Relates Thurstonian models for paired comparisons data to Thurstonian models for ranking data and proposes an intermediate model for paired comparisons data that assigns nonzero probabilities to all transitive patterns and to some, but not all, intransitive patterns. Conducted a simulation study to investigate the performance of three alternative…

K-means cluster analysis is known for its tendency to produce spherical and equally sized clusters. To assess the magnitude of these effects, a simulation study was conducted, in which populations were created with varying departures from sphericity and group sizes. An analysis of the recovery of clusters in the samples taken from these…

There is no shortage of recommendations regarding the appropriate sample size to use when conducting a factor analysis. Suggested minimums for sample size include from 3 to 20 times the number of variables and absolute ranges from 100 to over 1,000. For the most part, there is little empirical evidence to support these recommendations. This…

This research examines the use simulation, "StarPower," as an instrument to teach students about ethics in management and leadership. The paper begins with an overview of sources of learning in leadership and management development and later focuses specifically on the use of simulations. This is followed by a brief explanation of the…

In this article, the author describes the fluid nature of the scholar's identity and how personal and professional roles in higher education can collide (the role of professor and blogging academic or blogademic). The author states that while prominent academics who start blogging have an initial advantage based on their established reputations,…

New technology has brought with it new tools for learning, and research has shown that the educational potential of video games resonates with scholars, teachers, and students alike. In "Augmented Learning", Eric Klopfer describes the largely untapped potential of mobile learning games--games played on such handheld devices as cell phones, Game…

Past estimates of the effect of family income on child development have often been plagued by endogeneity and measurement error. In this paper, we use two simulated instrumental variables strategies to estimate the causal effect of income on children's math and reading achievement. Our identification derives from the large, non-linear changes in…

The contributions of Joseph V. Brady to behavioral pharmacology span more than 50 years and range from early studies using the Estes-Skinner ("conditioned emotional response") procedure to examine drug effects and various physiological processes in experimental animals to the implementation of mobile methadone treatment services and to small group…

Person-fit methods are used to uncover atypical test performance as reflected in the pattern of scores on individual items in a test. Unlike parametric person-fit statistics, nonparametric person-fit statistics do not require fitting a parametric test theory model. This study investigates the effectiveness of generalizations of nonparametric…

This research assessed the value of case study methodology in the design of an educational computer simulation. Three sources of knowledge were compared to assess the value of case study: practitioner and programmer knowledge, disciplinary knowledge, and knowledge obtained from a case study of teacher practice. A retrospective analysis revealed…

This paper presents the results of a study on the use of a virtual reality (VR) world in a German language classroom. After participating in a lesson on the use of commands, students experienced the language and culture through navigation in a VR world. It is argued that this new medium allows for students to be immersed in the target culture and…

A novel instructional computer simulation that incorporates a dynamic analogy to represent Le Chatelier's Principle was designed to investigate the contribution of this feature to students' understanding. Two groups of 12th grade Chemistry students (n=15) interacted with the computer simulation during the study. Both groups did the same…

According to the recent Nation's Report Card, 12th-graders failed to produce gains on the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) despite earning better grades on average. One possible explanation is that 12th-graders were not motivated taking the NAEP, which is a low-stakes test. We develop three Bayesian IRT mixture models to…

The stochastic simulation of chemical reactions, specifically, a simple reversible chemical reaction obeying the first-order, i.e., linear, rate law, has been presented by Martinez-Urreaga and his collaborators in this journal. The current contribution is intended to complement and augment their work in two aspects. First, the simple reversible…

Criteria had been proposed for assessing the severity of possible test security violations for computerized tests with high-stakes outcomes. However, these criteria resulted from theoretical derivations that assumed uniformly randomized item selection. This study investigated potential damage caused by organized item theft in computerized adaptive…