This article examines the differences between computer adaptive (CAT) and self-adapted testing (SAT) along with possible differences in feedback conditions and gender. Areas of comparison include measurement precision/ efficiency and student test characteristics. Participants included 623 undergraduates from a large Midwestern university who took math placement tests in a 4 (condition) × 2 (feedback) × 2 (gender) design. The four conditions included: a) CAT; b) SAT-Global; c) SAT-Individual; and d) SAT-Placebo groups. Multivariate Analysis of Variance was used to analyze the data. The perceived control hypothesis was used as a framework to explain the differences between CAT and SAT. Results indicated that measurement efficiency is differentially affected by the type of test condition with the SAT-Global condition performing worse than the others. Moreover, there were significant gender effects with regard to ability, test length, and test anxiety. There was no relative advantage for the inclusion of item feedback. Implications for computerized adaptive testing and areas of future research are discussed. fewer items than traditional fixed-item tests [1]. However, the increased efficiency of computerized testing may come at the cost of higher test anxiety for some examinees [2].As an attempt to give the examinee increased control over the testing situation and thereby reduce test anxiety, self-adapted testing (SAT) is a technique that has met with some success [3,4]. Instead of the computer systematically selecting an item in an attempt to maximize information at the examinee's current ability estimate, SAT lets individuals select items calibrated to a "desired" (relative) difficulty level. Otherwise, the calculation of ability level and estimate precision is carried out as it normally is with CAT. For example, before an individual is presented with an item, he/she is asked how difficult of an item they would prefer. The levels of difficulty can vary, typically ranging from three (easy, medium, hard) up to eight. Using the difficulty range chosen by the individual, the algorithm selects items specifically tailored to the present ability estimate. SAT has been found to lessen the increase in anxiety that occurs with computerized testing [3][4][5].Research has not fully investigated the cause of anxiety reduction in SAT. Three hypotheses were offered by Wise et al. [6]. One possible explanation, the self-monitoring hypothesis, states that SAT allows the examinee access to information beyond which would be available to a traditional computerized testing algorithm (e.g., current affective (emotional) and motivational states) [7]. For example, some examinees begin an examination by feeling apprehensive, anxious, or insecure about their ability. In other cases, examinees may feel quite optimistic and confident in their mastery of the test content. This additional information about affective and motivational states allows the student to tailor the test to their specific psychological states and thus reduce their anxiety....

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Nonadherence to prescribed medication and healthy behaviors is a pressing health care issue. Much research has been conducted in this area under a variety of labels, such as compliance, disease management and, most recently, adherence. However, the complex factors related to predicting and, more importantly, understanding and explaining adherence, have nevertheless remained elusive. However, through an in-depth linguistic analysis of patient talk, the International Center for Intercultural Communication (ICIC) at Indiana University has produced a psycholinguistic coding system that uses patients’ own language to cluster them into distinct groups based on their worldviews. ICIC’s studies have shown, for example, that patients reveal their fundamental perceptions about themselves and their environment in their life narratives; clustering of individual patients based on these different perceptions is possible via the use of differential language in survey questions, and differential language can be used to tailor messages for individual patients in a manner that these individuals prefer over generically worded communication. In grant-funded research, an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the ICIC reviewed the literature and identified three basic psychosocial tenets related to adherence: control orientation, based on locus of control research; agency, based on self-efficacy; and affect or attitude and emotion. These three constructs were selected because, in the published literature, they have been consistently found to be connected to patient adherence. Based on this research, a survey, the CoMac Descriptor™ was developed. This report shows that The Descriptor™ questions and responses are valid and reliable in segmenting patients across psychosocial constructs, which will have positive implications for health care providers and patients.

Abstract--Funded by 5-year, $2M grant from the National Science Foundation, the Central Indiana STEM Talent Expansion Program (CI-STEP) at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is creating a pipeline of students and a campus culture change to increase the number of undergraduates obtaining Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) degrees. CI-STEP addresses initiatives needed for transforming the undergraduate STEM experience by propagating, expanding, and creating new evidence-based educational innovations in undergraduate STEM education at IUPUI.The primary goal of the project is to employ and assess the impact of several intervention strategies focused on student success, leading to higher numbers of students graduating with STEM degrees. These interventions include: new STEM Summer Bridge Academies; strengthened articulation agreements; peer-mentoring, and academic advising support for community college transfer students; expansion of Peer-led Team Learning, Just-in-Time Teaching, and other facultyinitiated, evidence-based educational opportunities; and development and expansion of career development services and internships for undergraduates. This paper will describe CI-STEP, including the project's purpose and progress-to-date. Specific attention will focus on ways to involve faculty in implementing, adopting, and adapting evidence-based approaches to educating STEM undergraduate students. Successful strategies, conclusions-to-date, lessons learned, and implications for replication, scalability, and sustainability will also be discussed.

This study examines three aspects of a new vocational interest assessment, the Merkler Style Preference Inventory (MSPI). The MSPI is a 60-item computer-administered instrument that makes vocational pursuit recommendations based on an interest profile. It also produces a list of recommended college majors. Seventy-eight undergraduates from a large midwestern university participated in a study in which they took the MSPI and either the Strong Interest Inventory-Strong Vocational Interest Battery (SII-SVIB) or the Kuder Preference Record (Kuder) during one evaluation session. In a follow- up 2 weeks later, the participants took the MSPI once again and the inventory that was not administered during the first session. Order of SII-SVIB and Kuder form completion was randomly assigned. Test-retest reliability across the six subscales of the MSPI ranged from .70 to .86 with a median reliability of .79. Internal consistency coefficients for the six MSPI subscales ranged from .49 to .74 with a median correlation of .72. Concurrent validity correlations of the MSPI with the SII-SVIB ranged from .25 to .52 with a median correlation of .34. The same analysis for the Kuder produced a range of correlations from .31 to .63 with a median correlation of .41. A confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL indicated a stronger empirical alignment of the MSPI on the Kuder than on the SII-SVIB, even though the MSPI was modeled after the dimensions of the SII- SVIB. Recommendations are made for future work on this instrument.