Subscores Based on Classical Test Theory: To Report or Not to Report

There is an increasing interest in reporting subscores, both at examinee level and at aggregate levels. However, it is important to ensure reasonable subscore performance in terms of high reliability and validity to minimize incorrect instructional and remediation decisions. This article employs a statistical measure based on classical test theory that is conceptually similar to the test reliability measure and can be used to determine when subscores have any added value over total scores. The usefulness of subscores is examined both at the level of the examinees and at the level of the institutions that the examinees belong to. The suggested approach is applied to two data sets from a basic skills test. The results provide little support in favor of reporting subscores for either examinees or institutions for the tests studied here.     

Are Mauritians ready for e-Government services?

Mauritius, a country that represents one of the leading advocates of e-Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa, has taken significant action to improve e-readiness dimensions and as such ranks high in terms of e-readiness index with respect to other Sub-Saharan African countries, based on the United Nations Global e-Government Readiness index. A close look at the usage rate of e-Government services such as online application, however, reveals that it is very low while online transaction is still rhetoric. This paper therefore assesses whether the high e-readiness index gives a true indication of the citizens' e-readiness using available secondary data sources. It further explores the factors facilitating and inhibiting citizens' e-readiness through the administration of a survey questionnaire. The main findings reveal that the barriers inhibiting citizens' e-readiness are resistance to change, absence of opportunities for e-participation and e-consultation, and lack of awareness. The main facilitators of citizens' e-readiness emanating from the analysis are awareness campaigns which tease out the advantages of online public services compared to traditional methods of service delivery, building of trust in government, and managing change.     

From inactivity to encouragement: the contribution of Lord Elphinstone to the educational development of the Madras Presidency (1837–1842)

In light of the focus placed on English education by the colonial government, and the petition signed by 70,000 local inhabitants of the Madras Presidency, Lord John Elphinstone, the Governor, made efforts to disseminate English education during his governorship (1837–1842). Spurred on by the petition, Elphinstone wrote two fundamental educational minutes, in 1839 and 1841, and established Madras High School. Later, the School was transformed into Presidency College and became the first home of the University of Madras. Elphinstone’s planning led to the first systematic effort by the Madras government to impart English education. Subsequently, Elphinstone emphasised the dissemination of secular education and inclusion of native people in educational administration. Against this background, this paper discusses the contribution of Elphinstone to the educational development of Madras. It also questions the historiographical neglect of Elphinstone and challenges the established post-colonial discourse that the establishment of English institutions was a ‘colonialist’ imposition.     

Chemistry: The Middle Kingdom

Chemistry occupies a unique middle position between physics and mathematics on the one side and biology, ecology, sociology and economics on the other. It is said that chemistry is reducible into physics and finally mathematics. However, in moving from the covalent to the non-covalent world we obtain a new chemistry, one that is a starting point for the emergence of the soft sciences. This article argues that this new chemistry represents a paradigm shift in the way in which chemists think about their subject today. Biology may be considered as emerging out of this new chemistry, which in itself cannot be reduced into physics and mathematics as was the case for chemistry thus far practiced. This dualistic nature of chemistry, reducible and irreducible, is a new development but one that ensures that the subject will remain alive and well in the foreseeable future. Gautam R. Desiraju has made seminal contributions to the development and worldwide growth of the subject of crystal engineering, especially with reference to the properties of novel interaction types such as the weak hydrogen bond. He has been at the University of Hyderabad since 1979. “... so chemistry can be no more than systematic art or experimental teachings, indeed never real science, because its principles ... do not lend themselves to the application of mathematics.” Immanuel Kant     

An NCME Instructional Module on Subscores

The purpose of this ITEMS module is to provide an introduction to subscores. First, examples of subscores from an operational test are provided. Then, a review of methods that can be used to examine if subscores have adequate psychometric quality is provided. It is demonstrated, using results from operational and simulated data, that subscores have to be based on a sufficient number of items and have to be sufficiently distinct from each other to have adequate psychometric quality. It is also demonstrated that several operationally reported subscores do not have adequate psychometric quality. Recommendations are made for those interested in reporting subscores for educational tests.     

To Establish the Reference Intervals of Lipid Profile in Punjab

Overnight fasting samples of 1,031 apparently healthy people of Punjab visiting the hospital over a period of 3 years were tested for serum lipid profile. The mean ± SD of serum total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol in mg/dl were 182.2 ± 33.9, 122.4 ± 33.4, 44.1 ± 6.8, 113.9 ± 32.0, 24.6 ± 7.1 respectively. When these subjects were grouped according to age and sex, no appreciable difference was observed between most of the groups. Serum triglycerides were found to be low and HDL-C was high in females when compared with males of similar age and vice versa. With advancing age, total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were found to be higher in women. The present study suggests that the obtained lipid values should be taken into consideration during clinical evaluation.     

Section Preequating Under the Equivalent Groups Design Without IRT

In this article, we introduce a section preequating (SPE) method (linear and nonlinear) under the randomly equivalent groups design. In this equating design, sections of Test X (a future new form) and another existing Test Y (an old form already on scale) are administered. The sections of Test X are equated to Test Y, after adjusting for the imperfect correlation between sections of Test X, to obtain the equated score on the complete form of X. Simulations and a real‐data application show that the proposed SPE method is fairly simple and accurate.     

The effect of contextualized conversational feedback in a complex open-ended learning environment

Betty’s Brain is an open-ended learning environment in which students learn about science topics by teaching a virtual agent named Betty through the construction of a visual causal map that represents the relevant science phenomena. The task is complex, and success requires the use of metacognitive strategies that support knowledge acquisition, causal map construction, and progress monitoring. Previous research has established that middle school students struggle at such tasks without proper scaffolding and feedback. In Betty’s Brain, this feedback is provided by Betty and Mr. Davis, another virtual agent designed to provide guidance and suggestions as students work. This paper discusses our implementation of contextualized conversational (CC) feedback, and then presents the results of an experimental study exploring the effects of this feedback in two 8th-grade science classrooms. The results illustrate some advantages of the CC feedback in comparison with a baseline dialogue mechanism that presents similar strategies in a non-conversational, non-contextualized form. While both groups showed significant pre-to-post test learning gains, the difference in learning gains between the groups was not statistically significant. However, students who received CC feedback more often performed actions in accordance with the advised strategies, and they created higher quality causal maps.     

A longitudinal study of state government homepage accessibility in Maryland and the role of web page templates for improving accessibility

It is well documented that government agencies, at all levels, continue to have problems ensuring that government web sites follow laws related to web accessibility for people with disabilities. Although there are a number of published studies on government web accessibility that are point-in-time, there are no published studies consisting of a longitudinal analysis of state-level government web site accessibility. This paper contributes to the research literature in three ways: 1) an accessibility inspection of 25 Maryland state government homepages in 2012 which involved 150 human inspections of web pages, 2) a comparison of the results from 2012 to a similar accessibility evaluation in 2009, and 3) a discussion of the role of a web page template, which was introduced in Maryland state government shortly after the 2009 evaluation. The data from this longitudinal evaluation leads to the conclusion that web page templates do tend to result in more accessible sites within state government.