The use of indices and statistics based on nonlinear factor analysis (NLFA) has become increasingly popular as a means of assessing the dimensionality of an item response matrix. Although the indices and statistics currently available to the practitioner have been shown to be useful and accurate in many testing situations, few studies have…

The purpose of this study was to identify which instructional models based on the framework of Joyce, Weil, and Showers, could be used effectively in distance education over the Interactive Video Network (IVN) system in North Dakota. Instructional models have been organized into families such as Information Processing, Social, Personal, and…

Games have long been used as instructional tools, but actual research examining that concept has been sparse. Increased sophistication and lower cost in hardware and software for personal computers has created a budding movement to incorporate computer games into learning environments. This paper discusses criteria for selecting an instructional…

This paper describes a National Science Foundation-sponsored project at Louisiana Technological University to develop computer-based laboratories for "hands-on" introductions to major topics of computer science. The underlying strategy is to develop structured laboratory environments that present abstract concepts through the use of…

This paper describes the Virtual Training Program (VTP) at Fort Knox (Kentucky) which aims to provide the United States Army National Guard units with intensive, time-compressed training opportunities. The program consists of: (1) computer-generated exercises that compel units to perform actions associated with training objectives; (2) realistic…

The technology explosion in medical education has led to the use of computer models, videotapes, interactive videos, and state-of-the-art simulators in medical training. This booklet describes alternatives to using animals in medical education. Although it is mainly intended to describe products applicable to medical school courses, high-quality,…

This collection of articles on aspects of educational research, service, and leadership, are all written by members the Trenton (New Jersey) Area Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa. "Extra Year Programs: The K-1 Transition," by Richard Graja, reports on a study of 210 families regarding the Extra Year program, an opportunity for children to…

This paper describes the first phase of a study to investigate students' evaluations of computer laboratory modules in a university-level, non-majors biology course. The National Science Foundation-funded project has two primary goals: (1) to develop programmable, multifunctional Bio LabStations for data collection and analysis, lab extensions,…

This paper describes a computer-simulation model of the way in which basic reasoning processes develop in children. The model, based on PRISM-II programming language, was designed to reflect the manner in which world knowledge can be used to construct strategies for reasoning. The model learns strategies for performing transitive inference by…

The impact of the use of data arising from balanced incomplete block (BIB) spiralled designs on the chi-square goodness-of-fit test in factor analysis is considered. Data from BIB designs posses a unique pattern of missing data that can be characterized as missing completely at random (MCAR). Standard approaches to factor analyzing such data rest…

The purpose of this study was to compare two non-parametric procedures, the Mantel-Haenszel (MH) procedure and the simultaneous item bias (SIB) procedure, with respect to their Type I error rates and power, and to investigate the conditions under which asymptotic distributional properties of the SIB and MH were obtained. Data were simulated to…

This paper reports on a longitudinal study of the structural effects of grade retention on dropout rate and percent of graduates qualified. The study drew on computer simulation to explore the effects of retention and how this practice affects dropout rate, the percent of graduates who meet required standards, and enrollment itself. The computer…

In this paper, algorithms are described for obtaining the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters in log-linear models. Modified versions of the iterative proportional fitting and Newton-Raphson algorithms are described that work on the minimal sufficient statistics rather than on the usual counts in the full contingency table. This is…

Effects of test length, sample size, and assumed ability distribution were investigated in a multiple replication Monte Carlo study under the 1-parameter (1P) and 2-parameter (2P) logistic graded model with five score levels. Accuracy and variability of item parameter and ability estimates were examined. Monte Carlo methods were used to evaluate…

The purpose of this study is to help define the precise nature and limits of the tolerable range in which a researcher may be relatively confident about the statistical validity of his or her research findings, focusing specifically on the statistical validity of results when violating the assumptions associated with the one-way, fixed-effects…