ETS Replies to Golden Rule on "Golden Rule"

In a second response to J. Patrick Rooney, the author counters Mr. Rooney's criticisms and defends the role of Educational Testing Service on the test bias issue.     

Using Fixed Thresholds with Grouped Data in Structural Equation Modeling

Valuable methods have been developed for incorporating ordinal variables into structural equation models using a latent response variable formulation. However, some model parameters, such as the means and variances of latent factors, can be quite difficult to interpret because the latent response variables have an arbitrary metric. This limitation can be particularly problematic in growth models, where the means and variances of the latent growth parameters typically have important substantive meaning when continuous measures are used. However, these methods are often applied to grouped data, where the ordered categories actually represent an interval-level variable that has been measured on an ordinal scale for convenience. The method illustrated in this article shows how category threshold values can be incorporated into the model so that interpretation is more meaningful, with particular emphasis given to the application of this technique with latent growth models.     

Fostering self-monitoring of university students by means of a standardized learning journal—a longitudinal study with process analyses

The self-regulation of learning behavior is an important key competence for university students. In this presented study, we aimed at fostering students’ self-regulation of learning by means of a standardized learning journal. In two of four courses that were included in the study, students had to keep a structured learning diary and/or received further intervention on self-regulated learning through a weekly course. Students who received these interventions were compared to students who received no treatment whatsoever in their self-regulation and learning achievement. The study reports pre–post measures as well as process analyses. Results revealed that keeping a structured learning diary without any further intervention did not improve students’ self-regulation. Those students who only kept learning diaries even showed a decrease in their motivation. Students who kept the learning diary and at the same time received further information on self-regulation showed increases in their strategy use and their self-efficacy. However, no improvements were found for students’ academic performance. It can be concluded that in order for students to profit in keeping a structured learning diary, they should be informed on the benefits of self-monitoring to increase their motivation.     

A comparison of methods to determine maximal accumulated oxygen deficit in running

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare maximal accumulated oxygen deficit (hereafter O₂ deficit) estimated from the methods of Whipp et al. (1986 Whipp, B. J., Ward, S. A. and Wasserman, K. 1986. Respiratory markers of the anaerobic threshold. Advances in Cardiology, 35: 47–64. [Crossref], [PubMed] , [Google Scholar]), Medbo et al. (1988 Medbo, J. I., Mohn, A. C., Tabata, I., Bahr, R., Vaage, O. and Sejersted, O. M. 1988. Anaerobic capacity determined by maximal accumulated O₂ deficit. Journal of Applied Physiology, 64: 50–60. [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), and Hill et al. (1998 Hill, D. W., Ferguson, C. S. and Ehler, K. L. 1998. An alternative method to determine maximal accumulated O₂ deficit in runners. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 79: 114–117. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to determine whether they agree sufficiently to be used interchangeably. Nineteen moderately to highly trained endurance runners first performed an incremental test to exhaustion for the determination of maximal oxygen uptake ([Vdot]O_2max) and peak treadmill speed, followed by six randomly ordered constant-speed tests at 95, 100, 105, 110, 110, and 120% of peak treadmill speed. All tests were separated by at least 72 h and were performed within 4 weeks. The method of Whipp produced an O₂ deficit estimate that was lower than that derived from the method of Hill or Medbo (bias ± 95% limits of agreement: ?29.6 ± 36.6 and ?26.1 ± 32.8 ml · kg^?1, respectively; P < 0.001). The O₂ deficit did not differ between the methods of Hill and Medbo (bias ± 95% limits of agreement: 3.5 ± 41.6 ml · kg^?1; n.s.). However, poor correlations (0.21 < r < 0.33; n.s.) together with wide limits of agreement between O₂ deficit estimates (70 – 80% of the mean response) clearly question using these methods interchangeably.