidelines with important content are selected and reorganized in a more practical and structured set consisting of twelve basic guidelines, accompanied by examples and illustrations. It is hoped that this proposal will be useful as a guide for teachers or researchers who have to build multiple choice items, or analyze already existing ones

Las inscripciones latinas de Totana (Murcia) en la correspondencia y en los Apuntes del presbítero José María Bellón (1816-1894)

En este trabajo estudiamos la figura desconocida de un erudito local del siglo XIX, José María Bellón Molino, sacerdote murciano, natural de Totana, quien, a través de su relación epistolar con Aureliano Fernández-Guerra y Orbe (entre marzo de 1864 y marzo de 1865), hizo llegar a Emil Hübner información (con fotografías) sobre unas inscripciones que se conservaban en Totana y que serían publicadas en el corpus epigráfico berlinés cinco años después (CIL II 3531, 3533 y 3534).In this work, we deal with the unknown figure of a local scholar of the nineteenth century, Jose Maria Bellón Molino, a priest, native of Totana (Murcia), who through his epistolary relationship with Aureli-ano Fernandez-Guerra y Orbe (from March 1864 and March 1865) sent to Emil Hübner information (with photos) on inscriptions that were kept in Totana and would be published five years later in the epigraphic corpus edited in Berlin (CIL II 3531, 3533 and 3534)

La gestión de recursos humanos en una gran empresa textil norteamericana : análisis comparatista del vigente convenio colectivo de Levi Strauss & Co., y traducción castellana

[Resumen] El análisis del convenio colectivo vigente de Levi Strauss & Co., que se encuentra técnicamente en situación de ultractividad, posee un interés iuscomparatista muy grande. En primer lugar, porque ha obligado a traducir íntegramente al castellano el texto completo de un convenio colectivo de una gran empresa norteamericana, lo que ocurre por vez primera en España en un trabajo de Tesis Doctoral. En segundo lugar, por tratarse de una empresa linajuda y señera en el sector textil a nivel mundial, debiendo recordarse que su producto estelar es el pantalón vaquero o «blue jean». En tercer lugar, porque esa traducción al castellano ha permitido realizar una radiografía casi perfecta sobre cómo se lleva a cabo la gestión de recursos humanos en una empresa-referente. El trabajo ha tomado como término de comparación el convenio colectivo general aplicable a la empresa gallega CARAMELO, S.A., también perteneciente al sector textil. La comparación entre un convenio norteamericano de empresa y un convenio español de ámbito sectorial arroja luz sobre el diverso tratamiento que la práctica convencional da a las cláusulas obligacionales y normativas de los convenios colectivos, tanto en España como en los Estados Unidos

Glottal Source Cepstrum Coefficients Applied to NIST SRE 2010

Through the present paper, a novel feature set for speaker recognition based on glottal estimate information is presented. An iterative algorithm is used to derive the vocal tract and glottal source estimations from speech signal. In order to test the importance of glottal source information in speaker characterization, the novel feature set has been tested in the 2010 NIST Speaker Recognition Evaluation (NIST SRE10). The proposed system uses glottal estimate parameter templates and classical cepstral information to build a model for each speaker involved in the recognition process. ALIZE [1] open-source software has been used to create the GMM models for both background and target speakers. Compared to using mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients (MFCC), the misclassification rate for the NIST SRE 2010 reduced from 29.43% to 27.15% when glottal source features are use