International Comparison Tests Research Articles

Policy on Enhancing Access to Higher Education: The Israeli Case

Israel’s new higher education policy, introduced by the Council for Higher Education (CHE) in 1994, was intended to make higher education accessible to population groups on the social and geographical periphery of Israel and narrow social gaps. This article will examine the following main question: Does access to higher education abet social mobility and narrow social disparities? This article emphasises the changes in the role of academia as a gateway to occupations that allow for high social mobility. Previous research has not focused on this qualitative gap. This article asserts that the increase in enrolment in subjects that do not lead to high income in non-affluent localities may perpetuate the qualitative gaps between these localities and affluent ones. This affects the outputs of the academic system; the quality gaps are beginning to have impacts not only among localities in Israel but also on international comparison tests.

Results of international comparison tests on determination of <sup>137</sup>Cs activity concentration in soil samples

In 2016—2019, comparison tests of different methods for quantitative determination of the content of the technogenic radionuclide 137 Cs in soil samples were performed. Soil samples were collected from areas with high and low 137 Cs contamination in Belarus. The intercomparison was performed as a part of an ongoing Russian—Swedish—Belarusian cooperation on the assessment of radioactive contamination of the environment. Three laboratories of the regular participants in the project and three laboratories from other facilities participated in the intercomparison that was focused on the samples of cultivated soil from the Gomel region (the first stage of comparisons, 3 samples) and the Grodno region (the second stage of comparisons, 4 samples). Results on activity concentrations in the samples presented by the participants were in satisfactory agreement with each other. The maximum deviation from the average value, that had been calculated for each sample based on the individual results from all laboratories, was 14%. Stage-averaged deviations from the inter-laboratory mean did not exceed 10%. Results of the comparison tests should be taken into consideration when comparing or merging experimental data from different laboratories participating in the Russian—Swedish—Belarusian cooperation project.

The practice theme in mathematics education : Development of a French-English collaboration on the role of theories

In this introductory article, we describe how the Special Issue came about, as a result of three years of collaboration. We show how this collaboration developed with a focus on the role of theory. We draw out themes across the individual papers, making use of the concept of ‘boundary objects’ that have allowed the comparison and enrichment of our different perspectives. We suggest that the work of bringing together researchers, from different traditions and on a sustained basis, is more important now than ever, in a context in which policy makers are increasingly looking at ‘solutions’ to problems in education from the other, seemingly more successful, countries (e.g. as measured by international comparison tests). We conclude with questions for further research, both for our particular collaborative group and more widely.

A Comparative Study of Students Attitudes towards Mathematics in Two Different School Systems

Much research has been carried out in the history of mathematics education to find the factors that influence student achievement in the subject. Among these factors, student attitude towards mathematics has been consistently studied. There has often been a correlation found between students' attitudes and their achievement. In recent years Chinese students have consistently scored in the top band in mathematics international comparison tests while Irish students have been ranked at either side of the average mark. This study is in part motivated to explain why Chinese students appear to do so well in these international comparisons and whether differences in students' attitudes may play a key role. The attitudes towards mathematics of a cohort of 15 to 16 year old students in two selected schools in Ireland and China will be compared. This is a sample of students from one school in each country and so caution should be applied and the results should not be generalised. However there are some noteworthy findings which upon further investigation may have implications for policy makers and mathematics educators in both countries.

The reproducibility of corrosion testing in supercritical water—Results of an international interlaboratory comparison exercise

A major challenge in supercritical water-cooled reactor development is the lack of a consistent alloy database. An international interlaboratory comparison test was organized to study the reproducibility of weight change data obtained for identical alloys under similar conditions in different facilities. This paper presents the test procedures, conditions, results, and additional characterization data. More variation in weight change was observed than expected. The scatter was small within the same laboratory, but large between different laboratories. Much of this variation appears to be attributable to differences in test facilities. The data generally agree on the relative ranking of the corrosion resistance.

Recent development of allele frequencies and exclusion probabilities of microsatellites used for parentage control in the German Holstein Friesian cattle population.

BackgroundMethods for parentage control in cattle have changed since their initial implementation in the late 1950’s from blood group typing to more current single nucleotide polymorphism determination. In the early 1990’s, 12 microsatellites were selected by the International Society for Animal Genetics based on their informativeness and robustness in a variety of different cattle breeds. Since then this panel is used as standard in cattle herd book breeding and its application is accompanied by recurrent international comparison tests ensuring permanent validity for the most common commercial dairy and beef cattle breeds for example Holstein Friesian, Simmental, Angus, and Hereford. Although, nearly every parentage can be resolved using these microsatellites, cases with very close relatives became an emerging resolution problem during recent years. This is mainly due to an increase of monomorphism and a trend to the fixation of alleles, although no direct selection against their variability was applied. Thus other effects must be presumed resulting in a loss of polymorphism information content, heterozygosity, and exclusion probabilities.ResultsTo determine changes of allele frequencies and exclusion probabilities, we analyzed the development of these parameters for the 12 microsatellites from 2004 to 2014. One hundred sixty eight thousand recorded Holstein Friesian cattle genotypes were evaluated. During this period certain alleles of nine microsatellites increased significantly (t-values >5). When calculating the exclusion probabilities for 11 microsatellites, reduction was determined for the three situations, i.e. one parent is wrongly identified (p = 0.01), both parents are wrongly identified (p = 0.005), and the genotype of one parent is missing (p = 0.048). With the addition of BM1818 to the marker set in 2009, this development was corrected leading to significant increases in exclusion probabilities. Although, the exclusion probabilities for the three family situations using the 12 microsatellites are >99 %, the clarification of 142 relationships in 40,000 situations where one parent is missing will still be impossible.Twenty-five sires were identified that are responsible for the most significant microsatellite allele increases in the population. The corresponding alleles are mainly associated with milk protein and fat yield, body weight at birth and weaning, as well as somatic cell score, milk fat percentage, and longissimus muscle area.ConclusionsOur data show that most of the microsatellites used for parentage control in cattle show directional changes in allele frequencies consistent with the history of artificial selection in the German Holstein population.

천연가스 유량 측정에서 헬름홀츠 자유에너지를 이용한 임계유동함수 계산

본 연구에서는 천연가스 유량 측정에서 2차 표준으로 사용되는 소닉노즐 뱅크 12개 노즐 패키지로 구성 의 임계유동함수 계산 시간을 1초 이하로 단축하고자 하였다. 이를 위해 AGA 8-dc 상태방정식을 적용한 헬름홀츠 자유에너지를 유도하고 이로부터 적분 항이 없는 열역학 상태량 식을 도출하여 CFF 계산에 적용하였다. 그 결과 CFF 계산 시간이 기존 6.7초/12개에서 0.6초/12개로 크게 감소하는 것을 확인할 수 있었고 이 계산 시간은 가스 성분 수와 거의 무관함도 알 수 있었다. 또한 본 계산 결과의 정확도를 확인하기 위해 기존 CFF 국제비교연구의 결과와 비교한 결과 차이가 없음도 확인하였다.

A needle in a haystack: a search for value for money in turn-around strategies for schools in difficult circumstances

Background While current investments in school improvement occur in the context of the worldwide economic downturn, in the South African context, there is in addition widespread disparity in education provision and attainment related to pre-democracy race-based patterns. Despite the education sector receiving the largest national annual budget allocation (at least 20%), and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the business sector and even international aid agencies spending millions on school improvement projects, efforts at school improvement have not translated into the desired learning outcomes for students (reflected, for instance, in international comparison tests like TIMSS). This situation calls for deliberation on what constitutes ‘value for money’ in school improvement. Purpose In this paper we present a review of school improvement interventions in South Africa, with a view to discussing their efficiency and effectiveness in the local context. Design and methods The review of school improvement interventions in South Africa involved a systematic search of published and unpublished reports of South African schooling interventions, by both national education agencies and NGOs, aimed at improving the quality of schooling. Desktop searches were conducted on Google Scholar, targeting journals published in the last 10 years (2002 to 2011). Information on unpublished interventions was derived from sources outside of academic documents (e.g. annual reports and personal communications). Snowball sampling was used to reach as many projects as possible, starting from interventions in Johannesburg, which is the most populous city and economic centre of South Africa. Fifty published reports and 75 unpublished reports were reviewed. The information from each report was entered on a spreadsheet according to the aspects of schooling the intervention addressed. The data were then summarised using descriptive statistics and graphs. Conclusions Evidence from the review suggests that in the South African context, where access and equity in education are yet to be achieved for the majority of the population, ‘value for money’ is achieved most effectively when there is ‘connectedness’ across sectors (especially education, health and social services), and when value is in terms of gains for the whole of society or the common good.

Evaluation of standard impulse voltage/current measuring systems in Japan

AbstractA national‐standard‐class impulse voltage measuring system in Japan was developed in the consignment research of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) from 1998 to 2006. The standard measuring system for the impulse voltage measurements is managed by the Japan High Voltage Impulse Testing Laboratories Liaison (JHILL) established under the Japan Electric Machine Industry Association (JEMA). The standard impulse voltage measuring system calibrates other measuring systems and assesses their uncertainties, and, therefore, its uncertainty needs to be evaluated independently. The principal components of the system are a voltage divider, a digital recorder, and a low‐voltage calibrator which generates impulse voltages of known peak voltages and waveforms. Moreover, a reference measuring system for impulse current in Japan was also developed in 2009 supported by JEMA. Its international compatibility was confirmed through an international comparison test. Through domestic comparison tests, traceability among transducers of impulse current in Japan was established. In this paper, the constitution of these measuring systems, their performance, and related latest activities, such as comparison tests, are described. © 2012 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Discursive positioning in Norwegian teacher education: Shifting from cross-curricularity to skills-based subject specialisation

Late and limited organisational differentiation is a characteristic which has, until now, distinguished the structure of education – including teacher education – in the Nordic countries from that of the rest of Europe. However, this tradition is now challenged by utilitarian ideologies, supported by international comparison tests such as PISA and TIMSS. In Norway, a new teacher education system has been recently introduced requiring students to choose to specialise in one of two age ranges – grades 1–7 or grades 5–10 – and in addition to specialise in particular school subjects. This paper traces how different learning discourses regulate spaces for professional becoming(s), focusing on an analysis of a number of policy documents underpinning the shift from broad cross-curricular themes and project-based education towards a skills-based subject specialisation. The investigation explores how particular discourses are taken up, merged and transformed in relation to the Norwegian egalitarian school tradition.

International comparison of standard systems for impulse current measurement

AbstractThe impulse current test is an important test that is used for the evaluation of lightning protection equipment. The quality of the test greatly depends on the measuring system. Some countries already have their own standard measuring systems. Standard systems are under construction in Japan and Korea. According to the international standard on high‐voltage test techniques, a comparison test is needed to confirm the impulse parameters which have traceability or compatibility with the standard values. Different from intercomparison of impulse voltage measuring systems, Japan and Korea have not conducted an international comparison test for impulse current measuring systems. Now we have jointly conducted a comparison test for impulse current measurement. As a result, it was confirmed that the system of Japan is compatible with that of Korea, which is traceable to another foreign national standard.In this paper, the result of the comparison test between two countries is described. © 2011 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Uncertainty analysis of thermal conductivity measurements in materials for energy-efficient buildings

The accuracy of thermal conductivity measurements is even more requested for materials characterization in energy-efficient buildings field. ENEA-UTTMATF and CertiMaC research group, as national institute and private laboratory respectively, cooperate in development of new measurement and analysis methods applied to buildings materials and their performances. For what concerns this kind of measurements, an Heat Flow-meter Transducer (HFT) is used. In order to give to both customers and other research institutes involved in the same field (e.g. International Comparison or International Round Robin Tests) the most exhaustive evaluation of the tested material thermal conductivity, a complete uncertainty analysis is implemented on the HFT measures. This uncertainty analysis, developed accordingly to the international standards and with the contribution of INRiM Institute, is described in this paper.

On the issue of quality of experience in technology supported learning

Quality in education has been discussed for many decades, and as such the discussion reflects the social accountability to which schools are bound in order to demonstrate the degree to which they fulfill their purpose. What has changed overtime is the way in which quality is perceived and how it is used as both an accountability device as well as a form of change agency (Fredriksson & Snyder, 2004; Power, 2002; Riley & Nutall 1994; Snyder, Acker-Hocevar & Snyder, 2000; 2008). Typical accountability models, such as those found in Great Britain and the U.S. and more recently in the European Union and Sweden as well, focus on student achievement, drop-out rates, student attrition and teacher training as some of the key factors that define ”quality” in education (Fredriksson & Snyder, 2004). Presently, international comparison tests such as TIMMS, PEARLS, and PISA are acquiring a greater significance as a ”measure of quality”. At the same time, many argue that such large scale testing does not consider important factors that relate to learning, and drop-out rates do not necessarily relate to quality education. In contrast to the standard accountability and comparative models of quality, are other systemic models, such as total quality management (Deming, 1986; Juran, 1992) that focus on both process and outcome, and recognize the inter-relationship between the two. Quality, from a systemic model, thus must address a variety of factors in addition to student achievement, including elements in the learning environment, as well as the leadership of the school, the infrastructure and resource allocation, team work, etc. (Murgatroyd & Morgan, 1994; Snyder, Acker-Hocevar & Snyder, 2000).

Assessment of international inter-laboratory comparison tests for the diagnosis of classical swine fever from 1998 until 2007

The inter-laboratory comparison tests for classical swine fever (CSF) laboratory diagnosis organised by the European Community Reference Laboratory for CSF are regularly performed within European Union Member States. The objective of this study was to evaluate the results of the inter-laboratory comparison tests carried out over the last decade, from 1998 until 2007, by using a statistical approach. A set of five or six lyophilised sera was sent to participants. These included sera containing CSF antibodies, sera containing antibodies against ruminant pestiviruses, sera containing CSF virus and negative sera. This study focused on the results of the diagnostic reference methods for CSF: the neutralisation test for the detection of CSF antibodies (including its interpretation) and virus isolation for the detection of CSF virus. For the detection of CSF antibodies, results were closest to what was expected by the Community Reference Laboratory when only neutralisation tests were performed. The percentage of correct results decreased as soon as the results of CSF antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were included or when sera with antibodies to ruminant pestiviruses were added to the panel. The results for the detection of CSF antibodies are still valid today, as no additional method has been introduced recently. Regarding CSF virus detection, CSF virus isolation is well established but on the way to being superseded as the reference test by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction.

International comparison test in Asia‐Pacific region for impulse voltage measurements

AbstractThe national standard class divider for the lightning impulse voltage measurements in Japan was developed in 1998. After three years, the standard impulse voltage calibrator has also been manufactured. These standard equipment are used as an industrial standard, and the performance had been evaluated annually supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The standard impulse measuring system including the standard divider participated in the worldwide comparison test and its good performance was confirmed in 1999. Another international comparison test was carried out among three countries in the Asia‐Pacific region in 2004 again and the standard measuring system participated in the test. In this paper, the details and the results of the international comparison tests in 2004 are described. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 166(3): 46– 54, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.20677

Recent developments on high current measurement using current shunt

AbstractThe Short‐circuit Testing Liaison (STL) is the organization that consists of high power testing laboratories of the world. Member laboratories perform short‐circuit tests under uniform interpretations of the IEC standards agreed through technical discussions and information exchanges among them. One of the recent projects that the STL has been working on is to establish uncertainty and traceability of high current measurement by international comparison tests with reference shunts. In concert with this project, the IEC Working Group is preparing the new standard for high current measurements. Copyright © 2007 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

International Comparison Test in Asia-Pacific Region for Impulse Voltage Measurements

The national standard class divider for the lightning impulse voltage measurements in Japan was developed in 1998. After three years, the standard impulse voltage calibrator was manufactured, too. These standard equipment are used as an industrial standard, and the performance had been evaluated annually supported by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The standard impulse measuring system including the standard divider participated in the worldwide comparison test and its good performance was confirmed in 1999. Another international comparison test was carried out among three countries in the Asia-Pacific region in 2004 again and the standard measuring system participated in the test.In this paper, the details and the results of the international comparison tests in 2004 are described.

Performance Evaluation of National Standard Class Measurement System for Lightning Impulse Voltage

An impulse voltage measuring system of which performance is able to regard as the national standard class in Japan was developed in 1999. The same year, international comparison tests of the impulse measuring system were carried out among 23 countries. The performance of the impulse voltage measuring system in Japan was excellent.For this measuring system in Japan, some tests to evaluate various performances of the components were carried out and the overall uncertainty of the system was estimated after the international comparison tests.In this paper, the national standard class impulse voltage measuring system in Japan is described and its measuring uncertainty is discussed.

Construction and Performance Evaluation of Calibration System for Low Voltage Impulse

The national-standard-class measuring system for the impulse voltage measurements in Japan was developed in 1999, and its performance has been evaluated annually supported by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The system has participated in the worldwide comparison tests and its good performance has been confirmed. The low voltage calibration system which is the part of the standard measuring system was compared among 4 countries in a different series of international comparison tests, and the domestically-evaluated low uncertainty of the Japanese system was proved to be reliable.In this paper, the details and the results of the international comparison tests on low voltage impulse carried out in 2004 and 2005 are reported.

Characteristics of Immunogenetic Systems and Blood Serum Proteins in Some Pig Breeds and Georgian and Western Siberian Wild Boar Populations

A bank of reagents for hog serum protein allotypes has been created. All of these allotypes passed international comparison tests in 1987–1988. The bank can be used for typing the animals for four generally accepted (Gp, LpB, Lpr, and IgGH) and several experimental systems. In this study, immunogenetic characteristics of some pig breeds (Large White, Lithuanian White, Swedish Landrace, Kakhetinskaya, and Svanetskaya) bred in Georgia are compared with those of western Siberian breeds (Large White, Kemerovskaya, and Northern Siberian), and some foreign breeds, as well as with European, Caucasian, and Siberian subspecies of the wild boar.