A Study of Sensori-Motor and Conceptual Thinking in Children between the Ages of Nine and Eighteen

In this research, the author addresses whether the application of unidimensional item response models provides valid interpretation of test results when administering items sensitive to multiple latent dimensions. Overall, the present study found that unidimensional models are quite robust to the violation of the unidimensionality assumption due to secondary dimensions from sensitive items. When secondary dimensions are highly correlated with main construct, unidimensional models generally fit and the accuracy of ability estimation is comparable to that of strictly unidimensional tests. In addition, longer tests are more robust to the violation of the essential unidimensionality assumption than shorter ones. The author also shows that unidimensional item response theory models estimate item difficulty parameter better than item discrimination parameter in tests with secondary dimensions.     

The HPT model applied to a kayak company's registration process

This case study describes the step‐by‐step application of the traditional human performance technology (HPT) model at a premier kayak company located on the coast of North Carolina. The HPT model was applied to address lost revenues related to three specific business issues: misinformed customers, dissatisfied customers, and guides not showing up for tours or lessons at the kayak company. The case study includes problem statements, organizational analysis, environmental analysis, gap analysis, cause analysis, and proposed interventions.     

The effects of POWERSOURCE© assessments on middle-school students’ math performance

This paper describes results from field testing of middle-school math formative assessments alongside professional development and instructional resources. We employed a randomised, controlled design to address the question: Does using our formative assessment strategies improve student performance on assessments of key mathematical ideas relative to a comparison group? This study also provided data on the instructional sensitivity of the assessments, which is part of the validation needed for formative assessments. Teachers were recruited from two districts and seven middle schools. Nineteen treatment and 17 comparison group teachers and their students were included in study analyses. Scores on extended response and short-answer questions indicated that students in the treatment group performed better than students in the comparison group who received the formative assessments alone. These findings demonstrate both the feasibility and value of including performance task-types in a brief assessment context.     

Code-Switching and Competition: An Examination of a Situational Response

Code switching is primarily a linguistic term that refers to the use of two or more languages within the same conversation, or same sentence, to convey a single message. One field of linguistics, sociocultural linguistics, is broad and interdisciplinary, a mixture of language, culture, and society. In sociocultural linguistics, the code, or language that is selected, can be triggered by a social situation or setting in which the speaker is placed. Code-switching can also apply to behavior. In physical education, teachers may communicate in the language of sport. When teaching a competitive activity in physical education class, the environment changes, becomes competitive, and the teachers often code switch and switch instructional choices unconsciously. This article examines the occurrence of code-switching during competitive activities.