Thinking beyond the score: Multidimensional analysis of student performance to inform the next generation of science assessments

Conventional assessment analysis of student results, referred to as rubric-based assessments (RBA), has emphasized numeric scores as the primary way of communicating information to teachers about their students’ learning. In this light, rethinking and reflecting on not only how scores are generated but also what analyses are done with them to inform classroom practices is of utmost importance. Informed by Systemic Functional Linguistics and Latent Dirichlet Allocation analyses, this study utilizes an innovative bilingual (Spanish–English) constructed response assessment of science and language practices for middle and high school students to perform a multilayered analysis of student responses. We explore multiple ways of looking at students’ performance through their written assessments and discuss features of student responses that are made visible through these analyses. Findings from this study suggest that science educators would benefit from a multidimensional model which deploys complementary ways in which we can interpret student performance. This understanding leads us to think that researchers and developers in the field of assessment need to promote approaches that analyze student science performance as a multilayered phenomenon.     

Accessed or latent resources? Exploring new secondary science teachers' networks of resources

Although new teachers clearly need resources and support, little is known about the types of resources new science teachers' access during their early years of teaching. To increase knowledge of their needs, the study described in this article focused on the primary resources (i.e., human, material, and social) and secondary resources (i.e., strategic and symbolic) new science teachers' access and how those resources interact in new teachers' instructional contexts. The participants for this qualitative study were 15 new secondary science teachers in the United States, and data sources included a contextual interview, teaching observations, and a follow-up interview. Findings revealed that these teachers had a variety of resources available to them, of which social resources were particularly important. Some resources were not accessed and remained latent resources. In addition, some interactions of resources in the new teachers' context led to the development of the network of resources model to represent how resources can interact in contexts to support a new teacher. This model highlights the importance of considering the interaction of multiple resources in a teaching context.     

Teacher self-efficacy,instructional quality,and student motivational beliefs: An analysis using multilevel structural equation modeling

Teacher self-efficacy (TSE) is one of the most salient motivational characteristics that is assumed to affect teachers’ instructional quality and student motivational beliefs. However, discussions of these associations have primarily been often primarily conceptual and/or based on empirical research that has suffered from methodological shortcomings. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the relationships between TSE, instructional quality (i.e., classroom management, cognitive activation, and supportive climate) and student motivational beliefs (i.e., self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation) by using responses from both teachers and students and implementing a sophisticated doubly latent multilevel structural equation modeling approach. A total of 94 high school teachers and their 2087 students participated in the study. The results demonstrated that, at the class level, TSE was positively related to the three dimensions of instructional quality but not to student motivational beliefs. As expected, instructional quality was positively related to student motivational beliefs.     

基于潜在语义索引的SVM文本分类模型

本文将潜在语义索引理论与支持向量机方法相结合,对文本向量各维与文本的语义联系进行特征抽取,建立了完整的基于潜在语义索引的支持向量机文本分类模型,分析了该方法与分词的维数以及SVM惩罚因子选择之间的关系.并在NN-SVM分类算法的基础上,通过计算样本点与其最近邻点类别的异同以及该点与其k个同类近邻点在核空间的平均距离来修剪混淆点,提出了一种改进的NN-SVM算法:KCNN-SVM算法.利用该算法对降维后的训练集进行修剪.实验表明,用新的模型进行文本分类,与单纯支持向量机相比,受到文本分词维数以及支持向量机惩罚因子的影响更小,其分类正确率更高.     

在线商品评论有用性影响因素研究：基于文本语义视角

针对在线商品评论总体质量不高、缺乏有效评论引导机制的问题,以亚马逊商品在线评论为研究对象,结合文本挖掘技术和实证研究,探究基于文本内容评论有用性的影响因素。通过以手机这一典型商品为例,发现消费者关注手机系统反应、音质、导航、打字体验,希望了解电池、充电器等配件细节,重视商家的配送、退换货、保修、发票等服务,评论文本包含这些信息会提高其有用性。     

基于潜在语义索引和遗传算法的文本特征提取方法

本文采用潜在语义索引（LSI）和遗传算法（GA）进行文本特征提取。在采用潜在语义索引将语义关系体现在VSM（Vector Space Model）中,通过奇异值分解（SVD,Singular Value Deccvaposition）可以有效地降低向量空间的维数,但通过维数约简后的文本特征仍要保持在数百维左右,因此本文采用遗传算法在此基础上继续降维。实验结果表明,这两种方法结合可以极大的降低文本向量空间的雏数,并能提高分类准确率。     

Plant latent defense response to microbial non-pathogenic factors antagonizes compatibility

Unlike microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) that are readily targeted by host immunity, microbial non-pathogenic factors (NPFs) appear negligible as they do not elicit defense. Little is known about whether and how NPFs may be monitored by hosts to control compatibility. Herein, a forward genetic screening isolated an Arabidopsis mutant with a loss of plant-rhizobacteria mutualism, leading to the disclosure of a plant latent defense response (LDR) to NPFs. The activation of LDR in the mutant, named rol1 for regulator of LDR 1, is triggered by several non-pathogenic volatile organic compounds and antagonizes plant compatibility with the beneficial bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens GB03. The activation of LDR in rol1 is mediated through the prokaryotic pathway of chloroplastic lipid biosynthesis. The rol1 root microbiome showed a reduced proportion of the Bacillaceae family. We propose that, parallel to the forefront immunity to MAMPs, LDR to certain NPFs provides a hidden layer of defense for controlling compatibility with commensal or beneficial microbes.     

Predictors and outcomes of core and peripheral sport motivation profiles: A person-centered study

ABSTRACT

While previous studies highlighted the importance of the different motivations for doing sports as proposed by self-determination theory, less emphasis has been put on the simultaneous presence of multiple motivations within the same individual. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the complex interaction of sport motivations and to identify core (common) and peripheral (uncommon) profiles of people engaged in sports based on a combination of motivations. To achieve this goal, latent profile analysis, a person-centered approach, was performed on responses from 506 participants engaged in sports. For better understanding the extracted profiles, basic psychological need fulfillment was included as profile predictor, while subjective vitality and various engagement-related indicators as outcomes. Four core and peripheral profiles were identified: Moderately Motivated, Highly Motivated, Amotivated, and Poorly Motivated. Contrary to theory, introjected regulation clustered more closely with self-determined motivations. Profile membership was significantly predicted by global need fulfillment, autonomy satisfaction as well as, to a smaller extent, autonomy, relatedness, and competence frustration. The four profiles differed along vitality and some, but not all, engagement-related outcomes.     

EDUCATIONAL ASPIRATIONS TRAJECTORIES IN ENGLAND

This study used latent class analysis to examine the trajectories followed by young people’s educational aspirations in England over the age range from 13 to 16 years and their relationship to educational achievement. The results suggested that young people’s aspirations followed six trajectories. Four trajectories showed overall patterns of aspirations which did not vary over time, while in the two remaining trajectories, aspirations either moved upwards or downwards. The trajectories were stratified according to young people’s family background and individual characteristics with those trajectories with high aspirations having higher proportions of young people from better-off family backgrounds and a higher proportion of girls and respondents from ethnic minority backgrounds. Respondents with high aspirations made more progress in achievement and had a higher likelihood of admission to university than those with low aspirations. Differences in aspirations did not completely explain differences in educational achievement by family background, however.     

Professional learning communities among vocational school teachers: Profiles and relations with instructional quality

Although improving teachers' classroom strategies presents the primary goal of PLCs, empirical evidence is still scarce, mainly derived from case-study material and confined to (pre-) K12 settings. We use profiling techniques and a comparative design to examine (a) distinct configurations in which PLCs occur within vocational school departments, and (b) their relations to instructional quality. Multilevel latent profile analysis, based on teacher assessments of core PLC dimensions, reveals three configurations. Multilevel multiple group analysis of students’ instructional ratings shows that teachers from Advanced PLC departments create more authentic, application-oriented learning environments than teachers from other departments.