The study developed a Big 6 Information Problem-Solving Scale (B61PS), including the subscales of task definition and information-seeking strategies, information access and synthesis, and evaluation. More than 1,500 fifth and sixth graders in Taiwan responded. The study revealed that the scale showed adequate reliability in assessing the…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine students' perception of end-of-semester Student Evaluations of Teaching (SET), and to explore the extent to which SET are biased by non-instructional factors. Design/methodology/approach: A survey questionnaire about the end-of-semester SET was designed and administered to 819 students selected from…

Purpose: The purpose of the population-based study in the paper is to report on progress in formulating instruments to measure children's resilience and associated protective factors in family, primary school and community contexts. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper a total of 2,794 students, 1,558 parents/caregivers, and 465 staff were…

Children with developmental disorders may present with listening and/or speech discrimination difficulties. This study explores whether teachers can identify these difficulties, using a questionnaire that rates children's listening, speech discrimination and comprehension abilities. The questionnaire was given to class-teachers of 52 pupils, aged…

Web-based courses are promising in that they are effective and have the possibility of their instructional design being improved over time. However, the assessments of said courses are criticized in terms of their validity. This paper is an exploratory case study regarding the validity of the assessment system used in a semi presential web-based…

This study examined the construct validity of the "e-rater"® automated essay scoring engine as an alternative to human scoring in the context of TOEFL® essay writing. Analyses were based on a sample of students who repeated the TOEFL within a short time period. Two "e-rater" scores were investigated in this study, the first…

Effective group programs with challenging youth need to be grounded in a clear understanding of core principles that guide effective practice. This article examines the operating philosophy of an established outdoor education and therapy program which combines the Re-ED philosophy of Nicholas Hobbs (1994) with adventure education developed by…

This article elucidates criteria which might be helpful in evaluating praxis-related research. The authors explore both sides of the research and development (R & D) project. They examine different ways of understanding contributions to knowledge through research but more especially exploring ideas about contributions to changing praxis. Changing…

This article reflects on the reliability of the evidence contained in the National Qualifications Framework Impact Study, a longitudinal comparative study conducted by the South African Qualifications Authority since 2002. In so doing, the veracity of evidence-based research in determining the impact of the South African Qualifications Framework…

For decades traditional methods of testing have been criticized for saying relatively little reliably about students' ability as well as causing anxiety, which can negatively affect students' recall of learned information. The reform movement with its innovative approaches focusing on learner-centered education perceives assessment as an…

In this qualitative study, various professionals in specialized schools for students who are visually impaired provided information on assessment tools; how information was used to plan Individualized Education Programs; and their opinions on the reliability, validity, and usefulness of various measurements. The implications of the findings for…

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) program is exploring a change in Section 3 of the TOEFL test that would replace the vocabulary subpart with additional reading comprehension questions. This study investigated the proposed revision in terms of the length and timing that would be necessary to address concerns of test speededness of…

This report describes how an advisory committee of health occupations education instructors from Missouri schools where tests were given statistically analyzed test items for health services assistant for reliability and validity and then revised the test items. Seventy-five sets of test item booklets were printed. Four test booklets and a…

This is the fourth in a series of reports evaluating the Public Library Statistics (PLS) program, an annual census of public libraries in the United States. The census includes, in addition to a full count of public libraries and their outlets, a variety of statistics about the services provided by and, the financial condition and the staffing…

A modification of the Family Adaptation Scale of Antonovsky and Sourani (1988), was developed for assessing the adaptation of ministers' families. A sample of 317 individuals (ministers, spouses, and children aged 8 to 18) from 135 protestant ministers' families was used to test the scale. The self-report questionnaire was tested for internal…