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Effective supervision is vital for graduate students growing into their respected professions. Although a Solution-Focused (SF) approach can help research supervisors develop optimal capacities to support students, few training opportunities exist to date. This article describes the collaborative process of developing a live actor simulation (LAS) for supervisors to practice the SF approach at a university in Ontario, Canada. Themes generated from needs assessment surveys and interviews with 81 graduate students/alumni and 33 supervisors informed the development of three graduate student characters. Seven graduate supervisors then participated in six collaborative learning sessions to learn SF techniques and practice with simulation actors playing the student characters. Participant feedback indicated that the LAS appeared authentically emulating real-life situations they experience in graduate supervision. SF techniques were considered valuable in navigating common challenges pertinent to the supervisor-student relationship. Participants also highly valued the reflective opportunity to share concerns around their experiences with peers.

Background: Research suggests that many educators hold inaccurate or incomplete perceptions of poverty leading to stereotyping of students living in poverty. It is important for future teachers to understand more about the complexities of poverty so they can bridge gaps between misconceptions and understanding for their students, families, and school communities. Purpose: This study examined teacher candidates' preconceived thoughts and changes in perceptions toward poverty based on participation in an experiential learning activity (i.e., a poverty simulation). Methodology/Approach: The participants (n = 94) were in their final term of a 2-year teacher education program in Ontario, Canada. This mixed-method study used a Community Action Poverty Simulation combined with the quantitative presurvey Undergraduate Perception of Poverty Tracking Survey and qualitative postgroup discussions. Findings/Conclusions: Results indicated that the poverty simulation was an effective tool for disrupting poverty perceptions and myths among teacher candidates and provided insight into further areas to increase understanding. Implications: Based on the findings, poverty simulations are a promising experiential learning process for teacher education programs as a cost-effective, consciousness-raising exercise that can prompt deeper levels of learning for teacher candidates and better prepare them to teach students living in poverty.

In the present study, the studies conducted on educational games between 1965 and 2019 were analyzed to determine the trends in research based on the year of publication, topic, publication type, country, target audience and the concepts included in the study title. In the study, 7141 studies that were accessed with "educational games" keyword on the ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) database were analyzed. The abstract data were classified by a software developed by the authors for analysis and the analysis was conducted in two stages. First, the studies on educational games were examined as a group, and then the most studied topics were analyzed separately. The study findings demonstrated that the number of studies on educational games was the highest in 2016 and the prominent topics included instructional methods, learning activities, simulations, and classroom activities. It was determined that digital games were investigated as a type of educational games extensively in studies conducted since 2000, the major type of publication was journal articles, and Australia was the leading country in publications. It was determined that practitioners were the major audience until 2000, and the studies on teachers were prominent since. It was determined that the most frequent concepts in study titles included learning, instruction, simulation, school, game-based, design, computer, science, and mathematics and games, respectively.

Competition among parties is a central feature of democratic politics, but extreme partisanship can undermine democratic practices and institutions. We report the results of a formative curricular intervention involving reflective discussions designed to avoid hyper-partisanship in a training program for anyone--including university students--with political aspirations. The opportunity was provided by an annual Institute for Future Legislators at the University of British Columbia. The program offered weekend boot camps, followed by a parliamentary simulation held in the chambers of the provincial legislature. Data were collected from questionnaires and facilitated reflective discussions. Thematic content analysis of transcriptions of these discussions showed that they enabled participants to gain detachment from their parties, even as their appreciation grew for the complex balancing acts that partisan politicians must continuously perform.

Peer-to-peer role-play in social work education continues to have widespread use in the teaching of generalist social work skills. For many students, however, the unfamiliarity of role-playing the client in conjunction with discussing clinical concerns may lead them to become emotionally dysregulated during the social work-client encounter. To explore strategies by which students can maintain emotional regulation when playing the client role, this study garnered the perspectives of Standardized Clients from Canadian medical schools who conduct repeated, simulated performances in the client role. Standardized Clients (N = 116) responded to an online, qualitative survey which explored how they manage their emotions during simulations. Thematic analysis revealed the following regulation strategies: (1) Internal: (a) Distance self from the role, (b) Immerse in the role, (c) Focus on emotions; and (2) External: (a) Putting on a performance, and (b) The importance of self-care. This paper offers suggestions for social work educators to assist students playing the client in peer-to-peer role-play exercises.

Conventionally, regression discontinuity analysis contrasts a univariate regression's limits as its independent variable, "R," approaches a cut point, "c," from either side. Alternative methods target the average treatment effect in a small region around "c," at the cost of an assumption that treatment assignment, I[R

Problem and Objective: Transition to adulthood for young people with (IDD) is challenging for both youth and parents. Prospection, an important human adaptive tool and critical for independent living, involves constructing, encoding, and remembering the future. It may be jointly enacted between parents and young people as they discuss the future. This study identified and described evidence of prospective content in parent-youth conversations about the transition to adulthood. Method: This study involved the content analysis is of eight parent-youth conversations about this transition. Two mother-daughter, three father-daughter, and three mother-son dyads, representing a range of IDD diagnoses, provided 790 min of joint conversations and reflection on them. These conversations were examined for the following characteristics of prospection: simulation, reasoning about counterfactuals, constructing multiple possible futures, and episodic memory of the past. Findings: Among the four characteristics, simulation and episodic memory of the past were used most frequently and reasoning about counterfactuals the least. Giving advice and scaffolding were additional strategies that emerged from the data. Conclusion: Identifying how prospection may be fostered in joint parent-youth conversations provides a step toward future research.

Introduction: The aim of this paper is to guide training program and review course curriculum planning in elbow disorders. To this end, a nationwide email survey was administered to residents' in orthopaedic surgery training programs. Material and Methods: The survey had 12 items that examined learning needs in several domains: assessment of acute and chronic elbow disorders, treatment of elbow disorders and the perceived effectiveness of various practical skills simulation sessions. A rank order list of learning needs was created. Results: Eighty-eight of 351 residents completed the survey (25%). Ninety percent of respondents thought that a one-day course would be helpful. The majority of residents felt comfortable evaluating acute traumatic elbow disorders. Their level of comfort was lower in treatment of elective disorders, with only 4% of residents comfortable managing posterior interosseous nerve and 5% comfortable managing chronic elbow instability. Only 24% of residents were comfortable treating terrible triad injuries. Conclusions: Residents reported a need for additional education in elbow surgery; especially for elective disorders. Educational needs were clustered in several areas including surgical approaches, ligament repair, and surgical management of fracture dislocations.

Numerous forecasts suggest that professional-competence development depends on human encounters. Interaction between organizations, tasks, and individual providers influence human behaviour, affect organizations' or systems' performance, and are a key component of professional-competence development. Further, insufficient or ineffective communication between professionals is deemed a contributing factor to adverse events worldwide. This underscores the need to provide educators with the tools and education to embed methods in their teaching that will enable learners to effectively intervene in highly charged interpersonal situations and high-risk scenarios; these concerns highlight the value of realistic simulated-experiential approaches, such as the one proposed in this project. The first phase of this project involved conducting a three-day experiential workshop developed at a Canadian university to provide educators with knowledge and skills to work and effectively utilize simulators, enhancing pedagogical classroom practices for teaching undergraduate learners. This workshop's development resulted in numerous benefits. Participation in the workshop provided educators with opportunities for meaningful reflection on their teaching practice and the ability to apply this insight to optimize student learning. It provided theatre students, recruited as simulators as part of this interdisciplinary initiative, to expand their experiences and this will lead to an expanded practicum course for their program. There is now a group of simulators available to educators across the university to include in classroom activities, and lastly there are further iterations of this workshop available for faculty development. This paper reflects on the workshop experiences and the feedback obtained from the participants. Formal and informal feedback obtained provides an understanding of the participants' experiences.

Simulation-based learning (SBL) is rapidly becoming one of the most significant teaching-learning-evaluation strategies available in undergraduate nursing education. While there is indication within the literature and anecdotally about the benefits of simulation, abundant and strong evidence that supports the effectiveness of simulation for learning and evaluation in nursing education is slow to emerge and has yet to be fully established. As the use of SBL increases in nursing education, the need to evaluate students appropriately, accurately, and in reliable ways intensifies. Furthermore, as nursing programs increasingly consider SBL as direct clinical replacement in the context of increased student enrolment and dwindling clinical placements, standardized evaluation must play a vital role. Our study investigated simulation utilization and simulation evaluation practices and approaches employed among undergraduate nursing educational programs in Ontario, Canada, using a mixed methods approach. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected through a confidential online survey. The goal of our study is to establish a "picture" of current trends, practices, and approaches related to simulation that is employed within this entire province. An overview of the study findings and recommendations that have potential to make a substantial contribution to the growing evidence for best practices in the science of simulation will be discussed.

This paper addresses two crucial gaps in the scholarship on the design and execution Simulation-Based Education (SBE) -- the importance of scaffolding in constructing successful simulations for entry-level students and the associated value of social media tools. We examine these issues within three successive iterations of a role-play simulation employed in an introductory undergraduate course. We employ a mixed-methods approach that draws on self-reported learning outcomes from a total sample of 291 students across three years. We argue that running a successful simulated activity hinges upon careful design and scaffolding, and that incorporating social media tools can help to make the learning experience more immersive and more accessible for students.

Literature on simulation games stresses both the need for objective assessment of pedagogical effectiveness and the concern that such assessment may not be happening because it is too difficult. This article speaks to both points by presenting an approach to objectively assess the effectiveness of a simulation called the Human Rights Foreign Policy Game (HRFPG). After describing the HRFPG and its learning objectives, the article explains this approach to assessment. This approach applies and extends upon insights from earlier approaches, especially Shaw, by using a pretest/posttest design and open-ended questions. By performing a thematic analysis of students' posttest descriptions of what they learned, we identify incidents of learning related to the game's learning objectives and then increase our confidence in this assessment by conducting a student-specific turnover analysis to eliminate any claimed learning that had already been expressed on the pretest. We then demonstrate how the resulting data can be used in basic quantitative analyses to ask further interesting questions. Three main conclusions are reached. First, the HRFPG generates objectively assessable learning. Second, the HRFPG does not systematically disadvantage students according to gender or attitudes toward competitive games or group work. Finally, the assessment methodology, while time-consuming, is practicable.

Challenges to the Arctic region abound and intersect. Warming, ice and permafrost melting, and pollution jeopardize health and food security of Indigenous and other Northern communities. Problems related to natural resource extraction and shipping are developing. Because these issues cross sovereign boundaries, they must be addressed multilaterally. The Arctic Council is the principal forum in which Arctic states and Indigenous groups address shared concerns in the region. We co-administered a five-day program on science and diplomacy in the Arctic at Dartmouth College in June 2017 to educate postsecondary students on Arctic challenges and governance, foster skills and confidence related to leadership and diplomacy, and inspire civic action in Arctic and international affairs. The program consisted of lectures, discussions, a teamwork and collaboration exercise, a negotiation workshop, and a Model Arctic Council (MAC)--a simulation of delegates' work in the Arctic Council. We found that students had strongly positive perceptions of the curriculum and felt that they accrued Arctic-related awareness and skills, while developing enthusiasm for engaging in civic affairs. Students attributed the program's value to the use of multiple pedagogies, especially simulation, an interdisciplinary environment, and mentorship from and engagement with Arctic Council and other practitioners.

This study explores the use of the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), a neuro-fuzzy approach, to analyze the log data of technology-based assessments to extract relevant features of student problem-solving processes, and develop and refine a set of fuzzy logic rules that could be used to interpret student performance. The log data that record student response processes while solving a science simulation task were analyzed with ANFIS. Results indicate the ANFIS analysis could generate and refine a set of fuzzy rules that shed lights on the process of how students solve the simulation task. We conclude the article by discussing the advantages of combining human judgments with the learning capacity of ANFIS for log data analysis and outlining the limitations of the current study and areas of future research.

The use of driving simulators is an innovation for police training in Quebec. There are some issues related to their impact on training objectives. This article presents the results of a study involving 71 police cadets who participated in six training sessions with a driving simulator. The training sessions were designed for developing the decision-making skills in regard to emergency driving and pursuit. The nature and consequences of the discomfort experienced by the participants is described. The results highlight the importance of the initial training session. Issues related to providing trainees with adequate support are discussed.

The question of equivalence between two or more groups is frequently of interest to many applied researchers. Equivalence testing is a statistical method designed to provide evidence that groups are comparable by demonstrating that the mean differences found between groups are small enough that they are considered practically unimportant. Few recommendations exist regarding the appropriate use of these tests under varying data conditions. A simulation study was conducted to examine the power and Type I error rates of the confidence interval approach to equivalence testing under conditions of equal and non-equal sample sizes and variability when comparing two and three groups. It was found that equivalence testing performs best when sample sizes are equal. The overall power of the test is strongly influenced by the size of the sample, the amount of variability in the sample, and the size of the difference in the population. Guidelines are provided regarding the use of equivalence tests when analyzing non-optimal data.

This paper provides an overview of a collaborative model with which to equip educators with the tools to apply and embed simulated person (SP) methodology in their teaching. Our aim is to expand opportunities to foster student success through simulation by embedding the training of simulators and faculty within undergraduate education. The development of this model supports the application of SP methodology within higher education and involves a) developing an applied elective course for undergraduate theatre students that will provide them with the opportunity to learn simulation methodology and to develop skills that will prepare them to work in the field of simulation as SPs, b) delivering workshops to educate faculty to work with and effectively utilize SPs as a pedagogical approach for teaching undergraduate students, and c) using fundamental principles of experiential learning to provide educators, SPs, and students with opportunities to work collaboratively across disciplines.

The cultural, legal and ethical aspects of medical practice in Canada can be problematic for International Medical Graduates (IMGs) to access and learn. The professional behaviours that depend on effective communication often challenge IMGs as they attempt to enter the Canadian medical system. The Communication and Cultural Competence Program provides a complex interactive web-based environment in which IMGs can learn and practice skills required to navigate these specific elements of medical practice. The educational design of this web site is based on the theory of knowledge building (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 2003). This paper examines how video simulation is used on the web site to support this design. Experiential simulation pedagogy, typically used in high-fidelity face-to-face encounters, is analyzed. Strategies to translate this pedagogy to an e-learning format to operationalize authentic knowledge building are described. Commentaries replace live facilitation and a communication tool, the Observation Guide, allows learners to participate in the simulation. This examination provides insight into the complexity involved in creating on-line resources that extend beyond clinical content repositories, illustrating the potential for web-based programs to provide reflective and recursive learning. A wide skill set with a broad base of support was necessary to create a virtual environment with depth and authenticity. Translating the process from live simulation to a mid-fidelity digital video format allowed for deeper understanding of how the unique skills of experienced simulators impact the educational process. This multi-dimensional e-learning platform has potential for teaching complex skills in medical programs. (Contains 2 footnotes.)

The use of high fidelity simulation (HFS) learning opportunities in nursing education has received increased attention in the literature. This article describes the design of a systematic framework used to promote critical inquiry and provide meaningful simulation clinical experiences for second year nursing students. Critical inquiry, as defined by the College of Nurses of Ontario, is incorporated in the three key aspects of the framework: (a) resources, (b) simulation, and (c) debriefing/critical inquiry. Research is required to establish reliable and valid instruments that measure the identified learning outcomes associated with simulation.

Drama has been effectively used in many learning contexts including English as a second language classes. However, it has received less attention in foreign/second contexts. This article explores how drama for learning can impact upon the relationships among attitudes, motivation and learning in French second language (FSL) classrooms. The authors describe a second language research project done in grade 9 and 10 classrooms based on the principles of drama for learning including play and make believe, learning in context, and ownership of learning. Global simulation, the particular form of drama for learning used in the project, involves a voyage of discovery undertaken by a group involving a final destination and an itinerary. During this second language journey, students act, react and interact to create meaningful individual and group experiences and incorporate cooperative learning principles. The approach also allows the facilitators to draw on Gardner's multiple intelligence theory in order to structure activities that maximize students' individual strengths. The research project included development and piloting of the global simulation module, assessment of the pilot as well as assessment of implications for its future use. Data gathered for assessment included student questionnaires and teacher interviews. Results of the project indicated that there were improvements in the learning environments, including an increased level of motivation on the part of the learners involved. The teachers also expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the approach, especially because of their involvement in the development and implementation of the material from the beginning, which appeared to give them a sense of ownership and empowered them in their professional growth. Students also appeared to become more active and engaged in their learning as a result of a sense of ownership over their drama productions. In general, the results suggest that drama for learning and specifically global simulation are viable approaches for grade 9 and 10 FSL classes. This research lays the groundwork and provides direction and concrete resource materials for those who would like to experiment with global simulation in enhancing motivation among students in second language classrooms.

Peer victimization is associated with increased risk for mental health problems. These adverse psychological outcomes are linked with altered cognitive and emotional processes and their related neural functioning. In the present study, by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined whether peer victimization was associated with heightened neural response to social exclusion. Participants (N = 45; M[subscript age] = 17.7 years, SD = 0.60; 36 women) included three mutually exclusive groups: peer-victimized individuals (targets of bullying), cyberdefenders (defended peers who were being cyberbullied), and controls (not involved as targets or cyberdefenders). All participants underwent an fMRI scan while playing "Cyberball," an experimental paradigm that simulates social exclusion. Peer victimization was associated with increased neural response in the left amygdala, left parahippocampal gyrus, left inferior frontal operculum, and right fusiform gyrus. Understanding the acute neural response to social exclusion in peer-victimized individuals may provide insight into their increased risk for poor mental health.

Context: Athletic therapy students learn emergency skills through a variety of modes, including students portraying injured athletes and cardiopulmonary resuscitation manikins. Although acceptable and satisfactory forms of teaching, these methods are limited in their ability to create realistic physiological symptoms of injury. Objective: To assess how athletic therapy students perceive their learning needs (LNs) relative to the use of high-fidelity manikin simulation (HFMS) compared with student simulation (SS) in the laboratory setting. Design: Pretest-posttest study design. Setting: Nursing Simulation Centre, Sheridan College, Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Patients or Other Participants: Thirty students from the Bachelor of Applied Health Science (Athletic Therapy) program at Sheridan College in years 2 and 4. Intervention(s): Perceived LNs related to the use of the Laerdal Medical SimMan3G HFMS contrasted with the use of SS for learning to respond to a prescribed emergency scenario. Main Outcome Measure(s): Participants completed questionnaires for both the SS and HFMS environments that consisted of 16 specific LNs spanning the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains of learning. Paired t tests and a 2-way analysis of variance were used to analyze the questionnaire data. Results: Participants reported all LNs as being equally important in both environments, but HFMS was identified as a better environment for achieving 13 of the 16 LNs. The mean change from pretesting to posttesting of all LNs in the affective domain improved significantly (P < 0.05) in the HFMS environment. Year 4 participants deemed HFMS to be a more effective means of learning in the cognitive and psychomotor domains (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The HFMS experience enhanced athletic therapy students' perceptions of their confidence, base of knowledge, decision-making skills, and overall acute management of critical lifesaving situations. The HMFS environment is a more effective tool for addressing the LNs in the affective domain, which includes skills related to confidence, attitudes, values, and appreciations.

This paper describes the redesign and implementation of an introductory Information Systems class. The redesign was guided by principles drawn from the experiential and active learning literature. Central to the redesign are two simulated companies: petGRO, a fictional ERP-enabled pet food and accessories e-tailer, and beans4all, a technology consulting company of which all registered students are employees. Students work in solution crews throughout the semester to solve a set of technology-related challenges that their client, petGRO, is facing. Initial student response to the redesign has been mixed. Survey responses indicate that students have an increased interest in IS after taking the course. There was a significant increase in students' perception of the usefulness of the knowledge gained from the course in subsequent courses. However, this result is countered by a decrease in students' perception of whether the course led to an improvement in their academic skills. Open-ended comments reveal the polarizing nature of the redesign but with more positive than negative comments.

This review provides a rough sketch of the evidence, gaps and promising directions in e-learning from 2000 onwards, with a particular focus on Canada. The authors searched a wide range of sources and document types to ensure that we represented, comprehensively, the arguments surrounding e-learning. Overall, there were 2,042 entries in their database, of which they reviewed 1,146, including all the Canadian primary research and all scholarly reviews of the literature. In total, there were 726 documents included in the review: 235--general public opinion; 131--trade/practitioners' opinion; 88--policy documents; 120--reviews; and 152--primary empirical research. The Argument Catalogue codebook included the following eleven classes of variables: (1) Document Source; (2) Areas/Themes of e-learning; (3) Value/Impact; (4) Type of evidence; (5) Research design; (6) Area of applicability; (7) Pedagogical implementation factors; 8) A-priori attitudes; (9) Types of learners; (10) Context; and (11) Technology Factors. The authors examined the data from a number of perspectives, including their quality as evidence. In the primary research literature, they examined the kinds of research designs that were used. They found that over half of the studies conducted in Canada are qualitative in nature, while the rest are split in half between surveys and quantitative studies (correlational and experimental). When they looked at the nature of the research designs, they found that 51% are qualitative case studies and 15.8% are experimental or quasi-experimental studies. The findings of this review showed that studies that can increase the general understanding of "what works" in e-learning settings are underrepresented in the Canadian research literature. This article discusses the results of the research as well as implications for K-12 practitioners, post-secondary education, and policymakers.

Objective: We modeled design factors influencing the intent to use a university mental health service. Participants: Between November 2012 and October 2014, 909 undergraduates participated. Method: Using a discrete choice experiment, participants chose between hypothetical campus mental health services. Results: Latent class analysis identified three segments. A Psychological/Psychiatric Service segment (45.5%) was most likely to contact campus health services delivered by psychologists or psychiatrists. An Alternative Service segment (39.3%) preferred to talk to peer-counselors who had experienced mental health problems. A Hesitant segment (15.2%) reported greater distress but seemed less intent on seeking help. They preferred services delivered by psychologists or psychiatrists. Simulations predicted that, rather than waiting for standard counseling, the Alternative Service segment would prefer immediate access to E-Mental health. The Usual Care and Hesitant segments would wait 6 months for standard counseling. Conclusions: E-Mental Health options could engage students who may not wait for standard services.

Renal clearance, the volume of blood cleared of a substance in a particular time period, is commonly recognized as one of the most difficult concepts in physiology. This difficulty may in part reflect the quantitative nature of renal clearance since many life sciences majors perceive that mathematics is irrelevant to their discipline. Students may infer from the clearance definition that, in blood leaving the kidney, the blood volume corresponding to the clearance will be completely free of the substance, but the remainder of the blood volume will contain the original concentration. Thus, renal clearance is difficult for students to master both qualitatively and quantitatively. A variety of excellent case studies have been developed to address the quantitative aspect; these provide opportunities to practice calculating clearance and other indicators of renal handling (3, 4, 6). However, although students may become proficient at slotting clinical values into memorized formulae, personal experience suggests that these activities do not always result in conceptual understanding, even when coupled with well-designed diagrams and videos. Using clay droplets to represent water volumes (50 ml/droplet) and beads to represent solutes (10 mg/bead), students trace the path of solutes and water as they enter the glomerulus, are exchanged between the tubule and peritubular capillaries, and eventually leave the kidney in urine or in the renal vein. The simulation thus allows students to visualize and enact dynamic processes in a way that cannot be done with data sets, images, or videos. This activity was developed to improve student understanding by modeling the renal handling of different solutes in a quantifiable manner.

In this article, we present the results of two studies that evaluated an experiential intersectionality awareness activity, "C'est La Vie: The Game of Social Life." For Study 1 (N = 55), we content analyzed students' short answer responses about inequality written before and after playing "C'est La Vie." Study 2 compared a "C'est La Vie" treatment group (N = 179) to a lecture-as-usual control condition (N = 64). Across both studies, playing "C'est La Vie" was associated with an expanded awareness of privilege and structural inequality. Follow-up analyses with a subset of Study 2 control participants (N = 27) established that participants who were originally in the control group experienced gains in awareness of privilege and structural inequality (relative to pretest and the lecture-as-usual) only after being exposed to "C'est La Vie." The results are interpreted within the context of an intersectionality framework.

Reviewed transition to work life literature and interviewed 5 youth counselors and 14 youths regarding their views of transition process, barriers to successful transitions, characteristics of successful transitions, and meaning of work. Both groups consistently identified employment skills, employer characteristics, and social support as important factors in transition. (Author/NB)

We surveyed researchers in the health and exercise sciences to explore different areas and magnitudes of bias in researchers' decision making. Participants were presented with scenarios (testing a central hypothesis with p = 0.06 or p = 0.04) in a random order and surveyed about what they would do in each scenario. Participants showed significant bias in deciding to randomize additional participants when p = 0.06 (24.5%) compared to when p = 0.04 (6.5%), ?[superscript 2] = 19.86, odds ratio (OR) = 13.5. Based on this bias to randomize additional participants, we present statistical simulations showing the cumulative negative effect this bias has on the false positive rate for a field. While it is important for researchers to have flexibility in their data-processing decisions, there is a cost/benefit trade-off to experimenter degrees of freedom and it is important that these decisions be unbiased. These data highlight the importance of a priori analysis plans in research.

This article investigates the particular mechanisms through which a role-play simulation impacts student perceptions of knowledge acquisition. Longitudinal data were mobilized in the form of quantitative and qualitative surveys to examine whether the simulation succeeded in increasing knowledge around both content and skills. It then delves deeper into the relationship between simulations and knowledge transmission by exploring the role of online technologies and stakeholder choice as mediators. This analysis reveals two major insights: (1) the importance of thoughtfully embedding the simulation within the overarching logic of the course itself, and (2) the potential contribution of online technologies to enhancing student knowledge acquisition.

This article uses pre- and post-surveys to assess learning outcomes associated with a role-play simulation set within a fictionalized extension of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Quantitative and qualitative data suggest that the simulation increased student appreciation of the complexity of international negotiation, but decreased student interest and self-assessment of skill proficiency. These results underscore the learning potential of the role-play simulation: it challenges notions of student idealism, leaving students with a more realistic sense of why Multilateral Environmental Agreements are so difficult to negotiate in the real-world.

Determining word meanings that ought to be taught or introduced is important for educators. A sequence for vocabulary growth can be inferred from many sources, including testing children's knowledge of word meanings at various ages, predicting from print frequency, or adult-recalled Age of Acquisition. A new approach, Word Maturity, is based on applying Latent Semantic Analysis to patterns of word occurrences in texts used with children. This article reports substantial correlations in the 0.67 to 0.74 range between Word Maturity estimates and the ages of acquiring word meanings from two studies of children's knowledge of word meanings, controlling for homographs. The agreement among these markedly different methods for determining when word meanings are understood opens up new research avenues. In addition, we have found that print frequency is associated with Word Maturity and tested knowledge of word meanings and that understanding concrete meanings required less print frequency exposure than verbally defined meanings.

As part of their undergraduate mathematics curriculum, students at Brock University learn to create and use computer-based tools with dynamic, visual interfaces, called Exploratory Objects, developed for the purpose of conducting pure or applied mathematical investigations. A student's Development Process Model of creating and using an Exploratory Object provides insights on the kinds of activities emerging from their creation and use. We propose to discuss Exploratory Objects by examining them, as a learning activity, across a literature review involving four educational areas: learning mathematics by use of simulation, learning mathematics by programming, learning experimental mathematics, and inquiry-based learning in science and mathematics education. Through this contextualisation, a refinement of the Development Process Model is proposed. Our results suggest that the learning activity of creating and using Exploratory Object is closely related to that of using microworlds.

This paper addresses the determination of statistically desirable response rates in students' surveys, with emphasis on assessing the effect of underlying variability in the student evaluation of teaching (SET). We discuss factors affecting the determination of adequate response rates and highlight challenges caused by non-response and lack of randomization. Estimates of underlying variability were obtained for a period of 4 years, from online evaluations at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Simulations were used to examine the effect of underlying variability on desirable response rates. The UBC response rates were compared to those reported in the literature. Results indicate that small differences in underlying variability may not impact desired rates. We present acceptable response rates for a range of variability scenarios, class sizes, confidence level, and margin of error. The stability of estimates observed at UBC, over a 4-year period, indicates that valid model-based inferences of SET could be made.

Problem solving is an essential skill for nuclear engineering graduates entering the workforce. Training in qualitative and quantitative aspects of problem solving allows students to conceptualise and execute solutions to complex problems. Solutions to problems in high consequence fields of study such as nuclear engineering require rapid and accurate analysis of the problems, design of solutions (focusing on public safety, environmental stewardship and ethics), solution execution and monitoring results. A three-month course in problem solving, modelling and simulation was designed and a collaborative approach was undertaken with instructors from both industry and academia. Training was optimised for the laptop-based pedagogy, which provided unique advantages for a course that includes modelling and simulation components. The concepts and tools learned as part of the training were observed to be utilised throughout the duration of student university studies and interviews with students who have entered the workforce indicate that the approaches learned and practised are retained long term. (Contains 5 figures and 2 tables.)

Measurement invariance is a common consideration in the evaluation of the validity and fairness of test scores when the tested population contains distinct groups of examinees, such as examinees receiving different forms of a translated test. Measurement invariance in polytomous items has traditionally been evaluated at the item-level, corresponding to what is broadly referred to as differential item functioning. However, recent advances in the study of measurement invariance in polytomous items has documented the value in examining invariance at the level of each step of the polytomous item, referred to as differential step functioning. To date, little documentation exists of methodology that can simultaneously evaluate both item-level and step-level invariance effects using a common parametric model. In this article, we describe how to use the partial credit model to simultaneously evaluate item-level and step-level invariance effects. A simulation study as well as a large empirical example are presented to demonstrate the use of this methodology applied to a large-scale administration of a translated test. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)