Dynamic Bayesian Networks in Educational Measurement: Reviewing and Advancing the State of the Field

As the popularity of rich assessment scenarios increases so must the availability of psychometric models capable of handling the resulting data. Dynamic Bayesian networks (DBNs) offer a fast, flexible option for characterizing student ability across time under psychometrically complex conditions. In this article, a brief introduction to DBNs is offered, followed by a review of the existing literature on the use of DBNs in educational and psychological measurement with a focus on methodological investigations and novel applications that may provide guidance for practitioners wishing to deploy these models. The article concludes with a discussion of future directions for research in the field.     

Providing access to electronic information resources in further education

This article aims to provide a baseline for future studies on the provision and support for the use of digital or electronic information services (EIS) in further education. The analysis presented is based on a multi‐level model of access, which encompasses access to and availability of information and communication technology (ICT) resources, access to and availability of EIS resources, and the third leg of staff skills and their development. The research was conducted within the third cycle of the JISC (Joint Information Services Committee) User Behaviour Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, in 2001/2002. Evidence was gathered from library and information service web sites and various stakeholders, including library and information service staff, academic staff and students to generate insights into the provision of access to EIS in further education. Sector‐wide funding initiatives have had a significant impact on ICT infrastructures, and these attract a positive response from students. EIS are represented on some library web sites but both web site development and EIS availability is very much less advanced than in higher education. Staff, however, lack sufficient dedicated access to ICT to be able to develop their own skills and use. There remains a low level of access to electronic information resources, with only limited access to these resources through library web sites. LIS managers face a number of challenges in enhancing this provision, including licensing arrangements, tight budgets that need to be spread across many discipline areas, and the absence of EIS designed specifically for the further education student. The other key challenge lies in the provision of time and opportunity for academic and LIS staff to develop their ICT and EIS skills, and, more generally in the further development of the role of Information and Learning Technology (ILT) Champions.     

Getting children to do more academic work: Foot-in-the-Door versus Door-in-the-Face

In this study we explored whether compliance-without-pressure techniques, known to encourage adults to behave more altruistically, can be used to encourage children to do more academic work. Using three different approaches - Foot-in-the-Door, Door-in-the-Face, and Single-Request - we asked 60 6- to 8-year-old Hong Kong Chinese children to complete a 20-item arithmetic worksheet. The Door-in-the-Face technique was the most effective, eliciting the highest percentage of children who agreed to do the target task, requiring the least adult input to sustain engagement in the task, and producing the greatest amount of accurate work.     

Adult Recollections of Name-calling at School

A sample of 220 adults responded to a questionnaire on their recollections of name-calling and nicknames while at school. Hurtful names were reported by 141 participants, who described coping with them primarily by means of verbal retaliation or ignoring the names. Participants rarely told teachers and most stated that their school was unhelpful. Although the experience was regarded less negatively over time, this was not the case for those who reported finding the names most hurtful. These participants reported greater effects on all areas of school life and a stronger association of name-calling with physical bullying, and they rated their current feelings about the past experience as more negative. The most common content of names referred to physical appearance, play on the individual's own name, and animals, trends also found in studies of children and in research into teasing.     

What Can the Teacher Learn in the Classroom?

Our research is concerned with teacher’s knowledge, and especially with teacher’s processes of learning, in the classroom, from observing and interacting with students’ work. In the first part of the paper, we outline the theoretical framework of our study and distinguish it from some other perspectives. We argue for the importance of distinguishing a kind of teacher’s knowledge, which we call didactic knowledge. In this paper, we concentrate on a subcategory of this knowledge, namely observational didactic knowledge, which grows from teacher’s observation and reflection upon students’ mathematical activity in the classroom. In modeling the processes of evolution of this particular knowledge in teachers, we are inspired, among others, by some general aspects of the theory of didactic situations. In the second part of the paper, the model is applied in two case studies of teachers conducting ordinary lessons. In conclusion, we will discuss what seems to be taken into account by teachers as they observe students’ activity, and how in-service teacher training can play a role in modifying their knowledge about students’ ways of dealing with mathematical problems.     

Security considerations for the spiral development model

Security measures have been well established within the waterfall development life cycle model. However, more software projects are using the spiral development life cycle model. Software developers and project managers can easily forget about adapting security measures. The spiral model uses iterative steps that can create changes in each phase of software development process. This will challenge security to ensure the application has few flaws or vulnerabilities that could be exploited. Failure to impose the right security measures at each of these phases can open up vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit and prove costly in patching. This paper will explore areas where security can be engaged within each iteration step of the spiral development model. This way security can continue protection of the software product as it becomes ready for deployment. The paper will help organizations realize where to deploy security measures to reduce vulnerabilities in the software application.