Describing and supporting effective science teaching and learning in Australian schools - validation issues

Constructivism is a wide school of thought and its view on learning has important implications to both teaching and learning. Taking a constructivist view of learning to explain interdisciplinary education may help teachers understand the process of building concepts and learning among students as well as the implementation of assessment tasks. Based on a constructivist view of learning, this paper illustrates the assessment aspect of interdisciplinary learning using concrete examples of students' work collected from the Schools Around the World (SAW) project. SAW is an international project which was established in order to set standards for students' work and to stimulate the sharing of teaching ideas among teachers from nine participating nations or regions, with an aim to promote professional development among teachers. This paper attempts to introduce the background of interdisciplinary learning and its assessment methods and hopes to stimulate professional discussion in this respect among teachers.

Development and validation of the physical disability sexual and body esteem scale

The Physical Disability Sexual and Body Esteem (PDSBE) scale was developed to assess respondents' capacity to feel positive about their sexuality and their body while living with a physical impairment. The current paper presents four studies that were conducted to develop and assess the psychometric properties of the 10 item PDSBE scale. The first study was an exploratory factor analysis involving 348 participants with physical disabilities. The factors were: Sexual Esteem, Attractiveness to Others, and Body Esteem. The second study was a confirmatory factor analysis, with a total of 338 participants. This analysis confirmed the factor structure established in study 1. The third study revealed good test-retest reliability on a total of 47 participants with physical disabilities. The final study was conducted with 748 participants with physical disabilities and showed that the PDSBE had high reliability and good convergent and divergent validity. Mean scores showed that women scored significantly higher than men on the total PDSBE scale and on the Sexual Esteem and Attractiveness to Others subscales. Future applications for the PDSBE scale are discussed.

Do logbooks influence recall of physical activity in validation studies?

Purpose: To examine whether physical activity logbooks influence estimates of validity of 7-d recall physical activity questionnaires. Methods: A  convenience sample of 551 adults aged 18–75 yr wore an MTI  accelerometer for seven consecutive days and were then randomly administered two of four 7-d recall physical activity questionnaires that varied in length and format (Active Australia Survey (AAS), long and short  International Physical Activity Questionnaires (IPAQ-L and IPAQ-S), and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)). A subsample of 75% concurrently completed a physical activity logbook. Results: Correlations (rho) between self-reported and measured duration of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity and total activity were similar among participants who received a logbook and those who did not for each of the four instruments. There was also no interaction between assessment method (survey, accelerometer) and the assignment of a logbook. For the IPAQ-L, however, variability in the difference between accelerometer data and responses to the vigorous items was smaller among those assigned a logbook (F = 4.128, df = 260, P = 0.043). Overall, there were no differences in percent agreement or kappa for participation in sufficient levels of physical activity according to receipt of a logbook for any of the surveys. Conclusion: The process of self-monitoring through completion of a logbook does not appear to influence estimates of validity for brief or long questionnaires with global questions. Whereas the magnitude of error in accuracy of recall of particular types of activity may be reduced by completion of a logbook that is similar in structure to the survey being validated, this does not appear to influence overall estimates of validity.

What does it meme? The exegesis as valorisation and validation of creative arts research

This paper will draw on Richard Dawkin's idea of the 'meme' to discuss how the creative arts exegesis can operate as valorisation and validation of creative arts research. According to Dawkins, the rate and fecundity of replication permits an artefact to achieve recognition and stability as a meme within a culture. The value and application of traditional forms of research is underpinned by a secondary order of production, publication, that establishes visibility of the work and articulates its empirical processes and findings as sources of social benefit and cultural enhancement.

In the arts, conventional modes of valorisation such as the gallery system, reviews and criticism focus on the artistic product and hence, lack sustained engagement with the creative processes as models of research. Such engagement is necessary to articulate and validate studio practices as modes of enquiry.

A crucial question to initiate this engagement is: 'What did the studio process reveal that could not have been revealed by any other mode of enquiry?'

Re-versioning of the studio process and its significant moments through the exegesis locates the work within the broader field of practice and theory. It is also part of the replication process that establishes the creative arts as a stable research discipline, able to withstand peer and wider assessment. The exegesis is a primary means of realising creative arts research as 'meme'.

Validation of the use of input-output data for embodied energy analysis of the Australian construction industry

This paper evaluates a recently developed hybrid method for the embodied energy analysis of the Australian construction industry. It was found that the truncation associated with process analysis can be up to 80%, whilst the use of input-output analysis alone does not always provide a perfect model for replacing process data. There is also a considerable lack in the quantity and possibly quality of process data currently available. These findings suggest that current best-practice methods are sufficiently accurate for most typical applications, but this is heavily dependant upon data quality and availability. The hybrid method evaluated can be used for the optimisation of embodied energy and for identifying opportunities for improvements in energy efficiency.

Emotional intelligence and teaching : further validation evidence

Further evidence is presented to demonstrate the validity of a new measure of emotional intelligence: Reactions to Teaching Situations (RTS). Using criterion-related groups of high and low scorers on the RTS, it is shown that high scorers give more responses coded as emotional intelligence in their answers to sentence completion tasks relating to ten situations found in teaching. The questions of convergent and discriminant validity is tackled by examination of correlations of emotional intelligence scores and scores on the Multiple Intelligences Checklist for Adults (MICA) and information processing preferences as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The results confirm that emotional intelligence (as assessed by the RTS) bears significant relationships to both intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences and also to linguistic intelligence, but emotional intelligence shows no significant relationships with the MBTI preferences.

Simulation and experimental validation of a ring spinning process

Ring spinning is the most important system of making high quality yarns in the textile industry. Yarn tension affects yarn breakage, which in turn affects yarn productivity in ring spinning. Accurate information about how various spinning parameters affect yarn tension is essential for the optimisation of the ring spinning process. In this paper, a program to simulate the ring spinning process was developed using MATLAB, which can predict yarn tension under given spinning conditions. The simulation results were verified with experimental results obtained from ring spinning cotton and wool yarns.

The development and validation of the impact of multiple sclerosis scale and the symptoms of multiple sclerosis scale

Objective

To develop and validate the Impact of Multiple Sclerosis Scale (IMSS) and the Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis Scale (SMSS) using the Extended Disability Status Scale (EDSS) for construct validity.
Design

Panel design involving test-retest over 4 months.
Setting

A mailed survey.
Participants

Volunteers with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) recruited from an MS support service in Australia: 193 people (mean age, 39y) and 150 people participated at time 1 and time 2, respectively.
Interventions

Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures

Principal components analyses, the Cronbach α, and descriptive statistics for the 2 scales; correlations for construct validity with the EDSS and retest; and confirmatory factor analysis to test the stability of IMSS and SMSS components over time.
Results

The IMSS yielded 5 independent and reliable components; the SMSS yielded 3 components; both component structures were stable over time. These scales showed convergent validity with the EDSS.
Conclusions

The IMSS and SMSS are psychometrically sound scales suitable for clinical and research purposes to assess the symptoms and impact of MS.

Validation of a food-frequency questionnaire assessment of carotenoid and vitamin E intake using weighed food records and plasma biomarkers: the method of triads model.

Background: Reliability or validity studies are important for the evaluation of measurement error in dietary assessment methods. An approach to validation known as the method of triads uses triangulation techniques to calculate the validity coefficient of a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ).

Objective: To assess the validity of an FFQ estimates of carotenoid and vitamin E intake against serum biomarker measurements and weighed food records (WFRs), by applying the method of triads. Design: The study population was a sub-sample of adult participants in a randomised controlled trial of b-carotene and sunscreen in the prevention of skin cancer. Dietary intake was assessed by a self-administered FFQ and a WFR. Nonfasting blood samples were collected and plasma analysed for five carotenoids (a-carotene, b-carotene, b-cryptoxanthin, lutein, lycopene) and vitamin E. Correlation coefficients were calculated between each of the dietary methods and the validity coefficient was calculated using
the method of triads. The 95% confidence intervals for the validity coefficients were estimated using bootstrap sampling.

Results: The validity coefficients of the FFQ were highest for a-carotene (0.85) and lycopene (0.62), followed by b-carotene (0.55) and total carotenoids (0.55), while the lowest validity coefficient was for lutein (0.19). The method of triads could not be used for b-cryptoxanthin and vitamin E, as one of the three underlying correlations was negative.

Conclusions: Results were similar to other studies of validity using biomarkers and the method of triads. For many dietary factors, the upper limit of the validity coefficients was less than 0.5 and therefore only strong relationships between dietary exposure and disease will be detected.

The potentialities of focus groups in e-business research : theory validation

Focus groups enable the rapid and timely collation, integration and assembly of the views of a variety of different types of stakeholders into plausible theory. This paper examines the usefulness of the focus group as an e-business research method, using a case study of focus group deployment for the purpose of theory validation as its illustration. Our results suggest that a focus group can be effective as a strategy in e-business research, while providing the relevance and multidisciplinary approach found lacking in more common empirical methods. We provide a set of guidelines for effective focus groups in e-business research.

Validation of the use of Australian input-output data for building embodied energy simulation

Traditional!y, the simulation of buildings has focused 011 operational energy consumption in an attempt to determine the potential for energy savings. Whilst operational energy of Australian buildings accounts for around 20% of total energy consumption nationally, embodied energy represents 20 to 50 times the annual operational energy of 1110st Australian buildings. Lower values have been shown through a number of studies that have analysed the embodied energy of buildings and their products, however these have now shown to be incomplete in system boundary. Many of these studies have used traditional embodied energy analysis methods, such as process analysis and input-output analysis, Hybrid embodied energy analysis methods have been developed, but these need to be compared and validated. This paper reports on preliminary work on this topic. The findings so far suggest that current best-practice methods are sufficiently accurate for most typical applications, but this is heavily dependant upon data quality and availability.

Preliminary validation of the Chinese version of the pediatric quality of life inventory

The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) is a scale for assessing health-related quality of life of children and adolescents aged 2-18 years. Three reports of PedsQL for the age ranges 2-4 years and 5-7 years were translated into Chinese and their validities were examined. A total of 186 children and parents were involved in the study. Content validity, test-retest reliability, internal consistency reliability and construct validity were assessed. The correlation of parents' and children's reports was also examined. The results showed that the internal consistency is generally good, test-retest reliability ranged from moderate to good, differences between disabled and non-disabled individuals are significant in total scores and in all subscales except for the physical functioning subscale for the children's self-report for the age ranges of 2-4 years and 5-7 years and the correlation between the reports of the parents and children for the age range of 5-7 years is moderate to high. This suggests that the newly translated Chinese PedsQL for children aged 2-4 years and 5-7 years seems to be reliable and valid to be used as a measure of health-related quality of life in Chinese pediatric research and clinical applications.

Validation of a FFQ to estimate the intake of PUFA using plasma phospholipid fatty acids and weighed foods records

Due to the growing knowledge about the role of specific fatty acids in health and disease, dietary intake measurements of individual fatty acids or classes of fatty acids are becoming increasingly important. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of the Nambour FFQ to estimate intakes of specific fatty acids, particularly PUFA. The study population was a sub-sample of adult participants in a randomised controlled trial of [beta]-carotene and sunscreen in the prevention of skin cancer (n 43). Dietary intake was assessed by a self-administered FFQ and a weighed food record (WFR). Non-fasting blood samples were collected and analysed for plasma phospholipid fatty acids. Median intakes on the FFQ were generally higher than the WFR except for the n-3 PUFA groups, where the FFQ estimated higher intakes. Correlations between the FFQ and WFR were moderate (r 0–32-0-59) except for trans fatty acids (r 0–03). Correlations between each of the dietary assessment methods and the plasma phospholipids were poor for all fatty acids other than the PUFA. Using the methods of triads approach, the FFQ validity coefficients for total n-3 fatty acids, total long chain n-3 fatty acids, EPA, arachidonic acid, docosapentaenoic acid and DHA were 0–50, 0–63, 0–45 and 0–62 and 0–62, respectively. For most fatty acids, the FFQ adequately estimates group mean fatty acid intakes and can adequately rank individuals; however, the ability of this FFQ to estimate trans fatty acids was poor.