Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia - UNED
MARIA JOSE NAVAS ARA
PROFESORA TITULAR UNIVERSIDAD
METODOLOGÍA DE LAS CIENCIAS DEL COMPORTAMIENTO
FACULTAD DE PSICOLOGÍA
(+34) 91398-6235
Academic Information
B.A. Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain. Major: Psychology. 1986
Ph. D. Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Madrid, Spain. Major: Psychology. 1993
Research activity
My research activity has been focused on the assessment of the psychometric properties of educational measures, being engaged in national and international projects meant to assess educational progress.
Professional experience
Member of the Advisory Board on the Assessment of Educational Outcomes of the Instituto Nacional para la Evaluación de la Educación in Mexico (2014-2018)
Member of the Technical Advisory Group of TALIS Video Study and Global Video Library on Teaching Practices, carried out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (2016-2017)
Member of the Editorial Committee of the journal Psicothema (2006-2019)
Associate Editor of the journal Psicología Educativa (2013-2017)
Co-editor of the series Behavioural Sciences Methodology, published by UNED (8 books published)
Evaluator of research projects grant applications for the Agencia Nacional de Evaluación y Prospectiva and the Agencia Andaluza de Evaluación de la Calidad y Acreditación Universitaria
Collaboration with the Test Commission of the Spanish Psychological Association
Teaching
Research
RESEARCH GROUPS
- LabQTest LabQTest is a research team where teachers coming from the Behavioural Sciences Methodology Department of the UNED and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and research staff from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation take part. The goal of this team is to promote a space for discussion and reflection about the quality of the tests administered in large-scale and middle-scale assessments, as well as about the common practices when it comes to assess the quality of those tests.
RESEARCH PROJECTS
- Development of an app to assess the quality a test The goal is to develop an app to assess the quality of a test, particularly (1) to detect errors in the test (e.g, in the answer key) before reporting test results, and (2) building on the results obtained with the current test, to provide with some clues to test developers to create better tests on next editions. This project arises from (1) noticing a generalized lack of specific training on test development among teachers, to carry out the important task of assessing the educational outcomes achieved by their students (and sometimes also among staff responsible for high-stake tests), and (2) taking advantage of the large numbers typical of UNED, that can help to learn from the tests administered to thousands of students, through the analysis of the metric quality of those tests.
Publications
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PUBLICATIONS IN MAGAZINES
Gaviria, E., Quintanilla, L., & Navas, M. J. (2021). Influence of group identification on malicious and benign envy: A cross-sectional developmental study. Frontiers in Psychology, 30 June 2021 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.663735
Peña, A, Navas, M. J., & Quintanilla, L. (2020). Adaptación al catalán de la prueba Emotion Matching Task y evaluación de su calidad métrica: Un estudio piloto (Catalan Adaptation of the Emotion Matching Task and Psychometric Properties of the Test: A Pilot Study). Anuario de Psicología, 50(3), 103-114.
Editor of the Special Issue of the journal Psicología Educativa (2014, volume 20), and author of the first paper, both titled Bringing added value to educational assessment: A shift from an audit mode of assessment to an assistence mode.
Navas, M. J. (2012). La medición en el ámbito educativo
(Educational Measurement). Psicología Educativa, 18(1), 15-28. [Invited paper]Navas, M. J. & Urdaneta, E. J. (2011). PISA y el triángulo de la evaluación
(PISA and the assessment triangle). Psicothema, 23(4), 701-706.Escorial, S. & Navas, M. J. (2007). Analysis of the Gender Variable in the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire - Revised Scales using Differential Item Functioning Techniques
. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 67(6), 990-1001.Navas, M. J. (2003). Precisión y análisis de varianza (Precision and Analysis of Variance). Metodología de las Ciencias del Comportamiento
, 5(1), 73-96. [Invited paper]Navas, M. J. & Gómez, J. (2002). Effects of ability scale purification on identification of DIF. European Journal of Psychological Assessment
, 18(1), 9-15.Gómez, J. & Navas, M. J. (2000). A comparison of χ2, RFA and IRT-based procedures in the detection of DIF. Quality & Quantity, 34,17-31.
Navas, M. J. (2000). Equiparación de puntuaciones: Exigencias actuales y retos de cara al futuro
(Equating scores: State of the Art and Challenges to the Future). Metodología de las Ciencias del Comportamiento, 2(2), 151-165. [Invited paper]Navas, M. J. (1994). Teoría clásica de los tests versus Teoría de respuesta al ítem
(Classical Test Theory versus Item Response Theory). Psicológica, 15, 175-208. -
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Navas, M. J. (2014). Una aproximación al estudio de la satisfacción laboral de los docentes en España (Approaching Job Satisfaction in Teaching Staff in Spain). In INEE (Ed.), TALIS 2013. Estudio Internacional de la Enseñanza y el Aprendizaje. Informe español. Análisis secundario. Madrid: Autor.
Navas, M. J. & García-Forero, C. (2011). Las competencias básicas de hoy para el mundo de mañana. Informe PISA Canarias 2009 (Today's Basic Competencies for Tomorrow’s World. PISA Canarias 2009 Report). Consejería de Educación del Gobierno de Canarias.
Navas, M. J. (1996). Equiparación de puntuaciones (Equating Scores). In J. Muñiz (Coord.), Psicometría. Madrid: Universitas. (pp. 263-369)
Translation of the book published by Alianza Editorial in 2000:
Meltzoff, J. (1998). Critical thinking about research. Washington: American Psychological Association.
PUBLICATIONS CONCERNING TEACHINGNavas, M. J. & Recio, P. (2006). CD-ROM Métodos, diseños y técnicas de investigación psicológica (Methods, Designs, and Research Techniques in Psychology). Madrid: UNED. [Support material for the study of that subject]
Navas, M. J. (2001) (Ed.). Métodos, diseños y técnicas de investigación psicológica (Methods, Designs, and Research Techniques in Psychology). Madrid: UNED.
Editor of the book and author of 7 out of 12 chapters in the manual.Workbooks of the subjet Métodos, Diseños y Técnicas de Investigación Psicológica (Methods, Designs, and Research Techniques in Psychology).
Published annually from 2001 to 2011.
Other activities
Experience in educational, scientific and technological management and administrationCoordinator for the interuniversity doctoral program in Behavioural Sciences Methodology. UNED, Universidad Autónoma, and Universidad Complutense. (2000-2002)
This doctoral program was distinguished with the Honorable Mention of Quality by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports.
Transfer of knowledge and professional experienceCollaboration with mass media (Cadena SER, El País, RNE, TVE)
Invited talks
- La validez, alfa y omega de la evaluación (Validity, Alfa and Omega of Assessment))
Opening lecture of the III Jornada Grupo de Interés en Evaluación de Lenguas en España (GIELE), San Sebastián 16-11-2019 - La evaluación en el sistema educativo español (Assessment in the Spanish Educational System)
Opening lecture of the III Simposio Internacional Un desafío: La evaluación educativa, organized by UNED, Madrid 8-5-2015 - La competencia lectora digital en el siglo XXI (Digital Reading Competency in the XXI century)
Delivered in the 10 Encontro Nacional (8º Internacional) de Investigaçao em Leitura, Literatura Infantil e Ilustraçao, organized by Universidade do Minho, Braga 5-7-2014 - Reading literacy in OECD: Lessons learnt from PISA
Delivered in the Dissemination Conference Comenius Project Teacher Learning for European Literacy Education (TeL4ELE), Madrid 17-10-2013 - Spanish Assessment of Educational Progress
Delivered at the Educational Testing Service, Princeton 14-2-2013 - El sesgo de los ítems (Item bias)
Delivered at the Facultad de Psicología from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid 14-4-1997
Visiting scholar at the Educational Testing Service (Princeton, EE.UU., 2013)
Others2007 UNED Award for the Best Didactic Material for Learning at Distance, received for the whole set of materials developed for the subject Métodos, Diseños y Técnicas de Investigación Psicológica (Methods, Designs, and Research Techniques in Psychology).
1998 Honorable Mention awarded for the research report ¿Nos miden los tests a todos por igual? (Do Tests Measure Us Equally?), with J. Gómez. I Edición del Premio de Psicología 'Fundación Lafourcade-Ponce'.