Professional development for institutional research: A descriptive profile of academic programs and an analysis of curriculum

A survey of 88 American higher education programs found that 9 of the programs offer an area of concentration in institutional research and 17 programs have an institutional-research core course. These programs are identified, and the content of the curriculum is described. Planning topics received the most emphasis in institutional research courses; topics related to facilities and research methodology received low emphasis scores. The theoretical or practitioner orientation of the core course is analyzed in the second section. In most of the courses, there was a positive correlation between the topics emphasized in the core course and the theoretical orientation of those topics, but the coefficient was significant in only a few cases. As expected, programs with an area of concentration tend to stress theoretical concepts in their core course, while programs without an institutional research concentration are more practitioner-oriented.     

An Empirical Study on the Nature of Trick Test Questions

This study attempted to better define trick questions and see if students could differentiate between trick and not–trick questions. Phase 1 elicited definitions of trick questions so as to identify essential characteristics. Seven components were found. Phase 2 obtained ratings to see which components of trick questions were considered to be most crucial. The intention of the item constructor and the fact that the questions had multiple correct answers received highest ratings from students. Phase 3 presented a collection of statistics items, some of which were labeled on an a priori basis as being trick or not–trick. The analysis indicated that examinees were able to statistically differentiate between trick and not–trick items, but the difference compared to chance was small. Not–trick items were more successfully sorted than trick items, and trick items that were classified as intentional were sorted about as well as nonintentional items. Evidence seems to suggest that the concept of trickiness is not as clear as some test construction textbook authors suggest.     

谁才是英雄?

多年前,在怀俄明州,我从一辆燃烧的汽车中救出一家人.上周,我接到了一位女士的电话,她哭着告诉我,我的一个故事挽救了她的准备自杀的儿子.……     

Understanding Magnetic and Electrostatic Actuators Using Bond Graphs and a Mechanical Model

Magnetic actuators in relays, solenoids, and valve positioners and electrostatic loudspeakers and microphones store electrical and mechanical energy and are inherently nonlinear. They are harder to understand than transformer or gyrator transducers such as hydraulic pistons or voice coil drives which transduce power instantaneously and are essentially linear. Bond graph models show that magnetic and electrostatic transducers are mathematically analogous although electrically dual. An all-mechanical equivalent model shows the nonlinear behavior clearly and aids in the intuitive understanding of the problems associated with the use of such actuators.