Getting Started: Using the Sample Project Files

Starting ConstructMap & Loading a Project

This section demonstrates how to start ConstructMap, load an existing project, and view the data through screens, reports and maps.

1. Start the program by launching ConstructMap from the Desktop (double-click the ConstructMap icon) or by clicking the Windows
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   button and going to Programs - ConstructMap44 - ConstructMap44. The ConstructMap logon window, will be displayed.
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   Figure 1. ConstructMap logon window.
2. Enter the User Name “admin” and Password "bear" (with no quotes) and click OK (or press the Enter key).
   
   NOTE: Users can change their passwords by using the System - Change Password menu option. This will change the password for ConstructMap for all users of the system.
   
   A blank data view window will be displayed because initially there is no active project. The Main Menu, which contains options labeled File, Edit, View, Reports, Estimation Tasks, System, and Help, appears across the top of the window.
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3. Most users will start by importing a data file. After importing your data, you will need to calibrate it before you can generate any reports.
4. To run the tutorial examples in this section, use the sample data provided in the software. Select Help - Demo Projects - SEPUP Demo. This imports an example that is already calibrated and ready to provide reports.
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5. To view your data, select View - Select Item Set. A list of instruments, or item sets, will be displayed. Select the particular instrument you wish to view and then click the OK button. Open and close the folders by clicking on the '+' and '-' icons.
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6. After importing your data, select File – Save. A dialog box will appear advising you that the database was saved successfully. Click OK to continue.
   
   Saving the project ensures that it will be available automatically when you open ConstructMap the next time. You will also want to save on exiting ConstructMap so that any modifications or settings you have made will persist the next time you access the program. Saving preserves all of the current project settings in the active project's database file (gomap.dbf) in the local directory.
7. You may also save your data to a separate folder you wish to keep for your project. Select File - Save Project As to create or name a particular folder for the project. The items.txt and students.txt files will be created for you in that folder. The items.txt file will contain the model specification data (e.g., variable names, item details), while the students.txt file will contain the response data (e.g., student ids, grouping variables, responses).

   Mapping Respondent Change

   The “SEPUP Demo” project has been provided as an example of an educational use of ConstructMap. The project includes information on how students performed on a sample instrument. You can use this project to generate reports and maps to see how these tools can help teachers gauge student understanding of course material. The maps vary in their level of detail to illustrate the general experience for groups of students, as well as specific student issues. From a practical standpoint, teachers would use the maps in an order that helps them understand individual students' performance and needs. The following is a summary of how each map may be used in a classroom setting:

   Typically, a teacher might use the Performance Map most often to get an overview of an individual student's or class progress over the duration of the course to date. This map shows one point per top tier Item Set (e.g., a unit or module of the curriculum), which may include several assessment activities.

   To examine a student's performance on specific activities, the teacher might then look at the Activity Averaging Map to see more detail about student performance. This view would highlight unusual performance as a peak or dip on the graph.

   The Profile Map shows a student’s location on each dimension. Teachers can use this map for student and parent conferences as a tool for explaining how students are assessed on a number of factors other than "getting the right answer."

   The Item Tracking Map is used to help teachers more completely understand the nature of a problem a student may be having. A teacher can see how the student was expected to perform, based on overall performance on the instrument, compared with how the student performed on each item.

   If a teacher wants to use a probabilistic model to determine how unusual a students’ response pattern is, compared to the expectations derived from the respondent and item threshold locations, he or she may want to look at the Diagnostic Map (or the Graphical Diagnostic Map). This map also shows the student’s expected level of performance compared with actual performance on each item. The map can be used to identify the more difficult items that the student performed surprisingly well on the less difficult items on which the student did not perform as well as expected. This information may be useful for focusing on specific obstacles a student is experiencing in his or her learning strategies.

   The Frequency Map may be most helpful to teachers as they develop lesson plans that address areas of misunderstanding shared by a number of students. These maps display frequencies of students at various levels of proficiency, which can provide a good indication to the teacher of where the most active learning was taking place at that point in the curriculum. The Group Performance Map can also be used to see average class performance at each assessment time point.

   Teachers can use the Wright Map to help them gauge qualitative and approximate probability relationships between the items and students. The left side of the map shows student proficiency levels while the right side of the map shows item difficulties. Teachers can compare overall student performance to the skills and knowledge required to perform successfully on each item. This map can also be very helpful for curriculum developers who wish to evaluate individual items in more detail. The distribution of item difficulties compared with typical respondent proficiencies can help identify overlaps or gaps in coverage across the targeted range of the latent traits of interest.

   Finally, teachers can use the Ability Estimates Report to see numerical values of each student’s proficiency estimates on each learning dimension, along with class averages. In addition, the Ability Estimates by Level Report groups students by their proficiency level, as defined by pre-established Criterion Zones.

   Reports can be generated for individual respondents or for groups of respondents. ConstructMap can apply user-created demographic fields to generate groups for performance mapping. The Filter Cases section describes how to select groups of cases

   The Setting Report Options section describes settings common to many reports.

   See Also:

   • Maps and Reports

   Calibration Demos

   Several projects have been provided to explore the estimation aspects of the program. ConstructMap computes item and population parameters when provided with model specification and student response data. In addition to the SEPUP Demo project, which is already calibrated, the following projects are included and are not yet calibrated:

   • Unidimensional dichotomous
   • Unidimensional partial credit
   • Unidimensional rating scale
   • Multidimensional dichotomous

   Load these projects by selecting Help - Demo Projects - select the demo you want to try.

   These examples can be used to calibrate items, explore differential item functioning (DIF), and obtain Wright Maps, item graphs, item fit statistics reports, and person fit statistics reports. The SEPUP Demo example can also be used to explore multidimensional analyses (the user should select the Monte Carlo integration method). Model calibration is discussed in the Parameter Estimation section. Importing data is discussed in the Entering Data with Imported Files section. A within-item multidimensional example is also provided and described in the Parameter Estimation section.

   Setting Estimation Options

   ConstructMap provides a number of optional settings users can specify to produce person and item parameter estimates. The calculations used to estimate the person proficiencies that are reported on all of the performance maps and reports are determined from the options selected in the Calibration Options and Proficiency Estimation Options dialog windows. These dialog windows are accessed from the Estimation Tasks menu, shown in Figure 1. Calibration Options are discussed in a subsequent section. Proficiency Estimation Options are described in the topics that follow.

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   Figure 1. Estimation Tasks sub-menu.

   ConstructMap also produces IRT reports for model and item analyses. These reports are described in the Item Reports section.

   See Also:

   • Estimating Model Parameters
   • Estimating Person Parameters
   • Item Reports

   Viewing Data

   The main window of ConstructMap is the data view. By default, respondents and their scores are displayed in the data view window. The tabs at the bottom of the data table, labeled "Students," "Items," "Answer Key," and "Item Sets," provide access to different view of the data. When the "Students" tab is selected the response data is displayed. When the "Items" tab is selected the item details are displayed. When the “Answer Key” tab is selected, the response recoding instructions are displayed, and when the "Item Set" tab is selected, the expected proficiency levels for each variable and item set are displayed.

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   Figure 1. Main data view in ConstructMap.

   See Also:

   • Viewing Response Data
   • Viewing Item Data
   • Viewing Answer Key Data
   • Viewing Item Set Data

   Viewing Performance Maps and Reports

   Reports can be generated for individual respondents or for groups of respondents. ConstructMap can apply user-created demographic fields to generate groups for performance mapping. The Filter Cases section describes how to select groups of cases, the Reports for Groups of Respondents section describes the procedure for obtaining reports for groups of students, and the Reports for Individual Students section describes the procedure for obtaining individual proficiency reports.

   ConstructMap also produces IRT reports for model and item analyses. These reports are described in the Item Reports section.

   The Setting Report Options section describes settings common to many reports.

   See Also:

   • Maps and Reports

   Setting Criterion Zone Options

   A number of the graphical maps show the category levels respondents have achieved on the latent traits. Settings to define the logit ranges for each category and descriptors for the categories are made in the variable definitions because they may be different for each dimension.

   
   1. Select System – Edit Variable & Criterion Zones from the menus. Using the pull-down arrow that appears in the Select Variable dialog window, select the variable you want to work on and then click OK.

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   Figure 2. Selecting a variable to edit from the SEPUP Demo.

   
   2. Click the Edit Criterion Zones button near the bottom of the next dialog window.

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   Figure 3. Criterion Zone definitions for the DCI variable for the SEPUP Demo project.

   
   As shown in Figure 3, users can enter descriptive labels, short labels, cut-points, and suggestions for each category of a variable. “Label” values appear on maps to label horizontal zones differentiating categorical levels. “Short Label” values appear on maps as item-category indicators, such as “item1.Corr” instead of “item1.3” to indicate a response in the 4th category.

   There will be one fewer cut-points than categories, because cut-points define the borders between levels. ConstructMap automatically displays the scores associated with each category. Enter labels and suggestions for improvement on the same row as a score. Enter cut-points on the rows between scores.

   The cut-point ranges and labels appear on Frequency Maps, Profile Maps, and Graphical Wright Maps. Suggestions only appear on Profile Maps (and the term "Suggestions" can be changed in Report Options).

   All cut-points for a variable must be entered before ConstructMap recognizes that criterion zones have been defined for that variable. ConstructMap also verifies that the cut-points are ordered correctly. Partially completed definitions are stored for additional editing by the user. Once all the cut-points have been entered on the Criterion Zones dialog window, they are also displayed on the Edit Variable window, shown in Figure 4. As a short-cut, users may modify these logit values in the Edit Variable window rather than using the Edit Criterion Zones button.

   
   

   3. Click on OK to close the Criterion Zone dialog window.
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   Figure 4. Edit Variable dialog window for the DCI variable of the SEPUP Demo project.

   
   4. Click on OK to close the Edit Variable dialog window.

   Next Step:

   • Parameter Estimation