Factor structure of the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) in a sample of university students from Chile

Intercultural sensitivity is a relevant construct from the affective sphere, that allows the recognition, understanding, worth and legitimation of others in their differences. It permits individuals to access different ways of feeling, perceiving, and understanding the world, due to their coexistence in the same society. The objective of this study was to adapt and validate the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale ISS in a sample of university students from Chile. To meet this objective and adapt the scale to a non-English speaking culture, an ISS linguistic adaptation process was conducted. Subsequently, a cross-sectional design study was carried out, including 427 university students of both genders (49.8 % men and 50.2 % women), with an average age of 21.19 years (SD = 2.61). Three models were contrasted, the factor model with the best fit confirmed the structure of five correlated factors proposed by the original study. The evidence of validity of external criteria, which were analysed by means of bivariate correlations between the factors of the ISS instrument and the Modern Racism Scale, MRS, showed significant relationships which are theoretically acceptable. Finally, the level of factorial invariance was evaluated, showing that ISS’s factor structure is maintained invariant up to the level of scalar invariance, for the variables of ethnicity and sex. This research provided evidence of the psychometric quality of the adaptation of ISS, allowing its use in the Chilean context.     

运用CAE工具进行两阶段结构优化设计

本文利用CAE工具,对一受集中荷载作用的矩形板依次进行拓扑优化与尺寸优化的计算与分析,最后得到给定条件下的合理结构。研究结果表明,拓扑优化与尺寸优化相结合的结构系统优化设计方法,是解决具有较少目标的结构优化问题的一种有效方法。     

Advancing the construct validity of the Early Communication Indicator (ECI) for infants and toddlers: Equivalence of growth trajectories across two early head start samples

The Early Communication Indicator (ECI) is a measure for universal screening, intervention decision-making, progress monitoring for infants and toddlers needing higher levels of support, and program accountability. In the context of the ECI's long-term wide-scale use for these purposes, we examined the invariance of ECI measurement in two samples of the same Early Head Start (EHS) population differing in the years data were collected. Invariance or equivalence across samples is an important step in measurement validation because making inferences assumes that the measurements are factorially invariant. A number of time-covarying factors (e.g., assessors, children, etc.) can be hypothesized as threats to measurement invariance. Results of latent growth curve analyses indicated similarity in the functional forms (velocity and shape) of the ECIs four key skill trajectories between groups of children and ECI vocalizations, single, and multiple words trajectories met strong factorial and structural invariance. Gestures met only weak factorial invariance. ECI total communications, a weighted composite of the four scales, also met both strong factorial and structural invariance. With one exception, results indicated that the ECI produced comparable growth estimates over different conditions of programs, assessors, and children over time, strengthening the construct validity of the ECI. Implications are discussed.     

国家职业汉语能力测试的效度分析

国家职业汉语能力测试(ZHC)由中国劳动和社会保障部职业技能鉴定中心(OSTA)组织国内语言学、语言教学、心理学和教育测量学等方面的专家开发研制。ZHC是测查应试者在职业活动中的汉语能力的国家级职业核心能力测试。效度研究是一个关于考试有效性资料的积累过程,是通过积累证据对考试提供支持的过程,我们需要从多种角度对考试的有效性进行检验,积累资料。在本项研究中,从ZHC成绩与学历的相关、试卷的内部结构分析(不同意型间相关和因素分析)、DIF分析(包含关于性别和文理科专业的分析)、名牌大学与普通大学在校生成绩的比较、用户调查等几个方面对ZHC进行了效度分析。测验分数与学历的相关分析、试卷结构分析、DIF分析、组间比较和用户调查的结果都对ZHC的效度提供了支持,显示ZHC具有较好的效度,可以比较真实准确地反映出受测者的实际语言能力和逻辑思维能力。     

Instructor Clarity,Humor, Immediacy,and Student Learning: Replication and Extension

This study replicates and extends three widely cited instructional communication research studies regarding instructor clarity, humor, immediacy, and students’ learning: Richmond, Gorham, and McCroskey (1987), Wanzer and Frymier (1999), and Chesebro and McCroskey (2001). Students across four diverse institutions of higher education (N = 1,109) completed survey measures. Replication results suggest that findings from the original studies (clarity, humor, immediacy, and student learning) persist, and extension results, exploring verbal immediacy and perceived immediacy, reveal statistically significant correlations with the original studies’ variables. However, results of the replication and extension reveal measurement validity uncertainties that require further investigation.     

Using person response functions to investigate areas of person misfit related to item characteristics

Individual person fit analyses provide important information regarding the validity of test score inferences for an individual test taker. In this study, we use data from an undergraduate statistics test (N = 1135) to illustrate a two-step method that researchers and practitioners can use to examine individual person fit. First, person fit is examined numerically with several indices based on the Rasch model (i.e., Infit, Outfit, and Between-Subset statistics). Second, person misfit is presented graphically with person response functions, and these person response functions are interpreted using a heuristic. Individual person fit analysis holds promise for improving score interpretation in that it may detect potential threats to validity of score inferences for some test takers. Individual person fit analysis may also highlight particular subsets of items (on which a test taker performs unexpectedly) that can be used to further contextualize her or his test performance.     

Separating PIAAC competencies from general cognitive skills: A dimensionality and explanatory analysis

This study aims to investigate how test scores from PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) can be interpreted, by comparing the PIAAC competencies literacy and numeracy to reasoning and perceptual speed. Dimensionality analyses supported, that the PIAAC competencies can be separated into a common factor overlapping with reasoning and perceptual speed, and domain-specific factors. For the common and specific factors, relations to other variables were analyzed. The nested factor for PIAAC literacy was as expected unrelated to age, positively related to learning opportunities during one’s lifetime, and positively related to literacy skill use. The nested factor for PIAAC numeracy was also as expected unrelated to age, against expectation unrelated to learning opportunities during one’s lifetime, and as expected positively related to numeracy skill use. Results support the validity of the intended test score interpretation for PIAAC literacy, while results for PIAAC numeracy were less clear.     

基于C语言的PQ电力潮流算法与实现

电力系统潮流计算是研究电力系统稳态运行的一种基本运算,它根据给定的运行条件及系统接线情况确定整个电力系统各部分的运行状态:各母线的电压,各元件中流过的功率损耗等等,因而具有非常重要的意义。文中主要是对P-Q分解法进行分析并且利用计算机C语言编制潮流计算程序。