Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education,
March 30, 2016
Relatively little is known about differences in the quality of engineering education within and across countries because of the lack of valid instruments that allow for the assessment and comparison of engineering students’ skill gains. The purpose of our study is to develop and validate instruments that can be used to compare student skill gains in mathematics and physics courses in undergraduate engineering programmes across countries. The approach includes procedures to establish construct validity and other necessary psychometric properties. Drawing on data collected from over 24 engineering experts and 3600 engineering students across Russia and China, we establish that it is possible to develop valid, equitable and cross-nationally comparable instruments that can assess and compare skill gains.
American Journal of Ophthalmology,
November 25, 2015
Purpose To study the effect of free glasses combined with teacher incentives on in-school glasses wear among Chinese urban migrant children.
Design Cluster-randomized controlled trial.
Methods Children with visual acuity (VA) ≤6/12 in either eye owing to refractive error in 94 randomly chosen primary schools underwent randomization by school to receive free glasses, education on their use, and a teacher incentive (Intervention), or glasses prescriptions only (Control). Intervention group teachers received a tablet computer if ≥80% of children given glasses wore them during unannounced visits 6 weeks and 6 months (main outcome) after intervention.
Results Among 4376 children, 728 (16.7%, mean age 10.9 years, 51.0% boys) met enrollment criteria and were randomly allocated, 358 (49.2%, 47 schools) to Intervention and 370 (50.8%, 47 schools) to Control. Among these, 693 children (95.2%) completed the study and underwent analysis. Spectacle wear was significantly higher at 6 months among Intervention children (Observed [main outcome]: 68.3% vs 23.9%, adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 11.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.91–22.5, P < .001; Self-reported: 90.6% vs 32.1%, OR = 43.7, 95% CI = 21.7–88.5, P < .001). Other predictors of observed wear at 6 months included baseline spectacle wear (P < .001), uncorrected VA <6/18 (P = .01), and parental spectacle wear (P = .02). The 6-month observed wear rate was only 41% among similar-aged children provided free glasses in our previous trial without teacher incentives.
Conclusions Free spectacles and teacher incentives maintain classroom wear in the large majority of children needing glasses over a school year. Low wear among Control children demonstrates the need for interventions.
