Dissertations / Theses: 'Education – Research – Statistics'

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Schneider, William Ray. "The Relationship Between Statistics Self-Efficacy, Statistics Anxiety, and Performance in an Introductory Graduate Statistics Course." Scholar Commons, 2011. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3335.

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The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between statistics self-efficacy, statistics anxiety, and performance in introductory graduate statistics courses. The study design compared two statistics self-efficacy measures developed by Finney and Schraw (2003), a statistics anxiety measure developed by Cruise and Wilkins (1980), and a course performance measure. To view self-efficacy from two perspectives, the Current Statistics Self-Efficacy (CSSE) assessed student confidence in their ability to complete specific statistics tasks in the present, whereas Self-Efficacy to Learn Statistics (SELS) assessed student confidence in their ability to learn statistics in the future. The performance measure was the combined average of the midterm and final exam scores only, excluding grades from other course activities. The instruments were distributed to four sections of an introductory graduate statistics course (N=88) in a College of Education at a large metropolitan university during the first week of the semester during Fall 2009 and Spring 2010. Both of the statistics self-efficacy measures revealed a low to moderate inverse relationship with statistics anxiety and a low to moderate direct relationship with each other. In this study there was no correlation between statistics anxiety (CSCS), statistics self-efficacy (CSSE and SELS), and course performance. There was high internal reliability for each instrument's items making the instruments suitable for use with graduate students. However, none of the instruments' results were significant in relation to course performance with graduate students in this sample. Unlike prior research involving undergraduate-level statistic students that has reported a relationship between the CSSE and SELS, the present study, involving graduate students, did not find any significant correlation with performance. Additional research is suggested to investigate the reasons for the differences between the studies.

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Doyle, Philip Gerard. "Developing statistical literacy with students and teachers in the secondary mathematics classroom." The University of Waikato, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10289/2324.

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This thesis investigates the teaching of statistical literacy in the first two years of secondary school mathematics. The teachers involved in the research aim to make changes to classroom practice in the teaching and learning of statistics and statistical literacy in response to changes in the New Zealand curriculum. An action research methodology is adopted by the research. A group of three teachers and the author undertake an action research cycle of planning, observing, acting and reflecting in three different Year 9 and 10 mathematics classrooms. The research documents the designing and implementing of strategies by a group of teachers in a mathematics department for integrating statistical literacy into teaching programmes. The research adopts framework for improving practice that utilise models for statistical literacy and thinking and principles for teaching with a language learning or literacy focus. Data is collected through discussions with teachers, observations of lessons and interviews with teachers and students. Themes emerge from the data. They include the significance of teacher and student concepts of statistics and statistical literacy, the importance of language and literacy in the statistics classroom, the adoption of teaching principles to facilitate statistical literacy and the challenge of adopting a critical literacy stance in the statistics classroom. The study highlights the importance of literacy and language skills in statistical literacy. The research concludes that the important changes needed for developing statistical literacy are about classroom methodology rather than content knowledge and shows that adoption of language learning principles into the teaching programme may achieve this.

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Hsu, Chung-Yuan. "Formative Research on an Instructional Design Model for the Design of Computer Simulation for Teaching Statistical Concepts." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1258048389.

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Trivette, Carol M., Michael Garrett, Hongxia Zhao, and Carol Landry. "Research Evidence for Environment Recommended Practices." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2016. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4436.

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Sirkin, Jeffrey M. "Quantifying the probabilities of selection of surface warfare officers to executive officer." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2006. http://library.nps.navy.mil/uhtbin/hyperion/06Sep%5FSirkin.pdf.

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Thesis (M.S. in Operations Research)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2006. Thesis Advisor(s): Robert A. Koyak. "September 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p. 51). Also available in print.

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Hibbard, Susan. "Exploring Evaluation in School Districts: School District Evaluators and Their Practice." Scholar Commons, 2010. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3514.

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This study explored the evaluation practices of internal evaluators in public school districts in a large southern state. The individuals who conduct evaluations in school districts as internal evaluators were identified and background information was collected. The education and training in evaluation was investigated and the types of evaluations typically conducted by those individuals. Respondents (n = 134) revealed conducting evaluations was a secondary role and part of their main job responsibilities. The types of evaluations carried out and the way in which evaluation was practices were revealed. A descriptive framework of the individuals who conduct evaluations in school districts and the ways those evaluations were carried out is presented. Six dimensions were used to summarize evaluation practice: Holistic, Mixed Method Decision Making, Procedures Valued, People Valued, Users Engaged/Embodied, Evaluator as Mediator. Three one-way MANOVAs were conducted to identify differences in evaluation practice. Differences in practice were found among evaluators based on the highest degree obtained, and area of highest degree held by respondents.

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Blomberg, Per. "Informell Statistisk Inferens i modelleringssituationer : En studie om utveckling av ett ramverk för att analysera hur elever uttrycker inferenser." Licentiate thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för matematikdidaktik (MD), 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-45572.

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Syftet med denna studie är att bidra med ökad kunskap om lärande och undervisning i informell statistisk inferens. I studien användes en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi inriktad mot prövning och generering av teorier med inspiration av grounded theory. Studiens kunskapsfokus är riktad mot karakterisering av statistiska processer och begrepp där system av begreppsramverk om informell statistisk inferens och modellering utgör en central del av forskningen. För att erhålla adekvat empiri utformades en undervisningssituation där elever engagerades med att planera och genomföra en undersökning. Studien genomfördes i en normal klassrumssituation där undervisningen inriktades mot ett område inom sannolikhet och statistisk där bland annat lådagram och normalfördelning med tillhörande begrepp introduceras. Det empiriska materialet samlades in genom videoinspelning och skriftliga redovisningar. Materialet analyserades genom ett sammansatt ramverk om informell statistisk inferens och modellering. Resultatet av analysen visar exempel på hur elever kan förväntas uttrycka aspekter av informella statistisk inferens då de genomför statistiska undersökningar. Vidare utvecklades ett ramverk som teoretiskt beskriver informell statistisk inferens i modelleringssituationer. Studien pekar på att ISI-modellering har potential att användas för att analysera hur informell statistisk inferens kan komma till uttryck och att identifiera potentiella inlärningsmöjligheter för studenter att utveckla sin förmåga att uttrycka informella statistisk slutledning och att identifiera potentiella inlärningsmöjligheter för elever att utveckla sin förmåga att uttrycka informella inferenser. The purpose of this study is to improve our knowledge about teaching and learning of informal statistical inference. A qualitative research strategy is used in the study that focuses on the testing and generation of theories inspired by grounded theory. The knowledge focus of the study is aimed at the characterisation of statistical processes and concepts where systems of concept frameworks about informal statistical inference and modelling represent an essential part of the research. In order to obtain adequate empirical data, a teaching situation was devised whereby students were involved in planning and implementing an investigation. The study was conducted in a normal classroom situation where the teaching was focused on an area in probability and statistics that included the introduction of box plots and normal distribution with related concepts. The empirical material was collected through video recordings and written reports. The material was analysed using a combined framework of informal statistical inference and modelling. The results of the analysis highlight examples of how students can be expected to express aspects of informal statistical inference within the context of statistical inquiry. A framework was also developed aimed to theoretically depict informal statistical inference in modelling situations. The study suggests that this framework has the potential to be used to analyse how informal statistical inference of students are expressed and to identify potential learning opportunities for students to develop their ability to express inferences.

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Ribeiro, Silverio Domingos. "As pesquisas sobre o ensino da estatística e da probabilidade no período de 2000 a 2008: uma pesquisa a partir do banco de teses da CAPES." Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, 2010. https://tede2.pucsp.br/handle/handle/10837.

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Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T16:57:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silverio Domingos Ribeiro.pdf: 715642 bytes, checksum: f552fbb19004ba25b8a521049da119ef (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-28 Secretaria da Educação do Estado de São Paulo This study was aimed at collecting all the academic and scientific researches from the Capes Thesis bank, Such data referred to the studies related to the problems concerning the Statistics and Probability teaching; by taking into account the Masters and Phd s degrees which took place from 2000 to 2008. We have compiled fiftyeight researches from twenty-two universities located in the South, Southeast and Midwest of Brazil. Based on the summaries of such researches, we analyzed them and came up with five themes. Our aim is to present this academic and scientific study in a systematic way, in order to provide references for future researchers, concerning the Statistics and Probability teaching. Regarding each theme, we made a meta-analysis of the researches and we can point out that in the theme concerning the process of teaching and learning of Statistics and Probability there was the occurrence of a significant number of studies that used computers as a resource for the teaching of Statistics and Probability. In this thematic line we could also find studies that investigated what the implications of an approach by using the thematic modeling to promote a critical Mathematics were. According to the main theme on the initial and continuing training of teachers of mathematics, most studies were concerned about the attitudes, satisfaction and belief of the teachers in relation to the understanding of this issue. In the theme identified as the teaching practice, beliefs, conceptions and practical knowledge, a great number of researches focused their investigation on the issue of teaching Statistics and Probality at both elementary and high school. In this axis we feel that there is a lack of studies which investigate the use of computers in teaching practice and the effect of this approach in the belief of the teachers in relation to the study of Statistics and Probability. The main theme, about the usage of ICTs in Statistics teaching, investigated how the computer could become a facilitator for the teaching of such subject. Besides, the theme line distance learning (ODL) was investigated by two surveys. In the Theme about curriculum changes, most researches dealt with the issue of conceptual errors in textbooks and their influence in the classroom practice Este trabalho teve como objetivo fazer um levantamento da produção acadêmica que consta no Banco de Teses da Capes, referente aos trabalhos relacionados com a problemática do ensino da Estatística e da Probabilidade, considerando-se os níveis de mestrado e doutorado, no período de 2000 a 2008. Para levantar essa produção utilizamos como palavras-chave: Ensino da Estatística e Ensino da Probabilidade. A partir dessa pesquisa compilamos cinquenta e oito trabalhos, sendo quarenta e três dissertações e treze teses. Estes trabalhos foram produzidos por vinte e duas universidades localizadas em três regiões brasileiras: Sul, Sudeste e Centro-Oeste. Tomando como base os resumos dessas obras, os trabalhos foram analisados e categorizados em cinco eixos temáticos com intuito de apresentar essa produção de modo sistematizado, oferecendo uma referência para o estudo às futuras pesquisas relacionadas com essa temática. Considerando cada eixo temático, realizamos uma metanálise das pesquisas em que podemos apontar os seguintes resultados. No eixo temático referente ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem da estatística e da probabilidade observamos a ocorrência de um número significativo de pesquisas que utilizaram os computadores como recurso para o ensino da estatística e da probabilidade. Nesse eixo temático também encontramos trabalhos que investigaram quais eram as implicações de uma abordagem utilizando a Modelagem Matemática para promover uma Matemática Crítica. No eixo temático sobre a formação inicial e continuada dos professores de matemática, os trabalhos, na sua maioria, abordaram a questão das atitudes, satisfação e concepção dos professores com relação à compreensão deste assunto. No eixo temático identificado com a prática docente, crenças/ concepções e saberes práticos, um número maior de pesquisas focou suas investigações na problemática do ensino da estatística e da probabilidade no ensino fundamental e médio. Neste eixo sentimos a ausência de trabalhos que investigassem a utilização dos computadores na prática de ensino e qual a influência dessa abordagem para a concepção dos professores com relação ao estudo da estatística e da probabilidade. No eixo temático sobre a utilização das TICs no ensino da estatística, as pesquisas investigaram como o computador pode ser um facilitador para o ensino desta disciplina. Ainda neste eixo temático o ensino à distância (EAD) foi investigado 6 através de duas pesquisas. No eixo temático sobre as mudanças curriculares, grande parte das pesquisas se ocupou da questão dos erros conceituais nos livros didáticos e a influência destes para a prática de sala de aula

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Roodt, Estee. "Job demands and job resources as predictors of dispositional employability of academics in South Africa." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/31564.

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Background and Aim The South African higher education sector has undergone numerous changes over the past years due to external factors such as globalisation, managerialism and neo-liberalism (Ntshoe, Higgs, Higgs&Wolhuter, 2008). Furthermore De Villiers and Steyn (2009) add that state funding of higher education in South Africa has been decreased to such an extent that higher education institutions (HEI’s) have been unable to parallel the increase in the number of students enrolled per year. As mentioned by Mouton (2010) universities in sub-Saharan Africa continue to operate under conditions which are seriously under-resourced, which poses significant challenges for the scholars concerned. The changes in the Higher Education Institutional environment have forced HEI’s to increase their level of output in terms of: enrollments, qualifications awarded, research output and institution size and number of disadvantaged students (De Villiers&Steyn, 2009) in order to remain competitive. The number of changes in performance outputs as well as the growing market for competitive higher education (HE) has greatly impacted the job demands of academics in South Africa. The environment in which academics in South Africa function now demands more of them than in previous years. For example the employment relationship has changed (i.e. teacher-driven to student-driven), altering the type of work that people do, when they work and how much they do (Barkhuizen, Rothmann&Van de Vijver, in press). Accordingly, it appears that the job demands of academics have escalated, whilst the levels of support and other resources have declined. The objective of this study was to investigate whether job demands and resources are significant predictors of dispositional employability of academics in South Africa. Method A cross–sectional research design was followed. The Job Characteristics Scale developed by Barkhuizen and Rothman (2005) and the Dispositional Measure of Employability (Fugate&Kinicki, 2008) were used as measures in this study. A total of 360 questionnaires were sent out to the sample, of which 158 completed questionnaires were received, but only 146 of these responses could be used for data analyses. This represents a 40.55% response rate. Results The results showed that there is a significant relationship between job demands and the change identity of the academics and that job demands do act as a predictor of the dispositional employability of academics in terms of their change identity. No significant relationship between the job resources and the dispositional employability of the academics were found, however all of the dimensions of DE had a positive relationship with job resources. A significant relationship between job demands and the ethnicity, home language, age, the respondent’s job level and the number of hours they work was found. However, no statistically significant differences were found within gender, qualifications, job categories, years in service and the number of years in current positions. According to the results the white ethnic group experiences higher job demands than the black ethic group. Furthermore respondents speaking either Afrikaans or English experience higher job demands then respondents speaking indigenous languages. In relation to this, the age group 50 to 59 experience higher job demands compared to that of the age group 20-29. Associate professors experience higher job demands than junior lecturers. No significant relationship between the academics’ perception of their job resources and their demographic characteristics was found. There are significant differences between the DE of the academics and their ethnicity, home language, job category, years in service and hours of work. No statistically significant differences were found within gender, age, qualifications, job level or years in the current position. The Black ethnic group indicates higher levels of resilience and motivation compared to the other ethnic groups, and indigenous languages have higher levels of resilience compared to the other two language groups. Academics that function as both researchers and lecturers have higher levels of career proactivity compared to the academics that function only as a researcher or lecturer. Respondents that have been in the industry for between zero to 10 years have a higher level of resilience compared to the respondents who have served for longer. The working hours of group four (between 31 to 40 hours) show higher levels of resilience compared to the other groups. Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. Human Resource Management

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Jensen, Shawn V. "Correlating Factors Between Student Participation and Student Learning Via a Service Learning Project in Secondary Education: A Case Study." Diss., CLICK HERE for online access, 2006. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd1163.pdf.

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Kline, James Jeffrey. "Star Academics: Do They Garner Increasing Returns?" PDXScholar, 2016. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/2713.

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This study examines the criteria which help academics receive National Institute of Health funds (NIH). The study covers 3,092 NIH recipients and non-recipients in the same department or institute at twenty-four universities. The universities are drawn from those below the top twenty in terms of receipt of NIH funds. With regards to performance, non- recipients have lower performance than recipients. A key determinant of the receipt of NIH funds is individual performance, as measured by the number of articles published and average citations per article in the two years immediately prior to the grant application. Professors receive more NIH money than do associates and assistant professors. Other positive contributors are the field of study, whether the academic has both a PhD. and Medical degree, and has licensed an innovation, been involved in the start of a new business and patented an invention through the university. To the extent that individual performance criteria represent the quality of the research proposal, allocation of NIH funds is based on merit. A Tobit model indicates that being highly cited does not guarantee increasing returns. Likewise, career citations have only a small statistically significant impact. In addition, a negative coefficient associated with the second derivatives of both articles published in 2006-07 and their associated citations indicate diminishing marginal returns.

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Turner, Cynthia Simmons. "A Study of Select Factors That Influence the Perceptions of School Social Workers' Levels of Satisfaction with Their Professional Practice." DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, 2018. http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cauetds/149.

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The purpose of this study was to ascertain the perception of school social workers’ levels of satisfaction and ways it is impacted by one or more of the following factors: the level of decision making, workload management, professional development, collaboration, and advocacy. Specifically, this study sought to determine if school social workers are satisfied with their roles in the school system and daily practice. The 130 participants of the study were district presidents who reached out to all Georgia school social workers and members of the state’s School Social Workers Association (SSWAG) which is the state’s charter of the larger national organization—School Social Workers Association of America (SSWAA). All respondents participated in the study voluntarily. The data analysis was conducted on two levels: descriptive findings and analytical procedures. The first section presented descriptive findings associated with demographic variables, the social work practice experience, and school social work settings results. The second level of the analysis tested the hypotheses under study. This section used Spearman’s Correlation Coefficient to test the strength of the relationship between the dependent variable—overall levels of satisfaction in professional practice—and each of the independent variables: perceived level of decision making, workload management, professional development, collaboration, and advocacy. The researcher found that there was a moderately strong positive correlation between the overall levels of satisfaction with professional practice and perceived level of decision making and workload management. There was a strong positive correlation with the perceived level of professional development. The perceived level of collaboration resulted in a weak positive correlation and a moderate positive correlation was found in the perceived level of advocacy. The conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that all five independent variables showed a correlation with the dependent variable. These study findings may be useful not only for school social workers but also for support staff (school psychologist, counselors, etc.) and school administrators.

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Adefisoye, James Olusegun. "An Assessment of the Performances of Several Univariate Tests of Normality." FIU Digital Commons, 2015. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1858.

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The importance of checking the normality assumption in most statistical procedures especially parametric tests cannot be over emphasized as the validity of the inferences drawn from such procedures usually depend on the validity of this assumption. Numerous methods have been proposed by different authors over the years, some popular and frequently used, others, not so much. This study addresses the performance of eighteen of the available tests for different sample sizes, significance levels, and for a number of symmetric and asymmetric distributions by conducting a Monte-Carlo simulation. The results showed that considerable power is not achieved for symmetric distributions when sample size is less than one hundred and for such distributions, the kurtosis test is most powerful provided the distribution is leptokurtic or platykurtic. The Shapiro-Wilk test remains the most powerful test for asymmetric distributions. We conclude that different tests are suitable under different characteristics of alternative distributions.

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Scott, Heather Marie. "Parent Involvement in Children's Schooling: An Investigation of Measurement Equivalence across Ethnic Groups." Scholar Commons, 2011. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3339.

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Epstein et al.'s Theory of Overlapping Spheres of Influence focuses on the interaction and communication, or partnerships, among families, schools, and the community to bring the three closer together. The theory works in conjunction with Epstein's typology of parental involvement, which focuses on six types of involvement that are instrumental to a child's development and his/her school and educational success. These serve as the framework for the study and support the construct of parent's involvement in children's schooling. The purpose of the current study was to conduct further validation analyses of an inventory designed to measure the construct of parent involvement in their children's schooling through the investigation of measurement invariance to determine if the measurement properties of the inventory varied by race/ethnicity. The study compared the responses of 126 Hispanic parents/guardians with 116 White/non-Hispanic parents/guardians to investigate if these two groups were interpreting the items on the inventory in the same manner. The inventory was administered to a sample of parents/guardians of children in grades 3 through 5 in a local school district. Findings indicated that the measurement model was misspecified for the White/non-Hispanic group and the Hispanic group and further measurement invariance testing was not conducted. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted in order to investigate which models would best fit the data for both groups. Feedback also was obtained from parents/guardians about the clarity of the inventory, which revealed their confusion with the response scale and the wording of particular items. In addition, they supplied issues or aspects of parent involvement that they found important but missing from the inventory. Results from the psychometric analyses and qualitative feedback indicated that the inventory requires modification and further psychometric investigation. In addition, caution should be exercised for anyone who may be considering utilizing the inventory. Results of the study were interpreted in terms of contributions to the parent involvement literature, as well as recommendations for the improvement of the inventory.

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Vũ, John Huân. "Software Internationalization: A Framework Validated Against Industry Requirements for Computer Science and Software Engineering Programs." DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2010. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/248.

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View John Huân Vũ's thesis presentation at http://youtu.be/y3bzNmkTr-c. In 2001, the ACM and IEEE Computing Curriculum stated that it was necessary to address "the need to develop implementation models that are international in scope and could be practiced in universities around the world." With increasing connectivity through the internet, the move towards a global economy and growing use of technology places software internationalization as a more important concern for developers. However, there has been a "clear shortage in terms of numbers of trained persons applying for entry-level positions" in this area. Eric Brechner, Director of Microsoft Development Training, suggested five new courses to add to the computer science curriculum due to the growing "gap between what college graduates in any field are taught and what they need to know to work in industry." He concludes that "globalization and accessibility should be part of any course of introductory programming," stating: A course on globalization and accessibility is long overdue on college campuses. It is embarrassing to take graduates from a college with a diverse student population and have to teach them how to write software for a diverse set of customers. This should be part of introductory software development. Anything less is insulting to students, their family, and the peoples of the world. There is very little research into how the subject of software internationalization should be taught to meet the major requirements of the industry. The research question of the thesis is thus, "Is there a framework for software internationalization that has been validated against industry requirements?" The answer is no. The framework "would promote communication between academia and industry ... that could serve as a common reference point in discussions." Since no such framework for software internationalization currently exists, one will be developed here. The contribution of this thesis includes a provisional framework to prepare graduates to internationalize software and a validation of the framework against industry requirements. The requirement of this framework is to provide a portable and standardized set of requirements for computer science and software engineering programs to teach future graduates.

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Shearer, Sarah E. "ArchiTECHture: Rebuilding the Traditional University for the 21st Century." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2015. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/1198.

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This senior thesis is an examination of the major complexities and considerations encountered in developing an e-learning program. In light of the changing landscape of higher education resulting from technological advancement, combined with changing pedagogies and financial pressures, traditional institutions are under heightened scrutiny and most in need of innovation. Online learning as been proposed as a solution to many of these issues, but creating a successful program is no small feat. Furthermore, experimental research on specific course designs and delivery often fails upon real-world implementation. Looking through the lens of Design-Base-Implementation Research (DBIR), an emerging research model that seeks to rectify this inefficiency, this thesis will first affirm the crucial need for active leadership throughout the development and implementation process. Analysis will then turn to the most pertinent elements administrators must address, including the motivations and catalysts for innovation, funding, faculty engagement, IT support, course design and project evaluation; in keeping with DBIR methodology, each of these considerations will take different forms and require alternative courses of action based on the unique institutional attributes and circumstances. Finally, the exploration will culminate in reasserting the urgency for innovation in higher education, and concluding that a uniform “solution” will not only be pragmatically impossible but also detrimental to both institutional legacy and student education: a quality and sustainable program necessitates due diligence in acknowledging and working with the distinct characteristics of each institution.

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Hille, Kathryn Streeter. "Student Placement: A Multifaceted Methodological Toolkit." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1573216693530411.

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Ng, Yui-kin. "A critical analysis of the role of statistical significance testing in education research, with special attention to mathematics education." Thesis, Durham University, 2005. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2714/.

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This study analyzes the role of statistical significance testing (SST) in education. Although the basic logic underlying SST 一 a hypothesis is rejected because the observed data would be very unlikely if the hypothesis is true 一 appears so obvious that many people are tempted to accept it, it is in fact fallacious. In the light of its historical background and conceptual development, discussed in Chapter 2, the Fisher’s significance testing, Neyman-Pearson hypothesis testing and their hybrids are clearly distinguished. We argue that the probability of obtaining the observed or more extreme outcomes (p value) can hardly act as a measure of the strength of evidence against the null hypothesis. After discussing the five major interpretations of probability, we conclude that if we do not accept the subjective theory of probability, talking about the probability of a hypothesis that is not the outcome of a chance process is unintelligible. But the subjective theory itself has many intractable difficulties that can hardly be resolved. If we insist on assigning a probability value to a hypothesis in the same way as we assign one to a chance event, we have to accept that it is the hypothesis with low probability, rather than high probability, that we should aim at when conducting scientific research. More important, the inferences behind SST are shown to be fallacious from three different perspectives. The attempt to invoke the likelihood ratio with the observed or more extreme data instead of the probability of a hypothesis in defending the use of р value as a measure of the strength of evidence against the null hypothesis is also shown to be misleading because it can be demonstrated that the use of tail region to represent a result that is actually on the border would overstate the evidence against the ทน11 hypothesis.Although Neyman-Pearson hypothesis testing does not involve the concept of the probability of a hypothesis, it does have some other serious problems that can hardly be resolved. We show that it cannot address researchers' genuine concerns. By explaining why the level of significance must be specified or fixed prior to the analysis of data and why a blurring of the distinction between the р value and the significance level would lead to undesirable consequences, we conclude that the Neyman-Pearson hypothesis testing cannot provide an effective means for rejecting false hypotheses. After a thorough discussion of common misconceptions associated with SST and the major arguments for and against SST, we conclude that SST has insurmountable problems that could misguide the research paradigm although some other criticisms on SST are not really as justified. We also analyze various proposed alternatives to SST and conclude that confidence intervals (CIs) are no better than SST for the purpose of testing hypotheses and it is unreasonable to expect the existence of a statistical test that could provide researchers with algorithms or rigid rules by conforming to which all problems about testing hypotheses could be solved. Finally, we argue that falsificationism could eschew the disadvantages of SST and other similar statistical inductive inferences and we discuss how it could bring education research into a more fruitful situation in which to their practices. Although we pay special attention to mathematics education, the core of the discussion in the thesis might apply equally to other educational contexts.

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Wojtara-Perry, Shery. "The Impact of Transformational Leadership Style on the Success of Global Virtual Teams." ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/2180.

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Organizations in the age of modern technology have a diverse workforce, who are spread around the globe, and the business leaders of the 21st century need to understand how best to manage, overcome new challenges, and know the various skills of team members to capitalize on their differences and unique skills. To allow those geographically dispersed workers to reach their full potential and facilitate team success. Global virtual teams (GVTs) operate in complex environments characterized by diverse cultural and organizational elements. The primary purpose of this correlational and nonexperimental quantitative research was to examine the impact of transformational leadership on GVTs, their productivity, and job satisfaction with leadership effectiveness. Using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS), data analyzes were completed through SurveyMonkey.com and SPSS software. The study measured transformational leadership, the independent variable, by the leader's ability to motivate workers to be satisfied and productive, and by the leader's effectiveness in the organization. Data were assessed by frequency analysis, moderation analyzes, and multiple regression analysis on the dependent variables of job satisfaction, leadership effectiveness, and productivity. The findings from this study reinforced the positive relationships found between transformational leadership, employee productivity, and leadership effectiveness in GVTs. Results also showed that motivated employees increase productivity and help in the organization's growth. Implications for positive social change included improvements in GVT interactions to increase the exchange of diverse ideas that lead to increased productivity and job satisfaction.

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Hinson, William B. "A statistical analysis of individual success after successful completion of Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Training." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2005. http://library.nps.navy.mil/uhtbin/hyperion/05Sep%5FHinson.pdf.

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Kamleu, Germaine. "An analytical model for assessing the knowledge of statistical procedures amongst postgraduate students in a higher educational environment." University of the Western Cape, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/6769.

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Philosophiae Doctor - PhD Over the past decades, the use and application of statistical concepts for university students have been a big challenge learned from their previous courses. Aftermath of democracy, South African higher education focused on redressing issues of reparation and social imbalances inherited from Apartheid with the commitment to reconstruct a comprehensive educational quality framework. Growing activities lead to new models emphasised to support students and universities in their attempts to demonstrate evidence of enthusiastic statistics learning, with an acceptable degree of accuracy. This study combines quantitative and qualitative research approaches to assess the knowledge of postgraduate students in applying suitable statistical procedures in higher education (HE). The quantitative data were randomly collected from the postgraduate students (n1=307) while the qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews (n2=19) from two institutions (University of Cape Town [UCT] and University of the Western Cape [UWC]) in the Western Cape, South Africa. The SPSS V24 statistical package was used for quantitative data analysis and the explorative design was selected as a theoretical framework to guide the investigation, analysis and interpretation of the qualitative findings. UCT model achieved for all combined categories 73% high prediction accuracy. The UWC model revealed similar results, with ask for help, worth of statistics, fear of statistics monitors, affect, cognitive competence, support from significant others, marital status, ethnic groups and type of study as significant predictors with a high prediction accuracy of 75.49%. Additionally, the ethnic groups, marital status, postgraduate programmes, experiences in statistics and effort were significant contributed factors of SELS beliefs while findings of the combined data of UCT and UWC significantly explained the variation observed in SELS beliefs with only 60% model accuracy. Nevertheless, the qualitative data outcomes indicated that the comments of the participants provided a rich understanding of the perceived failure to choose a relevant statistical test. The results further indicated that confusion and frustration characterised the attitude of students during the selection of a suitable statistical test. The original value of this current study is bridging the inequity gap, in terms of statistics learning, and building a substantial input to the achievement of the objectives of UNESCO, the World Education Forum and the White Paper 3, while ultimately, contributing to the sustainable development of learning statistics at universities in the Western Cape, South Africa. By logical extrapolation, this current study proffers significant insights to the rest of the universities in Africa, and beyond.

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King, Mark Johann. "Case studies of the transfer of road safety knowledge and expertise from western countries to Thailand and Vietnam, using an ecological road safety space model : elephants in traffic and rice cooker helmets." Queensland University of Technology, 2005. http://eprints.qut.edu.au/16191/.

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International organisations such as the World Health Organisation highlight the road crash problem in less motorised (or developing, or low income) countries like those in Southeast Asia and recommend the adoption of Western road safety measures. However, there are many differences between highly motorised and less motorised countries which raise questions about how successfully Western road safety knowledge and expertise can be transferred.----- A review of the statistical information on road crashes shows a great deal of uncertainty about both the scale and likely trajectory of road fatalities globally, in less motorised countries and in Asia. It is generally agreed, however, that Asia accounts for around half of all road fatalities, and analysis of the limited available data shows both that Southeast Asia is not an atypical region of Asia in road safety terms, and that Thailand and Vietnam are not atypical of Southeast Asian countries.----- A literature review of recommended practice approaches to road safety transfer in Asia shows that there are many economic, institutional, social and cultural factors which potentially influence the success of transfer. The review also shows that there is no coherent, comprehensive approach which either conceptualises these factors and their relationship to transfer outcomes, or uses an analysis of these factors to plan or modify transfer. To address this gap, this thesis develops a 'road safety space' model as a tool for conceptualisation and analysis, based on a biological metaphor which views the transfer of road safety measures from one context to another as analogous to the transfer of a species into a new ecological space. The road safety space model explicitly considers economic, institutional, social and cultural factors (from specific to broad) which influence the particular road safety issue which a particular road safety transfer effort seeks to address. A central contention of this thesis is that the road safety space model is both a feasible and useful tool to improve the process of road safety transfer to less motorised countries. Road safety space analysis is seen to have a role in a broader process of selection of road safety measures for transfer, along with knowledge of how the measures are considered to operate.----- The research reported in this thesis is comprised of three studies. Study 1 reviewed evaluations of road safety transfer to Thailand and Vietnam. Studies 2 and 3 were case studies of road safety transfer to Thailand and Vietnam respectively.----- Study 1 was an analysis of existing evaluations of road safety transfer to Thailand and Vietnam. The aims were to analyse the evaluations for their consideration of contextual factors, as described in the road safety space model, and to discuss whether the road safety space model assisted in understanding the reasons for success or failure of transfer. However, very few such evaluations exist, and those that were found generally lacked information on whether contextual factors were considered. This indicated the need for a more detailed, in-depth qualitative investigation of particular cases of road safety transfer, in order to investigate the feasibility and utility of the road safety space model.----- Two case studies (Study 2 and Study 3) were conducted to test whether the road safety space approach was both feasible and useful as a means of improving road safety transfer efforts. Study 2 was a case study of the development and implementation in Thailand of a road safety education program for school children, which involved the transfer of Western research and techniques. The transfer agents (i.e. those who effected the road safety transfer) were Australian consultants working for the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB). The transfer was funded by the World Bank and managed by the Thai Ministry of Education (MOE). Study 3 was a case study of the development and implementation of a motorcycle helmet wearing program in Vietnam, which involved the transfer of Western knowledge, techniques and technology. The transfer agents were staff of Asia Injury (AI), a non-government organisation (NGO), and the program was funded initially by a charitable fund, with the intention of becoming self-funding through operation of a helmet factory.----- The case studies employed background research into existing information on economic, institutional, social and cultural factors relevant to the road safety issues (road use behaviour of school children in Thailand and motorcycle helmet purchase and wearing in Vietnam), and collected data through interviews with key informants, analysis of secondary sources and observations. This information was used to derive the road safety space for each road safety issue, to identify the road safety space recognised and addressed by the transfer agents (ARRB and AI), and to determine which factors they missed, or were aware of but took no action on. The focus of this analysis was on the processes used in transfer, not on the road safety outcomes of transfer, although these provided information on the processes as well. Available evaluation information was used to draw links between the omissions and the success of the transfer processes. It was noted that information on how the transferred measures operate should come from a road safety space analysis in the originating country, although this raised questions about selection of country and time (when the measure was first introduced, or in its maturity).----- The feasibility and utility of the road safety space model were discussed. It was clear that the model provided information on the cases which was missed by the transfer agents. The questions examined next were whether this information could have been obtained from an exercise conducted before the transfer had commenced, whether the required effort and cost justified the potential benefits, and whether the information on the road safety space could have been useful for the transfer agents. Comparisons between the road safety spaces for the two cases showed some areas of commonality, e.g. perceptions of police corruption, but also many differences. It was considered likely that some broad factors could be generic, and the possibility was mooted that less motorised countries share issues with police enforcement. This requires further research, however, and at this stage it is better to treat each road safety space as a unique combination of contextual factors influencing the road safety issue of interest.----- It is concluded that the road safety space model is feasible if used in such a way as to minimise the research involved, and useful, although the degree of utility needs to be further explored in a prospective study. The limitation introduced by restricting informants to those who could speak English are discussed. An approach using road safety space analysis is recommended, emphasising analysis of the country to which the road safety measure is being transferred, supplemented by analysis of the originating country road safety space. Gaps in knowledge are identified for further research and development, in particular the theoretical and practical understanding of road use behaviours and their modification in less motorised countries in Southeast Asia. Elaboration of the model is also recommended, to take into account the influence of the type of measure transferred, the role of the transfer agent, the area of road safety (education, engineering or enforcement), and the time dimension (the time which might be needed for a transfer to show its effects).----- The findings of this research are likely to be applicable to road safety transfer in other less motorised regions of the world, however prospective testing is needed. They may also be relevant to issues of transfer for areas other than road safety, in particular public health and traffic engineering, where similar economic, institutional, social and cultural issues come together.

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Bellara, Aarti P. "Effectiveness of Propensity Score Methods in a Multilevel Framework: A Monte Carlo Study." Scholar Commons, 2013. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/4635.

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Propensity score analysis has been used to minimize the selection bias in observational studies to identify causal relationships. A propensity score is an estimate of an individual's probability of being placed in a treatment group given a set of covariates. Propensity score analysis aims to use the estimate to create balanced groups, akin to a randomized experiment. This study used Monte Carlo methods to examine the appropriateness of using propensity score methods to achieve balance between groups on observed covariates and reproduce treatment effect estimates in multilevel studies. Specifically, this study examined the extent to which four different propensity score estimation models and three different propensity score conditioning methods produced balanced samples and reproduced the treatment effects with clustered data. One single-level logistic model and three multilevel models were investigated. Conditioning methods included: (a) covariance adjustment, (b) matching, and (c) stratification. Design factors investigated included: (a) level-1sample size, (b) level-2 sample size, (c) level-1 covariate relationship to treatment, (d) level-2 covariate relationship to treatment, (e) level-1 covariate relationship to outcome, (f) level-2 covariate relationship to outcome, and (g) population effect size. The results of this study suggest the degree to which propensity score analyses are able to create balanced groups and reproduce treatment effect estimates with clustered data is largely dependent upon the propensity score estimation model and conditioning method selected. Overall, the single-level logistic and random intercepts models fared slightly better than the more complex multilevel models while covariance adjustment and matching methods tended to be more stable in terms of balancing groups than stratification. Additionally, the results indicate propensity score analysis should not be conducted with small samples. Finally, this study did not identify an estimation model or conditioning method that was consistently able to create adequately balanced groups and reproduce treatment effect estimates.

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Nguyen, Diep Thi. "Statistical Models to Test Measurement Invariance with Paired and Partially Nested Data: A Monte Carlo Study." Scholar Commons, 2019. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7869.

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While assessing emotions, behaviors or performance of preschoolers and young children, scores from adults such as parent psychiatrist and teacher ratings are used rather scores from children themselves. Data from parent ratings or from parents and teachers are often nested such as students are within teachers and a child is within their parents. This popular nested feature of data in educational, social and behavioral sciences makes measurement invariance (MI) testing across informants of children methodologically challenging. There was lack of studies that take into account the nested structure of data in MI testing for multiple adult informants, especially no simulation study that examines the performance of different models used to test MI across different raters. This dissertation focused on two specific nesting data types in testing MI between adult raters of children: paired and partial nesting. For the paired data, the independence assumption of regular MI testing is often violated because the two informants (e.g., father and mother) rate the same child and their scores are anticipated to be related or dependent. The partial nesting data refers to the research situation where teacher and parent ratings are compared. In this scenario, it is common that each parent has only one child to rate while each teacher has multiple children in their classroom. Thus, in case of teacher and parent ratings of the same children, data are repeated measures and also partially nested. Because of these unique features of data, MI testing between adult informants of children requires statistical models that take into account different types of data dependency. I proposed and evaluated the performance of the two statistical models that can handle repeated measures and partial nesting with several simulated research scenarios in addition to one commonly used and one potentially appropriate statistical models across several research scenario. Results of the two simulation studies in this dissertation showed that for the paired data, both multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and repeated measure CFA models were able to detect scalar invariance most of the time using Δχ2 test and ΔCFI. Although the multiple-group CFA (Model 2) was able to detect scalar invariance better than the repeated measure CFA model (Model 1), the detection rates of Model 1 were still at the high level (88% - 91% using Δχ2 test and 84% - 100% using ΔCFI or ΔRMSEA). For configural invariance and metric invariance conditions for the paired data, Model 1 had higher detection rate than Model 2 in almost examined research scenario in this dissertation. Particularly while Model 1 could detect noninvariance (either in intercepts only or in both intercepts and factor loadings) than Model 2 for paired data most of the time, Model 2 could rarely catch it if using suggested cut-off of 0.01 for RMSEA differences. For the paired data, although both Models 1 and 2 could be a good choice to test measurement invariance, Model 1 might be favored if researchers are more interested in detecting noninvariance due to its overall high detection rates for all three levels (i.e. configural, metric, and scalar) of measurement invariance. For scalar invariance with partially nested data, both multilevel repeated measure CFA and design-based multilevel CFA could detect invariance most of the time (from 81% to 100% of examined cases) with slightly higher detection rate for the former model than the later. Multiple-group CFA model hardly detect scalar invariance except when ICC was small. The detection rates for configural invariance using Δχ2 test or Satorra-Bentler LRT were also highest for Model 3 (82% to 100% except only two conditions with detection rates of 61%), following by Model 5 and lowest Model 4. Models 4 and 5 could reach these rates only with the largest sample sizes (i.e., large number of cluster or large cluster size or large in both factors) when the magnitude of noninvariance was small. Unlike scalar and configural invariance, the ability to detect metric invariance was highest for Model 4, following by Model 5 and lowest for Model 3 across many conditions using all of the three performance criteria. As higher detection rates for all configural and scalar invariance, and moderate detection rates for many metric invariance conditions (except cases of small number of clusters combined with large ICC), Model 3 could be a good candidate to test measurement invariance with partially nested data when having sufficient number of clusters or if having small number of clusters with small ICC. Model 5 might be also a reasonable option for this type of data if both the number of clusters and cluster size were large (i.e., 80 and 20, respectively), or either one of these two factors was large coupled with small ICC. If ICC is not small, it is recommended to have a large number of clusters or combination of large number of clusters and large cluster size to ensure high detection rates of measurement invariance for partially nested data. As multiple group CFA had better and reasonable detection rates than the design-based and multilevel repeated measure CFA models cross configural, metric and scalar invariance with the conditions of small cluster size (10) and small ICC (0.13), researchers can consider using this model to test measurement invariance when they can only collect 10 participants within a cluster (e.g. students within a classroom) and there is small degree of data dependency (e.g. small variance between clusters) in the data.

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Hess, Melinda Rae. "Effect Sizes, Significance Tests, and Confidence Intervals: Assessing the Influence and Impact of Research Reporting Protocol and Practice." Scholar Commons, 2003. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1390.

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This study addresses research reporting practices and protocols by bridging the gap from the theoretical and conceptual debates typically found in the literature with more realistic applications using data from published research. Specifically, the practice of using findings of statistical analysis as the primary, and often only, basis for results and conclusions of research is investigated through computing effect size and confidence intervals and considering how their use might impact the strength of inferences and conclusions reported. Using a sample of published manuscripts from three peer-rviewed journals, central quantitative findings were expressed as dichotomous hypothesis test results, point estimates of effect sizes and confidence intervals. Studies using three different types of statistical analyses were considered for inclusion: t-tests, regression, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The differences in the substantive interpretations of results from these accomplished and published studies were then examined as a function of these different analytical approaches. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to examine the findings. General descriptive statistical techniques were employed to capture the magnitude of studies and analyses that might have different interpretations if althernative methods of reporting findings were used in addition to traditional tests of statistical signficance. Qualitative methods were then used to gain a sense of the impact on the wording used in the research conclusions of these other forms of reporting findings. It was discovered that tests of non-signficant results were more prone to need evidence of effect size than those of significant results. Regardless of tests of significance, the addition of information from confidence intervals tended to heavily impact the findings resulting from signficance tests. The results were interpreted in terms of improving the reporting practices in applied research. Issues that were noted in this study relevant to the primary focus are discussed in general with implicaitons for future research. Recommendations are made regarding editorial and publishing practices, both for primary researchers and editors.

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Drysdale, Michael J. "Psychometric Properties of Postsecondary Students' Course Evaluations." DigitalCommons@USU, 2010. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/783.

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Several experts in the area of postsecondary student evaluations of courses have concluded that they are stable or reliable measures as well as being measures that provide ways of making valid inferences regarding teacher effectiveness. Often these experts have offered these conclusions without supporting evidence. Surprisingly, a thorough review of the literature revealed very few reported test-retest reliability studies of course evaluations and the results from these studies are contradictory. In the area of validity, the conclusions offered by scholars who conducted meta-analyses of mutlisection course studies are inconsistent. This leads to the following two research questions: 1. What is the test-retest reliability over a 3-week period of the course evaluation currently employed at Utah State University? 2. Can results of the course evaluation employed at Utah State University be used to make valid inferences about a teacher's effectiveness? Two parts of a study were conducted to answer these questions. First, a test-retest reliability part was conducted with students from courses at Utah State University, employing a 3-week time lapse between administrations of the course evaluations. Second, a multisection course validity part was conducted using existing student ratings data and final examination scores for 100 sections of MATH 1010 over a 5-year period. Correlational analyses were conducted on the resulting data from both studies. Test-retest reliability coefficients ranging from 0.64 to 0.94 were found. In the second study, the correlation coefficients from the validity study ranged from -0.39 to 0.71, with a mean coefficient of 0.14 and 0.11 for final examination score by instructor rating and final examination score by course rating, respectively. Results from both parts of the study suggest that the course evaluation used at USU is not reliable and that results of the course evaluation do not provide information that can be used to make valid inferences regarding teacher effectiveness.

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Hess, Melinda Rae. "Effect sizes, signficance tests, and confidence intervals [electronic resource] : assessing the influence and impact of research reporting protocol and practice / by Melinda Rae Hess." [Tampa, Fla.] : University of South Florida, 2003. http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/SFE0000148.

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Petit-Bois, Merlande. "A Monte Carlo Study: The Consequences of the Misspecification of the Level-1 Error Structure." Scholar Commons, 2014. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5341.

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Single-case interventions allow for the repeated measurement of a case or participant across multiple time points, to assess the treatment¡͞s effect on one specific case or participant. The basic interrupted time series design includes two phases: baseline and treatment. Raudenbush and Byrk (2002) demonstrated that a meta-analysis of large group designs can be seen as a special case of multi-level analysis with participants (level-one) nested within studies (level-two). Raw data from a set of single case design studies have a similar structure. Van den Noortgate and Onghena (2003) illustrated the use of a two-level model to analyze data in primary single-case studies. In 2008, Van den Noortgate and Onghena later proposed that if raw data from several single case designs are used in a meta-analysis, scores can be varied at each of the three levels: over occasions (level-one), across participants from the same study (level-two), and across studies (level-three). The multi-level approach allows for a large degree of flexibility in modeling the data (Goldstein & Yang, 2000; Hox & de Leeuw, 1997). Researchers can make various methodological decisions when specifying the model to approximate the data. Those decisions are critical since parameters can be biased if the statistical model is not correctly specified. The first of these decisions is how to model the level-one error structure--is it correlated or uncorrelated? Recently, the investigation of the Van den Noortgate and Onghena¡͞s (2008) three-level meta-analytic model has increased and shown promising results (Owens & Ferron, 2011; Ugille, Moeyaert, Beretvas, Ferron, & Van den Noortgate, 2012 ). These studies have shown the fixed effects tend to be unbiased and the variance components have been problematic across a range of conditions. Based on a thorough literature review, no one has looked at the model in relation to the use of fit indices or log likelihood tests to select an appropriate level-one error structure. The purpose of the study was two-fold: 1) to determine the extent to which the various fit indices can correctly identify the level-one covariance structure; and 2) to investigate the effect of various forms of misspecification of the level-one error structure when using a three-level meta-analytic single-case model. This study used Monte Carlo simulation methods to address the aforementioned research questions. Multiple design, data, and analysis factors were manipulated in this study. The study used a 2x2x2x2x2x5x7 factorial design. Seven experimental variables were manipulated in this study: 1) The number of primary studies per meta-analysis (10 and 30); 2) The number of participants per primary study (4 and 8); 3)The series length per participant (10 and 20); 4)Variances of the error terms (most of the variance at level-one: [¦Ò2=1;¡¼ ¦²¡½_u = 0.5, 0.05, 0.5, 0.05; ¡¼ ¦²¡½_v = 0.5, 0.05, 0.5, 0.05] and most of the variance at the upper levels: [¦Ò2=1;¡¼ ¦²¡½_u = 2, 0.2, 2, 0.2; ¡¼ ¦²¡½_v = 2, 0.2, 2, 0.2]); 5) The levels for the fixed effects (0, 2 [corresponding to the shift in level]; and 0, 0.2[corresponding to the shift in slope]) 6)Various types of covariance structures were used for data generation (ID, AR(1), and ARMA (1,1); and 7) The form of model specification [i.e. ID, AR(1), ARMA (1,1)], and error structure selected by AIC, AICC, BIC, and the LRT. The results of this study found that the fixed effects tend to mostly be unbiased, however, the variance components were extremely biased with particular design factors. The study also concluded that the use of fit indices to select the correct level-1 structure was appropriate for certain error structures. The accuracy of the fit indices tend to increase for the simpler level-one error structures. There were multiple implications for the applied single-case researcher, for the meta-analyst, and for the methodologist. Future research included investigating different estimation methods, such as Bayesian approach, to improve the estimates of the variance components and coupling multiple violations of the error structures, such as non-normality at levels two and three.

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Zhang, Desheng. "The Effect of Psychometric Parallelism among Predictors on the Efficiency of Equal Weights and Least Squares Weights in Multiple Regression." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1996. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278996/.

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There are several conditions for applying equal weights as an alternative to least squares weights. Psychometric parallelism, one of the conditions, has been suggested as a necessary and sufficient condition for equal-weights aggregation. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of psychometric parallelism among predictors on the efficiency of equal weights and least squares weights. Target correlation matrices with 10,000 cases were simulated so that the matrices had varying degrees of psychometric parallelism. Five hundred samples with six ratios of observation to predictor = 5/1, 10/1, 20/1, 30/1, 40/1, and 50/1 were drawn from each population. The efficiency is interpreted as the accuracy and the predictive power estimated by the weighting methods. The accuracy is defined by the deviation between the population R² and the sample R² . The predictive power is referred to as the population cross-validated R² and the population mean square error of prediction. The findings indicate there is no statistically significant relationship between the level of psychometric parallelism and the accuracy of least squares weights. In contrast, the correlation between the level of psychometric parallelism and the accuracy of equal weights is significantly negative. Under different conditions, the minimum p value of χ² for testing psychometric parallelism among predictors is also different in order to prove equal weights more powerful than least squares weights. The higher the number of predictors is, the higher the minimum p value. The higher the ratio of observation to predictor is, the higher the minimum p value. The higher the magnitude of intercorrelations among predictors is, the lower the minimum p value. This study demonstrates that the most frequently used levels of significance, 0.05 and 0.01, are no longer the only p values for testing the null hypotheses of psychometric parallelism among predictors when replacing least squares weights with equal weights.

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Li, Caihong Rosina. "ASSESSING THE MODEL FIT OF MULTIDIMENSIONAL ITEM RESPONSE THEORY MODELS WITH POLYTOMOUS RESPONSES USING LIMITED-INFORMATION STATISTICS." UKnowledge, 2019. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/edsc_etds/45.

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Under item response theory, three types of limited information goodness-of-fit test statistics – M2, Mord, and C2 – have been proposed to assess model-data fit when data are sparse. However, the evaluation of the performance of these GOF statistics under multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) models with polytomous data is limited. The current study showed that M2 and C2 were well-calibrated under true model conditions and were powerful under misspecified model conditions. Mord were not well-calibrated when the number of response categories was more than three. RMSEA2 and RMSEAC2 are good tools to evaluate approximate fit. The second study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Religious Commitment Inventory-10 (RCI-10; Worthington et al., 2003) within the IRT framework and estimate C2 and its RMSEA to assess global model-fit. Results showed that the RCI-10 was best represented by a bifactor model. The scores from the RCI-10 could be scored as unidimensional notwithstanding the presence of multidimensionality. Two-factor correlational solution should not be used. Study two also showed that religious commitment is a risk factor of intimate partner violence, whereas spirituality was a protecting factor from the violence. More alcohol was related with more abusive behaviors. Implications of the two studies were discussed.

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Pathak, Amit. "Forecasting Models to Predict EQ-5D Model Indicators for Population Health Improvement." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1480959312370497.

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Owens, Corina M. "Meta-Analysis of Single-Case Data: A Monte Carlo Investigation of a Three Level Model." Scholar Commons, 2011. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/3273.

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Numerous ways to meta-analyze single-case data have been proposed in the literature, however, consensus on the most appropriate method has not been reached. One method that has been proposed involves multilevel modeling. This study used Monte Carlo methods to examine the appropriateness of Van den Noortgate and Onghena's (2008) raw data multilevel modeling approach to the meta-analysis of single-case data. Specifically, the study examined the fixed effects (i.e., the overall average baseline level and the overall average treatment effect) and the variance components (e.g., the between person within study variance in the average baseline level, the between study variance in the overall average baseline level, the between person within study variance in the average treatment effect) in a three level multilevel model (repeated observations nested within individuals nested within studies). More specifically, bias of point estimates, confidence interval coverage rates, and interval widths were examined as a function of specific design and data factors. Factors investigated included (a) number of primary studies per meta-analysis, (b) modal number of participants per primary study, (c) modal series length per primary study, (d) level of autocorrelation, and (3) variances of the error terms. The results of this study suggest that the degree to which the findings of this study are supportive of using Van den Noortgate and Onghena's (2008) raw data multilevel modeling approach to meta-analyzing single-case data depends on the particular effect of interest. Estimates of the fixed effects tended to be unbiased and produced confidence intervals that tended to overcover but came close to the nominal level as level-3 sample size increased. Conversely, estimates of the variance components tended to be biased and the confidence intervals for those estimates were inaccurate.

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Fay, Robert H. "Application of the Fusion Model for Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment with Non-diagnostic Algebra-Geometry Readiness Test Data." Scholar Commons, 2018. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7285.

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This study retrofitted a Diagnostic Classification Model (DCM) known as the Fusion model onto non-diagnostic test data from of the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) Algebra and Geometry Readiness test post-test used with Transition Mathematics (Third Edition, Field-Trial Version). The test contained 24 multiple-choice middle school math items, and was originally given to 95 advanced 6th grade and 293 7th grade students. The use of these test answers for this study was an attempt to show that by using cognitive diagnostic analysis techniques on test items not constructed for that purpose, highly predictable multidimensional cognitive attribute profiles for each test taker could be obtained. These profiles delineated whether a given test taker was a master or non-master for each attribute measured by the test, thus allowing detailed diagnostic feedback to be disseminated to both the test takers and their teachers. The full version of the non-compensatory Fusion model, specifically, along with the Arpeggio software package, was used to estimate test taker profiles on each of the four cognitive attributes found to be intrinsic to the items on this test, because it handled both slips and guesses by test takers and accounted for residual skills not defined by the four attributes and twenty-four items in the Q-matrix. The attributes, one or more of which was needed to correctly answer an item, were defined as: Skills— those procedures that students should master with fluency; e.g., multiplying positive and negative numbers; Properties—which deal with the principles underlying the mathematics concepts being studied, such as being able to recognize and use the Repeated-Addition Property of Multiplication; Uses—which deal with applications of mathematics in real situations ranging from routine "word problems" to the development and use of mathematical models, like finding unknowns in real situations involving multiplication; and, Representations—which deal with pictures, graphs, or objects that illustrate concepts. Ultimately, a Q-matrix was developed from the rating of four content experts, with the attributes needed to answer each item clearly delineated. A validation of this Q-matrix was obtained from the Fusion model Arpeggio application to the data as test taker profiles showed which attributes were mastered by each test taker and which weren’t. Masters of the attributes needed to be acquired to successfully answer a test item had a proportion-correct difference from non-masters of .44, on average. Regression analysis produced an R-squared of .89 for the prediction of total scores on the test items by the attribute mastery probabilities obtained from the Fusion model with the final Q-matrix. Limitations of the study are discussed, along with reasons for the significance of the study.

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Bhaktha, Nivedita. "Properties of Hurdle Negative Binomial Models for Zero-Inflated and Overdispersed Count data." The Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1543573678017356.

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Berenschot, David. "A Descriptive Study of the Elderly in California Substance Abuse Treatment Programs." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2017. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/549.

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As gerontologists may know, there are a great deal of studies and a variety of academic literature on the misuse of alcohol and prescription medication amongst the elderly population. While there is a plethora of information on alcohol and prescription misuse, there is little reported data about the prevalence of other substance misuse experienced by this population. This study aims to help to fill that gap in the data by using quantitative methods to describe the scope of substance abuse of individuals 55-years or older. This study utilizes data from the Treatment Data Set Admission (TEDS-A). The TEDS-A is a public data set which includes admissions data from multiple substance abuse treatment facilities associated with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association (SAMHSA). This is a regional study, therefore this study focuses only on individuals 55-years or older who have been admitted into substance abuse treatment facilities in the state of California in the year 2014. The TEDS-A is a data set that is supported and conducted by members of SAMHSA. Most of their public data sets, including the TEDS-A, can be accessed on their website (https://www.datafiles.samhsa.gov/study/treatment-episode-data-set-admissions-teds-2014-nid16949). The data available in the TEDS-A involves a number of admission questions, including demographic data, reasons for intake, primary through tertiary substance concerns, questions regarding social status, information on medical insurance, and more. This study looks at the descriptive frequencies of the use of alcohol, crack/cocaine, marijuana/hashish, heroin, other opiates & synthetics, methamphetamine, and other substances. The study includes 13,512 cases, of which 9966 (73.8%) of cases were male, 3539 (26.2%) were female, and 7 (0.1%) were missing and/or invalid. The results of the data suggests that, while alcohol abuse is a problem, those over 55 are admitted into substance abuse clinics for many other reasons, not just alcohol abuse.

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Cimentada, Jorge. "Educational institutions and their effect on inequality: three papers on educational systems and inequality of achievement and opportunity." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/667640.

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By placing particular attention to the socio-economic dimension, this thesis explores the role of three pillars of an educational system: decentralization, early education and curricular tracking. The first article focuses on an experiment in Mexico that aimed to increase parental empowerment in the school's decision-making. Results show that increased participation produced an increase in cognitive abilities, however, this was mediated by the SES of the student. The second article brings an international perspective by comparing the evolution of the achievement gap over time in 32 countries. The findings suggest that tracking and vocational enrollment are important explanatory mechanisms of the cross-country variability in achievement gaps. The third article studies whether early education is associated with adult outcomes but concentrating on a particularly vulnerable population in the United States: GED recipients. Results show that participation in early education is associated with greater odds of graduating high school over attaining a GED. Esta tesis explora el rol de tres pilares de un sistema educativo: descentralización, educación temprana y seguimiento curricular. El primer artículo estudia un experimento en México que tuvo como objetivo aumentar el empoderamiento de padres en la toma de decisiones en la escuela. Los resultados muestran que mayor participación de los padres aumentó las habilidades cognitivas de sus hijos. Sin embargo, esto fue mediado por el SES del estudiante. El segundo artículo compara la evolución de la brecha de logros en 32 países. Los hallazgos sugieren que el seguimiento curricular y los estudios vocacionales pueden ser mecanismos explicativos de la brecha. El tercer artículo estudia si la educación temprana está asociada con resultados positivos en la adultez en Estados Unidos. Los resultados muestran que la participación en educación temprana está asociado con mayores probabilidades de graduarse de la escuela secundaria en comparación con la obtención de un GED.

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Fellers, Lauren Ashley. "Developing an approach to determine generalizability: A review of efficacy and effectiveness trials funded by the Institute of Education Sciences." Thesis, 2017. https://doi.org/10.7916/D86D5ZN1.

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Since its establishment the Institute of Education Sciences has been creating opportunities and driving standards to generate research in education that is high quality rigorous, and relevant. This dissertation is an analysis of current practices in Goal III and Goal IV studies, in order to (1) better understand of the types of schools that agree to take part in these studies, and (2) an assess how representative these schools are in comparison to important policy relevant populations. This dissertation focuses on a subset of studies that were funded from 2005-2014 by the Department of Education, IES, under the NCER grants-funding arm. Studies included were those whose interventions were aimed at elementary students across core curriculum and ELL program areas. Study schools were compared to two main populations, the U.S population of elementary schools and Title I elementary schools, as well as these populations on a state level. The B-index, proposed by Tipton (2014) was the main value of comparison used to assess the compositional similarity, or generalizability, of study schools to these identified inference populations. The findings show that across all studies included in this analysis, participating schools were representative of the U.S. population of schools, B-index = 0.9. Comparisons were also made between this collection of schools and the respective populations at the state level. Results showed that these schools were not representative of any individual states (no B-index values were greater than 0.90). Across all included studies, schools that agreed to participate were more often located in urban areas, had higher rates of FRL students, had more minority students enrolled, and had more total students, in both district and school, than those schools in the population of U.S. schools. It is clear that the movement of education research is to be relevant to a larger audience. Through this study it is clear that, across studies, we are achieving some representation in IES funded studies. However, the finer comparisons, study samples to individual state and individual studies to these populations, show limited similarity between study schools and populations of interest to policy makers using these study findings to make decisions about their schools.

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Ahmadi, Hedyeh. "A Three-Paper Dissertation on Longitudinal Data Analysis in Education and Psychology." Thesis, 2019. https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-s6nv-ty37.

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In longitudinal settings, modeling the covariance structure of repeated measure data is essential for proper analysis. The first paper in this three-paper dissertation presents a survey of four journals in the fields of Education and Psychology to identify the most commonly used methods for analyzing longitudinal data. It provides literature reviews and statistical details for each identified method. This paper also offers a summary table giving the benefits and drawbacks of all the surveyed methods in order to help researchers choose the optimal model according to the structure of their data. Finally, this paper highlights that even when scholars do use more advanced methods for analyzing repeated measure data, they very rarely report (or explore in their discussions) the covariance structure implemented in their choice of modeling. This suggests that, at least in some cases, researchers may not be taking advantage of the optimal covariance patterns. This paper identifies a gap in the standard statistical practices of the fields of Education and Psychology, namely that researchers are not modeling the covariance structure as an extension of fixed/random effects modeling. The second paper introduces the General Serial Covariance (GSC) approach, an extension of the Linear Mixed Modeling (LMM) or Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) techniques that models the covariance structure using spatial correlation functions such as Gaussian, Exponential, and other patterns. These spatial correlations model the covariance structure in a continuous manner and therefore can deal with missingness and imbalanced data in a straightforward way. A simulation study in the second paper reveals that when data are consistent with the GSC model, using basic HLMs is not optimal for the estimation and testing of the fixed effects. The third paper is a tutorial that uses a real-world data set from a drug abuse prevention intervention to demonstrate the use of the GSC and basic HLM models in R programming language. This paper utilizes variograms (a visualization tool borrowed from geostatistics) among other exploratory tools to determine the covariance structure of the repeated measure data. This paper aims to introduce the GSC model and variogram plots to Education and Psychology, where, according to the survey in the first paper, they are not in use. This paper can also help scholars seeking guidance for interpreting the fixed effect-parameters.

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Subedi, Bidya Raj Tate Richard L. "A demonstration of the three-level hierarchical generalized linear model applied to educational research." Diss., 2005. http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04112005-205644.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2005. Advisor: Dr. Richard Tate, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 14, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 163 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

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CHEN, MEI-CHNE, and 陳美珍. "The Research of the Problem-Oriented for Probability and Statistics for Secondary Education Teacher Qualification." Thesis, 2014. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/6ethp2.

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碩士 中原大學 應用數學研究所 102 The main purpose of the thesis aims to study the solution of probability statistics in Assessment of Teacher for Junior High School. Probability and statistics play a dominating role in the curricula of junior and senior high school.A good educator have to do many exercises to compensate for his or her deficiency. The mode on probability statistics offers us varieties of research themes and some techniques to solve the exercise and thinking mode, such as permutations, recursive method,segmentation method, and its probability distribution and expectation, descriptive statistics, union and independence,conditional probability, using the generated expectation and variance function evaluation. Most of the exercises can be solved. A few exercises can also be solved by means of this thinking mode. In the process of doing this thesis, I obtained lots of knowledge and had more understanding of probability statistics. And my related proficiency was enhanced. Some exercises are not difficult as we previously thought. It also offers numerous thinking modes to teach students how to solve exercises on probability statistics.

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Yang, Jiaxi. "Sequential Rerandomization in the Context of Small Samples." Thesis, 2021. https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-80h5-zk34.

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Rerandomization (Morgan & Rubin, 2012) is designed for the elimination of covariate imbalance at the design stage of causal inference studies. By improving the covariate balance, rerandomization helps provide more precise and trustworthy estimates (i.e., lower variance) of the average treatment effect (ATE). However, there are only a limited number of studies considering rerandomization strategies or discussing the covariate balance criteria that are observed before conducting the rerandomization procedure. In addition, researchers may find more difficulty in ensuring covariate balance across groups with small-sized samples. Furthermore, researchers conducting experimental design studies in psychology and education fields may not be able to gather data from all subjects simultaneously. Subjects may not arrive at the same time and experiments can hardly wait until the recruitment of all subjects. As a result, we have presented the following research questions: 1) How does the rerandomization procedure perform when the sample size is small? 2) Are there any other balancing criteria that may work better than the Mahalanobis distance in the context of small samples? 3) How well does the balancing criterion work in a sequential rerandomization design? Based on the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class, a Monte-Carlo simulation study is presented for finding a better covariate balance criterion with respect to small samples. In this study, the neural network predicting model is used to calculate missing counterfactuals. Then, to ensure covariate balance in the context of small samples, the rerandomization procedure uses various criteria measuring covariate balance to find the specific criterion for the most precise estimate of sample average treatment effect. Lastly, a relatively good covariate balance criterion is adapted to Zhou et al.’s (2018) sequential rerandomization procedure and we examined its performance. In this dissertation, we aim to identify the best covariate balance criterion using the rerandomization procedure to determine the most appropriate randomized assignment with respect to small samples. On the use of Bayesian logistic regression with Cauchy prior as the covariate balance criterion, there is a 19% decrease in the root mean square error (RMSE) of the estimated sample average treatment effect compared to pure randomization procedures. Additionally, it is proved to work effectively in sequential rerandomization, thus making a meaningful contribution to the studies of psychology and education. It further enhances the power of hypothesis testing in randomized experimental designs.

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Myatt, Emily Laura. "Effect of Learning Preference on Performance in an Online Learning Environment among Nutrition Professionals." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1805/5516.

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Background: Online courses in healthcare programs like Dietetics have increased in availability and popularity. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the connections between online learning environments and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) dimensions among Nutrition Professionals. This research will add to the knowledge base of educators responsible for the design and development of online nutrition courses and will enhance Nutrition Professionals’ academic and professional outcomes. Design: Semi-experimental study design. Subjects/Setting: Thirty-one Nutrition Professionals with mean age of 29 years old. All elements of the study were done online. Statistical Analysis: MBTI dimension summaries were done for descriptive statistics. Fisher’s Exact Test was used to compare frequency of MBTI dimensions in the learning modules (LM) and to analyze learning modality preference based on MBTI dimensions. Two-Sample T-Tests compared test scores for LM groups and test scores for extraverts and introverts. Paired T-Test assessed improvement in test scores related to LM preference. Chi-Square Test compared preferences for the second learning module for both LM groups. Results: The majority of participants’ MBTIs were ESFJ at 35% or ISFJ at 19%. There were more extraverts (71%) compared to introverts (29%). Both LM groups had similar MBTI dimensions. Extraverts and introverts had similar improvements in scores and LM preferences. LM groups performed similarly and in general participants preferred the second learning module they were assigned. Preference for the second LM could be because participants enjoyed the first LM and wanted to learn more information. Both LM groups significantly improved their scores (P=<.0001) in their first and second learning modules regardless of learning module design. Participants were highly motivated to learn as evidenced by their enrollment in this study and completion of 10 hours of learning modules. Motivation to learn may have been the strongest reason performance significantly improved. Conclusion: LM groups significantly improved their LM scores and learned similar amounts. MBTI dimensions extravert and introvert and preferred learning modality had limited impact on performance for this sample of Nutrition Professionals. These results indicate that motivation may be the key to increasing performance in online nutrition courses.

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Meyers, Jason Leon. "The impact of the inappropriate modeling of cross-classified data structures." Thesis, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/2086.

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Cassidy, Keely Marie. "Embryology in medical education: a mixed methods study and phenomenology of faculty and first year medical students." Diss., 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1805/10459.

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) The anatomical sciences are experiencing a notable decrease in the time and resources devoted to embryology in North American medical education. With more changes assured, it is necessary to investigate the current trends in curriculum, pedagogy, and related experiences of embryology teachers and learners. To address these concerns, the researcher developed two online mixed methods surveys: one for current anatomy and embryology faculty and another for first year medical students. The faculty survey was followed by interviews with volunteers from that cohort. The researcher used a grounded theory methodology to analyze the qualitative components of the surveys, and descriptive statistics to analyze the quantitative components of the surveys. Both the faculty and student surveys illuminated the vast differences between the explicit, implicit, and null curricular components found in the numerous medical education programs represented. A combined grounded theory methodology and phenomenological approach was used to analyze the interviews with faculty. This generated a lived experience narrative of the phenomenon of teaching embryological content to medical students in the modern world, which led to a better understanding of the needs and challenges that face this subject matter and those who teach it. In this fluid era of medical education reform and integration, the perceptions and experiences of anatomy and embryology faculty and first year medical students are invaluable to assessing the curriculum and pedagogy of this foundational anatomical science and formulating evidence-based recommendations for the future.

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Nkosi, Monde Eustice Gideon. "School climate of adult basic education centres." Diss., 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/27906.

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This study explored the school climate of adult basic education centres by investigating the extent to which these education centres showed evidence of control, staff cohesiveness, physical resources, and safe and orderly environment. The study was inspired by a lack of school climate studies that focused on adult basic education centres as many school climate studies had concentrated on investigating the school climate of primary and secondary schools. The broad research question which was addressed in the research study was: ‘What is the nature of the school climate of adult basic education centres as perceived by educators?’ The participating educators were randomly selected and a survey – in the form of a questionnaire – was administered. The questionnaire comprised the four scales mentioned above. The items from the four scales were validated through the use of both face and content-related validity procedures. Face validity was ensured through pre-testing. Content validity was achieved through expert review of the items used. The extent to which these items could be included as part of a scale was further explored by means of reliability analysis whose acceptable coefficient alpha was benchmarked at 0.65 and above. Reliability was used to explore the reliability of the questionnaire. The aspect of reliability used for this purpose was analysis of internal consistency. The main purpose was to ascertain whether all the items used in the four scales collectively measured the construct school climate. For example, the reliability analysis for the variable control had 0.79 as its coefficient alpha whilst the reliability analysis for the variable staff cohesiveness, physical resources and safe and orderly environment had 0.76, 0.89, 0.84 as corresponding coefficient alpha respectively. This implied that most items within the four scales measured the construct control, staff cohesiveness, physical resources, safe and orderly environment as part of the construct school climate. Furthermore, the coefficient alphas of these four scales compared well with the overall coefficient alpha of 0.84 for this study, which further implied that each of the scales had an immense contribution in the measurement of the construct school climate. Based on the scale rubric designed for the variable control (high score 28-21: moderate score 20-14; low score 13-0), the results from the analysis indicated that the centres under review had a fair level of control mechanisms in place as in all these centres the mean score varied between 23 and 25. On the basis of the scale rubric devised for staff cohesiveness (high score 32-24; moderate score 23-16; low score 15-0), it was also revealed that the majority of the centres had evidence of staff cohesiveness, as no low score was recorded for in most cases the mean score revolved between 22 and 25. Although, the results further indicated that there was an average degree of physical resources in most centres, it also became clear that not all centres had the same level of physical resources at their disposal as the majority of the centres had a mean score that fluctuated between 18 and 33. The scale rubric for physical resources was: between 40-30 for high score; between 29-20 for moderate score and between 19-0 for low score. Finally, the mean score for the variable safe and orderly environment alternated between the minimum mean score of 17 and the maximum mean score of 21. Based on the latter mean scores, it became clear that the majority of the centres had a safe and orderly environment level that fell within the moderate score category (between 20-14) whilst the remaining two centres had a high score category (between 28-21) and no centre had a low score category (between 13-0). Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2008. Curriculum Studies unrestricted

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Hoffman, Leslie Ann. "An exploration of reflective writing and self-assessments to explain professionalism lapses among medical students." Thesis, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/1805/5931.

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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Background: Recent literature on medical professionalism claims that self-awareness and the ability to reflect upon one’s experiences is a critical component of professionalism; however there is a paucity of empirical evidence to support this claim. This study employed a mixed methods approach to explore the utility of reflective writing and self- and peer assessments in explaining professionalism lapses among medical students. Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted using students from Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) who had been disciplined for unprofessional behavior between 2006-2013 (case group; n=70). A randomly selected control group (n=230) was used for comparison. Reflective ability was assessed using a validated rubric to score students’ professionalism journals. Mean reflection scores and assessment scores were compared using t-tests. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the impact of reflection scores and self- and peer assessment scores on the likelihood of having been disciplined for unprofessional behavior. Subsequent qualitative analysis further explored when and how students learned professionalism during their clinical experiences. Results: The study found that students in the case group exhibited lower reflective ability than control students. Furthermore, reflective ability was a significant factor in explaining the odds that a student had been cited for professionalism lapses. There were no differences in self-assessment scores between the two groups, but students in the case group had significantly lower peer assessment scores than control students. Peer assessment scores also had the greatest influence on the odds that a student had been cited for professionalism deficiencies during medical school. Qualitative analysis revealed that students learn professionalism from role models who demonstrated altruism and respect (or lack thereof). Conclusions: These findings suggest that students should be provided with guidance and feedback on their reflective writing to promote higher levels of reflection, which may reduce the number of students who are cited for professionalism lapses. These findings also indicate that peer assessments can be used to provide students with insightful feedback regarding their professional development. Finally, role models have a strong influence on students’ professional development, and therefore must be cognizant of the implicit messages their behaviors convey.

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Chien, Peng-Hsiung, and 簡鵬雄. "The Research of the Problem-Oriented for Probability and Statisticsin the Secondary Education." Thesis, 2013. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/50868917604981740200.

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碩士 中原大學 應用數學研究所 101 This dissertation provides discussion and clarification on the concepts of probability and statistics with which high school students in Taiwan easily get confused. Targeting the questions to which students tend to give the wrong answers, this dissertation, through the process of clarification and deduction, helps students better understand the concepts of probability and statistics, thereby being able to apply them in their daily lives. Through the elucidation of the concepts in the thesis, students are also expected to have little difficulty in this field after studying in college and cultivate abilities for the business related to statistics in the future. They are also expected to know the meanings statistics stand for, and make the right strategies.

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Prasad, Radhe Shyam. "A study on the application of statistical methods in educational researches." Thesis, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/2009/4733.

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Muller, Helene 1951. "Mapping the dynamics of research output productivity : viewed from a statistical research support perspective." Thesis, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/20124.

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Interest in effectively publishing academic articles stems from involvement in statistical research support provided to academic researchers conducting their research. In the context of this study research output (RO) is defined as the publication of research findings (articles) in academic journals accredited with the South African Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET). The vantage point of this research is that of research support statisticians. New knowledge is continually required to drive decision making, policy formulation, industry, economies, regulation, development, innovation and progress (SESCES 2015:9; Pullinger 2014). Quality published research serves as a reliable source of new information. Therefore measures are globally and nationally implemented to stimulate article publication. Such measures and incentives include measurement of publication rate; journal impact ratings; government funding of research based on research output; acknowledgement as research-intensive institutions, promotion opportunities linked to publication rate and more. Although the literature reports on aspects of the production and publication of research findings, limited research is reported on research output productivity (ROP) viewed from the perspective of the statistical community that support research within the research process. Therefore a theoretical framework for ROP had to be developed. Classic grounded theory (GT) proved to be an appropriate methodology for this research based on its theory-develop properties. The literature, responses to an open- and closed-ended questionnaire, observational field notes of this researcher and informal discussion notes were inter alia used as data bases in the cycles of data-collection-analysis-and-comparison that characterise GT implementation. Theoretical components (‘categories’) that emerged in the research include the research process as central concept (the ‘core category’), a research practice component; role players in the research process; the attitude of researchers; knowledge of researchers; skills and attributes of researchers; research resources and research resource centres; and the research climate of the researcher environment. These components constitute the factors that impact ROP. Relational links - which forms the second leg of a developing theory - between these components are explained quantitatively in terms of multivariate linear regression equations; a profile of researcher-type (discriminant analysis) and qualitatively by means of the literature and field notes of this researcher. The emerged theoretical model indicates that knowledge and skills of academic researchers, as well as researcher-type directly impact on the research process and therefore on ROP. Furthermore attitude forms a discriminatory attribute of academic researchers. The objective with the development of the model of ROP was to identify important components of RO delivery and propose grassroots recommendations to promote ROP. Curriculum and Instructional Studies D. Ed. (Didactics)

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Onyiuke, Young Sook. "Childhood music education in Nigeria a case study /." Thesis, 2005. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10132006-135624/.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Education – Research – Statistics'

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