A new computerised testing system was used at home to promote learning and also to save classroom instruction time. The testing system combined the features of short-answer and multiple-choice formats. The questions of the multiple-choice problems were presented without the options so that students had to generate answers for themselves; they…

Objective: The Evaluation Self-Efficacy Scale (ESE) is being developed as an outcomes assessment instrument for social work courses focusing on evaluation. Method: This scale, based on social cognitive theory, was pretested, revised, and then used with a final sample of 85 master's-level students in the original study. Using a single-group,…

This paper describes how the Input-Environment-Outcome (IEO) model of A. Astin can be used with the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey and the College Student Survey (CSS) to assess student change during college. The CIRP Freshman Survey, given to entering students, provides pretest data. The CSS, given to continuing…

The reliability of differences between pretest and posttest measures with intervening experimental treatment can be highly reliable under some conditions. If the error components of pretest and posttest measures are correlated, the classical formula for the reliability of differences underestimates the actual reliability of gains. (Author/CM)

Tucker, Damarin, and Messick proposed a "base-free" measure of change which involves the computation of residual scores that are uncorrelated with true scores on the pretest. The present note discusses this change measure and demonstrates that properties they attribute to a are, in fact, properties of b. (Author/CTM)

Provides a condensed description of the criteria and choices for selecting a particular assessment, evaluation, or research design. Strengths and weaknesses of each design are presented. (Author/JEG)

Eight models that can be used to analyze data from a pretest-posttest design are discussed. Artificial data are used to demonstrate that comparisons among some of the models generate results identical to those obtained by using repeated analysis of variance measures. Such results are shown to be potentially misleading. (Author/TJH)

In three Iowa secondary schools, pretests/posttests were completed by 75 physics students, 24 second-year Principles of Technology (PT) students, and 61 controls. Physics and PT students significantly increased achievement in content covered in PT; controls had no gains. PT students' raw scores were 16 points higher on the posttest than physics…

Thirty-one individuals who have provided leadership to the counseling profession completed 3 Q-sorts. These individuals sorted 39 statements about leadership according to 3 phases: when a leadership effort is getting started, when work is progressing, and when a leadership effort is coming to a close. The authors present perspectives on…

This study aims to provide an in-depth qualitative analysis of instructional effects in L2 pragmatics by exploring the manner in which Japanese EFL learners' noticing of target English request forms is constrained by different types of treatment tasks and the subsequent effect of the learners' noticing on their learning outcomes. Following the…

The paper studies whether visuospatial working memory (VSWM) and, specifically, recall of sequential-spatial information, can be improved by metacognitive training. Twenty-two fourth-grade children were involved in seven sessions of sequential-spatial memory training, while twenty-four children attended lessons given by their teacher. The…

Two classes from diverse graduate programs merged and melded for a weeklong intensive outdoor experience to learn how to be leaders for an outdoor challenge course. Physical Education graduate students and students in a Counselor Education program together participated in the Challenge Course, co-led by an Exercise Scientist and a Psychologist.…

This paper reports the results of a ten-year effort to establish ethics as a learning objective for all business students, to assess the effectiveness in achieving that learning objective and to incorporate ethical conduct as a part of the school's organizational culture. First, it addresses the importance of ethics instruction for all business…