For many years, reading comprehension in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) was measured via paper-based assessment (PBA). In the 2015 cycle, computer-based assessment (CBA) was introduced, raising the question of whether central equivalence criteria required for a valid interpretation of the results are fulfilled. As an…

Following employers' criticisms and recent societal developments, policymakers and educators have called for students to develop a range of generic skills such as critical thinking ("twenty-first century skills"). So far, such skills have typically been assessed by student self-reports or with multiple-choice tests. An alternative…

Clinical and preclinical studies that have examined the neurobiology of persistent fear memory in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have focused on the medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. Sensory systems, the periaqueductal gray (PAG), and midline thalamic nuclei have been implicated in fear and extinction memory, but whether…

Radon is a naturally occurring, radioactive, colorless, odorless gas, and the second leading cause of lung cancer. The 1990-1991 National School Radon Survey estimated that more than 70,000 schoolrooms nationwide had "high short-term radon levels." Using data from a nationally representative survey of schools in the United States (N =…

The present study examined the impact of psychological adjustment on private university students' academic achievement. The sample size consisted of 121 university students (42.1% male, and 57.9% female). The results indicated that only 15% of the study participants showed high levels of psychological adjustment, and 34% of them showed low levels…

Touch-screen tablets are used in the classroom for assessment. Little is known about the psychometric properties of tablet-based assessments. This study examined the validity and reliability of an expressive and receptive assessment app designed to measure literacy skills. Children (N = 45; 3-5 years) completed the app assessments for alphabet and…

The coordination of cognitive and non-cognitive interactive processes contributes to successful collaboration in groups, but it is hard to evidence in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). Monitoring is a metacognitive process that can be an indicator of a student's ability to recognize success or failure in collaboration. This study…

PISA [Programme for International Student Assessment] will be in the news again this year. The 2018 results are due to be released at the end of 2019 and they usually generate media interest. This Rangahau Whakarapopoto is a research brief which outlines things to watch out for as you think about what the results might mean.

Evaluative conditioning (EC) is a change in liking of neutral conditioned stimuli (CS) following pairings with positive or negative stimuli (unconditioned stimulus, US). A dissociation has been reported between US expectancy and CS evaluation in extinction learning: When CSs are presented alone subsequent to CS-US pairings, participants cease to…

This paper investigated the influence of moderating variables on Nigerian undergraduates' emotional intelligence and attitude towards examination. Descriptive survey of the correlational type was employed for the study. One thousand, five hundred and thirty-six (1,536) undergraduates in Nigeria were drawn using purposive and stratified sampling…

Correspondence testing to research discrimination in the marketplace has become common and the use of internet applications has allowed researchers to send greater numbers of applications. While questions of research ethics always arise when planning a correspondence test, the issue receives relatively little attention in published correspondence…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of a web-based, self-administered battery of assessments of social-emotional comprehension called "SELweb." Assessment modules measured children's ability to read facial expressions, infer others' perspectives, solve social problems, delay…

Studies have shown that item difficulty can vary significantly based on the context of an item within a test form. In particular, item position may be associated with practice and fatigue effects that influence item parameter estimation. The purpose of this research was to examine the relevance of item position specifically for assessments used in…

This technical report describes a web-based platform for assessing school engagement in its three dimensions (emotional, behavioural and cognitive) and the contextual variables which influence engagement (family, teachers and peers). Students answer two questionnaires through the platform. Results are shown online through individual reports on…

Usability testing that includes people who are fluent in assistive technology is an important way to ensure that digital products meet the needs of all users. In settings such as universities, with highly distributed content creator networks and vast differences in project sizes and scopes, it can be challenging for non-experts to find and use the…