Latent Markov Factor Analysis for Exploring Measurement Model Changes in Time-Intensive Longitudinal Studies

When time-intensive longitudinal data are used to study daily-life dynamics of psychological constructs (e.g., well-being) within persons over time (e.g., by means of experience sampling methodology), the measurement model (MM)—indicating which constructs are measured by which items—can be affected by time- or situation-specific artifacts (e.g., response styles and altered item interpretation). If not captured, these changes might lead to invalid inferences about the constructs. Existing methodology can only test for a priori hypotheses on MM changes, which are often absent or incomplete. Therefore, we present the exploratory method “latent Markov factor analysis” (LMFA), wherein a latent Markov chain captures MM changes by clustering observations per subject into a few states. Specifically, each state gathers validly comparable observations, and state-specific factor analyses reveal what the MMs look like. LMFA performs well in recovering parameters under a wide range of simulated conditions, and its empirical value is illustrated with an example.     

Impact of the Good Behavior Game on special education teachers

This study tested effects of a program that offers teachers universal classroom management strategies, on teachers’ burnout symptoms and self-efficacy, and their teaching behaviors. Data were collected from 147 teachers (mean age = 38.4 years, SD = 10.8) in 15 special secondary education schools for students with emotional and behavioral problems, at the start and end of the school year. Schools were randomly assigned to the experimental condition or a care-as-usual condition. Results show that the program impacted beneficially on self-reported levels of emotional exhaustion, and self-efficacy in engaging students and in classroom management, but not on teaching behaviors. Implications of this study for the professional development of teachers in special education and research are discussed.     

The Influence of Career Beliefs and Socio-Economic Status on the Career Decision-Making of High School Students in India

This paper responds to current discussions in career psychology that emphasise the importance of understanding how socio-economic backgrounds and social-cognitive environments influence career development. Located in India, this study examines the interaction between career beliefs and socio-economic status within a sample of Indian high school students. Significant socio-economic status differences were observed, with the lower SES groups showing higher levels of negative career beliefs. The relevance of these findings to career psychologists who work in multi cultural contexts is discussed within the framework of the Social Cognitive Theories of Career Decision Making. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Didactic and technical considerations when developing e-learning and CME

Several usability issues were encountered during the design of a blended e-learning program for a course in evidence-based medicine for general practice trainers. The program was developed in four steps. We focused in this article on step 2 and 3. Step 2 focused on which educational principles to apply, that is, which learning theories, instructional designs and other theories should influence the program. Step 3 focused on the design elements, namely whether to use hypermedia and/or multimedia, and what screen design and which font to use. This article presents the important issues in designing an e-course and provides an impression of the complexity of designing high quality e-learning in particular for continuing medical education (CME).     

Investigating the enactment of social presence in blended adult education

ABSTRACT

Background

While open-cohort blended education programmes allow for accessible and flexible study trajectories, they may present social challenges to learners. Social presence is a possible a way of enhancing adult learners’ success. It can lead to an increased perception of community, which may result in lower rates of dropping out.     

Longitudinal effects of induction on teaching skills and attrition rates of beginning teachers

The teaching profession faces a shortage as well as a decline of teaching skills. A possible way to mitigate this is to implement evidence-based induction arrangements. Seventy-one schools with 338 beginning secondary education teachers were randomly allocated to an experimental or a control group. The experimental schools used induction arrangements; the authors measured the effects of these arrangements by using repeated lesson observations and by comparing the rates at which beginners in the control and experimental groups left the teaching profession. Three years later, 14% of the control group and 12% of the experimental group had left. Leaving the profession could be explained by a lack of certification and low initial teaching skill levels. The experimental group exhibited greater improvement in teaching skills compared to the control group. Workload reduction influenced the skill level negatively, and coaching and observing had a strong positive influence on the skill level in Year 3.     

Phonemic Analysis: effects of word properties

The relation between performance in phonemic segmentation and reading and writing ability is discussed. Not much is known about how segmentation is carried out and which word properties influence performance. Therefore, effects of word properties (length, CV structure, syllabic structure, meaning) were investigated in two experiments. Strong indications were obtained that an onset-rime distinction is relevant for the process of segmentation. The meaning of a word appears to have no influence. The decentration hypothesis can therefore be abandoned as an explanation for segmentation difficulties. Effects of length and syllabic boundary can be explained by the (disruptive) effect of consonant clusters, which are not only difficult to segment themselves, but also adversely affect the processing of segments earlier in the word. This leads to the conclusion that a simple, strictly serial model for segmentation cannot be adequate. The results furthermore suggest that an articulatory rather than a phonological code is the object of segmentation.     

Enhancement of Quality in Chemical Inquiry by Pre-University Students

Our pre-university chemistry students face problems achieving sufficient quality in chemical inquiry. To try to enhance the quality of student performance in chemical inquiry, Dutch pre-university chemistry students (age 17) carried out an authentic research project on Diffusion of ions in distilled water. The learning materials for this student inquiry project, the teaching scenario and the website were designed in cooperation with five chemistry teachers. Three teachers from this network and two other teachers also implemented the project with 80 students to find out whether the emphasis on relevant concepts of evidence (CoE) improves the quality of student inquiry outcomes. This part – with its emphasis on the CoE – in the student inquiry task is based on four key features: the students feel motivated to explore, focus their attention on, give meaning to and reflect upon CoE. In teams students conducted a guide experiment, analysed a scientific article, did an inquiry and wrote a report, discussed CoE with peers on the Internet and rewrote their reports. All lessons were observed, field notes were made and analysed on whether the intended student activities had been realised. The Internet discussion was recorded in a database and analysed. The first and final reports of all teams were coded and analysed. Also the students appreciation of the activities was assessed. The teaching and learning activities were realized to a very large extent as planned in the design. The emphasis on CoE resulted in 65% of the students achieving a sufficient level of quality in their final reports.