Background:Validity is the most important characteristic of tests and social science researchers have a general consensus of opinion that the trustworthiness of any substantive research depends on the validity of the instruments employed to gather the data.Objective:It is a common practice among psychologists and educationalists to provide validity evidence for their instruments by fitting a latent trait model such as exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis or the Rasch model. However, there has been little discussion on the rationale behind model fitting and its use as validity evidence. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question: why the fit of data to a latent trait model counts as validity evidence for a test?Method:To answer this question latent trait theory and validity concept as delineated by Borsboom and his colleagues in a number of publications between 2003 to 2013 is reviewed.Results:Validating psychological tests employing latent trait models rests on the assumption of conditional independence. If this assumption holds it means that there is a ‘common cause’ underlying the co-variation among the test items, which hopefully is our intended construct.Conclusion:Providing validity evidence by fitting latent trait models is logistically easy and straightforward. However, it is of paramount importance that researchers appreciate what they do and imply about their measures when they demonstrate that their data fit a model. This helps them to avoid unforeseen pitfalls and draw logical conclusions.
The present study investigated the relationship between Iranian English language teachers' reflectivity and their brain dominant quadrants. To this end, 102 Iranian EFL teachers at several language institutes and universities (i.e., Bojnord, Ghochan, Gonabad, Kashmar, Shandiz, Neyshaboor, & Mashhad) in Iran participated in this study. The Brain Dominance Survey which was developed by Ashraf, Tabatabaee Yazdi, & Kafi was employed to categorize participants as right and left brain dominant, and English Language Teaching Reflection Inventory developed by Akbari, Behzadpoor, & Dadvand was administered to measure teacher reflectivity. Then the data was analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression analysis to investigate the extent to which teachers' brain dominant quadrants might have predictive power in their reflective teaching practices. Results indicated a statistically positive significant correlation with teachers who used their A quadrant and teaching reflectiveness whilst teachers with C quadrant dominance had a negative significant correlation with being reflective. Moreover, regression analyses revealed that there is no significant relationship between reflectivity and teachers' B and D brain quadrants dominance. To teach more reflectively, teachers need to better understand their brain differences and how it can affect the teaching strategies. All teachers should find ways to combine teaching activities that involve both left and right of their brain, and not only practice six underlying factors of reflection in their teaching but also employ reflective procedures in order to develop their reflective practices.
Abstract-In foreign language setting, there are some social psychological variables that can highly influence on the teachers' and learners performance. One of these important variables in language pedagogy is Selfefficacy "an individual's confidence in his/her ability to engage in the social interactional tasks necessary to initiate and maintain interpersonal relationships" (Bandura, 2006). Another influential factor that is importance in teaching contexts is burnout. Burn out is defined as a result of long term job-related stress, especially among human service workers such as teachers (Jennett, Harris, &Mesibov, 2003). This study, which utilized qualitative _ quantitative methodologies, aimed at measuring the relationship between the self-efficacy of Iranian English teachers and their feelings of burnout. The needed data were gathered through the application of the two questionnaires: The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI; Maslach & Jackson 1981, 1986) and a researchersmade questionnaire of self-efficacy. The participants are as 616 professional experienced teachers from both genders and different age groups, having university education from different provinces of Iran. The SPSS software (version 16) was used to change the data into numerical interpretable data. To determine the relationship between self-efficacy and teachers' burnout, correlational analysis was employed. The result showed that the participants' self-efficacy has a reverse relationship with their burnout. In addition, a significant relationship was observed between teachers' reports of burnout, and their years of experiences.
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