This paper presents future interactions between curriculum and test content, particularly standardized achievement test content. Three topics are discussed in question-answer form. (1) Will standardized testing dictate the curriculum in the future? An analysis of major curriculum change indicates two changes in the past 25 years: a revolution…

This report describes the development, construction, and validation of the Preliminary Chinese Proficiency Test (Pre-CPT), a standardized, nationally-normed test of listening and reading comprehension for beginning-level native English-speaking learners of Chinese as a second language. The Pre-CPT was designed as a lower-level version of the…

This study investigated the relationships among the symbolic representation of problems given to students to solve, the mental representations they use to solve the problems, and the accuracy of their solutions. Twenty eleventh-grade science students were asked to think aloud as they solved problems on the ideal gas laws. The problems were…

Describes study of 315 secondary school students that investigated their reactions to computerized testing and assessed the practicability of this testing method in the classroom. Two versions of a standardized aptitude test battery used are described, one computerized and one printed, and a survey assessing students' reactions is discussed. (9…

This investigation evaluated performance of university students on visual and nonvisual versions of an achievement test. Two experimental designs assessed the effects and interactions between visual and nonvisual instructional modes, order of drawing test (before or after verbal/visual achievement test), and mode of drawing test (verbal cued or…

Describes two experiments in which high school students who studied a map/prose combination expected either a spatial/locational or verbal/event posttest. Results indicate test expectation instructions significantly influenced kinds of information students were able to recall, and type of preinstructional expectation had a pronounced effect on how…

Explores the concept of construct validity in the context of a public examination. Multitrait-multimethod analysis and factor analysis were used. Discusses the analyses in terms of theory versus practical components and experimental versus observational investigation in practical components. Sample items for the practical examinations are…

Reports on a preliminary study of cognitive style and performance of 182 secondary students on the British General Certificate of Secondary Education. Finds that students who tested at an intermediate position on both dimensions of the Wholist-Analytic cognitive style measure did best on the test. (CFR)

College teachers often use norm-referenced classroom tests which are too easy for distinguishing adequately among levels of student achievement, yet they are reluctant to adopt more difficult tests. We explored the basis for current practices concerning test difficulty through informal interviews and questionnaires completed by faculty members and…

Sixty-three students in three undergraduate college classes were divided into three groups to investigate the effect of two delayed self-reporting techniques on attitudinal data toward a course and instructor. Nonparametric tests and intercorrelations of item treatment means, together with two-way analyses of variance on item clusters, indicated…

This survey investigated: (1) the extent that psychometric criteria are used in test selection; (2) the weight given to different types of psychometric information relative to other qualities of the test; and (3) possible reasons for differences among districts. Directors of testing offices, including members of the National Association of Test…

The comparative effects of various sequences of test items were examined for over 900 graduate students enrolled in an educational research course at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. experiment, which was conducted a total of four times using four separate tests, presented three different arrangements of 50 multiple-choice items: (1)…

Describes an interactive computer-testing and record-keeping system that was implemented for a self-paced anatomy and physiology course. Results of exploratory research are reported that focus on student preference for online testing, test anxiety, attitude, and achievement; and suggestions are given for integrating a computer-testing program into…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether different types of practice strategies are equally effective in facilitating encoding strategies and in subsequent information acquisition and retrieval by students identified as possessing high, medium, and low prior knowledge levels in a content area. Within the context of the…

Student achievement test scores were compared and equated, using three different testing methods: paper-administered, computer-administered, and computerized adaptive testing. The tests were developed from third and sixth grade mathematics item banks of the California Assessment Program. The paper and the computer-administered tests were identical…