Trevor G. Bond

An investigation of computer anxiety by gender and grade

Many tests have been constructed to assess computer anxiety. This has lead to the construct being conceptualised in some cases as a multidimensional, with a confusing array of dimensions, and also, implicitly, as unidimensional. The present study has used the computer-anxiety index (CAIN), a scale previously developed by Simonson, Maurer, Montag-Torardi, and Whitaker [Simonson, M. R., Maurer, M., Montag-Torardi, A., & Whitaker, M. (1987). Development of a standardised test of computer literacy and a computer anxiety index. Journal of Educational Computing Research 3(2), 231–247] to test its unidimensionality with the view to arrive at a scale that provides a unidimensional measure, hence avoiding the conceptual confusion of multidimensionality. Rasch analysis [Rasch, G. (1980). Probabilistic models for some intelligence and attainment tests. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press (expanded edition, original work published 1960).], a technique that has been adopted in international educational measurement studies such as the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Program for International Assessment (PISA), was used to analyse the responses from 910 grade 7, 9 and 11 male and female students The response patterns obtained conformed to the strict requirements the Rasch model and confirmed the assumption that all 26 items of the Computer-Opinion Survey measured a single underlying trait. This result differed somewhat from that of a previous investigation by King and Bond [King, J., & Bond, T. (1996). A Rasch analysis of a measure of computer anxiety. Journal of Educational Computing Research 14(1), 49–65.] where for the lowest age group alone, six of the items were rejected. An investigation of the grade facet indicated that grades 7 and 9 were measurably different in computer anxiety from grade 11, and that grades 7 and 9 were the same within error. Investigation of the gender facet revealed a small measurable difference in computer anxiety between males and females, with males being more anxious than females. There was a significant interaction between gender and grade with a reversal of anxiety interaction occurring at about the grade 9 level.

Applying the Rasch Model : Fundamental Measurement in the Human Sciences, Third Edition

Over the last 4 decades or gO, test theorists have dolle an exemplary work expanding measurement theory, but they have largely ignored their obligation to explain their progress to a larger pub lic. We do not have many hooks that introduce modem measurement to test users in a technically undemanding way. 80 when the Books Editor of this joumal asked me to review App/ying the Rasch Mode/: Fundamenta/ Measurement in theHuman Sciences, which in its preface states its miss ion as explaining the fundaments of measurement to substantive researchers, I nourished high hopes of the text I was going to read. Having finished the hook, I cannot gay the authors have redeemed my expectations. On the contrary, I fear that the readers for which this hook is written may have serious difficulty understanding what is modem measurement. Or, worse still, that, if this is the only text on measurement they ever read, they may walk about with serious misconceptions for the rest of their lives. However, let me fust summarize the contents of the hook. The authors have chosen to follow the didactic principle ofleaming by examples. No theory is presented for its own sake. As a consequence, most ofthe chapters in the hook have the character of a series of worked empirical examples, complete with tables with data sets and graphs and tables pres enting computer output. This is a respectable approach; nothing is as convincing as an empirical example iliat shows step by step how a measurement model is applied, its fit is tested, how the scale values

Measurement properties of fine motor scale of Peabody developmental motor scales-second edition: a Rasch analysis.

Chien CW, Bond TG: Measurement properties of fine motor scale of peabody developmental motor scales-second edition: A Rasch analysis. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2009;88:376–386. Objective:To investigate the measurement properties (including rating scale performance, unidimensionality, and differential item functioning) of the fine motor scale of the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-Second Edition in children, by using the Rasch analysis. Design:A total of 419 children (including 342 typically developing children and 77 children with fine motor delays or difficulties) were recruited in Taiwan for this prospective study. Each child was evaluated with the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-Second Edition that consists of 26-item grasping and 72-item visual-motor integration subtests. Partial credit Rasch analysis was used for all analyses. Results:The Rasch analysis indicated that middle rating category for 19 grasping and 52 visual-motor integration items could be collapsed to allow only dichotomous response categories. Item fit analysis and principal component analysis suggested that the unidimensionality of the grasping and visual-motor integration subtests could be achieved after removal of two grasping and eight visual-motor integration misfitting items. All but 13 items in the composite scale could form a unidimensional construct of overall fine motor ability. Furthermore, only a few items were found to show differential item functioning across sex (ten items) or fine motor status (seven items). However, significant ceiling effects were found in the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-Second Edition subtests and composite scale when applied to these typically developing children. Conclusions:Our results suggest grounds for the revision of the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-Second Edition in a subsequent edition. Simplifying the rating scales and reducing the misfitting items in the subtests and composite scales might result in a unidimensional assessment of children’s fine motor ability. Clinicians and researchers could use the reduced Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-Second Edition as a criterion-referenced outcome measure to document changes; however, further work is needed to reduce the ceiling effects.

Research in mathematics education and rasch measurement

A glance through the titles of research reports in current mathematics education journals might cause one to wonder why researchers in mathematics education eschew the very Queen of the sciences in representing the results of their research. Why do qualitative approaches appear to dominate this field? Many could claim that it is because the usual quantitative methods lose the important qualitative aspects of good mathematics education research. But, what if one quantitative research methodology in education incorporated the same genuine scientific measurement principles that mathematicians routinely expect from the metric system of measures and, at the same time, remained sensitive to those significant qualitative aspects of good educational research? What if this technique was an analytical model in which Australians are world leaders? What if applications of the model to research in mathematics education were already showing very promising results – both in Australia and internationally? Rasch measurement is being used increasingly as a research tool by “mainstream” researchers rather than merely by the sophisticated psychometricians involved in large-scale achievement testing. Using the performance interactions between persons and items, it is possible to produce an ordered conjoint measurement scale of both people and items. This allows researchers to examine the behaviour of persons (e.g., students, markers, teachers) in relation to a particular set of items (e.g., test questions, curriculum outcome indicators, problem-solving methods, attitude surveys.) This permits the identification and examination of developmental pathways, such as those inherent in the development of mathematics concepts as well as the developing capacities of the students. In addition, the behaviour of sets of items can be examined in relation to particular sub-groups of persons (e.g., age cohorts of students) in order to identify the extent to which the chosen items measure the core mathematical constructs the researcher was intending to measure. However, the features of the family of Rasch models make them useful tools for other kinds of research in mathematics education. We might reasonably ask: Is this sequence of the mathematics curriculum appropriate for the children who learn it, and not just appropriate in the eyes of the consultants who wrote it? The Rasch rating scale model allows Likert scale attitude data to be thought about in developmental rather than merely descriptive ways. The Rasch partial credit model provides for the

Cognitive development in a secondary science setting

Observations were made of the progressive change in the cognitive development of 141 students over the course of their secondary education in an Australian private school. Cognitive development was measured in years 8, 10 and 12 usingBonds Logical Orerations Test. Rasch analysis of each of the data sets provided ability estimates for students in the year groups of 1993 (year 8), 1995 (year 10) and 1997 (year 12). Twenty-nine students from the year group of 1993 were tested on all three occasions. We analysed data from these 29 students in order to investigate the childrens cognitive development across years 8, 10 and 12. We also examined the influence of the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE)Thinking Science program on the cognitive development and scholastic achievement of these students. We found increased mental growth between years 8 and 10 for most students in theThinking Science cohort, which could not be predicted from their starting levels. There was a significant correlation between cognitive development and the scholastic achievement of these students. Although boys as a group were more advanced in cognitive development than girls in years 8 and 10, no difference was found in the rate of cognitive change based on sex up to year 10. However girls showed cognitive gains across years 10–12 which were not found in boys. The students who were new to the school also showed increased cognitive development in years 11 and 12. Students who had experienced theThinking Science course were more cognitively developed than students who joined the school after the intervention had taken place. This study supports the claim of Adey and Shayer that there is a relationship between cognitive development and scholastic achievement, even though we used different measures of cognitive development and scholastic achievement.

A Rasch Analysis of a Measure of Computer Anxiety

A number of tests have been constructed in an attempt to measure the psychological construct computer anxiety. Although some of these studies have reported dimensions of computer anxiety as a result of factor analyses, these dimensions have varied in their number and description. Other studies have assumed unidimensionality of this construct. The present study has tested the dimensionality of the computer-anxiety index (CAIN) by Rasch analysis of the responses of 372 eleven- to twelve-year-old elementary school students. Rasch analysis enabled the students response patterns to each question to be compared with their responses for all other questions in the questionnaire to determine the extent to which that question measured the same underlying variable as the other questions. Results indicated that six of the twenty-six items did not measure the same underlying trait as the other twenty and that several of the accepted items were apparently redundant. The use of the shortened (20-item) CAIN is recommended.

Family strain questionnaire - Short form for nurses and general practitioners

AIMnOur paper presents an instrument for recognising the psychological problems of caregivers: the short form of a previously validated questionnaire, the Family Strain Questionnaire.nnnBACKGROUNDnIndividuals caring for chronic patients frequently suffer from psychological problems, which are underestimated by medical professionals and, consequently, are not adequately treated. Therefore, clinical nurses, general practitioners and the members of home care teams have to recognise the psychological problems of caregivers. To do so, they need to quickly measure the problems severity quickly and track it over time, without a specific training in psychological diagnosis.nnnDESIGNnSurvey.nnnMETHODnPrincipal caregivers (n = 811) completed the Family Strain Questionnaire in its original form (semi-structured interview plus 44 dichotomous items, administrable in about 20 minutes), aimed at investigating the subjective perception of emotional burden, problems in social involvement, the need for more information about the disease, satisfaction with family relationships and thoughts about death. Data were analysed using the Rasch model for the reduction of items. Thirty items were selected and reanalysed in a new sample of 40 caregivers.nnnRESULTSnThe thirty items selected showed very good fit statistics and maintained the diagnostic qualities of the original form. They thus compose the Family Strain Questionnaire - Short Form that caregivers can complete in about five minutes. This brief measure can indicate the severity of stress and allows categorisation of caregivers by psychological risk, which is also represented by a graphic tool.nnnCONCLUSIONnThis study confirms that the Family Strain Questionnaire - Short Form offers an initial measure of caregivers psychological status, regardless of the patients disease and allows professionals to monitor it over time with a rapid and effective instrument.nnnRELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICEnClinical nurses, general practitioners and homecare teams should find the Family Strain Questionnaire - Short Form useful for assessing caregiving strain. The instrument is quick and easy to use and does not require any sophisticated psychological training.

Understanding Outcome-Based Education Changes in Teacher Education: Evaluation of a New Instrument with Preliminary Findings.

Outcome-based education (OBE) is a current initiative in Hong Kong universities, with widespread backing by governments and standards bodies. However, study of students’ perceptions of OBE and validation of understanding these perceptions are lacking. This paper reports on the validation of an OBE-specific instrument and resulting preliminary findings. Instrument responses (n = 89) were analysed using Rasch and exploratory/confirmatory factor analyses. Both approaches identified two dimensions (i.e. evaluation and comparison). Challenges and modifications to the instrument items and their relationships to constructs are discussed. Preliminary findings suggest students did not perceive significant differences between OBE and traditionally organised courses. Lack of explicit discussion of OBE with the students may have denied students the ability to make fully informed evaluations of OBE innovations. Implications for instrument validation and evaluation of initiatives in an OBE context are discussed as is the broader issue of transparency in teacher education curriculum design and implementation.

Piaget and the Pendulum

Piagets investigations into childrens understanding of the laws governing the movement of a simple pendulum were first reported in 1955 as part of a report into how childrens knowledge of the physical world changes during development. Chapter 4 of Inhelder & Piaget (1955/1958) entitled `The Oscillation of a Pendulum and the Operations of Exclusion demonstrated how adolescents could construct the experimental strategies necessary to isolate each of the variables, exclude the irrelevant factors and conclude concerning the causal role of length. This became one of the most easily replicable tasks from the Genevan school and was used in a number of important investigations to detect the onset of formal operational thinking. While it seems that the pendulum investigation fits nicely into Piagets sequence of studies of concepts such as time, distance and speed suggested to him by Einstein, more recent research (Bond 2001) shows Inhelder to be directly responsible for the investigations into childrens induction of physical laws. The inter-relationship between the pendulum problem, developing thought and scientific method is revealed in a number of Genevan and post-Piagetian investigations.

Developing a Rasch Measurement Physical Fitness Scale for Hong Kong Primary School-Aged Students

The main purpose of this study was to develop a Rasch Measurement Physical Fitness Scale (RMPFS) based on physical fitness indicators routinely used in Hong Kong primary schools. A total of 9,439 records of students performances on physical fitness indicators, retrieved from the database of a Hong Kong primary school, were used to develop the Rasch scale. Following a series of iterative Rasch analyses that adopted the “data should fit the model” approach, four physical fitness indicators (i.e., 6-min run, 9-min run, 1-min sit-ups, and dominant handgrip) were successfully calibrated to form the RMPFS. The RMPFS and its scale indicators showed fit to the Rasch model sufficient for the intended purposes of measuring the overall fitness of children. The overall physical fitness measure reflects childrens fitness on three key core components of physical fitness (i.e., cardio-respiratory fitness, muscular endurance, and muscular strength). Advantages of the RMPFS are discussed, and recommendations for future research follow. The findings of this study provide a better knowledge basis for interpreting childrens physical fitness assessment results.