Education Commons^™

Development And Validation Of The Statistics Assessment Of Graduate Students, Dammika Lakmal Walpitage

Doctoral Dissertations

This study developed the Statistics Assessment of Graduate Students (SAGS) instrument, and established its preliminary item characteristics, reliability, and validity evidence. Even though there are limited number of assessments available for measuring different aspects of statistical cognition, these previously available assessments have numerous limitations. The SAGS instrument was developed using Rasch modeling approach to create a new measure of statistical research methodology knowledge of graduate students in education and other behavioral and social sciences. Thirty-five multiple-choice questions were written with stems representing applied research situations and response options distinguishing between appropriate use of various statistical tests or procedures. A focus …

Identifying Examinees Who Possess Distinct And Reliable Subscores When Added Value Is Lacking For The Total Sample, Joseph A. Rios

Doctoral Dissertations

Research has demonstrated that although subdomain information may provide no added value beyond the total score, in some contexts such information is of utility to particular demographic subgroups (Sinharay & Haberman, 2014). However, it is argued that the utility of reporting subscores for an individual should not be based on one’s manifest characteristics (e.g., gender or ethnicity), but rather on individual needs for diagnostic information, which is driven by multidimensionality in subdomain scores. To improve the validity of diagnostic information, this study proposed the use of Mahalanobis Distance and H^T indices to assess whether an individual’s data significantly departs …

Who Is Like Whom? Reclassification And Performance Patterns For Different Groupings Of English Learners, Molly M. Faulkner-Bond

Doctoral Dissertations

Approximately 10 percent of the US K-12 population consists of English learners (ELs), or students who are learning English in addition to academic content in areas like English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. In addition to meeting the same academic content and performance standards set for all students, it is also a goal for ELs to be reclassified – i.e., to master English so that they can shed the EL label and participate in academic settings where English is used without needing special support. Working with a longitudinal cohort of ~28,000 ELs in grades 3 through 8 from one state, …

Empirical Evaluation Of Different Features Of Design In Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Deyab Almaleki

Dissertations

Factor analysis (FA) is the study of variance within a group. Within-subject variance (WSV) is affected by multiple features in a study context, such as: the study experimental design (ED) and sampling design (SD), thus anything that influences or changes variance may affect the conclusions related to FA.

The aim of this study was to provide empirical evaluation of the influence of different aspects of ED and SD on WSV in the context of FA in terms of model precision and model estimate stability. Four Monte Carlo population correlation matrices were hypothesized based on different communality magnitudes (high, moderate, low, …

A Generalization Of The Difference Of Slopes Test To Poisson Regression With Three-Way Interaction, Melinda Bierhals

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Linear regression models involving interaction can use the difference of slopes test to compare slopes for various situations. We will be generalizing this process to develop a procedure to compare rates in a Poisson regression model, allowing us to consider unbounded count data as opposed to continuous data. We will apply this process to an educational data set from a sample of students located in two different Los Angeles high schools. Our model will include a three-way interaction and address the following questions:

• Does language ability impact the relationship between math ability and attendance in the same way for …

A Comparison Of Latent Class Analysis And The Mixture Rasch Model: A Cross-Cultural Comparison Of 8th Grade Mathematics Achievement In The Fourth International Mathematics And Science Study (Timss-2011), Turker Toker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study provides a comparison of the results of latent class analysis (LCA) and mixture Rasch model (MRM) analysis using data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study - 2011 (TIMSS-2011) with a focus on the 8th-grade mathematics section. The research study focuses on the comparison of LCA with Mplus version 7.31 and MRM with WinMira 2011 to determine if results obtained differ when the assumed psychometric model differs. Also, a log-linear analysis was conducted to understand the interactions between latent classes identified by LCA and MRM. The data set used in the study was from four diverse …

A Comparison Between Propensity Score Matching, Weighting, And Stratification In Multiple Treatment Groups: A Simulation Study, Priyalatha Govindasamy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The application of propensity score techniques (matching, stratification, and weighting) with multiple treatment levels are similar to those used in binary groups. However, given that the application of propensity scores in multiple treatment groups is new, factors affecting the performance of matching, stratification, and weighting in multiple treatment groups are less explored. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the performance of different propensity score techniques with multiple treatment groups under various circumstances. Specifically, the study focused on examining how the three propensity score corrective techniques perform in estimating treatment effects under (1) overt and (2) hidden types of selection …

Effect Of An Interactive Component On Students' Conceptual Understanding Of Hypothesis Testing, Sarah Anne Inkpen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Premier Technical College of Qatar (PTC-Q) has seen high failure rates among students taking a college statistics course. The students are English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in business studies and health sciences. Course delivery has involved conventional content/curriculum-centered instruction with minimal to no interactive components. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to assess the effectiveness of an interactive approach to teaching and learning statistics used in North America and the United Kingdom when used with EFL students in the Middle East. Guided by von Glasersfeld's constructivist framework, this study compared conceptual understanding between a convenience sample …

An Online Statistics Course From Faculty And Students' Perspectives: A Case Study, Ruth Best

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Faculty at a private college in the northeastern United States found students lacked prerequisite mathematical skills and were unable to transfer quantitative reasoning skills to upper level business courses. Guided by Mezirow's transformative learning theory and Knowles' approach to self-directed learning, this study examined how undergraduate students learn statistics online. The purpose of this qualitative embedded case study was to examine faculty and students' perspectives about the online statistics course design and delivery while exploring possible barriers to students' learning. Data collection occurred by review of course documents and the learning management system. Archival data generated questions for semistructured interviews …