APPLICATIONS OF ITEM RESPONSE THEORY MODELS TO ASSESS ITEM PROPERTIES AND STUDENTS’ ABILITIES IN DICHOTOMOUS RESPONSES ITEMS

A test is a tool meant to measure the ability level of the students, and how well they can recall the subject matter, but items making up a test may be defectives, and thereby unable to measure students’ ability or traits satisfactorily as intended if proper attention is not paid to item properties such as difficulty, discrimination, and pseudo guessing indices (power) of each item. This could be remedied by item analysis and moderation. It is a known fact that the absence or improper use of item analysis could undermine the integrity of assessment, certification and placement in our educational institutions. Both appropriateness and spread of items properties in accessing students’ abilities distribution, and the adequacy of information provided by dichotomous response items in a compulsory university undergraduate statistics course which was scored dichotomously, and analyzed with stata 16 SE on window 7 were focused here. In view of this, three dichotomous Item Response Theory (IRT) measurement models were used in the context of their potential usefulness in an education setting such as in determining these items properties. Ability, item discrimination, difficulty, and guessing parameters as unobservable characteristics were quantified with a binary response test, then discrete item response becomes an observable outcome variable which is associated with student’s ability level is thereby linked by Item Characteristic Curves that is defined by a set of item parameters that models the probability of observing a given item response by conditioning on a specific ability level. These models were used to assess each of the three items properties together with students’ abilities; then identified defective items that were needed to be discarded, moderated, and non-defectives items as the case may be while some of these chosen items were discussed based on underlining models. Finally, the information provided by these items was also discussed.

Linguistic variables of Comprehensibility, Accentedness and Fluency in L2 Spanish: Listener type and ability level differences

The aim of this study is to identify which linguistic variables are most strongly related to comprehensibility, accentedness and fluency in Spanish as L2, and how the results may also vary according to the type of listener (expert or non-expert) and to the speakers’ level of ability in these three dimensions. To this end, 40 native English speakers of Spanish orally described picture narratives that were subsequently rated by four groups of raters using 9-point Likert scales. The first two groups were composed of 109 novice and 42 expert raters assessing comprehensibility, accentedness and fluency. The last two groups consisted of 35 phoneticians and 35 linguistic raters responsible for analyzing and scoring a total of 14 speech measures (7 per group) targeting pronunciation, disfluencies, lexis, grammar and discourse. The results reveal that comprehensibility is associated with a wide range of elements, while accentedness is determined especially by segmentals, and fluency by speech rate. Additionally, the impact of linguistic parameters varies according to the speakers’ level of performance, and there are differences between novice and expert raters, with the former being more affected by pronunciation and the experts by lexis and grammar.

Research on the Tournament Incentive Mechanism of the Safety Behavior for Construction Workers: Considering Multiple Heterogeneity

The unsafe behavior of construction workers is one of the most important and direct causes of safety accidents. Managers usually develop effective incentives aimed at regulating worker safety behavior. Due to the large number of workers in construction projects, there are multiple differences in fairness preference, risk preference and ability level, which will lead to the complex effect of the traditional mechanism to regulate workers’ safety behavior. In order to improve the effectiveness of incentive measures for worker safety behavior, this paper takes into account the multiple differences of individual workers’ fairness preference, risk preference and ability level, based on the tournament mechanism to construct a competition incentive model. By designing a tournament reward and salary distribution for heterogeneous workers, the occurrence of unsafe behaviors can be reduced. The study found that in terms of the optimal level of safety investment, workers with risk aversion attitude generally invest higher than that of workers with risk preference, no matter whether they have a strong fairness preference or not; In terms of the distribution of tournament rewards, workers with a risk aversion attitude and a higher level of fairness preference need to be given higher incentives.

Analisis Kemampuan Peserta Didik Menyelesaikan Soal Cerita Berdasarkan Indikator Polya

Human life will never be undone from various problems which are required us to solve them precisely and quickly without any mistakes. Mathematics, which is one of the compulsory subjects in school, take an important role in human life as a process of problem-solving learning. The most experiencing problem for students is the lack of ability to solve mathematics problems in terms of stories. Thus, the research aimed to find out how students’ ability level to solve mathematics problems in terms of story based on Polya indicator. The researcher used the qualitative approach method with descriptive analysis. The subjects of the research are 30 students of 9th-grade students at Junior High School 1 Telagasari who were picked randomly. Based on the Polya indicator, the result of data analysis showed that 23, 33% of students were sufficient to understand the problem, 70% of students were capable to plan the problem-solving, 40% of students were adequate to execute the plan of problem-solving, and 20% students were competent to check the entirety of problem-solving. Keyword: Problem Solving, Story Problems¸ Polya Indicator Abstrak Suatu permasalahan selalu datang setiap harinya yang membutuhkan penyelesaian tepat,cepat tanpa ada kesalahan. Matematika sebagai merupakan mata pelajaran wajib disekolah memiliki kedudukan yang penting bagi kehidupan yakni salah satunya sebagai sarana melatih diri dalam menyelesaikan permasalahan. Permasalahan yang sering mengalami hambatan di kalangan peserta didik adalah rendah nya pemahaman peserta didik dalam menyelesaikan soal matematika bentuk cerita. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk melihat tingkat kemampuan peserta didik dalam menyelesaikan soal matematika bentuk cerita. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan deskriptif. Subjek dalam penelitian ini yakni peserta didik kelas IX SMP Negeri 1 Telagasari berjumlah 30 Peserta didik yang diambil secara Randam. Hasil pengolahan data berdasarkan indikator polya, 23,33% peserta didik memahami masalah, 70% peserta didik mampu merencanakan pemecahan masalah, 40% peserta mampu melaksanakan rencana pemecahan masalah, dan 20% peserta didik mampu melihat kembali kelengkapan pemecahan masalah. Kata Kunci: Pemecahan Masalah, Soal Cerita, Indikator Polya.

Teachers' Predictions and Pupil Achievement in School Certificate

<p>This thesis examines the estimates of pupils' performances in School Certificate made by teachers at Hutt Valley High School over a six year period. It aims to assess the degree of accuracy of teacher predictions, in particular at the pass/fail boundary, and to identify and evaluate the relative importance of some correlates of accurate prediction. The data for this study is taken from school records showing for each class the name of the teacher and the estimated and achieved marks of each pupil in School Certificate for the period 1973 to 1978. The statistical analyses include the calculation of the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient between the estimated and achieved marks of pupils in English, Mathematics, Science and French. Expectancy tables are provided to give greater detail of the accuracy of teacher's estimates at different points across the mark range. A multiple regression analysis is carried out in order to identify and evaluate the relative importance of some correlates of accurate prediction. The statistical section concludes with a summary analysis of the data from the subjects for the year following the major analysis. The results of the study show that the correlations between the estimated and achieved marks are greater in Mathematics and French than in English and Science, however, the estimated and achieved class means across subjects show greatest agreement in English and least agreement in Mathematics. Whilst variations across subjects and across years occur, in general teachers show a tendency to underestimate pupils at the upper end of the ability range and overestimate the marks of pupils at other points of the scale. A movement of approximately 16.5% across the pass/fail boundary was observed when comparing the estimated and achieved marks of pupils. The study also concludes that the only factor to reveal a substantial and systematic link with the quality of teachers' predictions was the ability level of the class under analysis - teachers were generally more able to predict the results of their pupils for higher ability than lower ability classes (English excepted).</p>

Teachers' Predictions and Pupil Achievement in School Certificate

<p>This thesis examines the estimates of pupils' performances in School Certificate made by teachers at Hutt Valley High School over a six year period. It aims to assess the degree of accuracy of teacher predictions, in particular at the pass/fail boundary, and to identify and evaluate the relative importance of some correlates of accurate prediction. The data for this study is taken from school records showing for each class the name of the teacher and the estimated and achieved marks of each pupil in School Certificate for the period 1973 to 1978. The statistical analyses include the calculation of the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient between the estimated and achieved marks of pupils in English, Mathematics, Science and French. Expectancy tables are provided to give greater detail of the accuracy of teacher's estimates at different points across the mark range. A multiple regression analysis is carried out in order to identify and evaluate the relative importance of some correlates of accurate prediction. The statistical section concludes with a summary analysis of the data from the subjects for the year following the major analysis. The results of the study show that the correlations between the estimated and achieved marks are greater in Mathematics and French than in English and Science, however, the estimated and achieved class means across subjects show greatest agreement in English and least agreement in Mathematics. Whilst variations across subjects and across years occur, in general teachers show a tendency to underestimate pupils at the upper end of the ability range and overestimate the marks of pupils at other points of the scale. A movement of approximately 16.5% across the pass/fail boundary was observed when comparing the estimated and achieved marks of pupils. The study also concludes that the only factor to reveal a substantial and systematic link with the quality of teachers' predictions was the ability level of the class under analysis - teachers were generally more able to predict the results of their pupils for higher ability than lower ability classes (English excepted).</p>

Contextualized English Reading Proficiency Toolkit (CERPT): Enhance Learners’ English Reading Proficiency

The Department of Education has introduced numerous intervention and remediation programs to address the reading needs of learners. Despite these, data showed that majority of the learners still have reading problems when they reach higher grade levels. Henceforth, the study experimented on the innovation – Contextualized English Reading Proficiency Toolkit (CERPT) to help the learners of Kibacania Elementary School improved their reading ability level. All the pupils were exposed to CERPT. A pre-experimental research design was employed in this study. Findings revealed that the learners’ reading ability level enhanced from frustration to instructional. There was a significant difference in the learners’ reading ability levels before and after exposure to CERPT. Thus, the study commends the use of CERPT to help in the improvement of the learners’ reading ability level.

Kesalahan Siswa Kelas VIII SMP Negeri 13 Mataram dalam Menyelesaikan Soal Cerita Materi Sistem Persamaan Linear Dua Variabel Tahun Pelajaran 2019/2020

The Errors made by students in completed math problems can be indicators of the low learning achievements. Based on these problems, this study aim to know the categories of errors and the relation or correlations of the types of errors each Polya's steps in solving the material story of system two linear equations students all grade VIII of SMP Negeri 13 Mataram academic year 2019/2020. The population in this study was all student grade VIII of SMP Negeri 13 Mataram. Samples used the Proportionate Stratified Random Sampling technique. Data collection used test essai and interview which had beenvalidated. Error categories were analyzed used interval categories of error levels and for the relation or correlations between types of errors used the Pearson product moment correlation. The results showed that students mistakes for high abilities in the low category, for the medium abilities in the high category and for the low ability level in the high category. Based on data analysis it was found three categories relationships types of errors : namely, sufficient, strong and very strong categories. The level of relationship strong enough for this type of error to understand the problem and formulate a plan, misunderstanding the problem and carrying out the plan, misunderstanding the problem and re-checking. Level of strong links to types of mistakes Arranging plans and executing plans, mistakes compiling plans and re-checking. The level relationship very strong for type error implementing the plan by checking again. When completed a problem should be solved systematically in stages to avoid mistakes that will be made at a later stage.

Comprehensive Evaluation of Teaching Ability Based on Network Communication Environment

With the continuous development of school teaching quality, the measurement of the current teaching ability level has become a concern of people. This research mainly discusses the comprehensive evaluation of the teaching ability level based on the network communication environment. This study uses fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method to comprehensively evaluate the system. First, obtain the representative evaluation standards of education informatization and a series of indicators related to informatization teaching at home and abroad; secondly, conduct a comprehensive analysis of the various evaluation standards and related indicators of informatization teaching that have been obtained; finally, the process in each indicator is discussed and revised by experts and relevant information technology teachers, and a number of schools are selected to conduct small-scale experimental evaluation experiments to form information-based teaching evaluation indicators. In this study, the proportion method is used to calculate the membership degree of each observation index based on the recovered data and establish the fuzzy relationship matrix of each evaluation factor. Paying attention to the level of index weights can guide the development direction of informatization teaching and promote the healthy development of informatization teaching. Therefore, this article uses the expert scoring method combined with the analytic hierarchy process to determine the weights in the evaluation index system. There is a significant difference between teachers in urban areas and teachers in rural areas ( p < 0.05 ). The ratio of each grade of the teacher’s informatization teaching ability comment collection is “bad 0.5%,” “relatively poor 5.7%,” “normal 35.3%,” “good 53.1%,” and “excellent 5.3%.” This research will help promote the improvement of school teaching quality.