Student modeling is a fundamental concept applicable to a variety of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS). However, there is not a lot of practical guidance on how to construct and train such models. This paper compares two approaches for student modeling, Knowledge Tracing (KT) and Performance Factors Analysis (PFA), by evaluating their predictive…

In order to identify aberrant response-time patterns on educational and psychological tests, it is important to be able to separate the speed at which the test taker operates from the time the items require. A lognormal model for response times with this feature was used to derive a Bayesian procedure for detecting aberrant response times.…

The OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) constitute two of the largest ongoing international student and teacher surveys presently underway. Data generated from these surveys offer researchers and policy-makers opportunities to identify particular educational…

Since 1988, researchers have monitored the extent and severity of the chronic special education (SE) faculty shortage. The present study sought to add to this knowledge base by (a) gathering data on the supply and demand of leadership personnel in SE since the "2001 Faculty Shortage Study"; (b) combining and comparing these data with other sources…

In the past few years, universities have become much more involved in outcomes assessment. Outside of the classroom analysis of learning outcomes, an investigation is performed into the use of current data mining tools to assess the issue of student retention within the Computer Information Systems (CIS) department. Utilizing both a historical…

A. Redish et al. (2007) proposed a reinforcement learning model of context-dependent learning and extinction in conditioning experiments, using the idea of "state classification" to categorize new observations into states. In the current article, the authors propose an interpretation of this idea in terms of normative statistical inference. They…

Lecoutre, Lecoutre, and Poitevineau (2010) have provided sophisticated grounding for "p[subscript rep]." Computing it precisely appears, fortunately, no more difficult than doing so approximately. Their analysis will help move predictive inference into the mainstream. Iverson, Wagenmakers, and Lee (2010) have also validated…

In studies of change in education and numerous other fields, interest often centers on how differences in the status of individuals at the start of a period of substantive interest relate to differences in subsequent change. In this article, the authors present a fully Bayesian approach to estimating three-level Hierarchical Models in which latent…

Microarray is a high throughput technology to measure the gene expression. Analysis of microarray data brings many interesting and challenging problems. This thesis consists three studies related to microarray data. First, we propose a Bayesian model for microarray data and use Bayes Factors to identify differentially expressed genes. Second, we…

Speech perception requires the integration of information from multiple phonetic and phonological dimensions. Numerous studies have investigated the mapping between multiple acoustic-phonetic dimensions and single phonological dimensions (e.g., spectral and temporal properties of stop consonants in voicing contrasts). Many fewer studies have…

This study uses a new psychometric model (mixture item response theory-MIMIC model) that simultaneously estimates differential item functioning (DIF) across manifest groups and latent classes. Current DIF detection methods investigate DIF from only one side, either across manifest groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity, etc.), or across latent classes…

Public debates about socioscientific issues are increasingly prevalent, but the public response to messages about, for example, climate change, does not always seem to match the seriousness of the problem identified by scientists. Is there anything unique about appeals based on scientific evidence--do people evaluate science and nonscience…

The Supporting Effective Teaching (SET) project consists of studies that examine the relationship between elementary general education teachers' beliefs about disability and ability and their roles in inclusive classrooms, and how these are related to teaching practices. Teaching effectiveness is operationally defined as multiple dimensions of…

The generalized linear latent and mixed modeling (GLLAMM framework) includes many models such as hierarchical and structural equation models. However, GLLAMM cannot currently accommodate some models because it does not allow some parameters to be random. GLLAMM is extended to overcome the limitation by adding a submodel that specifies a…

The objective of the present paper is to provide a simple approach to statistical inference using the method of transformations of variables. We demonstrate performance of this powerful tool on examples of constructions of various estimation procedures, hypothesis testing, Bayes analysis and statistical inference for the stress-strength systems.…