In this digital ITEMS module, Dr. Wenchao Ma and Dr. Jimmy de la Torre introduce the G-DINA model, which is a general framework for specifying, estimating, and evaluating a wide variety of cognitive diagnosis models for the purpose of diagnostic measurement.
Module Overview
In this digital ITEMS module, Dr. Wenchao Ma and Dr. Jimmy de la Torre introduce the generalized deterministic inputs, noisy “and” gate (G-DINA) model, which is a general framework for specifying, estimating, and evaluating a wide variety of cognitive diagnosis models (CDMs). The module contains a non-technical introduction to diagnostic measurement, an introductory overview of the G-DINA model as well as common special cases, and a review of model-data fit evaluation practices within this framework. They use the flexible GDINA R package, which is available for free within the R environment and provides a user-friendly graphical interface in addition to the code-driven layer. The digital module also contains videos of worked examples, solutions to data activity questions, curated resources, a glossary, and quizzes with diagnostic feedback.
Wenchao Ma, University of Alabama
Dr. Wenchao Ma is an assistant professor in the Educational Research program in the Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology, and Counseling at the University of Alabama. He received his Ph.D. from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. His research interests lie in educational and psychological measurement in general, and item response theory and cognitive diagnosis modeling in particular. Wenchao was a recipient of the 2017 Bradley Hanson Award for Contributions to Educational Measurement given by the National Council on Measurement in Education as well as the 2018 Outstanding Dissertation Award given by the American Educational Research Association.
Jimmy de la Torre, The University of Hong Kong
Dr. Jimmy de la Torre is a Professor at the Faculty of Education at The University of Hong Kong. His research interests include latent variable models for educational and psychological measurement and how to use assessment to improve classroom instruction and learning. His recent work includes the development of various cognitive diagnosis models, implementation of estimation codes for cognitive diagnosis models, and development of the G-DINA framework for model estimation, test comparison, and Q-matrix validation, which is the focus of this module. He is an ardent advocate of CDM, and, to date, has conducted more than a dozen national and international CDM workshops. Jimmy was a recipient of the 2008 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers given by the White House, the 2009 Jason Millman Promising Measurement Scholar Award, and the 2017 Bradley Hanson Award for Contributions to Educational Measurement awarded by the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME).
