Factors associated with prompt difficulty in automated essay scoring

This study explores factors related to the prompt difficulty in Automated Essay Scoring. The sample was composed of 6,924 students. For each student, there were 1-4 essays, across 20 different writing prompts, for a total of 20,243 essays. E-rater® v.2 essay scoring engine developed by the Educational Testing Service was used to score the essays. The scoring engine employs a statistical model that incorporates 10 predictors associated with writing characteristics of which 8 were used. The Rasch partial credit analysis was applied to the scores to determine the difficulty levels of prompts. In addition, the scores were used as outcomes in the series of hierarchical linear models (HLM) in which students and prompts constituted the cross-classification levels. This methodology was used to explore the partitioning of the essay score variance.^ The results indicated significant differences in prompt difficulty levels due to genre. Descriptive prompts, as a group, were found to be more difficult than the persuasive prompts. In addition, the essay score variance was partitioned between students and prompts. The amount of the essay score variance that lies between prompts was found to be relatively small (4 to 7 percent). When the essay-level, student-level-and prompt-level predictors were included in the model, it was able to explain almost all variance that lies between prompts. Since in most high-stakes writing assessments only 1-2 prompts per students are used, the essay score variance that lies between prompts represents an undesirable or "noise" variation. Identifying factors associated with this "noise" variance may prove to be important for prompt writing and for constructing Automated Essay Scoring mechanisms for weighting prompt difficulty when assigning essay score.^

La carpeta de aprendizaje y la evaluación entre iguales de los estudiantes. Resultados de una innovación docente en los estudios universitarios de las artes

Students reflect more on their learning in course subjects when they participate in managing their teaching–learning environment. As a form of guided participation, peer assessment serves the following purposes: (a) it improves the student’s understanding of previously established learning objectives; (b) it is a powerful metacognitive tool; (c) it transfers to the student part of the responsibility for assessing learning, which means deciding which learning activities are important and choosing the degree of effort a course subject will require; (d) it emphasizes the collective aspect of the nature of knowledge; and (e) the educational benefits derived from peer assessment clearly justify the efforts required to implement activities. This paper reports on the relative merits of a learning portfolio compiled during fine arts-related studies in which peer assessment played an important role. The researchers analyzed the student work load and the final marks students received for compulsory art subjects. They conclude that the use of a closed learning portfolio with a well-structured, sequential and analytical design can have a positive effect on student learning and that, although implementing peer assessment may be complex and students need to become familiar with it, its use is not only feasible but recommendable.

Ecohumanists. Protection of physical ecology demands respect human ecology

What is the human being? Which is its origin and its end? What is the influence of the nature in the man and what is his impact on nature? Forthe animalists, men are like other animals; freedom and rationality are not signs of superiority, nor having rights over the animals. For the ecohumanists, human beings are part of nature, but is qualitatively different and superior to animals; and is the creator of the civilization. We analyze these two ecological looks. A special point is the contribution ofecohumanists -from the first half of the Renaissance, who dealt in extenso the dignity and freedom of the human being-, of Michelangelo and finally, of Mozart, through his four insurmountable operas, which display the difficulty of physical ecology to engender so much beauty, so much wealth, so much love for the creatures and so much variety.

Luta livre e as inovações narrativas no espetáculo de Pro-Wrestling no Brasil

Dissertação apresentada ao Programa de Pós-Graduação em Comunicação da Universidade Municipal de São Caetano do Sul para a obtenção do título de Mestre em Comunicação

Acquired Cold Urticaria: Clinical Features, Particular Phenotypes, and Disease Course in a Tertiary Care Center Cohort

BACKGROUND: Data about special phenotypes, natural course, and prognostic variables of patients with acquired cold urticaria (ACU) are scarce. OBJECTIVES: We sought to describe the clinical features and disease course of patients with ACU, with special attention paid to particular phenotypes, and to examine possible parameters that could predict the evolution of the disease. METHODS: This study was a retrospective chart review of 74 patients with ACU who visited a tertiary referral center of urticaria between 2005 and 2015. RESULTS: Fourteen patients (18.9%) presented with life-threatening reactions after cold exposure, and 21 (28.4%) showed negative results after cold stimulation tests (classified as atypical ACU). Nineteen patients (25.7%) achieved complete symptoms resolution at the end of the surveillance period and had no subsequent recurrences. Higher rates of atypical ACU along with a lower likelihood of achieving complete symptom resolution was observed in patients who had an onset of symptoms during childhood (P < .05). In patients with atypical ACU, shorter disease duration and lower doses of antihistamines required for achieving disease control were detected (P < .05). Age at disease onset, symptom severity, and cold urticaria threshold values were found to be related to disease evolution (P < .05). LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by its retrospective nature. CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge of the clinical predictors of the disease evolution along with the clinical features of ACU phenotypes would allow for the establishment of an early and proper therapeutic strategy.

Black-White Wage Gap Among Restaurant Servers: A Replication, Extension, and Exploration of Consumer Racial Discrimination in Tipping

There is a rich history of social science research centering on racial inequalities that continue to be observed across various markets (e.g., labor, housing, and credit markets) and social milieus. Existing research on racial discrimination in consumer markets, however, is relatively scarce and that which has been done has disproportionately focused on consumers as the victims of race-based mistreatment. As such, we know relatively little about how consumers contribute to inequalities in their roles as perpetrators of racial discrimination. In response, in this paper we elaborate on a line of research that is only in its’ infancy stages of development and yet is ripe with opportunities to advance the literature on consumer racial discrimination and racial earnings inequities among tip dependent employees in the United States. Specifically, we analyze data derived from a large exit survey of restaurant consumers (n=378) in an attempt to replicate, extend, and further explore the recently documented effect of service providers’ race on restaurant consumers’ tipping decisions. Our results indicate that both White and Black restaurant customers discriminate against Black servers by tipping them less than their White coworkers. Importantly, we find no evidence that this Black tip penalty is the result of interracial differences in service skills possessed by Black and White servers. We conclude by delineating directions for future research in this neglected but salient area study.

Einführung einer institutionellen Forschungsdateninfrastruktur an der Helmut-Schmidt-Universität

Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit untersucht den zur Einführung einer institutionellen Forschungsdateninfrastruktur zu berücksichtigenden Handlungsrahmen an der Helmut-Schmidt-Universität/ Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg (HSU/ UniBw H) und gibt unter besonderer Berücksichtigung möglicher Aufgabenfelder der Universitätsbibliothek allgemeine Handlungsempfehlungen für deren Implementierung. Da sich die Arbeit sowohl an die Verantwortlichen zur Einführung einer Forschungsdateninfrastruktur an der HSU/ UniBw H als auch an Interessierte der akademischen Gemeinschaft richtet, werden die zum besseren Verständnis besonders relevanten Begriffe zunächst herausgestellt. Auf der Grundlage aktueller Forschungsliteratur und verfügbarer Praxiserfahrung anderer Universitäten wurde mittels Webseitenanalyse und der Auswertung von Fragebögen eine gesamtheitliche Beschreibung für die Implementierung einer institutionellen Forschungsdateninfrastruktur zum Abgleich mit der Ausgangssituation an der HSU/ UniBw H erstellt. Die Arbeit verdeutlicht in den daraus abgeleiteten Handlungsempfehlungen den zu berücksichtigenden allgemeinen Handlungsrahmen in seiner Komplexität und zeigt vor allem diesbezügliche Aufgabenfelder der Universitätsbibliothek von der Initiierung bis zum Abschluss der Implementierung auf. Im Wesentlichen wird hierbei herausgestellt, dass die Universitätsbibliothek als klassische Gedächtnisorganisation und zentraler Informationsdienstleister ihre Kompetenzen besonders bei der Entwicklung und Verwirklichung des Forschungsdatenmanagements sinnvoll einbringen und zukunftsorientiert erweitern kann und sollte. Auslegungsbestimmend ist die von der Universitätsleitung festzulegende Ziel- und Zweckbestimmung der institutionellen Forschungsdateninfrastruktur. Diese dient dem Forschungsdatenmanagement zur Skalierung und Bestimmung von Umfang, Komplexität und Anforderungen an die potentiellen Aufgabenbereiche insbesondere der Universitätsbibliothek. Somit leistet diese Bachelorarbeit einen grundlegenden Beitrag zur weiteren Strukturierung und Konkretisierung der initiatorischen Überlegungen der Universitätsbibliotheksleitung zu den Möglichkeiten der Einführung einer institutionellen Forschungsdateninfrastruktur an der HSU/ UniBw H.

La noción de ambivalencia de la técnica en Jacques Ellul

Este breve estudio tiene dos objetivos: realizar una presentación del pensador francés Jacques Ellul y analizar su noción de ambivalencia enmarcándola dentro de las características que Ellul le otorga al fenómeno técnico.

Der Beitrag der Erziehungsberatung zur Förderung der Gesundheit von Kindern und Jugendlichen

Die Expertise für den 13. Kinder- und Jugendbericht gibt einen Überblick über Versorgungsstrukturen und Inanspruchnahme bei psychischen Störungen von Kindern und Jugendlichen. Insbesondere werden auf der Basis einer aktuellen empirischen Untersuchung „gesundheitsbezogene Anlässe“ bei der Inanspruchnahme von Erziehungsberatung beschrieben. Ein eigenes Thema bildet die ICD-10-Kategorisierbarkeit von Problemen in der Erziehungsberatung. Dabei wird der diagnostische und therapeutische Ansatz der Erziehungsberatung in Abgrenzung zur Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie dargestellt. Auf der Grundlage der genannten Untersuchung werden schließlich die einzelfallbezogene und die einzelfallübergreifende Zusammenarbeit der Erziehungsberatung mit dem Gesundheitswesen beschrieben. Abschließend wird die Entwicklung der Erziehungsberatung in den letzten Jahren nach Inanspruchnahme, Personal und Kosten skizziert.