ConstructMap FAQ

From BEARWiki

Contents 1 In General 1.1 What is the user name & password for ConstructMap? 1.2 I am having problems using ConstructMap, what should I do? 1.3 How do I setup multiple constructs? 1.4 Are there any known bugs in the latest version of ConstructMap? 1.5 How do I upgrade ConstructMap to a newer version? 2 Download 2.1 I have a PC, which ConstructMap file should I download? 2.2 I have a PC and I don't know if I have Java or not, should I still use the ConstructMap installer instead of the updater? 2.3 I have a Mac with OS 10.2 or later, which file should I use to download ConstructMap? 2.4 I have a Mac with earlier version than OS X, can I use ConstructMap on it? 3 Installation 3.1 During installation, I get a window saying "You already have the Java 2 Runtime Environment, SE v1.4.0 installed on this machine. Would you like to uninstall it?", What do I do? 3.2 I have a PC, I installed ConstructMap but I can't open it, what do I do? 4 Demos 4.1 When I try to setup a demo, why does ConstructMap window seem to freeze or go blank? 4.2 I tried to run Wright Map or Diagnostic Map (Kid Map) with SEPUP data but ConstructMap seems to stall with "processing" box open, what should I do? 5 Mapping 5.1 After importing my items and students, I cannot compute item parameters and I get the "param x has no data" message. What should I do? 5.2 How do I map proficiencies against standard errors? 5.3 Before viewing any maps, what steps do I need to complete? 5.4 How do I print maps? 5.5 Some of the rows in my Wright Map are too long that they either wrap or exceed the map, what do I do? 5.6 Does ConstructMap support Differential Item Functioning (DIF)? 5.7 I get an out of memory exception, what should I do?

In General

What is the user name & password for ConstructMap?

The default user name is "admin" and the password is "bear" (all lower case).

I am having problems using ConstructMap, what should I do?

You can do one of the following things:

1. Read the rest of this FAQ carefully. There may be a question/answer about your problem.
2. Fill out the bug submit form to report your problem.
3. View ConstructMap forum to see if anyone had a similar problem and if the answer will work your problem. If not, you can also post your problem in GradeMap forum.
4. If all else fails, email us.

How do I setup multiple constructs?

To analyze data belonging to one construct at a time, you will need to enter all data (items, students, scores etc.) pertaining each construct one at a time. In doing so, you need to be careful about saving your data and backing it up before you start entering another construct. If you have one construct life is easy. But as soon as you start a new database to put the second construct (or any subsequent constructs) you should copy those the two files (items.txt and students.txt under ConstructMap directory) into a folder that you can name as the name of your construct. Make sure that folder is under somewhere like the "output" directory. This way later on when you want to look at that construct, it's easy to find and export..

Here are the step by step instructions on how to setup multiple constructs:

For example your construct name is "Physical functioning"...

1. Enter your variable "Physical functioning" and associated item data. Save.
2. Enter the student data. Save.
3. Create a directory called "Physical functioning" under output folder of ConstructMap folder.
4. Copy "items.txt" and "students.txt" created from your saves into ConstructMap\output\Physical functioning\ directory.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 for any subsequent constructs and their related item and student data.
   
   MAKE SURE YOU ARE DONE WITH STEP 1-5 FOR ALL YOUR CONSTRUCTS BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO GO BACK TO AN EARLIER CONSTRUCT. If you are sure then continue to next step.
   
   
6. To switch to a different construct (say "Mental functioning" ) than the one you see the data on the screen. Do New Database under File menu.
7. Do System -> Import Curriculum and choose the "items.txt" under ConstructMap\output\Mental functioning\
8. Do System -> Import Student data and choose the "students.txt" under ConstructMap\output\Mental functioning\
9. You should see your data on the screen. If you don't, select Activities & Maps -> Select Activity option and go to the activity where your data is, you should be all set.

Are there any known bugs in the latest version of ConstructMap?

If you find a possible bug within ConstructMap (formerly GradeMap), you can find the contact information at the following page: http://bearcenter.berkeley.edu/GradeMap/index.php?page_id=7

For Mac version only:

• Deleting an item does not refresh the screen. Work around for that would be to choose a different item set and then reselect the original.
• If you paste a number of cells, the upper left cell stays empty.

How do I upgrade ConstructMap to a newer version?

Go to http://bearcenter.berkeley.edu/GradeMap/download to download an updated version of ConstructMap for PC or the Mac version for Macintosh.

• For those who have not put their data into ConstructMap, install ConstructMap using the downloaded file and start using it.

• For those who have already put their data in ConstructMap, please follow the steps below:
  Before you install ConstructMap,

1. Make sure you save your data (System -> Export Model Specification and File -> Export Student Data)
2. Then install new version of ConstructMap
   1. Start ConstructMap
      You will see window pop up saying that "you have an updated version of ConstructMap."
      • Clicking Yes will attempt to import the data files from the last time you opened ConstructMap, so you should see your data on the screen.
      • Clicking No will bring up ConstructMap emtpy, then to manually restore your data:
        Import your saved data (System -> Import Model Specification and File -> Import Student Data)
      • Clicking Cancel will exit without starting the new version of ConstructMap.
   2. Resume ConstructMap

For more information on how to update ConstructMap, please see Updates.

Download

I have a PC, which ConstructMap file should I download?

If you have never installed ConstructMap before, use ConstructMap installer. This will install Java run time environment along with ConstructMap. If you have previously installed ConstructMap (using ConstructMap installer), then use ConstructMap update to only download ConstructMap without Java.

I have a PC and I don't know if I have Java or not, should I still use the ConstructMap installer instead of the updater?

If you have the correct version of Java you can use ConstructMap updater instead, otherwise use GradeMap installer.

To find out if you have the correct version of Java:

1. Go Start -> Run , type "command" and press OK.
2. Type "java -version" and press enter. This will print out the version of Java that you have on your computer.
3. Check to see if the java version is 1.4.xxxxxx (where each x is some arbitrary number)

I have a Mac with OS 10.2 or later, which file should I use to download ConstructMap?

Use ConstructMap installer. Unzip this file to anywhere you like, you'll be ready to use the program.

I have a Mac with earlier version than OS X, can I use ConstructMap on it?

No, you can't. you will need to upgrade your operating system to be atleast OS X 10.2.

Installation

During installation, I get a window saying "You already have the Java 2 Runtime Environment, SE v1.4.0 installed on this machine. Would you like to uninstall it?", What do I do?

Click cancel to avoid uninstalling Java and continue.

I have a PC, I installed ConstructMap but I can't open it, what do I do?

If you have never reached the point where you see a window that says "Welcome to ConstructMap", try installing ConstructMap with ConstructMap installer once again.

Demos

When I try to setup a demo, why does ConstructMap window seem to freeze or go blank?

Setting up a demo involves a lot of computations and screen refreshing. So until all of that is finished ConstructMap looks frozen or blank. Please be patient and do not close the program (unless it's over five minutes!), otherwise you may encounter errors when you reopen it. We hope make things graphically neater in the future releases.

I tried to run Wright Map or Diagnostic Map (Kid Map) with SEPUP data but ConstructMap seems to stall with "processing" box open, what should I do?

SEPUP is a multi-dimensional (multiple constructs) and it takes while to get a Wright Map or Diagnostic Map (Kid Map) in the first run, so wait up to 5-6 minutes and if it still doesn't show you the map, then contact us about it.

Mapping

After importing my items and students, I cannot compute item parameters and I get the "param x has no data" message. What should I do?

ConstructMap did not compute the item parameters because one or more categories are missing scores (no student has got that category for an item). ConstructMap will not compute the item parameters until all categories of all items have at least one person scoring them. To achieve this, you will need to change your curriculum or student data. For details, please email Karen Draney or Cathleen Kennedy.

How do I map proficiencies against standard errors?

ConstructMap does not provide a way to create a graph for proficiency estimates versus standard errors. You can however copy and paste the data from ConstructMap to an excel sheet to be able to graph. Here are the instructions:

1. In ConstructMap, after you ran Compute Item Parameters, do File -> Export Ability Estimates - full.
2. Enter a the file name (ie. ability.txt) that you can recognize later on. Enter a title. Wait for the map to generate.
3. Open MS Excel and do File -> Open. Go to the output directory and change File type to "Text files". You should see your exported ability estimates file (ie. ability.txt), open it.
4. Text Import Wizard will show up to get you through importing the text file. Without changing anything, click finish. You should see the text file contents broken up into columns.
5. Highlight the data under "EAP" and "Error" columns only (not the headers or "===" dividers).
6. Sort the highlighted cells in acsending order.
7. Keeping it highlighted, do Insert -> Chart, chart wizard will open,
8. Select XY Scatter type for the chart. Select "Scatter with data points connected with smooth lines" as the sub-type of the chart. Click finish.
9. You should see the graph. If you see a lot of oscillation rather than a rough "U" shape, one possible interpretation of that is missing item responses for some students.

Before viewing any maps, what steps do I need to complete?

You need to:

1. have your curriculum and item data imported.
2. do "Compute Item Parameters."
3. If you ran into any problems with step 2, refer to this FAQ answer.
4. If you closed the program after step three and reopened it, you need to run Item Fit Report under System menu before you can run any other maps.
5. You are now ready to run any maps you like or allowed.

How do I print maps?

You can print textual maps by going into the output directory under ConstructMap directory and finding the txt files that you named them after the textual maps. Open it in your favorite text editor and print it. This applies to all text maps.

Graphical maps can be printed directly from ConstructMap by going File-> Print in the menu of the Graph (not ConstructMap menu, graphical reports open up their own windows).

Some of the rows in my Wright Map are too long that they either wrap or exceed the map, what do I do?

You most likely have a lot of items and some of the intervals/rows have too many items to be listed. Thus, it's causing formatting problems (exceeding, wrapping).

Unfortunately, this is a problem we are still working on. It will not be resolved in 11/26/03 release. But it should be resolved in the subsequent one.

In the mean time, you can reduce this formatting discrepancy by choosing no when asked to use item names for the map.

Does ConstructMap support Differential Item Functioning (DIF)?

Yes, ConstructMap can be used for Differential Item Functioning (DIF).

Please review 9.3.2 in the book (Constructing Measures: An item Response Modeling Approach) for information.

Since DIF involves comparison between different groups of respondents (i.e. Male students versus Female students), you can achive this by using the filtering feature of ConstructMap to do separate calibrations. Here is how: (We will use gender here as an example.)

1. Define Demographic fields by doing System -> Add Demog Field (i.e. define gender with female and male as it's values) . A new column with the demographic title (i.e. Gender) will appear. All cells will have the default value (i.e. Female).
2. Change the necessary cells to define the demographic field value for each student (i.e. put Female or Male for the gender column for each of the students).
3. Now you are ready to filter students by a value for a demographic field (i.e. for Gender, filtering to have only Female students). Do System->Filter Students, where you define as many filters as you like by choosing which Demographic field you like to filter by, what value you'd like to filter for. Use "Add Another" to define additional filters. For example, if you only wanted to look at the female students, you would only have one filter where you would pick Gender as Demographic, Female as Category, and you would not do Add Another since you only need one filter. Click "Save & Compute Item Parameters" button so that you can only calibrate your items using Female students. Then press ok.
4. Generate an Item Fit report by doing System->Item Fit Report. This will provide you with step parameters only involving item calibration from the filtered group of students(i.e. only female students). Prior to doing this, you need to do System->Compute Item Parameters . Alternatively or additionaly, you can generate a Wright Map for comparison.
5. Now repeat steps 3 and 4 but only this time use a different demographic value to look at another group(i.e. Male students).
6. Now you can use the information in the book to do a comparison of step parameters from two different item fit reports.

Please read Instructions.doc (under ConstructMap/docs/ folder) included with ConstructMap to get more information on related ConstructMap features. For more details on DIF, please email Karen Draney or Cathleen Kennedy.

I get an out of memory exception, what should I do?

There are two types of out of memory exceptions that we are aware of:

One occurs when a user tries to import a too big of a dataset. Currently the only solution is to use a smaller dataset. However we are working on ways to allow users to import large datasets.

The second out of memory error occurs during the item calibration run and that is typically caused by the calibration parameters used and the number of variables (dimensions) within the model. If you used quadrature integration method and have a multi-dimensional model, try changing the integration method to monte carlo.