A Comparison of Two Alternate Scaling Approaches Employed for Task Analyses in Credentialing Examination Development

Credentialing examination developers rely on task (job) analyses for establishing inventories of task and knowledge areas in which competency is required for safe and successful practice in target occupations. There are many ways in which task‐related information may be gathered from practitioner ratings, each with its own advantage and limitation. Two of the myriad alternative task analysis rating approaches are compared in situ: one establishing relative task saliency through a single scale of rated importance and another employing a composite of several independent scales. Outcomes regarding tasks ranked by two practitioner groups are compared. A relatively high degree of association is observed between tasks ranked through each approach, yielding comparable, though not identical examination blueprints.     

Examining Contextual Effects in a Practice Analysis: An Application of Dual Scaling

Practice analyses are routinely used in support of the development of occupational and professional certification and licensure examinations. These analyses usually survey incumbents to obtain importance ratings of (1) specific tasks and (2) knowledge, skill, and ability (KSA) statements deemed by subject matter experts as essential to safe and effective practice. Several researchers have made important criticisms of traditional practice analysis procedures, particularly the lack of attention to contextual constructs and the resulting problematic interpretation of mean importance ratings. The present study provides a framework for assessing the impact of context in practice analysis studies. It focuses on a practice analysis of a health profession that sought to enhance the meaning of incumbents' importance ratings by embedding the statements in the context of patient acuities. Results indicate that incumbents' importance ratings varied as a function of patient acuity. Dual scaling analysis was used to obtain a multidimensional visual representation of the associations between importance ratings and contextual content. The implications of the contextual component of the study design for future practice analysis studies are discussed as well as possible applications of this approach to professions in education.     

构建教师行动教育中的实效性课程体系——以教学课例为载体的继续教育课程的开发与实践

继续教育课程体系是教师继续教育课程编制的核心任务。课程内容的选择和编排必须考虑教师行动教育的有效性和教师的成人特性,使课程内容既呈现开放性的生成,又考虑教师个体的实际成长需求;既要面向发展的需要,又要从当前现实出发;体现出实用性与支持性相结合,广泛性与选择性相结合。着力开发突出实用性设计的继续教育课程体系。     

金华市小学英语师资现状调查及分析

本研究抽样调查了金华市小学英语教师的现状。结合问卷和访谈,从基本情况、教学实践、教科研情况和业务进修四个方面来展开调查．结果显示近几年金华小学英语师资情况有喜有忧。基于此,文章最后提出了一些建议。     

高职生毕业实习与择业之间的矛盾与对策研究

高等教育扩招与就业制度改革,使毕业实习与择业之间的矛盾凸显,学生多把实习时间用于寻找工作。对此,各高校应进一步提高对毕业实习重要性的认识,主动深入基层与用人单位了解信息。使实习与择业有机结合起来;政府主管部门要规范毕业生就业市场,调整各类招聘会的时间,并加强就业信息网络建设,以减少毕业生的求职成本与求职时间,保证学生毕业实习质量。     

人类学情境理论对于提高顶岗实习质量的借鉴意义

顶岗实习作为职业教育课程的重要组成部分,其质量提升一直是职校普遍关注的重要问题之一。人类学情境理论无论是在研究领域还是研究结论方面,均与顶岗实习的特征和涵义契合。本文在分析人类学情境理论引入顶岗实习合理性的基础上,应用人类学情境理论对如何提高顶岗实习质量提出了建议。     

实训制在高校理工科实验教学中的应用研究

高校毕业生就业已经成为社会关注的焦点问题。文章提出将实训制引入高校理工科实验教学的构想,探讨了其应用特点,并以计算机网络实验教学为例加以分析说明。结果表明实训制在高校实验教学中发挥了一定作用,是完全可行的。     

顶岗实习管理系统在高职院校实习管理中的应用

顶岗实习是深化“工学结合”人才培养模式改革的重要途径。为了提高顶岗实习环节实践教学质量,我校通过网络信息技术开发建设了“顶岗实习管理网络平台”。应用顶岗实习管理系统辅助校外顶岗实习管理,落实顶岗实习过程管理,实行顶岗实习指导的“全体化”;借助网络信息储存优势,推行顶岗实习考核的过程化评价;运用网络平台优势,提供顶岗实习与就业的一体化服务,从而满足我校实习管理的功能需求,并取得了明显成效。我校这一成功经验,希望能为同类高职院校的实习管理工作提供一定的借鉴。     

What Do We Mean When We Say “Pass Rate”?

Pass rates are key assessment statistics which are calculated for nearly all high-stakes examinations. In this article, we define the terminal, first attempt, total attempts, and repeat attempts pass rates, and discuss the uses of each statistic. We also explain why in many situations one should expect the terminal pass rate to be the highest, first attempt pass rate to be the second highest, total attempts pass rate to be the third highest, and repeat attempts pass rate to be the lowest when repeat attempts are allowed. Analyses of data from 14 credentialing programs showed that the expected relationship held for 13 out of 14 of the programs. Additional analyses of pass rates for educational programs in radiography in one state showed that the general relationship held at the state level, but only held for 6 out of 34 educational programs. It is suggested that credentialing programs need to clearly state their pass rate definitions and carefully consider how repeat examinees may influence pass rate statistics. It is also suggested that credentialing programs need to think carefully about the meaning and uses of different pass rate statistics when choosing which pass rates to report to stakeholders.     

‘Designing the plane while flying it’: concept co-construction in a collaborative action research project

In the field of collaborative action research (CAR), the quality of the collaborative partnerships between university researchers and practitioners has received much attention. Most accounts focus on three areas: the question how to organise and optimise the encounter of these ‘worlds’ of scientific and practical reasoning; the professional development and emancipation of practitioners; and the enhancement of the practical utility of a CAR-project. In this article, we look at CAR projects from a different angle and explore the question how theoretical concepts are co-constructed in CAR-projects, thereby acquiring both practical as well as scientific relevance. We have focused on the participatory process of conceptualization during a CAR project in primary education, in order to find out how a key concept in the considered project is co-constructed and operationalized in multidisciplinary communities of practices. Both the theoretical validity of the concept is evaluated as well as the validity of collaboration. An ‘hourglass’ model is introduced for analysing participation in CAR projects, holding a more relational and dialogic interpretation of participation than the ‘Participation Ladder’ model. Furthermore, a heuristic approach to conceptualization in CAR projects is proposed.     

An NCME Instructional Module on Developing and Administering Practice Analysis Questionnaires

The purpose of a credentialing examination is to assure the public that individuals who work in an occupation or profession have met certain standards. To be consistent with this purpose, credentialing examinations must be job related, and this requirement is typically met by developing test plans based on an empirical job or practice analysis. The purpose of this module is to describe procedures for developing practice analysis surveys, with emphasis on task inventory questionnaires. Editorial guidelines for writing task statements are presented, followed by a discussion of issues related to the development of scales for rating tasks and job responsibilities. The module also offers guidelines for designing and formatting both mail-out and Internet-based questionnaires. It concludes with a brief overview of the types of data analyses useful for practice analysis questionnaires.     

工作描述指标在工作岗位分析中的应用

工作岗位分析是人力资源管理的基本工作。工作岗位分析过程中存在不同层次的描述指标，如职位、职责、任务、动作或要素等。各种描述指标的意义不同，其代表的含义及其在人力资源管理实践中的应用也不同。     

语言测试设计的原则与实践

文章阐述了语言测试设计的普遍原则和实践中的操作程序,旨在论述和分析语言测试丰富的内涵,即除了作为一种检测工具以外,它还在深层次上影响语言教学、素质培养,反映语言知识、语言技能以及测试如何引起正向反拨效应;在设计程序上,命题人应该视测试的具体要求,确定侧重点,调节测试的信度和效度的关系,使其尽可能保持一致.     

利用动物学实习基地培养学生的就业竞争能力

近年来,大学生就业难已成为一种普遍现象,这其中固然有多方面的客观原因,但大学生的基本素质已成为影响其顺利就业的重要因素。本文分析了校外实习基地建设对促进高校毕业生就业的作用,探讨了依托动物学校外实习基地培养学生就业竞争能力的途径和方法。     

自我监控量表的结构效度研究

Snyder(1974)编制的自我监控量表是应用相当广泛,同时也颇具争议的一个量表。它反映面部表情控制和自我呈现的个体差异。但国外相当多的研究认为该量表存在多个因子。该研究用中国被试进行研究,结果证实该量表存在三个因子：外向、表演和他人导向。三因子与最初构念存在较大差异,说明该量表的结构效度确实不高。