Automated scoring has the potential to dramatically reduce the time and costs associated with the assessment of complex skills such as writing, but its use must be validated against a variety of criteria for it to be accepted by test users and stakeholders. This study approaches validity by comparing human and automated scores on responses to…

It has been proposed that switch costs in task switching reflect the strengthening of task-related associations and that strengthening is triggered by response execution. The present study tested the hypothesis that only task-related responses are able to trigger strengthening. Effects of task strengthening caused by error corrections were…

This article reviews the research literature and theory concerned with accuracy of judgments in romantic relationships. We initially propose a model of cognition in (romantic) relationships that distinguishes between 2 forms of accuracy: mean-level bias and tracking accuracy. We then report the results of meta-analyses of research on heterosexual,…

There has been a recent upsurge of interest in exploring how choices of methods and timing of instruction affect the rate and persistence of learning. The authors review three lines of experimentation--all conducted using educationally relevant materials and time intervals--that call into question important aspects of common instructional…

Every year, newspaper articles and news releases from education departments around the nation report that test scores are up again, often dramatically. The main story line is usually positive: performance is getting better, and rapidly. Unfortunately, this good news is often more apparent than real. Scores on the tests used for accountability have…

This study investigated whether learners construct more accurate mental representations from animations when instructional explanations are provided via narration than when learners attempt to infer functional relations from the animation through self-explaining. Also effects of attention guidance by means of cueing are investigated. Psychology…

Classroom teachers are in the front line of introducing students to formal learning, including assessments, which can be assumed to continue for students should they extend their schooling past the expected mandatory 12 years. The purpose of the present investigation was to survey secondary teachers' beliefs of classroom and large-scale tests for…

People tend to attach less value to a good if they know a delay will occur before they obtain it. For example, people value receiving $100 tomorrow more than receiving $100 in 10 years. We explored one reason for this tendency (due to Parfit, 1984): In terms of psychological properties, such as beliefs, values, and goals, the decision maker is…

Unprecedented increases in the use of technologies throughout postsecondary education and the workplace are redefining traditional concepts of accessibility during testing for college students with learning disabilities. High stakes testing practices are under pressure to change. The challenge for professionals is to ensure that tests are designed…

This paper discusses the communicative potentials of Computerized Adaptive Testing. The study is based on a model that offers a set of independent communicative concepts to describe the Genre of an interactive application. This model will be the starting point to analyze the stages of the interaction cycle that are typically inherent to every…

Robotics competitions for K-12 students are popular, but are students really learning and improving their STEM scores through robotics competitions? If not, why not? If they are, how much more effective is learning through competitions than traditional classes? Is there room for improvement? What is the best robotics competition model to maximize…

"The EUROCALL Review" is EUROCALL's open access online scientific journal. Regular sections include: (1) Reports on EUROCALL Special Interest Groups: up-to-date information on SIG activities; (2) Projects: reports on on-going CALL or CALL-related R&D projects; (3) Recommended websites: reports and reviews of examples of good practice…

In this article, we introduce a person-fit statistic called the hierarchy consistency index (HCI) to help detect misfitting item response vectors for tests developed and analyzed based on a cognitive model. The HCI ranges from -1.0 to 1.0, with values close to -1.0 indicating that students respond unexpectedly or differently from the responses…

Lexical competence is considered to be an essential step in the development and consolidation of a student's linguistic ability, and thus the reliable assessment of such competence turns out to be a fundamental aspect in this process. The design and construction of vocabulary tests has become an area of special interest, as it may provide teachers…

This paper provides information about Mississippi Subject Area Testing Program. The purpose of the exam is to: (1) Determine prospective high school graduates' mastery of the state curriculum; (2) Provide data to state policymakers on student attainment of state education goals to inform education policy decisions; (2) Increase alignment of local…