Eric Dionne earns French-language publication award for research in edumetrics

The honour, given by the Fonds de recherche du Québec, recognizes their work as a notable contribution to French-language educational research in Quebec and the larger Francophone academic community. 

We use all sorts of measurement tools in our professional lives. From surveys to satisfaction scales, seeking and offering feedback to improve programs, processes, and outcomes is ubiquitous in nearly every sector.  Validating the instruments used to collect information is critical to ensuring the quality of the data that underpins decision-making.

Rasch modelling, which is based on the theoretical work of Danish mathematician Georg Rasch, is increasingly applied to model the wide variety of measurement instruments used in education, but also in many other fields, such as medicine and psychology. Although several excellent books on edumetrics have been published in recent years, none has specifically addressed the “classical” measurement problems encountered by analysts or researchers working with this type of modelling, let alone in French. Dionne and Béland’s co-edited publication seeks to fill this gap. It also aims to provide a rigorous and trusted reference in French to promote knowledge transfer within Francophone communities interested in measurement reliability, particularly Rasch family modelling.

“To be perfectly honest, Sébastien Béland and I were very surprised to learn that our book had been shortlisted for the Louise-Dandurand Prize!” says Dionne.  

“Books dealing with methodology, such as educational metrics or statistics, often struggle to gain recognition, even though their contributions are essential to research, especially in education. Our book is only the second on Rasch modelling to be published in French."

"We hope that our modest contribution will help train a new generation of specialists in edumetrics, especially since Rasch modelling is gaining ground in scientific journals with international influence,” he adds.

"It is with immense pride that I learn Professors Eric Dionne and Sébastien Béland were awarded the Louise-Dandurand Prize for their book Appliquer le modèle de Rasch : défis et pistes de solution. This prestigious distinction recognizes the excellence of their scientific contribution to a field of paramount importance for the advancement of research in education," says Francis Bangou, Dean of the Faculty of Education.

"Their volume fills a need for providing the Francophone scientific community with a reference on Rasch modelling, a fundamental statistical method for modelling the wide variety of measurement instruments. Through their work, Professors Dionne and Béland are making a significant contribution to improving the quality of educational research in Francophone spheres," he explains.

"I extend my most sincere congratulations to them for this well-deserved award, which testifies to their dedication to excellence and the influence of French language research." 

Eric Dionne is a full professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa and holder of the Research Chair in Medical Education at the Montfort Hospital Knowledge Institute. His research interests lie in the statistical modelling of test scores, with a specialization in classical test theory (CTT) and Rasch modelling. He is also interested in the evaluation of learning in the classroom and the transfer of knowledge and methodologies in his field of expertise.  He is an expert in measurement instrument design in the field of education, and in medical education specifically. He has a YouTube series devoted to learning evaluation called L'évaluation des apprentissages avec ProfDionne and is a co-host of the podcast Les Ingénieux pédagogiques, a collaborative project created with two Faculty of Education alumni. Their conversations aim to create connections between theory and classroom practice to improve student learning.