A multilevel study of position effects in PISA achievement tests: student- and school-level predictors in the German tracked school system

Abstract

Position effects (PE) cause decreasing probabilities of correct item responses towards the end of a test. We analysed PEs in science, mathematics and reading tests administered in the German extension to the PISA 2006 study with respect to their variability at the student- and school-level. PEs were strongest in reading and weakest in mathematics. Variability in PEs was found at both levels of analysis. PEs were stronger for male students, for students with a migration background (science and mathematics), and for students with a less favourable socio-economic background (reading). At the school level, PEs were stronger in lower school tracks and in schools with a high proportion of students with a migration background. The relationships of the test scores with the covariates partly reflected the covariates’ relationships with PEs. Our findings suggest that PEs should be taken seriously in large-scale assessments as they have an undesirable impact on the results.     

A Useful Example when Teaching Hypothesis Testing

This article describes an example which is useful when teaching hypothesis testing in order to highlight the interrelationships that exist among the level of significance, the sample size and the statistical power of a test. The example also allows students to see how what they learn in the classroom directly affects the content of some of the commercials that they watch on television.     

Examining the relationship between emotion variability,self-regulated learning,and task performance in an intelligent tutoring system

Educational technology research and development - Prior research has focused extensively on how emotion tendencies (e.g., duration, frequency, intensity, and valence) affect students’...     

Bearing the burden of doubt: female coaches' experiences of gender relations

Based on interview research, this study examined how master female coaches based in the United Kingdom experienced relations with men within their profession. Using a feminist cultural studies approach to examine how sport promotes and maintains a gender order unfavorable to women, we found that female coaches felt the need to continually prove themselves and often experienced coaching as a hostile and intimidating culture. Participants reported a gradual reduction in such unwelcoming behavior from men, seemingly because they had proved to be no threat to the existing patriarchal structure. A critical exploration of coaching is needed to understand how masculine hegemony leads to women's relative powerlessness as coaches. Furthermore, the findings present a case for a greater emphasis on sociocultural education within the UK coaching curricula.     

An approach to investigate anxiety and hostility in consultee-centered consultation

This paper presents an approach to investigating affect in the process of consultee-centered consultation. The anxiety and hostility of three consultants and consultees was assessed from an intensive analysis of their verbal behavior during consultation. Comparisons to normative data suggested that the anxiety and hostility expressed by consultees was high, relative to that expressed under more neutral conditions, and a relationship was observed between consultee anxiety and consultation outcome. It was concluded that this provides a potentially productive direction for future research in consultation.     

The effect of time of day on problem solving and classroom behavior

This study describes fluctuations in problem solving and classroom behaviors during the school day for nonmedicated pupils who had attention deficits with hyperkinesis. The 43 participating pupils were observed with Stonybrook Observation Code, and tested with Stroop Color-Word Test, Matching Familiar Figures, Porteus Mazes, and Digit Span. Test data were collected in counterbalanced morning and afternoon sessions. Twenty-one pupils were administered the tests in the morning and in the afternoon; the remainder were tested in the afternoon and in the following morning. Equivalent test forms were used. Direct observations were completed for four minutes in the morning and for four minutes in the afternoon once each week over a four-week period. Repeated measures Multivariate ANOVAs were followed by univariate and correlational analyses. On problem-solving tasks except Digit Span, pupils performed beer in the morning. In classroom behavior, all pupils exhibited more interference, off-task, noncompliance, and minor motor movement in the afternoon. The results are discussed in terms of scheduling problem-solving tasks in the morning and less structured activities in the afternoon.