DETECTING EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED ITEM BIAS USING THE ITERATIVE LOGIT METHOD

A test for mental arithmetic was constructed, consisting of items written in Dutch (the subjects' native language), Spanish, and Roman numerals. A group of 286 subjects received some information on Spanish numerals. The group was randomly split into a Spanish Group and a Roman Group. The Spanish Group received further instruction on Spanish numerals, while the Roman Group got instruction on Roman numerals. Checks on the experimental manipulations showed that the Spanish Group had better knowledge of Spanish numerals than the Roman Group, whereas the Roman Group had better knowledge of Roman numerals. From the total test two subtests were constructed: a 30-item Dutch/Spanish subtest (15 items in Dutch and 15 in Spanish), and a 25-item Dutch/Roman subtest (15 items in Dutch and 10 in Roman). The Dutch items were unbiased between the Spanish and Roman groups, whereas the Spanish items of the Dutch/Spanish subtest were biased against the Roman Group, and the Roman items of the Dutch/Roman subtest were biased against the Spanish Group. The iterative logit method was applied to the two subtests. The method showed very good results in detecting biased items.     

教育绩效的影响因素:来自比利时弗兰德语区的经验――荷语鲁汶大学Jan Van Damme教授专访

比利时是一个联邦制国家,由荷语区(Flanders,弗兰德语区)、法语区(Wallonia,瓦隆语区)和德语区构成。自1989年宪法颁布实施以后,每一个语区承担自己的文化和教育事务。国际教育评价组织(International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement)组织的六科成绩调查(Six Subject Survey)显示,弗兰德语区和瓦隆语区的教育质量在20世纪70年代处于旗鼓相当的水平。进入21世纪以后,弗兰德语区在各种国际学生评价中的表现均优于瓦隆语区。这种优势体现在各门学科(包括语言,数学和自然科学)和各个教育阶段(小学和中学)。与其他工业国家相比,弗兰德语区的学生在语言和数学两个学科处于领先水平,但是在自然科学学科上却处于落后水平。在本期的专家访谈中,我们将与Van Damme教授就弗兰德语区的中小学教育状况展开讨论。Van Damme教授是荷语鲁汶大学(KU Leuven)的荣修教授,他和他的团队长期致力于学生学业成绩和幸福感跟踪研究。     

Counseling Athletes: A New Specialty in Counselor Education

A master's-level specialization in athletic counseling is described. Development of the program, course work, student recruitment, and program evaluation are discussed.     

‘Reading drop‐outs’: Can they be predicted?

Abstract

In the Netherlands many pupils in grade one have difficulties in beginning reading. Approximately 7.5% of all children do not succeed in learning to read well enough to be able to proceed to the following school‐year together with the other pupils. These children either have to repeat a year or have to go back to kindergarten; alternatively, they are referred to special education. These children are called ‘reading drop‐outs’.     

AN ITERATIVE ITEM BIAS DETECTION METHOD

Two strategies for assessing item bias are discussed: methods that compare (transformed) item difficulties unconditional on ability level and methods that compare the probabilities of correct response conditional on ability level. In the present study, the logit model was used to compare the probabilities of correct response to an item by members of two groups, these probabilities being conditional on the observed score. Here the observed score serves as an indicator of ability level. The logit model was iteratively applied: In the Tth iteration, the T items with the highest value of the bias statistic are excluded from the test, and the observed score indicator of ability for the (T + 1)th iteration is computed from the remaining items. This method was applied to simulated data. The results suggest that the iterative logit method is a substantial improvement on the noniterative one, and that the iterative method is very efficient in detecting biased and unbiased items.     

The Work-based Learning Route in the Netherlands and in England: Comparing ideas and meanings

The paper provides the outcomes of two small-scale sets of interviews carried out in the Netherlands and in England on views about and interpretations of the work-based route for young people. In the light of current revival of interest in work-based learning for young people, and in particular the apprenticeship model in England, I was particularly interested in the issue of parity of esteem between the work-based route and other routes. Whereas in the Netherlands the focus for the development of Vocational Education and Training (VET) is on the full-time vocational route, which has a reasonably high status, England has opted for the apprenticeship route to be the development tool for high quality VET. The paper explores what we can learn about our own experiences in England in the light of what is happening elsewhere (Raffe, 1998; Raffe et al ., 1999). It becomes clear from the data obtained that policy development in the Netherlands aims to increase the status of work-based learning through incorporating the route into the full-time route and providing end qualifications that can be achieved through either a full-time college-based route or through a work-based learning route. The modern apprenticeship route or work-based learning route as such has not a high status, contrary to what is sometimes claimed to be the case. In England, the aim of policymakers is to create a work-based learning route, which is considered to be a high quality route, and is comparable to the general/academic route. The paper shows that there are various reasons as to why this attempt might fail. Both countries aim to provide a 'ladder' or 'column' of opportunities in VET. The research shows that very few young people in fact move up a ladder, but rather move into work-based learning or apprenticeships at certain points on the continuum, and subsequently move sideways into general or theoretical provision in order to be able to progress higher up. Target groups for work-based learning are different at the lower end from those at levels 3, 4 and 5. Very few participants in either country move from level 1 up to level 4 through participation in a work-based route, and it may therefore be appropriate to talk about the provision of a climbing framework, where young people move backwards and forwards and sideways, rather than about a ladder of opportunities.     

Problem-Based Learning is Compatible with Human Cognitive Architecture: Commentary on Kirschner,Sweller, and Clark (2006)

Academic emotions have largely been neglected by educational psychology, with the exception of test anxiety. In 5 qualitative studies, it was found that students experience a rich diversity of emotions in academic settings. Anxiety was reported most often, but overall, positive emotions were described no less frequently than negative emotions. Based on the studies in this article, taxonomies of different academic emotions and a self-report instrument measuring students' enjoyment, hope, pride, relief, anger, anxiety, shame, hopelessness, and boredom (Academic Emotions Questionnaire [AEQ]) were developed. Using the AEQ, assumptions of a cognitive-motivational model of the achievement effects of emotions, and of a control/value theory of their antecedents (Pekrun, 1992b, 2000), were tested in 7 cross-sectional, 3 longitudinal, and 1 diary study using samples of university and school students. Results showed that academic emotions are significantly related to students' motivation, learning strategies, cognitive resources, self-regulation, and academic achievement, as well as to personality and classroom antecedents. The findings indicate that affective research in educational psychology should acknowledge emotional diversity in academic settings by addressing the full range of emotions experienced by students at school and university.