The main objective of this Methods Showcase Article is to show how the technique of adaptive comparative judgment, coupled with a crowdsourcing approach, can offer practical solutions to reliability issues as well as to address the time and cost difficulties associated with a text-based approach to proficiency assessment in L2 research. We…

A great deal of recent scholarship on economically disadvantaged students and higher education works under the foundational assumption that going to college can and/or should serve the goal of economic mobility. This article considers a cost of using higher education for this purpose -- specifically, the impact on the decision-making of poor…

Indirect treatment comparisons are useful to estimate relative treatment effects when head-to-head studies are not conducted. Statisticians at the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics Ireland (NCPE) and Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of new medicines as part of multidisciplinary teams. We describe…

Background/Context: Despite the surge in efficacy studies, a recent meta-analysis indicates that the relative effectiveness of any two math interventions is largely unknown (Nelson & McMaster, 2019). Additionally, policy makers rarely choose educational programs based on an assessment of costs and cost-effectiveness (Hollands et al., 2016;…

The evidence-based decision-making emphasis in education has largely focused on the adoption of new practices for which evidence of effectiveness exists. Following adoption, however, the focus shifts to improvement and the appropriate evidence needed to support budget decisions must be local, timely, and relevant. Existing evidence used to support…

Incentive pay programs have become panacea for a multitude of educational challenges. When aimed at teachers the assumption is that rewards entice them to work in particular ways or particular schools. However, the assumption is based on an economic formula that does not take into consideration the gendered nature of policy processes. This study…

Systematic reviews provide high-level evidence but there are barriers to their use by policy makers. This paper reports the preparation and evaluation of an evidence briefing, using systematic reviews and other existing sources of synthesised evidence, to support a possible reorganisation of services for young people with eating disorders in an…

We present EGDA, an educational game development approach focused on the teaching of procedural knowledge using a cost-effective approach. EGDA proposes four tasks: analysis, design, implementation, and quality assurance that are subdivided in a total of 12 subtasks. One of the benefits of EGDA is that anyone can apply it to develop a game since…

The use of the distance learning courses continues to grow. Previous research focuses on the effectiveness of distance education, typically examining the performance, attitudes, and satisfaction of distance education students and comparing them to those attending traditional classes. High school principals have this information to use when making…

Recent Activities at the national and international level reflecting an increasing concern for the economic analysis of educational technology are briefly described, and some resulting publications are reviewed. Issues discussed and recommendations formulated for the future at the 1978 Dijon Conference are reported in more detail. (JEG)

Presented is a personal computer computer-analysis system to help the consumer decide which microcomputer best suits his needs. (KC)

Studies may not help to determine cost-effectiveness of distance or mediated education for several reasons: difficulty gathering data; many costs are not intrinsic to technology, but a result of decisions made; and difficulty in comparing costs of different mediated programs. Cost-effectiveness of technology can be determined by designing and…

A review of cost-effectiveness analysis techniques was conducted in order to facilitate the selection of the most appropriate tool to aid any given instructional development effort. A survey was made of the cost-effectiveness techniques in current use, the differences among these techniques were examined in an analytical framework, and criteria…

Cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-benefit analysis are two related yet distinct methods to help decision makers choose the best course of action from among competing alternatives. For both types of analysis, costs are computed similarly. Costs may be reduced to present value amounts for multi-year programs, and parameters may be altered to show…

Models the analytical decision-making process used by the Armed Forces Staff College in evaluating distance learning alternatives to its current Joint Planning Orientation Course. Highlights include program needs, customer needs, media capabilities, a comparative analysis for media selection, interoperability; cost-benefit factors, and a media…