US-China Education Review 2014 (1B)

US-China
Education Review
B
Volume 4, Number 1, January 2014 (Serial Number 32)
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US-China
Education Review
B
Volume 4, Number 1, January 2014 (Serial Number 32)
Contents
Special Education
Developing Dispositions for Success: Faculty Members Working in Partnership With Students 1
Candice Dowd Barnes, Janet Filer, Mark Cooper
Educational Policy and Management
E-government Implementation Benefits, Risks, and Barriers in Developing Countries:

Evidence From Nigeria 13
Olusoyi (Richard) Ashaye, Zahir Irani
Educational Psychology
Pragmatical Conceptualized Objective Personality Test Battery LAMBDA—Psychometric

Calibration Quality vs. Validity 26
Georg Mandler, Klaus D. Kubinger
Formulating Mental Health Treatment Paradigms for Military Filipino Amerasians:

A Social Work Education Challenge 36
Peter Charles Kutschera, Marie A. Caputi, Jose Maria G. Pelayo III
Teacher Education
Assessing Secondary School Teachers’ Competences in Continuous Assessment Skills in

Delta State, Nigeria 46
John Nwanibeze Odili

Medical Education
Case Variability Assessment on Performance-Based Medical Examination Using

Generalizability Theory 56
Gwo-Jen Guo, Tsai-Wei Huang
Education and Culture
Brief Analysis of Dongba Hand-Made Paper Preservation 63
Hu Ying
US-China Education Review B, ISSN 2161-6248
January 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1-12
D DAVID PUBLISHING
Developing Dispositions for Success: Faculty Members Working

in Partnership With Students
Candice Dowd Barnes, Janet Filer, Mark Cooper

University of Central Arkansas, Conway, USA

Faculty members are increasingly challenged by the lack of dispositional strengths among their college students.
This challenge is complicated by faculty members who question whether they should work to influence students’
dispositions and how might they help students develop their dispositions. Based on the Transformative Learning
Theory, this article addresses those questions by encouraging faculty members to engage in the faculty
transformative process. This process is comprised of five steps and is designed to transform faculty members
thinking about disposition development of college students. Together, these steps support faculty members in first
acknowledging a dilemma exists, and then, taking action plan to resolve the dilemma. This article also presents the
Developing Dispositions for Success process designed for faculty members to facilitate the development of
dispositions and promote students valuing the importance of demonstrating desired dispositions in the classroom,
during clinical-internship placements and in the workplace. The Developing Dispositions for Success process
encourages faculty members and students to build and engage in course activities, professional development and
mentoring, and assessment of disposition strengths and opportunities for improvement. Ultimately, the authors
claim that both faculty members and students are partners in developing dispositions to enhance learning and foster
positive standards of practice in work settings.
Keywords: disposition development, faculty development, college students
Introduction
There is a growing concern that today’s college students are increasingly entering the classroom lacking
dispositions needed for success in the classroom and beyond (Filer, Barnes, & Cooper, 2012; Jung & Rhodes,
2008; Misco, 2008; Shiveley & Misco, 2010). In some instances, these adverse dispositions can be changed by
simply increasing students’ awareness of the negative impact those behaviors have on their learning and lives.
However, there are others which need more in-depth reflection and discourse to influence students thinking
about how these dispositions can help or hinder their success in the classroom and beyond. Tardiness, for
example, is frequently a behavior that can be addressed easily by drawing a student’s attention to a course
policy or explaining how that action prevents one from focusing on the task at hand and demonstrating
preparedness for class.
On the other hand, a student who habitually submits assignments late, demonstrates insensitivity to peers
and others, or fails to demonstrate integrity or diligence is a far deeper issue to address. These kinds of
Candice Dowd Barnes, Ed.D., assistant professor, Early Childhood and Special Education, University of Central Arkansas.
Janet Filer, Ph.D., associate professor, Early Childhood and Special Education, University of Central Arkansas.
Mark Cooper, Ph.D., L.P.C., professor, Early Childhood and Special Education, University of Central Arkansas.

2 DEVELOPING DISPOSITIONS FOR SUCCESS
dispositional deficits require a different kind of action—An action which requires faculty involvement. Such
involvement also requires faculty members to evaluate their thinking about two questions: 1. Should they try to
influence dispositions? and 2. What is the most effective way to develop desired dispositions in their college
students? These questions often lead to a second challenge of determining the faculty body’s role in disposition
development. This can be further complicated for those disciplines, such as teacher education, which is required
by their accrediting bodies, to assess teacher candidates’ critical dispositions (Council of Chief State School
Officers, 2011; National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), 2001).
There are a variety of positions espoused by faculty about the development of dispositions among students.
There are faculty members who have a blind allegiance to the teaching of the subject matter with little regard to
the subjects taught. Some faculty members believe that students are too old or unwilling to change. There are
others who believe that it is the job and role of parents to teach dispositions. Of course, there are those faculty
members who believe that dispositions can be developed and that the development of such dispositions serves
the greater good to the development of high quality professionals. While there is no miracle pill for teaching
dispositions, faculty members must analyze their own perceptions, thoughts, and ideas about how dispositions
can be taught and assessed and how to best develop partnerships with students to help them achieve success.
Many researchers regard the relationship between faculty and students as essential to students’ success (Cox,
McIntosh, Terenzini, Reason, & LutovskyQuaye, 2010; Cotton & Wilson, 2006). While many factors, such as
race, higher-order thinking abilities, social class, and gender, might factor into these relationships, developing a
healthy partnership between students and faculty members can often assist the students in finding success inside
and outside of the classroom. Students learn from such partnerships that their limitations and successes serve as
catalyst for achievement. Faculty members learn strategies that best support students’ diverse needs. Criticism,
therefore, is transformed into constructive rather than destructive feedback.
The development of dispositions is a deeply personal, and sometimes, conflicting process for students. It
requires students to become increasingly vunerableand transparent about theirweaknesses. Within the walls of a
university, few students are willing to become vulnerable and transparent without a healthy relationship or
partnership with faculty members. It also softens the perception of students that faculty members, according to
Cotton and Wilson (2006), are rushed and limited in the amount of time they can dedicate to supporting students’
development and learning. Therefore, developing a process—A system that allows faculty members and students
to work in partnership is critical to students developing desired dispositions that are essential for college and career.
It is through these partnerships that faculty members can be supportive, compassionate, and authentic. Students, in
turn, can be vunerable, strengthened, and supported in developing those behaviors, actions, and values that will be
important inside the classroom and beyond. This article addresses the steps and role that faculty members must
engage as well as how students work in partnership with faculty members to develop dispositions for success.
The Dilemmas of Disposition Development

Too often, faculty members are challenged to find strategies to support students’ disposition development.
Their thinking becomes paralyzed by these challenges and they simply resign to their own frustration about the
dispositional deficiencies present among students in their classrooms. These frustrations, struggles, and
dilemmas can be addressed by engaging in a faculty transformative process, which will be discussed later in
this article, to influence faculty members’ thinking about how to best support their students’ development of
dispositions needed for college and beyond. The most important step requires faculty members to engage in

DEVELOPING DISPOSITIONS FOR SUCCESS 3
reflection and introspection. This step allows faculty members to move past their misgivings about disposition
development and consider the voice and value they have in the lives of their students. Even before faculty
members engage in their own transformative process, they must acknowledge whom their students are, where
they come from, and what they value. This provides great insight into students’ thinking and ability to accept
new ideas and perspectives. It also allows faculty members to facilitate and create opportunities for students to
engage in deeper discourse and reflection about disposition development.
Likewise, students can become frustrated with their performance. They may engage in behaviors, habits,
actions, and in some instances, hold values which compromise their learning in the classroom. These
deficiencies also have the propensity to affect their professionalism, careers, and personal lives. Therefore,
faculty members and students can work in partnership to ensure students exhibit the most useful behaviors,
actions, attitudes, and values to facilitate their learning in various educational and work settings. The
Developing Dispositions for Success process is a method designed to support faculty members and students’
thinking and actions around facilitating disposition development.
The Faculty Role in Disposition Development

Paradigm Shift in Thinking
For college professors and instructors who acknowledge dispositions as a growing challenge,
transformational theory emphasizes a paradigm shift from simply inferring or assuming that college students
enter the classroom with the dispositions (values, beliefs, and attitudes) to demonstrate excellence and to
providing students with a healthy learning environment where they are supported in the acquiring such
dispositions in the university classroom (Nelson, 2006; Splitter, 2010). College students come to the university
classroom with preset ideas, values, attitudes, and beliefs. This prior knowledge is then challenged by faculty
members who often require them to reflect on their prior and current knowledge, assess alternative perspectives,
and make decisions to accept or deny these new perspectives, and then, take action to fit the newly acquired
information or experience into the broader context of their life and understanding.
Certainly, faculty members’ roles are to influence students’ thinking and facilitate the transforming of
learning in the classroom to support students who will then internalize and integrate this learning into their
daily practice, understanding, and valuing. The same process that we utilize to create instructional goals for
respective disciplines is the same thinking that will support creating learning opportunities for disposition
development. For this article, we describe the theoretical underpinnings that promote both the paradigm shift in
thinking about disposition development and the framework to support faculty members’ call to act and develop
a program or process to develop students’ dispositions (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Thinking shift for faculty and students.

Theoretical Underpinnings
Two theories provide a framework for both faculty members and students to engage in dispositional
development. According to Mezirow (1991), transformative learning occurs when one’s current perspective is
challenged to accommodate new information and experiences. One faces a dilemma and proceeds to take action
to resolve that dilemma. The Affective Hierarchy (Krathwohl, Bloom, & Masia, 1964; Wilkerson & Lang, 2007)
explains how an individual moves along a continuum of internalizing various schemes, constructs, ideas, and
experiences. It is often represented in hierarchical stages which include attending, responding, valuing,
organizing, and characterizing. The internalization of new information and experiences fails to occur without
the attention to and the valuing of new information and experiences. One must decide whether such new
information and experiences are important or not.
Mezirow (1991) and Krathwohl et al. (1964) represented theories that address two particular questions: “Is
it important for faculty members to teach dispositions to students?” and “Is it important for students to learn the
dispositions taught by faculty members?”. In both cases, there is a cognitive dissonance that helps drive the
learning process for faculty members and students alike that requires a combination of increased awareness,
receptivity, reflection, appreciation, acceptance, and action. This relationship between the two theories supports
the process that faculty members must engage to move their own thinking from simple awareness about
dispositional development of students to taking action—An action that supports the development of
dispositional strengths and the reduction of dispositional deficits, as illustrated in Figure 2. This relationship
between the two theories also supports the process that students must engage to move their own thinking from
simple awareness about their need for dispositional development to the valuing of such development.
I ntegrating T ransform ative Learning and the A ffect ive
H ierarch y
Tra nsforma tive Actio n
C ha ra cter iza tion
R e fl ective D iscou rse
O rga nization
Valuing
C riti ca l R e fle ction
R es pon ding
A wa re ne ss /
Re c eiving
Ackn ow le dg em en t
Figure 2. Relationship between theories.
Ultimately, this process will lead students to value the importance of dispositions throughout their learning
and life and faculty members to deepen their understanding and value the importance of facilitating the
development of dispositions. It is though this paradigm shift in the thinking and actions of both faculty
members and students that will serve to effectively develop adequate dispositions. Again, this process of
assimilating and accommodating to new information and experiences perpetuates cognitive dissonance and
such cognitive dissonance perpetuates a healthy frustration. It is a matter of time before the expressions of

frustration by faculty members and students are replaced with faculty members and students who share a
similar language; a language that spells relief from dispositional deficits and a learning state represented by
optimal learning among faculty members and students.
The Faculty Transformative Process
As stated previously, this process is based upon the integrated theories of Mezirow (1991) and Krathwohl et
al. (1964). It is a process that faculty members might consider to facilitate discourse, reflection, and action—The
pillars that will promote a deeper understanding of faculty biases and challenges. This process also facilitates the
development of an action plan to promote and support students in developing dispositions.
Acknowledging the Disposition Dilemma
First, faculty members must acknowledge that a dilemma exists. It is critical that they shift from assuming
students come to the college classroom with the dispositions to pursue excellence, to a position of providing
them with an environment where they (the students) are supported in developing the dispositions expected
throughout life and career (Filer et al., 2012). Second, faculty members must accept that these students enter the
classroom with values and beliefs that guide their thoughts, feelings, and actions. Third, it is essential that
faculty members acknowledge and accept that students’ values are rooted in family, culture, and society. When
faculty members accept that students lack disposition acuity, it often creates more opportunities for dialogue
and deep thinking about dispositions.
Assessing One’s Thinking and Perceptions About the Dilemma
Faculty members should assess the assumptions held about disposition development among college
students (Filer et al., 2012; Mezirow, 1991; 2009). Many faculty members are initially challenged by the
presumption that disposition development means changing students’ morals and values. Rather, they are
attempting to influence students’ thinking about how dispositional acuity, or a lack thereof, can affect them
throughout learning and life. It is commonly understood that students’ values and morals are embedded in their
backgrounds and cultures. The idea is to influence their thinking about other perspectives, or ideas and schemes
of thinking, not to purport an objective to change their value and belief systems. This is the most troubling part
of the dilemma which exists for many faculty members.
The faculty members’ reluctance to relinquish their biases against disposition development as a beneficial
instructional approach or strategy to foster change in behaviors and action is often complicated by the many
definitions of dispositions—Definitions that include language centered on morals, values, beliefs, and virtues
(Damon, 2007; McKnight, 2010; NCATE, 2001). Other definitions (Katz, 1993; McKnight, 2010; NCATE,
2001) address the professional practices, ethics, traits, virtues, beliefs, and intentions. Still, other authors
defined dispositions in terms of professional standards of practice. For the purposes of this article, we
considered the common elements among these definitions to define dispositions as—patterns of thinking,
characteristics, attitudes, and the awareness of experiences and behaviors that guide how we navigate the
classroom and our personal and professional lives.
Once faculty members challenge the resistance to developing dispositions, they can move to the next step.
However, an assessment or critique of all assumptions is time-consuming and involves a great deal of discourse
and reflection. For example, as a faculty body, you need to agree upon a common definition of dispositions and
disposition development, and identify the critical dispositions for success. While there may be others that are as
or more significant to certain disciplines, integrity, determination, and responsibility are universal dispositions,

these dispositions, regardless of your discipline, are essential to capitalize learning and can positively impact
students’ professional pursuits.
Analyzing Literature and Findings
Analysis involves a review of new ideas, current and seminal theories, and perspectives (Filer et al., 2012;
Mezirow, 1991; 2009). Faculty members must conduct a review of literature on the topic, research how other
programs and college departments manage disposition development, organize the findings, and present them to
other concerned faculty members. This is a task, which may be more efficiently organized by a small
committee of faculty members. However, it is an important task, however, because it facilitates faculty
members supporting the process. The goal of this step is to deepen the discourse around resolving the dilemma.
By organizing a committee to lead this process, the information is collected and presented in a clear and
efficient manner. Additionally, this step affords an opportunity to further define the dispositions for
development and assists faculty members to begin organizing a plan to disseminate the information to others.
Disseminate and Assimilate Information to Others
The forth step is a convergence of two roads. The first involves the influencing of faculty members’
thinking. Those faculty members who were essential in the analysis phase must present the information to
others using the best and most appropriate presentation methods. This is a critical step for two reasons: 1. It
fosters consensus among the entire faculty body on moving forward with developing a plan for disposition
development. However, a lack of consensus should not dissuade faculty members from moving forward with
organizing a plan while continuing to work to influence others’ thinking about disposition development (Filer
et al., 2012); and 2. It is this step which continues building the framework for the action step. As faculty
members begin to think about and deepen their knowledge of disposition development, it facilitates continued
discourse, and hopefully, a plan begins to emerge.
The second road involves moving faculty members from understanding the information to creating an
action plan for developing dispositions. This second direction includes more in-depth reflection and discourse
about the activities, events, and experiences that will facilitate a deepening of thinking. Ultimately, this step
moves faculty from simply voicing their frustrations, to engaging in a process to support students’ developing
and valuing the significance of dispositions in their professional and personal lives. These converging roads
serve as the vehicle for action and strengthen the disposition development framework. As the thinking and
valuing deepen, activities, opportunities, and events will emerge for faculty members to integrate in their
practices and classrooms.
Taking Action to Solve the Dilemma
Once faculty members have reached the final step, they are ready to take action. This action is defined by
the creation of a plan comprised of several elements from orientation of students to the development process, to
explicit or direct instruction within courses, and the assessment of critical dispositions. Each element serves a
particular purpose to facilitate disposition development. For example, faculty members might provide a
presentation to identify and describe the critical dispositions and include indicators for success.
The creation of an action plan is essential for transitioning students from a level of simple
acknowledgement or awareness of dispositions and the process to support the development of their dispositions,
to valuing how these dispositions are reflected in their learning, life, and careers. It is through the development
of this action plan that faculty members can build relationships with students, engage them in discourse and

discussion, and offer strategies which will help them grow and develop the dispositions in a profound way.
The ability of faculty members to help students overcome dispositional deficits is vital to their success in
the university classroom and beyond. However, faculty members must go beyond helping candidates simply
identify the dispositions that need improvement or strengthening (Diez, 2007). They must create and facilitate
opportunities for candidates to internalize the dispositions and transfer them successfully into their pedagogy.
By internalizing dispositions, candidates are more likely to transfer those skills, attitudes, behaviors, and values
to their students (Villegas, 2007). The key to achieving internalization for faculty and students is an
understanding that internalization does not simply happen. It requires individuals to connect both the affective
and the cognitive domains in order to achieve the highest level of internalization-characterization of the value
system. Both Mezirow (1991) and Krathwohl et al.’s (1964) theories support the pretense that a change in
thinking evolves from the valuing of new information and schemes.
The next section describes an example of an action plan developed by a committee of faculty members
within a teacher education program. While, there are some elements that are specific to teacher education, the
Developing Dispositions for Success program can generally be applied to any discipline. The priorities are to
build relationships with students, provide professional development about dispositions for success, assess
students’ dispositions, and provide support for dispositional deficits and encouragement of dispositions
strengths.
Disposition Development Process for Students

Today’s College Students
High quality instruction requires faculty members to know whom their students are, what they are capable
and able to accomplish, and what knowledge they already possess. Most students attending college today are
from the Millennial Generation, or “Generation Y”. These students were generally born between 1982 and
2002. The first members of this generation began entering universities and colleges in 2000. While
over-generalization about any group of people, in this case, college students can mislead faculty members to
use a one-size-fits-all mentality, there are some common denominators among this generation, which are
important for consideration in developing a process or plan to support the development of dispositions.
There are seven unique characteristics of the millennial candidates that may help or hinder academic success
in the university classroom. The seven descriptors include: special, team-oriented, sheltered, confident, pressured,
conventional, and achievers (Howe & Strauss, 2000; 2003; Monoco & Martin, 2007; Wilson, 2004). These
descriptors reflect the values, ideas, morals, ethics, and common messages received from parents and society.
While the millennial college students’ sense of being special can be a wonderful quality, it can also
translate into a sense of entitlement—A sense that grades should come easily, that effort not mastery or
proficiency equals an A. Sheltered was a second characteristic outlined by Howe and Strauss and others. These
authors explained that when students are insulated, often times by parents, from experiencing challenges, they
often have great difficulty in demonstrating self-advocacy and initiative. This can be detrimental to students’
propensity to think and act for themselves (Howe & Strauss, 2000; 2003; Monoco & Martin, 2007; Murray,
1997; Wilson, 2004).
A third characteristic of the millennial candidates is the pressure to achieve. Such pressure can lead
students to engage in academic misconduct and dishonesty (Wilson, 2004; Howe & Strauss, 2003). Greater
than simply telling students not to engage in those kinds of behaviors is helping them understand why engaging

in those behaviors are detrimental. It moves students from simply being aware to valuing and internalizing this
new thinking—New perspective that challenges their current scheme and understanding. It engages them in
exercising or replacing preset ideals.
Propensity to work in teams is a fourth quality addressed by Howe and Strauss (2000; 2003) and other
authors, which combines admirable and potential undesirable qualities. It is admirable for students to work in
cooperative groups. Yet, some students find difficulties in working independently and reflecting privately. They
often fail to think for themselves, process information in-depth, and analyze information critically. A fifth
characteristic of the millennial students involves a sense of confidence. The sense of confidence is like a
two-edged sword. On the one hand, confidence bolsters the message “I am distinguished”. On the other hand,
the message is, “I feel paralyzed by potential failure because of the expectation to achieve”. Feeling special and
the pressure to succeed is the sixth characteristic that influences the students—drive to achieve. This in some
ways explains the findings in a report that millennial students are on target to become the most educated
generation in American history (Pew Research Center, 2010).
However, the fact that millennial students are driven to achieve does not ensure that they are driven to
demonstrate the dispositions that promote achievement. Subsequently, faculty members may find highly driven
students who act like a ship without a rudder. They tend to go forward but with too little direction. Finally, the
millennial students are described as conventional. In this respect, they believe more than prior generations that
social rules are acceptable and important (Monoco & Martin, 2007; Wilson, 2004). In the classroom, these
candidates challenge faculty assumptions that some things are just “understood”. For example, for most
professors, it goes without saying that cellphone usage during class is forbidden. This generation is highly
engrossed in technology and may not perceive texting in class as a distraction to the learning process. However,
if no texting during class becomes a class policy, it brings attention to an undesirable behavior in the classroom.
These seven characteristics certainly present some positive qualities in the university classroom, but they
also present challenges—Challenges that complicate students’ propensity to be good collaborators, critical
thinkers, and reflective decision-makers. Thus, faculty members must first understand whom their candidates
are and use this information with their knowledge of disposition development to design a plan that compliments
their programs of study and the needs of students to demonstrate success in all areas of learning, life, and career.
The following program outlines how this might occur. Again, this program was developed for teacher
education, but it can be applied to various disciplines and programs of study.
Developing Dispositions for Success Program
Once faculty members move beyond discussing their frustrations with students who lack dispositional
strength, they can focus on creating or adopting a definition of dispositions and disposition development. As
stated earlier, the common denominators found in several definitions were used. Dispositions are defined as
patterns of thinking, characteristics, attitudes, and the awareness of experiences and behaviors that guide how
we navigate the classroom and our personal and professional lives. In the context of this article, dispositions
development is a systematic process to influence students’ valuing dispositions for learning, life, and career.
There are an abundance of dispositions that might be unique to a discipline. The objective is to identify those
discipline-specific dispositions as well as consider universal dispositions for success.
Identifying Dispositions for Development
The identification of critical dispositions is a moving target. There must be dozens of dispositions that may

qualify as important to the pursuit of excellence among college students. Dispositional deficits in determination,
persistence, graceful mistake making, self-discipline, responsibility, internal locus of control, and flexibility are
all great qualifiers for interfering with learning in the university classroom. It is the role of the faculty body to
identify those which are essential to their discipline, with the understanding that disposition development
reaches beyond the university classroom.
Eight universal dispositions that cut across all disciplines are responsibility, integrity, diligence,
determination, flexibility, sensitivity, cooperation, and initiative. Students who demonstrate deficits or
distinguish themselves through their actions, thinking, behaviors, and attitudes should be supported and
recognized. Additionally, it is important to identify indicators and definitions for each disposition. This ensures
that the students are clear about the expectations of their behaviors. The indicators not only should provide
example statements of appropriate classroom behaviors, but also should provide examples of how their lives
might be affected in a clinical/internship placement and post-graduation. For example, as a faculty body, you
must ask “How is this defined for the discipline?”. A student who is punctual is demonstrating an action or
behavior expected for the classroom and for an internship placement. Punctuality is also an expected behavior
in the workplace. This kind of behavior also demonstrates a sense of responsibility and sensitivity to others. On
the other hand, a student who practices tardiness is demonstrating an undesirable classroom behavior that can
potentially affect them professionally. Therefore, it is important to not simply expect students to demonstrate
disposition strengths. It may also be essential to aid students in developing, maintaining, or sustaining
dispositions for life and career.
Facilitating the Valuing of Disposition
An essential step in the relational-hierarchy is to move from acknowledgement to awareness to valuing
(Filer et al., 2012). This can be achieved through several instructional activities. For example, orientation of
students to the development process, defining and describing the dispositions for learning and success, explicit
or direct instruction within courses, reflection activities designed to provoke students’ thinking about their own
dispositions, assessment of the dispositions to enhance learning, mentoring, and professional development
activities, and remediation plans or processes for those students who continue to demonstrate deficits in
dispositions can support students valuing the dispositions for success.
Each element has a key function. For example, an orientation serves to introduce the program or plan to
the students—creating a deeper sense of awareness. Faculty members might design a presentation to identify
and describe the critical dispositions and include indicators for success. Embedded course activities will
facilitate greater discussion, and deepen students’ knowledge of dispositions. A case study would allow
students to apply the information in an authentic and meaningful context. Providing opportunities for students
to engage in self- or peer- assessment allows for greater reflection and discourse with peers and faculty
members. Finally, faculty members might formally assess students’ dispositions, assist them in developing
growth plan, facilitate professional development session engage in small group discussions, and organize
remediation plans and processes when necessary to further help students develop the critical dispositions to
maximize learning.
Professional Development
One of the most effective instructional strategies is to integrate professional development activities that
reflect an authentic, real-world activity, similar to what students might experience during a performance

appraisal in the workplace. In this context, for example, the students would develop a professional growth plan
that identifies their strengths and opportunities for improvement. They would be instructed to develop with the
support of a faculty member’s strategies that would help them enhance their strengths and/or make
improvements. Later, the students and the faculty member would evaluate the students’ progress and process of
learning. If the students are progressing positively, the faculty member may acknowledge how the students
have distinguished themselves. If the students are demonstrating deficiencies, the faculty member has an
avenue to assist the students in improving their performance.
A faculty body might divide students into intimate small groups to facilitate disposition development and
discourse. By dividing students into small groups, faculty members can more specifically and directly meet
each student’s needs. It also provides an opportunity for students to support and provide suggestions for each
other. This can be instrumental to their development of dispositions. Throughout the semester, faculty members
might follow-up on each student’s progress—small group or individually.
Overall, this allows for several benefits to emerge: 1. Faculty members and students develop a quality
relationship. This relationship provides a cushion for difficult conversations; 2. Faculty members can
specifically support the needs and strengths of individual students; 3. Faculty members can model best practices
and demonstrate dispositional strengths for students to observe; 4. It mimics similar experiences in the
workplace that can be extremely valuable for students’ learning and professionalization, such as performance
evaluations; and 5. Most importantly, it provides faculty members and students the opportunity to cultivate
strategies and plans to support students internalizing the importance and value of developing these patterns of
thinking, behaviors, and actions.
Assessing Students’ Dispositions
Formal and informal ways to measure students’ performance are a commonly accepted practice. We use
various assessment strategies to measure the level or depth of students’ knowledge. However, measuring
dispositions is uniquely challenging, because it is influenced greatly by the social and cultural context in which
one lives. In fact, the assessment of dispositions is what keeps many faculty members from engaging in
dialogue about disposition development or assessment.
However, designing a system to include students’ self-assessment and faculty members administering a
formal assessment can be beneficial for students, faculty members, and the overall program. This allows for
students and faculty to reflect on the dispositions that are strengths and dispositions that impair students’
learning and pursuits beyond the classroom. When students engage in self-assessment, it can serve as a catalyst
for greater discussion, discourse, and reflection of disposition. It can help students identify which dispositions
they might need additional support and which dispositions are strengths. It can also help students develop their
professional growth plans by identifying the weaker areas and designing strategies, to ameliorate them.
The second phase would be a more formalized assessment strategy. This tool would primarily be used by
faculty to evaluate and comment on students’ actions, behaviors, and other indicators of disposition deficits and
strengths. The tool might later serve as an additional support to remediate students who are exhibiting extreme
difficulties. It might require the implementation of a performance improvement plan—A more intense and
direct monitoring of students’ progress toward proficiency. The formal assessment tool might also be used to
identify those students who have distinguished themselves in an exceptional way. Certainly, those students who
are exemplifying positive and high-functioning disposition strengths should be recognized, and faculty

members should provide them with as much support in maintaining those strengths as the support given to
students who demonstrate deficiencies.
Assessment is an important part of the process. Some disciplines, such as teacher education, are required
to evaluate and measure students’ dispositions (Council of Chief State School Officers, 2011). Some would
argue that it is one of the most important factors to consider. We purport that while assessment is important, it
is the development of dispositions for success that will carry the greatest impact of students’ future learning and
professional behaviors.
Conclusions
In conclusion, faculty members who are frustrated and challenged by students who exhibit poor
dispositions might consider their role in influencing students’ thinking about how dispositions can play a key
role in their education and professional lives. While the propensity is to immediately suggest that students enter
the classroom with the dispositions to be successful, often times, that is not an accurate reality. Therefore, by
faculty members engaging in a process to move their thinking from simply acknowledging the issues exist to
taking action to influence students’ thinking and understanding, they, the faculty members, are supporting their
students’ development and growth.
Certainly, the shift in thinking is also the responsibility of students. The Developing Dispositions for
Success program outlined in this article can be implemented for any discipline and degree program. Students
and faculty members play a significant role in supporting the richness and depth of learning in the classroom.
However, learning is broader than the knowledge and skills one obtains. Motivation, encouragement, values,
and beliefs about the information received and how that information connects to the learners’ existing
knowledge can be significantly impact the process. Take teacher education for example, candidates are
evaluated on their level of appreciation, their commitment to mastery, and their awareness and valuing of
diversities. Certainly, other professions and disciplines are as concerned with the degree to which their students
demonstrate dispositions strengths in the classroom, during internships, and as practicing professionals.
As more faculty members recognize and acknowledge that some students are struggling to demonstrate
dispositions for success, they, the faculty members, will engage in developing programs and processes to
support each student in finding a measure to success. However, faculty members must first resign the idea that
students should come to class with the dispositions they need to be successful. Faculty members must begin to
think about how they might work in partnership with students to strengthen their dispositions to find success in
the classroom and beyond. Likewise, students need to engage in activities, discourse, and reflection to begin
valuing the importance of demonstrating responsibility, compassion, flexibility, and patience in all aspects of
life.
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January 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, 13-25
D DAVID PUBLISHING
E-government Implementation Benefits, Risks, and Barriers in

Developing Countries: Evidence From Nigeria
Olusoyi (Richard) Ashaye, Zahir Irani

Brunel University, West London, UK
This paper reviews the literature on the benefits, risks, and challenges of e-government implementation, as
e-government is becoming a global concept for transforming government business. The researchers adopted
interpretive approach using qualitative analysis since it is inductive and would allow for better understanding of
deeper structure of phenomenon within cultural and contextual situations. Case study research approach was
adopted with questionnaires and face-to-face interview survey carried out in public service organisations in Nigeria.
From the analysis and findings, the researchers were able to describe the state of e-government in developing
country—Nigeria and to make recommendations for its successful implementation.
Keywords: component, e-government implementation, benefits, risks, barriers
Introduction
E-government: Rationale and Motivation for Study
E-government is a concept that is increasingly accepted by practitioners and academicians in the
information and communication technology (ICT) environment. Governments around the world are embracing
e-government from local, state, and federal levels, which explains its importance and fast-spreading nature.
Some of its benefits include enhancing transparency and increasing efficiency. E-government is also essential
for increasing revenue, promoting competitiveness, and enhancing marketing in the public sector. As a result,
numerous processes and applications have been developed over time, despite having no structured
methodology.
Although, there is no standard definition of e-government, academicians and researchers have attempted to
explain the concept in various contexts. For instance, Otubu (2009) described e-government as narrow, specific,
and simplified, whereas Bhatnager (2004) believed that its efficiency is decisively connected with the presence
or absence of public accountability. In spite of its drivers, ICT infrastructure is recognised to be one of the main
challenges for e-government; with most developing countries having low information technology (IT) literacy
level in comparison to the developed countries. Thus, the evolving change in the global world and the need for
developing countries to meet up with technological advancement, call for transformation.
Like many other projects or programmes, there are always risks in the implementation process that need to
be identified and carefully managed, in order to ensure successful application and to promote good practice.
These risks stem around service quality, data sharing, security and privacy, and misinterpretation of the services.
Olusoyi (Richard) Ashaye, M.Sc., B.Sc., MRICS, MBCS, IRRV (Hons), Brunel Business School, Brunel University.
Zahir Irani, Ph.D., M.Phil., B.Eng. (Hons), FRSA, FCMI, FInstLM, Brunel Business School, Brunel University.
14 E-GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTATION BENEFITS, RISKS, AND BARRIERS
Thus, e-government implementation requires stakeholders’ participation in all every level of the development
lifecycle, from the initiation stage to the monitoring and evaluation stage. Academicians have argued that it
poses some challenges, as effective communication and organisational skills are required in order to maintain
the vision, values, and aspirations of all parties involved in e-government implementation. These barriers as
observed in the developing countries include socio-cultural problems, economic constraints, infrastructural and
technical constraints, and change management issues—resistance to change amongst public servants. Despite
the challenges, there are enormous prospects in e-government implementation, as it seeks to provide
government at all levels and arms world-over with value for money and finding a balance among costs, revenue,
and good governance. Thus, e-government practice introduces positive changes into the day-to-day
management of government business (Onu & Chiamogu, 2012; Lam, 2005; Muoka, 2010).
Research Aim and Objectives
The aim of this research paper is to analyse the drivers and barriers impacting on e-government
implementation in the developing countries. The main objectives of this research that arise as a result of the
above aim are:
1. To review and analyse the existing literature, theories, and models relating to e-government benefits,
risks, and barriers;
2. Using case study research approach to analyse these implementation factors with a view to making
recommendations from the findings.
Research Questions
1. What are the benefits, risks, and barriers influencing e-government implementation in public sector in
the context of developing countries?
2. How do these characteristics and factors influence e-government implementation and are we able to
identify new factors?
Literature Background
E-government: Benefits, Opportunities, Risks, and Barriers
E-government: Benefits and opportunities. The benefits of implementing e-government systems should
be similar in both developing and Western countries, except that the developing countries still have a lot to
learn from the developed countries, especially in the area of ICT. As Ifinedo (2006) put it, e-government
initiatives provide check balance on a country’s political instability through efficiency, accountability, and
transparency. If implemented properly, e-government could also help to improve the culture in terms of norms
in the country, restructure administrative functions and processes, and monitor government performance.
Practitioners have argued that e-government can help solve the problems of revenue collection with improved
service and provision of digital services to both government and other businesses, which include online taxation,
recording of land records, and title deeds.
Other opportunities of e-government implementation include: strong leadership helping to build
confidence in programs, educating and training government staffs on the importance of security and privacy,
reforming process by simplifying regulations and procedures, as well as e-literacy, such as giving special
attention to groups that are difficult to integrate—women, the elderly, or immigrants (Wimmer & Traunmuller,
2001; Almarabeh & AbuAli, 2010; Ifinedo, 2006).
E-GOVERNMENT IMPLEMENTATION BENEFITS, RISKS, AND BARRIERS 15
E-government: Risks and barriers. Scholars have argued that in spite of the many benefits that can be
accrued through knowledge sharing, true participative systems have difficulties in sustaining themselves,
because barriers are deeply embedded in social, economic, and political principles and values of organisations
that are usually viewed as having a higher value than the potential gains from such systems. These barriers
could be classified as technological, organizational, and legal policies (Zhang, Dawes, & Sarkis, 2005;
McCaffrey, Faerman, & Hart, 1995). Review of literature reveals that because of the high level of corrupt
practices in some of the public services, most especially in the developing countries, the staff who are
beneficiaries are likely to frustrate and resist the e-government implementation. These staff would believe that
the newly implemented services would help alleviate or even put an end to their illicit and bureaucratic
conducts. This explains why the staff prefer the current “paper-form” to “paperless” workflow documentation
and face-to-face contact with citizens from inception to accomplishment of the transaction. E-government
implementation risks can be classified, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1
E-government Implementation Risks
Element E-government implementation risk
Accessibility of information by other agencies; new technologies; risk of failure; dependence on
Technology
foreign technical know-how service fragmentation
Reducing full control over information; inferior service quality, e.g., delayed service; more
Process
corruption if front office functions are delegated to intermediaries; unstable power supply
People Relational privacy, e.g., background checks; reduction in manpower; increase in unemployment
Misinterpretation and misuse of e-government services; increase criticisms by other agencies and
Organisational
citizens
Financial Limited or lack of funding, especially during implementation; financial sustainability
Security amd privacy Environmental information security, e.g., identify theft
Other challenges facing e-government implementation in the context of developing countries include: lack
of funding and financial resources, technical know-how, lack of acceptance, buy-in by both staff and citizens,
leadership failures, and socio-economic and cultural constraints (West, 2004; Eddowes, 2004; Heeks, 2001;
Ndou, 2004; Irani, Themistocleous, & Love, 2003).
Theories and Models of E-government
Institutional (adaptive) theory. Institutional theories of organizations provide a rich, complex view of
organizations (Zucker, 1987). Bj¨orck (2004) however proposed the following whilst applying institutional
theory to the management of information system (IS)/IT security in organisations:
1. It can help us understand and explain why formal security structures and actual security behaviour
differs;
2. It can help us shed light on why organisations often create and maintain formal security structures
without trying to implement them fully;
3. It helps us identify and explore the main mechanisms by which actual security behaviour is controlled.
The key assumptions are about how institutions are created, maintained, changed, and dissolved. The three
pillars of the theory are regulative, normative, and cognitive, whilst the institutional carriers are like symbolic
systems, social structures, routines, and artefacts (objects).
Although, Jensen, Kjaergaard, and Svejvig (2008) have argued that institutional theory does not explicitly
account for how organisational actors make sense of and enact IS in their local context, others believed that it
allows for the creation of theories of endogenous institutional change by looking at how change at the margins
works itself in toward the core institutions, and could also be used for analysing organisations, and developing
theoretical perspective further in order to enhance its use in empirical research (North, 1990; Jensen,
Kjaergaard, & Svejvig, 2008; Currie, 2009; Tolbert & Zucker, 1996; Peter, 2000).
Institutional theory could be explored in determining pertinent research benefits, challenges, and risks
facing the IS community. It allows for other theories and models to be combined due to its flexibility, most
importantly, there is no unified theory to focus on e-government implementation factors.
Drivers-barriers model. Hamed, Berger, Cleary, and Ball (2008) developed the drivers-barriers model in
their research into e-commerce and economic development in Libya. They highlighted 12 potential issues that
could be classified as either drivers or barriers in e-commerce economic development of a country, however,
these factors vary from country to country. Although their research was specific to the Libyan economy, the
model suggests that these drivers/barriers are common in most countries. The researchers therefore suggested
that this model could be used by academicians in order to determine the benefits and challenges facing
e-government implementation in other developing countries (see Appendix A for the drivers-barriers model).
Research Methodology
Case study research was the preferred strategy for this study since it is widely applied by researchers and
allows for flexibility in terms of evidence gathering and ability to assess the outcome (Yin, 2003). Data were
collected through online and Web-form questionnaire and face-to-face interview, and due to time constraint,
research focus was on three public sector organisations, ranging from small to large organisational size (see
Table 2).
The researchers were satisfied that this approach would enable understanding in a more holistic picture,
the organisation’s process towards implementation of e-government through close investigation, observation,
and face-to-face contact. The survey was carried out within the government to employee (G2E) context and the
employers were mainly public servants ranging from government ministries to agencies and local governments
(see Table 2).
Table 2
Case Study Research Selection Criteria
Selection of organisations
1 Level of intervention G2E
Large Federal Ministry of Housing, Lands, and Urban Development
2 Organisational size Medium Local government—Sagamu
Government agency—National Environmental Standards and
Small
Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA)
Phase 1 Pre-implementation
3 E-government development phases Phase 2 During implementation
Phase 3 Post-implementation
Research survey was carried out at the office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation and Federal Land
Information System (FELIS), which are two departments within the Federal Ministry of Housing, Lands, and
Urban Development. This is because of the organisational size of the ministry and the bureaucracy involved in
obtaining information. The data collected consist of primary and secondary data. Strategic policy documents
were collected from decision-makers, such as head of services and service managers, operational and middle
managers (team managers and team leaders), and project managers and business analysts. Project leaders and
other members of staff who have ICT knowledge and/or regularly use ICT infrastructures of their organizations
were mainly from the federal/local governments and parastatal and were chosen at random to complete the
questionnaires and interviewed separately. About 27 participants were involved in the face-to-face interview
across the case study and they represent various departments involved in the service delivery process. It is
anticipated that both primary and secondary data investigation should enable us to determine the key drivers
and barriers with the implementation of e-government systems in public sector organsiations, especially in the
developing countries. Table 3 summarises the organisations visited and where survey was successfully
conducted.
Table 3
List of Organisations for Case Study Research
Abbreviation Organisation Survey conducted Remarks
Organisation going through complete
1 NeGSt National E-government Strategies No
re-structure
Case study: Survey conducted with staff
Federal Ministry of Environmental Housing
2 Fed Min Yes and managers at the office of the
and Urban Development
Surveyor-General of the Federation
3 FELIS Federal Land Information System Yes Questionnaire survey with senior officer
National Information Technology Development
4 NITDA No Staff and managers on overseas training
Agency
Case study: Face-to-face interview plus
National Environmental Standards and
5 NESREA Yes questionnaire, conducted with junior,
Regulations Enforcement Agency
middle, and senior staff
6 SLG Sagamu Local Government Yes Case study: Questionnaire
Face-to-face interview plus
7 NCAA Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority Yes
questionnaire
Initial Findings and Analysis

Case Study—Nigeria
E-government in Nigeria could be traced back to 2003 when the president of the country, Olusegun
Obansanjo declared, “… we have adopted a national policy for ICT … with emphasis on public-private
partnership … to ensure that our country is part of the evolving Information Society …”. Since then, there has
been a rapid advance in modern technology in Nigeria. The formation of the tripartite joint venture known as
NeGSt in 2004 aims at creating a practical strategy and a single architecture to guide the evolution of digital
government solutions with consistent standards, operating platforms, and applications across agencies and
government systems, thereby, enabling the development of e-government portal in the country. Thus, NeGSt
comprises the following partnership: government (5%), consortium of banks (15%), and a strategy partner
(80%). With constant changes in ICT, various arms of government should be ready to embrace e-government
implementation despite the bureaucracies often experience in public sectors. From the findings, new
ICT-related tools have been known to make institutions and markets more productive, enhance skills and
learning, improve governance at all levels, and make it easier for services to be accessed. Academicians have
reported that despite Nigeria developing in the area of ICT, there are some factors that impact the country’s
total advancement in the areas of benchmarking tool and access to ICT usage due to the number of Internet
users and literacy levels. The map of Nigeria is shown in Appendix B.
E-government Benefits
In analysing the research findings, most of the respondents were in support of the benefits identified by
academicians and professionals, as reviewed in the literature. For instance, improving productivity, increasing
capacity of government, as well as improving the quality of service delivery and business and customers were
believed to be the most important benefits.
Table 4 and Figure 1 summarise the findings relating to e-government implementation benefits in
developing country, like Nigeria.
Table 4
E-government Implementation Benefits
1 Improve productivity
2 Improve quality of service delivery
3 Reduce the overall costs of the organisation
4 Reduce data collection, process, and storage
5 Network and community cohesion
New benefits identified:
6 Well-equipped offices to enhance productivity
7 Information sharing is quick and prompt
8 Speed the process and decision-making
9 Increased productivity in governance
Figure 1. Bar chart of e-government implementation benefits.
E-government Barriers
According to Adeyemo (2011), “Nigeria has the fastest growing and most lucrative telecommunications,
and ICT market in Africa, yet in spite of this, obvious and significant progress is still being ranked low in
e-government provision to its citizens”.
Thus, scholars and practitioners have argued that the practice of e-government is most likely to be
negatively impact upon because of the current poor state of social infrastructure, most especially, the power
supply and road network in a country, like Nigeria (Dode, 2007). Respondents were asked about e-government,
and they all agreed that there are many barriers in implementing e-government in Nigeria and that government
involvement is crucial to alleviating these barriers and assisting in setting up the necessary infrastructure
needed for successful implementation. Apart from ICT infrastructure, other barriers were argued, which include
high level of investment required, education, training, and set up costs, and high level of knowledge among
employees. The survey analysis reveals implementation policy as a newly identified barrier asides those
discussed in the review of literature. These barriers are highlighted in Table 5 and Figure 2. For instance, ICT
transformation was identified as the major barrier for e-government implementation in Nigeria. Other key
barriers are training, investment, and knowledge. For any e-government implementation in a developing
country, like Nigeria, respondents believe that legislative supports, security, and other barriers, such as
implementation policy, are as important as resistance to change among different departments and leadership
role.
Table 5
E-government Implementation Barriers
1 ICT infrastructure
2 High level of investment required
3 Education, training, and set-up costs
4 High level of knowledge among employees
5 Cultural awareness
6 Strategy (vision, mission, etc.)
7 Security issues and privacy of citizens
8 Lack of legislative support/formal policy
New barriers identified:
9 Implementation policy
Figure 2. Bar chart of e-government implementation barriers.
E-government Risks
From the research findings, three new risk factors were identified, which were not discussed in the review
of literature or by researchers and academicians who have carried out previous studies of the Nigerian
e-government systems (see Table 6 and Figure 3).
Table 6
E-government Implementation Risks
1 Accessibility of information by other agencies
2 Environmental information security, e.g., identify theft
3 Reducing full control over information
4 Inferior service quality, e.g., delayed service
5 Misinterpretation/misuse of e-government services
6 Increase criticisms by other agencies and citizens
New risks identified:
7 Reduction in manpower
8 Increase in unemployment
9 Unstable power supply
Figure 3. Bar chart of e-government implementation risks.
A director at NESREA, like many other respondents, believed that the accessibility of information by
other agencies, including information sharing is the most ranked risk for e-government implementation in
Nigeria. This is compared to risks, such as misuse of e-government services and increased criticism by other
agencies and citizens. He further argued that the following risks should also be considered, which were not
previously identified during the review of literature: (a) reduction in manpower; and (b) increase in
unemployment.
Table 6 highlights the risks identified with implementing e-government systems in an IS environment.
This is also illustrated in Figure 3, which shows that accessing of information by other agencies as one of the
significant risks that could impact on successful implementation of e-government. To buttress his point, the
assistant director at FELIS in Abuja also identified a risk factor based on his experience of implementing
e-governments systems in land administration in Nigeria. Thus, he mentioned that unstable power supply poses
risk to e-government implementation, since Nigeria does not have regular supply of electricity across the
country, despite being one of the petroleum exporting countries, which belongs to the Organisation of
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Most of the staff and senior officers who were interviewed at the
Federal Ministry of Housing, Lands, and Urban Development (office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation)
and NCAA supported the notion that accessing information and security in terms of identity theft was the major
risk to be considered. Other risks identified were control over information and the fear of inferior quality
service or delayed service. However, only a minority of the respondents across the public sectors surveyed
believed that misuse of e-government services and increased criticisms by other agencies and citizens post
higher risks.
Recommendations
Based on the research analysis and the findings, it is believed that strategy and planning have important
roles in creating vision, goals, and targets. In addition, technology, people, and processes remain the enablers of
e-government. The following recommendations are made:
1. Academicians should identify potential risks and challenges to be faced before implementing
e-government, and not just focusing on the benefits. More so, the drivers-barriers model has shown that what
appears to be a driver—say costs or infrastructure could be a barrier in another country. Therefore, there exists
difference between theory and practice of e-government systems, as they vary from country to country,
including the main benefits, barriers, and risks;
2. E-government strategy office should work closely with other organisations. At the moment, it is not
known by many like a “stand-alone” organization. The office should be responsible for organising and
coordinating seminars, workshops, conferences, and training and development programme on e-government
and ICT infrastructures. NeGSt is currently undergoing complete re-structure as the researchers were unable to
conduct survey at this office;
3. Infrastructure is crucial to a country’s development. Government should improve ICT infrastructure and
delivery fulfillment. Electricity and Internet connection are two main factors that the government should
address urgently since limited broadband network services are available and government, businesses, and
citizens rely on dial-up network or even mobile phones;
4. Government should encourage technologically-advanced countries and companies to be involved in
e-government implementation by reducing tax duties on equipment and services specific for ICT projects in the
country.
Future Work
Having analysed the researched findings, it is evident that further works need to be carried out into why
most developing countries as ranked as low in terms of e-readiness. The resistant and unco-operative attitude of
the change needs to be explored further in terms of management change. Researches have shown that resistance
to change often leads to project failure. Although this study was looked at from the institutional viewpoint,
there is a need for further research on the management perspective since leadership support is essential for
successful of e-government implementation.
Summary and Initial Conclusions

The researchers have reviewed the drivers and barriers to e-government implementation by carrying out
multiple-case studies research in the context of Nigerian public sector organizations. This is due to the fact that
as one of the fastest ICT marketers in the developing countries, it is ranked low in terms of e-readiness and
e-government provision for its citizens. Research findings, therefore, support the notion that senior government
officials and decision-makers would need to buy into the e-government concept in order to address the issue of
staff attitude and resistance to change, which is common with most public servants globally.
Review of literature has shown that a few academicians and practitioners have carried out studies in
determining the strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats of e-government implementation, it is evident
from the survey carried out and findings, that the concept of e-government requires the implementer of changes
to give full support to e-government services being provided for both citizens and employees, including
businesses. The benefits are enormous as they would lead to transparency and efficiency of services, thereby,
reducing and in the long run, eradicating bribery and corruption that is often common in this part of the country.
It also brings accountability and improves the ICT literacy level of the country as a whole. Apart from
government taking the lead, other governmental agencies and parastatal, including voluntary and private
organsiations have some role to play to ensure successful implementation through the monitoring and
evaluation in post-implementation stage.
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Appendix A. Drivers-Barriers Model
Competition
Cost
Culture & Religion
Economic activities
Employment
Government
Infrastructure
Knowledge of e-commerce
Legislation & Regulation
Payment system
Security
Traditional business
Appendix B. The Map of Nigeria

January 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, 26-35 D DAVID PUBLISHING
Pragmatical Conceptualized Objective Personality Test Battery

LAMBDA—Psychometric Calibration Quality vs. Validity
Georg Mandler, Klaus D. Kubinger

University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

A test battery is introduced, which apart from determining one’s learning strategy and power of reasoning, attempts
to assess several personal characteristics of style by means of experiment-based assessment of behavior (objective
personality tests). The latter is all above stress-resistance. Although a critical point of view is given with regard to
several validation concepts within psychological assessment, an empirical validation study of this test battery is
presented. That is, construct validity based on an explorative factor analysis as well as extreme group validation and
predictive validity is the matter at hand. However, it is pointed out that validity is a minor criterion of test quality
and that psychometric calibration quality is of major importance.
Keywords: objective personality test, assessment of behavior, faking
Introduction
Due to the fact (Ones, Viswesvaran, Dilchert, & Deller, 2006; Kubinger, 2009a) that traditional
personality questionnaires might be faked, particularly within personal recruitment procedures, a “renaissance”
of objective personality tests sensu R. B. Cattell took place (Ortner, Proyer, & Kubinger, 2006). Based on the
new technical support which computers have been able to provide for a few decades now, a new “genre” of
psychological assessment has been established: The so-called tests for experiment-based assessment of
behavior (Kubinger, 2006), “A (psychological) ‘technology’ … that deduces personal characteristics of style
from observable behavior on experimentally varied performance tasks, whereby the computer registers the way
in which the testee deals with the problem” (p. 256, translated by the authors). One of the instruments of the
“Viennese pool of computerized tests aiming at experiment-based assessment of behavior” (Kubinger, 2009b)
is the test battery LAMBDA (translated as “learning by heart, memory, stress-resistance, and reasoning”).
LAMBDA has never been published in its first generation. The second generation is now in print (Kubinger,
Haiden, Karolyi, & Maryschka, in print). Therefore, some empirical studies of this test battery’s validity are of
interest.
In the following section, we will introduce the test battery LAMBDA in detail. That is, its theoretical basis
of conceptualization is given as well as the illustration of all its tasks, the scoring rules included. Though a very
critical point of view is given with regard to several validation concepts within psychological assessment, an
empirical validation study is designed. It concerns about construct validity in the first instant, extreme group
Georg Mandler, M.Sc., Division of Psychological Assessment and Applied Psychometrics, Faculty of Psychology, University of
Vienna.
Klaus D. Kubinger, Ph.D., M.Sc., professor, Division of Psychological Assessment and Applied Psychometrics, Faculty of
Psychology, University of Vienna.
PRAGMATICAL CONCEPTUALIZED OBJECTIVE PERSONALITY 27
validation with respect to an external criterion—covered concurrently—in the second instant, and predictive
validity with respect to a future exam in the third instant. However, it will be emphasized that any validation
attempt of a psychological test is of no use, if calibration according to item response theory (IRT) is missing
from the start.
LAMBDA
Admittedly, the conceptualization of LAMBDA is pragmatical.
The basic concept refers to Guthke (1972) and his learning tests. His main idea is to measure to what
extent individually provided feedback (or even hints) in former tasks enhances the performance in future tasks.
Yet, Guthke’s approach focuses on the ability to improve performance using feedback (i.e., focuses on learning
effects) only. LAMBDA, now attempts in particular to assess learning strategies—caused by feedback. Due to
experience that reproduction-oriented learning is, for several occupational fields, of more importance than
comprehension-oriented learning, the test aims to measure the former (See the recently shown phenomenon,
that even for university freshmen, reproduction-oriented learning is more crucial than comprehension-oriented
learning) (Donche, Coertjens, & Van Petegem, 2010).
With reference to the levels-of-processing effect (Craik & Lockhart, 1972), LAMBDA assigns the testee
the task of learning a sheet of six times four bundled information units by heart (see Figure 1). It is important to
note that the testee himself/herself decides when he/she finishes the learning process and is ready for
examination. Examination is designed so that the testee corrects the incorrect information units in analogous
sheets. If correction of a sheet is not carried out entirely correct, the testee is put back to the learning phase (the
initial sheet), repeatedly; the aim is to correct five consecutive examination sheets perfectly. Depending on the
required repetitions of learning phases in particular, the number of wrong corrections and missed errors of the
examination sheets as well as the overall learning duration invested, the testee can be assigned to one of the
four learning types as follows (Karolyi, 2009):
1. Successful learning type. Persons of this type take a lot of time for the first learning phase, go through
the examination sheets with average speed, and thereby, do very few errors;
2. Unassertive learning type. Persons of this type do not take much time for learning the initial sheet, but
memorize more and more information units as the number of repetitions increases. They make many errors, but
nevertheless, they solve a large number of examination sheets before failing again to correct consecutive
examination sheet perfectly;
3. Slow and ineffective learning type. Just as with the successful learning type, persons of this type require
a lot of time for the first learning phase but need quite a lot of examination sheets and time and make many
errors. However, they do not solve as many examinations sheets before failing again to correct the following
examination sheets as accurately as the unassertive learning type does;
4. Endeavor avoiding learning type. Persons of this type also require a lot of time for the first learning
phase. However, they make a lot more errors than the slow and ineffective learning type; response times in
examinations are very short.
What is of importance here is that this typification is in accordance with the results of the first generation
LAMBDA (Maryschka, 2002), as well as with those typifications reported regarding similar conceptualized
tests, namely, LAsO (translated as “learning and systematically ordering”) (Fill-Giordano, 2004, for more
information, please visit the Website: http://www.laso.at) and CLIK (translated as “computerized instrument
28 PRAGMATICAL CONCEPTUALIZED OBJECTIVE PERSONALITY
for measuring children’s learning potential”) (Unterfrauner & Litzenberger, 2010). Thus, to some extent,
generalizability has been proven.
Figure 1. Examination sheet of LAMBDA’s part of learning strategy assessment.

Notes. Here, six of the seven domains (social sciences here excluded) are demonstrated, offering four information
units each; in contrast to the learning sheet, several information is now given incorrectly, which the testee has to
correct perfectly (Screen is given in German).
Final examination after having a break in between, examines the testee’s long-term memory.
Apart from both of these performance test facets, the break in between tasks is used for a certain reasoning
test. This test is not yet published, but see in the meanwhile Poinstingl (2009). It is the Family Relation
Reasoning Test (FRRT), which asks for a certain family relation of two persons, indirectly described in a short
essay, including other family members. For instance, “Bill is the father of Mary and Susan. Cathy is the
daughter of Susan. What is the relationship between Bill and Cathy?”. However, this test is partitioned into two
parts. The first part is administered in a standard way, and the other one is imposed by a stress factor whereby
each item is interrupted by forcing the testee to correct an examination sheet of the preceding learning test
again; only after the respective examination sheet has been processed can the testee answer the reasoning item.
The number of solved items of the first part represents the testee’s degree of reasoning ability. The ratio
between the number of solved items in the second part and the overall number of solved items defines the
testee’s power of stress-resistance (the smaller this ratio, the lower the stress-resistance). Obviously, measuring
stress-resistance in this manner means that personal characteristics of style are measured using the approach of
experiment-based assessment of behavior: There are “… experimentally varied performance tasks, whereby the
computer registers the way in which the testee deals with the problem” (see above).
In fact, LAMBDA comprises a second feature of experiment-based assessment of behavior, which serves
to measure a testee’s interest preference. The initial sheet of the learning test bundles six times four information
units (from a pool of seven different domains); the testee decides at the very beginning, which of the seven
domains will not come into question. These seven domains are economics, medicine, law, technique,
humanities, science, and social science (see Figure 1). Based on Proyer (2006), it is hypothesized that those
topics which conform to a testee’s interests will be memorized much more easily. Hence, profile interpretation
of a testee’s scores might show his/her structure of interests and (unconscious) domain preference. That is, the
score of any domain results due to the number of examination sheets in which the testee has not corrected the
respective bundle entirely correct.
Methods
Validation of psychological tests is often impaired due to methodological problems (apart from the
following considerations all above) (Borsboom, Mellenbergh, & Van Heerden, 2004). Based on concurrent
tests, (convergent) construct validation suffers from the problem, that either the criterion-test—usually an older
one—does not fulfill all the psychometric standards, in particular the standard of validity; in this case, there is
no gain in using it for validation of the test in question—usually a newer one. On the other side, it could also be
that the criterion-test fulfills all the psychometric standards, which would mean that there is no gain in
establishing a new test (Kubinger, 2009c). Nevertheless, we tried an explorative construct validation study for
LAMBDA; several test-scores of three test batteries were used. A main problem of correlation-based validation
is the phenomenon of variance diminution because of censored data due to a sampling bias. Most of the time, it
happens that persons with very low (and sometimes also with very high) respective ability (or attitude) are not
accessible when representative sampling from a certain population is aimed for; as the bias’ size is almost
unknown, even a correction formula for the correlation coefficient (Hunter & Schmidt, 2004) is not applicable.
In such cases, extreme group validation is more attractive—though, it is also affected by this bias; however, a
casual bias in the medium range is of no concern. Accordingly, we now attempted an extreme group validation
with respect to a theory-based external criterion—impulsiveness. Of course, predictive validity is the most
attractive one. But the methodical problem is—if at all a relevant external criterion exists in the future—that
hardly any institution will apply a (new) test for validation only, but without using its results in the very
beginning for admission or refusal of the applicants (Kubinger, 2009c). Fortunately, we managed to cooperate
with a few institutions, particularly with the Red Cross Organization. The applicants of this organization have
to pass a final exam with respect to their theoretical knowledge of emergency medicine.
Moreover, interpretation of (Pearson’s) correlation coefficients is often not based on the respective
determination coefficient (that is the squared correlation coefficient), which only refers to the percentage of
mutual explained variance of both the variables in question; but very often, the resulting value of a correlation
coefficient is interpreted according to some established rules of thumb, such as a correlation coefficient of, for
instance, 0.5, has some meaning per se. Furthermore, it would always be preferable to test a correlation
coefficient’s significance for a specified null-hypothesis H0:    and not for the null-hypothesis H0:  = 0.
This is because rejection of the latter bears hardly any information, as the population parameter  might
nevertheless be very small, for instance, 0.1 or even 0.01, thus, having no content relevance. However, testing
the former, for instance, with  = 0.7, would gain the information as to whether the correlation of both the
variables explains at least approximately 50% of the mutual variance or not (Rasch, Kubinger, & Yanagida,
2011). We therefore applied this strategy when correlation coefficients or the like are under consideration.
Explorative Construct Validation Study
The following three test batteries were used, primarily in order to apply further tests for experiment-based
assessment of behavior. This is true for one of the first exponents of this “genre”, namely, “Attitudes to Work”
(Version of the Vienna Test System) (Kubinger & Ebenhöh, 2002). This is also true for BAcO (translated as
Resilience Assessment: Computer-Based Objective Personality Test Battery) (Ortner, Kubinger, Schrott,
Radinger, & Litzenberger, 2010). While BAcO consists of several subtests all measuring different aspects of
stress-resistance—two of them applied here being “Conflict of Tasks” (The testee has to work on two tasks
simultaneously) and “Hindrance to Planned Action” (The testee is continuously confronted with the problem,
that his/her intended processing is prevented), “Attitudes to Work” aims to measure several different attitudes,
of which only impulsiveness vs. reflexiveness (subtest “Comparing Surfaces”) is here of interest. For more
details concerning “Attitudes to Work” and BAcO, see Kubinger (2006; 2008; 2009b), Kubinger and
Litzenberger (2006), Ortner and Kubinger (2008), and Ortner (2012). Impulsiveness vs. reflexiveness seemed
of relevance as impulsiveness of a person might avert effective learning strategies. Moreover, stress-resistance
due to both chosen aspects of BAcO seemed to accurately coincide with LAMBDA’s condition of interrupting
the testee on processing the one task but forcing him/her to deal with another task. Because, in particular,
(long-term) memory is not covered by both these test batteries, pertinent subtests from the Intelligence
Structure Battery (INSBAT) (Hornke et al., 2004) were also administered, namely, “Long-term Memory” and
“Verbal Short-Term Memory”. Furthermore, according to LAMBDA’s reasoning component (FRRT), the
subtest “Verbal Reasoning” of INSBAT was also used. However, no questionnaire for interests, in order to
meet the respective measurement aim of LAMBDA, was administrated.
The method used was an exploratory factor analysis (principal component analysis, eigenvalue larger than
one criterion, and varimax rotation).
Extreme Group Validation Study With Respect to Impulsiveness
Though impulsiveness could be assessed just concurrently with the above-mentioned subtest “Comparing
Surfaces” of “Attitudes to Work”, such an extreme group validation seemed worthwhile. The influence of
impulsiveness on cognitive abilities is investigated in a great number of papers. For instance, Schweitzer (2002)
found evidence that impulsive persons tend to perform less well on reasoning tests. Hence, it is hypothesized
that according to “Comparing Surfaces”, impulsive testees do fare worse than reflexive testees in at least one of
the following test-scores of LAMBDA’s learning test:
(a) Ratio of the number mastered examination sheets and total number of required examination sheets;
(b) Total number of perfectly corrected examination sheets being of no use due to later errors;
(c) Duration of the initial learning process;
(d) Total time spent solving examination sheets;
(e) Total errors on examination sheets.
The method used was a multivariate analysis of variance due to the factor impulsiveness vs. reflexiveness
( = 0.05); testees with a percentile rank of up to 40 in the subtest “Comparing Surfaces” were allocated to the
impulsive group, while those with a percentile rank of 60 or higher to the reflexive group. All the other testees
were deleted from this analysis.
Predictive Validity Regarding an Exam
All testees were classified according to LAMBDA’s cluster analysis-based four learning types (see above)
and compared according to their grade in the final exam which happened to occur at the end of the trainee
program. It was hypothesized that testees of the successful learning type perform better on the exam than all the
other learning types on average. It was also hypothesized that testees of the endeavor avoiding learning type
perform the worst.
The method used was Kruskal-Wallis H-test.
Sample
As indicated, the desired population of testees had to be applicants of an organization, in which a trainee
program ends with a final exam. At first, it was decided to recruit participants from learner driving schools, but
after sampling, there are only 11 volunteers from two Viennese driving schools. It was decided that applicants
of the Red Cross Organization, who perform civilian service, were the population of interest1. From that one,
70 volunteers could be tested. However, 13 out of a total of 81 testees had to be removed from analyses,
because they processed the first part of the “Family Relation Reasoning Test” (nine items) in less than 50
seconds, which is out of range of sincere working at. From the remaining 68 testees, 59 were males and nine
were females, aged from 16 to 27 (M = 19.0, SD = 1.56).
Computer Test Service

LAMBDA was used in the program version of Haiden (2009). All the other test batteries were used from
the Vienna Test System (SCHUHFRIED). The time needed to complete all administered tests ranged between
95-130 minutes.
Results
An exploratory factor analysis (principal component analysis, eigenvalue larger than one criterion, and
varimax rotation) was carried out and all described scores of all tests were used (see Table 1) (bear in mind that
the BAcO subtests offer two of them, each). Six factors resulted (the percentage of explained variance 71.5)
according to the eigenvalue criterion as well as the scree test. The rotated factor loadings are listed in Table 1.
With reference to these loadings, the six factors may be labeled as: preciseness (of learning and reasoning),
barrenness, tardiness, fissionability, focusing, and persistence. Regarding the factoral structure, cognitive
aspects are all pooled in the first factor, ranging from learning efficiency to memory and reasoning—though
both the latter are not overwhelmingly loading. All the other factors are rather personal characteristics of style
as just defined as being measured by tests for experiment-based assessment of behavior. Concerning
(convergent and divergent) construct validity of LAMBDA, this test battery clearly dominates learning
efficiency; and in finding that (verbal) reasoning strongly correlates with learning efficiency—this test battery
predominates two further factors. That is besides barrenness—a special aspect of stress-resistance, namely
“focusing”. An issue of interest is that BAcO itself discloses three (more) different aspects of stress-resistance;
1
Many thanks to Mercedes Huscava, M.D., M.Sc., B.Sc., who managed the cooporation with the Red Cross Organization.
as a matter of fact, according to our analysis, there is no general construct of stress-resistance established.
LAMBDA, in particular, does not measure tardiness, fissionability, and persistence as a consequence of stress.
What is of interest regarding “Attitudes of Work”, is that impulsiveness hardly loads in any factor; that is, for
now, LAMBDA results as quite independent from this personal style. Finally, with regard to INSBAT, this
conventional test battery does not essentially contribute to the factor structure.
Table 1
Loadings of the Six Factor Solution of Exploratory Factor Analysis of LAMBDA and Three Other Test
Batteries
Factor
1 2 3 4 5 6
LAMBDA: Ratio of the number mastered examination sheets and total
0.84 0.20 -0.10 0.01 -0.04 0.19
number of required examination sheets
LAMBDA: Total number of perfectly corrected examination sheets being
0.22 0.89 -0.10 0.07 0.08 0.00
of no use due to later errors
LAMBDA: Duration of the initial learning process 0.65 -0.01 0.23 -0.03 -0.34 -0.01
LAMBDA: Total time spent on solving examination sheets -0.13 0.89 0.16 0.09 -0.09 -0.04
LAMBDA: Total errors on examination sheets -0.81 -0.27 0.08 0.05 0.05 -0.17
LAMBDA: Long-term memory 0.66 0.09 -0.09 0.01 0.12 -0.15
LAMBDA: Number of solved items of FRRT’s first part (reasoning
0.67 -0.09 -0.02 -0.14 -0.23 -0.04
ability)
LAMBDA: Ratio between FRRT’s number of solved items in the second
-0.04 0.00 -0.12 0.11 0.90 0.09
part and the overall number of solved items (stress-resistance)
“Attitudes to Work”/“Comparing Surfaces” (impulsiveness) 0.37 -0.22 0.29 -0.55 0.18 -0.13
BAcO: “Hindrance to Planned Action”—power 0.06 -0.04 0.07 -0.02 0.09 0.94
BAcO: “Hindrance to Planned Action”—slowness -0.06 0.14 0.79 -0.24 -0.06 -0.02
BAcO: “Conflict of Tasks”—main task 0.13 0.08 -0.84 -0.31 0.12 -0.10
BAcO: “Conflict of Tasks”—additional task 0.10 0.07 0.11 0.88 0.19 -0.09
INSBAT: “Verbal Reasoning” 0.69 -0.32 -0.14 0.29 0.09 0.15
INSBAT: “Long-Term Memory” 0.65 -0.10 0.13 -0.01 0.33 -0.28
INSBAT: “Verbal Short-Term Memory” 0.55 -0.13 -0.19 -0.04 0.30 0.04
Notes. Loadings with an absolute value larger than 0.70 are printed in bold and though explaining less than 50% of variance,
several loading between 0.65 and 0.69 are in italics. The eigenvalues are: 4.15, 2.00, 1.81, 1.36, 1.11, and 1.02.
Extreme group validation study with respect to impulsiveness according to a multivariate analysis of
variance disclosed non-significant mean differences (Pillai’s trace p = 0.180; given Box’s M-test p = 0.310). As
far as the subtest “Comparing Surfaces” of the test battery “Attitudes to Work” measures impulsiveness vs.
reflexiveness at all, LAMBDA’s test scores do not depend on it.
Kruskal-Wallis’ H-test regarding LAMBDA’s predictive validity also resulted in non-significance (p =
0.133). That is, different learning types (represented 13 times for the successful learning type, 22 times for the
unassertive learning type, 18 times for the slow and ineffective learning type, and 15 times for the endeavor
avoiding learning type) do not influence the grade of the trainee program’s final exam.
Discussion and Conclusions

An exploratory factor analysis delivers quite encouraging results. Besides cognitive measures (above all,
learning efficiency and reasoning), LAMBDA also offers measures for establishing personal characteristics of
style. Extreme group validation failed. However, the background for this study was rather due to the literature
than to a special aim of measurement. Therefore, the empirical result must not be evaluated as being negative
with regard to LAMBDA’s validity. Finally, in our study, no predictive validity of LAMBDA’s learning types
resulted, which indicates a negative result. We have to conclude that, in the given context, these learning types
are of no relevance. The reason might be that, the testees, being Red Cross applicants, were in some way forced
to undergo a trainee program and a final exam instead of voluntarily attending the program for personal gain
and compliancy. As a consequence, many of them probably did not aim to perform their best at the program
and exam. Under this condition, they participated in our study. Hence, they probably were less achievement
motivated than testees would be, who are convinced that the test result is of any relevance for their future
(occupational or educational) life. That is, not being keen on working at the psychological test as well as on
undergoing the trainee program and the final exam might strongly downsize LAMBDA’s predictive validity.
We therefore have to be aware that using LAMBDA’s learning type assessment will only be worthwhile if the
testee is eager to receive feedback in order to make forthcoming decisions or he/she feels confident that the test
results are fair and relevant for an organization’s selection of applicants. For instance, self-assessments at a
student advisory service would meet these criteria (Kubinger, Frebort, Khorramdel, & Weitensfelder, 2013).
Finally, we have to emphasize that any validation attempt of LAMBDA would of course be of no use if
calibration according to IRT had malfunctioned or just neglected. As a matter of fact, a psychological test
which has proven to measure according to a certain model of IRT does not only guarantee uni-dimensional test
scores but also the resulting scores compare inter- and intra- individually fairly with respect to empirically
ascertainable relations of achievement behavior (Kubinger, 2009c). Therefore, for instance, the “test evaluation
system” of the German Federation of psychology associations (Testkuratorium, 2006; 2007) insists on
reviewing whether or not the test in question is calibrated and tested accordingly and if at all the author is at
least aware of the need for the discussion of the scoring rules’ appropriateness with regard to the resulting
scores’ relations and the empirical behavior relations. Thus far, validity is a fairly minor criterion of test quality.
With regard to tests for experiment-based assessment of behavior, fulfilling the test quality of calibration is,
however, traditionally a big challenge (Kubinger & Draxler, 2006). But, LAMBDA has stood the test to some
extent. First, Karolyi (2009) proved the validness of the Rasch model when LAMBDA is used to measure a
testee’s interest preference, as described above. If actually for each domain, the number of errors is scored a
testee does at all the examination sheets with respect to that domain, then, this number is fair as empirically
well-founded—only for two domains do a few items have to be deleted. Second, besides the fact that the
reasoning test FRRT has already proven to fit the Rasch model (even shows that the items can be modelled by
item generating rules) (Poinstingl, 2009), Haiden (2009) also proved that measurement of change between the
test’s two parts (without and with interruption by the learning test of LAMBDA) applies accordingly: If, for
each pair of parallelized items, a testee’s achievement is scored either as one or as zero depending on whether
he/she comes to the solution at least under stress or not, then, the Rasch model holds.
That is, LAMBDA is basically well calibrated. But further validation is needed.
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January 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, 36-45
D DAVID PUBLISHING
Formulating Mental Health Treatment Paradigms for Military

Filipino Amerasians: A Social Work Education Challenge
Peter Charles Kutschera

PARC-SPCF College, Angeles, Philippines;
Amerasian Research Network, Ltd., Albany, USA
Marie A. Caputi
Walden University, Minneapolis, USA
Jose Maria G. Pelayo III
PARC-SPCF College, Angeles, Philippines
Virtually, no formal treatment protocol exists for the health/mental health care of biracial Filipino Amerasians in
the Philippines, which recently estimated to the number as many as 250,000 persons. Today, this large enclave, the
mostly adult remnants of children of Filipina national women and abandoned by U.S. military personnel during the
long period of U.S. permanent basing (1947-1992) comprises a socioeconomically neglected, misbegotten, and at
risk diaspora. A recent 3-year study found depression, elevated anxiety, joblessness, social isolation, substance and
alcohol abuse, and housing insecurity, often traits among aggravated refugees, displaced persons, or immigrant
populations. An innovative social work practice course for the treatment of these core mental health issues for
undergraduate students, originated at Systems Plus College Foundation (SPCF) (Angeles, Pampanga, Luzon)
presents the knowledge needed for effective intervention strategies and also may provide considerable implications
for the U.S.-based international social work discipline.
Keywords: Filipino Amerasians, Asian Americans, social work education, diaspora, refugees, intervention
strategies for effectiveness
Preface
In 2011, Systems Plus College Foundation (SPCF) commissioned P. C. Kutschera (Ph.D., visiting
professor at the college, director of its Philippine Amerasian Research Center (PARC) unit, and a licensed state
of New York social worker) to develop a social work practice course syllabus based on the findings of his
doctoral dissertation, entitled “Stigma, Psychosocial Risk and Core Mental Health Symptomatology Among

A similar version of this article was presented as a research paper at The 1st Annual ICEASS (International Conference on
Education and Social Services), September 15, 2013, which conducted at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Republic of
Singapore.
Peter Charles Kutschera, Ph.D., director, visiting professor, Department of Social Work, Philippine Amerasian Research
Center-Systems Plus College Foundation (PARC-SPCF) College; chief academic officer, Amerasian Research Network, Ltd.
(Website: http://www.AmerasianResearch.org).
Marie A. Caputi, Ph.D., licensed social worker, senior human services researcher, contributing faculty, research reviewer, and
student mentor, School of Counseling and Social Service, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Walden University.
Jose Maria G. Pelayo III, M.A., professor, director, Social and Psychological Research Unit, College of Arts and Social
Sciences, PARC-SPCF College (Website: http://www.spcf.edu.ph).

FORMULATING MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT PARADIGMS 37
Amerasians in the Philippines: A Multiple-Case Study” (Kutschera, 2010/2011). The findings clearly identified
multiple unmet health/mental health problems of mixed-race Amerasians living in Angeles city, Pampanga,
Luzon, the site of the former U.S. Clark Air Base. This high density Amerasian population zone forms a
triangular shaped arc starting due north of Angeles at a point near Capas in southwest Tarlac, running south to
Metro Manila, and then, northwest to Olongapo city, Zambales. Kutschera, Pelayo, and Talamera-Sandico
(2012) labeled this area the Angeles-Manila-Olongapo (AMO) Amerasian Triangle and posited that it had the
highest concentration of military Amerasians in the Western Pacific Basin, and hence, the globe.
Course justification: 1. The likelihood that social workers practicing in west central Luzon would come in
contact with Amerasian clients in need of mental health services; 2. Effective intervention strategies for this
population merited quality care directly targeting these social problems; and 3. The course was overdue from
academic, social conscience, humanitarian, and community service perspectives (in conversations with Prof. J.
Leo Vicente A. Tago, then, SPCF vice president for academic affairs, and Paulo O. J. Fuller, the former dean of
SPCF College of Social Work).
Introduction
The audience for developing and implementing this innovative course, entitled Social Work Practice with
Amerasians (SWPA), were undergraduates preparing for social work degrees and licensure as social work
practitioners. In the Philippines social work education, curriculum development, qualifying examinations, and
licensure and registration are regulatory responsibilities of the federal government, not provincial government
(Lee-Mendoza, 2008). The taproots of Philippine social work dated to the U.S. colonial-commonwealth era.
The profession was formally organized in 1965, largely based on the U.S. mainland model. The Baccalaureate
Degree in Social Work (BSW/BSSW) required a prescribed number of internship or supervised training hours
and examination passage as primary requirements for licensure and basic entry into practice.
In contrast, U.S. professional registration eligibility is a state-by-state responsibility and moving rapidly
toward the minimal BSW only degree requirement for entry level licensure and practice.
Thus, overall, the Philippine procedure is somewhat less daunting than other Western nation-states and the
U.S., where a graduate Master’s Degree in Social Work (MSW) is mandatory in nearly half of the 50 states
before qualifying for basic licensure to practice (McGinnis, Cohen, & Wing, 2006). In many of these states,
advanced licensure obtained through additional testing and a set number of supervised training hours are also
required before a social worker may engage in independent clinical, psychiatric, or therapeutic practice.
Nevertheless, a number of U.S. states continue to resemble the basic Philippine federal practice entry model.
SWPA, a three-credit, undergraduate elective social work course, was formally recognized and accredited
after a site visit and examination of the course syllabus at the SPCF College of Social Work on November 27,
2012 by the Philippine accrediting Commission on Higher Education (CHED) (Amerasian Research Network,
Ltd., 2013). The course first introduced in the 2011-2012 academic year (AY), was a 1.5 hour “pilot” course,
and formally scheduled into the curriculum as a three-credit “elective” second semester, 2012-2013 AY. A
third iteration of the course was offered in the second semester, 2013-2014 AY, again listed as a third year
(junior class level) three-credit elective offering. Dr. Edgar G. Galang, who succeeded Prof. J. Leo Vicente A.
Tago as SPCF academic vice president in November, 2013, reported that the course is now a part of the
permanent social work curriculum. Furthermore, plans were under consideration to expand Amerasian course
study at SPCF at some future date, including the possibility of offering two separate courses. One would be

38 FORMULATING MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT PARADIGMS
devoted solely to clinical or psychiatric social work practice with military Amerasians useful to students
enrolled in the healthcare professional curricula (including nursing). The second would be a multi-disciplinary
course on arts and social sciences focusing on the historical origins, social development, diaspora formation
and modern day, and geo-political and global studies implications for Filipino and Pan Amerasian in
East/Southeast Asia.
SPCF College’s SWPA is probably the only social work practice course in the history of the Philippines,
East/Southeast Asia, or the mainland U.S., devoted exclusively to the geo-political and social history, poverty,
quality of life issues, and health/mental health treatment challenges that social workers face in treating biracial,
mixed heritage of Anglo, African, Latino, and native American Filipino Amerasians. This cohort, stranded or
abandoned since birth by U.S. military personnel fathers, includes Amerasians of all ages residing in west
central Luzon, Metro Manila, and widespread locales of the sprawling Philippine archipelago. At these
locations, dozens of U.S. military air bases and fields, marine and army posts, naval bases and air stations, and
field training camps and weapons ranges occupied the landscape during three periods: (a) the
Philippine-American War (1899-1902); (b) the colonial and commonwealth years (1898-1946); and (c) through
the post-independence, neo-colonial era (1946-1992). Even today, some of these military installations are sites
for expanding joint Republic of the Philippines-U.S. military training exercises.
Social and Historical Origins of Military Amerasian

Scant empirical research exists on the socioeconomic and health/mental issues facing an estimated
200,000-250,000 first and second generation, mixed race military Amerasians comprising all age groups now
residing in the Philippines (Kutschera & Caputi, 2012). This subgroup, believed to be larger today than original
estimates (approximately 50,000 in 1992 when the bases departed) and which essentially included children and
adolescents (Levi, 1993) resembles the size, features, and turbulent history of numerous classical human
diaspora. Many Amerasians, specifically Philippine military Amerasians are progeny of U.S. military personnel
(i.e., uniformed servicemen, government civilian employees, or corporate contractor fathers and Filipina
national women) often abandoned or estranged by their fathers and occasionally mothers (Amerasian
Foundation, 2013).
The Philippine senate voted in 1991 not to ratify renewal of the 1947 Military Bases Agreement, dozens of
entrenched military installations, including the huge Subic Bay Naval Complex, Olongapo and Clark Air Base,
Angeles. Consequently, numerous other facilities some pre-dating World War II days closed. Philippine and
U.S. news outlets on the mainland reported then that the proverbial 50,000 Amerasian children (i.e., infants,
toddlers, and adolescents) resided in and out of the AMO Triangle (Kutschera, Pelayo, & Talamera-Sandico,
2012). The children were left abandoned, homeless, orphaned, or in destitute families without breadwinners
(Ahern, 1992; Levi, 1993).
One of the final blows against Filipino Amerasians occurred in 1994, when the U.S. Federal Court of
Claims dismissed a landmark $68 million class action suit (viz., Acebedo vs. U.S.) brought on behalf of
mothers of 8,600 in Subic Bay, Olongapo Amerasian children, seeking human services compensation for mixed
race Amerasians. “The plaintiffs alleged a breach of … contract for medical services and educational benefits
between the U.S. Navy on behalf of Amerasians … from Olongapo” (Montes, 1995, p. 1625). In addition, they
provided supplies and funds to operate a medical and educational clinic for Amerasians known as the Social
Hygiene Center (viz., services included screening sex workers for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Meanwhile, the suit maintained naval authorities promoted prostitution through the façade of the entertainment
industry surrounding Subic Bay Port and Cubi Point Naval Air Station. The locale also functioned as a major
rest and recuperation site for the U.S. Seventh Fleet.
Eventually, the court dismissed the suit based in part on consideration of a Navy motion that no provable
claim existed. This decision included the assertion contained in court papers that most Amerasian mothers were
prostitutes or sex industry laborers, gave birth to illegitimate children, and therefore, engaged in unlawful or
criminal conduct. Despite the absence of trial, the court also asserted that plaintiffs had been unable to prove
that the Navy had lawfully offered medical and educational services to Amerasians (Gage, 2007; Montes, 1995).
Thus, this decision created an unknown and never officially enumerated number of biracial military Amerasian
infants, children, young adults, middle age and elderly, and their mothers, grandparents, or caregivers
(Kutschera & Caputi, 2012), to fend for themselves. This scenario has unfolded during the past two decades in
the deeply impoverished Philippines. Since base closure the archipelago nation remains one of the poorest
countries in Southeast Asia. Many mixed heritage, stigmatized Filipino Amerasians and households, especially
Africans (Blacks), struggle today with destitute level per capita daily incomes averaging about Philippine Peso
100, the equivalent of U.S. $2.50 per day, the 2005 World Bank estimated for median to extreme global
poverty levels (Gastardo-Conoco & Sobritchea, 1999; Kutschera, 2010/2011; Shah, 2008).
Amerasian Health/Mental Health Services in the Philippines

Many Filipino Amerasians today remain an unrecognized and discounted diaspora, a sort of aging historic
curiosity existing among impoverished resettlement areas and obscure barrios (Kutschera, 2010/2011;
Kutschera & Caputi, 2012). This forsaken and utterly at risk population was relegated to non-personhood not
long after departure of the vast number of U.S. bases and the jobs for local Filipino hires, local economy
infusion, nation-building initiatives, and military foreign aid that went with them. For a few ensuing years, the
U.S. State Department’s Agency for International Development (USAID) in the Philippines provided
fragmented services for community health aid, job training, and grants to non-for-profit non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) sponsored or aided poor Amerasian families, mostly funneled through the Pearl S. Buck
Foundation. At best, the effort was a minimalist attempt by successive U.S. and Philippine federal
administrations to give the appearance of providing at least some semblance of help to a recognizable marginal
group.
Finally, in 2011, the secretary of the cabinet level of Philippine Department of Social Welfare and
Development, Corazon “Dinky” Soliman admitted that the nation’s top federal welfare agency was no longer
providing special assistance or attention to Amerasians. Now, secretary Soliman asserted that the problem
rested almost solely as the responsibility of non-profit organisations (NGO/NPOs) and foreign private
foundations (Manilad, 2011). Predictably over time, and as the population aged, many traditional NGOs
offering field outreach programs to Amerasian (e.g., the Philippine Children’s Fund of America, the Pearl S.
Buck Foundation, and Preda, Inc.) reduced or phased out Amerasian aid programs or have moved on to
servicing more current humanitarian needs.
So, today, for the preponderance of as many as 220,000-250,000 military Amerasians residing in the
country (Bondac, 2013; Kutschera & Caputi, 2012), the cupboard is bare. Two major empirical studies in the
past 15 years have identified chronic and continuing health/mental health conditions and deteriorating
socioeconomic conditions among Filipino Amerasians. The first report, Gastardo-Conoco and Sobritchea (1999)

employed a combination of a probability survey, qualitative interviews, and focus groups for a large,
archipelago-wide sample of 443 Amerasians ranging in ages from childhood to the elderly. The findings
showed marked levels of discrimination with two types of perceived stigma: 1. Most Amerasian mothers faced
stereotypes as prostitutes or suspicion of having engaged in sexual labor; and 2. Categorization of African
Americans or Black Amerasians with dark skin was one of the most negative features of all biracial Amerasians.
Most Amerasians, particularly Africans, were as poor as or poorer than median poverty levels of mainstream
Filipinos, as well as having limited access to community health or women’s reproductive health services. They
contended with intense name calling and high levels of drug and alcohol abuse. Young women experienced
verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, sometimes from caregivers or relatives. Light-colored or Caucasian features
among late teenage and young adults were somewhat of a redeeming or positive feature for some Anglo
Amerasians, who benefitted financially, socially, or culturally, a finding corroborated in Kutschera and
Pelayo’s study (2013).
The second report was the Kutschera (2010/2011) 3-year, mixed method, and multiple-case study
(2007-2010), employing open-ended interviews to uncover stigma-related psychosocial risks and stress factors.
The second instrument was the Australian-Developed Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21)
inventory, a measure of core mental health symptomatology. A small purposive sample (N = 16) consisted of
equal numbers of Anglos and Africans (both females and males with age ranged from late adolescent age to
young adulthood). The findings included the identification of numerous physical and personal risk factors (e.g.,
elevated alcohol and drug abuse, homelessness, poverty, joblessness (or underemployment) along with low
education levels and significant stress factors (e.g., name-calling, abandonment despair, identity conflicts,
derivative family upheaval, social isolation, and low self-esteem). Over half of the sample (62%) scored severe
levels of anxiety, depression, or stress, and a nearly equal number showed unexpectedly severe levels of
psychosomatic illness or probable somatic disorder (Kutschera & Talamera-Sandico, 2013).
Course Focus
Historically, social work has had a commitment to the principle of working for a just, egalitarian society
(Reamer, 1993). Social work practitioners in treatment, case management, and advocacy have sought
alternatives in improving the quality of life and opportunities for those without advocates. One such group is
the Philippine Amerasians, who face access problems to comprehensive and preventive health/mental health
care.
Health/mental health advocates and clinicians confront these various life maladies traumatizing
marginalized military Amerasians. Indeed, being involved in social work practice requires not only strategies,
but also the context for these interventions to be effective providers of services to remedy theiry plight. Studies
on the socioeconomic, psychosocial, and mental health research of Filipino and other related Pan Amerasian
populations led to other studies on the similar experiences of Vietnamese and Koreans (e.g., Bemak & Chung,
1997; 1998; Kutschera, 2013; McKelvey, 1999; Song, 2003; Wu, 2012). These studies are an integral feature of
the course. The grave implications and responsibilities toward these populations continue as challenges today
for social workers.
In part, this problem arises with the limited research on Philippine Amerasians. To design effective
interventions in these complex life situations, social workers need to become acquainted with the current
research, as well as the historical crises that have shaped their biographies. The SWPA course is an attempt to

address this social problem in central Luzon. However, this course knowledge base may be applicable to other
Pan Amerasian and similar diaspora.
SWPA
The purpose of this course is twofold: (a) to provide an overview of the historical, social, and geo-political
origins of the military Amerasian diaspora; and (b) to address social work practice and treatment challenges in
providing treatment services for Amerasians in practice and health/mental health treatment settings. The target
population for these services is an estimated 50,000 to 250,000 military Amerasian children, adults, and the
elderly (viz., defined as bi-racial, mixed heritage persons abandoned or estranged by U.S. servicemen or
military contractor fathers born to Filipina nationals). This group resided in the Philippine archipelago at the
time of U.S. military bases departured in 1992 to the present.
The objectives of the course are to: (a) understand the evolution of Amerasian social history leading to
formation of current human problems faced by modern day Filipino Amerasians; (b) explore the empirical
descriptions of psychosocial risk, health, and mental health symptoms specific to the clinical treatment of
Amerasian clients; (c) become familiarized with contextual Amerasian social phenomena (i.e., the Pan
Amerasian Social Construct, the Derivative Amerasian Family Construct, the Anglo Amerasian Paradox, and
patterns of severe institutionalization of stigma and discrimination among African Amerasians); and (d) use
these knowledge components as the basis for designing effective intervention strategies.
Course Modules
The foundation of the course is a series of modules; each representing layers of knowledge that outline the
complexity of the problems historically faced by Amerasians. This knowledge building model format enables
learners to develop both a context for the configuring the social problem, as well as a way to integrate
subsequent knowledge of designing strategies into a meaningful whole. Modules may be one or more classes
on any topic. This course runs over 15 weeks, meeting twice each week for 1.5 hours per session.
1. The initial engagement with learners begins with developing a clear understanding of the social and
anthropological definition of military Amerasians, as generally described above.
2. Closely aligned with this module is the next requiring familiarity with the historical social events, which
led to environmental conditions conductive to the formation of the Amerasian diaspora (i.e., military
prostitution, fraternization with Filipina national women) surrounding former U.S. military bases in west
central Luzon and elsewhere in the Philippine archipelago.
3. The identification of sources of social disorganization, psychological conflict, and socioeconomic
oppression enables learners to understand how these contributing variables shape the contemporary Amerasian
state of economic and psychosocial risk and subsequent stressful conditions impacting upon their mental health.
4. A structural overviews now lead to a current status report on general issues and directions regarding this
population, including modern demographic trends, existence of second generation and geriatric Amerasians,
and current Filipino Amerasian population growth projections. Analysis of the 50,000 Filipino Amerasian child
population reported in 1992 at the time of bases closure, how that figure became erroneously interpreted, and
the case for estimating as many as 200,000-250,000 first and second generation Amerasian alive in the
Philippine archipelago today (Kutschera & Caputi, 2012).
5. Within this context, the class examines how social work practitioners can most effectively intervene

with Amerasian client populations. Highlighted are relevant advocacy and treatment methodologies and
modalities for treating marginalized and anthologized Amerasians.
6. A case study profile analysis of psychosocial and mental health issues confronting modern day late
adolescent and young adult Amerasians provides personal biographies revealing elevated levels of core mental
health symptomatology (depression, anxiety, and stress), their potential basis for determining mental illness or
psychopathology among this population including conditions of low socioeconomic status (SES) (i.e.,
homelessness or living in disadvantaged “resettlement” communities), alcohol/drug abuse, and dependency and
mental health stress factors allied with or related to abandonment despair (loss of socioeconomic and/or
emotional support of the father), identify confusion, derivative (i.e., dysfunctional or disorganized) family
construct, low self-esteem (inferiority complex), and social isolation.
7. An exercise in brainstorming and designing effective strategies is to deal with the identified social
problems of Amerasians. The part of this extended module includes introduction and discussion of how
stigmatization, physical risk, mental stress, and socioeconomic insecurity related conditions and circumstances
found among Amerasians significantly resemble various refugees, displaced and unsettled immigrant
populations (Kutschera, 2010/2011), and how social work practitioners effectively employ intervention
strategies within such populations (Balgopal, 2000; Potocky-Tripodi, 2002).
8. Identifying sources of social disorganization illustrates the psychological conflicts and SES oppression
contributing to the contemporary Amerasian state of economic and psychosocial risk and subsequent stressful
conditions on mental health.
Lastly, revisiting the social work role of advocate is foundational for preliminary understanding of how to
construct effective intervention strategies, a step toward understanding how to deal with the contemporary
Philippine diaspora.
Conclusions
Clearly, the abandonment and stranding of babies and children by military personnel, caused by the
impregnation of national females in militarily occupied nation-states, is not exclusively a U.S. Defense and
State Department transgression. Similar conditions resemble or continue with the deployment of North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO), United Nations, French, Russian, and African Union troops, just as it did for
French troops in the First Indo China War (1950-1954), the British Empire during the 19th century of South
Asian and Indian colonial years, the Imperial Spanish Empire during the centuries of long occupation of the
Philippine Islands, or the Greek and Roman Empires of many ages ago. Thus, this issue and human condition
clearly have global implications.
The responsibilities for U.S. American social workers and other care giving professions of other wealthy
nations of the West/East Asia and the Western Pacific Rim are immense. The desperate and discounted
conditions facing military Filipino and Pan Amerasians continue for all ages and to the yet unborn. At a
minimum professionally and ethically, these conditions and consequences deserve positive, concerted social
action of the highest order.
Generically-trained social workers are cognizant of the effects of the environment on human development
and ideally suited to assist neglected and discounted military Amerasian populations scattered across the
Western Pacific Basin. The SPCF’s SWPA course being the only one of its kind in the world is a model of how
education for social work can be applied to other health/mental health professionals. To become more effective

practitioners requires ongoing research and shared knowledge building with time and commitment required to
begin reshaping institutionalized and embedded societal problems of global proportions. Professionals in all
fields need to play a leadership role as advocates addressing the needs and travail affecting not only biracial
Amerasians and their health and welfare, but also the underlying geo-political and global conditions that caused
their creation in the first place. This essentially underreported and/or largely ignored or forgotten human
condition is primarily a responsibility of the U.S. government and the American people. Accepting some
measure of responsibility also leads to a necessary discussion on not only the implications for, but also what
level of support may be required of the U.S. social work community, and particularly its international social
work specialty area. The profession and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) were one of the
first care giving professions to come to the aid of such groups as wounded and mentally impaired U.S. military
veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Importantly, the NASW and its rank and file need to seriously
equate military Amerasians as casualties of war of the highest order and provide them with a measure of human
relief and necessary welfare support.
Required, Selected, and Recommended SWPA Course Readings

A number of the references already cited in the article text above are included as part of course required,
selected, or suggested readings. These include Kutschera (2010/2011); Kutschera, Pelayo, and
Talamera-Sandico (2012); Kutschera and Caputi (2012); Kutschera and Talamera-Sandico (2013); Balgopal
(2000); Bemak and Chung (1997; 1998); Gastardo, Conaco, and Sobritchea (1999); Levi (1993); McKelvey
(1999); Montes (1995); and Potocky and Tripodi (2002). Other required, selected, or recommended readings,
audio listening, and film viewings include:
Bass, T. A. (1996). Vietnamerica. The war comes home. New York: Soho Press.
Butler, J. S. (2000). Militarized prostitution: The untold story (U.S.A.). In A. L. Barstow (Ed.), War’s dirty secret: Rape,
prostitution, and other crimes against women (pp. 204-233). Cleveland, O.H.: Pilgrim Press.
Chung, R. C-Y., Bemak, F., Ortiz, D. P., & Sandoval-Perez, P. A. (2008). Promoting the mental health of immigrants: A
multicultural/social justice perspective. Journal of Counseling and Development, 86(3), 310-331.
DeBonis, S. (1995). Children of the enemy: Oral histories of Vietnamese Amerasians and their mothers. Jefferson, N.C.:
MacFarland.
Fellows, R., & Dmytruk, E. (1945). Back to Bataan (Motion picture, 95-min.). Hollywood City, USA: RKO Pictures.
Harris, C. K. (1946). Filipino baby (Recorded by Cowboy Copas/Ernest Tubb). Single discs-3.09/2.49 mins). Cincinnati,
OG/Nashville, TN USA: King Records.
Karnow, S. (1989). In our image: America’s empire in the Philippines. New York: Random House.
Nguyen, K. (2001). The unwanted. Boston, M.A.: Little, Brown & Co..
Schade, J. (1980). America’s forgotten children: The Amerasians. Perkasie, P.A.: Pearl S. Buck Foundation.
Visitor, Q., Rossi-Landi, E., & Vendemmiati, A. (2010). Left by the ship (Motion picture documentary, 79 mins). Italy: Racinema,
ITUS International & YLE.
Yarborough, T. (2005). Surviving twice: Amerasian children of the Vietnam War. Washington, D.C.: Potomac.
Acknowledgements
The authors express their deepest appreciation to the following individuals, many from SPCF, Angeles, Pampanga, who by
individual or collective acts have made the SWPA course, the college’s commitment to the PARC research unit, and/or renewed
military Filipino Amerasian research possible: Rodolfo V. Jao, Lourdes R. Bustamante, Happie L. Bustamante, Francis R.
Bustamante, J. Leo Vicente A. Tago, Paulo O.J. Fuller, Edgar G. Galang, Juanita Cruz, Mary Grace Talamera-Sandico, Maria
Blessilda Miranda-Bascon, Elena C. Tesoro, Mrs. Corazon Briones, Reyna Faye C. Manalo-Laxamana, Janice S. Zamora-Morales,

Rebecca S. Tan, Carolyn I. Sobritchea, Joel V. Ocampo, Lilaine P. Ocampo, Abigail D. Santos, Sherryl B. Santos, Imee Jean
Regala, Nicole Valentin, Mary Anne Glory Avancena, Kimberly A. Baluis, Avelino R James Jr., Ana Rose F. Lansang, Kelly
Manio, Rizelle G. Malicdem, Kimberly C. Tago, Kimberly O. Velasquez, Michaella A. M. Ancheta, Erik D. Gomez, Roman Goce,
Gary Felker, Scotty Hurst, and the 21 SPCF social work students enrolled in the SWPA “pilot” course in the winter-spring
2011-2012 semester.
Special thanks in the USA to Corine L. Lombardo and Steven B. Petibone of the Amerasian Research Network, Ltd. (Albany,
N.Y.) and to William A. “Billy” Albrecht, and in Taiwan to Ms. Candice Chang, executive administrator at the ICEASS 2013
Conference, Singapore and the Taipei-based Higher Education Forum and Asia Pacific Education and Research Associates.
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achieves CHED recognition status at Systems Plus College Foundation (See Press Release #2013-1). Albany, N.Y.: Author.
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Balgopal, P. R. (2000). Social work practice with immigrants and refugees. New York: Columbia University.
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Paper presented at The 9th International Conference on the Philippines (ICOPHIL-9), Michigan State University, E. Lansing,
M.I.. Retrieved from http://www.AmerasianResearch.org/diaspora
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Online Conference on Multi-Disciplinary Social Sciences, Sydney, A.U.. Retrieved from http://www.AmericanResearch.org
/paradox or http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/recordDetails.jsp? ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED542472
&searchtype=keyword&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&_pageLabel=RecordDetails&accno=ED542472&_nfls=false&s
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Asia’s 50,000 Military Filipino Amerasians. Paper presented at The International Conference on the Humanities, History and
Social Sciences (CHHSS), Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Retrieved from http://www.AmerasianResearch.org/conundrum or
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adolescents and young adults in Luzon, the Philippines. Asia-Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development, 23(3),
183-197. Retrieved from http://www.AmerasianResearch.org/somatic

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29(2), 459-502.
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Washington Press.
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46(6), 1621-1631.
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Retrieved from http://globalissues.org/artoc;e/4/poverty-around-the-world
Song, H. G. (2003). The perception that first generation and new-generation Amerasians on the factors that help and hinder their
integration into mainstream Korean society (Capstone collection, Paper 172). Retrieved from http://digitalcollection.sit.edu/
capstones/172
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(Graduate honors thesis, Department of History, Ohio State University).

January 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, 46-55
D DAVID PUBLISHING
Assessing Secondary School Teachers’ Competences in

Continuous Assessment Skills in Delta State, Nigeria
John Nwanibeze Odili

Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria
This paper investigated the continuous assessment (CA) skills competences of secondary school teachers in Delta
state. This was to ascertain their ability to carry on with CA which is the mode of evaluating learning outcomes in
the schools. A sample of 102 teachers were randomly selected using stratified sampling approach. A 20-item
observation schedule that assessed teachers’ competences in two areas of CA, viz test construction and use of
assessment outcomes to guide learning, was developed by the researcher for the study. It used a 4-point scale to rate
teachers’ competences on the skills. A one-way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was used for data
analysis. The independent variables were teachers’ level of experience and training in teaching. They were
considered at two levels respectively. The dependent variables were test construction and use of assessment
outcomes. The results showed that the teachers were competent in CA skills. Experience and training did not
significantly influence their competences in test construction and use of assessment outcomes. It was recommended
that secondary school teachers should be further guided to improve on the skill of guiding students to discover their
learning difficulties, which had the lowest mean competence.
Keywords: continuous assessment (CA) skills, test construction, use of assessment outcomes
Introduction
Assessment is an integral aspect of teaching. It is the process by which a teacher collects data about the
outcomes of his/her teaching and use the outcomes for further improvement. According to Ohuche (1998), it is
“the check which a teacher carries out to see if his/her students have learnt what they are expected to learn...” (p.
2). Continuous assessment (CA) is the mode of assessment of learning outcomes in Nigerian schools.
The Nigeria National Policy on Education (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004) stipulated that “Educational
assessment and evaluation shall be liberalized by their being based in whole or in part on CA of the progress of
the individual” (p. 9). A Handbook on Continuous Assessment (Federal Ministry of Education, Science and
Technology (FMEST), 1985) defined CA as a method of finding out what a pupil has gained from learning
activities in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains using various instruments and the use of the
assessment outcomes to bring about further improvement in teaching and learning. According to the handbook,
CA is supposed to be guidance-oriented and capable of improving pupils’ achievement as well as reducing
examination malpractice.
In Delta state, Nigeria, CA was introduced into secondary schools in 1988, when it was a part of the
John Nwanibeze Odili, Ph.D., associate professor, Faculty of Education, Department of Guidance and Counselling, Delta State
University.
ASSESSING SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ COMPETENCES 47
Bendel state. Since then, government has organized several workshops to acquaint pre-service and in-service
teachers with the skills of CA practice. A course exists in teacher preparation programmes to acquaint
pre-service and in-service teachers with the skills for the practice of CA. After over two decades of introduction
of CA in Delta state, reports of students’ assessment at both internal and external examinations indicated that
students’ performance was still low at the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. There is still menace
of examination malpractice as evidence in the large number of candidates, whose results are cancelled by
public examination bodies, like West African Examinations Council and National Examination Council.
Literature reveals that CA contributes to improving learning and performance (Kagba, 2008; Agbeti,
2008). However, teachers’ skills have been identified as a challenge of CA. For instance, Werekhwe (2002) (as
cited in Kagba, 2008) reported that primary school teachers in Malawi are deficient in skills of test construction,
which is essential for CA. Skill is a developed proficiency in some arts. Loc (2009) saw skill as component of
competency in the area of knowledge. It is developed abilities that are needed to carry out goal-oriented
activities in a given field. Skills in CA are those abilities that are useful in finding out what pupils have gained
from learning activities in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains, as well as using the outcomes to
bring about improvement in teaching and learning. Teachers who are proficient in such skills are the result of
training and experience. It is arguable that a teacher who has training in teaching will possess better CA skills
compared with his/her counterpart who did not receive such training. Similarly, a teacher who has practiced CA
for more years will have better skills than the teacher with lower number of years. Ohuche (1998) identified the
skills needed in CA to include skills in construction of appropriate instruments, record keeping, and data
analysis and interpretation. Given the guidance-oriented nature of CA, skills in using test results to identify
learners’ weakness as well as resolving problems that are capable of bringing about underachievement of
learners is also considered as paramount. No study has investigated how competent secondary school teachers
in Delta state are in these skills of CA.
Research Objectives, Questions, and Hypotheses

Statement of Problem
The problems of this study therefore are: 1. How competent are Delta state secondary school teachers in
skills of CA practices? and 2. How do teachers’ attributes, such as qualification and experience, influence their
competences in CA skills of test construction and use of assessment outcomes?
Purpose of Study
The purpose of the study is to ascertain how competent Delta state secondary school teachers are in the
skills of test construction and administration as well as use assessment outcomes to bring about further
improvement in learners.
Research Questions
The study addressed the following research questions:
1. What is teachers’ mean competence in CA skills?
2. What is the influence of training on teachers’ mean competence in test construction and use of
assessment outcomes?
3. Does years of teaching experience influence teachers’ mean competence in test construction and use of
assessment outcomes?
48 ASSESSING SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ COMPETENCES
Hypotheses
The study was guided by the following null hypotheses that were tested at the 0.05 level of significance:
Hypothesis 1: There is no significant influence of training on teachers’ competence in test construction
and use of assessment outcomes;
Hypothesis 2: There is no significant influence of years of teaching experience in teachers’ competences in
test construction and use of assessment outcomes.
Significance of the Study
This study is significant in the following ways:
1. The findings will contribute to literature on the state of preparedness of secondary school teachers in the
practice of CA;
2. Government will be guided by the outcomes of the study in the planning of workshop and seminars on
CA practice for teachers;
3. Teacher training institutions will utilize the outcomes of the study in preparation of curriculum for
teacher education both for in-service and regular students.
Literature Review
The model of evaluation that best explains the principles of CA is formative evaluation. According to
Bloom, Hasting, and Madaus (1971), the concept of formative evaluation was first used by Scriven in 1967 in
connection with curriculum improvement. In his view, “Formative evaluation involves the collection of
appropriate evidence during the construction and trying out of a new curriculum in such a way that revisions of
the new curriculum can be based on these evidence” (as cited in Bloom et al., 1971, p. 117).
In the views of Bloom et al. (1971), formative evaluation goes beyond a process of curriculum
construction to include teaching and learning for the purpose of improving any of these. It adopts a unit-based
instructional approach, which ensures that there is adequate mastering of learning before moving into a new
unit of learning. This agrees with Mordi (2013), who described formative evaluation (formative testing) as a
process of giving periodical tests during instruction to monitor pupils’ learning progress and to provide
on-going feedbacks to teachers and pupils. He listed the usefulness of formative evaluation to include diagnosis
of difficulties, analysis of causes of difficulties, as well as serving as reinforcement to learners especially when
it focuses on resolving learning difficulties. To the teacher, CA provides feedbacks which can help to improve
instructional processes as well as quality control by comparing performance of previous year with the current
year in instructional units that have similar objectives and contents. Formative evaluation also helps in
forecasting summative evaluation results.
The above principles of formative evaluation aptly agrees with the characteristics of CA, as enunciated in
the handbook on CA (FMEST, 1985). The handbook describes CA as an assessment procedure that finds out
students’ gains and difficulties in learning as well as using such information to aid further learning and
development. Its characteristics are guidance-oriented in the sense that it avoids learners’ pitfalls. The
handbook further stipulates that this assessment procedure has capabilities of minimizing examination
malpractice, given its ability to forecast summative evaluation results.
According to Kagba (2008), important requirements in CA include skills in test construction as well as the
ability to use assessment outcomes for the purpose of improving learning outcomes. Nworgu (2003) identified
some of the skills that are needed in test construction, include:

(a) Determination of contents and behaviour process;
(b) Development of table of specification;
(c) Item writing that calls for the specific skills that are covered in the learning process. The test
constructor also requires the skill of testing as well as analysis of learning outcomes.
Werekhwe (2002) and Allison and Mathew (2000) consistently stated that teachers were deficient in those
skills. Nenty, Adedoyi, Odili, and Major (2007) found that primary school teachers in Botswana and Nigeria
did not match their perception of the value of knowledge of contribution of levels of cognitive domain to
quality of education in their actual classroom practice. These have implications in the ability to construct test
for the purpose of monitoring improvement of the learning process. CA requires that teachers should be able to
construct test.
Bloom et al. (1917) explained that for formative evaluation to serve for the improvement of learning
outcomes, it must adopt remediating approaches, like feedback analysis of learning difficulties, tutorial
assistant based on results of assessment, and group co-operation with the guidance of teachers. These are in
tandem with guidance requirements of CA.
CA is expected to use tests to identify learning difficulties as well as use the outcome to guide further
learning. This agrees with Ajagun (2008), who stated that assessment should be an integral aspect of teaching
and learning with each complimenting the other. Given the fact that performance of students in Delta state in
Nigeria is adjudged to be below average and examination malpractice on the increase, there is a need to
investigate the competences of teachers in Delta state secondary schools on the skills of using assessment
outcomes to improve further learning. Research by Odili (1996) indicated that the predictive quality of CA
outcomes of secondary school teachers is influenced by their teaching qualification and years of teaching
experience. The study had revealed that the CA cumulative scores of junior secondary school students made by
teachers with teaching qualification and those with less than six years teaching experience were better able to
predict students’ performances in junior school certificate examination. This may have been related to their
level of competences in the skills of CA practice.
Literature is replete with the value of CA as an evaluation mode that is capable of bringing about
improvement in learning outcomes. Literature also reveals that this mode of assessment is in vogue in many
schools today. No study provided evidence on the level of secondary school teachers’ competence in CA skills.
Test construction and use of assessment outcomes are important aspects of CA for improvement of learning.
Design
The study adopted the descriptive survey research design, which is capable of collecting data that describe
teachers’ competences in CA.
The samples of the study were secondary school teachers in Ukwani local government area of Delta state
of Nigeria. According to the statistics from the Delta state Teaching Service Board, there is a total of 384
teachers in the local government area. They use CA as the mode of evaluation of learning outcomes.
A sample of 102 teachers was used in the study. The stratified random sampling procedure was employed.
The teachers were stratified according to their training in teaching and levels of experience. Observation
schedule titled “Continuous Assessment Skill Competence Scale” was the instrument of data collection. It was
developed by the researcher for the purpose of this study. It was made up of 20 items that covered skills in test
construction and use of assessment outcomes in CA. For instance, item-1 on test construction sought
competence on the skills of identifying curriculum objectives, while item-10 in the same category measured
competence in the skill of analysis of test results to identify areas of difficulties.
The items on the use of assessment outcomes measured competences on the skills of use of assessment
outcomes to promote further learning. Such examples are item-11—ability to individualize instruction for
students, and item-16—guiding students to discover their learning difficulties. The items were presented in a
4-point scale of very competent, competent, fairly competent, and not competent. The researcher interacted
with the teachers and observed their records in order to elicit the level of competency on each item.
Content validity was established for the instrument using expert judgment. Experts in measurement and
evaluation were asked to judge the items in terms of their relevance and exhaustiveness. Their comments were
used to further improve the items.
Inter-raters were used to establish the stability of response over time. The instrument was administered to
20 teachers who were outside the sampled schools by two raters at different times. Pearson’s product moment
correlation of the responses from the two administrations yielded a coefficient of 0.75. This was considered
suitable for the study.
Method of Data Collection and Analysis

The researcher personally administered the instrument to the sampled teachers. In each of the items, he
asked related questions and looked at previous records of such activity carried out by the teacher to establish
level of competency. For instance, in item-1, teachers were asked to identify objectives in topics in the national
curriculum. For item-2, teahcers were asked to provide the researcher’s lesson note on the basis of which his
competence in stating measurable instructional objectives was rated. A teacher’s years of experience was
identified from the school records.
The data were analyzed using one-way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) statistic. This was
performed using Statistic Package for Social Science (SPSS) package. Experience and qualification were
respectively treated as the categorical independent variables, while continuous dependent variables were CA
skills in test construction and use of assessment outcomes. This was performed at the 0.05 alpha level and
0.025 adjusted values for the dependent variables.
Results and Interpretation

The results of data analyses were presented in the tables according to the research questions and hypotheses
that were stated. For the purpose of answering the research questions and testing the null hypotheses, the mean
value of the scale which is 2.50 was taken as the cut of point. This represents the lower real limit of competency
on the scale. Thus, mean values of 2.50 and above were regarded as competent in that skill.
Research question 1: What is teachers’ mean competence in CA skills?
Table 1 reveals that secondary school teachers are competent in the investigated skills of CA. The mean
competence of the teachers in the skills investigated is above 2.50. However, they were found to have the
lowest mean competence of 2.89 in guiding students to discover their learning difficulties. They were also
found to have a mean competence of less than 3.20 in many of the skills in use of assessment outcomes to
improve learning compared with the skills of test construction.
Table 1
Mean Competence of Secondary School Teachers in CA
Skill X competence SD Std. error of mean
Identifying curriculum objectives 3.48 0.88 0.08
Stating measurable instructional objectives 3.24 0.91 0.09
Constructing test items in the cognitive domain 3.24 0.82 0.08
Transforming raw scores to standard scores 3.19 0.83 0.09
Developing instruments to measure psychomotor behavior 3.34 0.85 0.08
Writing affective measurement items 3.24 0.81 0.08
Developing table of specification 3.13 0.96 0.09
Ensuring tests have content validity 3.03 0.87 0.08
Determining the reliability of measurement instruments 3.17 0.88 0.08
Ability to analyze test results to identify areas of difficulty 3.16 0.83 0.08
Ability to individualize instruction for students 3.13 0.08 0.89
Involving students in developing marking scheme 3.03 0.88 0.08
Detecting when students cheating in a test 3.32 0.99 0.09
Ability to use test record to know when a student is performing low 3.20 0.73 0.07
Helping students in career decision 3.06 0.78 0.07
Guiding students to discover their learning difficulties 2.89 0.96 0.09
Reporting students’ performance 3.24 0.95 0.09
Discussing students’ performance with parents 3.34 0.78 0.07
Supervision of peer instruction 3.16 0.75 0.07
Commenting on students’ script to guide learning 3.31 0.84 0.08
Research question 2: What is the influence of training on teachers’ mean competence in CA?
The influence of training in teachers’ mean competence in CA is presented in Table 2.
Table 2
Influence of Training on Teachers’ Mean Competence in CA
Qualification of teachers N X SD Std. error of mean
With teaching qualification 78 3.21 0.63 0.07
Without teaching qualification 24 3.18 0.33 0.06
From Table 2, it could be seen that teachers with teaching qualification had a mean of 3.21 while their
counterparts who did not have teaching qualification had a mean of 3.18. The teachers with teaching
qualification have a higher mean competence.
Research question 3: Does number of years of teaching experience influence teachers’ mean competence
in CA?
The influence of years of teaching experience on teachers’ mean competence is presented in Table 3.
Table 3
Influence of Years of Teaching Experience on Teachers’ Mean Competence in CA
No. of years of teaching experience N X SD Std. error of mean
0-10 39 3.29 0.31 0.05
11 plus 63 3.14 0.68 0.08
Table 3 shows that teachers with less than 11 years of teaching experience have a higher mean of 3.29
compared with 3.14 posited by their counterparts who have 11 years and above teaching experience.
The hypotheses tested are presented below.

Hypothesis 1: There is no statistical significant influence of training in teaching on teachers’ competence
in test construction and use of assessment outcomes.
Table 4
Multivariate Analysis of Influence of Training in Teaching on Teachers’ Competence in Test Construction and
Use of Assessment Outcomes.
Partial effect Value F Hypothesis df Error df Sig. Eta squared
Intercept Pillar’s trace 0.955 1062.005a 2.00 99.000 0.000 0.955
Wilk’s lambda 0.045 1062.005a 2.00 99.000 0.000 0.955
Hotelling’s trace 21.455 1062.005a 2.00 99.000 0.000 0.955
Roy’s largest root 21.455 1062.005a 2.00 99.000 0.000 0.955
Qualification Pillar’s trace 0.022 1.100a 2.00 99.000 0.377 0.022
Wilk’s lambda 0.022 1.100a 2.00 99.000 0.377 0.022
A one-way MANOVA was performed to investigate the influence of training in teaching on the skills
needed for CA practice (see Table 4). Two dependent variables were used: (a) the use of assessment outcomes;
and (b) test construction. The independent variable was training in teaching. Preliminary assumption testing
was conducted to check for normality, linearity, univariate and multivariate outliers, homogeneity of
variance-covariance matrices, and multicollinearity, with no serious violations noted. There was no significant
difference between trained teachers and untrained teachers on the skills of CA: F (2, 99) = 1.10, p = 0.34,
Wilks’ lambda = 0.98, and partial eta squared = 0.02. Considering the dependent variables individually, no
significant difference was observed for “use of assessment outcomes”: F (1, 100) = 0.29, partial eta squared =
0.00; and for “test construction”: F (1, 100) = 0.05, p = 0.83, and partial eta squared = 0.00. Thus, we accept the
null hypothesis that there is no statistical significant influence of training in teaching on teachers’ competences
in CA skills.
Hypothesis 2: There is no statistical significant influence of years of teaching experience on teachers’
competences in test construction and use of assessment outcomes.
A one-way MANOVA was performed to investigate the influence of years of experience in the skills
needed for CA practice (see Table 5). Two dependent variables were used: (a) the use of assessment outcomes;
and (b) test construction. The independent variable was years of experience. Preliminary assumption testing
was conducted to check for normality, linearity, univariate and multivariate outliers, homogeneity of
variance-covariance matrices, and multicollinearity, with no serious violation noted. There was no significant
difference between the teachers with 0-10 years experience and the teachers with 11 plus years of experience
on the combined dependent variables: F (2, 99) = 1.64, p = 0.20, Wilks’ lambda = 0.97, and partial eta squared
= 0.03. Considering the dependent variables individually, no significant difference was observed for “use of
assessment outcomes”: F (1, 100) = 1.92, p = 0.17, and partial eta squared = 0.02; and for “test construction”: F
(1, 100) = 0.39, p = 0.53, and partial eta squared = 0.00. Thus, we accept the null hypothesis that there is no
statistical influence of years of teaching experience on teachers’ competence in test construction and use of
assessment outcomes.
Table 5
Multivariate Analysis of Influence of Years of Teaching Experience on Teachers’ Competences in Test
Construction and Use of Assessment Outcomes
Partial effect Value F Hypothesis df Error df Sig. Eta squared
Intercept Pillar’s trace 0.967 1441.174 2.000 99.000 0.000 0.967
Wilk’s lambda 0.033 1441.174 2.000 99.000 0.000 0.967
Hotelling’s trace 29.115 1441.174 2.000 99.000 0.000 0.967
Roy’s largest root 29.115 1441.174 2.000 99.000 0.000 0.967
Experience Pillar’s trace 0.032 1.641a 2.000 99.000 0.199 0.032
Wilk’s lambda 0.968 1.641a 2.000 99.000 0.199 0.032
Discussion
This study revealed that secondary school teachers in Delta state of Nigeria are competent in the skills that
are needed to practice CA mode of evaluating learning outcomes. Although the means for teachers with
teaching qualification and those with less than 11 years teaching experience are slightly higher than their
counterparts with no teaching qualification and those with more than 11 years of teaching experience
respectively. The findings supported the hypothesis that training in teaching and teachers’ levels of experience
do not have any statistically significant influence on their competences in the skills of test construction and use
of assessment outcomes. These findings were, however, at variance with that of Werekhwe (2002) (as cited in
Kagba, 2008), who had reported that primary school teachers in Malawi are deficient in the skills of test
construction.
The results also do not agree with the findings of Nenty et al. (2007). Their study reported that primary
school teachers in Botswana and Nigeria rated themselves as incompetent in the application of knowledge of
the levels of Bloom’s cognitive domain in actual classroom practice for enhancement of quality education. The
finding that training in teaching does not influence teachers’ competences in CA practice is also at variance
with an earlier research reported by Odili (1996), who had reported that CA scores of junior secondary school
students taught by teachers with teacher education training and teachers with 5-11 years’ experience were
significantly correlated with their performance at junior secondary school certificate examination.
Teachers improved competences in skills of CA may be related to several workshops mounted by Delta
State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Universal Basic Education Commission, Nigeria Educational
Research and Development Council, and Office of the Presidency on Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
In order to ensure effective implementation of 9-year basic education curricula in Nigeria, these bodies
mounted several workshops for teachers in Delta state, Nigeria. CA practice as a mode of evaluating learning
outcomes was one of the themes of the workshops. Teachers received manuals which were discussed and
practised during these workshops. These must have positively influenced teachers’ CA practice skills since the
past eight years. Enhancement of teachers’ salaries and close supervision and monitoring of instruction by
school heads and the Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education are also factors that could have
improved teaching competences in general and CA practice in particular. For the past five years, teachers’
promotion has been partly based on successful rating of teaching effectives by school heads. The honorable
commissioner of Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education pays unscheduled visit to schools to
monitor teaching and learning. These efforts working in synergy are capable of improving teachers’
competences in CA skills.
However, it is important to note that this reported competence has not impacted commensurately on
performance of students in Senior Schools Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by external
examination bodies, like West African Examinations Council and National Examinations Council. Reports of
students’ performances for the past 10 years have shown consistent low performances with less than 30% of
the candidates passing at credit levels in five subjects, including mathematics and English language. CA
has not also reduced examination malpractice as recent reports show that the phenomenon is still in the
increase.
Conclusions
This study has brought to the fore that teachers’ competences in CA in Delta state, Nigeria, have improved
compared with the situation about eight years ago. This improvement cuts across teachers with training in
teaching and those without training in teaching. It also cuts across teachers at all levels of teaching experience.
It could be argued that the several workshops meant to improve teaching efficiency and efforts at supervision of
teaching have contributed to such improvement.
Recommendations
From the foregoing, the following recommendations can be made:
1. Given the present mean competent level of teachers in CA skills, government and teacher training
institutions should make more concerted efforts to shore up the competences of teachers in CA skills;
2. Secondary schools in Delta state should ensure that the possessed competences in CA skills impact on
teaching and learning so as to improve performances of students as well as minimize the problem of
examination malpractice among students;
3. Given the observed lower mean competence of teachers without teaching qualification in CA, teachers
with teaching qualification should provide more mentoring and guidance to the former group of teachers for the
overall good of Delta State University school system;
4. With respect to the skill of guiding students to discover their learning difficulties, which has a
comparably lower mean competence, efforts should be made by teacher trainers to improve teachers on this
skill.
References
Agbeti, A. (2008). Prompting quality teaching and learning through assessment. Journal of Educational Assessment in Africa, 2,
71-79.
Ajagun, G. (2008). The new national continuous assessment strategy and the promotion of teaching and learning in the 9-year
basic education programme. Journal of Educational Assessment in Africa, 2, 63-70.
Allison, C., & Mathew, H. (2000). An explanatory analysis of school based student assessment system. North Central Regional
Educational Laboratory.
Bloom, B. S., Hastings, J. T., & Madus, G. F. (1971). Handbook on formative and summative evaluation of student learning. New
York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (FMEST). (1985). A handbook on continuous assessment. Ibadan:
Heinemann Educational Books.
Federal Republic of Nigeria. (2004). National policy on education (4th ed.). Lagos: NERDC.
Kagba, P. (2008). Impact of school-based assessment on qualify education. Journal of Educational Assessment Africa, 2, 7-12.
Loc, N. (2009, June). International and national skills development approaches in Vietnam. Paper prepared for The NORRAGE
Conference on Policy Transfer or Policy Learning: Interaction Between International and National Skills Development
Approaches for Policy Making. Retrieved October 20, 2010, from http://www.norrage.org
Mordi, C. E. (2013, February 21). Understanding students’ academic achievement (30th in the series of inaugural lectures of the
Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria).
Nenty, H. J., Adedoyin, O. O., Odili, J. N., & Major, T. E. (2007). Primary schools teachers’ perception of classroom assessment
practices as means of providing quality primary/basic education by Botswana and Nigeria. Educational Research and
Reviews, 2(4), 74-81.
Nworgu, B. G. (2003). Educational measurement and evaluation: Theory and practice. Nsukka: University Trust Publishers.
Odili, J. N. (1996). Continuous assessment cumulative scores as predictor of junior school certificate examination performance of
students in integrated science. Research in Education, 2(1), 56-63.
Ohuche, R. O. (1998). Continuous assessment for every learner. Onitsha: African—FEP.
January 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, 56-62 D DAVID PUBLISHING
Case Variability Assessment on Performance-Based Medical

Examination Using Generalizability Theory
Gwo-Jen Guo Tsai-Wei Huang

National Changhua University of Education, National Chiayi University,
Changhua, Taiwan Chiayi, Taiwan
Due to rare experimental study about case variability in the clinical skills assessment, this study intended to
compare case variability on a chronological clinical skill assessment conducted at Northeastern Ohio Universities
College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) with other studies obtained in literatures. A design of examinee crossed by case
based on generalizability (G) theory was conducted. Results showed that large variances of case and the interaction
between examinee and case would contribute to small G coefficients. To achieve a satisfied G coefficient, the
number of cases needed to be enlarged. Furthermore, using multiple raters to score each case might be an
alternative design on clinical skills assessment in future studies.
Keywords: case variability, generalizability (G) theory, medical examination, clinical skills assessment
Introduction
Psychometric properties of performance-based examinations using standardized patients have been
investigated extensively. A number of studies have reported that how the rater, standardized patient, level of
case difficulty, and length of station influence the overall assessment reliability (Swanson & Norcini, 1989;
Colliver et al., 1990; Tamblyn, Klass, Schnabl, & Kopelow, 1991; Shatzer, Darosa, Colliver, & Barkmeier,
1993; Gercama, Haan, & Van der Vleuten, 2000; Keller, Mazor, Swaminathan, & Pugnaire, 2000). However,
since performance assessments are costly to administer, and scores and resources (time, raters, and money) are
typically limited, determining how many cases to administer is very critical. Actually, according to several
studies (Swanson & Norcini, 1989; Verhoevern, Hamers, Scherpbier, Hoogenboom, & Van der Vleuten, 2000),
a major factor affecting the reliability of performance-based assessment is the variability arising from the
inconsistency of an examinee’s performance over cases (Swanson & Norcini, 1989).
Although several articles discussed the application of generalizability (G) theory in performance-based
examinations (Hodges, Turnbull, Cohen, Bienenstock, & Norman, 1996; Charter, 1999; Keller, Mazor,
Swaminathan, & Pugnaire, 2000; Wass, Tones, & Van der Vleuten, 2001), there were still rare experimental
study about case variability in the field of clinical skills assessment. This article intends to discuss case
variability on a chronological clinical skill assessment conducted at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of
Medicine (NEOUCOM) with the intercase reliability obtained in Colliver, Verhulst, Williams, and Norcini
(1989) and Colliver, Markwell, and Verhulst’s (1991) studies.
Gwo-Jen Guo, Ph.D., professor, Department of Guidance and Counseling, National Changhua University of Education.
Tsai-Wei Huang, Ph.D., professor, Department of Counseling, National Chiayi University.
CASE VARIABILITY ASSESSMENT ON PERFORMANCE-BASED MEDICAL EXAMINATION 57
Colliver et al. (1989) and Colliver et al.’s (1991) Studies

Colliver et al. (1989) investigated the intercase reliability of overall case scores. They examined clinical
competence for senior medical students in two successive classes at Southern Illinois University School of
Medicine in 1986 (13 standardized patient cases to 70 students) and 1987 (17 cases to 67 students). The two
studies investigated the variance components arising from the cases, and determined how many cases and time
would be required to achieve the desirable reliability level of 0.80.
Colliver et al. (1991) conducted a similar G study at the same institution, focused on the reliabilities of
clinical competence and the analysis of the G coefficients for the overall case. For G coefficients, they gathered
data on clinical competence from five successive classes (1986 to 1990). They pooled the data across the five
classes and projected the data to 10 cases for each year. The results showed a fairly large number of cases
would be required to measure the competencies with a reliability of 0.80.
Generalizability Theory
Beginning with the critics in CTT (Classical Test Theory), G theory developed in the early 1970s, and it
can be traced back to the early work of Hoyt (1941), which is the first effort to divide score variance into more
than one component (Kieffer, 1998). G theory assumes that the entire person’s knowledge, attitude, skill, or
other measured attribute is steady. That is, any difference among scores caused by an individual on different
occasions of measurement is due to one or more sources of error (Shavelson & Webb, 1991). Therefore, the
variances of error can be partitioned into many smaller components of variances based on the methodological
design.
Although G theory is generated from CTT and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) (Brennan, 1992), there are
two essential concepts within its unique conceptual framework: (a) universes of admissible observations and G
study; and (b) universes of generalization and decision (D) study. Usually, a universe may be composed of a
single facet or even many facets (e.g., items, raters, and occasions) of conditions. The universe of admissible
observations is defined as a set of all acceptable conditions that contribute to a single facet or many facets, e.g.,
items facet and rater facet. However, if the universe of admissible observations is broadened, the greater
possibility of making an error will occur in generalizing from sample to universe. An adequate extent of
universe is decided by the researcher and should be based on reasonable interpretations. A G study is a
procedure to obtain estimates of variance components associated with the universe of admissible observations
and provide as much as possible about the source of variation in the measurement (Brennan, 1997; Shavelson &
Webb, 1991).
Similar to the introduction of the universes of admissible observations, the universe of generalization is
defined as the universe to which a decision-maker wants to generalize based on a particular measurement
procedure in a D study (Brennan, 1992). That is, a D study is to collect data for the purpose of making
decisions or drawing conditions. Thus, all of the units of the universe of generalization have the same
restrictions that are added in a D study, that is, the same designs and sample size.
Since a D study employs the information derived from a G study, a G study is conducted to define the
universe of admissible observations as broadly as possible in order to encompass more kinds of designs of D
study. Although, a D study is closely related to a G study, there still technically exist two important differences
(Brennan, 1992). First, the sample sizes of facets for both studies are not necessary to be the same. For instance,
58 CASE VARIABILITY ASSESSMENT ON PERFORMANCE-BASED MEDICAL EXAMINATION
a 10-item test in G study was an investigation instrument; however, a prediction might be made because a
20-item test was used for decision-making (D study). Second, practically, for the D study, the researcher
focuses on persons’ mean score that is closer to the persons’ true score, rather than on persons’ single
observations that are implemented in a G study to estimate variance components.
There are two typical designs used in G theory: crossed and nested. One facet is said to be “crossed” with
another facet when all conditions of the sample facet are observed with all conditions of another facet. However,
the other facet is said to be “nested” within another facet when two or more conditions of the nested facet
appear with one and only one condition of another facet. For instance, if the item facet is crossed with the rater
facet, all items need to be rated by all raters. On the other hand, if half of the items are judged by the first rater
and the other half of items by the second rater, the item facet is said to be nested within the rater facet.
Design
Examinees and Cases
Two kinds of examinees were involved in the 2000 and 2001 examinations of NEOUCOM: residents and
students. The year 2000 examination was administered to 61 residents and the year 2001 examination was
administered to 66 residents. The components of clinical competence assessed were history taking (HT),
physical examination (PE), assessment (AS), plan management (PM), and communication skills (CS). A
clinical skills assessment containing 16 cases was also administered to 102 senior medical students in 2001 at
NEOUCOM. Two of the 16 cases were for curriculum instruction; thus, these two cases were not included in
this comparison.
Rationales
Since each case was scored by an expert in medical education, the rater facet was the same as the case
facet. Since each examinee need to run over all cases, the data of NEOUCOM examinations were simple a p 
c design, where p represented the facet of examinee, c is the facet of case, and the symbol of “” meant a
crossed design. Thus, according to the rationales of G theory and a fully random G study design is considered, a
score for a single item assessed by a single rater is represented as:
X pc     p   c   pc Equation (1)
In Equation (1),  represents the grand mean and  denotes independent effects: main and interaction
effects. Derived from Equation 1, the variance of scores can be addressed as:
 2  X pc    2  p    2  c    2  pc  Equation (2)
This means that the total variance can be separated to three independent variance components.
Subsequently, we need to estimate the value of each variance component by introducing the concept of the
expected mean square (EMS). Since every study could carry out a mean square for a particular effect in the
same design to the same population and universe, the average of these mean squares is defined as the EMS for
that effect. The EMSs provide weighted sums of variance components by number of cases (nc) and number of
examinees (np) as follows (Kirk, 1982):
EMS (p)=   pc   nc 2  p 
2
EMS (c) =   pc   n p  c 
2 2
EMS (pc) =   pc 
2
Equation (3)
Since the EMS is unknown, an obtained mean square can be taken as an unbiased estimate of the EMS
(Crobach, Gleser, Nanda, & Rajaratnam, 1972). Thus, we can estimate the values of these seven variance
components in Equation (3) from bottom to up. That is:
ˆ 2  pc  = MS(pc)
ˆ 2  c  =  MS  c   ˆ  pc 
2
np
̂ 2  p  =  MS  p   ˆ  pc  
2
nc Equation (4)
Up to now, we obtain the values of variance components from a crossed and random design of a G study.
To obtain variance components for the D study, a researcher simply divides the estimate of each variance
component in G study by the correspondent conditions of sample size (nc) in D study. That is:
ˆ 2  C  = ˆ 2  c  nc
ˆ 2  pC  = ˆ 2  pc  nc Equation (5)
It is noteworthy that ̂ 2
 p in D study is the same as that in G study. This is because ̂ 2  p  is the
estimated universe score variance and is always constant. Furthermore, since an investigator needs to decide
what kinds of designs or conditions for the D study contain higher reliability from the sample to the universe of
generalization, the G coefficient needs to be assessed (Brennan, 1992; Brennan & Johnson, 1995):
 p2
2  Equation (6)
 p2   pC
2
The G coefficient is formed by comparing the magnitude of the universe score variance to relative error
variance. This coefficient is analogous to a reliability coefficient in classical theory, and indeed, is the same as
the reliability coefficient of Cronbach alpha when only a person-case design is implemented in a D study.
Results
The descriptive information and estimated variance components for the studies of Colliver et al. (1989)
and Colliver et al. (1991), as well as NEOUCOM’s residents and senior medical students are presented in Table
1. In Colliver et al.’s (1989) study 1, the variance of examinee (23.84) was apparently smaller than either the
variance of case (129.20) or the interaction variance between examinee and case (120.70), similar with those
variance components in Colliver et al.’s (1989) study 2. The variance of examinee refers to the variability
arising from systematic differences among students’ clinical knowledge and skills. If all of the cases are equal
in difficulty and an individual’s score is roughly the same from one case to the next, then, the person’s
performance on any sample of cases can be generalized to all of the testing cases. Therefore, we hope that the
variance arising from a case will be as small as possible so that the score variance on the clinical performance
truly represents variation in students’ clinical knowledge and skills.
Table 2 shows the G coefficient, the time (RT) and the number of cases (RC) required to achieve either the
0.80 level of reliability in the Colliver et al.’s studies or a reliability level over 0.70 in the NEOUCOM
residents and students. In Colliver et al.’s studies, for the examination in Colliver et al.’s (1989) study 1, the G
coefficient was 0.72 (The examination originally contained 13 cases in G study), the number of cases needed
was 21 cases, and the administration time required was about 10.5 hours. For the study 2 examination, the G
coefficient was 0.66 (originally contained 17 cases in Table 1), the number of cases required to achieve the 0.80
level of reliability was 42, and the administration time was about 21 hours. For Colliver et al.’s (1991) study,
the G coefficient was 0.51 (projected to contain 10 cases for each year), the number of cases was 40 cases, and
the administration time required was about 20 hours.
Table 1
Estimated variance components in G studies
Variance components
Number of examinees Number of cases
Examinee Case Examinee x case
Colliver et al. (1989), study 1 70 13 23.84 129.20 120.70
Colliver et al. (1989), study 2 67 17 9.35 80.09 96.57
Colliver et al. (1991) 327 10 11.50 95.86 111.69
NEOUCOM 2000 residents 61 8 17.27 50.59 161.84
NEOUCOM 2001 residents 66 8 27.66 50.82 201.66
NEOUCOM 2001 students 102 14 7.15 50.24 93.78
Table 2
Requirements of Cases and Time to Achieve Acceptable G Coefficients in D studies
Original Acceptable RC RT (hour)
Colliver et al. (1989), study 1 0.72 0.80 21 10.5
Colliver et al. (1989), study 2 0.66 0.80 42 21.0
Colliver et al. (1991) 0.51 0.80 40 20.0
NEOUCOM 2000 residents 0.46 0.77 32 9.6
NEOUCOM 2001 residents 0.52 0.81 32 9.6
NEOUCOM 2001 students 0.52 0.73 35 10.5
For NEOUCOM residents and student assessment, in the year 2000 resident assessment, the G coefficient
was 0.46 (The examination contained eight cases), the number of cases for the G coefficient to equal 0.77 was
32, and the administration time required was about 9.6 hours (each case accounted for 18 minutes). For the
2001 resident assessment, the G coefficient was 0.52 (originally contained eight cases in G study), the number
of cases for the G coefficient to reach 0.81 was 32, and the administration time required was about 9.6 hours
(each case accounted for 18 minutes). For the year 2001 medical student clinical skills assessment, the G
coefficient was 0.52 (The examination contained 14 cases), the number of cases for the G coefficient to equal
0.73 was 35, and the administration time required was about 10.5 hours (each case accounted for 18 minutes).
Comparisons of G coefficients showed that the levels of reliability for Colliver et al.’s studies in 1989
were higher than for these NEOUCOM residents and student assessments, but the the values in 1991 were
similar. To calculate the G coefficient, the error variance is defined as the interaction variance between
examinee and case, therefore, the larger the variance arising from the examinee and case interaction, the
smaller the G coefficient is. As can be seen from Table 1, the examinee variances were apparently smaller than
either the variances of case or the interaction variances between examinee and case for all of the studies. This
may explain why the G coefficients were only from low to moderate in studies of Colliver et al. (1989),
Colliver et al. (1991), and NEOUCOM.
For Colliver et al.’s (1989) study 1, 21 cases required an administration time of 10.5 hours to achieve the
reliability level of 0.80; for their study 2 in 1989 and 1991 study, over 40 cases requiring over 20 hours of
administration time would be necessary for achieving the same level of reliability. For the NEOUCOM 2001
residents’ assessment, to achieve reliability of 0.81, only 32 cases and 9.6 hours for administration were
required. The time required to administer these cases is only half of those for Colliver et al.’s studies in 1989
and 1991. The number of cases required was more than the number required in Coverill et al.’s (1989) study 1,
but the required administration time hours were all less than those in Colliver et al. (1989) and Colliver et al.’s
(1991) studies. With equal number of cases and equal administration time for the NEOUCOM 2000 and
NEOUCOM 2001 residents, the 2000 group only achieved a reliability of 0.77. For the NEOUCOM 2001
senior students assessment, 35 cases requiring 10.5 hours yielded a reliability of 0.73. The time required to
administer this assessment was the same as for the Colliver et al.’s (1989) study 1; however, the level of
reliability was lower than in Colliver et al. (1989) and Colliver et al.’s (1991) studies.
Conclusions
From the above comparison, we might not conclude that the reliability of assessment in an institution is
higher or lower than that in another institution. Neither institution had an assessments reliability that was
consistently higher than the assessment reliability of the other institution. Even within the same institution,
there is much variability by date of assessment or different characteristics of the examinees in an assessment.
This finding supports Keller, Mazor, Swaminathan, and Pugnaire (2000) indicated that the G and other
reliability coefficients were estimated based on samples, and might be expected to vary depending on a specific
sample. Nevertheless, the G theory provides a valuable means of assessing the reliability for clinical skills
assessments that composed of standardized patient cases (Colliver et al., 1989).
From the above comparisons, we knew that increasing the number of cases would increase the level of
reliability if the impact of others factors is considered equally. Furthermore, through the G theory, researchers
can use raw data to construct a G study, and subsequently, alternate the conditions of facets or designs in a D
study to find out the most optimal model. In order to yield a satisfied level of reliability, designing multiple
raters to score on each case can be further investigated in future studies.
References
Brennan, R. L. (1992). Generalizability theory. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 11(4), 27-34.
Brennan, R. L., & Johnson, E. G. (1995). Generalizability of performance assessments. Educational Measurement: Issues and
Practice, 14(4), 9-27.
Brennan, R. L. (1997). A perspective on the history of generalizability theory. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice,
16(4), 14-20.
Charter, R. A. (1999). Sample size requirements for precise estimates of reliability, generalizability, and validity coefficients.
Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 21, 559-566.
Colliver, J. A., Verhulst S. J., Williams, R. G., & Norcini, J. J. (1989). Reliability of performance on standardized patient cases: A
comparison of consistency measures based on generalizability theory. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 1(1), 31-37.
Colliver, J. A., Morrison, L. J., Markwell, S. J., Verhulst, S. J., Steward, D. E., Dawson-Saunders, E., & Barrows, H. S. (1990).
Three studies of the effect of multiple standardized patients on intercase reliability of five standardized-patient examinations.
Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 2, 237-245.
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January 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, 63-71
D DAVID PUBLISHING
Brief Analysis of Dongba Hand-Made Paper Preservation
Hu Ying
Yunnan University, Kunming, China

Dongba hand-made paper is the material carrier of the Dongba manuscript, the paper carrier and the information of
the manuscript depend on each other for existence. We should not ignore to protect Dongba hand-made paper while
preserving the Dongba manuscript. This paper pierced from the background and functional extend of Dongba
hand-made paper in order to introduce the raw material and manufacturing process of Dongba hand-made paper
with two research methods, such as document collection and on-site inspection. What is more, this paper analyzed
the performance and current living situation of Dongba hand-made paper so as to demonstrate the protective tactic
of Dongba hand-made paper based on archival thesis. Obviously, Dongba hand-made paper has a strong
relationship with Dongba manuscript and Dongba culture, the discussion on its protection also could be offered as
theoretical reference to build the protective structure for the Dongba manuscript and Dongba culture.
Keywords: Dongba hand-made paper, exterior protective environment, interior protective steps
Introduction
The Dongba manuscript has been named “Sen jiu lu jiu” in Naxi language, as it means the letters which
had been carved on the wood or stone. Obviously, most of the writing carrier of Dongba pictograph is the raw
material, such as wood or stone before paper was officially used and generalized among Naxi area. Based on
this, it is known that Dongba pictograph had once survived within a period of non-paper writing time. By
means of analyzing the historical background of Dongba hand-made paper’s origin, it will be very clear for us
to find the primitiveness of the paper’s craftmanship, the necessary of the preservation on the manufacture
procedure as one part of intangible cultural heritage, not to mention the value of doing this research. We can
also deduce the overall characteristics of Dongba hand-made paper by comparing the invisible composition of
raw materials of the paper from some collected samples of selected producing places, where we have already
done lots of researches to confirm, given the paper’s exact surviving condition in reality. On account of the
rarity existed both outside the physical carrier and inside the culture, after comprehending the habits of Dongba
hand-made paper, we can put forward the more feasible and practicable preservative tactics which aim at the
troubles and problems exposed in the process of its survival.
Appearance and Usage Range of Dongba Hand-Made Paper

As for the time and historical background of Dongba hand-made paper’s appearance, there are still several
opinions existed so far until now. The reasons for making this situation happen is at least three points below: 1.
We lack the historical records about the exact time of Dongba hand-made paper’s appearance; 2. It is difficult

Acknowledgement: The article, which belongs to the phased research paper of the author’s whole project, was wrote under the
support of The 2013 National Social Science Fund of China: The Compatible Preservation of Dongba Manuscript.
Hu Ying, M.A., lecturer, School of Public Administration, Yunnan University.
64 BRIEF ANALYSIS OF DONGBA HAND-MADE PAPER PRESERVATION
to figure out the obvious writing time from Dongba manuscripts compared with Chinese manuscripts, in which
the writer always left their names and times at the end of the paper, instead, it is common for most Dongba to
mention the writing time of their manuscripts secretly. Therefore, only the one who is able to recognize the
whole content of the manuscript can tell the exact writing time which had written as metaphor within the lines;
and 3. It was a custom to burn the Dongba manuscripts which had been used by the Dongba who was dead, so
that the burned paper could not offer any useful traces for tracking down the time consecutiveness of each set
of manuscripts (Chen, 2004, p. 73). On the basis of the crude looking of Dongba hand-made paper, we can
study that the appearance of Dongba hand-made paper from exploring the origin of Yunnan hand-made paper.
According to Brief Abstract of Five Dynasties from Song dynasty (Chen, 2004, p. 74), there are some records
about Yunnan hand-made paper, and we can speculate that the systematic paper-making industry in Yunnan
area might be appeared in the later period of NanZhao (It was a local regime located in the southwest of China
around AD 738-902), the paper which was produced there shows rough and thick, suitable and sustainable to
wrap. It was different from the thin and smooth paper which was manufactured by the inner-land. Thereby, we
can judge that the hand-made paper in Lijiang area came out from the same strain of Yunnan hand-made paper.
The producing skill of Dongba hand-made paper should be a branch paper-making technology, which had been
merged Ethnic Han’s skill with other skills from neighborhood areas, attaching the local feature (Long, 2009).
Furthermore, we can conclude the exact time when Dongba hand-made paper used as the main writing
carrier for Dongba manuscript analyzing and summarizing the archival documents from Yuan dynasty
independence record1 or the Mu’s genealogy. According to the content of the documents, Dongba pictograph
letter had been commonly used during Song dynasty, plus the appearance of hand-made paper, there came the
Dongba manuscript with Dongba hand-made paper and Dongba pictograph.
Beside copying Dongba manuscript and recording other social daily affairs. The white, thick, and
mothproof Dongba hand-made paper also played an important role in other social fields. Among ordinary
people, Dongba hand-made paper had been used in various ways: (a) as linings, which had the function of
backing and sizing the hats, was matched only for the married women; (b) as baffle in front of the oven lest
being blew off or wet out; (3) as shoe-pad or support pad for kids; and (c) as writing material for Dongba dance
or drawings. In addition, Dongba hand-made paper had been used during Dongba religious riots to make
several kinds of human or animal sculpts, including birettas as religious property.
The Raw Material and Producing Procedure of Dongba Hand-Made Paper

The raw material and producing procedure of Dongba hand-made paper are different in accordance with
the paper-making knowledge, techniques, and producing areas. There are two key producing areas on
paper-making which could be analyzed as an example to explore the difference, Daju in Lijiang and Sanba in
Zhongdian (Shangri-La).
In Daju, Lijiang, before making paper, Dongba would choose a local material called “bark of mountain
cotton tree”, which is actually one of canescent wikstroemia in Thymelaeaceae or wikstroemia sikokiana
France and sav in Latin (see Figure 1). Dongba needs equipment, such as plank frame, board, and mortar to
prepare, the hand-made paper would be acquired after drying, soaking, boiling, washing, pounding, filtering,
pasting, and polishing. Apparently, Daju’s technique is time- and energy- consuming, but the profit is relatively
1
Yuan dynasty is behind Song dynasty, it has been very common for Chinese historian to compile the history of previous dynasty
since the ancient time. Thus, the history of Song was officially compiled by the historians of Yuan dynasty.
BRIEF ANALYSIS OF DONGBA HAND-MADE PAPER PRESERVATION 65
low considering the cost.
Figure 1. Raw material of canescent wikstroemia taken in Lijiang during the survey.
In Sanba, Zhongdian (Shangri-La), Dongba searches the raw material which is called “A Dan Da” by local
residents, it also belongs to canescent wikstroemia in Thymelaeaceae or wikstroemia lichiangensis W. W.
Smish in Latin.
The producing procedures between the two places are similar except some formulas. Therefore, the
technique in Sanba is relatively primitive and more close to the original paper-making way (Li, 2003).
According to He’s (2001) analysis, the raw material of Dongba hand-made paper comes from the two
selections: “Nuo Wo” and “Wan Dai”. It has proved that “Nuo Wo” is paper mulberry which has tender bark,
soft fiber, and less impurity, the paper which made by this material has deeper color, soft surface, and be apt to
spread while writing with ink. While, “Wan Dai” belongs to canescent wikstroemia in Thymelaeaceae, which
the flower could be used for medication, the bark is toxic, thus, the paper which made by this material is
fire-resistant, moisture-proof, mothproof, and easy to preserve.
Therefore, we can clearly conclude based on “harsh as cowhide” as Dongba hand-made paper’s
description that “Wan Dai” must be the most prime raw material. There are some traditional knacks for
collecting and producing Dongba hand-made paper, May and June of each year would be the best picking
season, the bark of the bole is smooth, no crotch and easy to peel. Generally, only the 50 cm in length is needed
from each tree, and the lining should be retained after cutting and peeling. The whole steps above must be done
as fast as possible so that struggle more time and energy for making paper in limited times with the highest
quality.
The Characteristic Description and Surviving Situation

Analysis of Dongba Hand-Made Paper
Given the basic characteristic of Dongba hand-made paper, Dongba manuscript’s overall preserving
condition is stable under the natural environment during hundreds of years, plus the proper weather in Lijiang.
Compared with external cause on preserving, Dongba hand-made paper’s prominent durability which has been
regarded as the most essential internal cause ensured Dongba manuscript could be visualized with perfect
profile in front of people after a long history.
The paper characteristic which is connected with the durability of Dongba hand-made paper can be listed
as follows: fiber quality, mechanical strength, absorbing character, deformation performance, optical property,
stability, and producing craft. Zhang and her team did systematic analysis on the durability of Dongba
hand-made paper according to paper’s whiteness, folding endurance, tension-resistance, and infrared spectrum
via dry-heat accelerating aging experiment (Zhang, Tang, & Chen, 2012). The conclusion shows that the fiber
of canescent wikstroemia is long and thin as interweaving tightly. Meanwhile, the producing procedure is
simple and primitive with mild lye for boiling, which removed impurity without harming fiber so that build an
natural alkalescent environment for preserving the paper, so to explain the perfect durability. Moreover, the ink,
which produced by pure natural formula, mixed by pine torches, bile, and other ingredients, owns stable
coloring physical and chemical property, light resistance, acid-base resistance, and inoxidizability could also
ensure the letter stay longer with the help of the home-made bamboo pen (see Figure 2). Hence, the evidence
proves that the reason of Dongba manuscript’s longevity lies in the stability of its writing material and
substantial carrier.
Figure 2. The self-made writing ink and bamboo pen taken in Lijiang during the survey.
People should try their best to preserve Dongba manuscript which has been known as “memory of the
world”, but, first and foremost, to preserve Dongba hand-made paper seems more specific and practical based
on the analysis narrated above. In order to execute the next protection more purposefully, it is necessary to
realize the surviving situation of Dongba hand-made paper (see Figure 3).
The surviving situation of Dongba hand-made paper could be classified by internal and external causes.
The internal causes contain raw material, production efficiency, and marketing scope of Dongba hand-made
paper, while the external causes go to the support from governments, attention from the public, and research
from the academia.
Figure 3. Dongba manuscript under the terrible preservation in safekeeping institutes taken in Lijiang during the
survey.
Internal Analysis
Raw material. Canescent wikstroemia belongs to low shrubs which mature tree is about one meter tall.
The logger always cuts only 50 cm from the tree to guarantee the producing quality. It proved that the use ratio
is quite low while the waste is huge in peeling 3 kg white dry bark out of 100 kg fresh trunk way. The
over-collecting because of the fame and exploitation has brought serious burden on the preservation. The raw
material grows slowly, so far, the growth habit of them has not been known well by biologists, thus, it can not
be raised artificially. The speed of growth and collecting is not at the same level so that the raw material
became rarer and rarer.
Producing efficiency. Some steps in production are harmful for forest protection, as the low ratio of raw
material usage destroyed the large scale of vegetation, burning lots of timber during pulping, therefore, the
shortage of raw material appears and the air around the forest has been polluted. The producing cycle of
Dongba hand-made paper is short, but the cost is high. Sixty pics with the size of 25 cm  60 cm would be
produced from 5 kg dry bark, which might be shaped at the expense of cutting at least 1,000 trees with 50 cm
tall , plus burning 200 kg firewood. That is why the price of the paper is much high.
Marketing scope. Since the old times, the sale range of Dongba hand-made paper is narrow because of
the price. Along with the development of tourism, there are lots of fake hand-made paper being sold in the hot
tourist spots as souvenir. However, the key consumer of the paper is Dongba who almost live in the rural places.
Apart from the city, compared with the machine-made paper with fake packaging, Dongba hand-made paper
has still been produced in a slim space, the sale is limited and it is impossible to realize mass production.
Dongba hand-made paper’s harshness restrains its substantial material from digitalizing as machine-made ones,
not to mention the usage range and limited functions, which positively lead the development of this kind of
paper into a dead end.
External Analysis
Support from governments. The long-term outcome and effect of Dongba hand-made paper’s
preservation depend on support and tactics from governments. Because of the historian reason, Dongba
religious riot and other activities were canceled under the Culture Revolution during the 1950s, all the activities
as long as having relationship with Dongba were regarded as superstitious affairs which must be ruined and
eliminated. In order to avoid self-security from being in troubles, most Dongba destroyed the paper-making
tools, thus, there is a huge gap existed within Dongba culture, let alone the hand-made paper techniques.
Frankly speaking, the support and encouragement on Dongba cultural preservation from governments,
especially the local government, is far less enough. There are a lot of problems which restrict the actual
efficiency of preservation according to the survey. There are some technical leaks on registering mechanism of
the cultural inheritors. Especially in the rural and less developed areas. To some extent, the leak may
emotionally harm the people who truly wishes to dedicate.
Attention from the public. Compared with the huge population, there are still a few people pay careful
attention to cultural preservation. Take it more precisely—How to preserve? What if we could not find the
corresponding section which is responsible to stop the cultural crime? Then, we will figure it out easily that
only the passion and obligation are not enough to realize the preservation, that is why the react, which the
public has been acting to preserve, behaved quite weakly, dispersedly, and aimlessly.
Research from the academia. In the overall viewpoint, ethnic study is not the mainstream because of the
complicated backgrounds. So far until now, Dongba hand-made paper field seems as a bare ground waiting for
more excavation from different professional angles. The deeper research from both literatures and technologies
are badly needed. The cultural heritage preservation career is like a big project as well as the internal and
external protection of Dongba hand-made paper. Not only the technique is necessary, but also the deployment
and strategy could guide every step to a brighter path. However, the healthy atmosphere which should cover big
issue and tiny issue has not formed already.
The Preservation of Dongba Hand-Made Paper

Nearly all Dongba manuscript had been written on paper which could almost be catalogued in Dongba
hand-made paper. More attention should be switched from Dongba manuscript or Dongba culture to Dongba
hand-made paper as the basic substantial carrier of “memory of the world” while the academic research has
been carrying forward. To preserve Dongba hand-made paper could lay a solid foundation for developing
Dongba manuscript and upholding Dongba culture. The practice of Dongba hand-made paper’s preservation
needs cooperation from internal to external side. In the author’s opinion, the external preservation could be
built upon the government’s support, the equilibrium of safekeeping and academic researching, and financial
and emotional guarantee from upper management section to acknowledge the cultural inheritors. Meanwhile,
the internal preservation could be gained from referring and practicing some relative archival theories.
Build a Structure of External Preservation
The policy support from government would form the most stable and safest outer surrounding for the
survival of Dongba hand-made paper. On the one hand, the Dongba-centered traditional ethnical activities had
been behaved based on natural condition in the ancient times, but, the root of these activities was ruined under
the impact of the mainstream culture and era development. Thus, the reasonable guide from government to
uphold the practice, such as “Reflection of Dongba Traditional Culture”, which includes the productive scene
of making Dongba hand-made paper, is indispensable. These kinds of activities might realize via on-the-spot
demonstration around tourist spots as well as refer to compile the archives by multi-media method in several
ways, such as digital virtual scene, documentary show, cartoon, on-line short movie, or traditional media
method, such as newspaper, books, and exhibitions with audio-visual files to reveal. On the other hand, the
cultural market should be purified and improved by the government’s administrative power to wipe the
discrepant weed, which is opposite the truth and cultural tradition out. For example, the departments which are
responsible for guiding, watching, and managing tourist spots should cooperate to forge a long-term mechanism
for purifying the cultural market, so that to eliminate or ban the product to misunderstand the culture’s essence.
The equilibrium of safekeeping and academic researching in collection institute would be the main
developing trend as well as the fundamental procedures for preserving cultural inheritage. The Dongba
manuscript in collection institute always has a larger number and more concentrative formation, however, for a
long time, Dongba manuscript collection institute focused the center work on protecting the substance inside the
storeroom as public archives, such as the basic fireproof, theft-proof, waterproof, mothproof, lightproof, and
dustproof work have been prior to any other matters, while the deeper research on substantial preservation,
digital development on substantial information, and systematic logistics on offering services has been seemed
quite superficially. The valid preservation of substance in storeroom should never lead to the rigid path, the
cultural heritage hidden inside the substance must live vividly instead, much less the substance belongs to
“memory of the world”. A more respectful working attitude is urgently needed as aiming at revitalizing history
and prompting a sense of national pride to realize the equilibrium of safekeeping and researching together. The
staff members in collection institute have deeper, more primitive, and stronger experiences and feelings than any
other departments or persons about how to launch more practical research and the essence from the working
surface, but having been restrained by less advanced technical condition inside, they had better collaborate with
the more qualified institutes positively to apply for the researching project together so that to explore feasible
theory under the precondition of solving specific protection. In addition, they can foster their own technicians
and establish their reasonable talent team through structuring training base together with more advanced ones.
The stable guarantee for subsidizing the cultural relies on the steady and long-term investment or
appropriation mechanism. The inheritage which belongs to the preservation project needs to propel from the
primary level, while the quality of practice always depends on the number and stability of the fund. Thus, the
stabilization and long-term phenomenon of subsidy on inheritage could be realized by founding the special
aid-the-cultural heritage funds of Chinese government, collecting investment from public organization or
issuing lottery of preservation funds. If so, the more active and positive atmosphere of protection and
transmission on the “memory of the world” could be formed, and the concept of honoring the cultural inheritors
could be fostered. Thus, to teach the traditional technique of making traditional paper during the process of
transmission, Dongba manuscript can be a knowledge-reservoir to ensure the students not only acquire one skill
of making paper, but also master overall knowledge of Dongba culture to prepare themselves to be qualified for
being a good Dongba in the future. Obviously, transmission could be practiced in at least two ways in reality,
both standardized way and personalized way are necessary, as Dongba culture is variable. However, the writing
material, which has been known as Dongba hand-made paper, appearing in every method, should be
standardized detailedly, including making hand-made paper according to traditional skill and writing Dongba
manuscript according to traditional pen with ink, so that the pure and authentic paper-making technique could
be retained and survived.
Launch a Strategy of Internal Preservation
The primary step of practicing the internal preservation should be collecting and filing. Differences existed
during the process of collecting raw material and production in different Naxi residencies according to the
survey. So, the difference of hand-made paper’s producing techniques must be investigated and screened first
while choosing the collection areas. After picking the representative areas, the information and substance of
paper-making techniques from different geographic sources could be collected respectively. Be cautious to
judge the true and false of the object around the collection according to the theory and practice of archival
management. As for filing the Dongba hand-made paper’s technique, the whole process could be divided into
three parts below: to select raw material, to produce, and to sale and use. There are relative information and
substance which correspond to each part above, thus, it would be thoughtful to file orderly with different kinds
of carrier format according to the specific information and substance of each step during manufacture, the
newborn record could reflect the paper-producing technique comprehensively after filing. The quality of
warrant and primitiveness as archive’s property should be embodied during filing, it means that every detailed
record must be correct including the specific and professional record on raw material.
Other than traditional archive’s collecting and arranging which appears the systematic catalog, Dongba
hand-made paper is different from other ordinary archives, thus, it would be better to arrange its information
and substance in brand-new and more vivid way. For example, the information of each working step could be
digitalized by multi-media techniques. On the one hand, to re-organize the scattered information fragment
according to the time order while conserving the substance, in order to form a integrated, precise, and accurate
documentary so that to play a great role in using, developing, and offering services. On the other hand, to
arrange the substance by compound classification (There are at least two methods to classify archives, one is
unitary classification and the other is compound classification), to classify the first rank by collecting area, then,
to classify the next rank by producing time. This method could offer more detailed reasons which might be
used to refer to the actual situation while establishing the standardized regulation or using the record.
As for the special filing object, Dongba hand-made paper could be kept in the collection institute lest the
artificial and unnecessary harm way happen on Dongba hand-made paper during the transport to the official
archives considering the objective real condition. The collection institute would be able to carry the
preservation on to the subtle details while conserving Dongba hand-made paper archives, so they should be best
qualified to say on launching the research as the substance’s primitive safe-keeper. Therefore, the subtle
detailed conservation contains the tasks as follows: (a) to analyze Dongba hand-made paper’s physical and
chemical property via experiments; (b) to advance artificial cultivation of raw plant under integrating relative
knowledges in botany after mastering the nature of raw material; (c) to launch an appropriate protection on the
digital carrier which has been filled with technical information; (d) to ensure diversified preservation on
multi-morphological substantial archives which had been collected and filed; and (e) to create a suitable
preservative environment for these special archives. The preservation and research mentioned above might be
limited and impacted by the objective condition, the theoretical help and technical support from outside, plus
bilateral cooperation between exotic side and inner side would be welcomed based on the truth that Dongba
hand-made paper is one of “memory of the world”.
The developing and using of Dongba hand-made paper archives might be neglected easily as other
ordinary archives during the long-term practice. The social function of this kind of archives would be greatly
wasted if the development and utilization have always been hidden in the dark corner. The attitude and target of
preservation must be switched, the aim does not only lie in safekeeping and binding together on the top of the
bookcase, but also to pass down the tradition and paper-making technique forever. What is more, to research all
the changeable points within the technical process so that to stabilize these points in archival format, it could
also help to formulate the standard of paper-making technique which might be used as reference measure to
advance and guide Dongba inheritage, supervise or judge the quality of inheritage project. As far as Dongba
hand-made paper concerned, the method of development and utilization can be used as standard to guide the
scientific research according to its function, so to supervise preservation as model and regulate the commercial
exploitation.
Conclusions
There are plenty of reasons to urge us to study, to know, and to be acquainted with Dongba hand-made
paper, which seems as a miracle among our national numerous hand-made paper resources as the research
target, it is not only its outstanding durableness, but also the information that it has been holding turns out to be
the exclusive “memory of the world”. Dongba manuscript has borne the colorful Dongba culture silently with
its immortality since hundreds of years. The preservation of this “memory of the world”, here, known as
Dongba manuscript, is definitely a complicated project which would be composed with several detailed parts.
Nevertheless, no matter how tremendous and systematic the preservative tactics are, we must focus on the
details by beginning from the tiny start. A journey with 1,000 miles begins with one step. By the time, we can
truly recognize the physicochemical indexes of the whole sublines of Dongba hand-made paper, when we
proudly announce that the producing procedure of Dongba hand-made paper can be revivified integratedly and
purely by the successive creation, we can define the trial as one step within the heritage conservation success.
References
Chen, D. Y. (2004, June). The exploration of Naxi Dongba hand-made paper. Ethnic Art, 6, 73-74.
He, H. (2001, May). Brief analysis on Dongba paper-making skill. The Journal of Guangxi Ethnic College (Natural Science), 5,
124-125.
Li, X. C. (2003, March). Hand-made paper of ethnic Naxi. Yunnan Social Science, 3, 72-73.
Long, W. (2009, February). Do not lose the aircondition of Dongba paper-making. China Invention and Patent, 2, 29-30.
Luo, M. B. (2001). The technology of preservation on archives (pp. 23-25). KunMing, China: Yunnan Technology Press.
Qin, L., & Qiu, J. (2010, April). The feature finding on the fiber of canescent wikstroemia trunk as Dongba hand-made paper’s
raw material. Wood Processing Machinery, XXI, 45-46.
Zhang, M. L., Tang, S. K., & Chen, B. (2012, December). The durable exploration of Dongba hand-made paper in Yunnan. China
Hand-Made Paper, XXXI, 41-44.
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US-China Education Review A & US-China Education Review B


US-China Education Review 2014 (1B)

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US-China Education Review 2014 (1B)

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US-China

David Publishing Company

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Editorial Board Members:

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Candice Dowd Barnes, Janet Filer, Mark Cooper

Educational Policy and Management

E-government Implementation Benefits, Risks, and Barriers in Developing Countries:

Olusoyi (Richard) Ashaye, Zahir Irani

Pragmatical Conceptualized Objective Personality Test Battery LAMBDA—Psychometric

Georg Mandler, Klaus D. Kubinger

Formulating Mental Health Treatment Paradigms for Military Filipino Amerasians:

Peter Charles Kutschera, Marie A. Caputi, Jose Maria G. Pelayo III

Assessing Secondary School Teachers’ Competences in Continuous Assessment Skills in

John Nwanibeze Odili

Case Variability Assessment on Performance-Based Medical Examination Using

Gwo-Jen Guo, Tsai-Wei Huang

Education and Culture

Brief Analysis of Dongba Hand-Made Paper Preservation 63

Developing Dispositions for Success: Faculty Members Working

Candice Dowd Barnes, Janet Filer, Mark Cooper

Keywords: disposition development, faculty development, college students

The Dilemmas of Disposition Development

The Faculty Role in Disposition Development

Figure 1. Thinking shift for faculty and students.

Tra nsforma tive Actio n

C ha ra cter iza tion

R e fl ective D iscou rse

C riti ca l R e fle ction

Figure 2. Relationship between theories.

Disposition Development Process for Students

E-government Implementation Benefits, Risks, and Barriers in

Olusoyi (Richard) Ashaye, Zahir Irani

Keywords: component, e-government implementation, benefits, risks, barriers

Initial Findings and Analysis

Figure 1. Bar chart of e-government implementation benefits.

Figure 2. Bar chart of e-government implementation barriers.

Figure 3. Bar chart of e-government implementation risks.

Summary and Initial Conclusions

Appendix A. Drivers-Barriers Model

Culture & Religion

Legislation & Regulation

Appendix B. The Map of Nigeria

Pragmatical Conceptualized Objective Personality Test Battery

Georg Mandler, Klaus D. Kubinger

Keywords: objective personality test, assessment of behavior, faking

Figure 1. Examination sheet of LAMBDA’s part of learning strategy assessment.

Computer Test Service

Discussion and Conclusions

Formulating Mental Health Treatment Paradigms for Military

Peter Charles Kutschera

Social and Historical Origins of Military Amerasian

Amerasian Health/Mental Health Services in the Philippines

Required, Selected, and Recommended SWPA Course Readings

Assessing Secondary School Teachers’ Competences in

John Nwanibeze Odili

Research Objectives, Questions, and Hypotheses

some of the skills that are needed in test construction, include:

Method of Data Collection and Analysis

Results and Interpretation

The hypotheses tested are presented below.