Dataset Information

Student, instructor, and observer agreement regarding frequencies of scientific teaching practices using the Measurement Instrument for Scientific Teaching-Observable (MISTO).

ABSTRACT:

Background

The Scientific Teaching (ST) pedagogical framework encompasses many of the best practices recommended in the literature and highlighted in national reports. Understanding the growth and impact of ST requires instruments to accurately measure the extent to which practitioners implement ST in their courses. Researchers have typically relied on students, instructors, or observers to document course teaching practices, but it remains unclear whether and how these perspectives differ from each other. To address this issue, we modified our previously published instrument to generate the Measurement Instrument for Scientific Teaching-Observable (MISTO), which can be completed by students, instructors, and observers, and we investigated the degree of similarity between these three perspectives across 70 undergraduate science courses at seven different institutions in the USA.

Results

We found that the full MISTO and Active Learning subcategory scores showed the highest correlations among the three perspectives, but the degree of correlation between perspectives varied for the other subcategories. Match scores between students and instructors were significantly higher than observer matches for the full MISTO and for the Active Learning, Inclusivity, and Responsiveness subcategories.

Conclusions

We find that the level and type of agreement between perspectives varies across MISTO subcategories and that this variation likely stems from intrinsic differences in the course access and scoring decisions of the three perspectives. Building on this data, we recommend MISTO users consider their research goals, available resources, and potential artifacts that may arise when deciding which perspective best fits their needs in measuring classroom teaching practices.

SUBMITTER: Durham MF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6310438 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundRecent developments in diagnostic techniques for malaria, particularly DNA probes and sero-immunology, have raised questions as to how these techniques might be used to facilitate malaria diagnosis at the most peripheral levels of the primary health care system. At present, malaria diagnosis is based on the standard microscopic examination of blood films in most field epidemiologic studies and is likely to remain so in the immediate future in Africa. The objective of this study was to assess inter-observer agreement for the examination of Giemsa-stained slides for Plasmodium falciparum parasites.MethodsChildren aged 0 to 10 years were enrolled yearly in Bancoumana village (West Africa), mainly during the transmission season (June to October). The blood smears obtained from the persistently negative children in June 1996, August 1996, October 1996 and March 1997 were systematically re-examined. A stratified random sample (10%) proportional to the following parasite density classes 1-100, 101-5000, and 5001 and over was taken from the slides collected. The kappa statistics and the intra-class correlation were used as measures of agreement the first and the second slide examinations.ResultsThe weighted kappa statistic, widely used as a chance-corrected measure for nominal agreement, showed excellent inter-observer agreement (κ(w)=0.7926; 95% CI [0.7588, 0.8263]; p=0.01). The intra-class correlation co-efficient had the same value of 0.7926 confirming the appropriateness of the weighted kappa statistic. Inter-observer agreement for slides read as negative by one observer, or as containing more than 100 parasites per μl, was excellent: 97% (493/506) and 92% (145/158), respectively. In contrast, the inter-observer agreement for slides read by one observer as containing 1-100 parasites/μl was poor, 36% (96/268).ConclusionsIn field conditions in Mali, there was a high reproducibility for slides reported as negative or as having more than 100 parasites per μl. However, smears with readings of 1-100 parasites per μl were less reproducible and should be re-examined carefully.

Project description:BackgroundPatients who are cared for in long-term care facilities are vulnerable to lose personal dignity. An instrument measuring factors that influence dignity can be used to better target dignity-conserving care to an individual patient, but no such instrument is yet available for the long-term care setting. The aim of this study was to create the Measurement Instrument for Dignity AMsterdam-for Long-Term Care facilities (MIDAM-LTC) and to assess its validity and intra-observer agreement.MethodsThirteen items specific for the LTC setting were added to the earlier developed, more general MIDAM. The MIDAM-LTC consisted of 39 symptoms or experiences for which presence as well as influence on dignity were asked, and a single item score for overall personal dignity. Questionnaires containing the MIDAM-LTC were administered face-to-face at two moments (with a 1-week interval) to 95 nursing home residents residing on general medical wards of six nursing homes in the Netherlands. Constructs related to dignity (WHO Well-Being Five Index, quality of life and physical health status) were also measured. Ten residents answered the questions while thinking aloud. Content validity, construct validity and intra-observer agreement were examined.ResultsNine of the 39 items barely exerted influence on dignity. Eight of them could be omitted from the MIDAM-LTC, because the thinking aloud method revealed sensible explanations for their small influence on dignity. Residents reported that they missed no important items. Hypotheses to support construct validity, about the strength of correlations between on the one hand personal dignity and on the other hand well-being, quality of life or physical health status, were confirmed. On average, 83% of the scores given for each item's influence on dignity were practically consistent over 1 week, and more than 80% of the residents gave consistent scores for the single item score for overall dignity.ConclusionThe MIDAM-LTC has good content validity, construct validity and intra-observer agreement. By omitting 8 items from the instrument, a good balance between comprehensiveness and feasibility is realised. The MIDAM-LTC allows researchers to examine the concept of dignity more closely in the LTC setting, and can assist caregivers in providing dignity-conserving care.