"The purpose of this study are (1) to identify some of the factors involved in this perceptual ability, (2) to devise a test to measure these factors, and (3) to determine if this test has any predictive validity."--4.

In 1997, NLNAC added critical thinking as a required outcome for accreditation of associate degree nursing (ADN) programs. Until recently general critical thinking tests were the only available standardized critical thinking assessment tools. The emphasis has shifted to discipline specific tools. This concurrent validity study explored the correlation between two critical thinking tests, a general skills test, the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and a discipline specific test, the Arnett Critical Thinking Outcome Evaluation (CTOE). Both tests are based on the same definition of critical thinking. The CCTST, developed in 1990, covers discipline neutral content in multiple choice items. The CTOE, a free entry, written response test developed in 1998, assesses critical thinking in nursing situations using a partial credit model. A convenience sample of 434 sophomore ADN students from 9 programs in Texas completed the demographic survey and critical thinking tests in 1999. The sample was 87.9% female and 74.2% Caucasian, with a mean age of 31, mean GPA of 3.13, mean 3.7 years healthcare employment experience, mean CCTST score of 15.0023 and mean CTOE of 82.69. The sample also included 22.4% current LVNs, 15.7% with prior degrees and 53.5% in the first generation of their family to go to college. With Pearson correlation, three of four hypotheses concerning correlation between CCTST and CTOE scores were accepted, showing weak but significant correlation. GPA positively correlated but healthcare employment experience, first generation and minority status negatively correlated with CCTST scores. GPA correlated positively with CTOE scores. Stepwise multiple linear regression with CCTST scores retained GPA, healthcare employment experience, prior degree, and first generation in college status. The significant, positive correlation between CCTST and CTOE scores was weaker than expected. This may be due to the different formats of the tools, or a fundamental difference between a general critical thinking skills test and a discipline specific tool. Critical thinking is highly contextually sensitive and disciplines emphasize skills differently. Both tests may be useful in a critical thinking assessment program since they measure different aspects and contribute to a composite picture of critical thinking. Research should continue on discipline specific tools.

A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, School of Human and Community Development, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in Educational Psychology by Coursework and Research Report. Johannesburg, March 2017 / This research study investigated the relationship between first (L1) and second language (L2) learners’ academic performance and their scores on the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test (SDRT) and the Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM). The inherently different nature of using a verbal assessment and a non-verbal assessment are important to consider in relation to overall academic performance, especially in light of the different language demands of a verbal versus a non-verbal assessment. South Africa has a diverse language landscape, which does pose practical problems for choosing a standard language of learning and teaching, which could create some language issues. The concept of intelligence is unpacked and discussed in relation to both academic performance and reading, which requires careful navigation due to its links to both these concepts. Psychological testing and assessment in South Africa has an encumbered history, which makes research in this area valuable, especially in relation to the unique language diversity in South Africa combined with the lack of South African assessments . Language, reading and intelligence are important to consider in light of the role they to play in relation to overall academic achievement. The results revealed that L1 learners performed better compared to L2 learners on both the SDRT and the RSPM. L1 learners also performed better academically compared to their peers. These results indicated some serious implications showing that L2 learners have not been able to bridge language and learning gaps, after at least five years of being taught in English. The results also revealed that the SDRT was a better predictor of academic performance for both L1 and L2 learners. This highlighted the importance of reading within the South African school system. The under researched area of the exact impact that reading has on overall academic performance showed that South Africa’s curriculum is reading heavy, which does emphasise the importance of reading to achieve academic success. / MT 2018

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Education, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education (Educational Psychology), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 1995. / The present research study evaluated an unresearched assessment battery used to determine student trainability at a multi-disability commercial college. The issues of validity - specifically criterion-related validity and content-related validity and dynamic assessment were the main focus of the study. Revisions to the assessment battery where necessary were recommended, Fifty-two students from the multi-disability college formed the sample population for establishing the criterion-related validity of the assessment battery. Students assessment results were correlated with the number of credits .hey obtained on course completion using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. This research established that useful inferences about student trainability could be made from the existing assessment battery scores. Establishing the content-related validity of the assessment battery was a two foid process. Firstly, course lecturers completed a self-administered questionnaire to determine what skills/ attributes were necessary for success in the four courses offered at the College. Secondly, a workshop was held with a multi-disciplinary team of professionals to determine what skills/ attributes were being tapped by the various sub-tests of the battery. It was established that twelve of the skills/attributes necessary for course success were not tapped on the existing assessment battery. Measures which tap these skills/attdbutes need to be included in the assessment battery so that its content validity can be established. Given the controversy relating to standardised/static testing it was important to research the relevance and usefulness of the introduction of a dynamic assessment component to the existing battery. Dynamic assessment would allow for learning potential to be tapped. Analyses of variance were conducted to determine the relationships between the variables - race, educational level and type of disability with performance on the assessment battery. The significant relationships between educational level and performance and type of disability and performance

The vast development of digital technology and the widespread use of social network platforms have reshaped how we live in the world. For L2 learners to maximally utilize their language proficiency to function effectively as members of modern society, they need not only the necessary L2 knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) but also essential topical knowledge. While many researchers believe that topical knowledge should be viewed as an integral component of L2 communicative competence, the role of topical knowledge has not always been accounted for in an assessment context due to the difficulty of operationalizing the construct. Scenario-based assessment, an innovative, technology-based assessment approach, allows great affordances for expanding the measured constructs of an assessment. It is designed expressly for learners to demonstrate their KSAs in a context that simulates real-life language use. Through the utilization of a sequence of thematically-related tasks, along with simulated character interaction, scenario-based assessment offers opportunities to examine L2 learners’ communicative competence in a purposeful, interactive, and contextually meaningful manner. In this study, a scenario-based language assessment (SBLA) was developed to measure high-intermediate L2 learners’ topical knowledge and their L2 KSAs as part of the broadened construct of L2 communicative competence. To fulfill the scenario goal, learners were required to demonstrate their listening, reading, and writing abilities to build and share knowledge. In addition, learners’ prior topical knowledge was measured and their topical learning was tracked using the same set of topical knowledge items. A total of 118 adult EFL learners participated in the study. The results showed that the SBLA served as an appropriate measure of high-intermediate learners’ L2 proficiency. The topical knowledge items were found to function appropriately, supporting the use of the SBLA to measure topical knowledge as part of the broadened construct of communicative competence. In addition, most learners exhibited substantial topical learning over the course of the SBLA, suggesting that with proper contextualization, learning can be facilitated within an assessment. In sum, this study demonstrated the potential value of scenario-based assessment as an approach to measure complex constructs of communicative language competence in L2 contexts

by Law Huk-yuen. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 235-243). / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.ii / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.x / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.xii / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Background of the Study --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Purpose and Significance of the Study --- p.2 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- REVIEW OF LITERATURE --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- Research in Mathematics Education : A Cognitive Science Perspective --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Issues in mathematics education --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- The cognitive science perspective --- p.13 / Chapter 2.1.2a --- Task-based interviews --- p.16 / Chapter 2.1.2b --- Information-processing framework --- p.18 / Chapter 2.1.2c --- The knowledge structure --- p.21 / Chapter 2.1.2d --- The nature of concepts --- p.23 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- The psychological studies of mathematical concepts --- p.25 / Chapter 2.2 --- Mental Models and Conceptual Knowledge --- p.29 / Chapter 2.3 --- Expert-Novice Discrepancies in Knowledge Representation --- p.32 / Chapter 2.4 --- Assessing Mathematical Understanding --- p.38 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Assessing knowledge structure --- p.39 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Test validation --- p.41 / Chapter 2.5 --- Summary --- p.42 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- RESEARCH METHOD --- p.44 / Chapter 3.1 --- Research Questions --- p.44 / Chapter 3.2 --- Subjects --- p.45 / Chapter 3.3 --- Design and Procedures --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Phase 1. : Initial testing for conceptual knowledge --- p.46 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Phase 2 : Task-based interviewing --- p.47 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Phase 3: Revised testing for conceptual knowledge --- p.48 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Model for assessing conceptual understanding --- p.49 / Chapter 3.4 --- Data Analysis --- p.51 / Chapter 3.5 --- Time Frame --- p.52 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION --- p.53 / Chapter 4.1 --- Overview --- p.53 / Chapter 4.2 --- Conceptual Knowledge in Coordinate Geometry --- p.54 / Chapter 4.3 --- Phase-one Analysis : Selection of Expert and Novice Students --- p.57 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- The scoring of initial test --- p.58 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- A profile of expert students and novice students --- p.60 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- A preliminary discussion ： Expert students vs. novice students --- p.61 / Chapter 4.4 --- Phase-two Analysis --- p.63 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Constructing students' knowledge representations --- p.64 / Chapter 4.4.1a --- Mental representation of <PARALLEL LINES> --- p.66 / Chapter 4.4.1b --- Mental representation of <SLOPES> --- p.78 / Chapter 4.4.1c --- Mental representation of <INTERCEPTS> --- p.82 / Chapter 4.4.1d --- Mental representation of <POINT COORDINATES> --- p.85 / Chapter 4.4.1e --- Knowledge representations --- p.92 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Comparison of expert mental representat ion and novice mental representation --- p.101 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Generating and testing hypotheses --- p.105 / Chapter 4.5 --- Phase-three Analysis --- p.123 / Chapter 4.5.1 --- Scoring of the revised test --- p.123 / Chapter 4.5.2 --- Test reliability and validation --- p.135 / Chapter 4.6 --- Summary --- p.139 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- "CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH" --- p.142 / Chapter 5.1 --- Conclusions --- p.142 / Chapter 5.2 --- Limitations --- p.144 / Chapter 5.3 --- Implications --- p.145 / Chapter 5.4 --- Suggestions for Future Research --- p.147 / APPENDICES / Appendix 1. Initial test for conceptual knowledge --- p.149 / Appendix 2. Scoring record of initial test --- p.152 / Appendix 3. Questions for the first interview --- p.153 / Appendix 4. Subjects' protocols of the first interview (the Chinese version) --- p.157 / Appendix 5 . Subjects ' protocols of the first interview (the Knglish- trans1ated version ) --- p.176 / Appendix 6. Questions for the second interview --- p.202 / Appendix 7. Record of subjects' responses to the questions of second interview --- p.208 / Appendix 8. Revised quiz for conceptual knowledge --- p.210 / Appendix 9. Item and score distribution of the two-halves of the revised test --- p.232 / Appendix 10A. Scoring record of Test A ( the first half- test ) --- p.233 / Appendix 10B. Scoring record of Test B (the second half- test ) --- p.234 / REFERENCES --- p.235

by Tracy Man-kiu Ma. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-61). / Abstract and appendix in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vi / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.vii / LIST OF APPENDICES --- p.viii / Chapter CHAPTER ONE- --- INTRODUCTION / Mesial temporal lobe and its sequel of damages --- p.1 / Mesial temporal lobe pathologies --- p.2 / Memory assessment instruments and the Hong Kong List Learning Test --- p.4 / The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis --- p.6 / Purpose of the present study --- p.7 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO- --- METHOD / Participants --- p.9 / Materials --- p.10 / Procedure --- p.13 / Statistical analysis --- p.15 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE - --- RESULTS / Memory Profiles of NPC Patients with bilateral temporal lobe lesions --- p.18 / Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis for test performance --- p.26 / Validity and reliability --- p.33 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR - --- DISCUSSION / The clinical utility of the blocked condition --- p.39 / Optimal cutoff scores for sensitivity and specificity --- p.40 / Memory profiles of NPC patients and its implications --- p.42 / Limitations --- p.45 / Conclusions --- p.46 / REFERENCES --- p.48 / APPENDICES --- p.62

With the increasing popularity and competition in professional basketball in the past decade, data driven decision has emerged as a big competitive edge. The advent of high frequency player tracking data from SportVU has enabled a rigorous analysis of player abilities and interactions that was not possible before. The tracking data records two-dimensional x-y coordinates of 10 players on the court as well as the x-y-z coordinates of the ball at a resolution of 25 frames per second, yielding over 1 billion space-time observations over the course of a full season. This dissertation offers a collection of spatio-temporal models and player evaluation metrics that provide insight into the player interactions and their performance, hence allowing the teams to make better decisions. Conventional approaches to simulate matches have ignored that in basketball the dynamics of ball movement is very sensitive to the lineups on the court and unique identities of players on both offense and defense sides. In chapter 2, we propose the simulation infrastructure that can bridge the gap between player identity and team level network. We model the progression of a basketball match using a probabilistic graphical model. We model every touch event in a game as a sequence of transitions between discrete states. We treat the progression of a match as a graph, where each node represents the network structure of players on the court, their actions, events, etc., and edges denote possible moves in the game flow. Our results show that either changes in the team lineup or changes in the opponent team lineup significantly affects the dynamics of a match progression. Evaluation on the match data for the 2013-16 NBA season suggests that the graphical model approach is appropriate for modeling a basketball match. NBA teams value players who can ``stretch'' the floor, i.e. create space on the court by drawing their defender(s) closer to themselves. Clearly, this ability to attract defenders varies across players, and furthermore, this effect may also vary by the court location of the offensive player, and whether or not the player is the ball handler. For instance, a ball-handler near the basket attracts a defender more when compared to a non ball-handler at the 3 point line. This has a significant effect on the defensive assignment. This is particularly important because defensive assignment has become the cornerstone of all tracking data based player evaluation models. In chapter 3, we propose a new model to learn player and court location specific offensive attraction. We show that offensive players indeed have varying ability to attract the defender in different parts of the court. Using this metric, teams can evaluate players to construct a roster or lineup which maximizes spacing. We also improve upon the existing defensive matchup inference algorithm for SportVU data. While the ultimate goal of the offense is to shoot the ball, the strategy lies in creating good shot opportunities. Offensive play event detection has been a topic of research interest. Current research in this area have used a supervised learning approach to detect and classify such events. We took an unsupervised learning approach to detect these events. This has two inherent benefits: first, there is no need for pretagged data to learn identifying these events which is a lobor intensive and error prone task; second, an unsupervised approach allows us to detect events that has not been tagged yet i.e. novel events. We use a HMM based approach to detect these events at any point in the time during a possession by specifying the functional form of the prior distribution on the player movement data. We test our framework on detecting ball screen, post up, and drive. However, it can be easily extended to events like isolation or a new event that has certain distinct defensive matchup or player movement feature compared to a non event. This is the topic for chapter 4. Accurate estimation of the offensive and the defensive abilities of players in the NBA plays a crucial role in player selection and ranking. A typical approach to estimate players' defensive and offensive abilities is to learn the defensive assignment for each shot and then use a random effects model to estimate the offensive and defensive abilities for each player. The scalar estimate from the random effects model can then be used to rank player. In this approach, a shot has a binary outcome, either it is made or it is a miss. This approach is not able to take advantage of the “quality” of the shot trajectory. In chapter 5, we propose a new method for ranking players that infers the quality of a shot trajectory using a deep recurrent neural network, and then uses this quality measure in a random effects model to rank players taking defensive matchup into account. We show that the quality information significantly improves the player ranking. We also show that including the quality of shots increases the separation between the learned random effect coefficients, and thus, allows for a better differentiation of player abilities. Further, we show that we are able to infer changes in the player's ability on a game-by-game basis when using a trajectory based model. A shot based model does not have enough information to detect changes in player's ability on a game-by-game basis. A good defensive player prevents its opponent from making a shot, attempting a good shot, making an easy pass, or scoring events, eventually leading to wasted shot clock time. The salient feature here is that a good defender prevents events. Consequently, event driven metrics, such as box scores, cannot measure defensive abilities. Conventional wisdom in basketball is that ``pesky'' defenders continuously maintain a close distance to the ball handler. A closely guarded offensive player is less likely to take or make a shot, less likely to pass, and more likely to lose the ball. In chapter 6, we introduce Defensive Efficiency Rating (DER), a new statistic that measures the defensive effectiveness of a player. DER is the effective distance a defender maintains with the ball handler during an interaction where we control for the identity and wingspan of the the defender, the shot efficiency of the ball handler, and the zone on the court. DER allows us to quantify the quality of defensive interaction without being limited by the occurrence of discrete and infrequent events like shots and rebounds. We show that the ranking from this statistic naturally picks out defenders known to perform well in particular zones.

Thesis (M.A. (English)) -- University of Limpopo, 2015 / This study seeks to determine the support of reading–literacy provided by homes of grade six learners in some Limpopo primary schools, which assists them in learning to read, and particularly to read with understanding. This study adopted a qualitative approach. The case study design was used. Twelve learners and twelve parents of the chosen learners served as participants to this study. Three data collection instruments were used. As the researcher wanted to first determine good and poor readers a comprehension test was designed by the researcher in order to select the learners. After learners had written the test an interview guide was given to the learners to establish different kinds of reading related activities which learners engage in with their parents. Lastly a check list was issued to learners and parents to assess parental involvement in learners’ reading literacy development. Findings of the current study are that some learners do not receive the parental support they need in order to develop reading literacy. As a result, many learners fail in school because they are illiterate. It is suggested that in order for learners to improve in their reading literacy parental support must be encouraged in South African schools. School programmes must be designed in a way that it inculcates parental support. And most importantly parents need to be made aware of the crucial role they play in their children’s reading literacy development. Key words: Reading literacy, multiple literacy, parental support and home literacy.

Executive functions (including attentional shifting/flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control) are strong predictors of children's early school success (Blair & Razza, 2007; Espy et al., 2004). The current study explored questions related to measurement of executive functions in preschool-aged children. Convergent and predictive validity were assessed for two traditional executive function tasks (the Dimensional Change Card Sort and the Day-Night Stroop), a behavioral executive function task (the Head-Toes-Knees- Shoulders, HTKS), and teacher ratings of child classroom behavior (the Child Behavior Rating Scale, CBRS). All measures were low-to-moderately correlated for the full sample of preschoolers. The CBRS and the HTKS tasks were the most consistent predictors of emergent mathematics, vocabulary, and literacy, controlling for child age and Head Start status; however, all tasks were significantly related to each achievement outcome. Additionally, the convergent and predictive validity of the executive function tasks and teacher ratings were examined by Head Start status. Results show that the tasks were more closely related in non Head Start children. For predictive validity, the most notable difference was for the Day-Night Stroop, which was a strong consistent predictor of academic outcomes for non Head Start children but not for Head Start children. Together, these findings provide insight to the convergent and predictive validity of executive function tasks during early childhood and differences in executive function associated with Head Start status. / Graduation date: 2012