scholarly journals A new assessment to monitor student performance in introductory neurophysiology: Electrochemical Gradients Assessment Device

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack A. Cerchiara ◽  
Kerry J. Kim ◽  
Eli Meir ◽  
Mary Pat Wenderoth ◽  
Jennifer H. Doherty
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Likelihood Estimate ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Weighted Likelihood ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Differential Item Function ◽  
Assessment Scores ◽  
Ion Movement

The basis for understanding neurophysiology is understanding ion movement across cell membranes. Students in introductory courses recognize ion concentration gradients as a driving force for ion movement but struggle to simultaneously account for electrical charge gradients. We developed a 17-multiple-choice item assessment of students’ understanding of electrochemical gradients and resistance in neurophysiology, the Electrochemical Gradients Assessment Device (EGAD). We investigated the internal evidence validity of the assessment by analyzing item characteristic curves of score probability and student ability for each question, and a Wright map of student scores and ability. We used linear mixed-effect regression to test student performance and ability. Our assessment discriminated students with average ability (weighted likelihood estimate: −2 to 1.5 Θ); however, it was not as effective at discriminating students at the highest ability (weighted likelihood estimate: >2 Θ). We determined the assessment could capture changes in both assessment scores (model r2 = 0.51, P < 0.001, n = 444) and ability estimates (model r2 = 0.47, P < 0.001, n = 444) after a simulation-based laboratory and course instruction for 222 students. Differential item function analysis determined that each item on the assessment performed equitably for all students, regardless of gender, race/ethnicity, or economic status. Overall, we found that men scored higher ( r2 = 0.51, P = 0.014, n = 444) and had higher ability scores ( P = 0.003) on the EGAD assessment. Caucasian students of both genders were positively correlated with score ( r2 = 0.51, P < 0.001, n = 444) and ability ( r2 = 0.47, P < 0.001, n = 444). Based on the evidence gathered through our analyses, the scores obtained from the EGAD can distinguish between levels of content knowledge on neurophysiology principles for students in introductory physiology courses.

scholarly journals A new motor screening assessment for children at risk for motor disorders: construct validity

2018 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Matiko Martins Okuda ◽  
Melissa Pangelinan ◽  
Carlo Chiorri ◽  
Simone Aparecida Capellini ◽  
Hugo Cogo-Moreira
Keyword(s):  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Function Analysis ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
School Students ◽  
Differential Item Function ◽  
Assessment Scores ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
Screening Assessment

ABSTRACT Objective: To develop a motor screening assessment and provide preliminary evidence of its psychometric properties. Methods: A sample of 365 elementary school students was assessed, with structural equation modeling applied to obtain evidence of the adequacy of the factor structure of the motor screening assessment. As well, differential item functioning was used to evaluate whether various identifiable subgroups of children (i.e., sex and grade) perform particular tasks differently. Results: Overall, girls obtained higher scores than boys while, for both sexes, the assessment scores increased with age. Furthermore, differential item function analysis revealed that the precision of the test was highest for those with moderate to low motor performance, suggesting that this tool would be appropriate for identifying individuals with movement difficulties. Conclusion: Although further tests of its psychometric properties are required, the motor screening assessment appears to be a reliable, valid, and quickly-administered tool for screening children's movements.

scholarly journals 136 Reflections on the foundational scientific knowledge of undergraduate animal science students: a three-year study

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 79-79
Author(s):  
Lauren R Thomas ◽  
Jeremy G Powell ◽  
Elizabeth B Kegley ◽  
Kathleen Jogan
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Undergraduate Teaching ◽  
Experimental Unit ◽  
Student Knowledge ◽  
Animal Science ◽  
Muscle Foods ◽  
Assessment Scores ◽  
Percentage Points

Abstract In 2015, the University of Arkansas Department of Animal Science developed a strategy for assessing student-learning outcomes within its undergraduate teaching program. The first recognized outcome states that students will demonstrate foundational scientific knowledge in the general animal science disciplines of physiology, genetics, nutrition, muscle foods, and production animal management. Subsequently, a 58-item assessment tool was developed for direct assessment of student knowledge—focusing primarily on freshmen and senior students. Over the past 3 academic calendar years, 381 students (196 freshmen, 48 sophomores, 19 juniors, 113 seniors, 5 graduates) were assessed, either during an introduction to animal science course or by appointment with outgoing seniors majoring in animal science. Scores were categorized using demographic data collected at the beginning of the assessment tool. Comparison categories included academic class, major, and general student background (rural or urban). Data analysis were performed using the Glimmix procedure of SAS, with student serving as the experimental unit and significance set at P ≤ 0.05. Generally speaking, animal science majors performed better (P < 0.01) than students from other majors, and students with a rural background performed better (P < 0.01) than their urban-backgrounded peers. Overall, senior assessment scores averaged 23-percentage points greater (P < 0.01) than freshmen assessment scores, and the average scores for freshmen and seniors were 43% and 66% respectively. In regards to student performance within each discipline, there was an average improvement of 24 percentage points between freshmen and seniors in all of the measured disciplines except for muscle foods, which only saw a 10-percentage point improvement between the two classes. While the overall improvement in scores is indicative of increased student knowledge, the department would like to see greater improvement in all discipline scores for seniors majoring in animal science.

scholarly journals A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (47) ◽  
pp. 11543-11551
Author(s):  
Uma Sharma ◽  
Suraksha Bansal
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Educational Data Mining ◽  
Environment Pollution ◽  
Predicting Student Performance ◽  
Parental Family ◽  
And Behavior

The academic performance of student is influenced by several factors. Studies have been conducted in the field of educational data mining to find out what all the factors are that have an effect on a student's academic performance. There are many factors that can have an effect on a student's academic success, but our study aims to find the main factors that can have an effect on a student's academic performance. Predicting student performance becomes more difficult due to the large volume of information in academic databases. The responsibility of the teacher increases, she must be attentive to the activities and behavior of the student. To facilitate the work of a teacher, this study attempted to identify some factors that affect the academic performance of students. Our study could bring benefits and impacts to students, educators/teachers, and tutoring institutions. The factors investigated in this study are: student base knowledge, socio-economic status, college/school environment, environment pollution, teachers’ support, parental/family support, friend circle and health.

scholarly journals Reading Skill among Malaysian ESL Lower Secondary Students: Which Girls and Which Boys are Achieving and Underachieving?

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-111
Author(s):  
Kamal J I Badrasawi ◽  
Noor Lide Abu Kassim
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Reading Skill ◽  
Literacy Skill ◽  
English Reading ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Low Performance

The literature on educational achievement has shown consistently that boys are underachieving. They are disengaged with learning, and their dropout rates in schools are higher than those for girls. Although the problem of underachievement and disengagement with learning is largely associated with boys, not all boys are underachieving or disengaged with learning, and not all girls are achieving and engaged with learning. There is also strong evidence to suggest that differences within gender are more significant than the difference between gender. Recent research findings have shown that educational performance is highly influenced by socio-demographic factors such as school location, race or ethnicity, socio-economic status, and parents’ education. Given that reading is a critical literacy skill for academic achievement and English is an important second language in Malaysia, this study sought to identify groups of Malaysian lower secondary students who are at risk of underachieving in English reading skill. A sample of 944 Malaysian ESL Form 1, 2 and 3 students, randomly selected from national-type schools, participated in the study. A test of English reading skill, consisting of 60 multiple-choice items was used. The Rasch Model analysis as well as selected descriptive statistics were used to answer the research questions. The results showed that students’ performance in English reading differed from one group to another, implying that gender did not exclusively influence student performance. Based on the findings, more sound and informed decisions on students’ performance in English reading skill and the most effective teaching methods can be made. Qualitative investigation of the factors behind high or low performance among these groups of students is also needed to further understand the influence of these factors on achievement and underachievement .

scholarly journals Is frequency of family meals associated with parental encouragement of healthy eating among ethnically diverse eighth graders?

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 998-1003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie S Poulos ◽  
Keryn E Pasch ◽  
Andrew E Springer ◽  
Deanna M Hoelscher ◽  
Steven H Kelder
Keyword(s):  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Family Meals ◽  
Eating Behaviours ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Parental Encouragement ◽  
Effect Regression ◽  
Eighth Grade Students ◽  
Central Texas

AbstractObjectiveThe purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between family meals and parental encouragement of healthy eating overall and by ethnicity.DesignFamily meal frequency was measured with one item asking how many times in the past 7 d all or most of the family ate a meal together, which was then categorized to represent three levels of family meals (≤2 times, 3–6 times and ≥7 times). Parental encouragement of healthy eating assessed how often parents encouraged the student to eat fruits and vegetables, drink water, eat wholegrain bread, eat breakfast and drink low-fat milk (never to always). An overall scale of parental encouragement of healthy eating was created. Mixed-effect regression analyses were run controlling for gender, ethnicity, age and socio-economic status. Moderation by ethnicity was explored.SettingMiddle schools.SubjectsParticipants included 2895 US eighth grade students participating in the Central Texas CATCH (Coordinated Approach To Child Health) Middle School Project (mean age 13·9 years; 24·5 % White, 52·7 % Hispanic, 13·0 % African-American, 9·8 % Other; 51·6 % female).ResultsEating more family meals was significantly associated with having parents who encouraged healthy eating behaviours (P for trend <0·001). The number of family meals was positively associated with encouragement of each of the healthy eating behaviours (P for trend <0·0001). There were no differences in the relationships by ethnicity of the students.ConclusionsFamilies who eat together are more likely to encourage healthy eating in general. Interventions which promote family meals may include tips for parents to increase discussions about healthy eating.

scholarly journals Factors Determining Birth Intervals: A Multilevel Mixed Effect Parametric Survival Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-35
Author(s):  
O.I. Adeniyi ◽  
I.R. Olonijolu ◽  
A.A. Akinrefon
Keyword(s):  
Economic Status ◽  
Random Effect ◽  
Survival Models ◽  
Age At First Birth ◽  
Birth Intervals ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Flexible Parametric Model ◽  
Parametric Survival Model ◽  
Effect Parameter ◽  
Parametric Survival

Interval between births plays an important role in maternal health as well as child health. This study applies the methodology of Flexible parametric survival models to data on successive births among Nigeria women using the dataset from 2018 National Demographic Health survey. The flexible parametric survival model with Weibull baseline distribution was found to be the best among other fitted baseline distributions. The factors, zone of residence, educational qualification, religion, economic status and age at first birth were found to be significant in predicting the birth intervals. It was found that random effect parameter indicates that the interval between successive births is similar from the same woman. Keywords: Birth intervals, Baseline hazard, Mixed effect, Flexible parametric model, AIC. 

scholarly journals Covariates of Currently Married Women's Employment in Nepal: A Regional Analysis

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 62-78
Author(s):  
Ramesh Babu Kafle
Keyword(s):  
Regional Differences ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Regional Analysis ◽  
Women's Employment ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Women’S Employment ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Agriculture Sector ◽  
Education Of Women

This paper studies regional differences in currently married women’s employment status, its nature and some of the covariates in Nepal, with special focus to their education and economic status by analysing data from Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, 2011. Women’s employment, with substantial regional variation in the three ecological regions, is predominately unpaid, done mainly for family members, mostly in agriculture sector and women work throughout the year. Women are employed mainly in family farm and their job is unpaid. Higher education of women is positively associated with their involvement in paid jobs. Women of better wealth strata are less likely to be employed but if employed, they are more likely to be in paid jobs. Increasing education of women may have mixed effect in future. Policy measures are desirable to minimize these regional differences and to reallocate the total labour force in general and the female labour force in particular in more productive sectors with secured paid jobs for women for prosperity of the country.

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