Educational Measurement
Year:2011 | Volume:2 | Issue:5|Papers Count:9

Background: Academic procrastination has been an important debate in recent years, and many researchers see it as a bad habit (Chase, 2003) and also a behavioral problem that many adults experience it in their daily activities (Johansen and Carton, 1999).Objective: The main purpose of this research was to examine the psychometric properties of academic procrastination test.Method: 247 (142 females and 105 males) students of Payame Noor University of Ahvaz were selected using randomly multi-stage cluster sampling method.Results: A factor analysis, using the principal components analysis (vaimax rotation) resulted in three factors that consisted of 61.11% of variance. Cronbach's Alpha reliability coeffients (internal consistency) were satisfactory for the whole scale was 0.85 (first factor: 0.77, second: 0/6 & third factor: 0.70. Factor analysis showed that constructed test combined from 3 factor (deliberating procrastination, Physical-mental causing procrastination, and procrastination causing without programming. Validity of this test obtained through relation between Tuckman (1991) questionnaire with constructed test (0.35).Conclusion: It can be concluded that the academic procrastination test has a good reliability and validity, and is a useful instrument to assess students' academic procrastination.

Background: Evaluation is an important component in higher education. In few last decades, in the higher education of Iran, validation approach to evaluate and validate the higher education system has been used. The first phase of higher education evaluation was internal evaluation of Educational Departments in most universities across the country.Objective: This paper aims to report on the implementation of internal evaluation in the Department of Educational Management of the college of Ppsychology and Education in Allameh Tabataba'i University in order to improve educational quality.Method: This paper points out the findings obtained from a case study of implementing internal evaluation, encompassing 12 steps, in the department of educational management of a university in Iran. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used to collect data from the heads, faculty members, students, alumni, and library staff of the department, as well as the immediate managers of the alumni. The methods of data collection included interviews, document review, questionnaires, and checklists.Results: In general, the results of the research showed that the average of seven criteria under evaluation (Department management goal and structure, Faculty members, Students, Alumni, Teaching and learning processes, Implemented courses, educational equipments and resources) in three departments was quite desirable.Conclusion: This report can be a basis for the procedures necessary for continuous improvement of the quality of Educational Departments, developing the necessary culture and conditions for accountability in higher education, monitoring the internal quality, improving the staff quality, and clarifying the mission, goals and objectives of the program/institution.

Background: E-teaching and e-learning as modern methods has had an evolutionary trend during the recent decades. Since e-learning environments are free from time and space, assessment of students' learning is also a challenging problem in such settings.Objective: The objective of the present study was to examine the impact of e-portfolio on attitude, motivation and academic achievement of Khajeh Nasirddin Toosi University's E- Learning Center Students.Method: The research methods was quasi-experimental and statistics population included all the Khajeh Nasirddin Toosi University's e- Learning Center students who were enrolled in computer engineering course in the second semester of 1389-90 academic year . The sample comprised Two classes of data structure courses that were chosen purposively. The two classes had 50 students that due to lack of cooperation of 10 students, the sample size was 40 individuals who were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. At first, of each group, a pre-test was done in same conditions and then experimental group was exposed to the independent variable. In this way that experimental group trained with e-portfolio and control group trained with conventional method during of 2 months of semester. In order to examine the obtained variations, a post-test of the each group was taken at the end of 2 months. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analysis the data.Results: Tthe results showed significantly an increased attitude, motivation and academic achievement toward the examination in the experimental groups compared with the control group. Students, who were trained through e-portfolio, had a high motivation, positive attitude toward the examination and high academic achievement respectively.Conclusion: We can suggest the use of e-portfolio in e-learning as one of the modern methods in assessment.

Background: Concept maps usage expanding as an academic achievement measurement tools great a challenge in scoring them. This study introduces three scoring methods of the concept maps tests: (1) relational method that in which a relationship between concepts separately was scored. (2) structural method that based on scores was given to hierarchical organization of the concepts. (3) similarity method that in which a student’s concept map compares with a teacher’s concept map and assign score for each section of the map.Objective: The objective of the present research was to examining the validity and reliability of concept map-based tests scoring methods. critical validity, interpreter reliability and discriminative reliability were used to identify the most appropriate method of scoring.Method: the subjects of the research comprised 105 high school students in Tabriz city who were present in four classes.Results: Results showed that the relational method of scoring has higher quantities of the indicators than other methods. Similarity scoring method has the lowest indices in comparison with two other methods.Conclusion: These findings may have some implications in evaluating students' academic achievement which will be discussed in this paper.

Background: One of the important subjects in learning process is individual’s epistemology beliefs. These beliefs related to individual’s understanding, how to obtain and validity of knowledge and individual imagination of ability and speed for learning.Objective: This research was done with the aim of confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis of Schommer’s epistemology beliefs scale among Iranian students.Method: The method of research is correlation. Participants were 366 first grade students of high school in Baharestan town whom were selected with random cluster sampling. They answered to the 63-item of Schommer’s epistemology belief scale. The data were analyzed through first and second confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory factor analysis.Results: A first confirmatory factor analysis confirmed existing nine components and second confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that all of the bring components located in epistemology belief concept. An exploratory factor analysis executed on nine components lead to created 3 subscales: individual prejudice about understanding, person beliefs about the ability and speed for learning, and knowledge certainty.Conclusion: In sum, Schommer’s modified epistemology beliefs scale has a good reliability and validity, and we can use them to evaluate students' epistemology beliefs.

Background: One of the important issues related to test anxiety is its impact on students' performance. Further, having a standardized instrument to measure test anxiety is also a significant factor.Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine the psychometric properties of a Test Anxiety Inventory in university students. The purported four dimensional structures of test anxiety (Other-Referenced, Self-esteem, Worry and Blame) were tested.Method: The test anxiety inventory was given to the sample group (n=200). Dimensionality assumptions were tested using confirmatory factor analysis. The trait conception was tested separately for subscales by confirmatory factor models and a principal component factor analysis. Results: The results were supportive of the purported four-dimensional structures a (i.e., acceptable model fit) as well as of the trait conception of test anxiety.Conclusion: The test anxiety inventory has a good reliability and validity, and it can trustily be used for Iranian university students.

Background: Different ways to express anger and its consequences is allocated to a special place in fundamental and applied psychological research. Constructing and validating a useful scale to measure anger is also another important point.Objective: The aim of this research was to make and to find norms of multidimensional anger scale (anger arousal, hostile outlook, external and internal angers and anger-eliciting situations) among high school students.Method: The theoretical principles of the previous studies were studied first. Then, the researchers designed a questionnaire based on the framework resulted from studying the achieved resources. After studying the form and content of the raised questions in relation to each of the sub-tests and removing the inappropriate ones, 29 questions were performed for the final performance on a group composed of 400 students (212 males and 188 females) who were slected by the relative classification and random testing method.Results: The result of factor analysis by cycle method of Varimex of five factors equaling to 0/88, variance expression paralleling to theoretical principles of the structure were indicated .The sustainability of the questionnaire through Kranbuch alfa 0/87 and testing method-retest 0/81 and correlational results between the first and second performances in the five factors are 0/79 (Anger arousal), 0/81(Anger out), 0/77 (Hostile outlook) 0/86(Anger In), 0/83 (Anger-Eliciting Situation) respectively. The division method was used to get sure of the sustainability for the two halves 0/85 and 0/82 respectively. The total sustainability of the assumed test was 0/77. After analyzing the data, finding the norms, cut point and interference rate were calculated. The cut point for this test, in proportion with the average and standard deviation was 88/01. According to this cut point, the percent of interference rate 7/2 in the whole sample was 3/8 for the male and 11/2 for the female.Conclusion: it can be suggested the multidimensional anger scale is a valid instrument to measure students' anger.