The Effect of Differential Motivation on IRT Linking

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether simulated differential motivation between the stakes for operational tests and anchor items produces an invalid linking result if the Rasch model is used to link the operational tests. This was done for an external anchor design and a variation of a pretest design. The study also investigated whether a constrained mixture Rasch model could identify latent classes in such a way that one latent class represented high‐stakes responding while the other represented low‐stakes responding. The results indicated that for an external anchor design, the Rasch linking result was only biased when the motivation level differed between the subpopulations to which the anchor items were administered. However, the mixture Rasch model did not identify the classes representing low‐stakes and high‐stakes responding. When a pretest design was used to link the operational tests by means of a Rasch model, the linking result was found to be biased in each condition. Bias increased as percentage of students showing low‐stakes responding to the anchor items increased. The mixture Rasch model only identified the classes representing low‐stakes and high‐stakes responding under a limited number of conditions.     

Cross‐Cultural Management Learning Through Innovative Pedagogy: An Exploratory Study of Globally Distributed Student Teams

This article presents an innovative pedagogy based on student participation in globally distributed project teams. The study questions the link between student learning of intercultural competence and the global teaming experience. Data was collected from 115 students participating in 22 virtual intercultural teams. Results revealed that students learned from the teaming experience, especially those with more prior international experience. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on innovative and collaborative pedagogy on global student teams, provides an analysis of the impact of the teaming experience on student learning, and provides insights on international and collaborative course design.     

Communication between Participants and Non-participants in Analytical Capacity Building Projects: Management Advice to Family Farms in Benin

Purpose: Approaches to build farmers' analytical capacities are said to trigger wide-ranging changes. This article reports on the communication process between participants and non-participants in one such approach, related to the technical and management skills learned by participants and the changes these participants subsequently made, and the outcomes in terms of non-participants' learning.

Design/Methodology/Approach: In this study, we analysed the following: (1) participants' learning and changes in social practices; (2) communication between participants and non-participants regarding technical and management skills and changes in social practices; (3) non-participants' learning and changes in social practices. The case study was a management advice to family farm project in three villages in Benin.

Findings: Most participants learned management skills, which led them to reassess their objectives and to reduce traditional social practices they now considered unproductive. Even in the case of frequent communication, non-participants found it difficult to learn management skills, which hindered their experiential learning. Non-participants consequently had difficulty understanding why participants changed their social practices such as reduction of their traditional gift giving, leading to limited well-argued discussion about these changes in practices between participants and non-participants.

Practical Implications: This study shows that, due to the limited learning process of non-participants communicating with participants, there is a need to design and test approaches to achieve capacity-building while including more participants at a similar cost, and to stimulate explicit discussion at village level about the changes in values and social practices that these approaches may trigger.

Originality/Value: The article analyses both participants and non-participants' experiential learning, and looks at the two sides of the interaction between the communication processes and non-participants' learning.     

Examining the Structural Relationship of Chronic Illness,Physical Function,Life Satisfaction,and Social Support in the Development of Depression Among Filipino Elderly in Institutionalized Settings

Considering the increasing prevalence of chronic illness in the Filipino elderly, this study seeks to test a model that describes the relationship between chronic illness and depression and how this link might interact with physical functioning, life satisfaction, and social support. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the causalities among these variables. With the participation of 151 respondents, data were gathered using a five-part instrument consisting of the robotfoto, Katz Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living, Life Satisfaction Checklist, Social Support Scale, and Geriatric Depression Scale. Data were analyzed using AMOS version 19. Results showed that the duration and number of present chronic illness will not lead to an increase in social support, although those things proved to have a negative effect on physical functioning and life satisfaction. Social support from the family also showed to have a direct impact on life satisfaction while social support from the caregivers revealed a negative effect on physical functioning. Life satisfaction had a negative influence on depression while other suggested variables have no impact on depression at all. Through this model examining the variables relating to depression, holistic care must be provided to manage not only the medical conditions of the elderly but also their physical, social, and psychological well-being.     

The translation of preschoolers’ physical activity guidelines into a daily step count target

This study aimed at translating the physical activity (PA) guideline (180 min of total PA per day) into a step count target in preschoolers. 535 Flemish preschoolers (mean age: 4.41 ± 0.58) wore an ActiGraph accelerometer (GT1M, GT3X and GT3X+) – with activated step count function – for four consecutive days. The step count target was calculated from the accelerometer output using a regression equation, applying four different cut-points for light-to-vigorous PA: Pate, Evenson, Reilly, and Van Cauwenberghe. The present analysis showed that 180 min of total PA per day is equivalent to the following step count targets: 5,274 steps/day using the Pate cut-point, 4,653 steps/day using the Evenson cut-point, 11,379 steps/day using the Reilly cut-point and 13,326 steps/day using the Van Cauwenberghe cut-point. Future studies should focus on achieving consensus on which cut-points to use in preschoolers before a definite step count target in preschoolers can be proposed. Until then, we propose to use a provisional step count target of 11,500 steps/day as this step count target is attainable, realistic and helpful in promoting preschoolers’ PA.     

Social media effects on fostering online civic engagement and building citizen trust and trust in institutions

This paper tests the extent to which social media is shaping civic engagement initiatives to build trust among people and increase trust in their institutions, particularly the government, police and justice systems. A survey of 502 citizens showed that using social media for civic engagement has a significant positive impact on trust propensity and that this trust had led to an increase in trust towards institutions. Interestingly, while group incentives encouraged citizens to engage online for civic matters, it is civic publications through postings on social media that intensify the urge of citizens for civic action to address social issues. Post-hoc analysis via ten interviews with social activists was conducted to further examine their perceptions on trust towards institutions. The overall findings suggest that institutions, in their effort to promote a meaningful and trusting citizen engagement, need to enhance trust among the public by fostering social capital via online civic engagement and closing the public–police disengagement gap.