This study is a preliminary examination of the reliability of frequent retrospective teacher behavior ratings. Frequent retrospective behavior ratings are an approach for creating scales that can be used to monitor individual behavioral progress. In this study, the approach is used to progress monitor behavioral individualized education plan goals…

This paper describes the effect of a preschool hygiene intervention program on psychosocial measures of educators regarding handwashing and communicable pediatric disease. A cluster-randomized trial, with randomization at the level of the preschool, was run in 40 Jerusalem preschool classrooms. Eighty preschool educators participated. The program…

This paper details a successful and inexpensive implementation of a remote laboratory into a distance control systems course using readily available hardware and software. The physical experiment consists of a beach ball and a dc blower; the control objective is to make the height of the aerodynamically levitated beach ball track a reference…

This study examined whether parental involvement in children's science schoolwork (i.e., discussions about science, homework helping and encouragement of science interest) varies for boys and girls, and how these behaviors relate to children's science achievement beliefs (i.e., ability perceptions and task-value) at the end of a school year. We…

The present study aimed to investigate the current music practices and teachers' needs for teaching music in public preschools of South Korea. The data were obtained from the public preschools in South Korea, where 66.7 percent (n = 606) of the total sample (N = 908) responded. The online survey consisted of 42 questions: Likert-type scales,…

The prevalence of betel nut chewing among junior high school students is highest in the eastern region of Taiwan (Lin, 1990). Although there is some research on the prevalence rate, little effort has been paid to developing a classification of betel nut chewing behavior applicable to adolescents. Eight-hundred and forty-three students, including…

The Likert rating scale procedure is often used in conjunction with a graded disagree-agree response scale to measure attitudes. Item characteristic curves associated with graded disagree-agree responses are generally single-peaked, nonmonotonic functions of true attitude. These characteristics are, thus, more generally consistent with an…

Some of the most commonly used item response theory models for ordered polychotomous data are described using the taxonomy of D. Thissen and L. Steinberg (1986) as a framework. An empirical study found the graded response model and an extension of the partial credit model very similar in a practical application. (SLD)

Introduces relative mean substitution as an approach to the substitution of missing values in surveys with Likert-type scales. Compares the approach to three other methods for dealing with missing data for samples of 1,674, 400, and 100. Results indicate that the relative mean substitution approach produces the most accurate estimates. (SLD)

Computer simulation indicated that reliability increased with the degree of similarity between underlying and observed distributions when the observed categorical distribution was deliberately constructed to match the shape of the underlying distribution of the trait being measured. Reliability also increased with correlation among variables and…

Digital libraries and collections are a growing facet of today's traditional library. Digital library technologies have become increasingly more sophisticated in the effort to provide more and better access to the collections they contain. The evaluation of the usability of these technologies has not kept pace with technological developments,…

This exploratory study focused on the needs and attributes that female doctoral students, during their academic and professional careers, seek in mentoring relationships with female faculty. Two domains--personal and professional--were identified as essential components in the developmental mentoring relationship. As a result, the Rheineck…

Purpose: A nationwide survey was conducted to determine if speech-language pathologists (SLPs) use nonspeech oral motor exercises (NSOMEs) to address children's speech sound problems. For those SLPs who used NSOMEs, the survey also identified (a) the types of NSOMEs used by the SLPs, (b) the SLPs' underlying beliefs about why they use NSOMEs, (c)…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of achievement tests to measure long-term learning at the higher education level in traditional verses learner-centered classrooms. Volunteer instructors who use comprehensive achievement tests as an important component of their grading system were asked to complete an instrument that…

While cochlear implantation is an increasingly routine provision for profoundly deaf children in many countries, parents still require information about the procedure and likely outcomes in order to make an informed decision. Other parents can provide them with the insights of those who have undergone the process themselves and observed outcomes…