A longitudinal neuroimaging dataset on language processing in children ages 5, 7, and 9 years old

This dataset examines language development with a longitudinal design and includes diffusion- and T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), task-based functional MRI (fMRI), and a battery of psycho-educational assessments and parental questionnaires. We collected data from 5.5-6.5-year-old children (ses-5) and followed them up when they were 7-8 years old (ses-7) and then again at 8.5-10 years old (ses-9). To increase the sample size at the older time points, another cohort of 7-8-year-old children (ses-7) were recruited and followed up when they were 8.5–10 years old (ses-9). In total, 322 children who completed at least one structural and functional scan were included. Children performed four fMRI tasks consisting of two word-level tasks examining phonological and semantic processing and two sentence-level tasks investigating semantic and syntactic processing. The MRI data is valuable for examining changes over time in interactive specialization due to the use of multiple imaging modalities and tasks in this longitudinal design. In addition, the extensive psycho-educational assessments and questionnaires provide opportunities to explore brain-behavior and brain-environment associations.

Evaluasi Pendidikan Menuju Insan Kamil Perspektif Filsafat Islam

This article aims to learn how to conduct an adequate evaluation using approaches based on Islamic philosophy. Because inconsistencies in the implementation of educational assessments can lead to less than optimal results after inspection, this requires appropriate methods for the full review. The author made this article with a library approach, collecting materials from library books, research reports, newspapers, books, research reports, theses, dissertations, and scientific journals in print and non-print media. In Islamic education, the purpose of the evaluation is to make al-Insan al-Kamil human or a complete human person. Likewise, the purpose of education is to educate students to have faith, be pious, develop a religious mentality, master science, and apply what has been learned in school to adapt to the life of the wider community. Evaluation can also provide feedback to students about their achievements and the extent of their perspectives and knowledge during the learning process. Philosophy also educates people to think, have insight, and reason broadly to view an event or problem from various perspectives, with the result being the correct answer.

Comparative Judgement for Linking Two Existing Scales

This article describes an efficient way of using comparative judgement to calibrate scores from different educational assessments against one another (a task often referred to as test linking or equating). The context is distinct from other applications of comparative judgement as there is no need to create a new achievement scale using a Bradley-Terry model (or similar). The proposed method takes advantage of this fact to include evidence from the largest possible number of examples of students’ performances on the separate assessments whilst keeping the amount of time required from expert judges as low as possible. The paper describes the method and shows, via simulation, how it achieves greater accuracy than alternative approaches to the use of comparative judgement for test equating or linking.

Play-based learning and phenomenon-based learning in the Finnish Early Childhood Education

Since 2005, with the impact of the results of international educational assessments, Finland and its educational system has been the focus of interest for educators around the world and different aspects of the system's functioning and structure have been explored. This text presents two of the key elements in early childhood education and care, learning based on play and learning based on the phenomenon; and how these pedagogical approaches structure practices that support students' learning, and are articulated with the subsequent educational process. Going beyond the mere description of pedagogical practices and not repeat what other researchers have already narrated about the Finnish educational system, the developmental aspects of these practices and how they are articulated with the extensive training of teachers is evident throughout this text.

On Educational Assessment Theory: A High-Level Discussion of Adolphe Quetelet, Platonism, and Ergodicity

Educational assessments, specifically standardized and normalized exams, owe most of their foundations to psychological test theory in psychometrics. While the theoretical assumptions of these practices are widespread and relatively uncontroversial in the testing community, there are at least two that are philosophically and mathematically suspect and have troubling implications in education. Assumption 1 is that repeated assessment measures that are calculated into an arithmetic mean are thought to represent some real stable, quantitative psychological trait or ability plus some error. Assumption 2 is that aggregated, group-level educational data collected from assessments can then be interpreted to make inferences about a given individual person over time without explicit justification. It is argued that the former assumption cannot be taken for granted; it is also argued that, while it is typically attributed to 20th century thought, the assumption in a rigorous form can be traced back at least to the 1830s via an unattractive Platonistic statistical thesis offered by one of the founders of the social sciences—Belgian mathematician Adolphe Quetelet (1796–1874). While contemporary research has moved away from using his work directly, it is demonstrated that cognitive psychology is still facing the preservation of assumption 1, which is becoming increasingly challenged by current paradigms that pitch human cognition as a dynamical, complex system. However, how to deal with assumption 1 and whether it is broadly justified is left as an open question. It is then argued that assumption 2 is only justified by assessments having ergodic properties, which is a criterion rarely met in education; specifically, some forms of normalized standardized exams are intrinsically non-ergodic and should be thought of as invalid assessments for saying much about individual students and their capability. The article closes with a call for the introduction of dynamical mathematics into educational assessment at a conceptual level (e.g., through Bayesian networks), the critical analysis of several key psychological testing assumptions, and the introduction of dynamical language into philosophical discourse. Each of these prima facie distinct areas ought to inform each other more closely in educational studies.

A Review of Standardised Assessment Development Procedure and Algorithms for Computer Adaptive Testing: Applications and Relevance for Fourth Industrial Revolution

Teaching and learning have gone online in response to the pandemic, which reveals the need for accurately tailored educational assessments to ascertain the extent to which learning outcomes or objectives are achieved. Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) is a technology-driven form of assessment that tailors items to a candidate's ability level with empirically proven benefits over the fixed-form computer based test. A systematic review was employed which shows that item bank is a key requirement for CAT and the items must through a rigorous item development process to ensure and maintain quality in terms of content, criterion constructs and internal consistency, determining the psychometric validation of behavioural measures while leveraging on variances of Item Response Theory (IRT). Following the item development stage is the need to compile validated items into administrable forms using advanced computer software for automatic test assembly and administration, such as FastTest which allows specifying empirically tried algorithms for CAT from start to termination of the test. This helps to ensure that assessment properly leverages the advantages that CAT holds. Furthermore, the review revealed that CAT has been widely applied with large-scale testing in various fields by educational, health and psychological professionals utilising different IRT models; however only in developed countries. This brings to bear the need for adoption in other parts of the world, for improvements in educational assessments. The interjections of 4IR with AI considering emerging technology aids the CAT algorithm for achieving expert and knowledge-based systems, being a requirement for survival in today’s world.

Consequences of Ignoring Guessing Effects on Measurement Invariance Analysis

Pseudo-guessing parameters are present in item response theory applications for many educational assessments. When sample size is not sufficiently large, the guessing parameters may be ignored from the analysis. This study examines the impact of ignoring pseudo-guessing parameters on measurement invariance analysis, specifically, on item difficulty, item discrimination, and mean and variance of ability distribution. Results show that when non-zero guessing parameters are ignored from the measurement invariance analysis, item discrimination estimates tend to decrease particularly for more difficult items, and item difficulty estimates decrease unless the items are highly discriminating and difficult. As the guessing parameter increases, the size of the decrease in item discrimination and difficulty tends to increase, and the estimated mean and variance of ability distribution tend to be inaccurate. When two groups have heterogeneous ability distributions, ignoring the guessing parameter affects the reference group and the focal group differently. Implications of result findings are discussed.