Evaluating Content Alignment in Computerized Adaptive Testing

The alignment between a test and the content domain it measures represents key evidence for the validation of test score inferences. Although procedures have been developed for evaluating the content alignment of linear tests, these procedures are not readily applicable to computerized adaptive tests (CATs), which require large item pools and do not use fixed test forms. This article describes the decisions made in the development of CATs that influence and might threaten content alignment. It outlines a process for evaluating alignment that is sensitive to these threats and gives an empirical example of the process.     

The correlates and influences of career‐related continuous learning: Implications for management professionals

Management personnel are increasingly aware that career success depends on the ability to continuously learn and adapt to the environment. However, scant attention has been paid to how learning activities contribute to managerial success. This study examines the degree to which involvement in career‐related continuous learning affects managerial career success. Career success as defined in this study comprises both objective (ascendancy) and subjective (organizational commitment, professional commitment, career satisfaction) elements. Five hypotheses are tested using linear regression modeling. Results indicate that as individuals increase participation in career‐related continuous learning, their managerial career success increases as well.     

A simple classroom teaching technique to help students understand Michaelis-Menten kinetics

A new, simple classroom technique helps cell biology students understand principles of Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics. A student mimics the enzyme and the student's hand represents the enzyme's active site. The catalytic event is the transfer of marbles (substrate molecules) by hand from one plastic container to another. As predicted, increases in marble concentration increase the number of marbles transferred per unit time (initial rate, V(0)) until the turnover number becomes rate limiting and V(0) approaches the maximum velocity (V(max)), as described by the Michaelis-Menten equation. With this demonstration, students visualize an important concept: the turnover number is constant and independent of marble concentration. A student assessment of this exercise showed that it helped students visualize the turnover number and V(max) but not K(m), the marble concentration at which V(0) is one-half V(max). To address the concept of K(m), we use supplemental laboratory and lecture exercises. This exercise with plastic containers and marbles is equally suited to demonstrate the kinetics of carrier-mediated membrane transport. We conclude that this exercise helps students visualize the turnover number and V(max) and gives students important insights into the kinetic parameters used to characterize the catalytic activity of enzymes and membrane transporters.     

Working memory and mathematics: A review of developmental,individual difference,and cognitive approaches

Working memory refers to a mental workspace, involved in controlling, regulating, and actively maintaining relevant information to accomplish complex cognitive tasks (e.g. mathematical processing). Despite the potential relevance of a relation between working memory and math for understanding developmental and individual differences in mathematical skills, the nature of this relationship is not well-understood. This paper reviews four approaches that address the relation of working memory and math: 1) dual task studies establishing the role of working memory during on-line math performance; 2) individual difference studies examining working memory in children with math difficulties; 3) studies of working memory as a predictor of mathematical outcomes; and 4) longitudinal studies of working memory and math. The goal of this review is to evaluate current information on the nature of the relationship between working memory and math provided by these four approaches, and to present some of the outstanding questions for future research.     

The National Survey of Student Engagement: A university-level analysis

The National Survey of Student Engagement has been administered to freshmen and seniors at colleges and universities across the USA and Canada, since the spring of 2000, to gather information about the nature and the quality of their education. After each administration, participating schools are provided with an institutional report, including results for five benchmarks of effective educational practice. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of these benchmark scores at a particular university. The results of a confirmatory factor analysis suggest that the benchmarks are not valid indicators of students’ perceptions at this school. Discussion regarding uses of national data collections for individual institutions is provided.

     

Children and traumatic events: Therapeutic techniques for psychologists working in the schools

It is clear that exposure to traumatic events is not uncommon in childhood and adolescence, and psychologists working in schools should have some training in meeting the needs of this segment of the population. One intervention that has been empirically supported in the trauma field is Trauma‐Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF‐CBT). This article seeks to provide an overview of research on the efficacy of TF‐CBT with children and adolescents who have experienced trauma with a primary focus on psychologists working in the schools. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.