This study investigated the educational benefits of system-based lecture notes and interactive learning objects in a peripheral nervous system component of a traditional first-year medical school human anatomy course. The impetus for the investigation was anecdotal evidence suggesting enhanced learner satisfaction with the learning resources.…

Medical Readers' Theater (MRT) is an innovative and simple way of helping medical students to reflect on difficult-to-discuss topics in geriatrics medical education, such as aging stereotypes, disability and loss of independence, sexuality, assisted living, relationships with adult children, and end-of-life issues. The authors describe a required…

Self-efficacy is thought to be important for resuscitation proficiency in that it influences the development of and access to the associated medical knowledge, procedural skills and crisis resource management (CRM) skills. Since performance assessment of CRM skills is challenging, self-efficacy is often used as a measure of competence in this…

This study addressed 2 issues of using loglinear models for smoothing univariate test score distributions and for enhancing the stability of equipercentile equating functions. One issue was a comparative assessment of several statistical strategies that have been proposed for selecting 1 from several competing model parameterizations. Another…

A cyclical conditional maximum likelihood estimation procedure is developed for the multidimensional unfolding of two- or three-way dominance data (e.g., preference, choice, consideration) measured on ordered successive category rating scales. The technical description of the proposed model and estimation procedure are discussed, as well as the…

Reports an error in "Confidence intervals for gamma-family measures of ordinal association" by Carol M. Woods (Psychological Methods, 2007[Jun], Vol 12[2], 185-204). The note corrects simulation results presented in the article concerning the performance of confidence intervals (CIs) for Spearman's r-sub(s). An error in the author's C++ code…

A model of cognitive control in task switching is developed in which controlled performance depends on the system maintaining access to a code in episodic memory representing the most recently cued task. The main constraint on access to the current task code is proactive interference from old task codes. This interference and the mechanisms that…

In multilevel modeling (MLM), group-level (L2) characteristics are often measured by aggregating individual-level (L1) characteristics within each group so as to assess contextual effects (e.g., group-average effects of socioeconomic status, achievement, climate). Most previous applications have used a multilevel manifest covariate (MMC) approach,…

People often make inferences with incomplete information. Previous research has led to a mixed picture of how people treat missing information. To explain these results, the authors follow the Brunswikian perspective on human inference and hypothesize that the mechanism's accuracy for treating missing information depends on how it is distributed…

Factor mixture models are latent variable models with categorical and continuous latent variables that can be used as a model-based approach to clustering. A previous article covered the results of a simulation study showing that in the absence of model violations, it is usually possible to choose the correct model when fitting a series of models…

This study investigated how students' knowledge of a particular domain influences the type of investigative strategy they utilize in an inquiry learning task within that domain. Students with high domain knowledge were assumed to employ a theory-driven strategy, whereas less knowledgeable students were expected to start off in a data-driven mode…

The notion of a system adapting itself to provide support for learning has always been an important issue of research for technology-enabled learning. One approach to provide adaptivity is to use social navigation approaches and techniques which involve analysing data of what was previously selected by a cluster of users or what worked for…

This dissertation has two primary concerns: (i) evaluating the uncertainty and prediction capabilities of a nanodiamond drug delivery model using Bayesian calibration and bias correction, and (ii) determining conceptual difficulties of multi-scale analysis from an engineering education perspective. A Bayesian uncertainty quantification scheme…

An accurately calibrated item bank is essential for a valid computerized adaptive test. However, in some settings, such as occupational testing, there is limited access to test takers for calibration. As a result of the limited access to possible test takers, collecting data to accurately calibrate an item bank in an occupational setting is…

According to a 2002 study by the U.S. Department of Education, the percentage of "traditional students" on college campuses is declining. Students increasingly are delaying enrollment, attending college part time, working full time, financially independent, and single parents. In this paper, we explore the extent to which sociologists are adapting…