Time to achieving a designated criterion score level: A survival analysis study of test taker performance on the TOEFL iBT® test

This study used survival analysis to examine the patterns and factors associated with time to achieving designated score criteria on a test of English as a foreign language. This was modeled using an extension of the Cox regression model, with two criterion score levels defined as achieving a TOEFL iBT® total test scale score at or above the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) Level B2 and at Level C1, respectively. Factors included in the model were test taker background characteristics including age, gender, native language type, exposure to English, and reason for testing. Additionally, to account for those who tested more than once within the study period, and thus had multiple records, an indicator for order of testing occasion was included in the model. Results indicate that approximately 82% of the test takers in our study sample tested one time in the study period (2014–2016), and the number of repeaters decreased rapidly across occasions. For those who did not achieve the designated criterion scores at first testing, the likelihood of achievement increases with repeated testing, with a somewhat greater effect for the less stringent B2 criterion. Results also indicate that the association of gender with performance differed across levels.

Transitioning to a microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knee: Executive functioning during single and dual-task gait

Background: Walking with a prosthesis requires substantial concentration on behalf of the user and places increased demands on executive functions. Little is known of the effects that prosthetic knee joint prescription may have on executive functioning. Objectives: Evaluate executive functioning in trans-femoral prosthesis users during single and dual-task walking, before and after they transition to a Microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knee unit. Study Design: Multiple case-study design. Methods: Single and dual task gait was evaluated while recording cortical brain activity. Testing occasion 1 occurred prior to participants receiving their microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knee, while testing occasion 2 was conducted a minimum of 8 months after they had been fitted with an microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knee. Results: During single-task level walking and walking while performing a dual-task key finding test, executive functions, measured as the relative haemodynamic response in the frontal cortex, reduced for most, but not all participants after transitioning to an Microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knee. There did not appear to be any difference when participants performed a trail walk test. Conclusions: Results suggest Microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knee prosthetic knees may have a positive effect on executive functioning for some individuals who have undergone a lower-limb amputation. A larger, longitudinal study with careful control of extraneous variables (e.g. age, training) is needed to confirm results and determine causality. Clinical relevance This article provides some evidence to suggest that prosthetic prescription may influence executive functioning and that microprocessor-controlled prosthetic knee mechanisms may reduce cognitive effort when walking.

Retention of Critical Care Skills After Simulation-Based Mastery Learning

Background Whether cognitive and patient care skills attained during simulation-based mastery learning (SBML) are retained is largely unknown. Objective We studied retention of intensive care unit (ICU) clinical skills after an SBML boot camp experience. Methods Forty-seven postgraduate year (PGY)-1 residents completed SBML intervention designed to increase procedural, communication, and patient care skills. The intervention included ICU skills such as ventilator and hemodynamic parameter management. Residents were required to meet or exceed a minimum passing score (MPS) on a clinical skills examination before starting actual patient care. Skill retention was assessed in 42 residents who rotated in the medical ICU. Residents received a standardized 15-minute booster teaching session reviewing key concepts during the first week of the rotation. During the fourth week of their rotation, PGY-1 residents completed a clinical skills examination at the bedside of an actual ICU patient. Group mean examination scores and the proportion of subjects who met or exceeded the MPS at each testing occasion were compared. Results Residents scored a mean 90% (SD = 6.5%) on the simulated skills examination immediately after training. Residents retained skills obtained through SBML as the mean score at bedside follow-up testing was 89% (SD = 8.9%, P = .36). Thirty-seven of 42 (88%) PGY-1 residents met or exceeded the MPS at follow-up. Conclusion SBML leads to substantial retention of critical care knowledge, and patient care skills PGY-1 boot camp is a highly efficient and effective model that can be administered at the beginning of the academic year.

Student Perceptions of School Climate over Time: Two Secondary Schools

This paper reports the results of a two-year study of student perceptions of school climate. The students concerned were from two non-metropolitan government secondary schools in Years 7 to 12 in New South Wales. Two scales, originally developed in the United Kingdom by Finlayson, Banks and Loughran in 1971 and later modified by Lane, Crane and Thomas in 1982, were used to measure student perceptions. These scales were Teacher Concern for Students and Student Alienation. Student data over the two years, 1982 and 1983, were matched so that only those students present on each occasion were included in a repeated measures analysis. The two school climate scales were used as dependent variables, while the independent variables were sex and year level. There was a statistically significant interactive effect between year level, sex and testing occasion on both scales but the pattern of significant simple effects differed across the two schools. The simple effects interactive patterns are examined in detail and reasons for their occurrence are proposed.