A Four-tier Diagnostic Instrument: An Analysis of Elementary Student Misconceptions in Science Topic

Learning science in elementary schools encourages students to understand the natural environment more deeply, rationally, and scientifically. However, often the scientific concepts they believe about science topics are not in accordance with the scientific concepts they should be. This misconception is difficult for teachers to diagnose. Special instruments to identify and analyze students' misconceptions are needed. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the misconceptions of elementary school students on the topic of energy using a four-tier diagnostic instrument. The purposed-designed survey method was used in this study. The data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The participants in this study were 20 fourth grade students in an elementary school in Ciamis Regency. A total of 6 questions in the form of a four-tier diagnostic instrument were used to determine the level of students' conceptions. The results showed that the students have misconceptions about the concept of energy. This can be seen from the average percentage of students' misconceptions of 66.67%. This research is expected to contribute to alternative ways to identify and analyze students' misconceptions using the four-tier diagnostic instrument. In addition, it can be used as a reference for teachers and researchers related to the problem of misconceptions of science in elementary school students

OS07.5A Diagnostic Instrument for Mild Aphasia (DIMA): sensitive and valuable addition to standard language assessment in glioma patients

BACKGROUND Low-grade glioma (LGG) patients typically suffer from mild aphasia that often cannot be detected with standard aphasia tests. The Diagnostic Instrument for Mild Aphasia (DIMA) is the first standardized test-battery to assess mild language disorders. We investigate pre- and postoperative linguistic abilities of LGG and high-grade glioma (HGG) patients with the DIMA. METHODS The DIMA consists of subtests that tap phonology (word, compound, non-word, sentence repetition), semantics (odd-picture-out), and syntax (sentence completion). Additionally, we administered the Boston Naming Test, Category- and Letter Fluency, and the Token Test. Patients were assessed before awake surgery (T1, N=98), three-months (T2, N=69), and one-year (T3, N=30) postoperatively. DIMA performance was compared to healthy controls (N=214). Group differences were examined with parametric (t-test) and nonparametric (Mann-Whitney-U, Wilcoxon) tests. RESULTS DIMA: Preoperatively, patients deviated on sentence repetition and sentence completion (p<0.05). HGG patients performed worse than LGG on word, non-word, and sentence repetition (p<0.05). There was no effect of hemispheric tumor localization. At T2, compound repetition and odd-picture-out also became impaired (p<0.05) and there was a decline compared to T1 on all repetition tasks (p<0.05). At T3, only sentence completion remained impaired (p<0.01) with a deterioration compared to T1 (p<0.01). Standard tests: At T1, patients were impaired on BNT, Category- and Letter Fluency (p<0.01). HGG patients performed worse than LGG patients on BNT and TT (p<0.01). Patients with left-hemispheric tumors performed worse on BNT and Letter Fluency compared to right-hemispheric tumors (p<0.05). At T2, TT also became impaired (p<0.05) and patients declined compared to T1 on Verbal Fluency tests (p<0.01). At T3, only BNT and Category Fluency remained impaired (p<0.05), with no significant declines compared to T1. CONCLUSION The DIMA is the first test-battery to detect peri-operative impairments at different linguistic levels (phonology, semantics, syntax) in patients with left- or right-hemispheric gliomas. It even appeared more sensitive to detect surgical effects than standard tests: all phonological DIMA subtests captured short-term decline (T1-T2), in line with earlier evidence for the value of (non-)word repetition. DIMA sentence completion detected long-term decline (T1-T3), reflecting earlier spontaneous speech analyses. As expected, Verbal Fluency was also sensitive to short-term postoperative decline. Left-hemispheric tumor localization only affected standard test performance. HGG patients had more severe impairments than LGG on DIMA repetition and standard tests (BNT and TT). We advise adding the DIMA to standard language evaluation of glioma patients, as it allows for more detailed counseling about language outcome.

Pengembangan instrumen diagnostik three-tier untuk mengidentifikasi miskonsepsi materi fluida statis pada siswa kelas X MIA

Peneliti melakukan penelitian pengembangan dan penggunaan instrumen diagnostik three-tier dengan tujuan untuk megidentifikasi miskonsepsi yang dimiliki siswa pada materi fluida statis. Penelitian yang dilakukan merupakan penelitian pengembangan. Subjek penelitian dalam penelitian adalah siswa kelas X MIA 4 MAN 3 Malang. Instrumen yang dikembangkan adalah instrumen diagnostik three-tier berjumlah 24 butir soal dengan 4 alternatif jawaban, 4 alternatif alasan pemilihan jawaban, dan keyakinan jawaban (yakin / tidak yakin) dengan 3 rentang tingkat keyakinan. Seluruh butir soal dinyatakan layak pada ranah materi, konstruksi, bahasa, dan kemampuan identifikasi miskonsepsi menurut penilaian ahli dengan nilai rata-rata diatas 3,26. Hasil identifikasi menunjukkan bahwa siswa yang mengalami miskonsepsi dan bahkan tidak memiliki konsepsi pada materi fluida statis masih cukup besar. Beberapa jenis miskonsepsi yang ditemukan diantaranya, siswa beranggapan bahwa (1) luas bejana mempengaruhi besarnya tekanan hidrostatis, (2) gaya yang diberikan pada fluida akan diteruskan ke segala arah sama besar, (3) gaya Archimedes dipengaruhi kedalaman benda dalam fluida. The researcher do research about development and application of three-tier diagnostic instrument to identify misconceptions within static fluid material. This research is due to research and development. The subject of the research is the student of 10th grade of mathematics and science 4 MAN 3 Malang. The instrument is three-tier diagnostic instrument that consist of 24 questions with 4 alternative answers, 4 alternative reasons, and the sureness of every answer (sure/not sure) with three different levels. The material, construction, language, and misconception identificational ability on every question are valid according to experts judgement with average score over 3,26. Identification's result shows that many students still get in misconception on understanding the static fluid material, even some of them don't understand at all. Sort of misconception's types that found are student belief that (1) area of the container has an effect on hydrostatic pressure, (2) force given to the fluid will be transferred in all direction propotionally, (3) Archimedes's force is influenced by the depth of object on fluid.

Organizational Culture: A Systems Approach

The influence of organizational culture on performance is increasingly being recognized as a major force driving success in the 21st Century. Many models for organizational culture are widely employed by consultants worldwide. A fundamental weakness in most existing culture models is that they view culture as a stand-alone element within the organization. Accordingly, the tools used to provide insight to executives focus on the culture to the exclusion of other dynamic, interrelated, forces within the organization. We believe that this stand-alone view of culture contributes to the high failure rate of efforts to change the culture. This chapter introduces the Performance Triangle Model as a holistic approach to view organizational culture as part of an intricate, dynamic, interrelated triad of culture, leadership, and systems. We will describe the Performance Triangle and many underlying dimensions that comprise the triad and chart the emergence and development of the model. The later parts of the chapter will discuss practical applications that have been proven using a statistically validated diagnostic instrument that enable executives to recognize what is going in in their organizations then take effective, quick, targeted action. The PTM approach helps executive design agile organizations fit for the 21st Century.

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor, In our publication (Jacob et al., 2020) we stated on page 39, paragraph 4, the following regarding why gynaecologists avoid cystoscopies: “The reason for this is that acquiring cystoscopy skills is not part of the Obstetrics and Gynecology residency curriculum for Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) certification and most residents graduate from their obstetrics and gynaecology training without learning to perform a cystoscopy and do not feel comfortable using this basic and fundamental diagnostic instrument”. This statement is erroneous. Recently, it was pointed out to us that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada Objectives of Training in the Specialty of Obstetrics and Gynecology were amended and include the following statement applicable after July 1, 2016: “The following procedures in List A are those that the fully trained resident in Obstetrics and Gynecology must be competent to perform independently: 5.2.2.41. Limited cystoscopy” We regret our error and apologise for any inconvenience. G.P. Jacob, G.A. Vilos, F. Al Turki, G. Bhangav, B. Abu-Rafea, AG.. Vilos, A. Ternamian

Elaboración de una prueba diagnóstico para medir habilidades de escritura académica

El artículo describe el proceso de elaboración de un instrumento diagnóstico para la evaluación de las habilidades de escritura en estudiantes (de pregrado y posgrado) que acuden al Centro de Escritura (CE) de la Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo (UMSNH) para obtener ayuda en sus productos escritos. La prueba tiene un valor cualitativo que otorga un resultado individual, y a la vez constituye una base para desarrollar una prueba institucional que atienda de manera específica necesidades de escritura con un criterio mixto de análisis. Uno de los pasos necesarios en la implementación del CE en la UMSNH fue la elaboración de un instrumento diagnóstico que permitiera conocer la situación en la que llegan los usuarios en sus habilidades de lectura y escritura, pues con este primer acercamiento los servicios que en el centro se ofrecen pueden ser más eficientes; asimismo, se busca conocer qué dimensiones o niveles de la actividad de escritura son más urgentes de atender tanto a nivel individual como a nivel institucional. El CE está enfocado en el proceso de producción del texto y en el escritor mismo, como instrumento que permita conocer cuáles son las habilidades y debilidades que los usuarios poseen. This study aimed to apply a diagnostic instrument that allowed determining the degree of academic literacy achieved by students in relation to their level of studies (undergraduate or graduate). That is, students’ knowledge, abilities, skills, beliefs and / or prejudices regarding the writing process were analyzed. The methodology describes the process of elaborating a diagnostic instrument for the evaluation of students’ writing skills who visit the Writing Center of the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo with the purpose of getting help on their written products. The results obtained were analyzed from a qualitative perspective, with a correlation between the main characteristics that the students consider are important in the task of writing. The results found that students work (i) to develop those areas that allow a text to be coherent, (ii) to have a good command of spelling; and (iii) to learn how to start writing. The diagnostic test made it possible to establish the parameters which define the characteristics that users must meet in the writing process to consider that they develop this activity well, and that they have reached a level of sufficiency in academic literacy that allows them to get by in the university environment.