Describes various electronic technologies available for classroom use, including videocassette news reports, educational computer games based on knowledge of geographical and historical trivia, and other software programs developed expressly for schools. Nintendo Company is being watched for optical disk developments, and "virtual…

Discussion of the case study method focuses on its use to improve human performance. Critical and variable attributes of case studies are described, guidelines for creating a case are suggested, case study method types and formats are discussed, and criteria for evaluating the quality of a case study are presented. (18 references) (LRW)

Simulation studies (N=4,000 simulees) examined the effect of misspecification of the latent ability distribution (theta) on the accuracy and efficiency of marginal maximum likelihood (MML) item parameter estimates and on MML statistics to test sufficiency and conditional independence. Results were compared to those of the conditional maximum…

The standard error (SE) of correlations adjusted for selection with commonly used formulas was investigated. The study provides large-sample approximations of SE using the Pearson-Lawley three-variable correction formula, examines the SE under specific conditions, and compares various estimates of SEs under direct and indirect selection. (TJH)

A growth curve approach to longitudinal profile analysis is presented by which univariate and multivariate descriptions of achievement and rate of growth are provided, and intraindividual strengths and weaknesses are computed for profiles of achievement and progress. Analyses are reported for simulated data conforming to a straight-line growth…

Discusses a design-feature framework for analyzing "simulations" in realistic-communication activities in foreign language classrooms. The link between design factors and two aspects of student language (quantity of output and topic-structure) with reference to two "simulation-type" activities are examined. (30 references) (GLR)

The derivation of the variance of similarity judgments is made from the 3-D process in nonlinear psychophysics. The idea of separability of dimensions in metric space theories of similarity is replaced by one parameter that represents the degree of a form of interdimensional cross-sampling. (SLD)

Performance of the logistic regression (LR) procedure was compared to that of the Mantel Haenszel (MH) procedure in the detection of uniform and nonuniform differential item functioning on a simulation examining distributional properties of the LR and MH test statistics and the relative power of the two procedures. (SLD)

Using simulation, the effect that misspecification of elements in the weight matrix has on estimates of basic parameters of the linear logistic test model was studied. Results indicate that, because specifying elements of the weight matrix is a subjective process, it must be done with great care. (SLD)

A unidimensional model for responses to statements that have an unfolding structure was constructed from the cumulative Rasch model for ordered response categories. A joint maximum likelihood estimation procedure was investigated. Analyses of data from a small simulation and a real data set show that the model is readily applicable. (SLD)

Data from 706 (of 2,000) secondary students participating in the Jason "telepresence" (an undersea exploration simulation) showed that (1) complex interventions may be necessary; (2) middle school may be the appropriate target; (3) no significant sex differences in science attitudes appeared; and (4) pairing of male and female teachers…

A class of models is presented for gamma distributed random variables. These additive, multiplicative, and combined additive-multiplicative models are more flexible than classical linear models with respect to the structure that can be imposed on expected values. As a special case, a class of psychometric models for reaction times is presented.…

Describes how successful teamwork, group decision making and valuable real-world experience resulted from an experiment between two universities to introduce a media buying simulation game into their media planning courses. Relates how students in teams took roles of either media buyers at advertising agencies or media sales representatives at…

Examined whether providing item review on a computerized adaptive test could be used by examinees to inflate their scores. Two studies involving 139 undergraduates suggest that examinees are not highly proficient at discriminating item difficulty. A simulation study showed the usefulness of a strategy identified by G. Kingsbury (1996) as a way to…

Used simulation to compare the ability of maximum likelihood (ML) and generalized least-squares (GLS) estimation to provide theoretic fit in models that are parsimonious representations of a true model. The better empirical fit obtained for GLS, compared with ML, was obtained at the cost of lower theoretic fit. (Author/SLD)