Mediation analysis is widely applied in various fields of science, such as psychology, epidemiology, and sociology. In practice, many psychological and behavioral phenomena are dynamic, and the corresponding mediation effects are expected to change over time. However, most existing mediation methods assume a static mediation effect over time,…

Mediation analysis is widely applied in various fields of science, such as psychology, epidemiology, and sociology. In practice, many psychological and behavioral phenomena are dynamic, and the corresponding mediation effects are expected to change over time. However, most existing mediation methods assume a static mediation effect over time,…

Learning analytics is a fast-growing discipline. Institutions and countries alike are racing to harness the power of using data to support students, teachers and stakeholders. Research in the field has proven that predicting and supporting underachieving students is worthwhile. Nonetheless, challenges remain unresolved, for example, lack of…

To address the seven guiding questions posed for authors of articles in this special issue, we begin by discussing the development (in the late 1970s-early 1980s) of Eccles' expectancy-value theory of achievement choice (EEVT), a theory developed to explain the cultural phenomenon of why girls were less likely to participate in STEM courses and…

A strong predictor of children's language is performance on non-word repetition (NWR) tasks. However, the basis of this relationship remains unknown. Some suggest that NWR tasks measure phonological working memory, which then affects language growth. Others argue that children's knowledge of language/language experience affects NWR performance. A…

In adaptive learning systems, various models are employed to obtain the optimal learning schedule and review for a specific learner. Models of learning are used to estimate the learner's current recall probability by incorporating features or predictors proposed by psychological theory or empirically relevant to learners' performance. Logistic…

Questionnaires inquiring about psychopathology symptoms often produce data with excess zeros or the equivalent (e.g., none, never, and not at all). This type of zero inflation is especially common in nonclinical samples in which many people do not exhibit psychopathology, and if unaccounted for, can result in biased parameter estimates when…

A regression model of predictor trade-offs is described. Each regression parameter equals the expected change in Y obtained by trading 1 point from one predictor to a second predictor. The model applies to predictor variables that sum to a constant T for all observations; for example, proportions summing to T=1.0 or percentages summing to T=100…

Disengaged responding poses a severe threat to the validity of educational large-scale assessments, because item responses from unmotivated test-takers do not reflect their actual ability. Existing identification approaches rely primarily on item response times, which bears the risk of misclassifying fast engaged or slow disengaged responses.…

Social entrepreneurship is a planned behaviour and rapidly gaining its importance in society. This complex process can be understood by studying intention which is the single best predictor of subsequent behaviour. It helps in understanding the reasons behind the actions undertaken and the manner in which potential entrepreneurs decide and act to…

Observable data in empirical social and behavioral science studies are often categorical (i.e., binary, ordinal, or nominal). When categorical data are outcomes, they fail to maintain the scale and distributional properties of linear regression and factor analysis. Attempting to estimate model parameters for categorical outcome data with the…

Purpose: A literature research conducted in education and agricultural education journals published during a period of 10 years revealed that 98% of the studies used parametric analyses. In general, model assumptions were not tested, and statistical criteria were not followed to apply the parametric approach. The objective of this paper is to…

Models of word reading that simultaneously take into account item-level and person-level fixed and random effects are broadly known as explanatory item response models (EIRM). Although many variants of the EIRM are available, the field has generally focused on the doubly explanatory model for modeling individual differences on item responses.…

The present meta-analysis aimed to improve on Involvement Load Hypothesis (ILH) by incorporating it into a broader framework that predicts incidental vocabulary learning. Studies testing the ILH were systematically collected and 42 studies meeting our inclusion criteria were analyzed. The model-selection approach was used to determine the optimal…

Purpose: Blended learning (BL) has been increasing in popularity and demand and has developed as a common practice in institutions of higher learning. Therefore, this study develops a model to evaluate the critical predictors that determine students' acceptance and deployment of BL in institutions of higher education based on the theory of planned…