Detecting Unobserved Heterogeneity in Latent Growth Curve Models

Growth mixture models combine latent growth curve models and finite mixture models to examine the existence of latent classes that follow distinct developmental patterns. Analyses based on these models are becoming quite common in social and behavioral science research because of recent advances in computing, the availability of specialized statistical programs, and the ease of programming. In this article, we show how mixture models can be fit to examine the presence of multiple latent classes by algorithmically grouping or clustering individuals who follow the same estimated growth trajectory based on an evaluation of individual case residuals. The approach is illustrated using empirical longitudinal data along with an easy to use computerized implementation.     

Great Expectations? Variation in Educational Plans of Students in Post-Socialist Eastern Europe

Using all available waves of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) from 1995 to 2011, this study examines the factors influencing educational expectations of students in five Eastern European countries (Hungary, Lithuania, the Russian Federation, Romania, and Slovenia). We consistently find across countries and waves that parental completion of a college degree, better material well-being of the family, and being a female are positively associated with students’ expectations to complete college. Furthermore, we find that students who come from more advantaged families are more likely to have formed their academic plans by the eighth grade compared to their disadvantaged peers.     

Using the value creation framework to capture knowledge co-creation and pathways to impact in a transnational community of practice in autism education

ABSTRACT

Although theories around Communities of Practice have gained significant ground in recent years and have become an important focus for organizational development, there is a gap in studies that investigate what members gain from participation in these communities. This paper explains how the value creation framework was implemented in a transnational research and development project in autism education by examining cycles of value creation and drawing on two types of data identified by Wenger and colleagues. The value creation framework is a theoretically driven framework to assess social learning in communities. Participants involved in the learning space were co-researchers engaged in a process of investigating, sharing and reflecting on their practice. The paper discusses the methodological challenges and strengths of using the value creation framework, with a particular focus on how insights and interactions led to subsequent changes in the practice of the participants. This work has the potential to make an important contribution to methods and analysis in assessing social learning and pathways to impact in participatory research and development projects more broadly.     

Experience of integrating web 2.0 technologies

Web users in the 21st century are no longer only passive consumers. On a contrary, they are active contributors willing to obtain, share and evolve information. In this paper we report our experience regarding the implementation of Web 2.0 concept in several Computer Ethics related courses jointly conducted at two Universities. These courses have been delivered to undergraduate and graduate students. The paper addresses main deficiencies of traditional E-learning noticed in earlier years and offers an alternative approach based on social media and collaborative creation of joint contents. Each Web 2.0 feature directly implemented in our courses is presented in details. Particular attention is paid to workload, student feedback and to observed benefits and disadvantages.     

Impact on mathematics self-beliefs from a mastery-based mathematics software

Abstract

Self-beliefs are important determinants of student choice and success (Wigfield & Eccles, 2000 Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2000). Expectancy–value theory of achievement motivation. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 68–81. doi:10.1006/ceps.1999.1015[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and are informed by student educational experiences, such as prior success with a task (Bandura, 1986 Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. [Google Scholar]). The potential for Computer-Based Interventions as self-belief-supporting learning environments is examined in this study, focusing on the mathematics software, Spatial Temporal (ST) Math. ST Math includes elements theorized to support student self-beliefs, including informative feedback and a self-pacing structure. Using a randomized control trial, we find that students who play ST Math have higher mathematics self-beliefs than their control counterparts, and that ST Math operates through self-beliefs to positively influence achievement. ST Math’s impact on student self-beliefs is strongest for those students who had lower mathematics achievement scores.     

Teacher intention to transfer ICT training when integrating digital technologies in education: The teacher transfer of ICT training model (TeTra-ICT)

The aim of this study is to propose a new structural model for how teachers transfer their ICT training (TeTra-ICT), shedding light on the factors that tend to affect their intention to integrate digital technologies in educational practices as well as train their colleagues. The proposed model exploits training programme design characteristics and ICT-related individual factors. A total of 117 new ICT instructors for primary and secondary education teachers in Greece were evaluated. The instructors participated in a national Teacher Training Programme on applying ICT in education. Results indicate significant effects of individual (ICT-related self-efficacy in teaching) and programme design characteristics (platform's ease of use, support, content, and resources) on the teachers' final motivation and intention to transfer their ICT knowledge and skills. The model also reveals significant correlations between individual and training characteristics, the teachers' post-training self-efficacy for transferring skills and their perception of the usefulness of the training programme. The examined constructs explain 86% of the variance in teacher intentions to transfer their ICT knowledge and skills, and 72% of their perception of the usefulness of the training programme. Interestingly, while there were no gender differences in individual ICT-related characteristics, women expressed significantly higher values than men in their perception of the usefulness of training, self-efficacy, motivation, and intention to transfer.     

Model Specification Searches in Structural Equation Modeling with R

This article introduces and demonstrates the application of an R statistical programming environment code for conducting structural equation modeling (SEM) specification searches. The implementation and flexibility of the provided code is demonstrated using the Tabu search procedure, although the underlying code can also be directly modified to implement other search procedures like Ant Colony Optimization, Genetic Algorithms, Ruin-and-Recreate, or Simulated Annealing. The application is illustrated using data with a known common factor structure. The results demonstrate the capabilities of the program for conducting specification searches in SEM. The programming codes are provided as open-source R functions.     

Adolescents’ emerging habitus: the role of early parental expectations and practices

This study makes two contributions to the literature. First, it bridges the sociological discussion of social class habitus with psychological notions of adolescents’ educational expectations, locus of control, and self-concepts. Second, it empirically examines the relationships between early employed parental practices and expectations and adolescents’ dispositions using a recently available wave of data from a nationally representative sample of US students. The findings reveal that students from higher socioeconomic status families had more positive general and area-specific self-concepts, higher educational expectations, higher internal locus of control, and higher academic achievement, and higher parental educational expectations were positively associated with all studied outcomes. The findings provide only partial support for the effects of early parental practices and highlight the role of gender and race/ethnicity in shaping adolescents’ habitus.     

The organization of an educational program for specialists in clinical chemistry by the Greek Society of Clinical Chemistry-Clinical Biochemistry

In Greece, there is no officially organized training in clinical chemistry for scientists. The Greek Society of Clinical Chemistry-Clinical Biochemistry decided to organize an intensive educational program of 18 seminars on clinical chemistry content as it is described in the EC4 Syllabus. The duration of each seminar was about 6 hours and consisted of 6 to 9 lectures. At the end of each seminar there was a voluntary written examination, comprised of 24 multiple choice questions. Successful completion of the Educational program was leading to a Certificate of Competence. Two cycles of the 18 seminars were performed: 1st cycle from October 2003 to December 2005 and 2nd cycle from March 2005 to October 2007. One hundred eighty nine colleagues was the mean attendance per seminar for the seminars of the 1st cycle and 38 colleagues for the seminars of the 2nd cycle. The mean participation to the examination for each seminar was almost 80% for the 1st cycle and 68% for the 2nd cycle. More than 80% of the participants performed Good or Very good in the examination in both cycles. It is estimated that more than 40% of the scientists who practice Clinical Chemistry in Greece, participated to this educational activity. This program is now provided as an e-learning application, and it is open for all scientists who want to follow the discipline of clinical chemistry.