Student personality differences are related to their responses on instructor evaluation forms

The relation of student personality to student evaluations of teaching (SETs) was determined in a sample of 144 undergraduates. Student Big Five personality variables and core self-evaluation (CSE) were assessed. Students rated their most preferred instructor (MPI) and least preferred instructor (LPI) on 11 common evaluation items. Pearson and partial correlations simultaneously controlling for six demographic variables, Extraversion, Conscientiousness and Openness showed that SETs were positively related to Agreeableness and CSE and negatively related to Neuroticism, supporting the three hypotheses of study. Each of these significant relations was maintained when MPI, LPI or a composite of MPI and LPI served as the SET criterion. For example, the MPI-LPI composite correlated .28 with Agreeableness, .35 with CSE and –.28 with Neuroticism. Similar correlations resulted for MPI and LPI. Hierarchical multiple regression demonstrated that the CSE was an independent predictor of MPI ratings, Agreeableness was an independent predictor of LPI ratings, and both the CSE and Agreeableness were independent predictors of MPI-LPI composite ratings. Neuroticism did not emerge as an independent predictor because of the substantial correlation between CSE and Neuroticism (r = .53) and because CSE had greater predictive capacity. This is the first study to incorporate the CSE construct into the SET literature.     

Peer Perceptions of Counselor Effectiveness: A Multiple Regression Approach

The present study investigates the relationship between the personal preferences of beginning counselor education students and the sociometric choices of their peers. Fifty-four subjects, who were enrolled in the entry-level guidance seminar at the University of Akron between March and December 1971 were administered the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS). At the end of the seminars the students were asked to respond to a sociometric technique. The data from the EPPS (predictor variables) and from the sociometric technique (criterion) was then subjected to multiple regression analysis, which revealed that students with higher sociometric ratings demonstrated greater manifest needs for dominance, change, succorance, order, nurturance, and achievement than did those with lower sociometric ratings.     

Predicting Academic Success in Master’s Degree Programs in Education

Abstract

This study tested relationships between selected predictors and success in the Master's degree program in education at The Ohio State University for 171 students who received the degree during the 1962-63 academic year. The basic statistical tool used was multiple regression analysis in which the dependent variables were the graduate grade-point average (GPA) and adviser ratings.

The three best single predictors (all significant at the one per cent level) were found to be undergraduate GPA, the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test, and The Ohio State University Psychological Test. A multiple predictor involving these three variables yielded a correlation coefficient of .389 with the graduate GPA. The difference in predictor correlation between undergraduate GPA for all four years and that for only the last two years was very slight.     

Graduate teaching assistants: how well do their students think they do?

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) constitute a valuable and economical teaching force in many higher education undergraduate programmes. However, student satisfaction with their teaching has attracted little attention in the research literature. This study aimed at examining students’ evaluation of teaching of GTAs in discussion groups, as well as exploring the effects of group and GTA variables on these ratings. Data were collected using a questionnaire administered online and completed by 7078 undergraduate students. Participants were enrolled in classes taught by 278 GTAs from four faculties in a major Israeli university. Results indicated that ratings assigned to clarity of instruction were the most salient predictor of students’ overall evaluation. Generally, findings were consistent with those reported in the literature for other categories of instructors. Groups taught by GTAs in exact sciences and engineering were rated higher than those in social sciences and business management. Group size and the percentage of men students were inversely correlated with student ratings, while student attendance rate was positively correlated. Women GTAs and GTAs who taught more than one group tended to receive higher ratings. Overall student attendance rate was the most prominent predictor of student ratings. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

The Effectiveness of Visual Perception,Intelligence and Reading Understanding in Predicting Reading Achievement in Junior High School Children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the role that certain selected variables have in predicting reading achievement. Three hundred forty-seven students were administered the Minnesota Percepto-Diagnostic Test (MPD), the California Test of Mental Maturity (CTMM), Science Research Associates-Reading for Understanding (RFU) and the California Achievement Test (CAT). The last test was used as the criterion variable. All intercorrelations between the criterion and predictor variables were significant beyond the P = .05 level of confidence. Partial correlations deviated very little from the original or zero-order correlations. A regression equation was derived for the present sample. A multiple correlation of .874 was found when the three predictor variables were combined. It was established that 76 per cent of the criterion variations was attributable to the relation of criterion to predictors. It was concluded that in initial screening for weakness in reading achievement the present tests would be of considerable value for the appropriate diagnosis and action for students deficient in this area.     

The Effect of Research Report Characteristics on Counselor Receptivity to Research Material

The effect of research article length, format, and technical quality upon practicing counselors' receptivity to research material was examined. A group of 160 school and rehabilitation counselors were selected by a stratified sampling procedure and assigned at random to one of eight treatment conditions. Each of these treatments represented a combination of predictor variables. Subject ratings of the research articles were analyzed using a least squares analysis of variance procedure. Contrary to much of the available literature, it was found that none of the predictor variables significantly affected scores of counselor receptivity in any consistent direction or between articles of different content.     

The Superiority of Factor Scores as Predictors

Common factor scores were compared to unfactored data-level variables as predictors in terms of the correlation of a criterion with the predicted value in multiple regression equations applied to replication (cross-validation) samples. Data were generated by computer to provide populations with three different degrees of common variance inherent in their predictor variable intercorrelation matrices. Two replication populations differing from the original by specified amounts in their intercorrelation matrices were created for each common variance level. Results indicated that shrinkage was less for factor scores than for data-level variables for all combinations of common variance and difference of replication population. Moreover, the actual correlation describing accuracy of prediction was higher for factor scores than for data-level variables at the extreme conditions of common variance and difference of replication population.     

Classroom climate as predictor and criterion in science education research

Summary and conclusion The present study has reported the use of a set of nine classroom climate dimensions both as predictor and criterion variables in research related to ASEP. When the climate dimensions were employed as independent variables, it was found that the climate variables contributed an appreciable amount to the variance explained in various learning outcomes over and above that explained by instructional and aptitudinal variables alone. When the climate measures were employed as dependent variables, it was found that ASEP and control pupuls had significantly different perceptions of their classrooms along a number of the classroom dimensions.     

Assessing the impact of learning environments: How to use student ratings of classroom or school characteristics in multilevel modeling

In educational research, characteristics of the learning environment (e.g., social climate, instructional quality, goal orientation) are often assessed via student reports, and their associations with outcome variables such as school achievement or student motivation then tested. However, studying the effects of the learning environment presents a series of methodological challenges. This article discusses three crucial elements in research that uses student reports to gauge the impact of the learning environment on student outcomes. First, from a conceptual point of view, it is argued that ratings aggregated at the relevant level (e.g., class or school level), and not individual student ratings, are of primary interest in these studies. Second, the reliability of aggregated student ratings must be routinely assessed before these perceptions are related to outcome variables. Third, researchers conducting multilevel analyses need to make very clear which centering option was chosen for the predictor variables. This article shows that conclusions about the impact of learning environments can be substantially affected by the choice of a specific centering option for the individual student ratings.     

A latent-variable causal model of faculty reputational ratings

Saunier (1985), in an attempt to explain sources of variation in the NRC reputational ratings of university faculty, conducted a stepwise regression analysis using twelve predictor variables. Due to problems with multicollinearity and because of the atheoretical nature of stepwise regression, Saunier's conclusions were only speculative. By using LISREL the present reanalysis demonstrates the value of regressing reputational ratings on three latent variables: size, faculty research productivity, and the quality of program graduates. The model was tested using NRC data for each of six disciplines: English, French, philosophy, geography, political science, and sociology. The relative magnitude of the contributions made by the three latent variables depended upon the discipline of interest, but generally size and research productivity were found to be more important than the quality of the program graduates.A previous version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, D.C., 1987.     

The Relative Value of Sound Motion Pictures and Study Sheets in Science Teaching

Some relationships and similarities between regression analysis and 2-group discriminant analysis are pointed out. In particular, it is shown that in the special case of just two criterion groups the predictor variables may be equivalently ordered (with respect to contribution to prediction or discrimination) by the univariate F-ratios and by estimates of the predictor versus the linear discriminant function correlations.     

Using Design-Based Latent Growth Curve Modeling With Cluster-Level Predictor to Address Dependency

The authors compared the effects of using the true Multilevel Latent Growth Curve Model (MLGCM) with single-level regular and design-based Latent Growth Curve Models (LGCM) with or without the higher-level predictor on various criterion variables for multilevel longitudinal data. They found that random effect estimates were biased when the higher-level predictor was not included and that standard errors of the regression coefficients from the higher-level were underestimated when a regular LGCM was used. Nevertheless, random effect estimates, regression coefficients, and standard error estimates were consistent with those from the true MLGCM when the design-based LGCM included the higher-level predictor. They discussed implication for the study with empirical data illustration.     

Coached Clients as Raters of Counseling Effectiveness

The study was designed to investigate whether coached clients, trained in objective rating techniques, were more consistent with the ratings of counselor educators when evaluating the counseling effectiveness of counselor trainees, as compared to the same ratings completed by non-coached clients using the same criterion. A sample of ten counselor trainees were each rated by two coached and two non-coached clients using the Counseling Evaluation Inventory. The results indicated that the coached clients significantly agreed with the criterion, while the non-coached clients exhibited bias and subjectivity in their ratings.     

Factors associated with changes in prestige of university departments

Four models of possible predictors of changes in prestige for university departments are advanced and tested using multiple regression. Changes in prestige are measured using a residual change score derived from the ratings of departments in various disciplines collected by American Council of Education in 1964 and 1969. The models are tested using data collected from 1,164 faculty in 80 university departments in 1968, and from published sources for that same year. Results indicate that a resource model is the best predictor for sociology, and that a research productivity model and an organizational model were good predictors of reputational change for political science and chemistry. For physics, only one organizational variable was an important predictor. The fourth model tested involved reputation of faculty within the department, and this model yielded the fewest significant results. A composite predictive equation was then used, retaining variables that had emerged as significant in earlier analyses. Results again exhibited large differences across scientific fields, suggesting that there is no single set of factors that can reliably predict improvement or decline in prestige across all disciplines.     

THE SELECTION OF VARIABLES IN MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS

4 different procedures are commonly employed with sample data to reduce a set of predictor variables. In the present study these procedures were repeatedly applied to computer-simulated samples to provide comparative data pertaining to two questions: (a) Which procedure can be expected to produce an equation that yields the most accurate predictions for the population? (b) Which procedure is most likely to identify the optimal set of independent variables? The samples were drawn from 12, mathematically defined, multivariate normal populations. Each population consisted of 1 criterion and 10 predictor variables. Five or fewer independent variables constituted the optimal set in each case. With respect to both questions small differences among the procedures were observed. However, the forward selection and stepwise procedures consistently produced more favorable results than the 2 backward elimination procedures. The question of the number of sampling units to use is discussed.     

Examining the independent contribution of prosodic sensitivity to word reading and spelling in early readers

This study was designed to examine the independent contribution of prosodic sensitivity—the rhythmic patterning of speech—to word reading and spelling in a sample of early readers. Ninety-three English-speaking children aged 5–6 years old (M = 69.28 months, SD = 3.67) were assessed for their prosodic sensitivity, vocabulary knowledge, phonological, and morphological awareness (predictor variables) along with their word reading and spelling (criterion variables). Bivariate (zero-order) correlation analyses revealed that prosodic sensitivity was significantly associated with all other variables in this study. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that after controlling for individual differences in vocabulary, phonological, and morphological awareness, prosodic sensitivity was still able to explain unique variance in word reading, but was unable to make an independent contribution to spelling. The findings suggest that prosodic sensitivity gives added value to our understanding of children’s reading development.     

Factors shaping community attitudes to school mathematics: Implications for future curriculum change

The goals of mathematics education are pressured by political, social, and economic forces that are often expressed through the medium of public opinion. Public opinion is formed largely by the preceptions of what is rather than the reality itself which may be known by only a few. The recommendations of committees of enquiry are activated in the world of average people and typical teachers — not the rarefied world of specialised professional knowledge in which the recommendations are typically incubated.This paper reports on community perceptions of school mathematics with respect to the four areas of content, individual values, attitudinal aspects, and folklore. Factor analysis identified five predictor variables (derived from the respondents' own backgrounds), and five criterion variables (describing their views and values as to what school mathematics should be). Analysis of variance was used to explore the contribution of the predictor variables and selected demographic variables to the criterion factor scores. The results are discussed in relation to their implications for the effective implementation of recommendations for change in mathematics education.     

Concurrent validity of the PPVT-R with the K-ABC for learning problem children

This study examined the concurrent validity of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) with 47 students referred for learning difficulties. A comparison of the correlations of each of the criterion measures from the K-ABC global scales showed a more substantial relationship between the PPVT-R standard score and the K-ABC Achievement scale than with other K-ABC scales. In an effort to further examine the relationship between the PPVT-R and the K-ABC, a stepwise multiple regression was calculated, with the standard scores of the K-ABC global scales serving as the predictor variables of the PPVT-R. This analysis indicated that the K-ABC Achievement global scale was the only significant predictor of the PPVT-R. Implications for practitioners were discussed.     

Individual differences in decision-making and confidence: capturing decision tendencies in a fictitious medical test

Decision-making is a complex process that is largely studied from an experimental perspective or in specific organizational contexts. As such, no generalizable framework exists with which to study decision-making from an individual differences perspective for predictive/selection purposes. By generalising a context-specific decision model proposed by Koriat and Goldsmith (1996), the focus of this research was to therefore test a novel framework for studying individual differences in decision-making tendencies. Utilising this framework within a fictitious Medical Decision-Making Test (MDMT) yielded five novel variables that provided unique insight into individuals’ decision tendencies: Optimal, Realistic, Incompetent, Hesitant and Congruent. Metacognitive confidence and its calibration (bias and CAQ) were used as predictor variables to validate this framework. One hundred ninety-three undergraduate students completed the MDMT and three cognitive ability tests with confidence ratings, a personality questionnaire, and the Need for Closure questionnaire. All decision tendency variables demonstrated excellent internal consistency and were predicted by the metacognitive variables incrementally to the remaining variables as hypothesized. Additionally, the metacognitive indices were found to generalize across the decision-making and cognitive tests. The results imply that this novel framework and MDMT reliably capture individuals’ decision behaviour that shares a meaningful relationship with their general confidence and calibration.