STUDENT INTEREST IN TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE (SITS) SURVEY: DEVELOPMENT,VALIDATION, AND USE OF A NEW INSTRUMENT

This study presents the systematic development, validation, and use of a new instrument for measuring student interest in science and technology. The Student Interest in Technology and Science (SITS) survey is composed of 5 sub-sections assessing the following dimensions: interest in learning science, using technology to learn science, science careers, technology careers, and attitudes toward biotechnology. Our development process included review of existing instrumentation, pilot testing, and expert panel review. The resulting instrument was administered before and after implementation of a biotechnology intervention which used a computer-based game to engage learners in the use of biotechnology to address a societal issue. We employed item response theory (IRT) to explore instrument validity and precision. Results of the psychometric analyses suggest that the SITS survey has a well-defined structure and meets IRT assumptions. Difficulty and discrimination parameters as well as reliability analyses indicate that SITS items provide useful measures of student interest. Finally, we use the SITS to explore the extent to which the intervention used in this study supports changes in student interest and association between students’ interest and related content knowledge. Implications for the future use of this instrument are discussed.     

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A SEXUAL ACTUALIZATION MEASURING INSTRUMENT FOR THE ELDERLY

The objective of this study was to develop a measuring instrument for assessing sexual actualization of the elderly and test some of its metrological properties. The assistance of experts on sexology, gerontology, and the actualization of potential was required. The questionnaire was sent twice, at a 2-week interval, to individuals who showed an interest in the study. Of the 115 people who answered the questionnaire, 52 were women, with a mean age of 67.3, and 63 were men, with a mean age of 68.9. The results show good temporal stability (intraclass correlation coefficient =.89) and strong internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha =.97). Two construct validity studies were conducted. The first consisted in comparing the Sexual Actualization Questionnaire (SAQ) and a general well-being scale; no significant relationship was found (r =.07; p =.41). However, the results of the second study, which compared the SAQ scores of the senior individuals who had been sexually active with those who had not, were significant (p <.05).     

THE NATURE OF OBJECTIVITY WITH THE RASCH MODEL

Although it has been claimed that the Rasch model leads to a higher degree of objectivity in measurement than has been previously possible, this model has had little impact on test development. Population-invariant item and ability calibrations, together with the statistical equivalency of any two item subsets, are supposedly possible if the item pool has been calibrated by the Rasch model. Initial research has been encouraging, but the implications of underlying assumptions and operational computations in the Rasch model for trait theory have not been clear from previous work. The current paper presents an analysis of the conditions under which the claims of objectivity will be substantiated, with special emphasis on the nature of equivalent forms. It is concluded that the real advantages of the Rasch model will not be apparent until the technology of trait measurement becomes more sophisticated.     

MEASURING ASPIRATIONS,BELONGING, AND PRODUCTIVITY IN SECONDARY STUDENTS: VALIDATION OF THE STUDENT SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT MEASURE

This article proposes a model of student school engagement, comprising aspirations, belonging, and productivity. From this model, items for the Student School Engagement Measure (SSEM) were developed. The SSEM was validated with data from 396 eighth graders in an urban school district. Utilizing structural equation modeling, the second‐order empirical model of the SSEM was found to fit the data well, to have good reliability for the three factors, and to be predictive of district‐identified risk factors and state standardized academic assessment results. These results suggest that the Student School Engagement Model and the SSEM may be useful tools for understanding which students might be at increased risk for school dropout and how to intervene to support school completion. Recommendations for practitioners and future research are given.     

MEASURING EFFICACY SOURCES: DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE SOURCES OF TEACHER EFFICACY QUESTIONNAIRE (STEQ) FOR CHINESE TEACHERS

The aim of the current study is to develop and validate an instrument to measure the four sources of teacher efficacy among Chinese primary school teachers. A 26‐item Sources of Teacher Efficacy Questionnaire (STEQ) was proposed with four subscales: mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasion, and physiological arousal. The results supported the hypothesized four‐factor structure of the STEQ. Scores from all the four factors of the STEQ had strong significant correlations with the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), which showed the criterion‐related validity of the STEQ. Further, scores of all four sources significantly predicted teacher efficacy scores, among which social persuasion was the strongest predictor. This study contributes to the self‐efficacy literature by providing researchers with an instrument for examining the various facets of teacher efficacy. The findings can inform school principals and teacher educators, enabling them to facilitate a school culture and teaching environment that cultivates a greater sense of teacher efficacy and, in turn, better teaching performance.     

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A TAIWANESE COMMUNICATION PROGRESSION IN SCIENCE EDUCATION

Today, early science education is a well-accepted view. Enhancing children’s curiosity about the natural world and fostering positive attitudes toward science are primary goals of science education. However, questions remain regarding the appropriate ways to identify, nurture, and study these emotional states in pre-schoolers. This study examines the potential of using pre-schooler’s verbal (e.g. self-generated figurative expressions) and behavioral (sensorimotor interactions) responses while participating in a scientific activity, as indicators of curiosity and attitudes toward science. The responses of 41 pre-schoolers were documented via a response questionnaire developed for this study. An integrated quantitative–qualitative approach was utilized for data analyses. Results show that pre-schoolers utilize figurative expressions to express various emotional valences. Generation of verbal expressions that entail positive emotional valences and the desire to engage in sensorimotor interactions during a scientific activity were identified as positively correlated. Additionally, girls were more likely to express curiosity and positive attitudes toward science than boys in the context of this study. The findings suggest that these verbal and behavioral measures may serve as indicators of attitudes and curiosity toward science among pre-school children.     

试论我国高等教育管理学研究范式的转变

到目前为止,我国高等教育管理学研究范式大致经历了学科体系范式、经验实效范式、化价值范式的三次转换,高等教育管理学研究范式转换过程反映高等教育管理学理论不断成熟的发展轨迹。未来高教管理学研究范式将走向个性范式,关注人在高教管理中这一个性解放的个体,为实现个性化管理实践提供理论支持。     

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A TAIWANESE COMMUNICATION PROGRESSION IN SCIENCE EDUCATION

Common core standards, interdisciplinary education, and discipline-specific literacy are common international education reforms. The constructive–interpretative language arts pairs (speaking–listening, writing–reading, representing–viewing) and the communication, construction, and persuasion functions of language are central in these movements. This research developed and validated a communication progression in science education for elementary–secondary schooling in Taiwan. The framework for the communication progression was based on relevant literature, international curricula, and focus-group deliberations; it consisted of three dimensions: presentation, reaction, and negotiation. Delphi deliberations with questionnaires were applied to experts to evaluate the theoretical considerations and to experienced science teachers to evaluate the practical considerations. Results confirmed the importance of communications in science learning and the developmental nature of communications across elementary, middle, and secondary schools and validated the proposed framework and progression. The communication progression has application to other international education systems as they address common core standards and curricula in language and science.

     

VALIDATION OF THE SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL HEALTH SURVEY FOR FIVE SOCIOCULTURAL GROUPS: MULTIGROUP INVARIANCE AND LATENT MEAN ANALYSES

Social‐emotional health influences youth developmental trajectories and there is growing interest among educators to measure the social‐emotional health of the students they serve. This study replicated the psychometric characteristics of the Social Emotional Health Survey (SEHS) with a diverse sample of high school students (Grades 9–12; N = 14,171), and determined whether the factor structure was invariant across sociocultural and gender groups. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested the fit of the previously known factor structure, and then structural equation modeling was used to test invariance across sociocultural and gender groups through multigroup CFAs. Results supported the SEHS measurement model, with full invariance of the SEHS higher‐order structure for all five sociocultural groups. There were no moderate effect size or higher group differences on the overall index for sociocultural or gender groups, which lends support to the eventual development of common norms and universal interpretation guidelines.     

CROSS CULTURAL VALIDATION OF THE TAT

This paper reports the results of a series of tests of the cross cultural validity of the Thematic Apperception Test as a psychometric instrument to gauge “motivation to succeed” in Atkinson's model of motivation. These tests represent the initial phase of a longer term project to test the validity, especially the criterion validity, of the Atkinson model in an Oriental context. Since the Atkinson model and the Thematic Apperception Test are both Occidental products, research on them (or with them) cannot proceed in the Orient without first testing for cultural bias. It is such testing that is reported in this paper.

The Thematic Apperception Test comprises a set of black and white drawings of white Americans dressed in the clothing of the late nineteen thirties. Each picture is designed to elicit a response by way of imagining the “before, during and after” of the situation depicted. However it is doubted whether young Oriental students would adequately relate to the depicted 1930s American whites to feel impelled to tell a story about them, which is what the Test is supposed to elicit. If such doubts were ratified by the research, it would not be advisable to use the Thematic Apperception Test in any subsequent work to test the Atkinson model. Even if our doubts proved unjustified (as it turned out), there would still remain the question of whether the Test reliably captured the need to achieve, which is a primary component of the Atkinson model.     

THE EFFECTS OF THE DELETION OF MISFITTING PERSONS ON VERTICAL EQUATING VIA THE RASCH MODEL

The purpose of the study was to compare Rasch model equatings of multilevel achievement test data before and after the deletion of misfitting persons. The Rasch equatings were also compared with an equating obtained using the equipercentile method. No basis could be found in the results for choosing between the two Rasch equatings. The deletion of misfitting persons produced minor improvements in Rasch model fit to the data. Both Rasch equatings produced results that differed from the results of the equipercentile equating. The Rasch data also indicated that the misfitting persons deleted in the second Rasch equating tended to be from the lower portion of the achievement distribution, suggesting that they may have been guessing.     

DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A MODEL OF PROBLEM SOLVING FOR EGYPTIAN SCIENCE CLASSES

Educators and policymakers envision the future of education in Egypt as enabling learners to acquire scientific inquiry and problem-solving skills. In this article, we describe the validation of a model for problem solving and the design of instruments for evaluating new teaching methods in Egyptian science classes. The instruments were based on an established model for problem solving and were designed to assess seventh grade students’ problem solving, experimental strategy knowledge, achievement and motivation towards science. The test for assessing students’ knowledge has been developed based on the topic, density and buoyancy which will be taught in seventh grade in a later intervention study. The instruments were partly self-developed and partly adapted from newly performed studies on strategy knowledge and problem solving in Germany. All instruments were translated into Arabic; the translation process and quality control are described. In order to determine the quality of the instruments, 44 students in Egypt completed the questionnaires and tests. The study’s aim to develop and validate the instruments did require an ad hoc and typical sample which was drawn from an accessible population. Accordingly, the characteristics of the sample are described. Data were analysed according to the classical test theory, but to underpin the results, the instruments were additionally analysed using the even stronger Rasch model. The findings demonstrated the reliability of the items and aspects of validity. In addition, this study showed how test items can be successfully developed and adapted in an international study and applied in a different language.