Purpose: Agricultural extension services in poor countries often identify opinion leaders based on criteria such as wealth and social status. We explore the effectiveness of this top-down approach by analysing the role of so-called model and nodal farmers in the diffusion of malt barley in a highland community in Ethiopia. Research approach: We…

In this digital ITEMS module, Dr. Jeffrey Harring and Ms. Tessa Johnson introduce the linear mixed effects (LME) model as a flexible general framework for simultaneously modeling continuous repeated measures data with a scientifically defensible function that adequately summarizes both individual change as well as the average response. The module…

Given the replication crisis in cognitive science, it is important to consider what researchers need to do in order to report results that are reliable. We consider three changes in current practice that have the potential to deliver more realistic and robust claims. First, the planned experiment should be divided into two stages, an exploratory…

The U.S. healthcare system lacks incentives and quantitative evaluation tools to assess coordination in a patient's care transition process. This is needed because poor care coordination has been identified by many studies as one of the major root causes for the U.S. health system's inefficiency, for poor outcomes, and for high cost. Despite…

With the changes done in the teacher training process in Turkey, the teachers who are going to begin active duty are asked to take a candidate teacher training under the supervision of an advisor teacher before they start their duty in the city they have been appointed, and these changes have been introduced in 2015-2016 academic years. In this…

The aim of this study is to determine whether the Happiness Fear Scale (FHS) developed by Joshanloo and Weijers (2014) is suitable for Turkish culture. For this purpose, validity and reliability of the scale were examined. The study consisted of 180 university students, 87 male and 23 female. The linguistic equivalence of the scale was made by…

In the analysis of causal effects in non-experimental studies, conditioning on observable covariates is one way to try to reduce unobserved confounder bias. However, a developing literature has shown that conditioning on certain covariates may increase bias, and the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon have not been fully explored. We add to the…

This study adopted 30 first year graphic design students' artwork, with critical analysis using Feldman's model of art criticism. Data were analyzed quantitatively; descriptive statistical techniques were employed. The scores were viewed in the form of mean score and frequencies to determine students' performances in their critical ability.…

Objective: To obtain information on the current clinical research training status and evaluate the training needs comprehensively for medical staff in hospitals. Methods: This survey was initiated and conducted by the Health and Family Planning Commission of Shenzhen in conjunction with the Peking University Clinical Research Institute (Shenzhen)…

Assessing a student's level and rate of improvement on an academic skill is a contemporary approach to the identification of specific learning disabilities. This approach, broadly categorized as responsiveness to intervention, however, does not obviate educators from scrutinizing the psychometric qualities of the data used to make important…

The gold standard for identifying more effective pedagogical approaches is to perform an experiment. Unfortunately, frequently a hypothesized alternate way of teaching does not yield an improved effect. Given the expense and logistics of each experiment, and the enormous space of potential ways to improve teaching, it would be highly preferable if…

The present study seeks to identify the relation between the components of spiritual leadership and to present a practical model to reinforce the spiritual leadership in Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University. The research is of descriptive type, and the statistical population consists of all the official personnel of Tabriz Branch. The research…

This paper describes the implementation and testing of our concept of adaptable rubrics, defined as analytical rubrics that arrange assessment criteria at multiple levels that can be expanded on demand. Because of its adaptable nature, these rubrics cannot be implemented in paper formats, neither are they supported by current Learning Management…

The object of this study is to determine the conceptual understanding that prospective Science teachers have relating "de Broglie: Matter waves" and to investigate the effect of the instruction performed, on the conceptual understanding. This study was performed at a state university located in the western part of Turkey, with the…

This paper presents a developed higher education quality assessment model (HEQAM) that can be applied for enhancement of university services. This is because there is no universal unified quality standard model that can be used to assess the quality criteria of higher education institutes. The analytical hierarchy process is used to identify the…