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The current article used real data to demonstrate the analysis and synthesis of Mixed Methods Research (MMR) data with generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI). I explore how reliable and valid Gen AI data outputs are and how to improve their use. The current content is geared towards enhancing methodological application regardless of field or discipline and includes access to a prompt library and examples of using outputs. The demonstration data used emanated from a study done in South Africa, with a quantitative sample size of 969 first-year engineering students and, for the qualitative part, 14 first-year students. In the current article, I compare my original analysis to ChatGPT results. Generative AI as a mind tool is best used with human insight, and I found this to be especially true when coding qualitative data. ChatGPT produced generic codes if asked to do inductive coding, and the results improved when training the Gen AI on human examples, which led to moderate and significant correlations between human and machine coding. The quantitative analysis was accurate for the descriptive statistics, but the researcher had to use best judgment to select the correct inferential analysis. Quantitative and qualitative analysis should be conducted separately in generative AI before asking the Chatbot for help with mixed methods results. In the current paper, I give guidelines and a tutorial on how to use chatbots in an ethically responsible and scientifically sound manner for research in social and human sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to university is complex and plays an essential role in determining students’ success in higher education. In South Africa and other global South contexts, students come from diverse backgrounds, and many have to cross what Boaventura de Sousa Santos calls an 'abyssal line'. Students in university in 2020 experienced an abrupt additional transition: to online learning, as universities responded to the Covid-19 pandemic. The current study investigates second-year engineering students' perceptions of the impact of the lockdown on their own studies, and their impressions of how first-year students might have felt this impact, through semi-structured, indepth interviews. We sought to uncover the particular discourses that students draw on when describing what it was like to experience engineering study within a global pandemic. Throughout the student narratives, we identify a multiplicity of discourses around their identity as university students: as formed through connections with peers, lecturers, the university and the physical campus; as challenged by conflicting demands when studying at home; positioned as able to manage time and work; and vulnerable to threat from failure and the immutable force of online learning. We conclude with implications for universities and student success beyond the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa participated in the electronic version of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (ePIRLS) in 2016 but faced many challenges during implementation. Accurate databases on information and communication technologies (ICT) capacity of schools were not available for sampling in Gauteng, many schools had old and/or non-functional hardware and half of the schools had not used their computer laboratories in the last 3 years. Consequently, South Africa was excluded from the international report as the study requirements could not be met. In this paper we examine the implications of the problems experienced in the ePIRLS multiple case study, conducted in 9 schools (n = 277) in Gauteng. Multilevel models were built using data from the nationally representative Grade 4 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) data from 2011 (n = 15,744) and 2016 (n = 12,810). In the 2016 national study, principals and teachers reported fewer computers and libraries being available for learners than were reported in 2011. Computers and paper-based libraries being available were not significant predictors of reading literacy. Instead, the medium of instruction in the Foundation Phase, school location, gender, and socioeconomic composition of the school predicted reading literacy achievement. The ePIRLS results show no significant difference between paper-based and online reading. While issues of poverty, gender inequality, and historical disadvantage persist, Grade 4 learners may lack adequate opportunities to acquire paper and digital reading skills. We conclude that the most disadvantaged learners have increasingly insufficient opportunities and resources available to attain basic reading skills and this will have negative long-term consequences for South Africa's educational sector and economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monitoring of learning over time is critical for determining progression within and across cohorts of learners. This research investigated the use of the Rasch Measurement Model to determine the functioning of anchor items as well as an application of the model to convert the results to the same metric. A group of 321 Grade 8 learners and the same in the following school year wrote English Additional Language Comprehension Tests aimed at monitoring learning progression over years. The two tests were linked with 15 anchor items. This study examined the results of the anchor items from Years 1 and 2, applying non-parametric statistical tests as well as the Rasch Partial Credit Model to identify items which did not contribute to monitoring learning progression; these items were removed or refined based on the results and reviews by subject specialists. Learner results from Grades 8 and 9 were placed in the same frame of reference by applying the Rasch Partial Credit Model in order to establish a more accurate representation of the magnitude of learning progression. The first finding illustrated that applying non-parametric statistics and Rasch Measurement Theory identifies potentially problematic anchor items, and that when items are improved or removed, the overall results tend to be more stable and precise. Second, it was found that when applying Rasch item and threshold calibrations to assessment results, a more accurate indication of learning progression is obtained which can be used to communicate results to stakeholders and more importantly, inform teaching and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study describes how criterion-referenced feedback was produced from English language, mathematics and natural sciences monitoring assessments. The assessments were designed for grades 8 to 11 to give an overall indication of curriculum- standards attained in a given subject over the course of a year (N=1113). The Rasch Item Map method was used to set cut-scores for the Rasch competency bands, after which subject specialists examined the items in each band. Based on the content and difficulty of the items, descriptions for the proficiency levels were generated. Learner reports described each individual's current proficiency level in a subject area as well as the subsequent level to be attained. This article shows how the Rasch Item Map method can be used to align assessments and curriculum-standards, which facilitates reporting learner performance in terms of criterion-referenced feedback and empowers learners, teachers and parents to focus on subject content and competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]