Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Acculturative Stress, Challenges, And Experiences Of Asian International Students In The United States, Matthew Silver

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Within the United States, many international students may experience the process of acculturation. Acculturation exists when an individual, or group of individuals, from one culture, encounters another culture. Within that context is the experience of acculturative stress (AS). AS is the negative outcome resulting from the pressure and unsuccess of acculturation. In the psychology (and sociology) literature AS is measured among many international communities for many more host countries. Within the United States, Asian International Students (AIS) especially have been seen to have higher rates of AS and a greater hesitation to pursue therapeutic intervention to mitigate the symptoms and …

Rapid Response Behavior Before And During The Pandemic, Katarina E. Schaefer

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Different levels of examinee motivation pose a validity threat to the interpretation of test scores. This problem is heightened in low-stakes, remote testing environments. Though some ways exist to gauge average motivation throughout testing, less ways exist to gauge motivation fluctuations throughout a single test. One of those ways is through response times. Specifically, rapid response behavior occurs when examinees quickly answer an item without reading or engaging with the item. At James Madison University (JMU), students participating in campus-wide Assessment Days typically experienced an in-person, proctored Assessment Day. However, that changed during the pandemic. During the pandemic, examinees participated …

Beyond Motivation: Differences In Score Meaning Between Assessment Conditions, Nikole Gregg

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Written communication is a skill necessary for not only the success of undergraduate students, but for post-graduates in the workplace. Furthermore, according to employers the writing skills of post-graduates tend to be below expectations. Therefore, the assessment of such skills within higher education is in high demand. Written communication assessments tend to be administered in one of two conditions: 1) course embedded and 2) a low-stakes, non-embedded condition. The current study investigated possible construct-irrelevant variance in writing assessment scores by using data from a mid-sized public university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Specifically, 157 student products were …

The School Psychologist’S Role In The Problem Solving Process: How Assessment Can Inform Intervention, Rachel Larkin

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

This study serves as an investigation into the role of school psychologists within the problem solving process, intervention selection, and the role assessment in guiding intervention selection. School psychologists have many different roles that they can carry out and the roles of assessment and intervention tend to be the two largest. Assessments are designed for clinical decision-making and interventions are designed to target the specific needs of a student. As problem solvers and decision makers, it would make sense to use the tools that school psychologists have, including assessment and intervention, in combination in order to help students succeed. The …

Weaving Connections: Utilizing A Library-Social Work Partnership To Build Information Literacy Skills, David Vess, Laura Trull

Libraries

While evidence continues to build that information literacy (IL) is taught across university and college curricula at all student levels (Junsbai, Lowe & Tagge, 2016), challenges connecting IL to those curricula in meaningful ways persist (Julien, Gross, & Latham, 2018; Klomsri & Tedre, 2016; Bombaro 2013). Blending IL into social work education beyond traditional one-shot library sessions also remains a challenge as evidenced by the dearth of literature demonstrating sound instruction and assessment practices of IL in social work programs (Bausman & Ward, 2016; Kayser, Bowers, Jiang, & Bussey 2013; Johnson, Whitfield, & Grohe, 2011; Ismail, 2009; Brustman & Bernnard …

Inciting Action: Assessment Reporting Strategies That Fuel Change And Improve Learning, Kathy E. Clarke, Gretchen A. Hazard

Libraries

All assessment practitioners know the penultimate goal is loop closing. But we also live with the reality that assessment is also beholden to the Gods of Accountability. As assessment professionals, we dutifully attend to the cycle of improving student learning, but at each step in the cycle we must continue to hone our skills. Results reporting may seem like the least sexy of all of the steps in our practice, but we argue that is singularly important and represents a high art of assessment craft. Results must be engaging, actionable, meet accountability mandates, and importantly read by those who can …

Argument Education In Higher Education: A Validation Study, Paul E. Mabrey Iii

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Argument education can play an important role in higher education for leadership development and responding to increasing calls for post-secondary accountability. But to do so, argumentation teachers, scholars, and practitioners need to develop a clearer definition and research agenda for the purposes of teaching and assessing argumentation. The research conducted here contributes to this project by first establishing a definitional construct and observable behaviors associated with learning and practicing argumentation. Second, an argument education assessment instrument was created based off of the literature-supported definition of argumentation. Third, debate and argument education subject matter experts reviewed the definition, behaviors, and assessment …

Leadership Instruments Library (Lil) For Graduate Research, Sam Nickels, Karen A. Ford

Leadership Instruments Library

Created by Sam Nickels at the request of the School of Strategic Leadership Studies (SSLS) program at James Madison University, 2016-2017. Anyone should feel free to suggest updates, expand the information on instruments or add new instruments. Send the information to SSLS and we’ll screen the info before adding it to the library. Suggested changes/additions need to be well documented with citations. To provide corrected or new information, please contact the School of Strategic Leadership Studies at James Madison University: SSLS@jmu.edu. We hope you find it useful!

Dr. Sam Nickels, former graduate assistant at SSLS and Dr. Karen Ford, …

The Development Of A Psychological Check-Up: Assessing Character And Well-Being Via The Unified Approach, Lindsay Michele Anmuth

Dissertations, 2014-2019

This dissertation presents a model of assessing and addressing the growing college student mental health crisis (CSMHC), which pertains to the rise of student pathology over time and difficulty meeting the needs of that growing population. A theory driven conceptual paradigm was developed, based on Henriques’ (2011; Henriques & Stout, 2012) Unified Approach to psychology and psychotherapy and, specifically, the Nested Model of Well-being (Henriques, Kleinman, & Asselin, 2014) and Character Adaptation Systems Theory (CAST). Based on those conceptual models and an understanding of college student mental health concerns, the Psychological Check-Up was designed. The Psychological Check-Up consists of a …

Developing A Health Sciences Information Literacy Assessment For Undergraduates., Carolyn Schubert, Stephanie Baller, Katherine Ott Walter, Lara Sapp, Jessica Jacovidis, Mandalyn Swanson

Libraries

This poster describes the development and pilot of a tailored information literacy assessment tool for undergraduate allied health students. Tool development included collaboration between assessment experts, Health Science faculty, and Health Science librarians. The poster includes results from the tool deployment and next steps in applying results back into revised curriculum.

The Dimensions Of Library Service Quality: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of The Libqual+ Instrument, Jody Condit Fagan

Libraries

The LibQUAL + instrument has been widely adopted by libraries to evaluate user perceptions of library service quality. Studies combining groups (e.g., Lane et al., 2012) have shown high correlations between two factors, suggesting the possibility that a two-factor model may fit as well as the three-factor model theorized by the developers. Also, previous studies have not closely examined residuals to analyze local misfit in the context of theory but instead have often correlated error terms to improve model fit. This study uses LibQUAL + responses from undergraduates at a public, comprehensive university to test three-factor, two-factor, and one-factor models …

The Suitability Of Web Analytics Key Performance Indicators In The Academic Library Environment, Jody C. Fagan

Libraries

As the demand for library assessment grows, academic libraries are becoming more interested in Web analytics. Data are automatically gathered and provide information about a wide variety of online interactions. Libraries have long used simple counts such as visits and page views, but have more recently begun to choose strategic benchmarks, also known as key performance indicators (KPIs). Many common KPIs were created for commercial websites and are challenging to adapt for libraries. However, the underlying concepts are sufficiently valuable that libraries should explore their use. By evaluating the validity of web metrics, libraries can further the development of standards …

Role Of A Required Information Literacy Competency Exam In The First College Year, Kathy E. Clarke

Libraries

James Madison University has had required information literacy competency exam situated within the first year of University’s General Education Program for over a decade. This test, previously the Information Seeking Skills Test (ISST) and now, Madison Research Essentials Skills Test (MREST) is directly mapped to the Association for College & Research Libraries’ (ACRL) Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education. For many years, the only data regularly gathered noted if the students were passing, passing at the advanced level or not, and how the students performed on each objective. With this paper, the author explains how the test data is currently …

Student Engagement In The Assessment Context: An Examination Of The Cognitive Engagement Scale-Extended Version (Ces-E), Ashley Brianne Charsha

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Increasing pressure on institutions of higher education to demonstrate what students are learning has resulted in an increase in assessment testing. Because these assessments are often low-stakes for students, educators often question whether inferences based on the resulting student scores are valid. Not unexpectedly, questions often arise regarding the extent to which students are engaged on low-stakes assessments. Additionally, how their level of engagement impacts their performance is also questioned. These questions are empirical in nature. Before such questions can be examined, a psychometrically sound instrument of cognitive engagement appropriate for the assessment context must be identified. This study sought …

The Development Of The Well-Being Interview, Craig Alexander Asselin

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Although psychologists and psychotherapists have long been concerned with the construct of well-being, currently there exist only self-report measures of the construct. This is potentially problematic because, as a number of researchers have pointed out, there are many different kinds of biases that can undermine the validity of data obtained from self-report measures. The purpose of this project was to develop a comprehensive, user-friendly, clinician administered interview to assess well-being. In order to accomplish this, the Well-Being Interview (WBI) was developed, based on recent developments in positive psychology (e.g., Diener (2000), Ryff (1995) and Seligman (2011) and theoretical unification (Henriques, …

Perceived Responsibility For Learning In College Students: A Construct Validity Study, Matthew S. Swain

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Responsibility for learning is an important, foundational construct for students in higher education. Because of its importance, higher education officials often design programs to inform students of their academic responsibilities. In order to assess these programs, a valid measure of responsibility for learning must be selected. In order to assess program effectiveness, measurement specialists collect validity evidence to support score interpretations. The current study focuses on the validity evidence of the Perceived Responsibility for Learning (PRL) scale. Benson’s (1998) framework for construct validation was used to examine current validity evidence and direct the study. Competing factor structures of the PRL …

Measuring Employability Among College Students: A Validity Study, Megan Rodgers

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The practice of assessment in higher education is often focused on measuring outcomes of student success. However, the potential for a student to obtain a job (i.e., their employability) after graduation is often not directly measured. This reality is unfortunate given the competitive job market and rising cost of an education. One scale, the Employability Skills Inventory (ESI) has been identified as a potential assessment instrument that purports to measure skills necessary for employment in most occupations. Before deciding to use any scale for a particular purpose, one must establish that the scale is both reliable and valid. The focus …

The Advanced Intelligence Decision Support System For The Assessment Of Mine-Suspected Areas, Milan Bajic

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Several research and development projects have been created to utilize airborne and spaceborne remote sensing for mine action, but the Advanced Intelligence Decision Support System is the first mine-action technology to successfully combine remote sensing with advanced intelligence methodology. The result is a rigorously operationally validated system that improves hazardous risk assessment for greater efficiency in land cancellation and release. This article discusses the components of the AI DSS system and its achievements in mine action.

Applying The Cultural-Linguistic Interpretive Matrix To Neuropsychological Assessment, Karol J. Mendoza

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Psychologists are administering assessments to culturally and linguistically diverse individuals with limited information regarding validity and are left with many scores to subjectively interpret. This study looked at developing a guideline when administering seven frequently administered neuropsychological assessments based on the Cultural-Linguistic Interpretive Matrix. Practitioners were asked to rate the cultural loading and linguistic demand and provide rationale for the placement. Results indicated that the Judgment of Line Orientation, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test, Trail Making Test (Part A), and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test have low cultural loading and linguistic demand. The Trail Making Test (Part B) was rated as Moderate …

Mine Risk Education In Jordan: A Preliminary Needs And Capacities Assessment, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

At the request of the National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation (NCDR), the GICHD conducted a mission to Jordan in October 2005 to undertake a preliminary national needs and capacities assessment for mine risk education (MRE). It is intended that this preliminary assessment will form the basis for decisions within the NCDR and its partners about future MRE programming in the country.