Broadening the term augmented testing to include a combination of multiple measures to assess examinee performance on a single construct, the issues of IRT item parameter and proficiency estimates were investigated. The intent of this dissertation is to determine if different IRT calibration designs result in differences to item and proficiency parameter estimates and to understand the nature of those differences. Examinees were sampled from a testing program in which each examinee was administered three mathematics assessments measuring a broad mathematics domain at the high school level. This sample of examinees was used to perform a real data analysis to investigate the item and proficiency estimates. A simulation study was also conducted based upon the real data. The factors investigated for the real data study included three IRT calibration designs and two IRT models. The calibration designs included: separately calibrating each assessment, calibrating all assessments in one joint calibration, and separately calibrating items in three distinct content areas. Joint calibration refers to the use of IRT methodology to calibrate two or more tests, which have been administered to a single group, together so as to place all of the items on a common scale. The two IRT models were the one- and three-parameter logistic model. Also investigated were five proficiency estimators: maximum likelihood estimates, expected a posteriori, maximum a posteriori, summed-score EAP, and test characteristic curve estimates. The simulation study included the same calibration designs and IRT models but the data were simulated with varying levels of correlations among the proficiencies to determine the affect upon the item parameter estimates. The main findings indicate that item parameter and proficiency estimates are affected by the IRT calibration design. The discrimination parameter estimates of the three-parameter model were larger when calibrated under the joint calibration design for one assessment but not for the other two. Noting that equal item discrimination is an assumption of the 1-PL model, this finding raises questions as to the degree of model fit when the 1-PL model is used. Items on a second assessment had lower difficulty parameters in the joint calibration design while the item parameter estimates of the other two assessments were higher. Differences in proficiency estimates between calibration designs were also discovered, which were found to result in examinees being inconsistently classified into performance categories. Differences were observed in regards to the choice of IRT model. Finally, as the level of correlation among proficiencies increased in the simulation data, the differences observed in the item parameter estimates were decreased. Based upon the findings, IRT item parameter estimates resulting from differing calibrations designs should not be used interchangeably. Practitioners who use item pools should base the pool refreshment calibration design upon the one used to originally create the pool. Limitations to this study include the use of a single dataset consisting of high school examinees in only one subject area, thus the degree of generalization regarding research findings to other content areas of grade levels should be made with caution.

Orientador: Marcio Luiz de Souza-Santos / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-16T10:15:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Silva_DanielaVillaFlorMontesRey_D.pdf: 4784626 bytes, checksum: 2c07a9198d76af68b1571651aa00046a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: Este trabalho tem por objetivo a implantação de uma técnica para estimativa simultânea dos parâmetros hidráulicos e de transporte de solutos em solos, visando a aplicação em simulação computacional de migração de contaminantes. Foi selecionado um aparato experimental para a realização do experimento de transporte de soluto em colunas, assim como o código Hydrus-1D para estimativa de parâmetros através da Técnica de Levenberg-Marquard. Para testar o método foi utilizado um solo arenoso não-reativo. Com esse material foram estimados o conteúdo de água de saturação qs, a condutividade hidráulica de saturação Ks e o coeficiente de dispersão D. Foram testadas quatro estratégias para a estimativa onde os parâmetros foram estimados simultaneamente e separadamente em ordens diversas. As estratégias que fazem a estimativa dos parâmetros separadamente apresentaram melhores resultados. Foi avaliada também a influência das dimensões das colunas nos resultados experimentais e nos resultados das estimativas, demonstrando que colunas de menor comprimento apresentam resultados melhores e que houve uma variação nos resultados devido à variação no diâmetro, o que está em desacordo com o modelo unidimensional utilizado. Em seguida amostras de solo da mina de urânio de Caldas foram testadas. Para este material foram estimados os mesmos parâmetros anteriores mais o coeficiente de distribuição Kd. Os valores estimados para os parâmetros com o solo da mina de urânio apresentaram pequenos desvios-padrão, caracterizando boas estimativas / Abstract: The objective of this work is to implement a technique for the simultaneous estimation of hydraulic and transport parameters of soils, aiming at the application on computational simulation of contaminant migration. An adequate experimental apparatus was selected for the solute transporte experiment in small columns. The software Hydrus-1D was selected as the simulation software capable of estimating the parameters through the Levenberg-Marquardt Technique. For the implementation of the methodology a non-reactive sandy soil was used. The saturation water content qs, the saturation hydraulic conductivity Ks and the dispersion coefficient D were estimated for this material. Four approaches were tested, including simultaneous and sequential estimations in various orders. The sequential estimation resulted in better results. The influence of the dimensions of the columns on the experimental and estimation results was also evaluated, demonstrating that columns with smaller high results in better estimations and that the diameter variations resulted in variation of the behavior, in disagreement with the unidimensional model used. Next, soil samples extracted from de Caldas uranium mine were used for the estimation of the same parameters together with the distribution coefficient Kd. Values for the estimated parameters with the soil samples from the uranium mine showed small standard deviations, characterizing good estimations / Doutorado / Termica e Fluidos / Doutor em Engenharia Mecânica

This research addresses fleet-sizing for reusable containers that are used for protection, transportation, and storage of parts between a component plant and assembly plant. These reusable containers are often expensive and occupy a large amount of storage space when empty and full. Having a large container fleet comes with higher acquisition, maintenance, and storage costs, but decreases production down time caused by the lack of containers needed for storage. A quantitative model of these trade-offs will permit decision makers to maintain desired production levels at minimum cost. In this dissertation, the relationship between container fleet size and production down time caused by container shortages is researched. Utilizing both theoretical and empirical approaches, two analytical models that include relevant operational parameters and stochastic components are developed. The first is a container fleet sizing model, and the second model estimates production stoppages as a function of container fleet size. The formulas are shown to be accurate and provide decision makers with the tools to better plan and manage specific applications. The formulas also provide general insight into the factors that affect container fleet size and production stoppage due to container shortages. / Graduation date: 2012

The diploma thesis describes the bootstrap method and its applications in the estimate accuracy statement, in the confidence intervals generation and in the testing of statistical hypotheses. Further the method of the discrete probability estimation of the categorical quantity is presented, making use the gradient of the quasi-norm hereof distribution. On concrete examples the bootstrap method is applied in the confidence intervals forming of the categorical quantity probability function. The diploma thesis was supported by the project of MŠMT of the Czech Republic no. 1M06047 "Centre for Quality and Reliability of Production", by the grant of Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (Czech Science Foundation) reg. no. 103/08/1658 "Advanced optimum design of composed concrete structures" and by the research plan of MŠMT of the Czech Republic no. MSM0021630519 "Progressive reliable and durable structures".

The diploma thesis describes the bootstrap method and its applications in the confidence intervals generation, in the testing of statistical hypotheses and in the regression analysis. We present the confidence interval for individual value. Further the method of discrete probability estimation of the categorical quantity is presented, making use the gradient and the line estimate.