Weinberg, W A; McLean, A; Snider, R L; Rintelmann, J W; Brumback, R A
1989-12-01
Eight groups of learning disabled children (N = 100), categorized by the clinical Lexical Paradigm as good readers or poor readers, were individually administered the Gilmore Oral Reading Test, Form D, by one of four input/retrieval methods: (1) the standardized method of administration in which the child reads each paragraph aloud and then answers five questions relating to the paragraph [read/recall method]; (2) the child reads each paragraph aloud and then for each question selects the correct answer from among three choices read by the examiner [read/choice method]; (3) the examiner reads each paragraph aloud and reads each of the five questions to the child to answer [listen/recall method]; and (4) the examiner reads each paragraph aloud and then for each question reads three multiple-choice answers from which the child selects the correct answer [listen/choice method]. The major difference in scores was between the groups tested by the recall versus the orally read multiple-choice methods. This study indicated that poor readers who listened to the material and were tested by orally read multiple-choice format could perform as well as good readers. The performance of good readers was not affected by listening or by the method of testing. The multiple-choice testing improved the performance of poor readers independent of the input method. This supports the arguments made previously that a "bypass approach" to education of poor readers in which testing is accomplished using an orally read multiple-choice format can enhance the child's school performance on reading-related tasks. Using a listening while reading input method may further enhance performance.
Examining the Prediction of Reading Comprehension on Different Multiple-Choice Tests
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Andreassen, Rune; Braten, Ivar
2010-01-01
In this study, 180 Norwegian fifth-grade students with a mean age of 10.5 years were administered measures of word recognition skills, strategic text processing, reading motivation and working memory. Six months later, the same students were given three different multiple-choice reading comprehension measures. Based on three forced-order…
English 30, Part B: Reading. Questions Booklet. Grade 12 Diploma Examination, January 1997.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton. Student Evaluation Branch.
Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in English 30, this "questions booklet" presents 70 multiple choice test items based on 8 reading selections in the accompanying readings booklet. After instructions for students, the booklet presents the multiple choice items which test students' comprehension of the poetry,…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lee, Jia-Ying
2011-01-01
The main purpose of this study was to compare the strategies used by Chinese-speaking students when confronted with familiar versus unfamiliar topics in a multiple-choice format reading comprehension test. The focus was on describing what students do when they are taking reading comprehension tests by asking students to verbalize their thoughts.…
Comparing comprehension measured by multiple-choice and open-ended questions.
Ozuru, Yasuhiro; Briner, Stephen; Kurby, Christopher A; McNamara, Danielle S
2013-09-01
This study compared the nature of text comprehension as measured by multiple-choice format and open-ended format questions. Participants read a short text while explaining preselected sentences. After reading the text, participants answered open-ended and multiple-choice versions of the same questions based on their memory of the text content. The results indicated that performance on open-ended questions was correlated with the quality of self-explanations, but performance on multiple-choice questions was correlated with the level of prior knowledge related to the text. These results suggest that open-ended and multiple-choice format questions measure different aspects of comprehension processes. The results are discussed in terms of dual process theories of text comprehension. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Davison, Mark L.; Biancarosa, Gina; Carlson, Sarah E.; Seipel, Ben; Liu, Bowen
2018-01-01
The computer-administered Multiple-Choice Online Causal Comprehension Assessment (MOCCA) for Grades 3 to 5 has an innovative, 40-item multiple-choice structure in which each distractor corresponds to a comprehension process upon which poor comprehenders have been shown to rely. This structure requires revised thinking about measurement issues…
The positive and negative consequences of multiple-choice testing.
Roediger, Henry L; Marsh, Elizabeth J
2005-09-01
Multiple-choice tests are commonly used in educational settings but with unknown effects on students' knowledge. The authors examined the consequences of taking a multiple-choice test on a later general knowledge test in which students were warned not to guess. A large positive testing effect was obtained: Prior testing of facts aided final cued-recall performance. However, prior testing also had negative consequences. Prior reading of a greater number of multiple-choice lures decreased the positive testing effect and increased production of multiple-choice lures as incorrect answers on the final test. Multiple-choice testing may inadvertently lead to the creation of false knowledge.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Braten, Ivar; Ferguson, Leila E.; Anmarkrud, Oistein; Stromso, Helge I.
2013-01-01
Sixty-five Norwegian 10th graders used the software Read&Answer 2.0 (Vidal-Abarca et al., 2011) to read five different texts presenting conflicting views on the controversial scientific issue of sun exposure and health. Participants were administered a multiple-choice topic-knowledge measure before and after reading, a word recognition task,…
COMPUTER TECHNIQUES FOR WEEKLY MULTIPLE-CHOICE TESTING.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
BROYLES, DAVID
TO ENCOURAGE POLITICAL SCIENCE STUDENTS TO READ PROPERLY AND CONTINUOUSLY, THE AUTHOR GIVES FREQUENT SHORT QUIZZES BASED ON THE ASSIGNED READINGS. FOR EASE IN ADMINISTRATION AND SCORING, HE USES MARK-SENSE CARDS, ON WHICH THE STUDENT MARKS DESIGNATED AREAS TO INDICATE HIS NUMBER AND HIS CHOICE OF ANSWERS. TO EMPHASIZE THE VALUE OF CONTINUED HIGH…
Are Learning Disabled Students "Test-Wise?": An Inquiry into Reading Comprehension Test Items.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Scruggs, Thomas E.; Lifson, Steve
The ability to correctly answer reading comprehension test items, without having read the accompanying reading passage, was compared for third grade learning disabled students and their peers from a regular classroom. In the first experiment, fourteen multiple choice items were selected from the Stanford Achievement Test. No reading passages were…
The effect of reading assignments in guided inquiry learning on students’ critical thinking skills
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Syarkowi, A.
2018-05-01
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of reading assignment in guided inquiry learning on senior high school students’ critical thinking skills. The research method which was used in this research was quasi-experiment research method with reading task as the treatment. Topic of inquiry process was Kirchhoff law. The instrument was used for this research was 25 multiple choice interpretive exercises with justification. The multiple choice test was divided on 3 categories such as involve basic clarification, the bases for a decision and inference skills. The result of significance test proved the improvement of students’ critical thinking skills of experiment class was significantly higher when compared with the control class, so it could be concluded that reading assignment can improve students’ critical thinking skills.
Grade 12 Diploma Examination, English 33. Part B: Reading (Multiple Choice). Readings Booklet.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Examination in English 33 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test (to be administered along with the questions booklet) contains short reading selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama, including the following: an excerpt from "Catch-22" (Joseph Heller); "School Thief"…
Grade 12 Diploma Examination, English 30. Part B: Reading (Multiple Choice). Readings Booklet.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test (to be administered along with the questions booklet) contains 10 short reading selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama, including the following: an excerpt from "Where Did You Go?""Out." (Robert Paul…
Technical Adequacy of the easyCBM Grade 2 Reading Measures. Technical Report #1004
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jamgochian, Elisa; Park, Bitnara Jasmine; Nese, Joseph F. T.; Lai, Cheng-Fei; Saez, Leilani; Anderson, Daniel; Alonzo, Julie; Tindal, Gerald
2010-01-01
In this technical report, we provide reliability and validity evidence for the easyCBM[R] Reading measures for grade 2 (word and passage reading fluency and multiple choice reading comprehension). Evidence for reliability includes internal consistency and item invariance. Evidence for validity includes concurrent, predictive, and construct…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test (to be administered along with the questions booklet) contains 10 short reading selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama, including the following: "My Magical Metronome" (Lewis Thomas); "Queen Street…
Grade 12 Diploma Examination, English 30. Part B: Reading (Multiple Choice). Readings Booklet.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test (to be administered along with the questions booklet) contains 10 short reading selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama, including the following: "At the Age at Which Mozart Was Dead Already" (Ellen Goodman);…
Passage Independence within Standardized Reading Comprehension Tests
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Roy-Charland, Annie; Colangelo, Gabrielle; Foglia, Victoria; Reguigui, Leïla
2017-01-01
In tests used to measure reading comprehension, validity is important in obtaining accurate results. Unfortunately, studies have shown that people can correctly answer some questions of these tests without reading the related passage. These findings bring forth the need to address whether this phenomenon is observed in multiple-choice only tests…
How Individual Differences Interact with Task Demands in Text Processing
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wang, Zuowei; Sabatini, John; O'Reilly, Tenaha; Feng, Gary
2017-01-01
Reading is affected by both situational requirements and one's cognitive skills. The current study investigated how individual differences interacted with task requirements to determine reading behavior and outcome. We recorded the eye movements of college students, who differed in reading efficiency, while they completed a multiple-choice (MC)…
Using a Classroom Response System to Improve Multiple-Choice Performance in AP® Physics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bertrand, Peggy
2009-04-01
Participation in rigorous high school courses such as Advanced Placement (AP®) Physics increases the likelihood of college success, especially for students who are traditionally underserved. Tackling difficult multiple-choice exams should be part of any AP program because well-constructed multiple-choice questions, such as those on AP exams and on the Force Concept Inventory,2 are particularly good at rooting out common and persisting student misconceptions. Additionally, there are barriers to multiple-choice performance that have little to do with content mastery. For example, a student might fail to read the question thoroughly, forget to apply a reasonableness test to the answer, or simply work too slowly.
Fast Assessments with Digital Tools Using Multiple-Choice Questions
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Howell, Dusti D.; Tseng, Daphne ChingYu; Colorado-Resa, Jozenia T.
2017-01-01
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) have come a long way since they were used in "The Kansas Silent Reading Test" in 1915. After over 100 years of MCQs, new innovative digital tools using this form of assessment can help foster interactivity in today's classrooms. This article describes three free online MCQ tools that are relatively quick…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
Intended for students taking the English 30 Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in Alberta, Canada, this test (to be administered along with a questions booklet) contains the reading selections portion of Part B, the reading component of the June 1988 tests. Representing the genres of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama, the 10 selections consist of:…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
Intended for students taking the English 33 Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in Alberta, Canada, this test (to be administered along with a questions booklet) contains the reading selections portion of Part B, the reading component of the June 1988 tests. The following short selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, and day-to-day…
Critical Reading Comprehension in an Era of Accountability
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Comber, Barbara; Nixon, Helen
2011-01-01
This paper argues for the need for critical reading comprehension in an era of accountability that often promotes reading comprehension as readily assessable through students answering multiple choice questions of unseen texts. Based upon a 1 year study investigating literacy in Years 4-9 the ways strong-performing primary schools develop serious…
Motivating Adolescent Readers: A Middle School Reading Fluency and Prosody Intervention
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Whittington, Marta
2012-01-01
Adolescent learners face a complexity of reading content they have never before encountered as they enter middle school and become independent in structuring their own academic frameworks. Some students become disconnected and unmotivated readers as school competes with their multiple reading lives. This study examined the use of choice along with…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test (to be administered along with a questions booklet) includes the following eight short selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama: "Loyalties" (Roo Borson); "Clever Animals" (Lewis Thomas); "Death of…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Examinations in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test (to be administered along with a questions booklet) includes the following nine short selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama: "The Biggest Liar in the World" (Harry Mark Petrakis); "Victorian…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
Intended for students taking Grade 12 Diploma Examinations in English 33 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test is designed to be administered with a questions booklet. The following short selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, and day-to-day functional materials are included: (1) "M is for Mother" (Marjorie Riddle);…
Effect of Display Factors on Chinese Reading Times, Comprehension Scores and Preferences
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chan, A.H.S.; Lee, P.S.K.
2005-01-01
This paper presents the results of research on elemental standard reading time estimates for traditional Chinese characters on computer displays and explores the factors that may affect the time estimates. Seventy-two native Chinese readers, aged 19 to 24, were asked to read 16 simple passages and then answer four multiple-choice questions.…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
Intended for students taking the Grade 12 Examination in English 30 in Alberta, Canada, this reading test (to be administered along with a questions booklet) includes the following 10 short selections taken from fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama: "Parents as People (with Children)" (Ellen Goodman); "Everybody Knows about the…
Odegard, Timothy N; Koen, Joshua D
2007-11-01
Both positive and negative testing effects have been demonstrated with a variety of materials and paradigms (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006b). The present series of experiments replicate and extend the research of Roediger and Marsh (2005) with the addition of a "none-of-the-above" response option. Participants (n=32 in both experiments) read a set of passages, took an initial multiple-choice test, completed a filler task, and then completed a final cued-recall test (Experiment 1) or multiple-choice test (Experiment 2). Questions were manipulated on the initial multiple-choice test by adding a "none-of-the-above" response alternative (choice "E") that was incorrect ("E" Incorrect) or correct ("E" Correct). The results from both experiments demonstrated that the positive testing effect was negated when the "none-of-the-above" alternative was the correct response on the initial multiple-choice test, but was still present when the "none-of-the-above" alternative was an incorrect response.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
As part of an examination required by the Alberta (Canada) Department of Education in order for 12th grade students to receive a diploma in French, this booklet contains the 80 multiple choice questions portion of Part B, the language and literature component of the January 1987 tests. Representing the genres of poetry, short story, the novel, and…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
As part of an examination required by the Alberta (Canada) Department of Education in order for 12th grade students to receive a diploma in French, this booklet contains the 80 multiple choice questions portion of Part B, the language and literature component of the January 1988 tests. Representing the genres of poetry, short story, novel, and…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Roizen, Merle A.
A study of students' self-expressed test-taking strategies for reading comprehension tests in English as a second language (ESL) had as subjects 86 Hebrew-speaking university students in Israel. The students were given a reading comprehension test, half with open-ended questions and half with multiple choice. Half the responses were anonymous and…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yeari, Menahem; van den Broek, Paul; Oudega, Marja
2015-01-01
The present study examined the effect of reading goals on the processing and memory of central and peripheral textual information. Using eye-tracking methodology, we compared the effect of four common reading goals--entertainment, presentation, studying for a close-ended (multiple-choice) questions test, and studying for an open-ended questions…
Applied Reading Test--Forms A and B, Interim Manual, and Answer Sheets.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Australian Council for Educational Research, Hawthorn.
Designed for use in the selection of apprentices, trainees, technical and trade personnel, and any other persons who need to read and understand text of a technical nature, this Applied Reading Test specimen set contains six passages and 32 items, has a 30-minute time limit, and is presented in a reusable multiple choice test booklet. The specimen…
FormScanner: Open-Source Solution for Grading Multiple-Choice Exams
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Young, Chadwick; Lo, Glenn; Young, Kaisa; Borsetta, Alberto
2016-01-01
The multiple-choice exam remains a staple for many introductory physics courses. In the past, people have graded these by hand or even flaming needles. Today, one usually grades the exams with a form scanner that utilizes optical mark recognition (OMR). Several companies provide these scanners and particular forms, such as the eponymous "Scantron." OMR scanners combine hardware and software—a scanner and OMR program—to read and grade student-filled forms.
"Making the Difficult Choice": Understanding Georgia's Test-Based Grade Retention Policy in Reading
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Huddleston, Andrew P.
2015-01-01
The author uses Bourdieu's concepts of field, capital, and habitus to analyze how students, parents, teachers, and administrators are responding to Georgia's test-based grade retention policy in reading at one Georgia elementary school. In this multiple case study, the author interviewed, observed, and collected documents regarding ten fifth…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Entin, Eileen B.; Klare, George B.
1980-01-01
An approach to assessing context dependence was applied to data from the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. The results suggest that scores on the difficult passages are inflated because the examinees can answer the questions without having to comprehend the passage. (MKM)
Collins, Alyson A; Lindström, Esther R; Compton, Donald L
Researchers have increasingly investigated sources of variance in reading comprehension test scores, particularly with students with reading difficulties (RD). The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine if the achievement gap between students with RD and typically developing (TD) students varies as a function of different reading comprehension response formats (e.g., multiple choice, cloze). A systematic literature review identified 82 eligible studies. All studies administered reading comprehension assessments to students with RD and TD students in Grades K-12. Hedge's g standardized mean difference effect sizes were calculated, and random effects robust variance estimation techniques were used to aggregate average weighted effect sizes for each response format. Results indicated that the achievement gap between students with RD and TD students was larger for some response formats (e.g., picture selection ES g = -1.80) than others (e.g., retell ES g = -0.60). Moreover, for multiple-choice, cloze, and open-ended question response formats, single-predictor metaregression models explored potential moderators of heterogeneity in effect sizes. No clear patterns, however, emerged in regard to moderators of heterogeneity in effect sizes across response formats. Findings suggest that the use of different response formats may lead to variability in the achievement gap between students with RD and TD students.
An Alternative Method for Teaching and Testing Reading Comprehension.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Courchene, Robert
1995-01-01
The summary cloze technique offers an alternative to multiple choice. Summary cloze exercises are prepared by summarizing the content of the original text. The shortened text is transformed into a rational cloze exercise. The learner completes the summary text using the list of choices provided. This technique is a good measure of reading…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
As part of an examination required by the Alberta (Canada) Department of Education in order for 12th grade students to receive a diploma in French, this booklet contains the reading selections portion of Part B, the language and literature component of the January 1987 tests. Representing the genres of poetry, short story, novel, and drama, the…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton.
As part of an examination required by the Alberta (Canada) Department of Education in order for 12th grade students to receive a diploma in French, this booklet contains the reading selections portion of Part B, the language and literature component of the January 1988 tests. Representing the genres of poetry, short story, novel, and drama, the…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Park, Bitnara Jasmine; Irvin, P. Shawn; Lai, Cheng-Fei; Alonzo, Julie; Tindal, Gerald
2012-01-01
In this technical report, we present the results of a reliability study of the fifth-grade multiple choice reading comprehension measures available on the easyCBM learning system conducted in the spring of 2011. Analyses include split-half reliability, alternate form reliability, person and item reliability as derived from Rasch analysis,…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lai, Cheng-Fei; Irvin, P. Shawn; Alonzo, Julie; Park, Bitnara Jasmine; Tindal, Gerald
2012-01-01
In this technical report, we present the results of a reliability study of the second-grade multiple choice reading comprehension measures available on the easyCBM learning system conducted in the spring of 2011. Analyses include split-half reliability, alternate form reliability, person and item reliability as derived from Rasch analysis,…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Park, Bitnara Jasmine; Irvin, P. Shawn; Alonzo, Julie; Lai, Cheng-Fei; Tindal, Gerald
2012-01-01
In this technical report, we present the results of a reliability study of the fourth-grade multiple choice reading comprehension measures available on the easyCBM learning system conducted in the spring of 2011. Analyses include split-half reliability, alternate form reliability, person and item reliability as derived from Rasch analysis,…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Irvin, P. Shawn; Alonzo, Julie; Park, Bitnara Jasmine; Lai, Cheng-Fei; Tindal, Gerald
2012-01-01
In this technical report, we present the results of a reliability study of the sixth-grade multiple choice reading comprehension measures available on the easyCBM learning system conducted in the spring of 2011. Analyses include split-half reliability, alternate form reliability, person and item reliability as derived from Rasch analysis,…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Irvin, P. Shawn; Alonzo, Julie; Lai, Cheng-Fei; Park, Bitnara Jasmine; Tindal, Gerald
2012-01-01
In this technical report, we present the results of a reliability study of the seventh-grade multiple choice reading comprehension measures available on the easyCBM learning system conducted in the spring of 2011. Analyses include split-half reliability, alternate form reliability, person and item reliability as derived from Rasch analysis,…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lai, Cheng-Fei; Irvin, P. Shawn; Park, Bitnara Jasmine; Alonzo, Julie; Tindal, Gerald
2012-01-01
In this technical report, we present the results of a reliability study of the third-grade multiple choice reading comprehension measures available on the easyCBM learning system conducted in the spring of 2011. Analyses include split-half reliability, alternate form reliability, person and item reliability as derived from Rasch analysis,…
Differential Effects of Headings on High- and Low-Knowledge Readers.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wilhite, Stephen C.
Two experiments investigated to what extent schema activation is involved in any facilitative effect that headings may have on multiple-choice test performance following the reading of a passage. In the first experiment, 1,116 college students read a 1,760-word passage on human sexuality with headings either present or absent. An analysis of the…
Differential Competencies Contributing to Children's Comprehension of Narrative and Expository Texts
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Best, Rachel M.; Floyd, Randy G.; Mcnamara, Danielle S.
2008-01-01
This study examined the influences of reading decoding skills and world knowledge on third graders' comprehension of narrative and expository texts. Children read a narrative text and an expository text. Comprehension of each text was assessed with a free recall prompt, three cued recall prompts, and 12 multiple-choice questions. Tests from the…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Li, Hongli; Suen, Hoi K.
2015-01-01
This study examines how Chinese ESL learners recognize English words while responding to a multiple-choice reading test as compared to Romance-language-speaking ESL learners. Four adult Chinese ESL learners and three adult Romance-language-speaking ESL learners participated in a think-aloud study with the Michigan English Language Assessment…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Anderton, Gretchen E.
2009-01-01
This mixed-methods study examined romance readers' perceptions of how reading romance novels has impacted their sex lives, feelings about their sex partners, knowledge of sexuality and their sexual behavior. Fifty-three women romance readers over the age of 18 completed an online survey composed of multiple choice and open-ended essay questions. …
On the Use of the Immediate Recall Task as a Measure of Second Language Reading Comprehension
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chang, Yuh-Fang
2006-01-01
The immediate written recall task, a widely used measure of both first language (L1) and second language (L2) reading comprehension, has been advocated over traditional test methods such as multiple choice, cloze tests and open-ended questions because it is a direct and integrative assessment task. It has been, however, criticized as requiring…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Clemens, Nathan H.; Davis, John L.; Simmons, Leslie E.; Oslund, Eric L.; Simmons, Deborah C.
2015-01-01
Standardized measures are often used as an index of students' reading comprehension and scores have important implications, particularly for students who perform below expectations. This study examined secondary-level students' patterns of responding and the prevalence and impact of non-attempted items on a timed, group-administered,…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Abu-Rabia, Salim
1996-01-01
Examines Israeli-Druze students' reading comprehension in Hebrew as a second language as related to their attitudes, cultural background, and interest in the material. Participants were administered questionnaires, Arab and Jewish cultural stories, and multiple-choice questions about each story. Results are discussed. (51 references) (Author/CK)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Blumenthal, Gary B.; Robbins, Donald
1977-01-01
Three experiments were conducted, investigating the buildup of and the release from proactive interference, in which the stimulus materials were brief prose passages about specific topics. Each passage was followed by a multiple-choice test, and then a final test on all the passages read was given. Implications of the data for standardized tests…
Improving Learning with the Critical Thinking Paradigm: MIBOLC Modules A and B
2009-02-06
Model encourages more active learning by requiring much of the learning material to be read prior to classroom instruction, and allotting more time to...for mental interaction with content Rote memorization Multiple Choice exams/quizzes Lower level of intensity in course work Active ... Learning Engaged Lecture Requires mental interaction with content Close reading to understand essential ideas Exams/Quizzes reflective of
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Novogrodsky, Rama; Caldwell-Harris, Catherine; Fish, Sarah; Hoffmeister, Robert J.
2014-01-01
It is unknown if the developmental path of antonym knowledge in deaf children increases continuously with age and correlates with reading comprehension, as it does in hearing children. In the current study we tested 564 students aged 4-18 on a receptive multiple-choice American Sign Language (ASL) antonym test. A subgroup of 138 students aged 7-18…
Retrieval practice with short-answer, multiple-choice, and hybrid tests.
Smith, Megan A; Karpicke, Jeffrey D
2014-01-01
Retrieval practice improves meaningful learning, and the most frequent way of implementing retrieval practice in classrooms is to have students answer questions. In four experiments (N=372) we investigated the effects of different question formats on learning. Students read educational texts and practised retrieval by answering short-answer, multiple-choice, or hybrid questions. In hybrid conditions students first attempted to recall answers in short-answer format, then identified answers in multiple-choice format. We measured learning 1 week later using a final assessment with two types of questions: those that could be answered by recalling information verbatim from the texts and those that required inferences. Practising retrieval in all format conditions enhanced retention, relative to a study-only control condition, on both verbatim and inference questions. However, there were little or no advantages of answering short-answer or hybrid format questions over multiple-choice questions in three experiments. In Experiment 4, when retrieval success was improved under initial short-answer conditions, there was an advantage of answering short-answer or hybrid questions over multiple-choice questions. The results challenge the simple conclusion that short-answer questions always produce the best learning, due to increased retrieval effort or difficulty, and demonstrate the importance of retrieval success for retrieval-based learning activities.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sadoski, Mark C.
A study investigated the role of visual imagery in the comprehension and retention of prose. Subjects were 48 fifth grade students who orally read a story and then completed three comprehension tasks directly related to the story: a retelling, an oral reading cloze test, and a multiple choice question test comprised of items demonstrated to be…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hanna, Tania Tamara
Effects of nonfiction guided interactive read-alouds and think-alouds as a supplement to basal science textbooks on three vocabulary measures, definitions, examples, and characteristics, and one multiple-choice comprehension measure were assessed for 127 fourth graders over three time periods: pretest, posttest, and a 2-week delayed posttest. Two of three fourth-grade elementary science teachers implemented a series of 12 content-enhanced guided interactive scripted lessons. Two of these teachers implemented two treatments each. The first condition employed basal science textbooks as the text for guided interactive read-alouds and think-alouds while the second treatment employed basal science textbooks in conjunction with nonfiction text sets as the texts for guided interactive read-alouds and think-alouds. The third teacher, guided by traditional lesson plans, provided students with silent independent reading instruction using basal science textbooks. Multivariate analyses of variance and analyses of variance tests showed that mean scores for both treatment groups significantly improved on definitions and characteristics measures at posttest and either stabilized or slightly declined at delayed posttest. The treatment-plus group lost considerably on the examples posttest measure. The treatment group improved mean scores on the examples posttest measure, outperforming the treatment-plus group and the control group. Alternately, the control group significantly improved on the delayed posttest examples measure. Additionally, the two groups implementing guided interactive read-alouds and think-alouds performed better than the independent reading group on multiple-choice comprehension measures at posttest and sustained those gains 2 weeks later on delayed posttests. Findings maintain the incremental nature of vocabulary acquisition and development research and emphasize the roles of listening and speaking as critical features for integrating vocabulary into long-term memory.
Will the "Real" Proficiency Standard Please Stand Up?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Baron, Joan Boykoff; And Others
Connecticut's experience with four different standard-setting methods regarding multiple choice proficiency tests is described. The methods include Angoff, Nedelsky, Borderline Group, and Contrasting Groups Methods. All Connecticut ninth graders were administered proficiency tests in reading, language arts, and mathematics. As soon as final test…
Evaluating the Efficacy of Elaborative Strategies for Remembering Expository Text.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Boudreau, Rhonda L.; Wood, Eileen; Willoughby, Teena; Specht, Jacqueline
1999-01-01
One hundred Canadian undergraduates read a lengthy expository text, used one of five study strategies for 50 minutes, and completed recall and multiple-choice tests. Students using self-study, repetition, or unsupported elaborative interrogation had difficulty recognizing the passage's main ideas. Elaborative interrogation's effectiveness was…
Studies of the Seriousness of Three Threats to Passage Dependence.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hanna, Gerald S.; Oaster, Thomas R.
1980-01-01
Certain kinds of multiple-choice reading comprehension questions may be answered correctly at the higher-than-chance level when they are administered without the accompanying passage. These high risk questions do not necessarily lead to passage dependence invalidity. They threaten but do not prove invalidity. (Author/CP)
Mental juggling: when does multitasking impair reading comprehension?
Cho, Kit W; Altarriba, Jeanette; Popiel, Maximilian
2015-01-01
The present study investigated the conditions under which multitasking impairs reading comprehension. Participants read prose passages (the primary task), some of which required them to perform a secondary task. In Experiment 1, we compared two different types of secondary tasks (answering trivia questions and solving math problems). Reading comprehension was assessed using a multiple-choice test that measured both factual and conceptual knowledge. The results showed no observable detrimental effects associated with multitasking. In Experiment 2, the secondary task was a cognitive load task that required participants to remember a string of numbers while reading the passages. Performance on the reading comprehension test was lower in the cognitive load conditions relative to the no-load condition. The present study delineates the conditions under which multitasking can impair or have no effect on reading comprehension. These results further our understanding of our capacity to multitask and have practical implications in our technologically advanced society in which multitasking has become commonplace.
Perception of male drinkers as a function of their alcoholic beverage preference.
Curtin, L; Fisher, R D
1993-05-01
The present study examined perception of a man's likelihood of driving after drinking and his ability to do so as a function of his choice of beverage. Perceptions of his social characteristics were also examined. The sample was composed of 200 volunteer undergraduate psychology students. Equal numbers of male and female subjects read one of four vignettes which varied only in the male protagonist's choice of beverage: beer, wine, shots of distilled spirits, or cola. After reading the story, subjects answered multiple-choice questions about the character, tapping social judgments, situational judgments and drinking and driving judgments. Subject drinking habits were also assessed. The most notable result was the consistently positive perception of the protagonist portrayed as an abstainer. The lack of a consistent alcoholic beverage distinction implies that the beer-spirits double standard is far from a clear-cut discrimination. Possible explanations for results are discussed. This study questions the robustness of the alcoholic beverage type bias and reflects the need for future research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lee, Jia-Ying
2015-01-01
This study compares the language learner and test-taking strategies used by Chinese-speaking graduate students when confronted with familiar versus unfamiliar topics in an English multiple-choice format reading comprehension test. Thirty-six participants at a large mid-western university performed three tasks: A content knowledge vocabulary…
La Mujer Chicana. (The Chicana Woman).
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Herrera, Gloria; Lizcano, Jeanette
As objectives for this secondary level unit, students are to: (1) read the unit with comprehension; (2) demonstrate their comprehension of the Chicana's history by participating in an oral discussion utilizing four discussion questions; and (3) correctly answer 15 of the 20 questions on a multiple choice test. The unit consists of a brief history…
Brief Daily Writing Activities and Performance on Major Multiple-Choice Exams
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Turner, Haley C.; Bliss, Stacy L.; Hautau, Briana; Carroll, Erin; Jaspers, Kathryn E.; Williams, Robert L.
2006-01-01
Although past research indicates that giving brief quizzes, administered either regularly or randomly, may lead to improvement in students' performance on major exams, negligible research has targeted daily writing activities that require the processing of course information at a deeper level than might result from simply reading course materials…
The Financial Knowledge of College Freshmen
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Avard, Stephen; Manton, Edgar; English, Donald; Walker, Janet
2005-01-01
The problem of the study was to determine college freshmen's financial knowledge. The entire freshman English 101, College Reading and Writing class at Texas A&M University--Commerce was surveyed. There were a total of 407 students enrolled in these classes. There were 20 multiple choice questions dealing with basic knowledge of financial issues,…
Sex or Gender Identity? Understanding Children's Reading Choices and Motivation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McGeown, Sarah P.
2015-01-01
The extent to which children's reading choices could be predicted by their motivation and gender identity was examined. Two hundred and twenty-three children (average age 9 years 11 months) completed questionnaires measuring book reading choices, reading motivation, gender identity (identification with masculine and feminine traits) and a…
The Language Skill Change Project (LSCP): Background, Procedures, and Preliminary Findings
1987-12-01
word in the dictionary so I can understand what I am reading. 49. I use flashcards (with the new word or phrase on one side and the definition or...mostly on a term paper rather than multiple choice tests. 6. I would rather watch a heated debate on a controversial topic than a popular music program
To Change or Not to Change: Investigating the Value of MCQ Answer Changing for Gulf Arab Students
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Al-Hamly, Mashael; Coombe, Christine
2005-01-01
This study investigates whether the practice of answer changing on multiple-choice questions (MCQs) is beneficial to Gulf Arab students' overall test performance. The proficiency exam used in this study is the Michigan English Language Institute College English Test - Grammar, Cloze, Vocabulary, Reading (MELICET-GCVR), which was developed using…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Peeck, J.
1979-01-01
Fifth- and sixth-graders were tested with multiple-choice fact and inference questions about a reading passage, then given feedback either with or without the text present. Retesting occurred four days later. Results corroborated recent findings on age-related improvement in inferential processing comprehension and memory. (Author/SJL)
The Effects of Question Generation, Question Answering and Reading on Prose Learning.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Owens, Anthony Mathew
Eighty-seven students took part in a study (using three experimental conditions) of the effect of question generation, question answering, and rereading on an immediate posttest and on a delayed test of knowledge of a text passage. In condition G, subjects generated multiple-choice questions that would test knowledge of each of the six content…
End-of-Grade (EOG) Multiple-Choice Test Results, 2008-09. Measuring Up. E&R Report No. 10.12
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McMillen, Brad
2010-01-01
In 2008-09, results from End-of-Grade (EOG) reading and mathematics tests in WCPSS continued to demonstrate an upward trend across grade levels and student subgroups. Disaggregation of results by ethnicity, income level, disability status, and English proficiency status showed that achievement gaps between historically underperforming subgroups…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Meyer, Bonnie J. F.; Wijekumar, Kay; Middlemiss, Wendy; Higley, Kelli; Lei, Pui-Wa; Meier, Catherine; Spielvogel, James
2010-01-01
This study investigated the effects of different versions of Web-based instruction focused on text structure on fifth- and seventh-grade students' reading comprehension. Stratified random assignment was employed in a two-factor experiment embedded within a pretest and multiple posttests design (immediate and four-month delayed posttests). The two…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Anderson, Richard C.; Freebody, Peter
The "yes/no" method of vocabulary assessment requires students to indicate words they know from among a list of words and nonwords. Preliminary evidence gained from a study involving fifth grade students indicates that the method is superior in many ways to the multiple choice method of assessment. Analysis of "false alarms," cases in which…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Andrich, David; Marais, Ida; Humphry, Stephen Mark
2016-01-01
Recent research has shown how the statistical bias in Rasch model difficulty estimates induced by guessing in multiple-choice items can be eliminated. Using vertical scaling of a high-profile national reading test, it is shown that the dominant effect of removing such bias is a nonlinear change in the unit of scale across the continuum. The…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Phemister, Art W.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Georgia's Choice reading curriculum on third grade science scores on the Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test from 2002 to 2008. In assessing the effectiveness of the Georgia's Choice curriculum model this causal comparative study examined the 105 elementary schools that implemented Georgia's Choice and 105 randomly selected elementary schools that did not elect to use Georgia's Choice. The Georgia's Choice reading program used intensified instruction in an effort to increase reading levels for all students. The study used a non-equivalent control group with a pretest and posttest design to determine the effectiveness of the Georgia's Choice curriculum model. Findings indicated that third grade students in Non-Georgia's Choice schools outscored third grade students in Georgia's Choice schools across the span of the study.
Dimensionality effects in chalcogenide-based devices
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kostylev, S. A.
2013-06-01
The multiplicity of fundamental bulk effects with small characteristic dimensions and short times and diversity of their combinations attracts a lot of researcher and industrialist attention in nanoelectronics and photonics to chalcogenide materials. Experimental data presented on dimensional effects of electrical chalcogenide switching (threshold voltage and threshold current dependence on device area and the film thickness), and in phase-change memory (switching, programming and read parameters), are analyzed from the point of view of choice of low dimensional materials with S-NDC and participation of electrical instabilities - high current density filaments. New ways of improving parameters of phase-change devices are proposed together with new criteria of material choice.
ten Brug, Annet; van der Putten, Annette; Penne, Anneleen; Maes, Bea; Vlaskamp, Carla
2012-07-01
Multi-sensory storytelling (MSST) books are individualized stories, which involve sensory stimulation in addition to verbal text. Despite the frequent use of MSST in practice, little research is conducted into its structure, content and effectiveness. This study aims at the analysis of the development, content and application in practice of the MSST books in persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). Forty-nine persons with PIMD and their direct support person participated. We analysed if the books are constructed and read according to guidelines. Content and used stimuli were related to age. Of the books 84% were constructed according to guidelines. In just 1.3% of the sessions, the story was read as intended. Regarding content, 67.4% of the stories focused on daily life excursions. Tactile stimuli were used most. Age related to stimuli choice, but not to content. Although most books were properly constructed, guidelines were barely followed during reading which may negatively influence the effectiveness. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oh, Hyeon-Joo; Walker, Michael E.
2007-01-01
This study evaluated (1) whether essay placement (either at the beginning or at the end of the test battery) impacts test-takers' performance on the critical reading, mathematics, and writing multiple choice measures; and (2) whether essay prompt type (either a simple one-line prompt or a prompt including a short passage) affects test-takers'…
van Buul, Vincent J; Bolman, Catherine A W; Brouns, Fred J P H; Lechner, Lilian
2017-09-01
People are increasingly aware of the positive effects of a healthy diet. Concurrently, daily food consumption decisions - choices about both the quality and quantity of food that is ingested - are steered more by what consumers consider healthy. Despite the increased aim to eat healthier, however, consumers often do not read or incorrectly interpret on-pack nutrition information, resulting in suboptimal food choices in terms of health. This study aims to unravel the determinants of such inadvertent food choices from these consumers. In an online process-tracking study, we measured the actual usage of available back-of-pack nutrition information during substitutive food choices made by 240 participants who had the intention to eat healthy. Using mouse-tracking software in a computerized task in which participants had to make dichotomous food choices (e.g., coconut oil or olive oil for baking), we measured the frequency and time of nutritional information considered. Combined with demographic and psychosocial data, including information on the level of intention, action planning, self-efficacy, and nutrition literacy, we were able to model the determinants of inadvertent unhealthy substitutive food choices in a sequential multiple regression (R 2 = 0.40). In these consumers who intended to eat healthy, the quantity of obtained nutrition information significantly contributed as an associative factor of the percentage of healthy food choices made. Moreover, the level of correct answers in a nutrition literacy test, as well as taste preferences, significantly predicted the percentage of healthier choices. We discuss that common psychosocial determinants of healthy behavior, such as intention, action planning, and self-efficacy, need to be augmented with a person's actual reading and understanding of nutrition information to better explain the variance in healthy food choice behavior. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Pightling, Arthur W.; Petronella, Nicholas; Pagotto, Franco
2014-01-01
The wide availability of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and an abundance of open-source software have made detection of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in bacterial genomes an increasingly accessible and effective tool for comparative analyses. Thus, ensuring that real nucleotide differences between genomes (i.e., true SNPs) are detected at high rates and that the influences of errors (such as false positive SNPs, ambiguously called sites, and gaps) are mitigated is of utmost importance. The choices researchers make regarding the generation and analysis of WGS data can greatly influence the accuracy of short-read sequence alignments and, therefore, the efficacy of such experiments. We studied the effects of some of these choices, including: i) depth of sequencing coverage, ii) choice of reference-guided short-read sequence assembler, iii) choice of reference genome, and iv) whether to perform read-quality filtering and trimming, on our ability to detect true SNPs and on the frequencies of errors. We performed benchmarking experiments, during which we assembled simulated and real Listeria monocytogenes strain 08-5578 short-read sequence datasets of varying quality with four commonly used assemblers (BWA, MOSAIK, Novoalign, and SMALT), using reference genomes of varying genetic distances, and with or without read pre-processing (i.e., quality filtering and trimming). We found that assemblies of at least 50-fold coverage provided the most accurate results. In addition, MOSAIK yielded the fewest errors when reads were aligned to a nearly identical reference genome, while using SMALT to align reads against a reference sequence that is ∼0.82% distant from 08-5578 at the nucleotide level resulted in the detection of the greatest numbers of true SNPs and the fewest errors. Finally, we show that whether read pre-processing improves SNP detection depends upon the choice of reference sequence and assembler. In total, this study demonstrates that researchers should test a variety of conditions to achieve optimal results. PMID:25144537
Fluency and reading comprehension in students with reading difficulties.
Nascimento, Tânia Augusto; Carvalho, Carolina Alves Ferreira de; Kida, Adriana de Souza Batista; Avila, Clara Regina Brandão de
2011-12-01
To characterize the performance of students with reading difficulties in decoding and reading comprehension tasks as well as to investigate the possible correlations between them. Sixty students (29 girls) from 3rd to 5th grades of public Elementary Schools were evaluated. Thirty students (Research Group - RG), ten from each grade, were nominated by their teachers as presenting evidences of learning disabilities. The other thirty students were indicated as good readers, and were matched by gender, age and grade to the RG, composing the Comparison Group (CG). All subjects were assessed regarding the parameters of reading fluency (rate and accuracy in words, pseudowords and text reading) and reading comprehension (reading level, number and type of ideas identified, and correct responses on multiple choice questions). The RG presented significantly lower scores than the CG in fluency and reading comprehension. Different patterns of positive and negative correlations, from weak to excellent, among the decoding and comprehension parameters were found in both groups. In the RG, low values of reading rate and accuracy were observed, which were correlated to low scores in comprehension and improvement in decoding, but not in comprehension, with grade increase. In CG, correlation was found between different fluency parameters, but none of them was correlated to the reading comprehension variables. Students with reading and writing difficulties show lower values of reading fluency and comprehension than good readers. Fluency and comprehension are correlated in the group with difficulties, showing that deficits in decoding influence reading comprehension, which does not improve with age increase.
On the efficacy of a computer-based program to teach visual Braille reading.
Scheithauer, Mindy C; Tiger, Jeffrey H; Miller, Sarah J
2013-01-01
Scheithauer and Tiger (2012) created an efficient computerized program that taught 4 sighted college students to select text letters when presented with visual depictions of Braille alphabetic characters and resulted in the emergence of some braille reading. The current study extended these results to a larger sample (n = 81) and compared the efficacy and efficiency of the instructional program using 2 different response modalities. One variation of the program required a response in a multiple-choice format, and the other variation required a keyed response. Both instructional programs resulted in increased braille letter identification and braille reading. These skills were maintained at a follow-up session 7 to 14 days later. The mean time needed to complete the program was 22.8 min across participants. Implications of these results for future research, as well as practical implications for teaching the braille alphabet, are discussed. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.
Dong, Ting; Durning, Steven J; Artino, Anthony R; van der Vleuten, Cees; Holmboe, Eric; Lipner, Rebecca; Schuwirth, Lambert
2015-04-01
Clinical reasoning is essential for the practice of medicine. Dual process theory conceptualizes reasoning as falling into two general categories: nonanalytic reasoning (pattern recognition) and analytic reasoning (active comparing and contrasting of alternatives). The debate continues regarding how expert performance develops and how individuals make the best use of analytic and nonanalytic processes. Several investigators have identified the unexpected finding that intermediates tend to perform better on licensing examination items than experts, which has been termed the "intermediate effect." We explored differences between faculty and residents on multiple-choice questions (MCQs) using dual process measures (both reading and answering times) to inform this ongoing debate. Faculty (board-certified internists; experts) and residents (internal medicine interns; intermediates) answered live licensing examination MCQs (U.S. Medical Licensing Examination Step 2 Clinical Knowledge and American Board of Internal Medicine Certifying Examination) while being timed. We conducted repeated analysis of variance to compare the 2 groups on average reading time, answering time, and accuracy on various types of items. Faculty and residents did not differ significantly in reading time [F (1,35) = 0.01, p = 0.93], answering time [F (1,35) = 0.60, p = 0.44], or accuracy [F (1,35) = 0.24, p = 0.63] regardless of easy or hard items. Dual process theory was not evidenced in this study. However, this lack of difference between faculty and residents may have been affected by the small sample size of participants and MCQs may not reflect how physicians made decisions in actual practice setting. Reprint & Copyright © 2015 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fraumeni-McBride, Julie P.
2017-01-01
Poor literacy rates contribute to low school performance for children across America. In particular, low-income schools continue to struggle with declining literacy rates. Issues with literacy are often attributed to lack of reading comprehension. This study tested the effects of choice on reading comprehension in second- and third-grade students…
Kolluru, Srikanth; Roesch, Darren M; Akhtar de la Fuente, Ayesha
2012-03-12
To introduce a multiple-instructor, team-based, active-learning exercise to promote the integration of basic sciences (pathophysiology, pharmacology, and medicinal chemistry) and clinical sciences in a doctor of pharmacy curriculum. A team-based learning activity that involved pre-class reading assignments, individual-and team-answered multiple-choice questions, and evaluation and discussion of a clinical case, was designed, implemented, and moderated by 3 faculty members from the pharmaceutical sciences and pharmacy practice departments. Student performance was assessed using a multiple-choice examination, an individual readiness assurance test (IRAT), a team readiness assurance test (TRAT), and a subjective, objective, assessment, and plan (SOAP) note. Student attitudes were assessed using a pre- and post-exercise survey instrument. Students' understanding of possible correct treatment strategies for depression improved. Students were appreciative of this true integration of basic sciences knowledge in a pharmacotherapy course and to have faculty members from both disciplines present to answer questions. Mean student score on the on depression module for the examination was 80.4%, indicating mastery of the content. An exercise led by multiple instructors improved student perceptions of the importance of team-based teaching. Integrated teaching and learning may be achieved when instructors from multiple disciplines work together in the classroom using proven team-based, active-learning exercises.
Effects of Classroom Practices on Reading Comprehension, Engagement, and Motivations for Adolescents
Guthrie, John T.; Klauda, Susan Lutz
2014-01-01
We investigated the roles of classroom supports for multiple motivations and engagement in students’ informational text comprehension, motivation, and engagement. A composite of classroom contextual variables consisting of instructional support for choice, importance, collaboration, and competence, accompanied by cognitive scaffolding for informational text comprehension, was provided in four-week instructional units for 615 grade 7 students. These classroom motivational-engagement supports were implemented within integrated literacy/history instruction in the Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) framework. CORI increased informational text comprehension compared with traditional instruction (TI) in a switching replications experimental design. Students’ perceptions of the motivational-engagement supports were associated with increases in students’ intrinsic motivation, value, perceived competence, and increased positive engagement (dedication) more markedly in CORI than in TI, according to multiple regression analyses. Results extended the evidence for the effectiveness of CORI to literacy/history subject matter and informational text comprehension among middle school students. The experimental effects in classroom contexts confirmed effects from task-specific, situated experimental studies in the literature. PMID:25506087
Guthrie, John T; Klauda, Susan Lutz
2014-10-01
We investigated the roles of classroom supports for multiple motivations and engagement in students' informational text comprehension, motivation, and engagement. A composite of classroom contextual variables consisting of instructional support for choice, importance, collaboration, and competence, accompanied by cognitive scaffolding for informational text comprehension, was provided in four-week instructional units for 615 grade 7 students. These classroom motivational-engagement supports were implemented within integrated literacy/history instruction in the Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) framework. CORI increased informational text comprehension compared with traditional instruction (TI) in a switching replications experimental design. Students' perceptions of the motivational-engagement supports were associated with increases in students' intrinsic motivation, value, perceived competence, and increased positive engagement (dedication) more markedly in CORI than in TI, according to multiple regression analyses. Results extended the evidence for the effectiveness of CORI to literacy/history subject matter and informational text comprehension among middle school students. The experimental effects in classroom contexts confirmed effects from task-specific, situated experimental studies in the literature.
Guo, Jiesi; Parker, Philip D; Marsh, Herbert W; Morin, Alexandre J S
2015-08-01
Drawing on the expectancy-value model, the present study explored individual and gender differences in university entry and selection of educational pathway (e.g., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics [STEM] course selection). In particular, we examined the multiplicative effects of expectancy and task values on educational outcomes during the transition into early adulthood. Participants were from a nationally representative longitudinal sample of 15-year-old Australian youths (N = 10,370). The results suggest that (a) both math self-concept and intrinsic value interact in predicting advanced math course selection, matriculation results, entrance into university, and STEM fields of study; (b) prior reading achievement has negative effects on advanced math course selection and STEM fields through math motivational beliefs; and (c) gender differences in educational outcomes are mediated by gender differences in motivational beliefs and prior academic achievement, while the processes underlying choice of educational pathway were similar for males and females. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Scott, Jerilyn Carter
2012-01-01
The author replicated and extended a study by Flowerday, Schraw, & Stevens (2004) that examined the effects of choice, topic interest, and situational interest on reading engagement, attitude, and learning in college-age students. The study was replicated using fourth and fifth graders as subjects. The study was extended to examine the effects of…
Metagenome assembly through clustering of next-generation sequencing data using protein sequences.
Sim, Mikang; Kim, Jaebum
2015-02-01
The study of environmental microbial communities, called metagenomics, has gained a lot of attention because of the recent advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. Microbes play a critical role in changing their environments, and the mode of their effect can be solved by investigating metagenomes. However, the difficulty of metagenomes, such as the combination of multiple microbes and different species abundance, makes metagenome assembly tasks more challenging. In this paper, we developed a new metagenome assembly method by utilizing protein sequences, in addition to the NGS read sequences. Our method (i) builds read clusters by using mapping information against available protein sequences, and (ii) creates contig sequences by finding consensus sequences through probabilistic choices from the read clusters. By using simulated NGS read sequences from real microbial genome sequences, we evaluated our method in comparison with four existing assembly programs. We found that our method could generate relatively long and accurate metagenome assemblies, indicating that the idea of using protein sequences, as a guide for the assembly, is promising. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Development and Evaluation of Internet-Based Hypermedia Chemistry Tutorials
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tissue, Brian M.; Earp, Ronald L.; Yip, Ching-Wan; Anderson, Mark R.
1996-05-01
This progress report describes the development and student use of World-Wide-Web-based prelaboratory exercises in senior-level Instrumental Analysis during the 1995 Fall semester. The laboratory preparation exercises contained hypermedia tutorials and multiple-choice questions that were intended to familiarize the students with the experiments and instrumentation before their laboratory session. The overall goal of our work is to explore ways in which computer and network technology can be applied in education to improve the cost-effectiveness and efficacy of teaching. The course material can be accessed at http://www.chem.vt.edu/chem-ed/4114/Fall1995.html. The students were instructed to read their experimental procedure and to do the relevant laboratory preparation exercise. The individual tutorial documents were primarily text that provided basic theoretical and experimental descriptions of analytical and instrumental methods. The documents included hyperlinks to basic concepts, simple schematics, and color graphics of experimental set-ups or instrumentation. We chose the World-Wide Web (WWW) as the delivery platform for this project because of the ease of developing, distributing, and modifying hypermedia material in a client-server system. The disadvantage of the WWW is that network bandwidth limits the size and sophistication of the hypermedia material. To minimize internet transfer time, the individual documents were kept short and usually contained no more than 3 or 4 inline images. After reading the tutorial the students answered several multiple-choice questions. The figure shows one example of a multiple-choice question and the response page. Clicking on the "Submit answer" button calls a *.cgi file, which contains instructions in the PERL interpretive language, that generates the response page and saves the date, time, and student's answer to a file on the server. Usage and student perception of the on-line material was evaluated from server logs and student surveys. On-time completion of the assignments was 75%, but use of other on-line resources such as a question-and-answer page was minimal. Responses from student surveys indicated that the students had sufficient access to the internet. Approximately half of the students completed the prelaboratory exercises from one of several computers in the laboratory, and half worked from a workplace, university library, or home. Greater than 85% of all student usage from the laboratory computers occurred between 11 am and 4 pm. A mid-semester student survey indicated that the spectroscopy prelabs with three multiple-choice questions were better for increasing conceptual understanding rather than preparing the students for the actual lab work. An end-of-the-semester survey based on the electrochemistry assignments, which consisted of two multiple-choice questions and one clickable-map graphical exercise, produced a slightly higher rating for preparing students for the laboratory work. The differences between the spectroscopy and electrochemistry exercises prevent drawing any real conclusions from these two surveys, however, they do help guide the preparation of the content of future exercises. Next year's materials will contain three multiple-choice questions and one graphics-based exercise. The clickable-map graphics and at least one of the multiple-choice questions will be designed to test an understanding of the experimental procedure and instrument use to better prepare students for the actual laboratory work. Acknowledgment. We would like to thank Professor Gary Long for his assistance with the course, and the NSF for financial support through the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE-9455382) and a CAREER award (CHE-9502460). Literature Cited. Laurillard, D. Rethinking Teaching, a Framework for the Effective Use of Educational Technology; Routledge: London, 1993. Tissue, B. M.; Earp, R. L.; Yip, C.-W. Chem. Educator 1996, 1(1), S1430-4171(96)01010-2. Only available at http://journals.springer-ny.com/chedr.
Halin, Niklas
2016-01-01
The purpose of this study was to investigate the distractive effects of background speech, aircraft noise and road traffic noise on text memory and particularly to examine if displaying the texts in a hard-to-read font can shield against the detrimental effects of these types of background sounds. This issue was addressed in an experiment where 56 students read shorter texts about different classes of fictitious creatures (i.e., animals, fishes, birds, and dinosaurs) against a background of the aforementioned background sounds respectively and silence. For half of the participants the texts were displayed in an easy-to-read font (i.e., Times New Roman) and for the other half in a hard-to-read font (i.e., Haettenschweiler). The dependent measure was the proportion correct answers on the multiple-choice tests that followed each sound condition. Participants’ performance in the easy-to-read font condition was significantly impaired by all three background sound conditions compared to silence. In contrast, there were no effects of the three background sound conditions compared to silence in the hard-to-read font condition. These results suggest that an increase in task demand—by displaying the text in a hard-to-read font—shields against various types of distracting background sounds by promoting a more steadfast locus-of-attention and by reducing the processing of background sound. PMID:27555834
Elementary girls' science reading at home and school
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ford, Danielle J.; Brickhouse, Nancy W.; Lottero-Perdue, Pamela; Kittleson, Julie
2006-03-01
Although reading is a critical part of science and science learning, it is no longer a part of many children's elementary science instruction. This is of concern because girls often develop strong identities as readers, but do not develop scientific identities with ease. In this study, we investigate girls' science reading to know (1) if science books were available to girls in homes and classrooms, (2) if girls were choosing to read them, and (3) what influences their choices. Forty-five third-grade girls, 29 of their families, and three of their teachers were interviewed to ascertain girls' preferences among various book genres, as well as to learn the ways in which families and teachers influence the choices girls make. We found that girls had access to science books at school, and teachers had strategies to encourage reading them. At home, parents encouraged reading, but were generally less directive than teachers as to what the girls read, and underestimated their daughters' science-related interests. The families studied rely largely on major bookstores as their primary source of books. Our findings suggest we need to understand better the way gender influences girls' engagement with science in a variety of contexts, particularly those in which girls exercise choice.
Student Attitudes toward Reading: A Case Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Seitz, Lindsey
2010-01-01
Over the last 15 years, researchers have become increasingly interested in children's motivation to read. Because reading is an exigent activity that often involves choice, motivation is crucial to reading engagement. The purpose of this case study was to investigate student attitudes toward reading at summer reading clinic through an urban…
Reading Every Single Day: A Journey to Authentic Reading
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hudson, Alida K.; Williams, Joan A.
2015-01-01
This article details one teacher's implementation of reading workshop in her second grade classroom. She provided a framework for authentic reading using the five components of reading workshop: time, choice, response, community, and structure. She found that reading workshop is a highly effective practice for not only increasing students'…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Webre, Elizabeth C.
2008-01-01
"Children's Choices," a project of a joint committee supported by the International Reading Association (IRA) and the Children's Book Council, is published annually in "The Reading Teacher." Books recommended by children are grouped by levels: Beginning Reader (ages 5-7); Young Readers (ages 8-10); and Advanced Readers (ages…
Moral Choices in Contemporary Society: A Study Guide for Courses by Newspaper.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Marcolongo, Francis J.
The study guide for a newspaper course on moral choices in contemporary society provides overviews, definitions, and review questions to accompany the reader and related articles. Designed for independent study, the guide helps students to understand central concepts, relate various readings to a central theme, and pursue additional reading on…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cartwright, Kelly B.
2002-01-01
A reading-specific multiple classification task was designed that required children to classify printed words along phonological and semantic dimensions simultaneously. Reading-specific multiple classification skill made a unique contribution to children's reading comprehension over contributions made by age, domain-general multiple classification…
Motivating Readers through Voice and Choice
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ranck-Buhr, Wendy, Ed.
2012-01-01
As both a teacher and a parent, Ranck-Buhr knows a little something about working with students and keeping them engaged in the reading and writing processes... even recalling a son who was a reluctant book-report writer until he was offered some choice of reading material. She suggests practical ways to implement two vital elements in the…
Aging and interference in story recall.
Mund, Iris; Bell, Raoul; Buchner, Axel
2012-01-01
BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: According to inhibitory deficit theory, older adults should be more impaired by visual distractors than younger adults when reading texts. Studies using a multiple-choice recognition test to examine age differences in the impairment of text comprehension due to distractor words yielded inconsistent results. In the present study, younger participants and older participants were required to read short texts comprising unrelated, related, or no distractor words. Visual acuity was equated between groups. Text recall was assessed using a gist-based propositional scoring procedure. There were pronounced age differences in reading with distraction. Older adults were slowed down more than younger adults by the presence of distractor words when reading. Furthermore, older adults' story recall was clearly impaired by the presence of distractor material, whereas younger adults' recall performance was not. In addition, older adults were more likely to make intrusion errors. Consistent with inhibitory deficit theory, the findings suggest that older adults were less able than younger adults to establish a correct mental representation of the target text when distractors were present. Furthermore, older adults were more likely than younger adults to build up incorrect memory representations that comprise distractor concepts. Thus, there are pronounced age differences in the impairment of text comprehension by distracting information.
Reading Interests of Gifted Secondary School Writers.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sullivan, Emilie P.; Donoho, Grace E.
A study investigated the relationship between reading and the writings of gifted secondary school writers, especially their developmental reading interests, leisure reading selections, and the influence of others on their literary choices. Subjects, 79 students from rural and urban Arkansas schools were participating in a gifted writers'…
Neurally dissociable cognitive components of reading deficits in subacute stroke.
Boukrina, Olga; Barrett, A M; Alexander, Edward J; Yao, Bing; Graves, William W
2015-01-01
According to cognitive models of reading, words are processed by interacting orthographic (spelling), phonological (sound), and semantic (meaning) information. Despite extensive study of the neural basis of reading in healthy participants, little group data exist on patients with reading deficits from focal brain damage pointing to critical neural systems for reading. Here, we report on one such study. We have performed neuropsychological testing and magnetic resonance imaging on 11 patients with left-hemisphere stroke (<=5 weeks post-stroke). Patients completed tasks assessing cognitive components of reading such as semantics (matching picture or word choices to a target based on meaning), phonology (matching word choices to a target based on rhyming), and orthography (a two-alternative forced choice of the most plausible non-word). They also read aloud pseudowords and words with high or low levels of usage frequency, imageability, and spelling-sound consistency. As predicted by the cognitive model, when averaged across patients, the influence of semantics was most salient for low-frequency, low-consistency words, when phonological decoding is especially difficult. Qualitative subtraction analyses revealed lesion sites specific to phonological processing. These areas were consistent with those shown previously to activate for phonology in healthy participants, including supramarginal, posterior superior temporal, middle temporal, inferior frontal gyri, and underlying white matter. Notable divergence between this analysis and previous functional imaging is the association of lesions in the mid-fusiform gyrus and anterior temporal lobe with phonological reading deficits. This study represents progress toward identifying brain lesion-deficit relationships in the cognitive components of reading. Such correspondences are expected to help not only better understand the neural mechanisms of reading, but may also help tailor reading therapy to individual neurocognitive deficit profiles.
Strangers in a Strange Land: Read-Alouds Give Us Insight into Others' Struggles
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Auerbach, Barbara
2006-01-01
Read-alouds boost listening and reading comprehension skills and bring subjects to life in a way that textbooks cannot. This article presents three literature-based social studies units, which offer some fresh choices to invigorate lessons. For each unit, a recently published novel is highlighted as a read-aloud or group reading selection and…
Pleasure Reading Cures Readicide and Facilitates Academic Reading
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jennifer, J. Mary; Ponniah, R. Joseph
2015-01-01
Pleasure reading is an absolute choice to eradicate readicide, a systematic killing of the love for reading. This paper encompasses the different forms and consequences of readicide which will have negative impact not only on comprehension but also on the prior knowledge of a reader. Reading to score well on tests impedes the desire for reading…
Independent Reading in the Sixth Grade: Free Choice and Access to Material.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Coy-Shaffer, Joye; Pettit, Shirley
A study conducted in the Orange County Public Schools in central Florida investigated the reading interests of sixth-grade students. The study also gathered information from teachers regarding the nature and source of reading materials used for independent reading in their classrooms and on the implementation of sustained silent reading practices.…
Nonword Reading across Orthographies: How Flexible Is the Choice of Reading Units?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goswami, Usha; Ziegler, Johannes C.; Dalton, Louise; Schnieder, Wolfgang
2003-01-01
Used cross-language blocking experiments to test the hypothesis that children learning to read inconsistent orthographies would show considerable flexibility in making use of spelling-sound correspondences at different unit sizes, whereas children learning to read consistent orthographies should mainly employ small-size grapheme-phoneme…
Emotional balances in experimental consumer choices.
Mengov, George; Egbert, Henrik; Pulov, Stefan; Georgiev, Kalin
2008-11-01
This paper presents an experiment, which builds a bridge over the gap between neuroscience and the analysis of economic behaviour. We apply the mathematical theory of Pavlovian conditioning, known as Recurrent Associative Gated Dipole (READ), to analyse consumer choices in a computer-based experiment. Supplier reputations, consumer satisfaction, and customer reactions are operationally defined and, together with prices, related to READ's neural dynamics. We recorded our participants' decisions with their timing, and then mapped those decisions on a sequence of events generated by the READ model. To achieve this, all constants in the differential equations were determined using simulated annealing with data from 129 people. READ predicted correctly 96% of all consumer choices in a calibration sample (n=1290), and 87% in a test sample (n=903), thus outperforming logit models. The rank correlations between self-assessed and dipole-generated consumer satisfactions were 89% in the calibration sample and 78% in the test sample, surpassing by a wide margin the best linear regression model.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Roberts, Judith C.; Roberts, Keith A.
2008-01-01
Reading comprehension skill is often assumed by sociology instructors, yet many college students seem to have marginal reading comprehension skills, which may explain why fewer than half of them are actually doing the reading. Sanctions that force students to either read or to pay a price are based on a rational choice model of behavior--a…
Impact of a weekly reading program on orthopedic surgery residents' in-training examination.
Weglein, Daniel G; Gugala, Zbigniew; Simpson, Suzanne; Lindsey, Ronald W
2015-05-01
In response to a decline in individual residents' performance and overall program performance on the Orthopaedic In-Training Examination (OITE), the authors' department initiated a daily literature reading program coupled with weekly tests on the assigned material. The goal of this study was to assess the effect of the reading program on individual residents' scores and the training program's OITE scores. The reading program consisted of daily review articles from the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, followed by a weekly written examination consisting of multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank questions. All articles were selected and all questions were written by the departmental chair. A questionnaire was given to assess residents' perceptions of the weekly tests. As a result of implementing the reading program for a 10-month period, residents' subsequent performance on the OITE significantly improved (mean score increase, 4, P<.0001; percentile score increase, 11, P=.0007). The difference in mean score was significant for residents in postgraduate years 3, 4, and 5. A statistically significant correlation was found between weekly test scores and performance on the OITE, with a significant correlation between weekly test scores and OITE percentile ranking. The study results also showed a positive correlation between reading test attendance and weekly test scores. Residents' anonymous questionnaire responses also demonstrated the reading program to be a valuable addition to the residency training curriculum. In conclusion, the study strongly supports the benefits of a weekly reading and examination program in enhancing the core knowledge of orthopedic surgery residents. Copyright 2015, SLACK Incorporated.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bonifacci, Paola; Snowling, Margaret J.
2008-01-01
English and Italian children with dyslexia were compared with children with reading difficulties associated with low-IQ on tests of simple and choice RT, and in number and symbol scanning tasks. On all four speed-of-processing tasks, children with low-IQ responded more slowly than children with dyslexia and age-controls. In the choice RT task, the…
Test item linguistic complexity and assessments for deaf students.
Cawthon, Stephanie
2011-01-01
Linguistic complexity of test items is one test format element that has been studied in the context of struggling readers and their participation in paper-and-pencil tests. The present article presents findings from an exploratory study on the potential relationship between linguistic complexity and test performance for deaf readers. A total of 64 students completed 52 multiple-choice items, 32 in mathematics and 20 in reading. These items were coded for linguistic complexity components of vocabulary, syntax, and discourse. Mathematics items had higher linguistic complexity ratings than reading items, but there were no significant relationships between item linguistic complexity scores and student performance on the test items. The discussion addresses issues related to the subject area, student proficiency levels in the test content, factors to look for in determining a "linguistic complexity effect," and areas for further research in test item development and deaf students.
The development and functional control of reading-comprehension behavior.
Rosenbaum, M S; Breiling, J
1976-01-01
Reading comprehension, indicated by motor behavior and multiple-choice picture selection called for in written instructions, was taught to an autistic child using verbal prompts, modelling, and physical guidance. The child was rewarded for correct behaviors to training items; nonrewarded probes were used to assess generalization. Probable maintaining events were assessed through their sequential removal in a reversal design. Results showed: (a) following acquisition, performance was maintained at a near-100% level when candy, praise, attention, and training were removed, (b) absence of other persons was correlated with a marked decrease in performance, whereas their presence was associated with performance at near 100%, and (c) performance generalized to probes and across experimenters. Rewards, which may have been reinforcing during acquisition, did not appear necessary to maintain later performance. Instead, presence of others (a setting event) was demonstrated to have control over maintained performance.
The efficacy of print and video in correcting cognitive misconceptions in science
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Finney, Mary Jo
One hundred fifty-three fifth grade students found to have misconceptions about seasonal change were randomly assigned to either a video-print or print-video group. In Study One, each group read or viewed content about seasonal change and a free recall, multiple choice and application task were administered during the following week. Two weeks later, Study Two replicated the procedures with the groups receiving content in the alternate media. Hypotheses predicting video would be more effective than print in correcting misconceptions were rejected since there was either no significance on the measures or performance was higher after reading. Exposure to both media favored the video-print order. Low and high ability readers performed better after print treatment with no significant difference between media among average ability readers. More concepts than content vocabulary were present in written responses by both video and print groups. Post-hoc analysis revealed no gender differences, no significant difference in length of free recall between Study One and Study Two and significant differences between reading abilities on all measures.
Saadatnia, Mahmood; Ketabi, Saeed; Tavakoli, Mansoor
2016-12-01
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between text structure and two levels of reading comprehension, namely literal and inferential, in Iranian EFL learners. Studies have generally found that learners perform differently after they have read different text structures (Amiri et al. in Proc Soc Behav Sci 66:402-409, 2012). The text structures in focus were descriptive and enumerative expository texts. One hundred eighty upper-intermediate EFL learners were assigned four reading passages, two including descriptive and the other two enumerative text structure, followed by both literal and inferential multiple-choice items. A number of paired-samples t tests were run to provide answers to the research questions of this study. The results indicated that the participants meaningfully outperformed on the descriptive texts at both levels of literal and inferential comprehension. The findings also revealed that in both text structures of description and enumeration, literal comprehension significantly outweighed inferential comprehension. Implications were made for L2 materials developers, language teachers, and language testers regarding the consideration of text typical features in their practice.
Reimagining Reading: Creating a Classroom Culture That Embraces Independent Choice Reading
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dickerson, Katie
2015-01-01
Many of us are plagued by negative memories of sustained silent reading. In some of these memories, we are the students, attempting to read a book that didn't hold our interest or trying to read over the din of our disengaged classmates. In other memories, we are the teachers, suffering through a ten-minute classroom management nightmare, deciding…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Huang, Shu-Chen; Cheng, Yuh-Show; Chern, Chiou-Lan
2006-01-01
In this study, attempts were made to design pre-reading materials for EAP reading using resources available from the subject matter texts. These materials were considered more facilitative in motivating learners to read and helping them to understand rather than to decode the texts. EFL college participants read three articles with three types of…
The Testing Methods and Gender Differences in Multiple-Choice Assessment
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ng, Annie W. Y.; Chan, Alan H. S.
2009-10-01
This paper provides a comprehensive review of the multiple-choice assessment in the past two decades for facilitating people to conduct effective testing in various subject areas. It was revealed that a variety of multiple-choice test methods viz. conventional multiple-choice, liberal multiple-choice, elimination testing, confidence marking, probability testing, and order-of-preference scheme are available for use in assessing subjects' knowledge and decision ability. However, the best multiple-choice test method for use has not yet been identified. The review also indicated that the existence of gender differences in multiple-choice task performance might be due to the test area, instruction/scoring condition, and item difficulty.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Van Nord, Joan E.
A survey of the reading choices made by academically gifted secondary school students was conducted in 1978 to determine if these choices differed from those revealed in a survey undertaken at the same school in 1973. It was hypothesized that there would be only minor changes in patterns of interest by grade. A total of 172 students completed the…
Effects of Pre-reading Instructions on the Comprehension of Science Texts
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lyons, Yuna H.
This study examined how three different pre-reading (or relevance) instructions led to different learning outcomes for middle school students reading science texts on the topic of sweetness. The first was a generic instruction to read for understanding. The second prompted students to form a holistic explanation of the topic of sweetness, and the third instruction prompted students to focus on the core scientific principle of the relationship between structure and function. The latter two were specifically designed to align with science disciplinary goals. A comparison of the three treatments found that the generic instruction and the structure-function instruction led to better learning outcomes, measured by recall, short-answer performance questions, and a traditional multiple-choice/short-answer assessment. A qualitative analysis of the data also revealed some small yet notable differences in the recall pattern of students, such as an increased recall of key ideas for the structure-function instruction. This effect was seen predominantly for higher-skilled readers. The results suggest the possibility that relevance instructions targeting core ideas may help to orient students to the key ideas and explanations in scientific text, especially for higher-skilled readers, and indirectly highlights some of the challenges for students with less reading competencies. Overall, this study provides greater insight into how middle-school students read science texts, the effectiveness of instructor-provided relevance instructions in promoting (higher-level) comprehension of science texts, and implications for teachers on how to use texts in science instruction. Keywords: relevance instructions, pre-reading instructions, comprehension, science texts, middle school students, low- versus high-skilled readers.
How Does Studying Abroad Change Chinese Students' Choices of Reading Strategies
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Liu, Jie
2016-01-01
This study explores how a change of learning environment from China to the United Kingdom affects Chinese international master's students' use of strategies in academic reading. Think aloud was used at two time points in one academic year among 15 participants. To capture the complexity of the academic reading, reading strategies were categorized…
Love, Tanzy; Carriquiry, Alicia
2009-01-01
We analyze data collected in a somatic embryogenesis experiment carried out on Zea mays at Iowa State University. The main objective of the study was to identify the set of genes in maize that actively participate in embryo development. Embryo tissue was sampled and analyzed at various time periods and under different mediums and light conditions. As is the case in many microarray experiments, the operator scanned each slide multiple times to find the slide-specific ‘optimal’ laser and sensor settings. The multiple readings of each slide are repeated measurements on different scales with differing censoring; they cannot be considered to be replicate measurements in the traditional sense. Yet it has been shown that the choice of reading can have an impact on genetic inference. We propose a hierarchical modeling approach to estimating gene expression that combines all available readings on each spot and accounts for censoring in the observed values. We assess the statistical properties of the proposed expression estimates using a simulation experiment. As expected, combining all available scans using an approach with good statistical properties results in expression estimates with noticeably lower bias and root mean squared error relative to other approaches that have been proposed in the literature. Inferences drawn from the somatic embryogenesis experiment, which motivated this work changed drastically when data were analyzed using the standard approaches or using the methodology we propose. PMID:19960120
How to Be Engaging: Recreational Reading and Readers' Advisory in the Academic Library
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nicholson, Heather
2012-01-01
While recreational reading material was once an integral part of the academic library collection and librarians were seen as guides in reading development for students, this has not been the case in the last 50 years. Fiscal constraints have forced library professionals to make choices so that leisure reading material has not been viewed as a high…
Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do about It
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gallagher, Kelly
2012-01-01
"Read-i-cide" n: The systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools. Reading is dying in our schools. Educators are familiar with many of the factors that have contributed to the decline--poverty, second-language issues, and the ever-expanding choices of electronic entertainment.…
"I Never Thought I Would Read This Much": Becoming a Reader
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Barone, Diane; Barone, Rebecca
2018-01-01
The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the reading volume and book choices of fourth-grade students and how they identified as readers. Students were encouraged to read 50 books independently. The results showed that students read throughout the year. Grade-level readers described themselves as being a part of the book, while above-…
Feedback enhances the positive effects and reduces the negative effects of multiple-choice testing.
Butler, Andrew C; Roediger, Henry L
2008-04-01
Multiple-choice tests are used frequently in higher education without much consideration of the impact this form of assessment has on learning. Multiple-choice testing enhances retention of the material tested (the testing effect); however, unlike other tests, multiple-choice can also be detrimental because it exposes students to misinformation in the form of lures. The selection of lures can lead students to acquire false knowledge (Roediger & Marsh, 2005). The present research investigated whether feedback could be used to boost the positive effects and reduce the negative effects of multiple-choice testing. Subjects studied passages and then received a multiple-choice test with immediate feedback, delayed feedback, or no feedback. In comparison with the no-feedback condition, both immediate and delayed feedback increased the proportion of correct responses and reduced the proportion of intrusions (i.e., lure responses from the initial multiple-choice test) on a delayed cued recall test. Educators should provide feedback when using multiple-choice tests.
Children's Locus of Control and Intrinsically Motivated Reading.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Whitney, Patricia
A study investigated the relationship between locus of control and intrinsically motivated reading for children. The entire sixth grade, totalling 53 students, of a parochial school in San Francisco was administered the Children's Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Control Scale. A free-choice paperback reading rack provided the measure for…
Andrich, David; Marais, Ida; Humphry, Stephen Mark
2015-01-01
Recent research has shown how the statistical bias in Rasch model difficulty estimates induced by guessing in multiple-choice items can be eliminated. Using vertical scaling of a high-profile national reading test, it is shown that the dominant effect of removing such bias is a nonlinear change in the unit of scale across the continuum. The consequence is that the proficiencies of the more proficient students are increased relative to those of the less proficient. Not controlling the guessing bias underestimates the progress of students across 7 years of schooling with important educational implications. PMID:29795871
Is a "Phoenician" reading style superior to a "Chinese" reading style? Evidence from fourth graders.
Bowey, Judith A
2008-07-01
This study compared normally achieving fourth-grade "Phoenician" readers, who identify nonwords significantly more accurately than they do exception words, with "Chinese" readers, who show the reverse pattern. Phoenician readers scored lower than Chinese readers on word identification, exception word reading, orthographic choice, spelling, reading comprehension, and verbal ability. When compared with normally achieving children who read nonwords and exception words equally well, Chinese readers scored as well as these children on word identification, regular word reading, orthographic choice, spelling, reading comprehension, phonological sensitivity, and verbal ability and scored better on exception word reading. Chinese readers also used rhyme-based analogies to read nonwords derived from high-frequency exception words just as often as did these children. As predicted, Phoenician and Chinese readers adopted somewhat different strategies in reading ambiguous nonwords constructed by analogy to high-frequency exception words. Phoenician readers were more likely than Chinese readers to read ambiguous monosyllabic nonwords via context-free grapheme-phoneme correspondences and were less likely to read disyllabic nonwords by analogy to high-frequency analogues. Although the Chinese reading style was more common than the Phoenician style in normally achieving fourth graders, there were similar numbers of poor readers with phonological dyslexia (identifying nonwords significantly more accurately than exception words) and surface dyslexia (showing the reverse pattern), although surface dyslexia was more common in the severely disabled readers. However, few of the poor readers showed pure patterns of phonological or surface dyslexia.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fayazi-Nasab, Ensieh; Ghafournia, Narjes
2016-01-01
There exist many factors, affecting reading ability. Multiple intelligence and motivational strategies are among the factors that seem to make significant contribution to the reading process. Thus, the present study probed the probable significant relation between Iranian language learners' multiple intelligences and reading ability. The study…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Colenbrander, Danielle; Nickels, Lyndsey; Kohnen, Saskia
2017-01-01
Background: Identifying reading comprehension difficulties is challenging. There are many comprehension tests to choose from, and a child's diagnosis can be influenced by various factors such as a test's format and content and the choice of diagnostic criteria. We investigate these issues with reference to the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nuryakin; Riandi
2017-02-01
A study has been conducted to obtain a depiction of middle school students’ critical thinking skills improvement through the implementation of reading infusion-loaded discovery learning model in science instruction. A quasi-experimental study with the pretest-posttest control group design was used to engage 55 eighth-year middle school students in Tasikmalaya, which was divided into the experimental and control group respectively were 28 and 27 students. Critical thinking skills were measured using a critical thinking skills test in multiple-choice with reason format questions that administered before and after a given instruction. The test was 28 items encompassing three essential concepts, vibration, waves and auditory senses. The critical thinking skills improvement was determined by using the normalized gain score and statistically analyzed by using Mann-Whitney U test.. The findings showed that the average of students’ critical thinking skills normalized gain score of both groups were 59 and 43, respectively for experimental and control group in the medium category. There were significant differences between both group’s improvement. Thus, the implementation of reading infusion-loaded discovery learning model could further improve middle school students’ critical thinking skills than conventional learning.
Noise Reduction Techniques and Scaling Effects towards Photon Counting CMOS Image Sensors
Boukhayma, Assim; Peizerat, Arnaud; Enz, Christian
2016-01-01
This paper presents an overview of the read noise in CMOS image sensors (CISs) based on four-transistors (4T) pixels, column-level amplification and correlated multiple sampling. Starting from the input-referred noise analytical formula, process level optimizations, device choices and circuit techniques at the pixel and column level of the readout chain are derived and discussed. The noise reduction techniques that can be implemented at the column and pixel level are verified by transient noise simulations, measurement and results from recently-published low noise CIS. We show how recently-reported process refinement, leading to the reduction of the sense node capacitance, can be combined with an optimal in-pixel source follower design to reach a sub-0.3erms- read noise at room temperature. This paper also discusses the impact of technology scaling on the CIS read noise. It shows how designers can take advantage of scaling and how the Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) transistor gate leakage tunneling current appears as a challenging limitation. For this purpose, both simulation results of the gate leakage current and 1/f noise data reported from different foundries and technology nodes are used.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hale, Jane V.
2011-01-01
The purpose of this study was to see if second grade students who were taught by teachers trained in choice theory/reality therapy (CT/RT) methods had higher achievement scores in mathematics/reading compared to students who were taught by teachers who were not trained. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model suggests that…
A Study of the Independent Reading of Achieving Fifth Graders.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Henderson, Edmund H.; Long, Barbara H.
The independent reading behavior of 150 achieving fifth graders was investigated. Attention was directed toward the quality and variety of choice as well as to the number of books read. These variables were intercorrelated with standardized achievement tests, IQ, and a number of noncognitive and demographic variables. Indices of quantity, variety,…
Improving Early Reading and Literacy: A Guide for Developing Research-Based Programs.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
St. John, Edward P.; Bardzell, Jeffrey S.
This guide is designed to help school communities make good choices about early literacy intervention. The guide distinguishes between "reading" (a process of learning to decode and comprehend texts) and a broader concept of "literacy" that includes understanding of the value of language and reading (emergent literacy), the…
Reading and Spelling in Adults: Are There Lexical and Sub-Lexical Subtypes?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Burt, Jennifer S.; Heffernan, Maree E.
2012-01-01
The dual-route model of reading proposes distinct lexical and sub-lexical procedures for word reading and spelling. Lexically reliant and sub-lexically reliant reader subgroups were selected from 78 university students on the basis of their performance on lexical (orthographic) and sub-lexical (phonological) choice tests, and on irregular and…
AAMD-Becker Reading-Free Vocational Interest Inventory Manual [and Male and Female Inventories].
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Becker, Ralph L.
The AAMD-Becker Reading-Free Vocational Interest Inventory is a non-reading vocational preference test for use with mentally retarded persons, particularly the educable mentally retarded at the high school level. Illustrations having occupational significance are presented in forced-choice format for selections. The instrument helps to identify…
Male Student Perceptions of Reflective Practice in Online College English Reading Courses
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schumacher, Alexa J.
2013-01-01
Researchers have confirmed that male students at all academic levels often struggle while engaging in self-reflection, reading, and writing activities for reasons such as incompatible pedagogical strategy, poor choice of reading materials, and lack of belief in success for students. In conjunction with the growing popularity of online learning, an…
Supporting Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders' Comprehension and Reading Fluency
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Garwood, Justin D.; Ciullo, Stephen; Brunsting, Nelson
2017-01-01
This article discusses two strategies to improve reading outcomes for middle and high school adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). The first is providing secondary students a choice of accessible, engaging activities to more actively engage them during reading instruction and foster intrinsic motivation to engage in literacy…
Adult age differences in information foraging in an interactive reading environment.
Liu, Xiaomei; Chin, Jessie; Payne, Brennan R; Fu, Wai-Tat; Morrow, Daniel G; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A L
2016-05-01
When learning about a single topic in natural reading environments, readers are confronted with multiple sources varying in the type and amount of information. In this situation, readers are free to adaptively respond to the constraints of the environment (e.g., through selection of resources and time allocation for study), but there may be costs of exploring and switching between sources (e.g., disruption of attention, opportunity costs for study). From an ecological perspective, such properties of the environment are expected to influence learning strategies. In the current study, we used a novel reading paradigm to investigate age differences in the effects of information richness (i.e., sentence elaboration) and costs of switching between texts (i.e., time delay) on selection of sources and study time allocation. Consistent with the ecological view, participants progressed from less informative to more informative texts. Furthermore, increased switch cost led to a tendency to allocate more effort to easier materials and to greater persistence in reading, which in turn, led to better memory in both immediate and delayed recall. Older adults showed larger effects of switch cost, such that the age difference in delayed recall was eliminated in the high switch cost condition. Based on an ecological paradigm of reading that affords choice and self-regulation, our study provided evidence for preservation with age in the ability to adapt to changing learning environments so as to improve performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cutumisu, Maria
2017-01-01
This paper examines the impact of the informational value of feedback choices on students' performance, their choice to revise, and the time they spend designing posters and reading feedback in an assessment game. Choices to seek confirmatory or critical feedback and to revise posters in a poster design task were collected from a hundred and six…
Effects of Test Expectation on Multiple-Choice Performance and Subjective Ratings
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Balch, William R.
2007-01-01
Undergraduates studied the definitions of 16 psychology terms, expecting either a multiple-choice (n = 132) or short-answer (n = 122) test. All students then received the same multiple-choice test, requiring them to recognize the definitions as well as novel examples of the terms. Compared to students expecting a multiple-choice test, those…
Boundaries for Contemporary Literature: The Role of Censorship and Choice
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Denzin, Jen
2013-01-01
Promoting student power in the choice of high school literature can prove uncomfortable, unruly, and contentious. Without enough preparation, research, and reading, teachers may find language, content, and themes to be more mature than initially anticipated. This essay explores one teacher's reflection of two instances when choice reading…
Tighe, Elizabeth L.; Schatschneider, Christopher
2015-01-01
The purpose of this study was to investigate the joint and unique contributions of morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge at five reading comprehension levels in Adult Basic Education (ABE) students. We introduce the statistical technique of multiple quantile regression, which enabled us to assess the predictive utility of morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge at multiple points (quantiles) along the continuous distribution of reading comprehension. To demonstrate the efficacy of our multiple quantile regression analysis, we compared and contrasted our results with a traditional multiple regression analytic approach. Our results indicated that morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge accounted for a large portion of the variance (82-95%) in reading comprehension skills across all quantiles. Morphological awareness exhibited the greatest unique predictive ability at lower levels of reading comprehension whereas vocabulary knowledge exhibited the greatest unique predictive ability at higher levels of reading comprehension. These results indicate the utility of using multiple quantile regression to assess trajectories of component skills across multiple levels of reading comprehension. The implications of our findings for ABE programs are discussed. PMID:25351773
Force TV Radio Week in Photos About Us Air Force Senior Leaders SECAF CSAF CMSAF Biographies Adjunct ; 2012 CSAF Reading List Film Choices Apollo 13 book cover Apollo 13 Camp Victory book cover Camp Victory
Choice of Reading Comprehension Test Influences the Outcomes of Genetic Analyses
Betjemann, Rebecca S.; Keenan, Janice M.; Olson, Richard K.; DeFries, John C.
2010-01-01
Does the choice of test for assessing reading comprehension influence the outcome of genetic analyses? A twin design compared two types of reading comprehension tests classified as primarily associated with word decoding (RC-D) or listening comprehension (RC-LC). For both types of tests, the overall genetic influence is high and nearly identical. However, the tests differed significantly in how they covary with the genes associated with decoding and listening comprehension. Although Cholesky decomposition showed that both types of comprehension tests shared significant genetic influence with both decoding and listening comprehension, RC-D tests shared most genetic variance with decoding, and RC-LC tests shared most with listening comprehension. Thus, different tests used to measure the same construct may manifest very different patterns of genetic covariation. These results suggest that the apparent discrepancies among the findings of previous twin studies of reading comprehension could be due at least in part to test differences. PMID:21804757
Get the Story Straight: Contextual Repetition Promotes Word Learning from Storybooks
Horst, Jessica S.; Parsons, Kelly L.; Bryan, Natasha M.
2011-01-01
Although shared storybook reading is a common activity believed to improve the language skills of preschool children, how children learn new vocabulary from such experiences has been largely neglected in the literature. The current study systematically explores the effects of repeatedly reading the same storybooks on both young children's fast and slow mapping abilities. Specially created storybooks were read to 3-year-old children three times during the course of 1 week. Each of the nine storybooks contained two novel name–object pairs. At each session, children either heard three different stories with the same two novel name–object pairs or the same story three times. Importantly, all children heard each novel name the same number of times. Both immediate recall and retention were tested with a four-alternative forced-choice task with pictures of the novel objects. Children who heard the same stories repeatedly were very accurate on both the immediate recall and retention tasks. In contrast, children who heard different stories were only accurate on immediate recall during the last two sessions and failed to learn any of the new words. Overall, then, we found a dramatic increase in children's ability to both recall and retain novel name–object associations encountered during shared storybook reading when they heard the same stories multiple times in succession. Results are discussed in terms of contextual cueing effects observed in other cognitive domains. PMID:21713179
Siebert, Stefan; Robinson, Mark D; Tintori, Sophia C; Goetz, Freya; Helm, Rebecca R; Smith, Stephen A; Shaner, Nathan; Haddock, Steven H D; Dunn, Casey W
2011-01-01
We investigated differential gene expression between functionally specialized feeding polyps and swimming medusae in the siphonophore Nanomia bijuga (Cnidaria) with a hybrid long-read/short-read sequencing strategy. We assembled a set of partial gene reference sequences from long-read data (Roche 454), and generated short-read sequences from replicated tissue samples that were mapped to the references to quantify expression. We collected and compared expression data with three short-read expression workflows that differ in sample preparation, sequencing technology, and mapping tools. These workflows were Illumina mRNA-Seq, which generates sequence reads from random locations along each transcript, and two tag-based approaches, SOLiD SAGE and Helicos DGE, which generate reads from particular tag sites. Differences in expression results across workflows were mostly due to the differential impact of missing data in the partial reference sequences. When all 454-derived gene reference sequences were considered, Illumina mRNA-Seq detected more than twice as many differentially expressed (DE) reference sequences as the tag-based workflows. This discrepancy was largely due to missing tag sites in the partial reference that led to false negatives in the tag-based workflows. When only the subset of reference sequences that unambiguously have tag sites was considered, we found broad congruence across workflows, and they all identified a similar set of DE sequences. Our results are promising in several regards for gene expression studies in non-model organisms. First, we demonstrate that a hybrid long-read/short-read sequencing strategy is an effective way to collect gene expression data when an annotated genome sequence is not available. Second, our replicated sampling indicates that expression profiles are highly consistent across field-collected animals in this case. Third, the impacts of partial reference sequences on the ability to detect DE can be mitigated through workflow choice and deeper reference sequencing.
Siebert, Stefan; Robinson, Mark D.; Tintori, Sophia C.; Goetz, Freya; Helm, Rebecca R.; Smith, Stephen A.; Shaner, Nathan; Haddock, Steven H. D.; Dunn, Casey W.
2011-01-01
We investigated differential gene expression between functionally specialized feeding polyps and swimming medusae in the siphonophore Nanomia bijuga (Cnidaria) with a hybrid long-read/short-read sequencing strategy. We assembled a set of partial gene reference sequences from long-read data (Roche 454), and generated short-read sequences from replicated tissue samples that were mapped to the references to quantify expression. We collected and compared expression data with three short-read expression workflows that differ in sample preparation, sequencing technology, and mapping tools. These workflows were Illumina mRNA-Seq, which generates sequence reads from random locations along each transcript, and two tag-based approaches, SOLiD SAGE and Helicos DGE, which generate reads from particular tag sites. Differences in expression results across workflows were mostly due to the differential impact of missing data in the partial reference sequences. When all 454-derived gene reference sequences were considered, Illumina mRNA-Seq detected more than twice as many differentially expressed (DE) reference sequences as the tag-based workflows. This discrepancy was largely due to missing tag sites in the partial reference that led to false negatives in the tag-based workflows. When only the subset of reference sequences that unambiguously have tag sites was considered, we found broad congruence across workflows, and they all identified a similar set of DE sequences. Our results are promising in several regards for gene expression studies in non-model organisms. First, we demonstrate that a hybrid long-read/short-read sequencing strategy is an effective way to collect gene expression data when an annotated genome sequence is not available. Second, our replicated sampling indicates that expression profiles are highly consistent across field-collected animals in this case. Third, the impacts of partial reference sequences on the ability to detect DE can be mitigated through workflow choice and deeper reference sequencing. PMID:21829563
Every Day We're Shufflin': Empowering Students during In-School Independent Reading
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hall, Katrina W.; Hedrick, Wanda B.; Williams, Lunetta M.
2014-01-01
Research in the field of literacy has identified choice as a key component affecting students' reading habits and their resulting literacy growth. This article discusses an in-school independent reading project in which students are provided the freedom to choose books, use ambient music, and engage in book talks. The children showed increased…
Using a Learning Management System to Enhance an Extensive Reading Program
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Koby, Cory J.
2017-01-01
The Extensive Reading (ER) approach to second language acquisition is increasingly one of the methods of choice amongst English as a Foreign Language (EFL) educators around the world. This method requires learners to read a large volume of easily comprehensible text, and teachers to track and manage their students' progress in some manner. There…
Reading Stephen King: Issues of Censorship, Student Choice, and Popular Literature.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Power, Brenda Miller, Ed.; Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., Ed.; Chandler, Kelly, Ed.
This collection of essays grew out of the "Reading Stephen King Conference" held at the University of Maine in 1996. Stephen King's books have become a lightning rod for the tensions around issues of including "mass market" popular literature in middle and high school English classes and of who chooses what students read.…
A Leisure Reading Interests Survey of Lake Dallas Junior High School.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Swanson, Barbara Glynn
A survey questionnaire, based on 88 titles identified elsewhere as popular adolescent reading, was given to 172 students with the intent of determining whether there were observable sex differences in the students' choice of books. Information sought included: (1) whether girls and boys enjoy reading for pleasure; (2) what books are enjoyed by…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Littlefield, Amy Root
2011-01-01
Research on early adolescence reveals significant declines in intrinsic motivation for reading and points out the need for metacognitive strategy use among middle school students. Research indicates that explicit instruction involving motivation and metacognitive support for reading strategy use in the context of a discipline is an efficient and…
The memorial consequences of multiple-choice testing.
Marsh, Elizabeth J; Roediger, Henry L; Bjork, Robert A; Bjork, Elizabeth L
2007-04-01
The present article addresses whether multiple-choice tests may change knowledge even as they attempt to measure it. Overall, taking a multiple-choice test boosts performance on later tests, as compared with non-tested control conditions. This benefit is not limited to simple definitional questions, but holds true for SAT II questions and for items designed to tap concepts at a higher level in Bloom's (1956) taxonomy of educational objectives. Students, however, can also learn false facts from multiple-choice tests; testing leads to persistence of some multiple-choice lures on later general knowledge tests. Such persistence appears due to faulty reasoning rather than to an increase in the familiarity of lures. Even though students may learn false facts from multiple-choice tests, the positive effects of testing outweigh this cost.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jang, Yoonhee; Pashler, Hal; Huber, David E.
2014-01-01
We performed 4 experiments assessing the learning that occurs when taking a test. Our experiments used multiple-choice tests because the processes deployed during testing can be manipulated by varying the nature of the choice alternatives. Previous research revealed that a multiple-choice test that includes "none of the above" (NOTA)…
Haudek, Kevin C; Prevost, Luanna B; Moscarella, Rosa A; Merrill, John; Urban-Lurain, Mark
2012-01-01
Students' writing can provide better insight into their thinking than can multiple-choice questions. However, resource constraints often prevent faculty from using writing assessments in large undergraduate science courses. We investigated the use of computer software to analyze student writing and to uncover student ideas about chemistry in an introductory biology course. Students were asked to predict acid-base behavior of biological functional groups and to explain their answers. Student explanations were rated by two independent raters. Responses were also analyzed using SPSS Text Analysis for Surveys and a custom library of science-related terms and lexical categories relevant to the assessment item. These analyses revealed conceptual connections made by students, student difficulties explaining these topics, and the heterogeneity of student ideas. We validated the lexical analysis by correlating student interviews with the lexical analysis. We used discriminant analysis to create classification functions that identified seven key lexical categories that predict expert scoring (interrater reliability with experts = 0.899). This study suggests that computerized lexical analysis may be useful for automatically categorizing large numbers of student open-ended responses. Lexical analysis provides instructors unique insights into student thinking and a whole-class perspective that are difficult to obtain from multiple-choice questions or reading individual responses.
Haudek, Kevin C.; Prevost, Luanna B.; Moscarella, Rosa A.; Merrill, John; Urban-Lurain, Mark
2012-01-01
Students’ writing can provide better insight into their thinking than can multiple-choice questions. However, resource constraints often prevent faculty from using writing assessments in large undergraduate science courses. We investigated the use of computer software to analyze student writing and to uncover student ideas about chemistry in an introductory biology course. Students were asked to predict acid–base behavior of biological functional groups and to explain their answers. Student explanations were rated by two independent raters. Responses were also analyzed using SPSS Text Analysis for Surveys and a custom library of science-related terms and lexical categories relevant to the assessment item. These analyses revealed conceptual connections made by students, student difficulties explaining these topics, and the heterogeneity of student ideas. We validated the lexical analysis by correlating student interviews with the lexical analysis. We used discriminant analysis to create classification functions that identified seven key lexical categories that predict expert scoring (interrater reliability with experts = 0.899). This study suggests that computerized lexical analysis may be useful for automatically categorizing large numbers of student open-ended responses. Lexical analysis provides instructors unique insights into student thinking and a whole-class perspective that are difficult to obtain from multiple-choice questions or reading individual responses. PMID:22949425
Knowledge, Choice and Consequence: Reading and Teaching "Hamlet."
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Baumlin, James S.; Baumlin, Tita French
1990-01-01
Offers a Pyrrhonist reading of "Hamlet." Describes an experiment in teaching that attempts to reconstruct for literature students the prudential-ethical context of human rhetoric, placing "prudentia," or practical wisdom, at the center of their own imaginative involvement. (PRA)
Tighe, Elizabeth L; Schatschneider, Christopher
2016-07-01
The purpose of this study was to investigate the joint and unique contributions of morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge at five reading comprehension levels in adult basic education (ABE) students. We introduce the statistical technique of multiple quantile regression, which enabled us to assess the predictive utility of morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge at multiple points (quantiles) along the continuous distribution of reading comprehension. To demonstrate the efficacy of our multiple quantile regression analysis, we compared and contrasted our results with a traditional multiple regression analytic approach. Our results indicated that morphological awareness and vocabulary knowledge accounted for a large portion of the variance (82%-95%) in reading comprehension skills across all quantiles. Morphological awareness exhibited the greatest unique predictive ability at lower levels of reading comprehension whereas vocabulary knowledge exhibited the greatest unique predictive ability at higher levels of reading comprehension. These results indicate the utility of using multiple quantile regression to assess trajectories of component skills across multiple levels of reading comprehension. The implications of our findings for ABE programs are discussed. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2014.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smith, Suzanne B.
2011-01-01
National concern about the reading proficiency of adolescents and the alarming statistics on the literacy achievement of African American males have created much interest in the topic of "motivated literacy" for researchers, policy makers, and educators. African American twelfth graders perform at the same level in reading as White…
Stress echocardiography with smartphone: real-time remote reading for regional wall motion.
Scali, Maria Chiara; de Azevedo Bellagamba, Clarissa Carmona; Ciampi, Quirino; Simova, Iana; de Castro E Silva Pretto, José Luis; Djordjevic-Dikic, Ana; Dodi, Claudio; Cortigiani, Lauro; Zagatina, Angela; Trambaiolo, Paolo; Torres, Marco R; Citro, Rodolfo; Colonna, Paolo; Paterni, Marco; Picano, Eugenio
2017-11-01
The diffusion of smart-phones offers access to the best remote expertise in stress echo (SE). To evaluate the reliability of SE based on smart-phone filming and reading. A set of 20 SE video-clips were read in random sequence with a multiple choice six-answer test by ten readers from five different countries (Italy, Brazil, Serbia, Bulgaria, Russia) of the "SE2020" study network. The gold standard to assess accuracy was a core-lab expert reader in agreement with angiographic verification (0 = wrong, 1 = right). The same set of 20 SE studies were read, in random order and >2 months apart, on desktop Workstation and via smartphones by ten remote readers. Image quality was graded from 1 = poor but readable, to 3 = excellent. Kappa (k) statistics was used to assess intra- and inter-observer agreement. The image quality was comparable in desktop workstation vs. smartphone (2.0 ± 0.5 vs. 2.4 ± 0.7, p = NS). The average reading time per case was similar for desktop versus smartphone (90 ± 39 vs. 82 ± 54 s, p = NS). The overall diagnostic accuracy of the ten readers was similar for desktop workstation vs. smartphone (84 vs. 91%, p = NS). Intra-observer agreement (desktop vs. smartphone) was good (k = 0.81 ± 0.14). Inter-observer agreement was good and similar via desktop or smartphone (k = 0.69 vs. k = 0.72, p = NS). The diagnostic accuracy and consistency of SE reading among certified readers was high and similar via desktop workstation or via smartphone.
High time for a change: psychometric analysis of multiple-choice questions in nursing.
Redmond, Sandra P; Hartigan-Rogers, Jackie A; Cobbett, Shelley
2012-11-26
Nurse educators teach students to develop an informed nursing practice but can educators claim the same grounding in the available evidence when formulating multiple-choice assessment tools to evaluate student learning? Multiple-choice questions are a popular assessment format within nursing education. While widely accepted as a credible format to assess student knowledge across disciplines, debate exists among educators regarding the number of options necessary to adequately test cognitive reasoning and optimal discrimination between student abilities. The purpose of this quasi-experimental between groups study was to examine the psychometric properties of three option multiple-choice questions when compared to the more traditional four option questions. Data analysis revealed that there were no statistically significant differences in the item discrimination, difficulty or the mean examination scores when multiple-choice test questions were administered with three versus four option answer choices. This study provides additional guidance for nurse educators to assist in improving multiple-choice question writing and test design.
A Vocabulary Learning Tool for L2 Undergraduates Reading Science and Technology Textbooks
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hsu, Chihcheng; Yang, Fang-Chuan Ou
2013-05-01
Students of English as a second language who major in science and technology use English-language textbooks to ensure that they can read English materials upon graduation. Research indicates that teachers spend little time helping these students on the linguistic complexity of such textbooks. Vocabulary, grammar, and article structure are elements of this complexity, but to many students, these elements can be akin to locked doors. This study presents MyVLS-Reader, which focuses on unlocking the first of these doors-vocabulary-while assisting in reading. With explicit vocabulary learning, students learn and memorize individual vocabulary, but the context is lost if the depth of learning discards context. In implicit vocabulary learning, students acquire vocabulary through repeated exposure to contexts, but repeated encounters with new words are required. Few e-learning systems combine both vocabulary-learning approaches. MyVLS-Reader achieves such synergy by (1) using a keyword setting to provide context-matched vocabulary explanation while reading and (2) embedding multiple learning choices, such as keyword setting, the review and memorization of explicit vocabulary, and the option to ask instructors. This study includes two rounds of evaluations: (1) an evaluation of the learning achievements of control and treatment groups and (2) a quantitative and qualitative investigation of perceptions regarding the use of MyVLS-Reader. The evaluation results indicate that the treatment group developed a better vocabulary than the control group in significantly less time. The use of MyVLS-Reader also slightly improved higher-order thinking skills. This result suggests that MyVLS-Reader can effective assist students in building their vocabulary while reading.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gray, Nathan L.; Wolf, Patrick J.; Jensen, Laura I.
2008-01-01
With the passage of 2005 Wisconsin Act 125, private schools participating in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) are now required to administer a nationally normed standardized test annually in reading, mathematics, and science to their MPCP (a.k.a. "Choice") students enrolled in the 4th, 8th, and 10th grades. The law further…
The effect of online quizzes on student achievement in high school chemistry
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Deeter, Christopher L.
The idea of student engagement has come to the forefront of the United States educational system over the past decade. Student engagement requires learners to be actively involved in all stages of the learning process. This study focuses on the use of online quizzes in the chemistry classroom as a means to help students become more engaged in their learning outside of the classroom. Students were given three different types of online quizzes over the course of a chemistry chapter. Student scores on end of the chapter examinations was used to determine whether there was a significant difference in the amount of learning that occurred when a student took each of the three types of online quizzes. Students in a private parochial high school chemistry class completed online quizzes over the course of a semester. The quizzes were taken after completing assigned readings from the chemistry text. After each reading, a third of the students took online multiple-choice quizzes, a third took a paragraph quiz, and a third took no quiz. Scores received from end of chapter tests were evaluated to determine if the impact each of the quiz types had on the learning. All statistical analysis was done using SPSS using two-way split plot ANOVA with condition (paragraph, multiple-choice, nothing) as the within subject factor and group (A, B, C) as between subject factor. The data indicates that there was no significance within the condition F (1.877, 90.087) =.996, p>.05, or the interaction results. F (3.754, 90.087) =.509, p>.05. The data indicated that the effect of group was not significant either. F (2, 48) =.981, p>.05. Interviews undertaken to explain this outcome discovered that students did not become engaged with the content until the night before each test. When they did so, they used a teacher-provided study guide as their primary learning tool.
Reading the Complex World: Students Approach "The Scarlet Letter" from Multiple Perspectives.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cella, Lorraine
2002-01-01
Recognizes the importance of rethinking how the author's students read particular texts rather than which texts they read. Explores the concept of reading for multiple meanings rather than attempting to nail down "the meaning." Describes how she selected specific ideologies represented in "The Scarlet Letter" to use as various…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Phemister, Art W.
2010-01-01
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Georgia's Choice reading curriculum on third grade science scores on the Georgia Criterion Referenced Competency Test from 2002 to 2008. In assessing the effectiveness of the Georgia's Choice curriculum model this causal comparative study examined the 105 elementary schools that…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McShane, Michael Q.; Wolf, Patrick J.
2011-01-01
The purpose of this report is to provide descriptive data regarding the test scores of Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) students in grades 4, 8 and 10 in reading, math and science, as reported to the School Choice Demonstration Project 2009-2010. The tables, graphs, and histograms presented in this report provide a snapshot of these…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dean, Jeffery R.; Wolf, Patrick J.
2010-01-01
The purpose of this report is to provide descriptive data regarding the test scores of Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) students in grades 4, 8 and 10 in reading, math, and science, as reported to the School Choice Demonstration Project 2008-2009. The tables, graphs, and histograms presented in this paper provide a snapshot of these…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gray, Nathan L.; Wolf, Patrick J.; Jensen, Laura I.
2009-01-01
The purpose of this report is to provide descriptive data regarding the test scores of Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) students in grades 4, 8 and 10 in reading, math and science, as reported to the School Choice Demonstration Project 2007-2008. The tables, graphs, and histograms presented in this report provide a snapshot of these…
Undergraduate Students’ Difficulties in Reading and Constructing Phylogenetic Tree
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sa'adah, S.; Tapilouw, F. S.; Hidayat, T.
2017-02-01
Representation is a very important communication tool to communicate scientific concepts. Biologists produce phylogenetic representation to express their understanding of evolutionary relationships. The phylogenetic tree is visual representation depict a hypothesis about the evolutionary relationship and widely used in the biological sciences. Phylogenetic tree currently growing for many disciplines in biology. Consequently, learning about phylogenetic tree become an important part of biological education and an interesting area for biology education research. However, research showed many students often struggle with interpreting the information that phylogenetic trees depict. The purpose of this study was to investigate undergraduate students’ difficulties in reading and constructing a phylogenetic tree. The method of this study is a descriptive method. In this study, we used questionnaires, interviews, multiple choice and open-ended questions, reflective journals and observations. The findings showed students experiencing difficulties, especially in constructing a phylogenetic tree. The students’ responds indicated that main reasons for difficulties in constructing a phylogenetic tree are difficult to placing taxa in a phylogenetic tree based on the data provided so that the phylogenetic tree constructed does not describe the actual evolutionary relationship (incorrect relatedness). Students also have difficulties in determining the sister group, character synapomorphy, autapomorphy from data provided (character table) and comparing among phylogenetic tree. According to them building the phylogenetic tree is more difficult than reading the phylogenetic tree. Finding this studies provide information to undergraduate instructor and students to overcome learning difficulties of reading and constructing phylogenetic tree.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hagen, Åste M.; Braasch, Jason L. G.; Bråten, Ivar
2014-01-01
This study investigated note-taking during multiple-text reading across two different task conditions in relation to comprehension performance and self-reports of strategy use. Forty-four undergraduates read multiple texts about climate change to write an argument or a summary. Analysis of students' spontaneous note-taking during reading…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tighe, Elizabeth L.; Wagner, Richard K.; Schatschneider, Christopher
2015-01-01
This study demonstrates the utility of applying a causal indicator modeling framework to investigate important predictors of reading comprehension in third, seventh, and tenth grade students. The results indicated that a 4-factor multiple indicator multiple indicator cause (MIMIC) model of reading comprehension provided adequate fit at each grade…
Hold the Applause!: Do Accelerated Reader (TM) and Electronic Bookshelf (TM) Send the Right Message?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Carter, Betty
1996-01-01
Although the computerized reading management programs, Accelerated Reader and Electronic Bookshelf, increase library circulation and standardized test scores, they have drawbacks. Both programs devalue reading, diminish motivation, limit title choice, restrict materials selection and collection development, discourage independent selection of…
Language Learning Strategy Use and Reading Achievement
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ghafournia, Narjes
2014-01-01
The current study investigated the differences across the varying levels of EFL learners in the frequency and choice of learning strategies. Using a reading test, questionnaire, and parametric statistical analysis, the findings yielded up discrepancies among the participants in the implementation of language-learning strategies concerning their…
75 FR 20581 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
2010-04-20
... Affairs, Attention: Education Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, 725 17th Street, NW., Room... for Elementary School Reading (Site Recruitment). Frequency: On Occasion. Affected Public: State... Elementary School Reading will inform the National Assessment of IDEA 2004, and the choices of districts and...
Critical Literacy Performances in Online Literature Discussions
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Forest, Danielle E.; Kimmel, Sue C.
2016-01-01
In today's media-laden environment, the ability to read text from a critical literacy perspective is imperative, particularly for librarians who influence children's reading choices and behaviors. This study examines the critical literacy performances of students in an online, asynchronous, graduate-level children's literature course using a…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goodwin, Amanda P.; August, Diane; Calderon, Margarita
2015-01-01
The current study unites multiple theories (i.e., the orthographic depth hypothesis and linguistic grain size theory, the simple view of reading, and the common underlying proficiency model) to explore differences in how 113 fourth-grade Spanish-speaking English learners (ELs) approached reading in their native language of Spanish, which is…
EFL Learners' Multiple Documents Literacy: Effects of a Strategy-Directed Intervention Program
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Karimi, Mohammad Nabi
2015-01-01
There is a substantial body of L2 research documenting the central role of strategy instruction in reading comprehension. However, this line of research has been conducted mostly within the single text paradigm of reading research. With reading literacy undergoing a marked shift from single source reading to multiple documents literacy, little is…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Buschick, Mary E.; Shipton, Tracey A.; Winner, Laurie M.; Wise, Melissa D.
2007-01-01
The problem is that with each passing year it becomes increasingly harder to maintain student motivation to read and improve reading comprehension. The purpose of this project was to increase reading motivation in elementary and middle school students through the use of multiple intelligences. This project was conducted by four teacher researchers…
Middle school students' reading comprehension of mathematical texts and algebraic equations
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Duru, Adem; Koklu, Onder
2011-06-01
In this study, middle school students' abilities to translate mathematical texts into algebraic representations and vice versa were investigated. In addition, students' difficulties in making such translations and the potential sources for these difficulties were also explored. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect data for this study: questionnaire and clinical interviews. The questionnaire consisted of two general types of items: (1) selected-response (multiple-choice) items for which the respondent selects from multiple options and (2) open-ended items for which the respondent constructs a response. In order to further investigate the students' strategies while they were translating the given mathematical texts to algebraic equations and vice versa, five randomly chosen (n = 5) students were interviewed. Data were collected in the 2007-2008 school year from 185 middle-school students in five teachers' classrooms in three different schools in the city of Adıyaman, Turkey. After the analysis of data, it was found that students who participated in this study had difficulties in translating the mathematical texts into algebraic equations by using symbols. It was also observed that these students had difficulties in translating the symbolic representations into mathematical texts because of their weak reading comprehension. In addition, finding of this research revealed that students' difficulties in translating the given mathematical texts into symbolic representations or vice versa come from different sources.
Editor's Choice Offered as a Service
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Richman, Barbara T.
2010-06-01
Editor's Choice is now being offered as a service rather than on a subscription basis. As in the past, articles will be selected by collection editors with assistance from advisory panels. The selected articles will be listed on the AGU Web site (http://www.agu.org/pubs/journals/virtual/editors_choice/); these lists will be accessible to anyone. Those who are interested in reading the articles can access them through a personal or institutional subscription or can purchase them either individually or as part of a MultiChoice packet.
Ribeiro, Antonio; Golicz, Agnieszka; Hackett, Christine Anne; Milne, Iain; Stephen, Gordon; Marshall, David; Flavell, Andrew J; Bayer, Micha
2015-11-11
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) are widely used molecular markers, and their use has increased massively since the inception of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies, which allow detection of large numbers of SNPs at low cost. However, both NGS data and their analysis are error-prone, which can lead to the generation of false positive (FP) SNPs. We explored the relationship between FP SNPs and seven factors involved in mapping-based variant calling - quality of the reference sequence, read length, choice of mapper and variant caller, mapping stringency and filtering of SNPs by read mapping quality and read depth. This resulted in 576 possible factor level combinations. We used error- and variant-free simulated reads to ensure that every SNP found was indeed a false positive. The variation in the number of FP SNPs generated ranged from 0 to 36,621 for the 120 million base pairs (Mbp) genome. All of the experimental factors tested had statistically significant effects on the number of FP SNPs generated and there was a considerable amount of interaction between the different factors. Using a fragmented reference sequence led to a dramatic increase in the number of FP SNPs generated, as did relaxed read mapping and a lack of SNP filtering. The choice of reference assembler, mapper and variant caller also significantly affected the outcome. The effect of read length was more complex and suggests a possible interaction between mapping specificity and the potential for contributing more false positives as read length increases. The choice of tools and parameters involved in variant calling can have a dramatic effect on the number of FP SNPs produced, with particularly poor combinations of software and/or parameter settings yielding tens of thousands in this experiment. Between-factor interactions make simple recommendations difficult for a SNP discovery pipeline but the quality of the reference sequence is clearly of paramount importance. Our findings are also a stark reminder that it can be unwise to use the relaxed mismatch settings provided as defaults by some read mappers when reads are being mapped to a relatively unfinished reference sequence from e.g. a non-model organism in its early stages of genomic exploration.
Children's Choices: Teaching with Books Children Like.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Roser, Nancy, Ed.; Frith, Margaret, Ed.
Supplementing Children's Choices--a list of children's literature that children grades K-8 found most enjoyable, published annually in "The Reading Teacher" journal--this collection of articles provides suggestions for effective use of children's favorite books in the classroom. In addition to providing an extensive bibliography of…
Kim, Young-Suk; Otaiba, Stephanie Al; Sidler, Jessica Folsom; Gruelich, Luana
2013-01-01
We had two primary purposes in the present study: (1) to examine unique child-level predictors of written composition which included language skills, literacy skills (e.g., reading and spelling), and attentiveness and (2) to examine whether instructional quality (quality in responsiveness and individualization, and quality in spelling and writing instruction) is uniquely related to written composition for first-grade children (N = 527). Children’s written composition was evaluated on substantive quality (ideas, organization, word choice, and sentence flow) and writing conventions (spelling, mechanics, and handwriting). Results revealed that for the substantive quality of writing, children’s grammatical knowledge, reading comprehension, letter writing automaticity, and attentiveness were uniquely related. Teachers’ responsiveness was also uniquely related to the substantive quality of written composition after accounting for child predictors and other instructional quality variables. For the writing conventions outcome, children’s spelling and attentiveness were uniquely related, but instructional quality was not. These results suggest the importance of paying attention to multiple component skills such as language, literacy, and behavioral factors as well as teachers’ responsiveness for writing development. PMID:24062600
Integrative analysis with ChIP-seq advances the limits of transcript quantification from RNA-seq
Liu, Peng; Sanalkumar, Rajendran; Bresnick, Emery H.; Keleş, Sündüz; Dewey, Colin N.
2016-01-01
RNA-seq is currently the technology of choice for global measurement of transcript abundances in cells. Despite its successes, isoform-level quantification remains difficult because short RNA-seq reads are often compatible with multiple alternatively spliced isoforms. Existing methods rely heavily on uniquely mapping reads, which are not available for numerous isoforms that lack regions of unique sequence. To improve quantification accuracy in such difficult cases, we developed a novel computational method, prior-enhanced RSEM (pRSEM), which uses a complementary data type in addition to RNA-seq data. We found that ChIP-seq data of RNA polymerase II and histone modifications were particularly informative in this approach. In qRT-PCR validations, pRSEM was shown to be superior than competing methods in estimating relative isoform abundances within or across conditions. Data-driven simulations suggested that pRSEM has a greatly decreased false-positive rate at the expense of a small increase in false-negative rate. In aggregate, our study demonstrates that pRSEM transforms existing capacity to precisely estimate transcript abundances, especially at the isoform level. PMID:27405803
Accelerated Reader Program: What Do Teachers Really Think?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smith, Amy Frances; Westberg, Karen; Hejny, Anne
2017-01-01
What do teachers really think about the Accelerated Reader program, a widely used supplemental, independent reading program in which their students read fiction and non-fiction books of their choice and take brief online comprehension quizzes about the books? The Accelerated Reader (AR) program was designed by Renaissance Learning Company to…
Moving beyond Readability: Considering Choice, Motivation and Learner Engagement
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Moley, Pauline F.; Bandre, Patricia E.; George, John E.
2011-01-01
As reading professionals and former middle school teachers, we believe it is essential for teachers to select books thoughtfully, understand the relationship between book selection and student motivation and engagement, and realize the importance of classroom instruction during the reading of literature. Teachers strive to help middle school…
A Model of Pre-Service Education of Elementary Reading Teachers.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Morgan, Lorraine
A six-phase preparation program, with two additional courses optional, that leads to recommendation for certification of elementary reading teachers ia described. The program begins with freshmen and allows the students to experience the elements of choice, responsibility, individualization, self-awareness, social awareness, and communication in…
Cognitive Processes in Orienteering: A Review.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Seiler, Roland
1996-01-01
Reviews recent research on information processing and decision making in orienteering. The main cognitive demands investigated were selection of relevant map information for route choice, comparison between map and terrain in map reading and in relocation, and quick awareness of mistakes. Presents a model of map reading based on results. Contains…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Berg, Craig; Boote, Stacy
2017-01-01
Prior graphing research has demonstrated that clinical interviews and free-response instruments produce very different results than multiple-choice instruments, indicating potential validity problems when using multiple-choice instruments to assess graphing skills (Berg & Smith in "Science Education," 78(6), 527-554, 1994). Extending…
Nested Logit Models for Multiple-Choice Item Response Data
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Suh, Youngsuk; Bolt, Daniel M.
2010-01-01
Nested logit item response models for multiple-choice data are presented. Relative to previous models, the new models are suggested to provide a better approximation to multiple-choice items where the application of a solution strategy precedes consideration of response options. In practice, the models also accommodate collapsibility across all…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bakker, Don
This unit is part of a series of curriculum materials that applies the choices approach to critical junctures in history. The focus is on Germany's defeat in World War I and conditions in Germany contributing to the rise of Nazism. Students are provided with background readings on the Weimar Republic, the reparations imposed on Germany with their…
Tighe, Elizabeth L.; Wagner, Richard K.; Schatschneider, Christopher
2015-01-01
This study demonstrates the utility of applying a causal indicator modeling framework to investigate important predictors of reading comprehension in third, seventh, and tenth grade students. The results indicated that a 4-factor multiple indicator multiple indicator cause (MIMIC) model of reading comprehension provided adequate fit at each grade level. This model included latent predictor constructs of decoding, verbal reasoning, nonverbal reasoning, and working memory and accounted for a large portion of the reading comprehension variance (73% to 87%) across grade levels. Verbal reasoning contributed the most unique variance to reading comprehension at all grade levels. In addition, we fit a multiple group 4-factor MIMIC model to investigate the relative stability (or variability) of the predictor contributions to reading comprehension across development (i.e., grade levels). The results revealed that the contributions of verbal reasoning, nonverbal reasoning, and working memory to reading comprehension were stable across the three grade levels. Decoding was the only predictor that could not be constrained to be equal across grade levels. The contribution of decoding skills to reading comprehension was higher in third grade and then remained relatively stable between seventh and tenth grade. These findings illustrate the feasibility of using MIMIC models to explain individual differences in reading comprehension across the development of reading skills. PMID:25821346
Reading Motivation and Reading Comprehension Growth in the Later Elementary Years
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Guthrie, John T.; Hoa, A. Laurel W.; Wigfield, Allan; Tonks, Stephen M.; Humenick, Nicole M.; Littles, Erin
2007-01-01
Reading motivation has been viewed as a multifaceted construct with multiple constituents. Our investigation of motivational multiplicity expanded on previous literature by including motivation constructs (interest, perceived control, collaboration, involvement, and efficacy), text genres, specific versus general contexts, and the self-versus…
2008-08-01
version of NCAPS, participants higher in cognitive ability and reading ability were able to produce higher fakability scores. Higher intelligence ... intelligence and reading ability. Therefore, the adaptive paired- comparison NCAPS is very likely to provide scores close to the true trait scores for...regardless of the intelligence or reading levels associated with those taking the adaptive NCAPS; it will be difficult to fake the adaptive paired
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Crane, Jean; Rains, Annette
1996-01-01
Presents six curriculum guides for art, physical education, reading/language arts, science, and social studies. Each guide identifies library media skills objectives; curriculum objectives; grade levels; print and nonprint resources; instructional roles; the activity; and procedures for completion, evaluation, and follow-up activities. (AEF)
Nsangi, Allen; Semakula, Daniel; Oxman, Andrew D; Austvoll-Dahlgren, Astrid; Oxman, Matt; Rosenbaum, Sarah; Morelli, Angela; Glenton, Claire; Lewin, Simon; Kaseje, Margaret; Chalmers, Iain; Fretheim, Atle; Ding, Yunpeng; Sewankambo, Nelson K
2017-07-22
Claims about what improves or harms our health are ubiquitous. People need to be able to assess the reliability of these claims. We aimed to evaluate an intervention designed to teach primary school children to assess claims about the effects of treatments (ie, any action intended to maintain or improve health). In this cluster-randomised controlled trial, we included primary schools in the central region of Uganda that taught year-5 children (aged 10-12 years). We excluded international schools, special needs schools for children with auditory and visual impairments, schools that had participated in user-testing and piloting of the resources, infant and nursery schools, adult education schools, and schools that were difficult for us to access in terms of travel time. We randomly allocated a representative sample of eligible schools to either an intervention or control group. Intervention schools received the Informed Health Choices primary school resources (textbooks, exercise books, and a teachers' guide). Teachers attended a 2 day introductory workshop and gave nine 80 min lessons during one school term. The lessons addressed 12 concepts essential to assessing claims about treatment effects and making informed health choices. We did not intervene in the control schools. The primary outcome, measured at the end of the school term, was the mean score on a test with two multiple-choice questions for each of the 12 concepts and the proportion of children with passing scores on the same test. This trial is registered with the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry, number PACTR201606001679337. Between April 11, 2016, and June 8, 2016, 2960 schools were assessed for eligibility; 2029 were eligible, and a random sample of 170 were invited to recruitment meetings. After recruitment meetings, 120 eligible schools consented and were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (n=60, 76 teachers and 6383 children) or control group (n=60, 67 teachers and 4430 children). The mean score in the multiple-choice test for the intervention schools was 62·4% (SD 18·8) compared with 43·1% (15·2) for the control schools (adjusted mean difference 20·0%, 95% CI 17·3-22·7; p<0·00001). In the intervention schools, 3967 (69%) of 5753 children achieved a predetermined passing score (≥13 of 24 correct answers) compared with 1186 (27%) of 4430 children in the control schools (adjusted difference 50%, 95% CI 44-55). The intervention was effective for children with different levels of reading skills, but was more effective for children with better reading skills. The use of the Informed Health Choices primary school learning resources, after an introductory workshop for the teachers, led to a large improvement in the ability of children to assess claims about the effects of treatments. The results show that it is possible to teach primary school children to think critically in schools with large student to teacher ratios and few resources. Future studies should address how to scale up use of the resources, long-term effects, including effects on actual health choices, transferability to other countries, and how to build on this programme with additional primary and secondary school learning resources. Research Council of Norway. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
ATLAS TDAQ System Administration: Master of Puppets
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ballestrero, S.; Brasolin, F.; Fazio, D.; Gament, C.; Lee, C. J.; Scannicchio, D. A.; Twomey, M. S.
2017-10-01
Within the ATLAS detector, the Trigger and Data Acquisition system is responsible for the online processing of data streamed from the detector during collisions at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The online farm is comprised of ∼4000 servers processing the data read out from ∼100 million detector channels through multiple trigger levels. The configurtion of these servers is not an easy task, especially since the detector itself is made up of multiple different sub-detectors, each with their own particular requirements. The previous method of configuring these servers, using Quattor and a hierarchical scripts system was cumbersome and restrictive. A better, unified system was therefore required to simplify the tasks of the TDAQ Systems Administrators, for both the local and net-booted systems, and to be able to fulfil the requirements of TDAQ, Detector Control Systems and the sub-detectors groups. Various configuration management systems were evaluated, though in the end, Puppet was chosen as the application of choice and was the first such implementation at CERN.
Measures of Partial Knowledge and Unexpected Responses in Multiple-Choice Tests
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chang, Shao-Hua; Lin, Pei-Chun; Lin, Zih-Chuan
2007-01-01
This study investigates differences in the partial scoring performance of examinees in elimination testing and conventional dichotomous scoring of multiple-choice tests implemented on a computer-based system. Elimination testing that uses the same set of multiple-choice items rewards examinees with partial knowledge over those who are simply…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lee, Hee-Sun; Liu, Ou Lydia; Linn, Marcia C.
2011-01-01
This study explores measurement of a construct called knowledge integration in science using multiple-choice and explanation items. We use construct and instructional validity evidence to examine the role multiple-choice and explanation items plays in measuring students' knowledge integration ability. For construct validity, we analyze item…
Making the Most of Multiple Choice
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brookhart, Susan M.
2015-01-01
Multiple-choice questions draw criticism because many people perceive they test only recall or atomistic, surface-level objectives and do not require students to think. Although this can be the case, it does not have to be that way. Susan M. Brookhart suggests that multiple-choice questions are a useful part of any teacher's questioning repertoire…
The Positive and Negative Consequences of Multiple-Choice Testing
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Roediger, Henry L.; Marsh, Elizabeth J.
2005-01-01
Multiple-choice tests are commonly used in educational settings but with unknown effects on students' knowledge. The authors examined the consequences of taking a multiple-choice test on a later general knowledge test in which students were warned not to guess. A large positive testing effect was obtained: Prior testing of facts aided final…
On the Equivalence of Constructed-Response and Multiple-Choice Tests.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Traub, Ross E.; Fisher, Charles W.
Two sets of mathematical reasoning and two sets of verbal comprehension items were cast into each of three formats--constructed response, standard multiple-choice, and Coombs multiple-choice--in order to assess whether tests with indentical content but different formats measure the same attribute, except for possible differences in error variance…
Validity and Realibility of Chemistry Systemic Multiple Choices Questions (CSMCQs)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Priyambodo, Erfan; Marfuatun
2016-01-01
Nowadays, Rasch model analysis is used widely in social research, moreover in educational research. In this research, Rasch model is used to determine the validation and the reliability of systemic multiple choices question in chemistry teaching and learning. There were 30 multiple choices question with systemic approach for high school student…
Using Multiple-Choice Questions to Evaluate In-Depth Learning of Economics
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Buckles, Stephen; Siegfried, John J.
2006-01-01
Multiple-choice questions are the basis of a significant portion of assessment in introductory economics courses. However, these questions, as found in course assessments, test banks, and textbooks, often fail to evaluate students' abilities to use and apply economic analysis. The authors conclude that multiple-choice questions can be used to…
Multiple Choice Items: How to Gain the Most out of Them.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Talmir, Pinchas
1991-01-01
Describes how multiple-choice items can be designed and used as an effective diagnostic tool by avoiding their pitfalls and by taking advantage of their potential benefits. The following issues are discussed: correct' versus best answers; construction of diagnostic multiple-choice items; the problem of guessing; the use of justifications of…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kon, Jane Heckley; Martin-Kniep, Giselle O.
1992-01-01
Describes a case study to determine whether performance tests are a feasible alternative to multiple-choice tests. Examines the difficulties of administering and scoring performance assessments. Explains that the study employed three performance tests and one multiple-choice test. Concludes that performance test administration and scoring was no…
Comparison of Difficulties and Reliabilities of Math-Completion and Multiple-Choice Item Formats.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oosterhof, Albert C.; Coats, Pamela K.
Instructors who develop classroom examinations that require students to provide a numerical response to a mathematical problem are often very concerned about the appropriateness of the multiple-choice format. The present study augments previous research relevant to this concern by comparing the difficulty and reliability of multiple-choice and…
[Continuing medical education: how to write multiple choice questions].
Soler Fernández, R; Méndez Díaz, C; Rodríguez García, E
2013-06-01
Evaluating professional competence in medicine is a difficult but indispensable task because it makes it possible to evaluate, at different times and from different perspectives, the extent to which the knowledge, skills, and values required for exercising the profession have been acquired. Tests based on multiple choice questions have been and continue to be among the most useful tools for objectively evaluating learning in medicine. When these tests are well designed and correctly used, they can stimulate learning and even measure higher cognitive skills. Designing a multiple choice test is a difficult task that requires knowledge of the material to be tested and of the methodology of test preparation as well as time to prepare the test. The aim of this article is to review what can be evaluated through multiple choice tests, the rules and guidelines that should be taken into account when writing multiple choice questions, the different formats that can be used, the most common errors in elaborating multiple choice tests, and how to analyze the results of the test to verify its quality. Copyright © 2012 SERAM. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.
Exploring Pedagogical Reasoning: Reading Strategy Instruction from Two Teachers' Perspectives
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Li, Hua; Wilhelm, Kim Hughes
2008-01-01
This study compares reading lessons given by two teachers in senior middle school classrooms on China's mainland. Classroom observation focused on lesson stages and activities as well as student responses. Follow-up interviews with the teachers aimed to discover the decision-making processes and choices made when teaching the lessons. Most notable…
Adult Basic Education Materials Evaluation Guide.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Harrison, David
This guide is intended for use by adult basic education practitioners in the screening of basic reading textbooks prior to their adoption for classroom use. The guide is in the form of a questionnaire and consists of dichotomous-choice questions arranged into three sections that relate to the product design, adult learning, and reading instruction…
Audio Support Guidelines for Accessible Assessments: Insights from Cognitive Lab
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Christensen, Laurene L.; Shyyan, Vitaliy; Rogers, Christopher; Kincaid, Aleksis
2014-01-01
Some students, including students with print disabilities, students with low vision, and English language learners, may benefit from having test content read aloud. However, there have been challenges in standardizing the presentation of test content, including whether or not to read answer choices or to describe maps and cartoons, among many…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Diamanti, Vassiliki; Goulandris, Nata; Campbell, Ruth; Protopapas, Athanassios
2018-01-01
We examined the manifestation of dyslexia in a cross-linguistic study contrasting English and Greek children with dyslexia compared to chronological age and reading-level control groups on reading accuracy and fluency, phonological awareness, short-term memory, rapid naming, orthographic choice, and spelling. Materials were carefully matched…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Balajthy, Ernest; Reuber, Kristin; Damon, Corrine J.
A study investigated software choices of graduate-level clinicians in a university reading clinic to determine computer use and effectiveness in literacy instruction. The clinic involved students of varying ability, ages 7-12, using 24 Power Macintosh computers equipped with "ClarisWorks,""Kid Pix,""Student Writing…
A Potpourri of Student Concerns: What They're Reading, Wearing, Joining, Applauding, Protesting.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chronicle of Higher Education, 1985
1985-01-01
A brief review looks at student characteristics, interests, and preferences in entertainment, reading matter, politics, fashion, college choice, college major, food, alcohol use, fraternities and sororities, and military training. It identifies the most common reasons for attending college and the countries from which the most foreign students…
Potential Nutrition Messages in Magazines Read by College Students.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hertzler, Ann A.; Grun, Ingolf
1990-01-01
Surveyed advertisements in magazines read by college students in nutrition class for hidden food and nutrition messages. Hidden messages for females could imply beauty through fashion products, beauty aids, and supplements but with nutrition slimming plan. Males may be receiving subtle message that food choices do not matter and that alcohol and…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gilmore, Barry
2011-01-01
Although adult readers may savor the chance to choose from a wide range of things to read, experiment with different genres, and discover exciting books on their own, high school students' reading choices in school are generally narrowed to a few standard classic novels, Gilmore argues. The list of recommended "good" books that most high schools…
Working Memory, Strategy Knowledge, and Strategy Instruction in Children with Reading Disabilities
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Swanson, H. Lee; Kehler, Pam; Jerman, Olga
2010-01-01
Two experiments investigated the effects of strategy knowledge and strategy training on the working memory (WM) performance in children (ages 10-11) with and without reading disabilities (RD). Experiment 1 examined the relationship between strategy knowledge (stability of strategy choices) and WM performance as a function of initial, gain (cued),…
Reading for Pleasure: More than Just a Distant Possibility?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Barber, Karen Slikas
2014-01-01
Much has been written about the importance of extensive reading for the development of language fluency, yet it is not often an activity of choice by students as a means of improving language learning. Many of my multi-level (elementary-intermediate) Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) Certificates in Spoken and Written English (CSWE) students…
Strategies for Coping in a Complex World: Adherence Behavior Among Older Adults with Chronic Illness
Ross-Degnan, Dennis; Adams, Alyce S.; Safran, Dana Gelb; Soumerai, Stephen B.
2007-01-01
Background Increasing numbers of medicines increase nonadherence. Little is known about how older adults manage multiple medicines for multiple illnesses. Objectives To explore how older adults with multiple illnesses make choices about medicines. Design Semistructured interviews with older adults taking several medications. Accounts of respondents’ medicine-taking behavior were collected. Participants Twenty community-dwelling seniors with health insurance, in Eastern Massachusetts, aged 67–90, (4–12 medicines, 3–9 comorbidities). Approach Qualitative analysis using constant comparison to explain real choices made about medicines in the past (“historical”) and hypothetical (“future”) choices. Results Respondents reported both past (“historical”) choices and hypothetical (“future”) choices between medicines. Although people discussed effectiveness and future risk of the disease when prompted to prioritize their medicines (future choices), key factors leading to nonadherence (historical choices) were costs and side effects. Specific choices were generally dominated by 1 factor, and respondents rarely reported making explicit trade-offs between different factors. Factors affecting 1 choice were not necessarily the same as those affecting another choice in the same person. There was no evidence of “adherent” personalities. Conclusion Prescribing a new medicine, a change in provider or copayment can provoke new choices about both new and existing medications in older adults with multiple morbidities. PMID:17406952
Burger-Caplan, Rebecca; Saulnier, Celine; Jones, Warren; Klin, Ami
2016-11-01
The Social Attribution Task, Multiple Choice is introduced as a measure of implicit social cognitive ability in children, addressing a key challenge in quantification of social cognitive function in autism spectrum disorder, whereby individuals can often be successful in explicit social scenarios, despite marked social adaptive deficits. The 19-question Social Attribution Task, Multiple Choice, which presents ambiguous stimuli meant to elicit social attribution, was administered to children with autism spectrum disorder (N = 23) and to age-matched and verbal IQ-matched typically developing children (N = 57). The Social Attribution Task, Multiple Choice performance differed between autism spectrum disorder and typically developing groups, with typically developing children performing significantly better than children with autism spectrum disorder. The Social Attribution Task, Multiple Choice scores were positively correlated with age (r = 0.474) while being independent from verbal IQ (r = 0.236). The Social Attribution Task, Multiple Choice was strongly correlated with Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales Communication (r = 0.464) and Socialization (r = 0.482) scores, but not with Daily Living Skills scores (r = 0.116), suggesting that the implicit social cognitive ability underlying performance on the Social Attribution Task, Multiple Choice is associated with real-life social adaptive function. © The Author(s) 2016.
Testing Collective Memory: Representing the Soviet Union on Multiple-Choice Questions
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Reich, Gabriel A.
2011-01-01
This article tests the assumption that state-mandated multiple-choice history exams are a cultural tool for disseminating an "official" collective memory. Findings from a qualitative study of a collection of multiple-choice questions that relate to the history of the Soviet Union are presented. The 263 questions all come from New York…
Multiple-Choice and Short-Answer Exam Performance in a College Classroom
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Funk, Steven C.; Dickson, K. Laurie
2011-01-01
The authors experimentally investigated the effects of multiple-choice and short-answer format exam items on exam performance in a college classroom. They randomly assigned 50 students to take a 10-item short-answer pretest or posttest on two 50-item multiple-choice exams in an introduction to personality course. Students performed significantly…
Using a Classroom Response System to Improve Multiple-Choice Performance in AP[R] Physics
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bertrand, Peggy
2009-01-01
Participation in rigorous high school courses such as Advanced Placement (AP[R]) Physics increases the likelihood of college success, especially for students who are traditionally underserved. Tackling difficult multiple-choice exams should be part of any AP program because well-constructed multiple-choice questions, such as those on AP exams and…
Teaching Critical Thinking without (Much) Writing: Multiple-Choice and Metacognition
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bassett, Molly H.
2016-01-01
In this essay, I explore an exam format that pairs multiple-choice questions with required rationales. In a space adjacent to each multiple-choice question, students explain why or how they arrived at the answer they selected. This exercise builds the critical thinking skill known as metacognition, thinking about thinking, into an exam that also…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brewe, Eric; Bruun, Jesper; Bearden, Ian G.
2016-01-01
We describe "Module Analysis for Multiple Choice Responses" (MAMCR), a new methodology for carrying out network analysis on responses to multiple choice assessments. This method is used to identify modules of non-normative responses which can then be interpreted as an alternative to factor analysis. MAMCR allows us to identify conceptual…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nakamura, Yasuyuki; Nishi, Shinnosuke; Muramatsu, Yuta; Yasutake, Koichi; Yamakawa, Osamu; Tagawa, Takahiro
2014-01-01
In this paper, we introduce a mathematical model for collaborative learning and the answering process for multiple-choice questions. The collaborative learning model is inspired by the Ising spin model and the model for answering multiple-choice questions is based on their difficulty level. An intensive simulation study predicts the possibility of…
Are Multiple Choice Tests Fair to Medical Students with Specific Learning Disabilities?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ricketts, Chris; Brice, Julie; Coombes, Lee
2010-01-01
The purpose of multiple choice tests of medical knowledge is to estimate as accurately as possible a candidate's level of knowledge. However, concern is sometimes expressed that multiple choice tests may also discriminate in undesirable and irrelevant ways, such as between minority ethnic groups or by sex of candidates. There is little literature…
Multiple Choice Testing and the Retrieval Hypothesis of the Testing Effect
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sensenig, Amanda E.
2010-01-01
Taking a test often leads to enhanced later memory for the tested information, a phenomenon known as the "testing effect". This memory advantage has been reliably demonstrated with recall tests but not multiple choice tests. One potential explanation for this finding is that multiple choice tests do not rely on retrieval processes to the same…
Do Streaks Matter in Multiple-Choice Tests?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kiss, Hubert János; Selei, Adrienn
2018-01-01
Success in life is determined to a large extent by school performance, which in turn depends heavily on grades obtained in exams. In this study, we investigate a particular type of exam: multiple-choice tests. More concretely, we study if patterns of correct answers in multiple-choice tests affect performance. We design an experiment to study if…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Parish, Jane A.; Karisch, Brandi B.
2013-01-01
Item analysis can serve as a useful tool in improving multiple-choice questions used in Extension programming. It can identify gaps between instruction and assessment. An item analysis of Mississippi Master Cattle Producer program multiple-choice examination responses was performed to determine the difficulty of individual examinations, assess the…
Step by Step: Biology Undergraduates' Problem-Solving Procedures during Multiple-Choice Assessment
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Prevost, Luanna B.; Lemons, Paula P.
2016-01-01
This study uses the theoretical framework of domain-specific problem solving to explore the procedures students use to solve multiple-choice problems about biology concepts. We designed several multiple-choice problems and administered them on four exams. We trained students to produce written descriptions of how they solved the problem, and this…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Petrowsky, Michael C.
This paper analyzes the results of a pilot study at Glendale Community College (Arizona) to assess the effectiveness of a comprehensive multiple choice final exam in the macroeconomic principles course. The "pilot project" involved the administration of a 50-question multiple choice exam to 71 students in three macroeconomics sections.…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Downing, Steven M.; Maatsch, Jack L.
To test the effect of clinically relevant multiple-choice item content on the validity of statistical discriminations of physicians' clinical competence, data were collected from a field test of the Emergency Medicine Examination, test items for the certification of specialists in emergency medicine. Two 91-item multiple-choice subscales were…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gierl, Mark J.; Bulut, Okan; Guo, Qi; Zhang, Xinxin
2017-01-01
Multiple-choice testing is considered one of the most effective and enduring forms of educational assessment that remains in practice today. This study presents a comprehensive review of the literature on multiple-choice testing in education focused, specifically, on the development, analysis, and use of the incorrect options, which are also…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yonker, Julie E.
2011-01-01
With the advent of online test banks and large introductory classes, instructors have often turned to textbook publisher-generated multiple-choice question (MCQ) exams in their courses. Multiple-choice questions are often divided into categories of factual or applied, thereby implicating levels of cognitive processing. This investigation examined…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schultz, Madeleine
2011-01-01
This paper reports on the development of a tool that generates randomised, non-multiple choice assessment within the BlackBoard Learning Management System interface. An accepted weakness of multiple-choice assessment is that it cannot elicit learning outcomes from upper levels of Biggs' SOLO taxonomy. However, written assessment items require…
Learning by Reading for Robust Reasoning in Intelligent Agents
2018-04-24
SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT Our hypotheses are that analogical processing plays multiple roles in enabling machines to learn by reading, and that...systems). Our overall hypotheses are that analogical processing plays multiple roles in learning by reading, and that qualitative representations provide...from reading this text? Narrative function can be seen as a kind of communication act, but the idea goes a bit beyond that. Communication acts are
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bounds, Sharon L.
2013-01-01
This qualitative multiple case study was undertaken to answer the following question: How did Reading® (RR) teachers and former Reading Recovery teachers in a mid-sized rural school system in the southeastern United States describe the influences of their Reading Recovery training as it related to their current professional lives? Additional…
Szatkiewicz, Jin P; Wang, WeiBo; Sullivan, Patrick F; Wang, Wei; Sun, Wei
2013-02-01
Structural variation is an important class of genetic variation in mammals. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies promise to revolutionize copy-number variation (CNV) detection but present substantial analytic challenges. Converging evidence suggests that multiple types of CNV-informative data (e.g. read-depth, read-pair, split-read) need be considered, and that sophisticated methods are needed for more accurate CNV detection. We observed that various sources of experimental biases in HTS confound read-depth estimation, and note that bias correction has not been adequately addressed by existing methods. We present a novel read-depth-based method, GENSENG, which uses a hidden Markov model and negative binomial regression framework to identify regions of discrete copy-number changes while simultaneously accounting for the effects of multiple confounders. Based on extensive calibration using multiple HTS data sets, we conclude that our method outperforms existing read-depth-based CNV detection algorithms. The concept of simultaneous bias correction and CNV detection can serve as a basis for combining read-depth with other types of information such as read-pair or split-read in a single analysis. A user-friendly and computationally efficient implementation of our method is freely available.
Online Searching: Using the Right Connections.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Holt, Constance W.
This conference paper addresses the abundance of information delivery choices available to academic library online searchers. Following a review of changes and choices that have developed during the past decade, the paper suggests 10 ways for the searcher to keep up to date in this fast changing field: (1) read subject-related journals, system…
Facilitating enrollment in a Cancer Registry through modified consent procedures: a pilot study.
Mazanec, Susan; Daly, Barbara; Meropol, Neal J; Step, Mary
2012-12-01
Research registries are increasingly important in medical research and are essential to the mission of cancer centers. However, designing enrollment and data collection procedures that are consistent with ethical norms and regulatory requirements yet are efficient and cost effective is a major challenge. Current standard consent forms can be a barrier to enrollment because of their length, multiple components, and technical language. We pilot tested an IRB-approved registry booklet and simplified one-page, tiered consent form, allowing for choice of extent of participation. The booklet was mailed to patients with breast cancer as part of their routine information packet prior to the first clinic appointment. A research nurse met with 27 patients at initial treatment to review the booklet, answer questions, obtain informed consent, and collect quality of life data. The consent rate was 78% with 21 patients enrolling in the study. Twelve of the 21 patients (57%) did not read the booklet prior to the visit. The 9 patients (43%) who had read the booklet prior to arrival found it easy to understand. The multi-stage, simplified consent process and data collection were acceptable to these patients and readily integrated into clinical operations. An easy-to-read registry booklet may be an effective guide for discussion, but in-person consent procedures and further testing of the approach are required.
Task-Oriented Reading of Multiple Documents: Online Comprehension Processes and Offline Products
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Anmarkrud, Øistein; McCrudden, Matthew T.; Bråten, Ivar; Strømsø, Helge I.
2013-01-01
We explored readers' judgments of text relevance and strategy use while they read about a controversial scientific issue in multiple conflicting documents using a think-aloud methodology and had them write a short essay after reading. Participants were university-level students. There were three main findings. First, readers discriminated…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stadtler, Marc; Scharrer, Lisa; Skodzik, Timo; Bromme, Rainer
2014-01-01
Understanding conflicts between sources is an inherent part of science text comprehension. We examined whether readers' memories for conflicts and their situational interpretation of conflicts would be affected by reading goals and lexical cue phrases that signal rhetorical relationships. To this end, 198 undergraduates read multiple documents on…
The Multiple Intelligences of Reading and Writing: Making the Words Come Alive.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Armstrong, Thomas
This book is intended for all educators who work with reading and writing skills. The book combines Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences and recent brain research on reading and writing with historical, anthropological, biographical, and psychological perspectives on literacy. It pulls the research together to show how teachers can engage…
Comics as an educational tool for children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Mendelson, Amir; Rabinowicz, Noa; Reis, Yonit; Amarilyo, Gil; Harel, Liora; Hashkes, Philip J; Uziel, Yosef
2017-09-02
This study examined whether the comic book Neta and the Medikidz Explain JIA would improve disease-related knowledge and treatment adherence among patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). In this prospective cohort study, JIA patients answered 20 multiple-choice knowledge questions about their disease, before and after reading the comic book. Demographic, clinical, health-related quality of life and adherence data were recorded and correlated to the responses. We studied 61 patients with a mean age of 14 ± 3.3 (range 8-18) years, 67% female, 83% Jewish and 17% non-Jewish. Thirty-nine percent had oligoarthritis, 13% systemic, 32% polyarthritis 11% psoriatic and 5% enthesitis-related type JIA. The disease was active in 46%, 40% were treated with biologics/disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, and 34% were in remission on medication. Among the 53 patients who completed before and after quizzes, average score increased from 63 to 80% (P < 0.001). Non-Jewish patients initially scored lower than Jewish patients (48%), but their score increased to 79% after reading the comic book. Twenty-seven patients who also completed the quiz 1 year after the first reading retained their knowledge (79%). We did not find a statistically significant correlation between knowledge and age, sex, disease subtype, or Child Health Questionnaire quality of life scores. Adherence to medication use, physical therapy and rheumatology clinic visits were high at baseline; thus, these did not change after reading the comic. The comic booklet Neta and the Medikidz Explain JIA is a good educational tool for increasing disease-related knowledge in children with JIA.
Reducing the Need for Guesswork in Multiple-Choice Tests
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bush, Martin
2015-01-01
The humble multiple-choice test is very widely used within education at all levels, but its susceptibility to guesswork makes it a suboptimal assessment tool. The reliability of a multiple-choice test is partly governed by the number of items it contains; however, longer tests are more time consuming to take, and for some subject areas, it can be…
A Diagnostic Study of Pre-Service Teachers' Competency in Multiple-Choice Item Development
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Asim, Alice E.; Ekuri, Emmanuel E.; Eni, Eni I.
2013-01-01
Large class size is an issue in testing at all levels of Education. As a panacea to this, multiple choice test formats has become very popular. This case study was designed to diagnose pre-service teachers' competency in constructing questions (IQT); direct questions (DQT); and best answer (BAT) varieties of multiple choice items. Subjects were 88…
The Effects of Item Preview on Video-Based Multiple-Choice Listening Assessments
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Koyama, Dennis; Sun, Angela; Ockey, Gary J.
2016-01-01
Multiple-choice formats remain a popular design for assessing listening comprehension, yet no consensus has been reached on how multiple-choice formats should be employed. Some researchers argue that test takers must be provided with a preview of the items prior to the input (Buck, 1995; Sherman, 1997); others argue that a preview may decrease the…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hamadneh, Iyad Mohammed
2015-01-01
This study aimed at investigating the impact changing of escape alternative position in multiple-choice test on the psychometric properties of a test and it's items parameters (difficulty, discrimination & guessing), and estimation of examinee ability. To achieve the study objectives, a 4-alternative multiple choice type achievement test…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mayfield, Linda Riggs
2010-01-01
This study examined the effects of being taught the Mayfield's Four Questions multiple-choice test-taking strategy on the perceived self-efficacy and multiple-choice test scores of nursing students in a two-year associate degree program. Experimental and control groups were chosen by stratified random sampling. Subjects completed the 10-statement…
An experimental study on the effects of exposure to magazine advertising on children's food choices.
Jones, Sandra C; Kervin, Lisa
2011-08-01
The present study sought to determine the feasibility of an experimental research design to investigate the effects of exposure to magazine advertising on children's food choices. Children were randomized to read either a magazine with food advertisements or a magazine with no food advertisements. They then chose two food items from the intervention 'store' to eat after the session. Data were also collected on attitudes to advertising and snack food preferences. Finally, participants' parents were provided with a self-completion survey on food choices and other variables (n 24). Three vacation care centres in regional New South Wales, Australia. Children aged 5-12 years (n 47). Children in the experimental condition were more likely to choose advertised foods than those in the control group. Interestingly, the majority reported taste and healthiness as the most important factors in snack food choices; however, when faced with the actual food choice, they predominantly chose unhealthy foods (eighty-two unhealthy and only twelve healthy items were chosen). This was the first study to assess the effects on children of exposure to food advertising within the context of reading a child-targeted magazine. Importantly, even with the small sample size and venue limitations, we found that exposure to magazine advertising influenced food choices. Children's magazines are an under-researched and poorly regulated medium, with considerable potential to influence children's food choices. The present study shows that the methodology is feasible, and future studies could replicate this with larger samples.
Multiple-choice pretesting potentiates learning of related information.
Little, Jeri L; Bjork, Elizabeth Ligon
2016-10-01
Although the testing effect has received a substantial amount of empirical attention, such research has largely focused on the effects of tests given after study. The present research examines the effect of using tests prior to study (i.e., as pretests), focusing particularly on how pretesting influences the subsequent learning of information that is not itself pretested but that is related to the pretested information. In Experiment 1, we found that multiple-choice pretesting was better for the learning of such related information than was cued-recall pretesting or a pre-fact-study control condition. In Experiment 2, we found that the increased learning of non-pretested related information following multiple-choice testing could not be attributed to increased time allocated to that information during subsequent study. Last, in Experiment 3, we showed that the benefits of multiple-choice pretesting over cued-recall pretesting for the learning of related information persist over 48 hours, thus demonstrating the promise of multiple-choice pretesting to potentiate learning in educational contexts. A possible explanation for the observed benefits of multiple-choice pretesting for enhancing the effectiveness with which related nontested information is learned during subsequent study is discussed.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stahl, Steven A.; And Others
To examine the effects of students reading multiple documents on their perceptions of a historical event, in this case the "discovery" of America by Christopher Columbus, 85 high school freshmen read 3 of 4 different texts (or sets of texts) dealing with Columbus. One text was an encyclopedia article, one a set of articles from…
The multiple deficit model of dyslexia: what does it mean for identification and intervention?
Ring, Jeremiah; Black, Jeffrey L
2018-04-24
Research demonstrates that phonological skills provide the basis of reading acquisition and are a primary processing deficit in dyslexia. This consensus has led to the development of effective methods of reading intervention. However, a single phonological deficit is not sufficient to account for the heterogeneity of individuals with dyslexia, and recent research provides evidence that supports a multiple-deficit model of reading disorders. Two studies are presented that investigate (1) the prevalence of phonological and cognitive processing deficit profiles in children with significant reading disability and (2) the effects of those same phonological and cognitive processing skills on reading development in a sample of children that received treatment for dyslexia. The results are discussed in the context of implications for identification and an intervention approach that accommodates multiple deficits within a comprehensive skills-based reading program.
Read buffer optimizations to support compiler-assisted multiple instruction retry
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Alewine, N. J.; Fuchs, W. K.; Hwu, W. M.
1993-01-01
Multiple instruction retry is a recovery mechanism for transient processor faults. We previously developed a compiler-assisted approach to multiple instruction ferry in which a read buffer of size 2N (where N represents the maximum instruction rollback distance) was used to resolve some data hazards while the compiler resolved the remaining hazards. The compiler-assisted scheme was shown to reduce the performance overhead and/or hardware complexity normally associated with hardware-only retry schemes. This paper examines the size and design of the read buffer. We establish a practical lower bound and average size requirement for the read buffer by modifying the scheme to save only the data required for rollback. The study measures the effect on the performance of a DECstation 3100 running ten application programs using six read buffer configurations with varying read buffer sizes. Two alternative configurations are shown to be the most efficient and differed depending on whether split-cycle-saves are assumed. Up to a 55 percent read buffer size reduction is achievable with an average reduction of 39 percent given the most efficient read buffer configuration and a variety of applications.
Posso, Margarita; Puig, Teresa; Carles, Misericòrdia; Rué, Montserrat; Canelo-Aybar, Carlos; Bonfill, Xavier
2017-11-01
Double reading is the strategy of choice for mammogram interpretation in screening programmes. It remains, however, unknown whether double reading is still the strategy of choice in the context of digital mammography. Our aim was to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of double reading versus single reading of digital mammograms in screening programmes. We performed a systematic review by searching the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases up to April 2017. We used the QUADAS-2 (Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies) tool and CHEERS (Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards) checklist to assess the methodological quality of the diagnostic studies and economic evaluations, respectively. A proportion's meta-analysis approach, 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI) and test of heterogeneity (P values) were used for pooled results. Costs are expressed US$ PPP (United States Dollar purchasing power parities). The PROSPERO ID of this Systematic Review's protocol is CRD42014013804. Of 1473 potentially relevant hits, four high-quality studies were included. The pooled cancer detection rate of double reading was 6.01 per 1000 screens (CI: 4.47‰-7.77‰), and it was 5.65 per 1000 screens (CI: 3.95‰-7.65‰) for single reading (P=0.76). The pooled proportion of false-positives of double reading was 47.03 per 1000 screens (CI: 39.13‰-55.62‰) and it was 40.60 per 1000 screens (CI: 38.58‰-42.67‰) for single reading (P=0.12). One study reported, for double reading, an ICER (Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio) of 16,684 Euros (24,717 US$ PPP; 2015 value) per detected cancer. Single reading+CAD (computer-aided-detection) was cost-effective in Japan. The evidence of benefit for double reading compared to single reading for digital mammography interpretation is scarce. Double reading seems to increase operational costs, have a not significantly higher false-positive rate, and a similar cancer detection rate. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Optimizing multiple-choice tests as tools for learning.
Little, Jeri L; Bjork, Elizabeth Ligon
2015-01-01
Answering multiple-choice questions with competitive alternatives can enhance performance on a later test, not only on questions about the information previously tested, but also on questions about related information not previously tested-in particular, on questions about information pertaining to the previously incorrect alternatives. In the present research, we assessed a possible explanation for this pattern: When multiple-choice questions contain competitive incorrect alternatives, test-takers are led to retrieve previously studied information pertaining to all of the alternatives in order to discriminate among them and select an answer, with such processing strengthening later access to information associated with both the correct and incorrect alternatives. Supporting this hypothesis, we found enhanced performance on a later cued-recall test for previously nontested questions when their answers had previously appeared as competitive incorrect alternatives in the initial multiple-choice test, but not when they had previously appeared as noncompetitive alternatives. Importantly, however, competitive alternatives were not more likely than noncompetitive alternatives to be intruded as incorrect responses, indicating that a general increased accessibility for previously presented incorrect alternatives could not be the explanation for these results. The present findings, replicated across two experiments (one in which corrective feedback was provided during the initial multiple-choice testing, and one in which it was not), thus strongly suggest that competitive multiple-choice questions can trigger beneficial retrieval processes for both tested and related information, and the results have implications for the effective use of multiple-choice tests as tools for learning.
Research on Learners' Preferences for Reading from a Printed Text or from a Computer Screen
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Spencer, Carrie
2006-01-01
In this study, 254 Royal Roads University School of Business learners (graduates and undergraduates) were surveyed on their online course-related reading habits and choices. Based on their responses and anecdotal comments and the data from follow-up interviews with six of the participants, learners preferred print copies of text materials for…
More Teens' Favorite Books: Young Adults' Choices 1993-1995.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
International Reading Association, Newark, DE.
Making the job of encouraging adolescents to read for pleasure less of a challenge, this book presents an annotated list of 95 books chosen by adolescents themselves as part of an annual program sponsored by the International Reading Association. Entries in the book are grouped by type or genre of publication to make books of a particular interest…
Qualitative Analysis of Animation versus Reading for Pre-Class Preparation in a "Flipped" Classroom
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Persky, Adam M.
2015-01-01
The "flipped" classroom model, including such approaches as team-based learning (TBL), stresses pre-class preparation. For three years in a pharmacokinetics course within a pharmacy curriculum, students had the choice of using reading material or a fully animated module to prepare for class. Qualitative methods were used to analyze…
RIF's Guide to Book Selection. Supplement 2.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
The Reading is FUNdamental program is funded by the Ford Foundation and sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. It is designed to motivate children to read through experiencing the joy and pride of owning books of their own choice. Its purpose is to help develop and give technical assistance to a variety of model projects throughout the country.…
RIF's Guide to Developing a Program.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.
The Reading is FUNdamental program is funded by the Ford Foundation and sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. Its advisory board is composed of people from diverse fields. It is designed to motivate children to read through experiencing the joy and pride of owning books of their own choice, and its purpose is to help develop and give technical…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Belcher, Catherine L.; Stephenson, Becky Herr
2011-01-01
Given the current educational climate of high stakes testing, standardized curriculum, and "approved" reading lists, incorporating unauthorized, often controversial, popular literature into the classroom becomes a political choice. The authors examine why teachers choose to read "Harry Potter", how they use the books and incorporate new media, and…
The Boston Globe's Top 25 Books in Multicultural Reading for Youngsters.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Young Reader, 1992
1992-01-01
This issue of a newsletter about children and reading briefly describes 25 of the best choices in multicultural children's literature. The list includes picture books and novels for young readers. Each book review provides author, illustrator, and publisher names; the title; the age for which the book is appropriate; and a description of the plot…
Contrast Sensitivity Function Scores, Choices of Illuminated Stand Magnifiers, and Reading
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gerritsen, Bryan
2010-01-01
Far too often, professionals focus almost solely on individuals' needs for magnification level for reading. Visual acuities are measured and decisions are made for low vision devices largely on the basis of acuity levels. Contrast sensitivity function is often overlooked as a critical need for and predictor of the selection and preference for low…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Campbell, Mark L.
2015-01-01
Multiple-choice exams, while widely used, are necessarily imprecise due to the contribution of the final student score due to guessing. This past year at the United States Naval Academy the construction and grading scheme for the department-wide general chemistry multiple-choice exams were revised with the goal of decreasing the contribution of…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dulger, Mehmet; Deniz, Hasan
2017-01-01
The purpose of this paper is to assess the validity of multiple-choice questions in measuring fourth grade students' ability to interpret graphs related to physical science topics such as motion and temperature. We administered a test including 6 multiple-choice questions to 28 fourth grade students. Students were asked to explain their thinking…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Richter, Tobias
2006-01-01
Most reading time studies using naturalistic texts yield data sets characterized by a multilevel structure: Sentences (sentence level) are nested within persons (person level). In contrast to analysis of variance and multiple regression techniques, hierarchical linear models take the multilevel structure of reading time data into account. They…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Clark, Amy K.
2013-01-01
The present study sought to fit a cognitive diagnostic model (CDM) across multiple forms of a passage-based reading comprehension assessment using the attribute hierarchy method. Previous research on CDMs for reading comprehension assessments served as a basis for the attributes in the hierarchy. The two attribute hierarchies were fit to data from…
Patterns of Problem-Solving in Children's Literacy and Arithmetic
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Farrington-Flint, Lee; Vanuxem-Cotterill, Sophie; Stiller, James
2009-01-01
Patterns of problem-solving among 5-to-7 year-olds' were examined on a range of literacy (reading and spelling) and arithmetic-based (addition and subtraction) problem-solving tasks using verbal self-reports to monitor strategy choice. The results showed higher levels of variability in the children's strategy choice across Years 1 and 2 on the…
Techniques in Television Drama: A Case for a Revised Dramaturgy.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wolfram, Manfred K.
One approach to the study of the televised image is through the combination of signs, created through production choices. Just as a linguistic sign does not carry exclusively the thoughts of its author but interposes its own material form (thus affecting reading of the text), so does the production choice (technique) infect the thought of the…
The Teachers' Choices Cognate Database for K-3 Teachers of Latino English Learners
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Montelongo, José A.; Hernández, Anita C.
2013-01-01
The purpose of the present paper is to introduce the Teachers' Choices Cognate Database. English-Spanish cognates are words that are orthographically and semantically identical or nearly identical in both English and Spanish. To create this free online database, the cognates from every one of the 146 International Reading Association's…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rakhlin, Natalia; Cardoso-Martins, Cláudia; Grigorenko, Elena L.
2014-01-01
We studied the relationship between rapid serial naming (RSN) and orthographic processing in Russian, an asymmetrically transparent orthography. Ninety-six students (M age = 13.73) completed tests of word and pseudoword reading fluency, spelling, orthographic choice, phonological choice, phoneme awareness (PA), and RSN. PA was a better predictor…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
What Works Clearinghouse, 2010
2010-01-01
This paper presents an updated WWC (What Works Clearinghouse) Quick Review of the Report "The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program Longitudinal Educational Growth Study Third Year Report". The study examined whether students in Milwaukee who use a voucher to attend private school have greater mathematics and reading achievement than…
Measuring Strategic Processing when Students Read Multiple Texts
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Braten, Ivar; Stromso, Helge I.
2011-01-01
This study explored the dimensionality of multiple-text comprehension strategies in a sample of 216 Norwegian education undergraduates who read seven separate texts on a science topic and immediately afterwards responded to a self-report inventory focusing on strategic multiple-text processing in that specific task context. Two dimensions were…
Testing the Multiple in the Multiple Read-Out Model of Visual Word Recognition
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
De Moor, Wendy; Verguts, Tom; Brysbaert, Marc
2005-01-01
This study provided a test of the multiple criteria concept used for lexical decision, as implemented in J. Grainger and A. M. Jacobs's (1996) multiple read-out model. This account predicts more inhibition (or less facilitation) from a masked neighbor when accuracy is stressed more but more facilitation (or less inhibition) when the speed of…
Effects of Non-Normal Outlier-Prone Error Distribution on Kalman Filter Track
1991-09-01
other possibilities exist. For example the GST (Generic Statistical Tracker) uses four motion models [Ref. 41. The GST keeps track of both the target...1.011 + + + 3.113 1.291 4 Although this procedure is not easily statistically interpretable, it was used for the sake of comparison with the other... TRANSITOR TARGET’ WRITE(6,*)’ 3 SECOND ORDER GAUSS MARKOV TARGET’ WRITE(6,*)’ 4 RANDOM TOUR TARGET’ READ(6,*) CHOICE IF((CHOICE.LT.1).OR.(CHOICE.GT.4
Sinha, Neha; Glass, Arnold Lewis
2015-01-01
Three experiments, two performed in the laboratory and one embedded in a college psychology lecture course, investigated the effects of immediate versus delayed feedback following a multiple-choice exam on subsequent short answer and multiple-choice exams. Performance on the subsequent multiple-choice exam was not affected by the timing of the feedback on the prior exam; however, performance on the subsequent short answer exam was better following delayed than following immediate feedback. This was true regardless of the order in which immediate versus delayed feedback was given. Furthermore, delayed feedback only had a greater effect than immediate feedback on subsequent short answer performance following correct, confident responses on the prior exam. These results indicate that delayed feedback cues a student's prior response and increases subsequent recollection of that response. The practical implication is that delayed feedback is better than immediate feedback during academic testing.
Bjork, Elizabeth Ligon; Soderstrom, Nicholas C; Little, Jeri L
2015-01-01
The term desirable difficulties (Bjork, 1994) refers to conditions of learning that, though often appearing to cause difficulties for the learner and to slow down the process of acquisition, actually improve long-term retention and transfer. One known desirable difficulty is testing (as compared with restudy), although typically it is tests that clearly involve retrieval--such as free and cued recall tests--that are thought to induce these learning benefits and not multiple-choice tests. Nonetheless, multiple-choice testing is ubiquitous in educational settings and many other high-stakes situations. In this article, we discuss research, in both the laboratory and the classroom, exploring whether multiple-choice testing can also be fashioned to promote the type of retrieval processes known to improve learning, and we speculate about the necessary properties that multiple-choice questions must possess, as well as the metacognitive strategy students need to use in answering such questions, to achieve this goal.
Vana, Kimberly D; Silva, Graciela E; Muzyka, Diann; Hirani, Lorraine M
2011-06-01
It has been proposed that students' use of an audience response system, commonly called clickers, may promote comprehension and retention of didactic material. Whether this method actually improves students' grades, however, is still not determined. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a lecture format utilizing multiple-choice PowerPoint slides and an audience response system was more effective than a lecture format using only multiple-choice PowerPoint slides in the comprehension and retention of pharmacological knowledge in baccalaureate nursing students. The study also assessed whether the additional use of clickers positively affected students' satisfaction with their learning. Results from 78 students who attended lecture classes with multiple-choice PowerPoint slides plus clickers were compared with those of 55 students who utilized multiple-choice PowerPoint slides only. Test scores between these two groups were not significantly different. A satisfaction questionnaire showed that 72.2% of the control students did not desire the opportunity to use clickers. Of the group utilizing the clickers, 92.3% recommend the use of this system in future courses. The use of multiple-choice PowerPoint slides and an audience response system did not seem to improve the students' comprehension or retention of pharmacological knowledge as compared with those who used solely multiple-choice PowerPoint slides.
Repeated readings and science: Fluency with expository passages
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kostewicz, Douglas E.
The current study investigated the effects of repeated readings to a fluency criterion (RRFC) for seven students with disabilities using science text. The study employed a single subject design, specifically, two multiple probe multiple baselines across subjects, to evaluate the effects of the RRFC intervention. Results indicated that students met criterion (200 or more correct words per minute with 2 or fewer errors) on four consecutive passages. A majority of students displayed accelerations to correct words per minute and decelerations to incorrect words per minute on successive initial, intervention readings suggesting reading transfer. Students' reading scores during posttest and maintenance out performed pre-test and baseline readings provided additional measures of reading transfer. For a relationship to comprehension, students scored higher on oral retell measures after meeting criterion as compared to initial readings. Overall, the research findings suggested that the RRFC intervention improves science reading fluency for students with disabilities, and may also indirectly benefit comprehension.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Morris, Robin D.; Lovett, Maureen W.; Wolf, Maryanne; Sevcik, Rose A.; Steinbach, Karen A.; Frijters, Jan C.; Shapiro, Marla B.
2012-01-01
Results from a controlled evaluation of remedial reading interventions are reported: 279 young disabled readers were randomly assigned to a program according to a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design (IQ, socioeconomic status [SES], and race). The effectiveness of two multiple-component intervention programs for children with reading disabilities (PHAB +…
Keeping the Peace in an Age of Conflict: Debating the U.S. Role. Choices for the 21st Century.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lhowe, Mary, Ed.
This document presents a particularly challenging unit that thrusts students into the new foreign policy frontier that has developed since the end of the Cold War. The unit contains background reading and foreign policy options. The first part of the background reading introduces students to the institutions and conceptual framework of the…
Measurement Properties of DIBELS Oral Reading Fluency in Grade 2: Implications for Equating Studies
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stoolmiller, Michael; Biancarosa, Gina; Fien, Hank
2013-01-01
Lack of psychometric equivalence of oral reading fluency (ORF) passages used within a grade for screening and progress monitoring has recently become an issue with calls for the use of equating methods to ensure equivalence. To investigate the nature of the nonequivalence and to guide the choice of equating method to correct for nonequivalence,…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wood, Peter
2011-01-01
"QuickAssist," the program presented in this paper, uses natural language processing (NLP) technologies. It places a range of NLP tools at the disposal of learners, intended to enable them to independently read and comprehend a German text of their choice while they extend their vocabulary, learn about different uses of particular words,…
Principles Guiding Vocabulary Learning through Extensive Reading
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nation, Paul
2015-01-01
Extensive reading is one of a range of activities that can be used in a language learning course. Ideally, the choice of activities to go into a course should be guided by principles which are well supported by research. Similarly, the way each of those activities is used should be guided by well-justified principles. In this article, we look at…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hill, Rebecca
2012-01-01
When it comes to reading formats, readers can take their pick from a variety of choices, and the new face at this party is the enhanced eBook. Videos are embedded. Music plays at certain intervals. Artwork and graphics fade in and out. They are like someone all dressed up for a party; enhanced eBooks are, in essence, prettier and more enticing…
Bringing Words to Life and into the Lives of Middle School Students
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Moen, Christine Boardman
2007-01-01
While strongly endorsing a multi-pronged approach to vocabulary instruction, Moen takes pains to include and even emphasize work with English Language Learners. By adhering to the principles of A.C.T. (Access to texts, individual Choice of reading material, and Time to read), Moen finds myriad ways to make learning words a creative and social…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Carey, Jenna L.; Howard, Cameron C.; Leftwich, Rebecca J.
2013-01-01
The purpose of this action research project report was to increase engagement during independent reading for 32 fourth-grade students and 26 seventh-grade science students. At Site A, data was collected from August 27, 2012 through December 14, 2012. At Site B, data was collected from September 24, 2012 through December 14, 2012. Students'…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ciampa, Katia
2016-01-01
A pre-experimental case study design was used to explore the value of intrinsic motivation in mobile eBook reading among 30 Grade 1 child participants. Data collection comprised pre- and post-test motivation questionnaires and researcher field notes. Child participants' enjoyment of mobile eBooks corresponded to 3 motivational aspects of intrinsic…
Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children: A Lively, Opinionated Guide.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lewis, Valerie V.; Mayes, Walter M.
This comprehensive guide is based on the premise that books and reading are an essential part of every child's development. The guide lists and describes more than 2000 books for children from birth to age 14; from stories that babies can literally chew on, to the best choices for bridging the critical gap between listening and reading, to the…
Integrative analysis with ChIP-seq advances the limits of transcript quantification from RNA-seq.
Liu, Peng; Sanalkumar, Rajendran; Bresnick, Emery H; Keleş, Sündüz; Dewey, Colin N
2016-08-01
RNA-seq is currently the technology of choice for global measurement of transcript abundances in cells. Despite its successes, isoform-level quantification remains difficult because short RNA-seq reads are often compatible with multiple alternatively spliced isoforms. Existing methods rely heavily on uniquely mapping reads, which are not available for numerous isoforms that lack regions of unique sequence. To improve quantification accuracy in such difficult cases, we developed a novel computational method, prior-enhanced RSEM (pRSEM), which uses a complementary data type in addition to RNA-seq data. We found that ChIP-seq data of RNA polymerase II and histone modifications were particularly informative in this approach. In qRT-PCR validations, pRSEM was shown to be superior than competing methods in estimating relative isoform abundances within or across conditions. Data-driven simulations suggested that pRSEM has a greatly decreased false-positive rate at the expense of a small increase in false-negative rate. In aggregate, our study demonstrates that pRSEM transforms existing capacity to precisely estimate transcript abundances, especially at the isoform level. © 2016 Liu et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
Simulated thought insertion: Influencing the sense of agency using deception and magic.
Olson, Jay A; Landry, Mathieu; Appourchaux, Krystèle; Raz, Amir
2016-07-01
In order to study the feeling of control over decisions, we told 60 participants that a neuroimaging machine could read and influence their thoughts. While inside a mock brain scanner, participants chose arbitrary numbers in two similar tasks. In the Mind-Reading Task, the scanner appeared to guess the participants' numbers; in the Mind-Influencing Task, it appeared to influence their choice of numbers. We predicted that participants would feel less voluntary control over their decisions when they believed that the scanner was influencing their choices. As predicted, participants felt less control and made slower decisions in the Mind-Influencing Task compared to the Mind-Reading Task. A second study replicated these findings. Participants' experience of the ostensible influence varied, with some reporting an unknown source directing them towards specific numbers. This simulated thought insertion paradigm can therefore influence feelings of voluntary control and may help model symptoms of mental disorders. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Haro, Elizabeth K.; Haro, Luis S.
2014-01-01
The multiple-choice question (MCQ) is the foundation of knowledge assessment in K-12, higher education, and standardized entrance exams (including the GRE, MCAT, and DAT). However, standard MCQ exams are limited with respect to the types of questions that can be asked when there are only five choices. MCQs offering additional choices more…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McGrath, Lauren M.; Pennington, Bruce F.; Shanahan, Michelle A.; Santerre-Lemmon, Laura E.; Barnard, Holly D.; Willcutt, Erik G.; DeFries, John C.; Olson, Richard K.
2011-01-01
Background: This study tests a multiple cognitive deficit model of reading disability (RD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and their comorbidity. Methods: A structural equation model (SEM) of multiple cognitive risk factors and symptom outcome variables was constructed. The model included phonological awareness as a unique…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Durik, Amanda M.; Vida, Mina; Eccles, Jacquelynne S.
2005-01-01
This study examines how competence beliefs and task values predict high school achievement choices related to literacy. Students' task beliefs (self-concept of ability, intrinsic value, and importance) about reading in the 4th grade and English in the 10th grade were tracked over time. Task beliefs, school performance, and gender were used to…
Drivin' Trucks, Huntin' Bucks, and Reading Aristotle?: The Rural Student's College Choice Dilemma
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Strawn, Rachel Mayes
2014-01-01
Even though rural students make up a fifth of the population of all American students, they do not attend college in numbers equivalent to urban and suburban students. The rural student faces influences related to college choice that differ from those of suburban and urban students. These influences, which could be considered problems or barriers,…
Ramani, Krishna Kumar; Police, Shailaja Reddy; Jacob, Namita
2014-01-01
Background: Lack of evidence in literature to show low vision care enhances the reading performance in children with Multiple Disabilities and Visual Impairment (MDVI). Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of Low Vision Care intervention on the reading performance of children with MDVI. Materials and Methods: Three subjects who were diagnosed to have cerebral palsy and visual impairment, studying in a special school were recruited for the study. All of them underwent detailed eye examination and low vision care evaluation at a tertiary eye care hospital. A single subject multiple baseline (study) design was adopted and the study period was 16 weeks. The reading performance (reading speed, reading accuracy, reading fluency) was evaluated during the baseline phase and the intervention phase. The median of all the reading parameters for each week was noted. The trend of the reading performance was graphically represented in both the phases. Results: Reading speed increased by 37 Word per minute, 37 Letters per minute and 5 letters per minute for the subject 1, 2 and 3 respectively after the intervention. Reading accuracy was 84%, 91% and 86.4% at the end of the baseline period and 98.7%, 98.4% and 99% at the end of 16 weeks for subject 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Average reading fluency score was 8.3, 7.1 and 5.5 in the baseline period and 10.2, 10.2 and 8.7 in the intervention period. Conclusion: This study shows evidence of noticeable improvement in reading performance of children with MDVI using a novel study design. PMID:23619499
Ramani, Krishna Kumar; Police, Shailaja Reddy; Jacob, Namita
2014-02-01
Lack of evidence in literature to show low vision care enhances the reading performance in children with Multiple Disabilities and Visual Impairment (MDVI). To evaluate the effectiveness of Low Vision Care intervention on the reading performance of children with MDVI. Three subjects who were diagnosed to have cerebral palsy and visual impairment, studying in a special school were recruited for the study. All of them underwent detailed eye examination and low vision care evaluation at a tertiary eye care hospital. A single subject multiple baseline (study) design was adopted and the study period was 16 weeks. The reading performance (reading speed, reading accuracy, reading fluency) was evaluated during the baseline phase and the intervention phase. The median of all the reading parameters for each week was noted. The trend of the reading performance was graphically represented in both the phases. Reading speed increased by 37 Word per minute, 37 Letters per minute and 5 letters per minute for the subject 1, 2 and 3 respectively after the intervention. Reading accuracy was 84%, 91% and 86.4% at the end of the baseline period and 98.7%, 98.4% and 99% at the end of 16 weeks for subject 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Average reading fluency score was 8.3, 7.1 and 5.5 in the baseline period and 10.2, 10.2 and 8.7 in the intervention period. This study shows evidence of noticeable improvement in reading performance of children with MDVI using a novel study design.
IM-TORNADO: a tool for comparison of 16S reads from paired-end libraries.
Jeraldo, Patricio; Kalari, Krishna; Chen, Xianfeng; Bhavsar, Jaysheel; Mangalam, Ashutosh; White, Bryan; Nelson, Heidi; Kocher, Jean-Pierre; Chia, Nicholas
2014-01-01
16S rDNA hypervariable tag sequencing has become the de facto method for accessing microbial diversity. Illumina paired-end sequencing, which produces two separate reads for each DNA fragment, has become the platform of choice for this application. However, when the two reads do not overlap, existing computational pipelines analyze data from read separately and underutilize the information contained in the paired-end reads. We created a workflow known as Illinois Mayo Taxon Organization from RNA Dataset Operations (IM-TORNADO) for processing non-overlapping reads while retaining maximal information content. Using synthetic mock datasets, we show that the use of both reads produced answers with greater correlation to those from full length 16S rDNA when looking at taxonomy, phylogeny, and beta-diversity. IM-TORNADO is freely available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/imtornado and produces BIOM format output for cross compatibility with other pipelines such as QIIME, mothur, and phyloseq.
REPRODUCIBLE RESEARCH WORKFLOW IN R FOR THE ANALYSIS OF PERSONALIZED HUMAN MICROBIOME DATA.
Callahan, Benjamin; Proctor, Diana; Relman, David; Fukuyama, Julia; Holmes, Susan
2016-01-01
This article presents a reproducible research workflow for amplicon-based microbiome studies in personalized medicine created using Bioconductor packages and the knitr markdown interface.We show that sometimes a multiplicity of choices and lack of consistent documentation at each stage of the sequential processing pipeline used for the analysis of microbiome data can lead to spurious results. We propose its replacement with reproducible and documented analysis using R packages dada2, knitr, and phyloseq. This workflow implements both key stages of amplicon analysis: the initial filtering and denoising steps needed to construct taxonomic feature tables from error-containing sequencing reads (dada2), and the exploratory and inferential analysis of those feature tables and associated sample metadata (phyloseq). This workow facilitates reproducible interrogation of the full set of choices required in microbiome studies. We present several examples in which we leverage existing packages for analysis in a way that allows easy sharing and modification by others, and give pointers to articles that depend on this reproducible workflow for the study of longitudinal and spatial series analyses of the vaginal microbiome in pregnancy and the oral microbiome in humans with healthy dentition and intra-oral tissues.
Using an iPad® App to Improve Sight Word Reading Fluency for At-Risk First Graders
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Musti-Rao, Shobana; Lo, Ya-yu; Plati, Erin
2015-01-01
We used a multiple baseline across word lists design nested within a multiple baseline across participants design to examine the effects of instruction delivered using an iPad® app on sight word fluency and oral reading fluency of six first graders identified as at risk for reading failure. In Study 1, three students participated in…
Exploring the Use of Technology to Assist with Literacy Development: A Multiple Case Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fludd, Selena Pinkney
2017-01-01
Reading is a critical skill and some purport that it is the beginning of all learning. A child's ability to read can have a vast effect on his or her entire academic career. Unfortunately, the number of students who test below grade level in reading has increased year by year. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to investigate…
Early Prediction of Reading Comprehension within the Simple View Framework
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Catts, Hugh W.; Herrera, Sarah; Nielsen, Diane Corcoran; Bridges, Mindy Sittner
2015-01-01
The simple view of reading proposes that reading comprehension is the product of word reading and language comprehension. In this study, we used the simple view framework to examine the early prediction of reading comprehension abilities. Using multiple measures for all constructs, we assessed word reading precursors (i.e., letter knowledge,…
A predictive study of reading comprehension in third-grade Spanish students.
López-Escribano, Carmen; Elosúa de Juan, María Rosa; Gómez-Veiga, Isabel; García-Madruga, Juan Antonio
2013-01-01
The study of the contribution of language and cognitive skills to reading comprehension is an important goal of current reading research. However, reading comprehension is not easily assessed by a single instrument, as different comprehension tests vary in the type of tasks used and in the cognitive demands required. This study examines the contribution of basic language and cognitive skills (decoding, word recognition, reading speed, verbal and nonverbal intelligence and working memory) to reading comprehension, assessed by two tests utilizing various tasks that require different skill sets in third-grade Spanish-speaking students. Linguistic and cognitive abilities predicted reading comprehension. A measure of reading speed (the reading time of pseudo-words) was the best predictor of reading comprehension when assessed by the PROLEC-R test. However, measures of word recognition (the orthographic choice task) and verbal working memory were the best predictors of reading comprehension when assessed by means of the DARC test. These results show, on the one hand, that reading speed and word recognition are better predictors of Spanish language comprehension than reading accuracy. On the other, the reading comprehension test applied here serves as a critical variable when analyzing and interpreting results regarding this topic.
Hift, Richard J
2014-11-28
Written assessments fall into two classes: constructed-response or open-ended questions, such as the essay and a number of variants of the short-answer question, and selected-response or closed-ended questions; typically in the form of multiple-choice. It is widely believed that constructed response written questions test higher order cognitive processes in a manner that multiple-choice questions cannot, and consequently have higher validity. An extensive review of the literature suggests that in summative assessment neither premise is evidence-based. Well-structured open-ended and multiple-choice questions appear equivalent in their ability to assess higher cognitive functions, and performance in multiple-choice assessments may correlate more highly than the open-ended format with competence demonstrated in clinical practice following graduation. Studies of construct validity suggest that both formats measure essentially the same dimension, at least in mathematics, the physical sciences, biology and medicine. The persistence of the open-ended format in summative assessment may be due to the intuitive appeal of the belief that synthesising an answer to an open-ended question must be both more cognitively taxing and similar to actual experience than is selecting a correct response. I suggest that cognitive-constructivist learning theory would predict that a well-constructed context-rich multiple-choice item represents a complex problem-solving exercise which activates a sequence of cognitive processes which closely parallel those required in clinical practice, hence explaining the high validity of the multiple-choice format. The evidence does not support the proposition that the open-ended assessment format is superior to the multiple-choice format, at least in exit-level summative assessment, in terms of either its ability to test higher-order cognitive functioning or its validity. This is explicable using a theory of mental models, which might predict that the multiple-choice format will have higher validity, a statement for which some empiric support exists. Given the superior reliability and cost-effectiveness of the multiple-choice format consideration should be given to phasing out open-ended format questions in summative assessment. Whether the same applies to non-exit-level assessment and formative assessment is a question which remains to be answered; particularly in terms of the educational effect of testing, an area which deserves intensive study.
All of the above: When multiple correct response options enhance the testing effect.
Bishara, Anthony J; Lanzo, Lauren A
2015-01-01
Previous research has shown that multiple choice tests often improve memory retention. However, the presence of incorrect lures often attenuates this memory benefit. The current research examined the effects of "all of the above" (AOTA) options. When such options are correct, no incorrect lures are present. In the first three experiments, a correct AOTA option on an initial test led to a larger memory benefit than no test and standard multiple choice test conditions. The benefits of a correct AOTA option occurred even without feedback on the initial test; for both 5-minute and 48-hour retention delays; and for both cued recall and multiple choice final test formats. In the final experiment, an AOTA question led to better memory retention than did a control condition that had identical timing and exposure to response options. However, the benefits relative to this control condition were similar regardless of the type of multiple choice test (AOTA or not). Results suggest that retrieval contributes to multiple choice testing effects. However, the extra testing effect from a correct AOTA option, rather than being due to more retrieval, might be due simply to more exposure to correct information.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mirzaei, Azizullah; Rahimi Domakani, Masoud; Heidari, Najmeh
2014-01-01
Over the years, the multiple intelligences theory (MIT) proposed by Howard Gardner has renewed interest in learners' use of effective learning strategies and produced interesting results. This MIT-oriented study investigated the role of successful L2 readers' multiple intelligences in their effective use of reading strategies. To this end, a TOEFL…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cangemi, Sam
This guide describes and illustrates 50 perceptual games for preschool children which may be constructed by teachers. Inexpensive, easily obtained game materials are suggested. The use of tactile and visual perceptual games gives children opportunities to make choices and discriminations, and provides reading readiness experiences. Games depicted…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kamcharean, Chanwit; Wattanakasiwich, Pornrat
The objective of this study was to diagnose misconceptions of Thai and Lao students in thermodynamics by using a two-tier multiple-choice test. Two-tier multiple choice questions consist of the first tier, a content-based question and the second tier, a reasoning-based question. Data of student understanding was collected by using 10 two-tier multiple-choice questions. Thai participants were the first-year students (N = 57) taking a fundamental physics course at Chiang Mai University in 2012. Lao participants were high school students in Grade 11 (N = 57) and Grade 12 (N = 83) at Muengnern high school in Xayaboury province, Lao PDR. As results, most students answered content-tier questions correctly but chose incorrect answers for reason-tier questions. When further investigating their incorrect reasons, we found similar misconceptions as reported in previous studies such as incorrectly relating pressure with temperature when presenting with multiple variables.
Reading Visual Braille with a Retinal Prosthesis
Lauritzen, Thomas Z.; Harris, Jordan; Mohand-Said, Saddek; Sahel, Jose A.; Dorn, Jessy D.; McClure, Kelly; Greenberg, Robert J.
2012-01-01
Retinal prostheses, which restore partial vision to patients blinded by outer retinal degeneration, are currently in clinical trial. The Argus II retinal prosthesis system was recently awarded CE approval for commercial use in Europe. While retinal prosthesis users have achieved remarkable visual improvement to the point of reading letters and short sentences, the reading process is still fairly cumbersome. This study investigates the possibility of using an epiretinal prosthesis to stimulate visual braille as a sensory substitution for reading written letters and words. The Argus II retinal prosthesis system, used in this study, includes a 10 × 6 electrode array implanted epiretinally, a tiny video camera mounted on a pair of glasses, and a wearable computer that processes the video and determines the stimulation current of each electrode in real time. In the braille reading system, individual letters are created by a subset of dots from a 3 by 2 array of six dots. For the visual braille experiment, a grid of six electrodes was chosen out of the 10 × 6 Argus II array. Groups of these electrodes were then directly stimulated (bypassing the camera) to create visual percepts of individual braille letters. Experiments were performed in a single subject. Single letters were stimulated in an alternative forced choice (AFC) paradigm, and short 2–4-letter words were stimulated (one letter at a time) in an open-choice reading paradigm. The subject correctly identified 89% of single letters, 80% of 2-letter, 60% of 3-letter, and 70% of 4-letter words. This work suggests that text can successfully be stimulated and read as visual braille in retinal prosthesis patients. PMID:23189036
Reading visual braille with a retinal prosthesis.
Lauritzen, Thomas Z; Harris, Jordan; Mohand-Said, Saddek; Sahel, Jose A; Dorn, Jessy D; McClure, Kelly; Greenberg, Robert J
2012-01-01
Retinal prostheses, which restore partial vision to patients blinded by outer retinal degeneration, are currently in clinical trial. The Argus II retinal prosthesis system was recently awarded CE approval for commercial use in Europe. While retinal prosthesis users have achieved remarkable visual improvement to the point of reading letters and short sentences, the reading process is still fairly cumbersome. This study investigates the possibility of using an epiretinal prosthesis to stimulate visual braille as a sensory substitution for reading written letters and words. The Argus II retinal prosthesis system, used in this study, includes a 10 × 6 electrode array implanted epiretinally, a tiny video camera mounted on a pair of glasses, and a wearable computer that processes the video and determines the stimulation current of each electrode in real time. In the braille reading system, individual letters are created by a subset of dots from a 3 by 2 array of six dots. For the visual braille experiment, a grid of six electrodes was chosen out of the 10 × 6 Argus II array. Groups of these electrodes were then directly stimulated (bypassing the camera) to create visual percepts of individual braille letters. Experiments were performed in a single subject. Single letters were stimulated in an alternative forced choice (AFC) paradigm, and short 2-4-letter words were stimulated (one letter at a time) in an open-choice reading paradigm. The subject correctly identified 89% of single letters, 80% of 2-letter, 60% of 3-letter, and 70% of 4-letter words. This work suggests that text can successfully be stimulated and read as visual braille in retinal prosthesis patients.
Analysis of strength-of-preference measures in dichotomous choice models
Donald F. Dennis; Peter Newman; Robert Manning
2008-01-01
Choice models are becoming increasingly useful for soliciting and analyzing multiple objective decisions faced by recreation managers and others interested in decisions involving natural resources. Choice models are used to estimate relative values for multiple aspects of natural resource management, not individually but within the context of other relevant decision...
Mind wandering in text comprehension under dual-task conditions.
Dixon, Peter; Li, Henry
2013-01-01
In two experiments, subjects responded to on-task probes while reading under dual-task conditions. The secondary task was to monitor the text for occurrences of the letter e. In Experiment 1, reading comprehension was assessed with a multiple-choice recognition test; in Experiment 2, subjects recalled the text. In both experiments, the secondary task replicated the well-known "missing-letter effect" in which detection of e's was less effective for function words and the word "the." Letter detection was also more effective when subjects were on task, but this effect did not interact with the missing-letter effect. Comprehension was assessed in both the dual-task conditions and in control single-task conditions. In the single-task conditions, both recognition (Experiment 1) and recall (Experiment 2) was better when subjects were on task, replicating previous research on mind wandering. Surprisingly, though, comprehension under dual-task conditions only showed an effect of being on task when measured with recall; there was no effect on recognition performance. Our interpretation of this pattern of results is that subjects generate responses to on-task probes on the basis of a retrospective assessment of the contents of working memory. Further, we argue that under dual-task conditions, the contents of working memory is not closely related to the reading processes required for accurate recognition performance. These conclusions have implications for models of text comprehension and for the interpretation of on-task probe responses.
Mind wandering in text comprehension under dual-task conditions
Dixon, Peter; Li, Henry
2013-01-01
In two experiments, subjects responded to on-task probes while reading under dual-task conditions. The secondary task was to monitor the text for occurrences of the letter e. In Experiment 1, reading comprehension was assessed with a multiple-choice recognition test; in Experiment 2, subjects recalled the text. In both experiments, the secondary task replicated the well-known “missing-letter effect” in which detection of e's was less effective for function words and the word “the.” Letter detection was also more effective when subjects were on task, but this effect did not interact with the missing-letter effect. Comprehension was assessed in both the dual-task conditions and in control single-task conditions. In the single-task conditions, both recognition (Experiment 1) and recall (Experiment 2) was better when subjects were on task, replicating previous research on mind wandering. Surprisingly, though, comprehension under dual-task conditions only showed an effect of being on task when measured with recall; there was no effect on recognition performance. Our interpretation of this pattern of results is that subjects generate responses to on-task probes on the basis of a retrospective assessment of the contents of working memory. Further, we argue that under dual-task conditions, the contents of working memory is not closely related to the reading processes required for accurate recognition performance. These conclusions have implications for models of text comprehension and for the interpretation of on-task probe responses. PMID:24101909
Comedy workshop: an enjoyable way to develop multiple-choice questions.
Droegemueller, William; Gant, Norman; Brekken, Alvin; Webb, Lynn
2005-01-01
To describe an innovative method of developing multiple-choice items for a board certification examination. The development of appropriate multiple-choice items is definitely more of an art, rather than a science. The comedy workshop format for developing questions for a certification examination is similar to the process used by comedy writers composing scripts for television shows. This group format dramatically diminishes the frustrations faced by an individual question writer attempting to create items. The vast majority of our comedy workshop participants enjoy and prefer the comedy workshop format. It provides an ideal environment in which to teach and blend the talents of inexperienced and experienced question writers. This is a descriptive article, in which we suggest an innovative process in the art of creating multiple-choice items for a high-stakes examination.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Young, Tamara V.; Shepley, Thomas V.; Song, Mengli
2010-01-01
Drawing on interview data from reading policy actors in California, Michigan, and Texas, this study applied Kingdon's (1984, 1995) multiple streams model to explain how the issue of reading became prominent on the agenda of state governments during the latter half of the 1990s. A combination of factors influenced the status of a state's reading…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lovett, Maureen W.; Frijters, Jan C.; Wolf, Maryanne; Steinbach, Karen A.; Sevcik, Rose A.; Morris, Robin D.
2017-01-01
Across multiple schools and sites, the impact of grade-at-intervention was evaluated for children at risk or meeting criteria for reading disabilities. A multiple-component reading intervention with demonstrated efficacy was offered to small groups of children in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade. In a quasi-experimental design, 172 children received the…
Transcending the Curricular Barrier between Fitness and Reading with FitLit
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Opitz, Michael F.
2011-01-01
The author discusses how FitLit, children's literature that spotlights the multiple aspects of health and well-being, offers a vehicle for integrating reading and fitness into existing classroom routines such as guided reading, read-alouds, independent reading, and reading and writing workshop. Sample FitLit titles are provided as well as a…
Good Governance Is a Choice: A Way to Re-Create Your Board--The Right Way
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Quinn, Randy; Dawson, Linda J.
2011-01-01
This book comes with a promise: after reading it, you will never again think of board work the same as before. "Good Governance is a Choice" is a book about, and for, boards of public and non-profit organizations. Its central focus is on public school boards and the special challenges they face, but the governing model it introduces, Coherent…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tallant, April
2017-01-01
Background: Poor dietary behaviors are risk factors for developing chronic diseases that plague public health. Purpose: This study sought to determine the differences in pre and post food label and food choice scores among first-year college students at the beginning and end of the semester. Case analyses were conducted to evaluate individualized…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Genco, Barbara
2010-01-01
With so many choices and so many terrific nonfiction titles in the pipeline, picking the "right" read can be daunting. This year, the author offers a variety of choices: the future of books, the life of a great American photographer, jigsaw puzzles as a metaphor for life, the negative legacy of America's positive thinking, a history of American…
Exploration and exploitation of Victorian science in Darwin's reading notebooks.
Murdock, Jaimie; Allen, Colin; DeDeo, Simon
2017-02-01
Search in an environment with an uncertain distribution of resources involves a trade-off between exploitation of past discoveries and further exploration. This extends to information foraging, where a knowledge-seeker shifts between reading in depth and studying new domains. To study this decision-making process, we examine the reading choices made by one of the most celebrated scientists of the modern era: Charles Darwin. From the full-text of books listed in his chronologically-organized reading journals, we generate topic models to quantify his local (text-to-text) and global (text-to-past) reading decisions using Kullback-Liebler Divergence, a cognitively-validated, information-theoretic measure of relative surprise. Rather than a pattern of surprise-minimization, corresponding to a pure exploitation strategy, Darwin's behavior shifts from early exploitation to later exploration, seeking unusually high levels of cognitive surprise relative to previous eras. These shifts, detected by an unsupervised Bayesian model, correlate with major intellectual epochs of his career as identified both by qualitative scholarship and Darwin's own self-commentary. Our methods allow us to compare his consumption of texts with their publication order. We find Darwin's consumption more exploratory than the culture's production, suggesting that underneath gradual societal changes are the explorations of individual synthesis and discovery. Our quantitative methods advance the study of cognitive search through a framework for testing interactions between individual and collective behavior and between short- and long-term consumption choices. This novel application of topic modeling to characterize individual reading complements widespread studies of collective scientific behavior. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ranker, Jason
2007-01-01
A first-grade teacher used comic books as read-alouds during her implementation of a reading/writing workshop. The students, primarily English-language learners, were able to make use of this medium in order to learn new reading practices. The teacher used the comics to teach multiple aspects of various reading processes such as reading with an…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Braten, Ivar; Stromso, Helge I.
2010-01-01
In this study, law students (n = 49) read multiple authentic documents presenting conflicting information on the topic of climate change and responded to verification tasks assessing their superficial as well as their deeper-level within- and across-documents comprehension. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that even after variance…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brosnan, Julie; Moeyaert, Mariola; Brooks Newsome, Kendra; Healy, Olive; Heyvaert, Mieke; Onghena, Patrick; Van den Noortgate, Wim
2018-01-01
In this article, multiple-baseline across participants designs were used to evaluate the impact of a precision teaching (PT) program, within a Tier 2 Response to Intervention framework, targeting fluency in foundational reading skills with at risk kindergarten readers. Thirteen multiple-baseline design experiments that included participation from…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Carnegie, Jacqueline A.
2017-01-01
Summative evaluation for large classes of first- and second-year undergraduate courses often involves the use of multiple choice question (MCQ) exams in order to provide timely feedback. Several versions of those exams are often prepared via computer-based question scrambling in an effort to deter cheating. An important parameter to consider when…
Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA
2014-03-27
Senate - 03/27/2014 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
Sen. Scott, Tim [R-SC
2014-01-09
Senate - 01/09/2014 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
A Cognitive Diagnosis Model for Cognitively Based Multiple-Choice Options
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
de la Torre, Jimmy
2009-01-01
Cognitive or skills diagnosis models are discrete latent variable models developed specifically for the purpose of identifying the presence or absence of multiple fine-grained skills. However, applications of these models typically involve dichotomous or dichotomized data, including data from multiple-choice (MC) assessments that are scored as…
... into the cerebrospinal fluid. Some causes include: Abscess Encephalitis Hemorrhage Meningitis Multiple sclerosis Other infections Stroke Tumor ... D.A.M. Editorial team. Cancer Read more Encephalitis Read more Infectious Diseases Read more A.D. ...
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Munro, John
2017-01-01
Reading difficulties may have multiple causes. Effective approaches to reading intervention need to target the specific causes for individual readers. The Early Reading Intervention Knowledge program comprises three intervention pathways: a phonological-phonemic pathway, a phonic-orthographic pathway, and an oral language pathway. This study…
Early Reading Intervention by Means of a Multicomponent Reading Game
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
van de Ven, M.; de Leeuw, L.; van Weerdenburg, M.; Steenbeek-Planting, E. G.
2017-01-01
This study examined the effects of an intervention with a multicomponent reading game on the development of reading skills in 60 Dutch primary school children with special educational needs. The game contains evidence-based reading exercises and is based on principles of applied gaming. Using a multiple baseline approach, we tested children's…
Effects of the TWA Strategy on Expository Reading Comprehension of Students with Autism
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Howorth, Sarah; Lopata, Christopher; Thomeer, Marcus; Rodgers, Jonathan
2016-01-01
High-functioning students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been shown to have significant reading comprehension difficulty. This multiple baseline study examined the effect of the think before reading, think while reading, and think after reading (TWA) strategy on expository text comprehension of four boys with ASD. Following baseline,…
A Multiple Choice Version of the Sentence Completion Method
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Shouval, Ron; And Others
1975-01-01
It was concluded that a multiple choice form corresponding to a sentence completion measure, test clearly defined personality areas (such as autonomy) could be a reasonable alternative for many purposes. (Author/DEP)
Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN
2013-03-06
Senate - 03/06/2013 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gold, A. U.; Harris, S. E.
2013-12-01
The greenhouse effect comes up in most discussions about climate and is a key concept related to climate change. Existing studies have shown that students and adults alike lack a detailed understanding of this important concept or might hold misconceptions. We studied the effectiveness of different interventions on University-level students' understanding of the greenhouse effect. Introductory level science students were tested for their pre-knowledge of the greenhouse effect using validated multiple-choice questions, short answers and concept sketches. All students participated in a common lesson about the greenhouse effect and were then randomly assigned to one of two lab groups. One group explored an existing simulation about the greenhouse effect (PhET-lesson) and the other group worked with absorption spectra of different greenhouse gases (Data-lesson) to deepen the understanding of the greenhouse effect. All students completed the same assessment including multiple choice, short answers and concept sketches after participation in their lab lesson. 164 students completed all the assessments, 76 completed the PhET lesson and 77 completed the data lesson. 11 students missed the contrasting lesson. In this presentation we show the comparison between the multiple-choice questions, short answer questions and the concept sketches of students. We explore how well each of these assessment types represents student's knowledge. We also identify items that are indicators of the level of understanding of the greenhouse effect as measured in correspondence of student answers to an expert mental model and expert responses. Preliminary data analysis shows that student who produce concept sketch drawings that come close to expert drawings also choose correct multiple-choice answers. However, correct multiple-choice answers are not necessarily an indicator that a student produces an expert-like correlating concept sketch items. Multiple-choice questions that require detailed knowledge of the greenhouse effect (e.g. direction of re-emission of infrared energy from greenhouse gas) are significantly more likely to be answered correctly by students who also produce expert-like concept sketch items than by students who don't include this aspect in their sketch and don't answer the multiple choice questions correctly. This difference is not as apparent for less technical multiple-choice questions (e.g. type of radiation emitted by Sun). Our findings explore the formation of student's mental models throughout different interventions and how well the different assessment techniques used in this study represent the student understanding of the overall concept.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Broeder, Peter; Stokmans, Mia
2013-06-01
While reading behaviour of adolescents is a frequent object of research, most studies in this field are restricted to a single country. This study investigates reading as a leisure-time activity across social groups from three regions differing in reading tradition as well as in the facilities available for reading. The authors analyse the reading behaviour of a total of 2,173 adolescents in the Netherlands, in Beijing (China), and in Cape Town (South Africa). Taking Icek Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour as a starting point, the authors adjusted it to model the three most important determinants of reading behaviour, namely (1) reading attitude; (2) subjective norms (implicit and explicit social pressure to read); and (3) perceived behavioural control, which includes reading proficiency and appropriateness of the available books (book supply). While they found the adjusted model to fit the Dutch and Beijing situation quite well, it appeared to be inappropriate for the Cape Town situation. Despite considerable cultural and situational differences between the Netherlands and Beijing, the results show a similar pattern for these two environments. The most important determinants turn out to be: the hedonic reading attitude, the implicit norm of family and friends, the attractiveness of the available choice of books, and the perceived reading proficiency.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Guffey, S. K.; Slater, T. F.; Slater, S. J.
2017-12-01
Discipline-based geoscience education researchers have considerable need for criterion-referenced, easy-to-administer and easy-to-score, conceptual diagnostic surveys for undergraduates taking introductory science survey courses in order for faculty to better be able to monitor the learning impacts of various interactive teaching approaches. To support ongoing discipline-based science education research to improve teaching and learning across the geosciences, this study establishes the reliability and validity of a 28-item, multiple-choice, pre- and post- Exam of GeoloGy Standards, hereafter simply called EGGS. The content knowledge EGGS addresses is based on 11 consensus concepts derived from a systematic, thematic analysis of the overlapping ideas presented in national science education reform documents including the Next Generation Science Standards, the AAAS Benchmarks for Science Literacy, the Earth Science Literacy Principles, and the NRC National Science Education Standards. Using community agreed upon best-practices for creating, field-testing, and iteratively revising modern multiple-choice test items using classical item analysis techniques, EGGS emphasizes natural student language over technical scientific vocabulary, leverages illustrations over students' reading ability, specifically targets students' misconceptions identified in the scholarly literature, and covers the range of topics most geology educators expect general education students to know at the end of their formal science learning experiences. The current version of EGGS is judged to be valid and reliable with college-level, introductory science survey students based on both standard quantitative and qualitative measures, including extensive clinical interviews with targeted students and systematic expert review.
Wrong Answers on Multiple-Choice Achievement Tests: Blind Guesses or Systematic Choices?.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Powell, J. C.
A multi-faceted model for the selection of answers for multiple-choice tests was developed from the findings of a series of exploratory studies. This model implies that answer selection should be curvilinear. A series of models were tested for fit using the chi square procedure. Data were collected from 359 elementary school students ages 9-12.…
Analyzing Student Confidence in Classroom Voting with Multiple Choice Questions
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stewart, Ann; Storm, Christopher; VonEpps, Lahna
2013-01-01
The purpose of this paper is to present results of a recent study in which students voted on multiple choice questions in mathematics courses of varying levels. Students used clickers to select the best answer among the choices given; in addition, they were also asked whether they were confident in their answer. In this paper we analyze data…
Sen. Begich, Mark [D-AK
2013-11-19
Senate - 11/19/2013 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
Freedom For Consumer Choice Act
Sen. DeMint, Jim [R-SC
2010-07-21
Senate - 07/21/2010 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA
2014-12-11
Senate - 12/11/2014 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV
2013-05-14
Senate - 05/14/2013 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
IM-TORNADO: A Tool for Comparison of 16S Reads from Paired-End Libraries
Jeraldo, Patricio; Kalari, Krishna; Chen, Xianfeng; Bhavsar, Jaysheel; Mangalam, Ashutosh; White, Bryan; Nelson, Heidi; Kocher, Jean-Pierre; Chia, Nicholas
2014-01-01
Motivation 16S rDNA hypervariable tag sequencing has become the de facto method for accessing microbial diversity. Illumina paired-end sequencing, which produces two separate reads for each DNA fragment, has become the platform of choice for this application. However, when the two reads do not overlap, existing computational pipelines analyze data from read separately and underutilize the information contained in the paired-end reads. Results We created a workflow known as Illinois Mayo Taxon Organization from RNA Dataset Operations (IM-TORNADO) for processing non-overlapping reads while retaining maximal information content. Using synthetic mock datasets, we show that the use of both reads produced answers with greater correlation to those from full length 16S rDNA when looking at taxonomy, phylogeny, and beta-diversity. Availability and Implementation IM-TORNADO is freely available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/imtornado and produces BIOM format output for cross compatibility with other pipelines such as QIIME, mothur, and phyloseq. PMID:25506826
Reexamining Reading Diagnosis: New Trends and Procedures.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Glazer, Susan Mandel, Ed.; And Others
In an effort to better understand children's reading behavior, this volume offers naturalistic assessments of reading performance in multiple settings and at all levels. The chapters and their authors are as follows: (1) "Reexamining Reading Diagnosis" (Susan Mandel Glazer and Lyndon W. Searfoss); (2) "Reexamining the Role of…
CMOS imager for pointing and tracking applications
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sun, Chao (Inventor); Pain, Bedabrata (Inventor); Yang, Guang (Inventor); Heynssens, Julie B. (Inventor)
2006-01-01
Systems and techniques to realize pointing and tracking applications with CMOS imaging devices. In general, in one implementation, the technique includes: sampling multiple rows and multiple columns of an active pixel sensor array into a memory array (e.g., an on-chip memory array), and reading out the multiple rows and multiple columns sampled in the memory array to provide image data with reduced motion artifact. Various operation modes may be provided, including TDS, CDS, CQS, a tracking mode to read out multiple windows, and/or a mode employing a sample-first-read-later readout scheme. The tracking mode can take advantage of a diagonal switch array. The diagonal switch array, the active pixel sensor array and the memory array can be integrated onto a single imager chip with a controller. This imager device can be part of a larger imaging system for both space-based applications and terrestrial applications.
... Active and InvolvedRead Article >>SeniorsThe Importance of Staying Active and InvolvedYour lifestyle choices will determine how quickly you age. You can help slow down the aging process with a…Sports and Exercise at Every ...
... Active and InvolvedRead Article >>SeniorsThe Importance of Staying Active and InvolvedYour lifestyle choices will determine how quickly you age. You can help slow down the aging process with a…Sports and Exercise at Every ...
... Active and InvolvedRead Article >>SeniorsThe Importance of Staying Active and InvolvedYour lifestyle choices will determine how quickly you age. You can help slow down the aging process with a…Sports and Exercise at Every ...
Counseling for Career Choice Act
Sen. Begich, Mark [D-AK
2013-02-12
Senate - 02/12/2013 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
Consumer Choice in Online Video Act
Sen. Rockefeller, John D., IV [D-WV
2013-11-12
Senate - 11/12/2013 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
An extension of incidental teaching procedures to reading instruction for autistic children.
McGee, G G; Krantz, P J; McClannahan, L E
1986-01-01
In an extension of incidental teaching procedures to reading instruction, two autistic children acquired functional sight-word reading skills in the context of a play activity. Children gained access to preferred toys by selecting the label of the toy in tasks requiring increasingly complex visual discriminations. In addition to demonstrating rapid acquisition of 5-choice discriminations, they showed comprehension on probes requiring reading skills to locate toys stored in labeled boxes. Also examined was postteaching transfer across stimulus materials and response modalities. Implications are that extensions of incidental teaching to new response classes may produce the same benefits documented in communication training, in terms of producing generalization concurrent with skill acquisition in the course of child-preferred activities. PMID:3733586
Intrinsic reading motivation of Chinese preschoolers and its relationships with home literacy.
Zhou, Hui; Salili, Farideh
2008-10-01
The relationship between intrinsic motivation and home literacy of preschoolers was explored. One hundred and seventy-seven preschool children (3.8 to 6.6 years old) in Mainland China and one of the parents who primarily took care of each child participated in the study. Six indicators were considered as a measure of home literacy. Results showed that after controlling for parents' education level and children's age, three home literacy indicators-parental model of reading behaviour, number of books, and years of character teaching-could explain children's intrinsic reading motivation. Contrary to previous Western studies, Chinese children's freedom of book choice was not related to their intrinsic reading motivation. Results are discussed in the context of culture differences.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Akimov, D. A.; Fedotov, Andrei B.; Koroteev, Nikolai I.; Magnitskii, S. A.; Naumov, A. N.; Sidorov-Biryukov, Dmitri A.; Sokoluk, N. T.; Zheltikov, Alexei M.
1998-04-01
The possibilities of optimizing data writing and reading in devices of 3D optical memory using photochromic materials are discussed. We quantitatively analyze linear and nonlinear optical properties of induline spiropyran molecules, which allows us to estimate the efficiency of using such materials for implementing 3D optical-memory devices. It is demonstrated that, with an appropriate choice of polarization vectors of laser beams, one can considerably improve the efficiency of two-photon writing in photochromic materials. The problem of reading the data stored in a photochromic material is analyzed. The possibilities of data reading methods with the use of fluorescence and four-photon techniques are compared.
Implications of Chinese face reading on the aesthetic sense.
Wong, Frederick T C; Soo, Gordon; Ng, Wai-pok; van Hasselt, C Andrew; Tong, Michael C F
2010-01-01
Chinese face reading is an ancient art that has been developed over centuries, not only in China but over the wider area of Asia owing to China's cultural dominance in Asia during its imperial rule. Similar to feng shui, Chinese face reading is based on a philosophy held by Chinese people all over the world that expresses itself in contemporary daily life and practices by coloring people's choices, likes, and dislikes. It is inevitable that the aesthetic sense is also affected by face reading principles, especially among those who are most familiar with them. An understanding of these principles and beliefs would help surgeons better understand their Asian patients' requests and perhaps allow them to better communicate appropriate suggestions accordingly.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bhakti, Satria Seto; Samsudin, Achmad; Chandra, Didi Teguh; Siahaan, Parsaoran
2017-05-01
The aim of research is developing multiple-choices test items as tools for measuring the scientific of generic skills on solar system. To achieve the aim that the researchers used the ADDIE model consisting Of: Analyzing, Design, Development, Implementation, dan Evaluation, all of this as a method research. While The scientific of generic skills limited research to five indicator including: (1) indirect observation, (2) awareness of the scale, (3) inference logic, (4) a causal relation, and (5) mathematical modeling. The participants are 32 students at one of junior high schools in Bandung. The result shown that multiple-choices that are constructed test items have been declared valid by the expert validator, and after the tests show that the matter of developing multiple-choices test items be able to measuring the scientific of generic skills on solar system.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jallad, Nasreen Y.; Bani Abdelrahman, Abdallah A.
2008-01-01
This study aimed at investigating the effect of multiple intelligences strategies comprising logical-mathematical intelligence, verbal-linguistic intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence and interpersonal intelligence on ninth grade students' reading comprehension achievement in an EFL setting. The population of the study consisted of all ninth…
Epistemological and Reading Beliefs Profiles and Their Role in Multiple Text Comprehension
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mateos, Mar; Solé, Isabel; Martín, Elena; Castells, Nuria; Cuevas, Isabel; González-Lamas, Jara
2016-01-01
Introduction: The aim of this study was to analyse the role of epistemological beliefs and reading beliefs in the comprehension of multiple texts which presented conflicting positions about a controversial topic (nuclear energy). More specifically, we investigated the influence of the multidimensional configuration of epistemological and reading…
Set of Criteria for Efficiency of the Process Forming the Answers to Multiple-Choice Test Items
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rybanov, Alexander Aleksandrovich
2013-01-01
Is offered the set of criteria for assessing efficiency of the process forming the answers to multiple-choice test items. To increase accuracy of computer-assisted testing results, it is suggested to assess dynamics of the process of forming the final answer using the following factors: loss of time factor and correct choice factor. The model…
Effects of Peer Tutoring on Reading Self-Concept
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Flores, Marta; Duran, David
2013-01-01
This study investigates the development of the Reading Self-Concept and of the mechanisms underlying it, within a framework of a reading programme based on peer tutoring. The multiple methodological design adopted allowed for a quantitative approach which showed statistically significant changes in the Reading Self-Concept of those students who…
A Model of Reading Comprehension in Chinese Elementary School Children
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yeung, Pui-sze; Ho, Connie Suk-han; Chan, David Wai-ock; Chung, Kevin Kien-hoa; Wong, Yau-kai
2013-01-01
The relationships of reading-related skills (rapid naming, morphological awareness, syntactic skills, discourse skills, and verbal working memory) and word reading to reading comprehension were examined among 248 Chinese fourth graders in Hong Kong. Multiple regression analysis results showed that syntactic skills (word order knowledge,…
Choice Neighborhoods Initiative Act of 2011
Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ
2011-03-17
Senate - 03/17/2011 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
Choice Neighborhoods Initiative Act of 2010
Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ
2010-12-22
Senate - 12/22/2010 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
Community Choice in Real Estate Act
Sen. Boxer, Barbara [D-CA
2009-01-29
Senate - 01/29/2009 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
Consumer Fuels and Vehicle Choice Act of 2009
Sen. Harkin, Tom [D-IA
2009-08-06
Senate - 08/06/2009 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
Employee Free Choice Act of 2009
Sen. Kennedy, Edward M. [D-MA
2009-03-10
Senate - 03/10/2009 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
Health Care Choice Act of 2009
Sen. DeMint, Jim [R-SC
2009-07-16
Senate - 07/16/2009 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
The Language of Coats (Editor's Choice).
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sommers, Nancy
1998-01-01
Compares 20 years of teaching college writing (and reading countless drafts of student papers) to an immigrant father's working 40 years in the family store in Terre Haute, Indiana (and selling 350,000 coats). (PA)
Towse, John N; Cowan, Nelson; Hitch, Graham J; Horton, Neil J
2008-01-01
We describe and evaluate a recall reconstruction hypothesis for working memory (WM), according to which items can be recovered from multiple memory representations. Across four experiments, participants recalled memoranda that were either integrated with or independent of the sentence content. We found consistently longer pauses accompanying the correct recall of integrated compared with independent words, supporting the argument that sentence memory could scaffold the access of target items. Integrated words were also more likely to be recalled correctly, dependent on the details of the task. Experiment 1 investigated the chronometry of spoken recall for word span and reading span, with participants completing an unfinished sentence in the latter case. Experiments 2 and 3 confirm recall time differences without using word generation requirements, while Experiment 4 used an item and order response choice paradigm with nonspoken responses. Data emphasise the value of recall timing in constraining theories of WM functioning.
Decision making: rational or hedonic?
Cabanac, Michel; Bonniot-Cabanac, Marie-Claude
2007-01-01
Three experiments studied the hedonicity of decision making. Participants rated their pleasure/displeasure while reading item-sentences describing political and social problems followed by different decisions (Questionnaire 1). Questionnaire 2 was multiple-choice, grouping the items from Questionnaire 1. In Experiment 1, participants answered Questionnaire 2 rapidly or slowly. Both groups selected what they had rated as pleasant, but the 'leisurely' group maximized pleasure less. In Experiment 2, participants selected the most rational responses. The selected behaviors were pleasant but less than spontaneous behaviors. In Experiment 3, Questionnaire 2 was presented once with items grouped by theme, and once with items shuffled. Participants maximized the pleasure of their decisions, but the items selected on Questionnaires 2 were different when presented in different order. All groups maximized pleasure equally in their decisions. These results support that decisions are made predominantly in the hedonic dimension of consciousness. PMID:17848195
Sensing design and workmanship: the haptic skills of shoppers in eighteenth-century London.
Smith, Kate
2012-01-01
This article explores how eighteenth-century shoppers understood the material world around them. It argues that retail experiences exposed shoppers to different objects, which subsequently shaped their understanding of this world. This article builds on recent research that highlights the importance of shop environments and browsing in consumer choice. More particularly, it differentiates itself by examining the practice of handling goods in shops and arguing that sensory interaction with multiple goods was one of the key means by which shoppers comprehended concepts of design and workmanship. In doing so, it affirms the importance of sensory research to design history. The article focuses on consumer purchases of ceramic objects and examines a variety of sources to demonstrate the role of haptic skills in this act. It shows how different literary sources described browsing for goods in gendered and satirical terms and then contrasts these readings against visual evidence to illustrate how handling goods was also represented as a positive act. It reads browsing as a valued practice requiring competence, patience and haptic skills. Through an examination of diary sources, letters and objects this article asks what information shoppers gained from touching various objects. It concludes by demonstrating how repetitive handling in search of quality meant that shoppers acquired their own conception of what constituted workmanship and design.
Pick-N Multiple Choice-Exams: A Comparison of Scoring Algorithms
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bauer, Daniel; Holzer, Matthias; Kopp, Veronika; Fischer, Martin R.
2011-01-01
To compare different scoring algorithms for Pick-N multiple correct answer multiple-choice (MC) exams regarding test reliability, student performance, total item discrimination and item difficulty. Data from six 3rd year medical students' end of term exams in internal medicine from 2005 to 2008 at Munich University were analysed (1,255 students,…
Undergraduate Students' Preferences for Constructed versus Multiple-Choice Assessment of Learning
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mingo, Maya A.; Chang, Hsin-Hui; Williams, Robert L.
2018-01-01
Students (N = 161) in seven sections of an undergraduate educational psychology course rated ten performance-assessment options in collegiate courses. They rated in-class essay exams as their most preferred assessment and multiple-choice exams (in-class and out-of-class) as their least preferred. Also, student ratings of multiple papers and a term…
Bonifacci, Paola; Snowling, Margaret J
2008-06-01
English and Italian children with dyslexia were compared with children with reading difficulties associated with low-IQ on tests of simple and choice RT, and in number and symbol scanning tasks. On all four speed-of-processing tasks, children with low-IQ responded more slowly than children with dyslexia and age-controls. In the choice RT task, the performance of children with low-IQ was also less accurate than that of children of normal IQ, consistent with theories linking processing speed limitations with low-IQ. These findings support the hypothesis that dyslexia is a specific cognitive deficit that can arise in the context of normal IQ and normal speed of processing. The same cognitive phenotype was observed in readers of a deep (English) and a shallow (Italian) orthography.
Word and pseudoword superiority effects reflected in the ERP waveform
Coch, Donna; Mitra, Priya
2010-01-01
A variant of the Reicher-Wheeler task was used to determine when in the event-related potential (ERP) waveform indices of word and pseudoword superiority effects might be present, and whether ERP measures of superiority effects correlated with standardized behavioral measures of orthographic fluency and single word reading. ERPs were recorded to briefly presented, masked letter strings that included real words (DARK/PARK), pseudowords (DARL/PARL), nonwords (RDKA/RPKA), and letter-in-xs (DXXX, PXXX) stimuli. Participants decided which of two letters occurred at a given position in the string (here, forced-choice alternatives D and P). Behaviorally, both word (more accurate choices for letters in words than in baseline nonwords or letter-in-xs) and pseudoword (more accurate choices for letters in pseudowords than in baseline conditions) superiority effects were observed. Electrophysiologically, effects of orthographic regularity and familiarity were apparent as early as the P150 time window (100–160 ms), an effect of lexicality was observed as early as the N200 time window (160–200 ms), and peak amplitude of the N300 and N400 also differentiated word and pseudoword as compared to baseline stimuli. Further, the size of the P150 and N400 ERP word superiority effects was related to standardized behavioral measures of fluency and reading. Results suggest that orthographic fluency is reflected in both lower-level, sublexical, perceptual processing and higher-level, lexical processing in fluently reading adults. PMID:20211607
Reading comprehension of deaf students in regular education.
Luccas, Marcia Regina Zemella; Chiari, Brasília Maria; Goulart, Bárbara Niegia Garcia de
2012-01-01
To evaluate and compare the reading comprehension of deaf students included in regular classrooms of public schools with and without specialized educational support. Observational analytic study with 35 students with sensorineural hearing loss, with and without educational support. All subjects were assessed with the Word Reading Competence Test (WRCT), the Picture-Print Matching Test by Choice (PPMT-C), and the Sentence Reading Comprehension Test (SRCT). In the tests regarding comprehension of words (WRCT and PPMT-C), the results showed no difference in the performance of deaf students who attend and do not attend educational support. Regarding reading comprehension of sentences, the application of the SRCT also did not show differences between the groups of deaf students. A significant correlation was found between age and grade, indicating that the older the students and the higher their educational level, the better their performance in reading sentences. The results indicate that deaf students, regardless of attending educational support, read words better than sentences. There is no difference in reading comprehension between deaf students who receive and do not receive specialized pedagogical monitoring.
Your Genes, Your Choices: Exploring the Issues Raised by Genetic Research
DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)
Baker, C.
1999-05-31
Your Genes, Your Choices provides accurate information about the ethical, legal, and social implications of the Human Genome Project and genetic research in an easy-to-read style and format. Each chapter in the book begins with a brief vignette, which introduces an issue within a human story, and raises a question for the reader to think about as the basic science and information are presented in the rest of the chapter.
Simulation and analysis of support hardware for multiple instruction rollback
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Alewine, Neil J.
1992-01-01
Recently, a compiler-assisted approach to multiple instruction retry was developed. In this scheme, a read buffer of size 2N, where N represents the maximum instruction rollback distance, is used to resolve one type of data hazard. This hardware support helps to reduce code growth, compilation time, and some of the performance impacts associated with hazard resolution. The 2N read buffer size requirement of the compiler-assisted approach is worst case, assuring data redundancy for all data required but also providing some unnecessary redundancy. By adding extra bits in the operand field for source 1 and source 2 it becomes possible to design the read buffer to save only those values required, thus reducing the read buffer size requirement. This study measures the effect on performance of a DECstation 3100 running 10 application programs using 6 read buffer configurations at varying read buffer sizes.
[The use of medical journals by medical students. Which medical journals are read?].
Algra, Annemijn M; Dekker, Friedo W
2015-01-01
To investigate the role of scientific medical journals in Dutch medical curricula. Descriptive questionnaire study. In 2013, medical students (from year 3 onwards) at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC), were invited to respond to an online questionnaire. They were presented with 28 multiple-choice questions and 11 statements about the use of scientific medical journals in the medical curriculum. We calculated the frequencies of the answers per question and analysed differences between medical students using two-by-two tables. The questionnaire was completed by 680 (53.0%) of 1277 invited medical students enrolled at the LUMC. Most of the respondents were those doing clinical rotations (56.6%) and 60.1% had research experience. More than half of the students read at least one scientific journal a few times per month; this percentage was 38.8% among third-year students, 49.3% among fourth-year students, 60.0% among those on clinical rotation, and was higher among students with research experience (63.3%) than among those without research experience (44.1%). Nearly 90% of students agreed with the statement that the development of academic and scientific education should take place in the bachelor's phase of medical school. Medical students start to read scientific medical journals at an early phase in the medical curriculum and this increases further when students start to undertake research projects or go on clinical rotation. Medical curricula should be constructed in such a way that medical students learn to select and interpret research findings adequately for themselves before they turn to articles from scientific medical journals.
Influence of sleep deprivation on learning among surgical house staff and medical students.
Browne, B J; Van Susteren, T; Onsager, D R; Simpson, D; Salaymeh, B; Condon, R E
1994-05-01
Sleep deprivation as a result of in-house night call may alter capacity to learn. Surgical residents and medical students, in both sleep-deprived and rested states, read surgical journal articles and later answered questions regarding their content as a measure of ability to learn while participating in scheduled night call. Medical students (n = 35) and residents (n = 21) rotating on surgical services kept logs of hours slept during a 4-week study period. Subjects read six selected articles at separate early morning sittings during weeks 1 and 3. A multiple choice test was given 1 week after each session to assess short-term recall, and all tests were given again 3 months later to assess retention of information over the longer term. Scores were compared with the sleep data. Subjective measures of fatigue and motivation elicited from subjects also were evaluated. Sleep deprivation (4 hours or less uninterrupted sleep per night) resulted in increased fatigue and decreased motivation among medical students and residents (p < 0.05, t test). Objective scores on tests administered 1 week and 3 months after reading did not show an effect attributable to sleep deprivation (p > 0.05, t test). Sleep deprivation leads to subjective feelings of increased fatigue and decreased motivation. Residents and medical students, however, whether sleep deprived or not, obtain comparable scores on objective tests measuring both short-term and long-term retention of newly learned material. The ability to learn medically relevant information does not appear to be significantly altered by the degree of sleep deprivation associated with clinical rotations on surgical services.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yanagawa, Kozo; Green, Anthony
2008-01-01
The purpose of this study is to examine whether the choice between three multiple-choice listening comprehension test formats results in any difference in listening comprehension test performance. The three formats entail (a) allowing test takers to preview both the question stem and answer options prior to listening; (b) allowing test takers to…
Accommodations for Multiple Choice Tests
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Trammell, Jack
2011-01-01
Students with learning or learning-related disabilities frequently struggle with multiple choice assessments due to difficulty discriminating between items, filtering out distracters, and framing a mental best answer. This Practice Brief suggests accommodations and strategies that disability service providers can utilize in conjunction with…
Ivanova, Maria V.; Hallowell, Brooke
2017-01-01
Purpose Language comprehension in people with aphasia (PWA) is frequently evaluated using multiple-choice displays: PWA are asked to choose the image that best corresponds to the verbal stimulus in a display. When a nontarget image is selected, comprehension failure is assumed. However, stimulus-driven factors unrelated to linguistic comprehension may influence performance. In this study we explore the influence of physical image characteristics of multiple-choice image displays on visual attention allocation by PWA. Method Eye fixations of 41 PWA were recorded while they viewed 40 multiple-choice image sets presented with and without verbal stimuli. Within each display, 3 images (majority images) were the same and 1 (singleton image) differed in terms of 1 image characteristic. The mean proportion of fixation duration (PFD) allocated across majority images was compared against the PFD allocated to singleton images. Results PWA allocated significantly greater PFD to the singleton than to the majority images in both nonverbal and verbal conditions. Those with greater severity of comprehension deficits allocated greater PFD to nontarget singleton images in the verbal condition. Conclusion When using tasks that rely on multiple-choice displays and verbal stimuli, one cannot assume that verbal stimuli will override the effect of visual-stimulus characteristics. PMID:28520866
The Effects of Multiple Intelligence Teaching Strategies on Achievement in Reading and Mathematics
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Harriman, Vanessa
2010-01-01
Today's educators must use research-based teaching strategies that increase achievement levels of students. Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences is scientifically-based. The current model suggests eight different areas in which a person can demonstrate intelligence. This study compared reading and math assessments score of elementary…
The Application of Multiple Intelligences Theory to Reading Instruction.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alexander, James C.
Top-down and bottom-up theories have long dominated the field of reading. Recently, interactive models have been proposed by some researchers. One model, the interactive-compensatory model, hypothesizes that a deficiency in one processing area is compensated for by a relative strength in another area. The concept of multiple intelligences is one…
The Impact of Learning Multiple Foreign Languages on Using Metacognitive Reading Strategies
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Razi, Salim
2008-01-01
This study aims primarily to investigate the impact of learning multiple foreign languages on the use of metacognitive reading strategies (MRSs) by foreign language teaching (FLT) department students. A number of factors such as gender, hand preference, class, and programme with reference to their belief orientation were also involved in the…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Clemens, David
2009-01-01
As documented by multiple NEA studies ("Reading at Risk," 2004; "To Read or Not to Read," 2007), reading has become devalued in American life, on sale in the clearance bin along with notions of greatness, classic works and ideas, and Western civilization itself. Trying to teach fine literature, writes the author, has become the struggle of how to…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
De Naeghel, Jessie; Van Keer, Hilde; Vanderlinde, Ruben
2014-01-01
It is important to reveal strategies which foster students' reading motivation in order to break through the declining trend in reading motivation throughout children's educational careers. Consequently, the present study advances an underexposed field in reading motivation research by studying and identifying the strategies of teachers excellent…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Klauda, Susan Lutz; Wigfield, Allan
2012-01-01
This study examined elementary school students' perceived support for recreational reading from their mothers, fathers, and friends. Participants, including 130 fourth graders and 172 fifth graders, completed the researcher-developed Reading Support Survey, which assesses how often children experience and how greatly they enjoy multiple types of…
Impacts of Comprehensive Reading Instruction on Diverse Outcomes of Low- and High-Achieving Readers
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Guthrie, John T.; McRae, Angela; Coddington, Cassandra S.; Klauda, Susan Lutz; Wigfield, Allan; Barbosa, Pedro
2009-01-01
Low-achieving readers in Grade 5 often lack comprehension strategies, domain knowledge, word recognition skills, fluency, and motivation to read. Students with such multiple reading needs seem likely to benefit from instruction that supports each of these reading processes. The authors tested this expectation experimentally by comparing the…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Reutebuch, Colleen K.; El Zein, Farah; Kyung Kim, Min; Weinberg, Aron N.; Vaughn, Sharon
2015-01-01
We adapted and piloted Collaborative Strategic Reading-High School, a reading comprehension intervention, with three high school students with autism spectrum disorder to investigate its effects on their reading comprehension. Using a nonconcurrent, multiple-baseline design, participants with autism spectrum disorder were paired with a…
Storytelling: Learning to Read as Social and Cultural Processes
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bloome, David; Kim, Minjeong
2016-01-01
The argument here is that learning to read for young people in school is not a monolithic process but, rather, consists of multiple and differentiated pathways involving the acquisition of diverse reading practices and cultural ideologies embedded in a broad range of social and cultural contexts. Such a view of learning to read entails…
Oral Reading Fluency Assessment: Issues of Construct, Criterion, and Consequential Validity
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Valencia, Sheila W.; Smith, Antony T.; Reece, Anne M.; Li, Min; Wixson, Karen K.; Newman, Heather
2010-01-01
This study investigated multiple models for assessing oral reading fluency, including 1-minute oral reading measures that produce scores reported as words correct per minute (wcpm). We compared a measure of wcpm with measures of the individual and combined indicators of oral reading fluency (rate, accuracy, prosody, and comprehension) to examine…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Neugebauer, Sabina Rak
2017-01-01
While educators and researchers agree on the crucial role of literacy motivation for performance, research on methods for accurately assessing adolescent reading motivation is still uncommon. The most used reading motivation instruments do not attend to the multiple content areas in which adolescents read. The present study examines a new…
Informed Consumer Choices in Health Care Act of 2009
Sen. Rockefeller, John D., IV [D-WV
2009-05-14
Senate - 05/14/2009 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
Pharmacy Competition and Consumer Choice Act of 2011
Sen. Pryor, Mark L. [D-AR
2011-05-24
Senate - 05/24/2011 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
Impacts | Computational Science | NREL
Impacts Impacts Read about the impacts of NREL's innovations in computational science. Awards community. Photo of the Peregrine supercomputer 2014 R&D 100 Award and R&D Magazine Editor's Choice
Can Processed Foods Be Part of a Healthy Diet?
... Simple Cooking and Recipes Dining Out Choosing a Restaurant Deciphering the Menu Ordering Your Meal Eating Fast ... make smart choices in the grocery store and restaurants. Choose healthier processed foods. Read food labels. This ...
Nutrition for Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease in Adults
... How can understanding and keeping track of lab reports help someone with advanced CKD make healthy food choices? Learning how to read and understand lab reports lets a person see how different foods can ...
Oxford ion-trap quantum computing project.
Lucas, D M; Donald, C J S; Home, J P; McDonnell, M J; Ramos, A; Stacey, D N; Stacey, J-P; Steane, A M; Webster, S C
2003-07-15
We describe recent progress in the development of an ion-trap quantum information processor. We discuss the choice of ion species and describe recent experiments on read-out for a ground-state qubit and photoionization trap loading.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cramer, Nicholas; Asmar, Abdo; Gorman, Laurel; Gros, Bernard; Harris, David; Howard, Thomas; Hussain, Mujtaba; Salazar, Sergio; Kibble, Jonathan D.
2016-01-01
Multiple-choice questions are a gold-standard tool in medical school for assessment of knowledge and are the mainstay of licensing examinations. However, multiple-choice questions items can be criticized for lacking the ability to test higher-order learning or integrative thinking across multiple disciplines. Our objective was to develop a novel…
Motivational Components of Underachievement.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Carr, Martha; And Others
1991-01-01
Achievers and underachievers were tested on multiple measures of ability, attributions, self-esteem, reading awareness, and reading performance. Achievers differed from underachievers in beliefs about utility of effort, self-esteem, enhanced reading awareness, and strategic performance. Achievers, but not underachievers, associated their skills…
Multiple Oral Re-reading treatment for alexia: The parts may be greater than the whole.
Lacey, Elizabeth H; Lott, S N; Snider, S F; Sperling, A; Friedman, R B
2010-08-01
This study examines the reasons for the success of Multiple Oral Re-reading (MOR; Moyer, 1979), a non-invasive, easily administered alexia treatment that has been reported in the literature and is currently in clinical use. The treatment consists of reading text passages aloud multiple times a day. Findings that MOR improves reading speed on practised as well as novel text have been inconsistent, making MOR's role in the rehabilitation of alexia unclear. We hypothesised that MOR's treatment mechanism works through repetition of high frequency words (i.e., bottom-up processing). We designed and controlled our text passages to test the hypothesis that participants would not improve on all novel text but would improve on text that includes a critical mass of the words contained in the passages they were re-reading. We further hypothesised that the improvement would be at the level of their specific alexic deficit. We tested four participants with phonological alexia and two with pure alexia during 8 weeks of MOR treatment. Contrary to the conclusions of previous studies, our results indicate that improvements in top-down processing cannot explain generalisation in MOR and that much of the improvement in reading is through repetition of the practised words. However, most patients also showed improvement when specific phrases were re-used in novel passages, indicating that practice of difficult words in context may be crucial to reading improvement.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hansen, James D.; Dexter, Lee
1997-01-01
Analysis of test item banks in 10 auditing textbooks found that 75% of questions violated one or more guidelines for multiple-choice items. In comparison, 70% of a certified public accounting exam bank had no violations. (SK)
The Complex World of Adolescent Literacy: Myths, Motivations, and Mysteries
Moje, Elizabeth Birr; Overby, Melanie; Tysvaer, Nicole; Morris, Karen
2009-01-01
In this article, Elizabeth Birr Moje, Melanie Overby, Nicole Tysvaer, and Karen Morris challenge some of the prevailing myths about adolescents and their choices related to reading. The reading practices of youth from one urban community are examined using mixed methods in an effort to define what, how often, and why adolescents choose to read. By focusing on what features of texts youth find motivating, the authors find that reading and writing frequently occur in a range of literacy contexts outside school. However, only reading novels on a regular basis outside of school is shown to have a positive relationship to academic achievement as measured by school grades. This article describes how adolescents read texts that are embedded in social networks, allowing them to build social capital. Conclusions are framed in terms of the mysteries that remain — namely, how to build on what motivates adolescents' literacy practices in order to both promote the building of their social selves and improve their academic outcomes. PMID:19756223
Advancing College Choice and Ethics to Protect Taxpayers Act of 2012
Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT
2012-09-13
Senate - 09/13/2012 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status IntroducedHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:
Mariel, Petr; Hoyos, David; Artabe, Alaitz; Guevara, C Angelo
2018-08-15
Endogeneity is an often neglected issue in empirical applications of discrete choice modelling despite its severe consequences in terms of inconsistent parameter estimation and biased welfare measures. This article analyses the performance of the multiple indicator solution method to deal with endogeneity arising from omitted explanatory variables in discrete choice models for environmental valuation. We also propose and illustrate a factor analysis procedure for the selection of the indicators in practice. Additionally, the performance of this method is compared with the recently proposed hybrid choice modelling framework. In an empirical application we find that the multiple indicator solution method and the hybrid model approach provide similar results in terms of welfare estimates, although the multiple indicator solution method is more parsimonious and notably easier to implement. The empirical results open a path to explore the performance of this method when endogeneity is thought to have a different cause or under a different set of indicators. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Experiments on Urdu Text Recognition
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mukhtar, Omar; Setlur, Srirangaraj; Govindaraju, Venu
Urdu is a language spoken in the Indian subcontinent by an estimated 130-270 million speakers. At the spoken level, Urdu and Hindi are considered dialects of a single language because of shared vocabulary and the similarity in grammar. At the written level, however, Urdu is much closer to Arabic because it is written in Nastaliq, the calligraphic style of the Persian-Arabic script. Therefore, a speaker of Hindi can understand spoken Urdu but may not be able to read written Urdu because Hindi is written in Devanagari script, whereas an Arabic writer can read the written words but may not understand the spoken Urdu. In this chapter we present an overview of written Urdu. Prior research in handwritten Urdu OCR is very limited. We present (perhaps) the first system for recognizing handwritten Urdu words. On a data set of about 1300 handwritten words, we achieved an accuracy of 70% for the top choice, and 82% for the top three choices.
MI as a Predictor of Students' Performance in Reading Competency
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hajhashemi, Karim
2012-01-01
The purpose of this study was to examine whether performance in MI could predict the performance in reading competency. The other objectives were to identify the components of MI which are correlated with the reading test scores, and to determine the relationship between the multiple intelligences and reading proficiency. A descriptive and ex post…
The Impact of Reading to Engage Children with Autism in Language and Learning (RECALL)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Whalon, Kelly; Martinez, Jose R.; Shannon, Darbianne; Butcher, Colleen; Hanline, Mary Frances
2015-01-01
A multiple baseline across participants design was used to investigate the impact of RECALL (Reading to Engage Children With Autism in Language and Learning) on the correct, unprompted responding and initiations of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). RECALL is an adapted shared reading intervention based on dialogic reading. RECALL…
Word Reading Strategy Development of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Preschoolers
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Burke, Victoria
2012-01-01
Siegler's (1996) overlapping waves model of strategy development applied to reading posits that children use multiple strategies to read words from the earliest stage of reading development, that these strategies coexist over a long period of time, and that experience results in gradual change in the strategies children use and the…
Two Readiness Measures As Predictors Of First- And Third-Grade Reading Achievement
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Randel, Mildred A.; And Others
1977-01-01
Multiple-regression procedures were used to assess effectiveness of the ABC Inventory and the Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) in predicting first- and third-grade reading achievement. MRT performance accounted for 11 percent of the variance in first-grade SRA reading scores. In predicting third-grade reading, the MRT accounted for 26 percent of…
Evaluation of Synchronous Online Tutoring for Students at Risk of Reading Failure
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Vasquez, Eleazar, III; Slocum, Timothy A.
2012-01-01
This study examined the effects of online reading instruction for at-risk fourth-grade students in Philadelphia. The authors used a multiple baseline design to assess the extent to which the students increased their oral reading rate given systematic supplemental online reading instruction. Tutoring consisted of 4 sessions per week with 50-min…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Landa, Katrina G.; Barbetta, Patricia M.
2017-01-01
A multiple probe across participants design was used to explore the effects of repeated readings on the reading fluency, errors, and comprehension of 4, third-to-fifth grade English language learners (ELLs) with specific learning disabilities (SLD). Also, generalization measures to untaught passages and maintenance data were collected. In…
Thomas, Geoff; Fletcher, Garth J O
2003-12-01
Using a video-review procedure, multiple perceivers carried out mind-reading tasks of multiple targets at different levels of acquaintanceship (50 dating couples, friends of the dating partners, and strangers). As predicted, the authors found that mind-reading accuracy was (a). higher as a function of increased acquaintanceship, (b). relatively unaffected by target effects, (c). influenced by individual differences in perceivers' ability, and (d). higher for female than male perceivers. In addition, superior mind-reading accuracy (for dating couples and friends) was related to higher relationship satisfaction, closeness, and more prior disclosure about the problems discussed, but only under moderating conditions related to sex and relationship length. The authors conclude that the nature of the relationship between the perceiver and the target occupies a pivotal role in determining mind-reading accuracy.
Improving the Reading Ability of Science Students through Study Groups and Multiple Intelligences
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Owolabi, Tunde; Okebukola, Foluso
2009-01-01
This study explored the effects of appropriate pedagogical skills (study groups and multiple intelligences) on students' efficiencies in reading skills. It employed a factorial design using three variables. A sample of 90 science students choosing from three intact classes were involved in the study. Data analyses were carried out using mean,…
Patterns of problem-solving in children's literacy and arithmetic.
Farrington-Flint, Lee; Vanuxem-Cotterill, Sophie; Stiller, James
2009-11-01
Patterns of problem-solving among 5-to-7 year-olds' were examined on a range of literacy (reading and spelling) and arithmetic-based (addition and subtraction) problem-solving tasks using verbal self-reports to monitor strategy choice. The results showed higher levels of variability in the children's strategy choice across Years I and 2 on the arithmetic (addition and subtraction) than literacy-based tasks (reading and spelling). However, across all four tasks, the children showed a tendency to move from less sophisticated procedural-based strategies, which included phonological strategies for reading and spelling and counting-all and finger modellingfor addition and subtraction, to more efficient retrieval methods from Years I to 2. Distinct patterns in children's problem-solving skill were identified on the literacy and arithmetic tasks using two separate cluster analyses. There was a strong association between these two profiles showing that those children with more advanced problem-solving skills on the arithmetic tasks also showed more advanced profiles on the literacy tasks. The results highlight how different-aged children show flexibility in their use of problem-solving strategies across literacy and arithmetical contexts and reinforce the importance of studying variations in children's problem-solving skill across different educational contexts.
Atropos: specific, sensitive, and speedy trimming of sequencing reads.
Didion, John P; Martin, Marcel; Collins, Francis S
2017-01-01
A key step in the transformation of raw sequencing reads into biological insights is the trimming of adapter sequences and low-quality bases. Read trimming has been shown to increase the quality and reliability while decreasing the computational requirements of downstream analyses. Many read trimming software tools are available; however, no tool simultaneously provides the accuracy, computational efficiency, and feature set required to handle the types and volumes of data generated in modern sequencing-based experiments. Here we introduce Atropos and show that it trims reads with high sensitivity and specificity while maintaining leading-edge speed. Compared to other state-of-the-art read trimming tools, Atropos achieves significant increases in trimming accuracy while remaining competitive in execution times. Furthermore, Atropos maintains high accuracy even when trimming data with elevated rates of sequencing errors. The accuracy, high performance, and broad feature set offered by Atropos makes it an appropriate choice for the pre-processing of Illumina, ABI SOLiD, and other current-generation short-read sequencing datasets. Atropos is open source and free software written in Python (3.3+) and available at https://github.com/jdidion/atropos.
Preferred Visuographic Images to Support Reading by People with Chronic Aphasia.
Knollman-Porter, Kelly; Brown, Jessica; Hux, Karen; Wallace, Sarah E; Uchtman, Elizabeth
2016-08-01
Written materials used both clinically and in everyday reading tasks can contain visuographic images that vary in content and attributes. People with aphasia may benefit from visuographic images to support reading comprehension. Understanding the image type and feature preferences of individuals with aphasia is an important first step when developing guidelines for selecting reading materials that motivate and support reading comprehension. The study purposes were to determine the preferences and explore the perceptions of and opinions provided by adults with chronic aphasia regarding various image features and types on facilitating the reading process. Six adults with chronic aphasia ranked visuographic materials varying in context, engagement, and content regarding their perceived degree of helpfulness in comprehending written materials. Then, they participated in semi-structured interviews that allowed them to elaborate on their choices and convey opinions about potential benefits and detriments associated with preferred and non-preferred materials. All participants preferred high-context photographs rather than iconic images or portraits as potential supports to facilitate reading activities. Differences in opinions emerged across participants regarding the amount of preferred content included in high context images.
Atropos: specific, sensitive, and speedy trimming of sequencing reads
Collins, Francis S.
2017-01-01
A key step in the transformation of raw sequencing reads into biological insights is the trimming of adapter sequences and low-quality bases. Read trimming has been shown to increase the quality and reliability while decreasing the computational requirements of downstream analyses. Many read trimming software tools are available; however, no tool simultaneously provides the accuracy, computational efficiency, and feature set required to handle the types and volumes of data generated in modern sequencing-based experiments. Here we introduce Atropos and show that it trims reads with high sensitivity and specificity while maintaining leading-edge speed. Compared to other state-of-the-art read trimming tools, Atropos achieves significant increases in trimming accuracy while remaining competitive in execution times. Furthermore, Atropos maintains high accuracy even when trimming data with elevated rates of sequencing errors. The accuracy, high performance, and broad feature set offered by Atropos makes it an appropriate choice for the pre-processing of Illumina, ABI SOLiD, and other current-generation short-read sequencing datasets. Atropos is open source and free software written in Python (3.3+) and available at https://github.com/jdidion/atropos. PMID:28875074
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Haydel, Angela Michelle
The purpose of this dissertation was to advance theoretical understanding about fit between the personal resources of individuals and the characteristics of science achievement tasks. Testing continues to be pervasive in schools, yet we know little about how students perceive tests and what they think and feel while they are actually working on test items. This study focused on both the personal (cognitive and motivational) and situational factors that may contribute to individual differences in achievement-related outcomes. 387 eighth grade students first completed a survey including measures of science achievement goals, capability beliefs, efficacy related to multiple-choice items and performance assessments, validity beliefs about multiple-choice items and performance assessments, and other perceptions of these item formats. Students then completed science achievement tests including multiple-choice items and two performance assessments. A sample of students was asked to verbalize both thoughts and feelings as they worked through the test items. These think-alouds were transcribed and coded for evidence of cognitive, metacognitive and motivational engagement. Following each test, all students completed measures of effort, mood, energy level and strategy use during testing. Students reported that performance assessments were more challenging, authentic, interesting and valid than multiple-choice tests. They also believed that comparisons between students were easier using multiple-choice items. Overall, students tried harder, felt better, had higher levels of energy and used more strategies while working on performance assessments. Findings suggested that performance assessments might be more congruent with a mastery achievement goal orientation, while multiple-choice tests might be more congruent with a performance achievement goal orientation. A variable-centered analytic approach including regression analyses provided information about how students, on average, who differed in terms of their teachers' ratings of their science ability, achievement goals, capability beliefs and experiences with science achievement tasks perceived, engaged in, and performed on multiple-choice items and performance assessments. Person-centered analyses provided information about the perceptions, engagement and performance of subgroups of individuals who had different motivational characteristics. Generally, students' personal goals and capability beliefs related more strongly to test perceptions, but not performance, while teacher ratings of ability and test-specific beliefs related to performance.
Developing Multiple Choice Tests: Tips & Techniques
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McCowan, Richard J.
1999-01-01
Item writing is a major responsibility of trainers. Too often, qualified staff who prepare lessons carefully and teach conscientiously use inadequate tests that do not validly reflect the true level of trainee achievement. This monograph describes techniques for constructing multiple-choice items that measure student performance accurately. It…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cohen, Daniel J.; Rosenzweig, Roy
2006-01-01
The combination of the Web and the cell phone forecasts the end of the inexpensive technologies of multiple-choice tests and grading machines. These technological developments are likely to bring the multiple-choice test to the verge of obsolescence, mounting a substantial challenge to the presentation of history and other disciplines.
Information fusion for diabetic retinopathy CAD in digital color fundus photographs.
Niemeijer, Meindert; Abramoff, Michael D; van Ginneken, Bram
2009-05-01
The purpose of computer-aided detection or diagnosis (CAD) technology has so far been to serve as a second reader. If, however, all relevant lesions in an image can be detected by CAD algorithms, use of CAD for automatic reading or prescreening may become feasible. This work addresses the question how to fuse information from multiple CAD algorithms, operating on multiple images that comprise an exam, to determine a likelihood that the exam is normal and would not require further inspection by human operators. We focus on retinal image screening for diabetic retinopathy, a common complication of diabetes. Current CAD systems are not designed to automatically evaluate complete exams consisting of multiple images for which several detection algorithm output sets are available. Information fusion will potentially play a crucial role in enabling the application of CAD technology to the automatic screening problem. Several different fusion methods are proposed and their effect on the performance of a complete comprehensive automatic diabetic retinopathy screening system is evaluated. Experiments show that the choice of fusion method can have a large impact on system performance. The complete system was evaluated on a set of 15,000 exams (60,000 images). The best performing fusion method obtained an area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of 0.881. This indicates that automated prescreening could be applied in diabetic retinopathy screening programs.
Indiana Reading Assessment--Kindergarten. Technical Report
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Center for Innovation in Assessment (NJ1), 2007
2007-01-01
Research was conducted to evaluate how well the "Indiana Reading Assessment--Kindergarten" evaluates various reading skills of kindergarten students. Multiple analyses were conducted; while the results of all the analyses were encouraging, the results derived from the concurrent validity study were most significant. All correlations were…
Low power test architecture for dynamic read destructive fault detection in SRAM
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Takher, Vikram Singh; Choudhary, Rahul Raj
2018-06-01
Dynamic Read Destructive Fault (dRDF) is the outcome of resistive open defects in the core cells of static random-access memories (SRAMs). The sensitisation of dRDF involves either performing multiple read operations or creation of number of read equivalent stress (RES), on the core cell under test. Though the creation of RES is preferred over the performing multiple read operation on the core cell, cell dissipates more power during RES than during the read or write operation. This paper focuses on the reduction in power dissipation by optimisation of number of RESs, which are required to sensitise the dRDF during test mode of operation of SRAM. The novel pre-charge architecture has been proposed in order to reduce the power dissipation by limiting the number of RESs to an optimised number of two. The proposed low power architecture is simulated and analysed which shows reduction in power dissipation by reducing the number of RESs up to 18.18%.
Kennerley, Steven W.; Wallis, Jonathan D.
2009-01-01
Damage to the frontal lobe can cause severe decision-making impairments. A mechanism that may underlie this is that neurons in the frontal cortex encode many variables that contribute to the valuation of a choice, such as its costs, benefits and probability of success. However, optimal decision-making requires that one considers these variables, not only when faced with the choice, but also when evaluating the outcome of the choice, in order to adapt future behaviour appropriately. To examine the role of the frontal cortex in encoding the value of different choice outcomes, we simultaneously recorded the activity of multiple single neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) while subjects evaluated the outcome of choices involving manipulations of probability, payoff and cost. Frontal neurons encoded many of the parameters that enabled the calculation of the value of these variables, including the onset and offset of reward and the amount of work performed, and often encoded the value of outcomes across multiple decision variables. In addition, many neurons encoded both the predicted outcome during the choice phase of the task as well as the experienced outcome in the outcome phase of the task. These patterns of selectivity were more prevalent in ACC relative to OFC and LPFC. These results support a role for the frontal cortex, principally ACC, in selecting between choice alternatives and evaluating the outcome of that selection thereby ensuring that choices are optimal and adaptive. PMID:19453638
Yes/No/Maybe: Student Choice in Literature Programs.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wilde, Sandra J.
1979-01-01
Identifies 22 Canadian high school English teachers' attitudes toward three categories of literature instruction (traditional, elective, and individualized). Concludes that teachers make use of all types of approaches, but that they should spend more time on individualized reading. (RL)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stratton, Beverly D.; And Others
Demographic data on 92 subjects identified as having reading problems were used to develop equations useful in identifying high risk, reading disabled students. Multiple linear regression analysis of the data indicated that reading disability (1) had a significant positive relationship with birth order and number of siblings; (2) had a positive…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Adelson, Jill L.; Dickinson, Emily R.; Cunningham, Brittany C.
2016-01-01
This brief examined the patterns of reading achievement using statewide data from all students (Grades 3-10) in multiple years to examine gaps based on student, school, and district characteristics. Results indicate reading achievement varied most between students within schools and that students' prior achievement was the strongest predictor of…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Novosel, Leslie C.
2012-01-01
Employing multiple methods, including a comparison group pre/posttest design and student interviews and self-reflections, this study represents an initial attempt to investigate the efficacy of a social and emotional learning self-regulation strategy relative to the general reading ability, reading self-concept, and social and emotional well-being…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Beschorner, Beth
2013-01-01
This study examined the impact of a parent education program on the frequency of shared storybook reading and dialogic reading techniques. Additionally, the contextual factors that influenced the outcomes of the program were explored. Seventeen parents completed a nine-week face-to-face parent education program and fifteen parents completed a…
A Comparison of Alternate-Choice and True-False Item Forms Used in Classroom Examinations.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Maihoff, N. A.; Mehrens, Wm. A.
A comparison is presented of alternate-choice and true-false item forms used in an undergraduate natural science course. The alternate-choice item is a modified two-choice multiple-choice item in which the two responses are included within the question stem. This study (1) compared the difficulty level, discrimination level, reliability, and…
Evidence for simultaneous syntactic processing of multiple words during reading.
Snell, Joshua; Meeter, Martijn; Grainger, Jonathan
2017-01-01
A hotly debated issue in reading research concerns the extent to which readers process parafoveal words, and how parafoveal information might influence foveal word recognition. We investigated syntactic word processing both in sentence reading and in reading isolated foveal words when these were flanked by parafoveal words. In Experiment 1 we found a syntactic parafoveal preview benefit in sentence reading, meaning that fixation durations on target words were decreased when there was a syntactically congruent preview word at the target location (n) during the fixation on the pre-target (n-1). In Experiment 2 we used a flanker paradigm in which participants had to classify foveal target words as either noun or verb, when those targets were flanked by syntactically congruent or incongruent words (stimulus on-time 170 ms). Lower response times and error rates in the congruent condition suggested that higher-order (syntactic) information can be integrated across foveal and parafoveal words. Although higher-order parafoveal-on-foveal effects have been elusive in sentence reading, results from our flanker paradigm show that the reading system can extract higher-order information from multiple words in a single glance. We propose a model of reading to account for the present findings.
Modeling Incorrect Responses to Multiple-Choice Items with Multilinear Formula Score Theory.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Drasgow, Fritz; And Others
This paper addresses the information revealed in incorrect option selection on multiple choice items. Multilinear Formula Scoring (MFS), a theory providing methods for solving psychological measurement problems of long standing, is first used to estimate option characteristic curves for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Arithmetic…
Introducing Standardized EFL/ESL Exams
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Laborda, Jesus Garcia
2007-01-01
This article presents the features, and a brief comparison, of some of the most well-known high-stakes exams. They are classified in the following fashion: tests that only include multiple-choice questions, tests that include writing and multiple-choice questions, and tests that include speaking questions. The tests reviewed are: BULATS, IELTS,…
Further Support for Changing Multiple-Choice Answers.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fabrey, Lawrence J.; Case, Susan M.
1985-01-01
The effect on test scores of changing answers to multiple-choice questions was studied and compared to earlier research. The current setting was a nationally administered, in-training, specialty examination for medical residents in obstetrics and gynecology. Both low and high scorers improved their scores when they changed answers. (SW)
Cognitive Diagnostic Models for Tests with Multiple-Choice and Constructed-Response Items
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kuo, Bor-Chen; Chen, Chun-Hua; Yang, Chih-Wei; Mok, Magdalena Mo Ching
2016-01-01
Traditionally, teachers evaluate students' abilities via their total test scores. Recently, cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs) have begun to provide information about the presence or absence of students' skills or misconceptions. Nevertheless, CDMs are typically applied to tests with multiple-choice (MC) items, which provide less diagnostic…
Government. Maryland High School Assessment.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Maryland State Dept. of Education, Baltimore.
This document is a mostly multiple choice test for content given to Maryland high school students enrolled in a government course. The test is divided into 2 sessions, with 25 questions in session 1 and 56 questions in session 2. The multiple choice questions are designated as selected response questions. Other constructed response questions…
High School Students' Concepts of Acids and Bases.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ross, Bertram H. B.
An investigation of Ontario high school students' understanding of acids and bases with quantitative and qualitative methods revealed misconceptions. A concept map, based on the objectives of the Chemistry Curriculum Guideline, generated multiple-choice items and interview questions. The multiple-choice test was administered to 34 grade 12…
A Case Study on Multiple-Choice Testing in Anatomical Sciences
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Golda, Stephanie DuPont
2011-01-01
Objective testing techniques, such as multiple-choice examinations, are a widely accepted method of assessment in gross anatomy. In order to deter cheating on these types of examinations, instructors often design several versions of an examination to distribute. These versions usually involve the rearrangement of questions and their corresponding…
Valuing Assessment in Teacher Education - Multiple-Choice Competency Testing
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Martin, Dona L.; Itter, Diane
2014-01-01
When our focus is on assessment educators should work to value the nature of assessment. This paper presents a new approach to multiple-choice competency testing in mathematics education. The instrument discussed here reflects student competence, encourages self-regulatory learning behaviours and links content with current curriculum documents and…
Mining Diagnostic Assessment Data for Concept Similarity
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Madhyastha, Tara; Hunt, Earl
2009-01-01
This paper introduces a method for mining multiple-choice assessment data for similarity of the concepts represented by the multiple choice responses. The resulting similarity matrix can be used to visualize the distance between concepts in a lower-dimensional space. This gives an instructor a visualization of the relative difficulty of concepts…
Guide to Developing High-Quality, Reliable, and Valid Multiple-Choice Assessments
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Towns, Marcy H.
2014-01-01
Chemistry faculty members are highly skilled in obtaining, analyzing, and interpreting physical measurements, but often they are less skilled in measuring student learning. This work provides guidance for chemistry faculty from the research literature on multiple-choice item development in chemistry. Areas covered include content, stem, and…
Samejima Items in Multiple-Choice Tests: Identification and Implications
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rahman, Nazia
2013-01-01
Samejima hypothesized that non-monotonically increasing item response functions (IRFs) of ability might occur for multiple-choice items (referred to here as "Samejima items") if low ability test takers with some, though incomplete, knowledge or skill are drawn to a particularly attractive distractor, while very low ability test takers…
How to Assess Student Performance in Science: Going beyond Multiple-Choice Tests. Third Edition
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Butler, Susan M.; McColskey, Wendy; O'Sullivan, Rita
2005-01-01
Educational systems promote student growth in a variety of dimensions. Basic content knowledge can be effectively assessed with multiple-choice and completion tests. However educational reforms have become more concerned with higher-order cognitive dimensions (problem-solving, creativity), social dimensions (communication skills, ability to work…
Difficulty and Discriminability of Introductory Psychology Test Items.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Scialfa, Charles; Legare, Connie; Wenger, Larry; Dingley, Louis
2001-01-01
Analyzes multiple-choice questions provided in test banks for introductory psychology textbooks. Study 1 offered a consistent picture of the objective difficulty of multiple-choice tests for introductory psychology students, while both studies 1 and 2 indicated that test items taken from commercial test banks have poor psychometric properties.…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Haslam, Filocha; Treagust, David F.
1987-01-01
Describes a multiple-choice instrument that reliably and validly diagnoses secondary students' understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in plants. Highlights the consistency of students' misconceptions across secondary levels and indicates a high percentage of students have misconceptions regarding plant physiology. (CW)
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nicholas, Maria
2018-01-01
This paper explores the affordances of using video-based research to capture a multiplicity of events, along with multimodal representations when producing data related to adult-child book readings. In doing this we answer two questions: (1) why more than one event is needed when seeking a comprehensive collection of information for the purpose of…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Safi, Anna Marie
This paper describes "Ditch the Dictionary," a college faculty development workshop at Johnson and Wales University (Rhode Island) that applies the theory of multiple intelligences to vocabulary development and reading instruction in the English-as-a-Second-Language classroom. It was found that the institution's international and…
The Effect of Strategy Instruction on the Reading Comprehension of High School Students with ADHD
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johnson, Joseph W.
2011-01-01
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of strategy instruction on the reading comprehension of high school students with ADHD. The research design was a multiple baseline across participants design with multiple probes during baseline (Kazdin, 1982). The participants were three female high school students with ADHD who were also…
Senol Cali, Damla; Kim, Jeremie S; Ghose, Saugata; Alkan, Can; Mutlu, Onur
2018-04-02
Nanopore sequencing technology has the potential to render other sequencing technologies obsolete with its ability to generate long reads and provide portability. However, high error rates of the technology pose a challenge while generating accurate genome assemblies. The tools used for nanopore sequence analysis are of critical importance, as they should overcome the high error rates of the technology. Our goal in this work is to comprehensively analyze current publicly available tools for nanopore sequence analysis to understand their advantages, disadvantages and performance bottlenecks. It is important to understand where the current tools do not perform well to develop better tools. To this end, we (1) analyze the multiple steps and the associated tools in the genome assembly pipeline using nanopore sequence data, and (2) provide guidelines for determining the appropriate tools for each step. Based on our analyses, we make four key observations: (1) the choice of the tool for basecalling plays a critical role in overcoming the high error rates of nanopore sequencing technology. (2) Read-to-read overlap finding tools, GraphMap and Minimap, perform similarly in terms of accuracy. However, Minimap has a lower memory usage, and it is faster than GraphMap. (3) There is a trade-off between accuracy and performance when deciding on the appropriate tool for the assembly step. The fast but less accurate assembler Miniasm can be used for quick initial assembly, and further polishing can be applied on top of it to increase the accuracy, which leads to faster overall assembly. (4) The state-of-the-art polishing tool, Racon, generates high-quality consensus sequences while providing a significant speedup over another polishing tool, Nanopolish. We analyze various combinations of different tools and expose the trade-offs between accuracy, performance, memory usage and scalability. We conclude that our observations can guide researchers and practitioners in making conscious and effective choices for each step of the genome assembly pipeline using nanopore sequence data. Also, with the help of bottlenecks we have found, developers can improve the current tools or build new ones that are both accurate and fast, to overcome the high error rates of the nanopore sequencing technology.
Poltavski, Dmitri V; Weatherly, Jeffrey N
2013-12-01
The purpose of the present study was to investigate temporal and probabilistic discounting in smokers and never-smokers, across a number of commodities, using a multiple-choice method. One hundred and eighty-two undergraduate university students, of whom 90 had never smoked, 73 were self-reported light smokers (<10 cigarettes/day), and 17 were heavy smokers (10+cigarettes/day), completed computerized batteries of delay and probability discounting questions pertaining to a total of eight commodities and administered in a multiple-choice format. In addition to cigarettes, monetary rewards, and health outcomes, the tasks included novel commodities such as ideal dating partner and retirement income. The results showed that heavy smokers probability discounted commodities at a significantly shallower rate than never-smokers, suggesting greater risk-taking. No effect of smoking status was observed for delay discounting questions. The only commodity that was probability discounted significantly less than others was 'finding an ideal dating partner'. The results suggest that probability discounting tasks using the multiple-choice format can discriminate between non-abstaining smokers and never-smokers and could be further explored in the context of behavioral and drug addictions.
Scripture Reading Practices of Methodist Youth
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rackley, Eric
2017-01-01
Framed as the "transaction" between readers and texts, this article examines the scripture reading practices of three Methodist youth. Data were generated through verbal protocols in which youth verbalized their thinking as they read self-selected passages from the Bible. Multiple rounds of inductive thematic analyses identified how the…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cuero, Kimberley K.; Bonner, Jennifer; Smith, Brittaney; Schwartz, Michelle; Touchstone, Rose; Vela, Yvonne
2008-01-01
Based on Elliot Eisner's notions of multiple forms of representation and Rosenblatt's aesthetic/efferent responses to reading, a teacher educator/researcher had her undergraduate students explore their connections, using aesthetic representations, to a course entitled "Reading Comprehension". Each aesthetic representation revealed the complexities…
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Torbica, Pavle; Buchberger, Wolfgang; Bernathova, M.; Mallouhi, Ammar; Peer, Siegfried; Bosmans, Hilde; Faulkner, Keith
2003-05-01
The purpose of this study was to compare the radiologist`s performance in detecting small low-contrast objects with hardcopy and softcopy reading of digital mammograms. 12 images of a contrast-detail (CD) phantom without and with 25.4 mm, 50.8 mm, and 76.2 mm additional polymethylmetacrylate (PMMA) attenuation were acquired with a caesium iodid/amorphous silicon flat panel detector under standard exposure conditions. The phantom images were read by three independent observers, by conducting a four-alternative forced-choice experiment. Reading of the hardcopy was done on a mammography viewbox under standardized reading conditions. For soft copy reading, a dedicated workstation with two 2K monitors was used. CD-curves and image quality figure (IQF) values were calculated from the correct detection rates of randomly located gold disks in the phantom. The figures were compared for both reading conditions and for different PMMA layers. For all types of exposures, soft copy reading resulted in significantly better contrast-detail characteristics and IQF values, as compared to hard copy reading of laser printouts. (p< 0.01). The authors conclude that the threshold contrast characteristics of digital mammograms displayed on high-resolution monitors are sufficient to make soft copy reading of digital mammograms feasible.
Bauer, Patricia J; Blue, Shala N; Xu, Aoxiang; Esposito, Alena G
2016-07-01
We investigated 7- to 10-year-old children's productive extension of semantic memory through self-generation of new factual knowledge derived through integration of separate yet related facts learned through instruction or through reading. In Experiment 1, an experimenter read the to-be-integrated facts. Children successfully learned and integrated the information and used it to further extend their semantic knowledge, as evidenced by high levels of correct responses in open-ended and forced-choice testing. In Experiment 2, on half of the trials, the to-be-integrated facts were read by an experimenter (as in Experiment 1) and on half of the trials, children read the facts themselves. Self-generation performance was high in both conditions (experimenter- and self-read); in both conditions, self-generation of new semantic knowledge was related to an independent measure of children's reading comprehension. In Experiment 3, the way children deployed cognitive resources during reading was predictive of their subsequent recall of newly learned information derived through integration. These findings indicate self-generation of new semantic knowledge through integration in school-age children as well as relations between this productive means of extension of semantic memory and cognitive processes engaged during reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
Bauer, Patricia J.; Blue, Shala N.; Xu, Aoxiang; Esposito, Alena G.
2016-01-01
We investigated 7- to 10-year-old children’s productive extension of semantic memory through self-generation of new factual knowledge derived through integration of separate yet related facts learned through instruction or through reading. In Experiment 1, an experimenter read the to-be-integrated facts. Children successfully learned and integrated the information and used it to further extend their semantic knowledge, as evidenced by high levels of correct responses in open-ended and forced-choice testing. In Experiment 2, on half of the trials, the to-be-integrated facts were read by an experimenter (as in Experiment 1) and on half of the trials, children read the facts themselves. Self-generation performance was high in both conditions (experimenter- and self-read); in both conditions, self-generation of new semantic knowledge was related to an independent measure of children’s reading comprehension. In Experiment 3, the way children deployed cognitive resources during reading was predictive of their subsequent recall of newly learned information derived through integration. These findings indicate self-generation of new semantic knowledge through integration in school-age children as well as relations between this productive means of extension of semantic memory and cognitive processes engaged during reading. PMID:27253263
Critical success factors in awareness of and choice towards low vision rehabilitation.
Fraser, Sarah A; Johnson, Aaron P; Wittich, Walter; Overbury, Olga
2015-01-01
The goal of the current study was to examine the critical factors indicative of an individual's choice to access low vision rehabilitation services. Seven hundred and forty-nine visually impaired individuals, from the Montreal Barriers Study, completed a structured interview and questionnaires (on visual function, coping, depression, satisfaction with life). Seventy-five factors from the interview and questionnaires were entered into a data-driven Classification and Regression Tree Analysis in order to determine the best predictors of awareness group: positive personal choice (I knew and I went), negative personal choice (I knew and did not go), and lack of information (Nobody told me, and I did not know). Having a response of moderate to no difficulty on item 6 (reading signs) of the Visual Function Index 14 (VF-14) indicated that the person had made a positive personal choice to seek rehabilitation, whereas reporting a great deal of difficulty on this item was associated with a lack of information on low vision rehabilitation. In addition to this factor, symptom duration of under nine years, moderate difficulty or less on item 5 (seeing steps or curbs) of the VF-14, and an indication of little difficulty or less on item 3 (reading large print) of the VF-14 further identified those who were more likely to have made a positive personal choice. Individuals in the lack of information group also reported greater difficulty on items 3 and 5 of the VF-14 and were more likely to be male. The duration-of-symptoms factor suggests that, even in the positive choice group, it may be best to offer rehabilitation services early. Being male and responding moderate difficulty or greater to the VF-14 questions about far, medium-distance and near situations involving vision was associated with individuals that lack information. Consequently, these individuals may need additional education about the benefits of low vision services in order to make a positive personal choice. © 2014 The Authors Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics © 2014 The College of Optometrists.
Managing Disease Risks from Trade: Strategic Behavior with Many Choices and Price Effects.
Chitchumnong, Piyayut; Horan, Richard D
2018-03-16
An individual's infectious disease risks, and hence the individual's incentives for risk mitigation, may be influenced by others' risk management choices. If so, then there will be strategic interactions among individuals, whereby each makes his or her own risk management decisions based, at least in part, on the expected decisions of others. Prior work has shown that multiple equilibria could arise in this setting, with one equilibrium being a coordination failure in which individuals make too few investments in protection. However, these results are largely based on simplified models involving a single management choice and fixed prices that may influence risk management incentives. Relaxing these assumptions, we find strategic interactions influence, and are influenced by, choices involving multiple management options and market price effects. In particular, we find these features can reduce or eliminate concerns about multiple equilibria and coordination failure. This has important policy implications relative to simpler models.
Have Food Allergies? Read the Label
... crustacean shellfish, such as crab, lobster, or shrimp tree nuts, such as almonds, pecans, or walnuts wheat peanuts soybeans The law allows manufacturers a choice in how they identify the specific “food source names,” such as “milk,” “ ...
Berkule, Samantha B.; Dreyer, Benard P.; Klass, Perri E.; Huberman, Harris S.; Yin, Hsiang S.; Mendelsohn, Alan L.
2008-01-01
Objective To determine whether mothers with plans related to shared reading and baby books in the home at the time of delivery of their newborns would be more likely to engage in shared reading behaviors at age 6 months. Method This was a cohort study with enrollment post-partum and follow-up at 6 months in an urban public hospital. Predictors: mothers' attitudes and resources related to shared reading during the postpartum period. Outcomes: mothers' shared reading activities and resources at 6 months (StimQ-READ). Results 173 mother-infant dyads were assessed. In multiple regression analyses adjusting for sociodemographics and maternal depression and literacy, StimQ-READ at 6 months was increased in association with all 3 postpartum predictors: plans for reading as a strategy for school success (adjusted mean 1.7 point increase in 6 month score; 95% CI: 0.3 – 3.0), plans to read in infancy (3.1 point increase; 95% CI: 1.6-4.6), and having baby books in the home (2.3 point increase; 95% CI: 0.9 – 3.6). In multiple logistic regression analysis, mothers with two or more attitudes and resources had an AOR of 6.2 (95% CI: 2.0-18.9) for having initiated reading at 6 months. Conclusions Maternal attitudes and resources in early infancy related to shared reading are important predictors of reading behaviors by 6 months. Cumulative postnatal attitudes and resources are the strongest predictors of later behaviors. Additional research is needed regarding whether guidance about shared reading in early infancy or pregnancy would enhance programs such as Reach Out and Read. PMID:18501863
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Daw, Brenda Shill
2011-01-01
Driven by Lev Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory (1986), my study investigated the self-perceptions and interactions of seven underperforming, third-grade readers while using Technology-Actuated Reading Instruction (TARI). Partnered with same-age peer tutors, readers used digital tools to listen to, read/record, and playback oral reading passages.…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Decker, Dawn M.; Hixson, Michael D.; Shaw, Amber; Johnson, Gloria
2014-01-01
The purpose of this study was to examine whether using a multiple-measure framework yielded better classification accuracy than oral reading fluency (ORF) or maze alone in predicting pass/fail rates for middle-school students on a large-scale reading assessment. Participants were 178 students in Grades 7 and 8 from a Midwestern school district.…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kuruyer, Hayriye Gül; Akyol, Hayati; Karli Oguz, Kader; Has, Arzu Ceylan
2017-01-01
The main purpose of the current study is to explain the effect of an enrichment reading program on the cognitive processes and neural structures of children experiencing reading difficulties. The current study was carried out in line with a single-subject research method and the between-subjects multiple probe design belonging to this method. This…
The Use of Multiple Slate Devices to Support Active Reading Activities
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chen, Nicholas Yen-Cherng
2012-01-01
Reading activities in the classroom and workplace occur predominantly on paper. Since existing electronic devices do not support these reading activities as well as paper, users have difficulty taking full advantage of the affordances of electronic documents. This dissertation makes three main contributions toward supporting active reading…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lee, Jaime B.; Sohlberg, McKay Moore
2013-01-01
Purpose: This pilot study investigated the impact of direct attention training combined with metacognitive facilitation on reading comprehension in individuals with aphasia. Method: A single-subject, multiple baseline design was employed across 4 participants to evaluate potential changes in reading comprehension resulting from an 8-week…
Left to Chance: Gifted Students and Recreational Reading
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Churchill, Sara J.
2017-01-01
This qualitative multiple case study explored the factors that impact the recreational reading selections of gifted students. Eleven students in grades four and five participated in the study. The methods of data collection included in-depth personal interviews and analysis of library circulation records and independent reading program data. The…
Upper Elementary Students' Motivation to Read Fiction and Nonfiction
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Parsons, Allison Ward; Parsons, Seth A.; Malloy, Jacquelynn A.; Gambrell, Linda B.; Marinak, Barbara A.; Reutzel, D. Ray; Applegate, Mary D.; Applegate, Anthony J.; Fawson, Parker C.
2018-01-01
This research explores upper elementary students' motivation to read fiction and nonfiction. Using expectancy-value theory, the researchers developed separate surveys to measure motivation to read fiction and nonfiction. Researchers administered surveys to 1,104 upper elementary students (grades 3-6) in multiple locations across the United States…
L2 Extensive Reading and Flow: Clarifying the Relationship
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kirchhoff, Cheryl
2013-01-01
Among foreign language educators interest in extensive reading is growing along with questions about learner motivation to read. Maintaining learner motivation over long periods of time is influenced by many variables suggesting that multiple means of stimulating motivation is needed. The psychological theory of flow has been suggested to…
Demand Characteristics of Multiple-Choice Items.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Diamond, James J.; Williams, David V.
Thirteen graduate students were asked to indicate for each of 24 multiple-choice items whether the item tested "recall of specific information," a "higher order skill," or "don't know." The students were also asked to state their general basis for judging the items. The 24 items had been previously classified according to Bloom's cognitive-skills…
A Better Benchmark Assessment: Multiple-Choice versus Project-Based
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Peariso, Jamon F.
2006-01-01
The purpose of this literature review and Ex Post Facto descriptive study was to determine which type of benchmark assessment, multiple-choice or project-based, provides the best indication of general success on the history portion of the CST (California Standards Tests). The result of the study indicates that although the project-based benchmark…
Written Justifications to Multiple-Choice Concept Questions during Active Learning in Class
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Koretsky, Milo D.; Brooks, Bill J.; Higgins, Adam Z.
2016-01-01
Increasingly, instructors of large, introductory STEM courses are having students actively engage during class by answering multiple-choice concept questions individually and in groups. This study investigates the use of a technology-based tool that allows students to answer such questions during class. The tool also allows the instructor to…
Cognitive Validity: Can Multiple-Choice Items Tap Historical Thinking Processes?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smith, Mark D.
2017-01-01
Cognitive validity examines the relationship between what an assessment aims to measure and what it actually elicits from test takers. The present study examined whether multiple-choice items from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) grade 12 U.S. history exam elicited the historical thinking processes they were designed to…
Violating Conventional Wisdom in Multiple Choice Test Construction
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Taylor, Annette Kujawski
2005-01-01
This research examined 2 elements of multiple-choice test construction, balancing the key and optimal number of options. In Experiment 1 the 3 conditions included a balanced key, overrepresentation of a and b responses, and overrepresentation of c and d responses. The results showed that error-patterns were independent of the key, reflecting…
Multiple-Choice Tests with Correction Allowed in Autism: An Excel Applet
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Martinez, Elisabetta Monari
2010-01-01
The valuation of academic achievements in students with severe language impairment is problematic if they also have difficulties in sustaining attention and in praxic skills. In severe autism all of these difficulties may occur together. Multiple-choice tests offer the advantage that simple praxic skills are required, allowing the tasks to be…
Automatic Scoring of Paper-and-Pencil Figural Responses. Research Report.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Martinez, Michael E.; And Others
Large-scale testing is dominated by the multiple-choice question format. Widespread use of the format is due, in part, to the ease with which multiple-choice items can be scored automatically. This paper examines automatic scoring procedures for an alternative item type: figural response. Figural response items call for the completion or…
FormScanner: Open-Source Solution for Grading Multiple-Choice Exams
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Young, Chadwick; Lo, Glenn; Young, Kaisa; Borsetta, Alberto
2016-01-01
The multiple-choice exam remains a staple for many introductory physics courses. In the past, people have graded these by hand or even flaming needles. Today, one usually grades the exams with a form scanner that utilizes optical mark recognition (OMR). Several companies provide these scanners and particular forms, such as the eponymous…
Using the Multiple Choice Procedure to Measure College Student Gambling
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Butler, Leon Harvey
2010-01-01
Research suggests that gambling is similar to addictive behaviors such as substance use. In the current study, gambling was investigated from a behavioral economics perspective. The Multiple Choice Procedure (MCP) with gambling as the target behavior was used to assess for relative reinforcing value, the effect of alternative reinforcers, and…
Application of a Multidimensional Nested Logit Model to Multiple-Choice Test Items
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bolt, Daniel M.; Wollack, James A.; Suh, Youngsuk
2012-01-01
Nested logit models have been presented as an alternative to multinomial logistic models for multiple-choice test items (Suh and Bolt in "Psychometrika" 75:454-473, 2010) and possess a mathematical structure that naturally lends itself to evaluating the incremental information provided by attending to distractor selection in scoring. One potential…
Semantic Similarity Measures for the Generation of Science Tests in Basque
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Aldabe, Itziar; Maritxalar, Montse
2014-01-01
The work we present in this paper aims to help teachers create multiple-choice science tests. We focus on a scientific vocabulary-learning scenario taking place in a Basque-language educational environment. In this particular scenario, we explore the option of automatically generating Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ) by means of Natural Language…
Negatively-Worded Multiple Choice Questions: An Avoidable Threat to Validity
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chiavaroli, Neville
2017-01-01
Despite the majority of MCQ writing guides discouraging the use of negatively-worded multiple choice questions (NWQs), they continue to be regularly used both in locally produced examinations and commercially available questions. There are several reasons why the use of NWQs may prove resistant to sound pedagogical advice. Nevertheless, systematic…
Instrument Formatting with Computer Data Entry in Mind.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Boser, Judith A.; And Others
Different formats for four types of research items were studied for ease of computer data entry. The types were: (1) numeric response items; (2) individual multiple choice items; (3) multiple choice items with the same response items; and (4) card column indicator placement. Each of the 13 experienced staff members of a major university's Data…
Validation and Structural Analysis of the Kinematics Concept Test
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lichtenberger, A.; Wagner, C.; Hofer, S. I.; Stem, E.; Vaterlaus, A.
2017-01-01
The kinematics concept test (KCT) is a multiple-choice test designed to evaluate students' conceptual understanding of kinematics at the high school level. The test comprises 49 multiple-choice items about velocity and acceleration, which are based on seven kinematic concepts and which make use of three different representations. In the first part…
A Practical Methodology for the Systematic Development of Multiple Choice Tests.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Blumberg, Phyllis; Felner, Joel
Using Guttman's facet design analysis, four parallel forms of a multiple-choice test were developed. A mapping sentence, logically representing the universe of content of a basic cardiology course, specified the facets of the course and the semantic structural units linking them. The facets were: cognitive processes, disease priority, specific…
Delayed Instructional Feedback May Be More Effective, but Is This Contrary to Learners' Preferences?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lefevre, David; Cox, Benita
2017-01-01
This research investigates learners' preferences for the timing of feedback provided to multiple-choice questions within technology-based instruction, hitherto an area of little empirical attention. Digital materials are undergoing a period of renewed prominence within online learning and multiple-choice questions remain a common component. There…
Multiple-Choice Test Bias Due to Answering Strategy Variation.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Frary, Robert B.; Giles, Mary B.
This paper describes the development and investigation of a new approach to determining the existence of bias in multiple-choice test scores. Previous work in this area has concentrated almost exclusively on bias attributable to specific test items or to differences in test score distributions across racial or ethnic groups. In contrast, the…
The Use of Management and Marketing Textbook Multiple-Choice Questions: A Case Study.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hampton, David R.; And Others
1993-01-01
Four management and four marketing professors classified multiple-choice questions in four widely adopted introductory textbooks according to the two levels of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives: knowledge and intellectual ability and skill. Inaccuracies may cause instructors to select questions that require less thinking than they intend.…
Visual Attention for Solving Multiple-Choice Science Problem: An Eye-Tracking Analysis
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tsai, Meng-Jung; Hou, Huei-Tse; Lai, Meng-Lung; Liu, Wan-Yi; Yang, Fang-Ying
2012-01-01
This study employed an eye-tracking technique to examine students' visual attention when solving a multiple-choice science problem. Six university students participated in a problem-solving task to predict occurrences of landslide hazards from four images representing four combinations of four factors. Participants' responses and visual attention…
Assessing Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) Tests--A Mathematical Perspective
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Scharf, Eric M.; Baldwin, Lynne P.
2007-01-01
The reasoning behind popular methods for analysing the raw data generated by multiple choice question (MCQ) tests is not always appreciated, occasionally with disastrous results. This article discusses and analyses three options for processing the raw data produced by MCQ tests. The article shows that one extreme option is not to penalize a…