A study comparing peer and teacher evaluations of British university biology students' (n=39) performance found such comparison misleading as a guide to the validity of peer assessment. When individual criteria were analyzed, agreement of peers and teacher ranged from 31-62%, with specific areas of the criteria prone to over- and undervaluation.…

Examines the use of portfolio assessment in a distance education program for research information skills at the University of South Africa. Discusses the assessment of information literacy and online searching skills; portfolio assessment criteria; student attitudes; validity and reliability of portfolio assessment; and problems. (LRW)

Examined teachers' interpersonal behavior and its association with affective and cognitive outcomes among 1,512 elementary mathematics students in Singapore. Validated a widely applicable and convenient questionnaire to assess teacher interpersonal behavior. Found that different data analysis methods yielded consistent associations between teacher…

Investigates the procedural understanding of first-year university science students in South Africa. Explores ideas related to the reliability of experimental data and discusses the types of reasoning underlying the responses. (DDR)

A study examined the usefulness of information secured from eight students displaying substantially more problem behaviors in one classroom (high-risk) than another, and 16 teachers. Students were able to provide reliable information in the functional assessment interview. Moderate to high agreement was obtained between students and teachers in…

Two studies addressed the psychometric properties of the Children's Hope Scale (CHS; Snyder et al., 1997). A sample of 460 high school students was administered the CHS along with measures of life satisfaction, extraversion, neuroticism, social support, and externalizing and internalizing behaviors. The results revealed adequate internal…

A study examined the stability of career interests of adolescents using the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII). Participants were 271 freshmen from a rural Midwestern state who took the SCII two times, 3 years apart. Based on this sample, comparisons were made on occupational themes and basic interests of the SCII. Results revealed that…

In 1991, a study was conducted of Miami-Dade Community College students' classroom experiences. The process involved randomly selecting one section for each full-time faculty member and administering the surveys prior to the final course withdrawal date. Surveys were returned from 640 sections (84% of those initially selected), and responses were…

This document presents a two-part study. In the first part, open-ended questions based on interview studies were administered via paper-and-pencil tasks to 76 sixth and eighth grade students. In the second part, the earth and sun relationship questions were extracted, modified, and given to 178 seventh grade students. In part one, the performance…

An investigation was conducted for the purpose of creating a valid and reliable instrument that could serve the Nova University ( Florida) Programs for Higher Education (PHE) central administrative and field staff in counseling new field-based doctoral students who have exhibited less positive or negative attitudes toward independent learning.…

The purpose of this paper is to compare the utility of the information yielded by the classical and latent trait psychometric models when they are used to examine the psychometric qualities of an instrument designed to assess school-related stress. The instrument, known as the School Situation Survey (SSS), is described, and efforts to determine…

This manual makes accessible several widely used instruments for measuring perceptions of psychosocial characteristics of classroom environment among school students and teachers. Background information, scoring procedures, validation data, and preferred and short forms of the Learning Environment Inventory, My Class Inventory, Classroom…

A study was conducted to test four hypotheses concerning modification of student self-concept in communication courses: (1) different kinds of training affect student self-concept in different ways, (2) scale bias affects measurement of student self-concept, (3) male and female self-concepts change differently, and (4) course grade affects student…

This paper reports on a replication of a 1983 study investigating whether the Renzulli/Smith Learning Style Inventory (RSLSI) can identify the learning style differences of college undergraduates. The 65 item RSLSI assesses children's preferred learning styles in nine areas: projects, simulations, drill and recitation, peer teaching, discussion,…

An analysis of measures used in assessment of innovation fidelity was studied. The purpose was to contribute to the development of valid and reliable methods of measuring critical elements of an innovation and identifying levels of implementation. Questionnaires were developed for high school introductory courses in English, calculus, and…