In this paper, we present an agenda for the research directions we recommend in addressing the issues of realizing and evaluating communication in CPS instruments. We outline our ideas on potential ways to improve: (1) generalizability in Human-Human assessment tools and ecological validity in Human-Agent ones; (2) flexible and convenient use of…

The main aim of this study is to build a new observational coding system for sibling interactions (Sistema de Codificación de Interacciones entre Hermanos -- SCIH) and to analyze its psychometric properties and validity. First, this study offers the first Spanish adaptation of a self-report questionnaire to measure sibling relationships that…

This study was carried out to develop a test to assess algorithmic thinking skills. To this end, the twelve steps suggested by Downing (2006) were adopted. Throughout the test development, 24 middle school sixth-grade students and eight experts in different areas took part as needed in the tasks on the project. The test was given to 252 students…

This study aimed to develop a reliable and valid instrument to measure secondary school students' attitude towards robotic coding and the results of the analyses regarding the Robotic Coding Attitude Scale (RCAS) developed for this purpose were reported in the current study. To test the construct validity of the first version of the RCAS…

The need to build an evidence base for reflective supervision (RS) is threefold: (1) to determine the elements of a supervision session that make it reflective, (2) to demonstrate that change occurs within the supervisee, and (3) to demonstrate that having staff members participate in RS enhances positive program (or client) outcomes. This article…

As interest increases in mindfulness in education programs for youth, there is a need to develop reliable measures of the quality of program implementation. This paper describes the development and psychometric properties of a measure that can be used to assess and monitor quality of implementation of mindfulness programs/curricula in typical…

Few of the papers published in journals and conference proceedings on problem-based learning (PBL) are empirical studies, and most of these use self-report as the measure of PBL (Beddoes, Jesiek, & Borrego, 2010). The current study provides a theoretically derived matrix for coding and classifying PBL that was objectively applied to official…

This study reports on the design of a video-based instrument to assess student teachers' parent-teacher communication competences (PTCC) in a reliable and valid way. PTCC refer to the competences needed to communicate successfully with parents during conversations such as parent-teacher conferences. Taking into account both conceptual and…

This qualitative study reports the concerns of faculty in one food science department as they integrate communication competencies into their classes. The results of the study prioritized self-reports from faculty regarding the challenges they experienced while integrating communication activities into their classes; the nature of the concerns and…

Predicting item difficulty is highly important in education for both teachers and item writers. Despite identifying a large number of explanatory variables, predicting item difficulty remains a challenge in educational assessment with empirical attempts rarely exceeding 25% of variance explained. This paper analyses 216 science items of key stage…

Deliberate practice serves as a potential framework to understand what activities, attributes, and characteristics make an individual an expert in their chosen field or profession. Historically, deliberate practice activities included those that were highly structured with purposeful goals, frequent repetition, and active feedback with immediate…

A large study of classrooms in the Caribbean context necessitated the use of a validated classroom observation tool. In practice, the paper-version Stalling's instrument (Stallings & Kaskowitz 1974) presented specific challenges with respect to (a) facile data collection and (b) qualitative observations of classrooms. In response to these…

Research Findings: This study explored the quality of teacher-child interactions within the context of a newly developed standardized task, Teacher-Child Structured Play Task (TC-SPT). A sample of 146 teachers and 345 children participated. Children who displayed the highest disruptive behaviors within each classroom were selected to participate.…

We report results from the following three analyses of PARCC [Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers] cognitive complexity measures, based on 2014 field test item and task development and field test data. We conducted classification and regression tree analyses using 2014 PARCC field test data to do the following: (1)…

Over the past several years, research teams have developed observational instruments to measure the quality of teachers' instructional practices. Instruments such as Framework for Teaching (FFT) and the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) assess general teaching practices, including student-teacher interactions, behavior management, and…