Engineering a multi-purpose test collection for Web retrieval experiments

Past research into text retrieval methods for the Web has been restricted by the lack of a test collection capable of supporting experiments which are both realistic and reproducible. The 1.69 million document WT10g collection is proposed as a multi-purpose testbed for experiments with these attributes, in distributed IR, hyperlink algorithms and conventional ad hoc retrieval.WT10g was constructed by selecting from a superset of documents in such a way that desirable corpus properties were preserved or optimised. These properties include: a high degree of inter-server connectivity, integrity of server holdings, inclusion of documents related to a very wide spread of likely queries, and a realistic distribution of server holding sizes. We confirm that WT10g contains exploitable link information using a site (homepage) finding experiment. Our results show that, on this task, Okapi BM25 works better on propagated link anchor text than on full text.WT10g was used in TREC-9 and TREC-2000 and both topic relevance and homepage finding queries and judgments are available.     

Boys lagging behind: Unpacking gender differences in academic achievement across East Africa

We estimate the current magnitude of gender gaps in literacy and numeracy in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, using large-scale nationally representative data of children ages 6–16. Using a household fixed effects approach, we document that girls outperform boys in all three countries; in numeracy by 0.03 SDs (Uganda) to 0.05 SDs (Kenya and Tanzania) and literacy by 0.06 SDs (Uganda and Tanzania) to 0.09 SDs (Kenya). However, the gender gap in achievement is highly geographically clustered, reversing in sign in some districts. In highlighting the heterogeneity of gender disparities in academic performance in these three countries in East Africa, this study show that systematic female disadvantage in schooling is no longer the norm.     

面试型汉语口语考试的远程模式研究初探

本文分析了远程环境下实施面试型汉语口语考试(C.TEST口语面试)的必要性和可行性,阐述了远程环境下实施该考试的基本原则和功能需求。在考察了视频会议技术及其在现代远程教育中的应用情况的基础上,提出了基于IP网络的桌面型软件视频会议系统的解决方案,并提出了远程环境下实施面试型汉语口语考试有待研究的课题。     

The role of linguistic features in science and math comprehension and performance: A systematic review and desiderata for future research

There is a growing body of research on the role of linguistic features (LF) in comprehension and performance in science and math. Of particular interest is which LF facilitate or hinder comprehension. In this systematic review, we provide an overview of findings on LF at the word, sentence and text levels, on comprehension and performance in science and math. Our literature search revealed n = 40 articles included in this review. Overall, the role of LF in comprehension and performance in science and math is complex, with findings varying across the different LF. For each LF, we discuss the findings and uncover remaining questions. In the general discussion, we uncover strengths and weaknesses of previous research and discuss open questions before making eight recommendations and identifying tasks for future research aiming to understand the complex nature of LF.     

Effects of multimedia on psychometric characteristics of cognitive tests: A comparison between technology-based and paper-based modalities

The study aims to investigate the effects of delivery modalities on psychometric characteristics and student performance on cognitive tests. A first study assessed the inductive reasoning ability of 715 students under the supervision of teachers. A second study examined 731 students’ performance on the application of the control-of-variables strategy in basic physics but without teacher supervision due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rasch measurement showed that the online format fitted to the data better in the unidimensional model across two conditions. Under teacher supervision, paper-based testing was better than online testing in terms of reliability and total scores, but contradictory findings were found in turn without teacher supervision. Although measurement invariance was confirmed between two versions at item level, the differential bundle functioning analysis supported the online groups on the item bundles constructed of figure-related materials. Response time was also discussed as an advantage of technology-based assessment for test development.