In this paper, we consider several features of teacher-retention policies based on value-added measures of effectiveness under a variety of empirically grounded rules and parameters. We consider the effects of policy design by varying the standard above which satisfactory teachers are expected to perform. We simulate recently adopted policies that…

When students reason during school science, they often refer to conceptions that are derived from out-of-school experiences and are poor proxies for science orthodoxy. However, for some areas of science, these conceptions represent only a proportion of students' full conceptual knowledge, for tacit understanding exists that is superior to the…

High Fidelity Simulation is a teaching strategy that is becoming well-entrenched in the world of nursing education and is rapidly expanding due to the challenges and demands of the health care environment. The problem addressed in this study is the conflicting research results regarding the effectiveness of HFS for students' knowledge acquisition…

In this paper we examine ways to conceptualize and address potential bias that can arise when the mechanism for missing outcome data is at least partially associated with treatment assignment, an issue we refer to as treatment confounded missingness (TCM). In discussing TCM, we bring together concepts from the methodological literature on missing…

Opportunities in education are lacking in many parts of the developed nations and are missing in most parts of the developing nations. This is, in significant part, due to shortages of classroom instructional resources such as quality teaching staff, hardware and software. Distance education (DE) has proved to be a successful teaching approach and…

In this dissertation, I investigate the effects of a grounded learning experience on college students' mental models of physics systems. The grounded learning experience consisted of a priming stage and an instruction stage, and within each stage, one of two different types of visuo-haptic representation was applied: visuo-gestural simulation…

To date, evaluation research and policy analysis have focused mainly on average program impacts and paid little systematic attention to their variation. Recently, the growing number of multi-site randomized trials that are being planned and conducted make it increasingly feasible to study "cross-site" variation in impacts. Important…

Mixed-format tests containing both multiple-choice (MC) items and constructed-response (CR) items are now widely used in many testing programs. Mixed-format tests often are considered to be superior to tests containing only MC items although the use of multiple item formats leads to measurement challenges in the context of equating conducted under…

This paper presents a noncompensatory latent trait model, the multicomponent latent trait model for diagnosis (MLTM-D), for cognitive diagnosis. In MLTM-D, a hierarchical relationship between components and attributes is specified to be applicable to permit diagnosis at two levels. MLTM-D is a generalization of the multicomponent latent trait…

The objective of the present article is to show that connectionist simulations can be used to model some of the socio-cognitive processes underlying the learning of the norm of internality. For our simulations, we developed a connectionist model which we called NetNorm (based on Dual-Network formalism). This model is capable of simulating the…

Imaging of three-dimensional objects by lenses and mirrors is sometimes poorly indicated in textbooks and can be incorrectly drawn. We stress a need to clarify the concept of longitudinal magnification, with simulated images illustrating distortions introduced along the optical axis. We consider all possible positions of the object for both a…

This study investigated influences of censored data on mediation analysis. Mediation effect estimates can be biased and inefficient with censoring on any one of the input, mediation, and output variables. A Bayesian Tobit approach was introduced to estimate and test mediation effects with censored data. Simulation results showed that the Bayesian…

Four experiments demonstrate that closing one's eyes affects ethical judgment and behavior because it induces people to mentally simulate events more extensively. People who considered situations with their eyes closed rather than open judged immoral behaviors as more unethical and moral behaviors as more ethical. In addition, considering…

This study explored the hypothesis that the presence of anxiety symptoms is less related to simulated basic rifle marksmanship (S-BRM) performance than is cognitive disruption. The sample was comprised of 82 Stryker Brigade Soldiers at a large military post in the Pacific Northwest. Simulated rifle marksmanship was assessed using the Engagement…

Multivariate stimulus-response designs can be described by a three-way array of stimuli by responses by individuals. Its underlying structure can be represented by a network based on the Tucker2 component model in which stimulus components are connected with response components by means of the links that differ between individuals. For each…