The purpose of this research is to determine whether PISA 2018 mathematical literacy test items show a differential item functioning across countries. For this purpose, only the items in booklet number three were examined using the MIMIC method with Latent Class Analysis (LCA) approach. PISA 2018 tests are mostly developed in English. Therefore,…

Persistence represents a crucial trait in learning. A lack of persistence prevents learners from fully mastering their current skills and makes it difficult for them to acquire new skills. It further hinders the administration of effective interventions by learning systems. Although most studies have focused on identifying non-persistence and…

TESOL practitioners, especially in Asia, tend to believe that reliable assessment of students' L2 English speech can be done solely by L1 English native speakers with sufficient teaching and assessment experiences. Such a belief, however, may need to be reconsidered from a new perspective of "diversity and inclusivity." This study used…

This study revisits the roles of different aspects of phonological vocabulary knowledge in second language (L2) listening. Japanese learners of English (n = 114) completed the TOEIC Listening test and three phonological vocabulary tests assessing (a) ability to recognize the meanings of aural forms (meaning recognition), (b) ability to recall the…

This study investigated to what extent the scores of two English tests are correlated to each other, namely, the English test of the "Common Test for University Admissions" (Common Test, henceforth) in Japan and the "TOEIC Bridge", a commercially available English test developed by "Educational Testing Service" (ETS)…

Creativity is a multifaceted construct, yet traditionally measured as divergent thinking (DT) with originality as its main focus. As originality tends to be discouraged in East Asian cultures, this measurement discrepancy is especially problematic in cross-cultural studies. Given cultural variations in the centrality of context, in the current…

Data science education in Japan extends from elementary to high school students. However, some studies show that this has not enhanced interest or curiosity in data science. Therefore, gamification appears to be an efficient method for encouraging high school students' interest in data science, with research indicating that video games are…

This study examined the similarities/differences between the social phenotypes of Williams syndrome (WS) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As cultural norms may affect symptom evaluation, this study administered the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 to Japanese individuals with WS (n = 78, 4.4-44.0 years) and ASD (n = 75, 4.7-55.4 years). The scores…

Many tertiary language courses have some online components as part of their blended learning initiatives. These online activities could be part of assessments, and online quizzes/tests can be used as preparation for the demanding final written examination. This study attempts to shed some light on the effects of online tests on final examination…

To enhance the effectiveness of formative assessment and self-regulated learning, this study focused on evaluative judgement. A process for developing evaluative judgement and co-regulation had proposed. However, this co-regulation and evaluative judgement model lacks validation for use in classroom settings; the process of developing evaluative…

In this study, the authors have developed a web-based programming exercise system currently implemented in classrooms. This system not only provides students with a web-based programming environment but also tracks the time spent on exercises, logging operations such as program editing, building, execution, and testing. Additionally, it records…

This article outlines the development of a 16-item instrument for measuring language learner's foreign language self-efficacy (SE) concerning their speaking and listening skills through repeated administrations to groups of Japanese tertiary students. Responses were analysed through the Rasch model, which allows researchers to investigate…

The Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) has been validated in several East Asian countries, but the measurement equivalence of its four dimensions and construct validity has not yet been evaluated in Japan. Results from Japanese (n = 298) and South Korean (n = 301) college students indicated good to excellent internal consistency estimates, and…

The purpose of this paper is to (a) establish whether meaning recall and meaning recognition item formats test psychometrically distinct constructs of vocabulary knowledge which measure separate skills, and, if so, (b) determine whether each construct possesses unique properties predictive of L2 reading proficiency. Factor analyses and…

Researchers suggest that claims about the meaningfulness of test score interpretations and consequences of test use should be backed by evidence that stakeholders understand the definition of the construct assessed (meaningfulness) and score reports (consequences). Evaluation of stakeholders' actual uses and interpretations of score reports in…